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Tito Ortiz

Colin Oyama recently replied to the disparaging and disrespectful comments made by Tito Ortiz, who used to train under Oyama. Here's what Oyama had to say:

"He can place blame wherever he wants to, but it wasn't us who told him to stand up with Chuck. It wasn't us that told him to [try and] take Randy down in the first minute, either... But he can also look at the fact that, hey, for once in his life he fought two quality high-caliber fighters. As far as Tito and myself, he can point the finger where he wants. But in his heart he has to know the truth."

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By Coffee Guy

Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski weighing-in.

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

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


UFC announcer Mike Goldberg was unknowingly tossed out of the weigh-ins by security.

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Courtesy of the Wrestling Observer:


"Mark Cuban's INHD channel airs King of the Cage tonight, and will air a tape of UFC 50 tomorrow night. The amazing thing is the station is advertising Tito Ortiz vs. Guy Mezger as the main event of the UFC show. That was the scheduled main event of the show, which took place four months ago. The problem is, Mezger pulled out and Patrick Cote is actually the person Ortiz faced."

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A special report from Dragon tail

Hello to my friends who read Fightsport News. You very good people. As a warm up teaser for UFC51 I give you 13 fights containing Tito Ortiz or Vitor Belfort. Many epic battles are contained in the 13 fights. Most fights are complete and some are excellent quality while others are medium quality. Either way, you get 13 fights for free.

Some fights being shown are-


Tito Ortiz vs Vanderlei Silva

Vitor Belfort vs Vanderlei Silva

Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock

Tito Ortiz vs Randy Couture

Vitor Belfort vs Randy Couture II & III

Vitor Belfort vs John Hess

Tito Ortiz vs Chuck Liddell


And many more epic fights.


Visit the link on the fightsport forum HERE to view the fights.


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Pancrase: 'Spiral Tour 2005'
February 4th, 2004
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Katsuya Inoue defeats Heath Sims by KO at 4:40, RD 1.
Sakuragi Yuji defeats Kengo by KO at 0:06, RD 3.
Kestutis Arbocius defeats Mitsuyoshi Sato by KO at 4:59, RD 3.
Izuru Takeuchi defeats Yuji Hisamatsu by unanimous decision.
Takafumi Ito defeats Masakazu Kuramochi by KO at 3:30, RD 1.
Hikaru Sato defeats Sumio Koyano by TKO at 2:57, RD 1.
Takumi Yano defeats Takita J Taro by ankle lock at 2:15, RD 1.
Daizo Ishige defeats Shinpei Sotoyama by KO at 0:35, RD 1.
Moriyuki Yamada defeats Tetsuo Seto by TKO at 4:41, RD 1.

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

UFC 51: 'Super Saturday'
February 5th, 2004
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, NV


Vitor Belfort vs. Tito Ortiz
Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
Evan Tanner vs. Dave Terrell
Phil Baroni vs. Pete Sell
David Loiseau vs. Gideon Ray
Mike Kyle vs. James Irvin
Nick Diaz vs. Drew Fickett
Karo Parisyan vs. Chris Lytle

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DEEP
February 12th, 2005
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Ryo Chonan vs. Roan 'Jucao' Carneiro
D. Mishima vs. Taisho
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Masakazu Imanari
Satoko Shinashi vs. Mari Kaneko
Atsushi Ishii vs. Tashiro
Ryuhei Sato vs. Yuya Shirai
Tetsuya Onose vs. Sato
Yutaro Miyamoto vs. Nobuhiro Obitani

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Mark Coleman

PRIDE 29: 'Fists of Fire'
February 20th, 2005
Saitama, Japan


Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Mark Coleman
Sergei Kharinotov vs. Choi Mu Bae
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson vs. Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. Alistair Overeem
Igor Vovchanchin vs. Yoshiki Takahashi
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
Ryan Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Fabricio Werdum vs. Tom Erikson
Mario Sperry vs. Hirotaka Yokoi

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Buakaw "Por Pramuk"

K-1 World MAX 2005: 'Japan Tournament'
February 23rd 2005
Ariake Colosseum
Tokyo, Japan


K-1-rules matchups:
Albert Kraus vs. Buakaw 'Por Pramuk'
Jadamba Narantungalag vs. Farid Villaume
Akeomi Nitta vs. Ash-Ra

MMA-rules matchup:
Kaoru Uno vs. Serkan Yilmaz

K-1-rules Tournament:
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Kozo Takeda
Takehiro Murahama vs. Hayato
Tomo vs. Kojiro
Takayuki Kohiruimaki vs. Kazuya Yasuhiro

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

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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Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (top)

The UK-based MMA promotion known as 'Cage Rage' announced that the following fighters are scheduled to participate on their Cage Rage 10: 'Deliverance' card on February 26th at the Wembley Conference Center in Wembley, England:


Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos
Renato 'Babalu' Sobral
Jorge Rivera
Curtis Stout
Chris Brennan
Jean Silva
Gabriel 'Gladiador' Santos
Pierre Guillet
Alex Reid
Leigh Remedios
Matt Ewin

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The Gracie Pro-Am Circuit, which will feature professional and amateur submission and jiu-jitsu competitions, announced that it will have competitions in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

The promoters behind this, Relson Gracie and John Cooper, are also behind the Arnold Gracie Submission Championships.

To find out more, call 1-800-765-6999 or email proamcircuit@aol.com

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American ADCC Trials winner, Cameron Earle, has been arrested and charged with one count of Misdemeanor Indecent Exposure and two felony counts: Assault with a Deadly Weapon (knife) and Assault to Commit Rape.

Cameron is a blackbelt under Ralph Gracie and has been in trouble with the law before, having been previously arrested when an ex-girlfriend accused him of stalking her. Currently he remains incarcerated with bail set at USD$200,000.

Cameron has stated that he is innocent of all charges, and is adamant that this is a case of mistaken identity. He is scheduled to compete at the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships in May. We will have more info on the specifics of this case as they come in.

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BY SCOOP MCTROLL

Tito Ortiz and Mike Tyson,
two peas in a pod?



This weekend the former UFC Light Heavyweight of the world steps back into the Octagon against Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort. It will be a make or break fight for the much maligned fallen champion. Noone could deny that he has seen better days and that the outcome of this fight will make or break his career as a top level MMA fighter.

In many ways the career of Tito Ortiz mirrors that of former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion "Iron" Mike Tyson. Both men reached the heights of their sport, only to have it come crashing down around them. The parallels between the two are uncanny.


1-Mike Tyson was taken in by legendary boxing trainer Cus
D'amato.

Tito Ortiz was taken in by legendary UFC fighter Tank Abbott.


2-Mike Tyson seemed unstoppable in the early stage of his career
when he tore through his opponents with ease.

Tito Ortiz seemed unstoppable in the early stage of his career when he
tore though his opponents with ease.

3-Mike Tyson is influenced by others and leaves the
trainers that Cus D'Amato had set him up with before he died.

Tito Ortiz is influenced by others and leaves the training with
Tank Abbott and the crew that trained with him.

4-Mike Tyson fought aging heavyweight Larry Holmes and
knocked him out. He claimed a shallow victory but it looked good on
his record.


Tito Ortiz ducked genuine contenders to fight aging heavyweight
Ken Shamrock, who was forced to drop to 205lbs to fight Tito. Tito
won against the anorexic and injured Shamrock when Ken
couldn't come out for Rd 4. He claimed a shallow victory but it looked
good on his record.



5-Mike Tyson crashed his car into a tree, the newspapers say it
was a suicide attempt.

Tito Ortiz crashes his car , he is believed to have been drunk and
very depressed.



6-- Mike Tyson fought Buster Douglas, a fighter he thought he
would beat easily. He was knocked out.

Tito Ortiz fought Frank Shamrock, a smaller fighter he thought he
would beat easily. He tapped out with no heart.


7- Mike Tyson came back after losing to Douglas and beat a string of chumps and hand picked opponents.

Tito Ortiz came back after losing to Frank Shamrock and beat
a string of hand picked opponents. In his one fight with a tough
opponent, Vanderlei Silva, Tito ran from him when they were standing
and laid on him on the ground to stall for a poor home town decision.


8- Mike Tyson divorces his first wife.

Tito Ortiz splits up with his first wife.


9- Mike Tyson steps up and fights Evander Holyfield.
Holyfield outboxes him and knocks Tyson out.

Tito Ortiz steps up and fights Randy Couture. Couture out
fights him in every way and humiliates Tito in front of
thousands of people.


10- Mike Tyson steps up to fight Evander Holyfield for a second
time, he loses it in the ring and bites Holyfield's ear. Losing the
fight.

Tito Ortiz steps up and fights Chuck Liddell, he loses it in
the cage when Chuck kicks him to the head. At the beginning of
round 2, Chuck brutally knocks out Tito.


11- Mike Tyson fights bums in order to build up his dwindling
reputation and record.

Tito Ortiz fights B grade Canadian middleweight, Patrick
Cote in order to build up his dwindling reputation and record.



12- Mike Tyson steps up and fights Lennox Lewis. He is
brutally knocked out after a poor performance.

Tito Ortiz is stepping up and fighting Vitor Belfort on February
5th. If the Tyson-Tito
pattern continues then we should expect to see Tito being brutally beat
down by Vitor Belfort at UFC51.



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Pedro Rizzo (right)

People within the camp of Pedro Rizzo are saying that Rizzo is signed to face Fabricio Werdum on the PRIDE 29 card on February 20th.

Fightsport.com first reported that DSE/PRIDE had made an offer to Rizzo, and wanted to use him on the PRIDE 29 card, back on January 20th.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

By Coffee Guy

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

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

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


A deal is currently being worked on to sign Tito Ortiz to a 1-fight deal to face Ken Shamrock on the live finale of 'The Ultimate Fighter' reality show in April.

Shamrock is signed. It looks like Tito might just sign this deal because of two reasons:

1. They might be giving him the money he wants.

2. Tito thinks he'll beat Shamrock and look good on live television in front of possibly over 1 million viewers.

I'll have more info on this in a few weeks.

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Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort recently spoke with the Brazilian media and covered many topics. Here's what Belfort had to say:


Vitor on his upcoming fight against Tito Ortiz: "I'm going right at him. I will rush into Tito´s direction because I know he is afraid of punches. I'll put pressure on him, and we'll see what is going to happen."

Vitor on his return to the Brazilian Top Team: "Everything is just as I expected. My friends at BTT are awesome and helping me a lot. The training sessions with Alexandre Cacareco, Paulo Filho, Rogerio 'Minotoro', and Ze Mario Sperry have been very useful, and it will show at the time of the fight."

Vitor on his future plans: "I'm focused on Tito Ortiz. What happens after that is in my manager's hands. I'm a professional fighter and I'll sign with the organization who offers me the best conditions to keep fighting."

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By Tape Lord

Vitor Belfort

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization are telling me that when DSE/PRIDE president Sakakibara visits the US next week, that he will try to sign Vitor Belfort to the upcoming PRIDE Middleweight GP.

Belfort's last fight of his UFC contract will be completed on February 5th when he faces Tito Ortiz.

Sakakibara will supposedly try to sign Ortiz, who will also be a free agent after the fight, as well. But it is expected that Ortiz does not want anything to do with fighting on the PRIDE level, and look to either re-sign with the UFC or retire.

More info to come next week.

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Ricardo Arona

Ricardo Arona announced that he will be participating on the PRIDE GP card in April.

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The Brazilian Top Team released the following statement regarding the rumors that the team was possibly going to split up (translation by Ricardo Alonso):


"Due to the rumors being propagated around the internet by anonymous people, we have decided to issiue the following statement regarding the supposed break-up of the Brazilian Top Team.

We've always had a pact amongst our team to not respond to malicious rumors of this type, but we feel it is important to give a final declaration addressing these lies.

A lot has been said about the dissent among the members of the BTT, especially regarding Murilo Bustamante and Mario Sperry. We can affirm that any team with three leaders will disagree with one another from time to time, but the good sense of all the members will always guide the decisions of the team. This is a common fact of any society, circle of friends, or families. We always seek to come to an agreement based on good terms and flexibility of opinions, that always put the interests of the team first, and always looking to evolve the sport as a business. BTT is stronger today then it's ever been, training together on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we are not invincible, but we are always positive and we will not stop trying to progress.

We recieve daily propositions from fighters around the world wanting to be a part of our team. Our business helps diverse families who live off of the industry if jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. Our team is very strong and united.

We'd like to thank our fans who always believe in our work. Our reply will always be inside of the rings.

Murilo Bustamante, Jose Mario Sperry and Luis Roberto Duarte"

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Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons

Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons told Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' that he can travel to the US, now that he has obtained a Brazilian passport.

Pele was born in Cuba and could not travel to the US because of the US embargo on Cuba. But he recently became a Brazilian citizen and can now travel anywhere for fights, and announced that he'd very much like to fight in America if the right offer comes his way.

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Tyrone Glover

The winners of the PRIDE US try-outs have been announced. They are:

Nick Ring (middleweight, Canada)
Jake Draves (lightweight, USA)
Karl-James Noons (lightweight, USA)
Tyrone Glover (lightweight, USA)

The try-outs were held on November 20th, 2004 on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The selected winners will recieve sponsorship from DSE/PRIDE, and will most likely be selected to fight in a future PRIDE or PRIDE Bushido show.

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Buakaw "Por Pramuk"

K-1 World MAX 2005: 'Japan Tournament'
February 23rd 2005
Ariake Colosseum
Tokyo, Japan


K-1-rules matchups:
Albert Kraus vs. Buakaw 'Por Pramuk'
Jadamba Narantungalag vs. Farid Villaume
Akeomi Nitta vs. Ash-Ra

MMA-rules matchup:
Kaoru Uno vs. Serkan Yilmaz

K-1-rules Tournament:
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Kozo Takeda
Takehiro Murahama vs. Hayato
Tomo vs. Kojiro
Takayuki Kohiruimaki vs. Kazuya Yasuhiro

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Genki Sudo

Genki sudo announced that he wants to gain a little weight and fight three more timers in K-1 this year.

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Josh Thomson

Josh Thomson announced that he's sustained a broken ankle in training, and will be out of action for about 8 weeks. He hopes to return to the ring in late April.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Grappling circuit veteran Ulysses Gomez made the following challenge to Fabiano Iha:


"I, a 130 pound blue belt is challenging FABIANO IHA to a fight. Now you might be thinking why a 130 pound blue belt with no striking ability or even fighting experience is gonna challenge a former UFC and PRIDE fighter. And you're also probably thinking why would IHA take the fight. Considering the fact that he would have nothing to gain. Which is an excellent point.
Now heres my question, why would FABIANO IHA CHALLENGE a BJJ black who weighs over 200 pounds to a MMA fight. A BJJ black belt who dosent fight at all. All he does is train fighters. All in all the BJJ black belt would have nothing to gain. Considering the fact that his only aspiration right now is to just train his fighters and build his school. And what would he have to prove by beating a smaller fighter. Thats kinda like IHA fighting me. It does nothing for his career.

Personally I feel that the reason why IHA challenged the BJJ black belt was so he wouldnt have to fight one of the BJJ black belt students. Seems kinda weird that he would rather fight a person whos a lot bigger, not only that but a person who dosent fight at all. It would make for an excellent excuse if he lost. He could say something like "the guy was bigger my friend".

So heres my message to FABIANO, SAV UP! Step up and fight Jay Herion in Hawaii. Get past him and than we can talk.

With love,

Ulysses Gomez"

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UFC president Dana White

From recent comments made by UFC reality show contestant Bobby Southworth, it would appear that UFC president Dana White and the producers of the show may have mislead Southworth regarding the weight cutting issue.

As MMA fans who saw episode 3 will recall, Southworth was literally locked in a steam room by Chuck Liddell and forced to lose 32 pounds in five days. Such rapid weight loss is considered very unhealthy and possibly life threatening by many doctors.

Here's what Southworth said on the UG forum:


"No I did not apply. When I asked my manager Crazy Bob, he told me the show had already been cast. I got a call 1 day before final casting(3 wks)before filming started. I showed up and weight was an obious issue. They said they would like to have me on the show. I took a bunch of med tests and then went home. I received a packet for a background check 2 days later.

At this point I was semiretired. Last fight more than a year before, and had only trained like 10 times in 14 months(bjj). I had gone frome 215 to 252. You are right there is a lot you can do in 2-3 wks to get ready. So I started training. I received confirmation that I had passed meds,background,etc. 2 wks. prior to filming began.

At that point I was told,...

YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE WEIGHT UNTIL THE FINALS." -Bobby Southworth



Southworth followed up that statement with this one:

"ON THE TUF: Everyone has heard that I had late notice that I was on the show. AND,..YES I WAS OUT OF SHAPE!!

FACTS:I WAS TOLD I DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE WEIGHT UNLESS I WAS A FINALIST.We were told we had to make weight 5 days before the weigh in you saw. At that time I had caught a nasty flu. I was coughing up bloody mucus, blowing it out my nose, and had a fever of 101. I weighed 237. I started cutting. For 4 days I had 2 small meals a day and washed it down with 2 gal. of water with honey, lemon, and cayenne pepper.That was my diet up to the challenge. I was still sick and extremely congested.Ask any fighter there. At the end you see me drop and start coughing up blood. I weighed 227. I WENT THRU ALL THAT, DIDN'T MISS TRAINING,AND MADE WEIGHT. 32 POUNDS IN 5 DAYS. AND STILL HAD TO,...KTFO OF MY FRIEND!!!

-F--K ALL OF THE HATERS, SORRY I'M A BITCH!!" -Bobby Southworth

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Bobby Southworth

Bobby Southworth blasted an internet warrior named Daren Roth, who goes by the screenname of 'winston wolf' on the UG forum.

Daren Roth claims to be a Serra blue belt from Huntington Station, Long Island, New York. Roth went on to say that Southworth was giving away the results of the UFC reality show that Southworth participated in. Here's what Southworth replied to Roth:


"F--K Y-U, WOLF. I gave away nothing you fing punk. I posted on 1 attn bsouth thread.

Everyone knows we signed a nondisclosure for 5 MILLION. I have't said anything. Are you like trying to get me sued by posting something that is pure speculation."

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A scene from the UFC's supposedly homo-erotic reality show.

MMA oddsmaker Joey Oddessa had the following to say regarding the bets taking place regarding the winners of the 'The Ultimate Fighter' reality show:


"In all honesty I have to LOL @ the confidence agreement. I can pretty much tell you who won by who was bet. Naturally I won't disclose it, but fuk are some people dumb. After odds were up, the geographical locations, names, etc, of the players and the amt of wagers on ONLY a couple particular guys gave it away. (I know 4 guys are supposed to be in finals, but at +700 you can take both guys and collect 6-1 on your money regardless of who wins) I never underestimate the greed of people sometimes. To be honest, I expected it, thats why the odds only were up VERY briefly, low limits, and there was no public announcement of them being offered. I consider it another donation.

That said, dont think the fighters blabbed. I didnt see anything Bobby said in the forums. Could have been anyone really. But when a person sends money offshore........there usually is a paper trail. I am a bit dissappointed at the few that did pull the trigger while 'in the know.' These same guys must not be aware the technology of caller ID either. Pretty comical.

Peace."

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by Josh Grossman

A scene from the UFC's supposedly homo-erotic reality show.

In a sequence of events that could end up affecting the UFC in a negative way, Spike TV president Albie Hecht has resigned from the network due to 'creative differences', amid a major push from parent company Viacom to re-focus and re-brand the network as being more 'high-brow'. Several other top executives at Spike TV may be on their way out, and a new management team from within Viacom could be installed in their place.

An article by TV trade publication 'The Hollywood Reporter' points out that Viacom is very insistent on changing the image of Spike TV from being 'The First Network for Men' to being a more high-brow network, with more scripted dramas like CSI and less unscripted shows. Unfortunately for the UFC, both the UFC reality show and any potential UFC weekly fight show both fall under the unscripted category, and are both perceived as 'low-brow'.

Many TV networks have tried to change their image into being more 'high-brow' over the years, which has always negatively affected pro wrestling and could now negatively affect both pro wrestling and MMA. A network saying that it wants to go more high-brow just means in reality that suit-wearing executives go around thumbing their noses at anything they perceive to be low-brow. Unfortunately, that list includes pro wrestling and MMA for 99% of suits in TV land, as evidenced by WCW 'Nitro' and 'Thunder' getting cancelled when TNT and TBS went high-brow, and UPN apparently deciding not to renew WWE 'Smackdown' in 2006 now that Viacom is also undergoing an effort to make UPN a high-brow network.

It's also important to know that when re-branding a network, good ratings are usually not taken into account.

While Spike TV has been ecstatic with the ratings for 'The Ultimate Fighter', and advertisers have shown a sharply increased demand to buy commercial slots on the show, that is not going to be what ultimately decides the UFC's fate on Spike TV. History has shown us that if a new management team comes in and doesn't like the product, even if it's drawing a 4.0 rating every week on cable, it's going to be gone. The reality is that the UFC reality show and the April 9th live special could be ratings hits on Spike TV, and the executives who want it to be a high-brow network could still decide that the UFC is not suitable for their new high brow format.

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A scene from the UFC's supposedly homo-erotic reality show.

The following info is provided my the NHB/MMA insider known as walterwang:


"My inside source, Evad Mesktler, has informed me that WWE 'Raw' last night did a 4.1 rating, and the The Ultimate Fighter show that immediately followed did a terrible 1.6 rating for the second week in a row."

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By Josh Grossman


I am hearing that Gideon Ray will replace Joe Riggs on the UFC 51 card. The matchup will now be David Loiseau vs. Gideon Ray.

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by Scoop Mctroll

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

Spies within the Zuffa organization are telling me that UFC president Dana White did not take too kindly to the news that Tito Ortiz had suppposedly pulled out of this weekend's UFC 51 event.

He apparently received the news second hand through an intermediary and he then tried to call Tito immediately, yelling "that piece of shit is fighting on Saturday no matter what". When Dana could then only reach Tito's message bank he screamed some illegible word and threw the phone across his office, narrowly missing coffee guy.

Dana White was still refusing to accept that Tito is out. He kept exclaiming "he wouldnt do it to me, no way".

For once in his life Dana White has acted somewhat like a leader.

The inside word is that Tito was pulling a stunt to try and screw more money out of Zuffa for his fight against Vitor Belfort. He was using a third party to act as an agent and he wanted an additional USD$50,000 to fight, win or lose.

Dana white tried to contact Tito without success, then Zuffa's legal team contacted Tito's "Agent", and told him that if Tito tried to hold Zuffa to ransom, that it would be him who would lose everything he has.

Fifteen minutes later Tito is on the phone to Dana, denying all knowledge of what had happened. The fight is said to be definitely still on and Tito will be fighting for the money already agreed upon several weeks ago.

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By Coffee Guy

Joe Riggs

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

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


Joe Riggs is off of the UFC 51 card due to an injury he sustained in training. He was supposed to face David Loiseau.

In fact, Zuffa has known that Riggs would be off the card for a few days now, but have still not called Loiseau to tell him. Loiseau had to find out from a friend on the internet that his opponent is off the card.

Furthermore, Zuffa has not been able to find a replacement in time, and may just call off this fight and do it in April instead. So the UFC 51 will most likely only have seven matchups now, instead of the customary eight matchups.

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Chris Brennan (bottom)

MMA journeyman Chris Brennan has pulled out of participating in a children's charity event he had earlier agreed to do.

According to organizers of the event, Brennan decided that participating in the event was no longer in his best interest.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

An MMA fan's parody of Tito's huge head. The pic is from when Tito lost to Randy Couture and began crying.

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization are telling me that when DSE/PRIDE president Sakakibara visits the US next week, that he will try to sign Tito Ortiz to the upcoming PRIDE Middleweight GP.

Ortiz's last fight of his UFC contract will be completed on February 5th when he faces Vitor Belfort.

More info to come in a few weeks.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Mark Coleman

Below most of the matchups and some fighters that DSE/PRIDE will most likely announce for their PRIDE 29 card on February 22nd:


Unofficial matchups:
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Mark Coleman
Sergei Kharinotov vs. Choi Mu Bae
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson vs. Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. Alistair Overeem
Igor Vovchanchin vs. Yoshiki Takahashi
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
Ryan Gracie vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Fabricio Werdum vs. Mark Hunt or Hirotaka Yokoi
Mario Sperry vs. Mark Hunt or Hirotaka Yokoi

Additional participants possibly on the card:
Ricardo Arona
Pedro Rizzo
Paulo Filho
Akira Shoji

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Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (left)

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' is reporting that the matchup of Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara will take place on the PRIDE 29 card on February 20th.

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By Tape Lord

Vanderlei Silva

Hello my friends, my postal connections in the DSE/PRIDE organization and in Brazil are telling that Vanderlei Silva has re-signed with DSE/PRIDE for up to five more fights.

According to these sources, DSE/PRIDE president was able to come to terms with Silva's management while in Brazil. The new deal will pay Silva approximately USD$500,000 per fight, plus bonuses.

Silva will also be participating in the upcoming PRIDE Middleweight GP.



This Postal Connections scoop was filed at 9 am, 1-29-05.

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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 next week.

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By Coffee Guy

Tito Ortiz

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

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


I am hearing that Tito Ortiz may have pulled out of his fight against Vitor Belfort on next week's UFC 51 card.

I don't know if he was injured or whatever. I'll report back as I get more. This is only a rumor at this point.

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By Josh Grossman

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

There is strong speculation in the Zuffa offices that Tito Ortiz will be not be re-signed by the organization, whether he wins or loses against Vitor Belfort.

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Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons

Jungle Fight co-promoter, Walid Ismail, spoke with the Brazilian media, and stated that he would like to match up Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons against either Jorge 'Macaco' Patino or Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos for the next edition of 'Jungle Fight' on March 26th.

Pele has already defeated both Macaco and Cyborg in the past. Pele's previous two wins over Macaco are considered vale tudo classics by most NHB fans.

Another interesting note is that both Macaco and Cyborg now fight for Pele's old team, Chute Boxe.

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A new vale tudo clothing line, called 'No Gi', has debuted in Brazil.

No Gi has signed up Brazilian stars such as Pedro Rizzo, Vitor Belfort, and a few others as spokesmen. They also claim they will be donating 5% of all their sales every month to sporting projects in the Brazilian slums and inner city areas, in an effort to recruit more kids to the sport of vale tudo.

According to No Gi president Walmir Barroso, they eventually plan to try and spread the line into the US and Japan.

No Gi is in no way, shape, or form associated with MMA journeyman Chris Brennan.

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Mark Hominick on the poster of TKO 19.

There are observations coming from media and fans that attended last night's TKO 19 event that the Shane Rice's defeat to Mark Hominick had much controversy.

According to an observer affiliated with one of the fighters at the event, it appeared as if Mark Hominick was covered in baby oil. The use of baby oil amongst MMA fighters is almost always done to prevent an opponent from securing a grappling hold.

This same observer also noticed that Hominick was attempting to scoot out underneath the ropes, Shane was dragging him back into the center of the mat when it was restarted back on the feet.

Many observers allege that the fight was stopped prematurely in Hominick's favor when Hominick was on top, with Rice scooting underneath the bottom rope.

One interesting point, Hominick is managed by TKO promoter Stephane Patry. Also, even though Rice was the defending champion, it is Hominick who appears on the main event posters, even though Rice is from Montreal, where the event took place.

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TKO 19: 'Rage'
January 29, 2005
Pierre-Charbonneau Center,
Montreal, Quebec


Georges St-Pierre defeats Dave Strasser by keylock at 1:52, RD 1.
Patrick Cote defeats Ricardeau Francois by split decision.
Mark Hominick defeats Shane Rice by TKO at 4:16, RD 1.
Sam Stout defeats Joey Brown by TKO at 2:45, RD 1.
Dave Goulet defeats John Fraser by TKO at 4:55, RD 1.
Thierry Quennville defeats Alex Gasson by unanimous decision.
Martin Grandmont defeats Eric Lacelle by TKO at 1:26, RD 1.



Any fighters still owed money by TKO president Stephane Patry, can contact him at:

Stephane Patry, President/CEO
TKO Communications Inc.
Tel: (450) 676-3666
TKOZone.tv

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SHOOTO
January 29th
Kourakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Class-A bouts:
Koutetsu Boku defeats Ryan Bow by majority decision.
Masanori Suda defeats Brian Ebersole by rear naked choke at 2:59, RD 3.
Mamoru defeats Junji Ikoma by unanimous decision.
Ganjo Tentsuku defeats Takumi by unanimous decision.

Class-B Bouts:
Shinya Aoki defeats Keith Wisniewski by standing arm lock at 2:22, RD 1.
B.J. defeats Daiji Takahashi by unanimous decision.
Riki Fukuda defeats Masaya Inoue by unanimous decision.
Kyotaro Nakao drew with Sakae Kasuya.

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Rage in the Cage 67: 'Back to the Dodge'
January 29, 2005
Phoenix, Arizona


Bryan Pardoe defeats Rich Alten by choke at 0:15, RD 1.
Ray Elbe defeats Paul Arroyo by armbar at 0:57, RD 1.
Jeremiah Shivers defeats Leonard Wilson by armbar at 1:16, RD 2.
John Erickson defeats Eric Gross by choke at 1:58, RD 1.
Rodney Hammonds defeats Kevin Huggins by triangle choke at 0:42, RD 1.
Jeremy Neer defeats Jon Youngs by choke at 0:42, RD 1.
Aaron Acero defeats Jason Santos by decision.
Joe Lira defeats Nick Hedrick by TKO at 3:00, RD 1.
Dominic Cruz defeats Eddie Castro by split decision.
Robert Davis defeats Brandon Oliver by KO at 2:16, RD 1.

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Gladiator Challenge 34: 'Legends Collide'
January 27, 2005
Colusa, California


Dan Severn defeats Cal Worsham by TKO, RD 3.
Robert Sarkozi defeats Kyacey Uscola by TKO, RD 2.
Gabe Rivas defeats Walter Patterson by unanimous decision.
Matt McPherson defeats J.P. by guillotine choke at 0:29, RD 1.
David Marshall defeats Mo Scott by rear naked choke, RD 1.
Wesley Scovie defeats Nathan Archuleta by rear naked choke at 4:09, RD 1.
Brian Badgerow defeats Mike Cardillo by TKO at 4:58, RD 1.
Matt Nelson defeats Randy Halmot by rear naked choke at 1:32, RD 1.
Dan Molina defeats Dan Quinn by TKO at 4:39, RD 1.
Steve Barnett defeats Dustin Henderson by guillotine choke at 1:52, RD 1.
Steve Cabrawl defeats Scott Ernisses by TKO at 2:42, RD 1.
Santiago Terasses defeats John Seilhan by guillotine choke at 0:50, RD 1.
Shane Stewart defeats John Cole by triangle choke at 4:05, RD 1.

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