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Hermes Franca

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


Greetings MMA fans, Scoop McTroll here, bringing you The Inside Word, the latest news, rumors and gossip in the MMA scene.

Today's Inside Word is about the supposed real reason why Hermes Franca left the American Top Team.

Here's the story, according to a source of mine... Kurt Pellegrino trained at Franca's ATT Jupiter school for his fight against Kazuki Okubo, which took place on the Euphoria: 'USA vs. Japan' card on November 5th, 2005. Pellegrino won the fight by KO, and when he got back to Florida, Franca then awarded Pellegrino his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

Ricardo Liborio, the leader of ATT, told Franca that all ATT black belts are only given by Liborio to qualified BJJ brown belts. He supposedly went on to say that Pellegrino was not qualified to be an ATT black belt and that he should demote Pellegrino back to brown belt. This supposedly did not sit well with Franca.

Franca and three other members of ATT then took a photo in front of the main ATT building in Coconut Creek, Florida, with an ATT flag held upside down and a middle finger salute. They sent the picture to Liborio, who was supposedly furious and then took away the ATT name from Franca's school.

WEC 19: 'Undisputed'
March 17th, 2006
Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino
Lemoore, CA


Urijah Faber defeats Cole Escovedo by TKO at 5:00, RD 2.
Tim McKenzie defeats Doug Marshall by TKO at 3:35, RD 1.
Joe Martin defeats Tony Alanis by Submission heel hook at 2:26, RD 2.
Lodune Sincaid defeats James Irvin by unanimous decision.
Antonio Banuelos defeats James Cottrell by unanimous decision.
Hermes Franca defeats Gabe Ruediger by KO at 0:36, RD 1.
Rob McCullough defeats Olaf Alfonso by KO at 0:12, RD 3.
Pat Healy defeats Tiki Ghosn by TKO at 0:25, RD 3.
Ryan Healy defeats Philip Wyman by rear naked choke at 3:18, RD 1.
Jake O'Brien defeats Jay White by KO at 0:14, RD 1.
Kenny Ento defeats Jimmy Dexter by armbar at 1:20, RD 1.

Masakazu Imanari

Masakazu Imanari was recently interviewed by the PRIDE website. Here's what Imanari had to say:


Interviewer: What do you think about PRIDE General Director Nobuhiko Takada telling you that this is your last chance?

Imanari: I agree.

Interviewer: Your opponent is a striker. Will you be working on your striking?

Imanari: No.

Interviewer: Are you glad to fight a former UFC Champ?

Imanari: It's a good opportunity.

Interviewer: Are you any more motivated than normal?

Imanari: Same as always.

Interviewer: Taisho, your training partner, has faced Pulver. Has he given you any advice?

Imanari: I'll ask him soon.

Interviewer: What do you think will decide the match?

Imanari: Probably the person that works the hardest.

Interviewer: What does your training schedule look like from now on?

Imanari: Busy.

Interviewer: You've fought strikers before so you don't think that you need to do any special training?

Imanari: His level is very high and he's complete. That's all.

Interviewer: Will Mr. Saeki (DSE Public Relations Director) give you anything special if you win?

Imanari: We're going to negotiate that soon. With that, the DSE Public Relations Director looked a little uncomfortable and Imanari laughed. With little to say at the conference, the submissions samurai will apparently do his talking in the ring.

Ivan Salaverry

Ivan Salaverry recently spoke with an internet website and announced that he is in advanced negotiations with the IFL, and expects to sign with them very soon.

Lee Murray

The following article is courtesy of 'The Sun':


KICKBOX LEE IN HEIST QUIZ

By Mike Sullivan and Veronica Lorraine


KICKBOXER and cage fighter Lee Murray is being sought by police over the 53 million pounds Tonbridge raid.

But the 28-year-old is thought to have disappeared to Spain.

Detectives have said they wanted to talk to Murray, but his family and manager have said they have no idea where he is.

Murray, nicknamed "Lightning" Lee, is rated as one of the best middle-weight fighters in the world.

He hit the headlines last year after he was stabbed at a mass brawl outside a posh London nightclub.

At one stage he was left fighting for life after receiving several stab wounds.

Father of two Murray - real name Lamrani - was once accused of battering a middle-aged driver into a coma during a road rage incident. He was freed after a jury failed to reach a verdict.

So far police investigating the Tonbridge cash depot robbery have recovered 20 million of the 53 million pounds stolen.

Five people have already appeared in court over the heist, charged with conspiracy to rob, kidnap and handling stolen goods.

The organizers of NAGA, Kipp Kollar (far left) and Kirik Jenness (second from left, wearing generic belt).

Below are just a few of the vast number of complaints people had regarding the recent NAGA "world championships":


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"Saturday, March 11th, went to Jersey City to take part in NAGA. Arrived at 1.00 to weigh in. Payed $80 and another $40 for a few friends to watch. On the application approx start time was 3.00 for my divison. The gym was about 110 degrees and of course no where to sit. 3.00 came and went now it was 6.00.

The man in charge(Kipp) made an announcment that gi divisons should expect to compete between 7.00 and 8.00. the time now 8.30 and still 2 divisons before mine to go. After wasting my day off and four of my friends I asked for a refund and left.I was given $70.00 $80.00- $10.00 for a spectator fee.

In summary I wasted 2 months of extra training a day off for me and four friends 2hr ride home in traffic and got sick from a chicken sandwich I ate from NAGA all for the low price of $10.00. lol! no excuses man for the money you charge you should have your shit together!" -phatboy


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"It was complete shit. I had to go to coach my guys. I felt ripped off by the $10 spectator fee!!! The tournie started at approx 11:30AM/noon. By 11:15pm, my last student was finished competing (bluebelt gi). THERE WERE STILL NO GI RINGS RUNNING.

So the logic goes something like this: Run your largest event of the year- the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS- in a college gym, in toilet bowl Jersey City. Run your lesser attended event in an air conditioned CONVENTION CENTER which can accomodate MORE PEOPLE, MORE RINGS, has BETTER FACILITIES and is located in a VACATION SPOT that competitors can enjoy.

Its' a shame that sports organizations are only allowed to rent out convention centers once a year..." -Andy Kaufman


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"It was the worst event I ever participated in or watched. From a spectator's point-of-view, the food was overpriced, they went cheap on air conditioning, and nothing was puntual. From a participant's perspective, everything was chaos with nothing going according to the time schedule. Not to mention the high prices you have to pay to compete, you expect much better then the amateur night event NAGA just staged" -Stan Roy


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Gladiator Challenge 48: 'All Stars'
March 12th, 2006
Eagle Mountain Casino
Porterville, CA


Bo Cantrell defeats Mike Bourke by TKO at 1:05, RD 1.
Chuck Kim defeats Darren Crisp by TKO at 0:48, RD 1.
John Bishop defeats Nikk Covert by rear naked choke at 1:35, RD 1.
Bryan Travers defeats Maurice Jackson by TKO at 2:33, RD 2.
Shawn Klarcyk defeats Ben Flores by TKO at 4:07, RD 1.
Dan Ogletree defeats Jason Phelps by guillotine choke at 0:20, RD 1.
Art Arciniega defeats Fernando Arreola by guillotine choke at 0:14, RD 2.
Phil Garcia defeats Lonnie Bell by TKO at 3:20, RD 1.
Jeff Hougland defeats Josh Gardner by decision.
Steve Dennison defeats Wayne Findley by TKO at 0:19, RD 1.
Brian Cobb defeats Pat Silva by decision.
Francisco Romero drew with Eddie Aguirre.
Tony Llamas defeats Scott Dew by TKO at 1:59, RD 1.
Roy Arriola defeats Mike Chu by guillotine choke at 1:31, RD 1.
Paul Karsky defeats Ernie Garcia by triangle choke at 4:58, RD 1.
Mark Maha defeats Rolando Torres by rear naked choke at 2:08, RD 1.
Janice Sorondo defeats Linda Molina by decision.
Anthony Vera defeats Pedro Mercado by TKO 0:28, RD 1.
Owen Rubio defeats Otto Treadwell by TKO 2:42, RD 2.
Kendall Bayes defeats Daniel Brown by rear naked choke at 1:28, RD 1.
Charlie McCarthy defeats Chris Yarbro by rear naked choke at 1:34, RD 2.

The Raze promotion announced the matchup of Matt Lindland vs. Mike Van Arsdale for their card on April 29th.

Hideo Tokoro (hand raised)

K-1 producer Sadaharu Tanigawa told the Japanese media that the matchup of Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto vs. Hideo Tokoro may take place on the HERO's card on May 3rd.

Jerome LeBanner (hands raised) after knocking out Jimmy Ambriz.

HERO'S 2006
March 15th, 2006
Nippon Budokan
Tokyo, Japan


Hideo Tokoro defeats Yoshinori Ikeda by submission at 0:49, RD 1.
Genki Sudo defeats Ole Laursen by decision, OT.
Min Soo Kim defeats Yoshihisa Yamamoto by choke at 1:32, RD 1.
Yoshihiro Akiyama defeats Tokimitsu Ishizawa by choke at 1:41, RD 2.
Heath Herring defeats Gary Goodridge by KO at 1:55, RD 2.
Kaoru Uno defeats Rich Clementi by unanimous decision.
Kazuyuki Miyata defeats Erikas Petraitas by armbar at 3:59, RD 1.
Jerome LeBanner defeats Jimmy Ambriz by KO at 2:04, RD 1.
Melvin Manhoef defeats Shungo Oyama by TKO at 3:59, RD 1.
Antonio McKee defeats Kiuma Kunioku by unanimous decision.

Once a Boxercise instructor, Dana White is now UFC president.

The following was sent to us by someone claiming to be a Zuffa employee:


"Zuffa seems to have ordered in-house investigations to discover anyone who leaks more information about regarding many subjects they wish to keep secret.

Employees of Zuffa have been questioned, and many employees are joking to themselves that it won't be long before they are pressured to undergo polygraph testing."

Rich Franklin

Rich Franklin was recently interviewed by The Wrestling Observer' and made the following comments regarding his UFC contract, which most fans think underpays him:


"The thing with me is that I signed a contract with somebody so I'm going to stick to that contract. Yeah, I could sit back and complain about it. Anybody always wants to make more money. But the alternative for me is to be teaching high school and making $45,000, maybe $50,000 a year and I'm making way better money now. Who am I to complain?

Like I said, yeah, I would love to make more money. Going back, my face has been plastered all over Spike TV. You can give credit to UFC for that. I've been on the cover of Men's Fitness. I've been featured in Muscle & Fitness. I've been featured in Stuff magazine. So I've done all these things with the UFC this year.

That's not myself or my personal agent pushing me to get in that stuff because I don't have one. The organization has done a lot for me. That all in turn comes back on me. I have people that want to hire me for seminars, make appearances at smaller shows, selling t-shirts off the website, and stuff like that.

I'm just one of those kinds of people, I don't get jealous about things. I'm not going to look back and be upset with the organization. They signed me to a deal, they got a sweet deal. They knew what they were doing. They signed me before I was popular and knew that they were going to market me because they had something good. But that's how business is. They were smart on their end. I'm not going to be like one of these athletes that after a year of doing real well, I'm out there demanding a whole bunch of money or I'm not going to fight.

Even if I did that, where else am I going to go? I can fight for the UFC or I can fight for nobody else. You don't have many choices. It's not like a football player that demands more money from the Cincinnati Bengals and they don't want to pay him and he has 31 other teams in the league to choose from." -Rich Franklin

By Scoop McTroll

Cung Li

Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.


Greetings MMA fans, Scoop McTroll here, bringing you The Inside Word, the latest news, rumors and gossip in the MMA scene.

Today's Inside Word is about the MMA debut of Cung Le. Sources of mine that is close to the 'Strikeforce' promotion are telling me that Mike Altman, who faced Cung Le on the Strikeforce card, was given a bonus of approximately the same amount he made to show, in order to not take the fight to the ground against Cung Le. Basically, Altman could only standup fight with Le.

It was supposedly viewed as very important for Cung Le to get a knockout victory in his debut MMA fight in front of the huge hometown crowd.

Jeremy Horn

The UFC announced two matchups for their UFC 59 card on April 15th:


Jeremy Horn vs. Evan Tanner
Thiago Alves vs. Drew Fickett

UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (pictured) actually earned much less then non-UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.

Below is the pay scale for UFC 56, courtesy of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (all figures are in US dollars):


Georges St-Pierre: $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win)
Rich Franklin: $32,000 ($16,000 to show $16,000 to win)
Nathan Marquart: $30,000 ($15,000 to show $15,000 to win)
B.J. Penn: $25,000
Mike Swick: $10,000 ($5,000 to show $5,000 to win)
Tom Murphy: $10,000 ($5,000 to show $5,000 to win)
David Loiseau: $9,000
Yves Edwards: $8,000
Spencer Fisher: $8,000
Joe Doerkson: $5,000
Rob McDonald: $5,000
Mark Hominick: $4,000 ($2,000 to show $2,000 to win)
Sam Stout: $4,000 ($2,000 to show $2,000 to win)
Josh Lambert: $4,000 ($2,000 to show $2,000 to win)
Icho Laurenas: $3,000
Steve Vigneault: $2,000

Total Fighter Payroll: $209,000


Final thoughts: It's interesting to note that the UFC 57 card was three times the amount as this past UFC 58 card. UFC 57 paid out USD$666,000 for its total purse, as compared to UFC 58's USD$209,000. The Couture vs. Liddell matchup alone combined for USD$500,000.

Erikas Petraitis

The HERO's promotion announced the matchup of Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Erikas Petraitis for their card on March 15th.

Akiyama was originally scheduled to face Ivan Menjivar, but Menjivar had to pull out of the card due to injury.

PRIDE Bushido 10
April 3rd, 2006
Ariake Coliseum
Tokyo, Japan


Dan Henderson vs. Kazuo Misaki
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua vs. Paulo Filho
Phil Baroni vs. Yuki Kondo
Takanori Gomi vs. Marcus Aurelio
Mark Weir vs. Denis Kang
Joachim Hansen vs. Luis Azeredo
Jens Pulver vs. Masakazu Imanari
Paul Rodriguez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Seichi Ikemoto
Akihiro Gono vs. Kim Dae Won

Murilo "Ninja" Rua

DSE/PRIDE officially confirmed today what Fightsport.com first reported on November 24th, 2005, that the matchup of Murilo 'Ninja' Rua vs. Paulo Filho would eventually be signed for early 2006.

The Rua-Filho matchup will take place on the PRIDE Bushido 10 card on April 3rd.

Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson was recently interviewed by the PRIDE website. Here's what Henderson had to say:


Interviewer: Any thoughts about fighting in 83kg/185lbs class first time?

Henderson: Coming from the 205 lbs weight class, I definitely felt stronger than my other opponents and had more power than they did and that made a difference in a couple of fights, however I wouldn't call them easy because they were very tough.

Interviewer: Among your 3 opponents in the last tournament, who would you say was the toughest?

Henderson: Out of those three, I'd say Bustamante was my closest fight in the tournament

Interviewer: How does it feel to be the welterweight champion?

Henderson: I'm happy to have that responsibility and look forward to defending my title in the future.

Interviewer: Has winning the belt changed your everyday training routine?

Henderson: It feels good to be welterweight champion; I haven't really changed my training regime or anything.

Interviewer: Let's talk about your opponent Misaki. He's got speed, likes to strike and tries to confuse his opponents. He just defeated Akira Shoji at DEEP and says he will not retreat from your punches and shoots. He says he is a better striker than you and will be just as offensive as you are. What are your thoughts on facing him?

Henderson: First of all, Im not an easy fighter to confuse, secondly I am glad he likes to strike because I would like to trade punches with him as well. I respect him as a fighter and I am not taking him lightly what so ever. He may be a better striker than me, but I guarantee that my punches are harder than his.

Interviewer: Whats your game plan against Misaki?

Henderson: I haven't thought of one yet.

Interviewer: Are you training with anyone in particular to prepare for Misaki?

Henderson: No, just the usual people that I've been training with for the last year. I'm on my way to practice right now as we speak.

Interviewer: Who have been your toughest opponents? Wanderlei Silva has said you were his toughest opponent.

Henderson: Wanderlei and big Nogueira have been my toughest opponents.

Interviewer: What do you think you learned from those fights?

Henderson: I have learned to be more prepared and in shape for my fights. In my fight against Ninja Rua, I learned not to go for the guillotine and end up on my back because last time I attempted it, I was there for too long. During my fight against Wanderlei, after I rocked him, I shouldn't have taken it to the ground and should have kept it on my feet. In my fight against Ninja Rua, I learned that I don't want to go for guillotine choke and go on my back because I ended up on my back for too long.

Interviewer: You are a renowned trainer in MMA. Are you training any fighters at the moment?

Henderson: I am currently training a couple of amateur fighters at my gym.

Interviewer: How have you been keeping yourself busy since your last win?

Henderson: I've been training of course, but I've taken time from that to open my gym and build my house.

Interviewer: If you could, who would you like to face and who do you think you'd match up well against?

Henderson: A great match up would be Sakuraba and I, in either weight class, I think the fans have been wanting to see it for a long time. We're about the same size, we've both been used to fighting bigger guys, and both done fairly well.

Interviewer: Dan, thank you so much for your time, I appreciate it. Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans as we close out the interview?

Henderson: I'd like to thank my fans and hope it'll be a good show on April 2nd.

Kawamata has implied that PRIDE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara (pictured) is nothing but a front man for the yakuza.

By Shimura Funaki


Seiya Kawamata, the man who filed the complaint with Kanagawa police about being threatened by the yakuza, had an interview/briefing with Shukan Gendai about the recent yakuza arrests. Kawamata names some big names and makes some direct accusations. This was made into the top story in the publication.

In the story, Kawamata gives his side as to what happened on the morning on 12/21/2003, the day before the infamous press conference (in which he addressed the media about Fedor Emelianenko and matchmaking). Kawamata alleges that DSE/PRIDE boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara was present at a meeting with him. In the article, Kawamata makes the claim that Sakakibara is just a figure-head for the yakuza.

Additionally, the article claims that Nippon TV and Fuji TV knew about the yakuza involvement. The TV networks have responded by denying these charges. Fuji TV went a step further and claimed that they knew nothing about the matchmaking process, even though TV producer Kunio Kiyohara is creatively active (similar to how all the major TV producers are). The article also hints that the police are interested in dealing with people from the TV industry as well.

Here is a translation of the article:


Top Story: Scoop - N-TV (Inoki event) Producer's Explosive Statements
"Relations between TV broadcasters and yakuza"

Summary headline: "He stole the fight and ran away overseas" was the way the event producer was characterized, but the reality was that he was threatened by the yakuza. The TV networks were involved in a war for TV ratings and would anything to get these. Who is the bad guy in all of this?

"Ask a powerful yakuza for their help"

Kawamata: "You know what the risk is of taking on Fuji TV and PRIDE's headline fighter Fedor, don't you? Yakuza will be involved. When I asked N-TV's producer this question, he replied that "we should get an even stronger yakuza to ensure that Fedor can fight at our event." N-TV will deny this, but it is the truth."

On February 24th, 2006, based on Seiya Kawamata's criminal complaint, Sakamoto and two other top-ranking yakuza members from Yamaguchi-gumi were arrested.

According to a national newspaper news reporter, "Sakamoto is a top-ranking yakuza even within the top ranks of the yakuza. After the event, Kawamata was summoned to a lonely place (restaurant) in Shizuoka he was told that Fedor was able to fight due to the efforts of the yakuza and that unless he paid 200 million yen for their services, they would kill him."

Until now, there has constantly been rumors of relations between the fight industry and the yakuza. As a result of this incident, this dark relationship between the yakuza and the fight industry has come out into the light of day. The above comment from Kawamata is taken from an exclusive interview of Kawamata by Tadashi Tanaka. This clear statement of a connection between the TV broadcaster and the yakuza will become a very important piece of evidence.

Before we talk about Kawamata's explosive revelations, let's recall the events leading up to the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 event. On New Year's Eve of 2003, we were all enthralled by the war for ratings between the 3 major networks. N-TV had Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003, TBS had Dynamite, and Fuji TV had PRIDE's Otoko Matsuri (Man Festival). Inoki 2003 got an average rating of 5.1%, Dynamite got 19.5%, and PRIDE got 12.2. N-TV was a major disaster.

In January of 2004, N-TV decided not to pay Kawamata the remaining 200 million yen that was due from the total of 800 million yen, and also to terminate the 3-year contract they had in place with him. In May of 2004, Kawamata took legal action against N-TV for these actions, and this matter is still before the courts.

According to court documents, around October of 2003, N-TV approached Kawamata (who was at that time negotiating with Fuji TV for the New Year's Eve event). N-TV offered Kawamata a 3-year contract and pleaded for Kawamata to work for them.

Kawamata entered into a contract with N-TV for a 3-year term at 800 million yen for each New Year's Eve event. However, the main fighter, Mirko Cro Cop, suddenly cancelled his appearance and Kawamata looked to book Fedor in his place.

According to court documents, as a result of signing Fedor, Kawamata was subjected to strong pressure and various measures to stop him from allowing Fedor to fight at the event, and Kawamata explained all of these things in detail to N-TV's event producer, Miyamoto. On January 1, 2004, as a result of Fedor's appearance at the event, Sakamoto applied pressure to Kawamata to pay the demanded amount and following this pressure, Kawamata called Miyamoto and told him of all these matters.

On January 3, 2004, Kawamata (without paying the fight money to various fighters) escaped overseas. In the fight industry, it was rumored that he was dead. In fact, Kawamata has been back in Japan secret since January of this year. Up until then, he didn't tell anybody but he has been back to give evidence on January 19th, 2006, in his trial against Nippon TV. At that trial, he said the following:

Wakuda (Kawamata's lawyer): What did you say to N-TV about Fedor's appearance at the event?

Kawamata: I told Miyamoto that Fuji TV wants PRIDE to have Fedor appear as their main event and so, if Fedor fights at our event, the yakuza will become involved to pressure me not to allow Fedor to appear.

Wakuda: In fact, were you actually pressured by the yakuza?

Kawamata: I received calls to my mobile phone from the yakuza and I was ordered to attend a meeting to be held between the yakuza and also top management of DSE.

Wakuda: That was a meeting to be held on December 21, 2003, which was to be held before the press conference scheduled to announce the full fight card for Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003, right?

Kawamata: Yes. At that meeting, there were a number of yakuza present and also Sakakibara from DSE, and also the person they call the real owner of DSE. I was held against my will at this meeting…

Wakuda: They demanded that Fedor not fight?

Kawamata: Of course.

Kawamata was held against his will by yakuza other than Sakamoto and the other yakuza arrested. Sakamoto and his yakuza group were at this time on Kawamata's side. They were negotiating with yakuza representing PRIDE. However, as soon as the event was over, Sakamoto and his group changed their attitude and started to attack Kawamata.

Kawamata says, "I told the police the following. On December 12, 2003, I had a call from Sakamoto. I want you to meet with PRIDE people, and Sakakibara will be there as well. I knew Sakamoto and his yakuza group for around three years, and we were on good terms. On December 21st, 2003, as ordered I waited with Sakamoto and his group in a Tokyo hotel and top-ranking yakuza came with Sakakibara to the meeting. When the high-level yakuza sat down he said to me, "Actually, we run PRIDE. We can't go out into the public and that’s why we use Sakakibara as the figurehead. So what the hell are you doing taking our fighters!" Even though the agreed 30 minutes for this meeting had passed, I couldn't leave my seat."

The name Sakakibara appears a number of times in Kawamata's comments. This man is the main driving force behind PRIDE. Not only does he appear in fight-related programming, but he also often appears in variety programs. If it is true that he has used the yakuza or attended the meeting with yakuza present, then this is a major incident.

In any event, Kawamata was one-hour late to the pre-arranged press conference that day. This press conference finished without the expected announcement of Fedor's fight. However, this was not the only pressure applied.

According to Tadashi Tanaka's interview of Kawamata, Kawamata says, "On New Year's Eve, PRIDE sent the yakuza to the event. The yakuza came to my hotel, the Kobe Okura. The yakuza demanded that I admit that DSE had the exclusive rights to Fedor. The yakuza said that regardless of whether DSE had a contract for Fedor or not, I would have to get the approval of DE before I could use any fighter which had appeared in PRIDE events. This is ridiculous, right? But they forced me to sign this. If I didn't sign this, they said that all sorts of things could happen at the event that night."

Kawamata also said this to the police: "When you compare PRIDE events to other events, you can easily see that there are many more yakuza at PRIDE events. These days, even though the TV broadcasters should be concerned about this, Fuji TV's producer explicitly said to me, “I know all about these things. But, Sakakibara handles them pretty well so everything is OK." If this is true, then Fuji TV cannot deny that they knew about the yakuza involvement.

A major name from the fight industry will be arrested

In a revelation that is a major problem for N-TV, Kawamata says the following: "I told everything about the threats made to me by the yakuza to Miyamoto of N-TV. Of course, I told him. Miyamoto knew all about the intereference to the event and all of the troubles. When I was summoned to attend the meeting with the yakuza on December 21, 2003, I told him that to avoid trouble I will attend this meeting."

According to witness evidence of Miyamoto at the K-Confidence vs. N-TV trial, Miyamoto testified that "Kawamata did tell me that he was subject to pressure from PRIDE as soon as he signed Fedor. I heard a rumor that there was a lot of yakuza activity around this time." This means that N-TV knew all about the yakuza activities and even so, they proceeded with the program and put all of the blame on Kawamata.

According to the PR department of N-TV, "We have not heard anything about Miyamoto attending any meeting when there was yakuza present. And in relation to the allegation that he requested even stronger yakuza to intervene, we can say that we cannot imagine that he said anything like this. If we knew that yakuza were involved in this event, we would have cut relations with Kawamata."

In response to whether Fuji TV will take responsibility for its continued broadcast of PRIDE events, which are related to the yakuza, Fuji TV's PV department said, "We retain DSE to take care of all matters related to the events and we do not know anything about the matchmaking process. As a result, we cannot make any comment in relation to the matter of responsibility."

According to DSE's PR department, "Due to the existence of a legal dispute between Kawamata and N-TV, we do not want to make any comment. Mr. Sakakibara says that there is no truth to the accusation that he was present at any meetings with yakuza. Relations with those people is only a negative."

According to the president of a fight promoter, "I hear that the arrest person, Sakamoto, is part of a yakuza group which was originally behind Kawamata. However, at the end of Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003, even though they were supposed to be on his side, this group began to threaten and extort Kawamata. Kawamata had no choice but to escape overseas. If DSE used the yakuza in negotiations, I can imagine that they had to pay a large amount of money to those yakuza. The TV networks knew all about these issues, but left the details to Kawamata and Sakakibara." We can expect that the investigation will spread.

According to a news and crime reporter from a major daily newspaper, "The police are now checking how the money from fight events was paid to the yakuza. The arrest of Sakamoto and his group is only the beginning of this matter, and we can expect that this investigation will spread a lot further. The police are expecting to arrest a major name from the fight industry."

By Tape Lord

Chute Boxe and Hammer House coming to blows after the Coleman vs. Shogun fight.

Hello my friends, sources inside the DSE/PRIDE organization are telling me that DSE will schedule a Chute Boxe vs. Hammer House team challenge as soon as Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua recovers from his elbow injury. Below is the lineup that will most likely take place:


Chute Boxe vs. Hammer House matchups:
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Mark Coleman
Vanderlei Silva vs. Kevin Randleman
Murilo 'Ninja' Rua vs. Phil Baroni

Mark Hunt (left) in action against Yosuke Nishijima.

Mark Hunt was recently interviewed by the PRIDE website. Here's what Hunt had to say:


Interviewer: How do you feel, looking back on your fight with Nishijima?

Hunt: It was a tough fight because Nishijima has a very strong spirit but I'm glad that I won in the end.

Interviewer: Where did you think Nishijima had a strong spirit?

Hunt: Several of my punches connected and I was trying to hurt him but Nishijima kept on standing up and trying to fight. Honestly, I wasn't sure how to fight him.

Interviewer: Did you ever feel that you were in trouble?

Hunt: He had several good punches but I was fine.

Interviewer: You tried for an arm-bar and an arm-lock in the 1st round. Did you want to win by submission?

Hunt: Yes. If I had just put a little more weight on Nishijima's shoulder, I would have gotten the arm-lock.

Interviewer: What kind of game plan were you thinking of before the fight?

Hunt: I was just going to go with the flow of the fight. If it's standing, it's standing and if it's on the ground, it's on the ground.

Interviewer: During the (Japanese) television broadcast, the ringside announcer said that you weren't listening to your corner man's instructions in the 3rd round. Was that true?

Hunt: I could hear my corner man's voice but you can't always do what they say.

Interviewer: Watching the fight, it seemed like you were intentionally trying to fight on Nishijima's terms.

Hunt: That's exactly right. I fought standing because I wanted to respect Nishijima's strong spirit.

Interviewer: Were there any other fights that you liked?

Hunt: I watched all of the fights and I think they were all good.

Interviewer: What did you think of Nogueira's and Josh's fights? You may have to face them in the Open Weight Grand Prix.

Hunt: They were good. They have good skills.

Interviewer: Who would you like to fight among Fedor, Nogueira, Mirko and Josh?

Hunt: Anyone is fine but I think it would be an interesting fight if Fedor and I fought.

Interviewer: How would you fight against Fedor?

Hunt: I don't have any particular strategy. It's important to have a clear understanding of what's happening in the ring.

Interviewer: Your weight differs in each fight that you're in. You don't put much importance on controlling your weight, do you?

Hunt: I don't care at all. I may be 180kg in my next fight. (laughing) That's a joke. I'm actually thinking about training and dropping a little weight for my next fight. I'd like to get in good shape and show off my six-pack. (laughing)

Interviewer: Many Heavyweight fighters lose fat and put on a lot of muscle to fight. Do you feel that your conditioning is better in your present condition?

Hunt: When a fighter that's all muscles gets hit with a punch, the fist directly hits the muscle so there's more damage. I've got fat on top of my muscles so there's little shock to my muscles. In that sense, fighters with fat have an advantage.

Interviewer: Do you watch what you eat?

Hunt: I eat fast food some times. I don't really pay much attention to it. I would really like to diet, though.

Interviewer: How do you eat every day, by the way?

Hunt: I eat a lot, 3 times a day, to get this body shape, so I'm think of eating smaller portions, 6 times a day. Einemo eats like that. He is really detailed and breaks up the number of his meals. He says that it's good for your body but it seems difficult to eat every 2 or 3 hours.

Interviewer: What is the biggest steak you've eaten?

Hunt: I eat the same as everyone else. (laughing)

Interviewer: Many fighters eat a lot of carbohydrates. Are there any kinds of foods that you pay particular attention to?

Hunt: I definitely eat a lot of carbohydrates too and I try to eat foods that are good for my body, like fruits.

Interviewer: You've told us before that you also play tennis, in addition to your martial arts training. Do you still play tennis?

Hunt: Yes. Einemo's not very good, though. (laughing)

Interviewer: Being from New Zealand, are you good at swimming?

Hunt: Einemo swims like a fish but I'm not so good.

Interviewer: Australia is a country with lots of nature. Do you do any training incorporating nature?

Hunt: I run on the beach a lot because running on sand is hard training. Einemo and Kazu are really fast though, so I always get left behind. I'm always begging them, "wait up guys!" (laughing)

Interviewer: You've apparently begun training again with Hape, your coach, since your last fight. What was the reason for that?

Hunt: I thought that I needed to train with Hape and he's a great instructor. He's technically good and, of course, good at motivating me.

Interviewer: When did you start training with Hape?

Hunt: When I was about 25. I trained at a different gym before that.

Interviewer: Where does Hape differ from other coaches?

Hunt: He really helps me mentally when he's in my corner. He let's me know that I am strong and then sends me in to the ring. He gets really angry when I skip training, so sometimes I have to run and hide from him. (laughing) I ask my maid to tell him "Hunt's not here" when he calls. He's a very good coach, though.

Interviewer: Are you training at Hape's gym now?

Hunt: Yes. I train with the other fighters that come there. I'm thinking of building my own gym when I return to Australia this time, though. It won't be that big. It will be a gym for bringing up strong professional fighters.

Interviewer: Are there a lot of promising fighters like you in Australia?

Hunt: Of course there are but kickboxing is still more popular than mixed martial arts. If you give me 5 years, I'll make mixed martial arts more popular than kickboxing!

Yoshihiro Akiyama

The HERO's promotion announced the matchup of Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kendo Kashin for their card on March 15th.

Akiyama was originally scheduled to face Olympic wrestling gold medalist Karim Ibrahim, but Ibrahim had to pull out of the card due to injury.