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Super Brawl 33
February 7th, 2003
Oahu, Hawaii


SuperBrawl has announced the following matchups so far for their show on February 7th:

Falaniko Vitale vs. Dave Menne
Jens Pulver vs. Eddie Yagin
Justin Eilers vs. TBA

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Euphoria Entertainment will be promoting an MMA Show at Trump's Taj Mahal arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on March 13th. The show has been approved by the NJ State Boxing Commission.

The theme of the event will be 'Russia vs. USA', and Russia's Red Devil team will be featured on the card against a team of world class American fighters. Red Devil members confirmed to participate include Roman Zentsov, Andrei Semenov, and Musail Alaudinov.

Ten fights are scheduled for the card, and an official lineup will be announced soon.

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Naoyuki Kotani

ZST Lightweight GP Finals
January 11th , 2004
Tokyo, Japan

Below are the pairings for the ZST Lightweight GP Finals, which will be an 8-man same-day tournament:


Naoyuki Kotani vs. Rich Clementi
Remigijus Morkevicius vs. Takumi Yano
Marcos Aurelio vs. Masakazu Imanari
Hideo Tokoro vs. Taisho


The prize money is as follows:

Champion - 5,000,000 yen (approximately USD$42,000)
2nd place - 1,500,000 yen (approximately USD$12,500)
3rd place - 700,000 yen (approximately USD$6,000)

Prize money for first submission or KO - 100,000 yen (approximately USD$850)
Prize money for second submission or KO - 200,000 yen (approximately USD$1,700)
Prize money for third submission or KO - 300,000 yen (approximately USD$2,550)
Prize money for fourth submission or KO - 400,000 yen (approximately USD$3,350)



ZST Genesis Tournament
January 11th , 2004
Tokyo, Japan

Below are the pairings for the ZST Genesis Tournament Finals, which will be an 8-man same-day tournament, taking place as the undercard for the ZST Lightweight GP Finals:

Uchiyama Takahiro vs. Toshiaki Komatsu
Kenzi Daikanyama vs. Sho Komatsu
Yujiro Kushida vs. Tomoya Arakawa
Norisato Isozaki vs. 'Le Gaylord' Fabre



Genesis Tournament Reserve Match:
Chikara Sato vs. Yusuke Shimizu

Genesis Bout Single Match
Yuta Watanabe vs. Yoshimichi Takino

You can check out ZST's english-language website by clicking here

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Mosely vs. De La Hoya


Bob Arum

The FBI is undergoing an investigation into bigtime boxing promoter Bob Arum for allegedly 'fixing' fights.

According a law enforcement source close to the investigation, "We have information that the De La Hoya fight was fixed." This news, albeit disturbing, is not totally shocking for those who saw the fight. This is all part of the FBI's on-going 20-month probe looking into alleged widespread corruption in boxing, the New York Daily News reported yesterday. "There are some guys whose fighting records are going to be tarnished, and there are some guys who are going to go to jail. This case is going to be a huge blow to the boxing industry and how it conducts its business."

Teddy Atlas made an appearance on ESPN2 tonight at 11:30 PM EST with Brian Kenny and Max Kellerman for 'Friday Night Fights' and claimed that from what he heard, the main fight in question in the investigation was a 2001 fight in Mexico between Verdell Smith and Jorge Paez. Atlas said that 'loud mouth' promoters in Mexico were telling people before the fight that Smith would lose in Round 3 and the fight, when it occurred, ended in Round 3.

Atlas says he doesn't think Mosley/De La Hoya was fixed and is being used by the FBI as a public hook to catch more attention to the matter. Max Kellerman said that if the source that leaked information about the investigation into Bob Arum was lying about Mosley/De La Hoya being fixed that it would be 'incredibly irresponsible'. Meanwhile, boxing officials and lawyers are completely denying any charges made by the FBI.

To read the complete story that appeared in The Daily News, click here

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After a very long delay, Rites of Passage director Bobby Razak has finally released his new DVD, featuring top fighters sparring at their gyms and preparing for big fights. Fighters featured include:

Chuck Liddell sparring with Gilbert Yvel, and Martin De Jong (Golden Glory, Holland)
Enson Inoue sparring with 'Big' Jon Calvo, plus other fighters (Purebred Omiya, Japan)
Maurice Smith sparring with Tuyoshi Kohsaka (Rings Japan)
Mark Coleman sparring with Brandon Lee Hinkle
Mark Coleman sparring with Kevin Randelman
Vanderlei Silva in training
Eugene Jackson sparring with Tim Lacijk
Nigel Hudson sparring with Justin Juuko (boxing sparring)

Bobby Razak can be contacted at bobbyrazak2@hotmail.com

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By Tape Lord

Tim Sylvia

Hello my friends, my postal connections in Japan have relayed to me the following:

K-1 and PRIDE are looking to sign Tim Sylvia and Gan McGee respectively.

K-1 has already contacted Sylvia's management regarding the possibility of signing him once his UFC contract is done. They would like Sylvia to do both MMA and K-1 fights, but he would mainly be doing MMA fights for them.

PRIDE is already in negotiations with McGee's management, and a deal will soon be signed. Expect to see McGee on either the February 1st show, or the March 26th show in Las Vegas.

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RING OF FIRE 11: BRING IT ON!
Saturday, January 10th, 2004
Douglas County Events Center
Castle Rock, CO


ISKA world championship match:
Duane Ludwig vs. Malapaiet Sitprapom

MMA matches:
Steve Gomm vs. Jay Jack
Brad Gumm vs. Carlos Condit
Vern Baca vs. James Martinez

K-1 rules matches:
Keith Jardine vs. Hector Monterey
Leo Pavlushkin vs. Richard Symonds

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Jeremy Horn

ICE 7: Meltdown at Metropolis
Friday, January 16th, 2003
Cincinnati, Ohio


MMA professionals Jeremy Horn, Amir Rahnavardi, and Jennifer Howe will be fighting for free at the ICE 7 amateur MMA show in Cincinnati, Ohio. The reason for this is to help out manager and co-promoter of the event Monte Cox to establish some firm amateur MMA roots in Cincinnati.

Card Subject To Change:

Jeremy Horn vs. Ron Fields
Jennifer Howe vs. Ashley Johnson
Greg Franklin vs. Buddy Lewis
Amir Rahnavardi vs. Trevor Garrett
Mojo Horn vs. Cowboy Penny
Neal Rowe vs. Leo Sylvest
Nathan Fitch vs. Ricky Hutchins
Mike Warner vs. David Jones
Scott Camp vs. Jason Willis
Billy Rush vs. TBA
Dan Swift vs. TBA
Clay Coffman vs. TBA
Gerald Pierson vs. TBA

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Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

MMA recieved a media boost yesterday as the CNN news network aired an MMA segment on their 'World Sport Center', featuring an interview with Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic, as well as some footage from the Pride GP and Vanderlei Silva.

Cro Cop came off well spoken in the interview, and the segment was a positive piece on MMA.

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Jorge Patino "Macaco" (left)

The Brazilian media announced that Jorge Patino 'Macaco' and Luis Azeredo have both joined the Chute Boxe team. Both fighters have begun training with the team yesterday.

Most fans will remember 'Macaco' from his famous battles with former Chute Boxe member Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons, in which Macaco came out on the losing end.

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Hoost vs. Montanha

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' did the following short interview with 'Montanha' Silva, who recently lost to Ernesto Hoost by judges desision:

Tatame: How was fighting a four-time K-1 champ such as Ernesto Hoost?

Montanha: I was very calm. The crowd was split, and there were a lot of people supporting me. The only difference for me was his experience. He's a very smart guy and you can't do anything wrong, because he's just waiting to hit you. That's why I didn't exposed myself a lot. But, if you see me, he didn't hurt me. Looking at me, it's impossible to know that I was in a fight. Hoost sustained more damage than me.

Tatame: Which Hoost strike worried you the most?

Montanha: Hoost has a hard kick and a heavy hand. He spent most of the time launching low-kicks that I was able to defend and counter. I felt a lot of his kicks in my legs, that is normal. But in the end, I kicked him a lot too.

Tatame: People said you looked better inside the ring, moving better than you did against Musashi...

Montanha: It's true. That is the fruit of my labor from all I've been doing these past this six months. I've been training a lot and now I'm phisically better. At this time, I'm kicking hard! I just have to sharpen my strikes.

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Hidehiko Yoshida

Hidehiko Yoshida announced today to the Japanese media that there would be a third fight between him and Royce Gracie in 2004.

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Bob Sapp

The Japanese media is saying that there is a possibility that Bob Sapp may participate on the Antonio Inoki show, scheduled for March 28th.

Sapp is signed to K-1, but the possibility is strong due to the fact that both Inoki and K-1 share the same financial backers.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Tape Lord

Guy Mezger (right)

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the televised media industry have relayed to me that a production company is currently shooting a reality show featuring MMA fighters. The show is tentatively titled, 'So You Want To Be A Badass?'

The show will give the contestant each week the chance to choose from one of the five fighters on the show and throw down in a cage. If the contestant wins or goes the 5 minute distance, he gets USD$25,000 The winner will also gets a contract with the Lion's Den. (editorial comment: LOL)

They are currently negotiating with a few different fighters, but the first five fighters who be featured on the show are Guy Mezger, Travis Lutter, Alex Andrade, Tra Telligman, and Pete Spratt. There is talk of adding some of their smaller fighters such as Yves Edwards.

The production company doesn't yet have a network for it, but they hope to shoot some episodes then try to get a network to pick it up.

They have already shot part of the first episode, and are going to tape the first fight toward the end of this month. The first contestant is going to challenge Guy Mezger.

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WEC continues to move forward with the announcement that legendary music channel MTV will be on hand at WEC 9 to film one of their fights for their documentary show entitled 'True Life'.

Earlier this week the WEC also announced that they have signed a deal with the HDNET television station.

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TKO 15: Unstoppable
February 28th, 2004
Pierre Charbonneau-Center
Montreal, Canada

Below are some of the main event matchups that will take place in TKO 15. A total of fourteen matchups will be announced in the next few weeks:

David Loiseau vs. Jeremy Horn (TKO world middleweight title)
Steve Vigneault vs. Chris Fontaine (TKO Canadian middleweight title)
Mark Hominick vs. David Guigui (TKO Canadian super lightweight title)
Bill Mahood vs. Yan Pellerin
Georges St-Pierre vs. TBA


On a side note, any fighters still owed money by TKO president Stephane Patry, can contact him at:

Stephane Patry, President/CEO
TKO Communications Inc.
Tel: (450) 445-8886
TKOZone.tv

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By Tape Lord

Gary Goodridge

Hello my friends, my postal connections in Canada tell me that UFC and PRIDE veteran Gary Goodridge is not actually retired as has been announced by PRIDE.

Goodridge's victory over Don Frye on the December 31st PRIDE 'SP' show was supposed to be his retirement fight, but sources close to Goodridge say that this was just a ploy so that he could demand much more money for his next PRIDE fight, which would have been on the March show that is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas.

Goodridge was not happy since his pay had gone down since the days when he was on almost every other PRIDE card. PRIDE wanted to use Goodridge for their Vegas show, possibly against 'Tank' Abbott (if PRIDE signs him away from the UFC) or some other old school fighter.

Announcing his retirement before his fight against Frye was a gamble Goodridge was willing to take, since he no longer needs to fight to live comfortably. The gamble seems to have worked, as Goodridge knocked out Frye in impressive fashion. To add more controversy to the matter, Goodridge is scheduled to fight in one of the Dutch MMA promotions in the spring, even though he is supposed to be retired.

According to my sources, PRIDE will pay Goodridge more money and bring him 'out of retirement' for their Vegas show in March.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Todd Atkins

Ryan Gracie

I have found out from my people that the real reason Ryan Gracie was unable to participate in PRIDE 'SP' show was because he and Carlos Barreto got into a fight at the hotel just a few days prior to the event.

Ryan Gracie accompanied Royce Gracie to the ring in his match with Hidehiko Yoshida, and appeared to be uninjured.

Speculation is that PRIDE may have given him some sort of suspension, and had Daniel Gracie fight in his place. Daniel Gracie was already in Japan as part of the Gracie entourage.

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Marco Ruas

An insider who has been close to the ongoings of the Ruas Vale Tudo team since its beginning has exclusively sent Fightsport.com the following letter regarding what he feels is the downfall of the RVT team:


"First let me start off with saying that the deterioration of the Ruas Vale Tudo team you are seeing now was always bound to happen. You have to understand that it was due to the intelligence of Brazilian promoter Frederico Lapenda that the whole Ruas Vale Tudo was created. Lapenda created the name and image. Lapenda is the one who got Ruas and Rizzo into the UFC, and the one who negotiated their big contracts in MMA.

But Ruas's friendship with Lapenda eventually fell through due mainly to Ruas himself. Ruas is not a businessman and doesn't have the brains for business. So after Lapenda left, they have been basically living off of what he had planned for them. It couldn't go on forever and the new generation of fighters Ruas was training see they have no real future with him. They originally came to RVT because of its professional structure in both fighting and business. Once Lapenda left they had no more business structure, and they never replaced that.

The fighters left to the Gracie Barra Combat team because they have that fighting and business structure in place, and are trying to build up the best team in MMA. They went there to get what they originally thought RVT would be able to provide them."

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Pedro Rizzo (right)

Pedro Rizzo talked to Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' regarding the exodus of most of the Ruas Vale Tudo team to the newly formed Gracie Barra Combat team, and stated that he is fine with the defections. Here are a few quotes by Rizzo:

Regarding the RVT team and Ximu, Rizzo says: "Our team is strong and we're training hard. Regarding Ximu, all I have to say is that whomever are my real friends are already with me, the ones who don't sell themselves out are already at my side."

Regarding the controversy that they left due to problems with their fight purses, Rizzo says: "They didn't leave because of any problems with their fight purses. Unamar does not have all the blame. None of them can dispute this with me regarding that. I've never taken a penny from anyone. I always gave them all their fight purses in full."

Regarding the talk that RVT is close to ending, Rizzo says: "Ruas Vale Tudo will only end on the day that I die, or when I can longer climb into the ring! My moral values are very high and I owe who I am today to Marco Ruas. He gave me my profession. On the contrary to the others, I chose to learn how to fish rather then to accept fishes".

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UFC 46: Super Natural
January 31st, 2004
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV


Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort (UFC light heavyweight title)
Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn (UFC welterweight title)

Frank Mir vs. Wes Sims
Carlos Newton vs. Renato Verissimo
Lee Murray vs. Jorge Rivera
Matt Serra vs. Gerald Strebendt
Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca
Karo Parisian vs. Geirges St-Pierre

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

The WEC promotion announced that it has signed a deal with HDNET, which is the television station started up by Mark Cuban and Philip Garvin. Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise.

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RING OF FIRE 11: BRING IT ON!
Saturday, January 10th, 2004
Douglas County Events Center
Castle Rock, CO


ISKA world championship match:
Duane Ludwig vs. Malapaiet Sitprapom

MMA matches:
Steve Gomm vs. Jay Jack
Brad Gumm vs. Carlos Condit
Vern Baca vs. James Martinez

K-1 rules matches:
Keith Jardine vs. Hector Monterey
Leo Pavlushkin vs. Richard Symonds

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Naoyuki Kotani

ZST Lightweight GP Finals
January 11th , 2004
Tokyo, Japan

Below are the pairings for the ZST Lightweight GP Finals, which will be an 8-man same-day tournament:


Naoyuki Kotani vs. Rich Clementi
Remigijus Morkevicius vs. Takumi Yano
Marcos Aurelio vs. Masakazu Imanari
Hideo Tokoro vs. Taisho


The prize money is as follows:

Champion - 5,000,000 yen (approximately USD$42,000)
2nd place - 1,500,000 yen (approximately USD$12,500)
3rd place - 700,000 yen (approximately USD$6,000)

Prize money for first submission or KO - 100,000 yen (approximately USD$850)
Prize money for second submission or KO - 200,000 yen (approximately USD$1,700)
Prize money for third submission or KO - 300,000 yen (approximately USD$2,550)
Prize money for fourth submission or KO - 400,000 yen (approximately USD$3,350)



ZST Genesis Tournament
January 11th , 2004
Tokyo, Japan

Below are the pairings for the ZST Genesis Tournament Finals, which will be an 8-man same-day tournament, taking place as the undercard for the ZST Lightweight GP Finals:

Uchiyama Takahiro vs. Toshiaki Komatsu
Kenzi Daikanyama vs. Sho Komatsu
Yujiro Kushida vs. Tomoya Arakawa
Norisato Isozaki vs. 'Le Gaylord' Fabre



Genesis Tournament Reserve Match:
Chikara Sato vs. Yusuke Shimizu

Genesis Bout Single Match
Yuta Watanabe vs. Yoshimichi Takino

You can check out ZST's english-language website by clicking here

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

WEC: 'Cold Blooded'
January 16th, 2003
The Palace Casino
Lemoore, CA


Card Subject To Change:

Shonie Carter vs. Gabe Garcia (WEC welterweight title)
Chris Leben vs. Mike Swick (WEC middleweight title)
Mike Kyle vs. Joe Pardoe (WEC heavyweight title)

Anthony Arria vs. Gilbert Magana
Alex Stiebling vs. Chael Sonnen
George Evangelista vs. Rocky Long
Rob McCollough vs. TBA
Pedro Tome vs. Anthony Gonzales
Richard Montoya vs. Joe Salcido
Poppies Martinez vs. TBA
Lavar Johnson vs. Doug Marshal
John Appleby vs. Jack Cardenas
J.T. Taylor vs. Chris Lytle
Eric Eide vs. Abram Baxter
Tiki Ghosen vs. Nick Gilardi
Yves Edwards vs. Doug Evans
Olaf Alfonso vs. Albert Rios
Kerri Crothers vs. TBA

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SHOOTO
January 24th, 2003
Kourakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Class-A Bouts:
Joao Roque vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Marco Louro vs. Shuichiro Katsumura
Tetsuo Katsuta vs. Makoto Ishikawa
Kohei Yasumi vs. Koutetsu Boku

Class-B Bouts:
Hiroyuki Tanaka vs. Kenji Osawa
Junichi Sase vs. Yuki Shoujou

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Homer Moore

RITC 58: 'Homer vs. Vince'
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004
Graham Central Station
Tucson, AZ

Fight Time: 7:30 PM


Card Subject To Change:

Main Event:
Homer Moore vs. Vince Lucero

Undercard:
Bryan Pardoe vs. Mike Rainieri
Cory Timmerman vs. Lemuel Vincent
Hans Marrero vs. Tommy Gouge

Other fighters shceduled to participate:
Gabe Rivas
Daniel Betzold
Jamie Varner
John Woods
Danny Wren
Pete Morales
Carlos Ortega

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The Pacific Daily News have reported the following:



Coming back: Enson Inoue, 36, watches and helps train other mixed martial arts fighters Saturday in an octagon-shaped ring in Tumon.


You can take the man out of the fight, but not the fight out of the man.

Despite retiring from mixed martial arts fighting about two years ago and later signing with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Enson Inoue, or "Yamato Damashii," is not done with MMA competition. He plans to come back to the sport by fighting in Guam's Fury Full Contact Fighting event scheduled for Jan. 10 at the University of Guam field house.

"I like Guam -- the weather and the people," Inoue, 36, said. "I could've (come back) in Hawaii or Japan, but I picked Guam. Guam is my second home, and if I get a good reception, I'd like to do another fight on Guam."

Inoue, one of the world's toughest MMA fighters and one of the ones most heavily decorated by tattoos, has fought against some top athletes from Pride, Ultimate Fighting Championships and Vale Tudo events, including Randy Couture, Mark Kerr, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Shamrock. Inoue made his professional debut and picked up his first win against Shingo Shigeta in 1995 at the Shooto Vale Tudo Access 3 event, according to the Sherdog.com Web site.

"The toughest fighter I've gone up against technically would be from my last fight -- Antonio Nogueira in the Pride heavyweight division," Inoue said. "He's better than a lot of UFC fighters. You can say that I've been in with some of the best fighters at their best."

Inoue faced Nogueira in Pride 19 -- Bad Blood in 2002 and lost on a technical knock out via triangle choke, the site states. Since then, Inoue has been wrestling with NJPW. To add to his popularity, he also is one of the characters of Pride Fighting Championship video game for Playstation 2.

"Enson fighting in our event is definitely monumental," said Roman Dela Cruz, fight coordinator and co-organizer of the event. "It's equivalent to having someone like Kobe Bryant compete in a local 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Enson is definitely showing his love for the sport by fighting in our event. Even if we sold the event out, we can't expect to pay him what he usually asks.

"It's another opportunity to bring Guam to the next level and at the same time showcase local fighters at or near that level. Enson does nothing but good for Guam. He believes in our event and our movement," Dela Cruz added.

After compiling an 11-7 record fighting out of Association Purebred Omiya, Inoue retired from MMA competition for two years.

"I retired because I wanted to concentrate more on the business," said Inoue, who runs a handful of Purebred gyms. "I sat down one day and said, 'I'm 34, I should let the young bucks do it.' But this fight here, I want to make my comeback fight after two years. I thought to myself, I'm 36 now and will probably not be able to do this again. This is something I could never go back on.

"(Following) the layoff ... I've had some injuries, but I'm doing what I can to be 100 percent physically ready. I'm back on my diet, and I work out three times a day. Come the 10th, I'll be feeling good -- real good," Inoue, who has a Fokai tattoo on his right leg, added.

At the Jan. 10 event, Inoue will fight Soichi Nishida, or the Mammoth. In Pride 5 in 1999, Inoue came out on top after Nishida submitted from a choke. This will be Inoue's second fight in a cage, he said. The other time was in 1997 at UFC 13 -- The Ultimate Force. In that event, Royce Alger submitted to an Inoue armlock, the Sherdog.com Web site states.

Inoue is married to three-time world champion wrestler Miyu Yamamoto and has one son, 7-year-old Erson.

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Special report from Shimura Funaki in South Korea.




Randy Couture (seen beating on Tito Ortiz) is one name the Koreans are interested in.


When news of a possible Sapp vs Tyson fight hit South Korea there was pandemonium in the streets. The popularity of MMA in this country has experienced a massive boost over the past year or so and it was evident when the news reached the masses. The top MMA shows such as Pride and K-1 have inspired hundreds of thousands of teenagers to collect cards, T-Shirts and other merchandise of their favorite MMA stars. It has also inspired 3 new MMA organizations to start in Korea, all trying to win the fans adulation as the premium event. The three organizations do not feel the market is big enough for them all and they are going to risk all in an effort to capture the lions share of the market. Already names such as Vitor Belfort, Vanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Rickson Gracie, Mirko Cro-Cop and Bob Sapp are being mentioned as the level of fighter who's services the Korean organizations intend to secure.

Spirit MC, a Korean version of Pride FC is a Japanese brand featuring open-finger gloves, allowing fighters both standing and grappling skills, will launch an international amateur championship at the KBS 88 Stadium in Seoul on Feb. For the first time in its two year history, foreign fighters are invited to compete. Previously only Koreans could compete in this event. Winners can earn a ticket to the main Spirit MC championships that will be held in Seoul four to six times this year.

NeoFight, is similar to Spirit MC in rules but it limits ground time to keep the pace exciting, Neofight will host five championships this year, including the heavyweight title bouts in Seoul on March 20. They also intend to hold an event in Pusan in April to reach MMA fans outside of Seoul.

The third organization, Strikick is similar to K-1, allowing fighters to use only kicks and punches. No ground fighting is permitted.
On an unusual note Strikick holds daily matches, except Sundays, from 9 p.m. at Gimme Five, a live sports and entertainment restaurant, located in the COEX Mall in Samsung-dong, southwestern Seoul. Sitting at a table in the multi-purpose hall, fight fans might get a taste of what it was like to be a spectator at an amphitheater in Rome, eating food, drinking wine while watching the gladiators battle it out.

While the market here is still developing the venues are varied, Spirit MC use an Octagonal ring like the one used by BEST in Japan, to the dining table format by Strikick.

The local organizations face stiff opposition from satellite broadcasts of Pride, K-1 and the Inoki shows. Oddly, the fans here have little interest in the UFC which they consider to be a feeder bracket to the big shows much in the way BEST is seen by them. The local shows realize that they have to raise the bar in order to win the fans over from the blockbuster Japanese events and they are prepared to spend big dollars in the pursuit of glory. A spokesman for Spirit MC said "We expect to have some of MMA's biggest stars fight in our shows this year. This is the make or break year for all of us. Whoever has best show this year will control MMA in Korea."


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Takanori Gomi (top)

Todd Atkins reports the following from Japan:

It looks like SHOOTO will be putting together the matchup of Takanori Gomi vs. Tetsuya Kawajiri for early 2004.

It is basically a done deal at this point, and needs only to be added to one of their scheduled shows. The March 22nd show in Tokyo right now looks like the most likely date it will happen.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Tape Lord

Larry Holmes (right)

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the K-1 organization are telling me that former heavyweight boxing champ Larry Holmes is in negotiations to sign on with K-1.

Holmes has already gone on record saying that he wants to follow the footsteps of other boxing stars and sign with K-1. If Holmes ends up being signed, my sources say that a possible matchup of Homes against Akebono would likely take place.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Barnett (left) and Rizzo (right) to be on the card.

The Japanese media reports that Antonio Inoki will promote his next MMA show on March 28th at the Saitama Super Arena in Omiya, Japan.

Pedro Rizzo, Josh Barnett, Kazuyuki Fujita, and Rich Franklin are scheduled to participate on the card.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Gustavo "Ximu" Machado (right)

Gustavo 'Ximu' Machado announced that he has left the Ruas Vale Tudo team, and has joined the Gracie Barra Combat team.

RVT members Alexandre 'Baixinho', and his brother Aloisio 'Dado' Barros, have also left the team in favor of Gracie Barra. Renato 'Babalu' Sobral and Alexandre 'Cacareco' were the first RVT members to leave the team for Gracie Barra a few months back.

Ruas's decimated team now basically consists of Marco Ruas, Pedro Rizzo, Antoine Jaoude and his coach Roberto Leitao.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira

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

Tatame: How was it going from fighting to promoting?

Minotauro: It has been harder then fighting. This week I lost five pounds while running around putting everybody on the bus to Bahia. There were three athletes that got hurt at the last minute, one of them with a biceps tear. If I was just a manager, I wouldn't have been there for them. But I am a fighter, so I took the guy to the hospital, and found him a doctor. I'm a fighter and I can relate to fighter injuries. I'm also friends with the fighters who were going to fight, so of course I had to help them.

Tatame: So being a fighter helped you at this time...

Minotauro: Unlike most regular agents, I am a fighter. I care about paying a good purse for the athletes, and a good structure is also very important. The production, the lights, the cameras, everything...we are learning all this along the way. Fighting in PRIDE helped me learn a lot about organizing an MMA event...match-making, rules, and we also had the support of a very good local promoter.

Tatame: What about your possible rematch against Fedor?

Minotauro: It will take place, but not in February because of the problems between Fedor and PRIDE. It appears that Fedor signed with Inoki, and he had some sort of exclusivity contract with PRIDE. I am waiting for the situation to get resolved. The last time I fought him I was 100% physically. Now I am much better, thinner, and faster. If this fight happens in February, I am sure I would defeat him.

Tatame: After that defeat, you received a lot of support...

Minotauro: It's important because everybody recognized the work I had been doing. It was difficult for me, and I was not accustomed to losing, but that's part of the life of an athlete. At that moment you have to lift your head up, and thank God I have recovered well and ended up having a good year. That fight was in March. I then returned to the ring in August, but it wasn't such a good fight. My plan was to come back strong and win back my belt by the end of the year, and I did that.

Tatame: How did the invitation to fight on the GP show come about?

Minotauro: It was something that came out of nothing. Mirko was almost certain to face Fedor, and I was preparing to face Josh Barnett. Fedor then said he got injured only twenty days before the fight. I don't believe he was really injured though. I have fought under worse conditions then him, with a fever over 100 degrees, with a herniated disc in my spine...and the guy still needs three more months to recover from a broken hand? That doesn't justify turning down a fight for the belt. It opened up the chance for me out of nowhere, and I embraced it. I trained Sunday to Sunday. People would call me to go out to the beach and I told them I was training. I was still training at eleven at night. I wanted to get that belt back! And I got it!

Tatame: You and Vanderlei (Silva) were together at the Storm event showing your belts to the audience. He said that he might fight as a heavyweight. Do you think he will do well in the heavyweight division?

Minotauro: I think the move up to heavyweight is more difficult for a guy that trades punches then for a grappler. Because in grappling, the heavier fighter is much stronger. That, combined with my technique, will enable me to defeat him. For a striker, the hand with more weight behind it makes a difference. Vanderlei is a guy who is extremely talented. He made it in the light heavyweight division, and for him to do the same in the heavyweight division is possible. You can expect anything from Vanderlei. The light heavyweight division almost had no more opponents for him. I think that a fight between Ricardo Arona and Vanderlei needs to happen before he leaves that division. But if he wants to move up to heavyweight, then he is welcome. The guy is a showman, and he put on a show in the light heavyweight division. He would be a great opponent. If I get to fight him one day, then I am certain that it will be a very intense fight.

Tatame: He recently received a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which caused some controversy...You are a BJJ black belt. What do you think about this?

Minotauro: People from Carliho's own academy came to me and said that they don't think he deserved a black belt. I think it was probably difficult for the Jiu-Jitsu fighter who has been training for more then 10 years to see Vanderlei recieve his black belt. But in my opinion, he fights better on the ground then most black belts who compete in MMA. For the style of fighting he practices, his ground game is very good for a black belt. It was a smart move by Carlinhos, and Vanderlei is an idol in Japan. It gives more credibility to the martial arts, and it is a good thing for jiu-jitsu. He knows jiu-jitsu technique. He almost got Quinton's arm, and also used the guard against Yoshida. He showed great ground technique . He is not a black belt on the level of Pe de Pano or Terere, but his technique is good enough to be a black belt.

Tatame: Do you think you would be able to do it K-1 what you have done in PRIDE?

Minotauro: No, I don't think I would be able to do in K-1 what I have accomplished in PRIDE. Those guys are extremely talented in what they do. I could fight in K-1, but to be the best in K-1 is a whole different matter. But I would certainly give it my best.

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Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Sankei Sports report that Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic is a free agent, and can fight in any promotion he chooses to. The two big opponents for Filipovic in 2004 appear to be Mike Tyson and Bob Sapp.

Also, official split has occurred between Cro Cop and Croatian agent Miro Mijatovic of IbizCube Japan. Mijatovic received a letter from Cro Cop officially informing him of the split, and that the reason for it was because of a percieved 'conflict of interest'.

The Japanese media have speculated that the conflict of interest lies in the fact that Mijatovic became the manager of future Cro Cop opponent Fedor Emelianenko. More fuel was added to this speculation with the statement in the letter by Cro Cop that he is looking forward to fighting Fedor with Mijatovic in Fedor's corner.

In response, Miro Mijatovic told the Japanese media that he was perplexed by Cro Cop's response, and that he would continue representing Fedor for the PRIDE Heavyweight GP tournament, scheduled for April.

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Pedro Rizzo (right)

The Brazilian media is reporting that Pedro Rizzo may be fighting on the Antonio Inoki show, scheduled for March 28th.

Our sources close to the Rizzo camp tell us that this is indeed true, and that K-1 is also currently negotiating with Rizzo to appear on one of their MMA cards scheduled for the spring.

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Rich Franklin

In yet another Fightsport.com exclusive, this cyber reporting stud has learned of yet another rift between Zuffa and one of their fighters. As I reported yesterday, UFC president Dana White is furious at Din Thomas for going to Japan and losing. In addition, he is upset at Rich Franklin for doing the same.

This situation is different though, as Dana's anger at Franklin is even greater. Reliable sources in both Iowa and Vegas have explained that Dana White has turned business into something personal yet again by being very outspoken and angered at Franklin.

Word inside the Zuffa offices is that Dana thinks Rich Franklin is a 'traitor' for competing in Japan. Dana thinks that after all of the 'undeserved' hype and marketing Zuffa has given Franklin, his abandoning ship and competing in Japan showed not only a lack of loyalty, but ruined all of the effort put into marketing Franklin. Furthermore, Dana White is now convinced that all three big Japanese MMA shows are working together, so that in effect Franklin fought for the companies trying to put the UFC out of business so they can take over the American MMA market.

Sources in Iowa confirm this, stating that the rift between Franklin and Dana is very large at the moment, with Franklin's UFC future uncertain as of now. As my sources in Iowa asked me, why should Dana get mad at a fighter for taking a big paycheck when the UFC only pays a handful of fighters enough to earn a living? My sources went on to say that Dana White's temper and habit of taking business decisions personally drove off Busta and Pulver, and now they are probably going to drive off Rich Franklin.

As usual, stick to Fightsport.com and the Jake R report for the latest inside Zuffa info Dana White doesn't want you to read.

* Must credit Fightsport.com and the Jake R report when discussing this report*

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Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort has been training with a slew of different world class fighters in preparation for his light heavyweight title shot against Randy Couture, scheduled for UFC 46 on January 31st. This past week saw Belfort training in Rio de Janeiro with former teammate and PRIDE heavyweight co-champion Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira.

Minotauro says, 'Vitor has got a lot of stamina right now and is very well prepared to face Randy Couture. I have a lot of faith in him for this fight'.

For his ground fighting, Belfort has been training with an all-star cast of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, including world champions 'Leozinho' Vieira, Rodrigo 'Comprido', and Ricardo Vieira.

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By Tape Lord

Frank Shamrock

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization tell me that PRIDE has already made a substantial offer to Frank Shamrock to appear on their show that is scheduled for Las Vegas in March.

Under the proposed deal, Shamrock would earn approximately USD$175,000 to USD$205,000 per fight (not including winning bonuses), and would be guaranteed at least three fights from 2004 until early 2005.

Frank Shamrock has yet to sign the deal. Sources close to the negotiations say that Shamrock does not want PRIDE to switch opponents on him at the last moment, or to give him little preparation time for specific opponents. Shamrock turned down a previous offer to fight in PRIDE last year when PRIDE offered him a fight with Vanderlei Silva on one month's notice.

According to sources close to Frank Shamrock, he will most likely sign the deal within the next two weeks if he is promised Kazushi Sakuraba as his opponent.

According to those same sources, Shamrock has been reluctant to come out of retirement because he did not want to risk tarnishing his undefeated UFC resume, which he had wanted to parlay into a career in Hollywood, specifically as a big martial arts movie star with a reputation as a real-life undefeated martial arts legend. That obviously hasn't happened, even though Frank still harbors that same dream.

Those same sources say that when and if Frank feels ready to take on the new challenges of coming out of retirement, that he would like to sign the contract and retire undefeated after three fights in PRIDE. If he has his choice, he would like those three fights to be against Kazushi Sakuraba, a Gracie (preferably Royce or Renzo), and Vanderlei Silva.

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Mike Tyson

K-1 announced to the Japanese media that the matchup of Mike Tyson vs. Bob Sapp will happen in May of this year. The three venues for the fight that are being discussed right now are Hawaii, New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. According to sources in the Japanese media, Hawaii is the early favorite to land the fight.

K-1 also announced that a rematch between Bob Sapp and Akebono may take place, and that a possible matchup of Akebono vs. George Foreman is trying to be signed to be on the undercard for the Mike Tyson vs. Bob Sapp matchup.

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Akebono vs. Sapp

The QH rating for the Bob Sapp vs. Akebono match drew an incredible 43.0% for the Tokyo Broadcasting System, easily beating NHK's 35.5% QH rating during the same quarter hour time slot.

NHK's Red & White (Kohaku) Music Festival on New Year's Eve histoprically wins the ratings war every year. This was the first time another program was able to top them, even if it was only for a quarter hour. This resounding success for K-1 and MMA opens up many scenarios, as TBS may be the big backer behind a possible Tyson/Sapp matchup for the srping of 2004.

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Fightsport.com apologizes to all its fans for the infrequent news updates this past week. Our update people were on holidays, and the server was undergoing some maintenance.

We are planning many upgraded features for the newspage this month and the news updates will be back to their normal schedule starting today.

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By Jake R

Thomas vs. Suloev

In a fight questioned by many, it can now be learned that Din Thomas was paid USD$35,000 for his match against Amar Suloev. As reliable sources inside the Zuffa organization have informed me, Din and every other UFC 155er usually make nothing close to that amount, so the switch was understandable even with the large weight difference.

However, the same sources inside the Zuffa organization have also told me that UFC president Dana White is furious at Din for not only leaving the UFC to fight in Japan, but also losing. Dana White is said to be very upset at the image now of the UFC as being second rate, with his fighters regularly losing now in Japan. In fact, Dana is so mad that Din Thomas may not be brought back to compete in the UFC again.

As usual, stick to Fightsport.com and the Jake R report for the latest inside Zuffa info Dana White doesn't want you to read.

* Must credit Fightsport.com and the Jake R report when discussing this report*

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By Todd Atkins


Lorenzo fertitta (left)

Here is a part of a recent interview on Boxing Insider that I read from UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta:

BoxingInsider.com: One last thing thing -- We asked Rampage before Pride, What's the biggest difference between UFC and Pride?' He said the difference was money. What needs to happen to the UFC to be on the same level -- as far as compensation for the fighters?

Lorenzo Fertitta: I kind of call 'BS' on that. I don't think, from a money standpoint, we're that much different. I think, philosophically what's happening, and the way that the sport is moving now is different. Pride uses a format that we tried to use when we first started when we took over the company -- which is basically stacking the cards, where every fight is a blockbuster and you're paying every guy a certain amount of money. What's happening to the sport in America is similar to what happened in boxing over the years. Because you have guys who are turning into superstars, they demand more money. When the market and the revenues aren't growing along, it means that if they're going to demand more money and they're really what the draw is -- the reason that people are coming -- then other fighters on the card are going to get less money. So you are getting the haves and the have-nots.

The card that we had in September was a great card. There were great fights -- but people came to see Tito fight Randy. We tried to put on an entertaining card, but it was about Tito and Randy. Quite frankly, they were the guys who made the money. So that's really what the difference is. I think that we pay the superstars in our sport as much -- and compete at that level with Pride. It's just that we don't have sixteen fighters on the same card who are making that kind of money.



Lorenzo Fertita is completely WRONG.

ZUFFA/UFC do pay a FEW guys 'PRIDE-like' money. Guys like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Tank Abbott, and Pedro Rizzo for instance. But what you have to keep in mind is that PRIDE is paying that kind of money, and more, to many fighters. Also, PRIDE's biggest stars are getting paid a LOT more money then the UFC's top guys.

In many cases the fighters get paid in CASH in the form of $100 dollar bills. So I have no idea if these fighters are paying taxes on the cash they recieve....ok I have some idea. A lot of American fighters come home with their support team carrying briefcases of USD$100 bills for them.

Also PRIDE takes care of ALL medical costs for ALL their fighters, unlike the UFC. They are VERY generous on per diem money not only for fighters but also for their support staff. For the most part all the PRIDE fighters fly business class. These are just some of the reasons why the top dogs like PRIDE more. The one downside is PRIDE's habit of giving late notice on opponents. I will give UFC credit for that, you usually know a month or more ahead of time who you are fighting barring injury.

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