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Feb 7, 2006
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Lyoto: “You do a good fight and are the man”

While celebrated the conquest of the UFC belt, Lyoto Machida talked with TATAME.com to share the happiest moment of his career. In the exclusive report with the champion, which you check on the TATAME Magazine #160, Machida spoke about the emotion of the title and how does he faces the fact of being appointed as the best of the category.

"I’m happy, glad, because I never imagined this, but I think it’s still too early to talk. People are very immediate, you make a good fight and already are the guy, but it isn’t like that. This is a very good moment, but I’m not impressed, I don’t think I’m the best, I have a lot to improve", said the fighter, revealing his routine of preparation before the fights. "Before the fight, I stay breathing, concentrating, imagining how the fight would be, and my father sings a samurai song to me, and it helps me a lot", revealed the champion.
 
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MMA regulation comes to Hawaii this week

In a move that could open the door for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's debut in lightweight champ B.J. Penn's home state, the Hawaii Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs' Boxing division will launch MMA regulation this week.

As ESPN.com MMA blogger Jake Rossen recently reported, regulation begins this week. (The needed legislation was passed in 2008.)

Although MMA has long been popular on the island state, the state will now fully sanction and license events with rules similar to those used by the regulatory-body leader, the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

UFC President Dana White often hinted at the possibility of the UFC doing a Hawaii show, and with a full-fledged regulatory body, the likelihood increases.

However, the state also recently implemented heavy taxes and licensing fees on promoters, and White has recently stated it has soured the organization's desire to do a show in Hawaii.

An obvious headliner for a UFC show would be Penn, a Hilo native who has a significant fan base in Hawaii. Already proven an attendance and pay-per-view draw in the continental U.S., he'd surely create a sellout crowd in Hawaii. That's why White (prior to the implementation of the state's heavy fees) even discussed the possibility of an outdoor stadium show that would crush previous North American MMA attendance records.

With Hawaii now joining the crowd, the number of U.S. states that now regulate or are close to regulating MMA has topped 80 percent.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel set for "Affliction: Trilogy," Brett Cooper scratched from card

Following his brutal knockout of Pedro Rizzo this past weekend at "Ultimate Chaos," Gilbert Yvel (36-13-1) has secured a spot on the Aug. 1 "Affliction: Trilogy" card, where he'll meet fellow heavyweight Paul Buentello (27-10).

Prior to "Ultimate Chaos," Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio said the Yvel vs. Rizzo winner would likely take the spot that opened when Tim Sylvia was pulled from the card following a recent eight-second loss to Ray Mercer at Adrenaline MMA III.

On today's edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), Atencio said the Buentello vs. Yvel matchup is set – and that preliminary-card fighter Brett Cooper will be pulled from the lineup.

"That's definitely the fight," Atencio said of the Buentello vs. Yvel matchup. "Unfortunately, for Rizzo, he took another beating. A real bad one. I felt sorry for him, man."

Yvel, though, should be in good health for "Trilogy," which takes place in just five weeks.

"He looks no worse for the wear," Atencio said. "He'll be ready to go."

However, one fighter who won't be ready to go is Cooper (9-5), who was slated to meet popular Mexican fighter Akbarh Arreola (14-4-1) on Aug. 1. However, as was the case with Sylvia, Atencio doesn't want to rush Cooper back into competition following a brutal knockout loss to Waachiim Spiritwolf at "Ultimate Chaos" and that he plans to pull him from the "Affliction: Trilogy" card.

"I think we're going to hold off (on using Cooper)," Atencio said.

Atencio said UFC veteran Din Thomas (24-8), who was a late scratch from "Ultimate Chaos" after troubles cutting weight and miscommunication with the state commission, could take Cooper's spot, though nothing is yet official.

The main card of "Affliction: Trilogy," including Buentello vs. Yvel, airs on pay-per-view and takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Most of the night's preliminary card (aside from two M-1 "showcase fights") airs on HDNet.

Buentello enters the event with six wins in his past seven fights and 12 in his past 14. The former top UFC heavyweight contender left the UFC after a 3-1 stint in the organization and joined Strikeforce, where he's gone 3-1 with the lone loss to Alistair Overeem in a title fight for the promotion's first-ever heavyweight belt in November 2007.

Buentello, though, has rebounded for two Affliction victories. The first came over Gary Goodridge via unanimous decision in July 2008, and most recently, he defeated Kirill "Baby Fedor" Sidelnikov via third-round TKO at January's "Day of Reckoning" show.

He now meets a similarly surging heavyweight in Yvel, a Dutch fighter who's 7-1 in his past eight fights. The PRIDE veteran suffered a third-round submission loss (due to strikes) to Josh Barnett during his January Affliction debut. It remains his only loss of the past three years.

Yvel's past eight victories have all come via stoppage (seven via knockout), including this past Saturday's violent knockout of Rizzo. Yvel survived his opponent's takedown and ground and pound, and once he got back to his feet, he dropped Rizzo and blasted him a series of blows before the referee intervened at the 2:10 mark.

The latest "Affliction: Trilogy" card now includes:

MAIN CARD

* Champ Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett (for WAMMA heavyweight title)
* Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
* Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
* Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron
* Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
* Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
* Deividas Taurosevicius vs. TBA
* Akbarh Arreola vs. TBA
* Mark Hominick vs. TBA
* Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats (will not be aired)
* Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs (will not be aired)
 
Feb 7, 2006
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UFC scores television deal in China, boasts of 240 million potential viewers

The Ultimate Fighting Championship's worldwide television audience could expand significantly following today's announcement that the UFC has struck a TV deal with Inner Mongolia Television.

It's the UFC's first-ever TV deal in China.

Inner Mongolia Television, known as NMTV, is available in 80 million households with the potential to reach 240 million viewers throughout all provinces of China, according to today's announcement.

"Obviously, China is a huge market, and the Chinese understand the martial arts probably better than anyone else in the world," UFC President Dana White stated. "It's a no-brainer that UFC programming will be appreciated in China and will become a big hit for the NMTV network."

Beginning this month, NMTV will air up to 16 monthly hours of UFC-related programming, including "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series, "UFC Unleashed" highlights shows and "UFC All Access" fighter-profile programs. NMTV will also have the option to air recent UFC pay-per-view telecasts.

The programming airs in weekend timeslots.

Although NMTV, launched in 1969, is available throughout the country, it still reaches just a small portion of China's estimated 1.4 billion residents, many of whom don't have access to television programming.

With the latest broadcast deal, the UFC now has a television presence in more than 100 countries, and the company is the largest PPV content provider in the world.
 
Feb 7, 2006
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BELLATOR USES POWER OF YOUTUBE, SOCIAL MEDIA

In this era of viral video, Bellator Fighting Championships has emerged as the success story of the year.

Few American promoters focus on viral marketing, despite its relatively low cost and ease of use. Industry leader UFC has gotten into the game in recent years, using their ample resources to promote upcoming cards on the net. And they’ve recently succumbed to the Twitter bug, enlisting president Dana White and others to bypass traditional media channels and feed information directly to the public.

Bellator FC was yet another MMA startup looking to capitalize on the recent popularity of the sport. It had a unique focus for an American company, targeting Latino fight fans, and a good partner to deliver the content in ESPN Deportes.

It was committed to using the power of user-generated video sites like YouTube to promote its product. But it wasn’t until the promotion's fourth show that the idea took off, and Bellator had Toby Imada and Yahir Reyes to thank for that.

“There are companies that do nothing but try to create those kind of moments for brands and product,” said Rebney. “I knew, and our Internet specialists that work for our company knew, that you can’t create those. It’s nothing that you can edit. They’re going to happen or they aren’t going to happen. So, until Toby pulled off his miracle, and Yahir had that moment, you couldn’t create them.”

In the two years before Bellator launched, Rebney studied demographic information on the MMA market and arrived at a conclusion known to all serious fans: this sport thrives on the Internet.

“They’re not doing an enormous amount of reading and they’re not doing an enormous amount of television watching, but man, are they online,” said Rebney about the MMA faithful. “So we knew that was a really key part of our marketing strategy.

“From the moment we had our first events, and the moment we had our first big highlights, we sat in the truck all night, editing those, putting our brand on them, and getting them out there. And not getting them out there for pay; just feeding the content out there week in and week out, so people could go, ‘whoa, that’s really cool, I’ve never seen Bellator before, I should tune in and watch that show or buy a ticket to that event.’ It was a strategy that we had long before the season occurred.

“And if somebody from above was smiling on us, Toby pulled off the submission of the year; the next week, Yahir pulls off what I believe is the knockout of the year; then it just keeps going. It just kept snowballing.”

Viral video, as it turned out, was the best bang for the buck. Bellator gathered buzz that might have taken years to create otherwise.

“The bottom line is, if I had had an additional 10 million dollars to spend, I couldn’t have gotten nearly the traction that I got by sending those clips out and putting them on YouTube,” said Rebney.

He says the tournament format sets the environment for the spectacular finishes that have given his promotion “legs.”

“People were like, ‘oh, you’re so lucky,’” said Rebney. “First, I was like, yeah, we are pretty lucky. And then when it happened the next week, and the next week, and the next week. To a certain extent, there’s luck involved, and then, you’ve got athletes competing in a tournament format, where if you lose, you go home. Where if you win, you position yourself to make substantially more money than if you lose. And if you’re an undercard feature fighter, this is basically you’re audition to see if we’ll invite you to the tournament the next season. Guys were trying things, willing to take risks and try things they weren’t willing to try otherwise.”

When Bellator’s next season starts, likely in October, the promotion will continue to use the medium to promote its product.

“This is not like, we’ve launched the brand and now you’re going to see a different dynamic from us,” he said. “You’re going to see the same kind of dynamic as we continue to build it and establish more fighters under the umbrella of what we’re doing.”

And if the highlights from the second season match the first, they should do just fine.
 
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JON JONES HEADS INTO HIS TITLE FIGHT AT UFC 100

Jon Jones is long removed from his days as a YouTube warrior; mining the Internet for instructional clips he could incorporate into his arsenal.

One of his favorite concepts from his wrestling days was misdirection – fake one way and go another. Keep your opponent off-balance. Be unpredictable.

These days, he travels a great deal around his home state of New York, still learning to fight, trying to glean as many perspectives as possible. Now, everything is in real time.

A year ago, he was a bouncer with a JC wrestling championship under his belt. MMA was quick money and would support his pregnant fiancé. But it would also appeal to an unbinding love for Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali.

“Bruce Lee’s strategy was, ‘the way is to have no way,’” he said. “So, basically that’s just being formless, trying to incorporate as many angles, aspects, and mindsets from different trainers and cultures.”

It’s been around a year since he leaped headfirst into the sport, and has a camp in Team Bomb Squad. Many peg him as the next big thing in the light heavyweight division. He did it with misdirection – grab a kick, throw a spinning elbow, stop Joe Silva in his tracks.

Wise beyond his 22 years, he’s not ready to fall into the trap of believing his own hype.

“I am grateful for all the compliments I get, and it motivates me,” he told MMAWeekly Radio recently. “The days I don’t want to get up and go for a run, or I’m starting to feel sorry for myself and not train as hard, sometimes I think about all the people who have faith in me and believe I’m going to be the next champion. I try to carry myself like a championship mindset, and work like a champion.

“But at the same time, hearing a lot of those things can really mislead a younger fighter and make him believe he’s greater than what he is. Right now I’m just obsessed about my weaknesses and correcting those, becoming a more aware and alert fighter.”

Jones uses his idols as reference points for evolving as a fighter.

“My jiu-jitsu’s not as strong as it needs to be, some of my defense is not as strong as it needs to be, and I know these things,” he said. “There’s just so much more that I need to know. Martial arts is endless, there’s no one who knows it all. Bruce Lee was great, but did he have takedown abilities, did he have great jiu-jitsu? No. Right now, I’m trying to be a true champion, and I want to do the things that Bruce Lee wasn’t figuring out. I want to be like a Muhammed Ali that can actually wrestle and do jiu-jitsu. I’m hungry to be the best. I know there’s a lot of guys out there saying that, but I truly mean it.”

Jake O’Brien is next at UFC 100, and there’s not a whole lot of mystery about the course of the fight. O’Brien likes to throw hands, and later, shoot. Jones is happy to detail his plan to counteract that skill set.

“O’Brien has been shooting that same double leg takedown for the three or four years he’s been in the UFC, and I’ve prepared myself to stop his takedowns,” he said. “I’ve been working submissions from the front headlock position, and I’m prepared to be there a lot.”

One of the places he hangs his hat is with the Cornell wrestling team. Until recently, they were dumping him on his head every day.

“Those guys are all heavyweights, and they’ve been shooting on me a lot,” he continued. “It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to stuff a lot of those shots. And I believe that those guys are on a complete different level of collegiate wrestling than Jake O’Brien. I’m preparing to push him into deep waters and expose a lot of the things that maybe a lot of fighters haven’t, except maybe Cain Velasquez.”

O’Brien is still trying to re-invent himself at light heavyweight after a failed run as a heavy. At UFC 94, he won a split decision against Christian Wellisch in a lackluster fight. But on any given day, he can still dump opponents on their head.

“I know he knows a lot more, and I’m not going to underestimate him, at all,” said Jones. “My plan is to go out there and do what I want to do, and make it my home the very first round.”

It doesn’t bother him that old opponent Stephan Bonnar is billed above him.

“I wasn’t disappointed at all,” he said. “I’m just really privileged to be on the card in the first place, and a lot of my friends had concerns about Bonnar being on the card, and I tried to explain that Bonnar’s a great guy and has tons of fans. The UFC’s just doing what’s necessary, and my time will come.”

If he’s ready to hype anything, it will be when he grows out of his young body and gets the “man strength” he’s waited for. That will take time. The “rookie mistakes” he says he’s made – that have actually turned into gifts – will need to be refined.

“I feel like I have a little momentum going on, but I try not to focus on the past,” he said. “Muhammed Ali says you give different strokes for different folks. So I just focus on Jake O’Brien and I take it one match at a time. Right now, O’Brien is my title fight, and all my energy and focus on him.”
 
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Keeping it simple: Jon Fitch UFC 100 interview exclusive with MMAmania.com

Jon Fitch is the Rodney Dangerfield of mixed martial arts: he gets “no respect.”

After getting cut from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter at the last minute by the show’s producers, he was forced to take the long road to the pinnacle of the sport. His treacherous journey was filled with one under card fight after the next. It would also be one victory after the next, including wins over top flight welterweights like Josh Burkman, Brock Larson, Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez.

UFC brass finally took noticed after he won eight UFC fights in a row (15 straight overall), which tied him with Royce Gracie’s all-time record for consecutive UFC wins (a record that was later broken by Anderson Silva at UFC 97).

It was only then that he was deemed qualified enough and marketable enough to be issued a shot at welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre — many other fighters have earned title shots accomplishing much less.

UFC 87 did not go as planned, however, with Fitch losing a five-round unanimous decision to “Rush” back in August 2008. It was his first loss ever at 170 pounds in his professional career, which began back in July 2002. His other two career losses were fought at the 205-pound light heavyweight limit.

Fitch regrouped and won in dominating fashion over Pride FC veteran Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 via unanimous decision. He was once again relegated to the under card for this event.

That’s not the case in his next fight — Fitch is set to battle young Brazilian Paulo Thiago at UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11. It’s one more important step in his journey back to another potential shot at the title.

Naturally, it won’t be easy — few fights are on the loaded UFC welterweight class. Thiago is coming off a knockout victory over Fitch’s American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate, Josh Koscheck, at UFC 95, which marked his Octagon debut. He’ll be out to make it two straight in the UFC and against AKA on fight night.

Fitch took some time out of his busy schedule to discuss The Ultimate Fighter, nicknames, MMA in Indiana, cartoons, and, of course, Paulo Thiago.

Check it out:

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I want to go back to the casting of The Ultimate Fighter 1 season. A lot of people may not be aware just how close you were to becoming a contestant on the show. Talk a little bit about how that played out for you and how they ultimately came to their decision.

Jon Fitch: I went through the whole process and everything. I was ready to go quit my job. I told my friends and family that I was getting ready to go. I was actually at the airport waiting to get on the plane. I only had about 15 minutes until boarding started. I got a phone call from one of the producers. He pretty much said, “Sorry but we reformatted the show and we don’t have room for you so don’t get on the plane.”

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Everyone knows you had to tie Royce Gracie’s consecutive wins record before they gave you a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Do you think that since you weren’t on the TUF show it was a disadvantage to you in the following years as far as marketability and popularity goes?

Jon Fitch: Yeah anyone who has been on The Ultimate Fighter has had a huge advantage in exposure that’s for sure. I fought a lot of dark matches on the under cards. It was pretty much impossible for most people to have been able to watch my fighting and my progression and know anything about me.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I want to move forward to the night of UFC 94. Before your fight your opponent Akihiro Gono and his cornermen are dressed in evening gowns like they’re going to prom. At what point did you take notice and what was going through your head?

Jon Fitch: We were getting staged to get called to the cage and, you know, there is a little tunnel. People might not know this but you’re right there with your opponent in that area. There is not much distance between us.

We walked around the corner and we started approaching since he was announced first and at the tunnel already. I started noticing some dresses. I was like, “What the hell are these ring girls doing? Why don’t they have their normal ring girl outfits on? What’s going on?”

I noticed the big hair and stuff like that and I was like, “Oh shit, that’s Gono and his guys.” I kind of put my head down and started looking at the floor. I didn’t want to start laughing at that time. I wanted to stay focused. I made sure not to watch his entrance just because I didn’t want to start laughing too hard.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Do you think they were trying to psyche you out or that’s just how those guys roll?

Jon Fitch: He’s been in the business for so long he’s an entertainer. It’s just one of the things he likes to do is make an entrance out of it. He has fun with fighting and that’s the way it should be. I have more respect for guys that can make fun of themselves and do stuff like that than the guys who pretend to be tough guys or hard asses and put on a mean face.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I spoke with your teammate Mike Swick a couple weeks ago. He told me how you guys used to watch Maury Povich a lot in between training sessions when you were roommates?

Jon Fitch: We lived together for about seven months. We’d get done training about two o’clock. We’d get home and shower and everything and have our lunch and it would be time to watch Maury and the “who’s not the father episodes” would be on.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What else are you watching these days? UFC Unleashed? O’Reilly Factor?

Jon Fitch: I watch a lot of cartoons; Futurama, Family Guy, Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken. There are a bunch of good ones on Cartoon Network.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Does that mean you’re a South Park guy too?

Jon Fitch: Yeah for sure.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Please tell me you’ve seen the Maury Povich South Park episode then?

Jon Fitch: “Boy with balls on chin.” Oh yeah!

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I’ve always wondered about this. Let’s say you want to watch UFC 101. Does the UFC make you buy the event on pay-per-view if you want to view it at home?

Jon Fitch: Yeah if I wanted to watch it at home I’d have to pay for it. Luckily I’m in a position where I can usually get some money out of somebody to make an appearance locally.

I’ll have guys over at my house sometimes and I’ll get it just so the younger guys (AKA teammates) can watch it. We don’t just watch. We try to breakdown fights too. We try to think about why certain things happen in certain fights and what techniques are working and which ones aren’t.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I wanted to ask you if you have a favorite catchphrase that Mike Goldberg or Joe Rogan use time and time again or is there one thing they always say about you that makes you laugh?

Jon Fitch: No, I’m fighting so I don’t really know anything about what they say. I don’t really hear them. Probably the greatest thing Joe has ever said on the air was “Goat’s vagina.” I can’t remember what he was talking about but it was something about a goat’s vagina.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re officially a UFC veteran at this point but still no nickname. I heard one of your training partners Jake Shields say recently that he’s been trying to avoid one his whole career. Are you trying to do the same?

Jon Fitch: I just don’t think there is a reason for having one. The really sad thing is that guys give themselves a nickname. I think that is the most pathetic thing someone could ever do, give themselves a nickname.

A nickname is something that should come from your teammates or your friends. It should be something you don’t like really. I can’t just show up one day and tell everyone to call me “Cobra.” It’s something I don’t need and nothing has ever really stuck. I think I just have a strong name as it is and it’s easy to remember. Just Jon Fitch is enough for people.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What about “Jock” Fitch? You like that?

Jon Fitch: (laughs) I think I’ll just wait until people start calling me “Champ.”

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Going back to Swick. What did you think of his performance against Ben Saunders at UFC 99? Did it pretty much go like you expected it to?

Jon Fitch: Yeah it did. We weren’t really expecting Saunders to take him down quite as fast and hold him down as much as he was trying, but we had a good idea on how that fight was going to go and Mike did a great job.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You have probably heard by now that the state of Indiana is now sanctioning MMA as of June 1. How excited are you about the possibility of fighting close to where you grew up and went to school?

Jon Fitch: It’s awesome. I’m super pumped about it. In fact, I’m going to head back to Indiana after my fight and put on a couple free seminars and a couple open workouts for the media at my buddies gym in Lafayette and at a gym I found in Ft. Wayne also.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Do you still consider yourself a Hoosier at heart or have you officially “Gone Hollywood” on us Jon?

Jon Fitch: I’m still a country boy. When I was living in Indiana I didn’t think I was a country boy until I got out to California and I realized how country I was. I’m still a simple person at heart. The materialistic crap that goes along with the west coast I’m not into at all.

I think it throws a lot of people off because people approach me about making money and stuff like that and even with sponsors and things. I’m more concerned with quality of products and whether or not I actually use them rather than how much they’re willing to pay me to say I use it.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Your next opponent is Paulo Thiago at UFC 100. He’s still a bit of a mystery at this point. What do you know about him as far as his strengths and weaknesses?

Jon Fitch: He’s scrappy. That’s the biggest thing about him. He’s a really scrappy guy. He can come in at different angles than you’re used to. He can do things he’s really not supposed to and still get away with it. I have to be very careful and very tight with my technique and keep some good pressure on him but I can’t get into that risk game.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Your teammate Josh Koscheck fought him at UFC 95. Has he helped you out a lot as far as what you can expect to see from Paulo?

Jon Fitch: We couldn’t really get much out of that fight. It was a short fight. Koscheck was doing a good job and winning the fight up until he got caught. You can’t learn a lot from it but we we’re able to catch some videos of him and see some other fights and get a perspective of what he’s about.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): If you’re fortunate enough to get past Paulo do you feel like that will be enough to earn you another title shot against the Georges St. Pierre/Thiago Alves winner?

Jon Fitch: I might need another fight. Thiago and GSP are fighting the same night. I’d like to fight again sooner than probably they’re going to be ready to after that fight. It depends on the bosses and what they say. I know that I need at least one or two more impressive wins, not just normal victories, and I know I’ll put myself right back into a title shot.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Who do you like in the GSP/Alves fight?

Jon Fitch: I’m not going to make a prediction on the fight. I will just say that I want GSP to win because he’s the guy that I want to fight for the belt.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): One of the UFC 100 fights that isn’t getting a lot of attention is the Joe Rogan/Bruce Buffer exhibition match at the UFC Fan Expo. Who are you putting your money on (Note: This was an April Fools joke)?

Jon Fitch: Oh really? I haven’t heard anything about that. I don’t know if Buffer trains much. I know Rogan has some jiu-jitsu so I might have to go with Rogan on that one.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Well Jon that’s all I had for you. Would you like to pass along anything to your fans out there or thank any sponsors?

Jon Fitch: Check out FitchFighter.com and MMAInstructional.com. They can learn how to fight like me, from me, and also from Spencer Fisher, Frankie Edgar, Dave Camarillo, and Dan Camarillo. It’s a great Web site and great resource if you don’t have a lot of good instructors nearby.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Thanks Jon. I appreciate the time. Best of luck at UFC 100 and we’ll run you down again soon.

Jon Fitch: Alright, cool man.
 
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Latest On Gomi! Vale Tudo Japan 2009 In November

From Gomi’s latest interview in MMA magazine Kamipro it seems that he is currently in negotiations with Strikeforce, Affliction, and UFC. However, since he showed intentions to participate at Vale Tudo Japan 2009 in November, it looks like an exclusive contract with UFC won’t work.

Strikeforce have presented Gomi the right to challenge the winner of Thomson vs. Melendez, but negotiations are quite rough going.

The reason that the negotiations with Strikeforce and Affliction are quite rough going right now is because of the fight money. It seems like there is a gap between the money that Gomi’s side wants and what the organizations are offering.

Dana White and Gomi’s side were having developments the year before last also, but they couldn’t get to an agreement because of money either.

It seems that Strikeforce’s offer with a win bonus, a title challenge, Showtime (tv, sponsors, etc.) is the best. However, because of the base pay they haven’t come to an agreement yet. If Gomi signs with Strikeforce, he will probably have his first fight on their August 15th or September events.
 
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SWICK VS. KAMPMANN IN WORKS FOR UFC 103

A welterweight contest between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann is likely for UFC 103, MMAWeekly.com has learned from sources close to the fight.

While bout agreements have not been signed, both parties have agreed to the match-up.

UFC 103 is expected to take place on Sept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the promotion’s second trip to the Lone Star State. The event has yet to be announced by the UFC.

Swick (14-2) is coming off an impressive victory over Ben Saunders at UFC 99. In a recent interview with Raw Vegas, he hoped for a bout with former champion Matt Hughes, but said Kampmann was a likely alternate.

“I want the Hughes fight, and we’re trying to work it out, but it doesn’t seem like it’s happening, so it might be Kampmann,” said Swick.

The 30-year-old American Kickboxing Academy standout said he expected to be in line for a title shot if he won his next fight.

Kampmann (15-2) recently dispatched Carlos Condit in the former WEC champion’s UFC debut in April. The win was his second straight since dropping a quick TKO loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC 88 last September.

Earlier this month, the 27-year-old Dane turned down a last-minute offer to face T.J. Grant at “The Ultimate Fighter” season nine finale when Rory Markham was forced to withdraw due to injury.
 
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The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale nabs 2,217 attendees for a $500K gate

The Nevada State Athletic Commission today released official figures for The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, and the June 20 event did even better than UFC officials initially announced.

After the event, which took at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, a UFC spokesperson said the show drew an attendance just north of 1,800 with a live gate of $500,000.

According to an email NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer today sent to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), the event actually drew 2,217 (1,801 paid) attendees for a live gate of $498,650.

The event was announced a sellout on fight night.
 
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Din Thomas labels "Ultimate Chaos" removal a "miscommunication," readies for time off

When Fight Force International and Prize Fight Promotions partnered up to put on Saturday's pay-per-view event "Ultimate Chaos" in Biloxi, Miss., the organizations must certainly have hoped the title of the card would not end up providing an applicable moniker for Friday's weigh-in process as well.

Unfortunately in what featherweight Din Thomas described as a "miscommunication," a combination of choices by the athletic commission in charge and opponent Javier Vazquez forced the cancellation of the bout.

"It's nobody's fault really," Thomas today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "It's a miscommunication. But the commission said, 'Look, we don't even care about taking a percentage, but Javier wants a percentage.' He was trying to get me to pay him so I could still fight."

The issues all started when Thomas registered slightly over the 146-pound allowance for a featherweight contest.

"I got down to 146.6 pounds," Thomas said. "The thing is, when I was cutting weight they didn't have the proper scale, so I didn't know if I was on or not. I didn't really care. If I was off I would have just gone and cut it.

"I'm expecting (UFC emcee) Joe Rogan to say, 'Yeah, you've got two hours to cut the weight.' But they didn't tell me at this card. I was on stage, I weighed in at 146.6 (pounds), I looked at the commission, and I said, 'Am I OK?' And they said, 'Oh, yeah. You'll be fine. Don't worry.'"

Thinking all was well, Thomas began to rehydrate.

"Me and Javier, we squared up, we posed, we took pictures, and I was like, 'Damn, I'm all good. I ain't even gotta cut,'" Thomas said. "And I thought I may even have to cut, but they told me I was fine.

"So I went and I started [rehydrating]. As soon as I started [rehydrating], Javier gonna start bitching, 'Oh, man. He needs to cut the weight.' I was like, 'Damn.'"

Thomas said he doesn't blame Vazquez for asking he weigh-in at the bout's contracted limit. He simply wishes Vazquez would have spoken up a little sooner.

"I'm not blaming [Vazquez]," Thomas said. "If I have to be at 146 (pounds) on the dot, it's only fair. If he had to make it, I have to make it, too. But he hasn't fought in the last few years, and he probably isn't used to being in the big shows either, where it's like if you ain't on [weight], you need to establish it right then and there that I need to cut the weight.

"I would have dropped my drawers and probably been on weight right there. If I wasn't, then I would have been maybe an ounce over, but I could have just lost that at the hotel."

Unfortunately for Thomas, beginning the rehydrating procedures then made it impossible to reverse the process.

"I was bone dry," Thomas said. "I was like a burnt piece of chicken in the sauna – just bone dry.

"After [rehydrating] and going back in the sauna, I put on a pound. I was dead tired. I went back and I weighed in, and they tried to get me to stick around for this rules meeting, but I was like, 'Forget this rules meeting. I've got to call my doctor.' My doctor came up, and he put three IV's in me, and I still wasn't urinating. He was like, 'You need to chill.'"

Thomas said Vazquez's camp tried to keep the fight together despite Thomas' missing weight, but they insisted a 20 percent purse-penalty fine be levied.

"They were trying to get me to fight," Thomas said. "They were saying, 'You can fight, but you've got to give up 20 percent (of your purse).' I told them to go take a hike.

"I was like, 'Man, at this point, the way I feel now, you should be paying me to fight.' That night I told them, 'Listen, I'll fight him, but I'm not paying a percentage.' I told them that, and they didn't get back to me that night. The next day, I woke up and I still felt like crap. They were like, 'What are you going to do? Are you going to pay him the percentage to fight?' I was like, 'If he wants me to pay him a percentage to fight him, just forget it. I need to go home. I need medical attention. I'm hurting.' My kidney's were hurting. I didn't actually [urinate] until 4 p.m. the next day."

Thomas said he never spoke to Vazquez directly, but rather through representatives of his camp. In the end, Thomas decided it was best for him to simply walk away from the contest – despite having invested three months in a training camp.

"I respect Javier's ability," Thomas said. "I wasn't going to give him that extra advantage. The last time I fought hurt was Kenny Florian, and I lost that fight. On paper, everybody just said Kenny's a better fighter than me. I ain't one to make [Javier's] comeback better by beating me when I was under a bad condition.

"I'm a professional. I'll take the loss on the money here, but I'm not trying to give anybody an advantage on beating me."

Local fighter Mark Kergosien took Thomas' spot on absolute last-second notice, and Vazquez earned the win in just 59 seconds.

Despite the odd circumstances surrounding the bout, Thomas said he has no hard feelings with Vazquez.

"I never take a fight with emotion," Thomas said. "There's no emotion in it for me. If [another bout with Vazquez] happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

"But I tell you one thing, if we would have fought and I would have lost, then it would have been emotional. I would have went to his house and fought him again in three months. So I just decided to step down and not even risk it. But if it happens – I'm sure has a good name now. He put on a good performance. I'm sure it's a fight that people would like to see."

Thomas isn't sure when he'll return to action. While Affliction has some slots open for its Aug. 1 event, "Trilogy," a company with which the American Top Team product has a contract, Thomas said he needs a little time away.

"The Aug. 1 card, that's just too soon for me," Thomas said. "I fought in February, I fought in March, then I had to go through this whole little debacle. To fight in another month now, I'm just kind of a little worn out.

"I'm a little tired, a little burnt out."
 
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"Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs. Cyborg" draws 2,836 fans for $86K live gate

Strikeforce's most recent "Challengers Series" card, headlined by a welterweight clash between Joe Villasenor and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, drew 2,836 attendees to ShoMart Center in Kent, Wash., for a live gate of $85,805.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently requested and today received the official figures for the June 19 event from the Washington State Department of Licensing.

The report did not state how many, if any, of the tickets were issued complimentary.

The reported figures represent an average revenue of $30.26 per ticket issued.

"Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs. Cyborg" was the second edition of the organization's newly branded "Challengers" series events. Attendance figures for the first edition, held May 15 in Fresno, Calif., were not released despite multiple requests for the information from the California State Athletic Commission.

The event's main card, which also featured victories by Tim Kennedy, Jorge Gurgel and Sarah Kaufman, was broadcast on Showtime.

While both Strikeforce and Showtime have shied away from comparisons to the now-defunct ProElite brand, the "Strikeforce Challengers" attendance marks a significant increase from the similarly themed "ShoXC" events, also broadcast on Showtime.

ProElite staged several shows at the 1,300 seat Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif., and the similarly sized Table Mountain Casino in Friant, Calif., while Strikeforce has elected to branch out to larger venues and more traditional arena settings.

A previous report from the Washington State Department of Licensing's Professional Athletics Program confirmed the June 19 event had a total disclosed payroll of $198,500.
 
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Nick Diaz vs. Joe Riggs II set for “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg”

Nick Diaz is expected to face off with an old rival in Joe Riggs on August 15 on the undercard of Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.

The event is scheduled to take place at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California.

Sources within Strikeforce recently confirmed the bout according to a recent report on Carson’s Corner.

This bout between the two will be the second professional mixed martial arts match-up but their third fight as the two traded blows in the hospital following their first encounter.

Riggs won the previous match-up between the two at UFC 57 as he edged out Diaz in a hard fought unanimous decision victory.

Diaz last saw action on May 6 where he submitted Scott Smith with a rear naked choke in the third round of “Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields”,the same card where Riggs bested Phil Baroni by unanimous decision in his last outing.
 
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Sherdog Prospect Watch: Jacob McClintock

In the world of mixed martial arts gyms, Arizona Combat Sports compares favorably to a hungry pack of wolves. For the past five years, Jacob McClintock has sat at the back of the pack, biding his time. Now, the 21-year-old from Yuma, Ariz., projects as the next big thing to come out of ACS.

Arizona Combat Sports has built a reputation for teaching elite-level wrestlers -- Ryan Bader, CB Dollaway and Aaron Simpson come to mind -- the skills necessary to become complete mixed martial artists. In McClintock, ACS coaches were presented with the challenge of transforming a top-shelf jiu-jitsu player into a fighter who could compete anywhere in the cage.

“When I started training jiu-jitsu, it was always a goal of mine to start doing MMA. I always enjoyed competition,” McClintock says. “I like to test myself against other people. Jiu-jitsu is good, but there is not quite the money to make. You have to either open up a gym or be one of the top guys in the world and get paid to compete.”

McClintock comes from a blue-collar background. His father worked in construction and moved the family to Phoenix to find work in one of the country’s fastest-growing metropolises. His work ethic never translated to success in the classroom or other extracurricular activities, however. In McClintock’s circle, he was always known as the “jiu-jitsu guy.”

“Training has always come easy to me,” he says. “Doing school work … I was never that type of kid. I couldn’t sit in class and pay attention. It’s easy for me to watch a jiu-jitsu move, then imitate it.”

When probed by the question about what he might have done with his life if professional MMA was not an option, McClintock quickly cringed and answered with candor.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” he says. “I was always into cars, so maybe something with that. Nothing really ever tickled my fancy like jiu-jitsu. Everybody here on the planet is sent here to do something. I think jiu-jitsu and MMA is something I was put here to do.”

When McClintock began training at Arizona Combat Sports in 2004, the gym was in the process of trying to establish its name in the MMA world. He described the facilities as “one jiu-jitsu mat and a ring,” only four times the size of the gym’s current back office. After two years of jiu-jitsu training under ACS’s Gustavo Dantas, McClintock made his MMA debut at the age of 19.

“It was his first fight, too,” McClintock says. “He was supposed to be a kickboxer for New Zealand. I ended up just getting double under hooks, taking him down, passed to mount and getting a TKO in the first round. That was good because for your first fight you really don’t want to get your faced smashed in.”

Undefeated in five fights, McClintock’s last two appearances have gone down as perhaps his most impressive. A win over fellow welterweight regional prospect Zach Taylor at a Total Combat show in 2008 provided McClintock with a good sense of how he stacked up against other up-and-coming fighters. His last bout in February was accompanied by a 20-hour flight to St. Petersburg, Russia, followed by a match with Sultan Tikhaev, a veteran of the Russian MMA circuit. Other young fighters may have crumpled under the outside pressures, but McClintock and Team ACS took it all in stride, from the weight cut to the five thousand Russians who packed the stands.

“I actually fought at 11 p.m. and got on a plane to come home at the 3 a.m. the next morning,” McClintock says. “It was not my night. He took me down, ground-and-pounded me pretty good. Everybody thought he broke my orbital bone. I ended up getting an armbar with one second left in the first round. The referee said if he didn’t tap, the doctor would have stopped it.”

McClintock has the pedigree of a can’t-miss prospect. He has youth on his side, trains with a professional camp full of top-level fighters and his jiu-jitsu expertise will give him an edge over the majority of opponents standing across the cage from him. McClintock’s next move remains uncertain, and a scheduled fight with “The Ultimate Fighter” castaway Paul Bradley at the end of June fell through because of a scheduling conflict.

McClintock sees the success of his Arizona Combat Sports teammates and believes he has what it takes to follow in their footsteps.

“I want to get into a decent show where I have some stability,” he says. “I am having a kid Sept. 30. It’s time to buckle down and take care of her.”

With fatherhood on the horizon, the 21-year-old will look to get into the cage two to three more times by the end of year. A strong showing in those bouts may lead to bigger paydays and a deal with an established promotion.

“This is too fun to stop,” says McClintock, who has finished all five of his opponents. “Even if the money stayed the same, I would still want to fight because it’s fun.”

Martial arts and family ground McClintock’s life. In 2009, those passions will converge, as he continues his transformation, from the teen-ager who walked into Arizona Combat Sports for the first time to the gym’s latest fighter to make noise on the national stage.

“As long as I’m successful and still involved in this sport, I’ll be happy doing that,” McClintock says. “Right now, if I’m doing something productive with my career, I’ll be happy. As long as I can support myself and my family, I’m going to be OK.”
 
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WEC ANNOUNCES FULL CARD FOR WEC 42

World Extreme Cagefighting on Monday announced the remaining bouts for WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles live from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Aug. 9.

Tickets for Torres vs. Bowles are on sale now and priced at $40, $55, $85, $100, $125, $175, and $225. Torres vs. Bowles will be televised nationally live on VERSUS beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

In addition to the bantamweight title bout between champion Miguel Angel Torres (36-1) and Brian Bowles (7-0), nine other bouts round out a stacked card in Las Vegas.

With Torres and Bowles trading leather in the main event to determine the sport’s best bantamweight, two other top 135-pounders will meet to determine the next probable title challenger. Sacramento’s Joseph Benavidez (10-0), a pupil of former featherweight champion Urijah Faber, brings his exciting style to The Joint at Hard Rock to face San Diego’s Dominick Cruz (13-1). A speedy, precision-punching New Mexico native, Benavidez is coming off the biggest win of his career in April, a unanimous decision win over Jeff Curran. Now matched with Cruz, Benavidez believes a win will solidify his spot as the number one contender in the bantamweight division. Much like his opponent, the 24-year-old Cruz hopes a win will propel him toward championship glory. Riding a three-fight winning streak, the hard-hitting Californian promises fireworks when he goes to battle with Benavidez.

Exciting lightweights Danny Castillo (7-1) and Ricardo Lamas (6-0) collide in a battle that will move the winner one step closer to a shot at the 155-pound title. A member of Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Calif., Castillo is a former two-time NAIA All American wrestler who boasts excellent grappling. The San Francisco native, riding a two-fight winning streak in the WEC, hopes to use his wrestling prowess to overpower the unbeaten Lamas. Coming off a victory over Bart Palaszewski in March, the Chicago-based Lamas is explosive and well-rounded. Nicknamed “The Bully,” Lamas looks to dominate Castillo and push closer to joining the lightweight elite.

After engaging in a war with Miguel Angel Torres in a Fight of the Year candidate in April, Japanese striker Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2) returns to the WEC with aims of earning another shot at the champion. Before he gets a second title opportunity though, the gritty, crowd-pleasing Mizugaki must first defeat tested veteran Jeff Curran (31-11-1). At the age of 31, perhaps no fighter has faced the quality opposition than that of Island Lake, Illinois’ Curran. Over the past two years, Curran has exchanged strikes with the likes of Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, and Joseph Benavidez. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, who has also competed as a professional boxer, hopes to thwart Mizugaki’s championship aspirations and paint himself into the bantamweight title picture.

Lubbock, TX native Leonard Garcia (16-4) looks to get one step closer to another crack at the featherweight title when he faces Jameel Massouh (21-5) of Kenosha, Wis. in August. A well-conditioned, entertaining competitor fighting out of Greg Jackson’s camp in Albuquerque, NM, Garcia fell short against champion Mike Brown in his last fight in March, but is determined to get back in title contention. In order to do so, he’ll need to be prepared for the versatile Massouh. A great striker with competent ground skills, the former Pancrase star is seeking his first WEC win and hopes to do so by defeating Garcia.

Four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Fredson Paixao (8-3) hopes to get his first WEC win when he takes on four-time NCAA Division II National wrestling champion Cole Province (6-1) in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas. Known universally as the “King of Wristlocks,” the 145-pound Paixao brings his unique, technical brand of submission fighting to the cage. Originally from Amazonas, Brazil, the 30-year-old Paixao believes his superior grappling will guide him to victory. Standing in his way is the powerful Province. A star wrestler at the University of Central Oklahoma, the once-beaten Province relies on relentless ground and pound to best his opponents. The 28-year-old, who fights out of Edmond, Okla., hopes to score his seventh professional win by defeating Paxaio on August 9.

Two of the lightweight division’s most aggressive competitors will clash when Marcus Hicks (8-2) of Dallas, TX takes on Las Vegas resident Shane Roller (5-2). Nicknamed “The Wrecking Ball,” Hicks is a complete fighter, boasting a Golden Gloves boxing background, as well as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. With three wins inside the WEC cage, Hicks hopes to gain momentum by defeating three-time NCAA All American wrestler Roller. An equally balanced fighter, Roller was a top wrestler at Oklahoma State University before launching an MMA career. With submission victories over Todd Moore and Mike Budnik in his WEC career, Roller is out to show that he possesses the pedigree necessary to one day rule the 155-pound division.

Heavy-handed Ed Ratcliff (6-1) of San Diego, Calif. returns to the Octagon® to take on former Marine Phil Cardella (12-3) of Austin, TX in lightweight action. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Ratcliff burst onto the WEC scene in 2007 with back-to-back knockout wins over Johnny Sampaio and Alex Karalexis. Ratcliff seeks his third stoppage victory in the WEC when he faces the submission-savvy Cardella. A jiu-jitsu black belt under Relson Gracie, Cardella is no slouch when it comes to the ground game. The versatile 32-year-old looks to diffuse Ratcliff’s power and earn his first WEC win when the two lock horns at Hard Rock.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Rani Yahya (14-4) hopes to earn his fourth WEC win when he takes on Tokyo, Japan’s Kenji Osawa (15-8-2) in bantamweight action. Yahya, originally from Brasilia, Brazil and now fighting out of San Diego, Calif., is a feared grappler with a record of 3-1 in the WEC. Each of his victories has come by way of submission, including his last win via choke over former champion Eddie Wineland in April. He’ll look to use his dangerous ground skills against seasoned boxer Osawa. A 32-year-old striker who rose to stardom in Japan’s Shooto organization, Osawa relies on his heavy hands and slick boxing to overpower opponents. He is coming off a decision victory over Rafael Rebello in March and hopes to climb the 135-pound ladder with a win over Yahya.

It will be a classic striker vs. grappler matchup when featherweights Diego Nunes (12-0) and Rafael Dias (13-5-1) collide on Aug. 9. A former Brazilian Muay Thai champion, the 26-year-old Nunes of Caxias do Sul, Brazil is a ferocious standup fighter who scored a unanimous decision win over Cole Province in his WEC debut last December. He’ll look to keep the action on the feet when he battles Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Rafael Dias. A product of the famed American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL, Dias scored his first WEC win in April via unanimous decision over Mike Budnik. Holding a three-inch height advantage over Dias, the Rio de Janeiro-born Dias will look to impose his will and take another step toward the featherweight title.
 
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Anderson and Nogueira talks Lyoto’s victory

Lyoto Machida’s victory at UFC 98 wasn’t celebrated only in Belém, city where the champion lives in Brazil. The big stars of the Black House team, Anderson Silva and Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira celebrated the Brazilian’s conquest against Rashad Evans, getting one more UFC belt to Brazil. Former UFC champion, Minotauro praised the compatriot. "This fight was wonderful, Lyoto was great. He deserved the belt for a long time, but I think he got it in the right time. His confidence was 100% after that fight against Tito Ortiz. He always made great presentations on the UFC, but, this time, he managed to do even better", celebrates the heavyweight.

And Anderson, middleweight reigning champion, cheers for Machida to follow as the champion after the first title defense, against Maurício “Shogun”, Silva’s former Chute Boxe partner. "Shogun is a great fighter, just like Lyoto, but Lyoto and I train together... I have nothing against Shogun, I have a great affection for him, and I won’t lie. I'm cheering for Lyoto, I’ll help him if he come to train with us, and I won’t hide this from anyone... I hope that the best wins. Shogun has been champion of a great event, Pride, and Lyoto knows that. We will be cheering for Lyoto, for sure, and it will be a tough fight, for Lyoto and for Shogun", finished the champion.
 
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Misaki Criticized In Korea, Moosin 2 Takes Shape

In South Korea, Kazuo Misaki’s arrest is reported negatively. Of course, the reason is because of lecturing Akiyama at Yarennoka! in 2007 and then doing this. In Korean articles he’s called the “foul play man”. A Korean MMA fan said: “You betrayed a lot of people and children. Apologize in the ring!”.

Speaking of Akiyama, his autobiography, “Two Souls Heel Or Hero”, will also start to be sold in Korea starting from June 30th.

In other Korean related news, Martial Arts organization Moosin are currently recruiting Taekwondo fighters. The chosen fighters are planned to be on a TV show, showing their process from Taekwondo fighters to professional fighters.

The second Moosin event will be held on July 26th. Planned participants as of now are Butterbean, A Sol Kwon, Min Seok Kwon (defeated Kwon by decision at Moosin 1), Oh Du Seok (defeated Himmich at Moosin 1), and New Japan Kickboxing Federation Lightweight Champion Hakuryuu (30-7-9 (15 KO’s), originally from Korea).