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Anderson Silva

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewed Anderson Silva regarding the recent departure of himself and many other teammates from the Chute Boxe team. Here's what Anderson had to say (interview by Andre Araujo):


Tatame: Is it true that you are leaving Chute Boxe?

Anderson: Yes. We decided to do it last Saturday, and we have officially left Chute Boxe. Assuerio Silva, Rodrigo Vidal, Israel Gomes, Edcarlos Monstro, Urutum, Savio, me, and many others... ]each one has a different reason, but in the name of everyone here I want to say that we thank Chute Boxe for everything they did for us. We don't have anything against Rudimar Fedrigo. We all left together because there are a lot of people that were not happy.

Tatame: Are you guys going to form a new team?

Anderson: It is too early to talk about that. We are still talking and deciding what we are going to do. We don't know yet. We are all here together at my gym, with Rodrigo Vidal, in the Cabral neighborhood of Curitiba.

Tatame: What exactly is the reason you are leaving?

Anderson: There is no way to stay there. My friends are my family, and when friends left, I had to leave. We decided to do it, and I honor my word. At this moment I am not thinking about my career, I am thinking about my friends that grew up with me. I am very loyal to my real friends.

Tatame: What are your plans now?

Anderson: Man, I don't know what is going to happen. Each one will decide their destiny. I think that some guys will leave Brazil, and teach in the United States and Europe. Regarding myself, I just want to keep fighting and see what happens.

Tatame: What about Murilo "Ninja" and Mauricio "Shogun"?

Anderson: They were going to leave with us since the beginning, but than they changed their mind. They decided to stay.

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Bustamante (bottom) vs. Henderson (standing)

Murilo Bustamante is still complaining about the accidental headbutt that he recieved from Dan Henderson during their fight on the November 9th PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' card.

According to Bustamante, he does not take anything away from Henderson, but he feels he did not lose that fight due to the illegal headbutt.

In the opinion of Fightsport.com, the accidental headbutt was just as much Bustamante's fault as it was Henderson's. In our opinion, Bustamante needs to stop bitching and sign the new deal with PRIDE, who has offered Bustamante a fight on their December 31st show.

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SHOOTO 'Warrior Spirit: Evolution'
November 14, 200n
Mardi Gras Ballroom
Las Vegas, NV

SHOOTO Bouts:
Javier Vazquez defeats Rob Emerson by split decision.
John Fitch defeats Shonie Carter by TKO, RD 3.
Sam Morgan defeats Aaron Riley by armbar, RD 1.
Rick Davis defeats Nick Ertl by KO, RD 1.

Marvin Eastman vs. Simon Diouf canceled. Diouf failed medical test.
Erica Montoya vs. Jamie Lynn canceled. Lynn injured backstage.


Kickboxing Bouts:
Albert Torres defeats Eric Osario by unanimous decision.
Brenda Lopez defeats Rachel Duangsima by split decision.

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Sanae Kikuta (bottom) and Yuki Kondo (top) confirmed for Inoki show.

The following fighters have been confirmed by Antonio Inoki for Inoki's December 31st show:

Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic
Kazuyuki Fujita
Josh Barnett
Yoshihiro Takayama
Yuki Kondo
Sanae Kikuta

Naoya Ogawa has not been confirmed yet, but is expected to be on the card as well.

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Jens Pulver

The Japanese media is reporting that SHOOTO is considering having Jens Pulver replace the injured Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto as the opponent for Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira on December 14th. More news to come on this in the next week.

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Dan Severn

Former UFC champion Dan Severn has refused to attend the UFC Hall of Fame festivities taking place at UFC 45. Severn's official reason was that he could not go because of some scheduling conflicts.

But sources close to Dan Severn have disclosed otherwise. They say that the real reason Severn is not going is because he is legitimately mad that Ken Shamrock was picked ahead of him for the Hall of Fame.

It is also no secret that Severn and Shamrock have never really liked each other. Shamrock mentioned in his autobiography that he didn't like Severn. Former Severn student-turned-backstabber Quincy Rice also mentioned publicly that Severn has never liked Shamrock either.

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Ernesto Hoost (left)

Media sources in Europe, Australia, and Japan report that 4-time K-1 champion Ernesto Hoost will replace Australian Peter Graham in the K-1 2003 World GP Finals, scheduled for December 6th.

According to reports, Graham imjured himself in a game of golf, forcing him to withdraw from the tournament.

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Silva (hands raised) victorious over Jackson.

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewed PRIDE light heavyweight champion Vanderlei Silva after he won the PRIDE Grand Prix. Here's what Vanderlei had to say (interview by Marcelo Alonso):

Tatame: Did you ever think that Yoshida was going to make you work as hard as you did?

Vanderlei: No. In fact, when they put the fights together I said, "Great! I'll knock him out quickly..." But nothing is easy in PRIDE...the guy surprised me. He showed that he's a warrior, and ready to give his life for the fight. The gi made it easier for him to tie me up. He showed that he is way stronger that I had thought! But I never felt I was in danger at any time during the fight. My only fear was being tied up too much and having the fight fall into the hands of the judges. It's good that I trained a lot.

Tatame: How important was your team in earning you the victory?

Vanderlei: They were totally important. I was well-prepared for the tournament and I believed in my victory, but my Master (Rudimar Fedrigo) believed even more then I did since the beginning. During the break, my team picked me up. I came in tired and my team did a great job. There was a lot of tension, a lot of responsability. Jackson was a tough adversary, but thank God everything went as planned.

Tatame: When were you certain that you had Jackson almost knocked out?

Vanderlei: I didn't see the blow, but after I hit him the first time the guy seemed to be groggy, and then I wanted to finish the fight. I started hitting, hitting, hitting, and I saw that it was only a matter of time before the referee stops the fight. The good thing is that I was well-prepared and I was able to go full speed until the end. A lot of people back in Brazil were rooting for me to get the knock out, and I was happy that I was able to make them happy. This was the most important fight of my career.

Tatame: And the responsibility to fight while still being the champion. This didn't make you more nervous?

Vanderlei: For sure. It's been a long time since I've participated in a tournament, and I put my status as the champion on the line. If I had lost to him, everybody would have said that everything I had accomplished until then wouldn't have been worth anything. The responsibility was very big, the pressure too. But my team always make me calm and confident.

Tatame: During your first fight you almost plled off a triangle choke on Olympic judo champion Yoshida. Against Quinton, you also showed that you are very secure on the ground, almost getting an armbar. Did you want to end this fight with a submission?

Vanderlei: Against Yoshida, I just needed to wrap a little more on his leg and put my hip out. I am training a lot on the ground with Cristiano Marcelo (Carlos Gracie Jr. black belt). I had some opportunities and I wanted to get a submission. Since it didn't happen, I was then able to get back to my feet and go for the knock out.


Tatame: How was it having Gloria Maria (famous Brazilian reporter) accompanying the Brazilian fighters to PRIDE?

Vanderlei: She is a marvelous person. She won everyone over and she brought a certain energy to the whole group for sure. I was already a fan of hers, and even more so now.

Tatame: Randy Couture told me after the event that he would accept a fight with you in the PRIDE ring. Do you accept a chance to face him?

Vanderlei: I think it would be great to try and unify the belt of the two biggest MMA events in the world. In all honesty, I have never run from anyone. I have always fought anyone, and I am not going to start choosing my opponents now. I want to be respected not just by the fans, but also by the fighters, as a real fighter who will fight anyone. I have faith in my technique and in my team. Well-prepared, I can face anyone.

Tatame: Will you take a vacation now?

Vanderlei: I will take one week off and then go back to training. There will be another PRIDE event on December 31st, and I hope I can fight on the card.

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By Eddie Goldstein

Dana White

I was listening to MMA Weekly Radio the other day when UFC president Dana White was on to discuss Chuck Liddell's brutal TKO loss, as well as a host of other things. Two things really struck me during White's time on air:

1.) Dana White hides his envy and bitterness with the transparency of cellophane wrap.

2.) Dana White cannot give credit where credit is due.


Here a few of the examples that led me to come to these conclusions:

1.) Dana White says he's still not 'impressed' with Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson: According to Dana White, he left the show not really being impressed with Quinton Jackson. White then went on to say that the first round of the Liddell/Jackson fight was nothing more then 'sloppy boxing', as he put it. Let's take a closer look at this statement, shall we? First off, to say you are not impressed by a fighter who just outclassed, outboxed, and beat down your guy by brutal TKO in just a little bit over one round is just plain ignorant. Not being able to give Jackson credit for his dominating win over Liddell is just White's bitterness and envy shining through in my humble opinion.

Secondly, Jackson 'OUTBOXED' Liddell, so according to White's 'sloppy boxing' description, what does this really say about Liddell's boxing skills (or lack of to better describe it)? You would think that a former 'boxing guy' such as Dana White would have at least helped Liddell better his boxing skills, since White was clamoring that he had trained him for this fight. Or perhaps this is why Dana White failed as a boxing promoter and was reduced to being a Boxercize instructor in the first place?

2.) Dana White remains clueless as to why Chuck Liddell lost: Dana White continued to make excuses for Chuck Liddell by saying that Liddell was not himself for that fight, and that he wasn't following the gameplan. White completely overlooked the fact that Quinton Jackson was just too good of a fighter for Liddell to implement his gameplan. To the neutral and informed observer, Liddell was outclassed and outboxed. That's why he lost. Why a former 'boxing guy' such as Dana White can't see this is beyond me. Or like I already asked, maybe it tells a lot about why failed in boxing in the first place?

3.) Dana White says he was never impressed with Vanderlei Silva or Hidehiko Yoshida until now: I'm sure Silva and Yoshida are not losing any sleep over what a non-fighter like Dana White thought of them, or thinks of them now. One can make a case for Yoshida's MMA credentials, but to say he was never impressed by Vanderlei Silva, while having whole-heartedly supported fighters such as Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, is simply ridiculous.

Perhaps White missed Silva's wins over Dan Henderson, Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba twice, Bob Schrijber, and his draw with Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic? Maybe Dana White was more impressed with Chuck Liddell's gifted decision win against Murilo Bustamante, the same Bustamante who was KO'ed in 53 seconds by Dan Henderson (who Silva already beat)? The same Bustamante that OUTBOXED Chuck Liddell for the entire fight. Or perhaps Dana White was more impressed with the fact that Chuck Liddell could not finish off smaller fighters such as Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons and Amar Suloev? Certainly Dana White couldn't have been impressed with Liddell's loss to Jeremy Horn (the same Horn who has lost to Silva TKO victim Hiromitsu Kanehara) by chokeout, or Liddell's loss to Randy Couture by third round TKO (another fight where Liddell was outclassed as bad as his loss to Quinton Jackson).

Of course Dana White has excuses galore for why Liddell couldn't finish smaller fighters such as Bustamante, Pele, and Suloev, or why he got outclassed and lost to fighters such as Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, and Jeremy Horn. It would seem that if anyone chose not to be impressed by a fighter's resume, that it would be Chuck Liddell who was not very impressive and not Vanderlei Silva. We won't even get into Tito Ortiz, who not only has lost to Silva KO victim Guy Mezger, and ran away from Silva in their fight against each other, but also refused to fight the mandatory challenger to his former belt Chuck Liddell for almost four years.

Dana White did say he was 'impressed' by Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, saying that he saw Minotauro take some shots from Cro Cop that he never saw anyone take before. Again, White must have missed the fight between Vanderlei Silva and Cro Cop, when Silva took some thunderous kicks to his ribs. The kind of kicks that KO'ed Heath Herring and numerous other fighters. Of course Dana White was not 'impressed with Silva back then.

In fact, could we have expected anything less from such a transparent man? The same Dana White that openly said he never saw the 'Minotauro' vs. Bob Sapp, which was arguably the fight of the 2002. Imagine the president of one of the top two MMA organizations in the world saying he had not seen such a high-profile fight? It is laughable really. It's also laughable that Dana White, who always talked about supporting the sport, publicly stated that he was not impressed with the Mark Kerr documentary 'The Smashing Machine', which broke ratings records on HBO, and which has now been released nation-wide on DVD. In fact, it did so well that it will now become a motion picture as well. How can Dana White, as an MMA president, not think this kind of exposure was good for the sport? Maybe White would have liked it better if it had been the UFC featured in "The Smashing Machine" documentary instead of the PRIDE 2000 GP?

Who knows, but in this journalist's humble opinion it is just more envy and bitterness shining through the cellophane front of Dana White. Dana 'Cerran Wrap' White.





Eddie Goldstein is a legendary underground journalist of boxing, pro-wrestling, and now MMA. His contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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Kevin Randleman

Kevin Randleman announced that he suffered a torn bicep muscle during his fight against Kazushi Sakuraba on the November 9th PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' card. The injured bicep is in the same arm that got armbarred by Sakuraba, making Randleman submit.

MMA journalist John Merrill was in attendance at the PRIDE post-fight press conference and described Randleman's bicep as obviously injured. He will be out 2-4 months while it heals.

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Tra Telligman (right)

Our Zuffa informant 'Coffee Guy' has relayed to us the latest news on UFC 46:

"For what it's worth, Dana White personally phoned Tra Telligman just recently, telling him that he'd like him to be on the UFC 46 card.

Dana will usually do this with some fighters who are eager to be on the card but who don't have that big marketing appeal. Basically he has Telligman waiting in the wings in the case someone pulls out of the card and he needs a quick replacement." -Coffee Guy

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Alexa.com just updated their internet ratings for this week. Below are the Alexa.com rankings for the top 10 MMA websites as of November 14th, 2003.

Fightsport.com has been the fastest-growing MMA website the last few months and have taken over the number 3 spot this past month, pushing Sherdog.net down to number 4. MMA.tv moved into the number one spot almost two months ago, knocking Sherdog.com down to number 2. MMAWeekly.com remains steady at number 5, while Subfighter.com has moved up to the number 6 spot.

The official site of the UFC fell down to number 7. The official site of PRIDE moved back into number 8, dropping Adcombat.com to number 9. MaxFighting.com survived by a thread to hang on to the number 10 spot.



MMA RANKINGS:

1.) MMA.tv - Traffic Rank for mma.tv: 4,145

2.) Sherdog.com - Traffic Rank for sherdog.com: 7,036

3.) Fightsport.com - Traffic Rank for fightsport.com: 8,672

4.) Sherdog.net - Traffic Rank for sherdog.net: 10,024

5.) MMAWeekly.com - Traffic Rank for mmaweekly.com: 11,905

6.) Subfighter.com - Traffic Rank for subfighter.com: 17,334

7.) UFC.tv - Traffic Rank for ufc.tv: 21,625

8.) Pridefc.com - Traffic Rank for pridefc.com: 28,464

9.) Adcombat.com - Traffic Rank for adcombat.com: 28,752

10.) Maxfighting.com - Traffic Rank for maxfighting.com: 49,496






Alexa.com tracks the internet ratings with the use of the Alexa toolbar, which is used by no less then 10 million people. Almost all of the Alexa toolbar users also use Amazon.com and Google, making the Alexa.com rankings very important with advertisers. Alexa.com is arguably the most respected internet ratings system in the business.

How to read the Alexa.com rankings: The traffic rank indicates the website's ranking amongst english-language websites. As the number goes lower, it indicates that the website is ranked higher.

For example:

a website with a traffic rank of '1', means that it is the number one visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

a website with a traffic rank of '10,221', means that it is the 10,221st most visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

a website with a traffic rank or '90,594', means that it is the 90,594th most visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

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Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto

Todd Atkins reports the following from Japan:

Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto fractured his right forefinger in training. He will not be able to fight Alexandre 'Pequeno' Nogueira on the December 14th SHOOTO year-end show in Chiba.

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Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie

Fightsport.com reported two days ago that an MMA matchup of Royce Gracie vs. Hidehiko Yoshida was close to being signed for the December 31st Antonio Inoki show.

Today, MMA insider Ted Johnson tells us that DSE has offered more money to both fighters and has verbally agreed with them to do a grappling match on their December 31st PRIDE show instead. Royce Gracie will reportedly get USD$500,000.

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KOTC: 'The Pinnacle'
November 2nd, 2003
Pay-Per-View on November 14th, 2003
Pala Casino Resort Spa
California

KOTC will be showing their KOTC: 'Pinnacle' event on Pay-Per-View on November 14th. The event originally took place on November 2nd. Below are the results:

Paul Buentello defeats Bobby Hoffman by TKO, RD 2. (KOTC heavyweight title)
Joe Stevenson defeats Thomas Shulte by KO, RD 1. (KOTC lightweight title)
Thomas Denny defeats Richard Solis by submssion, RD 2.
Jeff Newton defeats Joe Crilly by KO, RD 1.
Tony Bonello defeats Mansure Hedari by triangle, RD 1.
Ray Elbe defeats Paul Silva by judges decision.
Joey Villasenor defeats Art Santore by TKO, RD 1.
Wade Shipp defeats Kengo Watanabe by TKO, RD 1.
Keigo Kunihara defeats Mike Bourke by judges decision.

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Anderson Silva

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' reports that many prominent members and up-and-comers of the Chute Boxe team have decided to split from the team.

At this moment, Assuerio Silva and Anderson Silva have left. Rodrigo Vidal, Israel Gomes, Edcarlos 'Monstro', 'Urutum', and Savio are still deciding whether to leave or not.

Murilo 'Ninja' Rua and his brother Mauricio 'Shogun' were also originally involved in leaving, but have decided to stay after talking it out with the managers of Chute Boxe.

Chute Boxe head manager Rudimar Fredrigo was still in Japan when this happened, and it is said that when Rudimar gets back that Chute Boxe will make an official announcement on who has left and who has stayed.

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Randy Couture (top) in his dominating win over Tito Ortiz (bottom).

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewed UFC light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, and Couture confirmed the very real possibility of going to PRIDE to fight PRIDE light heavyweight champion Vanderlei Silva.

Couture laid down the following challenge, "You (Vanderlei) proved once again that you are a great fighter. I want to face you for the chance to unify the two most important MMA belts of the world. As you can't face me in the UFC octagon, I accept to fight you in the PRIDE ring."

Still in the Tokyo Dome's changing room, after his victory, Vanderlei Silva also confirmed it would be great face Couture in a unification match.

Vanderlei says, "I never choose my opponents, and I won't start now. I want to be respected by my fans, and also by the other fighters as a real athlete. I have faith in my technique and in my team. If I am well-prepared, I can face anyone."

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By Eddie Goldstein

Tito Ortiz

Just reporting some news and a short commentary. I'll have more to say on this in the coming days:

UFC president Dana White was on MMA Weekly Radio yesterday to discuss Chuck Liddell's brutal TKO loss, the PRIDE GP, the upcoming UFC events, and a few other things.

Aside from still being in a state of denial and not giving any credit to Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson for brutally TKO'ing Dana's boy Liddell in just over one round, White did have one interesting thing to say, and that was that Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell would finally be taking place in UFC 47, which is scheduled for either March or April of 2004.

The bigger question that comes to mind is if this will give the reluctant former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and his management enough time to make another excuse to duck Chuck Liddell? With Dana White's job supposedly on the line, he better hope he can get this matchup to come off, even if it's happening two years too late.




Eddie Goldstein is a legendary underground journalist of boxing, pro-wrestling, and now MMA. His contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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Randy Couture (pictured) to defend his belt at UFC 46.

UFC 46: Super Natural
January 31st, 2004
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV

Our Zuffa informant 'Coffee Guy' has relayed to us the full card for UFC 46. Expect it to be officially announced soon:


Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort (UFC light heavyweight title)
Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn (UFC welterweight title)

Frank Mir vs. Wes Sims
Carlos Newton vs. Renato Verissimo
Lee Murray vs. Jorge Rivera
Javier Vazquez vs. Matt Serra
Josh Thomson vs. Hermes Franca
Karo Parisian vs. Pete Spratt

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"Tank" Abbott

The following excerpt is from an interview that Boxing Insider did with 'Tank' Abbott:


Boxing Insider: The next couple of questions are about Tito Ortiz. Where exactly does the beef between Tito Ortiz and Tank Abbott come from?

Tank Abbott: Oh, brother! Where does it come from? I don't know if there's a "beef" between the two of us . . . I'm a real straight-up guy and Tito is not (laughs) . . . I guess that sums it up in a nutshell. It's really futile to get into specifics, but I'm a straight-up, tell-it-the-way-it-is honest guy -- and that goes through my character, the thread of my life -- and Tito is not.

Boxing Insider: Can you tell us about, as he put it, your "drunken phone messages" to him?

Tank Abbott: I don't even know Tito's phone number, so that will tell you right [there] about [how much I know] I'm a truthful guy and he is not. But if I did know his phone number, he wouldn't have to worry about drunken or non-drunken phone messages I'd leave him.

Boxing Insider: But, my question was: he said that you were making fun of him. Or, there was a beef because you were being paid more than he was -- by the UFC? He said that the message you left on his machine had to do with you making fun of him because you made more money than he did in the UFC.

Tank Abbott: He needs to go back to the imaginary phone messages and think up some other lies. I really don't have time to bother with Tito . . . if he wants to flatter himself and tell more lies about whatever, he can, but I've never called him. You should tell him that if I'm calling him and leaving these drunken messages to keep them -- and play them back so I can hear them. But I don't think so.

Boxing Insider: What would happen if Tito were to move up into heavyweight and fight you?

Tank Abbott: Well, first of all, he would get beat up like I used to beat him up when he was my training partner.

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by Joshua Grossman

Minotauro (hands raised) victorious over Cro Cop (second from right).

We have all seen the show by now, but what does it really mean in the big scheme of things? Here is my take on the Pride Grand Prix picture:

Gary Goodridge defeats Dan Bobish by TKO at 0:18, RD 1.
Goodridge saved his Pride Gatekeeper status with this win. Eye gouge or no eye gouge, he kicked "The Bulls" ass quickly in this one sided affair. A loss most definitely would have put his Pride future in jeopardy.

Quinton Jackson defeats Chuck Liddell by TKO at 3:10, RD 2.
Many people had Jackson picked to lose this fight. His dominating performance solidified his spot in the top 5 Light Heavyweights in the world. Liddell's future is more cloudy. His stand up was definitely exposed in this fight. And to a certain extent against Overeem as well. Overeem was kicking his ass for most of their fight before being hit by the unorthodox windmill punch. I see many guys out there who could give Liddell a lot of problems. What Liddell will always have going for him is a strong jaw, and even stronger punch. This will always keep him in fights against people with more talent than him. But his striking skills are not top notch in MMA.

Vanderlei Silva defeats Hidehiko Yoshida by unanimous decision.
This was the start of Silva showing it all in one night. Against Yoshida he was able to show just how far his grappling has come. And his effective guard work should be having all other LHW's taking notice. Silva is getting even better, and that is a scary thought. Yoshida showed a lot of toughness and potential for the future. Pride should look to bring him along a bit more slowly in my opinion. Although I seriously doubt they will take that approach.

Dan Henderson defeats Murilo Bustamante by KO at 0:53, RD 1.
This fight was a much needed shot in the arm for Henderson's career. I would like to see him take on Kazushi Sakuraba since they are close to the same size. I would favor Henderson in that match up. And I feel he could easily be a UFC champion in the MW division. In Pride's LHW division he will always struggle against the top guys who are all bigger than him.

Heath Herring defeats Norihisa Yamamoto by rear naked choke at 2:29, RD 3.
Herring could not have looked worse in this fight. Yamamoto made him look terrible for the majority. For someone who trains in Holland with Golden Glory. Herring's striking never has shown the effects. His lack of ground skills and non-existent guard work should have him thinking retirement. Yamamoto has not come that far to make Herring look that bad. Regardless of Heath finally getting the choke, this was his worst performance in a LONG time.

Kazushi Sakuraba defeats Kevin Randleman by armbar at 2:36, RD 3.
Pride had to be breathing a deep sigh of relief after Sakuraba pulled off this miracle. Sakuraba has now given his career some new life. Unfortunately, I look for DSE to feed him to wolves as soon as possible. DSE's handling of Sakuraba has been one of the biggest wastes in MMA that I can think of.

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira defeats Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic by armbar at 1:45, RD 2.
People have been writing off Noguiera for dead. But he is still one of the top HW's in the world. And showed it again after a very difficult round 1. I have to wonder how much different he can make a fight with Fedor. Fedor posseses the right kind of game, and knowledge of submissions to repeat the first fight performance against Mino. But a rematch will definitely have a lot of people's attention.

Mirko performed very well in defeat. How he will use this lesson is the biggest question? Cro Cop needed some ground humbling to make him a better fighter. If he focuses on this weak area in his game. He should be back to his dominant ways quickly. He is still without a doubt one of the most explosive and exciting fighters ever in MMA.

Vanderlei Silva defeats Quinton Jackson by TKO at 6:28, RD 1.
I honestly expected much more of a war than we got in this match. With all the hatred and talk between these two. I was expecting them both to try and kill each other. But in the end it was only Vanderlei that was doing the killing. This final match capped off a sensational night for Silva. Vanderlei in my eyes has solidified himself as the best PFP fighter in the sport. Equally impressive is the fact that he has not tasted defeat in over 3 years. One has wonder just how long he can keep it going.

Closing thoughts:
All in all Pride has shown once again why they are the top organization in the sport. And the gap between them and second place is growing wider. In my opinion UFC will never be able to accomplish something of this magnitude. Then again that could be said for Dynamite, the original Pride Grand Prix and many other shows that Pride has put on. What Pride has done in the last year has been nothing short of spectacular. And Sakakibara, Momose and Takada should be commended for this great success.

Dana White temper tantrum:
White's backstage outburst had many people cringing in disgust. A formal apology to Chuck Liddell and the people who had to witness this would be a good step in the right direction. One has to wonder what future White has with the UFC and MMA. Most people feel the UFC would have been better off without him a long time ago. Then again, people have felt that way about Bruce Buffer from the beginning. Talk is running wild that White's place in the UFC is hanging by a thread. Which will snap first? The thread or Dana White himself. Stay tuned to Fightsport.com to find out.




Now in his fourth year of mixed martial arts coverage, Joshua Grossman has written for Ultimate Combat, Fighting Sports, and the Cyber Fighting Zone. On staff with Fightsport.com since October 2003, Grossman (27), has covered combat sports in numerous countries, including Japan and Holland. He is an active voting member of the AFP Top 10 -- the most respected ranking in the sport. His new contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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By Tape Lord

Fedor Emelianenko

Hello my friends, my postal connections deep within the DSE organization have relayed to me the following fighters that DSE currently wants for their PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix for the spring of 2004.

According to this extremely reliable inside source, the chances are 98% that six of the fighters listed below will participate in the PRIDE Heavyweight GP (Silva and Yoshida would weigh in over 205 pounds to qualify for the heavyweight GP).

The only two fighters in doubt are Mark Coleman and Josh Barnett (due to his ties to Inoki). If Coleman or Barnett do not participate, then an invitation might be given to Tim Sylvia, or whomever is the current UFC heavyweight champion.

PRIDE Heavyweight GP participants (unofficial):
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Fedor Emelianenko
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic
Vanderlei Silva
Mark Coleman
Josh Barnett
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazuyuki Fujita

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Royce Gracie

The Japanese media report that an MMA matchup of Royce Gracie vs. Hidehiko Yoshida is very close to being signed for the Antonio Inoki New Year's Eve show.

According to inside sources, the matchup would consist of two 10-minute rounds under PRIDE rules, and the referee cannot stop the fight in Yoshida's favor. If the referee stops the fight for whatever reason in favor of Yoshida, then Royce Gracie would recieve double the money of his guaranteed purse.

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Murilo Bustamante

Brazilian Top Team announced that Murilo Bustamante has lodged an official complaint with the PRIDE organization regarding his loss to Dan Henderson in the November 9th PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' card.

Bustamante would like to see the loss turned into a no-contest. Bustamante claims that Henderson illegally head-butted him, which led to what he feels was an early ref stoppage.

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By Todd Atkins

Tito Ortiz

Now that the Pride Grand Prix is over, I have been informed that Tito Ortiz will make some derogatory statements in the not so distant future. Ortiz is never one to like being upstaged, and with his falling in the LHW standings, look for him to try and use Liddell's loss in the GP as another way to avoid fighting him.

My people are telling me that he will fight the winner of the Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort title fight when his hand is better. Tito was counting on a Liddell loss at the Grand Prix and he got it. Now he can say that Chuck does not deserve to fight him. After Chuck got beat by Rampage, does he really deserve a fight to determine a title shot? Couple this with the fact that Dana White is openly furious with Liddell over the loss, things could not be looking better for Ortiz right now.

I think that Tito will be happy to fight Chuck if he is paid the same $$$ he gets for a title shot. The way Liddell looked against both Overeem and Jackson should give Tito the confidence to fight Liddell. Overeem was manhandling Liddell for the majority of thier fight. And Liddell looked horrible against Quinton Jackson. Some people even think Ortiz may be able to walk through Liddell now. But I suspect in the end that Tito will fight the winner of Belfort vs. Couture. My sources are telling me that Chuck Liddell will fight Rich Franklin for the right to face the winner of Couture vs. Tito. That is if things go according to plan and Randy is able to defeat Vitor Belfort in his next fight.

Dana was shocked that Chuck lost, and he acted like a little kid in the lockeroom afterward, yelling and acting crazy. The PRIDE people and Japanese media that witnessed his outburst where disgusted.

I have also heard that Mark Kerr was talking to the UFC about a possible comeback. But right now Mark is rumored to be back in rehab once again, so any "comeback" will be on hold.

This November UFC looks bad for ticket and ppv sales. Zuffa has not really spent the $$ it has on other shows. They have not hyped Matt Hughes at all to see if he can even develop a fan base. Most of the advertising had been geared toward Tank Abbott. According to knowledgable MMA people working in the cable industry, look for this "10th Anniversary UFC" to be a major disaster in both attendance and PPV sales.

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Minotauro (third from left) victorious over Cro Cop (far right).

Below is an interview that Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic did with a Croatian newspaper only hours after his loss to Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira in the November 9th PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' show:


Interviewer: Are you very dissapointed?

Cro Cop: No, I am not. I think I had a great fight.

Interviewer: What was the main reason for your defeat?

Cro Cop: My lack in concentration gave Minotauro a chance to take me down. I didn't think I was in real danger while I was mounted, but I made a mistake in trying to get out of it. I should have just taken those punches and waited for the end of the round. I went for the reversal and gave him my hand - that was enough for one of the world's greatest submission masters. He was a master of Brazilian jiu-jitsu before I even knew what that was. One mistake is crucial against an opponent with that much skill, power, and grip.

Interviewer: Do you blame the referee for your loss?

Cro Cop: No, I don't blame anyone. It's my own fault.

Interviewer: Could you get out of Nogueira's armbar?

Cro Cop: At that moment, there wasn't the slightest chance of getting out. My hand started breaking already. If I didn't tap, I would be out for a year with that kind of injury. If he was choking me, I would have taken it as far as I could and risk uncounciousnes, but a broken bone is too serious.

Interviewer: When Nogueira was on the ground, you asked him to get up every time. Couldn't you have done something else?

Cro Cop: Maybe I could. But kicking an opponent on the ground brings the risk of injury.

Interviewer: Right after the fight you said you deserve a rematch.

Cro Cop: I'm sure I'll get my chance very soon. The PRIDE officials were very satisfied with the fight and they made it obvious to me that a rematch is in order. Maybe even in February. There's a possibility I could fight Fedor first, and the winner would then fight Nogueira.

Interviewer: Was Sunday's fight against Nogueira your toughest so far?

Cro Cop: Absolutely, because the stakes were very high. I wanted that belt so bad. But after this loss, I'll come back even stronger and win the belt sooner or later. The failure just made me more angry. Next time I'll prepare even better and make some tactical changes. There is no doubt I will be the champ.

Interviewer: In your opinion, was this kind of a loss worse then a judges decision?

Cro Cop: I don't know, there's no point in disscussing it now. If I had just a few seconds more in the 1st round, I would have knocked him out. I probaby needed only one more strike.

Interviewer: After a long time, you come back to Croatia defeated.

Cro Cop: And now what, should I kill myself?! It makes it easier for me that people at least saw that I outstriked him.

Interviewer: After this, will you spend more time training grappling?

Cro Cop: Before my next match with Nogueira, I'll travel with Mike Bencic to train with one of the best schools in the United States. There, I can learn a lot from the real masters.

Interviewer: What would you want to improve the most?

Cro Cop: The thing that cost me the fight. Getting out of the mount. This was the only thing I wasn't good at even before the fight.

Interviewer: Won't your political career take time from your training?

Cro Cop: You better skip those kind of questions.

Interviewer: What about your plans for the end of the year?

Cro Cop: They're offering me a fight at the K-1 finals, but not in the tournament. I guess they aren't selling too many tickets. But I'm sure that I want to be in the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye in Kobe on the New Year's Eve.

Interviewer: How did you get that swelling on your left foot?

Cro Cop: Nogueira hit me with his ribs! (smiles)

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Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Antonio Inoki held a press conference today at Nippon TV studios in Tokyo regarding his December 31st show at Kobe Wing Stadium show.

He confirmed that Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic will be on the card, and the top two candidates to face him will be either Yoshihiro Takayama or Naoya Ogawa.

Kazuyuki Fujita will also be on the card, and the theme of the show will be MMA fighters vs. pro-wrestlers. It was also revealed that Inoki's 3-year contract with Nippon TV will not just cover New Year's Eve events, but will also be for additional shows throughout the next few years. Meanwhile, the order was given to New Japan that wrestlers would be needed for Inoki's 12/31 show and that will occur.

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Vanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson

Puroresu Power reports the following:

Hidehiko Yoshida had to get 5 stitches inside his mouth after the punches he took from Vanderlei Silva on 11/9 at the Tokyo Dome.

Kazushi Sakuraba went to the hospital on Monday for a physical examination, but nothing serious.

One interesting note is that Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira has not decided on what show he is going to fight in for New Year's Eve. He has offers from both PRIDE and Antonio Inoki, so no formal decision has been made, yet.

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By Jake R

Silva (hands raised) victorious over Jackson.

Sources backstage at the last PRIDE report the following:

Quinton Jackson admitted to several people that he was almost choked out with the guillotine and barely escaped without passing out.

Vanderlei Silva made USD$300,000 for the Yoshida fight, as he has for his last three fights.

Silva entered the event with a sore and swollen left elbow, which he did not complain or make excuses about. This explains the "Silva held back against Yoshida" charges that have been made on the internet. Silva fought his hardest, but was hampered with an elbow injury.

Silva stated without a doubt that Hidehiko Yoshida's strength shocked him. He said that Yoshida frustrated him in the first round with his grip and mat strength which he did not expect. In fact, Silva stated that he had never fought anyone close to Yoshida's strength before, including Tito Ortiz. Silva went on to say that he had never even grappled with anyone at 205 with that much mat strength. Silva believes Yoshida will be very difficult for anyone to beat right now, let alone if he improves his standup.

And as I reported in my other column, Dana White exploded and threw a temper tantrum for anyone backstage to see and hear.

As usual, keep reading Fightsport.com and the Jake R report for groundbreaking exclusives you won't read anywhere else.

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Fedor Emelianenko vs. Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

Japanese media, as well as Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, are saying that a Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Fedor Emelianenko heavyweight title fight will take place in PRIDE's February 2004 show.

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Cro Cop (left) loses to Minotauro (right).

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewed former PRIDE heavyweight champion Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira after his win over Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic. Here's what Minotauro had to say (interview by Jose Mauricio Costa):

Tatame: What is your evaluation of your fight against Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic?

Minotauro: I feel that I proved what I had to prove. I heard a lot of nonsense all over the place...people saying that my game had been figured out and that I'd get knocked out. I stood with Cro Cop for more then six minutes and I survived. He didn't survive one minute with me on the ground.

Tatame: You had a lot of problems in the first round. What happened?

Minotauro: I couldn't get him to the ground as I would've liked, and I had to trade strikes with him standing. I took some shots, but I think I showed that I was prepared for a fight against an opponent of his style.

Tatame: But you were knocked down at the end of the first round...

Minotauro: Man, that guy's kick is like a rock. He caught me in the head and I almost got knocked down, but I was able to re-gain my balance. But I knew what I had to do. I kept following the instructions from my corner, returned calm for the second round, and I was able to him to the ground. I then mounted him did what needed to be done.

Tatame: He got desperate when he found himself in that situation. Why did you risk losing your position trying to submit him when you could have won by just sitting in mount and striking him?

Minotauro: That was my plan, I wanted to submit him. The victory wouldn't have been complete if I hadn't made him tap.

Tatame: The path to regaining your title is now open. Do you have a confirmed date for such a fight?

Minotauro: I will have a rematch with Fedor in February, to try and take my Heavyweight belt back.

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By Jake R

Dana White

As well placed sources present backstage at the recent PRIDE event told me, Dana White erupted and threw a huge temper tantrum backstage after Chuck Liddell's fight. As I was told, the UFC president immediately began cussing and yelling as soon as he made it backstage. Several times Dana screamed "what the hell was Chuck doing in there?"

As I was told, Dana made it clear that Chuck had humiliated him with his performance and he was taking it personally. Dana's eruption lasted for several minutes, where he yelled and screamed almost the entire time and did not stop insulting or questioning Chuck's performance and heart. Dana was not directly saying this to Chuck's face, but several people backstage easily overheard it and the comments certainly got back to Liddell.

As this proves, Dana's confidence in Chuck was obviously not hype as many Dana apologists are now claiming; Dana was indeed legitmately shocked that Liddell did not win the entire tournament and threw a fit after it did not happen.

Several fighters who witnessed this childish behavior remarked later that Dana came off as a real jackass and a spoiled brat, much as many internet fans remarked after witnessing Dana's PRIDE commentary Sunday night.

Finally, as I have reported in the past, sources inside the Zuffa organization are saying that Dana's job is on the line as pressure continues to mount. The combination of Chuck being dominated, Dana being humiliated in Japan and on ppv, and Pride's show appearing to be far superior to the UFC made Dana White lose his cool and take it out on Liddell.

As usual, Fightsport.com and Jake R will continue to bring you the news that the rest of the mma media refuses to report.

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Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons

Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewed Brazilian vale-tudo legend Jose 'Pele' Landi-Jons, Here's what Pele had to say (interview by Eduardo Ferreira):

Tatame: Your team made a good debut with four KO's in the inaugural Challenge Original...

Pele: I'm very happy with the Pele Team. We have good fighters. Besides Elezier 'Ninja', we also have Sandrao, who is gaining weight, and Gaucho, who is losing weight and would like to fight in PRIDE's new middleweight category.

Tatame: Speaking about Ninja, how does he look for his upcoming fight against Ebenezer Braga at Heat 2?

Pele: Ebenezer is very experienced fighter, and Eliezer is training very hard to beat him. We are also working a lot on his psychological training, because during this week we were training standup and his testicles were hit hard by a knee. They got swollen and it left him with a great pain in the left side of his abdomen. He got worried and I want him to be well for that fight. I want him to be confident and 100% healthy.

Tatame: When will the next Challenge Original take place?

Pele: On December 4th, but we don't have the card ready yet. I can guarrantee you that my athletes are prepared and they will blow up in that tourney.

Tatame: Does the Pele Team represent Wallid Ismail's Brazil Dojo in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba?

Pele: I'm waiting for a reply from Wallid. I liked him very much and if he comes with some fights for my fighters...I'm only waiting for the best opportunity.

Tatame: About Sergio Batarelli, it was in his IVC show where you firest exploded onto the scene. How is your relationship with him?

Pele: We have a very good relationship. We spoke on the phone recently and I told him that I missed the IVC. A show like that shouldn't have to end. I use to let loose on that show, I felt very comfortable.

Tatame: There are always rumors that you will return to the UFC, yet you never get called. Is Pele the fighter retired?

Pele: Are you crazy? Pele the fighter is not retired. I'm open for proposals, but I want a good deal for myself. The offer has to be good. It's true that they always mention my name with the UFC, but nobody from their organization has contacted me.

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Alexa.com just updated their internet ratings for this week. Below are the Alexa.com rankings for the top 10 MMA websites as of November 2nd, 2003.

Fightsport.com has been the fastest-growing MMA website the last few months and have taken over the number 3 spot this past month, pushing Sherdog.net down to number 4. MMA.tv moved into the number one spot almost two months ago, knocking Sherdog.com down to number 2. MMAWeekly.com remains steady at number 5, while Subfighter.com has moved up to the number 6 spot.

The official site of the UFC fell down to number 7. The official site of PRIDE moved back into number 8, dropping Adcombat.com to number 9. MaxFighting.com survived by a thread to hang on to the number 10 spot.



MMA RANKINGS:

1.) MMA.tv - Traffic Rank for mma.tv: 4,230

2.) Sherdog.com - Traffic Rank for sherdog.com: 7,113

3.) Fightsport.com - Traffic Rank for fightsport.com: 8,909

4.) Sherdog.net - Traffic Rank for sherdog.net: 10,091

5.) MMAWeekly.com - Traffic Rank for mmaweekly.com: 11,955

6.) Subfighter.com - Traffic Rank for subfighter.com: 17,347

7.) UFC.tv - Traffic Rank for ufc.tv: 21,781

8.) Pridefc.com - Traffic Rank for pridefc.com: 29,049

9.) Adcombat.com - Traffic Rank for adcombat.com: 29,412

10.) Maxfighting.com - Traffic Rank for maxfighting.com: 49,388






Alexa.com tracks the internet ratings with the use of the Alexa toolbar, which is used by no less then 10 million people. Almost all of the Alexa toolbar users also use Amazon.com and Google, making the Alexa.com rankings very important with advertisers. Alexa.com is arguably the most respected internet ratings system in the business.

How to read the Alexa.com rankings: The traffic rank indicates the website's ranking amongst english-language websites. As the number goes lower, it indicates that the website is ranked higher.

For example:

a website with a traffic rank of '1', means that it is the number one visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

a website with a traffic rank of '10,221', means that it is the 10,221st most visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

a website with a traffic rank or '90,594', means that it is the 90,594th most visited english-language website on the internet, according to Alexa.com's 10 million users.

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Carlos Barreto

Heat FC 2
November 27th
Natal, Brazil

Below are the matchups that have been announced so far for the second Heat FC show:

Carlos Barreto vs. Travis Wiuff
Alan Goes vs. Gustavo 'Ximu' Machado
Akira Shoji vs. Marcelo Uirapuru
Forrest Griffin vs. Edson 'Paredao'
Ebenezer Fontes Braga vs. TBA
Vinicius 'Draculinho' vs. Kleber Galdino
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Chris Fontaine
Dinart Silva vs. Charles Andrade
Fabio Bolinho vs. Sergio 'Junior'
Roman Roytberg vs. TBA

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Din Thomas (right)

Reports out of Florida are that Din Thomas has broken his arm in training, and will have to pull out of the UFC 45 card on November 21st.

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Below is the artistic intepretation by aspring MMA artist 'Chadu' of MMA journalist Jake Rossen and his fall from grace:

THREE DAYS.

TWENTY FIVE HOURS.

MORE THAN FIFTEEN A4 PICTURES DRAWN.

2000+ YEARS IN THE MAKING...

"YOSHYSSEY: THE AGONY AND ECSTASY IN THREE PARTS"

PART 1: ROSSEN'S EVIL PLAN



PART 2: JUDOKA ON A MISSION OF REVENGE



PART 3: ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL...JAKE ROSSEN GOES TO HELL




"I PUT IN WORK AND IT'S ALL FOR THE KIDS/BUT THESE CATS DONE FORGOT WHAT WORK IS"

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Jake Rossen

The trials and tribulatons of MMA journalist Jake Rossen have made the news this past year for all the wrong reasons.

First their was the scandal of Jake Rossen asking for naked pictures of MMA insider Shiloh McIver's roommate, and telling him he should wire webcams in his house to sneak peeks at McIver's roommate, all the while KNOWING FULL WELL McIver's roommate was dating former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez at the time.

Then in Rossen's most recent downward spiral, he publicly bashed former Olympic judo gold medalist and PRIDE veteran Hidehiko Yoshida, publicly denouncing him as a fraud on the internet forums. This act of libel caused officials from PRIDE to become alarmed, and then Rossen mysteriously toned down his act.

But then came 'The Bet'. Rossen claimed that Yoshida would not even show up to the PRIDE GP semifinal matchup against Vanderlei Silva. Many fans took this to mean that he was implying PRIDE wanted to protect his made-up image. Famous MMA fan and bigtime gambler Jack Johnson asked Rossen to put his money where his mouth is, and they made a bet of USD$1,000. If Yoshida showed up, Rossen loses. If Yoshida doesn't show up, Rossen wins.

As we all know now, Yoshida showed up and took his beating like a man, even putting Silva in some dangerous situations during the fight. Part of the proceeds from the money Rossen had to pay up have gone towards aspiring MMA artist 'Chadu', so that he could produce an MMA masterpiece telling the story of Jake Rossen's downfall due to his Yoshida obsession. We only hope his unsuccessful gambling ways are not a recurring problem with Rossen as well.

Stay tuned for Chadu's artistic masterpice in our next update.

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Dana White from his days as a Boxercise instructor.

Hello my friends! Welcome to Tape Lord's "Monday Morning Mailbag'. Below are some of the more interesting e-mails I recieved as one of the editors of this newspage. Enjoy...

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WTF IS UP WITH DANA WHITE?!
What's up with all of Dana White's excuses for Chuck Liddell's ass-whooping at the hands of Rampage?? Can't that guy just give credit where credit is due? Why do Las Vegas fags always have to make excuses for every fucking little thing? And I gotta say that Liddell is one tough mofo but he's not so great a striker like Dana says. I was surprised to see Rampage tag him so many times cleanly.
- UFC SUCKS
Boston, MA

Tape Lord's reply: I'd say that Dana was in some major denial during his excuse-filled tirade towards Chuck Liddell's performance last night. The truth is most often a bitter pill to swallow, and Dana has been wearing the invisible robe for a while now regarding his boys, Tito and Chuck. I've always thought that Liddell was in need of some better boxing skills, and this deficiency has shown itself bigtime in his last two losses. You would have thought being a former "boxing guy", that Dana White would have seen this. Of course Dana always seems to miss the obvious so it's not so surprising.

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Randlemans ground game??
with a nice hard build like Kevin has and his speed and great takedowns Kevin should be killing people But his ground game needs serious work.Why does he hang his head and seemed happy staying in a triangle ??Why does he never try and pass guard and lastly he must be one tough guy to coach cause he never listens to his corner.He should be 10x more aggresive and learn better posture on the ground and for good ness sake try and pass the guard
-Daren Roth
Huntington, New York

Tape Lord's reply: No way in hell should Randleman have lost this fight, but you can't make the type of mistake he made against a submission specialist like Sakuraba and hope to come out a winner. IMO Randleman was being maybe too cautious of Sakuraba's ground game. Also, Randleman has not really improved much since he first started his career, and is incredibly stubborn to coach. It's unfortunate because he has such raw athletic talent, but Randleman is not a smart fighter.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silva vs. Couture, who wins?
Vanderlei Silva has shown why he's rated as high as he is. He destroyed Quinton Jackson like noone else ever has. Who do you think would win between him and Randy Couture?
-Rodrigo
Miami, Florida

Tape Lord's reply: I am as big a Silva fan as you will find, but I think he matches up badly with Randy Couture. Couture will probably come out with a gameplan that involves him out boxing Silva, and slamming him to the ground whenever Silva opens up. I think Couture would probably win a unanimous decision against him under PRIDE rules, and probably get a 4th round G'n'P cut stoppage against him in the octagon. Of course that's just an opinion and anything could happen.

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Dana White in Fetal Position?
What do you think Dana White must be feeling right now? His dream matchup of Tito and Chuck is all but ruined now thanks to Tito's cowardness and Chuck's losses.
-Micheal Worley
Toronto, Canada

Tape Lord's reply: Dana's master plan is definitely out the window now. My postal connections tell me that he's feeling the heat to produce UFC 40-type numbers soon or else he might be gone by next year.

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Tito Still The Best
Tito is still the best lite heavyweight in world. He will destroy Chuck or Silva and he want rematch with Randy. Tito back!!
FIAFS1
Huntington Beach, CA

Tape Lord's reply: Tito is a fading star who has destroyed his own momentum with his cowardice. He is stuck to the UFC because he can only shine in an octagon with quick stoppages. He will never go to PRIDE now after seeing what awaits him there. In fact, I'm sure he will now add Vanderlei Silva to his "Duck List" as well.

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Vanderlei Silva

DSE held a press conference between Vanderlei Silva and the Japanese media today. Silva said he wants to do a unification bout with Randy Couture in the future, and that he thinks he will eventually move up to the heavyweight division.

Silva mentioned that he was very tired after the GP and just went back to his hotel room and slept, rather then going out to party. Silva went on to say that he was both physically and mentally fatigued from his two fights against Hidehiko Yoshida and Quinton Jackson, and that Yoshida deserved special praise for not being scared of getting hit and having a big heart. Silva told the press that if promoters approached him to do a rematch against Yoshida, he would take it instantly.

In fact, according to inside sources in the Japanese media, a second Silva vs. Yoshida fight may actually take place as the main event for the PRIDE show scheduled for December 31st.

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Hidehiko Yoshida

Puroresu Power reports the following:

Virtually everyone in the Japanese press pushed the idea that Hidehiko Yoshida came out of his fight with Vanderlei Silva 'stronger' than anyone ever could have expected. Yoshida absolutely dominated the newspaper headlines on Monday in Japan, with Sakuraba almost being a second-tier story.

With only five fights under his belt, Yoshida's price tag has to be 7-figures now to book him. He beat Royce Gracie on 8/28/02 at Kokuritsu (National) Stadium with a choke, then he beat Don Frye on 11/24/02 at the Tokyo Dome by submission, then he beat up on poor Masaaki Satake on 12/31/02 at Saitama Super Arena in 50 seconds, then he beat up Kiyoshi Tamura on 8/10/03 at Saitama Super with a choke, and now his decision loss against Vanderlei Silva on 11/9 at the Tokyo Dome.

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Brazilian magazine "Tatame"

Brazilian magazine Tatame wanted to voice their opinion about a matter regarding PRIDE's treatment of the Brazilian press:


Tatame Magazine's Open Letter To PRIDE GP

I'm writing to express our quite disappointment in the bad treatment given by PRIDE organizers to Brazilian Press. Frankly, all of the Brazilians are really astonished with your attitude to not allow our journalists to do their work. You of all people should know that these MMA shows you promote nowadays were originaly created by Brazilians. And still today, the highlights of Pride are Brazilians like Rodrigo Minotauro, Wanderlei Silva, Murilo Bustamante, Murilo Ninja, Ryan Gracie, Anderson Silva and many others.

Everytime we have a huge event here, in Brazil, the Japanese press is treated with all due respect. It gives us great honor to receive foreign journalists in our country to write and take pictures from our MMA scene. And it was exactly what happened in ADCC 2003, World BJJ Championship, K-1 Brazil, Meca Vale-Tudo Championship , Brazilian Superfight Championship, Heat Fighting Champinship and Jungle Fight, just to mention recent events held in Brazil.

Therefore, PRIDE organizers, doesn't seem to have any respect with us. We are the most traditional Brazilian Martial Arts magazine, and have been working for the last 9 years covering all the great MMA shows around the world. Last week we received Fuji TV here in our office, asking us for an interview about Pride GP and Brazilian Fighters. Try to ask them how they were well treated by us. Unfortunately, you choose not give us the same treatment.

Our editor Marcelo Alonso wasted almost 24 hours inside an airplane from one to other side of the world just to capture the best moments of this PRIDE GP. He writes for TATAME and eleven other foreign magazines and papers. Still, you just don't give him a ringside pass to take pictures. This is not the first time that this has happened and to say the very least my patience is almost over. I cannot stress enough the fact that Brazil and it's fighters are importants components of your success. I sincerily hope you reexamine your position and give us the well treatment we deserve.

Sincerely,

Jose Mauricio Costa (mauricio@tatame.com.br)

TATAME's Director

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By Eddie Goldstein

Dana White

UFC president Dana White was on hand in the broadcast booth last night during the PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' event, to offer some commentary for the english-language broadcast. For the fans who followed the events leading up to the GP Final, Dana White had bragged long and loud about how he was going to bring the PRIDE GP back to his desk in Las Vegas, about how he had a USD$250,000 bet with PRIDE president Sakakibara that Liddell could beat Vanderlei Silva if they met up in the final, about how Quinton Jackson was a class below Liddell, about how Liddell was going to steamroll through his opponents, etc, etc.

Dana White then had to eat all his words as his boy Chuck Liddell got brutally TKOed in the second round of his GP semifinal fight against Quinton Jackson. Dana White could then heard giving excuse after excuse for Liddell's loss, saying that Liddell did not follow the gameplan that he (White, the former Boxercise instructor) and the other trainers had made for him.

In my opinion, Liddell didn't "follow the gameplan" because Quinton Jackson was just too good of a fighter for Liddell to implement the gameplan he had wanted to do. Of course Dana White never even thought of this possibility, or maybe he did and preferred not to give credit where credit is due.

To the neutral observer who knows the fight game however, it was clear to see that Chuck Liddell tried, but could not dictate the gameplan he had wanted to do. It would appear that it was Chuck Liddell who was not in the same class as Quinton Jackson, and not the other way around as Dana White had previously bragged.



Here are my final thoughts on the PRIDE GP tourney:

A big congratulations are in order to Vanderlei Silva, Quinton Jackson, Hidehiko Yoshida and Chuck Liddell. They all proved what tough combatants they are, regardless of the fact three of them had to lose yesterday night.

Vanderlei Silva once again showed that he is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA with his gritty performances culminating in a TKO of Quinton Jackson in the final to win the PRIDE GP.

Quinton Jackson showed skill and extreme toughness in beating Liddell, and then eventually losing to Silva in an epic fight.

Hidehiko Yoshida showed that he is for real and that he is also one tough customer. He went the distance with Silva, whereas fighters who where supposedly more legit have not.

Chuck Liddell showed his usual toughness. He is game to fight anyone, he was just outclassed this time by a better fighter.

As for Dana White and some of the overly pretentious American MMA media, they all openly disrespected Hidehiko Yoshida, and all were stating how Chuck Liddell would win the whole Grand Prix. Well Yoshida lasted longer with Silva then Jackson did, and Liddell had the worst showing of the tournament.

What does it all mean? Well you can never judge what's said in the media by a bunch of people who have their own agendas, or who have never trained or watched fights for too long. And I suppose it also shows that while Boxing is a great MMA skill, its aerobic class non-contact version of Boxercise is not (this last sentence is a joke for the humor impaired).




Eddie Goldstein is a legendary underground journalist of boxing, pro-wrestling, and now MMA. His contributions to MMA can be found here exclusively at Fightsport.com from now on.

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Antonio Inoki (right)

Nobuhiko Takada announced to the crowd that PRIDE would have a 100%-PRIDE only fight show on New Year's Eve on Fuji TV that would run against the K-1 show on Tokyo Broadcasting System and the Antonio Inoki show on Nippon TV.

Also, in a move that seem to confirm that Antonio Inoki's involvement with PRIDE may be over for now, Takada told the crowd before the show that Inoki wasn't in the building to watch the event, and he started asking, "Why did Inoki turn his back on PRIDE?"

Takada then stated to the crowd that although Antonio Inoki was his fighting teacher, Inoki had never been involved in such high-level of fighting as in PRIDE. PRIDE's official parting from Inoki was then officially declared.

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Silva vs. Jackson

DSE is claiming that their November 9th PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' show at the Tokyo Dome drew 67,451 paid fans, for a complete sell-out (at least $USD7 million for the live gate).

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Cro Cop (left) and Minotauro (right) expected to be in heavyweight GP.

DSE announced to the Japanese media that their heavyweight GP will begin in the in the Spring of 2004.

There were no official announcements on who will participate, but inside sources say to expect to see Fedor Emelianenko, Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic, and possibly Kazuyuki Fujita all involved.

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Vanderlei Silva (hands raised) beats Quinton Jackson to win the PRIDE GP title.

SportsNavi.co.jp and NikkanSports.com have pictures up on their sites of the PRIDE: 'Final Conflict' event that just took place today. To view the complete gallery, click here

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Liddell (top) vs. Jackson

PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003
November 9, 2003
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo, Japan

Grand Prix middleweight tournament:
Semifinals:
Vanderlei Silva defeats Hidehiko Yoshida by unanimous decision.
Quinton Jackson defeats Chuck Liddell by TKO at 3:10, RD 2.

Final:
Vanderlei Silva defeats Quinton Jackson by TKO at 6:28, RD 1.



PRIDE interim heavyweight title:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira defeats Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic by armbar at 1:45, RD 2.

Single Fights:
Dan Henderson defeats Murilo Bustamante by KO at 0:53, RD 1.
Kazushi Sakuraba defeats Kevin Randleman by armbar at 2:36, RD 3.
Gary Goodridge defeats Dan Bobish by TKO at 0:18, RD 1.
Heath Herring defeats Norihisa Yamamoto by rear naked choke at 2:29, RD 3.

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PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003
November 9, 2003
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo, Japan


Grand Prix middleweight tournament:
Vanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
Quinton Jackson vs. Chuck Liddell

Single fights:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic (PRIDE heavyweight title)
Kevin Randleman vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Gary Goodridge vs. Dan Bobish
Heath Herring vs. Norihisa Yamamoto

*Alternate fights:
Murilo Bustamante vs. Dan Henderson



*Winner of alternate fight will be first replacement fighter in the event that one of the GP fighters cannot continue in the tournament.

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