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Kimbo Slice Featured on HDnet's 'Inside MMA'
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1437
Join Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice as they bring you "Inside MMA," a weekly show from HDNet that delivers top news stories, latest rankings and discussion of the most recent cards.
This week guests include actor Dolph Lundgren, Vice President of EliteXC Turi Altavilla, and fighter Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (Pictures) with details on his upcoming Feb. 16th fight with Tank Abbott.
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1437
Join Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice as they bring you "Inside MMA," a weekly show from HDNet that delivers top news stories, latest rankings and discussion of the most recent cards.
This week guests include actor Dolph Lundgren, Vice President of EliteXC Turi Altavilla, and fighter Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (Pictures) with details on his upcoming Feb. 16th fight with Tank Abbott.
SHAMROCK EXPECTS TO "SMASH" CUNG LE
Frank Shamrock takes on Cung Le March 29 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif in an event co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC that will air live on Showtime. Shamrock spoke with MMAWeekly about the match up that he views as a battle for San Jose.
"We've both been here for ten years fighting it out in San Jose. We've kind of taken turns with the town and with the arena. This is a fight for bragging rights, and this is a fight for the entire city. I saw the seating chart and we literally cut the arena in half. Cung gets half and I get half. So when it's over, I'm just going to take all of the seats and the arena. It will all be mine," commented the 35-year-old fighter.
Cung Le has five professional mixed martial arts fights, all won by knockout or technical knockout. Shamrock is an MMA legend. He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder. He's fought on the biggest stages in the sport, but Shamrock admitted that the lesser experienced Le could defeat him.
"A guy like Cung, a guy like Cung can honestly beat me. He could knock me out. The only way anybody is going to beat me is to knock me out. That challenge is what scares me and gets me in the gym and that keeps me focused, and that's what I need."
Shamrock and Le are very familiar with each other. Not only do they fighting icons residing in the same city, the two used to be sparring partners. "I used to be his punching dummy," said Shamrock.
"I think Cung Le is a challenge and that's why I'm doing it. I like to be challenged in the ring and out. Nobody's ready to step in the ring with me, or cage, or whatever. That's just my personal opinion, but certainly not Cung."
"I think I know his game. I think I know his style. He's a technical puncher but not a power puncher. He's a distance maker and he tries to get you to extend and what not. I think I know his game. I'm pretty confident with it. I think I'm just going to smash him," stated the Strikeforce middleweight champion.
In Cung Le's five MMA bouts, no one has taken the striker down. Asked if he would put Le on his back, Shamrock answered, "I don't know if anybody has figured it out, but I haven't taken anybody down since like 1998. The odds of me pulling that out are pretty slim. I've really dedicated my entire game to striking for the past like eight years. I think what the fans really want to see, especially new fans, is a good stand up game, and I'm game to stand up with Cung."
Discussing how he thinks the fight will play out, Shamrock stated, "Here's how I see the fight. We got out, he runs like a girl, I hit him in the chin, he starts taking me down just like Phil Baroni did,"
"I fought Phil Baroni with one knee. I'm going to take an arm off to fight Cung Le just to make it fair."
Shamrock anticipates a large turnout for the March 29 event. He said, "We've got a dedicated 2 million people here who love mixed martial arts and support the fights. All we need is one percent of those guys and we're going to kill it. I think we're going to do 15 to 18,000 seats."
Frank Shamrock takes on Cung Le March 29 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif in an event co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC that will air live on Showtime. Shamrock spoke with MMAWeekly about the match up that he views as a battle for San Jose.
"We've both been here for ten years fighting it out in San Jose. We've kind of taken turns with the town and with the arena. This is a fight for bragging rights, and this is a fight for the entire city. I saw the seating chart and we literally cut the arena in half. Cung gets half and I get half. So when it's over, I'm just going to take all of the seats and the arena. It will all be mine," commented the 35-year-old fighter.
Cung Le has five professional mixed martial arts fights, all won by knockout or technical knockout. Shamrock is an MMA legend. He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder. He's fought on the biggest stages in the sport, but Shamrock admitted that the lesser experienced Le could defeat him.
"A guy like Cung, a guy like Cung can honestly beat me. He could knock me out. The only way anybody is going to beat me is to knock me out. That challenge is what scares me and gets me in the gym and that keeps me focused, and that's what I need."
Shamrock and Le are very familiar with each other. Not only do they fighting icons residing in the same city, the two used to be sparring partners. "I used to be his punching dummy," said Shamrock.
"I think Cung Le is a challenge and that's why I'm doing it. I like to be challenged in the ring and out. Nobody's ready to step in the ring with me, or cage, or whatever. That's just my personal opinion, but certainly not Cung."
"I think I know his game. I think I know his style. He's a technical puncher but not a power puncher. He's a distance maker and he tries to get you to extend and what not. I think I know his game. I'm pretty confident with it. I think I'm just going to smash him," stated the Strikeforce middleweight champion.
In Cung Le's five MMA bouts, no one has taken the striker down. Asked if he would put Le on his back, Shamrock answered, "I don't know if anybody has figured it out, but I haven't taken anybody down since like 1998. The odds of me pulling that out are pretty slim. I've really dedicated my entire game to striking for the past like eight years. I think what the fans really want to see, especially new fans, is a good stand up game, and I'm game to stand up with Cung."
Discussing how he thinks the fight will play out, Shamrock stated, "Here's how I see the fight. We got out, he runs like a girl, I hit him in the chin, he starts taking me down just like Phil Baroni did,"
"I fought Phil Baroni with one knee. I'm going to take an arm off to fight Cung Le just to make it fair."
Shamrock anticipates a large turnout for the March 29 event. He said, "We've got a dedicated 2 million people here who love mixed martial arts and support the fights. All we need is one percent of those guys and we're going to kill it. I think we're going to do 15 to 18,000 seats."
A COUPLE OF CHANGES FOR ELITEXC MIAMI CARD
EliteXC has updated the fight card for its Saturday, Feb. 16 event in Miami. The main event features a bout between Internet sensation Kevn “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran David “Tank” Abbott.
There have been a couple of changes from the original line-up as Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and Ultimate Fighter veteran Seth Petruzelli have dropped off of the current fight card.
According to EliteXC, there will be five fights telecast live on Showtime, while the five-fight undercard will broadcast live on ProElite.com.
TELECAST (Showtime)
Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott
Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Scott Smith vs. Kyle Noke
Yves Edwards vs. Edson Berto
James Thompson vs. Brett Rogers
INTERNET BROADCAST (ProElite.com)
Rafael Feijao vs. John Doyle
Jon Kirk vs. Yosmany Cabezas
Mario Rinaldi vs. Dave Herman
Eric Bradley vs. Mikey Gomez
Lorenzo Borgameo vs. Mike Bernhard
EliteXC has updated the fight card for its Saturday, Feb. 16 event in Miami. The main event features a bout between Internet sensation Kevn “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran David “Tank” Abbott.
There have been a couple of changes from the original line-up as Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and Ultimate Fighter veteran Seth Petruzelli have dropped off of the current fight card.
According to EliteXC, there will be five fights telecast live on Showtime, while the five-fight undercard will broadcast live on ProElite.com.
TELECAST (Showtime)
Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott
Antonio Silva vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Scott Smith vs. Kyle Noke
Yves Edwards vs. Edson Berto
James Thompson vs. Brett Rogers
INTERNET BROADCAST (ProElite.com)
Rafael Feijao vs. John Doyle
Jon Kirk vs. Yosmany Cabezas
Mario Rinaldi vs. Dave Herman
Eric Bradley vs. Mikey Gomez
Lorenzo Borgameo vs. Mike Bernhard
K-1 EUROPE GRAND PRIX ON SATURDAY
Last year, K-1 expanded westward from Japan and met with great success in Korea. Now, K-1 heads eastward from Holland, bringing a World Grand Prix event to Central Europe for the first time. K-1’s Europe GP '08 Final Elimination at the Budapest Sports Arena will qualify fighters for the European final, set for April in Amsterdam.
Since K-1's inception in 1993, apart from a solitary trip New Zealand, the WGP Championship has remained in Europe, usually Holland. The first-ever K-1 champion, Branco Citatic, hailed from Croatia. Is there any chance this year's K-1 Champion could also come from Central Europe?
WGP '08 Final Elimination promoter Igor Jushko is cautiously optimistic, "I'm not sure about this very year, it's a question of time, but with the development of fighters and larger productions we are seeing, I think sooner or later -- maybe sooner than later -- we will have a new champion coming Central Europe.
"Holland has a long tradition of kickboxing and Muay Thai, clubs and gyms and competitions are numerous, and they have dominated K-1 for years. But I think the new generation of Dutch fighters are not as competitive; something has changed. Central Europeans on the other hand are very well-positioned, they discovered the sport later than Holland, and have been working very hard trying to catch up, which I think they've accomplished.
"I also think that the audience here is learning to appreciate K-1, the simple rules make things interesting because different fighters from different backgrounds can bring different skills, with their advantages and disadvantages, to the ring to compete against one another. Central European audiences are certainly getting an education with every new K-1 competition that comes here, and the widespread live television coverage also helps. Judging by the numbers of fans coming to these events in the television numbers, the audience is growing very quickly."
Saturday's card includes six elimination matches, with substantial representation from Central and Eastern Europe. All bouts will be conducted under K-1 Rules (3min. x 3R Ex.1R).
On the eve of the event, the fighters met the media at the Hotel Stadion in central Budapest.
In the first matchup it will be last year's WGP Las Vegas finalist Zabit Samedov of Belarus taking on Brazilian Muay Thai fighter Vitor Miranda.
Miranda: "Samedov is a great fighter, very experienced, but I trained hard and I will do a tough and beautiful fight. My focus is to be complete, both faster and with better stamina; because I believe to win you have to be complete. I grew up watching Musashi and from my size and stature I think I can fight like him. I want to move forward all the time aggressively.
Samedov: "Miranda is strong, but I will be stronger and faster. And I will be more cuter! I am doing everything I can to win and get to the final Amsterdam, because it is my goal for this year is to make it to the final eight and kill (Defending K-1 Champion) Semmy Schilt!
The next fight will feature boxer Erhan Deniz of Turkey and Rumanian Catalin Morosanu, who, somewhat surprisingly, is a third-year law student.
Deniz: "Two years ago, I went to Holland and trained at Meijiro for a week. I would say definitely the training is better in Holland, there are better fighters and they train only for K-1. Now I'm spending most of my time in Holland training, but I will always fight for Turkey. Turks like fighting, you can see kickboxing on television, and the Turks are proud of me -- they like me and I like them! I want to make them proud, I want to look nice, talk nice, and fight nice. I think Japanese fans know what it means to be a good fighter, I want to show them a good Turkish fighter that they will have confidence in."
Morosanu: "I have six years experience playing rugby, and now for three years I've been fighting. So I suppose I am still a beginner, but I hope to hit hard enough to KO all my opponents with my left uppercut o the liver. In Rumania there are many gyms, all sorts of styles, we like karate, and we love K-1. Personally, I always very much liked Bob Sapp. I think I'm the only fighter in the world who likes him! He didn't have much technique but he had strength, maybe that's something like me?"
In the next fight it will be Muay Thai fighter Sergei Gur of Belarus and kickboxer Freddy Kemayo of France.
Kemayo: "I want to get revenge on Sergei, he beat me last time we fought. I made a mistake and he took advantage of it. He is aggressive and a great fighter, but I want to win. In the last two months I have lost five kilos, with a better diet and jogging and so on, so I believe I'll be faster. Another thing that's motivating me is I have two kids now so I want to be successful for their future."
Gur: "In the last few years, I've trained hard with my gym Chinook. I had about 10 fights since I last competed in K-1, and I beat Freddy Kemayo in Slovakia by KO with knee. Kemayo is not easy to fight against, his main force is that he's unpredictable and that makes him dangerous. But I want to win and I want to go to Amsterdam and win the Europe final. I plan to be aggressive, take the initiative."
Dutch kickboxer Errol Zimmerman will step in against Tovarovic Damir of Croatia.
Zimmerman: "I'm just twenty-one years old, but I've been with the Golden Glory gym for three years. I started fighting when I was 12, but I quickly became too big and too strong so had to fight against guys much older than me. Now at Golden Glory, I spar with top fighters like Stefan Leko, sometimes I feel like I did well, even though I know it's not a fight it's just sparring."
Damir: "I also started training in boxing when I was 12, and I have trained every day since then, have had over 100 boxing matches. I had a chance to go to the 2004 Athens, and in that fight I got a knockdown but lost on points, that's when I made my decision to go into K-1. My inspiration is Mirko CroCop, who I've sparred with often. He only wants KOs, and I think he is the best fighter ever. Of course, when we sparred he was better, but I always stayed with him, and I always stayed on my feet!"
Attila Karacs of Hungary will take on Petr Vondracek of the Czech Republic.
Vondracek: "I want to do my best. I have no comment on Attila. He's tall and he's technical with his punches, so he's dangerous. My manager told me to say no comment. I trained hard but it is a long way to go to get the championship. I want to win here and win in Amsterdam. I want to win every fight, and with a bit of good luck I think I can. Or [laughing] you never know, I might get KO'd in the first round!"
The last of the elimination bouts features top karate stylist Bjorn Bregy of Switzerland and kickboxer Poula Mataele of New Zealand.
Bregy: "Last year, my low point was Amsterdam, where I lost in the final. But beating Ray Sefo two months later was the high point! However, this is a new year. I have lost a few kilos so I can move fast and fight fast. I know Mataele is talented, all New Zealand fighters have spirit that helps me fight better!"
Mataele: "I'm training in Holland now, with Andre Mannaart, and it is totally different than in New Zealand. With Andre's guidance I can get to the real spirit of K-1. Of course I still have a good relationship with Ray, but I don't feel the need to get revenge on his behalf. I just feel lucky to get the opportunity to fight Bregy, he's at the top in Europe. He is big, good physique and strong, but when the bell rings it comes down to who is the best in that moment. There is always the chance for the underdog to come through, and Andre and I have made strategies to do that!"
Last year, K-1 expanded westward from Japan and met with great success in Korea. Now, K-1 heads eastward from Holland, bringing a World Grand Prix event to Central Europe for the first time. K-1’s Europe GP '08 Final Elimination at the Budapest Sports Arena will qualify fighters for the European final, set for April in Amsterdam.
Since K-1's inception in 1993, apart from a solitary trip New Zealand, the WGP Championship has remained in Europe, usually Holland. The first-ever K-1 champion, Branco Citatic, hailed from Croatia. Is there any chance this year's K-1 Champion could also come from Central Europe?
WGP '08 Final Elimination promoter Igor Jushko is cautiously optimistic, "I'm not sure about this very year, it's a question of time, but with the development of fighters and larger productions we are seeing, I think sooner or later -- maybe sooner than later -- we will have a new champion coming Central Europe.
"Holland has a long tradition of kickboxing and Muay Thai, clubs and gyms and competitions are numerous, and they have dominated K-1 for years. But I think the new generation of Dutch fighters are not as competitive; something has changed. Central Europeans on the other hand are very well-positioned, they discovered the sport later than Holland, and have been working very hard trying to catch up, which I think they've accomplished.
"I also think that the audience here is learning to appreciate K-1, the simple rules make things interesting because different fighters from different backgrounds can bring different skills, with their advantages and disadvantages, to the ring to compete against one another. Central European audiences are certainly getting an education with every new K-1 competition that comes here, and the widespread live television coverage also helps. Judging by the numbers of fans coming to these events in the television numbers, the audience is growing very quickly."
Saturday's card includes six elimination matches, with substantial representation from Central and Eastern Europe. All bouts will be conducted under K-1 Rules (3min. x 3R Ex.1R).
On the eve of the event, the fighters met the media at the Hotel Stadion in central Budapest.
In the first matchup it will be last year's WGP Las Vegas finalist Zabit Samedov of Belarus taking on Brazilian Muay Thai fighter Vitor Miranda.
Miranda: "Samedov is a great fighter, very experienced, but I trained hard and I will do a tough and beautiful fight. My focus is to be complete, both faster and with better stamina; because I believe to win you have to be complete. I grew up watching Musashi and from my size and stature I think I can fight like him. I want to move forward all the time aggressively.
Samedov: "Miranda is strong, but I will be stronger and faster. And I will be more cuter! I am doing everything I can to win and get to the final Amsterdam, because it is my goal for this year is to make it to the final eight and kill (Defending K-1 Champion) Semmy Schilt!
The next fight will feature boxer Erhan Deniz of Turkey and Rumanian Catalin Morosanu, who, somewhat surprisingly, is a third-year law student.
Deniz: "Two years ago, I went to Holland and trained at Meijiro for a week. I would say definitely the training is better in Holland, there are better fighters and they train only for K-1. Now I'm spending most of my time in Holland training, but I will always fight for Turkey. Turks like fighting, you can see kickboxing on television, and the Turks are proud of me -- they like me and I like them! I want to make them proud, I want to look nice, talk nice, and fight nice. I think Japanese fans know what it means to be a good fighter, I want to show them a good Turkish fighter that they will have confidence in."
Morosanu: "I have six years experience playing rugby, and now for three years I've been fighting. So I suppose I am still a beginner, but I hope to hit hard enough to KO all my opponents with my left uppercut o the liver. In Rumania there are many gyms, all sorts of styles, we like karate, and we love K-1. Personally, I always very much liked Bob Sapp. I think I'm the only fighter in the world who likes him! He didn't have much technique but he had strength, maybe that's something like me?"
In the next fight it will be Muay Thai fighter Sergei Gur of Belarus and kickboxer Freddy Kemayo of France.
Kemayo: "I want to get revenge on Sergei, he beat me last time we fought. I made a mistake and he took advantage of it. He is aggressive and a great fighter, but I want to win. In the last two months I have lost five kilos, with a better diet and jogging and so on, so I believe I'll be faster. Another thing that's motivating me is I have two kids now so I want to be successful for their future."
Gur: "In the last few years, I've trained hard with my gym Chinook. I had about 10 fights since I last competed in K-1, and I beat Freddy Kemayo in Slovakia by KO with knee. Kemayo is not easy to fight against, his main force is that he's unpredictable and that makes him dangerous. But I want to win and I want to go to Amsterdam and win the Europe final. I plan to be aggressive, take the initiative."
Dutch kickboxer Errol Zimmerman will step in against Tovarovic Damir of Croatia.
Zimmerman: "I'm just twenty-one years old, but I've been with the Golden Glory gym for three years. I started fighting when I was 12, but I quickly became too big and too strong so had to fight against guys much older than me. Now at Golden Glory, I spar with top fighters like Stefan Leko, sometimes I feel like I did well, even though I know it's not a fight it's just sparring."
Damir: "I also started training in boxing when I was 12, and I have trained every day since then, have had over 100 boxing matches. I had a chance to go to the 2004 Athens, and in that fight I got a knockdown but lost on points, that's when I made my decision to go into K-1. My inspiration is Mirko CroCop, who I've sparred with often. He only wants KOs, and I think he is the best fighter ever. Of course, when we sparred he was better, but I always stayed with him, and I always stayed on my feet!"
Attila Karacs of Hungary will take on Petr Vondracek of the Czech Republic.
Vondracek: "I want to do my best. I have no comment on Attila. He's tall and he's technical with his punches, so he's dangerous. My manager told me to say no comment. I trained hard but it is a long way to go to get the championship. I want to win here and win in Amsterdam. I want to win every fight, and with a bit of good luck I think I can. Or [laughing] you never know, I might get KO'd in the first round!"
The last of the elimination bouts features top karate stylist Bjorn Bregy of Switzerland and kickboxer Poula Mataele of New Zealand.
Bregy: "Last year, my low point was Amsterdam, where I lost in the final. But beating Ray Sefo two months later was the high point! However, this is a new year. I have lost a few kilos so I can move fast and fight fast. I know Mataele is talented, all New Zealand fighters have spirit that helps me fight better!"
Mataele: "I'm training in Holland now, with Andre Mannaart, and it is totally different than in New Zealand. With Andre's guidance I can get to the real spirit of K-1. Of course I still have a good relationship with Ray, but I don't feel the need to get revenge on his behalf. I just feel lucky to get the opportunity to fight Bregy, he's at the top in Europe. He is big, good physique and strong, but when the bell rings it comes down to who is the best in that moment. There is always the chance for the underdog to come through, and Andre and I have made strategies to do that!"
Igor Vovchanchyn interview
Question: How did you do in school? Was there a lot of fighting in your childhood? When did you go in for sport?
Igor Vovchanchyn: I did OK in my studies. Fought a lot. Beat everybody up. I was naughty, a bit of a hooligan! (smiling) We had a track and field athletics section in the school, so I joined. I trained there for five years and was the fastest runner. And then I was invited to join a boxing section, where I started my training under the trainer Oleg Ermakov. Then eventually I was invited to join kickboxing: they were looking for a heavier guy. I agreed to. Was swinging my legs already during the training.
Question: During the Warrior`s honour 1 tournament (10.1995), Andrey Besedin managed to quickly submit you. But already a few month later in the Absolute Fighting World Championship 1 tournament, you showed a good ground game defence.
Igor Vovchanchyn: Well, after that loss, I went to Subbotin to wrestle. And wrestled 1.5-2 hours a day. That's how I learned.
Question: Tell about your training. How much different they became from the beginning of your mixed martial arts career to the moment when you were fully concentrated to your Pride fights?
Igor Vovchanchyn: They were different of course. There was more ground (wrestling/grappling) aspect and I was training two times a day. In the morning I had striking exercises and cross-country running, in the evening wrestling and striking.
Question: What are you doing at the moment? Will you agree to return to a few fights if asked?
Igor Vovchanchyn: I am a businessman. I won't return. Sometimes I want to, but I'm already 35. And above all I have injuries. I can't punch with my right hand at all: I have three pins in the elbow. And additional one in the left. Soon I will go to the nose surgery because I can't breath in the usual manner. Therefore there is no sense of me coming back.
Question: How do you comment the collapse of Pride?
Igor Vovchanchyn: (halting for a moment) Well, it's bad. Americans took everything over, but aren't paying much. Monopoly doesn't lead to a good stuff. It would be better if Pride was still alive.
http://russianmma.com/2008/02/interv...mma-pride.html
Question: How did you do in school? Was there a lot of fighting in your childhood? When did you go in for sport?
Igor Vovchanchyn: I did OK in my studies. Fought a lot. Beat everybody up. I was naughty, a bit of a hooligan! (smiling) We had a track and field athletics section in the school, so I joined. I trained there for five years and was the fastest runner. And then I was invited to join a boxing section, where I started my training under the trainer Oleg Ermakov. Then eventually I was invited to join kickboxing: they were looking for a heavier guy. I agreed to. Was swinging my legs already during the training.
Question: During the Warrior`s honour 1 tournament (10.1995), Andrey Besedin managed to quickly submit you. But already a few month later in the Absolute Fighting World Championship 1 tournament, you showed a good ground game defence.
Igor Vovchanchyn: Well, after that loss, I went to Subbotin to wrestle. And wrestled 1.5-2 hours a day. That's how I learned.
Question: Tell about your training. How much different they became from the beginning of your mixed martial arts career to the moment when you were fully concentrated to your Pride fights?
Igor Vovchanchyn: They were different of course. There was more ground (wrestling/grappling) aspect and I was training two times a day. In the morning I had striking exercises and cross-country running, in the evening wrestling and striking.
Question: What are you doing at the moment? Will you agree to return to a few fights if asked?
Igor Vovchanchyn: I am a businessman. I won't return. Sometimes I want to, but I'm already 35. And above all I have injuries. I can't punch with my right hand at all: I have three pins in the elbow. And additional one in the left. Soon I will go to the nose surgery because I can't breath in the usual manner. Therefore there is no sense of me coming back.
Question: How do you comment the collapse of Pride?
Igor Vovchanchyn: (halting for a moment) Well, it's bad. Americans took everything over, but aren't paying much. Monopoly doesn't lead to a good stuff. It would be better if Pride was still alive.
http://russianmma.com/2008/02/interv...mma-pride.html
Lawler Stripped of Icon Belt; Baroni to Fight Hose
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1439
HONOLULU, Feb. 9 -- After months of setbacks and postponements due to injuries, Icon Sport middleweight champion Robbie Lawler (Pictures) was stripped of his title Saturday at a news conference held by the promotion at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
"We had a very rough year in '07," Icon President T.Jay Thompson said. "It's with great seriousness and lots of thought that Icon Sport has taken the unprecedented action of stripping Robbie Lawler (Pictures) of his Icon Sport world middleweight title."
Lawler, Sherdog.com's No. 5-ranked middleweight and a current EliteXC champion, was scheduled to defend his title against Waianae's Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures) as far back as June of last year. However, Lawler suffered multiple injuries in training, his most recent being a torn bicep that forced him out of a fight in December.
The middleweight slugger was not at the news conference but made a statement via text message, according to Thompson: "I'm as disappointed as anybody with the injuries that have prevented me from fighting. I understand what Icon has to do, and I accept it. But I also look forward to earning the shot, getting healthy, and winning the title back and wearing the Icon belt around my waist where it belongs."
"We would have loved to find a way around this, but when you talk about fairness, we were left with no choice," said Thompson, who noted that Lawler could fight on the March 15 Icon Sport card if he is cleared by a doctor. "We've stripped Robbie Lawler (Pictures) of his world title; we haven't left Robbie Lawler (Pictures). Robbie Lawler (Pictures) is still an important part of the Icon family. In good times and bad times, we want to look out for our fighters."
Fighting for the newly vacated middleweight belt on March 15 will be Hose and Phil Baroni (Pictures).
"We had to bring in a fighter worthy of this belt," Thompson said. "We also had to bring in someone physically worthy, and I think someone that brings the honor and respect to the sport that belongs, and someone that really has the drive for greatness. Also, we want someone who's exciting that will push Kala Kolohe to his limit."
MMAWeekly.com had reported in January that Baroni (10-8) was set to fight Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) on March 5 for World Victory Road in Tokyo, this despite Baroni's agent Ken Pavia telling Sherdog.com that no agreement was in place to put the troubled middleweight in the ring.
A source close to the negotiation with the Japanese company told Sherdog.com that Baroni, who has completed a six-month suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission after a positive test for steroids last June, was struggling with a shoulder injury and his weight, and therefore could not make the March 5 date.
The announcement of his fight with Hose just 10 days after the WVR date would seem to contradict those assertions.
Said Baroni: "The champion, Robbie Lawler (Pictures), for whatever reason, didn't seem to want to fight this guy, and I heard about it. Nobody wanted to fight this guy. T.Jay called me, and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So, you know, you can see I'm here right now, and I'm going to take that belt home with me in March, for sure."
The confident 31-year-old New Yorker described Hose as a "a young Phil Baroni (Pictures)."
"He likes to get in there and mix it up, put his chin down and hands up and let ‘em fly," Baroni said. "I think he's got a lot of potential, but it's a big step up. I'm not Robbie Lawler (Pictures)."
The Hawaiian power puncher was also excited at the prospect of meeting one of the division's most notorious fighters.
"I give big respect to Phil," said Hose, 5-1. "One tough guy, one big striker. I love it."
Also announced was the signing of talented 135-pound fighter Mark Oshiro (Pictures) to a six-figure deal with EliteXC, ShoXC and Icon Sport. Oshiro will fulfill the first of six fights against undefeated Chris Cariaso (Pictures) live on Showtime's March 21 ShoXC event at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1439
HONOLULU, Feb. 9 -- After months of setbacks and postponements due to injuries, Icon Sport middleweight champion Robbie Lawler (Pictures) was stripped of his title Saturday at a news conference held by the promotion at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
"We had a very rough year in '07," Icon President T.Jay Thompson said. "It's with great seriousness and lots of thought that Icon Sport has taken the unprecedented action of stripping Robbie Lawler (Pictures) of his Icon Sport world middleweight title."
Lawler, Sherdog.com's No. 5-ranked middleweight and a current EliteXC champion, was scheduled to defend his title against Waianae's Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures) as far back as June of last year. However, Lawler suffered multiple injuries in training, his most recent being a torn bicep that forced him out of a fight in December.
The middleweight slugger was not at the news conference but made a statement via text message, according to Thompson: "I'm as disappointed as anybody with the injuries that have prevented me from fighting. I understand what Icon has to do, and I accept it. But I also look forward to earning the shot, getting healthy, and winning the title back and wearing the Icon belt around my waist where it belongs."
"We would have loved to find a way around this, but when you talk about fairness, we were left with no choice," said Thompson, who noted that Lawler could fight on the March 15 Icon Sport card if he is cleared by a doctor. "We've stripped Robbie Lawler (Pictures) of his world title; we haven't left Robbie Lawler (Pictures). Robbie Lawler (Pictures) is still an important part of the Icon family. In good times and bad times, we want to look out for our fighters."
Fighting for the newly vacated middleweight belt on March 15 will be Hose and Phil Baroni (Pictures).
"We had to bring in a fighter worthy of this belt," Thompson said. "We also had to bring in someone physically worthy, and I think someone that brings the honor and respect to the sport that belongs, and someone that really has the drive for greatness. Also, we want someone who's exciting that will push Kala Kolohe to his limit."
MMAWeekly.com had reported in January that Baroni (10-8) was set to fight Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) on March 5 for World Victory Road in Tokyo, this despite Baroni's agent Ken Pavia telling Sherdog.com that no agreement was in place to put the troubled middleweight in the ring.
A source close to the negotiation with the Japanese company told Sherdog.com that Baroni, who has completed a six-month suspension handed down by the California State Athletic Commission after a positive test for steroids last June, was struggling with a shoulder injury and his weight, and therefore could not make the March 5 date.
The announcement of his fight with Hose just 10 days after the WVR date would seem to contradict those assertions.
Said Baroni: "The champion, Robbie Lawler (Pictures), for whatever reason, didn't seem to want to fight this guy, and I heard about it. Nobody wanted to fight this guy. T.Jay called me, and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So, you know, you can see I'm here right now, and I'm going to take that belt home with me in March, for sure."
The confident 31-year-old New Yorker described Hose as a "a young Phil Baroni (Pictures)."
"He likes to get in there and mix it up, put his chin down and hands up and let ‘em fly," Baroni said. "I think he's got a lot of potential, but it's a big step up. I'm not Robbie Lawler (Pictures)."
The Hawaiian power puncher was also excited at the prospect of meeting one of the division's most notorious fighters.
"I give big respect to Phil," said Hose, 5-1. "One tough guy, one big striker. I love it."
Also announced was the signing of talented 135-pound fighter Mark Oshiro (Pictures) to a six-figure deal with EliteXC, ShoXC and Icon Sport. Oshiro will fulfill the first of six fights against undefeated Chris Cariaso (Pictures) live on Showtime's March 21 ShoXC event at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Hose on ‘Ruthless,' Baroni
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1440
Sherdog.com spoke with Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures), who discussed his upcoming bout with Phil Baroni (Pictures) at Icon Sport on March 15.
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1440
Sherdog.com spoke with Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures), who discussed his upcoming bout with Phil Baroni (Pictures) at Icon Sport on March 15.
Baroni Discusses Icon Sport Title Shot
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1441
Sherdog.com's James Meinhardt spoke with Phil Baroni (Pictures), who will fight Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures) on March 15 for the Icon Sport vacant middleweight crown.
link: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1441
Sherdog.com's James Meinhardt spoke with Phil Baroni (Pictures), who will fight Kala Kolohe Hose (Pictures) on March 15 for the Icon Sport vacant middleweight crown.
K-1 MMA Event Shaping Up
For the past five years, K-1 promoter Fight Entertainment Group has tried to gain a foothold on the MMA market with mixed results.
On one hand, FEG still holds attendance records -- both in Japan and in North America -- for the co-promoted Dynamite shows in 2002 and 2007 respectively. On the other hand, FEG's regular event series for the past three years, HERO'S, has never managed to do more than two good shows per year.
The brainchild of former pro wrestling and RINGS promoter Akira Maeda (Pictures), HERO'S has featured many established stars like Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures), Bob Sapp (Pictures), Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), Caol Uno (Pictures), Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) and Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures) and has even created two new stars in Grand Prix champions Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) and Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). However, the event has been often criticized for lacking focus and continuity.
Although nothing has been confirmed, the news all over Tokyo is that Maeda has been ousted from the company after three years in charge. The 49-year-old Maeda has already devoted his attention to a new event called "The Outsider," which is going to focus on amateur MMA.
FEG's Mirei Sugimoto has confirmed that the company's first MMA show of 2008 is going to take place on March 15. The promotion has not decided who will be in charge of the creative direction of the series, though.
On the possible continuation of the working relationship between FEG and members of former Pride promoters Dream Stage Entertainment, Sugimoto said, "Nothing [is] really confirmed on the matter of working with former DSE staff, [but] since we had a great success on the December 31 event working with them, we are looking forward to continuing this relationship."
What makes this convenience marriage problematic is that many former DSE employees -- including producer Daisuke Sato, narrator Fumihiko Tachiki and announcers Kei Grant and Lenne Hardt -- have aligned themselves with upstart promotion World Victory Road. WVR is a realistic threat to the throne K-1 has held in the Japanese MMA scene following the collapse of Pride.
Although some may argue that this quartet only provides the icing to a show and that FEG could still use the manpower of other former DSE members concerning ticketing, promotion and matchmaking, the production team really is the most valuable asset left of the former Pride empire. After all, they provide the unique feel of a show.
Consequently, it appears highly unlikely that FEG will have the team work their own shows and those of the competition.
Despite the creative direction still being up in the air -- there was a rumor that the event series may be renamed to give the audience the feeling of a fresh start -- FEG has already started booking fighters for the March 15 show.
Headlining the event will be Shooto 167-pound champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) and two-time Hero's 155-pound Grand Prix winner Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). The duo was originally set to meet at the Yarennoka New Year's Eve show at Saitama Super Arena, but the lightweight fight had to be postponed due to a knee ligament injury that the Brazilian sustained in training.
"JZ Calvan," as the 24-year-old Calvancante is billed in Japan, will be joined by ATT teammates Denis Kang (Pictures) and Marcelo Garcia (Pictures) on the card. Also fighting will be former Shooto 154-pound champion Joachim Hansen (Pictures), talented Brazilian Muay Thai specialist Andre Amade (Pictures) and former UFC heavyweight contender Jeff Monson (Pictures). Each fighter has discussed his participation in the event with various sources.
While there are no fights officially confirmed besides Aoki versus Calvancante, the rumor that Monson will take on former Pride top heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) remains persistent.
Kharitonov, a member of Team Golden Glory in Holland, was scheduled to fight on New Year's Eve. However, his duel with kickboxer Siala Siliga (Pictures) was scrapped after "Mighty Mo" was injured in his K-1 World Grand Prix Final reserve match against Paul Slowinski three weeks earlier.
A fair share of Japanese fighters like Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures), Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures), Katsuyori Shibata (Pictures) and Caol Uno (Pictures) are expected to participate on the card as draws for the Japanese fans.
For the past five years, K-1 promoter Fight Entertainment Group has tried to gain a foothold on the MMA market with mixed results.
On one hand, FEG still holds attendance records -- both in Japan and in North America -- for the co-promoted Dynamite shows in 2002 and 2007 respectively. On the other hand, FEG's regular event series for the past three years, HERO'S, has never managed to do more than two good shows per year.
The brainchild of former pro wrestling and RINGS promoter Akira Maeda (Pictures), HERO'S has featured many established stars like Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures), Bob Sapp (Pictures), Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), Caol Uno (Pictures), Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) and Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures) and has even created two new stars in Grand Prix champions Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) and Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). However, the event has been often criticized for lacking focus and continuity.
Although nothing has been confirmed, the news all over Tokyo is that Maeda has been ousted from the company after three years in charge. The 49-year-old Maeda has already devoted his attention to a new event called "The Outsider," which is going to focus on amateur MMA.
FEG's Mirei Sugimoto has confirmed that the company's first MMA show of 2008 is going to take place on March 15. The promotion has not decided who will be in charge of the creative direction of the series, though.
On the possible continuation of the working relationship between FEG and members of former Pride promoters Dream Stage Entertainment, Sugimoto said, "Nothing [is] really confirmed on the matter of working with former DSE staff, [but] since we had a great success on the December 31 event working with them, we are looking forward to continuing this relationship."
What makes this convenience marriage problematic is that many former DSE employees -- including producer Daisuke Sato, narrator Fumihiko Tachiki and announcers Kei Grant and Lenne Hardt -- have aligned themselves with upstart promotion World Victory Road. WVR is a realistic threat to the throne K-1 has held in the Japanese MMA scene following the collapse of Pride.
Although some may argue that this quartet only provides the icing to a show and that FEG could still use the manpower of other former DSE members concerning ticketing, promotion and matchmaking, the production team really is the most valuable asset left of the former Pride empire. After all, they provide the unique feel of a show.
Consequently, it appears highly unlikely that FEG will have the team work their own shows and those of the competition.
Despite the creative direction still being up in the air -- there was a rumor that the event series may be renamed to give the audience the feeling of a fresh start -- FEG has already started booking fighters for the March 15 show.
Headlining the event will be Shooto 167-pound champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) and two-time Hero's 155-pound Grand Prix winner Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). The duo was originally set to meet at the Yarennoka New Year's Eve show at Saitama Super Arena, but the lightweight fight had to be postponed due to a knee ligament injury that the Brazilian sustained in training.
"JZ Calvan," as the 24-year-old Calvancante is billed in Japan, will be joined by ATT teammates Denis Kang (Pictures) and Marcelo Garcia (Pictures) on the card. Also fighting will be former Shooto 154-pound champion Joachim Hansen (Pictures), talented Brazilian Muay Thai specialist Andre Amade (Pictures) and former UFC heavyweight contender Jeff Monson (Pictures). Each fighter has discussed his participation in the event with various sources.
While there are no fights officially confirmed besides Aoki versus Calvancante, the rumor that Monson will take on former Pride top heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) remains persistent.
Kharitonov, a member of Team Golden Glory in Holland, was scheduled to fight on New Year's Eve. However, his duel with kickboxer Siala Siliga (Pictures) was scrapped after "Mighty Mo" was injured in his K-1 World Grand Prix Final reserve match against Paul Slowinski three weeks earlier.
A fair share of Japanese fighters like Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures), Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures), Katsuyori Shibata (Pictures) and Caol Uno (Pictures) are expected to participate on the card as draws for the Japanese fans.
More smack talk from Dana on Fedor and Randy
On Fedor, "a russian who sucks" ... "the biggest pussy move I ever seen" (1:53)
Confirms BJ Penn vs Sean Sherk on UFC 84
Confirms he recieved that Randy Couture is gay prank call
On Randy, "and it ends up he was right, Randy Couture is gay!" (7:06)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_jZs38PdNE
__________________
On Fedor, "a russian who sucks" ... "the biggest pussy move I ever seen" (1:53)
Confirms BJ Penn vs Sean Sherk on UFC 84
Confirms he recieved that Randy Couture is gay prank call
On Randy, "and it ends up he was right, Randy Couture is gay!" (7:06)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_jZs38PdNE
__________________
this is unbeleievable.. great parents..
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damn anybody know how to embed?
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/30jiK1CDvug&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/30jiK1CDvug&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
damn anybody know how to embed?
