FIGHTSPORT 24-7

By Jake R

Renato "Babalu" Sobral

Reliable sources in the Ruas camp have confirmed to this cyber reporter that Renato 'Babalu' Sobral has agreed in principle to a 3-fight deal with the UFC.

While I have been told that Babulu has yet to actually sign, I was also informed by my source that it is merely a formality now for Babulu to compete in the UFC's light heavyweight division as both sides have reached an agreement.

In other news, reliable sources in Iowa have confirmed that Travis Lutter will indeed be fighting Trevor Prangley at UFC 52, and not Cote/Lutter as MMA Weakly has incorrectly reported.

As usual, stick to the Jake R Report to read breaking news days, weeks, and even months ahead of the other sites.


This Jake R Report was filed on January 15th, 2005.

***Jake R exclusive, must credit the Jake R Report when discussing this story.

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By Coffee Guy

Travis Lutter (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 Travis Lutter vs. Trevor Prangley will be taking place in UFC 52. Both fighters are expected to sing for the fight in the next few days.

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Sean Gannon (left) applying a guillotine choke to Kimbo Slice.

The Boston Globe recently did a feature on underground bare knuckle fighter (as well as Boston police officer) Sean Gannon, and stated that he has signed with the UFC.

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Mauricio Zingano

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Mauricio Zingano announces that he has joined forces with Dave Ruiz of Colorado BJJ.

Zingano is a BJJ black belt under Carlos 'Caique' Ellias and has trainied under Rickson, Royce, and Helio Gracie.

Ruiz is a BJJ black belt under Rigan Machado.

For more information, check out:


Zingano Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
9052 Meade St, Suite 40
Westminster, CO 80031
1 888 Tap U Out (827 8688)
www.zinganobjj.com

Colorado Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
303 246 8855
www.coloradobjj.com

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The SHOOTO Commission announced that it has overturned the judge's decision of the bantamweight title fight that took place on September 26th, 2004 between Robson Moura and Mamoru.

The fight was originally ruled a win for Mamoru. But after reviewing the video of the fight, the SHOOTO commission has now changed the result to a technical draw.

This all came about when Moura's team, Nova Uniao, sent in an official protest to the commission. SHOOTO has an official protest system in which such protests can be filed by a fighter or his camp when they feel a decision is questionable.

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Fedor Emelianenko

DSE/PRIDE announced that a heavyweight title fight matchup of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic may take place in June.

However, the Japanese media is saying that Fedor is now a free agent and has still not re-signed with DSE/PRIDE.

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Ryo Chonan

The DEEP promotion announced the matchup of Ryo Chonan vs. Roan 'Jucao' Carneiro for their card on February 12th. Carneiro is a Brazilian Top Team fighter.

Below are some of main event matchups for the card that have been announced:

Ryo Chonan vs. Roan 'Jucao' Carneiro
D. Mishima vs. Taisho
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Masakazu Imanari

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GCM will be promoting a new MMA cagefighting show called 'D.O.G.'. GCM is a promotion that is basically run by Keishukai (the gym that Kaoru Uno belongs to).

GCM promotes shows such as 'Contenders' and 'Demolition'. The First D.O.G. event will take place on March 12 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo.

The matchups will consist of three 5-minute rounds, and some will consist of two 5-minute rounds. The kicking of a downed opponent will be allowed. Holding the fence and standing 8-counts after knockdown will not be allowed.


Two matchups have so far been announced for this event:
Katsuya Toida vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Ken Ozawa vs. Miki Shida

Other fighters scheduled to be on the card:
Eiji Mitsuoka
Yoshin Okami
Hidetaka Monma

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By Tape Lord

Vanderlei Silva

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the K-1 organization are telling me that K-1 is about to make a contract offer to Vanderlei Silva that would pay him in the area of USD$2.5 million over six fights.

More info to come in a few days.

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Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons

Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons announced that he has opened an affiliate of his 'Pele Team' in South Korea.

the venture is being done in partnership with a Korean agent who specializes in bringing in Brazilian soccer players to play in South Korea.

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Vladimir Matyushenko (left)

People in the camp of Vladimir Matyushenko have announced that Matyushenko plans to compete as a middleweight.

Matyushenko had been competing in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions for the past few years, but he supposedly wants to get back to his original fighting weight of around 185-190 pounds.

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

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


Tatame: Do you think your loss to Fedor will influence your career in a negative way? How do you evaluate this loss?

Minotauro: I am very upset that I wasn't able to conquer my objective, but I feel certain that I will return to the top. I want to send out a big thanks to everyone who roots for me, and in some way they were in the PRIDE ring with me. All in all, I don't think this loss is very significant. I'm young... I'm 28 years old and I'm not anywhere near to the end of my career. The loss will not discourage me. I am certain that I'll fight in many more GP's to come, and I'll be back very soon.

Tatame: What went wrong for you? Give us a brief evaluation of the fight.

Minotauro: It was difficult. The guy had a better first round. He punched and kicked a little better and avoided the ground game at all costs. He had a better notion of distance and a better strategy this time around. In the first round I got taken down four times and got hit with three good rights, but I ended the round in mount. The fight was more even in the second round. I took the center of the ring and he had two good moments. In the third round I dominated. I was more explosive and he gassed out somewhat. He slowed down and handled it well.

Tatame: So do you think the unanimous decision was justified...

Minotauro: I think a more justified decision would've been 2-1 to Fedor. He came in very good and imposed his game in the first round. But that's normal for me because I usually start to find my game after 5-8 minutes. So much so, that I usually finish off my opponents in the beginning of the second round, like I did to Heath Herring...

Tatame: You seemd to be surprised with his game during the beginning of the fight...

Minotauro: He fights with one leg further back, kind of in a defensive position. He feints and then throws some solid rights, and I'll admit that I had a hard time with that.

Tatame: Do you intend to face him again?

Minotauro: Of course I do. The guy is at the top, and I believe that there isn't anyone who is actually capable of beating him except for me. I say this because to get to him, they will have to pass through me first.

Tatame: What will you do to improve your game, since he has also changed his strategy?

Minotauro: I really want to improve my wrestling and sharpen up my boxing. I consider my wrestling to be very deficient. I lost four takedowns when I tried to take him down in that fight. The boxing aspect is fundamental for measuring the distance for takedowns. If I am able to take him down and get on top, he won't stand a chance. I feel that he is weak in the ground game. The fight is much easier for me on the ground. The difference is that I enter a fight looking to finish, and he enters looking to win on points. But he left the Saitama Super Arena much more damaged then I did.

Tatame: What are your plans for right now?

Minotauro: I am only thinking about my vacation right now. I'm very tired... I've been training non-stop from last January to this Januray. I'll spend 15 days in Santa Catarina and then I'll return to help Rogerio prepare for the middleweight GP in April. I think I will be fighting in April as well. But before that I have to have arthroscopic surgery on my elbow, because I have a fracture in there.

Tatame: Does that mean you have signed a new contract with PRIDE?

Minotauro: No, there is nothing certain yet. We are still negotiating. I'm not concerned with that, and I leave that all to Motoko (japanese agent) and the managers of Brazilian Top Team. In the meantime I will resume training soon so that I can make a quick return to the ring.

Tatame: Do you think that the various trainers that prepared you for this fight may have hindered your game?

Minotauro: It only helped me. The more people I have at my side, the better it is for me. It helps me and it's very positive. I can guarantee that it did not hinder me. What gave me problems was Fedor's style. I thank very much the people that participated in my training. In the end they're all my friends. I hope I can count on them again the next time I fight.

Tatame: Send out a message to the fans that continue to root for you.

Minotauro: Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the fight I wanted. I feel I did a good fight, but unfortunately I wasn't able to impose my game. All in all, I did my part and I didn't lose because of lack of training. The truth is that I trained a great deal. I trained in the heat of Rio de Janeiro all the way to the cold of Japan. I gave it my maximum, but unfortunately it wasn't sufficient. What's left now is for me to improve some details of my game.

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By Tape Lord

B.J. Penn

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization are telling me that DSE/PRIDE will try to sign B.J. Penn after his contract is finished with K-1.

Penn has one more fight left on his K-1 deal, and is expected to fight for K-1 in either February or April.

DSE/PRIDE would like to sign Penn to compete in their upcoming Lightweight GP, as well as staging a rematch between Penn and Takanori Gomi.

They would also like to match Penn up against Ralph, Renzo or Ryan Gracie.

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Ken Shamrock

The following is an interview that Ken Shamrock recently did with Boxing Insider. Here's what Shamrock had to say (interview by Ken Pishna):

BI: It's good to talk with you again Ken. Last time we talked, you were looking at opportunities to fight in Japan, possibly even on one of the big New Year's shows. Obviously that didn't happen, but what's the story behind that? Was there much interest from K-1 and Pride?

Shamrock: Absolutely. It was just the problem of trying to get things put together on such short notice, but there definitely was interest from both Pride and K-1. So, we'll see what happens. At the same time, the UFC and Dana White have shown interest in maybe doing a multi-fight deal with me. There are a lot of things on the table, but nothing is for certain.

BI: Currently you have one fight left on your present contract with the UFC?

Shamrock: Yeah, and then my contract is up. So, we're just waiting to see if the UFC is interested in doing a longer term deal with me, adding a couple of fights on or if Pride or K-1 is interested in doing something. At this point in time, I think the UFC and Dana White have expressed an interest in doing something in the longer term. Obviously with me being from the UFC and helping create the UFC, it would be nice to stay here and keep fighting. But at the same time, there's still Japan out there and I've been fighting over there for years. There are a lot of opportunities out there for me and I'm going to pick the best one for me.

BI: I think that's one thing that you've shown over time, is that you're very loyal to the UFC. But by the same token, it's been a little tough because there are only so many marquee matchups for you, like the Tito Ortiz fight at UFC 40. I know you've wanted to get back in there with Tito since that fight. Why hasn't that fight happened? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a rematch clause attached to that fight regardless of who won or lost?

Shamrock: Yeah, there was. There was supposed to be a rematch between me and Tito Ortiz. Through this whole time, even after he fought me, he said that I wasn't that strong, that I was weak, I wasn't that good, the injury I had was bull crap, he could beat me on my best day... basically just punking me. And I had to eat it because he beat me... and I did. No excuses, I never made any excuses. But at the same time, he keeps running his mouth and keeps saying, "He's no problem, he really doesn't want to fight me. He's just talking."

In reality, Dana White called me three days ago and said, "Ken, I got this great deal man. It's a great opportunity. There are some big things that are going to happen and I'd like to have you and Tito Ortiz fight."

I said, "This is something that I have been waiting for for a very, very long time and I am glad that you are going to put this together. So, whatever you need me to do, I will do it."

Dana White calls me back two days later and says, "Tito Ortiz doesn't want to fight you. He won't fight."

Then I guess that Joe Silva called him and Tito said, "Well, it's going to take a stupid amount of money for me to fight Ken."

BI: Do you really think it's just a manner of money to Tito?

Shamrock: He is running from me. The guy will not fight me. He saw when I fought Kimo. I knocked him out. You saw him stuttering on interviews, "Well, it looks like Ken's back." The guy could hardly talk. He knows I'm back, he knows that I have no injuries, and he knows that I'm very healthy. He knows that if he steps in the ring with me, I'm going to beat him down.

BI: Tell us how you really feel Ken.

Shamrock: This is something I'm saying to Tito Ortiz: I... am... punkin'... you! You have backed out of this fight that Dana White had set up. You have backed out after all of the trash talking that you have done and I have not replied to it, whatsoever, because you won the last fight. But it's now time for you to step up and back up all the trash that you've been talking and now you are punkin' out! Tito Ortiz... I am telling you... you have just been punked!

BI: Wow! I guess you do want this fight?

Shamrock: Yeah!

BI: So when Dana White proposed this fight, it wasn't contingent upon the outcome of Tito's fight at UFC 51 with Vitor Belfort?

Shamrock: No, because it doesn't matter to me whether Tito loses or wins. It's me. It's something I need to fix with me. I know when I went in and fought him the first time... no excuses, I've never made any excuses, but I'm tired of listening to Tito Ortiz talk his trash. He talks the talk, but now he's not going to walk the walk. He beat me the first time; no question, I give him that. But then he kept talking trash about me and he keeps talking trash. And now that the fight can happen, he won't fight, but he’s going to keep talking trash. So now it's my turn to talk trash.

BI: So, do you think that he’ll eventually step up?

Shamrock: He will not take this fight. Like I said, if he doesn't take this fight, I will always, always be the one that punked Tito Ortiz out!

BI: If this fight does not happen, where does Ken Shamrock go from here?

Shamrock: I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see. They brought the name Tito Ortiz to me and I jumped out of my seat thinking "Wow! It's great. It's going to happen." In reality, I've always known in the back of my mind that Tito Ortiz knows what I'm about. Even though he fought the Ken Shamrock before, he really knows that I've got more. I'm not sure that he wants to see that, but that's fine. If he can live with the fact that I've been calling him out and he doesn't accept this call out, then he has to live with that. Every time that they talk about Tito Ortiz, I'm going to say, "I punked him!" He's just been punked!

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Fallen UFC Champion turned Journeyman, Tito Ortiz (left) with a friend.

Tito Ortiz announced that he is no longer training with former Muay Thai trainer Colin Oyama.

Ortiz saud that he is now training with a Muay Thai trainer in Texas known as 'Master' Toddy.

Master Toddy trained Ortiz's standup for his last fight in which he was outstruck and rocked by slow-fisted middleweight Patick Cote.

Master Toddy has also trained Ricco Rodriguez in the past. The same Ricco Rodriguez who lost by brutal knockout loss to Tim Sylvia.

Master Toddy has also trained Marvin Eastman. The same Eastman who lost by brutal knockout losses to both Vitor Belfort and Travis Lutter.

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Phil Baroni

Sources in Lase Vegas are saying that Robbie Lawler has pulled out of the UFC 51 card due to injury. Lawler was scheduled to face Phil Baroni.

Lawler's replacement will supposedly be Pete Sell, making Phil Baroni vs. Pete Sell into a marketable matchup between New York natives.

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A fan's humorous parody of the UFC reality show and what appears to be its percieved strategy of appealing to the upper class homosexual demographic.

Tape Lord is away on official business and will not be doing the mailbag this week.

'Tape Lord's Monday Morning Mailbag' will be back in two weeks.

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Micheal Westbrook

Former NFL players Micheal Westbrook and Jarrod Bunch will face each other in their MMA debuts on the KOTC card on February 25th in Ohio.

Westbrook used to be a starting wide reciever for the Washington Redskins, but is best known for a practice field incident, in which he punched out teammate Stephen Davis.

Westbrook has been training for MMA since he retired from the NFL, and is currently a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and will compete at a weight of around 230 pounds. He recently participated in the PRIDE try-outs, and will most likely be offered a PRIDE contract in the near future.

Bunch was a 6'2 250 pound starting fullback for the New York Giants for a few years in the early 90's. He is an Ohio native, and it is not known what the extent of his MMA training has been.

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Euphoria MFC: 'USA vs. World'
February 26th, 2004
Trump Taj Mahal Casino
Atlantic City, NJ


Single matchups:
Jeremy Horn vs. Kazuhiro Hamanaka
Chael Sonnen vs. Bill Mahood
Ron Faircloth vs. Daniel Tabera
Ryan Schultz vs. TBA
Pat Stano vs. Warren Kikaba
Pete 'Drago' Sell vs. John Sivori
Joe Scarola vs. TBA
Eddie Alvarez vs. Seichi Ikemoto
Joey Brown vs. Brian Geraghty

Lightweight GP tournament:
Hermes Franca vs. Rich Clementi
Yves Edwards vs. Joachim Hansen

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Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic told the Japanese media that he will not be giving Kevin Randleman a rematch.

This comes after Cro Cop himself whined for a rematch when he originally lost to Randleman last April. Randleman granted him the rematch and lost.

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HEAVYWEIGHT


1.) Fedor Emelianenko Russia
2.) Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira Brazil
3.) Frank Mir USA
4.) Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic Croatia
5.) Tim Sylvia USA
6.) Josh Barnett USA
7.) Heath Herring USA
8.) Ron Waterman USA
9.) Kevin Randleman USA
10.) Pedro Rizzo Brazil


LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT


1.) Vanderlei Silva Brazil
2.) Randy Couture USA
3.) Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson USA
4.) Chuck Liddell USA
5.) Vitor Belfort Brazil
6.) Ricardo Arona Brazil
7.) Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira Brazil
8.) Tito Ortiz USA
9.) Renato "Babalu" Sobral Brazil
10.) Ryoto Machida Brazil


MIDDLEWEIGHT


1.) Dan Henderson USA
2.) Kazushi Sakuraba Japan
3.) Murilo Bustamante Brazil
4.) Ryo Chonan Japan
5.) Anderson Silva Brazil
6.) Paulo Filho Brazil
7.) Jeremy Horn USA
8.) David Terrell USA
9.) Evan Tanner USA
10.) Matt Lindland USA


WELTERWEIGHT


1.) B.J. Penn USA
2.) Matt Hughes USA
3.) Frank Trigg USA
4.) Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo Brazil
5.) Sean Sherk USA
6.) Antonio Schembri Brazil
7.) Daiju Takase Japan
8.) Crosley Gracie Brazil
9.) Carlos Newton USA
10.) Akira Kikuchi Japan


LIGHTWEIGHT

1.) Tatsuya Kawajiri Japan
2.) Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro Brazil
3.) Joachim Hansen Norway
4.) Takanori Gomi Japan
5.) Yves Edwards USA
6.) Hermes Franca Brazil
7.) Kaoru Uno Japan
8.) Din Thomas USA
9.) Genki Sudo Japan
10.) Ralph Gracie Brazil


FEATHERWEIGHT


1.) Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira Brazil
2.) Jens Pulver USA
3.) Joao Roque Brazil
4.) Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto Japan
5.) Rumina Sato Japan
6.) Gilbert Melendez USA
7.) Ivan Menjivar El Salvador
8.) Hiroyuki Takaya Japan
9.) Jeff Curran USA
10.) Yoshiro Maeda Japan


AFP fighter rankings can be viewed at AFP TOP 10

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