Other MMA Organizations News - Page 86

Despite not participating in the inaugural March 5th event coming up for World Victory Road, it appears that Roger Gracie will be signing a contract to appear in the second WVR event, scheduled for May or June of this year. This contract will signal Gracie’s return to MMA after a layoff of over 1 year – he made his debut in December of 2006 in Vancouver, Canada for bodogFIGHT, easily defeating veteran MMA artist Ron Waterman by arm bar in Round 1. Since then, Gracie has continued his grappling dominance in 2007, winning the ADCC 2007 superfight against Jon Olav Einmo of Norway, and winning both his weight class and the open class in the Black Belt division of the BJJ World Championships... I personally love Roger Gracie as his JJ skills are undeniable. i hope he does well in MMA. can't wait to see him at the next WVR.

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Yoshihiro Nakao must have just realized he had a previous engagement or something, because DREAM is now saying that Tatsuya Mizuno will instead be taking on Mirko Filipovic at DREAM’s debut show this Saturday in Japan. And is Mizuno a worthy opponent for Cro Cop? Oh, sure! I mean, after all, we’re talking about a guy with a 4-2 record in Pancrase, who’s been previously stomped by Thiago Silva and UFC washout Assuerio Silva. He should present a stiff challenge to Mirko — still, we’re calling it for Cro Cop via head kick KO, nine seconds into round one. But fortunately, we think this opponent will finally stick, and we hope Mizuno can train hard over the next four days by taking lots of naps. It’ll be an honor just to meet Filipovic’s left foot. One thing that Mizuno won’t have to worry about is being soccer kicked when he’s down. Nightmare of Battle has a translation of the DREAM rules, which work out like this : — 10 minute first round, 5 minute second round, 90 seconds between rounds. — Fights are judged in their entirety and no draws are possible. — Stomps and soccer kicks to the head of a grounded opponent are not allowed, but knees to the head of a grounded opponent are allowed. If both fighters are on the ground, head kicks are allowed. If there is a 15 kg or more weight difference, no stomps, soccer kicks, or knees to the head of a grounded opponent are allowed. Due to the sizable difference in talent, Cro Cop will also be blindfolded. And the betting line still has him as a -950 favorite…

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Melvin Guillard (21-7-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC), the once-promising UFC lightweight who suffered embarrassing back-to-back defeats in the UFC, rebounded for a vital victory at Friday's Rage in the Cage 105 event. Guillard posted a unanimous-decision victory over Eric Regan in the main event of the night's 10-fight event.

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March 15 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Organizers announced the bout, along with two others – pairing Katsuhiko Nagata (3-2) with Artur Oumakhonov (7-2) and Mitsuhiro Ishida (15-3-1) with Bu Kyung Jung (0-1) in the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix – on Thursday. One of Japan’s most accomplished superstars, Sakurai (31-7-2) will ride into the event on a four-fight winning streak. The 32-year-old last competed in December, when he earned a unanimous decision against Hidehiko Hasegawa at “Yarennoka! New Year’s Eve! 2007.” Sakurai, who made his professional debut 11 years ago in Shooto, holds notable wins against one-time Icon Sport middleweight champion Frank Trigg, former UFC lightweight titleholder Jens Pulver, Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen and Mac Danzig – the season six winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series. Eighteen of Sakurai’s 31 career victories have come by knockout, technical knockout or submission. A veteran of the K-1 and Pancrase circuits, Monma (14-7-3) fought less than a month ago, when he submitted Yong Fun Lee with a first-round armbar at a Greatest Common multiple show. The 34-year-old owns victories against UFC veterans Jess Liaudin and Dave Strasser. Dream 1 Saturday, March 15 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Japan Ishida vs Jung will be great. Jungs 1st fight he almost submitted Aoki 4 times in a decision loss at Yarennoka

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Im sure most already know what Cro Cop's opponent will be, its the guy that Kissed herring. there are multiple threads on it so i wont bother to paste the story here, however, if you want follow the link and there will be more insight. — Hayato “Mach” Sakurai has also locked down an opponent for the DREAM show. As SukiMMA translates from his blog: “I fight Hidetaka Monma from Keisyukai. One foreign fighter and one Japanese fighter canceled and finally I got an opponent!” Monma has a 14-7-3 record, with notable wins over…well, basically nobody. The Sakurai/Monma fight doesn’t seem to be a part of the lightweight Grand Prix that’s also going down at DREAM1, but it should be an ugly rout just like the Cro Cop/Nakao feature. — SukiMMA also reports that Takanori Gomi wants another fight with Duane Ludwig after their bout at Sengoku was stopped prematurely due to face-explosion Suki:

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After the fight, Gomi said, Ludwig was a very good fighter. This victory was brought by an accident and I will fight him again. Thank you for coming to see my fight held on a weekday. I have good company to work with and…. He was in tears and couldn’t continue. He got the applause of fans and said, I will train hard and continue fighting. Thank you for supporting me.

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— Though Gomi seemed to be in top form at Sengoku, The Fireball Kid doesn’t think he’d be ready for a re-match with BJ Penn. Of course, that match is totally hypothetical at this point, considering the UFC cocked up negotiations with him, but Gomi said this at the post-fight press conference:

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“I just came back to fight after a long layoff and I’d like to make myself more fit and more of a complete fighter before fighting B.J. Penn. For this fight [with Ludwig], I sparred and did weight training. I was concerned about the physical aspects of my body. I want to perfect [it] before a fight with B.J. Penn.”

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In the same article, Gomi asks WVR if he can have New Year’s Eve off, while Josh Barnett says he’d prefer not to fight Kevin Randleman and takes the time to plug his April 12th pro-wrestling gig in Osaka.

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The full card for the event includes: Masters Superfights Don Frye (19-6-1) vs. Oleg Taktarov (15-5-2) Eric "Butterbean" Esch (10-5-1) vs. Gary Goodridge (23-15-1) Heavyweight Tournament George Bush (5-0) Alexey Oleynik (6-3) Sherman Pendergarst (10-8) Marcelo Pereira (5-0) Rex Richards (4-1) Tony Sylvester (10-1) Chris Tuscherer (10-0) Travis Wiuff (47-11)

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Ive just read on a play by play that this fight was just announced for their next event, proper story and LINK coming soon

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The weigh-ins for World Victory Road's first event were held today While everyone made weight, Kazuyuki Fujita and Peter graham apparently couldn't wait to get it on.

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Eddie Alvarez confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com on Thursday afternoon that he has signed a contract to participate in DREAM’s lightweight Grand Prix. DREAM, a collaborative effort between K-1’s HEROS and former staff members of PRIDE, will begin its tournament on March 15 in Japan. Alvarez stated that he is scheduled to fight Andre “Dida” Amade on that date during the tournament’s first round.

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Eddie Alvarez confirmed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) on Thursday afternoon that he has signed a contract to participate in DREAM’s lightweight Grand Prix.

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"The fight is 100 percent,” began Alvarez. “I just got a call from my manager, Monte Cox, everything is underway. Everything is approved and I will be heading over there (Japan) on the 10th to fight in the lightweight Grand Prix. I’m excited.” "Monte (Cox) talked it over with EliteXC and EliteXC was happy to work with DREAM,” Alvarez responded when asked if special permission was needed to compete in a tournament that could require Alvarez to fight on three separate DREAM shows. “I’m sure they want to do business with them in the future so I’m sure they are more than happy to lend me over and let me do the fight.”

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WOW! The tournament, which features many of the world’s top lightweights, now includes: LW GP 1st Round Fights: J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Black Mamba Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Luis Buscape Koutetsu Boku vs. Joachim Hansen Eddie alvarez vs Andre dida plus ................ Mitsuhiro Ishida Caol Uno Gilbert Melendez Artur Oumakhanov Jung Bukyung

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Adam Swift at MMAPayout has this interesting tidbit in the aftermath of the CBS/Elite XC rumors:

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Multiple sources have told MMAPayout.com that FOX is believed to have interest in MMA with rumors suggesting that the network even went so far as to make a bid on the UFC during recent negotiations. UFC President Dana White alluded to an unidentified network bidder in an interview with Steve Cofield earlier this month.

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Highly regarded as one of the top middleweight fighters in the world, but not having fought anywhere in nearly a year, Matt Lindland on Friday confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that he has just signed a contract with a new fight promotion. Seems like everyone wants a piece of the pie. I smell someone losing some money on this new promotion.

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When (and who) will Marcus Davis and Sokoudjou be fighting next? Was Fightlinker’s guerilla-email campaign successful? And what are my thoughts on Strikeforce and MFC? Plus, 8 questions to be answered at UFC 82!

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K-1 fighter Ray Sefo (1-0) turned down an offer to fight former UFC heavyweight Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (22-6-2) at next month’s DREAM show in Japan. The report also confirmed that Sefo, as well as super-heavyweight Jan Nortje (who defeated Bob Sapp in the main event of this past weekend’s “Strikeforce at the Dome” show), have both joined Xtreme Couture’s fight team. Sefo turned downed the fight because he would have had just weeks to prepare for it. Sefo, 37, owns a mere 1-0 professional MMA record after defeating Min Soo Kim with a second-round KO at a 2005 K-1 HERO’S show. However, the New Zealand native is most noted as a kickboxer (53-17-1 record) and a five-time Muay Thai world champ. note i highlighted the reason he didnt take the fight, just becuase i know people would start talking smack and whatnot, if you dont know who ray sefo is, watch his fight in K1 against mark hunt, or against jerome lebanner.

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According to the Dream official site: Four fights have been announced for the lightweight tournament: Gesias Calvancanti Vs. Shinya Aoki Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Black Mamba Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Luis Buscape Koutetsu Boku vs. Joachim Hansen The remaining fighters in the tournament are: Andre Dida Mitsuhiro Ishida Caol Uno Gilbert Melendez Artur Oumakhanov Jung Bu-Kyung and I believe two more participants that have not been named yet. I just cant wait for this to happen

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An autopsy conducted on Canadian MMA fighter Rene Ayangma, who collapsed and died after a workout on February 19, shows that the fighter died of natural causes. The CBC reports a supplement Ayangma was taking is also being examined.

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HDNet, the all-high-definition cable station geared toward MMA, will broadcast two major MMA events this weekend: “Maximum Fighting Championship 15: Rags to Riches” tonight and “Strikeforce at the Dome” tomorrow. Both events will be broadcast live. The MFC show features a main event between Pete Spratt (17-10), a UFC veteran and “The Ultimate Fighter 4” cast member, and prospect Ryan Ford (4-0). The event takes place at River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton. HDNet will air the event live from 9-12 p.m. ET. Saturday’s Strikeforce event features a main event between NFL lineman-turned fighter/kickboxer Bob Sapp (9-2-1) and undefeated boxer Jan “The Giant” Nortje (1-5). Other bouts include Maurice Smith vs. Rick Roufus, Joe Riggs vs. Cory Devela, and Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Healy. Should be a couple of good nights for fights, props to HDNet for getting more and more live MMA on TV for us. I'm hoping for a few quick stoppages on the MFC card as a guy that trains at my gym is fighting and it would be great if he gets some air time! Keep an eye out for Gavin Neil ,a really good MT guy (fighting Josh Groves) and give him a cheer if it makes it to air.

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That's the plan according to now-former UFC fighter Mirko Cro Cop. He's on record as saying he will fight 3 fights for the new DREAM promotion then return to UFC.

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A young Canadian mixed martial artist died after a light sparring session Tuesday evening in Stratford, Prince Edward Island. Rene Ayangma, 20, a member of Team Bueno based out of the Largo Fitness Centre, was preparing for his second MMA fight, scheduled for Extreme Cage Combat in Halifax on March 15.

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2007 turned out to be the biggest year in the history of MMA, and it had some of the best fights in a long time. I dubbed 07 as the “Year of the Lightweights,” with so many great fights coming from the 155-pound division, and we start out this year with a great lightweight fight at the first event of the year. UFC 80 featured Joe “Daddy” Stevenson taking on BJ Penn for the UFC Lightweight title. Penn defeated Stevenson in the second round by submission and will now face Sean Sherk at UFC 84 for the lightweight title. We’re already more than a month into the year, but who says it’s too late to do a preview? 2008 should be yet another great year for MMA, and I look for the sport to take even more steps into the mainstream of American and world acceptance. I’ll break down the situation in each of the six major weight classes as well as some of the top stories to look for in the upcoming year.

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