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PRIDE Heavyweight GP Finals
August 15th, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


DSE/PRIDE officially announced the following matchups for their PRIDE Heavyweight GP card on August 15th:

Heavyweight GP semifinals:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Naoya Ogawa

Single fights:
Vanderlei Silva vs. Yuki Kondo
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Alexander Emelianenko
Kevin Randleman vs. Ron Waterman
Murilo Bustamante vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

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Yuki Kondo spoke to the Japanese media during the PRIDE Heavyweight GP press conference, and said that he has added a 'new punch' to his arsenal and will unveil it tomorrow when he faces Vanderlei Silva.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Rulon Gardner (far left)

Yomiuri Sports reports that DSE/PRIDE is in negitations with the agent of US Olympic wrestling gold medalist Rulon Gardner, with the intention of signing him to a fight contract.

According to reports, DSE/PRIDE is very close to signing Gardner, and would like him to have his MMA debut on their December 31st show.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

UFC 50: 'The War of '04'
October 22nd, 2004
Boardwalk Hall
Atlantic City, NJ


Tito Ortiz vs. Guy Mezger
Matt Hughes vs. Georges St-Pierre
Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo vs. Frank Trigg
Marvin Eastman vs. Patrick Cote
Evan Tanner vs. Robbie Lawler
Rich Franklin vs. Jorge Rivera
Phil Baroni vs. Trevor Prangley
Tra Telligman vs. Paul Buentello

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Coffee Guy

Ricco Rodriguez (left)

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


Ricco Rodriguez won't be participating in UFC 50. I'm not sure what happened but negotiations between him and Zuffa seem to have broken down for now.

According to some people around here, Ricco is having serious talks with K-1 to fight in their MMA division, and this may have had something to do with it. There's still a chance Ricco might be in UFC 51, but nothing is certain at this point.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Vanderlei Silva

Marcelo Alonso of Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently spoke with PRIDE champion Vanderlei Silva regarding many topics. Here are a few of the things Silva had to say:


Vanderlei on his current physical conditioning: "I'll going to Japan at 110%. I trained a lot of Muay Thai for this fight. I hope he (Kondo) will trade strikes with me. I don't want to put on a boring fight, I'm ready to fight hard for 20 minutes straight if necessary. I want to steal the show in this PRIDE GP!"

Vanderlei on who will win the PRIDE Heavyweight GP: I thought they were going to put Minotauro against Ogawa in the semis. In my opinion it would have been a more interesting fight. They should have put the two Russians against each other, like when they put the two Americans against each other (Jackson against Liddell) in last year's GP. The way it's set up it will now be more difficult for Minotauro, but I still think he can win it all.

Vanderlei on Quinton Jackson: "I'm very anxious to face him again in October. I'll make him into my new Sakuraba. I will beat him one, two, or as many more times as he wants to be beaten. I will knock him out again!"

Vanderlei on Belfort vs. Couture: I think this fight is going to be 50-50. Either one of them can win. Psychologically speaking, Couture has a certain advantage because Vitor's custom is to get tied up against hard opponents. If Vitor gets tied up, Couture will win. I will take a vacation after my fight against Kondo. I will go to California, but I won't be attending the UFC.

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Pedro Rizzo (right)

The word amongst the Japanese media is that Pedro Rizzo has signed a deal with DSE/PRIDE.

No official confirmation has been made by DSE/PRIDE however.

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Sperry and Minotauro.

Mario Sperry and Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira were recently interviewed for the PRIDE website. Here's Sperry and Minotauro had to say:


PRIDE: Mario, what did you think of the fight with Herring?

Sperry: I was confident before the fight that Minotauro would win by submission. I didn't think that Herring could take it to a decision and I expected (Nogueira) to go for a submission. It was just as I imagined. I try not to say that kind of thing to him though because it would interfere with his training.

PRIDE: From my point of view, it looked like you dominated the entire fight. Do you feel the same way?

Minotauro: I was really happy about that fight. I think I was able to use everything that I worked on before the match. I was able to fight calmly and relax. I think I led the fight from beginning to end.

PRIDE: The end was a spinning choke. How do you develop new techniques like that?

Minotauro: I practice the spinning choke many, many times every day. That's why the timing was so good and I was able to apply it quickly. There are a lot of coaches in Top Team and because they are there, we can try out many different techniques.

Sperry: I think of Top Team as a place to develop techniques. Our coaches aren't just coaches. There are a lot of pro fighters and students that want to become professionals. There are many types of fighters like guys with long arms and legs and guys that are really strong. That's why we have a lot of variation in our training. If anybody comes up with a new technique, he will share it with the other members. Then, they will work on it and improve it through trial and error. We've been using the spinning choke, for example, in our dojo for at least 1 year. It's been refined for a year to a level that it can be used in a real fight. Even if the form isn't perfect, our team has a lot of new techniques.

PRIDE: Unfortunately, Arona's fight didn't turn out as well.

Minotauro: That was really unfortunate for Arona but I think he had a good fight. He attacked aggressively from the bell and Jackson wasn't able to hit him with punches well. Arona continued attacking, even on the ground. He just had a little bad luck. He should have let go of the triangle choke and pushed Jackson away. If you look at Jackson's damage after the fight, I think Arona could have won in the 1st round if he had continued that way.

Sperry: I don't think Jackson thought Arona would come out that aggressively. Arona's low kicks were hurting him and I think Jackson lost consciousness, just for a moment, when Arona kick him from below but he was able to recover when Arona was talking to the referee and the fight went on.

PRIDE: DSE President, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, and PRIDE General Director, Nobuhiko Takada, visited the Brazilian Top Team in Brazil before the Grand Prix 2nd Round. What was the reaction like there?

Sperry: The Brazilian press went crazy. Sports magazines, cable television, regular magazines and newspapers all covered it. It was an honor for us that the President of PRIDE, the top MMA event, came to visit. It was their first visit but we hope he will come back many more times. The fact that they came proves that our team is strong.

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Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman was recently interviewed for the PRIDE website. Here's what Coleman had to say:


PRIDE: Have you heard about Mirko's plan to fight you in August, Randleman in October and challenge for the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship next year?

Coleman: That's the first I've heard of it. That's for DSE to decide anyway, not Mirko. He's not our boss, nor is he the PRIDE Champion. He's just one fighter? What gives him the right to say things like who he wants to fight next and what schedule he wants to fight on? That's ridiculous. I think he's a great fighter and I can respect him for having that ambition, but that's not how an adult speaks in public. He can say whatever he wants, though.

PRIDE: What would you do if you were matched up with Mirko?

Coleman: If it happens, it would probably be an amazing fight. It would be a difficult challenge for Mirko. I would also be prepared and in top condition. I'm certain that I would win in the end, though.

PRIDE: You said in an interview before the GRAND PRIX that Mirko is a level below the others "Top 3" fighters. Do you still feel that way?

Coleman: Wait a minute. "Top 3" isn't correct. You've got to add Kevin, Kharitonov and Ogawa to that. I've been training with Kevin for 15 years, since our amateur wrestling days. He took Mirko out so you've got to add him to that list. Kharitonov has great balance and I think his abilities will continue to grow from here. Ogawa is a dark horse but he's worth watching since he made it to the GRAND PRIX finals. You never know what's going to happen. That's the beauty of MMA as a sport. You can look at the current results and see whether Mirko is better than them or not.

PRIDE: Kevin said that he beat Mirko with a strategy that you gave him. Do you think a fight between you and Mirko would turn out the same way?

Coleman: Kevin's win was the result of him training every day. If I fight Mirko, it will be a little different that Kevin's fight. I'm bigger than Kevin and I've got more wrestling experience than him so I would definitely take Mirko to the ground. Of course, there's a big risk that you take whenever you fight Mirko but I'll take that chance. Mirko's physically strong and Kevin said he was strong so I think it would be a really hard, and fun, fight. I'm in great condition now so I'll stay in this condition for our fight.

PRIDE: If it happens, would it be in the October event?

Coleman: I hope so. Mirko's not the matchmaker, though. He's not the best fighter and he doesn't have the belt so I don't have a burning desire to fight him. The fights that I want right now are a rematch with Fedor and the winner of the GRAND PRIX. I can't say much about it right now but I would like to wear the belt again before I retire.

PRIDE: What kind of training would you do for a fight with Mirko?

Coleman: It's not really for Mirko but after my fight with Fedor, I felt I needed to do more jiu-jitsu training. I've been wrestling for a long time so if something happens, I can deal with it by instinct but in jiu-jitsu, I have to think about what I'm going to do. If I don't think about what I'm going to do next, my body won't move. There's no time for thinking in the ring, though. Your body has to be able to react without thinking. That's why I need to work on my jiu-jitsu techniques more. At the same time, I have to maintain my current condition.

PRIDE: I see. Who do you think stands the greatest chance of winning the August 15th PRIDE GP Final Round?

Coleman: That would be Fedor. He's got the best mix among the remaining 4 fighters. 1 point that you can't overlook is that in the Final Round, you have to fight 2 fights in 1 day. They may get injured in the first round and how long they can maintain their stamina will become important. Luck is just as important as actual skill.

PRIDE: What kind of fighter did you think Fedor was after you fought him?

Coleman: I was watching him from a long time before. He's a great fighter. He's very strong and he's fast for being so big. That arm-bar was really tight and I thought my arm might be broken but he was careful to only use the force that was necessary. He's combined both gentleness and coldness. I said earlier that "luck" would be necessary to win the GRAND PRIX but "luck" might be a little rude. In the end, spirit and strategy will probably decide it. The fighter that exceed in everything will win the Championship.

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The four finalists for the PRIDE Heavyweight GP.

The way the alternate fighter policy will work for the PRIDE Heavyweight GP finals is as follows:

If a fighter cannot continue to the final, he will be replaced by the fighter he just beat and not by an alternate fighter.

An alternate fighter will only be used if the losing semifinalist can not replace the injured winner.

Having said that, the Kevin Randleman vs. Ron Waterman matchup will be to determine the first alternate fighter.

The Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Alexander Emelianenko matchup will be the second alternate fighter.

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The IFC that was scheduled for this weekend is now officially cancelled.

The IFC show was going to be one of several shows to be prominently featured this weekend at the famous annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Musicians B.B. King and the group 38 Special, along with comedians Dana Carvey and Paul Rodriguez are all contracted to perform this weekend.

Yet conflicting reports are coming out of this story.

When first reported, it was said that 7-time poker world champion Ron Rose, who is one of the co-investor/promoters, had apparently stolen an estimated USD$400-600,000 of the ticket sales, and then promptly skipped town. He also supposedly took with him all of the E-ticket terminals, which record the revenues being generated.

The story that is now coming out is that all the other events in Sturgis are still on, including the concert series at the Buffalo Chip Campgrounds and the Broken Spoke are still going on. Previous reports that all the entertainment was cancelled are inaccurate.

In fact, the ONLY event that was cancelled was the IFC show.

Another interesting development is that Ron Rose had fled nowhere, and is only being routinely questioned by the police and nothing more.

Furthermore, this latest IFC controversy comes as no surprise to MMA industry people familiar with IFC commissioner Paul Smith and the dubious people he has worked with in the past.

One MMA insider connected with the cancelled show said that the IFC supposedly failed to sell much tickets and went broke because it was going head-to-head against the other acts at Sturgis such as Buffalo Chip, ZZ Top, and Kid Rock. Whether this is true is not known at this time however.

Paul Smith was also associated with the disastrous IFC 'Battleground' show in Illioois, in which Ed Kim failed to pay any of the fighters who competed on the show.

The IFC most recently cancelled a show in Mexico under mysterious circumstances that they claimed were 'out of their control' as well.

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XFC 5: 'When Worlds Collide'
August 13th, 2004
Southport Sharks AFL club
Australia


MMA matchups:
Ian Schaffa vs. Matt Johansson
Api Hemara vs. David Frendin
Mal Foki vs. Brad Morris
Kyle Noke vs. Matt Te Paa
Jason Wild vs. Brandon Bell
James Tehuna vs. Rocki Huni
Sahsa Nachouki vs. Ross McDermott
Trent Deboo vs. Matty Knight
Dean Butler vs. John Degan
Trevor Farnell vs. Matt Prince

Muay Thai matchup:
Sam Nest vs. Kym Robinson

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PRIDE Heavyweight GP Finals
August 15th, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


DSE/PRIDE officially announced the following matchups for their PRIDE Heavyweight GP card on August 15th:

Heavyweight GP semifinals:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Naoya Ogawa

Single fights:
Vanderlei Silva vs. Yuki Kondo
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Alexander Emelianenko
Mark Hunt vs. Mark Coleman
Kevin Randleman vs. Ron Waterman
Murilo Bustamante vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

World Extreme Cagefighting 11
August 20th, 2004
Palace Casino
Lemoore, CA


MMA matchups:
Chris Leben vs. Steve Heath
Shonie Carter vs. Jason Braswell
Gil Castillo vs. Brad Mohler
Gilbert Melendez vs. Rich Crunkilton
Richard Montoya vs. Abram Baxter
Olaf Alfonso vs. TBA
John Alessio vs. Bret Bergmark
Jason Jadugui vs. Seth Woodill
Joe Williams vs. Lavar Johnson
Rafael Del Real vs. TBA
Leo Reyes vs. Jason Pratt
Doug Evans vs. Nam Phan
Bill Coffman vs. TBA
Mike Graham vs. Travis Backhaus

Kickboxing matchup:
Tom Jones vs. Yia Mua

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UFC 49: Unfinished Business
Saturday, August 21, 2004
MGM Grand Garden
Las Vegas, Nevada


Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture (light heavyweight title)
Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon 'Tiger' White
Nick Diaz vs. Karo Pariysan
David Terrell vs. Matt Lindland
Mike Kyle vs. Justin Eilers
Phil Baroni vs. Ronald Jhun
Joe Riggs vs. Joe Doerksen
Josh Thompson vs. Yves Edwards

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Pancrase 2004 Brave Tour
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Umeda Stella Hall
Osaka, Japan

Open: 3:00 P.M.
Start: 4:00 P.M.


Yoshiro Maeda vs. Fredson 'Peixao'
Nilson Castro vs. Daisuke Watanabe
Koji Oishi vs. Otoko! Tokuoka
Tsuyoshi Ozawa vs. Hideki Tadao
Masashi Kameda vs. Mitsuhisa Sunabe
Daisuke Hanazawa vs. 'The Great Naniwa'
Manao Kumagai vs. Yuichi Miyazaki

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AFC Brazil 1
Saturday, August 28th, 2004
Nova Friburgo Country Club
Nova Friburgo, Brazil


Jeff Monson vs. Carlos Clayton
Milton Vieira vs. Aloisio Barros
Roan Carneiro vs. Rodrigo Ruas
Edson Mendes vs. Manuel Fonseca
Marcel Ferreira vs. Eric Tavares
Aaron Riley vs. Maicon Alarcao
Suyam Queiroz vs. Nilson Pulgati
Pedro Manuel vs. Peterson Melo
Lamar Silva vs. Luiz Ramos
Julio Cesar vs. Angelo Sergio

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Mark Hunt

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization are telling me that DSE/PRIDE is leaning towards matching up Mark Hunt against either Mark Coleman or Igor Vovchanchyn for their PRIDE 28 show on October 31st.

Stefan Leko has also been announced for the card.

According to various sources, the developing card for PRIDE 28 is starting to look like this:


Vanderlei Silva vs. Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson
Josh Barnett vs. Suren Balachinsky
Mark Hunt vs. Igor Vovchanchyn or Mark Coleman
Stefan Leko vs. TBA (possibly Hirotaka Yokoi)
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. TBA (possibly Kevin Randleman)
Heath Herring vs. TBA (possibly Roman Zentsov or Kevin Randleman)
Dan Henderson vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura*



*If Nakamura beats Murilo Bustamante first.

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By Tape Lord

Vanderlei Silva

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization are telling me that DSE/PRIDE is leaning towards matching up Vanderlei Silva against the PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight GP champion for their show on December 31st.

They are alo leaning towards matching up Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic against the PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight GP runner-up.

That means we can possibly see a matchup of Vanderlei Silva vs. either Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, Sergei Kharitonov, or Naoya Ogawa.

Likewise, you can also see a matchup of Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic against one of these four fighters as well.

According to various sources, the developing card for December 31st is starting to look like this:


Vanderlei Silva vs. PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight GP champion
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. PRIDE Heavyweight GP runner-up
Royce Gracie vs. Genki Sudo
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Naoya Ogawa
Mark Hunt vs. TBA
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. TBA

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Hidehiko Yoshida

DSE/PRIDE announced that they would like to make an MMA matchup of Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Naoya Ogawa for the show on December 31st.

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Courtesy of Graciefighter.com:


An absolute fiasco has engulfed the IFC show in Sturgis, South Dakota. The IFC was one of several shows to be prominently featured at the famous Sturgis motorcycle rally. Musicians B.B. King and the group 38 Special along with comedians Dana Carvey and Paul Rodriguez were all contracted to perform this weekend.

Unfortunately it seems as if a crooked investor has forced the cancellation of all performances.

Ron Rose is a 7x World Poker Champion and one of the co-investor/promoters. Mr. Rose apparently stole an estimated 400 to 600 thousand dollars of the ticket sales and then promptly skipped town. He also took with him all of the E ticket terminals.

The terminals were the only record keeping machines for the revenues being generated and it is assumed that he took them so he could wipe out the hard drives, making an exact accounting of how much he took impossible.

Several hundred bikers had purchased tickets to the various shows and are now left with the fact that they were duped out of their money. Millions will be lost on the show due to the fact that there were several television shows filming the perfomances along with an HBO special. The IFC show was set to be a pay per view event and will very likely be cancelled if other investors don't ante up for the stolen revenue.

Paul Smith and Monte Cox are scrambling to make the Horn vs. Marquardt fight happen, however Pe De Pano vs. Severn and all of the Brazilian fighters' fights have been officially cancelled. We will not find out until tomorrow morning whether or not the whole show will be cancelled.

The 2nd IGJJF Open Championship
August 28-29, 2004
Lynwood high school main gym
Lynwood, CA


The IGJJF has announced the grappling superfight of Travis Lutter vs. Ryron Gracie has been announced for the 2nd IGJJF Open Championship on August 28th to 29th.

The first and only time they have grappled, Lutter beat Gracie by a score of 13-0.

The organizers of the IGJJF have also announced a couple of new rules that were added to their grappling event, such as one point being given to perfect takedowns, and matches now having a 30-minute maximum time limit.

For more tournament info, click here

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Josh Barnett (left)

PRIDE president Sakakibara announced to the Japanese media that Josh Barnett will be participating on the PRIDE 28 card on October 31st at the Saiyama Super Arena.

According to Sakakibara, Barnett's opponent will most likely be Suren Balachinsky of the Russian Top Team.

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DSE/PRIDE announced that PRIDE Bushido 5 will be held in the middle of October.

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Tito Ortiz

There are rumors coming out of Huntington Beach that Tito Ortiz is now trying to back out of his scheduled UFC 50 matchup against Guy Mezger, even though he originally agreed to take the fight.

According to these rumors, Ortiz waited until advertising had started and the matchup was announced, so that he can squeeze the UFC for more money.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Coffee Guy

Ricco Rodriguez (left)

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


The matchup of Ricco Rodriguez vs. Mike Kyle has now been signed for UFC 50, which is tentatively scheduled for October 22nd.

The UFC 50 lineup is starting to look like this:


Official (signed)
Tito Ortiz vs. Guy Mezger
Matt Hughes vs. Georges St-Pierre
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Mike Kyle
Tra Telligman vs. Paul Buentello
Evan Tanner vs. Robbie Lawler
Phil Baroni vs. Trevor Prangley

Unofficial (not yet signed)
Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo vs. TBA (possibly Frank Trigg)
Matt Serra vs. Hermes Franca
Marvin Eastman vs. Patrick Cote
Rich Franklin vs. Jorge Rivera

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2003 middleweight GP champion Vanderlei Silva.

PRIDE president Sakakibara announced to the Japanese media that their planned show for Las Vegas will take place in the Spring of 2005.

The Vegas show will focus on a second edition of the Middleweight (205-pound) Grand Prix.

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SportsNavi.co.jp provides the following training pics of Fedor Emelianenko preparing for the PRIDE Heavyweight GP with his brother Alexander and other teammates:







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PRIDE lightweight fighter Takanori Gomi.

As was reported on Fightsport.com a few weeks ago, DSE/PRIDE officially announced the formation of two new weight classes.

They are the 83 kg (183 pounds) class and the 70 kg (154 pounds) class.

It is expected that the matchups for these two new weight divisions will happen exclusively on the PRIDE 'Bushido' shows.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Yoshihiro Takayama

The Japanese media reports that Yoshihiro Takayama is in the hospital due to the clotting of arteries in his head.

Takayama is responding well to treatment and has been moved from the ICU unit to the general ward. A full recovery is expected, but he will be out of pro-wrestling and/or MMA action for at least 6 weeks.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Coffee Guy

Phil Baroni

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


The matchup of Phil Baroni vs. Trevor Prangley has now been signed for UFC 50, which is tentatively scheduled for October 22nd.

I'm not sure why Dana White decided not to match Baroni up against Jorge Rivera instead, as it made more sense from a northeast New York vs. Boston standpoint.

The office thinks it just shows Dana's complete lack of matchmaking skills and understanding. While I think that's true, I also know that he doesn't like these Coffee Guy reports one bit, and it wouldn't surprise me if he changed things up just to go against it.

Regardless, the UFC 50 lineup is starting to look like this:


Official (signed)
Tito Ortiz vs. Guy Mezger
Matt Hughes vs. Georges St-Pierre
Tra Telligman vs. Paul Buentello
Evan Tanner vs. Robbie Lawler
Phil Baroni vs. Trevor Prangley

Unofficial (not yet signed)
Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo vs. TBA (possibly Frank Trigg)
Matt Serra vs. Hermes Franca
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Mike Kyle or Justin Wiezorek
Marvin Eastman vs. Patrick Cote
Rich Franklin vs. Jorge Rivera

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Akebono

K-1 matchmaker Sadaharu Tanigawa announced that he would like to match up Akebono against either Gary Goodridge or Tom Erikson for their show on December 31st.

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Last year's GP winner Remy Bonjasky.

The rumor amongst the Japanese media is that the winning bonus for this year's K-1 Wrold Gp Finals on December 4th will be 80 million yen (approximately USD$735,000).

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Remy Bonjasky

K-1 World GP 2004: 'Final Elimination'
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Nippon Budokan
Tokyo, Japan


The final field of 16 fighters were announced for the K-1 'Final Elimination' card on September 25.

The matchups will be announced at a later date and will all be single fights, with the winners moving on to the K-1 World GP Finals in December:


Fighters scheduled to participate:
Remy Bonjasky
Ernesto Hoost
Jerome Le Banner
Peter Aerts
Ray Sefo
Musashi
Alexei Ignashov
Francois Botha
Francisco Filho
Cyril Abidi
Gary Goodridge
Michael McDonald
'Mighty' Mo Siligia
Glaube Feitosa
Hiromi Amada
Kaoklai Kaennorsing

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"Mighty" Mo Siligia

The Japanese media report that K-1 is trying to market K-1 Vegas winner 'Mighty' Mo Siligia as the next generation Mark Hunt.

Hunt, who left K-1 for PRIDE, is still very popular amongst K-1 fans in Japan.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Eastman being pummeled by Sefo.

By Scoop McTroll at ringside for the K-1 Vegas event on August 7th:


During the Ray Sefo vs. Marvin Eastman fight, Sefo threw a high kick at Eastman, which mostly missed but his toe accidentally caught Eastman in the eye.

After a short time-out for a doctor to look at the eye, Eastman attempted to touch gloves with Sefo, but Sefo threw two straight rights instead, which sent Eastman covering up into the ropes.

The referee then jumped in and stopped the fight, much to the protest of Eastman. Sefo then tried to shake hands with Eastman, but an angry Eastman refused.

Sefo then smiled and asked Eastman if 'he wanted some more'. At that point Eastman came towards him, but Sefo responded with a quick right-left combo that knocked Eastman down to the canvas.

A mass brawl between both corners erupted right after, but police and security were able to calm it down.

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K-1 looking for the next Bob Sapp.

The Japanese media reports that at the recent K-1 'Tryouts' in Las Vegas that K-1 management was very impressed with a 27-year old friend of Gary Goodridge called Jaime Azumis.

They feel that Azumis has the potential to be a 2nd generation Bob Sapp candidate.

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By Coffee Guy

Wes Sims

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


The TV show 'Blind Date' is filming a 'UFC Week' for their show. I'm not sure when they plan on airing it yet.

Also, Wes Sims is the only confirmed name for the show that I know of at the moment.

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By Coffee Guy

Frank Mir

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


The Frank Mir vs. Andrei Arlovski heavyweight title fight was originally being planned for UFC 50, but is now being planned for UFC 51, which is tentatively scheduled for December or January.

The reason for this is that Frank Mir is getting married in September and will be taking a few months off of fighting.

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Michael DiSanto

Supposed journalist and admitted MMA gambler Michael DiSanto blasted Zuffa and the UFC president Dana White when defending his gambling to a Zuffa employee on the UG forum.

Here's what DiSanto had to say:


"Zuffa purchased the UFC with gambling money, and the CEO of your company (Dana White) bets on fights. The UFC's short Zuffa history is more closely tied to gambling than any promotion or sports organization that I can think of." -Micheal DiSanto

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Rafiel Torre (left) with MMA insider Shiloh McIver.

Courtesy of LukeBeston.NET:


Rafiel Torre's trial is scheduled to begin on September 15, 2004.

On August 3, he appeared in court with his attorney (paid by Angelina Richards, according to our sources) and pleaded not guilty to murder, but was denied special circumstances allegations (as Gerald Strebendt testified, Torre, who before his arrest had told police that he had no involvement with the murder, is now claiming that he killed Bryan Richards in self defense.)

It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the D.A.'s decision to not seek the death penalty against Torre will have on whether or not he decides to incriminate Angelina Richards in the murder. Although Torre so far has not told the police that she was involved in the crime, his loyalty could waver the longer he remains in custody.

As we previously revealed on this site, Torre has not had an easy time in jail and has been beaten severely on several occasions. This, along with reports of the Richards widow's affairs with other men during his incarceration (her current lover, a man named Frank, is her third since Torre's arrest) and the increasing unlikelihood that she will ever collect the USD$1 million from her husband's life insurance policy, might motivate Torre to reevaluate his initial strategy.

Keep checking LukeBeston.NET for more on the Rafiel Torre murder trial in the coming months.

A LukeBeston.NET exclusive--Must credit LukeBeston.NET when reposting, rebroadcasting or in any other way reproducing this article in part or in whole.

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LukeBeston.net supplies us with the following banners of former comic book reviewer/MMA internet journalist/known gambler Jake Rossen, who still refuses to pay the USD$3,000 he owes to respected MMA insider Shiloh McIver.

For those who aren't familiar with the Rossen scandal/story, scroll down to our news on February 7th to read the article.

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K-1 World GP 2004
August 7th, 2004
Bellagio Hotel
Las Vegas, NV


GP Tournament:

Quarterfinals:
Brecht Walis defeats Carter Williams by KO at 1:01, RD 3.
Jorgen Kruth defeats Rony Sefo by unanimous decision.
Alexander Ustinov defeats Jan Nortje by unanimous decision.
Mighty Mo defeats Sergei Gur by unanimous decision.

Semifinals:
Brecht Walis defeats Jorgen Kruth by unanimous decision.
Mighty Mo defeats Scott Lighty* by KO at 0:91, RD 1.

Final:
Mighty Mo defeats Brecht Walis by KO at 2:55, RD 2.


Single fights:
Ray Sefo defeats Marvin Eastman by TKO at 1:20, RD 1.
Rick Roufus defeats Akebono by unanimous decision.
Gary Goodridge defeats Dewey Cooper by unanimous decision.



* replacement for injured Sergei Gur.

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Fabio Silva congratulated by his idol Vanderlei Silva.

Storm Samurai
August 7th, 2004
ginasio do Taruma
Curitiba, Brazil


MMA matchups:
Luiz Azeredo defeats Eduardo Simoes by KO at 1:36, RD 1.
Fabio 'Tigrao' defeats Julio Cesar by choke at 3:21, RD 2.
Fabio Silva defeats Yuguem Toma by KO.
Tadeu defeats Michael Costa by leglock at 2:30, RD 1.
Marcelo Donald defeats Julio Cezar Jamanta by TKO at 2:36, RD 1.
Andre Dida defeats Leandro Sousa by judges decision.

Muay Thai matchups:
Fabio 'Pelezinho' defeats Robson Dias by KO at 0:30, RD 1.
Thiago Baggio defeats Daniel Caporossi by judges decision.
Julinho Borges defeats Gilmar 'China' by judges decision.
Ana Paula dos Santos defeats Duda Jankovitch by KO at 2:51, RD 2.

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RITC 64: 'Heart & Soul'
August 7, 2004
Dodge Theater
Phoenix, AZ


Homer Moore defeats Shane Johnson by KO at 2:17, RD 2.
Brodie Farber defeats Hans Marrero by split decision.
Steve Sayegh defeats Rich Alten by unanimous decision.
Matt Hendricks defeats R.J. Gamez by choke at 0:39, RD 2.
Joe Grant defeats Matt Houser by armbar at 2:22, RD 1.
Gabe Rivas defeats Kyle Sprouse by TKO at 0:34, RD 1.
Ed West defeats Chris David by unanimous decision.
Carlos Ortega defeats Matt Ver Halen by armbar at 2:59, RD 1.
Darrell Parrish defeats Justin Popovich by TKO at 3:00, RD 1.
Cameron Mayer defeats Brandon Oliver by choke at 0:54, RD 1.
Nick Hedrick defeats Donald Paskiewiez by TKO at 1:35, RD 1.

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King of the Cage 37
August 6, 2004
San Jacinto, CA


Larry Landless defeats Manny Rodriguez by decision.
Fernando Gonzalez defeats Scott Sepulveda by TKO at 3:28, RD 1.
Jimmy Smith defeats James Wilks by kneebar at 1:40, RD 1.
Nick Davanzo defeats Butch Wilkinson by submission at 1:46, RD 1.
Eben Kaneshiro defeats Jake Hyten by armbar at 2:40, RD 1.
Takumi Nakayama defeats Charles Bennett by rear naked choke at 2:46, RD 1.
Jerry Vrbanovic defeats Julius Askew by TKO, RD 1.
Charlie Kohler defeats Steve Ewing by TKO at 0:34, RD 1.
Greg Dalton defeats Mike Kawamura by TKO, RD 1.
Bobby Hoffman defeats Ruben Villarreal by armbar, RD 1.
Ron Short defeats Baki by TKO, RD 1.
Herb Dean defeats Timothy Mendoza by TKO, RD 2.
Preston Rawlings defeats Tedd McDonald by TKO, RD 1.
Dave Terrell defeats Greg McIntyre by decision.
Frankie Bollinger defeats Dave Schultz by TKO at 0:46, RD 1.
Paul Arras defeats Andrew Burley by TKO at 0:45, RD 1.
Andres Gomez defeats Tony Berg by TKO, RD 1.
Andy Murad defeats Ray Lazama by decision.

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