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Shannon Briggs vs Tom Erikson


K-1 World GP 2004 Japan
March 27th, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


Musashi defeats Akebono by unanimous decision.
Ernesto Hoost defeats Xhavit Bajrami by unanimous decision.
Alexy Ignashov defeats Carter Williams by KO at 2:42, RD 2.
Bob Sapp defeats Seth Petruzzi by TKO at 0:57, RD 1.
Shannon Briggs defeats Tom Erikson by KO at 1:02, RD 1.
Aziz Khattou defeats Fracois Botha by majority decision.
Jan 'The Giant' Nortje defeats Mike Bernardo by KO at 2:32, RD 1.
Sergei Gur defeats Jerrol Venetiaan by majority decision.
Cyril Abidi defeats Hirakud Hori by KO at 2:58, RD 2.

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By Scoop McTroll

Bill Goldberg

An article in a Japanese newspaper today states that WWE superstar Bill Goldberg will fight on the PRIDE show that is scheduled for August 15th at the Saitama Super Arena.

Goldberg, who has teased in the past that he may do a PRIDE show, is thought by many to be too old to get into the sport at 37 years of age and with no martial arts background. We will keep you updated with more news on this as it becomes available.

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By Jake R

Tim Sylvia

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


According to my sources in Las Vegas and Iowa, rumors are now swirling that Tim Sylvia has recently tested positive yet again for steroid use. Nothing has been confirmed 100% yet, but the rumor is circulating amongst the Zuffa staff and a prominent MMA gym in Iowa.

Zuffa is already formulating a contingency plan in case the rumor is confirmed. The plan at this point involves pulling Sylvia off the card in an effort to appease the NSAC, though it is still undecided whether the heavyweight title fight will be dropped entirely or if Frank Mir will be brought in as a last minute replacement.

However, Sylvia might even still fight on the upcoming UFC 47 card even if he did test positive, as nothing is completely set in stone as of Friday afternoon at the Zuffa front office.

As usual, stick to Fightsport.com and the Jake R report to read the latest rumors you won't read anywhere else.

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By Todd Atkins

Hallman and Trigg to have a rematch.

Below are some of the matchups that my sources are telling me may happen for UFC 48, scheduled for June 19th:

Ken Shamrock vs. Kimo Leopoldo: The matchup Zuffa originally wanted for Shamrock to face 'Tank' Abbott', but it looks like Tank will go to K-1. Shamrock vs. Kimo is the fight they're looking to put together now.

Dennis Hallman vs. Frank Trigg: This matchup has already been announced by Zuffa. Trigg has already signed, and Hallman has verbally agreed. Look for a TON of trash talk leading up to this fight. Some of it may be staged, but there is some personal stuff between these two as well. Zuffa is very excited about this next show and all indications are that it will do very well. Already it is known that this will be one of the best live gate shows that ZUFFA has ever had. What remains to be seen is how the PPV will do.

Matt Hughes vs. Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo: This matchup is signed, but I wonder what Zuffa does if Charuto wins?

Ivan Menjivar vs. Matt Serra: This fight is very close to being singed. Should be a good one!


Ricco Rodriguez may also appear on the UFC 48 card to the surprise of some. Do not rule out Royce Gracie on a UFC card in 2004. Talks are still taking place and it would still take a lot of money to get Royce. Zuffa feel that that he could bring them their best ratings ever.

As for the direction Zuffa is taking their cards...they still feel that a couple good matchups and a card of lower cost fighters is the way to go. It's going to be harder for fighters to get real good paydays unless they are 'star' quality.

The UFC doesnt care about who is the best fighter anymore. It isn't about matching the best fighters as it was in the beginning. They feel that they can gain more fans with personalities and fighters that have the ripped, in-shape, and mean look.

There will be SOME good matchups of the best fighters in the future, but Zuffa is now to the point where they are making money on each show and they feel excitement, look, and camera awareness not only at the show but prefight, postfight, etc. is what will convince NEW fans to buy a PPV.

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Akebono and Mushashi

K-1 announced that Musashi has accepted some rules changes to his March 27th matchup with Akebono that will allow Akebono to use Sumo techniques in the standup fight.

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By Todd Atkins

Jens Pulver

Jens Pulver still has two fights remaining on his SHOOTO contract, but he is not exclusive and can fight anywhere.

PRIDE had reps at the SHOOT event on March 22nd and were very impressed with Pulver's first round KO of Naoya Uematsu. Look for Pulver to likely make his PRIDE Bushido debut in May.

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PRIDE officially announced that the following fighters are confirmed for the PRIDE Heavyweight GP, which begins on April 25th:


Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic
Fedor Emelianenko
Heath Herring
Igor Vovchanchyn
Stefan Leko
Sylvester Terkay
Sentoryu aka Henry Miller


As readers of our site already know, Fightsport.com reported a few months ago that these fighters would be in the GP. Keep reading our newssite to get the news before everyone else.

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HOOKnSHOOT the tag-team submission matchup of Kevin Randleman and Wes Sims vs. Wade Rome and Jeff Monson for thei March 27th show.

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SuperBrawl announced that the Pay Per View airing of SuperBrawl 34 has been moved to Monday, March 29th, at 8:00 PM on Channel 256.

The show itself is scheduled to take place on March 28th at the Maui War Memorial in Hawaii.

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Matt Lindland (left)

Matt Lindland Made the following statement to supposed MMA journalist Tony Caiazzo:


I have taken the time to read your article concerning me. I have then taken some time to consider the points you made, and re-read your article. I believe there are two possible scenarios that could be considered to explain it.

A) Phil Baroni is an electrifying performer, whose brash personality and extraordinary skills, both as a fighter and as a self-promoter, have galvanized you to write this article, heralding the arrival of a brilliant new voice in the arena of Mixed-Martial-Arts journalism, or;

B) Phil Baroni is a crass bore, and you are an idiot.

I believe, if you read my riposte', and give it some thought, you will come to agree with me that the correct answer is B.

I could go over your article sentence by sentence, and point out every contradiction, inconsistency, and unsupported claim, but it would be like beating up a helpless drunk at the county fair. So allow me to mention a few things that will stand as representative of why I believe (and you will doubtless come to believe) that you are an idiot.

In the second paragraph of your article, you claim, "any follower of the UFC knows the fallacy " that "rests" in the "reasoning" that "a win is a win". The fallacy in that statement is yours. You do not speak for the followers of the UFC. You speak only for yourself. Do not imagine for a second that you represent the "voice of the people". It is insulting to the fans who have their own opinions, and do not need you to supply them with opinions based upon your skewered concepts. Additionally, I wonder if you would consider two decision wins quite as much of a "fallacy" if Baroni had them over me, instead of the way things stand.

You then go on to trumpet your dismissal of Lee Murray for the balance of your article, and follow that up by mentioning him relentlessly, and including a picture of him. Quite a dismissal. The reason you could not dismiss him is because, like Baroni, he enthralls you by his antics, and like the simpleton you are, you are incapable of turning away. Which is pitiful.

You then go on to not mention Murray (Ha!) with the following statements: "There are few who doubt Lindland would defeat Murray" and "There are also few who would pay to see it happen". Have you done any research to support this unwarranted claim? If so, why didn't you provide a quote, from a UFC fan? I'll be happy to tell you why....but I have a feeling you're probably starting to catch on. You are again arrogantly speaking for the fans.

In that same paragraph, you then say, in response to my laying waste to Phil in our verbal war before our second fight, "fans like seeing that kind of stuff.." So do fans like seeing me, or not? You have taken both sides of the argument, and made an incoherent mess of yourself, and you're not even off page 2.

You say that it's a "Numbers game." That "people want to see Phil fight." Why didn't you provide some of the PPV buy-in figures for Phil's fights, and compare them with the numbers for events he doesn't appear in? Do the PPV buys shoot through the roof with people wanting to see Phil perform, with his Martial Arts skills, or more usually, his mouth? Why didn't you support your claim with statistics, gathered through research? I could go on, but the rest of page 3 is the same muddled ranting, unworthy of refutation, and I crumpled the page up and threw it across the room like the trash it is.
You go on, and parrot the "Lindland is boring" line that was old hat and disproved long before you decided to take one hand out of your boxer shorts and the other out of a bag of stale Cheez Doodles and start tapping away on a keyboard in a vain attempt to increase your own prestige by writing inane, meaningless drivel. But because I am a charitable person, and would like to instruct you, although it is you and you alone and not the MMA/UFC fans who you fraudulently claim to represent, by making a few simple points. Even you should be able to understand them.

I have worked hard to expand my repertoire to become a more well-rounded fighter.

I have traveled at my own expense, without the benefit of sponsors who pay my travel, living, and training expenses (unlike your fancy man Phil Baroni).

I have trained with numerous Martial Artists to better myself. You may, if you care to re-watch my second fight with Phil (if you can stand watching your hero getting pummeled), that a substantial percentage of that fight takes place standing, where Phil's deadly hands should have carried the day rather easily by your reckoning.

Also, if you watch the second Vitale fight, I attempted numerous kicks (including some head kicks!), which resulted in me flat on my back (where we Wrestlers are in uncharted territory, blah blah blah), where I........and brace yourself for this........started an offense, and reversed position, from the bottom. When was the last time Phil "Mr. Excitement" Baroni gave that a try?
As far as I can tell, based upon my observations, Phil's game plan, the one "people pay to see", consists of him coming out, throwing two or three minutes worth of barroom haymakers, gassing, getting dumped and mounted like a cross-eyed white belt rolling with Rickson Gracie in his heyday, and either hanging on for dear life and hoping the bell rings, or flailing away and eating punches, elbows and then slugging the referee. The more I think about it, I've spent more time riding Phil in one fight Than Lane Frost spent riding bulls in his entire career. And what happened in the Tanner fight? Where was your great "finisher" when Evan got caught? I'll tell you where. He was panting like a hunting dog on a hot summer day, dragging himself across the ring so slowly his own shadow was pushing him. And there you were, I'm sure, with your "N.Y. Badass" t-shirt on, desperately exhorting your hero on, to justify your pathetic, small-minded worship of him. I can only hope you got some small measure of satisfaction by watching him hit the referee, but if you watch the replay again, you'll see that even those punches, thrown at an unsuspecting man who was focused on ensuring Phil's safety, didn't land either.

2. You do not speak for the fans of the UFC, or Mixed-Martial-Arts in general By imagining that you do, you make a classic chump's mistake, and you render your article, and in fact, your credibility from now on, a worthless shambles, unfit to be taken seriously by anyone. The PPV buy-in numbers do not support your claims. Had you done any research, you would have discovered this for yourself. Here's an even easier test, one even someone as sloppy and lazy as yourself could have done on the way to the 7-Eleven for more Cheez Doodles; how many skate-punks do you see in Phil Baroni shirts? How many people at the gas station are talking about the "NY BADASS" while they fill their cars up? If you mention your interest in the UFC to someone with a casual or limited interest, how many of them mention Phil? You know the answers to these questions as well as I do, you poor fool.

More people remember Royce Gracie, and he hasn't fought in at least 5 years in the UFC. And why do you think that is? Because Royce Gracie was a professional athlete, who carried himself with dignity, in and out of the ring. And people remember him for that, and will remember him long after the Phil Baronis of the world, the Football player who pulls his helmet off and does his carefully-rehearsed boogaloo dance after he catches a 12-yard pass over the middle even though his team is down 24 points with a minute to go, the basketball player who pounds his chest and conducts an on-court audition for his upcoming sneaker commercial after scoring a basket, even as the other team races down the court and scores an easy lay-up on the 5-on-4 mismatch his antics have created, the boob with the $4,000 paint-job and the earth-shattering sound system in his car, which has a hanging muffler and is leaking oil all over his mother's driveway, are forgotten. People, in short, like you.

Should you decide to try your hand at journalism again, I will be waiting. And I will be neither this gentle nor this patient with you next time. This is my profession and, how I put food on the table for my family.

-Matt Lindland

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Extreme Challenge 56
Friday, March 26th, 2004
Medina Entertainment Center
Minneapolis, MN


Dave Menne vs. Leo Sylvest
Travis Wiuff vs. Damien Decorah
Dan Anderson vs. Joe Doerksen
Derick Perez vs. Kyle Jensen
Josh Rafferty vs. Dearrel Guthmiller
Jimmy Sullivan vs. Kerry Schall
Ron Fields vs. Steve Friedrichs
Tyrone Roberts vs. Scott Valeen
Cliff Saunders vs. John Leidfried
Chris Geschke vs. Karl Knothe


155-pound tournament (winner advances to the Extreme Challenge/Super Brawl 8-man event in Honolulu, Hawaii):
Jorge Gurgel vs. Jevgenijs Minajevs
Roger Huerta vs. Joe Jordan

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K-1 World GP 2004 Japan
March 27th, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


Akebono vs. Musashi
Bob Sapp vs. TBA
Alexey Ignashov vs. Carter Williams
Ernesto Hoost vs. Remy Bonjasky
Shannon Briggs vs. Tom Erikson
Francois Botha vs. Aziz Khattou
Mike Bernardo vs. Jan Nortje
Jerrol Venetiaan vs. Sergei Gur
Cyril Abidi vs. Hiraku Hori

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HOOKnSHOOT
March 27, 2004
Veterans' Memorial Coliseum
Evansville, Indiana

Start: 7:00 PM


MMA matchups:
Aaron Riley vs. Nuri Shakir
Joseph Baize vs. Angelo Popofski
Heath Pedigo vs. Chris Michael
Wald Bloise vs. TBA
Chad Washburn vs. Stonie Dennis
Del Greer vs. Francesca Menda
Julie Ketzie vs. Terry Blair

tag-team submission matchup:
Kevin Randleman & Wes Sims vs. Wade Rome & Jeff Monson

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Grapplers Quest: 'The Best of The West Returns'
Saturday, March 27th, 2004
Durango High School
Las Vegas, NV


Featuring 3 Superfight Divisions (Men's Lightweight and Middleweight, and Women's Pro Division). Some of the grapplers scheduled to compete include:

Lightweight Superfight Division
Cameron Earle
Marcos Avellan
Gary Grate

Middleweight Superfight Division
Marcelo Garcia
David Avellan
Moacir 'Boca' Oliveira
Diego Sanchez
Rafael Lovato Jr.
Jake Shields

Women's PRO Superfight Division
Leonor Avellan


SAVE up to $20 - To Register and Pre-Purchase tickets online, here

If you want to mail in your application with a check or money order, click here

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SuperBrawl 34
Sunday, March 28th, 2004
War Memorial Gymnasium
Maui, HI


Falaniko Vitale vs. Keith Winters
Harris Sarmiento vs. Adam Alverez
Justin Mercado vs. Mason Stickle
Ray 'King Kong' Serraile vs. Eddie Searfross
Kendall Groves vs. Kaipo Kalama
Alan Hinojosa vs. Eddie Yagin
Tyson Naho'oikaika vs. Kolo Koka
Eddie Ferreira vs. TBA

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SHOOTO GIG CENTRAL Vol.5
March 28th, 2003
Tsurumai Public Hall
Nagoya, Japan


Class-A Bouts:
Ryan Bow vs. Daisuke 'Amazon' Sugie

Class-B Bouts:
Naoki Matsushita vs. Ganjo Tentsuku
Hiroshi Umemura vs. TBA
Hatsu Hioki vs. Yohei Nanbu
Hiroyuki Tanaka vs. Akira Kibe
Takahiro Kajita vs. Toshikazu Iseno
Kenichi Hattori vs. Masaaki Yamamori
Atsushi Takeuchi vs. Takashi Yamamoto
Hayate Usui vs. Takeshi Matsushita

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Damien Riccio

Ultimate Combat 9
March 28th, 2004
Whitchurch Leisure Centre
Bristol, England


Kim Hovgaard vs. Mark Wilson
Pierre Guillet vs. Yaya LaLanne
Damien Riccio vs. Evert Fyeet
James Thompson vs. Aaron Marsa
Lars Besand vs. Patrick Valle
Peter Angerer vs. Jess Liaudin
Bram Van Koppen vs. Javier Garcia
Julian Gonzalez vs. Florian Riccio
Marc Duncan vs. Dave McLaughlin
Kevin O'Hagan vs. Sami Berik
Franco DeLeonardis vs. Dave Campbell
Marc Goddard vs. Abdenbi Chakar
Nadia Van Der Wel vs. Cheri Buck
Ross Mason vs. Mick Broster
Alex Owen vs. Christian Schoter
Wesley Murch vs. Phil McCall

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Don Frye

Ultra FC 1
March 28th, 2004
Olympic Stadium
Seoul, South Korea


The complete card is expected to have around 8-10 matchups:

Officially announced matchups:
Don Frye vs. Dan Bobish
Shannon Ritch vs. Sean McCully

Unofficially announced matchups:
Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. TBA
Paulo Filho vs. TBA
Claudio Godoy vs. TBA
Fabiano Capoane vs. TBA

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Pancrase 2004 Brave Tour
March 29th, 2004
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan

Open: 17:30
Start: 18:30

Below are the matchups that have been announced so far for the Pancrase show on March 29th:


Yuki Kondo vs. Steve Heath
Keigo Takamori vs. Jun Ishii
David Terrell vs. Osami Shibuya
Eiji Ishikawa vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Yuichi Nakanishi vs. Hikaru Sato
Hidehiko Hasegawa vs. Seiki Ryo
Mitsuyoshi Sato vs. Yukiya Naito
Yuji Hisamatsu vs. Ichiro Kanai

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Paulo Filho (top)

Bitetti Combat
March 2004
Ginasio Machadinho
Natal, Brazil


Paulo Filho vs. Alexandre Vaca
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Flavio Moura
Arlisson Melo vs. Wellington Dias
'Capoeira' vs. Daniel 'Pirata'
Ronaldo 'Furacao' vs. Pimpolho
Fabio Bolinho vs. Diogo Brucutu
Michele Tavares vs. Alice Aguiar

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UFC 47: 'It's On!'
April 2nd, 2004
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, NV


Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell
Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
Wes 'Cabbage' Correira vs. Mike Kyle
Jonathan Wiezorek vs. Wade Shipp
Robbie Lawler vs. Nick Diaz
Chris Lytle vs. Tiki Ghosn
Yves Edwards vs. Hermes Franca
Genki Sudo vs. Mike Brown

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European Vale-Tudo 2
April 4th, 2004
Stockholm, Sweden


Travis Lutter vs. Antonio Tello
Chris Bowles vs. Stale Nyang
Dersu Lerma vs. Thomas Hytten
Hiro Kamikozono vs. Mario Stapel
Bernardo Serrini vs. Martin Kampmann
Janne Lukkarinen vs. Bobby Rehman
Alex Reid vs. John Oskar Hammer
Ricky Moore vs. Tchavdar Pavlov
Jean Robert Monier vs. Tor Olav Hauge
Kenneth Rosfort vs. Diego Gonzales
Aaron Blackwell vs. Joar Palm
Christian Dellevag vs. Anders Ericksson

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Joachim Hansen

Capital Punishment 2: 'Ticket To Japan'
April 5th, 2004
Helsinki, Finland


Miikka Mehmet vs. Sami Liedes
Tom Niinimaki vs. Vincent Latoel
Mika Ilmen vs. Danelius Razmus
Robin Hernandez vs. Olli Hartikainen
Tommi Haapanen vs. Toni Hakala
David Bielkheden vs. Sigitas Antanavicius
Joachim Hansen vs. Yakut Metin
Janne Rantanen vs. Thomas Backman
Arttu Nyman vs. Janne Tulirinta
Mikael Lahdesmaki vs. Jani Lax

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HEAT FC 3
April 16th, 2004
Natal, Brazil

Heat FC announced the following matchups for their April 16th show. The full card is expected to have around eight matchups:


Carlos Barreto vs. Mike Whitehead
Ebenezer Braga vs. Keith Jardine
Erick Tavares vs. Diego Sanches
Lucas Lopes vs. Fabiano Capoane

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Storm GP champ Anderson Silva (right).

Storm Muay Thai promoter Rudimar Fedrigo announced that the show's next two editions will be held in Brazil, and will be only two days apart, on April 16th and then April 18th.

The April 16th show will take place in the city of Sao Paulo, and the April 18th show will take place in the city of Curitiba.

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Minotauro and CroCop confirmed for the GP.

PRIDE Heabyweight Grand Prix
April 25th, 2004 (opening round)
Japan


Listed below are the names of the fighters who are signed, and who are being considered for the opening round of the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The opening round will feature sixteen fighters, and is scheduled for April:


Officially confirmed:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic
Fedor Emelianenko
Igor Vovchanchyn
Sentoryu
Heath Herring
Sergei Karitonov
Igor Vovchanchyn
Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Unofficially confirmed, and very strong possibilty:
Don Frye
Mark Coleman
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Stefan Leko
Quinton Jackson
Tom Erikson
Sylvester Terkay
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Hirotaka Yokoi
Yoshihiro Takayama

Possibility, but not likely:
Vanderlei Silva *
Yuki Kondo **

Names have been mentioned in the media, but do not expect them in the GP:
Royce Gracie
Dan Henderson
Hiromitsu Kanehara
Kiyoshi Tamura



* Silva will most likely defend his light heavyweight belt against Kondo, and only be in the GP in the event that Ninja cannot compete.
** Kondo only wants to face Silva in a single fight.

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K-1: 'Battle At The Bellagio II'
Friday, April 30th, 2004
Bellagio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV


Rumored matchup:
Shannon Briggs vs. 'Tank Abbott


Fighters scheduled to compete:
Carter Williams
Michael McDonald
Dewey Cooper
Cung Le

Fighters that may participate:
Shannon Briggs
Francois Botha

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Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (top)

Meca co-promoter Rudimar Fedrigo announced the following matchups for the Meca Vale Tudo 11 card, which is tentatively scheduled for sometime in April:


Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos vs. Edson Drago
Daniel Acacio vs. Carlos Baruck
Luiz Azeredo vs. Roan Jucao
Jadyson Costa vs. TBA

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Left to right: Machida, Fujita, Sapp, Greco, and Ignashov.

K-1: 'Dynamite'
May 19th, 2004
Japan


K-1 announced that their show on May 19th will be a 'K-1 vs. Team Inoki' themed card with most ly MMA matchups. Below are some of the matchups that are expected to take place, as well as the probable lineups for both Team K-1 and Team Inoki:

MMA matchups:
Bob Sapp vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Jerome LeBanner vs. Tadao Yasuda

Probable Team K-1 lineup:
Bob Sapp
Alexey Ignashov
Jerome LeBanner
Peter Aerts
Sam Greco
Genki Sudo
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto

Probable Team Inoki lineup:
Kazayuki Fujita
Shinsuke Nakamura
Josh Barnett
'Lyoto' Machida
Yuji Nagata
Dolgosurem Sumbayazer
Hiroyoshi Tenzan

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Gilbert Yvel

'It's Showtime'
May 20th, 2004
Amsterdam ArenA
Amsterdam, Holland


MMA matchups:
Gilbert Yvel vs. Cheick Kongo
Joop Kasteel vs. Dave Vader
Rodney Faverus vs. Melvin Manhoef
Dave Dalgliesh vs. Barrington Patterson
Irma Verhoeff vs. Yoko Takahashi

Muay Thai/Kickboxing matchups:
Alexey Ignashov vs. Semmy Schilt
Rayen Simson vs. Sahin Yakut
Badr Hari vs. Aziz Khattou
Fikri Tijarti vs. Chris van Venrooy
Joerie Mes vs. Aschwin Balrak
Gago Drago vs. Stjepan Veselic

Boxing matchups:
Lucia Rijker vs. Lisa Holewyne
Regillo Aaron vs. Francisco Mora

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira announced that the second and third editions of his MMA show, 'Conquista Fight', will take place this year in Brazil.

The second show is scheduled to take place in June in the city of Salvador. The third show is scheduled for December in the city of Vitoria da Conquista.

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Remy Bonjasky

K-1 announced that Remy Bonjasky is injured and will not be able to face Ernesto Hoost on March 27th. Swiss kickboxer Xhavit Bajrami will take Bonjasky's place on the card.

The reports are that Bonjasky injured his right achilles heel in practice last week.

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Dean Lister (center)

Sources close to the camp of Dean Lister are saying that Lister has signed a 6-fight contract with DSE/PRIDE.

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Chuck Liddell

MMANews.com did the following interview with Chuck Liddell on their internet radio show. Here's what Liddell had to say (interview by Matt Boone and Ryan Clark):


Matt Boone: Chuck, what's going on brother?

Chuck Liddell: Not a whole lot man, just waiting, anxious for the fight man.

Matt Boone: Are you ready or what man? You ready?

Chuck Liddell: Oh, I'm ready.

Matt Boone: Oh, I love it. Love to hear that. He sounds real pumped up. He's ready to go it sounds like.

Ryan Clark: Good stuff. Chuck, what's going on man, it's Ryan Clark here?

Chuck Liddell: How you doing?

Ryan Clark: Pretty good man. What we did was, we put a notice out on the websites and told the fans to send in some questions for you. We've got a pretty good batch here. No real order. I guess we'll start here at the top with IidelphiaMMA from the Sherdog forums says: "How is your cardio going to be for the fight? Do you think you'll be able to set the pace against Tito, as Tito has said he's going to set the pace and try and punch through your looping style punches?"

Chuck Liddell: There's not a whole lot of chance of him punching through my "looping style punches" [laughs] but uhh, yeah, I'm ready to go. I've been working a lot of wrestling, and he's gonna come out and wrestle. He's not gonna try and punch through me. If anyone thinks he is, they're crazy.

Matt Boone: So you don't think he's going to stand with you like he's claiming to everybody?

Chuck Liddell: [laughs] Come on. Come on.

Matt Boone: It's a bluff?

Chuck Liddell: It's a bluff. He's trying to sell it. He's trying to sell it to me. He can try and sell it to everybody else, but he's not selling it to me. Even if he had the remote idea of doing it, after I hit him one time he's going to go back to shooting.

Matt Boone: Game plan would change pretty quickly, huh?

Chuck Liddell: I'll change it. If that was his real plan, which - it wasn't, [laughs] I'll change it quickly.

Matt Boone: Chuck uncensored. I love it. Ummm, let me ask you this - if he gets you on the ground, your training your ground work, you're ready to go if you have to fight from your back, right?

Chuck Liddell: Yeah, I've trained on my ground. I'm ready to go. I'm ready to go on the ground, I'm ready to stand up.

Matt Boone: OK, let me ask you this. If he gets you down, are you looking to get up real quick, or are you ready to start working from your back? What's the plan there?

Chuck Liddell: I'll be getting back up. I'm gonna get back up and get him.

Matt Boone: You don't think you'll have any problems getting back up with Tito, huh?

Chuck Liddell: I'm not planning on having any problems. I mean, if I do, I'll work from my back if I have to, but I'm gonna be making every effort I can to get up. I'm gonna make him work to hold me down.

Matt Boone: I love it. Let's see, we got one here from TheRazor from The Underground forums. He says, "Will we see any kicks against Tito?" Dana [White] said on commentary during the PRIDE Grand Prix that the gameplan against "Rampage" [Quinton Jackson] was to throw a lot of leg and body kicks, and he didn't see any. He also wants to know if you prefer fighting in the octagon or ring?

Chuck Liddell: You know I like...as far as what I like fighting in, I like fighting in the octagon better. I mean, I just like the cage. As far as throwing kicks, I plan on throwing kicks. I plan on throwing kicks with him, I'm not worried about throwing kicks against him when they come. If they come, they come. I don't come out there and say, "ok, I'm going to throw this combination and this combination". As far as my kicks go, when they come up, they come up. Because they come up a lot in sparring, I'm expecting them a lot to come up when I fight.

Matt Boone: They definitely came up against "Babalu" [Renato Sobral] at UFC 40.

Chuck Liddell: Yup.

Ryan Clark: Guys, before we move on to the next question, for all you guys in the chat room, if you want to ask live questions and stuff with us, you can do so. It's, wrestlezoneradio.com/chat. If you're not in the chat room and you can't get there, just give us an e-mail. It's wzr@sescoops.com and you guys can ask live questions for Chuck Liddell. Next one is an e-mail here from Dorian Harris who says, "the last two losses have come from ground-n-pound style fighters in Randy [Couture] and Rampage. What have you learned from those fights, and will you come out on top against another "GnP" type fighter in Tito [Ortiz]?

Chuck Liddell: Umm, well you know one of the things I went back to wrestling was getting my takedown defense back. I've been working on that a lot more. So, I think that's going to help out a lot and I worked on a few other things with striking, but yeah, I'm ready for it so, so, we'll see what he can do.

Matt Boone: His second question here he says, "It's been some time since you and Tito trained together. Do you think that what happened during those sessions will have any impact on what will happen in the fight this time, or will it be just a mental thing still in Tito's head?"

Chuck Liddell: You know, if anything - it'll be a mental thing in his head. Little questions in his head. I mean, it's been a long time since we trained and I always said training is training, you know? The question he has is if he struggles to take me down early I think that will play into his mind where he has had such a hard time taking me down when we train.

Matt Boone: Yeah, because it's expected. Everybody will think that he's gonna have trouble taking down Chuck Liddell, and I personally think he'll have his trouble myself. What was your opinion of the appearance on Carson Daly?

Ryan Clark: [laughing] I was just gonna ask that.

Matt Boone: Yeah, I wanna hear the thoughts now that it's been out on national television.

Ryan Clark: 'Cause Chuck was just kind of laid back and calm.

Matt Boone: He was "The Iceman!"

Ryan Clark: [laughing] Yeah, yeah.

Matt Boone: He was laid back saying "we'll just see what happens."

Ryan Clark: ..and Tito was just running that mouth.

Chuck Liddell: Uhh, you know, I expected him to run his mouth. I mean, that's what he does. But, some of his stuff just didn't make sense. [laughing] I'm like, "ok". [laughing] He said something about....oh yeah, I told him "I'd love to see you try and walk through my punches, it'd be a fun night for me". He says, "Yeah...yeah, if I do that it'll be a long night for both of us!" Just didn't make any sense [laughing]

Ryan Clark: Yeah, when he was asked how he's going to win the fight - he said something like he's better looking?

Matt Boone: Yeah, when he was asked how he's gonna win he said it's because he was the better looker and talker.

Chuck Liddell: [laughing] Yeah, what's that got to do with anything? He looks better and he talks better, that's why he's gonna win? [laughs]

Matt Boone: Yeah he's the better talker...I guess he'll talk you to death!

Chuck Liddell: Yeah, he'll talk me to death [laughs]

Ryan Clark: [laughing] What's next, uhhh, e-mail from Dorian Harris again. Why don't you read that one bro?

Matt Boone: It says, "How is Tito delaying the fight effected how you feel about the fight? Are you relieved it's finally happening, angry it's only after he lost the title and it's no longer for the championship, or bittersweet - got 'em, but not for the belt?"

Chuck Liddell: You know, I'm just glad it happened. I mean, he's been popping off for a long-long time and it...yeah, I think it made me a little more upset, the fact that he's popping off and not willing to take the fight. You know? It don't bother me when people pop off, but if you're going to pop off, step up. You know? So, now he finally got into a position where he had to take the fight. You know? And, so now I finally get to get my fight.

Matt Boone: I wanted to get your take on, what is it, came out on DirecTV, "The Iceman vs. Bad Boy" documentary I believe it was called? What's your thoughts on that?

Chuck Liddell: You know, I didn't see it. I'm probably not going to watch it 'til after the fight, I didn't really wanna get into it. Um, and a lot of the stuff they filmed on it I haven't seen. You know? 'Cause they filmed stuff with like my mom, and I never saw any of his [Tito Ortiz's] stuff. So, I'm gonna check it out...I had someone tape it for me, I'm gonna check it out after the fight.

Matt Boone: Alright, sounds good. What else we got for him here?

Ryan Clark: What is next? This Dorian has a lot of questions.

Matt Boone: He said, "if rumors are true and you are able to take Tito down during training, how great would it be if you came out in round one and shot in and took Tito down.?" He said, "he would not be ready for it and would probably screw up his whole game and embarrass the hell out of him. Any chance of us seeing that?" he says.

Chuck Liddell: Um, you know, I don't know. I'm not planning on it. The way I run my fight, I fight by whatever comes up. I wanna come out striking. If we get in a scramble situation and there's a takedown there, I might take it. But uh, I'm not...if I did it, that'd be the reason to do it to get at him.

Matt Boone: Do you still have any designs on a fight with Vanderlei Silva?

Chuck Liddell: Oh, I'd love to fight Vanderlei. I think it'd be a great fight for the fans. I always have. Me and him would hit each other in the head 'til one of us falls down.

Matt Boone: Oh yeah. What do you think you gotta do to make that fight happen? Do you need to have the belt [UFC Light Heavyweight title] for them to be interested?

Chuck Liddell: I think I'd need to have the belt to make that fight.

Matt Boone: So, if you get past Tito Ortiz on April 2nd, is that what you're going for next? The winner of Vitor Belfort/Randy Couture third fight, I guess?

Chuck Liddell: Yeah, that's what I'd like to get at.

Matt Boone: Alright, who would you prefer fighting? You fought 'em both before, who do you think is the easier fight for you? Something where you know you can go in and get the belt?

Chuck Liddell: Well, you know. It's not that, it doesn't matter who wins, I'll fight either one of them. I mean, if Vitor wins - I'll fight him again. If Randy wins, I mean, I'm gonna wanna rematch Randy anyway. So, if Randy wins, I'd like to fight Randy.

Matt Boone: So, you'd rather it be Randy since you've already beaten Vitor, and you can, you know, fix the blemish from Couture?

Chuck Liddell: Yeah, definitely.

Ryan Clark: Couple more questions here for Chuck. Next one - umm, well, Chuck, I know you've been doing some movies. You and Tito actually had a little set-up fight in "Cradle 2 The Grave", right?

Chuck Liddell: Yep.

Ryan Clark: And you appeared in "How High", with Method Man and Redman. Any more entertainment gigs for you in the future?

Chuck Liddell: You know, I don't know. I'll take some stuff as it comes up, but it's not.... my passion is fighting. So, that's my main thing and we'll see. If stuff comes, it's fun to do and uh, it's always interesting to go do new things, but my main thing is fighting.

Matt Boone: Alright, a lot of fighters don't like to do it, but I'll ask it anyway. Do you have a prediction for the fight against Tito, April 2nd? How's it gonna happen? What's gonna happen man?

Chuck Liddell: Well, you know, I don't like making predictions. I mean, if he stands with me like he says he's going to....I will put him out in the first round. If he comes after me and just stands, tries to punch through me - like he says he's going to....yeah, it's over.

Matt Boone: You're gonna drop him?

Chuck Liddell: Yeah, he's going down.

Matt Boone: Alright Chuck, that's about all we got for you this time. Before we get going do you have any plugs or final comments?

Chuck Liddell: Hey, just check out this fight. It's gonna be one you won't wanna miss.

Matt Boone: It's THE big one, THE big one. Alright Chuck, thanks for stopping by the show man.

Chuck Liddell: Alright, thank you man.

Matt Boone: Alright, that was Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. You can see him LIVE at UFC 47: It's On fighting Tito Ortiz, April 2nd, big grudge match on pay-per view. Also, check out his website. I believe it is Iceman.tv?

Chuck Liddell: Yep.

Matt Boone: Alright, we're going to take a quick commercial break, and we'll be back with more - right after this.

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By Tape Lord

Matt Hughes

Hello my friends, our Zuffa informant 'Coffee Guy' tells me that Zuffa is working on signing a Matt Hughes vs. Dennis Hallman matchup for UFC 48.

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Tank Abbott vs. Shannon Briggs

Fightsport.com first reported last November that K-1 was looking to sign 'Tank' Abbott to a multi-fight contract for both MMA and K-1 rules fights.

We then reported last month that the first fight on a possible deal with Tank would be against former heavyweight boxing champion Shannon Briggs on the K-1 Vegas, which is scheduled for April 30th at the Bellagio.

Now we have learned that negotiations between K-1 and Tank Abbott have been going extremely well. According to inside sources, expect Tank to sign with K-1 within the next week, and expect the signing to be officially announced in two weeks.

More info to come in the next week.

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Derek Panza

3-time world kickboxing champion Derek Panza will make his K-1 debut at the K-1 'Battle At The Bellagio II', scheduled for April 30th in Las Vegas.

Panza's match will be serve as an alternate bout. Panza's opponent has not been announced yet.

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Nino "Elvis" Schembri

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' reports that BJJ black belt phenom Nino 'Elvis' Schembri arrived today for some training at the Chute Boxe academy in Curitiba, Brazil.

Chute Boxe manager/trainer Rudimar Fedrigo says, "Nino is a phenomenon of Jiu-Jitsu, and everyone is happy about his arrival. He is going to add a lot to our training..

Regarding the possibility of Schembri becoming a member of the Chute Boxe team, Rudimar replies, "I want to leave him very free to decide, but I believe it will happen. I like the Gracie family very much, and I can say that Nino would never face anyone from his old team. He has a lot of love and respect for all of them."

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Masato

K-1 World Max 2004
April 7, 2004
Yoyogi Stadium
Tokyo, Japan


The following matchups were announced the K-1 Max show on April 7th. The complete card is expected to have around eight to ten matchups:


K-1 rules matchups:
Masato vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Albert Kraus vs. Jadamba Narantungalag
Duane Ludwig vs. John Wayne Parr

MMA matchups:
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto vs. TBA

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Bob Sapp

The Japanese media reports that Bob Sapp will face KOTC veteran Seth Petruzelli on the K-1 show, which is scheduled for March 27th in Saitama, Japan.

The fight will be under K-1 rules.

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Phil Baroni

Enson Inoue announced that UFC middleweight contender Phil Baroni has become a part of Inoue's Purebred MMA team. Baroni is currently training in Japan with Inoue in preparation for Baroni's upcoming fight against Evan Tanner in UFC 48.

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SHOOTO
March 22nd
Kourakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Class-A Bouts:
Jens Pulver defeats Naoya Uematsu by KO at 2:09, RD 1.
Kaoru Uno drew with Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Class-B Bouts:
Akitoshi Tamura drew with Eiji Murayama.
Shigetoshi Iwase defeats Yoshifumi Dougaki by TKO at 3:39, RD 2.
BJ defeats Heat Takeshi by unanimous decision.
Lion Takeshi defeats Yohei Suzuki by TKO at 2:40, RD 1.

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Mark Weir

Extreme Brawl 6
March 21st, 2004
England


Mark Weir defeats Alex Reid by TKO, RD 2.
Sol Gilbert defeats Mikael Slomczynski by KO, RD 1.
Paul Jenkins defeats Ronaldo Campos by TKO, RD 2.
Matt Ewing defeats Gaz Roriston by arm triangle choke, RD 2.
Frederick Fernandez defeats James Lutman by KO, RD 2.
Paul Sutherland defeats Luca Lazzerini by TKO, RD 2.
Jean Robert Monier defeats Ronnie Pexton by triangle choke, RD 2.
Lee Doski defeats Rory Palmer by rear naked choke, RD 2.
Nick Wood defeats Oliver Ellis by TKO, RD 1.

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DEEP presents: 'Club DEEP 6'
March 20, 2004
Japan


Satoko Shinashi defeats Yuki Furutachi by armbar at 1:28, RD 1.
Akihiko Mori defeats Kaze by TKO at 3:01, RD 1.
Akira Yasumura defeats Genki Izuta by KO at 1:49, RD 1.
Riki Sato defeats Yano Rider by toe hold at 2:53, RD 1.
Yuta Nakamura defeats Kazutaka Takeshima by KO at 2:44, RD 2.
Masaki Sakurazawa defeats Taishi Ikeda by armbar at 4:13, RD 1.
Koji Maruyama drew with Yusuke Horimoto.
Akitoshi Mori defeats Mitsuya Kishimoto by armbar at 3:12, RD 1.
Hiroyo Uehara defeats Tomohoro Otsuyama by TKO at 3:27, RD 1.
Takahiro Sonoda defeats Yasushi Nagata by TKO at 1:30, RD 1.
Hidehiko Hasegawa drew with Tetsuji Chikada.
Osamu Furuno drew with Taro Asou.
Hayato Minami defeats Nobuhiro Yoshitake by armbar at 2:19, RD 1.
Kazuya Satomoto defeats Motohiro Takenawa by armbar at 2:02, RD 1.

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Gladiator Challenge 24
March 20, 2004
California, USA


Jerry Bohlander defeats Kenny Kingsford by armbar at 1:40, RD 1.
James Irvin defeats Bo Cantrall by KO, RD 1.
Ruben Villarreal defeats Carlos Cantu by TKO at 0:42, RD 1.
David Marshal defeats George Lopez by triangle choke, RD 1.
Ken Hartley defeats Brandon Bull by rear naked choke, RD 1.
Nick Davanzo defeats Bruce Cherry by KO, RD 1.
Mike Diaz defeats Scott Ryan by KO, RD 1.
Brandon Blevins defeats Chuck Molin by TKO at 1:33, RD 1.
Jeronimo Jaco defeats Kelly Johnson by TKO, RD 2.
Paul Karsky defeats Nick Germond by decision.
Robert Sarkozi defeats John Pop by TKO at 5:00, RD 1.
Mario Ackerbert defeats Noel Ramirez by TKO, RD 1.
Caesar Moreno defeats Mike Cardillo by armbar, RD 2.

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Fight Festival 10
March 20th, 2004
Helsinki, Finland


Alex Stiebling defeats Mikko Rupponen by rear naked choke, RD 1.
Richard Ikelaar defeats Ville Aalto by guillotine choke, RD 1.
Atte Backman defeats Jody Poff by submission, RD 1.
Toni Valtonen defeats Pasi Lukkarinen by majority decision.
Timo Suhonen defeats Janne Lukkarinen by unanimous decision.

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RITC 60: 'Renken vs. Riggs'
Saturday, Mar 20, 2004
Celebrity Theatre
Phoenix, AZ


Joe Riggs defeats John Renken by KO at 0:28, RD 1.
Aaron Brink defeats Cory Timmerman by TKO at 1:05, RD 1.
Hans Marrero defeats Joe Frainee by armbar at 1:12, RD 1.
Robert Rose defeats Mike Lightfoot by TKO at 0:20, RD 2.
Randy Lavrar defeats Davis Canuas by choke at 1:23, RD 1.
Carlos Ortega drew with Jason Dehart.
Troy Tolbert defeats Brandon Oliver by triangle choke at 1:37, RD 1.
Matt Ver Halen defeats Darrell Parrish by TKO at 0:45, RD 1.

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XFC 4: 'Australia vs. The World'
March 19, 2004
Gold Coast, Australia


Tony Bonello defeats Dan Severn by rear naked choke at 1:36, RD 1.
Steve Thomas defeats Mick Cutajar by leglock at 0:44, RD 1.
Soa Palalei defeats Lance Cartwright by TKO at 0:38, RD 1.
Joey Villasenor defeats Danny Higgins by TKO at 2:42, RD 1.
Kyle Noke defeats Jimmy Raborn by choke at 1:30, RD 2.
Max Lemme defeats Gavin Murie by TKO at 3:00, RD 2.
Chris McCracken defeats Wayne Williams by TKO at 2:25, RD 3.

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Sportfight 2: 'On The Move'
March 19, 2004
Oregon, USA


Heath Sims defeats Brad Gumm by TKO, RD 2.
Matt Horwich defeats Wrecck by rear naked choke, RD 1.
Dennis Davis defeats Dave Cochran by triangle choke, RD 1.
Josh Burkman defeats Chilo Gonzalez by guillotine choke, RD 1.

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K-1 World GP 2004 Japan
March 27th, 2003
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


Akebono vs. Musashi
Bob Sapp vs. TBA
Alexey Ignashov vs. Carter Williams
Ernesto Hoost vs. Remy Bonjasky
Shannon Briggs vs. Tom Erikson
Francois Botha vs. Aziz Khattou
Mike Bernardo vs. Jan Nortje
Jerrol Venetiaan vs. Sergei Gur
Cyril Abidi vs. Hiraku Hori

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HOOKnSHOOT
March 27, 2004
Veterans' Memorial Coliseum
Evansville, Indiana

Start: 7:00 PM


Aaron Riley vs. Nuri Shakir
Joseph Baize vs. Angelo Popofski
Heath Pedigo vs. Chris Michael
Wald Bloise vs. TBA
Chad Washburn vs. Stonie Dennis
Del Greer vs. Francesca Menda
Julie Ketzie vs. Terry Blair

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Grapplers Quest: 'The Best of The West Returns'
Saturday, March 27th, 2004
Durango High School
Las Vegas, NV


Featuring 3 Superfight Divisions (Men's Lightweight and Middleweight, and Women's Pro Division). Some of the grapplers scheduled to compete include:

Lightweight Superfight Division
Cameron Earle
Marcos Avellan
Gary Grate

Middleweight Superfight Division
Marcelo Garcia
David Avellan
Moacir 'Boca' Oliveira
Diego Sanchez
Rafael Lovato Jr.
Jake Shields

Women's PRO Superfight Division
Leonor Avellan


SAVE up to $20 - To Register and Pre-Purchase tickets online, here

If you want to mail in your application with a check or money order, click here

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SuperBrawl 34
Sunday, March 28th, 2004
War Memorial Gymnasium
Maui, HI


Falaniko Vitale vs. Keith Winters
Harris Sarmiento vs. Adam Alverez
Justin Mercado vs. Mason Stickle
Ray 'King Kong' Serraile vs. Eddie Searfross
Kendall Groves vs. Kaipo Kalama
Alan Hinojosa vs. Eddie Yagin
Tyson Naho'oikaika vs. Kolo Koka
Eddie Ferreira vs. TBA

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SHOOTO GIG CENTRAL Vol.5
March 28th, 2003
Tsurumai Public Hall
Nagoya, Japan


Class-A Bouts:
Ryan Bow vs. Daisuke 'Amazon' Sugie

Class-B Bouts:
Naoki Matsushita vs. Ganjo Tentsuku
Hiroshi Umemura vs. TBA
Hatsu Hioki vs. Yohei Nanbu
Hiroyuki Tanaka vs. Akira Kibe
Takahiro Kajita vs. Toshikazu Iseno
Kenichi Hattori vs. Masaaki Yamamori
Atsushi Takeuchi vs. Takashi Yamamoto
Hayate Usui vs. Takeshi Matsushita

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Damien Riccio

Ultimate Combat 9
March 28th, 2004
Whitchurch Leisure Centre
Bristol, England


Kim Hovgaard vs. Mark Wilson
Pierre Guillet vs. Yaya LaLanne
Damien Riccio vs. Evert Fyeet
James Thompson vs. Aaron Marsa
Lars Besand vs. Patrick Valle
Peter Angerer vs. Jess Liaudin
Bram Van Koppen vs. Javier Garcia
Julian Gonzalez vs. Florian Riccio
Marc Duncan vs. Dave McLaughlin
Kevin O'Hagan vs. Sami Berik
Franco DeLeonardis vs. Dave Campbell
Marc Goddard vs. Abdenbi Chakar
Nadia Van Der Wel vs. Cheri Buck
Ross Mason vs. Mick Broster
Alex Owen vs. Christian Schoter
Wesley Murch vs. Phil McCall

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Don Frye

Ultra FC 1
March 28th, 2004
Olympic Stadium
Seoul, South Korea


The complete card is expected to have around 8-10 matchups:

Officially announced matchups:
Don Frye vs. Dan Bobish
Shannon Ritch vs. Sean McCully

Unofficially announced matchups:
Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. TBA
Paulo Filho vs. TBA
Claudio Godoy vs. TBA
Fabiano Capoane vs. TBA

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Pancrase 2004 Brave Tour
March 29th, 2004
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan

Open: 17:30
Start: 18:30

Below are the matchups that have been announced so far for the Pancrase show on March 29th:


Yuki Kondo vs. Steve Heath
Keigo Takamori vs. Jun Ishii
David Terrell vs. Osami Shibuya
Eiji Ishikawa vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Yuichi Nakanishi vs. Hikaru Sato
Hidehiko Hasegawa vs. Seiki Ryo
Mitsuyoshi Sato vs. Yukiya Naito
Yuji Hisamatsu vs. Ichiro Kanai

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Paulo Filho (top)

Bitetti Combat
March 2004
Ginasio Machadinho
Natal, Brazil


Paulo Filho vs. Alexandre Vaca
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Flavio Moura
Arlisson Melo vs. Wellington Dias
'Capoeira' vs. Daniel 'Pirata'
Ronaldo 'Furacao' vs. Pimpolho
Fabio Bolinho vs. Diogo Brucutu
Michele Tavares vs. Alice Aguiar

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UFC 47: 'It's On!'
April 2nd, 2004
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, NV


Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell
Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
Wes 'Cabbage' Correira vs. Mike Kyle
Jonathan Wiezorek vs. Wade Shipp
Robbie Lawler vs. Nick Diaz
Chris Lytle vs. Tiki Ghosn
Yves Edwards vs. Hermes Franca
Genki Sudo vs. Mike Brown

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European Vale-Tudo 2
April 4th, 2004
Stockholm, Sweden


Travis Lutter vs. Antonio Tello
Chris Bowles vs. Stale Nyang
Dersu Lerma vs. Thomas Hytten
Hiro Kamikozono vs. Mario Stapel
Bernardo Serrini vs. Martin Kampmann
Janne Lukkarinen vs. Bobby Rehman
Alex Reid vs. John Oskar Hammer
Ricky Moore vs. Tchavdar Pavlov
Jean Robert Monier vs. Tor Olav Hauge
Kenneth Rosfort vs. Diego Gonzales
Aaron Blackwell vs. Joar Palm
Christian Dellevag vs. Anders Ericksson

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HEAT FC 3
April 16th, 2004
Natal, Brazil

Heat FC announced the following matchups for their April 16th show. The full card is expected to have around eight matchups:


Carlos Barreto vs. Mike Whitehead
Ebenezer Braga vs. Keith Jardine
Erick Tavares vs. Diego Sanches
Lucas Lopes vs. Fabiano Capoane

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Storm GP champ Anderson Silva (right).

Storm Muay Thai promoter Rudimar Fedrigo announced that the show's next two editions will be held in Brazil, and will be only two days apart, on April 16th and then April 18th.

The April 16th show will take place in the city of Sao Paulo, and the April 18th show will take place in the city of Curitiba.

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Minotauro and CroCop confirmed for the GP.

PRIDE Heabyweight Grand Prix
April 25th, 2004 (opening round)
Japan


Listed below are the names of the fighters who are signed, and who are being considered for the opening round of the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The opening round will feature sixteen fighters, and is scheduled for April:


Officially confirmed:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic
Fedor Emelianenko
Igor Vovchanchyn
Sentoryu
Heath Herring
Sergei Karitonov
Igor Vovchanchyn
Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Unofficially confirmed, and very strong possibilty:
Don Frye
Mark Coleman
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Stefan Leko
Quinton Jackson
Tom Erikson
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Hirotaka Yokoi
Yoshihiro Takayama

Possibility, but not likely:
Vanderlei Silva *
Yuki Kondo **

Names have been mentioned in the media, but do not expect them in the GP:
Royce Gracie
Dan Henderson
Hiromitsu Kanehara
Kiyoshi Tamura



* Silva will most likely defend his light heavyweight belt against Kondo, and only be in the GP in the event that Ninja cannot compete.
** Kondo only wants to face Silva in a single fight.

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K-1: 'Battle At The Bellagio II'
Friday, April 30th, 2004
Bellagio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV


Rumored matchup:
Shannon Briggs vs. 'Tank Abbott


Fighters scheduled to compete:
Carter Williams
Michael McDonald
Dewey Cooper
Cung Le

Fighters that may participate:
Shannon Briggs
Francois Botha

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Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (top)

Meca co-promoter Rudimar Fedrigo announced the following matchups for the Meca Vale Tudo 11 card, which is tentatively scheduled for sometime in April:


Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos vs. Edson Drago
Daniel Acacio vs. Carlos Baruck
Luiz Azeredo vs. Roan Jucao
Jadyson Costa vs. TBA

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Left to right: Machida, Fujita, Sapp, Greco, and Ignashov.

K-1: 'Dynamite'
May 19th, 2004
Japan


K-1 announced that their show on May 19th will be a 'K-1 vs. Team Inoki' themed card with most ly MMA matchups. Below are some of the matchups that are expected to take place, as well as the probable lineups for both Team K-1 and Team Inoki:

MMA matchups:
Bob Sapp vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Jerome LeBanner vs. Tadao Yasuda

Probable Team K-1 lineup:
Bob Sapp
Alexey Ignashov
Jerome LeBanner
Peter Aerts
Sam Greco
Genki Sudo
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto

Probable Team Inoki lineup:
Kazayuki Fujita
Shinsuke Nakamura
Josh Barnett
'Lyoto' Machida
Yuji Nagata
Dolgosurem Sumbayazer
Hiroyoshi Tenzan

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Gilbert Yvel

'It's Showtime'
May 20th, 2004
Amsterdam ArenA
Amsterdam, Holland


MMA matchups:
Gilbert Yvel vs. Cheick Kongo
Joop Kasteel vs. Dave Vader
Rodney Faverus vs. Melvin Manhoef
Dave Dalgliesh vs. Barrington Patterson
Irma Verhoeff vs. Yoko Takahashi

Muay Thai/Kickboxing matchups:
Alexey Ignashov vs. Semmy Schilt
Rayen Simson vs. Sahin Yakut
Badr Hari vs. Aziz Khattou
Fikri Tijarti vs. Chris van Venrooy
Joerie Mes vs. Aschwin Balrak
Gago Drago vs. Stjepan Veselic

Boxing matchups:
Lucia Rijker vs. Lisa Holewyne
Regillo Aaron vs. Francisco Mora

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira announced that the second and third editions of his MMA show, 'Conquista Fight', will take place this year in Brazil.

The second show is scheduled to take place in June in the city of Salvador. The third show is scheduled for December in the city of Vitoria da Conquista.

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PART 1 TOTAL ELIMINATION 2004 April 25th, 2004 (opening round)

PART 2 CRITICAL COUNTDOWN 2004 June 20th, 2004 (second round)

PART 3 FINAL CONFLICT 2004 August 15th, 2004 (semi-finals and finals)

Tickets for TOTAL ELIMINATION 2004, to be held at the Saitama Super Arena, go on sale 3/14/04

I have fought for the UFC 4 times. Each time, I almost felt as if I was in a "no win" situation.

I lost and they were gracious enough to bring me back. I won but they told me I needed to step up my excitement factor. Then I lost in the lightweight tourny but yet, I was lucky enough to be invited back (but under one condition...it was my last chance). By that time I was unclear of whether to win or look good. Last time, I won but I wasn't exciting enough. I executed, what me and my team felt was a perfectly executed game plan - stick and move but only go for the big shot when it comes. The big shot never came and instead I was accused of running and making the fight boring.

If this was a sport, I performed like an experienced, polished athlete. Yet, most people want to see a freak show. I can't call this a sport. Unqualified referees, inconsistant rulings, lack of unity between organizations, etc. (I could go on forever), are apparent in this "sport". Im not speaking exclusively about the UFC, but MMA in general.

"Fans" on here need a reality check. The UFC isn't as big as we would like it to be. To say that Lindland should be dropped because he isn't a draw is ridiculous. I would be surprised if the "average UFC fan" can name 3 active fighters in the UFC. I recently met a guy who has UFC parties at his house who didn't realize that Ken Shamrock wasn't the champion. With the exception of the fab 5 (you know who they are) people truly don't know who the fighters are. The UFC made it clear to market the UFC, not the fighters. You could probably take all the fighters from a Hook n Shoot card, put them in the UFC and people wouldnt even know or care as long as one of the fab 5 was on there.

Im not griping. I just want to express my thoughts. This is far from a legit sport. You don't believe me, watch the final 4 then watch a UFC. The average fan doesn't come on the Underground forum. Its about 500 of us who thinks that MMA is the pinnacle of sports. This is our life but most people don't give a shit. All they think is, "thats some crazy shit. Have you ever fought Royce Gracie?".

One last thing...half of you guys probably annually gross more than 90% of the fighters that you idolize.