The MMA Annotation: June 2007

Friday, June 29, 2007

TUF fighters worth more than Leonard Garcia

The salaries from The Ultimate Fighter finale and the latest UFC Fight Night card was reported today.

What's interesting is that returning UFC fighter Leonard Garcia only got a fight purse of $4.000 ($2.000 to fight and $2.000 to win), while all the TUF fighters, most of them making their debuts, got a purse of $8.000 (plus $8.000 to win). This includes Garcia's opponent, "Monstah Can" Alan Berubie (or Allen Berube to some people), whose claim to faim is instigating a street fight on the show and getting kicked off because of it. How's that for a slap in the face.

Fair? Not really. I'm completely on board with paying the fighters well, but do it based on their skills and not on their antics outside the ring.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Carter Williams caught with coke in his blood

Former K-1 fighter Carter Williams who fought against Paul Buentello on the Strikeforce card tested positive for Cocaine.

I compiled a small list of MMA fighters that got caught for steroids or drugs this year (there are probably more but this is just off the top of my head). Curiously enough 6 out of 8 lost their fights.

Carter Williams, Cocaine (recreational drug), lost
Jorge Ortiz, Nandrolone (steroid), lost
Melvin Guillard, Cocaine (recreational drug), lost
Royce Gracie, Nandrolone (steroid), won
Johnnie Morton, steroids, lost
Tim "Big Perm" Persey, Methamphetamine (recreational drug), lost
Nick Diaz, Marijuana (recreational drug), won (later overturned to NC)
Kit Cope, Boldenone (steroid), lost

The Beatdown radio show on Sherdog has a rather interesting interview with Joe Rogan on the topic of steroids and drug use (a topic Rogan is really familiar with and outspoken about).

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Quote of the Day, courtesy of boxing trainer Tommy Gallagher

Boxing trainer Tommy Gallagher (you know the guy from The Contender that looks like he could be a character on The Sopranos):

Now in the UFC fighting you can kick, you can bite and use your elbows. There may be a conspiracy to remove boxing and keep that Ultimate Bullshit out there!

That's funny, because apart from the obvious error in that statement the only biting I've ever seen in a fight was in a boxing match.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A closer look on Takada's PRIDE 10/11 revelation

A small article went up today on PRIDE's official website about Takada's wrestling camp for kids, Diamond Kids College. What's interesting about this is that it was at the press conference for this event that Takada yesterday blurted out the 11th October date for the next PRIDE show, but this is curiously not mentioned at all in the article on PRIDE's website.

Gryphon also notes that Takada is nothing more than a public face for PRIDE (if even that these days), without any real power. When Sakakibara and DSE controlled the organization Takada at least had some insight into what was going on behind the scenes, but with a Zuffa owned organization Takada is most likely left in the dark.

So what's the truth about the October 11th date? No one but Zuffa knows for sure, but at this stage it looks like nothing more than wishful thinking by a Takada longing back to the glory days.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Who really controls PRIDE? Return in October?

FightOpinion relays word today from Daily Sports that PRIDE will return on October 11th, ten years on the day after the first PRIDE show was held. The man behind the message? No other than Nobuhiko Takada. The question is who does Takada represent? You would think that a Zuffa controlled PRIDE wouldn't have someone like Takada convey their message in a PR event that's not even associated with them.

Takada said that he wanted to see Rickson Gracie at the event (I would guess to say a few words to the crowd and not to fight), together with an all-star assembly of fighters.

Watch the Rickson Gracie vs Takada main event from PRIDE 1, October 11th 1997, after the jump.

Rickson Gracie vs Nobuhiko Takada

Sunday, June 24, 2007

DEEP in YAMAGATA results, Ryo Chonan victorious in hometown

Winners in bold.

Ryo Chonan (Team MAD) / So Do Wong (CMA KOREA) (1R 2:58, TKO)
Eiji Ishikawa (GRABAKA) / Yuya Shirai (Team MAD) (Majority decision, 0-2)
Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo Dobuita) / Scott Anderson (Freelance) (Majority draw, 0-1)
Umeda Kosuke (R-BLOOD) / LUIZ (Zendo Kai) (1R 2:31, KO)
Andrei Watanabe (ALLIANCE) / Carlos Toyota (HARD COMBAT) (1R 3:49, TKO)
Sugiuchi Isami (Team-ROKEN) / Wataru Suyama (HARD COMBAT) (1R 1:39, Armbar)
Hiroki Saito (Freelance) / Ho Yun (CMA KOREA) (Majority draw, 1-0)

TUF 5 Finale results, BJ Penn chokes out Pulver

Tonight BJ Penn proved that he still can win a fight that goes past the first round, securing a rear naked choke on Jens Pulver three minutes into the second round. This GIF was brought to you by Burger King, have it your way.

In The Ultimate Fighter 5 finale Nate Diaz won the contract after Manvel "Manny" Gamburyan injured his shoulder in the first round after a take down.

Weirdest moment of the night came when Gray Maynard slammed Robert Emerson early in the second round, spiking his own head on the mat which rendered him unconscious, at the same time Emerson tapped out from an injury. The fight was rightfully declared a no contest.

Full results, winners in bold:

Matt Wiman / Brian Geraghty (TKO, 2:09 round 1)
Leonard Garcia / Alan Berubie (Rear naked choke, 4:22 round 1)
Gray Maynard / Robert Emerson (NC, round 2)
Cole Miller / Andy Wang (TKO, 1:10 round 1)
Joe Lauzon / Brandon Melendez (Triangle choke, 2:09 round 2)
Roger Huerta / Douglas Evans (TKO, 3:30 round 2)
Thales Leites / Floyd Sword (Arm triangle, 3:50, round 1)
Nate Diaz / Manvel "Manny" Gamburyan (Shoulder injury, 0:20 round 2)
BJ Penn / Jens Pulver (Rear naked choke, 3:12 round 2)

Kimbo "The Submission Machine" Slice makes succesful debut in the cage

Big D, Rasta, Dreads, Afro Puff, Big Mac, Adryan, The Bouncer, Chico, and now Ray Mercer. Street fighter Kimbo Slice, real name Kevin Ferguson (but I guess that doesn't sound cool when you fight on the streets), defeated almost senior citizen Ray Mercer yesterday in a mixed martial arts fight.

The fight took place in the faux organization CFFC and it took under two minutes for Kimbo to secure a guillotine choke against Mercer. Kimbo came in and bull rushed Mercer, taking him down in the process. Mercer managed to scramble to his feet only to be meet by a barrage of punches by Kimbo. Kimbo took Mercer down again, Mercer tried to scramble again only to get caught in the submission forcing a tap out.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

EliteXC Strikeforce - Baroni vs Shamrock, notes and commentary

Read all about it after the jump.

"Yo yo yo and away we go", sorry Mauro but that phrase has to go ...
Hasn't any of the higher ups at EliteXC comprehended yet that Bill Goldberg is really, really bad as a commentator?
Did they say Edson Berto's nickname was "little thai girl"?! Oh "little tiger", yeah that makes more sense.

Awesome heelhook by Berto. Joe Boxer tapped because he was a bitch according to Glazer.
Man they got some really skanky dancing ring girls.
Carter Williams looks like he's been training with Ricco Rodriguez and Frank Mir.
Oh no they didn't, CSAC needs to institute a ban on DJs/MCs/rappers at MMA shows.
... and down goes Williams. Don't fear Buentello, fear the consequences.
Impressive win by the Energizer bunny Ninja, plus he won some kind of Mickey Mouse belt. Villasenor fades really fast when things doesn't go his way.
Josh Thompson submits an outmatched Nick Gonzales with a rear naked choke.
"Special attraction"? If they call it that I want circus music.
Tony Fryklund has a real shitty gameplan, he sure can take a punch though.
Mauro claims Fryklund is a pioneer in the sport, sure so is Yatsu.
Target practice dummy Fryklund goes down from a combination by Cung Le that started of with a liiiiver kick.
It's time for the Strikeface-force main event, Shamrock vs Baroni. Amazing, they're actually standing in the same cage.
Shamrock knocks down Baroni!
Shamrock fouls Baroni and gets a point deducted.
Shamrock is dominating Baroni in the stand-up, Mo Smith thought him good.
Baroni takes down Shamrock pretty much at will, Shamrock needs to train more wrestling. He's trash-taling Baroni from the guard.
It looks like Cyborg vs Manhoef at this point.
Shamrock submits Baroni with a rear naked choke in the second round. Baroni looks completely out.
Nice, Shamrock had a excuse prepared in case he lost.
And now for some dark matches, Paul Daley vs Duane Ludwig is up.
Daley TKO in the second round.
Post fight interview with Baroni, he looks sad. Apparently he blew his groin out in the beginning of the fight, sounds painful. Baroni shows Goldberg his package. Goldberg gives Baroni a pep talk.

Friday, June 22, 2007

PRIDE: Where are they now?

Since PRIDE went into hibernation a number of organizations have been trying to sign its talent.

Here’s a list of some of the former PRIDE fighters whereabouts.

In the UFC ...

... officially signed are:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic
Dan Henderson
Fabricio Werdum
Marcus Aurelio

... rumoured to be signed are:

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Wanderlei Silva. There are rumors about a possible match-up with Chuck Liddell in September.

In the WEC ...

Paulo Filho. Will face Joe Doerkson August 5th for the 185 lbs title.

In EliteXC ...

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Sherdog reported that the Team Quest fighter signed with the promotion.

In K-1 ...

Alistair Overeem. Is fighting for K-1 on their mixed card this weekend in Holland against Micheal Knaap (MMA fight).

Undecided ...

Fedor Emelianenko. The latest information is that Zuffa is close to securing a contract with the Russian, apparently the only hinderance is that Fedor still wants to compete in Sambo tournaments in Russia. Other players interested in acquiring his services include Bodog and FEG.
Josh Barnett. Is said to be participating in Antonio Inoki’s pro wrestling show IGF. Says he hasn’t even been contacted by Zuffa.
Denis Kang. His agent is out negotiating a deal for him, has been in talks with both Zuffa and Bodog. Reports say that a Bodog signing is close.
The Japanese fighters. Shinya Aoki grappled in DEEP X, and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai was rumoured to be fighting Diego Sanchez in the UFC, rumours that he denied. Ryo Chonan is fighting this weekend in DEEP. Other than that the status of the Japanese fighters are largely unknown.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ryo Chonan returns to action in hometown

Ryo Chonan will return to DEEP this weekend following his decision win over Ryuta Sakurai on DEEP 28 in February. The card takes place in Ryo Chonan's town of birth Yamagata and is appropriately named DEEP in YAMAGATA.

Chonan will take on South Korea's So Do Wong, fighting out of CMA KOREA.

DEEP in YAMAGATA, 24th of June 2007, card:

Ryo Chonan (Team MAD) / So Do Wong (CMA KOREA)
Eiji Ishikawa (GRABAKA) / Yuya Shirai (Team MAD)
Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo Dobuita) / Scott Anderson (Freelance)
Umeda Kosuke (R-BLOOD) / LUIZ (Zendo Kai)
Andrei Watanabe (ALLIANCE) / Carlos Toyota (HARD COMBAT)
Sugiuchi Isami (Team-ROKEN) / Wataru Suyama (HARD COMBAT)
Hiroki Saito (Freelance) / Ho Yun (CMA KOREA)

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Pigs can fly? PRIDE returns in August?

FightOpinion is quoting an article from Nikkan Sports that says that the new PRIDE run by Zuffa will make its debut in Japan on August 18th. The article says that the show will center around the Japanese stars (well they are the only ones left really so not much choice there). The only reported name is Hidehiko Yoshida, but it wouldn't be to far fetched to assume that other Japanese fighters like Takanori Gomi, Kazuhiro Nakamura and Kazuyuki Fujita would participate as well.

If this really is true then we should hear something official soon, they're supposedly having the show in Saitama Super Arena so ticket sales would have to start ASAP to sell a decent amount of tickets.

It should also be noted that this could be Zuffa's first and last PRIDE show. By holding one show they can at least say they ran a PRIDE show in Japan. It could also be a testbed for Zuffa to learn how they should run a real UFC show in Japan

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Holy crap Royce, what did you inject?!

A couple of days ago there was a story about Royce Gracie testing positive for steroids at FEG's HERO's show in LA. Royce has since that denied the allegations and maintained that he hasn't been taking anything except natural supplements.

Well here's the latest twist, CSAC released Royce's test values. The tests show Royce's Nandrolone value being 25 times (!!!) above the normal, clocking in at a whooping 50 ng/mL. Does the Gracie diet include bull testicles by any chance?

Both Renzo and Relson of the Gracie family commented on the story when it first broke, saying they haven't had much contact with Royce lately, but mostly voicing disappointment for Royce tarnishing the Gracie name.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Old man Shamrock vs Michael Bisping at UFC 75

So reports are coming out that Ken Shamrock will square of against Michael Bisping at UFC 75 in London.

Joe Silva are you serious? What substances did you inhale when you came up with this fight? Or maybe you took out the dart board and threw arrows on a random list of names.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Shinya Aoki victorious in DEEP X, Imanari tastes defeat

Results from DEEP's grappling show DEEP X:

Shinya Aoki submitted Pedro Akira with a rear naked choke, 38 seconds into the first round.
Bruno Frazzato defeated Masakazu Imanari on points (10-0).
Hidehiko Hasegawa submitted Max Fernandez with a heel hook, 1:10 minutes into the second round.
Aiko Usizuka defeated SACHI on points (14-2).
Antonio Carvalho drew with Takeshi Yamazaki (5-5).
Mauricio Souza submitted Hiroyuki Abe with a triangle choke, 3:54 minutes into the first round.
Takuya Kitade defeated RYOTA on points (6-4).
Sotaro Yamada defeated Marcos Souza on points (6-2).

Article: Dana White is playing favoritism

Writer Nate Edwards has a good article up on Doghouse Boxing talking about how Dana White is clearly favoring certain fighters.

Link

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Caol Uno vs Katsuhiko Nagata in HERO's 154 tournament

The first match-up was announced for HERO's 154 lbs tournament. Last years finalist Caol Uno takes on Olympic wrestling silver medalist Katsuhiko Nagata. Nagata is going to train for the fight at the American Kickboxing Academy.

Rumored to participate besides previous announced fighters is Chute Boxe's Andre Dida.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Nate Diaz vs Manny Gamburyan in TUF finals

The leaked finale fighters were accurate, on June 24th it's Nate Diaz vs Manny Gamburyan.

Full card:

Jens Pulver / BJ Penn
Nate Diaz / Manny Gamburyan
Roger Huerta / Doug Evans
Floyd Sword / Thales Leites
Brandon Melendez / Joe Lauzon
Andy Wang / Cole Miller
Rob Emerson / Gray Maynard
Allen Berube / Leonard Garcia
Brian Geraghty / Matt Wiman

Royce Gracie tested positive for steroids. Really? Him?

First Morton and now Royce Gracie failed a drug test at the latest HERO's show. Really pathetic and so unnecessary when he was facing a beaten up Sakuraba his own age.

The question is will CSAC overturn the fight's result to a NC? The NSAC overturned Diaz win over Gomi at PRIDE 33 when Diaz tested positive for marijuana, and you would think steroids is a much bigger offence.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Sakuraba pimps Xbox 360 game

Unlike of the rest of the Japanese population Kazushi Sakuraba seems to dig the Xbox 360. In the weigh-in against Yurij Kiseliov in HERO's Sakuraba had a Xbox 360 hidden in his shirt.

Game publisher Namco Bandai took note and hired Sakuraba to show up and promote the upcoming 360 game Eternal Sonata at the release party in Roppongi. Sakuraba was sporting a Eternal Sonata/Xbox 360 branded mask.

Source: Kotaku

Johnnie Morton: Officially worst - debut - ever

Not only did Morton manage to get knocked out in 38 seconds by a Japanese comedian in his MMA debut, he didn't get payed for it since he refused a post fight urinalysis test.

Now it turns out he got caught with anabolic steroids in his system the pre-fight test shows. This must officially be the worst debut ever by a n MMA fighter, on the positive side at least it didn't rain at the event.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

UFC Fight Night 10 ends up impressing

In what turned out to be an evening of great fights the tenth installation of UFC Fight Night (formerly Ultimate Fight Night) ended up impressing me.

The two first matches ended up in under 1 minute knockouts, courtesy of Drew McFedries and Anthony Johnson. McFedries showed some real heavy, crisp striking and I’m looking forward to seeing him back.

First Brazilian to grace the cage tonight was Roan Carneiro whom almost secured an anaconda choke against Jon Fitch in the first round. Fitch turned it around in the second, landing some punches and eventually forcing a dizzy Carneiro to give up his neck to a rear naked choke.

Jason Black made his UFC debut against Thiago Tavares, a bout where Tavares dominated Black on the ground and ended up submitting him via a triangle choke in the second round.

The main event featured a rematch between Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher. Fisher outstruck the merited kickboxer Stout in all three rounds and took the unanimous decision.

All and all Spike TV should be happy tonight, all broadcasted fights where high paced and entertaining. The question is how many people tuned in to a card without any big names as drawing power?

Aoki to grapple in DEEP X

Turns out Shinya Aoki's announcement wasn't what we where hoping for. Instead as speculated the Paraestra Tokyo fighter will participate in DEEP's grappling show DEEP X.

His opponent will be Brazilian Pedro Akira from BON-SAI Japan JIU-JITSU Team, a rematch from Campeonato Japones 2005 where Aoki quite easily choked Akira out.

Curiously enough this was announced on PRIDE's website and not on DEEP's own page.

Source: PRIDE Official Website

Shinya Aoki against Pedro Akira in Campeonato Japones 2005:

Minotauro and BTT parting ways?

MMA Weekly is reporting that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, former PRIDE heavyweight champion, and recently UFC fighter, is on his way to leave the Brazilian Top Team.

The news is not all that surprising, Nogueira is living and training in Florida with ATT these days and have had very limited contact with the camp in Brazil over the last months. It came as a surprise to the team in Brazil when Nogueira showed up in the UFC cage and announced his signing with the American promotion.

There's no word if Rogerio is leaving as well.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Aoki promises big announcement tomorrow

Japanese Shooto Middleweight champion and PRIDE fighter (not to mention a MMA Annotation favorite) Shinya Aoki wrote on his blog today that where will be a big announcement tomorrow, one where we should keep our attention on him.

The speculation is of course if this has anything to to with Zuffa's new PRIDE. Another possibility (which has been rumored before) is Aoki's participation on DEEP's grappling card DEEP X on the 17th of June.

Jon Stewart talks MMA on Daily Show

Leave us alone Tommy

Tommy Morrison, former boxer, toughman contestant, actor, and according to himself and some dubious blood tests - HIV positive. I didn't add mixed martial artist to the list, because what was supposed to be his MMA debut this weekend turned into nothing more then a toughman contest with 4 oz gloves.

The bout against the local Arizona fighter John Stover lasted a mere 2:08 minutes, which was to be expected when a former heavyweight boxer takes on a close to amateur opponent. And as that wasn't enough, kicks and elbows where deemed fouls only hours before the fight, taking away Stover's only real weapons. This was of course an unregulated event, I'm guessing no serious athletic commission would touch Tommy with a 10 feet pole.

Then there is the issue about Morrison's HIV. Here's a guy who makes his living as a pro boxer, all of a sudden finds out he is HIV positive and retires. 10 years later he's all of a sudden magically cured from a disease that according to Wikipedia:

There is currently no vaccine or cure for HIV or AIDS. The only known method of prevention is avoiding exposure to the virus.

I'm sure HIV researchers would love to get their hands on Morrison's blood work, and I'm sure he'd oblige, unless he has something to hide that is. Do you Tommy?

Monday, June 11, 2007

HERO's announces fighters for 154 tournament

Sherdog reports that FEG released the first names for their upcoming 154 lbs tournament on the July 16th card at Yokohama Arena.

Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti
Caol Uno
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
Hideo Tokoro
Katsuhiko Nagata
Kazuyuki Miyata
Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill
Shuichiro Katsumura
Alexandre Franca "Pequeno" Nogueira

I also hope we'll see Ivan Menjivar back in the tournament this year following his great fights against Uno and Tokoro in the HERO's 154 GP last year.

It's interesting to see that none of the PRIDE lightweights have jumped ship to HERO's so far, at least none that we are aware of yet. On the same note Shinya Aoki wrote on his blog today that PRIDE was fine and he was still training for the PRIDE lightweight GP, let's hope he's right.

This is the MMA Annotation

So I decided to finally start an MMA blog. This blog will cover the world of MMA as I see it, with my personal commentary on stories.

Kampai!

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