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Tito Ortiz

In what appears to be a record number for ducking one fighter, reluctant former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz has declined a fight with Chuck Liddell once again!

Micheal DiSanto of InsideFighting.com interviewed UFC president Dana White last night and got the inside story. Here is the excerpt from the interview:


IF: Dana, in that regard, what are your thoughts on Randy's next defense of his LHW title? When we spoke to Randy Couture a few weeks ago, he suggested that he preferred that Tito fight Chuck and Vitor fight Franklin and then the winners fight in order to determine his next opponent. What are your thoughts on that?

Dana: What we were going to do was put together Tito and Chuck. That was the next fight. We were going to make that the next fight and then Tito's management called up and said Tito's hand is hurt.

IF: Tito's hand is hurt right now?

Dana: Yeah, his hand is bothering him right now.

IF: That fight was going to be for UFC 46?

Dana: Yep.

IF: That sucks!

Dana: Yep.


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TITO ORTIZ UNOFFICIAL 'DUCK CHUCK' LIDDELL RECORD:

(Below is a list of Tito Ortiz's unofficial record of ducking Chuck Liddell an unprecedented five times:)

1.) Ducked Liddell from 2000-2002 - Excuse: Tito did not want to fight a friend for little money.

2.) Ducked Liddell in UFC 42 in 2003 - Excuse: His hand and wrist hurt, even though X-Rays came up negative and doctors cleared him as healthy. Also claimed he was going to shoot his scenes in the movie "The Crow 4".

3.) Ducked Liddell in UFC 43 in 2003 - Claimed he wanted to break his contract to get more money and better terms.

4.) Ducked Liddell after UFC 44 in 2003 - Tito promised in his own words that whether Tito "wins, loses, or draws to Couture, that Liddell would be his next opponent". After eventually losing to Couture in UFC 44, Tito then states he does not want to fight Liddell, and only wants a rematch with Couture.

5.) Ducked Liddell for UFC 46 scheduled for early 2004 - Dana White tries to make Tito vs. Liddell for UFC 46. Tito and his management tell Dana White that Tito's hand hurts and he will not fight Liddell at UFC 46.

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By Tape Lord

Bob Sapp (right) vs. Stefan Gamlin in a K-1 MMA rules fight.

Hello my friends, as you must have read by now, K-1 will be promoting their own MMA show under a new branch of their company called the 'Fighting Entertainment Group' (FEG). The plan is to compete against, and eventually surpass PRIDE.

With just as much (if not more) money and advertising clout as PRIDE, K-1 is sure to make its mark on the MMA world this coming year. Below are some of the fighters that my postal connections in the K-1 organization have told me will figure prominently in their plans, as well as some fighters from other disciplines that they hope to recruit to the world of MMA:

Bob Sapp - Will play a key role in the promotion.

Mike Tyson - Tyson is signed to a 3-fight exclusive management deal with K-1 in Japan. K-1 would love the idea of Tyson doing an MMA fight, but Tyson has made it clear he only wants to do boxing. Still, money talks and K-1 has plenty of it, so the door is not closed on this possibility.

Jerome Le Banner - The CroCop-like transition he wanted to make into MMA has been delayed a year due to the severely broken arm he sustained in the 2002 K-1 final against Ernesto Hoost. The plan was for Le Banner to go to Brazil to train with Chute Boxe. He will still do this in the coming year, and make a serious transition to MMA in late 2004.

Peter Aerts - Another K-1 star who has been training for MMA and will figure into K-1's MMA show.

Shannon Briggs - Briggs is also signed to a management deal with K-1. He has been training in MMA and kickboxing, and wants to eventually transition into MMA. He will most likely do this in K-1's show.

Kimo Leopoldo - Kimo is already signed to a 6-fight deal with K-1 to do both MMA and K-1 fights.

Pedro Rizzo - With Rizzo's career in the UFC just about over, K-1 will look to sign him to a deal which will see him do both MMA fights and K-1 fights.

Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic - Relations between K-1 and Filipovic became strained this past year, but K-1 will look to patch things up and sign Filipovic back to K-1 to compete in both MMA and K-1.

Franz Botha, Eric 'Butterbean' Esch, 'Montaha' Silva, TOA The Samoan Beast - Silva and Montanha figure to be competing in MMA, but we may even see Botha and "Butterbean" compete in a one-time MMA match as well.

Brazilian Top Team, Chute Boxe, and Brazil Dojo - The bidding war will start to compete with PRIDE for Brazil's best fighters.

UFC's champions - K-1 plans to start strategically fleecing the UFC of its biggest stars and champions.

Japanese stars - Although Japan does not have any heavyweight stars outside of Kazuyuki Fujita, K-1 will be looking to sign many of Japan's light heavyweight, middleweight, and lightweight stars.

Fighters from other disciplines - K-1 would like to sign more top level Boxers, as well as sporting stars such as Alexander Karelin. The chances of signing Karelin are not good to none, but they will make him a big offer and see what happens.

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Renato 'Babalu' Sobral

Heat FC 2
November 27th
Natal, Brazil

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' reports that Renato 'Babalu' Sobral has injured his left hand and will not be able to participate on the HEAT FC 2 card scheduled for November 27th.


Below are the matchups that have been announced so far for the second Heat FC show:

Carlos Barreto vs. Travis Wiuff
Alan Goes vs. Gustavo 'Ximu' Machado
Forrest Griffin vs. Edson 'Paredao'
Vinicius 'Draculinho' vs. Kleber Galdino
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Chris Fontaine
Fabio Bolinho vs. Sergio 'Junior'
Christopher Hipolito vs. TBA

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Ron Waterman (left)

PANCRASE 2003 HYBRID TOUR
Friday, October 31st, 2003
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Ron Waterman defeats Jun Ishii by neck crank at 1:02, RD 1.
Akihiro Gono defeats Watanabe Izuru by KO at 3:49, RD 2.
Izuru Takeuchi drew with Eiji Ishikawa.
Yuichi Nakanishi defeats Kosei Kubota by TKO at 2:46, RD 2.
Satoru Kitaoka defeats Naoki Seki by unanimous decision.
Hur Sung Jin defeats Keigo Takamori by KO at 0:18, RD 1.
Takuya Wada defeats Minoru Ozawa by unanimous decision.
Miki Shida defeats Masahito Wachi by decision.

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By Dave Meltzer


Frye (left) vs. Yoshida (right)

With the finals of the Pride middleweight Grand Prix coming on 11/9 at the Tokyo Dome, there are three established fighters and one question mark left. The question mark is former Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, who takes on Vanderlei Silva.

Silva takes a nearly incredible 43-month unbeaten streak into the finals, along with win after win over Japanese competitors since being made into a superstar in Japan with his first win over Kazushi Sakuraba on March 25, 2001. But while Silva, Chuck Liddell, and Quinton Jackson all combine great striking ability with wrestling ability, and have proven themselves against the top competition in the world, Yoshida is a different animal.

There are two different versions of Yoshida, the Japanese and the American. The Japanese version has Yoshida as a submission expert, one of the best judokas of modern times, anywhere in the world, using that skill to stop some of MMA's biggest names, like Royce Gracie, Don Frye, Masaaki Satake (while not a good MMA fighter, he is very well known in Japan from the glory days of K-1 and even in the early 90s as a karate star) and Kiyoshi Tamura.

In the U.S., while not universal, there is a common theme among many people. He's a fake. A cheater. Someone who has never won a real match. A creation of Pride, which needs a Japanese top star because Sakuraba has taken too many beatings. The arguments are that three of his wins came over people who have done pro wrestling (Frye, Satake and Tamura). While the Gracie win is often misrepresented as a work and a cheat, it was controversial nonetheless. If you want to pick things apart and look hard enough, you can convince yourself of work in any situation. There are people who will even try to convince you that last year's Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama match, because it involved two pro wrestlers, must have been a work, even though it was among the most brutal matches in history with both suffering serious physical damage. They said the same about Frye vs. Shamrock, despite Shamrock's face looking like hamburger meat and Frye's legs destroyed from submissions, even though clearly Frye hasn’t been the same fighter since. And as we will show, this isn’t the first Japanese fighter this has been said about.

To read the rest of the article in its entirety, click here

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Bill Goldberg

WWE super star Bill Goldberg was quoted as saying, "I will fight in Japan this summer. My contract is to DSE (parent company of PRIDE)....there are three pro-wrestling matches on the contract"

For fans who might not be aware, DSE also promotes a fledgling pro-wrestling league in Japan, apart from promoting their usual MMA fights in PRIDE. Goldberg has said in the past that he is interested in maybe trying his hand at MMA, but has said he has no plans to do so in the immediate future.

Fightsport.com first reported almost two months ago that K-1 is planning to make an MMA-only promotion to rival, and eventually surpass PRIDE. K-1 has now officially announced the name of their new MMA-only promotion company as the 'Fighting Entertainment Group' (FEG).

With vast amounts of money to spend, and all the advertising pull in Japan, look for K-1's MMA show to make a major impact. According to inside sources, K-1 will go after many of the major MMA stars, as well as stars from other fighting disciplines, such as they have already done with Mike Tyson.

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Kazuhiro Hamanaka

The Japanese media reports that Kazuhiro Hamanaka has left the Takada Dojo, effective October 28th.

Hamanaka, who was being billed as the rising star for Takada Dojo, recently lost to Ryan Gracie by KO at the October 5th PRIDE Bushido. It is being said that Hamanaka wants to concentrate in wrestling for a while, as he wants to try and qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

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Phil Baroni

Andre Courtemanche of UFCFightnews.com recently interviewed UFC middleweight contender Phil Baroni. Here nare some of Baroni's comments:

Baroni on his stint as a commentator during his time off: "I'm a pro-fighter, and I want to be a pro-fighter. I don't want to be Hollywood. If I wanted to do it, I would be doing it. I want to be the UFC middleweight champion of the world. Commentating was fine when I was hurt, just to be around the game, but that's not my thing. My thing is to be the best pound-for-pound. Hollywood is for the other guys. I'm not trying to parlay my fighting career into anything else"

Baroni on his former trainer: "He was inadequate as a teacher, so I fired him. I brought in my old trainer from New York. I was in New York training for a month and then I came back here to Vegas for three weeks and now I'm going back to New York to finish up my training."

Baroni on how his training is going: "You'll see a whole new level of fighter when I step in there. I've been sparring with Chuck Liddell. He was knocking everyone else out, so I went and worked with him. We've been going at it three times a week; kickboxing, just going to war. My money is on Chuck for the PRIDE Grand Prix because homeboy can hit hard."

Baroni on his second loss to arch rival Matt Lindland: "The guy is a coward. He said he would fight me for real this time and standup and go to battle and he didn't do that at all. It was the same bullshit he always does. That's why he can't even look me in the eye when I see him. No guts, no glory. No matter what Matt Lindland does, he'll always be a prelim fighter. That's not even fighting what he does. I blame (referee) Big John (McCarthy) for not standing us up. They stand up Sean Sherk out of the half guard, why wouldn;t they stand me and Lindland up? Lindland just lays on you and tries to look busy, he's a staller. He's good at it. There's a reason wrestling is being dropped by all the colleges. It's boring. Nobody wants to watch it. And that's what he will always bring to the table: boring wrestling. They don't even put him in the commercials for the UFC. Why would they?

A few guys might have thought he won that fight, but he knows who was praying for the bell to ring at the end of the fight. He wasn't coming out for the next bell. Where I come from, in New York, when the cops come to break it up, how it ends is the winner. Whoever is winning when the cops come to break it up is the winner of the fight. Both times we fought, he had his head between my legs and I was pounding on him at the end of the fight."

Baroni on losing to Lindland, but winning the marketing war: "My fight is being billed higher then Lindland's. Know why? Because people know Evan Tanner will come to fight and they know that I always do. Who do people want to watch Arturo Gatti or Floyd Mayweather? Everybody goes to see Arturo. Nobody goes to see Floyd or a Pernell Whitaker fight. Nobody wants to go out and watch a guy squeak out a win by decision. I come to hurt people and that's what I bring to the table."

Baroni on coming back from his serious pec injury: "There were people saying it'd be a year until I got back. I went to Salt Lake City and a doctor who works on the Olympic teams treated me and I've got Matt Smith, a top physical therapy guy. They had me training by August 1st. I also did rehab three times a day, where most people do it three times a week. Everybody was pissing me off telling me 'You'll never be this again, you'll never be that again.' I'm a lot more pissed off now and I'm going to take it out on Evan Tanner first and then everyone else in the middleweight division.

People would call me out when I was hurt. All the assholes were calling me out who were ducking me before I got hurt. Phil Miller, he's afraid of me. He got cut from the UFC because he wouldn't take a fight with me. Tony Fryklund got thrown out of the UFC for not fighting me. Then he gets on the radio and says he wants to fight me after he hears I got hurt. Wait till you see what I do to Evan Tanner. I'm knocking everyone out. If you fight in the UFC and you weigh 185, you're dead."

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UFC 45: Revolution
November 21st, 2003
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut

Zuffa announced that Sentanta Sport will telecast UFC 45 on live pay-per-view in the United Kingdom on November 21st.

The show will go on the air at 3 a.m., November 22, British Time. The suggested retail price for U.K. fight fans will be 14.95 pounds. Setanta Sport broadcasts events as part of SKY Digital's on-demand cable package. Sky Digital customers can order the show by pressing the red "select" button on channel 436 or by calling 08708 500 005. NTL and Telewest customers should contact their respective cable operators to order the show.

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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

DSE announced that Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson will appear on 'The Conway and Steckler Show' talk radio show, which airs live between 8pm and 11:35pm (Pacific Time), on Los Angeles 97.1 FM talk radio station. Jackson is scheduled to appear at approximately 10pm (Pacific Time), tomorrow night (October 31st).

Jackson will be discussing his upcoming fight against Chuck Liddell on November 9th. 97.1 FM is also the home to 'The Howard Stern Show (covering L.A., Orange, and Ventura counties).

Any fans who want to call in and ask questions can do so at:

L.A. County: 1-800-520-9710
Orange County: 1-800-977-9710
Sprint PCS: #971

Nation-wide fans can also email questions at: timanddoug@earthlink.net

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Fedor Emelianenko

PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko recently did a Q&A on his website between him and his fans. Here is the entire Q&A:

Fan: Is NHB fighting a sport or a business for you?

Fedor: I earn my money from sport, but sport and business are the same for me.

Fan: Mass scuffles have become popular in Russia recently, what do you think of the idea of holding these fights in the ring; for example ten fighters against ten. In your opinion, would this help NHB develop in our country?

Fedor: Frankly speaking, I haven't given this much thought. Such fights, as I realize, happen in the street and no one turned it into sport. I'm interested in NHB fighting, but this kind of sport isn't so popular in our country. NHB has many legitimate athletes. It's a pity, but there is not many big shows, so many fighters can only find fights in the amateur shows. It's a great risk as the extent of injury is very high.

Fan: How old were you, when you won a Master of Sports in self-defense.

Fedor: I won the Master of Sports very late in my opinion. It was due to my situation. I competed before I went to the Army. I was not bad, but as far as judo and self-defense, I was condemned. When I was twenty I became the Master of Sports in judo and self-defense.

Fan: Fedor, I'd like to know about your weight lifting routines.

Fedor: I used to pay a lot of attention to weight training, but for the last four years I have used wrestling as a substitute for weight lifting exercises. I do combat, I am good at boxing, kickboxing. Every day I pull myself up and swing my weight.

Fan: Do you have any useful tips for young beginners?

Fedor: Nowadays fighting has become a very universal kind of sport. You must only fight and be a master of your own technique.

Fan: What is your relatives' attitude to NHB fighting? I'm sorry, but if my husband and my son trained for NHB, I would have a heart attack or nervous breakdown.

Fedor: Of course they feel it keenly. but I have worked hard and have done well. I began to take part in NHB in a mild version (RINGS), and progressed to the less-rules version PRIDE, which is the most prestigious version. But if my daughter watches me on TV, she says, "This is my father".

Fan: Have you ever had to use your skills in your regular life?

Fedor: Only in the Army. It was not my wish, but it happened due to circumstance.

Fan: Sir Emelianenko, if it is not a secret, how many teeth did you lose in the ring? And do you want to take part in American "fights without rules"? They say, it pays very well. Thank you!

Fedor: I didn't lose any teeth in the ring. My missing teeth are a result from my Army days. The reason was bad water, and at the Army doesn't treat teeth. I've never gotten injured from fighting. As for American "fights without rules", this question is answered by the show called PRIDE. In America, they fight inside the Octagon and have many rules, but PRIDE is the number one show and has the best rules. All the best stars want to compete in Pride. The best fighters from Brazil and America try to be in Pride. The Octagon is on the second place. The main problem of it is the nationalism...Americans want to only see their people as the winners.

Fan: What do you think of the women who compete in NHB. Is your wife an athlete?

Fedor: No, she isn't an athlete. I think a woman must be a feminine, and do sports such as gymnastics, dance, and exercise. But a man must go in for single combat, to defend the honors and stand up for himself.

Fan: If your daughter comes home with a bloody lip and says: "I had a fight in the street". What will be your reaction?

Fedor: My reaction?! I hope, it won't happen! But if it does happen, and a boy is the offender, then he better make sure I don't find him.

Fan: Tell us about your training. Do you pay attention to psychological training, or do you rely on your good physical condition?

Fedor: Of course I pay a great attention to psychological training; I try to make myself better with each fight, both mentally and physically. Physically, I'm always trying to improve my fighting technique. I try to be as well prepared as possible in the ring.

Fan: What would you advise for teenagers who are deciding their future profession?

Fedor: I think teenagers must "look for" themselves; they don't need to to copy other people. Everyone must find their place in life, be it sport or something else. It's important to find something to train in that is good for your soul, and try to do it good.

Fan: How many years have you been studying at the University?

Fedor: I have only finished the first course.

Fan: Do your future plans include the idea of talking young people away from the street?

Fedor: I try to do many things to attract young people to the gym, but I don't have enough time to do it. Our state government and director of big factories don't do enough in this area. In my opinion, teenagers know more about the top athletes of our city. There are a lot of fine boxers and track and field athletes in our city. We have to show it and tell about it, and then children will go to the gyms.

Fan: Do athletes of other countries have any distinct qualities to their fighting?

Fedor: Yes they do. Brazil are the strongest nation of all. Their technique is the best. "Fighting without rules" is very popular in that country.

Fan: How can you remove all doubts when you know that your rival is stronger than you?

Fedor: I don't think who is stronger or weaker. Simply speaking, I pay a lot of attention to every fight, make up my mind, and do my business. Nowadays everyone wants to take the championship belt away, all have the desire to win, that's why I have fights with the best athletes.

Fan: How don't you overstep the bounds of cruelty?

Fedor: You know, athletes have their own ethics. First of all, the respect to the rival and to the people. One of my principles is to be a humane man. Cruelty in the ring is a distinct characteristic to many Americans. I'm not for cruelty. I always try to behave very honestly.

Fan: What do you love most about your wife?

Fedor: I am glad that my wife is near. We became friends 9 years ago, we married 4 years ago. Oksana is an understanding person. Sometimes it's not very easy to be with me, but I know I can always rely on her, and respect her.

Fan: Fedor, do you think the spectators see NHB as a sport, or as a brutal and rude spectacle? I think a brutal and rude spectacle attracts spectators. In my opinion, it's a cult of violence and cruelty. Once the name of it attracts the spectator. The thought of something that isn't a sport, but bloody sight, where you can get a rush of adrenalin from two fighters beating each other through all over the ring.

Fedor: I am neither cruel nor rude. I do my business. Money and judging settle the matter. I was also condemned after I chose fighting, and I didn't have the support from sport organizations. I didn't have the choice. Now I realize that our country and people are on my side. I must do what I do, and I like it.

Fan: Do you have anything else to prove? What are your plans for the future?

Fedor: I have already demonstrated everything for me, and for our people. I must be the champion as long as I can be. I represent not only Russia, but also our athletes who compete in NHB against the best opponents from Brazil, USA, and Holland, and sometimes they suffer defeat.

Fan: As I know, your younger brother also trains in self-defense. How do you see his prospects?

Fedor: His chances are not bad; this year he became the Russian champion in self-defense. At present, he is going to take part in the November world championships in Greece. I also train him for NHB fights. In my opinion, he is ready to make his debut.

Fan: Good day Fedor, I have always been a fight fan. I'm eager to know, what does it feel like to win in the ring?

Fedor: When I get a victory, the soul is full of joy, and maybe pride for the country, for the people who trained me, for my relatives, and a little bit for myself. And of course I feel relieved and can breathe a little easier, and feel happy that my preparation paid off.

Fan: You've been to many countries of the world. Where you like to stay longer, but not forever?

Fedor: I have not been to all countries. Where did I like? I liked Japan. I like their culture. People respect each other and everything is made for people. There are a lot of well equipped gyms. All those who desire to train go there: from 6 up to old age. It's pleasant to see young children near with grandparents. It is a healthy nation.

Fan: With whom have you fought in the ring?

Fedor: The most famous athlete I have fought is Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. He is the former world champion of PRIDE. I beat him for the belt. He was considered the best fighter in the world, and he is distinguished in Brazil. The fight with him was very hard. I thought only about the championship title, and that I must win it. That victory was the greatest of my career so far.

Fan: What is your training routine for your next fight?

Fedor: I train according to every fight, and try to do it on the highest level. I train to maximum effort and try to be in good shape.

Fan: Do you watch video of other fighters and possible opponents?

Fedor: You know, I have only watched a video of an opponent once. I watched it to understand his conditioning, try to find his strengths and weaknesses. After that, I worked out my technique and strategy for the fight.

Fan: Who throws the first strike?

Fedor: It depends on the situation. Someone begins the attack at once, another waits and keeps the distance. Therefore it is necessary to operate depending on the situation. Fights, it is possible to tell, are like playing chess. Everyone draws up his technique and strategy.

Fan: Fedor, our readers posted a lot of messages with best wishes for you to win your next fight. We subscribe to their opinion and thank you for your conversation.

Fedor: Thank you, I'm very glad that people are interested in the sport and giving their support. I'll try to make my fans happy with my victories.

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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 October 30th, 2003.

Fightsport.com has been the fastest-growing MMA website the last few months and have taken over the number 3 spot this past month, pushing Sherdog.net down to number 4. MMA.tv moved into the number one spot almost two months ago, knocking Sherdog.com down to number 2. MMAWeekly.com remains steady at number 5, while Subfighter.com has moved up to the number 6 spot.

The official site of the UFC fell down to number 7. Adcombat.com has moved into number 8, dropping the official site of PRIDE to number 9. MaxFighting.com survived by a thread to hang on to the number 10 spot.



MMA RANKINGS:

1.) MMA.tv - Traffic Rank for mma.tv: 4,425

2.) Sherdog.com - Traffic Rank for sherdog.com: 7,123

3.) Fightsport.com - Traffic Rank for fightsport.com: 9,611

4.) Sherdog.net - Traffic Rank for sherdog.net: 10,369

5.) MMAWeekly.com - Traffic Rank for mmaweekly.com: 12,306

6.) Subfighter.com - Traffic Rank for subfighter.com: 18,524

7.) UFC.tv - Traffic Rank for ufc.tv: 21,576

8.) Adcombat.com - Traffic Rank for adcombat.com: 30,072

9.) Pridefc.com - Traffic Rank for pridefc.com: 31,008

10.) Maxfighting.com - Traffic Rank for maxfighting.com: 52,314






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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Vanderlei Silva

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' reports that Vanderlei Silva put the finishing touches on his preparation for the PRIDE GP Finals with some heavy Muay Thai training sparring sessions against Murilo 'Ninja' Rua, Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, and Assuerio Silva.

Silva had the following to say to his fans, "I'm going to win the PRIDE GP. The people who are rooting for me won't regret it".

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira told Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' that he will trade strikes with Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic when they fight for the PRIDE interim heavyweight title on Novemebr 9th.

"I've been training a lot of standup, and I'm going to trade strikes with him. But if Mirko gives me the chance, I'm taking him to the ground, and I have no doubts I would submit him there", says Minotauro.

Minotauro will travel to Japan tomorrow with his teammate Murilo Bustamante. They will have a good ten days in Japan to acclimatize to the time difference before the November ninth event.

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PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003
November 9, 2003
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo, Japan

DSE has announced that the rounds for the PRIDE GP tournament matches will be shortened from the traditional three rounds to two for the PRIDE: 'Final COnflict' show, scheduled for November 9th from the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

DSE also announced that the DirectTV version of PRIDE: 'Final Conflict'


Round Format (Semi-Final, Final, and Reserve Matches):
Round 1: 10 minutes
Round 2: 5 minutes

(2 minute interval between rounds)

This adjusted round format is only for bouts related to the tournament. All other matches on the fight card will be held in the traditional 10-5-5 format.



Complete Card:

Grand Prix middleweight tournament:
Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Quinton Jackson vs. Chuck Liddell

Alternate fight:
Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante

Single fights:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic (PRIDE heavyweight title)
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
Gary Goodridge vs. Dan Bobish
Heath Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto

Fight Order:
Fight One: Gary Goodridge vs. Dan Bobish
Fight Two: Quinton Jackson vs. Chuck Liddell
Fight Three: Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Fight Four: Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Fight Five: Heath Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto
Fight Six: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
Fight Seven: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira
Fight Eight: Winner Liddell/Jackson vs. Winner Silva/Yoshida

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UFC 45: Revolution
November 21st, 2003
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut


The UFC has announced Keith Rockel vs. Chris Ligouri as the ninth matchup for their UFC 45 tenth anniversary show.


As Fightsport.com first reported last month, the UFC may go with up to to ten matchups for their UFC 45 tenth anniversary show.

UFC 45 card:

Frank Mir vs. Pat Smith
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg (middleweight title fight)
'Tank' Abbott vs. Wesley 'Cabbage' Correira
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Falaniko Vitale vs. Matt Lindland
Robbie Lawler vs. Chris Lytle
Din Thomas vs. Yves Edwards
Keith Rockel vs. Chris Ligouri

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Duane Ludwig (right)

K-1 World Max
November 18, 2003
Tokyo, Japan

(card subject to change):

Duane Ludwig vs. Toshio Matsumoto
Genki Sudo vs. Albert Kraus
Masato vs. Vince Phillips
Andy Souwer vs. Takehiro Murahama
Hiroyuki Doi vs. Marfio Canoletti
Kazuya Yasuhiro vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Daniel Dawson vs. Kojiro
Tony Valent vs. Takayuki Kohiruimaki

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Silva (left) last year against Cro Cop.

Portal Do Vale Tudo reports the following:

PDVT: Is it true that next year we can see Vanderlei Silva fighting as a heavyweight?

Vanderlei: My weight is already at heavyweight. I've reached 220 pounds (100 kg) and I'm having to lose too much weight to fight, but next year I will certainly do some fights in the heavyweight division. I did it last year against Cro Cop, and I've had some fights with bigger guys and I did well. So if an opponent is big and also an interesting fight, then I'll face him.

PDVT: Will you try to unify the belts?

Vanderlei: Yes, if this opportunity shows up then I will take it. If I remain unbeaten, then people want to see me face greater challenges. If I am well prepared, I can handle it. I think this is a step up in a fighter's career, and I think a fighter's career is made by titles. A fighter must always chase after these things. I want everything that my career can offer me. I want to fight as much as I can, especially against the best fighters.

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Egan Inoue (right)

The following is a news article from Hawaii News 8:

2003-10-30 Honolulu -- He has multiple super-brawl titles and is considered one of the best fighters in the world. Prosecutors have charged 38 year old Egan Inoue with domestic abuse and second-degree terroristic threatening for allegedly choking and kicking his wife Gina. "I actually just filed a restraining order because we need some time apart," Inoue's wife said. However she says she does not want to see her husband wind up in jail and is not assisting prosecutors with the case.

Honolulu police say Inoue posted $1,100 dollars bail on the two misdemeanor charges. He now faces a court appearance in november. Gine Inoue told News 8 that she doesn't feel her husband "needs to go to jail, and i don't want to work with the state to put him there." One of Inoue's students says the champion fighter rarely displays a temper. "It's very surprising. I never see him get angry. I can't picture him doing something like that," said Baret Yoshida.

Inoue and his attorney may answer questions or issue a statement about the charges against the fighter at a press conference on Wednesday. It's not clear what effect if any the legal trouble facing Inoue will have on a fight he has scheduled for December 5.

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By Joshua Grossman

Minotauro (bottom) vs. Bob Sapp (top)


There is nothing in sports like a great grudge rivalry. Every sport has them to a certain degree, but in MMA, the classic rematches and rivalries are all but missing. There is no Ali vs. Frazier, North Carolina vs. Duke, Yankees vs. Red Sox, Packers vs. Bears, etc. Boxing has thrived on the classic rematches of its history. Big matches and PPV spectacles can be a regular occurance, but a solid rivalry holds more interest than many of those mega PPV bouts put together. Recently the boxing world got a much needed shot in the arm from Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward. The two men fought three 12-round brawls that all fans of the sport will remember for the rest of their lives. Each man likely to have taken years off of his life in the process for personal glory. But in MMA, fighters are reluctant, and promoters are slow to ever try take advantage of this. There are many compelling rematches that could be made in MMA right now. Here are a few possible rematches from Joshua Grossman's list:

Belfort vs. Coutore II - The last fight was viewed by many as a major upset. Now Randy would be the favorite, and the phenom would take his place as the underdog. The good thing is that this match seems likely to happen. If Belfort wins this time, why not a rubber match?

Mario Sperry vs. Murilo 'Ninja' Rua II - The first fight was a classic war of wills. With the younger Ninja coming out on top with his then superior conditioning.

Bob Sapp vs. Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Noguiera II - The first match was one of the best fights in the sport's history. With Sapp's added experience would the outcome now be different?

Mirko 'Cro Cop' vs. Vanderlei Silva II - The first match was a tactical striking battle that left fans wanting it to continue. A rematch between these two would certainly be a classic war.

Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie II (grappling rules and no time limit). These two definately need to finish what they started. Who would not be interested in seeing the outcome?

Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz II - The first fight saw the smaller more conditioned Shamrock beat Tito Ortiz into submission. The scene of the dominated Ortiz on hands and knees finally tapping to Shamrock is legendary. Getting Frank Shamrock back into the UFC for a second match would be an epic move for ZUFFA.

Lee Murray vs. Tito Ortiz II - The first matchup took place on the streets of London. With Murray scoring a legendary KO over the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. The stories of this fight have grown to enormous proportions. A second match in the octagon to settle things is a no brainer.

These are just a few matches that could start a growing trend of new success for MMA. Promoters need to take a cue from boxing, and tap into this successful formula. I am sure there are many that I could have listed. I urge fans to increase pressure on the major shows to make some great rematches, and build some much needed rivalries in MMA.




Now in his fourth year of mixed martial arts coverage, Joshua Grossman has written for Ultimate Combat, Fighting Sports, and the Cyber Fighting Zone. On staff with Fightsport.com since October 2003, Grossman (27), has covered combat sports in numerous countries, including Japan and Holland. He is an active voting member of the AFP Top 10 -- the most respected ranking in the sport. His new contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003
November 9, 2003
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo, Japan


Grand Prix middleweight tournament:
Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Quinton Jackson vs. Chuck Liddell

Alternate fight:
Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante

Single fights:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic (PRIDE heavyweight title)
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
Gary Goodridge vs. Dan Bobish
Heath Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto



Below is the fight order:
Fight One: Gary Goodridge vs. Dan Bobish
Fight Two: Quinton Jackson vs. Chuck Liddell
Fight Three: Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Fight Four: Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Fight Five: Heath Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto
Fight Six: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kevin Randleman
Fight Seven: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira
Fight Eight: Winner Liddell/Jackson vs. Winner Silva/Yoshida

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Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson made the cover of the DirectTV guide, which is showing the broadcast of the PRIDE GP Finals scheduled for November 9th.

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Murilo Bustamante

Andre Araujo of Brazilian magazine Tatame just interviewed Murilo Bustamante before he flies off to compete in the PRIDE GP Finals on November 9th. Here's what Bustamante had to say:


Tatame: PRIDE hasn't officially confirmed it yet, but the rumor on the internet is that you will face Dan Henderson in an alternate fight at the PRIDE GP Finals. Is this true?

Bustamante: Yes. I am happy to return to Pride. I wish I had more time to get ready, but I am sure the six weeks I have trained is enough to beat him. I will depart from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo on November 1st, so I will have time to rest in Japan prior to the fight.

Tatame: Dan Henderson said he is not 100% due to his knee injury, and he needs more preparation time fight you. What do you think about that?

Bustamante: I hope he steps inside the ring with 30% of his capacity! He is a tough guy and I will use a lot of boxing technique against him because I am sure I will have a hard time getting him down. After my last fight, when I faced Quinton Jackson in August, I feel I am much better now. This time I am ready.

Tatame: Your teammates Ricardo Arona and Rodrigo Minotauro already have wins over Dan Henderson. Minotauro submitted him with a triangle choke. What will be your fight strategy to beat him?

Bustamante: I will simply fight. I don't have a special strategy to face him. I will do my best and wait for the right opportunity when he gives it. But I do want to join the PRIDE GP again, and I have to beat him to be an alternate in the GP.

Tatame: How is your training like before travelling?

Bustamante: I am training lighter this week. Last week it was real hard. I trained ground techniques, Muay Thai, everything.

Tatame:So, what are your plans after this Pride?

Bustamante: For a while I didn't have any plans to fight. Right now I am only focused on beating Dan Henderson. I don't know what will come next.

Tatame: How is your relationship with the Brazil Dojo> Will the Open Challenge happen or not?

Bustamante: Well, as far I know, Nilson Castro (from Chute Boxe) called Wallid offering to host the event, but Wallid said he wouldn't fight. As far BTT and I know, this open challenge is not going to happen. I would fight "Pele" Landy or Wallid, but as I said before, right now I am only focused on Dan Henderson.

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Randy Couture (pictured) to defend his belt at UFC 46.

Our Zuffa informant 'Coffee Guy' tells us of the following matchups that are being planned for UFC 46:

Most likely:
Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort (UFC light heavyweight title)
Tim Sylvia vs. Frank Mir* (UFC heavyweight title)
Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz
Lee Murray vs. Jorge Rivera
Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca

Outside possibility:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Phil Baroni
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. TBA


* Providing that Frank Mir beats Pat Smith at UFC 45.

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Clyde Gentry III (right)

Disgruntled MMA journalist Clyde Gentry III has accused the K-1 organization of blatantly helping Bob sapp beat Kimo during the K-1 show in Las Vegas on August 15th.

Here is Clyde Gentry's accusation that he posted on the Underground forum:


"The fight should have been over in the first round with Kimo as the winner...plain and simple. But if the "rest period" and shortened round didn't do the job, what about punching to the back of the head that should have DQed Sapp. Obviously Sapp had to win since the Mike Tyson story had to start that night with him going in the ring.

K-1 felt safe about Kimo seeing how he had only fought one K-1 match against Satake back in '95 and got knocked out. K-1 was wrong so they had to bend the rules a bit to ensure he would win the fight. Luckily, Kimo ran out of gas in the second and Sapp finished him with illegal blows." - Clyde Gentry III

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Elezier 'Ninja' (hands raised)

Eduardo Ferreira of Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewed Elezier 'Ninja', who is the new protege of Brazilian vale tudo legend Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons. Here's what Elezier "Ninja" had to say:

Tatame: How would you define your style?

Elezier 'Ninja': I'm a fighter who is not afraid to lose, and that's what differentiates me from the others. Moreover, I always want to put on a show for the audience. They say that my style looks similar to Vanderlei Silva's, but my style is my own...always going forward, using my Muay Thai.

Tatame: You recently knocked out your opponent in under ten seconds in the inaugural 'Challenge Original Brazilian Vale-Tudo' show. How was your preparation for that fight?

Elezier 'Ninja': I entered the fight very prepared because "Pele" wants to transform me into the best fighter in the world at my weight, and I don't want to disappoint him. The KO was very quick. When the fight started, I went at him with everything and I got the KO in under ten seconds. My role model has always been "Pele". He's been there for all my fights, and to be a part of his team is a dream that I have realized. I want to bring a lot of honors to "Pele", who I feel is the number one fighter in his weight class.

Tatame: Is there anyone in particular that you would like to face?

Elezier 'Ninja': I don't pick my opponents. Whoever my manager puts in front of me is fine with me. In all honesty, I want to fight against the best fighters in my weight class in PRIDE.

Tatame: What is your training routine?

Elezier 'Ninja': I do strength training and Muay Thai all day, from morning to night time. I alternate my training between swimming and jiu-jitsu. I train jiu-jitsu with people from Gracie Barra (Guti, Pelucio, and Christiano Rivas).

Tatame: You have said that you plan on moving up from middleweight to light heavyweight. Why risk yourself in a heavier weight category?

Elezier 'Ninja': My wish is to fight in the light heavyweight division. But if "Pele" tells me to stay at middleweight, then I'll stay at middleweight.

Tatame: How did you start out?

Elezier 'Ninja': I started out with my dad, who is a professor of Shotokan Karate.

Tatame: What was the story behind you and Carlinhos?

Elezier 'Ninja': Carlinhos was never my trainer. I met him through some friends and began training at his academy when I was seventeen years old. What happened was that Carlinhos competed in some fights and started to become well known. I always knocked him out or submitted him in training, so I started getting some offers to fight too. But Carlinhos would always call up the promoters of the events that wanted me to fight, and get me cut from the card. Until one day I said that I would fight regardless of him. He tried to stop me by challenging me, but he was foolish to do so because I always beat him in training. So I accepted his challenge and knocked him out on forty-seven seconds. From here on in I don't want to discuss that subject. I'm working hard and making my own space with the sweat off my back. I left him behind and even offered him a rematch, but he doesn't want to fight.

Tatame: Is training the only thing you do nowadays?

Elezier 'Ninja': No, I am also giving out lessons at the MV2 Center Fitness in Curitiba.

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Marivaldo (top) vs. Wander

Brazilian magazine Tatame has pictures up on their website of the 'Challenge Original Brazilian Vale-Tudo' event promoted by 'Pele' Landi-Jons on October 17th.

To view the entire gallery, click here

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Todd Atkins reports the following from Japan:

"Gong Kakutogi has recently released a fighters Almanac of sorts. The the only one of its kind as far as I know. There are profiles on 1,775 fighters, covering 59 different countries in all."

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By Joshua Grossman


Frank Mir

If David vs. Goliath is your cup of tea, then you need to tune into Ultimate Fighting Championship's 10th Anniversary show. The circus will be in town when rising UFC star Frank Mir will be taking on 40-year old Tae Kwon Do expert Pat Smith.

Smith, whose record is 10-13, has only fought and won once in the last four years. A veteran of the early UFC days, Smith is famous for what many feel is the most brutal KO in the sport's history. But what most people do not know is that Smith went on to have very little success beyond that, losing a plethora of fights, many within the first minute of the fight during his long career. Some of the Pat Smith greatest hits include two losses to Kimo Leopoldo by submission in round one. As well as six submission losses in under 1:30 to Royce Gracie, Kiyoshi Tamura, Dave Beneteau, Fabio Gurgel, Matt Asher, and Marco Ruas respectively. There was also his infamous 26 second KO loss to UFC laughing stock Moti Horenstein.

Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, is bringing back the 40-year old Smith due in large part to an internet plea on a popular internet fighting forum. If this is what the promoters of MMA are looking to for advice, this sport is in serious trouble. What is next for the UFC in the matchmaking department? Are we going to start seeing former K-mart bag boys vs. the likes of Tito Ortiz? Unfortunately the thought of something like that is too believable for the future.

Look no farther back than just two matches ago for Frank Mir, when the UFC put him in against another former star of the old days...the 38-year old Dave 'Tank' Abbott. Abbott, whose record at the time was 8-7, was also famous for many brutal KO's in the much more violent UFC of yesterday, but he also had been inactive for years and was woefully out of shape to boot. Abbott had absolutely no business being in the ring with the much more talented Mir, who made the blubbery Tank look like an amateur in submitting him in around 40 seconds. Not surprisingly UFC also caved into internet demand for Abbott's presence, and wasted a hefty sum to sign him for what would be back-to-back submission losses in under 2 minutes. Many feel this signing was one the biggest promotional mistakes in MMA history.

These kind of joke matches do little for the sport in the US, and ZUFFA should be ashamed of themselves for caving in to the internet plea to bring Smith back. There are many more qualified fighters who are busting their asses day in and day out to get this shot. The promoters of this sport are always telling fighters to work their way up and get noticed. Giving this kind of match to a bum like Smith is a slap in the face to all of the hard working fighters out there. This fight is a disgrace to MMA and the UFC, and I will not be paying to see it.




Now in his fourth year of mixed martial arts coverage, Joshua Grossman has written for Ultimate Combat, Fighting Sports, and the Cyber Fighting Zone. On staff with Fightsport.com since October 2003, Grossman (27), has covered combat sports in numerous countries, including Japan and Holland. He is an active voting member of the AFP Top 10 -- the most respected ranking in the sport. His new contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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UFC 45: Revolution
November 21st, 2003
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut


Frank Mir vs. Pat Smith
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg (middleweight title fight)
'Tank' Abbott vs. Wesley 'Cabbage' Correira
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Falaniko Vitale vs. Matt Lindland
Robbie Lawler vs. Chris Lytle
Din Thomas vs. Yves Edwards

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By Skelboy


Skelboy's portrait of Tito Ortiz (bottom) as the prepared food, and Lee Murray (top) as the chef.

Tito just got the second worst beatin' o'his life (worst was from Lee Murray). Where's he gonna be in two years, mate? Tito in't gonna be in the UFC for long lads, 'cos who the fuck wants t'fight him now? He'd fuckin' piss his pants if he had t'fight Chuck, mate - an' it might be a good fuckin' thing too, 'cos them flames are about t'burn his knob off. Better put them out, b'fore y'have t'jump back in the ocean y'just swam across an' get eaten by a shark.

He in't gonna be in Hollywood, neither. At best he's gonna be in films w'that crazy bloke w'big fuck off teeth what was in that movie w'that Matrix twat about poofs dressin' up in masks an' robbin' banks. If he's lucky, he'll get bit parts as some wigger twat what gets shot by darkies in movies w'names like "Primal Justice" an' "Death Games". Nevermind though, maybe he'll get a crack at an Oscar for his upcoming performance in "Quest for Fire 2", mate.

On second thoughts, lads, he looks too much like a dinosaur t'be in a movie what's got cavemen in it too, 'cos me mam says there weren't dinosaurs an' cavemen alive at the same time an' that Ray Harryhausen bloke is a fuckin liar, mate. He looks like one o'them dinosaur blokes from that crap "Super Mario Brothers" film, but it's a shame they in't gonna make a sequel t'that shite. Maybe he can ask that Mexican bloke what were Luigi in it t'get him some work as a pool cleaner for that twat what drove around in that little submarine what used t'be married t'that bird Russell Crowe shagged.

If that falls through Tito, mate, y'can always resort t'bein' "gay for pay". That means literally gay, mate, not sellin' them crap beanies what makes it look like yer head's gone on fire (that'll be all the bleach mate). Everyone knows y've already done porn (except maybe that twats what visit y'site), an' it in't much of a leap between lyin' on smaller men t'shaggin' some geezer up the arse, is it? Y'might want t'give it a try, mate, 'cos that's the only job yer gonna be able to get - yer legs is too skinny for y' t'be a scarecrow.

An' now that I dealt w'that, mate, how about some words t'them 'Taco Twats' (that's what I call Tito fans, mate) what've sent me viruses an' talked bollocks on me site?

You're all wankwagglers, in't ya, an' about as hard as that bird from Pop Idol what's only got one fuckin' hand. Don't mess w'the Skelboy, mate, 'cos I'm like that bird from that shite film "Kill Bill" (what a load o'shite that was) an' I'm gonna come an' fuckin' get ya. When I find out where y'live yer gonna be runnin' around all confused an' cryin' while fuckin' snot comes out yer nose, then y'gonna have a heart attack an' be in fuckin' hospital. That's right knobs, if y'mess w'me it's gonna be like the Tony Blair Witch Project an' no fuckin' mistake.

I'm y'worst nightmare, mate. I'm like that devil bloke out o'that film w'that twat what dances in his fuckin' underpants an' has sex w'that prostitute bird what steals babies an' tries t' shag beardy old married twats. That's right twattangerines, I'm like that bloke except I in't a poofter an' I button up me shirts, don't I? Y'best not fuckin' mess w'me anymore, or yer gonna end up sorrier than that fat knobhead from that film what were directed by that bloke what plays spastics or surfers all the time an' that had the axe bloke from "The Shining" in it, get me? Yeah, that's pretty fuckin' sorry, mate, so watch the fuck out.

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Lee Murray (right)

Fightsport.com has learned from our sources in Las Vegas and London that Lee Murray will most likely make his UFC debut in UFC 46, which is scheduled for early in 2004. His opponent will most likely be Jorge Rivera.

As most hardcore fans already know, Lee Murray made a name for himself last year when he knocked down Tito Ortiz with a series of strikes in a street altercation at the UFC 38 after-party in London, England. According to witnesses, Ortiz was down on the ground and dazed. Murray got a kick in to the downed Ortiz's head before other fighters present came in to break up the fight and help protect Ortiz from the beating he took.

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Vanderlei Silva

b-j-j.com reports the following:

The Chute Boxe team apparently brought in a top notch Canadian Judo player to spar with Vanderlei Silva, in preparation for Silva's upcoming fight with former Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida on the November 9th PRIDE GP Finals.

They were rolling while Silva was wearing his BJJ gi, and the Judo player choked him out with a cross arm choke!! Silva told him "thats enough' in Portuguese, but the Canadian didn't understand and kept the pressure on. This started a huge problem with the Chute Boxe members and the Canadian Judo players.

Luckily cooler heads prevailed before it got out of hand. Basically, Silva was considering wearing his gi in his upcomming match with Yoshida, but after this, it is very doubtful.

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By Tape Lord

Kazuyuki Fujita

Hello my friends, my postal connections in Japan are telling me that Kazuyuki Fujita will not participate on the November 9th PRIDE 'Final Elimination' card. It was believed that DSE had wanted to match Fujita against a big American wrestler, possibly Tom Erikson or Dan Bobish.

Fujita will instead be most likely participating on the November 3rd New Japan card, which features pro-wrestling bouts and real MMA shoots. Fujita will also be participating in the year-end Inoki B0m-Ba-Ye show.

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M-1: 'Russia vs. The World 7'
December 5th, 2003
St. Petersburg, Russia

Below are some of the matchups that have been announced so far for M-1: 'Russia vs. The World 7' on December 5th:

(Card Subject To Change)

Amar Suloev vs. TBA
Andrei Semenov vs. Denis Kang
Dave Strasser vs. Musail Alaudinov
Roman Zentsov vs. Kristof Midoux
Brad Lynde vs. Alexei Veselovzorov

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Ron Waterman (left)

PANCRASE 2003 HYBRID TOUR
Friday, October 31st, 2003
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan

Open: 17:30
Start: 18:30

Complete Card (Subject To Change):

Ron Waterman vs. Jun Ishii
Akihiro Gono vs. Watanabe Izuru
Izuru Takeuchi vs. Eiji Ishikawa
Kosei Kubota vs. Yuichi Nakanishi
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Naoki Seki
Keigo Takamori vs. Hur Sung Jin
Takuya Wada vs. Minoru Ozawa
Miki Shida vs. Masahito Wachi

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Dustin Denes (right)

AFC 6
December 6th, 2003
War Memorial Colloseum
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Matchups that have been officially announced for the AFC 6 show are:

Dustin Denes vs. Adrian Serrano
Leigh Remedios vs. TBA
Thiago 'Pitbull' Alves vs. Derrick Noble
Julian Ortega vs. Jorge Masvidal

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The Absolute Fighting Championships (AFC) have announced the dates to their next five shows:

AFC 6 - December 6th, 2003, War Memorial, Ft Lauderdale, FL.
AFC 7 - January 10th, 2004, Racine Memorial Hall, Racine, WI.
AFC 8 - February 27th, 2004, War Memorial, Ft Lauderdale, FL.
AFC 9 - March 20th, 2004, Racine Memorial Hall, Racine, WI.
AFC 10 - May 1st, 2004, War Memorial, Ft Lauderdale, FL.

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Renato 'Babalu' Sobral

Heat FC 2
November 27th
Natal, Brazil

Below are the matchups that have been announced so far for the second Heat FC show:

Carlos Barreto vs. Travis Wiuff
Alan Goes vs. Gustavo 'Ximu' Machado
Renato 'Babalu' Sobral vs. Christopher Hipolito
Forrest Griffin vs. Edson 'Paredao'
Vinicius 'Draculinho' vs. Kleber Galdino
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Chris Fontaine
Fabio Bolinho vs. Sergio 'Junior'

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Botha (top) vs. Abidi

Commentary by Zach Arnold:

The critics are out in full force. In defense of K-1 here, the fact that they paid Frans Botha $500,000 to work the 10/11 Osaka Dome show should be of no surprise to anyone. The fact is that they billed the guy in their main event against Jerome Le Banner. Once Le Banner cancelled, the Japanese were stuck. They couldn't break their word or else Botha would have left the group.

They put him against Cyril Abidi, figuring that he'd probably win. Instead, you have the 19-second debacle that occurred. And by all accounts, Botha didn't seem to have too many problems from the small glimpse people saw of him. To try to rationalize K-1 using Botha by saying that he was paid $25k a second is pretty harsh.

However, the fact remains that guys in the fight game are paid enormous amounts of money in Japan, and all it took to break even on the deal to pay for Botha's salary for K-1 was to draw 4,000-5,000 paid at the Osaka Dome. They did 31,700 paid. Plus Fuji TV helped cover the rent and production for the building. Considering the stoppage of momentum for the show once Le Banner and Hoost cancelled, I'm amazed they even got more than 30,000.

The critics are right - the general quality of the cards in general has gone down since Sadaharu Tanigawa became matchmaker. It's been one big experiment for Tanigawa - sometimes it pays off (pushing Remy Bonjasky hard) and sometimes it doesn't (pushing boxing guys like 'no guard' Pele Reid, Frans Botha, etc.). You get the feeling that if Ishii can stay out of jail in his trial (we'll find out on 12/1), he'll be right back at work as the matchmaker with Tanigawa only doing TV.

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Masato

Puroresu Power reports the following:

"K-1 continues to tease the idea of Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Masato for their November 18th Nippon Budokan Middleweights-only show. The November 18th card has:

Genki Sudo vs. Albert Kraus
Duane Ludwig vs. Toshio Matsumoto
Takehiro Murahama vs. Andy Souwer
Hiroyuki Doi vs. Marfio Canoletti
Kazuya Yasuhiro vs. Serkan Yilmaz

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By Tape Lord

Kazuyuki Fujita

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE organization are telling me that a possible matchup between Kazuyuki Fujita and Tom Erikson is being discussed for the PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' show on November 9th.

I will have more info on this in the next week.

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The Japanese media reports that Pancrase announced that it is close to signing a deal to be shown on South Korean television, with the hopes of promoting a show there in Januray of 2004.

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Rumina Sato

The Japanese media reports that Rumina Sato will be on the year-end SHOOTO show on Decemeber 12th. An opponent for Sato has not been announced yet.

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Ronaldo 'Jacare'

Koral Cup
November 2nd - 3rd, 2003
Tokyo, Japan


A team of BJJ World champions featuring Ronaldo Jacare, Bibiano Fernandez, Demian Maia, Mario Reis, and Fabio Leopoldo will be participating in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu challenge between Brazilian and Japanese grapplers.

The event is being sponsored by fightwear company Koral. Below is the complete line-up:

(card subject to change)

Ronaldo 'Jacare' vs. Sato Hironobu
Mario Reis vs. Watanabe Takashi
Edmundo Cavalcante vs. Tomioka
Mario Sergio vs. Kusayanagi Kazuhiro
Fabio Leopoldo vs. Cristiano Kaminishi
Peter de Been vs. Tsuruya Hiroshi
Bibiano Fernandez vs. Aguinaldo Taba
Demian Maia vs. Hiroki Aba
Hiroyuki Abe vs. Onose Tatsuya

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Heath Herring

PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003
November 9, 2003
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo, Japan

DSE has announced that Heath Herring vs. Dan Bobish has been added to the PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' card for November 9th. The card now looks like this:


Grand Prix middleweight tournament (confirmed):
Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Quinton Jackson vs. Chuck Liddell

Single fights (confirmed):
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic (PRIDE heavyweight title)
Heath Herring vs. Dan Bobish

*Alternate fights (confirmed:)
Murilo Bustamante vs. Dan Henderson
Kevin Randleman vs. Kazushi Sakuraba


*Winner of alternate fight will be first replacement fighter in the event that one of the GP fighters cannot continue in the tournament.

Kiyoshi Tamura, Josh Barnett, Alexander Emelianenko, and Kazuyuki Fujita may also figure onto the card as well.

Daiju Takase and Ryan Gracie are on hand as secondary alternate fighters in the event that one of the GP fighters or alternate fight winners cannot continue in the tournament.

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By Tape Lord

Bob Sapp

Hello my friends, my postal connections in Japan are telling me that Antonio Inoki would like to use the following fighters on his upcoming Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye card on December 31st:

Bob Sapp
Kazuyuki Fujita
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic
Peter Aerts
Josh Barnett
Vladimir Matyushenko
Pedro Rizzo
T.K. Kohsaka
Paulo Filho
Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos

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Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

The following excerpt was from an interview that Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic did with the Japanese magazine Kami No Puroresu:


Kami No Puroresu: All the fights on your schedules were done as you expected...may I know your next schedule after you defeat Fedor?

Cro Cop: I have often said that when I get the PRIDE heavyweight belt, that I will invade the UFC and get the UFC heavyweight belt. I can't ever imagine that a UFC heavyweight fighter can beat me at all. Is there a man who is stronger than Fedor?

Kami No Puroresu: I think so, but the UFC has many big guys.

Cro Cop: Yes, they are big, but that's all. For example, their heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia, he is only big and not bad at striking...which means that he is the same as Jan "The Giant" Nortje (K-1 veteran)!! Ha Ha!

Kami No Puroresu: Ha Ha! The UFC champ is on the same level as Nortje.

Cro Cop: It may seem like I am talking big, but it is true that I feel that the UFC fighters cannot rival me.

Kami No Puroresu: But you hope to win the UFC belt. Is it for getting popularity in the USA?

Cro Cop: Yes. The UFC belt is my way to salute my fans in the USA...But I have heard that Kazuyuki Fujita will go to the UFC. Maybe Fujita will get the UFC belt before me?

Kami No Puroresu: If he gets the UFC belt, it might mean the third installment of Cro Cop vs. Fujita...is this no problem for you?

Cro Cop: No problem, he is tough.

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Dana White

The MMA insider known as 'stiv' reports the following:

Mancow, a Chicago-based shock jock similar to Howard Stern in both style and ratings, had some things to say about UFC president Dana White and the UFC, during his show this morning when he had Mark Kerr on via telephone discussing the DVD release of 'Smashing Machine'.

It appears that Dana White (LOL) has been trying to get him to come to a UFC show for years. This has good marketing potential as Mancow's show reaches millions of listeners, including the target demographic for the UFC.

So Dana White (LOL) gives Mancow and his wife two $350 seats for the past UFC. Mancow gets there and Shaquille O'Neal is sitting in his seats. Mancow verified through security that Shaq was in his seats, but Dana White (LOL) refused to let Mancow sit in his seats, and was in fact denied a seat.

Another case of the ball being dropped.

An interesting side note: Mancow asked Kerr if Tito Ortiz was a pussy. Kerr chose not to answer.

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Hidehiko Yoshida

Former Olympic Judo gold medalist had the following to say in regards to Vanderlei Silva doubting that Yoshida would fight him in the PRIDE GP Finals on November 9th. Japanese MMA insider 'Gryphon' believes Yoshida is inferring that Silva is on steroids:

Media: I inteviewed Vanderlei Silva too, and I asked him, "Do you have any concerns about your upcoming fight against Yoshida?" He said, "Only that Yoshida is out. I think He will be absent from final". This was Silva's answer.

Yoshida: Mmm...Silva said such a thing?

Media: Is your injury from the Tamura fight better now?

Yoshida: Good, it is good! And this is my response to Silva...Please be "Natural".

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Bob Sapp

Man-Magazine is hosting three interesting documentaries of Bob Sapp that aired on Japanese television. To view the videos, click here

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KOTC: 'The Pinnacle'
November 2nd, 2003
Pala Casino Resort Spa

(Available on Pay-Per-View starting November 14th.)

Main Event:
Bobby Hoffman vs. Paul Buentello (KOTC heavyweight title)
Thomas Shulte vs. Joe Stevenson (KOTC lightweight title)
Thomas Denny vs. Richard Solis

Feature Fights:
Tony Bonello vs. Mansure Hedari
Jeff Newton vs. Joe Crilly
Brian Foster vs. Brent Stevens
Art Santore vs. Joey Villasenor
Kengo Watanabe vs. Wade Shipp
Mike Bourke vs. Keigo Kunihara
John Cole vs. TBA

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Kazushi Sakuraba as "Mario", but looking more like "Curious George".

Many fans have deemed the Japanese as racists after PRIDE dubbed Kevin Randleman as the 'Donkey Kong' of wrestling. Kazushi Sakuraba then showed up to the press conference wearing a fake mustache, and proclaiming that if Randleman is Donkey Kong, then he will play 'Mario'.

We at Fightsport.com don't see it as racist at all, but more a fact that the Japanese enjoy their larger then life foreign 'giants', or 'monsters' if you will, and they enjoy seeing their smaller fighters give it their best against these larger fighters.

But whether you agree with their marketing or not, it is funny to note that many fans have pointed out that Kazushi Sakuraba himself bares a striking resemblance to the cartoon chimp known as 'Curious George'. In other words, the pot calling the kettle black.

Which brings us to this photoshop pic sent in to us by MMA insider Frank Bishop:



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Dos Caras Jr. (right)

Dos Caras Jr. said the following in an interview with Japanese magazine Kami No Puroresu:

Dos Caras Jr. on wearing his famous mask while fighting: "I think take off my mask for my next MMA fight. Bas Rutten also advised me that taking off the mask would work to my advantage. But my family are proud of the mask and Mexican pro-wrestling. My Mexican fans want to see my fight with the mask, and would be upset if I didn't fight with it."

Dos Caras Jr. on his MMA training: I will move to California to learn MMA from Marco Ruas. There are currently no good MMA fighters in Mexico, so I have to go to the USA and make MMA into my main theme."

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Rorion Gracie

Luke Beston reports the following:

"Hi All,

I was just talking with Rose Gracie, and was told that Rorion Gracie was presented his Red Belt in Jiu-Jitsu today by Grandmaster Helio Gracie.

Congratulations Prof. Rorion from your family, friends, and fans from around the globe on this great achievement.

respectfully,

Luca Beston"

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SHOOTO: WANNA SHOOTO 2003
November 3, 2003
Kourakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Class-A Bouts:
Tetsuo Katsuta vs. Makoto Ishikawa
Naoya Uematsu vs. Katsuya Toida

Class-B Bouts:
John Olav Einemo vs. Mindaugas Kulikaukas
Shuichiro Katsumura vs. Eugenji Konkov
Shigetoshi Iwase vs. Nico Nasieri
Kenji Osawa vs. Augusto Frota
Yohei Nanbu vs. Akitoshi Tamura
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Seigi Fujioka

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Carlos Barreto

Heat FC 2
November 27th
Natal, Brazil

Below are the matchups that have been announced so far for the second Heat FC show:

Carlos Barreto vs. Travis Wiuff
Alan Goes vs. Gustavo 'Ximu' Machado
Renato 'Babalu' Sobral vs. Christopher Hipolito
Forrest Griffin vs. Edson 'Paredao'
Vinicius 'Draculinho' vs. Kleber Galdino
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Chris Fontaine

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Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE organization are telling me that a possible matchup between Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira and Alexander Emelianenko is being heavily discussed for the PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' show on November 9th. The angle would be that they are the two brothers of the only two PRIDE heavyweight champions.

I will have more info on this in the next week.

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UFC 45: Revolution
November 21st, 2003
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut


Frank Mir vs. Pat Smith
Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg (middleweight title fight)
'Tank' Abbott vs. Wesley 'Cabbage' Correira
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Falaniko Vitale vs. Matt Lindland
Robbie Lawler vs. Chris Lytle
Din Thomas vs. Yves Edwards

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RITC 54: 'The Beast' vs 'The Rock'
October 25, 2003
Phoenix, Arizona

Dan Severn drew with Homer Moore.
Cory Timmerman defeats Herb Garcia by armbar at 1:57, RD 1.
Victor Estrada defeats Robert Maldonado by choke at 1:43, RD 2.
Joe Frainee defeats Chappo Montijo by TKO at 1:14, RD 1.
Mike Fettkether defeats Melesio Perales by armbar at 1:29, RD 1.
R.J. Gamez defeats Michael Ptak by TKO at 2:08, RD 1.
Hans Marrero defeats Richie Reyes by armbar at 0:50, RD 1.
David Canvas defeats Michael Perales by choke at 1:12, RD 1.
Pete Morales defeats Gilbert Cervantes by unanimous decision.
Gabe Rivas defeats Jeremiah Shivers by TKO at 3:00, RD 1.
Victor Cruz defeats Brian Mitchell by unanimous decision.
Carlos Ortega defeats Klay Palomo by armbar at 1:13, RD 1.

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IFC: Battleground Boise
October 25, 2003
Boise, Idaho


Jens Pulver defeats Richard Hess by choke at 2:14, RD 1.
Jennifer Howe defeats Judy Neff by TKO at 4:24, RD 1.
Justin Eilers defeats Gary Marshall by TKO at 4:25, RD 1.
Bill Mahood defeats Tom Sauer by TKO at 3:10, RD 2.
Mike Kyle defeats Jason Reed by TKO at 1:52, RD 1.
Steve Gomm defeats Eric Heinz by rear naked choke at 0:49, RD 2.
Nathan Quarry defeats Chris Kiever by triangle choke at 4:33, RD 1.
Jorge Evangelista defeats Chevo Vidales by TKO at 1:00, RD 1.
Randy Spence defeats Larry Garrison by armbar at 1:14, RD 1.
Hank Weis defeats J.D. Carter by rear naked choke at 4:14, RD 1.
Mitch Coats defeats Daniel Ethel by TKO at 4:47, RD 1.

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Australian cable provider Main Event is thinking about not showin UFC 45 pay-per-view due to a sceduling clash with the IRB Rugby World Cup, which is being hosted and shown live in Australia.

Any Australians who want to send in e-mails to petition Main Event to show UFC 45 live, then go to MainEvent.com.au, click on the 'contact' section, and send the e-mail saying that 'you want to see UFC 45 live'

Good luck Australians, but remember that if you can't get to see UFC 45 live, that you can always get the results before anyone else on the Fightsport.com newspage.

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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 October 19th, 2003.

Fightsport.com has been the fastest-growing MMA website the last few months and have taken over the number 3 spot this past month, pushing Sherdog.net down to number 4. MMA.tv moved into the number one spot almost two months ago, knocking Sherdog.com down to number 2. MMAWeekly.com remains steady at number 5, while Subfighter.com has moved up to the number 6 spot.

The official site of the UFC fell down to number 7. Adcombat.com has moved into number 8, dropping the official site of PRIDE to number 9. MaxFighting.com survived by a thread to hang on to the number 10 spot.



MMA RANKINGS:

1.) MMA.tv - Traffic Rank for mma.tv: 4,526

2.) Sherdog.com - Traffic Rank for sherdog.com: 7,172

3.) Fightsport.com - Traffic Rank for fightsport.com: 9,964

4.) Sherdog.net - Traffic Rank for sherdog.net: 10,444

5.) MMAWeekly.com - Traffic Rank for mmaweekly.com: 12,579

6.) Subfighter.com - Traffic Rank for subfighter.com: 18,808

7.) UFC.tv - Traffic Rank for ufc.tv: 21,230

8.) Adcombat.com - Traffic Rank for adcombat.com: 30,424

9.) Pridefc.com - Traffic Rank for pridefc.com: 30,880

10.) Maxfighting.com - Traffic Rank for maxfighting.com: 52,948







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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Congratulations to LukeBeston.tk for making the top 1 million sites on the net according to