Digital Magazine: MMA Worldwide 15

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Features

ISSUE 15

74

MICHAEL BISPING: IN THE SPOTLIGHT AGAIN “The Count” has had a wild ride since he first laced up his gloves on day one of The Ultimate Fighter. A fantastic winning streak, a drop in weight and a new stint in familiar territory as a coach this time on Spike TV’s best show is nice but it comes with a price; a career changing fight with Dan Henderson.

By RJ Clifford

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Bushido Think the UFC was the beginning of MMA? Think again. A textbook lesson on the origins of one of the world’s most fight savvy countries, Japan.

By Matthew Kaplowitz

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The Ultimate Summer Clothing Guide We wrangled up some of the industries best clothing designers in MMA and lined them up for your viewing pleasure. Sunscreen not included.

By MMA Worldwide Staff

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Krzysztof Soszynski It’s been a long road for the “Polish Experiment” from Strikeforce to the IFL and now he is climbing up the UFC light heavyweight ladder thanks to another Kimura victory.

By RJ Clifford

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Sven “Boogy” Bean Not everyone can run a great MMA show. Even fewer people can do it for nearly a decade.

By Clyde Gentry III

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What to Do With Anderson Silva What are you supposed to do with a UFC middleweight champion who can not lose and is putting on bizarre fights that can not deliver on our spoiled expectations?

By RJ Clifford

Cover photo by Eric Williams / Dr. Photo Management 8 The World-famous

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Columns

ISSUE 15

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From the Chairman Some big developments coming around.

A gym association, some job openings and a digital magazine that will allow you read MMA Worldwide from the comfort of your own laptop.

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The Last Word The flood gates have opened and the latest thing in Hollywood is MMA movies.And more MMA movies.And more MMA movies.And even more MMA movies.

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Ms. MMA You may have seen Sarah in any one of the many Vegas publications she has graced but she has never looked as good as she does here.

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From the Publisher With MMA Worldwide Magazine in full force and our brand new, relaunched website up and running soon the attention is turned to the MMA Worldwide weekly TV show airing on HDNet.

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MMA Anatomy You got to stick to your guns and learn by doing. RJ Clifford dislocates his elbow so he can tell you how to fix it. You can thank him by signing his cast.

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Expert’s Roundtable Strikeforce is exploding in exposure and popularity thanks to their acquisition of EliteXC. But what exactly does that mean to the fighters?

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The Fight Nerd Dana White is a quite a character and we love his no excuses, swearing like a sailor persona. But is when is too much too much?

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MMA Worldwide Rankings A couple minor shakeups and some new faces at light heavyweight and middleweight thanks to some missing faces in the division.

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The Sixth Round Seven questions from the artist to the martial artist..This month’s victim, Dan Hardy, the Pirate of Nottingham.

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MMA Worldwide Organization Robert Pittman Chairman/ President Sheree Brown-Pittman Co- Chairman/ Editor Bobby Pittman Publisher

FROM THE CHAIRMAN...

Welcome to Our 15th Issue!

It’s been a rough road for everyone and I can only hope that we find a way to keep our heads up, realizing that everyone needs a little help, laughter and a caring ear during these trying times.

Nicole Barton Controller/ CFO Dan Harkey General Manager RJ Clifford Editor-in-Chief Patrick Clowers Sales Manager Craig Vaughan Director Mark Allen Director Jacob Wells Editor Jeffrey Kimberlin Sales

MMA has made some great strides in the past six weeks. Who would have thought that GSP would be doing a commercial with the likes of Tiger Woods? Little by little, more and more people are realizing MMA isn’t a fad, but a unique sport and one that keeps attracting more of the demographics so sought after by advertisers.

With the breeding grounds of the UFC doing a show once a month all over the world, these superstar businessmen are paving a road for everyone building a fan base. Everyone wants to knock this or that about the UFC, but my hat’s off to Dana White and the excellent business machine he has continued to build. In MMA, White has earned the Business Person of the Year from us at MMA Worldwide. Now if only he would call me…

We are in the process of producing our weekly TV Show, MMA Worldwide, on HDNet and will be filming every week. This will be a discovery show featuring our crew as they explore gyms, camps, styles, business and much, much more. The guest stars are the “who’s who” in MMA, so stay tuned to MMAWorldwide.com for show times on HDNET. For you gym owners: Give me a call so I can go over our new MMA Worldwide Gym Association. This will be one of the best resources for knowledge, discounts and promotional help during these trying times. We have a media kit waiting for you that will explain the benefits in detail. Just give us a call and ask for Robert Sr. or Dan at 714-226-0585.

For anyone looking for additional income: We are looking for sales help in all areas. This is a commission only position that can be done part or full time. The platforms we have can make you a great living with just a little bit of effort on your part. Again just give us a call and ask for Dan at 714226-0585.

Digital Magazine: www.onlinedigitalpubs.com/publication?i=15129 This new site will be viewed by millions when our hired guns are done promoting this.

You can’t talk your way out of a situation that you behaved yourself into…

Robert “The Closer” Pittman 12 The World-famous

Rick Lee Director of Website Operations Molly Kimberlin Customer Relations/ Circulation Director John Nguyen Customer Relations Fred George Executive Staff/ Tour Crew/ Fitness Editor Mike “Joker” Guymon Executive Staff Tour Crew Adam Villarreal Senior Contributing Writer Eric Williams Photography Lisa Williams Graphic Designer

Please Recycle This Magazine PRINT WHAT WE SELL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY At SMP Inc., we believe in minimizing paper waste by printing what we sell. We do not flood the magazine into mass markets, which typically sell fewer than 40 of every 100 copies they receive, and discard the unsold magazines. Our stance costs us sales, but saves extremely large amounts of paper.

We encourage all publishers to put the environment first.

ISSN 1937-1071 SMP, Inc. as a publisher is an advertising platform and does not endorse or make representation, warranty or guarantee concerning the safety or effectiveness of either the products and services advertised in this magazine or the martial arts ads or other techniques discussed or illustrated in this magazine. The publisher expressly disclaims any and all liability relating to the manufacture, sale or use of such products and services and the application of the techniques discussed or illustrated in this magazine. The purchase or use of some of the products, services or techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine may be illegal in some areas of the United States or other countries.

Therefore, you should check federal, state and local laws prior to your purchase or use of these products, services or techniques. The publisher makes no representation or warranty concerning the legality of the purchase or use of these products, services or techniques in the United States or elsewhere.

Because of the nature of some of the products, services or techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine, you should consult a physician before using these products or services or applying these techniques.

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WHAT A WILD RIDE!

by Bobby Pittman so normal to me to be surrounded by the world's best fighters all the time, but after years of conversations with “normal people,” I've learned that our lives are anything but normal. Well, now you will get to be the judge of that.

Welcome back to another action-packed issue. These last few months have been absolutely insane for us. Whether it's a trip to film for our upcoming TV show or just the daily tasks of producing the magazines, we have sure had some wild times lately. Our team is constantly expanding and so are our limits, as we continue to break through the barriers that stand before us. For me, the number one focus has been filming for the show and I will tell you that it is something that's easier said than done.

“How hard could it be? Just turn on the cameras and follow us!” That's what we told our cameramen. This obviously wasn't the typical show we were planning on producing. There wasn't much writing, many concepts or other staged events. I guess you could call it a reality show...

You may have heard of those, but there's a big difference between ours and the ones you are used to: ours is real! We just want to give our fans a behind-the-scenes look at our lives and more importantly, the lives of the fighters. I've been doing this job for the past six years, so it seems 14 The World-famous

So you want a little preview, huh? Well how about loading up a tour bus for months of trips where we go from fights to gyms to fighter's homes? That seems normal to me. Especially when I'm running off the mats ready to puke because I've been trying to keep up with guys like Michael “The Joker” Guymon who joins us on many of our excursions. That just makes me feel right at home. Then you've got our strength and conditioning editor, Fred George, and our editor-inchief, RJ Clifford, to round out the crew.

With the four of us lunatics hitting the road, we always know we're in for something interesting.

What many people don't realize is that our time spent touring is basically the same as our time spent at home...except I don't have to deal with those idiots 24/7!

I get to sleep in a real bed and I don't have to drive for 12 hours a day and...alright, maybe our time home is a little different, but one thing remains the same and that is how we are constantly around some of the sport’s best fighters.

So we've spent the last few months with cameras rolling and some of the things we're capturing are incredible. Seeing the way some of these guys train and some of

the odd practices they incorporate is definitely intriguing, but definitely doesn't compare to seeing Cleber Luciano and Fred George having a dance off. Now that's priceless!

Being around MMA for so long has sure shown me a lot. There are some things I don't like, such as the politics that are involved and the power trip that some people in this industry are on. However if there is one thing that will keep you going in this business, it's seeing how crazy and fun this community is. I think it's safe to say that our sport has enough personalities, party animals and other Pwords to make this one of the greatest damn experiences ever. Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant pretty girls.

If I don't have you excited to see the show by now, then let me just throw this last little bit out there. Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone was stupid enough to break into one of these fighter's homes? Yeah, so have we. Well who better to demonstrate what would happen than Mr. El Guapo himself, Bas Rutten. If you're not excited now, then clearly you just aren't an MMA fan.

So stay tuned at www.mmaworldwide.com for updates and behind-the-scenes videos and photos. Until next time, enjoy another great issue and wish me luck while I'm on the road with these animals!

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THE END OF AN ERA? UFC President Dana White eluded to the fact that if Chuck Liddell did not impress in his fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97 in Montreal that his fighting days would be numbered. After being knocked out in the first round and losing four out of his last five fights, where does this leave the UFC’s most popular fighter?

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MAILBAG CHUCK LIDDELL I thought the curse of the MMA Worldwide cover was broken when Rashad Evans (issue 12) and Anderson Silva (issue 13) continued their winning streaks but I see it is popping up again. Not only did Chuck get knocked out by Shogun, but he got knocked into retirement!

—Bernie Ellis, Hammond, IN Regardless of Chuck Liddell’s recent losses he still should be remembered not only as a fighter who dominated his division for such a long time and helped bring MMA mainstream, but also as someone who changed the way fights are actually fought. When wrestlers and grapplers conquered MMA he sprawled and brawled his way into a new era of fighting where strikers are starting to take over. Not a small accomplishment by any means.

—Jeff, Santa Cruz, CA Well it looks like you guys were wrong again. Instead of “Chuck Liddell: Not Thawed Yet”, your cover should have been “Chuck Liddell: Now a Puddle”.

—Mark, Myspace VITOR BELFORT The Phenom is back! He has been back and forth from the UFC twice now. The guy has nine lives, and he’s still young. I would like to see him box against Roy Jones that would be worth watching. Good interview, but I wonder why there weren’t any questions about his alleged steroid abuse in the past. Keep up the good work and I like the layout of this interview.

—Murry Wills, Victoria, TX Vitor was a beast when he was younger, and now you’re saying he’s back? Who has he beat? He’s fighting in Affliction where all they have is former UFC guys of course he’s knocking them out. I remember him fighting in Pride when he looked juiced to the gills and now he’s fighting at under two hundred pounds off the juice. All the God

talk seems to be the rage with people when they want to reinvent themselves. I hope the UFC lets him back in and tosses him against Anderson Silva, lets see if the Phenom hasn’t left.

—C. Rabara, Los Angeles, CA BUYER’S GUIDE Thanks again for throwing the last bit of self control I thought I had out the window.

I have never been able to say no to the latest and greatest MMA gear, DVD, book, bag, you name it. And now I have a catalog staring me in the face every time I am near my coffee table. When I can’t afford to send my kids to college can you please set them up with a big fight contract somewhere? I don’t have a lot of options.

—Gary, Miami, FL 13 AMAZING FIGHT CARDS Good article. It’s funny how sometimes so many future all star fighters end up on the same cards early in their careers. It reminds me to take notice of the smaller name guys I see in local shows here in Southern California and how some of them could potentially be UFC champs someday. I wonder if anyone in the stands at IFC in Denver realized they were watching some of the best fighters of the next decade.

—Frank Cardenas, Cerritos, CA I was at the Rumble on the Rock 8 in Hawaii and, trust me, this was a card everyone knew about. Except for some of the really good Pride shows this was the best tournament talent wise. It had Anderson

Silva, UFC champion, Jake Shields, ElteXC champion, Frank Trigg, UFC and Pride contender, Carlos Condit, WEC champion, etc. Just goes to show you not all good MMA in the United States just happens on the mainland.

—Kalani, Honolulu, HI

STRIKEFORCE 2.0 It’s all well and good that Strikeforce has a bigger roster and a Showtime TV contract but if they think they can compete with the UFC they need to rethink their business plan. The UFC is so big and so branded no other shows are going to be able to be as big. In America, most people know MMA as “Ultimate Fighting” showing just how strong the UFC brand is. I like watching other fights too but going head to head with the UFC is suicide.

—Jacob Brand, Seattle, WA I think Strikeforce is really geared for a big push in the MMA scene. Unlike the other MMA companies that have come and went in the last few years trying to cash in on the MMA bandwagon, Scott Coker has been around forever and has been putting on fights before was even called MMA. I was at the first Strikeforce MMA show when Shamrock knocked out Gracie and I knew they were going to succeed since that day.

—Jason Tan, San Jose, CA JON “BONES” JONES Regarding your writer’s complete surprise over the fact that Jon Jones uses Youtube as his preliminary tool for refining his techniques, it came as no surprise to me. I’m a video technician and use Youtube on a consistent basis to learn how to work certain aspects of my equipment as well as software and other technical help I ever need.

Considering how much fighting is on Youtube it should be even easier to learn kicks and punches than it is to figure out which lens to use for low light shots.

—Tom

To C o n t a c t M M A Wo r l d w i d e : Email us at mailbag@mmaworldwide .com or check us out on Myspace at www.myspace .com/mmaworldwidemagazine . Make sure to include your name and hometown.

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FACE

On June 13th in the UFC’s first foray into Germany, former title holders Rich “Ace” Franklin and Wanderlei “The Ax-Murderer” Silva will clash in a rare catch weight bout of 195 pounds. Franklin is on his way up in weight after two brutal losses to Anderson Silva while Silva is on his way to middleweight after losing two of his last three light heavyweight fights. But who has the edge in this catch weight bout?

Wanderlei “The Ax-Murderer” Silva RECORD 32-9-1 (1 NC) Has consistently fought only top tier competition as of late with mixed results but once went on an 18 fight undefeated streak with wins over Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba (3X) and Rampage Jackson (2X) +1 Silva LAST FIVE OPPONENTS Loss Rampage Jackson,Win Keith Jardine, Loss Chuck Liddell, Loss Dan Henderson, Loss Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic GREATEST VICTORY Brutally knocked out Rampage Jackson in the finals of the Pride: Final Conflict 2003 tournament +1 Silva STRIKING One of the most feared strikers of our generation he is deadly with his fists, knees and legs +1 Silva WRESTLING Rarely if ever goes for takedowns and has shown a lack of takedown defense against Rampage and Chuck Liddel SUBMISSIONS A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he only has one submission win to his credit but has never been submitted in 43 fights Tied EXPERIENCE He was the face of the biggest organization in the world at Pride and has fought on the biggest stages in Japan, Brazil and the U.S. +1 Silva INTANGIBLES Never fought at this weight before, has taken years of punishment, finally getting used to his new surroundings in the U.S. and U.S. rules WANDERLEI SILVA WINS 4-3 We have seen this match up before. Similar how Anderson Silva picked apart Franklin,Wanderlei Silva will use the same strategy mixing up punches, kicks and the ever dangerous Muay Thai clinch to clobber the less powerful punching of Franklin.

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OFF!

Rich “Ace” Franklin RECORD 24-4 (1 NC) Has some decent wins against Yushin Okami and the late Evan Tanner but has only lost to the very best of the best in Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva (2X) LAST FIVE OPPONENTS Loss Dan Henderson,Win Matt Hamill,Win Travis Lutter, Loss Anderson Silva,Win Yushin Okami +1 Franklin GREATEST VICTORY Defeated the late Evan Tanner by TKO for the UFC middleweight championship when Tanner was on a four fight win streak STRIKING A precise, straight puncher, Franklin has some big one punch KO wins but usually batters and beats his opponents into a TKO victory WRESTLING Scores the rare takedown when necessary but he usually is able to keep the fight on the feet if he so pleases +1 Franklin SUBMISSIONS Has never been submitted in a pro fight and has a few submission wins over mediocre opposition early in his career Tied EXPERIENCE This will be Franklin’s 30th fight and his 15th in the Octagon having fought a wide range of opponents INTANGIBLES Less wear and tear, will be the bigger fighter, injury free and a consistent training camp +1 Franklin

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Real Men Only Beat Their Opponents

For all women who suffer from abuse

by Debbie Phillips

One of the most trying and disheartening crimes that plague our society is domestic abuse and the (mostly) men that take physical action against the opposite sex. As a fight magazine that promotes the skills necessary to defeat another able bodied man, it is important to remember that not all fights have the benefit of a referee.

Blood everywhere, fists pounding and kicks too. You have seen it and I have seen it. You’ve seen it at an arena or on the big screen in California, Vegas or Iowa. I saw it in my living room, kitchen and in my yard. You were watching the fastest-growing sporting event of our time: MMA. I was watching my Dad beat my Mom until she was unrecognizable.

Domestic abuse is one of the most prevalent and misunderstood crimes (yes, crimes) in this country. The (mostly) women that it happens to are victims in the truest sense of the word; they are beaten down physically and emotionally.

The news is full of accounts of domestic abuse these days and the sad part is that it doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the entire problem. It’s very much kept in the shadows and it’s getting worse as money problems arise.

Statistics show that the rate of domestic abuse goes up greatly in the days after the Super Bowl. Pathetic, huh?

Why don’t they leave? I’ve heard that a thousand times.

Mostly, it’s due to fear and sometimes, amazingly, it’s due to guilt. The man says, “You made me do this to you,” even though there’s no reason to strike a person you love; other

factors include the women not having any money with no place to go. And what would they do if they got away? I live in a country that worships the almighty dollar while lives of victims are swept under the rug. The fear is real. My Dad threatened the lives of my mother’s parents if they didn’t say where she was. And later in life he threatened us, her children, if she ever left him. He would do anything to us to find her. She believed him because it was true. Why don’t you call the police? That’s hard to do with a phone jerked out of the wall or with a crushed cell phone…that’s if they even have a phone at all.

The very nature of abuse is to isolate the victims until they feel they are less than nothing. If you’ve gotten this far in this story, it’s probably because some of this feels familiar.

If you’re a person who’s beating their partners or their kids and think, “Well, it’s the way I was raised,” remember how you felt as a child. Do you really want them to feel that way?

If you have a daughter, do you want that done to her? People say it’s genetic, but that’s not true. I have never beaten anybody down in my life. It’s true, I’m a girl, and maybe it’s a testosterone thing. Or maybe it’s just an A-hole thing.

Professional MMA fighters are looked up to by so many guys who want to “fight.” But instead of the hard work and discipline it would take to be a fighter, they take the cowardly approach by beating the innocent people in their lives.

If you have that rage, take it to the mat instead of the living room. Pick on somebody your own size. When it comes to hitting your family, always remember: “Real Men walk away, Real Men don’t do it and Real Men only beat their opponents.”

If you are seeking help for abuse or domestic violence, or if you know someone who does, contact the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men & Women (www.ndahmw.org) at 1-888-743-5754 or National Domestic Violence Hotline (www.ndvh.org) at 1-800-799-7233.

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DANA WHITE: LET’S CRANK IT DOWN A NOTCH

by Matthew Kaplowitz author as a moron, dumb, liar and several other words I choose not to write. He interlaced this vicious platter with four letter words and insults to homosexuals, finally ending in a one-finger salute.

Bobby Knight. Bill Belichick. George Steinbrenner. These controversial sports figures are known for raising many an eyebrow and finger from fans, but they better make room for a new entrant who has propelled himself as one of the loudest sports figures of the 21st Century. That can be only one man; his name is Dana White.

As I touched upon in an earlier column, White has done tons of good things for MMA, taking a promotion that was on life support and making it one of the strongest franchises in sports today. I could list many accomplishments he has made and easily fill a column on that alone, but who would honestly want to read that?

With all the good he has done, White has proven himself to be a “colorful” personality. Examples include his Fedor bashing, openly mocking Elite XC and CBS for their programming and choice of stars (Kimbo Slice), calling DREAM a “minorleague” promotion, etc. Don’t forget his very public rivalry with Affliction as a prime example of his explosiveness over situations.

But his latest antics truly stepped over the line. For sherdog.com, Loretta Hunt wrote an article discussing some recent changes in the UFC’s credentialing policy regarding managers. White immediately responded on his vlog by calling it retarded and stupid, further denouncing the

White does in fact make some valid arguments and he defended his case, but the problem was how he did it. The namecalling and F-bomb rants didn’t help. The irony of this stems from the same vlog where White tells fighters on a Fight Night show NOT to curse on TV! White’s cursing has become an inside joke for MMA fans and can be entertaining (i.e.

“Do you want to be a f***ing fighter?”), but how much is too much? According to GLAAD, this vlog blast was too much, though White apologized soon after for his remarks concerning gays and lesbians; he has never apologized for his comments toward Hunt. Of course, wouldn’t you know it that another organization, The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM), would call for White’s head over the way he treated a female journalist.

In light of these events, White has decided to make himself less public in the coming months and even stopped production of a reality show featuring himself. Some mainstream journalists, such as Mike Freeman of cbssports.com, picked up the news and have begun to further typecast MMA fighters and fans as “garbage,” asking why MMA fans let White get away with this.

enjoy his colorful language? We have come to expect White’s tirades about fighters and opposing companies and almost enjoy hearing him sound like an idiot as he does this. Is this a machismo thing for fans excited to see someone in such a position of power speak like a normal guy and show real emotions?

Supporting his choice of words shows to MMA pundits that we are just slack-jawed idiots who will do whatever White tells us to do and will ensure that mainstream audiences never truly accept MMA as a sport.

In the next few months we will see what happens with White’s choice of words and his role in the public eye. Clearly, we know White is not a stupid man and is a shrewd businessman with a lot of great ideas and a great vision for the growth of MMA, especially as he campaigns to get the sport legalized in all 50 states. But how does representing MMA and himself as an easily-agitated and explosive man help plant the seeds for good relations and understanding of the sport we all love and want to see prosper?

I am glad to hear White will stymie himself, even if just for a little bit, and will let his shows do the talking. These next few years are going to be critical to MMA and the best remedy at this time is to have the big boss keep the swearing to a minimum.

If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say something at all. This way, no one can sue your ass for overusing four letter words.

So why do we let Dana White, the owner of the biggest MMA franchise in the world, let his mouth run like this? Do we

To contact the Fight Nerd, email him at mattitude39@gmail.com or check out his website, www.thefightnerd.com.

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THE LAST WORD Hollywood Beckons Yet Again…

By Adam J.Villareal

So I’m sitting at home a few weeks back and catch a glimpse of the movie trailer for Fighting which has already been released now. Like a lot of you readers out there, I had heard a rumor or two about yet another movie that was coming out set to be thinly veiled with mixed martial arts as the premise. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, it prominently displays Strikeforce Champion Cung Le as one of the characters.

Right off the bat, I start thinking of all the other “fighting” movies that have used MMA as a premise and I had to figuratively roll my eyes. First there was Never Back Down, a movie that was basically a modern-day Karate Kid with the dark haired, fatherless protagonist who moves to a new town only to fall for a girl and get beat up publicly by her blonde-haired boyfriend. He later wins her over and takes it upon himself to set the blonde boy antagonist straight using his own weapon of MMA against him. To add credibility to the film, they enlisted the help of our buddy and MMA ambassador,

Bas “El Guapo” Rutten, and MMA super trainer Erik Paulson for some of the techniques taught to the actors. Thus a lot of hardcore fans were forced to give the film a chance whether they liked it or not.

The film itself wasn’t bad; rather it was far too predictable and it opened the floodgates for more MMA films to follow.

Van Damme’s Lionheart with regards to the underground street fighting for money. Now this isn’t a bad thing and rest assured that I’m not here to rip up a movie since I’m not a qualified critic whatsoever (in case you couldn’t tell). In fact, I can appreciate these movies since it is an obvious testament to the strength and popularity of our sport.

Then came the MMA drama Redbelt, which was written and directed by David Mamet, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu student in his own right. This film had an awesome trailer; I was completely drawn to it the first time I saw the three-minute teaser.

Unlike Never Back Down, it wasn’t glitzy and pretty with young, hip people oozing from the screen. Instead it was filled with realistic, average people dressing each modest scene with dialogue. When I actually watched the film, I noticed every MMA reference, person and basis in the film. The movie itself wasn’t bad at all, but it was certainly full of those “that would never happen” moments and the like. But I did enjoy it for the most part, though it did nothing to help stop the stereotype that Hollywood is filled with liars, thieves and self-professed dream weavers.

I can also appreciate the fact that it’s giving our fighters an avenue to showcase other skills they may possess outside of the gym. For example, I’ve heard Cung Le has received rave reviews for his role.

Some may say, “Well he’s a fighter playing a fighter, so where’s the stretch?” If you know Cung, then you know he’s a nice guy and I understand that he played the perfect bad guy in this movie. Good for him! I guess my concern is the fact that we may be awash in a sea of movies with MMA as a theme, but the execution becomes a joke. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if that ever happens. Right now I guess we should all relax, buy a ticket, then some popcorn and enjoy the show. I mean come on; Hollywood always knows what it’s doing, right?

What are your thoughts?

Then we come to Fighting, which looks a bit different from the two previouslymentioned films, but certainly seems to draw from other flicks like Jean Claude

To contact Adam J. Villarreal, please email: adam@tapoutmagazine.com.

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Can’t get enough Adam? Listen to him every Thursday night on ESPN Radio 97.5 FM in Houston, Texas from 7:00pm - 10:00 pm CST or logon to 975theticket.com and listen live anywhere.

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by Andrew Bonsall and RJ Clifford

Bumps and bruises, cracks and breaks, pops and snaps. All things you become accustomed to competing in martial arts, MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu specifically. So low and behold, while competing at the Pan American Championships this year, this writer made his own criteria for an MMA Anatomy. While fighting off a kimura attempt by opponent, I thought I had my shoulder in a safe position to keep from getting damaged but it was not elbow that was in trouble. Just when I started to straighten my arm to free myself from the hold a loud pop came from my elbow forcing the referee to instantly stop the match. Thinking I was fine I was frustrated heading back to the stands thinking I was able to finish the match. Five minutes later my elbow started to swell and throb. A half hour later I could not even move it.

A KIMURA HOLD MADE MY ELBOW POP.

You really should learn to defend kimuras!

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WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED? The forearm contains two bones, the radius and the ulna. These bones are attached to each other both at the proximal, or elbow, end and also at the distal, or wrist end. Among other movements, the forearm is capable of pronation and supination, which is to say rotation about the long axis of the forearm. In this movement the ulna, which is connected to the humerus by a simple hinge-joint, remains stationary, while the radius rotates carrying the wrist and hand with it. To allow this rotation, the proximal (elbow) end of the radius is held in proximity to the ulna by a ligament known as the annular ligament. This is a circular ligamentous structure within which the radius is free, with constraints existing elsewhere in the forearm, to rotate. This is the ligament that popped during the kimura

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Radial Nerve

Pronation of the forearm at the elbow

Biceps

Annular Ligament Triceps

Radial Nerve Penatrates Muscle Supinator Muscle

Biceps Tendon

Supination of the forearm at the elbow

Anular Tendon of Radius

Radius

Humerus Triceps Tendon

Ulna

Ulna Nerve

Olecranon Process of Ulna

Ulnar Collateral Ligament

HOW BAD IS IT?

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

In a twisting technique with a lot of torque like a kimura, there are several possibilities for injury. Between the multiple bones, ligaments, tendons and nerves throughout the elbow area, there is great potential for damage to any part of the elbow.

With the problem isolated, treatment was next. The swelling was an issue for the first 72 hours which was treated with ice and ibuprofen.

Keeping the elbow stationary at a 90 degree angle for three weeks with a splint assured the ligament had ample time to heal without danger of further damage. A splint with a wrap was used as opposed to a full cast to allow me to unwrap my elbow once a day to flex and extend my elbow to keep it from getting stiff. After three weeks the splint was taken off followed by physical therapy to redevelop full range of motion in the elbow.

To determine the exact nature of the injury a trip to the doctor was in order. An X-ray revealed a small chip of bone had broken off of my ulna but it was small enough to not cause a big problem. A larger chip would have required surgery. A series of tests isolated the exact injury. Limited flexion and extension of my elbow was attributed to swelling in the area and loss of pronation and supination indicated a tear in my annular ligament.

Andrew Bonsall has a BA in Kinisiology from Long Beach State University and a Masters in Educational technology. He is also a credentialed medical illustrator. www.mmaworldwide.com 33

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Bushido: Japan has a culture rich in arts, literature and architecture. The country is also known for combat, being sport or war. Fighting has been part of Japan’s history since its inception and the tale of conflict continues to this day.

The earliest written mention of grappling can be read in the Kojiki, or “Record of Ancient Matters,” originating from 712 AD. The tale regards ownership of the Izumo territory (today called Shimane prefecture) and that gods Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata wrestled for possession of this area.

Interestingly enough, another book soon followed, the Nihon Shoki, or “Chronicles of Japan,” which tells the story of Emperor Suinin who requested a potter named Nomi-no Sukune to fight the bully, Taima-no Kehaya. The combatants wrestled awhile until Sukune kicked Kehaya's stomach and solar plexus, severely injuring him.

Sukune, the winner, is now considered the "father of sumo,” although this match is also the first recorded MMA bout in the country’s history.

History of sumo aside (because that is a whole other article), martial arts in Japan began popping up in the 1300s, brought over from China. Government regulations banned weapons from common citizens, so unarmed combat techniques were created and the innovative, defensive use of farming tools was born. The Meiji restoration in the late 1800s caused a huge socio-political stir in Japan. It also forged many of the modernized forms of older martial arts that we know today, like judo, which turned jujitsu into a safer style utilizing less strength.

As these traditional forms of martial arts developed, wrestling also evolved. In America in the early 1900s, professional wrestling became popular, pioneered by wrestlers like George Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch. Japanese wrestlers had

Bushido: A History of Combat Sports in Japan Illustrations and writing by Matthew Kaplowitz

little luck gaining any popularity in America at the time and the sport didn’t catch on in Japan despite several tries.

Across the world in Brazil, a man named Helio Gracie reformed an offshoot of a Japanese martial art in a unique way. The youngest of five brothers, the Gracie family was taught traditional jujitsu by traveling judoka Mitsuyo Maeda, who was on a mission to spread this art around the globe. Initially rejected by his father to practice, Helio eventually absorbed Maeda’s teachings and recreated it, utilizing leverage and the ability to dominantly fight off one’s back.

Helio soon challenged fighters of other styles to prove the effectiveness of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (dubbed Gracie Jiu-jitsu) and went undefeated for years.

In the 1950s, Masahiko Kimura and Helio Gracie agreed to a match in Brazil. Kimura was a national judo champion in Japan and was chosen by his superiors to end this upstart martial arts rise. The match, held in Marcana Stadium in front of over 20,000 spectators, was under submission rules and would end if the opponent was rendered unconscious by a grappling technique, either choke or arm lock.

Kimura repeatedly threw Gracie around the mats with ease and applied numerous chokes and pinning holds to the BJJ master, but for 12 minutes, Helio would not succumb. After attempting to escape a pin, Kimura locked on an Ude-garami arm lock and broke Gracie’s left arm. Gracie continued to fight until his corner threw in the towel, declaring Kimura the winner. As a testament to honor this match, the arm lock was adapted into Brazilian jiu-jitsu and dubbed “The Kimura.”

Back in Japan, pro wrestling was finally gaining popularity, singlehandedly thanks to

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a wrestler called Rikidozan.

Originally born in Japanese-occupied Korea, he trained at a young age to be a sumo wrestler, ranked at highest as sekiwake, the third highest achievement one could receive. In 1950, Rikidozan retired from sumo and became a pro wrestler. The sport did not catch on in the early 1900s due to something the Japanese had not yet understood: matchmaking. In post WWII Japan, Rikidozan united the country by battling and defeating American wrestlers. He gained worldwide fame in 1958 when he took the NWA International Heavyweight Championship from Lou Thesz.

In the mid 1960s, Rikidozan founded the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA). His first notable feud was against Masahiko Kimura, who had retired after one final tour in 1959 to teach judo at a university.

This match would be for the JWA Heavyweight Title and was supposed to end as a draw, setting off a series of matches. Rikidozan had other ideas and began to “shoot,” or fight for real, and attacked Kimura, rendering him legitimately unconscious. There was never a rematch. Kimura later started his own pro wrestling promotion, but it failed, and JWA absorbed it soon after. Rikidozan became a national hero, but died from dubious circumstances in 1963 at age 39.

Two of Rikidozan’s protégés were the 6’ 6” Giant Baba and the athletic, charismatic Antonio Inoki. After Rikidozan’s death, Giant Baba took helm of JWA and eventually fired Inoki and company president/former wrestler Toyonobori. The pair formed Tokyo ProWrestling in 1966, but Inoki returned to Baba’s promotion, only to be fired in 1971 for plotting to usurp power. Inoki soon formed New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and wrestled a losing effort in the first main event against the highly skilled and acclaimed Karl Gotch.

Giant Baba formed All Japan Pro Wrestling and the companies feuded for decades, constantly trading wrestlers and trying to best each other. Inoki showed himself to be unique by instituting a more realistic style of pro wrestling, displaying more martial arts skills and strikes. He also promoted style vs. style matches, where Inoki played the role of the hero, facing 36 The World-famous

Giant Baba

opponents of any style, including American boxer Chuck Wepner, karate champion Willie Williams, Olympic Judo gold medalist Willem Ruska from Holland, and eventually his most famous match against Muhammad Ali in 1976.

The match was held at Tokyo Budokan Arena and would be overseen by Gene LeBell as the third man in the ring. Being a worked bout, Ali refused to lose to Inoki (even though the plans were for Inoki to win via a controversial way), so the rules were changed at the last minute that barred any of Inoki’s attacks, including punching with a closed fist or using any submissions or takedowns. Ali threw all of three punches; Inoki often flopped to his butt in the middle of the ring and the result was a boring 15-round fiasco that ended by draw. The match almost completely destroyed pro wrestling in Japan and didn’t do any favors for boxing in the U.S. Nonetheless, this was the first MMA match to be shown on closed circuit TV worldwide.

Though Inoki would later continue his “style vs. style” experiments with shooters, he had also developed many disciples, including Satoru Sayama, Akira Maeda, Masakatsu Funaki and Nobuhiko Takada. Maeda was the first to leave NJPW in 1987, when during a match against Riki Choshu, Maeda kicked Choshu’s face and broke his orbital bone. Choshu was out of action for over a year; Maeda was fired immediately.

Maeda formed the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) with Nobuhiko Takada, and created a new hybrid style of MMA and pro wrestling. The fights resembled real fights with no top rope maneuvers or wrestlers running the ropes, but still had a predetermined finish. Other popular wrestlers in the UWF included Satoru Sayama, Masakatsu Funaki, Kiyoshi Tamura, Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba.

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the organization. Shooto even co-promoted the Vale Tudo Japan series, which made Rickson Gracie a star in Japan, countering the success of brother Royce in the UFC. Shooto thrives today and has held events around the world. While Rumina Sato and Hayato Sakurai were two of the promotion’s biggest stars, it has had many international fighters grace its ranks, including Anderson Silva, Jake Shields and Joachim Hansen.

Maeda disbanded the UWF in 1990 and started a new UWF-style promotion called RINGS in 1995 with the help of one of his UWF fighters, Chris Dolman (the two fought in UWF in 1989). RINGS Fighting Network started in Japan and the Netherlands (Holman’s home), utilizing a lot of foreign talent from around the world. The stiff-worked style of RINGS was accompanied by a few shoot matches through the years in Japan (most notably a bout between Frank Shamrock and Kiyoshi Tamura), but other RINGS operations in Europe often held real matches, unless Japanese (read: promotion’s marquee stars) were involved.

Antonio Inoki The roster enjoyed the faux-MMA combat style, but some yearned for true fighting. Satoru Sayama was one such man. Formerly one of the most famous wrestlers in NJPW under the guise “Tiger Mask,” Sayama was very vocal in this wish. In a match in 1985 against Maeda, Maeda purposely kicked Sayama in the groin. In response, Sayama shot back and the two went at it for real.

Sayama was fired from UWF and decided to never work a staged fight again. In 1987, he formed Shooto, which became the first real MMA organization in Japan, or anywhere for that matter. It’s important to note there has never been a known worked match in

From 1998 and 1999, RINGS evolved into a full-fledged MMA organization, save for no striking with a closed fist to the head on the ground. The promotion’s “King of the King” tournaments in 1999 and 2000 were especially noteworthy, as they boasted an incredible line-up of stars: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Randy Couture, Ricardo Arona, Gilbert Yvel, Dan Henderson, Renato Babalu and Fedor Emelianeko. RINGS Japan eventually went broke and went out of operation in early 2002, but the promotion still lives on today in other countries, including RINGS Holland, Lithuania and Russia.

Masakatsu Funaki left the UWF and formed Pancrase in 1993, taking Minoru Suzuki and a few others with him. Funaki was the top star and trainer of incoming fighters. Pancrase was known as a shoot fighting or “hybrid wrestling” promotion with a focus on technique. Competitors were not allowed to use closed fists to an opponent’s face, but closed-fist strikes were permitted to the body.

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They also adapted a rule from pro wrestling called the “rope escape,” signaling that when a fighter grabbed the rope with a body part, the fight would be restarted standing. Rope escapes would be used as part of the total point tally; fights were often decided on the number of rope escapes alone.

Kazushi Sakuraba

Pancrase had no weight limits in their formative years and crowned their first champion, Ken Shamrock, after the first “King of Pancrase” Open Weight Tournament. Other former KOP holders include Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Nathan Marquardt, Semmy Schilt and Guy Mezger. Like RINGS, Pancrase has had many top fighters compete through the years, most notably Josh Barnett, Joe Riggs, Chris Lytle and the late Evan Tanner. In 1999, Pancrase followed RINGS by adding closed-fist strikes with gloves; rope escapes were abandoned.

Pancrase set things in motion, RINGS carried the torch, but there was a new company on the horizon to truly cement itself as the big dog on the block: Pride Fighting Championships. Debuting on October 11, 1997 at the Tokyo Dome, the card was made up of former UFC stars and pro wrestlers, spearheaded by Rickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada.

The match meant everything to Japanese fans, going all the way back to the early 1990s when Takada broke “kayfabe” (meaning “keep quiet”), a term where pro wrestlers never broke silence about their professions being scripted. When Yoji Anjoh, one of Takada’s stable mates, lost a real challenge match to Rickson in the states, Takada refused to avenge him because…he wasn’t a real fighter.

The Pride match would restore faith in Takada, his fans and pro wrestling; the promotion milked it for everything it was worth.

Takada lost by arm bar in front of 47,000 fans, but maintained his warrior spirit and propelled the promotion to international prominence.

Pride would build its fighter base starting with Japanese pro wrestlers (some in obvious and not-so-obvious worked matches), but it also had its share of tough American and 38 The World-famous

Brazilian talent. When RINGS ran out of money, Pride FC, under new management with Dream Stage Entertainment, mined its top players. Pride FC had done the same thing with the UFC and continued to do so during the American promotion’s off-cable period.

Pride FC eventually became the number one fight promotion for heavyweights—no one could touch them. A live event would run over five hours, bursting with pyrotechnic displays and grand entrances.

Pride gained much notoriety for its “Grand Prix” tournaments. The first one was an open weight tournament that featured Royce Gracie, Igor Vovchanchyn, Gary Goodridge, Mark Kerr, Mark Coleman and Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba became the star of the promotion for his “Gracie Killer” status that was punctuated by a 90-minute match against Royce Gracie where 15 minute rounds were employed. Rorion Gracie was forced to throw in the towel when brother Royce couldn’t continue.

Pride would often become a mixed bag that boasted great talent in tomato can matches or just showcase bizarre matches altogether; it also promoted some of the most competitive fights in the sports history. But in his heyday, Sakuraba was the real deal and defeated a lot of top fighters who outweighed him. Other notable fighters in Pride FC included: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianeko, Wanderlei Silva, Quinton Jackson, Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic and Mauricio Rua. Pride FC’s demise started with a scandal involving the Yakuza’s influence in the company which was revealed by a Japanese tabloid, as well as some photographic evidence to back it up. In 2006, Fuji TV dropped all DSE and Pride FC programming. With no TV deal, revenue began to drop and fighters began to go elsewhere. In March 2007, Lorenzo Fertitta, co-owner of the UFC, purchased Pride FC, and months later would shut their office down completely, ending

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one of the most popular MMA shows in Japan after over 60 shows, on a sour note.

It’s important to mention that Pride FC’s Bushido, meant for lower weight fighters, ended the promotion with one of the most incredible middleweight tournaments in the sport’s history.

Out of the ashes of Pride FC, rose DREAM, a collaboration between former Pride executives and FEG, the company that runs K-1, the world’s premiere kickboxing organization.

K-1 has toyed with MMA since a lone bout in 1994 and has partnered up several times experimenting with their stars. With DREAM, the promotion retained Pride’s razzle dazzle, even going so far as to keep Lenne Hardt, their infamous fight introducer. It will be interesting to see where DREAM is headed.

Sengoku, run by World Victory Road, holds the distinction of being the first MMA promotion to be picked up by Japanese TV since Pride was dropped.

Debuting on March 5, 2008, the promotion boasted a roster of former Pride fighters including Josh Barnett, Takanori Gomi, Kevin Randleman and Inoki protégé, Kazuyuki Fujita. Recently, the Sengoku series has scaled back on its marquee fight roster, but nonetheless, has stayed in the game.

Coming full circle, Antonio Inoki even got into the MMA promotion game, first with mixed bouts under the NJPW banner, and then through Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye as a nod to Muhammad Ali. Though his cards were often circus acts with few competitive bouts (strangely enough with K-1 fighters), Inoki did introduce the MMA world to Lyoto Machida, who might just become the next UFC light heavyweight champ.

DEEP, once a moderate size promotion, and ZST, are both considered feeder promotions to eventually send fighters to the big leagues. They have brought us such fighters as Hideo Tokoro, Masakazu Imanari, Shinya Aoki and Dokonjonosuke Mishima. Smackgirl, an all-female promotion, began in 2000 and continues today with fighters competing from all over the world, including Lisa Ward, Megumi Fuji, Hisae Watanabe and Ginele Marquez.

The MMA scene in Japan has lost some of the luster it had in recent years due to the demise of Pride FC, but is slowly gaining it back with quality shows from DREAM and Sengoku. Smaller shows like Pancrase and Shooto (which has promoted over 265 events as of May 2009) remain popular to the hardcore fight base, while DEEP and ZST help create new stars.

A country that constantly innovates itself, fans of the sport can look forward to more excitement from the “Land of the Rising Sun” with each upcoming fight. www.mmaworldwide.com 39

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Krzysztof Soszynski: As Tough As He Looks

by RJ Clifford

has been a long road for Krzysztof Soszynski who escaped from communist Poland, became a pro wrestler, turned to mixed martial arts and ended up in The Ultimate Fighter house.

Now he’s climbing the UFC’s light heavyweight ladder coming fresh off a submission win over former WEC champion Brian Stann. Decked out in tattoos, “The Polish Experiment” sat down to give MMA Worldwide the 411 on how he changed from bodybuilder to UFC contender. Kielbasa sold separately.

It

MMA WORLDWIDE: What have you been up to since your big win over Brian Stann?

KRZYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI: Just getting fat…ha ha. I’m basically just spending a lot of time with the family and hanging out. I live in California, but my hometown is in Winnipeg (Canada), so I was just visiting with my family, my parents, my son and my brother. My wife and I came out here and we are just enjoying all our family. I live in Temecula and work at Team Quest and teach classes, but I do travel a lot back home to Winnipeg to see everyone and relax up there. I am kind of back and forth, but I spend more time in Temecula, California than I do in Canada.

MW: Do you miss it in Canada or do you like it in Temecula?

KS: I don’t miss the weather because California is sunny California and that is all I need to say about that. On the other hand, I definitely miss my family and friends, so it was a tough transition to leave everything behind and start a new life down in Temecula. Like I said though, we try to make it back here to Canada as much as we can or encourage the family to come to California as often as possible. www.mmaworldwide.com 55

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MW: Now going back to your fight against Stann, what was the game plan going into the fight and did it unfold the way you planned it?

KS: Stann and I were teammates at one point last year while we were both at Team Quest and (Dan) Henderson was training for Anderson Silva. So we had a chance to train together and I knew he was a really hard puncher and a really good stand-up guy, but his ground game was a little weak and his wrestling was also a little weak. I decided to work my hands a little bit to see how comfortable I was with that, but ultimately, I took him to the ground. I was following his footwork and finally got him to the ground. I knew there was only a small possibility that he would be able to get out of it and then I went for the Kimura and got it.

water and milk. It was a really tough time there to make a living and my dad was in love with traveling to different countries.

He had been all over the world and he wanted to find a place for his two sons to be able to live and be safer. Once he saw Canada, he realized that was the place that he wanted to stay and it would be a good place for his sons. When I was six years old, my dad moved to Canada. It took him four years to get his citizenship and then he was able to bring the rest of

into professional wrestling for a while. I met a WWE guy by the name of “Bad News” Brown who showed me a Kimura, an Americana and an armbar; I was instantly hooked. Those three moves really got me into the sport and I quit my wrestling and everything else to start taking jiu-jitsu at a local academy in Winnipeg. It all took off from there, and six months later, I had my first MMA fight and I was afraid and nervous, more than ever before.

MW: Speaking of that Kimura, that is your third win in a row by Kimura. Do you plan to take everyone out by Kimura or will we see something else? We now see that the Kimura is your bread and butter.

KS: Well the Kimura was the very first move I learned, so I kind of perfected it myself and I get everyone with it while training. It’s something that I go for from all different angles and positions. It works with my body type because I have strong shoulders and a pretty good grip, and if I wrap up anyone’s wrist, I feel like their chances of escaping that is pretty slim. I have been able to prove that in my last few fights. It seems to have worked for me pretty well in the past and everyone has their little signature move and that is mine, so I am going to stick with it. If someone defends against it, I can just go for something else.

MW: Going back a little bit, you were born in Poland and then moved to Canada. What was that like making that transition?

KS: To be honest, it was definitely really tough. I remember Poland back when it was under the communist regime and there was definitely a lot going on. Our family was poor and on food stamps and we would be waiting in line for food, 56 The World-famous

his family over to Canada. From age six to ten, I really didn’t have a dad because he was trying to find us a better place to live. At age 10, the whole family was back together again.

MW: When did you first start getting into martial arts and what led you to be an MMA fighter?

KS: Honestly I was not a big MMA fan when I was growing up. I was really into team sports like football and soccer— since I was European—soccer was the big sport. I played a little bit of baseball and never really got into MMA when I was young. I was pretty good at football and got a few scholarship opportunities, but at the time, I had a child with the lady I was with at the time and I couldn’t leave her. I stayed in Winnipeg and tried a bunch of different things and finally got

MW: When did you make your way from some of the smaller events in Canada over to some of the big time shows in the U.S., like Strikeforce and the IFL? KS: That was actually through Shawn Tompkins. My wife and I actually were putting on smaller shows in Canada and we flew in Shawn with one of his fighters, Chris Horodecki. I just hit it off with Shawn right away and he told me that he could take me places and make me a champion. He basically did that and I would leave to go train with Shawn Tompkins in London, Ontario. Through him, I was able to get into the TKO organization in Montreal and then I was hooked up with Bas Rutten. He pulled me onto his IFL team and introduced me to Randy Couture and Dan Henderson.

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So I had a chance to train at Team Couture and then had a chance to train at Team Quest in Temecula. I got along with Dan really well and realized that Temecula was the place for me to be.

They offered me a position at the gym and to be a part of the team and I said, “Yes, and here I am!”

MW: How did you get on The Ultimate Fighter?

MW: You have trained under a lot of different coaches all over North America. Is Team Quest where you think you will end up staying?

KS: I think so. The cool thing about Team Quest is that they are open to their fighters traveling around and getting exposure from different coaches. If I want to, I can go to Boston, I can go to San Diego, or go train with Bas Rutten or Frank Mir in Las Vegas. Dan is all about us getting better, and if we have the opportunity to get better from going somewhere else and getting some more experience, so be it. He is willing to let us leave for a couple of weeks and get other training.

MW: Do you think you will get your son involved in MMA?

KS: The Ultimate Fighter was actually not even my decision. We had Vinicius Magalhaes who was applying to be on the show and my wife asked me why I wasn’t applying as well. I told her that they weren’t looking for an older guy like me. I had over 30 professional fights and I didn’t think they were looking for someone like me. I thought they were looking for the younger guys, guys that were beginners who only had five to seven fights under their belts. My wife said I was wrong and she sat me down and made me fill out everything. I went down to LA, and a week later, I received a phone call and they told me they would like me to come in for the first set of interviews. I just wowed them with my personality and I don’t think I have much of one. I tried my hardest and they seemed to like it, so I made it on the show.

KS: You know what, I just want my son to grow up and be happy. I know that he is talking about taking up some wrestling classes. Right now he is 12 years old and the most important thing to me is for him to get a good education. When he turns 18 and he graduates from high school and the university route is the one he wants to take, I will try and help him out and support him. If MMA is the route he wants to take, I will definitely be there for him as well. He doesn’t have to follow in my footsteps in any way. As long as he is doing what he wants to do and loves doing it and is giving 100%, I will be proud of him and support him.

MW: Other than obviously being Polish, how did you get the nickname “The Polish Experiment”?

KS: I was actually a bodybuilder when I was 21-24 and I was about 295 pounds of pure muscle and had about 6% body fat.

They were pretty impressed at the gym and were surprised at both my size and how much gas I had and that I was able to roll with these guys and last. Some guy said, “Hey man, you are like an experiment and no one can stop you; you just keep going and going and going.” And then the fact that after they found out I was Polish, they put the two together and it has stuck with me. It was about six or so years ago that I got that nickname. rj@MMAworldwide.com www.mmaworldwide.com 57

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FEATHERWEIGHT 145

1

Mike Thomas Brown

2

Urijah Faber

3

Hatsu Hioki

4

LIGHTWEIGHT 160

WELTERWEIGHT 170

1

BJ Penn

1

Georges St. Pierre

2

Joachim Hansen

2

Jon Fitch

3

Shinya Aoki

3

Thiago Alves

Dokonjonosuke Mishima

4

Eddie Alvarez

4

Jake Shields

5

Leonard Garcia

5

Tatsuya Kawajiri

5

Josh Koscheck

6

“Lion” Takeshi Inoue

6

Gesias “JZ” Calvancante

6

Diego Sanchez

7

Sean Sherk

7

Matt Hughes

8

Kenny Florian

8

Martin Kampman

9

Carlos Condit

10

Karo Parisyan

Rematch we have all been waiting for at WEC 41.

Faces Bibiano Fernandes at DREAM 9 in the quarterfinals.

7

Wagnney Fabiano

8

Masakazu Imanari

9

Nam Phan

9

Josh Thomson

10

Jeff Curran

10

Satoru Kitaoka

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Looked impressive at Bellator winning with a surprise submission.

Looking for another quality win when he faces Frankie Edgar at UFC 98.

Surgery went well. Look for Thomson to defend his belt in late ’09.

Will face middleweight Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce June 6th on Showtime.

FINALLY! Back in action against Matt Serra May 23rd.

Welterweight has been good to Kampman.

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TITLES

AS OF April 24, 2009

MIDDLEWEIGHT 185

1

Anderson Silva

2

Dan Henderson

3

Robbie Lawler

4

UFC

DREAM

WEC

SHOOTO

DEEP

WAMMA

STRIKEFORCE

SENGOKU

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT 205

1

Rashad Evans

2

Forrest Griffin

3

Gegard Mousasi

5

HEAVYWEIGHT 205 AND ABOVE

1

Fedor Emelianenko

2

Frank Mir

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

3

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

4

Lyoto Machida

4

Andrei Arlovski

Jorge Santiago

5

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

5

Josh Barnett

6

Yushin Okami

6

Keith Jardine

6

Brock Lesnar

7

Vitor Belfort

7

Wanderlei Silva

7

Randy Couture

8

Demian Maia

8

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

8

Tim Sylvia

9

Thales Leites

9

Luis Arthur Cane

9

Alistair Overeem

10

Yoshihiro Akiyama

10

Thiago Silva

10

Shane Carwin

Takes a dominant no flash, no frills decision over Leites to retain his belt.

Gets a televised bout at UFC 98 but still no title shot.

Back in the top ten again and just in time for his UFC debut a UFC 100.

Battle of the undefeated when he faces Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.

Is the old Shogun back?

It sure looked like it against Chuck Liddell.

With Liddell dropping out of the top ten, Silva makes his debut.

Possible first title defense against Fabricio Werdum.

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Fight promotion is not for the faint of heart. Looking at Pro Elite, the IFL or any number of one-and-done promotions, why would anyone get into the game? Thankfully, there are a handful of folks who not only entered the fray, but managed to build successful businesses that create the champions of tomorrow. Indie promotions are the lifeblood of this sport; promoters like Sven “Boogie” Bean are the reason.

From his humble beginnings, he has fashioned his own archetype of what a promoter should be, far removed from the cigar-smoking, back-room dealing sharks that some people expect.

“Boogie” is a one-of-a-kind original fused with the right mix of passion, heart, determination and business savvy...but it took some time to get there.

His story began in a Denver-area video store of all places. On a quiet evening in 1992, Bean was picking up some movies to watch with his wife Lisa when a passerby caught his attention. He was intrigued with the fact this stranger was wearing a gi and a black belt, but was even more drawn by a sense of awkward familiarity. After approaching him, Bean put it all together. “I remember watching

By Clyde Gentry III

this guy dismantle people at the Sabaki Challenge (a karate tournament) and I was really impressed. That guy was Clarence Thatch and he was standing in front of me at the video store.” The two struck up a conversation that lasted for three hours in the parking lot; Bean’s wife had to settle for regular ole TV. The next morning Bean went to train with Thatch at his gym 3-D Martial Arts and never left. Though Thatch was a karate practitioner, he was also a former pro boxer, had jeet kune do certification under Dan Inosanto and was friends with the Gracie family. In fact, when www.mmaworldwide.com 65

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W

hen Bean

returned home, he incorporated Ring of Fire in 1999 and got the idea to produce his first show in Colorado Springs, a city of 250,000 people.

“I remember standing on the 50-yard line of a 9,000 seat indoor football arena and I literally did a 360, imaging the whole place filled with screaming fans watching the fights.”

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the UFC debuted in Denver, Colorado in November 1993, the Gracies used Thatch’s gym as a training facility while in Denver. Bean trained to be the next Sabaki Challenge champion like Thatch, even fighting the Japanese champion in Seattle, but an unfortunate snowboarding accident sidelined that endeavor. “I injured my wrist really bad and it took me out of the game for six months. At the same time, I had a very successful business in modular office furniture and project consulting. So I’m 30 years old, got a kid and nobody in my family was really that thrilled about me fighting anyway. My fight career was over.”

Bean continued to train, however, and when the UFC sparked a series of regional MMA promotions, many of his fellow gym rats found themselves with opportunities. Bean’s logical business sense earned him the unofficial title of gym manager and soon he began escorting these young fighters across the country competing in different promotions. His watchful eye would take him past the fights onto the blueprint of the promotion itself and what made it tick.

Bean had already helped put some

fights together for the Denver-based Bas Rutten Invitational, a hodge podge of different combative sports, but now he was focused on something bigger and more challenging. “The Bas Rutten Invitational was held in a big gymnastics place and I thought there had to be a better way. There was nobody doing it like a real event; Monte [Cox] was doing his stuff, but the biggest thing was the USWF down in Texas.” Promoted

by Steve Nelson, who lost a token bout to Ralph Gracie in the early Extreme Fighting, formed the Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation in Amarillo, Texas. His rematch with Gracie drew 10,000 people in a city with a population of 100,000 at the time. Bean coldcalled Nelson and asked to be a grunt to learn the business; he ended up staying at his house while working two of his shows.

When Bean returned home, he incorporated Ring of Fire in 1999 and got the idea to produce his first show in Colorado Springs, a city of 250,000 people. “I remember standing on the 50yard line of a 9,000 seat indoor football arena and I literally did a 360, imaging the whole place filled with screaming

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fans watching the fights.” Headlined by Ron Waterman, the card featured Duane Ludwig, Thomas Denny and Larry Parker, one of the earliest MMA fighters from the region. The week before the show, Bean was notified that only 100 tickets had been sold. Not willing to give up, the venue owner called time out with the upstart promoter and uttered the dreaded words that many a married man has heard: “I think you need to go home and talk it over with your wife.”

Bean was torn, but he had to swallow his pride and cancel his first show. He lost $17,000 due to non-refundable plane tickets, advertising and venue costs. Months later on March 18, 2000, Ring of Fire debuted in the 400-seat Red and Jerry’s Event Center in Denver.

Sure, it wasn’t a big, sprawling arena, but he packed in 700 fans and turned away another 200. He may have lost money on the first show, but he gained something far more important. “It sucked to go through it at the time, but it was very good for me. I had no fear and it grounded me…made me more realistic.”

The promoter also knew that spectacles don’t last forever…sports do. He pitched MMA to the reestablished Colorado State Boxing Commission and got them onboard to sanction events— Bean promoted the first sanctioned MMA show in the state. And with that, he set out to become the premiere MMA promotion in Colorado. Taking a cue from Steve Nelson, Bean learned to get the local community behind the fight, much like they would for a high school football game, growing stars from the community. One such star was Duane “Bang” Ludwig, a boyish-looking kickboxing prodigy. “When he came to the gym, he really didn’t like me at first.

But after he fought for me at the first Ring of Fire, I booked him a kickboxing match in New York. We flew out together and neither of us had ever been there before. We bonded and have been friends ever since. I consider him my little brother and he considers me his big brother. One of the biggest benefits of Ring of Fire is that relationship. And though I am close to all my guys, at the end of the day, people know it’s Boogie and Bang.” www.mmaworldwide.com 67

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To date, Ring of Fire has 34 shows under its belt and Bean is in negotiations for a TV deal. He has never lost money on any of his events and regularly packs venues with 4,000 to 5,000 people. His sponsors have also stuck with him. “It’s important to mention TapouT who has been with me from the very beginning. I met these guys back in 1998 and they have sponsored me ever since. They didn’t have to do anything, but they saw something in me and what I was doing, and for that, I am eternally grateful.”

promotions stemmed from the fact that ROF regularly held kickboxing matches. Ring of Fire tested out the cage for its 29th installment, and when a poll came back 98% in favor of, the promotion dropped the ring and kickboxing altogether. Despite not liking the cage from a spectator standpoint, Bean says he always has his fan’s best interests at heart.

With such a successful promotion, Bean has created stars not only out of Duane Ludwig, but Pete Spratt, Leonard Garcia,

Bean has created a real brand with Ring of Fire, but he’s never lost sight of his place in the sport.

When asked about the best advice he could give to any fight promoter, he quickly answered, “Don’t get too big for your britches. Don’t spend more than you can afford, stick to reality and know your market.” Since this author has known Bean (nearly 10 years), he has always operated as a oneman show with a cell phone and computer. The only thing that has changed is the addition of a computer, though come fight week, he has a dozen folks to assist in the production in front and behind the camera.

His wife Lisa handles the VIPs. When asked about his favorite Ring of Fire match, Bean cites Leonard Garcia vs.

Jake Hattan from Ring of Fire 2.

“Neither guy was all that technical at this point in their careers, but neither fighter wanted to lose and put everything on the line. It was the second round of a four-man tournament, and although Garcia caught him, it was a match that people talked about for months.” His second favorite would be a kickboxing title match between Duane Ludwig and Muay Thai champion Malapaiet Sitprapom. A distinction between Ring of Fire and other MMA 68 The World-famous

Mike Nickels, Alvin Robinson, and most recently Shane Carwin, Donald Cerrone and Eliot Marshall. Though he has put in the time and effort to create these stars, it’s inevitable that if they win, the big show will come calling. “Yeah, it sucks to lose a fighter to the UFC. Your crowd gets accustomed and they become local heroes, which is my formula. But if you can string three-four wins in ROF, you get the call. If they really want to be a fighter, their ultimate goal is to be in the UFC. If we’re the launch pad, that’s not a bad thing. But sometimes people forget

where they came from. There have been fighters that have left and now they are ‘superstars’; they think they’re too cool for school. There are other guys who are also on top, and when they see me in a room, they come over and shake my hand and say, ‘Thanks for everything Boogie!’

That means a lot to me.”

Bean maintains a strong relationship with the UFC, and in particular, matchmaker Joe Silva, but cites Scott Coker of Strikeforce as his mentor in relation to building Ring of Fire to the level it is at today. Boogie manages over 20 fighters and regularly travels with them to guide their careers outside of Ring of Fire.

And though he has long hung up the gloves, that’s only on the competition side as he still trains regularly with Ludwig and the boys at the official Ring of Fire training center, Inner Strength Fitness.

So where did “Boogie” come from? “It’s a business thing— a mover and shaker—someone who gets things done. But now my guys have taken it to a whole new level.

They’ll say, ‘Boogie up some sponsors’ or ‘Boogie up a fight.’ They know that Boogie gets her done.” And how.

For more information on Ring of Fire, check out www.rofmma.com. Also check out Inner Strength Fitness at www.goisf.com with instructors Alvin Robinson and Brandon Thatch, son of Clarence Thatch.

i

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The list of fighters who have made their name by appearing on SpikeTV’s The Ultimate Fighter is long and distinguished.

Forrest Griffin and Diego Sanchez paved the way for a tidal wave of future stars that first appeared in our living rooms through the cameras at the TUF house. Season three’s winner, Michael “The Count” Bisping, was the first and only English born winner of the series. He took his fame and undefeated record into the UFC and has emerged as one of their most popular and marketable fighters. Now he has come full circle, appearing as coach of the UK team in Season Nine against the Dan Henderson-led U.S. team. But life wasn’t always glitz and glamour for the Brit.

Born on a military base in Cyprus, an island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, Bisping grew up in the small town of Clitheroe, located in Lancashire in Western England. As the middle child of six kids, his fighting roots started early. “The fighting side comes from my dad and older brothers beating me up on a daily basis.” As with any family that large, especially with a lot of boys, the playful rough-housing was a common occurrence. “It certainly wasn’t a quiet house…I’ll say that. I don’t want to disrespect my family, but to say it was a quiet house would be a massive lie.”

Mrs. Bisping not only had to put up with household fights; her boys were also trained martial artists. His father was a sergeant major in the English Army and served for many years. He instilled in his sons the desire to train martial arts, learning to defend themselves and staying physically fit. Bisping credits his father for driving him all over when he was younger to find the best places to train. www.mmaworldwide.com 75

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His older brother Konrad is a particular hero of Bisping’s; the UFC star’s tone changed somberly when he spoke about him. For Michael, he was one of the best martial artists of the family and quite the athlete. “He did jujitsu and kickboxing and early forms of MMA. He turned his focus to rugby and was on the Army rugby team until he was forced to stop. He had an accident, well…to say he had an accident, he was attacked in the Army.”

Konrad was a commanding officer in the English Army and it was his job to keep his unit well trained and ready for deployment to Iraq. One particular soldier didn’t take kindly to Konrad’s discipline, so during a training exercise, he took a full-sized pick axe and struck Konrad in the head. “It nearly killed him,” Bisping remembered. “He was practically dead and the doctors said he would die. He had brain damage. He was unconscious for a week or so. The preacher came in and gave him his last rights. All of a sudden, he just sat up and asked for a cup of coffee.”

Konrad suffered some brain damage and is 95% blind. Although he requires a caregiver 24/7, he still has built himself a fulfilled life and has stayed active. He is currently ranked third in the world in shot-put and discus, and is training for the 2012 London Paralympics. “He is still probably one of the last guys I would want to meet in the Octagon,” commented Bisping.

It was Konrad who helped Michael’s martial arts progress the most outside of his father. “I tagged along and followed my brother to a jujitsu club and I wanted a piece of the action.” They would train at a traditional Japanese jujitsu club near his home for the best training they could find.

The jujitsu club was pretty hardcore with lots of sparring and one of the closest things to MMA in the area at the time. At age 16, Bisping ran his own jujitsu club and competed in kickboxing matches, amassing a 12-1 record.

Life started catching up with Bisping as it often does however. By early adulthood he had two kids and training had to take a backseat to raising and supporting his family. During that time he started contemplating the direction of his life, wondering what he wanted to do. “I was always envious of other kids who went to college and knew 76 The World-famous

“I used to go down to Nottingham to train, regularly sleeping in my car at winter. I’d sit in my car with three inches of snow all over my car— freezing cold—sleeping in those conditions just so I could train in the morning.

That’s what I had to do. If you don’t make sacrifices, you won’t get anywhere.”

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exactly what they wanted to do, stay that course and career path. I started drifting around.” He found himself always drifting back to fighting, so he decided to take a gamble and become a professional fighter.

Originally Bisping planned on following in his family’s footsteps by joining the Army.

“I was going to join many, many times because I never knew what I wanted to do with myself. I thought I would join the Army. I knew I always wanted to be a fight-

“I’m quite evasive.

I’m good at avoiding the big shots and I’ve got a good chin anyway.”

er, so one of my plans was to join the Army and join the boxing team. That way I could get paid a wage while I was training boxing, then come out of the Army and turn pro. I never actually did it. I’m glad I didn’t, otherwise I never would have found mixed martial arts.”

Bisping dove head first into training. He quit his job, moved to a different city and started training Monday through Friday, coming home on the weekends to see his

family and work as a DJ for extra money. It was a tough start for Bisping who faced a trial not unlike many new fighters. “This is the thing people don’t realize. I’m successful now in MMA; I’m making money and all the rest of it. But people don’t realize what I did back then. I remember many times when I used to go down to Nottingham to train, regularly sleeping in my car at winter. I’d sit in my car with three inches of snow all over my car—freezing cold—sleeping in those conditions just so I could train in the morning.

That’s what I had to do. If you don’t make sacrifices, you won’t get anywhere.”

The sacrifices started to pay off. Bisping was a natural and the years of training and getting beat up by his brothers gave him a head start. After taking his first pro fight for no pay, his career took shape. “I knocked my opponents out really quick. I got lucky to be honest. I got quite a big name fairly quickly in England. In my third fight, I fought for the Cage Rage belt on Sky TV and knocked out the biggest champion. I won the Cage Rage belt and kind of got a break early. So for English terms, I got good purses.

Again it wasn’t much.

Really from about six months into it, I was making money being a fighter but it wasn’t much. I certainly wasn’t going on vacation every month.”

After 10 pro fights, Bisping had won the Cage Rage, Cage Warriors and XFC belt, essentially every major title in England. His manager Anthony McGann, also trainer and owner of the Wolfslair MMA Academy, spoke to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva about signing his undefeated prospect. The UFC felt the best route was to cast Bisping on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter to launch the young Brit’s career. So Bisping went to tryouts, signed up and was off to Las Vegas.

Bisping defeated Kristian Rothaermel by TKO, Ross Pointon by submission and Josh Haynes in the Finals to win the UFC contract and become The Ultimate Fighter.

“I absolutely enjoyed being on The Ultimate Fighter. It did great things for my career. It gave me a huge fan base. Some people cheer for me, some people boo me, but people know who I am.” More importantly it created a new driving force in Bisping. Being around the UFC, Dana White and coaches Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock gave Bisping major aspirations to reach the pinnacle of his profession.

The 6’2” fighter found the same success in the UFC that he found in England’s smaller circuits. He finished Eric Schafer and veteran Elvis Sinosic before winning by split decision over Ultimate Fighter rival Matt Hamill. He would suffer his first and only loss in a battle of undefeated fighters against season two winner Rashad Evans.

The back and forth fight was close, but Evans’ wrestling and control gave him the judge’s nod.

The loss to Evans reinvigorated Bisping to bring his fighting to the next level and to drop a weight class. “To be honest it wasn’t a direct result of losing to Rashad. It wasn’t the case that I thought I couldn’t be competitive by ducking the bigger guys and going down in weight. Ever since the start of my career, everybody told me I shouldn’t be fighting at light heavyweight; I should be fighting at middleweight—I’m too small. I was kind of stubborn and I enjoyed the challenge of fighting the bigger guys anyway. I said all along I would keep going until I get beat, and when I get beat, I’ll drop down. The only problem is I kept winning.” With his first loss, he stuck to his game plan and made the drop to 185 pounds.

The large frame of Bisping would seem to make the drop to middleweight a staggering task, but it came easier than expected.

On the day of his first weigh in at middleweight he was already at the 185-pound limit without cutting any extra the day of. “I remember having a conversation with Eddie Bravo in Montreal (before Bisping’s fight with Charles McCarthy). He asked what I was weighing and I told him 185. He said, ‘185? Today? You could jump in the sauna and make welterweight. You should fight welterweight!’” www.mmaworldwide.com 77

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Different weight class, same results.

Bisping continued to stack up the wins and his star was once again on the rise.

When the UFC Vice President of the UK, Marshall Zelaznik, brought up the possibility of an Ultimate Fighter based on UK vs. US, Bisping jumped at the chance being an obvious choice for the coach of the UK team.

When asked which was harder, competing or coaching, he did not hesitate to answer. “I thought coaching on TUF was more difficult, I really do. I enjoyed the experience of coaching immensely. It was a massive opportunity to hand out my experience that I have gained over the years.” As a contestant he was only responsible for himself, but as a coach he was responsible for his entire team. He took his coaching role very seriously, knowing better than anyone the opportunities The Ultimate Fighter can present an upcoming contender.

Season nine of The Ultimate Fighter, on SpikeTV Wednesday nights at 10pm, has one of the toughest rosters in Coach Bisping’s opinion. While most seasons have a mixture of legitimate contenders and camera-hungry prima donnas, Bisping doesn’t think there was any riffraff this season on Team UK. “I’ll be honest this season, I really couldn’t pinpoint anyone. Maybe some guys on the US team were there to play around. I can only speak for the English team.”

Bisping’s rival coach, former Pride champion Dan Henderson, is also his future opponent at UFC 100 on July 11th. Bisping has complete respect for Henderson despite some of the banter between them on the show. “I’m just trying to have a f***ing laugh and get through my day.”

More important than their relationship on the show is their match-up in the Octagon in a few months. “I’m really excited to fight him,” stated Bisping. “I have nothing but respect for him and his fighting ability and I don’t have to tell you his accomplishments. He’s a legend in this sport. So trying to fight someone as good as that is a big challenge for me and something I’m really 78 The World-famous

looking forward to. He’s still on the top of his game; he just beat Rich Franklin.

So it’s a big test for me and I’m taking it very seriously. It’s a challenge I think I’m ready for, and to be honest, I think if I came into this in shape I could win quite comfortably.”

Bisping is even more confident stylewise. “I’ll be honest. I’m not concerned about anything, seriously. He hits hard so obviously I’ll be wary of that, but I’m quite evasive. I’m good at avoiding the big shots and I’ve got a good chin anyway. People on the Internet say I’ve got no chin, but I have been hit by a lot of people. I’ve never been knocked out in any my fights and kickboxing matches.

I’m expecting a war and I’m expecting to walk out of there with a really sore jaw,” said laughing. Even with Henderson’s wrestling credentials as a two-time Olympian, Bisping is convinced he has the anti-wrestling ability to keep the fight where he wants it.

Assuming he beats Henderson; his eye is on the title. The middleweight division of the UFC is not their deepest roster. A few big wins can land you in title contention very quickly. “If I do beat him, then I just took out one of the best guys in the world at that weight class. I don’t know, I think maybe a fight with Anderson (Silva)? If I beat Henderson then maybe I’m due. People keep saying I’m ducking a title fight, but f*** it, if I beat Henderson…bring it on! After watching Anderson’s last couple of performances, I’m dying to fight him.”

“The Count” has enough on his plate now to not worry about looking too far ahead. The training camp he has assembled for his big match is stellar including the Wolfslair roster, several Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, GrecoRoman wrestlers and “Rampage” Jackson who should provide a lot of insight having fought Henderson previously. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to sleep in his car waiting for them to arrive. rj@mmaworldwide.com www.eckounltd.com www.wolfslairmma.co.uk www.bisping.tv

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What to Do With This ANDERSON SILVA

by RJ Clifford With his unanimous decision over Thales Leites at UFC 97 last April, Anderson Silva posted his record-breaking ninth consecutive victory in the Octagon passing up Jon Fitch and UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie. After such an accomplishment, one would think celebration would be in order for the dangerous Brazilian and his team. Instead of champagne bottles and pats on the back, Silva and his management are fighting off critics.

The five-round snooze fest that was Silva vs. Leites consisted of Silva attacking with strikes and the world champion BJJ fighter Leites either running away or flopping on his back. Knowing that rolling on the canvas was Leites’ only feasible way to take his title, Silva was content with his occasional strikes to earn the unanimous decision victory. While a perfect strategy for maintaining control of his belt, it was a tactic that resulted in boos from the

Montreal crowd. Even Anderson Silva’s number one super-fan Dana White called the fight “disappointing.”

This was Silva’s second lackluster fight in a row. His last defense against Canadian Patrick Cote also involved Silva’s conservative striking style but ended in a bizarre third-round injury to Cote’s knee as probably the only thing keeping the fight from turning into a five-round unanimous deci-

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sion. Both Cote and Leites seemed content in simply surviving Anderson Silva instead of defeating him as evidenced by their timid game plans. Leites’ proud proclamation as being the only guy to last the distance with the champ and Cote holding up three fingers at the start of the third round more convinces this writer.

Through nothing but excellent fighting, Silva has thrown a monkey wrench into the UFC middleweight division. He singlehandedly shoved Rich Franklin up to light heavyweight, struck fear into the entire UFC stable of fighters and froze the progression of potential big name stars in

ing between 300,000 and 375,000 buys.

Add to that his limited English and the scenario has created a real disconnect with the fans, which in turn creates a real disconnect with their wallets. White attempted to side step this hurdle by painting him as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but now he’s painted himself into a corner.

This has left the UFC in quite the pickle.

Who does your proclaimed best fighter match up with when he cannot deliver pay-per-view numbers and your potential new stars cannot beat him?

“Who does your proclaimed best fighter match up with when he cannot deliver pay-per-view numbers and your potential new stars cannot beat him?”

1 in the Octagon, but has yet to be mentioned by anyone at the UFC as a real potential contender. Demian Maia has reeled off five straight submission wins by choke and is becoming a cult favorite with his ability to win fights without throwing a punch.

The problem lies in the fact that a matchup against these two contenders has all the makings of another Silva/Cote or Silva/Leites. Both fighters are experienced grapplers with little interest in slugging it out in an exchange that more times than not will end up with their brains scrambled. Maia’s strategy will likely parallel Leites; avoid damage, try for a takedown and pull guard when necessary.

Silva is even less likely to play the jiujitsu game with Maia than he is Leites.

Okami is a better takedown fighter, but his reliance on the clinch and top control mixed with Silva’s shaky, yet savvy takedown defense will result in a fight with more time locked up against the fence than looking for knockouts.

OLD CONTENDERS The UFC’s second and third best middleweights, Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, are two of Silva’s brutal victims but are better matchups against Silva as far as creating an exciting fight.

Henderson has never shied away from a slugfest and can always fall back on his incredible wrestling pedigree to get him out of trouble and keep it interesting.

Marquardt is a 38-fight veteran with his only losses in the UFC coming to Silva and a split decision to Leites in a bout that saw Marquardt lose two points for illegal attacks.

the middleweight division like Demian Maia and Michael Bisping. Why then, when standard rhetoric from Dana White demands fighters continue to win if they want to remain in the UFC, would winning become an issue?

Despite his history of delivering exactly what UFC fans want—devastating knockouts—Silva’s successes in the cage have not translated into pay-per-view success, the lifeblood of the promotion. While UFC cards stacked with superstars can pull upwards of one million buys, Silva’s cards hit basement-level numbers hover82 The World-famous

Like any decent college philosophy professor, this writer will answer this question with a well thought out, reputable response, then proceed to demolish any validity of that last statement and start all over again with another rock solid answer. (You have to justify four years of college somehow.)

NEW CONTENDERS The UFC does have a respectable line of possible contenders in its piggy bank that can take a decent stab at King Silva.

Yushin Okami has been the red-headed step child of the division as he has gone 7-

While these matches present a better possibility of an exciting fight, it is also a tougher sell. Rematches have always been a well the UFC has been more than willing to dip into, but it still has to be done under a few guidelines. Unless the first match presented some controversy that needs collusion, which neither fight did, a certain length of time is needed between fights to get fans onboard for a rematch that might yield different results. Both Henderson and Marquardt are far along enough in their careers that forging major changes in their ability is unlikely, especially with Hendo. All in all, it’s a tough sell as a blockbuster title fight.

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NON-UFC CONTENDERS Let’s face it, the middleweight division is one of the few where Zuffa does not have a stranglehold on all the talent.

MMA Worldwide’s rankings have only six out of the top ten best 185-pounders gracing the Octagon. Given the UFC’s apparent rock solid position of not copromoting, they are going to have to dig into a roster that is not their own to find suitable contenders.

Robbie Lawler, Jorge Santiago, Vitor Belfort and, provided he does not jump up to light heavyweight, Gegard Mousasi would all be more than willing to battle Silva in far more entertaining ways than fans witnessed with Leites and Cote. But again, the chances of the UFC co-promoting are nil and these fighters have contracts of their own that limit their ability to compete for the UFC, not because their contracts tie them exclusively to their promotion, but because UFC contracts do. The UFC would rather boost their middleweight ranks with Ultimate Fighter rejects than give validity to a rival promotion.

WANDERLEI SILVA Looking for a fighter who does not care who he fights and is guaranteed to stand and trade with his opponent? Call in “The Axe Murderer.” Anderson’s past teammate at Chute Boxe is more than wired to pursue the champion and creates a perfect matchup of aggressive striker versus counter striker. At one point, when asked in interviews if they would fight each other, they refused, saying their friendship would prevent them from pursuing a fight against one another. As of late however, Anderson Silva has taken offense to Wanderlei Silva dropping into “his” weight class at 185. A war of words has surfaced that Zuffa could easily box up and sell, complete with ribbons and bows.

While the knee-jerk reaction fan in me is screaming for this match, it presents another line of problems. It would be a tough sell, even to UFC fans, that a Wanderlei Silva fighter that has lost four out of his last five is due for a title shot. Tie that into the fact that Silva has never fought at 185 pounds. This match would almost surely not happen if

Wanderlei losses to a man Anderson has defeated twice in Rich Franklin.

(See p. 22) LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUTS They have done it before and they can do it again. While the middleweight division is scratching and crawling for contenders, the light heavyweight division is overflowing with them. Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson are past titleholders that will not back down. Keith Jardine is always game and let’s not forget a unification bout if Rashad Evans defeats Lyoto Machida at UFC 98. (Teammates Machida and Silva refuse to fight each other.)

Bumping up Anderson Silva for light heavyweight matches is like our federal budget plan; it simply provides a bandaid. Silva has shown no interest in competing at 205 so as not to interfere with Machida’s plans at light heavyweight domination and it does not serve the original purpose of finding a middleweight contender. Even so, look for the UFC to use this tactic to buy some time with Silva facing a mid-level 205-pounder as a co-main event on a small market UFC card guaranteed to sell out to hungry MMA fans regardless of who they put in the cage.

GEORGES ST. PIERRE Ironically, this fight makes the most sense. Both fighters are at the peak of their careers and both are quickly running out of contenders. Provided GSP gets past Thiago Alves (no small order), Silva has fought in Shooto at 167 pounds and Rumble on the Rock at 175 pounds. St. Pierre is a monstrous welterweight so meeting somewhere in the middle for a catch weight bout, or fighting for the 185-pound title, would not be a stretch physically for either man.

St. Pierre’s popularity is at an all-time high so the UFC could bank on his popularity and not have to rely on Silva’s weak drawing power. With the bad taste left in the mouth of MMA fans after Silva’s past two performances, especially Canadian fans, the story of the bout could paint Silva as the villain and St. Pierre as the knight in shining-spandex shorts. rj@MMAworldwide.com www.mmaworldwide.com 83

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Ms. MMA Worldwide

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Sarah Ashley Barker Height 5'1"

Measurements 34C-24-34

Hometown Las Vegas, NV

Favorite Food Chips and Salsa

Dream Vacation Exploring Europe!

Favorite Activities Traveling, going to parties and themed events, reading murder mysteries, scrapbooking, watching shows and fights, sleeping and surfing the net!

Turn Ons Accents, dark hair and eyes, charm, funny, positive and drive.

Turn Offs Douche bags. ;)

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Experts Roundtable

by Connor Bell

Strikeforce Fighters After EliteXC fizzled away it was Scott Coker promoted Strikeforce that swooped in and bought up the coveted contracts and television agreements left over by the defunct organization.

Strikeforce has already promoted one show under the contract with premium cable network Showtime and is swimming in the big pool of MMA promotion. But how does all this affect the fighters?

Q

Everyone is talking about how much it means to Strikeforce to be broadcast on Showtime and

CBS, but what does it mean to the fighters?

Jake Shields: It’s huge obviously. I was with EliteXC, which was also on Showtime and CBS, so it’s nothing new for me, but I think it’s great.

Cung Le: Well it means a lot more sponsors and a lot more exposure for the fighters who are in Strikeforce.

Benji Radach: It means a lot more people are going to see me doing what I love to do.

Gilbert Melendez: You know, it's a big deal for us to be on Showtime and CBS. It just means that we’re making the big time here, and business-wise, it means more money, sponsors and exposure to brand ourselves as fighters. We can’t fight forever, so hopefully we can make a living out of this.

JAKE SHIELDS For information on Jake Shields, logon to www.jakeshields.com.

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Jake Shields: I think that Strikeforce is a much more professional organization than EliteXC, so I think they’ll do much better. I think EliteXC had good exposure, but they went off in the wrong direction pushing the wrong people.

And now you have Strikeforce who really wants to jump behind the good fighters; I think they’ll be a successful organization.

Q

Does a fighter treat a fight differently knowing it is going to be on a premium network?

Gilbert Melendez: Yeah definitely. When they told me I was going to be on Showtime, I was like, “OK, let’s go!”

I had to get ready as much as possible, but more so than that, it’s like I thought this was my chance to show the world what I’m made of and show the U.S. what I’m made of. It was great.

Benji Radach: Yes and no. I think it just kind of depends…you know what I mean. There’s nothing you can do better because you’re on a big network.

Jake Shields: I think you train harder. It’s great exposure and you want to take advantage of that, but it shouldn’t change your mind set. For me, I think every fight’s the same. For every fight, I look at it like it’s supposed to forward my career, but it certainly is a big deal to be on Showtime and CBS. For me, I’m taking my next fight very seriously.

Cung Le: You know, I can only speak for myself. I treat every fight the same whether it’s on the network or not.

Q

The

new

deal

with

Showtime

involves

Strikeforce fights moving around all over the

U.S. instead of staying in San Jose. Is this better or worse for a fighter?

Benji Radach: I like the venue here in San Jose so I’d be happy with just staying there. Although it’s kind of cool switching areas and traveling around, when it comes down

CUNG LE

to it, I’ve spent my whole life fighting so it’s not a big deal. I am just happy with training and fighting there.

For information on Cung Le, logon to www.cungle.com. www.mmaworldwide.com 89

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Cung Le: I think that it shouldn’t matter; you get to experience different places and meet new fans and new people.

Gilbert Melendez: I like to fight in my hometown—my backyard—but I like to travel and be the underdog and get booed a little, so it doesn’t matter…doesn’t matter at all.

Jake Shields: It’s much better; it may not be better for me being from San Francisco and San Jose being 45 minutes to an hour drive. It’s my backyard…it’s right there so all my friends and fans are going to come. But in promoting an organization, you can’t just be in one spot; you can’t be a regional show if you’re trying to be a serious contender.

You got to go all around the country and eventually overseas to show you’re a legit contender.

Gilbert Melendez: I used to love fighting in Hawaii and I hope it goes back to Hawaii or somewhere cool like that.

There are a couple of places that I’d like to hang out at and enjoy. So it’s alright…I don’t mind it too much, but for the organization, I think it’s great to build a fan base when we travel. But overall, I’d like to be home.

Q

Prior to the Showtime deal, Strikeforce was holding about four major events a year. Now

the new deal involves 16 fights a year between the major events and ShoMMA events. Were four fights a year

enough

to

keep

fighters

busy

and

does

Strikeforce have the personnel to do 16 a year?

Benji Radach: I think they do. They got a pretty big stable of fighters straight from EliteXC, so I think they have plenty of fighters to showcase.

Jake Shields: Right at the moment, I don’t think they do.

I think they’re overworked and trying to work things out, but I think they’re in the process of hiring more people. I know that Scott Coker is a really smart guy, and for sure he’ll put together the team he needs.

Gilbert Melendez: That’s a good question; you know I think about that too now. I hope that we’re gonna have more shows, but I don’t know. I just hope they do have enough shows for me to fight on and to have enough fight90 The World-famous

BENJI RADACH For information on Benji Radach, logon to www.benjiradach.com.

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ers for me. I hope they do great and have a lot of success and provide us with work. But I have confidence in Scott Coker, so I have faith in it, but I don’t know I can answer that question.

Cung Le: You know, I think the more events give them more fighters because Strikeforce now has a bigger list of fighters. I really couldn’t answer if they have enough employees to handle that.

Q

Since the Showtime deal was announced and Strikeforce promoted one fight under the deal,

have you noticed more attention from the media and fans?

Jake Shields: I think so. I’ve been very happy with Strikeforce. I mean, EliteXC got attention, but it seemed to all be pushed towards Kimbo—both the good and the bad—so there was a lot of negative publicity. Strikeforce seems to be getting legitimate publicity with the mainstream media.

Cung Le: I think there’s a lot more attention, and after that first event, I think there will be a lot more fans judging from the fights that night.

Gilbert Melendez: Yeah, there’s definitely a lot more attention. The media’s paying a lot more attention to me and it’s getting a little more hectic. But yeah, it’s good that we’re getting uprooted.

Benji Radach: Uh, just a little bit. I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg and they’re going to get a lot more aggressive here in the future. I think Scott Coker and Strikeforce are really going to start turning the temperature up, promoting some great shows and getting lots of attention. I think we’re just seeing the beginning.

Jake Shields: Strikeforce has been up there with the main sports sites and ESPN, so all of the good things are going to follow, take notice and make it a legit show. Obviously

GILBERT MELENDEZ For information on Gilbert Melendez, logon to www.myspace.com/gilmelendez.

the UFC is still the big dog, and to say otherwise would be stupid, but I think they are showing themselves to be a very, very strong second. www.mmaworldwide.com 91

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