MMA News Thread

[Shogun Locc]

Tom Atencio: "No truth" to rumors of poor Affliction ticket sales

Although Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio is tight-lipped about specific sales totals for the Jan. 24 "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" event, he maintains sales are "comparable" to its first show that took place in July 2008.

However, despite his satisfaction, many reports in the past week have pegged actual sales numbers for the event at just 1,500 to 2,000 of the 15,000 available tickets for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

"That's absolutely not true," Atencio today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "One hundred percent inaccurate."

During conference calls in December and then again just last week, Atencio said he was "real happy" with the pace of sales for the event. Despite his satisfaction, rumor of poor sales persist. (Honda Center representatives declined to comment.)

By the time the Jan. 24 HDNet- and pay-per-view-televised event concludes, Atencio predicts sales totals for "Day of Reckoning" will be similar to those from the July 2008 "Banned" event. According to the California State Athletic Commission, "Banned" drew 14,832 spectators (11,242 paid) for a live gate of nearly $2.1 million.

The organization will use a similar seating configuration for the second show, and Atencio said that in the weeks leading up to "Day of Reckoning," sales figures have mirrored "Banned."

"I don't want to give out exact numbers, but it's very similar to the first show," he said. "And I'm very happy with the ticket sales at this point."

"Banned" featured a main event of longtime PRIDE heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko vs. former UFC title-holder Tim Sylvia. For "Day of Reckoning," Emelianenko takes on another former UFC champion, Andrei Arlovski.

Although the upcoming event's complete fight card is just as stacked as its predecessor, "Day of Reckoning" hasn't generated the buzz that "Banned" did. Much of that initial publicity stemmed from the UFC's decision to broadcast UFC Fight Night 14 (headlined by pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva) for free on Spike TV on the same night as "Banned." The "UFC vs. Affliction" storyline generated a lot of headlines, but the second time around, the UFC and Spike TV have quietly scheduled a replay of "UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar" to counter Affliction. Without the public bickering, Affliction hasn't seemed to generate the headlines the first show did.

Additionally, "Day of Reckoning" faces major competition in its Jan. 24 time slot. The UFC has scheduled pay-per-view events for both Jan. 17 and Jan. 31. (The Jan. 31 event, UFC 94, features a mega-fight between UFC champions Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn.) The WEC, a sister promotion of the UFC, also decided to hold a rare Sunday card in San Diego – one day after "Day of Reckoning" – on Jan. 25.

And if that weren't enough, Golden Boy Productions, which announced a partnership with Affliction in late 2008, will host a boxing event the same night as "Day of Reckoning." Antonio Margarito defends his WBA welterweight boxing title against Shane Mosley at a Golden Boy show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which is just 30 miles from Affliction's event. Additionally, Staples Center officials recently opened up a slew of $25 tickets for the event.

Still, Atencio sees "Day of Reckoning" emerging as a successful event.

"If we're as successful as the first [show], and I'm sure we will be, then I'm going to be real happy," he said.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Chris Lytle: “Nobody is above getting knocked out”

While every fighter’s dream in the UFC is to become the champion of their weight class, Chris Lytle has only one focus at this point in his career and that is to be known as one of the world’s most consistently exciting fighters. In an exclusive interview with FiveOuncesOfPain.com the 34-year old octagon veteran said that he wants to be the kind of fighter that ‘makes people want to buy pay per views’.

Coming off of the heels of his fight of the night victory over Paul Taylor at UFC 89, Lytle will have another golden opportunity to establish himself as one of the UFC’s most electrifying athletes when he faces off with fellow professional boxer, Marcus Davis, as the two have publicly entered into a gentleman’s agreement that they will stand up and fight on the feet for the duration of the bout. Whether the agreement will be honored by both men remains to be seen but the fight already has all of the ingredients of an old fashioned slugfest. A slugfest with heavy consequences for either fighter.

Lytle and Davis both bounced back from disappointing losses and the match up between the two will move one fighter that much closer to title contention while leaving the other with that much longer of a road back up the ladder in the UFC’s talent rich welterweight division.

Cory Brady: I know that you are a full time fire fighter as well as having to train full time for the UFC. How do you split the two up?

Chris Lytle: I got pretty lucky that I working with the fire department. It’s a really great job as far as allowing me to train. I’ll work a 24 hour shift and then I’ll have 48 hours off, so I’ll do most of my training during those 48 hours that I have off. While I’m at the station I have a chance to do my weight lifting and my cardio and then I do all of my other training during the those two days that I have off.

Cory Brady: How are you feeling in the days leading up to your fight with Marcus Davis?

Chris Lytle: I’m really excited about this fight. I think it’s going to be a really good, exciting fight. It’s the kind of fight that I’ve been looking for. He’s the kind of guy that likes to stand up and trade and put on an exciting show. He’s a pro boxer and I’ve been a pro boxer as well, so I think it’s the exact kind of fight that both of us have been looking for.

Cory Brady: How do you feel you match up with Davis stylistically?

Chris Lytle: I think we match up pretty evenly. Both of our strengths is our stand up. I’ve had a lot of boxing matches and so has he and in addition to that I think that we both have an under rated ground game. If you combine all of those factors I think that we are very similar fighters with the main difference being that he’s left handed and I’m right handed.

Cory Brady: Have you been working with a lot of left handed guys in preparing for this fight?

Chris Lytle: I’ve definitely been working a lot with the left handed guys in the gym. We have a few different southpaws and guys that can switch it up and go back and forth, so I’ve been focusing a lot on that.

Cory Brady: Both of you guys are known for having terrific boxing. Do you think this fight has potential to turn into a slugfest?

Chris Lytle: It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this ended up being fight of the night. I’m not really planning on the fight going to the ground and I doubt he is either. That’s kind of what I’m anticipating. I’m expecting a stand up war.

Cory Brady: Coming off of your fight of the night performance with Paul Taylor it seems if you have been given another opportunity to have a standout performance in this match up. Will you be hoping for a consecutive fight of the night in this one?

Chris Lytle: Back to back fight of the night honors would definitely make me very happy. That’s my main goal this year, when people here that I’m going to be on the card I want them to want to order the pay-per-view because they know it’s going to be an exciting fight. I want to be in high demand and I want people to want to see my fights.

Cory Brady: What do you feel are some of your advantages you will have over Davis going into this fight?

Chris Lytle: I feel like I’m a little bit taller and that I’m going to have a little reach advantage against Marcus and I think that’s going to come into play. I also think that I’m a little awkward with my stand up and I think it’s going to be something that he hasn’t really seen before.

Cory Brady: Have you been spending any extra time focusing on your ground game preparing for Davis?

Chris Lytle: I have been working a lot on my ground game. I’ve been putting a lot of time into pretty much every aspect of my fight game so I’ll feel really good no matter where the fight goes. I don’t really have a one track mind when it comes to fighting. I can change it up whenever I need to.

Cory Brady: Do you think a convincing win over Marcus Davis will shoot you up in the rankings in UFC’s welterweight division?

Chris Lytle: Without a doubt the ultimate goal is to work my way up and get a shot at the title at some point. The problem is that the 170 pound division is just so stacked. The welterweight division is just ridiculous right now.

Cory Brady: What would be the perfect ending to this fight for you?

Chris Lytle: I’m always looking to win by knockout. I guess second place would be the submission win but definitely want the fight to be over before the final bell sounds. I don’t like going to decisions at all because I’ve lost a lot of close one’s. You just never know, I’ve seen some really close decisions so you just can’t leave your fate in the judges hands. When you have someone like him that has had a lot of experience in boxing I think that knockout is a little harder to get than most people think. If he’s been boxing for a while he’s probably had at least 10,000 punches thrown at his face so it will be that much easier to see it coming and get out of the way. I think the same thing goes for me. It’s a harder than most people think but nobody is above getting knocked out. I always hear about guy’s that have an iron chin, no way, if you get hit in the right place you’re getting knocked out. It can happen to anybody.

Cory Brady: It seems like a lot of people just expect that a fight between two strikers or two ground specialists will stay in the area that the fighters are the most comfortable but a lot of times they will neutralize each other it whatever area they specialize in. So we end up seeing two strikers in a wrestling match or two wrestlers on the feet banging. Do you think that this fight has the potential to turn out that way?

Chris Lytle: Yeah, it’s funny, that does happen a lot. You’ll get two guys that are really good at jiu-jitsu and they’ll be sitting there banging it out and you’re sitting there like, ‘What?’. I’m not really anticipating that in this fight though. I definitely think you’re going to end up seeing a lot of stand up.

Cory Brady: What can people expect to see from Chris Lytle in the future?

Chris Lytle: I think last year was fantastic year for me. I think I won submission, knockout or fight of the night in like four of my last five fights. I want to make sure that by the end of this year for everyone to want to see every fight I’m in. I want to be the kind of fighter that makes people want to buy pay per views just because I’m going to be on it.

Cory Brady: Would you like to have another fight with Paul Taylor at some point?

Chris Lytle: Oh yeah, I would do another fight with him. That’s the exact kind of fight that I’m looking for right now. I want to fight anyone that’s willing to get in there and bang it out and put on a good show with me. I didn’t realize how good of a chin that he had. Paul was extremely tough and I look for really great things from him in the future. Those are the kinds of fights that I’m looking for right now.So him or anyone else that fights like him, yeah, bring it. Just putting on fantastic, entertaining fights is what I’m all about right now.

Cory Brady: Any plans to return to boxing at some point down the road?

Chris Lytle: Ever since I’ve been under a UFC contract for the last few years it has kind of been a no-no. They won’t let you box. They kind of control when you fight and who you fight and to be honest with you, things have been a lot better with the UFC than with boxing. I wouldn’t mind having another boxing match or two at some point in my career but if it doesn’t happen, that’s alright too. I just couldn’t see myself giving up mixed martial arts for boxing because MMA is where my heart is at right now.

Cory Brady: Is there anyone you would like to thank?

Chris Lytle: MMA Agents are always doing good work for me and my boys over at TapouT are always helping me out. Also, Full Tilt Poker, I’m a big poker guy.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua: “I’m still the same fighter I was in the past”

Once known as the best fighter in the world at 205 pounds before a series of nasty injuries and surgeries that forced him to the sidelines, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is driven to show the world that he is same great fighter he was in the past.

The 27 year old Brazilian will make his return to the octagon at UFC 93 on January 17th against another former champion that will be looking to return to his original form, Pride Grand Prix champion and UFC hall of famer, Mark “The Hammer” Coleman. The two modern day gladiators are far from strangers.

Rua was at the peak of his young career when the two faced off previously in Japan back in February of 2006. He was riding an eight fight win streak that included a PRIDE Grand Prix Tournament championship and a first round battering of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The pairs previous bout ended abruptly only 49 seconds into the match when Rua suffered a nasty injury attempting to defend a Coleman takedown. Twisting around while trying to free himself from the double leg takedown attempt, Rua fell face first toward the canvas. When he tried to brace himself by posting his arm out, his elbow was violently dislocated which caused his arm to bend backwards.

A wild scene followed as Rua’s brother, Murilo “Ninja” Rua, rushed to his brothers aide and Coleman was apparently confused as to why the bout had been stopped. Ninja jumped up in the defense of his brother when it appeared as if Coleman was aggressively advancing towards the injured fighter. A small melee erupted involving both corners which included Phil Baroni who was in Coleman’s corner and Wanderlei Silva who had been watching at ringside.

After repeatedly asking his manager for a rematch with Coleman, Rua will finally have an opportunity to give this fight a proper ending and re establish himself amongst the best in the game all on the same night.

While many seem to see this fight as a classic grudge match, Rua told FiveOuncesOfPain.com in an exclusive interview done in the days leading up to his fight with Coleman that he doesn’t see it that way.

“I wouldn’t call it bad blood,” explained Rua. “I spoke with Coleman after our first fight and we got somewhat into terms.”

“However, as a fighter I want to prove that our first fight was an accident and I didn’t like the way he celebrated it like if it was a totally legit win.”

Rua has the utmost respect for Coleman and all of his accomplishments in the sport of mixed martial arts. A healthy dose of respect and a thorough understanding of the Coleman’s decisive advantage in the octagon. An advantage that he does not feel will be enough.

“I think he is a great fighter, a legend,” said Rua. “He is a great wrestler but I think I’m better at jiu-jitsu and striking. Plus, I have better cardio. I think it’s a good match up for me in theory.”

Rua has had plenty of time to heal up from an extensive knee surgery that was performed following his loss to Forrest Griffin in his UFC debut. The injury had been plaguing Rua long before his bout with Griffin and the loss left him without any alternative than to take care of the problem, the right way.

“My injuries are healed so I’m feeling in great shape,” exclaimed Rua. “I feel great. I’m well-trained, in good shape and have little weight to cut for the fight.”

“I’m feeling fast, my cardio is good and I have been working a lot on my power.”

Both Shogun and his brother Ninja left the Academy that they had been training with since the beginning of their careers in Curitiba, Brazil back in January of 2008 to from their own gym called Universidade da Luta which translates to University of Fighting. The new camp is coming together nicely and has been absolutely instrumental in helping the electrifying fighter make his return to action.

“I have been training a lot at my new team, UDL, and our preparation has been very intense,” said Rua. “My BJJ coach is Cristiano Carioca, a guy from Manaus, up in the north of Brazil. He has formed several BJJ world champions at many belts, including black.”

“I have been training Muay Thai with Fernando “Fefe” Falkenbac, who brought his whole stable of fighters from Thai Brasil, his own Muay Thai academy, to be my sparring partners. He studies the game a lot and travels to Thailand every now and then.”

“It was really good to get back to my Muay Thai roots.”

Curitiba,Brazil has long been a hot bed for up and coming talent in the world of mixed martial arts, with elite fighters like Anderson and Wanderlei Silva calling the town home at some point. The abundace of talent confined to the small area has helped Rua in countless ways, with plenty of experienced training partners to spar with at any time at the top of that list.

“We have my Boxing coach, Danilo Dourado, and everyone works together co-ordinating the MMA training with the help of many sparring partners,” said Rua. “I had a lot of training partners for this one like like my brother Murilo Ninja Rua, my youngest, but bigger brother, Marcos Rua, Joao Paulo Tuba, Saulo, Nino Schembri, BJJ world champ Fernando Vieira, Imerson, Simpson, Pimpolho and many other guys that come in from time to time to help out.”

Al of the time to heal properly and long sparring sessions with all of his men at UDL has left Rua overflowing with confidence going into one of the most pivotal bouts in his career.

“You never really know what can happen in a fight and I respect Coleman but obviously I have to be confident,” explained Rua. “I see the fight ending with a submission from the bottom, or a knockout standing up.”

“I’m focusing on defeating Coleman and winning the fight. Every time I fight I try to do have exciting fight and this time isn’t going to be any different. There are things that are consequence of our work and if I have a good fight, naturally people are gonna like it. The main thing in my mind is to win and show my true potential.”

Rua would be lying if he didn’t say that his ultimate goal with the UFC is to become the light heavyweight champion at some point but he is smart enough to know that you have to take things one step at a time in this business.

“I think the goal of every fighter is to become champion,” said Rua. “To be the best at what you do and to be the best right now, you have to be the UFC champion. The UFC is running great shows and to become the champion would be a great feeling but I have to take things step by step and right now all I’m thinking about is Mark Coleman.”

Rua is eager to show all of the people that have stuck with him throughout the ups and downs of his career that they can expect the old Shogun to show up on January 17th. He promises that his performance against Coleman in Dublin, Ireland will be a sign of what is to come from the extremely talented and well rounded fighter in the future.

“I treasure my fans,” explained Rua. “Every time I fight I try to give my best and make an exciting fight for all of them. They can be sure that there will be many more exciting fights from me in the future and that I will be training hard to show that I’m still the same fighter I was in the past. I’m always trying to improve.”

“I would like to thank all my fans for their support in this difficult time of injuries, it feels great to be back. I also want to thank Bad Boy, for their support sponsoring me trough my hard times, and my other sponsors like Midway Supplements and Red Dragon Fight Club. I can’t forget to thank my new team, UDL, and all the trainers, Danilo Dourado, Fernando Falkenback, Cristiano Carioca, who have been training me hard believing in my comeback, as well as my sparring partners who have worked hard for this fight with me.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Rafael Feijão: “I have thirst of battle”

With three excellent wons in EliteXC, Rafael "Feijão" Cavalcante wanted to close 2008 with the “golden key”, but the closing of the event meant that the athlete to compete belt of the middle-heavy,but the closing of the event meant that the athlete to compete belt of the middle-heavy. Despite the disappointment, the athlete keeps the focus on training and want to come back with everything in 2009. “We are with some good proposals and I'm just waiting time with EliteXC finish to sign” celebrates the fighter, hoping to continue the good teamwork.

"I want to keep the training that was already doing with the Rogerão (Camões), (Josuel) Distak, Maldonado, in boxing and training with Anderson Silva, Rodrigo, Rogerio ... Training with them, any fight is calm” said the fighter, who wants to follow towards the top of the new category this year. "Unfortunately I could not dispute the belt of the Elite, but it was not my fault. I was to confident, but now I just have to wait for a new journey. I´m ready with thirst of battle and I will prepare. The first opportunity to appear, I get, "says the fighter, which examines proposals for three events. "The events are the U.S. and Japan, but my focus is in the United States," finalized.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Rafael dos Anjos focused on ADCC

Black belt of Gracie Fusion, Rafael dos Anjos has not achieved a good result in his debut in the cage of the UFC.After you submit well in the first two rounds, Rafael just suffering a knockout in the third round against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 91.”Of course that there is nervousness and adrenaline before the fight, but I have a good head. The knockout was because I ran away from my character. I walk forward and bid that I was going backward. I lost good positions during the fight, where I could hold a little. But you have things that happen that is not explained, was not to win that day” said Rafael that believes the Brazilian has a chance to get in a dispute with the belt lightweight category, now in the hands of BJ Penn.

"Brazil has a chance in this category, I believe that soon we will get there. I am working hard for that to happen an if god wants one day I will get there. said the black-belt, which had welcomed the arrival of Ronnys Torres in the category. "The Ronnys deserves, he is on the road and has many victories”. While not disclose his commitment in UFC, Rafael is training for the strong selective Brazilian ADCC, held in February in Rio de Janeiro.

“I'm training more Submission Wrestling and I will fight the selective of ADCC but I kepp tainning boxing. I am training well for the ADCC, I will fight until the 77kg category, then I will not have to lose weight.I will represent well my team an try to grab the opportunity to the main event”. concluded the owner of the lightweight champion of Fury FC that in the last day on December 27 celebrated the birth of his first child.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Update on Joachim Hansen's Condition

Maeda-san from Team Hellboy MMA has updated on Joachim Hansen's blog about Joachim's current condition and the reason for him not competing on NYE.

On the blog it says:

Joachim had a headacke and was throwing up. There is no more update on the reason.

As for his current condition, it says that he is ok. This is very good news and I hope we get to see a re-match, I know Joachim was very well prepared for this fight and JZ looked in awesome shape as well.

 

[Shogun Locc]

LYTLE HAS NO PLANS, JUST EXPECTS A TOUGH FIGHT

When you think of potentially great fights, Marcus Davis against Chris Lytle has to be an exciting thought. Just like Davis, Lytle has been involved in a number of great fights, including his previous contest against Paul Taylor. That fight, as exciting as it was, may be an afterthought after he and Davis mix it up at UFC 93.

The interesting aspect of this fight is that both fighters have called the other out. But it's not the fact that they don't like each other. In fact, it's quite the opposite. They get along fine and have an extreme respect for each other. They both just know that this is just one of those fights that will have fans excited from start to finish.

Lytle is very excited about the prospect of getting in the cage with this type of fight on his hands. “This is the kind of fight I've been looking for, the kind of fight I like right now,” said Lytle in a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com. “So the second they gave me the opportunity to do it, I jumped all over it.”

The welterweight division has its share of large fighters like Georges St. Pierre, Thiago Alves, and Josh Koscheck. Weight is never an issue for, Lytle who doesn't lose an extreme amount of weight to make the 170-pound limit.

“It's usually pretty easy for me,” explained the Indiana native. “I'm not one of these guys who are losing 30 pounds. I usually lose around 15 to 16 pounds. Usually when I get there, I'm 10 pounds over, so that's just a matter of working out at the right times and limiting my water intake and then find a place to sweat out the last few pounds at the very end. It's not that big of a deal for me.”

One thing that is a big deal to Lytle is to make sure he keeps on improving himself. To do that, he likes to reflect back on all of his fights to determine his strengths and weaknesses. He feels it gives him more insight on areas that he knows he should work on. “I usually like to go back and check out exactly what happened. I watch the fight. I saw that there were some good things and some bad things that happened in that fight... I learned a lot more from my losses, then my wins, but you can take something from every fight.”

Davis and Lytle have similar styles in the fact that they both have excellent boxing skills, good wrestling, and a solid ground game. Because of those facts, this fight has all the makings of being a possible fight of the year candidate. “We kind of have very similar backgrounds in boxing and I think we have a lot in common. There's definitely a mutual respect there. It's just the fact that I think it'd be a great fight. At this point in my career, that's what really motivates me a lot is just being in those kind of fights where people talk about it, like that Paul Taylor fight.”

An exciting fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship usually transcends to major paychecks being delivered from Dana White for "Fight of the Night." While that is a motivational factor for Lytle, he would want the fight even in there were no bonuses being given out.

“That's true. I'll give you that,” responded Lytle to possibly obtaining a Fight of the Night bonus. “At the same time, I don't care if anybody sees this fight. It could be on the undercard. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it. It's not even win, lose, or draw. It's being in it. If there is no bonus, I still want this fight.”

With the fighting styles that Lytle and Davis have, it's no secret that this fight is expected to be a stand-up slugfest. Knowing that, Lytle doesn't plan on coming into this fight with a game plan. “I don't have anything. I'm going out there and I'm going to fight. When I over-think things, it gets complicated. I'm going to keep it simple and go out there and fight!”

 

[Shogun Locc]

SERRA SAYS MAY 23 FOR HUGHES FIGHT

While it has long been common place for coaches of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series to face each other after the series finale, few took to a personal disliking of each other like season six’s Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.

Throughout the season’s run, the two traded barbs with each other almost every chance they could get, thus it came as no surprise that their intended title showdown at UFC 79 was one of the most anticipated fights of 2007.

Injury forced the initial fight to be postponed, eventually leading to Georges St. Pierre defeating both Hughes and Serra to claim the undisputed welterweight championship; still fans clamored to see the two Matts finally square off.

Now it appears that over a year and a half later they will finally get their wish.

“I’ve got a date of May 23 in Vegas against Matt Hughes,” Serra confirmed to MMAWeekly.com. “That’s what I just found out a few days ago and it’s actually awesome.”

The Long Island native explained why the fight had been delayed to May after so much anticipation.

“Originally I thought it was going to be in the fall (of 2007), then he was still hurt,” said Serra. “So then I thought it was going to be in January, and then that wasn’t working because he wasn’t going to be ready until March. But I’m having my kid in March, so it’s just the way things work out.

“I’m not going to miss the birth of my first born. I’m an easy guy to work with, but c’mon. So then I thought maybe April, but now it’s May.”

While initially unhappy with the delays, Serra now feels the timing may be perfect.

“With my kid being born in March is definitely going to take away a little from training, and will be a new experience for me, so I don’t mind (the fight) being pushed to May,” he admitted.

Still five months out from the proposed date, Serra is wasting no time beginning preparations now that he’s finally healthy off an injury that kept him sidelined much of last year.

“I’m driving to (Ray) Longo’s right now to get my training on,” he stated. “I’m starting to weigh out. My goal is to get in phenomenal shape and then work everything from there.”

With both fighters coming off losses in their most recent fights – Hughes to Thaigo Alves in June, and Serra to St. Pierre last April – each is in need of a win if they have hopes of staying in contention for the welterweight title to be determined on January 31 between St. Pierre and current UFC lightweight titleholder B.J. Penn.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Silva Sues CSAC

Suspended fighter Antonio Silva filed a civil action against the California State Athletic Commission on Jan. 7 in Los Angeles Superior Court, the first known case in which a mixed martial artist has legally contested a CSAC decision outside the state regulatory body.

Silva is asking for a “writ of mandate,” or a ruling from the court that will supersede the CSAC’s decision to suspend the fighter for one year for alleged steroid use and possibly allow Silva another hearing to try and prove his innocence.

Silva, 28, was suspended after allegedly testing positive for Boldenone metabolite following his July 26 contest against Justin Eilers at an EliteXC event in Stockton, Calif.

Silva’s attorney, Howard Jacobs, will file for a motion this week for the case to be heard at a future date. Jacobs said he has also sent a letter to the CSAC requesting the postponement of a Feb. 10 hearing where Silva’s license is to be reviewed for revocation following the fighter’s participation at an event in Japan on Jan. 4.

The CSAC contends Silva violated the state’s Business and Professions Code 18850, which states that, “any boxer or martial arts fighter who participates in a contest or match while under suspension by the commission, or any other recognized commission, shall have his or her license revoked.”

If the CSAC does not postpone the hearing, Jacobs, who will be in a Florida court on another case on Feb. 10, said he will file for a motion to stay the proceeding until the civil action can be heard and decided upon.

CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas did not initially answer calls for comment.

At a CSAC hearing on Oct. 22 in Los Angeles, Silva, his manager Alex Davis, and world-renowned doping attorney Jacobs appealed the fighter’s sentence on the grounds of a “false positive” from the over-the-counter nutritional supplement Novedex.

Novedex, which contains the testosterone booster ATD, is currently not included on the CSAC’s list of banned substances and has been documented to cause false readings for Boldenone before. Through his translator and manager Alex Davis, Silva said he’d taken the supplement for four weeks prior to the bout.

Silva did not disclose his use of Novedex on a mandatory pre-fight questionnaire submitted to the commission, though the form was presented to the Portuguese-speaking fighter in English. Davis told the CSAC that he had assisted Silva with portions of his questionnaire, and wrote down the word “multivitamins” when Silva said he’d ingested supplements.

At the hearing, Jacobs also presented clean test results for an independent specimen Silva sent to the AEGIS laboratory in Florida on Sept. 3, approximately 40 days after his state-administered test.

CSAC board members questioned the validity of Silva’s independent test in regards to its authenticity and chain of custody. Members also asked why Silva did not submit purchase receipts for the Novedex he allegedly took, before the five commissioners voted to unanimously uphold the suspension through July 27, 2009.

The Jan. 7 civil action filing contends that the CSAC’s ruling that the positive urinalysis test was conclusive proof of Silva’s steroid use is “both legally and factually inaccurate.”

“They had to prove he used something that was banned,” said Jacobs, “and once they acknowledged that the positive could have been caused by either the over-the-counter drug or by the use of Boldenone, they should have ruled in his favor.”

Jacobs said the burden of proof should have been placed on the state regulatory body to prove the fighter took the banned substance, and not with the fighter’s responsibility to prove the positive test came from the supplement.

“They shouldn’t have done what they did, which was turn around and say, ‘Well, you didn’t prove it actually came from the supplement,’” said Jacobs.

In a Dec. 11 letter to Jacobs, CSAC Chairman Tim Noonan wrote, “a mixed martial arts licensee is responsible for whatever goes into his body…Even if the Petitioner used Novedex AT and did not use Boldenone, the use of ‘any drug,’ whether denominated a ‘drug’ or ‘nutritional supplement’ that results in a positive test, is prohibited by Rule 303 and is grounds for suspension.”

In December, following the sudden departure of CSAC Executive Officer Armando Garcia -- who oversaw Silva’s case and ruling -- the state agency re-vamped its drug testing program and moved it to the same UCLA laboratory used by NFL, minor league baseball, men’s and women’s NCAA sports, and the Dept. of Defense.

Silva also accepted a bout against Yoshihiro Nakao at World Victory Road’s “Sengoku Seventh Battle” on Jan. 4 in Saitama, Japan. Silva (12-1) toppled Nakao with a technical knockout from injury at 1:42.

Silva’s manager Davis, who has steadily declared his fighter’s innocence from day one, said the fighter had no other option.

“We would have much rather not fought in Japan, but Antonio has medical expenses that he just can’t go without shouldering because of his health. He has to spend a lot of money on medicine every month,” Davis told Sherdog.com on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-4, nearly 300-pound fighter suffers from the chronic disease acromegaly, which causes enlargement of the extremities and face due to an overactive pituitary gland.

“I think we showed enough evidence that would have, at least, made them [the CSAC] investigate this further,” said Davis. “I don’t want to try and undermine the CSAC’s authority. I think they have to be rigorous with their testing. At the same time, they may need to realize here is what happened, it’s happened before, and this is the first time that somebody’s going all the way [to question it]. This doesn’t have to be set the way that it is.”

The CSAC has previously handed down hotly contested suspensions to former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk and Strikeforce fighter Phil Baroni, who both tested positive for steroids in 2007. Jacobs represented Sherk in his appeal, which led to a reduced suspension.

If Silva’s Feb. 10 hearing proceeds, his California license could be frozen in one-year increments until the commission voted again to reinstatement him. The commission could also vote to not revoke the license, alter Silva’s suspension, and impose a fine.

Davis said Silva has not been assigned his next bout with Sengoku, but is contracted with the Japanese promotion for the next year.

“He’s going to fight in Japan until we figure this out,” said Davis. “If he has to fight in Japan forever, like I said, he just doesn’t have a choice.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

End of an Era: Fighter-Manager Handshake Deals Die as MMA Grows

Widely regarded as the dean of MMA managers, Monte Cox has always relied on handshake deals with his fighters.

That just might change in the near future.

As MMA continues to grow, so does the money in the sport, attracting a new breed of fighter representatives -- agents, as opposed to managers -- from outside the game. These agents attempt to jump on the MMA gravy train, Cox and others contend, by poaching fighters from their existing managers with inflated promises of bigger paydays.

Cox, a 13-year MMA veteran who boasts the biggest stable of name fighters in the game, of late has lost a couple of those handshake clients to other managers or agents.

And thus, he said he is seriously considering switching to written contracts.

“It’s becoming more of a business than a sport,” said the Bettendorf, Iowa-based Cox, whose 60 some fighters include Matt Hughes, Tim Sylvia, Rich Franklin, Jens Pulver and Robbie Lawler.

“I’m an odd character in that I don’t do contracts,” he said. “For 13 years, I’ve gone on a handshake. But now, it’s become a little different in that you take somebody that you’ve developed and you’ve built and they’re making a lot of money and then they jump to somebody else. And it leaves you holding the bag.

“So now I’m definitely thinking about going with written contracts,” said Cox, who is also a veteran promoter with Extreme Challenge, which he owns, and other promotions.

While Cox does not believe that the few fighters he lost, most notably Roger Huerta, were actually poached, he said he hears poaching horror stories from smaller managers all the time.

“All the smaller guys tell me how bad it is,” he said.

Chad Bergmeier, based in Waterloo, Iowa, is one of them. Like Cox, he too has lost some fighters, including Kevin Burns, with whom he had handshake deals. Bergmeier said he also is going to start instituting written contracts with his fighters.

“It’s so strange,” said Bergmeier, who manages about 30 fighters -- including Rob Kimmons, Ryan Thomas and Travis Fulton -- though none with quite the star power of Cox’s A-listers. “I’ve been involved in this sport for about 11 years now and it definitely has changed a lot, gotten bigger. And naturally, as that happens, you do have more of the poacher-type people showing up.”

Another smaller fighter rep is Mike Camp of F1 Management in Akron, Ohio, whose biggest name client is Dave Herman.

“I’d like to do all my business with a handshake,” Camp said. “But in this climate, you just can’t do that. The sport has changed where you gotta be more guarded with your clients.

“Now you have guys out there who I call ambulance chasers. They don’t know what it’s like to drive a guy 10-12 hours to fight for $300, $400 bucks. There’s something to be said for paying your dues.”

None of the people interviewed for this article were willing to identify any of the purported poachers by name on the record.

“Years ago, it was a bunch of managers,” said Cox. “Now it’s a bunch of agents. I just think that as our sport grows and as the money becomes better, you’re gonna get more of the bad element in it.

“And you got to watch your back,” he added. “When I first got into mixed martial arts, it was really refreshing that this was such a new sport. There wasn’t a lot of money so everyone was really into it for the sport. But these agents simply see a commodity that they can make money off of. For them, it’s strictly business.”

Former fighter Jeff Clark, who along with another former fighter, Matt Stansell, runs NCFC Fight Management in Carlsbad, Calif., said many of the new MMA agents are “rejects” from other sports.

“They were a baseball agent or they were something else and they didn’t make it at that so they’re trying to jump on something they can make it at,” said Clark, who manages such fighters as Brandon Vera, Diego Sanchez and Cox’s former client, Huerta. “And then some of them are just attorneys that see an opportunity.”

Unlike Cox and Bergmeier, Clark and Stansell always put their fighters under written contracts. So does relative MMA newcomer Ken Pavia, who owns MMA Agents in Huntington Beach, Calif., which represents about 50 fighters, including Phil Baroni, Chris Lytle, Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs.

“I would never do anything on a handshake,” said Pavia, who has verbally sparred with rival Cox on MMA sites. “I’m a law school graduate and I know that you violate a number of provisions by not having it in writing. But second of all, all relationships start good. It’s when the relationship starts to sour that you need a defining document.”

The difference between a manager and an agent, Cox said, is that a manager develops young fighters’ careers by placing them with good trainers, carefully selecting their opponents and building them up in smaller promotions. The end goal of the manager, Cox said, is to prepare fighters for the bigger promotions, of which the UFC is the biggest.

Pavia, who makes no pretense that he is a manager, said his job as an agent is to “find opportunities and present them and then the fighters make the ultimate determination. I don’t manage them day to day or prepare them for their fights.”

Cox and Clark believe that many of the new agents do not understand the MMA business and, as a result, make financial promises to fighters they can’t fulfill.

“They just go and promise the fighters this, that and everything,” Clark said. “And the fighters unfortunately don’t know that and they just hear numbers and go after the numbers.”

Cox put it more bluntly: “A lot of times, they’re promising them bull----,” he said. “And it amazes me that you could come in and not know anything about the sport and think you can do it.”

Cox related one such episode. He said about two months ago, Lawler told him another agent was promising him $200,000 for a fight with a big-name promotion.

“And I said, ‘Bull----, it’s not true.’ And I called up the guy running the show and the guy laughed and said ‘that is bull----.’ Well, I ended up keeping Robbie only because he had come to my house and said, ‘Dude, I got to talk to you face to face about this.’ Most other fighters would have said, ‘Fine, where do I sign?’”

Cox declined to identify either the agent or the promotion.

But he noted that the big numbers being tossed around by the new breed of agents is creating a climate in which some fighters, unlike Lawler, are showing disloyalty to the managers who built them up.

Bergmeier alleged that Kevin Burns, whom he used to represent, is one such fighter.

“I got that guy the fights that he needed to get to get into the UFC,” Bergmeier said. “I sold the idea to (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva about him fighting Roan Carneiro back in June” at UFC 85. “I got him into the UFC and then all of a sudden, he wants to bail on me right after he beats Roan, right before the Anthony Johnson fight” last July at UFC Fight Night 14.

But Burns said he left Bergmeier in large part because the manager did not secure him endorsement deals.

“I was soliciting endorsements, which is something my agent should be doing, but he wasn't,” Burns said. “You know how embarrassing it is when it's your first fight in the UFC” and a fighter has no endorsements?

Burns is now with Florida-based agent Dean Albrecht, co-founder of the MMAdhouse Agency, which represents such other fighters as Quinton Jackson and Michael Bisping. Burns said he pursued Albrecht after leaving Bergmeier.

Clark, meanwhile, said Huerta approached his agency -- not the other way around -- in large part because unlike Cox, a major component of what he and Stansell offer fighters is getting them sponsorship deals.

Clark said before his agency would even talk to Huerta, they told him, “‘You have to clear it with Monte.’ We try not to step on toes.”

Pavia, meanwhile, never lacking in self-confidence, has ruffled some of the old guard’s feathers with statements such as, “I’m the best agent. And I’m actually the second best also. Everybody else competes for third.” Brashness aside, Pavia said he does not engage in poaching.

“For the record, I never poached a client from anybody,” said Pavia. “Now, do they come to me? Yeah, they do. I have at least one or two former Monte clients” including Hieron, “and he has some of my former clients. So, you know, it happens. Welcome to the representation business.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Full-Time Fighter: Sean Salmon on opening SS Combat & Fitness

I am going to do my best with this column to describe what the last year and half has been like working to open SS Combat and Fitness, as well as address some of the questions or comments posted after MMAjunkie.com's original article about the gym.

I had my first fight in November 2005 in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. I started my first MMA training about one month before the fight. Actually, that was my first kind of training in any sort of combat sport outside of wrestling. I was doing most all my training in The Ohio State University wrestling room with just a small handful of guys. None of us were particularly well versed in anything besides wrestling.

In fact, shortly after that first fight, I signed to be represented by Gary Marino (a great guy and still a good friend) who flew me out to Boston for open auditions for season two of "The Ultimate Fighter." They did the wrestling/jiu-jitsu part first, and I was moved on to the stand-up portion at which time they said we were going to "hit mitts." The first thought to cross my mind was, "What the hell are mitts?"

Obviously, that was where my audition ended. I can't even imagine how ridiculous I must have looked to everyone hitting mitts for the first time. I find it humorous now.

Anyway, I was flying back from Boston and knew that my training needed an adjustment. I tried seeking out the best coaching in Columbus, but there was none. That's when I found my way to Cincinnati and Jorge Gurgel's MMA school. I made the 100-mile (one way) drive three times a week for almost a year. It was a very time- and money-consuming process, but my game was getting measurably better every day.

It was during those drives back and forth that I started thinking that I should open my own gym. I had a couple years of college, none of which were in business, but how hard could it be, right? Wow, I had no idea. Just finding a reasonably priced, reasonably located building proved difficult. Fast forward about a year and half through many close calls and nearly complete plans that only fell through at the last moment and now, through the help of family and friends, I have a building.

This has all been done with no corporate sponsorship or even any investors. You can imagine how tight money has been. Everything we got for this gym has been done through hard work, negotiating and even owing favors down the road. So, that leads me to my shameless request for sponsors. If you would like to sponsor the gym, we offer many different advertising packages from hanging a banner, logo on the mats, website or emails, as well as selling your product in our pro shop. You can contact me directly at salmonsean [AT] yahoo.com or MMAAgents.com's sponsor guy, Danny, at danny [AT] mmaagents.com.

Right now I am in the process of putting together the coaches. This is not going to be a gym where I teach everything. I am not that foolish or arrogant. We are going to have coaches for every discipline: Muay Thai, boxing, BJJ, wrestling and MMA. We will be offering those classes in youth to adult as well as beginner to professional. We will also be reaching out to the rest of Columbus by offering fitness-kickboxing and self-defense classes. My goal is to make this a place for anyone and everyone to come enjoy themselves and get into shape.

A quick update on my fighting. I have taken some time off since my Oct. 11 fight with Josh Haynes to continue to improve my stand up, as well as my mindset going into each fight. That being said, I am still improving every day and feel that I am bringing a completely different look to every fight, though still making what proves to be costly mistakes. Those are slowly but surely being eliminated.

I rarely address my critics, but it was tough not to notice all the comments on the last story from people that did not feel I was fit to own a gym because they did not believe I was a good enough fighter. You are all entitled to your opinions. I do wish some of you would keep them to yourself, but that is part of why MMAjunkie.com is such a great website: everyone can speak up.

Let me ask how many of you thought that Frank Mir would still be fighting right now a year and a half ago? How many more of you thought that he would be wearing UFC gold right now? Probably not many of you. Even I had pretty much written him off as a fighter. His head did not seem to be there, and he was not performing well. Mir's past two fights have epitomized the best part of being an athlete in combat sports: You can always redefine yourself. If you work hard enough, there is going to come a time when everything just clicks for you. All the hard work will fall into place, and you will become unbeatable. Just because success has not struck like lightning for me does not make it any less inevitable. As they say, "Judge not the play before the play is done."

Up next, I will be fighting on March 14 in Helsinki, Finland, against a Brazilian fighter with the goal of earning a rematch against Mikko Rupponen (who I beat in September 2007).

I did make my first good decision (with a lot of help) to turn down a possible fight on Feb. 6. I have such a hard time saying no to fights that I actually had to give my super-agent Ken Pavia the power to turn down fights before he even told me about them. He has always brought the fights to me and would then let me know his opinion on whether we should take it or not. There have been a few that he has strongly urged me to turn down only to have me fight with him and take it anyway.

As a fighter, it is hard to turn over control to someone else -- especially when you love to compete as much as I do. However 2009 is ready to become the turning point of my career, even if the only change I make is following the advice of those that I trust. This is the year I pull a Frank Mir.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Bao Quach replaces Mark Hominick at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning"

Bao Quach (15-8-1), an EliteXC veteran who's won his past nine fights, has been chosen as a replacement for Mark Hominick, who was recently forced off the Jan. 24 "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" card due to pneumonia.

Quach meets IFL veteran L.C. Davis (12-1) on the night's preliminary card, which airs live on HDNet.

The website for No Limits MMA, a gym where Quach trains (as do others such as Jared Rollins and Rob Emerson), recently posted news of the fighter's involvement with the event.

Affliction Entertainment formally announced on Monday that Hominick's illness had forced him out of the event, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. A main card featuring WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski airs on pay per view.

Tom Atencio told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Monday that a replacement had been secured but bout agreements needed to be signed before the official announcement could be made.

Quach, 29, has fought for a variety of organizations during his eight-year career, including King of the Cage, the WEC, Shooto and ICON Sport. He began his career with a 6-8-1 record, but since November 2006, he is 9-0, which included wins over UFC veteran Douglas Evans and Bobby McMaster in EliteXC's "ShoXC" series. In his most recent fight, he scored a decision victory over Mark Oshiro to win the ICON 140-pound North American belt.

Davis is a former IFL fighter who's posted 11 stoppages in his 12 pro wins. The Team Miletich fighter last competed at December's Adrenaline MMA event, where he defeated Billy Kidd via first-round submission.

 

[Shogun Locc]

PETE SELL VS MATT BROWN AT UFC 96

In what could be a sleeper nominee for Fight of the Night, MMAWeekly.com has confirmed with sources close to Pete “Drago” Sell that he will be making his Ultimate Fighting Championship return on March 7 against Matt Brown at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio.

The fight will be Sell’s second since moving down to welterweight from his previous longtime home of middleweight.

In his initial outing at 170 pounds, Sell defeated former “Ultimate Fighter 7” cast member Josh Burkman via unanimous decision at UFC 90 this past October in Chicago.

Like Sell, Brown is also coming off a win in his most recent UFC action. In November he stepped in on short notice to impressively defeat Ryan Thomas via armbar just under a minute into the second round of their fight.

UFC 96 is set to take place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on March 7, the same weekend as the Arnold Sports Festival.

 

[Shogun Locc]

FIGHTERS UNITE TO BREAK ELITEXC STALEMATE

The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association (“MMAFA&#8221, on behalf of its members, forwarded a demand letter today to EliteXC Live, a California corporation (“EliteXC&#8221. MMAFA seeks an acknowledgment from EliteXC that its promotional agreements have been terminated. While hopeful that litigation will be unnecessary, a draft of complaint has been prepared and forwarded to EliteXC officials. According to the letter, EliteXC has a limited time in order to voluntarily provide the release to all of the fighters, and if EliteXC refuses, MMAFA will file a complaint.

On November 10, 2008, in an action initially spearheaded by agent Ken Pavia, a group of agents, including Ed Soares and Monte Cox, collaborated to “pool resources” to fight the proposed auction of and transferability of EliteXC’s promotional agreements. “The unity of this effort is unprecedented and the message that is being sent is clear,” declared the agents. Recognizing the success of their prior action, a number of agents sought collective action again in resolving contractual issues with EliteXC.

“This situation has gone on entirely too long,” stated agent Ed Soares. “I can’t have my fighters left in the dark and unable to sign with any promotion they choose.”

Nathan Brodnax, Esq., counsel at MMAagents, echoed Soares comments. “We have made every effort to solve this problem outside the courts and have only turned to legal action as a last resort. Unfortunately, such steps have become necessary to protect the interests of our clients and to ensure their continued ability to make a living. We are confident that the courts will uphold our legal claims and request for relief.”

“Unfortunately, individual litigation is cost prohibitive for our members. While it is our intention to reduce any unneeded expense,” stated Rob Maysey, “MMAFA has reached out to and contacted top litigation counsel and is prepared to litigate this matter to a conclusion. Fighters and their families have been put in an unfortunate position and are unfairly bearing the burden of EliteXC’s situation.”

Maysey continued, “MMAFA acts only upon the instruction of our fighter members and their representatives. MMAFA has actively solicited input from agents and their respective legal teams. This initiative is truly collaborative and support has been widespread. At this time, our focus is solely on resolving the EliteXC contractual issue for our members.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

N.Y. LEGISLATOR SPEAKS OUT AGAINST MMA

The New York State Assembly’s Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development Committee begins its session on Tuesday, and among several pieces of legislature up for vote is bill 1-11458-A, designed to regulate the sport of MMA in New York.

Originally presented during the committee’s June meeting, the bill’s vote was postponed to January when several committee members attempted to change their initial votes. On Nov. 12, the bill’s sponsor, committee chairman Steve Englebright, held an informal roundtable for legislators and interested members of the public. Among those in attendance was Marc Ratner, the UFC’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, who spoke to attendees about the sport’s regulation.

The bill is not on the committee’s agenda this week, but could be voted on as early as next week. Assemblyman Bob Reilly, a democratic member of the committee who represents the 109th district of New York, opposes the legislation and recently spoke to MMAWeekly.com about his feelings on the sport and attempts to bring it to the Empire State.

MMAWeekly.com: Can you tell me about your feelings on the current bill and about mixed martial arts in general?

Reilly: My feeling about the bill is that it’s a flawed piece of legislation. And my feeling about mixed martial arts is that there are many problems with it. It really is a glorification of brutality and violence. Many people believe that violence in the media, or any portrayal of violence, or violence itself as I think happens in mixed martial arts, in fact, makes people immune to violence and in fact promotes violence.

In New York State, we pass a lot of laws to stop violence, especially among young people in schools, but domestic violence (as well). I think that this basically is a glorification of violence, but it certainly promotes violence. In itself, I think it’s a very brutal sport that creates, obviously, physical harm to the participants, and I don’t think there’s any other sport who’s purpose is to harm your opponent. But we know that in mixed martial arts, that, in fact, is one of the purposes.

I think economically, it’s a very poor thing for New York State, that just the economics of it would not be beneficial to our state. It just draws money out of the state. I compare it to gambling and what happens in gambling. If you take Atlantic City for example, you have casinos that are going broke, surrounded by slums. If you look at Las Vegas, basically, the same thing is happening, where 20 months in a row gambling revenue has decreased, and Las Vegas and the growth there has created many slum areas in Las Vegas.

MMAWeekly.com: Do you believe the idea that it’s bringing in tax revenue to the state is erroneous?

Reilly: No, I think it does, but I think if you had a gate – the numbers that people would use here – the live gate of 20,000 people. And where I live, next to the city of Albany, we have an arena that seats 19,000. If you had that, and the tickets averaged 200 dollars – which is not unreasonable, and are in fact Ultimate Fighting projections, not mine – then it would be a gate of 4 million dollars and they might project a half a million to the local economy. But at the same time, it would suck out of our local economy a tremendous amount of money. In New York State, we have a budget deficit that we’re trying to address now of almost 15 billion dollars. And I don’t think that Ultimate Fighting adds to our economy… I think it detracts from our economy.

MMAWeekly.com: How would it suck money out of the economy?

Reilly: Ultimate Fighting, that franchise is owned by interests in Las Vegas. If you have a gate in the city of Albany, the live gate would be 4 million dollars. There’s revenue that would stay here, lets us say a half a million. But three and a half million would go right out of our economy and out of our state to Vegas, and I think that’s harmful to our local economy. It doesn’t generate money on a long-time basis. It’s what I call a “false economy.” There’s many examples of this. It’s a stretch from Ultimate Fighting, of course, but our whole problem with our financial industry and whatever. Or gambling, which I think is a better analogy. I think the projections of revenue coming in, you have to look at a bigger picture, and the bigger picture is not so beneficial. And of course, the real money in sports, which isn’t addressed, is the hundreds of millions of dollars taken in by television, especially pay per view.

MMAWeekly.com: When did you first come to this conclusion about mixed martial arts? It was first banned by legislators in 1997.

Reilly: My exposure to it is relatively new, and I’ve only been in office four years, so I was not in office when it was done. A year ago, unknown to almost every legislator, we in fact passed legislation that would legalize it in the assembly – we have two houses, assembly and the Senate. It passed unanimously in the assembly. But in fact, most of us didn’t even know what we were passing because the legislation, as you read it, appeared to be just a technical change in some regulatory language of the state athletic commission. So I found that really (to be an) under the table type of way of getting that legalized. I was unaware of it then. (The new bill) came up for consideration, and it goes through a committee. The committee that it was assigned to was tourism. And I had Jeff Blatnick come in to see me, and he’s a very respectful, articulate person. I said, “I don’t know if I can support this, Jeff.” When it came up for a vote in the committee, I spoke against it without any intention to sway any other votes, but in fact, my colleagues, who were not very conversant with Ultimate Fighting, voted it down. And I became what I call the “accidental opposition.” It’s not my huge issue in my life.

Of course, we have advocates in New York, and people that want it here, but the vast majority of people are unaware of it, because their only exposure would be flipping through their TV channels, and most come to it and flip it off. I have on a regular basis had my constituents come up to me and say, “You’re doing the right thing. Keep this out, this is wrong.” The vast majority of my constituents are opposed to it, because they think it’s brutal. I find it very offensive, and even more with women than men – if that’s sexist, so be it – to see a woman knee another woman in the stomach, to see someone grab another person’s head and knee them in the head. To see a guy prone on the ground – and I watched this last night, in fact – and then get beat in the head five or six times with the fist. It’s not something that I think we want to show to people. This is the type of society we have.

MMAWeekly.com: How do you feel about boxing?

Reilly: No one’s impressed by this, but I was a running coach for 26 years, and I’ve coached national champions in a few countries. I compare Ultimate Fighting to amateur boxing and pro boxing. And I’ve always been a boxing fan, and grew up admiring people like Rocky Marciano or Sugar Ray Robinson. But I see the brutality of professional boxing now, and the skill of amateur boxing. In amateur boxing, one emphasizes skill, and the other, a much more brutal type of activity, and much more harm to the individual boxers. What I've seen of mixed martial arts, and the way they’ve advocated for it in New York State, tells me that without very careful consideration and regulation, which we’re not prepared to do right now, we would be down the road of the sordid history of boxing, which I think you would have a hard time defending. I still think amateur boxing is a great sport. I’ve always been a fan of all boxing, but if I had my druthers, I would change professional boxing into amateur boxing.

MMAWeekly.com: Is that to say that if mixed martial artists put on headgear, outlawed certain things like elbows on the ground, certain types of techniques, you might be more open to it?

Reilly: Sure.

MMAWeekly.com: Have you seen any change in sentiment since the information meeting held by Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development chairman Steve Englebrecht?

Reilly: Well, there was no one there to change the sentiment. There were only four legislators there. Two, I think, opposed to it, and I believe chairman Englebrecht is neutral, that’s what he’s told me, and Jonathan Bing, who would be a person in favor of it… that’s the impression I got. Everyone else was just an advocate for it.

I was invited in a backwards way. I live 150 miles from New York City. I received a faxed letter from the chairman to Cablevision that was two weeks old; I received it the day before the meeting. So members of the committee were not invited. So what kind of a meeting was that? That’s the kind of process that I’ve found completely flawed in this whole process. I became more against it for a number of reasons. For example, I found the commissioner of our state athletic commission, a woman, completely ill informed about the rules. For example, she said, “well, you couldn’t elbow somebody” – I think there’s a famous fight, I’ve never seen it, where some fellow with a cauliflower ear is elbowed in the ear…

MMAWeekly.com: It was a punch to the ear…

Reilly: …and there was puss and blood that goes all over. One of our members had seen that, and I guess it really turns people off. Well, she asked him about it, and the commissioner says, ‘oh, you can’t elbow according to these rules.’ Now this is our commissioner, who is supposed to regulate this sport. Then, she said there’s 500 illegal fights in New York State. She later – when I challenged her on that – modified that, what I consider a ridiculous statement, but I think that tells us that we’re not in a position to legalize this sport. I became more confirmed in my beliefs that we don’t want to legalize this right now.

I think that the idea that what we're doing is mixing skills is the problem, too. And I think the rule change would be that when you're boxing, you box. When you're wrestling, you wrestle. But there's a reason why when a boxer falls to one knee or two knees, that the other boxer can't come up and hit him in the head. And there's a reason why in wrestling, you can't hold a guy and at the same time whack him. It's for the safety of the participant. You can't do that. You asked me if I could imagine some rule changes that would demonstrate the skill of the various martial arts more clearly, and I would find that acceptable and the answer is yes. But I think the violence level would be greatly reduced, and I don't know if promoters and advocates want to do that.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Showtime Sports Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Preview

 

[Shogun Locc]

Urijah Faber video on Jens Pulver rematch at WEC 38 on Jan. 25

 

[Shogun Locc]

Mark Coleman ‘forced into making it personal’ with Shogun

There are few men in mixed martial arts that have enjoyed the kind of success that Mark “The Hammer” Coleman has during the course of his illustrious career. A former UFC and Pride Grand Prix champion, Coleman was recently one of the very few fighters that have been named to the UFC’s newly formed hall of fame.

Coleman told FiveOuncesOfPain.com in an exclusive interview done in the days leading up to his highly anticipated return to the octagon that he is not satisfied with the ups and downs of his career. The forty four year old legend of the game feels as if there is plenty more for him to accomplish before he walks away from the sport that he has grown to love for good.

Dropping down to 205 pounds for the first time in his fighting career, Coleman will be looking to find new life in the UFC’s notoriously stacked light heavyweight division. The former Olympic wrestler was known for his freakish strength in the heavyweight division and will be certainly be one of the most powerful fighters competing at 205 pounds.

The first stop in Coleman’s comeback will see him facing off with an old foe in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The pairs previous meeting at a Pride FC event in February of 2006 ended in chaos. Rua’s arm was snapped in two after improperly defending a Coleman takedown and a small melee erupted between both fighters camps in the confusion that followed.

Coleman claims that he held no hard feeling towards Rua at the time but he has since been forced into making this bout a grudge match.

“I didn’t have any bad blood toward him initially but the way he’s been talking lately kind of changes things,” said Coleman. “He’s been claiming that I’ve been saying this and saying that.”

“He has made it personal, so because he’s made it personal I’ve been forced into making it personal.”

Coleman takes offense at the fact that Rua has stated that he feels the outcome of the fight had everything to do with luck and little to do with the takedown attempt. As he sees it, you have to create your own luck and that’s exactly what he went out and did.

“It’s just think that it’s kind of stupid,” said Coleman. “Say he slaps an armbar on me and I defend it the wrong way and my arm breaks from the armbar, I’m not going to go around saying that it was a lucky armbar. It’s the same thing in this situation. He posted wrong off of a double leg takedown and if he posts wrong in this fight there’s a good chance his arm will blow out again.”

“I’m sure he’s gone back and done his homework and looked at the film so he realizes that you have to keep your arms in next time. That’s the key. In any sport you have to keep your elbows in. You can never post your arm like that. Everybody knows that.”

“Even if there was some luck involved, you have to create your own luck in this sport. I’m the one that hit the single leg and switched it over to a double leg and I’m the one that forced him to post his arm like that.”

Coleman fought just once more after the bout with Rua, losing to Fedor Emelianenko by armbar back in October of 2006. After taking some necessary time off to allow injuries to heal, the father of two was back in the gym working on all of the same things that he has been working on for most of his life, imposing his will.

“I took about a year off to heal up after the Fedor fight but I’ve been back in the gym for a year now,” said Coleman. “I was training in West Virginia with Brandon Lee Hinkle and a couple of his boxing coaches and some of his jiu-jitsu guys.”

“I’ve been training a lot here in Columbus as well with my guys. I’ve been working with some local clubs around here and up at Ohio State University with the wrestling team.”

“I’ve just been continuing to work on my overall game but I’ve been really been focusing on my stand up. I’ve been working a lot on my stand up and of course I’m still trying to figure out this jiu-jitsu.”

The Coloumbus, Ohio native may not be known as a top level striker or even an elite submission specialist but he knows full well that he will have his advantages going into his fight with Rua and the power department rests comfortably at the top of that list.

“I definitely think I will have the strength advantage over Shogun,” said Coleman. “That’s one of the advantages that I do have against Shogun so I hope to be able to take full advantage of that weapon.”

Coleman feels healthy leading up to this extremely pivotal bout in his accomplished mixed martial arts career and most importantly, the weight cut has not had the affect on him that he thought it might of. Obviously many questions will arise about a massive fighter like Coleman when he decides to move down a weight class but as he tells it, the cut has been surprisingly easy for him.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Coleman. “I’ve been lucky, I got through this camp pretty healthy. The weight was a really big concern of mine. My diet has been really good and I have my weight under pretty good control. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem making weight. I’m really happy about that. I thought it was going to be a lot harder than I think it’s going to be.”

There was a motivating factor behind Coleman’s decision to make the drop down to 205 pounds. The men competing at heavyweight are just getting naturally bigger and along with many other guys that walk around near the 230 pound mark, Coleman was forced to make a decision. Stay at heavyweight and be the naturally smaller guy or attempt to make the drop to light heavyweight and be the naturally bigger guy.

“Everybody is just so much bigger now,” explained the founder of Team Hammer House. “I’m about six foot tall and I realized that anything over 225 or 230 pounds is just going to be fat. The guys that are coming out now are just so much bigger and so much stronger.”

“I said from the very beginning that size matters and it does. It just made sense for me to try to make the cut and it really wasn’t as hard a cut as I thought it would be.”

Whether it’s at heavyweight or light heavyweight, Coleman has never made it a habit to hand pick his opponents and he’s not about to start now.

“I’ll fight whoever the UFC offers to me,” said Coleman. “Whatever fight is offered to me, I’ll take. I don’t go around picking my opponents, that’s up to the promoter. I prefer to fight at 205 but if a big heavyweight fight came up, I would have to take it.”

When you talk about the growing size of the fighters competing in the heavyweight division you just have to bring up the recently crowned UFC interim heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar. Walking around somewhere near the 300 pound range with an illustrious wrestling background to compliment his size, Lesnar poses a serious problem for any man competing in the UFC’s heavyweight division. The two were slated to meet in August at UFC 87 but a knee injury forced Coleman to pull out of the fight.

“Absolutely I would fight Brock Lesnar,” said Coleman. “If that opportunity came up I would give it a shot but there’s no denying that he is a big, big heavyweight. Like I said before, size matters, so it would be a challenge that I would have to overcome but it’s certainly one that I would give a shot at.”

At forty four years of age everyone wants to know how much longer Coleman plans on competing at the sports highest level. Coleman admits that even he doesn’t know the answer to that question. The godfather of the ground and pound doesn’t see his most recent bout with Rua as a curtain call but as the turning of a new page in his legendary fighting career.

“I think that there is a lot of stuff that I can still accomplish,” said Coleman. “I’m not satisfied at all with the ups and downs of my career. This is my job, this is what I do and this is what I love to do. Nobody wants to retire in this sport. I’ve been fortunate in the game. I’ve had my share of injuries but they’ve all healed up and I feel relatively fresh and healthy at this stage in my life. I take it one fight at a time but in the back of my head I hope to be fighting for at least two or three more years.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

SHONIE CARTER: "I SHOULD GET A BREAK FOR TIME SERVED"
link: http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content4116.html?PHPSESSID=0e8b4452ccf79e7d6f804e547b5b5e35
"I've served my time so what does the UFC and WEC want? I'm ready to hug and make up and say let me back in. How long do I have to sit my sentence out? I'm sorry…that's what happens when you misbehave. I was talking about people. I talked so bad about different promoters and promotions; I ain't tested positive for steroids and sat out longer than some of those guys," stated MMA veteran Shonie Carter as he talked about his desire to return to either the WEC or the UFC. Check out what else he had to say about his year in 2008, his future plans for 2009 and his thoughts on Rashad Evans, Quinton Jackson, Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar and more.

 

[YOUNGNUTT]

Bao Quach replaces Mark Hominick at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning"

Bao Quach (15-8-1), an EliteXC veteran who's won his past nine fights, has been chosen as a replacement for Mark Hominick, who was recently forced off the Jan. 24 "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" card due to pneumonia.

Quach meets IFL veteran L.C. Davis (12-1) on the night's preliminary card, which airs live on HDNet.

The website for No Limits MMA, a gym where Quach trains (as do others such as Jared Rollins and Rob Emerson), recently posted news of the fighter's involvement with the event.

Affliction Entertainment formally announced on Monday that Hominick's illness had forced him out of the event, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. A main card featuring WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski airs on pay per view.

Tom Atencio told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Monday that a replacement had been secured but bout agreements needed to be signed before the official announcement could be made.

Quach, 29, has fought for a variety of organizations during his eight-year career, including King of the Cage, the WEC, Shooto and ICON Sport. He began his career with a 6-8-1 record, but since November 2006, he is 9-0, which included wins over UFC veteran Douglas Evans and Bobby McMaster in EliteXC's "ShoXC" series. In his most recent fight, he scored a decision victory over Mark Oshiro to win the ICON 140-pound North American belt.

Davis is a former IFL fighter who's posted 11 stoppages in his 12 pro wins. The Team Miletich fighter last competed at December's Adrenaline MMA event, where he defeated Billy Kidd via first-round submission.

FUCC YEAH THAT'S BANG'N'!!!

WAR BAO!!!
WAR TEAM OYAMA!!!