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Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (top)

SHOOTO: 'Soljah Fight Night'
Friday, July 9th, 2004
Blaisdell Arena
Honolulu, Hawaii


Class-A bouts:
Jake Shields defeats Ray Cooper by Rear Naked Choke, RD 1.
Masanori Suda drew with Dustin Denes.
Jens Pulver defeats Stephen Palling by KO, RD 3.
Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro defeats Mitsuhiro Ishida by Judges Decision
Rumina Sato defeats Bao Quach by armbar at 3:03, RD 1.

Class-B bouts:
Ed Newalu defeats Kyle Takao by judges decision.
David Yeung defeats Jim Kikuchi by KO at 0:24, RD 1.
Mark Moreno defeats P.J. Dean by rear naked choke, RD 2.
Sydney Silva defeats Sean Taylor by TKO, RD 1.

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Gracie Magazine has a great article on the legendary Rickson Gracie vs. Zulu vale tudo fight which has now become part of MMA lore.

Even if you don't read Portuguese, the article has some fantastic never-before-seen pictures of the fight, and also tracks down Zulu to see what he's up to today.

To see parts of the article on the Gracie Magazine website, click here

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'Touch of Evil' newsletter reports that UFC 48 did very disappointing live numbers, only drawing 6,528 paid fans for a total of USD$981,655.

The amount of comp tickets was a rather large 3,357, increasing the total attendance to 9,885.

The USD$981,655 live gate revenue for UFC 49 at the Manadalay Bay ranks low when compared to their previous UFC shows at the same venue:

UFC 40: USD$1,540,940
UFC 47: USD$1,444,020
UFC 46: USD$1,377,620
UFC 44: USD$1,127,985


Pay-per-view figures for UFC 48 have not been released yet, but it is assumed to be in the vicinity of between 80,000 buys.

The all-time record for pay-per-view buys for Zuffa is 150,000 for UFC 40. The all-time record for pay-per-views for the UFC was under the SEG regime when both UFC 5 and UFC 6 each did over 260,000 buys.

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By Coffee Guy

Ken Shamrock

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


The whole Ken Shamrock injury is a front by Zuffa and UFC president Dana White.

The reason for this is because Dana couldn't sign the Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz fight for UFC 50. Apparently Tito won't sign to do the fight unless it's at light heavyweight. I'm not sure what other demands Tito may or may not have.

Dana doesn't want Tito and his management to have any advantages in negotiations this time, and desperately doesn't want it to seem to the fans that he dropped the ball on getting the Shamrock/Tito rematch signed.

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Tito Ortiz

Sources in Huntington Beach are telling us that Tito Ortiz wants to do like B.J. Penn by eventually promoting his own MMA show.

However, Ortiz does not want to immitate Penn by going to fight in K-1, or in PRIDE too for that matter. According to sources close to Ortiz, he knows he would not do well against the higher caliber of fighters in those two organizations.

These same sources also say that Ortiz has no heart for fighting so much anymore. According to many fans of MMA, Ortiz did not show so much heart when he was fighting regularly, so one can imagine how he is now.

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By Coffee Guy

Robbie Lawler (left)

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.

The following exclusive report was sent to us by our Zuffa informant called 'Coffee Guy':


Robbie Lawler has sustained an abdominal injury. As of now, he won't be able to face Ron Jhun in UFC 49 card.

There's been no word yet who his replacement will be.

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By Jake R

Vernon "Tiger" White

PRIDE, K-1, and Antonio Inoki have all been talking to Vernon 'Tiger' White with the intention of signing him to their respective shows.

They didn't seem really interested until it was announced he was fighting in the UFC again. It seems that they are just wanting to poach another UFC fighter.

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Station Casinos is run by the Fertittas: Lorenzo and Frank III.


Michael Tata

The following article appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal (article by Chris Jones):


Michael Tata, a Station Casinos executive featured prominently in The Discovery Channel's new 'American Casino' television series, was found dead early Tuesday inside his Henderson home. He was 33.

A 1996 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Tata began working at Henderson's Green Valley Ranch in June 2001. After a 2 1/2-year tenure as director of hotel operations, Tata was promoted to Green Valley Ranch's vice president of hotel operations in January 2004.

A Henderson Police Department spokesman said officers responded to a call shortly after 9:30 Tuesday morning and found a dead adult male upon entering a Seven Hills area home. The address matched that of a residence county property records show is owned by Michael Tata.

The Clark County coroner's office later confirmed Tata's death was recorded late Tuesday morning. Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said the death is under investigation, but officers found no initial signs of foul play.

Tata's death shocked his friends and colleagues at Green Valley Ranch, where he had worked since June 2001.

"Michael was the heart and soul of Green Valley Ranch's hotel operations," Vice President and General Manager Joe Hasson said in a statement. "The hotel's outstanding performance over the last three years is a direct reflection of Michael's skills and commitment ... and today we all feel like we have lost a member of our family."

Station Casinos released a statement that called Tata "a valued team member" who will be missed by others at the Las Vegas-based gaming company.

Efforts to reach Tata's family were unsuccessful Tuesday.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Tata moved to Las Vegas in 1993. In addition to Station Casinos, he worked at Las Vegas' MGM Grand and Four Seasons hotels and spent three years in management roles at the Four Seasons resort in Maui, Hawaii.

In an online biography associated with 'American Casino', Tata said he enjoyed the ambiance of working in a resort environment but did not enjoy "busting people's chops all day, especially people who cannot handle constructive criticism." If he could have held any other job at Green Valley Ranch, Tata joked, he would have become a doorman or pool attendant "to reap the obvious benefits of either position."

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Wallid Ismael and Antonio Inoki.

Wallid Ismael announced to the Brazilian media the following matchups and fighters to appear on the Jungle Fight 3, which tentatively scheduled for October 23rd at the Hotel Tropicana in Manaus, Brazil:


MMA matchups:
Carlos Barreto vs. Travis Wiuff
Ronaldo 'Jacare' vs. Boris Jonstomp

Other fighters scheduled to participate:
Fabricio Werdum
Ebenezer Fontes Braga
Fredson Paixao
Gabriel Napao

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Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' reports that the line-up for the AFC: 'Brazil' show is almost complete.

The show is scheduled to take place on August 28th at the Nova Friburgo Country Clube in Brazil.

This will be the AFC's first card held overseas, and the card will feature ATT fighter Jeff Monson, as well as fighters from the Brazilian Top Team, Gracie Barra Combat Team, Ruas Vale-Tudo, Artur Mariano's Champions Factory, and Luiz Alves's Boxe Thai.

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Masato vs. Buakaw

The word from Japan is that many Japanese K-1 fans are not happy at the obvious biased judging that favored Japanese fighter Masato in the K-1 Max final yesterday, in which he lost to Thai fighter Buakaw 'Por Pramuk'.

Most, if not all K-1 fans already know that their Japanese fighters will usually get the hometown decision, but yesterday's farce seems to have gone over the line according to most fans.

Thai fighter Buakaw 'Por Pramuk' dominated all three rounds, yet the judges voted it a draw, which forced one extra round. Buakaw won the extra round decisively as well to effectively de-throne the defending K-1 Max champion Masato.

Even though Masato is Japanese, most fans felt embarassed that the judges seemed to try and help him when it was obvious he had lost the fight in regulation. Sources in the Japanese media are describing it as being the same bitter feeling that most boxing fans are feeling in the US regarding the many controversial decisions that have happened as of late.

Coincidentally, Masato also recieved a dubious judges decision against Mike Zambidis in the first round of last year's K-1 Max World GP Finals, when most thought Zambidis won that fight. Masato then went on to win the tournament.

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Buakaw "Por Pramuk"

K-1 World Max 2004
July 7, 2004
Yoyogi Olympic Gymnasium
Japan


K-1 World Max GP:
Quarterfinals:
Albert Kraus defeats Shamil Gaydarbekov by unanimous decision.
Masato defeats Jadamba Narantungalag by unanimous decision.
Buakaw 'Por Pramuk' defeats John Wayne Parr by split decision.
Takayuki Kohiruimaki defeats Mike Zambidis by unanimous decision.

Semifinals:
Masato defeats Albert Kraus by unanimous decision.
Buakaw 'Por Pramuk' defeats Takayuki Kohiruimaki by KO at 0:42, RD 2.

Final:
Buakaw 'Por Pramuk' defeats Masato by unanimous decision.


Single fights:
Duane Ludwig defeats Serkan Yilmaz by unanimous decision.
Takashi Ohno defeats Vincent Swaans by TKO at 2:56, RD 1.

K-1 special mixed rules matchup:
Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto defeats Kazuya Yasuhiro by armbar, RD 2.

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Renato "Babalu" Sobral

The IFC: 'Global Domination' light heavyweight tournament that took place last September can finally be seen. The show will debut on Dish Network on July 16th.

The tournament was won by Renato 'Babalu' Sobral, who beat Jeremy Horn in the final. The rest of the field included Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, Trevor Prangley, Eric Wanderlei, Forrest Griffin, Michail Avetisyan, and Chael Sonnen.

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Jeremy Jackson (top)

UFC veteran Jeremy Jackson made a victorious proessional boxing debut last Saturday by scoring a third round knock out of Sheldon Callum.

When competing in MMA, Jackson was always noted for his boxing prowess and fast, powerful hands. Jackson has stated that his MMA career will be put on hold for the time being as he continues to move up the ranks in professional boxing.

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Naoyuki Kotani

ZST: 'Battle Hazard 1'
July 4, 2004
Zepp Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan


Naoyuki Kotani defeats Remigijus Morkevicius by armbar at 2:07, RD 1.
Hideo Tokoro defeats Shinya Sato by triangle choke at 3:23, RD 1.
Yujiro Kushida defeats Takahiro Uchiyama by armbar at 3:10, RD 2.
Darius Skliaudys defeats Hiroaki Hiroaki by TKO at 2:27, RD 1.

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DEEP 15th Impact
July 3, 2004
Tokyo, Japan


Welterweight GP first round matchups:
Jutaro Nakao defeats Kenji Arai by triangle choke at 4:04, RD 1.
Daisuke Nakamura defeats Tetsuya Onose by TKO at 0:50, RD 1.
Shinya Aoki defeats Seichi Ikemoto by armbar at 0:52, RD 2.
Yuji Hoshino defeats Hiroki Nagaoka by unanimous decision.

Japan vs. Korea matchups:
Satoko Shinashi defeats Sim Su Jong by armbar at 2:50, RD 1.
Kazuki Okubo defeats Kim Ill Num by triangle choke at 1:49, RD 2.

Single fight matchups:
Takahiro Ohba defeats Yusuke Imamura by TKO at 2:19, RD 1.
Jyunpei Hamada defeats Max Miyazawa by unanimous decision.
Hirohide Fujinuma drew with Yoshinori Momose.
Z. Khosbayar defeats Yoshinori Oniki by unanimous decision.

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Anderson Silva (right)

The Brazilian media is reporting that Anderson Silva will make his K-1 debut against French fighter Cyril Abidi on August 15th.

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Hermes Franca (left)

SHOOTO
July 16th,2004
Kourakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Class-A bouts:
Joachim Hansen vs. Hermes Franca
Junji Ikoma vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani
Ryan Bow vs. Takumi
Shikou Yamashita vs. David Bielkhaden

Class-B bouts:
Lion Takeshi vs. Keisuke Yamada
Yusuke Endo vs. Kenichi Hattori
B.J. vs. Kenichi Sawada
Keisuke Sakai vs. Keita Nakamura

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Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

PRIDE Heavyweight GP Finals
August 15th, 2004
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan


Below are some of the matchups that the Japanese media are saying will take place on the PRIDE Heavyweight GP card on August 15th. A total of eight matchups are expected to be officially announced next month:


Heavyweight GP semifinals:
Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Naoya Ogawa
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Sergei Kharitonov

Single fights:
Vanderlei Silva vs. Yuki Kondo
Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic vs. Alexander Emelianenko
Dan Henderson vs. Murilo Bustamante
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. TBA
Mark Hunt vs. TBA

Possible participants:
Mark Coleman
Kevin Randleman

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SHOOTO
July 4th, 2004
Kitazawa Town Hall
Tokyo, Japan


Class-A bouts:
Yoichi Fukumoto defeats Kohei Yasumi by unanimous decision.

Class-B bouts:
Ganjo Tentsuku drew with Tomonari Kanomata.
So Tazawa defeats Kenji Osawa by TKO at 2:33, RD 1.
Seiki Uchimura defeats Takahiro Kajita by unanimous decision.
Tiger Ishii drew with Atsushi Takeuchi.
Tenkei Fujimiya defeats Tsuyoshi Irokawa by unanimous decision.
Kabuto Kokage defeats Wataru Miki by unanimous decision.
Kyotaro Nakao defeats Takeshi Matsushita by unanimous decision.

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Chris Brennan (bottom)

MMA journeyman Chris Brennan was commenting to fans on the UG forum about Kimo Leopoldo testing positive for the anabolic steroid Winstrol-V. Brennan then accused Ken Shamrock of taking anabolic steroids. Here are Brennan's comments:


Chris Brennan on Kimo testing positive for steroids: "Winstrol again. You think Ken wasn't on anything because he passed the test?"

Chris Brennan when asked if he thought Ken Shamrock was on steroids for his fight against Kimo: "I am sure he was but he passed."

Chris Brennan when asked if he had any evidence that Ken Shamrock was on steroids for his fight against Kimo: "I would just imagine he was because YOU and I know he has."

Chris Brennan on Ken Shamrock's physique in his fight against Kimo: "From where I was sitting he looked ripped and in shape."

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Kimo

Kimo Leopoldo has tested positive for the steroid stanozolol (brand name Winstrol-V) according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The test was done shortly after Kimo's loss to Ken Shamrock in UFC 48 on June 19th.

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Mike Tyson

The following piece appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (article by Jerry Campany):


Mike Tyson's proposed fight in Hawaii may end up being contested where so many of Tyson's other fights have been held -- in the court room.

Shelly Finkel, Tyson's adviser, told the Star-Bulletin yesterday that as far as he is concerned, there is no contract between his fighter and K-1, a mixed martial arts group that proposed a boxing match between Tyson and Jerome Le Banner to the Hawaii state boxing commission this month.

"They breached the contract, we are not fighting in Hawaii," Finkel said.

Because the contract prohibits any of the participants from talking about it, Finkel declined to say what the specific breach was other than to say submitting a K-1 fighter as a prospective opponent was out of line.

Finkel has changed his stance since last week when he told the Star-Bulletin that the contract would be honored as long as a suitable opponent was brought before him.

K-1 president Scott Coker, who has a contract signed by Tyson for his comeback fight, is not going down without a fight, though.

"He (Finkel) is greatly mistaken," Coker said. "If anyone breached the contract, it is Mike. We still have Sept. 11 and are going forward. We are not going to walk away from this."

But a contract fight may not be Coker's only problem. Forcing Tyson to do something he doesn't want to do is another one.

During a press conference for Tyson's upcoming bout against Danny Williams in Louisville on July 30, the former champion said that he chose Kentucky for its ease of obtaining a license. Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher has since announced that he will restructure his commission for the way it handled licensing Tyson without a hearing.

"No one asked me anything here," Tyson said. "I wasn't willing to go through any hearings. If so, I wouldn't have (fought) here."

Alan Taniguchi, Executive Officer of the Hawaii State Boxing Commission, has held firm in his stance that Tyson would be welcome in Hawaii only if he passes a physical and appears before the commission.

Finkel confirmed that Tyson would "probably not" fight in Hawaii if he had to face the commission, but added that the prospect of a Tyson bout in Hawaii is nothing more than speculation.

"It's irrelevant," Finkel said. "Unless another group comes up with an event in Hawaii, Mike will not fight there."

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Happy 4th of July from everyone at Fightsport.com!

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