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Fedor Emelianenko

The Japanese media is reporting that Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic may be a possibility for PRIDE 27, scheduled for February 1st. The winner would take on Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira to unify the heavyweight belt.

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Chris Lytle

REALITY SUBMISSION FIGHTING: SHOOTO
Friday, January 2nd, 2003
Belleville Exposition Center
Belleville, IL


CLASS-A Bouts:
Chris Lytle defeats Pete Spratt by rear naked choke at 0:47, RD 1.
Alex Stiebling defeats Mike Rogers by unanimous decision.
Manvel Gamburyan defeats Sam Morgan by decision.
Curtis Stout defeats Mike Rothmeir by KO.

B-Class Bouts:
Travis Fulton defeats Doug Sauerby rear naked choke, RD 1.
Jay Estrada defeats Mike Loyd by decision.
Heath Pedigo defeats Ryan Maynor by flying triangle, RD 1.
Bill Hill defeats Matt Schwinnen by front choke, RD 1.
Ginelle Marquez drew with Kelly Kobald.
Mike Green drew with Mo Mohler

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Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson announced that he suffered a broken hand in his victory against Ikuhisa Minowa on December 31st. It has not been announced how long the injury will keep Jackson sidelined.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Akebono vs. Sapp

The following was taken from ESPN.com:

NAGOYA, Japan -- Former sumo wrestler Akebono didn't last long in his K-1 debut against Bob Sapp.

Sapp, a former NFL lineman with the Minnesota Vikings, used a left-right combination to floor the massive Hawaiian-born wrestler in the waning seconds of the first round in the three-round bout before 43,500 at Nagoya Dome.

Sapp, a veteran of K-1, used a series of low kicks to the legs in an attempt to exploit the gimpy knees that forced Akebono to retire from sumo in 2001.

"Tyson, you're next," Sapp said after the bout. "It's been a year of challenges. Akebono accepted the challenge and now it's your turn."

K-1 organizers are looking to tap into the lucrative American market and have signed Mike Tyson to a contract, but no fights involving the former heavyweight have been confirmed so far.

"I thought it was an exciting fight," said Tyson via satellite from Hawaii. "As I expected, Akebono couldn't take the punches. In his previous career in sumo he didn't have to deal with anything like that."

The 6-foot-8, 463-pound Akebono, who started training for this bout only two months ago, got off to a good start, forcing Sapp into the corner several times with his weight advantage and arm thrusts.

"I trained hard for two months," said Akebono. "I had no idea how strong Bob was, but tonight I was able to experience his strength."

After being forced to the corner, the 6-foot-7, 344-pound Sapp bounced back and knocked Akebono down twice before finishing him off with a flurry that bloodied the nose of the former grand champion, who fell head first to the canvas and was slow getting up.

Sapp, who is tremendously popular in Japan, entered Wednesday's contest with a 4-3 record in K-1 bouts.

Akebono drew the biggest ovation in the pre-bout introductions. His fans were anxious to see how his prowess in Japan's ancient sport would translate to K-1, a brutal sport that combines elements of karate, kickboxing and taekwando.

Akebono, who was the first foreigner to reach sumo's highest rank of grand champion, severed all ties with the sport in November in order to take up a career in K-1. He said after Wednesday's bout that he would like a rematch.

"I'd like to have a little more time to prepare, and if Mr. Sapp is willing to give me another chance, I'd like to fight him again," said Akebono.

In agreeing to take on Sapp, many felt Akebono was tarnishing the image of a grand champion by fighting in K-1. The title of yokozuna is more than a sports achievement -- it's considered a mark of honor and its holders are held up to very high standards, even after leaving the raised ring.

While the 34-year-old Akebono said his decision to take on Sapp was driven by a desire to compete, many speculated that his motives were financial. Akebono was unable to get the backing of the sumo world to set up his own stable after retiring. Akebono won 11 Emperor's Cups in sumo, one less than fellow Hawaiian Musashimaru, who retired in November.

In Japan, K-1 bouts are regularly staged before crowds of up to 70,000.

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Vanderlei Silva (left)

According to sources in the Japanese media, the big hurdle for signing Vanderlei Silva vs. Yuki Kondo will be the Pancrase organization, and whether they release Kondo to fight for PRIDE again.

Both fighters are willing to fight of course. Silva recently had a surgical procedure done on his elbow, but will be ready to fight next month. Kondo has no injuries currently. The fight is trying to be put together for April or May.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Sakuraba (left)

More on Kazushi Sakuraba: He stated to the Japanese media that he regretted participating on the PRIDE 'SP' show against Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira because he wasn't in good enough physical shape. Sakuraba admitted that he really didn't want to fight, but did it for the good of the company.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Yuki Kondo (top)

PRIDE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara also announced to the Japanese media that his top priority for the immediate future is signing the matchup of Vanderlei Silva vs. Yuki Kondo.

PRIDE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara has confirmed the participation of pro-wrestler Van Vader aka Leon White for the PRIDE Bushido show, scheduled for February 15th.

Sakakibara also stated that he is interested in signing Frank Shamrock, as well as bringing in another retired Sumo star for their summer show.

Kazushi Sakuraba also mentioned that he was not 100% for the December 31st show.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Bob Sapp

Below are the TV ratings for the Japanese shows on December 31st, according to the Mainichi Broadcasting System:

1. Red & White (Kohaku) Music Festival - 39.6%
2. K-1 12/31 Nagoya Dome - 17.4%
3. PRIDE 12/31 Saitama Super Arena - 10.9%
4. Inoki 12/31 Kobe Wing Stadium - 3.7%
5. Others (Beat Takeshi on TV-Asahi, TV-Tokyo movie, etc.) - 28.4%


Zach Arnold reports the following regarding the December 31st shows:

- 38.8% or nearly 39% of TV audiences in Japan watched MMA, putting the whole MMA business competitive with NHK's show overall.

- From 7:30-9:30 PM, NHK's Red & White (Kohaku) Music Festival did a 35.5% rating, and from 9:30-12:05 AM, the show did a 45.9% rating. The most interesting stats show that the NHK show in comparison to the MMA shows did just fine in the big markets, but did average/poorly in markets such as Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima, and Okayama.

- The numbers indicated that both the PRIDE & Inoki shows took a big chunk out of the first half of the NHK show, but that the shows had zero staying power after 9:30 PM.

- The only evidence so far of MMA winning head-to-head after 9:30 PM was the QH for Sapp/Akebono, which nearly doubled head-to-head vs. NHK.

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Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira

TRANSLATION TO BE DONE LATER TODAY. PLEASE CHECK BACK AFTER 1:00PM)

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently did an interview with Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira. Here's what Minotauro had to say (interview by Andre Araujo):

Como tem sido essa mudança de luta dor a promotor?
Tem sido muito mais difícil que lutar. Essa semana eu já cheguei a emagrecer uns dois quilos só nessa correria de colocar o povo dentro do ônibus. Três pessoas acabaram se machucando em cima da hora. O Danilo Cherman, o Ângelo e o Marcelo grilo, que iria lutar com o Chico. Estava tudo certo e ele rompeu o músculo do bíceps. Se eu fosse um empresário, eu não estava nem ai por lutador, mas eu sou lutador, e levei o cara no hospital, fui arrumar um médico pro cara, e sou lutador e me preocupo com a integridade física e sou amigo dos atletas que vão lutar, então tenho que dar uma assistência.

Ser literalmente atuante na área ajuda nessa hora?

Diferentemente dos empresários, eu estou envolvido com a luta. Eu me preocupo em pagar uma bolsa justa para os atletas e a estrutura é muito importante também. A parte de iluminação, o posicionamento das câmeras e isso é bom que vamos aprendendo também. O Pride me possibilitou aprender muito sobre a organização de um evento... o posicionamento dos atletas, regras, tivemos a parceira de um grande promotor de evento local.

E aquela revanche com o Fedor?

Vai rolar, mas não em fevereiro, porque está tudo meio turbulento. O Fedor parece que assinou com o Inoki e ele tinha exclusividade com o Pride. Tá rolando um processo e está uma confusão. Estou esperando isso se resolver. Dá ultima vez que eu lutei com ele, eu estava mal fisicamente. Agora estou bem melhor, mais magro e mais rápido e se essa luta acontecesse em fevereiro, tenho certeza que irei derrotá-lo.

Na época da sua derrota, o apoio que você recebeu de todas as partes foi determinante...

É importante porque todos reconhecem o trabalho que foi feito. Para mim foi bem difícil e eu não vinha acostumado com a derrota, mas isso faz parte da vida do esportista. Nessa hora você tem que levantar a cabeça e graças a Deus eu tive uma recuperação boa esse ano eu não tinha feito um ano muito bom. Fiz essa luta em março, em agosto voltei a lutar novamente mas não foi uma luta muito boa e tinha planos de até o final do ano me recuperar e voltar a ser campeão de novo e consegui.

Como foi o convite para participar do GP?

Foi uma coisa que surgiu do nada. O Mirko tava quase certo de lutar com o Fedor eu estava me preparando para lutar com o Josh Benett e na hora, vinte dias antes o Fedor se machucou ou falou que estava machucado. Eu acredito que ele não estava machucado porque eu já lutei em condições bem piores que ele, com 39 graus de febre, com hérnia de disco na coluna e o cara porque tava se recuperando de uma contusão na mão há três meses não lutou? Isso não justifica o cara negar uma luta de cinturão e isso veio do nada e eu abracei. Treinei de Domingo a Domingo. O pessoal me ligava às 4pm e me chamava pra ir pra praia e eu falava que tava treinando. Onze da noite eu tava treinando. Eu vou pegar esse cinturão de volta! E peguei!

Você e o Wand estiveram juntos no Storm com seus cinturões... E ele disse que uma das metas dele é subir na categoria. Você acha que ele se cria entre os pesos pesados, considerando o estilo de luta dele?

Para um trocador nos pesos pesados eu acho que seja mais difícil que para um grappling. Porque o grappling o cara é mais pesado e mais forte e eu vou na técnica e consigo ganhar dele. Para um trocador, a mão pesada faz uma diferença. O Wanderlei é um cara talentosíssimo. Ele surpreendeu no peso médio e para fazer a mesma coisa no peso pesado, pode acontecer. Do Wanderlei a gente pode esperar tudo. O peso médio quase não teve adversário para ele. Eu acho que faltava a luta entre o Ricardo Arona e o Wanderlei para ele pular de categoria, mas se ele quiser pular de categoria, ele é bem vindo. O cara é um show e deu show no peso médio, dará show no peso pesado. Vai ser um adversário em altura. Se um dia eu lutasse com ele, tenha certeza que seria uma luta emocionante.

Ele recebeu recentemente a faixa preta de Jiu-Jistu e isso vem causando polêmica... Você é faixa preta. O que você acha disso?

Pessoas da própria academia do Carlinhos já vieram comentar comigo que a faixa não era merecida. Porque pro Jujiteiro, que treinou mais de 10 anos é difícil ver que o Wanderlei ganhou a faixa preta. Eu acho que ele lutou chão melhor que muitos faixas pretas no Vale-Tudo. Para a modalidade que ele pratica, o chão dele está muito bom para a faixa preta. Foi uma jogada do Carlinhos e ele mostrou que é inteligentíssimo e o Wanderlei é ídolo no Japão. Isso só irá dar mais respaldo a arte marcial que ele está representando e isso ajuda o Jiu-Jitsu também. Ele leva a técnica do Jiu-Jitsu. Pegou o braço do Quinton, repôs a guarda com o Yoshida. E ele mostrou uma técnica de chão muito boa mesmo. Certamente que ele não é um faixa preta como o Pé de Pano, o Tererê, mas ele tem a técnica suficiente.

Você acha que conseguiria chegar ao K-1 ao ponto que você é no Pride?

Não, eu não conseguiria chegar a ser o que sou no Pride no K-1. Os caras são talentosíssimos nos que eles fazem. Eu poderia té lutar o K-1, mas para ser o melhor no K-1 já é outra coisa. Mas dá pra arranhar eu acho.

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Rickson Gracie

The December 31st K-1 show also confimred another story which was first reported on Fightsport.com...Rickson Gracie announcing that he intends to fight in K-1 in 2004.

According to our sources, negotiations between K-1 and Rickson are at a very advanced stage, with only a few minor details needed to be ironed out. Stay tuned for more news on thiswithin the next month.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson appeared on the big screen TV, live from his training base in Hawaii, during the December 31st 'Dynamite' show, and predicted a quick victory for Bob Sapp over Alebono.

Tyson went to to say that Akebono accepted the challenge and that Sapp is a "great man" who also accepted the challenge. Sapp then turned to the screen and shouted "Now, it's your turn, Mike Tyson!".

Tyson laughed and replied, "I want to face Bob Sapp. He's strong, I respect that, but he can't beat me!".

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Shaolin (top) vs. Hansen (bottom)

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently did an interview with newly crowned SHOOTO welterweight champion Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro. Here's what Shaolin had to say (interview by Alexandre Lobo):


Tatame: How did your preparation go for such an important fight?

Shaolin: In spite of my guarantees that I was calm, I couldn't hide the fact that I was a little anxious for the fight. Everything was going better then planned, and that was scaring me a little. I started cutting weight in September, and I had never had such good training as I did for this fight, in both the standup and on the ground. Also, I did not get hurt in training! Absolutely nothing went wrong, so I was thinking that something was going to happen...

Tatame: Everything went well up to the day of the fight?

Shaolin: When I saw his fight with (Takanori) Gomi, I was impressed with Hansen's punches from his guard. It made Gomi want to get out of Hansen's guard and prefer to trade strikes standing. On the day of the fight, I thought: can he really be that strong?

Tatame: How was it to finally be in the ring?

Shaolin: We started trading strikes and I went for the single leg. When I took him down, I felt that I was stronger and I started moving about. I knew that he hit well from the bottom, so I didn't want to stay stationary. I knew I could pass his gaurd if I kept moving, and that is exactly what happened. I got passed teo strikes by him and I attempted a katagatami. During the second round, I won the middle of the ring, but he landed a low lick on me that made me lose my balance. I went for his leg and he took my back...so I tried to escape from behind and he fell in front of me. That's when I got on top and sunk in the katagatami.

Tatame: And that's when you started to celebrate...

Shaolin: Man, I didn't know where to go from there. I heard the audience cheering, and Dede (Andre Pederneiras, Shaolin's trainer) and Robinho (Robson Moura) came into the ring and picked me up. I was ecstatic. I didn;t know if I was supposed to scream, give thanks, cheer...

Tatame: Who do you credit with your success that night?

Shaolin: Of course, besides my team and my trainer, my friends from Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Judo, Wrestling were very important for me. They handled me when I needed. Also my mother and my fiance were very important. They knew how important this fight was and took all the problems away from me. Obviously this belt was important for me. But I also wanted it to give my friends the opportunity to say they know a champ

Tatame: How important was Andre Pederneiras in your victory?

Shaolin: Dede is our leader, and an example for us. What I have is due to him. I have fought Jiu-Jitsu for ten years and he was the only trainer that I have ever had. He's a friend and a guy that is always there for me.

Tatame: When will you return to the ring?

Shaolin: Maybe in May or April, in a non-title fight. But I'll be back in January because Joao Roque and Marcus Loro will fight on January 24th.

Tatame: We've received a lot of messages asking for a celebratory barbeque...will it happen?

Shaolin: I will announce to everyone, I'll have a barbeque on the 27th. Whoever my friends are know that they are invited. I'll be calling everyone to confirm. I'm cheap, but not too much...(laughs)

Tatame: Do you have any final messages?

Shaolin: I would like to thank everyone who has ever taught me a position, and who have trained with me. All of them were with me inside that ring and I'm thankful for it. My trainers, Luiz Alves, Claudio Coelho, Dede Pederneiras, Marcio Pimentel and Jefferson, my special thanks. It was under your orientation that I am where I am now. Now let's go to that barbecue on the 27th!

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Van Vader

Zach Arnold reports the following:

There are reports out that pro-wrestler Van Vader aka Leon White is scheduled to work PRIDE's 2/15 Yokohama Arena 'Bushido' show.

The 'Bushido' show format was supposed to be fighters who were non-heavyweights. If it's true, I guess a revival of UWF-International could be happening here with Vader throwing around smaller Japanese guys like rag dolls.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

PRIDE 'SP'
December 31st, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Omiya, Japan


Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira defeats Kazushi Sakuraba by unanimous decision.
Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Rony Sefo by armbar at 2:20, RD 1.
Yuki Kondo defeats Mario Sperry by TKO/cut stoppage, RD 1.
Daniel Gracie defeats Wataru Sakata by armbar at 7:12, RD 1.
Gary Goodridge defeats Don Frye by KO at 0:27, RD 1.
Royce Gracie drew with Hidehiko Yoshida.
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua defeats Akira Shoji by KO at 2:41, RD 1.
Hayato Sakurai defeats Daiju Takase by unanimous decision.
Heath Herring defeats 'Giant' Silva by rear naked choke at 0:35, RD 3.
Quinton Jackson defeats Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO at 1:00, RD 2.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye
December 31st, 2003
Kobe Wing Stadium
Kobe, Japan


Officially confirmed matchups:

Fedor Emelianenko defeats Yuji Nagata by TKO at 1:02, RD 1.
Kazuyuki Fujita defeats Imamu Mayfield by TKO at 2:15, RD 2.
Josh Barnett defeats Semmy Schilt by armbar at 4:48, RD 3.
Stefan Leko defeats Kazunari Murakami by KO at 1:04, RD 1.
Michael McDonald defeats Hiromi Amada by KO at 0:46, RD 2.
Alexander Emelianenko defeats Angelo Araujo by TKO at 4:28, RD 2.
Rene Rooze defeats Tadao Yasuda by TKO at 0:52, RD 1.
Ryoto Machida defeats Rich Franklin by KO at 1:03, RD 2.
Alistair Overeem defeats Tomohiko Hashimoto by TKO at 0:36, RD 1.
Amar Suloev defeats Din Thomas by TKO at 4:22, RD 1.
Yuka Tsuji defeats Kalliopi Yeitsidou by unanimous decision.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

K-1 'Premium 2003 Dynamite'
December 31st, 2003
Nagoya Dome
Nagoya, Japan

K-1 matchups:
Bob Sapp defeats Akebono by TKO at 2:58, RD 1.
Ernesto Hoost defeats 'Montanha' Silva by unanimous decision.
Yusuke Fujimoto defeats Francois Botha by unanimous decision.
Francisco Filho defeats TOA 'The Samoan Beast' by split decision.

MMA matchups:
Alexey Ignashov defeats Shinsuke Nakamura by KO at 1:19, RD 3.
Genki Sudo defeats Eric 'Butterbean' Esch by heel hook at 0:41, RD 2.
Sylvester Terkay defeats Mauricio Silva by TKO at 0:13, RD 1.
Yoshihiro Nakao defeats David Khakhaleichivili by KO at 1:13, RD 2.
Christopher Midoux defeats Tom Howard by rear naked choke at 4:21, RD 1.
Masayuki Naruse defeats Jan Nortje by rear naked choke at 4:40, RD 1.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko appears all set to compete on tonight's Antonio Inoki card, despite the objections of DSE/PRIDE.

DSE/PRIDE had threatened legal action a few weeks back, but have now seem to have come to terms that Fedor will be on the rival show. Instead of threatening a lawsuit, they tried the old 'shame' tactic by saying that Fedor and Inoki will have to live with themselves for their 'lonely' decision.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie

An update to the rules for the Royce Gracie vs. Hidehiko Yoshida matchup was announced at the PRIDE rules meeting. The rules for the match are as follows:


1.) The fight will be an MMA match under PRIDE rules.

2.) The match will consist of two 10-minute rounds.

3.) If there is no offense/defense or attacks from a fighter for more than 60 seconds on the ground, then a yellow card will be issued and both fighters will be brought to a standing position to resume the fight.

4.) There will be no referee stoppages or doctor stoppages in this fight. Only one cornerman for each fighter will be given permission to throw in the white towel and that same person will be allowed to move around the ring, while the other ring seconds have to stay in their one corner position.

5.) If there is no winner after the two rounds, the fight will end in a draw.

It was also announced that Tsuyoshi Kohsaka will be Hidehiko Yoshida's cornerman, while Royler Gracie will be Royce Gracie's top cornerman. They will be holding the white towels and will be the only cornermen allowed to walk around all four sides of the ring during the fight.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Bob Sapp

Zach Arnold reports the following:

With the three-way MMA wars in Japan on New Year's Eve, the final estimates for costs: USD$20-25 million dollars (production and roster costs), with up to USD$65-70 million dollars on the line for the companies. You will never see this kind of scenario ever in the United States.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

PRIDE 'SP'
December 31st, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Omiya, Japan


Officially confirmed matchups:

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Rony Sefo
Mario Sperry vs. Yuki Kondo
Daniel Gracie vs. Wataru Sakata
Don Frye vs. Gary Goodridge
Royce Gracie vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua vs. Akira Shoji
Hayato Sakurai vs. Daiju Takase
Heath Herring vs. 'Montanha' Silva
Quinton Jackson vs. Ikuhisa Minowa

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye
December 31st, 2003
Kobe Wing Stadium
Kobe, Japan


Officially confirmed matchups:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Yuji Nagata
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Imamu Mayfield
Josh Barnett vs. Semmy Schilt
Stefan Leko vs. Kazunari Murakami
Michael McDonald vs. Hiromi Amada
Alexander Emelianenko vs. Angelo Araujo
Tadao Yasuda vs. Rene Rooze
Rich Franklin vs. Ryoto Machida
Alistair Overeem vs. Tomohiko Hashimoto
Amar Suloev vs. Din Thomas
Yuka Tsuji vs. Kalliopi Yeitsidou

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

K-1 'Premium 2003 Dynamite'
December 31st, 2003
Nagoya Dome
Nagoya, Japan

K-1 matchups:
Bob Sapp vs. Akebono
Ernesto Hoost vs. 'Montanha' Silva
Francois Botha vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Francisco Filho vs. TOA 'The Samoan Beast'

MMA matchups:
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Genki Sudo vs. Eric 'Butterbean' Esch
Assuerio Silva vs. Sylvester Terkay
David Khakhaleichivili vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Tom Howard vs. Christopher Midoux
Jan Nortje vs. Masayuki Naruse

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Assuerio Silva

It was announced by K-1 that Sylvester Terkay will face Assuerio Silva on their December 31st show.

Terkay's original opponent was scheduled to be Cyril Abidi, but Abidi was canceled his appearance on the show.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Ray Mercer (left)

Heavyweight boxer Ray Mercer no-showed the press conference he was scheduled to be at for the Antonio Inoki show, scheduled for December 31st. Some media feel this may just be a publicity stunt ny Inoki, but this has not been confirmed as of yet.

Mercer is scheduled to face Kazuyuki Fujita. If Mercer truly does not show, then Tsuyoshi Kohsaka has been speculated by the media as a replacement.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

UFC veteran Matt Lindland made the following statement regarding the false report by consistently incorrect newssite MMA Weekly:


"Sorry, but I did not report this. Scott says he got this info in Takadas gym. I wish he would not have reported it either. It just got me all excited. I hope this fight does happen soon though. btw Saku is my favorite fighter to watch as well." -Matt Lindland

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Chuck Liddell

UFC light heavyweight contender Chuck Liddell did the following interview with Mat Fighting:


Mat Fighting: Your last fight with Randy Couture did not go the way you wanted it to go, were you surprised at the stand up skills of Couture?

Chuck Liddell: Not really. He has always done very well against strikers. He is a world class wrestler. I fault myself also for not doing enough training in wrestling and I could have been in better fighting shape. I thought I would be able to keep the fight standing up better then I did. I would like a rematch and I will be ready.

Mat Fighting: Dana White placed a $250,000 bet on you to win the Pride GP, did this add any pressure to you to win?

Chuck Liddell: No the bet was only if I fought Silva not to win the GP. It was a straight bet for me to win against Silva. This bet was made because styles make fights and I think Silva would be an easy win for me.

Mat Fighting: You lost your fight against Rampage Jackson, do you feel he was to strong for you?

Chuck Liddell: He was not Strong, actually he was not as strong as I thought he would be. I fought poorly and ran out of gas.

Mat Fighting: Rumor has it that Tito Ortiz has finally signed to fight you at UFC 47, can you confirm this?

Chuck Liddell: To my knowledge the fight is on for UFC 47. I have signed and as far as I know Tito has also signed, so I guess you can say it is confirmed.

Mat Fighting: You have wanted to fight Tito Ortiz for over two years now, are you excited that he has finally signed? Why do you think he avoided you for so long?

Chuck Liddell: He is a student of the game. He knows that styles make fights and he does not match up well against me. He knows I am trouble for him and he will find this out very soon at UFC 47.

Mat Fighting: Do you want Tito to stand and bang with you? And do you think he will?

Chuck Liddell: Of course, I really want to stand and bang with Tito, however he will not and cannot stand with the Iceman! Tito does not hit hard enough, I could walk through his punches. I do not even have to keep my hands up for the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. (Laughs)

Mat Fighting: Prior to your last two loses you were the #1 light heavyweight contender for over two years without a title shot yet you kept fighting during this time beating everyone that was put in front of you when you could have just not fought, why did you do this?

Chuck Liddell: I Love fighting and will take on anyone, anytime, anyplace! Tito is next on my hit list. I Love to fight and get paid for what I love to do. You train hard and taking a long layoff is not good. I am hoping that I can be like Randy and fight until I am in 40. You never know what can happen and I am 34 now and a career ending
injury could happen during training or in a fight. I will fight as long as my body and mind allow me to.

Mat Fighting: You and Tito used to be friends and trained together. Are you still friends and will the training together be a help to you or Tito?

Chuck Liddell: It has been way to long. We trained long ago. I know a little bit about Tito, however it has been two years and he has improved his skills as well so have I. As far as being friends, we are not really friends. We were at a photo shoot for over two hours and we did not even look or speak to each other the entire time. Not hi, bye, nothing.

Mat Fighting: Was the money in PRIDE a lot more then the UFC?

Chuck Liddell: Not for me, it was real similar to UFC. For other guys in the UFC that get a chance to fight in PRIDE, the money would be a lot more. Only if I would have won the GP, then it would have been a lot more for me.

Mat Fighting: When did you first start fighting?

Chuck Liddell: Wow, Kindergarten? (Laughs) What are you talking about, I mean I started kickboxing in 1992-1993 and started fighting in the UFC at UFC 17.

Mat Fighting: What is your official win-loss record?

Chuck Liddell: I am not really sure and do not care. I would say Wins 14 Loses 3

Mat Fighting: When you're not training for a fight, what do you like to do for fun?

Chuck Liddell: I Love to hang out with my kids. I like Creek fishing, spear fishing in the ocean, sky diving. I cannot do a lot of crazy stuff because of contracts and fighting.

Mat Fighting: Are you married or single? Any Kids?

Chuck Liddell: I'm not married. I have two great kids, a 5-year-old boy Charles and a 6-year-old girl Trista. No I am single and available! I had a girlfriend for a couple years, however now single again. To contact my school or myself you can call (805) 549-8800.

Mat Fighting: I would like to thank you on behalf of matfighting.com for taking the time to do this interview. In closing would you like to add anything?

Chuck Liddell: Come watch me fight Tito, I have been waiting for over two years as have the fans, due to Tito not signing. Well now it is on, so come out or order the UFC 47 and watch me knock Tito out. I will tell all the fans that it will be a night of fireworks. I want to thank Krazy Mike at Matfighting.com for the interview and shirt. I wish your web site well and we will have to link sites. Great site.

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Fedor Emelianenko

The matchup of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Yuji Nagata was announced for the Antonio Inoki, scheduled for December 31st on Nippon TV.

This news is in direct contrast to the news that DSE/PRIDE had worked out their differences with Antonio Inoki over the attempted signing of Fedor Emelianenko. In fact, Fedor arrived in Japan on a secret trip via Kansai International Airport. According to the Japanese media, upon arrival, Fedor met and hugged with his agent Miro Mijatovic. The two left in a car immediately from the airport.

As expected, DSE/PRIDE is not happy at all. An official press conference will take place on Tuesday with Fedor and Nagata present.

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PRIDE 'SP'
December 31st, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Omiya, Japan


Officially confirmed matchups:

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Rony Sefo
Mario Sperry vs. Yuki Kondo
Daniel Gracie vs. Wataru Sakata
Don Frye vs. Gary Goodridge
Royce Gracie vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua vs. Akira Shoji
Hayato Sakurai vs. Daiju Takase
Heath Herring vs. 'Montanha' Silva
Quinton Jackson vs. Ikuhisa Minowa

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Alistair Overeem

Last month, >b>Todd Atkins reported on Fightsport.com that Alistair Overeem vs. Vladimir Matyushenko would take place on the Antonio Inoki show, scheduled for December 31st.

Antonio Inoki has now officially announced that this matchup will indeed be taking place on his show. As usual, check Fightsport.com for all the most accurate inside news all the time.

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Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira

Just as Fightsport.com first reported almost three weeks ago, the matchup of Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. Kazushi Sakuraba is now official for the PRIDE 'SP' show, scheduled for December 31st.

The last two weeks however, PRIDE had been trying to sign Kiyoshi Tamura to be Sakuraba's opponent, but Tamura wanted more money and more time to prepare. 'Minotoro', who was originally planned as Sakuraba's opponent, then got the nod when Tamura couldn't be signed. Sakuraba vs. Tamura will most likely happen in 2004.

Another consistently inaccurate newssite had stated that Sakuraba's opponent would be Matt Lindland, but this rumor was never true, or remotely possible of happening. As usual, check Fightsport.com for all the most accurate inside news all the time.

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Sanae Kikuta (top)

Sanae Kikuta officially announced that he will not participate on any of the New Year's Eve shows in Japan. Kikuta says that he will focus on improving his fight skills and will come back in 2004.

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

The Brazilian media were reporting last week that there was a possibility that Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira would participate on the Anotnio Inoki show, scheduled for December 31st. As it turns out, Minotauro will not be participating on the Inoki show, due to DSE/PRIDE and Inoki not being able to reach an agreement on Minotauro's participation.

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