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Randy Couture (top) vs. Tito Ortiz (bottom).

UFC Fight News has a complete gallery of pictures from the UFC 44: Undisputed card that just took place yesterday night. To view the complete gallery, click here

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Vitor Belfort

According to inside sources, Randy Couture will make the first defense of his UFC light heavyweight belt against Vitor Belfort.

It's a good thing Couture won too, as there's no telling if Tito would have ducked Belfort too. As Belfort put it (before yesterday's Couture/Ortiz result), "I'm also rooting for Randy because if Ortiz keeps the belt, I don't think he'll want to face me"

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Masato

The Japanese media are reporting that K-1 is close to signing 47-year old former boxing champion 'Sugar' Ray Leonard to face K-1 Max champion Masato for their K-1 Max November 18th show at Nippon Budokan.

According to insiders, if Leonard takes the fight, it won't be bacause of the money, as he is making very good money right now as a boxing promoter in the United States.

K-1 also has plans to talk with boxing promoter Bob Arum and discussing the possibility of signing former lightweight champion Oscar De La Hoya for a K-1 Max show in 2004.

Fighters announced for the November 18th show:

Masato
Mike Zambidis
Albert Kraus
Duane Ludwig
Genki Sudo
Daniel Dawson
Sergei Yilmaz
Andy Souwer
Takehiro Murahama
Takayuki Kohiruimaki
Hiroyuki Doi
Kazuya Yasuhiro
Kozo Takeda (still in negotiations)

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Randy Couture (top) spanking the hapless Tito Ortiz (bottom) in their title fight last night.

In case anyone missed last night's UFC light heavyweight title fight between Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz, here is a great play-by-play breakdown of the fight by MMA insider 'striker 18':

Randy Couture defeats Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision:

ROUND ONE: The epic and much hyped title fight between UFC LHW champions finally begins! BJM tells them to begin with his trademarked phrase and the fight is on! Both fighters take the center of the ring, tito moves in and clinches and drives randy against the fence immediately. Tito pushing randy against the fence thirty seconds into the fight. Tito drops down and tries hard for the takedown. Tito grabs a leg and randy is defending off of one leg. Tito drops to his knees and couture continues to defend.

One minute into the fight and Tito still on his knees fighting for a takedown and Couture defending. Couture lands a knee to Tito's midsection and Tito throws one in return. Randy pushes Tito against the fence with three minutes left in the first round.

Both fighters still in the clinch with Randy holding Tito against the fence. Randy locks his hands together with the double underhooks. Tito lands a knee to Randy's midsection and Randy lands a knee to Tito's leg. Randy slams tito to the ground and tito gives up his back! Randy has his hooks in and is going for a rear naked! Tito manages to defend and escapes. Tito reverses positioon and goes for a takedown, but randy defends and stands back up.

1:40 left in the first round with Tito pushing randy against the fence. Randy lands a big right hand that forces Tito to back away. Tito throws punches that miss and rushes in and clinches with Randy near the fence again.

One minute left in the first round and Randy slams Tito down to the mat with a huge throw. Randy has tito in side mount with 50 seconds left in the first round! Couture lands a punch to Tito from sidemount. Couture working and lands a big knee to Tito's ribs. Tito attempts a reversal and puts Couture in his half guard. Couture continues to hold tito down as time expires.

ROUND TWO: The second round begins with Couture taking the center of the ring. Tito throws a high kick that Randy blocks. Randy shoots in and clinches with Tito and drives him to the fence. Randy slams Tito to the mat and is clearly overpowering him! Randy in Tito's guard and throwing punches! 4:20 left in the second round with Couture throwing big elbows as he has Tito pinned against the fence. Randy continues to punish Ortiz with under 4 minutes left in the second round.

Ortiz attempts to escape, but Randy defends and keeps tito pinned against the fence. Randy driving his elbow into Ortiz's face. Randy lands another elbow to Tito's face. Three minutes left in the second round and Randy continues to drive his forearms into Tito's throat and face. Tito looks shocked and frustrated as randy is on top and punishing him with elbows and punches. Tito covers up to defend against the punches and elbows.

Tito not attempting any submissions or sweeps from the guard, he is just defending. Randy passes to half guard and continues to land short elbows to Ortiz's face. Under two minutes left in the round and Randy continues to pin Tito against the fence from half guard. Tito attempts a choke from the bottom but Randy easily defends. Randy grabs Tito's arm and pounds him with the other. Randy almost passes but Tito defends and has Couture in half guard again.

Under one minute left as Couture holds Ortiz against the fence. Tito pushes his feet of the fence and moves around for a possible submission attempt. Randy begins landing more punches and elbows to Tito's face as time expires. Tito makes a comment to Randy after the round expires!

ROUND THREE: Randy moves forward as Tito jabs and Couture counters standing. Couture lowers his head and clinches with Tito and pushes him against the fence. Couture grabs Tito's leg and takes him down yet again near the fence! 4 minutes left in the third round with Couture holding Tito down against the fence.

Tito turtles up and Randy lands several hammerfists to the back of Ortiz's head. Couture has Tito in the crucifix with 3:40 left in the third round! Tito rolls over and moves in for the takedown on his knees while couture defends. Three minutes left and Tito gets a takedown. Randy starts to stand up and Tito grabs Randy's head. Couture reverses Tito and slams him into the fence after grabbing Tito's arm!

2:30 left in the third with Couture driving his elbow into Ortiz's face and holding him against the fence. Couture pounding Tito with under two minutes left up against the fence. Couture lands a nice elbow to Tito's face with under 1:30 left in the round. Couture lands another elbow with 1:10 left in the round. Couture lands another short elbow and now Randy begins to land punches, Randy lands four in a row! Tito attempts to punch back from the bottom.

Couture now has passed to half guard with 30 seconds left in the round. Couture passes to full mount momentarily but Tito defends and almost sweeps him. Couture now has Tito in side mount and lands several punches as time expires.

ROUND FOUR: Randy lands a huge right hand and immediately slams Tito down against the fence! Tito attempts a guillotine but Couture defending. Tito stands up with the guillotine but Couture slams Tito back down to the mat! Tito almost sweeps him, but Couture defends well and is within Ortiz's guard. 4 minutes left in the round with Couture on top of Ortiz against the fence.

The crowd has now changed and is chanting "Randy, Randy." 3:40 left in the fourth with Couture driving Tito against the fence. 3 minutes left with Ortiz turtling up and giving his back. Randy knees Tito to the body! Randy puts one hook in and has Tito's back, looking for a rear naked! Randy gets full mount and is pounding Ortiz with punches! Ortiz covering up and not responding, while Randy punishes Ortiz with punches!

Two minutes left and Ortiz not doing anything other than covering up and taking punches to the face. Couture still holding mount against the fence. Tito pushes off the fence and escapes the mount, but Randy forces Tito against the fence again with 1:30 left in the fourth!

Couture pushes Tito's head down against the fence and lands four or five big elbows in a row! Tito doing nothing other than taking elbows and punches to the face as Randy holds him against the fence with under 40 seconds left.

Randy lands two more punches with 30 seconds left. Randy lands some more elbows as he holds Tito against the fence as time expires!

ROUND FIVE: Tito's face is visibly marked up and he is breathing hard before the round begins. Randy moving forward and clinches with Ortiz against the fence again immediately. Tito attempts to strike and Randy lands a big right hand. Tito desperately fighting off the takedown, but Randy drives him against the fence standing with four minutes left in the fight.

The crowd chanting "Randy, Randy" with Couture landing an uppercut from the clinch. Couture holding Tito against the fence and drops down for another takedown! Tito breaks the rules and holds onto the fence in front of BJM, but Couture takes him down once again! Three minutes left in the fight with Couture in Tito's half guard against the fence. Couture continues to pound Ortiz against the fence. 2:30 left in the fight with Randy driving his forearm onto Tito's face.

Two minutes left as randy attempts to pass Tito's guard. Tito stands up and randy gets his back standing and suplexes him in the air onto the mat hard! The look on Tito's face shows pure frustration. Randy moves into Tito's half guard with 1:30 left in the fight! Randy continues to work and is less tired than Ortiz! One minute left as tito turtles up and is looking for a leglock attempt. Tito rolls over with 40 seconds left and has Couture's leg. Randy spanks Tito on the ass! Tito grabs the fence again. Couture humiliates Tito by spanking him and the crowd goes wild! Randy has dominated every round against Tito. Ortiz is upset and throws his mouthpiece on the ground as the crowd goes wild. Tito grabs his face in frustration and shock and appears to be very emotional.

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Kazushi Sakuraba

Some interesting things that Zuffa announced at UFC 44 were that PRIDE fighters Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuyuki Fujita would be coming over to do a single fight each in the UFC.

It is part of the UFC/PRIDE exchange the two organizations are doing in trying to establish a good working relationship between the each other. The UFC had already sent Chuck Liddell and Ricco Rodriguez to participate on the PRIDE GP card that took place in August.

At this point, UFC president Dana White has been very vocal about wanting to matchup Sakuraba against UFC middleweight contender Phil Baroni, although one has to wonder just why such a matchup would be made when it pretty much means nothing to the general public in terms of interest.

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Randy Couture (left) recieving the belt from a completely defeated Tito Ortiz (right).

UFC 44: Undisputed
Friday, September 26, 2003
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV

Randy Couture defeats Tito Ortiz by unanimous decision. (UFC light heavyweight title)

Tim Sylvia defeats Gan McGee by KO, RD 1. (UFC heavyweight title)

Andrei Orlovski defeats Vladimir Matyushenko by KO, RD 1.

Rich Franklin defeats Edwin Dewees by TKO, RD 1.

Jorge Rivera defeats David Loiseau by unanimous decision.

Karo Parisyan defeats Dave Strasser by keylock, RD 1.

Nick Diaz defeats Jeremy Jackson by armbar, RD 3.

Hermes Franca defeats Kaoru Uno by KO, RD 2.

Josh Thomson defeats Gerald Strebendt by KO, RD 1.

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The original November 2003 date in Las Vegas for Frank Shamrock's Shootbox show has been postponed. Some problems arose in terms of logistics and finance. Early 2004 is the new date for the planned Vegas Shootbox show to take place.

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Ryan Bow

Todd Atkins reports from Japan that American fighter Ryan Bow will have his next Shooto fight on November 3rd against Tetsuya Kawajiri.

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Tito Ortiz (far left) and Randy Couture (far right) during the weigh-ins for UFC 44.

UFC 44: Undisputed
Friday, September 26, 2003
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV

Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz has finally arrived. If this is a fight you want to see, then check it out live tonight on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EDT on iNDemand, DirecTV, Dish Network, TVN, Echostar, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price is $29.95.

Card subject to change:

Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz (UFC light heavyweight title)

Tim Sylvia vs. Gan McGee (UFC heavyweight title)

Andrei Orlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees

David Loiseau vs. Jorge Rivera

Dave Strasser vs. Karo Parisyan

Jeremy Jackson vs. Nick Diaz

Kaoru Uno vs. Hermes Franca

Josh Thomson vs. Gerald Strebendt

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Wallid Ismael

Brazilian magazine Tatame reports that Brazil Dojo has quickly responded a day after Brazilian Top Team issued its open challenge to them. According to fighter and team manager Wallid Ismael, Brazil Dojo is determined to accept the challenge and prove they are the better team. Wallid went on to say the following:

"Nobody calls me a coward without any consequences...my life is public and I built it through fighting in the ring. The leaders of BTT are all losers, they are very dumb...my team is only a month and a half old and they can already take on BTT. I am the one who now wants this challenge. We're going to do it professionally, it could be in PRIDE or in the next Jungle Fight. I'm going to show them the opposite of what they're saying. Brazil Dojo is a united family" -Wallid Ismael

Many fighters have now been confirmed to participate in this challenge, but the most surprising one is Minotauro's Muay Thai coach Luis Alves. Alves states, "I am friends with everyone at BTT, but now that we've gotten to this point, I want to face their Muay Thai instructor Paulo Nikolai. I only hope he doesn't run away from me".

Another surprise was the addition of Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons, who told Tatame that his team, Pele Team, will represent Brazil Dojo in the state of Parana, where Pele and his team are located. Pele said he wants to face Murilo Bustamante. Pele says, "I just spoke to Wallid and it's all set up for me to take on Murilo (Bustamante), and Wallid will take on Mario Sperry."

According to Tatame, other matchups would include Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos and Marcelo 'Tigre' against anyone from BTT. Cyborg stated that he would love to take on Mario Sperry.

Stay tuned for more news on this challenge in the next two weeks.

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Rodney Faverus

Dutch media are reporting that Rodney Faverus vs. Challid Arab is all but confirmed to take place on the PRIDE Bushido card on October 5th. This matchup would pack a lot of heat as Arab is a Golden Glory team fighter, and Faverus is known as the 'Golden Glory Hunter' due to his past victories over a few Golden Glory fighters.

If this matchup does indeed take place, then that would put the PRIDE Bushido card at ten confirmed matchups, with a possibility for twelve total mathcups.

Here is the possible complete card so far:

Confirmed matchups:
Renzo Gracie vs. Carlos Newton
Ryan Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Hamanaka
Daniel Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Rodrigo Gracie vs. Daiju Takase
Ralph Gracie vs. Dokonjosuke Mishima

Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Akira Shoji
Assuerio Silva vs. Alexander Emelianenko
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jason Nobunaga
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Alexander Otsuka (Filipovic is confirmed, Otsuka is not)

Unofficially confirmed matchups:
Rodney Faverus vs. Challid Arab
Peter Aerts vs. Norihisa Yamamoto
Kevin Randleman vs. TBA

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Randy Couture


Tito Ortiz

Team Quest is hosting exclusive pictures of the UFC 44 weigh-ins that took place yesterday. To view the complete gallery, click here

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Alexa.com just updated their internet ratings for this week. Below are the Alexa.com rankings for the top 10 MMA websites as of September 26th, 2003.

Fightsport.com and MMAWeekly.com have been the two fastest-growing MMA websites the last few months and are now catching up to the number three spot. Sherdog.com and Sherdog.net had occupied the top two spots for many months, but MMA.tv has moved into the number one spot this month and has knocked Sherdog.com and Sherdog.net down to number two and three respectively for the first time in a long while.

Official sites of the UFC and PRIDE have remained steady for the last few months. Subfighter.com has come out of nowhere in the last month to take the seventh spot. Adcombat.com has remained at number 9, despite its ratings having improved a great deal. MaxFighting.com survived by a thread to hang on to the number 10 spot.



MMA RANKINGS:

1.) MMA.tv - Traffic Rank for mma.tv: 6,270

2.) Sherdog.com - Traffic Rank for sherdog.com: 8,905

3.) Sherdog.net - Traffic Rank for sherdog.net: 13,607

4.) Fightsport.com - Traffic Rank for fightsport.com: 16,100

5.) MMAWeekly.com - Traffic Rank for mmaweekly.com: 16,856

6.) UFC.tv - Traffic Rank for ufc.tv: 22,983

7.) Subfighter.com - Traffic Rank for subfighter.com: 24,347

8.) Pridefc.com - Traffic Rank for pridefc.com: 34,373

9.) Adcombat.com - Traffic Rank for adcombat.com: 40,731

10.) Maxfighting.com - Traffic Rank for maxfighting.com: 62,258












Alexa.com tracks the internet ratings with the use of the Alexa toolbar, which is used by no less then 10 million people. Almost all of the Alexa toolbar users also use Amazon.com and Google, making the Alexa.com rankings very important with advertisers. Alexa.com is arguably the most respected internet ratings system in the business.

How to read the Alexa.com rankings: The traffic rank indicates the website's ranking amongst english-language websites. As the number goes lower, it indicates that the website is ranked higher.

For example:

a website with a traffic rank of '1', means that it is the number one visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

a website with a traffic rank of '10,221', means that it is the 10,221st most visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

a website with a traffic rank or '90,594', means that it is the 90,594th most visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

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Nathan Marquardt (right)

PANCRASE 2003 HYBRID TOUR
Saturday, October 4th, 2003
Grand Cube Osaka
Osaka, Japan

Open: 17:30
Start: 18:30

Complete Card (Subject To Change):

Nathan Marquardt vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa
Daisuke Hanazawa vs. Takafumi Ito
Kei Yamamiya vs. Keith Jardine
Takefumi Hanai vs. Koji Oishi
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Satoshi Watanabe
Kenji Takeshige vs. Takumi Yano
Daichi Fujiwara vs. Yoshinobu

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K-1: Final Elimination
October 11, 2003
Osaka Dome
Osaka, Japan

K-1 has released the final elimination matchups for the K-1:Final Elimination card next month in Osaka, Japan:

Elimination matchups:
Ernesto Hoost vs. Cyril Abidi
Bob Sapp vs. Remy Bonjasky
Jerome Le Banner vs. Frans Botha
Peter Aerts vs. Jerrol Venetiaan
Ray Sefo vs. Carter Williams
Francisco Filho vs. Stefan Leko
Mike Bernardo vs. Alexy Ignashov

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Alexander Otsuka

The Japanese media is announcing that Alexander Otsuka will be the opponent for Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic on the PRIDE Bushido card on October 5th. Below is a list of the confirmed matchups, plus two unconfirmed matchups:

Confirmed matchups:
Renzo Gracie vs. Carlos Newton
Ryan Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Hamanaka
Daniel Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Rodrigo Gracie vs. Daiju Takase
Ralph Gracie vs. Dokonjosuke Mishima

Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Akira Shoji
Assuerio Silva vs. Alexander Emelianenko
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jason Nobunaga
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Alexander Otsuka (Filipovic is confirmed, Otsuka is not)

Unofficially confirmed matchups:
Peter Aerts vs. Norihisa Yamamoto
Kevin Randleman vs. TBA

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By Todd Atkins


Hello my friends. As you have already seen, the ISKA MMA had released a statement into the non-payment of fighters participating in the July 19th event promoted by Ed Kim. Here is the statement in it's entirity:

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"OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE ISKA MMA CONCERNING PAYMENT OF FIGHTERS PARTICIPATING IN THE JULY 19TH MMA EVENT PROMOTED BY EDWARD KIM:

The ISKA MMA was the sanctioning body of the event promoted by Edward Kim on July 19th in Chicago. The sanctioning of this event came only after several months of effort by the ISKA MMA and the promoter of the event to even have MMA allowed in the State of Illinois again. Prior to the event the ISKA MMA exercised due diligence and was assured that Mr. Kim had the resources to fund such an event and to pay every fighter no matter what the size of the eventual event audience. The ISKA MMA remains assured that this is the case.

Due to the confusion caused by a financially disastrous event, the inexperience of the promoter, and the even greater confusion caused by those who chose to involve themselves unnecessarily in the event's fighters business it has been difficult to ascertain the facts of who is owed what without direct contact with all of the parties actually involved. Unfortunately, this takes a few days. ISKA MMA Director Paul Smith has now been in contact with every fighter (or their management) who did participate in this event and has found out the amounts still owing each. The ISKA MMA now has the facts and has been assured that payment in the proper amounts will be issued shortly.

The ISKA MMA is very aware that the participants of this event have worked very hard and deserve their purse. Without their willingness to put there bodies on the mat there would be no sport. While the ISKA MMA continues its efforts to get the fighters paid their proper purses, the patience of those who are not directly involved in this unfortunate but well-intentioned event would be greatly appreciated." -ISKA MMA

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These are the specifics as I know them at the moment. IFC promoter Paul Smith played a heavy part in the non-payment of all the fighters on the Battle Ground: 'War Cry' card promoted by Ed Kim on July 19th. Smith claimed he had secured the fighter's funds for this show in escrow, only to find out that he he did not and nobody got paid. Except for Paul Smith and the ISKA-MMA. Which got all of their fees in advance. As of today $35,000 is owed to the fighters and Paul Smith is dragging his feet about getting anything done to correct this issue. I will be bringing more insight to this matter in a future Atkins Insider.

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Jerome Le Banner

The Japanese media is reporting that a matchup between K-1 star Jerome Le Banner and former IBF heavyweight boxing champion Frans Botha may happen at the K-1 eliminations show scheduled for October 11th in Osaka, Japan.

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Tito Ortiz

The weigh-in for the Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz UFC light heavyweight title fight can be seen live on ESPN News tomorrow (Thursday) at 7:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time (4:10 P.M. Pacific Standard Time).

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Bob Sapp

K-1 matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa announced to the Japanese media on Wednesday that K-1 would start promoting MMA-only shows in 2004 (in addition to their regular kickboxing shows). The aim is to compete with PRIDE, and eventually take over as the top MMA promotion in Japan.

According to Tamigawa, the decision was made after Bob Sapp's MMA fight against Stefan Gamlin on K-1's September 19th show did a 25.9 rating (the show did a 20.2 rating overall) on Nippon TV.

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Luis Roberto 'Bebeo' Duarte, who is one of the founders of Brazilian Top Team, has written the following open challenge to the new MMA team called 'Brazil Dojo', which was formed by Wallid Ismael and Antonio Inoki:

"During the past weeks we have been covertly attacked by Mr. Wallid Ismail. Wallid has his own way of doing business, and the BTT is writing this letter because we refuse to accept how he does things.

Everybody in Brazil's MMA community knows that Wallid was never a good example of honor or ethics, due to a multitude of past examples he has given throughout his life. Wallid has been surviving for a long time, trying to make himself famous as a fighter. Has he succeeded? Yes, but despite his fame, there is something he will never be: A good fighter. After some sport JiuJitsu wins - NOTICE WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT MMA - over Gracie family members, he got a lot of attention and fame, but he is yet to prove anything in the ring.

We created the Brazilian Top Team with a dream to be part of the greatest MMA team in the world, and it is clear that Wallid would never be accepted here. A while ago, he even insinuated that it would be hard for him to join the BTT. Of course, it is impossible for him to be on the BTT, and he knows this!

After the JUNGLE FIGHT show, Ismail has been stating that the best team in Brazil is the Brazil Dojo team. It should be clear that Ismael's team is composed of some fighters that do not even know they are announced as members of the team!

Many fighters were told that they must join BRAZIL DOJO in order to particpate in his Jungle fight show. He invited Allan Goes, who refused. He invited Carlos Barreto, who refused too. Because he needed big names for his show, Wallid even announced Carlos Barreto on the card - he later stated that Barreto was injured and thats why he did not fight, which is not the case.

In our opinion, he does not have the talent to create his own team, and he promises blue skies to everyone in order to get fighters from other teams to join his DOJO. So if he really wants to earn the title of best team in the MMA world, the Brazilian TOP TEAM has a challenge for him.

Mr. Ismail, if you believe and trust you have the best team around, lets put your money where your mouth is:

The BTT has everything set for an MMA event between 7 fighters from your acclaimed Brazil Dojo to take on 7 fighters from the Brazilian Top Team. You choose six from your team and we choose six from our team. The main event is a direct challenge to you, Mr. Ismael. You and one of the BTT leaders will be the main event. We give you the option of choosing your opponent. You have Murilo Bustamante or Mario Sperry waiting to fight you!

Pick one to fight yourself, as this will resolve both new and old problems in the best way, giving the audience and the fans of MMA a chance to see if you are fake or what.

PLEASE do not hide behind purses, injuries or other excuses. Don't shame your team with this behavior, otherwise you are going to teach them another bad lesson (as well as the bad techniques you may be trying to teach). Additionally, you have already taught your team how to be unethical and dishonorable, so if you don't accept this challenge, you will teach them how to be a coward as well.

It's time to learn the difference between men and cowards. I am sure the Brazil Dojo members will take the challenge, my only doubt is about you personally, Wallid. So give your fighters the example by being a fighter and a man - STEP UP! The BTT is waiting fo you....


Respectfully,

Luis Roberto 'BEBEO' Duarte
Brazilian Top Team founder

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Ultimate Submission Showdown
Saturday, October 11, 2003
James Armstrong Theatre
Torrance, CA

Show starts: 6:00 P.M.

PRESS RELEASE:

Torrance, CA - The long awaited fight card for the upcoming Ultimate Submission Showdown, scheduled for October 11, 2003 and sponsored by VARIG Airlines, was released today by the IGJJF.

Fighters on the card (Card Subject to Change):

Lance Campbell IFC Veteran, World Sambo Champion
Falaniko Vitale UFC Veteran, NAGA Champion
Ryron Gracie IGJJF Champion, 4th Generation Gracie
Travis Lutter HookNshoot Champion, ADCC qualifier
Martijn de Jong Shooto Veteran, Dutch MMA Champion
David Avellan Grappler's Quest and NAGA Champion
Keigo Kunihara King of the Cage Veteran, Judo Champion

Alternate bouts:
Cassio Werneck World Jiu-Jitsu Champion 2003
Leopoldo Montenegro Jungle Fight Veteran
Peter Angerer Mixed Fight World Champion, ADCC Veteran
Fabricio Werdun ADCC Veteran, Jiu-Jitsu Champion

For more information, go to IGJJF.com

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Masaaki Satake

Former K-1 and PRIDE fighter Masaaki Satake announced to the Japanese media that he would start promoting MMA shows called 'Total Attack Fight' in his hometown of Kyoto. The first show is scheduled for October 10th.

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Tony De Souza (right)

The pride of Peru Tony De Souza has signed on with the WEC and will be making his return to action on the WEC's October 17th show at the Palace Casino in Lemoore, California.

De Souza's last MMA fight was two years ago in the inaugural WFA show. Since then he has had many visa problems trying to get back into the U.S., but the word is that his visa problems have finally worked out.

Other fighters scheduled to feature on the October 17th WEC card are Shonie Carter, Sean Liddell (Chuck Liddell's brother), Cole Escovedo, and Anthony Hamlett.

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Randy Couture

Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz appeared on the 'Best Damn Sports Show Period' (BDSSP) on Tuesday noght to promote their UFC light heavyweight title fight this weekend in UFC 44.

To most fans who watched the show, it appeared that Couture clearly got the better of Tito. The look on Tito's face said it all, as Ortiz was shocked that Couture brought up the fact that Tito he was scared of Liddell and ducked him. Tito was reduced to his usual prepared smack talk, but also as usual stuttered and stammered his way through it.

According to one very respected MMA insider, "the last time Tito was this visibly upset before a fight was when Frank worked him over with prefight smacktalk, and we saw what happened there."

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Zuffa announced that tickets for UFC 45: Revolution will go on sale this Saturday, September 27, at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office in Uncasville, Connecticut. Tickets can also be purchased at www.tickets.com.

UFC 45 will serve as the UFC's 10th anniversary show and is supposed to feature an all-star card. Below are the unoffically confirmed matchups that Fightsport.com has learned of for UFC 45(which we first reported last week):

Frank Mir vs. winner of Gan McGee/Tim Sylvia
'Tank' Abbott vs. Wesley 'Cabbage' Correira
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Matt Hughes vs. TBA (most likely to be Frank Trigg)
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Falaniko Vitale vs. Matt Lindland

Other fighters possibly on the card include:

Royce Gracie
Lee Murray
Vitor Belfort
B.J. Penn
Robbie Lawler
Rich Franklin

Possible opponents for Matt Hughes include Royce Gracie, Pete Spratt, or Frank Trigg

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Dan Severn

Yes you read correctly, former UFC champion and MMA pioneer Dan Severn will be taking on 400-pound pro boxer Eric 'Butterbean' Esch (who just lost to Mike Bernardo in K-1) in a boxing match.

The match will take place on a boxing fight card on October 10th at the Lakeside Convention Center in Des Moine, Iowa. In addition to Dan Severn and 'Butterbean', the card will also feature Frankie Toledo, Jesse Sanders, and Tyrone Roberts.

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By Tape Lord


Dana White

UFC president Dana White was on MMAWeekly Radio yeaterday and stated that the UFC is "not" dropping its lightweight division, contrary to what Fightsport.com and some other sites reported yesterday. This is not the first time Dana White has denied astrong rumor, only to have it come true later on.

Our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy' tells us the following:

"Don't believe what Dana (White) said yesterday on MMAWeekly Radio. He always does this when people report accurate scoops he didn't want reported yet. He almost always uses MMAWeekly to deny these scoops too, even though he knows they're true. The fact is that Dana (White) was very upset that Fightsport.com keeps scooping out his plans and only said that so it would look like you reported the wrong news.

Notice that he didn't make any mention of a lightweight title fight for the vacated belt. That's because they aren't planning anything for the lightweight belt because they plan on dropping that division by slowly phasing it out, but not before they can still use some lightweight fighters to fill out their cards at below market value prices.

You see, the Fertittas tightened up the cash flow in a big way this year, so Dana (White) had to use these lightweight fighters on the cards this year because they fight for practicaly nothing. If it weren't for the cost-cutting by the Fertittas thus forcing the need for cheap lightweights, they probably would've scrapped the lightweight division already.

Mark my words, the UFC lightweight division will not be around by this time next year." -Coffee Guy

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Don King

Legendary (as well as infamous) boxing promoter Don King recently did an interview for Boxing Insider. During the interview King was asked about MMA and his possible involvement with the MMA promotion known as the ICC. Here's what King had to say:

BI: What is your involvement with Mixed Martial Arts? Are you getting involved?

Don King: Yes, martial arts is good. Because kung fu and things of the sort that come from China and the, what is it?, Mai Ling Dynasty, and then you go with the guys who are the body and the soul. I studied the martial arts, because the body and the soul have to work in conjunction with each other, in the spirit. You can see a guy who can bust rocks and knock down trees and drag big big balls by his testicles [smiles]. This takes mind over matter. And so when I'm in China, they're taking me to all these temples to see all the Buddhists. And they've learned the science of the mind working with the body. The mind's very powerful. And it introduces you to being able to deal with defeat, victory. It's about a mind over matter thing. And they can make their body do things that were here to do for seem impossible. So martial arts is a very important part. You should train to do the yoga and different things in order to get your mind, so you can be strong because your mind is what really carries you. Your body is your fickle instrument but your mind is the brain that directs everything that you do.

BI: Are you with the ICC? They say they're associated with you and you're financing them?

Don King: Well, they're talking to me. I have not really given my firm commitment. But they're on board, they're trying to talk. They're coming from all over the world. From every walk of life. And the most important thing to me right now is our soldiers in Iraq. The commanding General (inaudible) is the man who has gotten me working with them and the Lieutenant Colonel (inaudible) called me up, wrote me a letter and I'm now supplying them him with boxing eqipment. They had a match tonight with the servicemen, even some women boxed. We sent the fight (Byrd vs. Oquendo) to them live tonight. Because they are the vanguard of our nation. They are the protectors or our liberties and our freedoms. They are the protectors that secure the rights that we enjoy in a democratic process. And democracy would not be democracy, liberty or freedom, if we did not have a great military that was there to enforce and protect and to give liberty and freedom to all. And they got liberty for the Iraqis. And so the 104st Airborne Division - the baddest assault team on the planet - air assault - and I now become a screaming eagle. The screaming eagle is now there working. Ricardo Mayorga is a screaming eagle. He's going down to do a live exhibition, if our great President George Walker Bush, gives us his blessing...a dynamic leader who is decisive and moves on the front. Whatever they say - criticizing, say one thing or the other, he's moving on. So he's a force that we all Americans should support. And Americans should join me in this magnanimous effort to help our troops and let them know we do care about them. Because they certainly do care about us.

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The ICC has postponed their event scheduled for October 24th in Hawaii. IFC co-president Mike Reilly made an official statement on the Underground forum, which included the following quote:

"For a variety of reasons we must move out October 24th date in Hawaii back to a date TBD. There were many reasons to move the date but not the least of which was plowing a head was going to hurt some very good people who deserve out respect and support. We have a deposit on the Blaisdell and will be in Hawaii soon enough with an ICC show." -Mike Reilly

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Derek Panza

Kickboxing champion Derek Panza, who also trains many MMA stars in the art of kickboxing, will make his MMA debut on the Reality Fighting 5 card on November 1st in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

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Clyde Gentry III (right)

Due to the overwhelming response that Fightsport.com's Eddie Goldstein recieved from his 'MMA's Top 5 Backstabs' article, we have decided to do it again, but this time there will be a 'Top 10', and the fans will be able to vote as well.

Of course there were going to be some backstabs Eddie couldn't fit in or couldn't remember right away. Two that come to mind are the Art Davie backstab on MMA, and the Ultimate Athlete backstab led by John Pack and Clyde Gentry III against Zuffa.

So get to voting! To vote on your favorite backstab, click here and post it.

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DSE reported to the Japanese media the following card for their PRIDE Bushido show on October 5th:

Confirmed matchups:
Renzo Gracie vs. Carlos Newton
Ryan Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Hamanaka
Daniel Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Rodrigo Gracie vs. Daiju Takase
Ralph Gracie vs. Dokonjosuke Mishima

Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Akira Shoji
Assuerio Silva vs. Alexander Emelianenko
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jason Nobunaga or Rodney Faverus
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. TBA (possibly against Kevin Randleman, Ikuhusa Minowa, or Norihisa Yamamoto)

Unofficially confirmed matchups:
Peter Aerts vs. Norihisa Yamamoto

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UFC 44: Undisputed
Friday, September 26, 2003
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV

Card subject to change:

Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz (UFC light heavyweight title)

Tim Sylvia vs. Gan McGee (UFC heavyweight title)

Andrei Orlovski vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees

David Loiseau vs. Jorge Rivera

Dave Strasser vs. Karo Parisyan

Jeremy Jackson vs. Nick Diaz

Kaoru Uno vs. Hermes Franca

Josh Thomson vs. Gerald Strebendt

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By Todd Atkins

Frank Trigg

I am about 95% sure that Matt Hughes will defend his title against Frank Trigg at UFC 45.

Lots of closed door meetings to get this one locked down. The paperwork is not signed but has been agreed upon by Hughes and Trigg with just some very minor details to be worked out.

Many thought that Zuffa would not bend on their lowball contract offers. Trigg had said many times in the past that he simply was not interested in the money UFC sugessted or the contract language. I don't have details right now on the deal but I hear both sides met in the middle on many different issues.

Zuffa really thought Trigg was just posturing and would not sign a deal at all, but that was evidently not the case. Lorenzo, Dana and Joe Silva think Hughes will steamroll Trigg but I hear one of Trigg's demands was another fight-- WIN or LOSE.

Hughes had to fight someone in this show per his contract so Zuffa had to scramble to get a credible opponent. Looks like a solid matchup. Hughes will be a HUGE favorite but he did look human against Sherk. Trigg has looked lackluster in his last few bouts but one thing that can be said for him is his fights never go the distance.

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Bob Sapp vs. Stefan Gamlin.

Video Research Ltd. Co. announced the ratings for the K-1 Japan show on September 21st, which aired on Nippon TV. K-1 was shooting for 16.0% rating, but instead did way better by drawing a 20.2% overall rating, with the Bob Sapp vs. Stefan Gamlin MMA match drawing an incredible 25.9% QH rating.

K-1 has made it clear that they will be regularly promoting some MMA matches on more of their future cards, the way they did for the September 21st show. With Bob Sapp leading the way, MMA in Japan is reaching new heights of popularity and influence the likes of which it has never seen before.

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David Tua

Sources in Japan and America tell us that K-1 is very close to signing heavyweight boxing contender David Tua (who is a distant cousin of 2001 K-1 champ Mark Hunt) to their growing stable of top boxers.

K-1's stable now includes:

Mike Tyson
Shannon Briggs
Frans Botha
Eric 'Butterbean' Esch

The plan is for K-1 to have these top boxers in an effort to make a very big expansion into the American market. The way they are going about it is to gain ground with the average boxing audience in the U.S. by signing top boxers such as Tyson, Tua, Briggs, and Botha.

Tua himself does want to do both K-1 and MMA eventually and has actually trained a lot in Muay Thai in the past. He is also a huge fan of MMA.

More news to come on this in the next week.

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By Tape Lord


Hello my friends, the rumors that the UFC was going to do away with their Lightweight division have been out there, and now my Zuffa informant 'Coffee Guy' has confirmed to me that this is indeed true.

The plan is to streamline their promotion. But in my opinion, this is a move they should have done long ago if they had no real plans for it. Instead UFC president Dana White strung along the lightweight division with no real plan for the future. It is just another in a long line of what I call 'Zuffa half-steps'.

Instead of making a plan and going through with it, they spend the money all the way up to the point of take-off, then they pull the plug on it. When Jens Pulver vacated the belt, they should have just made a title fight on the next show between B.J. Penn and Din Thomas. The winner is the new lightweight champ, period.

But no, instead they make an elaborate lightweight tournament over two shows, which ended in a controversial draw between B.J. Penn (who should have won the fight) and Kaoru Uno (whom Penn had already knocked out previously).

Now the lightweight division will be scrapped with nothing ever having been resolved. Well hopefully now maybe they will try to concentrate more on the heavyweight division. Only time will tell however.

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Jacare resting his broken hand.

Brazilian magazine Tatame recently spoke to Ronaldo 'Jacare' after his loss to Jorge Patino 'Macaco' in the Jungle Fight event, and said that he really enjoyed fighting MMA and wants to become a top middleweight with the right training. Jungle Fight co-promoter Wallid Ismael had told the fighters before the show that they would rather a fighter go for the finish and lose, then to stall for a victory. Jacare did just that, and left everyone, including Wallid, very impressed.

Wallid says, "He (Jacare) was the revelation of the event in my opinion. He almost knocked out and beat Macaco even though he's only had two months of boxing training in his life. Imagine how good he'll be when I take him to Rio to learn wrestling with Darrel Gholar and Muay Thai with Luis Alves?"

Jacare says, "I really enjoyed fighting MMA. I think that with six more months of training that I can be one of the top middleweights in the world."

Jacare broke his right hand hitting Macaco's head. He had Macaco in trouble a few times but Macaco's experience saw him through. The knockout blow came when Macaco feinted a takedown and then caught Jacare with a strike right to his jaw.

Jacare made his name in jiu-jitsu two months ago when he won 21 matches in only one week, finishing 18 of them by submission, and winning four jiu-jitsu world titles in the process. Jacare is still recovering from his broken hand but he will make an appearance later this month at Japan's 'Ultimate Crush' show that features MMA fights and pro-wrestling matches on the card.

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Bas Rutten

Former Pancrase and UFC champion Bas Rutten recently spoke with Inside Fighting and once again confirmed his retirement, which he had already announced before. Rutten explained that he has two B-grade movies coming out and currently has some more movie projects in the works. Whether they are more B-grade movies is not certain at this time. Rutten is also busy with his job doing the english broadcast for PRIDE and also PRIDE Bushido.

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PRESS RELEASE:

Torrance, CA - The long awaited fight card for the upcoming Ultimate Submission Showdown, scheduled for October 11, 2003 and sponsored by VARIG Airlines, was released today by the IGJJF.

Fighters on the card (Card Subject to Change):

Lance Campbell IFC Veteran, World Sambo Champion
Falaniko Vitale UFC Veteran, NAGA Champion
Ryron Gracie IGJJF Champion, 4th Generation Gracie
Travis Lutter HookNshoot Champion, ADCC qualifier
Martijn de Jong Shooto Veteran, Dutch MMA Champion
David Avellan Grappler's Quest and NAGA Champion
Keigo Kunihara King of the Cage Veteran, Judo Champion

With applications pouring in from all over the world, organizers are confident that they will have plenty of qualifyed competitors to stage a high quality event.

For more information, go to IGJJF.com

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By Eddie Goldstein


Ryan Bennett (left)

With all the shady boxing people seeping into the MMA game, I thought that now was the time to compile a list of the 'top 5 MMA backstabs'. The list is not meant to cause any commotion, and I am sure there are 1,000 other MMA backstabs that can make this list as well. But these are the top 5 that stick out in my head that I remember the most. Enjoy!

1.) Tito Ortiz effectively ducking Chuck Liddell and backstabbing Zuffa - In essense, Tito basically backstabbed two parties when he decided to duck Liddell. First, by backstabbing a fighter (Liddell) that he once claimed was a very good friend who he could never fight for just an ordinary payday, when in fact most insiders already knew Tito would never fight Liddell for fear of losing, thus losing his reputation as the number one UFC posterboy. The second backstab of course was the way he tried to hold Zuffa and Dana White hostage when they needed him the most. Zuffa and Dana White made him, protected him, and promoted the hell out of him. Of course none of this mattered to the reluctant Tito Ortiz with fear and dollar signs in his eyes.

2.) Ryan Bennett backstabbing Eddie Bravo (with Bruce Buffer in support) - In what has to be one of the biggest professional blunders in MMA, Ryan Bennett sent an e-mail to both Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, in which he ratted on Eddie Bravo for making marijuana posts on a well known internet forum. Bennett didn't count on the fact that someone at Zuffa headquarters saw it fit to forward the backstabbing e-mail to Eddie Bravo himself! That's when the shit really hit the fan. Prior to all that drama, Bennett had been whining for months about losing his UFC post-fight interviewer job (Eddie Bravo eventually got Bennett's spot doing the post-fight interviews), and whined to no end behind the scenes about trying to get his job back. Bruce Buffer was at least smart enough not to send the actual e-mail. However, Bennett's reputation still hasn't recovered from this scandal in the eyes of most fans.

3.) Frank Shamrock backstabs Jerry Bohlander - Frank Shamrock had been dilligently training the Lion's Den fighters and believed it was now his time to shine. Ken Shamrock thought differently and that's where the problems began. While Ken was away on WWF duty, Frank took it upon himself to intercept an SEG delievered contract, take Jerry Bohlander (the guy SEG wanted to fight for the title against Kevin Jackson) out of the contract, secretly negotiate with SEG and insert himself in there as the fighter who would get the title shot. Frank won that fight in less then a minute, became the UFC middleweight champ, and the rest is history. That Frank wanted to make his own name and step out of Ken's shadow is a good thing. But what most fans found distasteful was the way he backstabbed his roommate Jerry Bohlander.

4.) Dan Dease refuses to pay full price and backstabbing Rudolfo Gamez - The new ICC co-president Dan Dease, who has now affiliated himself with the infamous and legendary boxing promoter Don King, originally bought the ICC's cage second-hand off of Rudolfo Gamez of Texas. Dease inspected the cage, agreed to the price, hauled it off to Minnesota, and then refused to pay the agreed upon price. Instead, Dease gave Gamez five times less then what he said he would pay. Gamez took Dease to court and won, but it is still not known if Dease has paid off the remainder of the bill.

5.) Rorion Gracie trademarking the Gracie name and effectively backstabbing his whole family - Revisionist history says that it if weren't for Rorion, none of the Gracies would be prospering the way they are today with the explosion of MMA in America and Japan. While this is technically true, one can also see that Rorion did not have his family in mind when he decided to trademark the family name in America, and tried to do the same in Brazil. While Rorion's idea of the UFC helped out everyone in the end, his act of trying to usurp the family name from his own family still doesn't sit well with most fans.




Eddie Goldstein is a legendary underground journalist of boxing, pro-wrestling, and now MMA. His contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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KOTC
November 2nd, 2003
Pala Casino
San Diego, CA

*The Pala Casino is just outside San Diego, CA.

The next pay-per-view card for KOTC is as follows:

Main Events:
Bobby Hoffman vs. Paul Buentello (KOTC heavyweight tile)
Thomas Schulte vs. Joe Stevenson (KOTC lightweight title)

Undercard:
Jeff Newton vs. Brent Stevens
Joe Crilly vs. Dusty Arden
Keigo Kunihara vs. Rudy Bork
Art Santore vs. Joey Villasenor
Mike Guymon vs. John Cronk
John Cole vs. Thomas Kenny
Thomas Denny vs. Richard Solis

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Hayato Sakurai vs. Ryo Chonan.

World famous MMA photographer Susumu Nagao now has pictures up of the DEEP: 12th Impact event that just took place on September 15th. To check out the pictures on Susumu's site, click here

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Super Brawl 31: Crossroads
Saturday, September 20th, 2003
Blaisdell Arena
Honolulu, Hawaii

Falaniko Vitale defeats Justin Ellison by TKO at 2:35, RD 1.
Joe Jordan defeats Kolo Koka by DQ.
Eddie Yagin drew with David Yeung.
Jason Miller defeats Shawn Taylor by triangle choke at 3:32, RD 2.
Tiki Ghosen defeats Ronald Jhun by split decision.
Ray Seraille defeats Travis Fulton by unanimous decision.
Jay Martinez defeats Kaipo Kalama by unanimous decision.
Harvey Nakamura defeats Edric Pajarros by rear naked choke at 2:19, RD 3.

Exhibition match (8-year olds)
Randy Apolo drew with Kai Kamaka.

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SHOOTO
September 21st, 2003
Port Messe Nagoya
Aichi, Japan

Class-A Bouts:
Joao Roque defeats Hiroyuki Abe by armbar, RD 2.
Kentaro Imaizumi defeats Jeremy Bolt by guillotine choke, RD 2.

Class-B Bouts:
Daisuke 'Amazon' Sugie defeats Tom Kirk by armbar.
Koutetsu Boku defeats Naoki Matsushita by TKO, RD 2.
Hiroyuki Tanaka defeats Hiroshi Umemura by triangle choke, RD 2.
Yasuhiro Akagi defeats Shinichi Hanawa by majority decision.
HIRO defeats Keisuke Kurata by KO at 0:08, RD 1.
Akira Kibe defeats Manabu Kanou by armlock, RD 1.
Kotobukimaru defeats Hirofumi Hara by unanimous decision.

BJJ Match:
Leonardo Santos defeats Mitsuyoshi Hayakawa by points (4-0).

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Mike Bernardo vs. "Butterbean".

K-1 JAPAN SERIES
K-1 SURVIVAL 2003 JAPAN GP FINAL
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Yokohama Arena
Yokohama, Japan

K-1 Japan Tournament:

Quarterfinals:
Musashi defeats 'Montanha Silva' by unanimous decision.
Hiraku Hori defeats Tatsufumi Tomihira by majority decision.
Yusuke Fujimoto defeats Nobu Hayashi by split decision.
Hiromi Amada defeats Tsuyoshi Nakasako by unanimous decision.

Semifinals:
Musashi defeats Hiraku Hori by KO at 3:00, RD 2.
Yusuke Fujimoto defeats Hiromi Amada by unanimous decision.

Final:
Musashi defeats Yusuke Fujimoto by majority decision.


Super Fights (K-1 rules):
Mike Bernardo defeats 'Butterbean' by KO at 1:01, RD 2.
Jerome Le Banner defeats Shaka Zulu by KO at 1:10, RD 2.
Tooru Ooishi defeats Rikiya Debata by unanimous decision.

Super Fights (MMA rules):
Bob Sapp defeats Stefan Gamlin by KO at 0:52, RD 1.
Rene Roose defeats Ivan Salaverry by TKO at 2:42, RD 1.

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Shannon Briggs

Former heavyweight boxing linear champ Shannon Briggs stayed at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel last weekend when he met with K-1 officals and signed a deal with them.

Another interesting side story to this was that Mike Tyson, who has already signed with K-1, also happened to be in the same hotel at the same time. The two boxers brushed into each other in the lobby, but no unpleasantries were exchanged.

In another development, South African and former IBF heavyweight boxing champion Frans Botha (who has lost to both Tyson and Briggs) has signed on with K-1 and made an appearance at the K-1 Japan that just took place today.

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Frans Botha (left) against Lennox Lewis.

The Japanese media reported that former IBF heavyweight boxing champion Frans Botha is close to signing a contract with K-1. Most fight fans will remember the South African Botha from his fight with Mike Tyson a few years back, a fight in which he was winning on the scorecards until getting brutally knocked out in the fifth round.

In other news, K-1 is putting together a card for a future event in Hawaii, in which they plan to feature Mike Tyson. More info to come in the next few weeks.

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Gracie Open
Sunday, Sep 21st, 2003
Diablo Valley College
Pleasant Hill, California

Start: 10:00 A.M.

The fourth annual Gracie Open takes place today in Pleasant Hill, California. There will be a gi as well as a gi-less division. David Avellan and David Terrell face off in a the superfight. Representatives from Renzo Gracie, Frank Shamrock's AKA, Ralph Gracie, Carley Gracie, The Lion's Den, Cesar Gracie and others will be participating.

Spectators will pay $5.00 to attend. Full details and online registration can be found at Graciefighter.com. Or you can call (925) 827-5455.

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