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K-1: 'Battle At The Bellagio II'
Friday, April 30th, 2004
Bellagio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV

K-1 announced that Shannon Briggs will face Gary Goodridge in a 3-round K-1 rules superfight on the K-1 Vegas card, scheduled for April 30th. The event will be available live on pay-per-view.

Below is the developing card:


Superfight:
Shannon Briggs vs. Gary Goodridge

8-man tournament:
Michael McDonald
Marvin Eastman
Stephan Gamlin
'Mighty Mo'
Dewey Cooper
Aziz Khattou

Fighters that may also be on the card:
Francois Botha
Carter Williams
Cung Le

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Masato

K-1 announced that the date for the K-1 World Max 2004 will be on July 7th at the Yoyogi National Stadium Gym I in Tokyo, Japan.

K-1 also announced that it will be looking to sign some top boxers for the event.

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HEAT FC 3
April 16th, 2004
Natal, Brazil

Heat FC announced the following matchups for their April 16th show. The full card is expected to have around eight matchups:


Carlos Barreto vs. Mike Whitehead or Ben Christensen
Ebenezer Braga vs. Keith Jardine
Erick Tavares vs. Diego Sanches
Lucas Lopes vs. Fabiano Capoane
Milton Vieira vs. Delosman Paiva

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European Vale-Tudo 2
April 4th, 2004
Stockholm, Sweden


Travis Lutter defeats Grzegorz Jakubowski by leylock at 3:23, RD 1.
Thomas Hytten defeats Ronaldo Campos by TKO at 5:00, RD 1.
Mario Stapel defeats Hiro Kamikozono by TKO at 0:31, RD 1.
Martin Kampmann defeats Xavier Foupa-Pokam by DQ at 0:27, RD 2.
Stale Nyang defeats Chris Bowles by guillotine choke at 2:14, RD 2.
Kenneth Rosfort defeats Diego Gonzales by TKO at 2:41, RD 3.
John Oskar Hammer defeats Krzystof by TKO at 2:46, RD 2.
Anders Ericksson defeats Christian Dellevag by unanimous decision.
Mattias Awad defeats Daniel Weichel by unanimous decision.
Tor Olav Hauge defeats Jean Robert Monier by guillotine choke at 0:31, RD 2.
Joar Palm defeats Aaron Blackwell by armbar at 4:45, RD 1.

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Chris Haseman (right)

Spartan Reality Fight 9
April 3, 2004
Australia


Bill Mahood defeats Chris Haseman by TKO, RD 3.
Sam Nest defeats Chris Peak by TKO, RD 1.
Richard Buhrmann defeats Narkou Spain by submission, RD 2.
Jim defeats Sean Heins by TKO.
Slade Wormington defeats Chris Heilscher by submission, RD 3.
Matt Eckford defeats Ulf Strand by TKO, RD 2.
Matt Knight defeats Gavin Slater by TKO.
Michael Grunindike defeats Tim Olsen by TKO.
Ross McCasker defeats Jacob Sidic by triangle choke.
Lance Lalicz defeats Lance Alexander by submission.

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Chuck Liddell (far right) victorious over Tito Ortiz (bottom left).

The estimated figure being given for the live gate at UFC 47 is 11,413 in attendance.

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Ortiz vs. Liddell

SportsNavi.co.jp provides us with the following UFC 47 fight pics.

To view the complete gallery, click here

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UFC 47: 'It's On!'
April 2nd, 2004
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, NV


Chuck Liddell defeats Tito Ortiz by KO at 0:38, RD 2.
Chris Lytle defeats Tiki Ghosn by choke at 1:55, RD 2.
Yves Edwards defeats Hermes Franca by split decision.
Andrei Arlovski defeats Wes 'Cabbage' Correira by TKO at 1:15, RD 2.
Nick Diaz defeats Robbie Lawler by KO at 1:31, RD 2.
Mike Kyle defeats Wes Sims by KO at 4:59, RD 1.
Jonathan Wiezorek defeats Wade Shipp by TKO at 4:40, RD 1.
Genki Sudo defeats Mike Brown by armbar at 3:31, RD 1.

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SportsNavi.co.jp provides us with the following UFC 47 weigh-in pics.

To view the complete gallery, click here

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Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman announced that as of now, his opponent for the first round of the PRIDE Heavyweight GP on April 25th is scheduled to be Fedor Emelianenko.

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Paulo Filho (top)

Bitetti Combat
April 1st, 2004
Ginasio Machadinho
Natal, Brazil


Paulo Filho defeats Silmar Rodrigo by decision.
Fabio Bolinho defeats Diogo Brucutu by decision.
Dunga defeats Everaldo Papa-Legua by TKO.
Kiki defeats Wellington Dias by decision.
Sergio 'Capoeira' defeats Daniel 'Pirata' by decision.
Michelli Tavares defeats Mayara by submission.
Luis Pimpolho defeats Ronaldo 'Furacao' by decision.
Flavio Moura defeats Capixu by submission.

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UFC 47: 'It's On!'
April 2nd, 2004
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, NV


Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell
Wes 'Cabbage' Correira vs. Andrei Arlovski
Wes Sims vs. Mike Kyle
Jonathan Wiezorek vs. Wade Shipp
Robbie Lawler vs. Nick Diaz
Chris Lytle vs. Tiki Ghosn
Yves Edwards vs. Hermes Franca
Genki Sudo vs. Mike Brown

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Cabbage (left) to fight Arlovsky (right).

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


Fightsport.com's Jake R is vindicated once again as his Tim Sylvia scoop has turned out to be true.

Not only did the UFC confirm Jake R's scoop by issuing a press release stating that Sylvia had failed a preliminary steroid test, but they have now announced that Tim Sylvia has failed a new steroid test and will not be able to participate on the UFC 47 card tonight.

Also, just as Jake R had reported, Wesley 'Cabbage' Correira will take Sylvia's place against Andrei Arlovski in a non-title match, and Wes Sims will take on Correira's formerly scheduled opponent Mike Kyle.

As usual, stick to Fightsport.com and the Jake R report to read the latest rumors you won't read anywhere else.

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Sylvester Terkay

The Japanese media report that Sylvester Terkay will not be participating in the PRIDE Heavyweight GP, even though PRIDE announced that he would.

According to the Japanese media, Terkay has signed on with K-1 and will compete mainly on their MMA cards.

Terkay had been under contract to DSE/PRIDE and had appeared on their ZERO-ONE pro-wrestling shows, but that contract expired this month and chose the K-1 deal over PRIDE.

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Tamakairiki

The Japanese media announced that PRIDE has signed former Sumo veteran Tamakairiki to participate on their PRIDE Bushido 3 card, scheduled for May 23rd.

Tamakairiki stands 1.83 m (6'0) tall and currently weighs 98 kg (215 pds) , down from the 148 kg (326 pds) he used to weigh.

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By Eddie Goldstein

Tim Sylvia (top)

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


I was reading the interview in which Tim Sylvia specifically told Tony Caiazzo on March 27th that he did not take a preliminary steroid test for his fight at UFC 47. As you all know by now, the UFC then issued a press release only four days later on March 31st stating that Tim Sylvia did indeed take a preliminary steroid test, and did so several weeks prior to March 31st.

After reading the interview, two things really struck me:

1.) Tim Sylvia is not a good liar.

2.) Tim Sylvia should not blame the internet for his predicament.


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

1.) Tim Sylvia said he does not get tested until after the fight: When asked by Caiazzo whether he took a preliminary steroid test, Tim Sylvia stated that no, 'We don't take tests until AFTER the fight.' For the UFC to come out only four days later and state the opposite makes Sylvia look like a liar.

Not only that, but the UFC president Dana White also stated to the media that Sylvia failed the preliminary steroid test by having a testosterone count of 62 nanograms. In order to pass the test, Sylvia must have a count of 30 nanograms or less.

The press release also stated that the preliminary test showed that Sylvia still contains traces of the original steroid which he was busted for after his fight last September 26th, which was Stanozolol aka 'Winstrol V'. The UFC's stance is that Sylvia's fat cells are still containing some traces of the setroids he took for his September 26th fight, that steroid being Winstrol V.

An interesting note is that Winstrol V is mainly used as a dietary-type steroid, which allows the user to retain muscle while dieting and losing fat.

Another interesting note is that Tim Sylvia recently said he has been doing mostly dieting the last few weeks to look good for his upcoming UFC 47 fight on April 2nd.

Now here's where it gets tricky, as the doctors I have talked to tell me that Winstrol V does NOT stay in your system or fat cells for that long a time. In fact, Winstrol V is one of the fastest steroids to leave your system, usually being completely gone from your system in a matter of days.

What these doctors did tell me is that steroids such as Nandrolone Decanoate aka 'Deca-Durabolin' can leave traces in a person's fat cells for up to one year, sometimes a little longer.

Now I'm not saying Tim Sylvia is taking Deca. No, I'm just saying that Winstrol V, the steroid Sylvia tested positive for last September and in his recent preliminary steroid test, is considered the fastest steroid to leave a person's body. According to these scientific facts, the Winstrol V from Sylvia's September 26th fight would have been out of his system after only a few days from when he stopped taking Winstrol V.

So according to these facts, how is it possible that Tim Sylvia could test positive for Winstrol V just a few weeks ago (approximately six months since he last tested positive) in a preliminary steroid test?



2.) Tim Sylvia blames the internet for his current steroid predicament: When asked by Caiazzo about the latest steroid rumor, Tim Sylvia said he logged on to the internet and was 'blown away' and that he didn't know where any of the rumors came from (Mind you that his denial was before the UFC blew Sylvia's cover with their press release).

Sylvia went on to say that it pissed him off that people were supposedly fucking with my livelihood. Sylvia even stated the following: 'I mean, there's a chance that I might not fight because of all these rumors goin on, and how am I supposed to get paid if I can't fight? Because of some geek behind a keyboard is running his mouth because he heard a rumor?'

Now granted that this was before the UFC press release exposed Sylvia's denial about taking a preliminary steroid test, but in this journalist's humble opinion I think the fact Tim Sylvia tested positive in his recent preliminiary steroid test is the real reason he finds himself in his sticky situation, and not due to the internet fans.

Take one more look at this situation: Testing positive for a steroid, then saying that it is traces from the Winstrol V you took nearly six months ago. Yet doctors say that Winstrol V usually leaves the system in a matter of days. Just how exactly are the internet fans to blame for this?



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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Tim Sylvia

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


Supposed journalist Tony Caiazzo was blasted last week by Matt Lindland for inaccurate reporting, and now Caiazzo is behind a fluff interview in which Tim Sylvia lies to him about taking the preliminary steroid test for the NSAC.



Below are the facts. Observe this excerpt from the interview that Caiazzo did with Tim Sylvia on March 27th, 2004, in which Caiazzo asks Sylvia if he took a preliminary steroid test:

Tony Caiazzo: Well let me ask you Tim. Did you take a test?

Tim Sylvia: We don't take tests until AFTER the fight.



Now observe this excerpt from a press release that was issued by the UFC on March 31st, 2004:

'In anticipation of the Nevada State Athletic Commission's requirement for 2004 licensing, Sylvia took a preliminary test several weeks ago, still indicates miniscule amounts of the substance detected after his September 26, 2003 bout.'



FINAL ANALYSIS: As you can see above, Tim Sylvia claims on March 27th he did not take a preliminary steroid test, yet the UFC announces on March 31st that Sylvia did indeed take the test several weeks prior.

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Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


Fightsport.com's Jake R first broke the news that Tim Sylvia failed a preliminary steroid test under the requirements for his NSAC licensing to be able to fight on the upcoming UFC 47 card. Now the UFC has confirmed what Jake R reported by issuing the following press release:



Las Vegas, Nev., March 31, 2004...Pursuant to the terms of his prior suspension, former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia is anxiously awaiting satisfactory test results indicating an absence of performance enhancing drugs in his system.

In anticipation of the Nevada State Athletic Commission's requirement for 2004 licensing, Sylvia took a preliminary test several weeks ago, that still indicates miniscule amounts of the substance detected after his September 26, 2003 bout. Sylvia insists, and the results indicate, that the possible small trace amounts found in his system go back to his first and only use of the agents taken over nine months ago. Because the NSAC had ordered Sylvia to provide satisfactory results before fighting again, Sylvia has requested that he be given until the last possible opportunity to obtain accurate results. This request is based upon a belief that trace amounts can linger in an athlete’s fat cells long after usage has occurred. Sylvia has already submitted his urine sample and lab results for that test are expected early tomorrow.

UFC officials are working closely with the NSAC and the fighter, a proactive approach the company embraces in matters relating to fighter safety and event integrity. Any changes to the official UFC 47: It's On! event card will be announced pending Sylvia's test results.

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Paulo Filho (top)

Bitetti Combat
April 1st, 2004
Ginasio Machadinho
Natal, Brazil


Paulo Filho vs. Alexandre Vaca
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Flavio Moura
Arlisson Melo vs. Wellington Dias
'Capoeira' vs. Daniel 'Pirata'
Ronaldo 'Furacao' vs. Pimpolho
Fabio Bolinho vs. Diogo Brucutu
Michele Tavares vs. Alice Aguiar

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Minotauro and CroCop confirmed for the GP.

PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix
April 25th, 2004 (opening round)
Japan


Listed below are the names of the fighters who are signed, and who are being considered for the opening round of the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The opening round will feature sixteen fighters, and is scheduled for April 25th:


Officially confirmed:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic
Fedor Emelianenko
Igor Vovchanchyn
Heath Herring
Stefan Leko
Mark Coleman
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Sergei Karitonov
Sylvester Terkay
Sentoryu aka Henry Miller
'Giant' Silva
Hirotaka Yokoi
Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Unofficially confirmed, and very strong possibilty:
Don Frye
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Yoshihiro Takayama

Names have been mentioned in the media, but do not expect them in the GP:
Vanderlei Silva *
Yuki Kondo **
Royce Gracie
Dan Henderson
Quinton Jackson
Tom Erikson
Hiromitsu Kanehara
Kiyoshi Tamura



* Silva will most likely defend his light heavyweight belt against Kondo, and only be in the GP in the event that Ninja cannot compete.
** Kondo only wants to face Silva in a single fight.

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By Jake R


The television show this cyber reporter first mentioned months ago is now set to debut on Saturday night. 'Passing The Guard' will be shown on the KDOC channel at midnight, covering the important San Diego and LA television markets.

The first episode will be covering the Meca 1 event in Brazil, with next week's covering the Meca 2 Brazilian event.

NHB fans thankful for this television show owe a debt of gratitude to Ed Soares from Sinister Brand and Jorge Guimaraes, the Brazilian producer of the show where it has been on the air for over six years.

Sources close to the television show have explained that the Brazilian version is extremely violent and very close to pure vale tudo, something that was proven to be a ratings blockbuster success in the early UFC days in America and is a ratings success in Brazil as well.

As I reported previously, "Passing The Guard" will largely focus on Brazilian events, but also cover little known events in America such as Japan's PRIDE event. All NHB fans in the Southern California area need to watch and support the show, as it has the potential for national syndication if it is a ratings success in the influential LA and San Diego television markets.


As usual, stick to Fightsport.com the Jake R report for hard hitting reporting and exclusives you won't find anywhere else.

*Fightsport.com the Jake R exclusive, must credit the Jake R report when discussing this story.*

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Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell are scheduled to appear tonight on Fox's Best Damn Sports Show.

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Shaolin (top)

The Brazilian media reports that SHOOTO welterweight champion Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro will be fighting on the SHOOTO Hawaii that is scheduled for July. Shaolin's teammate Robson Moura will most likely be on the card as well.

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UFC 47: 'It's On!'
April 2nd, 2004
Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas, NV


Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell
Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
Wes 'Cabbage' Correira vs. Mike Kyle
Jonathan Wiezorek vs. Wade Shipp
Robbie Lawler vs. Nick Diaz
Chris Lytle vs. Tiki Ghosn
Yves Edwards vs. Hermes Franca
Genki Sudo vs. Mike Brown

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

European Vale-Tudo 2
April 4th, 2004
Stockholm, Sweden


Travis Lutter vs. Antonio Tello
Chris Bowles vs. Stale Nyang
Dersu Lerma vs. Thomas Hytten
Hiro Kamikozono vs. Mario Stapel
Bernardo Serrini vs. Martin Kampmann
Janne Lukkarinen vs. Bobby Rehman
Alex Reid vs. John Oskar Hammer
Ricky Moore vs. Tchavdar Pavlov
Jean Robert Monier vs. Tor Olav Hauge
Kenneth Rosfort vs. Diego Gonzales
Aaron Blackwell vs. Joar Palm
Christian Dellevag vs. Anders Ericksson

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Joachim Hansen

Capital Punishment 2: 'Ticket To Japan'
April 5th, 2004
Helsinki, Finland


Miikka Mehmet vs. Sami Liedes
Tom Niinimaki vs. Vincent Latoel
Mika Ilmen vs. Danelius Razmus
Robin Hernandez vs. Olli Hartikainen
Tommi Haapanen vs. Toni Hakala
David Bielkheden vs. Sigitas Antanavicius
Joachim Hansen vs. Yakut Metin
Janne Rantanen vs. Thomas Backman
Arttu Nyman vs. Janne Tulirinta
Mikael Lahdesmaki vs. Jani Lax

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Masato

K-1 World Max 2004
April 7, 2004
Yoyogi Stadium
Tokyo, Japan


Tournament (K-1 rules):
Masato vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Albert Kraus vs. Jadamba Narantungalag
Buakaw Por.Puramuk vs. Jordan Tai
Duane Ludwig vs. Johan Wayne Parr
Shamil Gaydarbekov vs. Marfio Canoletti
Takayuki Kohiruimaki vs. Paolo Balicha
Mike Zambidis vs. Hayato

Reserve match (K-1 rules):
Fuji Chalmsak vs. Jean Skarbowsky

Single fight (MMA rules):
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto vs. Tony Valenti

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HEAT FC 3
April 16th, 2004
Natal, Brazil

Heat FC announced the following matchups for their April 16th show. The full card is expected to have around eight matchups:


Carlos Barreto vs. Mike Whitehead
Ebenezer Braga vs. Keith Jardine
Erick Tavares vs. Diego Sanches
Lucas Lopes vs. Fabiano Capoane

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Storm GP champ Anderson Silva (right).

Storm Muay Thai promoter Rudimar Fedrigo announced that the show's next two editions will be held in Brazil, and will be only two days apart, on April 16th and then April 18th.

The April 16th show will take place in the city of Sao Paulo, and the April 18th show will take place in the city of Curitiba.

Discuss this at Fightsport.com

Minotauro and CroCop confirmed for the GP.

PRIDE Heabyweight Grand Prix
April 25th, 2004 (opening round)
Japan


Listed below are the names of the fighters who are signed, and who are being considered for the opening round of the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The opening round will feature sixteen fighters, and is scheduled for April 25th:


Officially confirmed:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic
Fedor Emelianenko
Igor Vovchanchyn
Heath Herring
Stefan Leko
Sergei Karitonov
Sylvester Terkay
Sentoryu aka Henry Miller
Hirotaka Yokoi
Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Unofficially confirmed, and very strong possibilty:
Don Frye
Mark Coleman
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Quinton Jackson
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Yoshihiro Takayama

Names have been mentioned in the media, but do not expect them in the GP:
Vanderlei Silva *
Yuki Kondo **
Royce Gracie
Dan Henderson
Tom Erikson
Hiromitsu Kanehara
Kiyoshi Tamura



* Silva will most likely defend his light heavyweight belt against Kondo, and only be in the GP in the event that Ninja cannot compete.
** Kondo only wants to face Silva in a single fight.

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K-1: 'Battle At The Bellagio II'
Friday, April 30th, 2004
Bellagio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV


Rumored matchup:
Shannon Briggs vs. 'Tank Abbott


Fighters scheduled to compete:
Carter Williams
Michael McDonald
Dewey Cooper
Cung Le

Fighters that may participate:
Shannon Briggs
Francois Botha

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Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (top)

Meca co-promoter Rudimar Fedrigo announced the following matchups for the Meca Vale Tudo 11 card, which is tentatively scheduled for sometime in April:


Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos vs. Edson Drago
Daniel Acacio vs. Carlos Baruck
Luiz Azeredo vs. Roan Jucao
Jadyson Costa vs. TBA

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Left to right: Machida, Fujita, Sapp, Greco, and Ignashov.

K-1: 'Dynamite'
May 19th, 2004
Japan


K-1 announced that their show on May 19th will be a 'K-1 vs. Team Inoki' themed card with most ly MMA matchups. Below are some of the matchups that are expected to take place, as well as the probable lineups for both Team K-1 and Team Inoki:

MMA matchups:
Bob Sapp vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Alexey Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Jerome LeBanner vs. Tadao Yasuda

Probable Team K-1 lineup:
Bob Sapp
Alexey Ignashov
Jerome LeBanner
Peter Aerts
Sam Greco
Genki Sudo
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto

Probable Team Inoki lineup:
Kazayuki Fujita
Shinsuke Nakamura
Josh Barnett
'Lyoto' Machida
Yuji Nagata
Dolgosurem Sumbayazer
Hiroyoshi Tenzan

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Gilbert Yvel

'It's Showtime'
May 20th, 2004
Amsterdam ArenA
Amsterdam, Holland


MMA matchups:
Gilbert Yvel vs. Cheick Kongo
Joop Kasteel vs. Dave Vader
Rodney Faverus vs. Melvin Manhoef
Dave Dalgliesh vs. Barrington Patterson
Irma Verhoeff vs. Yoko Takahashi

Muay Thai/Kickboxing matchups:
Alexey Ignashov vs. Semmy Schilt
Rayen Simson vs. Sahin Yakut
Badr Hari vs. Aziz Khattou
Fikri Tijarti vs. Chris van Venrooy
Joerie Mes vs. Aschwin Balrak
Gago Drago vs. Stjepan Veselic

Boxing matchups:
Lucia Rijker vs. Lisa Holewyne
Regillo Aaron vs. Francisco Mora

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Ken Shamrock

UFC 48: 'Payback'
June 19th, 2004
Las Vegas, NV


Below are some of the matchups that are unofficially taking place at UFC 48 on June 19th:


Unofficially announced:
Ken Shamrock vs. Kimo Leopoldo
Phil Baroni vs. Evan Tanner
Dennis Hallman vs. Frank Trigg
Matt Hughes vs. Renato 'Charuto' Verissimo
Ivan Menjivar vs. Matt Serra
Lee Murray vs. TBA (possible Joe Riggs)
Jason Miller vs. Shonie Carter
Ricco Rodriguez vs. TBA

Possible but most likely to take place at UFC 49:
Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort
Frank Mir vs. winner of Tim Sylvia/Andre Arlovski

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira announced that the second and third editions of his MMA show, 'Conquista Fight', will take place this year in Brazil.

The second show is scheduled to take place in June in the city of Salvador. The third show is scheduled for December in the city of Vitoria da Conquista.

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Akebono vs. Musashi

SportsNavi reports that the K-1 show on March 27th, which aired on Fuji TV, scored huge ratings once again.

The show did a 20.6% overall rating, putting it at number one. The Akebono vs. Musashi fight did an incredible 37.2% quarter-hour rating, and the Bob Sapp vs. Seth Petruzelli fight was also above 20.0% in the ratings.

The Japanese media report that even though K-1's live gates are slightly lower then usual this year, their television ratings are higher then they've ever been.

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K-1 staged its own Sumo show, called the S-1 'Sumo GP', yesterday behind closed doors. The results haven't been made public yet, and the show will air on the Tokyo Broadcasting System on April 13th.

The Japanese media are saying that the S-1 show seems to be more of a TV variety show event than a serious sporting event, and that K-1 is using it as a trial for something bigger.

Below are the opening round matchups, which took place under full Sumo rules. The full results aren't expected to be released until the show airs on TBS:


Bob Sapp vs. Eric 'Butterbean' Esch
Alexey Ignashov vs. Yuji Nagata
Mike Bernardo vs. Manabu Nakanishi
Gary Goodridge vs. Musashi
Francois Botha vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Jan Nortje vs. Masayuki Naruse
Francisco Filho vs. Kensuke Sasaki
'Blue Wolf' vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako

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Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (top)

Todd Atkins reports the following from Japan:

"Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto will be facing Tony Valenti in an MMA matchup on the K-1 card on April 7th.

Valenti is the guy who fought in the K-1 Max last year and wore the same style yellow jump suit that Bruce Lee wore in the 'Game of Death' movie.

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Pancrase 2004 Brave Tour
March 29th, 2004
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Yuki Kondo defeats Steve Heath by rear naked choke at 3:30, RD 1.
Keigo Takamori defeats Jun Ishii by KO at 0:40, RD 1.
David Terrell defeats Osami Shibuya by choke at 3:04, RD 1.
Eiji Ishikawa defeats Satoru Kitaoka by unanimous decision.
Hikaru Sato defeats Yuichi Nakanishi by majority decision.
Hidehiko Hasegawa drew with Seiki Ryo.
Yukiya Naito defeats Mitsuyoshi Sato by triangle choke at 3:30, RD 1.

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SuperBrawl 34
Sunday, March 28th, 2004
War Memorial Gymnasium
Maui, HI


Falaniko Vitale defeats Keith Winters by toe hold at 1:24, RD 1.
Harris Sarmiento defeats Ed West by TKO at 2:08, RD 1.
Kolo Koka defeats Tyson Naho'oikaika by TKO at 1:48, RD 1.
Kendall Groves defeats Kaipo Kalama by rear naked choke at 3:16, RD 2.
Ed Newalu defeats Jason Walther by choke at 2:55, RD 2.
Justin Mercado defeats Adam Alvarez by TKO at 1:28, RD 1.

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SHOOTO GIG CENTRAL Vol.5
March 28th, 2003
Tsurumai Public Hall
Nagoya, Japan


Class-A Bouts:
Ryan Bow defeats Daisuke 'Amazon' Sugie by unanimous decision.

Class-B Bouts:
Ganjo Tentsuku defeats Naoki Matsushita by majority decision.
Hatsu Hioki defeats Yohei Nanbu by unanimous decision.
Takahiro Kajita defeats Toshikazu Iseno by TKO at 4:50, RD 1.
Kenichi Hattori drew with Masaaki Yamamori.
Atsushi Takeuchi defeats Takashi Yamamoto by majority decision.
Hayate Usui defeats Takeshi Matsushita by majority decision.

Grappling match:
Hiroshi Umemura defeats Akira Komatsu by a score of 3-0.

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Damien Riccio

Ultimate Combat 9
March 28th, 2004
Whitchurch Leisure Centre
Bristol, England


Kim Hovgaard defeats Mark Wilson by majority decision.
Damien Riccio defeats Evert Fyeet by triangle choke at 4:07, RD 1.
James Thompson defeats Aaron Marsa by TKO at 0:10, RD 1.
Ruben Vazquez defeats Patrick Vallee declared a no contest.
Marc Goddard defeats Abdenbi Chakar by TKO at 0:41, RD 1.
Florian Riccio defeats Julian Gonzalez by submission at 2:38, RD 1.
Nadia Van Der Wel drew with Cheri Buck.
Kevin O'Hagan defeats Sami Berik by rear naked choke at 4:28, RD 1.
Javier Garcia defeats Bram Van Koppen.
Alex Owen defeats Christian Schoter by decision.
Marc Duncan defeats Dave McLaughlin by KO at 2:42, RD 1.
Wesley Murch defeats Phil McCall by TKO, RD 1.
Franco DeLeonardis defeats Dave Campbell by rear naked choke at 3:28, RD 1.
Ross Mason defeats Mick Broster by TKO at 3:43, RD 1.

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Tito Ortiz

UFC president Dana White was interviewed on Dave Meltzer's radio show yesterday and stated the following info:


1.) Stated that he offered Tito Ortiz the chance to do a 5-round fight against Chuck Liddell, but that Tito refused. Tito wanted the fight to only be three rounds.

2.) The winner of the Hermes Franca vs. Yves Edwards matchup will fight Josh Thomson for the vacant UFC title at a later date.

3.) Announced that UFC 48 will be called 'Payback', and it will take place on June 19th.

4.) Said that he does not believe the rumors that 'Tank' Abbott will go to K-1, and that Tank is not on the upcoming UFC 48 because he said he is not in the mood to fight in June. Also that Tank's proposed fight against Ken Shamrock will happen later down the road.

5.) Lee Murray is fighting on the UFC 48 card.

6.) Announced that Matt Hughes vs. 'Charuto' Verrisimo and Frank Trigg vs. Dennis Hallman will take place on the UFC 48 card.

7.) Said that they never were supposed to work on Evan Tanner's cut in his fight against Phil Baroni.

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Minotauro and CroCop confirmed for the GP.

PRIDE Heabyweight Grand Prix
April 25th, 2004 (opening round)
Japan


Listed below are the names of the fighters who are signed, and who are being considered for the opening round of the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The opening round will feature sixteen fighters, and is scheduled for April 25th:


Officially confirmed:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira
Mirko 'CroCop' Filipovic
Fedor Emelianenko
Igor Vovchanchyn
Heath Herring
Stefan Leko
Sergei Karitonov
Sylvester Terkay
Sentoryu aka Henry Miller
Hirotaka Yokoi
Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Unofficially confirmed, and very strong possibilty:
Don Frye
Mark Coleman
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua
Quinton Jackson
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazuhiro Nakamura
Yoshihiro Takayama

Names have been mentioned in the media, but do not expect them in the GP:
Vanderlei Silva *
Yuki Kondo **
Royce Gracie
Dan Henderson
Tom Erikson
Hiromitsu Kanehara
Kiyoshi Tamura



* Silva will most likely defend his light heavyweight belt against Kondo, and only be in the GP in the event that Ninja cannot compete.
** Kondo only wants to face Silva in a single fight.

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Hirotaka Yokoi

Sankei Sports announced today that Hirotaka Yokoi would participate in the PRIDE Heavyweight GP opening round on April 25th.

Fightsport.com first reported this back in January. We also reported that Yokoi's opponent might be Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, but nothing is official as of yet.

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Akebono (right)

The Japanese media is reporting that K-1 will include Akebono in the K-1 2004 World GP Finals opening round in September.

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Sapp vs. Petruzelli

K-1 announced that their show on March 27th at the Saitama Super Arena did 14,918 paid in attendance. The Japanese media is saying that this is not such a good figure, although it is expected that the TV ratings will be huge.

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Jerry Roeder (right)

1st Lieutenant Jerry Roeder was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in combat for his part in the coalition forces drive to take Baghdad during the Iraqi conflict. The Bronze Star is one of the US military's highest awards for heroism in combat.

In the late 90's Roeder was assigned to a Marine Corps officer training program at the University of Colorado and sought to improve his hand-to-hand combat skills by training at the Pancrase USA Stars training center in Boulder. He eventually became a top instructor in their MMA training program, where he got to regularly spar with MMA veterans such as Nathan Marquardt and Duane Ludwig, before moving on to his career in the military.

Roeder's Marine Corps unit was deployed in 2003 as the lead element in the drive to take Baghdad.

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TKO: 'Future Stars'
March 27, 2004
Quebec, Canada


Sam Stout defeats Stephane Laliberte TKO 4:12 1
Jonathan Goulet defeats Antoine Coutu TKO (Slam) 1
Sylvain Cloutier defeats Troy Quesnelle TKO 2:24 1
Brian McGee defeats Brian Meigs TKO 3:24 1
J.S. Bergeron defeats Marc Tamburrino Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1:30 1
Dany Duguay defeats Norullah Eissa-Khan TKO 1:04 2
Yannick Loof defeats Eddy Defour Submission (Guillotine Choke) 1:06 1
George Peters defeats Antonie Morin TKO 1:20 1
Sylvain Cloutier defeats Sony Leong Decision (Unanimous) 5:00 2



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

Stephane Patry, President/CEO
TKO Communications Inc.
Tel: (450) 445-8886
TKOZone.tv

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'King of the Jungle'
March 27th, 2004
Manaus, Brazil


8-man tournament:

Quarterfinals:
Joao Periz defeats Felipe Santiago by rear naked choke at 2:36, RD 2.
Kevin Christopher defeats Pedro Javier by KO at 2:15, RD 1.
Mauro Silva defeats Roberto Leonardo by KO at 3:05, RD 2.
Paulo Lima defeats Alfonso Diaz by armbar at 1:47, RD 1.

Semifinals:
Kevin Christopher defeats Joao Periz by TKO at 2:40, RD 2.
Paulo Lima defeats Mauro Silva by rear naked choke at 3:34, RD 1.

Final:
Paulo Lima defeats Kevin Christopher by keylock at 4:17, RD 3.

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HOOKnSHOOT
March 27, 2004
Veterans' Memorial Coliseum
Evansville, Indiana


MMA matchups:
Aaron Riley defeats Nuri Shakir by unanimous decision.
Joseph Baize defeats Angelo Popofski by decision.
Del Greer defeats Francesca Menda by rear naked choke at 2:32, RD 1.
Julie Ketzie defeats Terry Blair by armbar at 2:13, RD 2.
Heath Pedigo defeats Chris Michael by triangle choke at 2:33, RD 1.
Gesias Calvancanti defeats Brad Mohler by leglock at 1:32, RD 1.
Stonnie Dennis defeats Chad Washburn by KO at 1:20, RD 1.

tag-team submission matchup:
Kevin Randleman & Wes Sims drew with Wade Rome & Jeff Monson.

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Extreme Challenge 56
Friday, March 26th, 2004
Medina Entertainment Center
Minneapolis, MN


Dave Menne defeats Leo Sylvest by toe hold at 2:06, RD 1.
Travis Wiuff defeats Damien Decorah by TKO, RD 1.
Daryl Guthmiller defeats Josh Rafferty by armbar, RD 1.
Joe Doerksen defeats Dan Anderson by armbar at 3:40, RD 1.
Kyle Jensen defeats Derick Perez by submission at 1:36, RD 3.
Steve Friedrichs defeats Ron Fields by decision.
Kerry Schall defeats Jimmy Sullivan by TKO at 1:08, RD 1.
Tyrone Roberts defeats Scott Valeen by decision.


155-pound tournament (winner advances to the Extreme Challenge/Super Brawl 8-man event in Honolulu, Hawaii):

Semifinals:
Jorge Gurgel defeatsJevgenijs Minajevs by guillotine choke, RD 3.
Joe Jordan defeats Roger Huerta by split decision.

Final:
Jorge Gurgel defeats Joe Jordan by guillotine choke at 1:55, RD 1.

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