Digital Magazine: MMA Worldwide 15

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8 The World-famous

74MICHAEL BISPING:IN THE SPOTLIGHT AGAIN“The Count” has had a wild ride since he first laced up hisgloves on day one of The Ultimate Fighter.A fantastic winningstreak, a drop in weight and a new stint in familiar territory asa coach this time on Spike TV’s best show is nice but it comeswith a price; a career changing fight with Dan Henderson.By RJ Clifford

35 BushidoThink the UFC was the beginning of MMA? Thinkagain.A textbook lesson on the origins of one of theworld’s most fight savvy countries, Japan.By Matthew Kaplowitz

43 The Ultimate Summer Clothing GuideWe wrangled up some of the industries best clothingdesigners in MMA and lined them up for your viewingpleasure. Sunscreen not included.By MMA Worldwide Staff

55 Krzysztof SoszynskiIt’s been a long road for the “Polish Experiment” fromStrikeforce to the IFL and now he is climbing up theUFC light heavyweight ladder thanks to anotherKimura victory.By RJ Clifford

65 Sven “Boogy” BeanNot everyone can run a great MMA show. Even fewerpeople can do it for nearly a decade.By Clyde Gentry III

81 What to Do With Anderson SilvaWhat are you supposed to do with a UFCmiddleweight champion who can not lose and isputting on bizarre fights that can not deliver on ourspoiled expectations? By RJ Clifford

TABLE OF CONTENTSFeatures ISSUE 15

Cover photo by Eric Williams / Dr. Photo Management


10 The World-famous

TABLE OF CONTENTS Columns ISSUE 15

12 From the ChairmanSome big developments coming around.A gym association, some job openingsand a digital magazine that will allow youread MMA Worldwide from thecomfort of your own laptop.

14 From the PublisherWith MMA Worldwide Magazine in fullforce and our brand new, relaunchedwebsite up and running soon theattention is turned to the MMAWorldwide weekly TV show airingon HDNet.

28 The Fight NerdDana White is a quite a characterand we love his no excuses, swearinglike a sailor persona. But is when istoo much too much?

30 The Last WordThe flood gates have opened and thelatest thing in Hollywood is MMAmovies.And more MMA movies.Andmore MMA movies.And even moreMMA movies.

32 MMA AnatomyYou got to stick to your guns andlearn by doing. RJ Clifford dislocateshis elbow so he can tell you how tofix it. You can thank him by signinghis cast.

60 MMA Worldwide RankingsA couple minor shakeups and somenew faces at light heavyweight andmiddleweight thanks to some missingfaces in the division.

84 Ms. MMAYou may have seen Sarah in any one ofthe many Vegas publications she hasgraced but she has never looked asgood as she does here.

88 Expert’s RoundtableStrikeforce is exploding in exposure andpopularity thanks to their acquisition ofEliteXC. But what exactly does thatmean to the fighters?

95 The Sixth RoundSeven questions from the artist to themartial artist..This month’s victim,Dan Hardy, the Pirate of Nottingham.

20 22

32 70

84


12 The World-famous

Welcome to Our 15th Issue!

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

MMA has made some great strides in the past six weeks. Who would havethought that GSP would be doing a commercial with the likes of TigerWoods? Little by little, more and more people are realizing MMA isn’t afad, but a unique sport and one that keeps attracting more of the demograph-ics so sought after by advertisers.

With the breeding grounds of the UFC doing a show once a month all overthe world, these superstar businessmen are paving a road for everyonebuilding 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 hascontinued to build. In MMA, White has earned the Business Person of theYear 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 showfeaturing 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 toMMAWorldwide.com for show times on HDNET.

For you gym owners: Give me a call so I can go over our new MMAWorldwide Gym Association. This will be one of the best resources forknowledge, discounts and promotional help during these trying times. Wehave a media kit waiting for you that will explain the benefits in detail. Justgive 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 helpin all areas. This is a commission only position that can be done part or fulltime. The platforms we have can make you a great living with just a littlebit of effort on your part. Again just give us a call and ask for Dan at 714-226-0585.

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

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

Robert “The Closer” Pittman

MMA WorldwideOrganization

Robert Pittman

Sheree Brown-Pittman

Bobby Pittman

Nicole Barton

Dan Harkey

RJ Clifford

Patrick Clowers

Craig Vaughan

Mark Allen

Jacob Wells

Jeffrey Kimberlin

Rick Lee

Molly Kimberlin

John Nguyen

Fred George

Mike “Joker” Guymon

Adam Villarreal

Eric Williams

Lisa Williams

ISSN 1937-1071

Chairman/ President

Co- Chairman/ Editor

Publisher

Controller/ CFO

General Manager

Editor-in-Chief

Sales Manager

Director

Director

Editor

Sales

Director of WebsiteOperations

Customer Relations/Circulation Director

Customer Relations

Executive Staff/ TourCrew/ Fitness Editor

Executive StaffTour Crew

Senior ContributingWriter

Photography

Graphic Designer

SMP, Inc. as a publisher is an advertising platform and does notendorse or make representation, warranty or guarantee con-cerning the safety or effectiveness of either the products andservices advertised in this magazine or the martial arts ads orother techniques discussed or illustrated in this magazine. Thepublisher expressly disclaims any and all liability relating to themanufacture, sale or use of such products and services and theapplication of the techniques discussed or illustrated in thismagazine. The purchase or use of some of the products, serv-ices or techniques advertised or discussed in this magazine maybe illegal in some areas of the United States or other countries.Therefore, you should check federal, state and local laws priorto your purchase or use of these products, services or tech-niques. The publisher makes no representation or warrantyconcerning the legality of the purchase or use of these prod-ucts, services or techniques in the United States or elsewhere.Because of the nature of some of the products, services ortechniques advertised or discussed in this magazine, you shouldconsult a physician before using these products or services orapplying these techniques.

PRINT WHAT WE SELL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICYAt SMP Inc.,we believe in minimizing paper waste by printingwhat we sell. We do not flood the magazine into mass mar-kets, which typically sell fewer than 40 of every 100 copiesthey receive, and discard the unsold magazines. Our stancecosts us sales, but saves extremely large amounts of paper.We encourage all publishers to put the environment first.

Please Recycle This Magazine

FROM THE CHAIRMAN...


14 The World-famous

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 mag-

azines, 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 was-

n'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

so normal to me to be surrounded by the

world's best fighters all the time, but after

years of conversations with “normal peo-

ple,” I've learned that our lives are any-

thing but normal. Well, now you will get

to be the judge of that.

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 run-

ning 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-in-

chief, RJ Clifford, to round out the crew.

With the four of us lunatics hitting the

road, we always know we're in for some-

thing 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 def-

initely 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 P-

words 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 some-

one 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 him-

self, 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!

by Bobby Pittman

WHAT AWILD RIDE!


THE END OFAN ERA?

UFC President Dana White eluded to thefact that if Chuck Liddell did not impress in

his fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua atUFC 97 in Montreal that his fighting days

would be numbered. After being knockedout in the first round and losing four out of

his last five fights, where does this leavethe UFC’s most popular fighter?


To Contact MMA Worldwide: Emai l us at mai lbag@mmaworldwide .com or check us out on Myspaceat www.myspace .com/mmaworldwidemagaz ine . Make sure to inc lude your name and hometown.

Regardless of Chuck Liddell’s recent losseshe still should be remembered not only as afighter who dominated his division for sucha long time and helped bring MMA main-stream, but also as someone who changedthe way fights are actually fought. Whenwrestlers and grapplers conquered MMAhe sprawled and brawled his way into anew era of fighting where strikers are start-ing to take over. Not a small accomplish-ment by any means.—Jeff, Santa Cruz, CA

Well it looks like you guys were wrongagain. Instead of “Chuck Liddell: NotThawed Yet”, your cover should have been“Chuck Liddell: Now a Puddle”.—Mark, Myspace

VITOR BELFORT

The Phenom is back! He has been back andforth from the UFC twice now. The guy hasnine lives, and he’s still young. I would liketo see him box against Roy Jones thatwould be worth watching. Good interview,but I wonder why there weren’t any ques-tions about his alleged steroid abuse in thepast. Keep up the good work and I like thelayout of this interview. —Murry Wills, Victoria, TX

Vitor was a beast when he was younger,and now you’re saying he’s back? Who hashe beat? He’s fighting in Affliction whereall they have is former UFC guys of coursehe’s knocking them out. I remember himfighting in Pride when he looked juiced tothe gills and now he’s fighting at under twohundred pounds off the juice. All the God

talk seems to be the rage with people whenthey want to reinvent themselves. I hopethe UFC lets him back in and tosses himagainst Anderson Silva, lets see if thePhenom hasn’t left. —C. Rabara, Los Angeles, CA

BUYER’S GUIDE

Thanks again for throwing the last bit ofself control I thought I had out the window.I have never been able to say no to the lat-est and greatest MMA gear, DVD, book,bag, you name it. And now I have a catalogstaring me in the face every time I am nearmy coffee table. When I can’t afford tosend my kids to college can you please setthem up with a big fight contract some-where? I don’t have a lot of options.—Gary, Miami, FL

13 AMAZING FIGHT CARDS

Good article. It’s funny how sometimes somany future all star fighters end up on thesame cards early in their careers. It remindsme to take notice of the smaller name guysI see in local shows here in SouthernCalifornia and how some of them couldpotentially be UFC champs someday. Iwonder if anyone in the stands at IFC inDenver realized they were watching someof the best fighters of the next decade.—Frank Cardenas, Cerritos, CA

I was at the Rumble on the Rock 8 inHawaii and, trust me, this was a card every-one knew about. Except for some of thereally good Pride shows this was the besttournament talent wise. It had Anderson

Silva, UFC champion, Jake Shields,ElteXC champion, Frank Trigg, UFC andPride contender, Carlos Condit, WECchampion, etc. Just goes to show you not allgood MMA in the United States just hap-pens on the mainland.—Kalani, Honolulu, HI

STRIKEFORCE 2.0

It’s all well and good that Strikeforce has abigger roster and a Showtime TV contractbut if they think they can compete with theUFC they need to rethink their businessplan. The UFC is so big and so branded noother shows are going to be able to be asbig. In America, most people know MMAas “Ultimate Fighting” showing just howstrong the UFC brand is. I like watchingother fights too but going head to head withthe UFC is suicide.—Jacob Brand, Seattle, WA

I think Strikeforce is really geared for a bigpush in the MMA scene. Unlike the otherMMA companies that have come and wentin the last few years trying to cash in on theMMA bandwagon, Scott Coker has beenaround forever and has been putting onfights before was even called MMA. I wasat the first Strikeforce MMA show whenShamrock knocked out Gracie and I knewthey were going to succeed since that day.—Jason Tan, San Jose, CA

JON “BONES” JONES

Regarding your writer’s complete surpriseover the fact that Jon Jones uses Youtube ashis preliminary tool for refining his tech-niques, it came as no surprise to me. I’m avideo technician and use Youtube on a con-sistent basis to learn how to work certainaspects of my equipment as well as soft-ware and other technical help I ever need.Considering how much fighting is onYoutube it should be even easier to learnkicks and punches than it is to figure outwhich lens to use for low light shots.—Tom

MAILBAGCHUCK LIDDELL

I thought the curse of the MMA Worldwide coverwas broken when Rashad Evans (issue 12) andAnderson Silva (issue 13) continued their win-ning streaks but I see it is popping up again. Notonly did Chuck get knocked out by Shogun, buthe got knocked into retirement!—Bernie Ellis, Hammond, IN

20 The World-famous


FACE

Wanderlei “The Ax-Murderer” Silva RECORD

32-9-1 (1 NC) Has consistently fought only top tier competition as of late withmixed 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 OPPONENTSLoss 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

STRIKINGOne of the most feared strikers of our generation he is deadly with his fists,

knees and legs+1 Silva

WRESTLINGRarely if ever goes for takedowns and has shown a lack of takedown defense

against Rampage and Chuck Liddel

SUBMISSIONSA Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he only has one submission win to his credit

but has never been submitted in 43 fightsTied

EXPERIENCEHe 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

INTANGIBLESNever 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 howAnderson Silva picked apart Franklin,Wanderlei

Silva will use the same strategy mixing uppunches, kicks and the ever dangerous

Muay Thai clinch to clobber the less powerfulpunching of Franklin.

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 boutof 195 pounds. Franklin is on his way up in weight after two brutal losses to AndersonSilva while Silva is on his way to middleweight after losing two of his last three lightheavyweight fights. But who has the edge in this catch weight bout?

22 The World-famous


OFF!

www.mmaworldwide.com 23

Rich “Ace” FranklinRECORD24-4 (1 NC) Has some decent wins against Yushin Okami and the late Evan Tannerbut has only lost to the very best of the best in Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machidaand Anderson Silva (2X)

LAST FIVE OPPONENTSLoss Dan Henderson,Win Matt Hamill,Win Travis Lutter, Loss Anderson Silva,WinYushin Okami+1 Franklin

GREATEST VICTORY Defeated the late Evan Tanner by TKO for the UFC middleweight championshipwhen Tanner was on a four fight win streak

STRIKINGA precise, straight puncher, Franklin has some big one punch KO wins but usuallybatters and beats his opponents into a TKO victory

WRESTLINGScores the rare takedown when necessary but he usually is able to keep the fighton the feet if he so pleases+1 Franklin

SUBMISSIONSHas never been submitted in a pro fight and has a few submission wins overmediocre opposition early in his careerTied

EXPERIENCEThis will be Franklin’s 30th fight and his 15th in the Octagon having fought a widerange of opponents

INTANGIBLESLess wear and tear, will be the bigger fighter, injury free and a consistenttraining camp+1 Franklin


26 The World-famous

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 unrecogniz-

able.

Domestic abuse is one of the most prevalent and misunder-

stood 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 great-

ly 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 chil-

dren, 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 any-

body 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 coward-

ly 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.”

For all women who suffer from abuse

by Debbie Phillips

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

Real Men Only BeatTheir Opponents


28 The World-famous

Bobby Knight. Bill Belichick. GeorgeSteinbrenner. These controversial sportsfigures are known for raising many aneyebrow and finger from fans, but theybetter make room for a new entrant whohas propelled himself as one of the loudestsports figures of the 21st Century. Thatcan be only one man; his name is DanaWhite.

As I touched upon in an earlier column,White has done tons of good things forMMA, taking a promotion that was on lifesupport and making it one of the strongestfranchises in sports today. I could listmany accomplishments he has made andeasily fill a column on that alone, but whowould honestly want to read that?

With all the good he has done, White hasproven himself to be a “colorful” person-ality. Examples include his Fedor bashing,openly mocking Elite XC and CBS fortheir programming and choice of stars(Kimbo Slice), calling DREAM a “minor-league” promotion, etc. Don’t forget hisvery public rivalry with Affliction as aprime example of his explosiveness oversituations.

But his latest antics truly stepped over theline. For sherdog.com, Loretta Hunt wrotean article discussing some recent changesin the UFC’s credentialing policy regard-ing managers. White immediatelyresponded on his vlog by calling it retard-ed and stupid, further denouncing the

author as a moron, dumb, liar and severalother words I choose not to write. Heinterlaced this vicious platter with four let-ter words and insults to homosexuals,finally ending in a one-finger salute.

White does in fact make some valid argu-ments and he defended his case, but theproblem was how he did it. The name-calling and F-bomb rants didn’t help. Theirony of this stems from the same vlogwhere White tells fighters on a Fight Nightshow NOT to curse on TV!

White’s cursing has become an inside jokefor MMA fans and can be entertaining (i.e.“Do you want to be a f***ing fighter?”),but how much is too much? According toGLAAD, this vlog blast was too much,though White apologized soon after forhis remarks concerning gays and lesbians;he has never apologized for his commentstoward Hunt. Of course, wouldn’t youknow it that another organization, TheAssociation for Women in Sports Media(AWSM), would call for White’s headover the way he treated a female journal-ist.

In light of these events, White has decidedto make himself less public in the comingmonths and even stopped production of areality show featuring himself. Somemainstream journalists, such as MikeFreeman of cbssports.com, picked up thenews and have begun to further typecastMMA fighters and fans as “garbage,” ask-ing why MMA fans let White get awaywith this.

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

enjoy his colorful language? We havecome to expect White’s tirades aboutfighters and opposing companies andalmost enjoy hearing him sound like anidiot as he does this. Is this a machismothing for fans excited to see someone insuch a position of power speak like a nor-mal guy and show real emotions?Supporting his choice of words shows toMMA pundits that we are just slack-jawedidiots who will do whatever White tells usto do and will ensure that mainstreamaudiences never truly accept MMA as asport.

In the next few months we will see whathappens with White’s choice of words andhis role in the public eye. Clearly, weknow White is not a stupid man and is ashrewd businessman with a lot of greatideas and a great vision for the growth ofMMA, especially as he campaigns to getthe sport legalized in all 50 states. Buthow does representing MMA and himselfas an easily-agitated and explosive manhelp plant the seeds for good relations andunderstanding of the sport we all love andwant to see prosper?

I am glad to hear White will stymie him-self, even if just for a little bit, and will lethis shows do the talking. These next fewyears are going to be critical to MMA andthe best remedy at this time is to have thebig boss keep the swearing to a minimum.

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

by Matthew Kaplowitz

DANA WHITE:LET’S CRANK IT

DOWN A NOTCH

To contact the Fight Nerd, email him at [email protected] or check out his website, www.thefightnerd.com.


30 The World-famous

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 dis-

plays 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 figura-

tively 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 tech-

niques 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 fol-

low.

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.

Then we come to Fighting, which looks a

bit different from the two previously-

mentioned films, but certainly seems to

draw from other flicks like Jean Claude

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.

I can also appreciate the fact that it’s giv-

ing 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 play-

ing 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?

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.

By Adam J.Villareal

THE LAST WORD

Hollywood Beckons Yet Again…

To contact Adam J. Villarreal, please email: [email protected].


You really

should

learn to

defend

kimuras!

Bumps and bruises, cracks and breaks, pops andsnaps. All things you become accustomed to compet-ing in martial arts, MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu specifi-cally. So low and behold, while competing at the PanAmerican Championships this year, this writer madehis own criteria for an MMA Anatomy. While fightingoff a kimura attempt by opponent, I thought I had myshoulder in a safe position to keep from getting dam-aged but it was not elbow that was in trouble. Justwhen I started to straighten my arm to free myself fromthe hold a loud pop came from my elbow forcing thereferee to instantly stop the match. Thinking I was fineI was frustrated heading back to the stands thinking Iwas able to finish the match. Five minutes later myelbow started to swell and throb. A half hour later Icould not even move it.

by Andrew Bonsall andRJ Clifford

WHAT EXACTLYHAPPENED?

The forearm contains two bones, the radius and the ulna. Thesebones 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 sayrotation about the long axis of the forearm. In this movement theulna, which is connected to the humerus by a simple hinge-joint,remains stationary, while the radius rotates carrying the wrist andhand with it. To allow this rotation, the proximal (elbow) end ofthe radius is held in proximity to the ulna by a ligament known asthe annular ligament. This is a circular ligamentous structure with-in which the radius is free, with constraints existing elsewhere inthe forearm, to rotate. This is the ligament that popped during thekimura

32 The World-famous

A KIMURA HOLD MADE MY ELBOW POP.


HOW BAD IS IT?

In a twisting technique with a lot of torque like a kimura, there areseveral possibilities for injury. Between the multiple bones, liga-ments, tendons and nerves throughout the elbow area, there is greatpotential for damage to any part of the elbow.

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

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

With the problem isolated, treatment was next. The swelling was anissue for the first 72 hours which was treated with ice and ibuprofen.Keeping the elbow stationary at a 90 degree angle for three weekswith a splint assured the ligament had ample time to heal withoutdanger of further damage. A splint with a wrap was used as opposedto a full cast to allow me to unwrap my elbow once a day to flex andextend my elbow to keep it from getting stiff. After three weeks thesplint was taken off followed by physical therapy to redevelop fullrange of motion in the elbow.

Andrew Bonsall has a BA in Kinisiology from Long Beach State University and a Masters in Educational technology. He is alsoa credentialed medical illustrator.

Radial Nerve Biceps

TricepsBiceps Tendon

Radius

UlnaUlna Nerve Olecranon

Process of Ulna

Ulnar CollateralLigament

Triceps Tendon

Humerus

Anular Tendonof Radius

Pronation of theforearm at the elbow

Supination of theforearm at the elbow

AnnularLigament

Radial NervePenatratesMuscle

SupinatorMuscle



Bushido: A History of Combat Sports in JapanIllustrations and writing by Matthew KaplowitzBushido:

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

Interestingly enough, another book soon followed, the Nihon Shoki,or “Chronicles of Japan,” which tells the story of Emperor Suininwho requested a potter named Nomi-no Sukune to fight the bully,Taima-no Kehaya. The combatants wrestled awhile until Sukunekicked 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 thecountry’s history.

History of sumo aside (because that is a whole other article), mar-tial arts in Japan began popping up in the 1300s, brought over fromChina. Government regulations banned weapons from common cit-izens, so unarmed combat techniques were created and the innova-tive, defensive use of farming tools was born. The Meiji restorationin the late 1800s caused a huge socio-political stir in Japan. It alsoforged many of the modernized forms of older martial arts that weknow today, like judo, which turned jujitsu into a safer style utiliz-ing less strength.

As these traditional forms of martial arts developed, wrestling alsoevolved. In America in the early 1900s, professional wrestlingbecame popular, pioneered by wrestlers like GeorgeHackenschmidt and FrankGotch. Japanese wrestlers had

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

Across the world in Brazil, a man named Helio Gracie reformed anoffshoot of a Japanese martial art in a unique way. The youngest offive brothers, the Gracie family was taught traditional jujitsu bytraveling judoka Mitsuyo Maeda, who was on a mission to spreadthis art around the globe. Initially rejected by his father to practice,Helio eventually absorbed Maeda’s teachings and recreated it, uti-lizing leverage and the ability to dominantly fight off one’s back.Helio soon challenged fighters of other styles to prove the effective-ness of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (dubbed Gracie Jiu-jitsu) and went unde-feated for years.

In the 1950s, Masahiko Kimura and Helio Gracie agreed to a matchin Brazil. Kimura was a national judo champion in Japan and waschosen by his superiors to end this upstart martial arts rise. Thematch, held in Marcana Stadium in front of over 20,000 spectators,was under submission rules and would end if the opponent was ren-dered unconscious by a grappling technique, either choke or armlock.

Kimura repeatedly threw Gracie around the mats with ease andapplied numerous chokes and pinning holds to the BJJ master, butfor 12 minutes, Helio would not succumb. After attempting toescape a pin, Kimura locked on an Ude-garami arm lock and brokeGracie’s left arm. Gracie continued to fight until his corner threw in

the towel, declaring Kimura the winner. As a testa-ment to honor this match, thearm lock was adapted intoBrazilian jiu-jitsu and dubbed“The Kimura.”

Back in Japan, prowrestling was finallygaining popularity, sin-glehandedly thanks to


Japan has a culture rich in arts, literature andarchitecture. The country is also known for com-bat, being sport or war. Fighting has been part ofJapan’s history since its inception and the tale ofconflict continues to this day.


a wrestler called Rikidozan.Originally born in Japanese-occupiedKorea, he trained at a young age to bea sumo wrestler, ranked at highest assekiwake, the third highest achieve-ment one could receive. In 1950,Rikidozan retired from sumo andbecame a pro wrestler. The sport did notcatch on in the early 1900s due to some-thing the Japanese had not yet under-stood: matchmaking. In post WWIIJapan, Rikidozan united the country bybattling and defeating Americanwrestlers. He gained worldwide fame in1958 when he took the NWAInternationalHeavyweight Championship from LouThesz.

In the mid 1960s, Rikidozan founded theJapan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA). Hisfirst notable feud was against MasahikoKimura, who had retired after one finaltour in 1959 to teach judo at a university.This match would be for the JWAHeavyweight Title and was supposed toend as a draw, setting off a series of match-es. Rikidozan had other ideas and began to“shoot,” or fight for real, and attackedKimura, rendering him legitimately uncon-scious. There was never a rematch. Kimuralater started his own pro wrestling promo-tion, but it failed, and JWA absorbed it soonafter. Rikidozan became a national hero, butdied from dubious circumstances in 1963 atage 39.

Two of Rikidozan’s protégés were the 6’ 6”Giant Baba and the athletic, charismaticAntonio Inoki. After Rikidozan’s death, GiantBaba took helm of JWA and eventually firedInoki and company president/former wrestlerToyonobori. The pair formed Tokyo Pro-Wrestling in 1966, but Inoki returned toBaba’s promotion, only to be fired in 1971for plotting to usurp power. Inoki soonformed New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)and wrestled a losing effort in the first mainevent against the highly skilled andacclaimed Karl Gotch.

Giant Baba formed All Japan Pro Wrestlingand the companies feuded for decades,constantly trading wrestlers and trying tobest each other. Inoki showed himself tobe unique by instituting a more realisticstyle of pro wrestling, displaying moremartial arts skills and strikes. He also pro-moted style vs. style matches, whereInoki played the role of the hero, facing

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

The match was held at Tokyo Budokan Arena and would be over-seen by Gene LeBell as the third man in the ring. Being a workedbout, Ali refused to lose to Inoki (even though the plans were forInoki to win via a controversial way), so the rules were changed atthe last minute that barred any of Inoki’s attacks, including punch-ing with a closed fist or using any submissions or takedowns. Alithrew all of three punches; Inoki often flopped to his butt in the mid-dle of the ring and the result was a boring 15-round fiasco thatended by draw. The match almost completely destroyed prowrestling 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 closedcircuit TV worldwide.

Though Inoki would later continue his “style vs. style” experimentswith shooters, he had also developed many disciples, includingSatoru Sayama, Akira Maeda, Masakatsu Funaki and NobuhikoTakada. Maeda was the first to leave NJPW in 1987, when during amatch against Riki Choshu, Maeda kicked Choshu’s face and brokehis orbital bone. Choshu was out of action for over a year; Maedawas fired immediately.

Maeda formed the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) withNobuhiko Takada, and created a new hybrid style of MMA and prowrestling. The fights resembled real fights with no top rope maneu-vers or wrestlers running the ropes, but still had a predeterminedfinish. Other popular wrestlers in the UWF included SatoruSayama, Masakatsu Funaki, Kiyoshi Tamura, Minoru Suzuki andKazushi Sakuraba.

36 The World-famous

Giant Baba


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

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

the organization. Shooto even co-promoted the Vale Tudo Japanseries, which made Rickson Gracie a star in Japan, countering thesuccess of brother Royce in the UFC. Shooto thrives today and hasheld events around the world. While Rumina Sato and HayatoSakurai were two of the promotion’s biggest stars, it has had manyinternational fighters grace its ranks, including Anderson Silva, JakeShields and Joachim Hansen.

Maeda disbanded the UWF in 1990 and started a new UWF-stylepromotion called RINGS in 1995 with the help of one of his UWFfighters, Chris Dolman (the two fought in UWF in 1989). RINGSFighting Network started in Japan and the Netherlands (Holman’shome), utilizing a lot of foreign talent from around the world. Thestiff-worked style of RINGS was accompanied by a few shootmatches through the years in Japan (most notably a bout betweenFrank Shamrock and Kiyoshi Tamura), but other RINGS operationsin Europe often held real matches, unless Japanese (read: promo-tion’s marquee stars) were involved.

From 1998 and 1999, RINGS evolved into a full-fledged MMAorganization, save for no striking with a closed fist to the head onthe ground. The promotion’s “King of the King” tournaments in1999 and 2000 were especially noteworthy, as they boasted anincredible line-up of stars: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, RandyCouture, Ricardo Arona, Gilbert Yvel, Dan Henderson, RenatoBabalu and Fedor Emelianeko. RINGS Japan eventually wentbroke and went out of operation in early 2002, but the promotionstill lives on today in other countries, including RINGS Holland,Lithuania and Russia.

Masakatsu Funaki left the UWF and formed Pancrase in 1993, tak-ing Minoru Suzuki and a few others with him. Funaki was the topstar and trainer of incoming fighters. Pancrase was known as ashoot fighting or “hybrid wrestling” promotion with a focus ontechnique. Competitors were not allowed to use closed fists to anopponent’s face, but closed-fist strikes were permitted to the body.


Antonio Inoki


They also adapted a rule from pro wrestlingcalled the “rope escape,” signaling thatwhen a fighter grabbed the rope with abody part, the fight would be restartedstanding. Rope escapes would be used aspart of the total point tally; fights wereoften decided on the number of ropeescapes alone.

Pancrase had no weight limits in theirformative years and crowned their firstchampion, Ken Shamrock, after the first“King of Pancrase” Open WeightTournament. Other former KOP holdersinclude Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock,Nathan Marquardt, Semmy Schilt andGuy Mezger. Like RINGS, Pancrase hashad many top fighters compete throughthe years, most notably Josh Barnett, JoeRiggs, Chris Lytle and the late EvanTanner. In 1999, Pancrase followedRINGS by adding closed-fist strikeswith gloves; rope escapes were aban-doned.

Pancrase set things in motion, RINGScarried the torch, but there was a newcompany on the horizon to truly cementitself as the big dog on the block: PrideFighting Championships. Debuting onOctober 11, 1997 at the Tokyo Dome,the card was made up of former UFCstars and pro wrestlers, spearheaded byRickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada.The match meant everything toJapanese fans, going all the way backto the early 1990s when Takada broke“kayfabe” (meaning “keep quiet”), aterm where pro wrestlers never brokesilence about their professions beingscripted. When Yoji Anjoh, one ofTakada’s stable mates, lost a real chal-lenge match to Rickson in the states,Takada refused to avenge himbecause…he wasn’t a real fighter.The Pride match would restore faithin Takada, his fans and pro wrestling;the promotion milked it for every-thing it was worth.

Takada lost by arm bar in front of47,000 fans, but maintained his war-rior spirit and propelled the promo-tion to international prominence.Pride would build its fighter basestarting with Japanese pro wrestlers(some in obvious and not-so-obvi-ous worked matches), but it alsohad its share of tough American and

Brazilian talent. When RINGS ran out of money, Pride FC, undernew management with Dream Stage Entertainment, mined its topplayers. Pride FC had done the same thing with the UFC and con-tinued to do so during the American promotion’s off-cable period.Pride FC eventually became the number one fight promotion forheavyweights—no one could touch them. A live event would runover five hours, bursting with pyrotechnic displays and grandentrances.

Pride gained much notoriety for its “Grand Prix” tournaments. Thefirst one was an open weight tournament that featured RoyceGracie, Igor Vovchanchyn, Gary Goodridge, Mark Kerr, MarkColeman and Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba became the star of thepromotion for his “Gracie Killer” status that was punctuated by a90-minute match against Royce Gracie where 15 minute roundswere employed. Rorion Gracie was forced to throw in the towelwhen brother Royce couldn’t continue.

Pride would often become a mixed bag that boasted great talent intomato can matches or just showcase bizarre matches altogether; italso promoted some of the most competitive fights in the sports his-tory. But in his heyday, Sakuraba was the real deal and defeated alot of top fighters who outweighed him. Other notable fighters inPride FC included: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianeko,Wanderlei Silva, Quinton Jackson, Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic andMauricio Rua.

Pride FC’s demise started with a scandal involving the Yakuza’sinfluence in the company which was revealed by a Japanese tabloid,as well as some photographic evidence to back it up. In 2006, FujiTV dropped all DSE and Pride FC programming. With no TV deal,revenue began to drop and fighters began to go elsewhere. In March2007, Lorenzo Fertitta, co-owner of the UFC, purchased Pride FC,and months later would shut their office down completely, ending

38 The World-famous

KazushiSakuraba


one of the most popu-lar MMA shows inJapan after over 60shows, on a sour note.It’s important to men-tion that Pride FC’sBushido, meant forlower weight fighters,ended the promotionwith one of the mostincredible mid-dleweight tourna-ments in the sport’shistory.

Out of the ashes ofPride FC, roseDREAM, a collabora-tion between formerPride executives andFEG, the companythat runs K-1, theworld’s premiere kick-boxing organization.K-1 has toyed with

MMA since a lone bout in 1994 and has partnered up several times experi-menting with their stars. With DREAM, the promotion retained Pride’s raz-zle dazzle, even going so far as to keep Lenne Hardt, their infamous fightintroducer. It will be interesting to see where DREAM is headed.

Sengoku, run by World Victory Road, holds the distinction of being the firstMMA promotion to be picked up by Japanese TV since Pride was dropped.Debuting on March 5, 2008, the promotion boasted a roster of former Pridefighters including Josh Barnett, Takanori Gomi, Kevin Randleman andInoki protégé, Kazuyuki Fujita. Recently, the Sengoku series has scaledback 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 InokiBom-Ba-Ye as a nod to Muhammad Ali. Though his cards were often circusacts with few competitive bouts (strangely enough with K-1 fighters), Inokidid introduce the MMA world to Lyoto Machida, who might just becomethe next UFC light heavyweight champ.

DEEP, once a moderate size promotion, and ZST, are both considered feed-er promotions to eventually send fighters to the big leagues. They havebrought us such fighters as Hideo Tokoro, Masakazu Imanari, Shinya Aokiand Dokonjonosuke Mishima. Smackgirl, an all-female promotion, beganin 2000 and continues today with fighters competing from all over theworld, including Lisa Ward, Megumi Fuji, Hisae Watanabe and GineleMarquez.

The MMA scene in Japan has lost some of the luster it had in recent yearsdue to the demise of Pride FC, but is slowly gaining it back with qualityshows from DREAM and Sengoku. Smaller shows like Pancrase andShooto (which has promoted over 265 events as of May 2009) remain pop-ular 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 for-ward to more excitement from the “Land of the Rising Sun” with eachupcoming fight.


RuminaSato



Ithas been a long road for KrzysztofSoszynski who escaped fromcommunist Poland, became a pro

wrestler, turned to mixed martial arts andended up in The Ultimate Fighter house.Now he’s climbing the UFC’s lightheavyweight ladder coming fresh off asubmission win over former WEC cham-pion Brian Stann. Decked out in tattoos,“The Polish Experiment” sat down togive MMA Worldwide the 411 on how hechanged from bodybuilder to UFC con-tender. Kielbasa sold separately.

MMA WORLDWIDE: What haveyou been up to since your big winover Brian Stann?

KRZYSZTOF SOSZYNSKI: Just gettingfat…ha ha. I’m basically just spending alot of time with the family and hangingout. I live in California, but my home-town is in Winnipeg (Canada), so I wasjust visiting with my family, my parents,my son and my brother. My wife and Icame out here and we are just enjoyingall our family. I live in Temecula andwork at Team Quest and teach classes,but I do travel a lot back home toWinnipeg to see everyone and relax upthere. I am kind of back and forth, but Ispend more time in Temecula, Californiathan I do in Canada.

MW: Do you miss it in Canada ordo you like it in Temecula?

KS: I don’t miss the weather becauseCalifornia is sunny California and that isall I need to say about that. On the otherhand, I definitely miss my family andfriends, so it was a tough transition toleave everything behind and start a newlife down in Temecula. Like I saidthough, we try to make it back here toCanada as much as we can or encouragethe family to come to California as oftenas possible.

Krzysztof Soszynski:As Tough As He Looksby RJ Clifford


56 The World-famous

MW: Now going back to yourfight against Stann, what was thegame plan going into the fightand did it unfold the way youplanned it?

KS: Stann and I were teammates at onepoint last year while we were both atTeam Quest and (Dan) Henderson wastraining for Anderson Silva. So we had achance to train together and I knew hewas a really hard puncher and a reallygood stand-up guy, but his ground gamewas a little weak and his wrestling wasalso a little weak. I decided to work myhands a little bit to see how comfortable Iwas with that, but ultimately, I took himto the ground. I was following his foot-work and finally got him to the ground. Iknew there was only a small possibilitythat he would be able to get out of it andthen I went for the Kimura and got it.

MW: Speaking of that Kimura,that is your third win in a row byKimura. Do you plan to takeeveryone out by Kimura or willwe see something else? We nowsee that the Kimura is your breadand butter.

KS: Well the Kimura was the very firstmove I learned, so I kind of perfected itmyself and I get everyone with it whiletraining. It’s something that I go for fromall different angles and positions. Itworks with my body type because I havestrong shoulders and a pretty good grip,and if I wrap up anyone’s wrist, I feel liketheir chances of escaping that is prettyslim. I have been able to prove that in mylast few fights. It seems to have workedfor me pretty well in the past and every-one has their little signature move andthat is mine, so I am going to stick withit. If someone defends against it, I canjust go for something else.

MW: Going back a little bit, youwere born in Poland and thenmoved to Canada. What wasthat like making that transition?

KS: To be honest, it was definitely reallytough. I remember Poland back when itwas under the communist regime andthere was definitely a lot going on. Ourfamily was poor and on food stamps andwe would be waiting in line for food,

water and milk. It was a really tough timethere to make a living and my dad was inlove with traveling to different countries.He had been all over the world and hewanted to find a place for his two sons tobe able to live and be safer. Once he sawCanada, he realized that was the placethat he wanted to stay and it would be agood place for his sons. When I was sixyears old, my dad moved to Canada. Ittook him four years to get his citizenshipand then he was able to bring the rest of

his family over to Canada. From age sixto ten, I really didn’t have a dad becausehe was trying to find us a better place tolive. At age 10, the whole family wasback together again.

MW: When did you first start get-ting into martial arts and whatled you to be an MMA fighter?

KS: Honestly I was not a big MMA fanwhen I was growing up. I was really intoteam sports like football and soccer—since I was European—soccer was thebig sport. I played a little bit of baseballand never really got into MMA when Iwas young. I was pretty good at footballand got a few scholarship opportunities,but at the time, I had a child with the ladyI was with at the time and I couldn’t leaveher. I stayed in Winnipeg and tried abunch of different things and finally got

into professional wrestling for a while. Imet a WWE guy by the name of “BadNews” Brown who showed me a Kimura,an Americana and an armbar; I wasinstantly hooked. Those three movesreally got me into the sport and I quit mywrestling and everything else to start tak-ing jiu-jitsu at a local academy inWinnipeg. It all took off from there, andsix months later, I had my first MMAfight and I was afraid and nervous, morethan ever before.

MW: When did you make yourway from some of the smallerevents in Canada over to some ofthe big time shows in the U.S.,like Strikeforce and the IFL?

KS: That was actually through ShawnTompkins. My wife and I actually wereputting on smaller shows in Canada andwe flew in Shawn with one of his fight-ers, Chris Horodecki. I just hit it off withShawn right away and he told me that hecould take me places and make me achampion. He basically did that and Iwould leave to go train with ShawnTompkins in London, Ontario. Throughhim, I was able to get into the TKOorganization in Montreal and then I washooked up with Bas Rutten. He pulledme onto his IFL team and introduced meto Randy Couture and Dan Henderson.



So I had a chance to train at TeamCouture and then had a chance to train atTeam Quest in Temecula. I got along withDan really well and realized thatTemecula was the place for me to be.They offered me a position at the gymand to be a part of the team and I said,“Yes, and here I am!”

MW: How did you get on TheUltimate Fighter?

KS: The Ultimate Fighter was actuallynot even my decision. We had ViniciusMagalhaes who was applying to be onthe show and my wife asked me why Iwasn’t applying as well. I told her thatthey weren’t looking for an older guy likeme. I had over 30 professional fights andI didn’t think they were looking forsomeone like me. I thought they werelooking for the younger guys, guys thatwere beginners who only had five toseven fights under their belts. My wifesaid I was wrong and she sat me downand made me fill out everything. I wentdown to LA, and a week later, I receiveda phone call and they told me they wouldlike me to come in for the first set ofinterviews. I just wowed them with mypersonality and I don’t think I have muchof one. I tried my hardest and theyseemed to like it, so I made it on theshow.

MW: You have trained under a lotof different coaches all overNorth America. Is Team Questwhere you think you will end upstaying?

KS: I think so. The cool thing about TeamQuest is that they are open to their fight-ers traveling around and getting exposurefrom different coaches. If I want to, I cango to Boston, I can go to San Diego, or gotrain with Bas Rutten or Frank Mir in LasVegas. Dan is all about us getting better,and if we have the opportunity to get bet-ter from going somewhere else and get-ting some more experience, so be it. He iswilling to let us leave for a couple ofweeks and get other training.

MW: Do you think you will getyour son involved in MMA?

KS: You know what, I just want my sonto grow up and be happy. I know that heis talking about taking up some wrestlingclasses. Right now he is 12 years old andthe most important thing to me is for himto get a good education. When he turns18 and he graduates from high school andthe university route is the one he wants totake, I will try and help him out and sup-port him. If MMA is the route he wants totake, I will definitely be there for him aswell. He doesn’t have to follow in myfootsteps in any way. As long as he isdoing what he wants to do and lovesdoing it and is giving 100%, I will beproud of him and support him.

MW: Other than obviously beingPolish, how did you get the nick-name “The Polish Experiment”?

KS: I was actually a bodybuilder when Iwas 21-24 and I was about 295 pounds ofpure muscle and had about 6% body fat.They were pretty impressed at the gymand were surprised at both my size andhow much gas I had and that I was able toroll with these guys and last. Some guysaid, “Hey man, you are like an experi-ment and no one can stop you; you justkeep going and going and going.” Andthen the fact that after they found out Iwas Polish, they put the two together andit has stuck with me. It was about six orso years ago that I got that nickname.

[email protected]


60 The World-famous

FEATHERWEIGHT145

Mike Thomas Brown

Urijah Faber

Hatsu Hioki

Dokonjonosuke Mishima

Leonard Garcia

“Lion” Takeshi Inoue

Wagnney Fabiano

Masakazu Imanari

Nam Phan

Jeff Curran

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

LIGHTWEIGHT160

BJ Penn

Joachim Hansen

Shinya Aoki

Eddie Alvarez

Tatsuya Kawajiri

Gesias “JZ” Calvancante

Sean Sherk

Kenny Florian

Josh Thomson

Satoru Kitaoka

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

WELTERWEIGHT170

Georges St. Pierre

Jon Fitch

Thiago Alves

Jake Shields

Josh Koscheck

Diego Sanchez

Matt Hughes

Martin Kampman

Carlos Condit

Karo Parisyan

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Rematchwe have all been

waiting for at WEC41.

FacesBibiano

Fernandes at DREAM9 in the quarter-

finals.

Lookedimpressive at

Bellator winning witha surprise submis-

sion.

Lookingfor another quali-

ty win when he facesFrankie Edgar at

UFC 98.

Surgery wentwell. Look for

Thomson to defendhis belt in late

’09.

Willface middleweightRobbie Lawler at

Strikeforce June 6thon Showtime.

FINAL-LY! Back in

action against MattSerra May 23rd.

Welterweighthas been good to

Kampman.



MIDDLEWEIGHT185

Anderson Silva

Dan Henderson

Robbie Lawler

Gegard Mousasi

Jorge Santiago

Yushin Okami

Vitor Belfort

Demian Maia

Thales Leites

Yoshihiro Akiyama

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

HEAVYWEIGHT205 AND ABOVE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT205

Rashad Evans

Forrest Griffin

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

Lyoto Machida

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Keith Jardine

Wanderlei Silva

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Luis Arthur Cane

Thiago Silva

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

TITLESAS OFApril 24, 2009

Fedor Emelianenko

Frank Mir

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Andrei Arlovski

Josh Barnett

Brock Lesnar

Randy Couture

Tim Sylvia

Alistair Overeem

Shane Carwin

UFC

WAMMA

STRIKEFORCE

SHOOTO

DREAM WEC

DEEP

SENGOKU

Takesa dominant no

flash, no frills deci-sion over Leites to

retain his belt.

Battleof the undefeat-

ed when he facesLyoto Machida at

UFC 98.

Possiblefirst title defenseagainst Fabricio

Werdum.

Is theold Shogun back?

It sure looked like itagainst Chuck

Liddell.

WithLiddell dropping

out of the top ten,Silva makes his

debut.

Getsa televised bout

at UFC 98 but stillno title shot.

Backin the top ten

again and just in timefor his UFC debut a

UFC 100.



Fight promotion is not for the faint ofheart. Looking at Pro Elite, the IFL orany number of one-and-done promo-tions, why would anyone get into thegame? Thankfully, there are a handfulof folks who not only entered the fray,but managed to build successful busi-nesses that create the champions oftomorrow. Indie promotions are thelifeblood of this sport; promoters likeSven “Boogie” Bean are the reason.From his humble beginnings, he hasfashioned his own archetype of what apromoter should be, far removed fromthe cigar-smoking, back-room dealingsharks that some people expect.“Boogie” is a one-of-a-kind originalfused with the right mix of passion,heart, determination and businesssavvy...but it took some time to getthere.

His story began in a Denver-area videostore of all places. On a quiet evening in1992, Bean was picking up some moviesto watch with his wife Lisa when apasserby caught his attention. He wasintrigued with the fact this stranger waswearing a gi and a black belt, but waseven more drawn by a sense of awkwardfamiliarity. After approaching him, Beanput it all together. “I remember watching

this guy dismantle people at the SabakiChallenge (a karate tournament) and Iwas really impressed. That guy wasClarence Thatch and he was standing infront of me at the video store.” The twostruck up a conversation that lasted forthree hours in the parking lot; Bean’swife had to settle for regular ole TV.

The next morning Bean went to trainwith Thatch at his gym 3-D Martial Artsand never left. Though Thatch was akarate practitioner, he was also a formerpro boxer, had jeet kune do certificationunder Dan Inosanto and was friendswith the Gracie family. In fact, when

By Clyde Gentry III


66 The World-famous

the UFC debuted in Denver, Colorado inNovember 1993, the Gracies usedThatch’s gym as a training facility whilein Denver. Bean trained to be the nextSabaki Challenge champion likeThatch, even fighting the Japanesechampion in Seattle, but an unfortunatesnowboarding accident sidelined thatendeavor. “I injured my wrist really badand it took me out of the game for sixmonths. At the same time, I had a verysuccessful business in modular officefurniture and project consulting. So I’m30 years old, got a kid and nobody inmy family was really that thrilled aboutme fighting anyway. My fight careerwas over.”

Bean continued to train, however, andwhen the UFC sparked a series ofregional MMA promotions, many of hisfellow gym rats found themselves withopportunities. Bean’s logical businesssense earned him the unofficial title ofgym manager and soon he began escort-ing these young fighters across thecountry competing in different promo-tions. His watchful eye would take himpast the fights onto the blueprint of thepromotion itself and what made it tick. Bean had already helped put some

fights together for the Denver-basedBas Rutten Invitational, a hodge podgeof different combative sports, but nowhe was focused on something bigger andmore challenging. “The Bas RuttenInvitational was held in a big gymnas-tics place and I thought there had to bea better way. There was nobody doing itlike a real event; Monte [Cox] wasdoing his stuff, but the biggest thing wasthe USWF down in Texas.” Promotedby Steve Nelson, who lost a token boutto Ralph Gracie in the early ExtremeFighting, formed the Unified ShootWrestling Federation in Amarillo,Texas. His rematch with Gracie drew10,000 people in a city with a popula-tion of 100,000 at the time. Bean cold-called Nelson and asked to be a grunt tolearn the business; he ended up stayingat his house while working two of hisshows.

When Bean returned home, he incorpo-rated Ring of Fire in 1999 and got theidea to produce his first show inColorado Springs, a city of 250,000people. “I remember standing on the 50-yard line of a 9,000 seat indoor footballarena and I literally did a 360, imagingthe whole place filled with screaming

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

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.”



fans watching the fights.” Headlined byRon Waterman, the card featured DuaneLudwig, Thomas Denny and LarryParker, one of the earliest MMA fightersfrom the region. The week before theshow, Bean was notified that only 100tickets had been sold. Not willing togive up, the venue owner called time outwith the upstart promoter and utteredthe dreaded words that many a marriedman has heard: “I think you need to gohome and talk it over with your wife.”

Bean was torn, but he had to swallowhis pride and cancel his first show. Helost $17,000 due to non-refundableplane tickets, advertising and venuecosts. Months later on March 18, 2000,Ring of Fire debuted in the 400-seatRed and Jerry’s Event Center in Denver.Sure, it wasn’t a big, sprawling arena,but he packed in 700 fans and turnedaway another 200. He may have lostmoney on the first show, but he gainedsomething far more important. “Itsucked to go through it at the time, butit was very good for me. I had no fearand it grounded me…made me morerealistic.”

The promoter also knew that spectaclesdon’t last forever…sports do. Hepitched MMA to the reestablishedColorado State Boxing Commission andgot them onboard to sanction events—Bean promoted the first sanctionedMMA show in the state. And with that,he set out to become the premiere MMApromotion in Colorado. Taking a cuefrom Steve Nelson, Bean learned to getthe local community behind the fight,much like they would for a high schoolfootball game, growing stars from thecommunity. One such star was Duane“Bang” Ludwig, a boyish-looking kick-boxing prodigy. “When he came to thegym, he really didn’t like me at first.But after he fought for me at the firstRing of Fire, I booked him a kickboxingmatch in New York. We flew out togeth-er and neither of us had ever been therebefore. We bonded and have beenfriends ever since. I consider him my lit-tle brother and he considers me his bigbrother. One of the biggest benefits ofRing of Fire is that relationship. Andthough I am close to all my guys, at theend of the day, people know it’s Boogieand Bang.”


68 The World-famous

To date, Ring of Fire has 34 showsunder its belt and Bean is in negotia-tions for a TV deal. He has never lostmoney on any of his events and regular-ly packs venues with 4,000 to 5,000people. His sponsors have also stuckwith him. “It’s important to mentionTapouT who has been with me from thevery beginning. I met these guys backin 1998 and they have sponsored meever since. They didn’t have to do any-thing, but they saw something in meand what I was doing, and for that, I ameternally grateful.”

Bean has created a realbrand with Ring of Fire,but he’s never lost sightof his place in the sport.When asked about thebest advice he could giveto any fight promoter, hequickly answered, “Don’tget too big for yourbritches. Don’t spendmore than you can afford,stick to reality and knowyour market.” Since thisauthor has known Bean(nearly 10 years), he hasalways operated as a one-man show with a cellphone and computer. Theonly thing that haschanged is the addition ofa computer, though comefight week, he has adozen folks to assist inthe production in frontand behind the camera.His wife Lisa handles theVIPs.

When asked about hisfavorite Ring of Firematch, Bean cites Leonard Garcia vs.Jake Hattan from Ring of Fire 2.“Neither guy was all that technical atthis point in their careers, but neitherfighter wanted to lose and put every-thing on the line. It was the secondround of a four-man tournament, andalthough Garcia caught him, it was amatch that people talked about formonths.” His second favorite would bea kickboxing title match betweenDuane Ludwig and Muay Thai champi-on Malapaiet Sitprapom. A distinctionbetween Ring of Fire and other MMA

promotions stemmed from the fact thatROF regularly held kickboxing match-es. Ring of Fire tested out the cage forits 29th installment, and when a pollcame back 98% in favor of, the promo-tion dropped the ring and kickboxingaltogether. Despite not liking the cagefrom a spectator standpoint, Bean sayshe always has his fan’s best interests atheart.

With such a successful promotion, Beanhas created stars not only out of DuaneLudwig, but Pete Spratt, Leonard Garcia,

Mike Nickels, Alvin Robinson, and mostrecently Shane Carwin, Donald Cerroneand Eliot Marshall. Though he has put inthe time and effort to create these stars,it’s inevitable that if they win, the bigshow will come calling. “Yeah, it sucksto lose a fighter to the UFC. Your crowdgets accustomed and they become localheroes, which is my formula. But if youcan string three-four wins in ROF, youget the call. If they really want to be afighter, their ultimate goal is to be in theUFC. If we’re the launch pad, that’s not abad thing. But sometimes people forget

where they came from. There have beenfighters that have left and now they are‘superstars’; they think they’re too coolfor school. There are other guys who arealso on top, and when they see me in aroom, they come over and shake my handand say, ‘Thanks for everything Boogie!’That means a lot to me.”

Bean maintains a strong relationship withthe UFC, and in particular, matchmakerJoe Silva, but cites Scott Coker ofStrikeforce as his mentor in relation tobuilding Ring of Fire to the level it is at

today. Boogiemanages over 20fighters and reg-ularly travelswith them toguide theircareers outsideof Ring of Fire.And though hehas long hungup the gloves,that’s only onthe competitionside as he stilltrains regularlywith Ludwigand the boys atthe official Ringof Fire trainingcenter, InnerStrength Fitness.

So where did“Boogie” comefrom? “It’s abusiness thing—a mover andshaker—some-one who getsthings done. Butnow my guys

have taken it to a whole new level.They’ll say, ‘Boogie up some sponsors’or ‘Boogie up a fight.’ They know thatBoogie gets her done.” And how.

For more information on Ring of Fire,check out www.rofmma.com. Also checkout Inner Strength Fitness atwww.goisf.com with instructors AlvinRobinson and Brandon Thatch, son ofClarence Thatch.

i www.rofmma.com


70 The World-famous


74 The World-famous



The list of fighters who havemade their name by appearingon SpikeTV’s The UltimateFighter is long and distinguished.Forrest Griffin and DiegoSanchez paved the way for atidal wave of future stars thatfirst appeared in our livingrooms through the cameras atthe TUF house. Season three’swinner, Michael “The Count”Bisping, was the first and onlyEnglish born winner of theseries. He took his fame andundefeated record into theUFC and has emerged as oneof their most popular and mar-ketable fighters. Now he hascome full circle, appearing ascoach of the UK team inSeason Nine against the DanHenderson-led U.S. team. Butlife wasn’t always glitz and glam-our for the Brit.

Born on a military base in Cyprus, an islandin the eastern part of the MediterraneanSea, Bisping grew up in the small town ofClitheroe, located in Lancashire in WesternEngland. As the middle child of six kids,his fighting roots started early. “The fight-ing side comes from my dad and olderbrothers beating me up on a daily basis.” Aswith any family that large, especially with alot of boys, the playful rough-housing wasa common occurrence. “It certainly wasn’ta quiet house…I’ll say that. I don’t want todisrespect my family, but to say it was aquiet house would be a massive lie.”

Mrs. Bisping not only had to put up withhousehold fights; her boys were alsotrained martial artists. His father was a ser-geant major in the English Army andserved for many years. He instilled in hissons the desire to train martial arts, learningto defend themselves and staying physical-ly fit. Bisping credits his father for drivinghim all over when he was younger to findthe best places to train.


76 The World-famous

His older brother Konrad is a particularhero of Bisping’s; the UFC star’s tonechanged somberly when he spoke abouthim. For Michael, he was one of the bestmartial artists of the family and quite theathlete. “He did jujitsu and kickboxing andearly forms of MMA. He turned his focusto rugby and was on the Army rugby teamuntil he was forced to stop. He had an acci-dent, well…to say he had an accident, hewas attacked in the Army.”

Konrad was a commanding officer in theEnglish Army and it was his job to keep hisunit well trained and ready for deploymentto Iraq. One particular soldier didn’t takekindly to Konrad’s discipline, so during atraining exercise, he took a full-sized pickaxe and struck Konrad in the head. “It near-ly killed him,” Bisping remembered. “Hewas practically dead and the doctors said hewould die. He had brain damage. He wasunconscious for a week or so. The preachercame in and gave him his last rights. All ofa sudden, he just sat up and asked for a cupof coffee.”

Konrad suffered some brain damage and is95% blind. Although he requires a caregiv-er 24/7, he still has built himself a fulfilledlife and has stayed active. He is currentlyranked third in the world in shot-put anddiscus, and is training for the 2012 LondonParalympics. “He is still probably one ofthe last guys I would want to meet in theOctagon,” commented Bisping.

It was Konrad who helped Michael’s mar-tial arts progress the most outside of hisfather. “I tagged along and followed mybrother to a jujitsu club and I wanted apiece of the action.” They would train at atraditional Japanese jujitsu club near hishome for the best training they could find.The jujitsu club was pretty hardcore withlots of sparring and one of the closest thingsto MMA in the area at the time. At age 16,Bisping ran his own jujitsu club and com-peted in kickboxing matches, amassing a12-1 record.

Life started catching up with Bisping as itoften does however. By early adulthood hehad two kids and training had to take abackseat to raising and supporting his fam-ily. During that time he started contemplat-ing the direction of his life, wondering whathe wanted to do. “I was always envious ofother kids who went to college and knew

“I used to go down toNottingham to train,regularly sleeping inmy car at winter. I’d

sit in my car withthree inches of snow

all over my car—freezing cold—sleep-

ing in those condi-tions just so I could

train in the morning.That’s what I had to

do. If you don’t makesacrifices, you won’t

get anywhere.”



exactly what they wanted to do, stay thatcourse and career path. I started driftingaround.” He found himself always driftingback to fighting, so he decided to take agamble and become a professional fighter.

Originally Bisping planned on following inhis family’s footsteps by joining the Army.“I was going to join many, many timesbecause I never knew what I wanted to dowith myself. I thought I would join theArmy. I knew I always wanted to be a fight-

er, so one of my plans was to join the Armyand join the boxing team. That way I couldget paid a wage while I was training boxing,then come out of the Army and turn pro. Inever actually did it. I’m glad I didn’t, oth-erwise I never would have found mixedmartial arts.”

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

family and work as a DJ for extra money. Itwas a tough start for Bisping who faced atrial not unlike many new fighters. “This isthe thing people don’t realize. I’m success-ful now in MMA; I’m making money andall the rest of it. But people don’t realizewhat I did back then. I remember manytimes when I used to go down toNottingham to train, regularly sleeping inmy car at winter. I’d sit in my car with threeinches of snow all over my car—freezingcold—sleeping in those conditions just so I

could train in the morning.That’s what I had to do. Ifyou don’t make sacrifices,you won’t get anywhere.”

The sacrifices started to payoff. Bisping was a naturaland the years of trainingand getting beat up by hisbrothers gave him a headstart. After taking his firstpro fight for no pay, hiscareer took shape. “Iknocked my opponents outreally quick. I got lucky tobe honest. I got quite a bigname fairly quickly inEngland. In my third fight,I fought for the Cage Ragebelt on Sky TV andknocked out the biggestchampion. I won the CageRage belt and kind of got abreak early. So for Englishterms, I got good purses.Again it wasn’t much.Really from about sixmonths into it, I was mak-ing money being a fighterbut it wasn’t much. I cer-tainly wasn’t going onvacation every month.”

After 10 pro fights,Bisping had won the Cage

Rage, Cage Warriors and XFC belt, essen-tially every major title in England. Hismanager Anthony McGann, also trainerand owner of the Wolfslair MMAAcademy, spoke to UFC matchmaker JoeSilva about signing his undefeatedprospect. The UFC felt the best route wasto cast Bisping on the next season of TheUltimate Fighter to launch the young Brit’scareer. So Bisping went to tryouts, signedup and was off to Las Vegas.

Bisping defeated Kristian Rothaermel byTKO, Ross Pointon by submission andJosh Haynes in the Finals to win the UFCcontract and become The Ultimate Fighter.“I absolutely enjoyed being on TheUltimate Fighter. It did great things for mycareer. It gave me a huge fan base. Somepeople cheer for me, some people boo me,but people know who I am.” More impor-tantly it created a new driving force inBisping. Being around the UFC, DanaWhite and coaches Tito Ortiz and KenShamrock gave Bisping major aspirationsto reach the pinnacle of his profession.

The 6’2” fighter found the same success inthe UFC that he found in England’s small-er circuits. He finished Eric Schafer andveteran Elvis Sinosic before winning bysplit decision over Ultimate Fighter rivalMatt Hamill. He would suffer his first andonly loss in a battle of undefeated fightersagainst season two winner Rashad Evans.The back and forth fight was close, butEvans’ wrestling and control gave him thejudge’s nod.

The loss to Evans reinvigorated Bisping tobring his fighting to the next level and todrop a weight class. “To be honest it wasn’ta direct result of losing to Rashad. It wasn’tthe case that I thought I couldn’t be com-petitive by ducking the bigger guys andgoing down in weight. Ever since the startof my career, everybody told me I should-n’t be fighting at light heavyweight; Ishould be fighting at middleweight—I’mtoo small. I was kind of stubborn and Ienjoyed the challenge of fighting the biggerguys anyway. I said all along I would keepgoing until I get beat, and when I get beat,I’ll drop down. The only problem is I keptwinning.” With his first loss, he stuck to hisgame plan and made the drop to 185pounds.

The large frame of Bisping would seem tomake the drop to middleweight a stagger-ing task, but it came easier than expected.On the day of his first weigh in at mid-dleweight he was already at the 185-poundlimit without cutting any extra the day of. “Iremember having a conversation withEddie Bravo in Montreal (before Bisping’sfight with Charles McCarthy). He askedwhat I was weighing and I told him 185. Hesaid, ‘185? Today? You could jump in thesauna and make welterweight. You shouldfight welterweight!’”

“I’m quite evasive.I’m good at avoiding thebig shots and I’ve got a

good chin anyway.”


78 The World-famous

Different weight class, same results.Bisping continued to stack up the winsand his star was once again on the rise.When the UFC Vice President of theUK, Marshall Zelaznik, brought up thepossibility of an Ultimate Fighter basedon UK vs. US, Bisping jumped at thechance being an obvious choice for thecoach of the UK team.

When asked which was harder, com-peting or coaching, he did not hesitateto answer. “I thought coaching on TUFwas more difficult, I really do. Ienjoyed the experience of coachingimmensely. It was a massive opportuni-ty to hand out my experience that Ihave gained over the years.” As a con-testant he was only responsible forhimself, but as a coach he was respon-sible for his entire team. He took hiscoaching role very seriously, knowingbetter than anyone the opportunitiesThe Ultimate Fighter can present anupcoming contender.

Season nine of The Ultimate Fighter,on SpikeTV Wednesday nights at10pm, has one of the toughest rosters inCoach Bisping’s opinion. While mostseasons have a mixture of legitimatecontenders and camera-hungry primadonnas, Bisping doesn’t think therewas any riffraff this season on TeamUK. “I’ll be honest this season, I reallycouldn’t pinpoint anyone. Maybe someguys on the US team were there to playaround. I can only speak for the Englishteam.”

Bisping’s rival coach, former Pridechampion Dan Henderson, is also hisfuture opponent at UFC 100 on July11th. Bisping has complete respect forHenderson despite some of the banterbetween them on the show. “I’m justtrying to have a f***ing laugh and getthrough my day.”

More important than their relationshipon the show is their match-up in theOctagon in a few months. “I’m reallyexcited to fight him,” stated Bisping. “Ihave nothing but respect for him andhis fighting ability and I don’t have totell you his accomplishments. He’s alegend in this sport. So trying to fightsomeone as good as that is a big chal-lenge for me and something I’m really

looking forward to. He’s still on the topof his game; he just beat Rich Franklin.So it’s a big test for me and I’m takingit very seriously. It’s a challenge I thinkI’m ready for, and to be honest, I thinkif I came into this in shape I could winquite comfortably.”

Bisping is even more confident style-wise. “I’ll be honest. I’m not concernedabout anything, seriously. He hits hardso obviously I’ll be wary of that, but I’mquite evasive. I’m good at avoiding thebig shots and I’ve got a good chin any-way. People on the Internet say I’ve gotno chin, but I have been hit by a lot ofpeople. I’ve never been knocked out inany my fights and kickboxing matches.I’m expecting a war and I’m expectingto walk out of there with a really sorejaw,” said laughing. Even withHenderson’s wrestling credentials as atwo-time Olympian, Bisping is con-vinced he has the anti-wrestling abilityto keep the fight where he wants it.

Assuming he beats Henderson; his eyeis on the title. The middleweight divi-sion of the UFC is not their deepest ros-ter. A few big wins can land you in titlecontention very quickly. “If I do beathim, then I just took out one of the bestguys in the world at that weight class. Idon’t know, I think maybe a fight withAnderson (Silva)? If I beat Hendersonthen maybe I’m due. People keep say-ing I’m ducking a title fight, but f*** it,if I beat Henderson…bring it on! Afterwatching Anderson’s last couple of per-formances, I’m dying to fight him.”

“The Count” has enough on his platenow to not worry about looking too farahead. The training camp he has assem-bled for his big match is stellar includ-ing the Wolfslair roster, severalBrazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, Greco-Roman wrestlers and “Rampage”Jackson who should provide a lot ofinsight having fought Henderson previ-ously. Let’s hope he doesn’t have tosleep in his car waiting for them toarrive.

[email protected]

www.eckounltd.comwww.wolfslairmma.co.ukwww.bisping.tv



With his unanimous decision over ThalesLeites at UFC 97 last April, AndersonSilva posted his record-breaking ninthconsecutive victory in the Octagon pass-ing up Jon Fitch and UFC Hall of FamerRoyce Gracie. After such an accomplish-ment, one would think celebration wouldbe in order for the dangerous Brazilianand his team. Instead of champagne bot-tles and pats on the back, Silva and hismanagement are fighting off critics.

The five-round snooze fest that was Silvavs. Leites consisted of Silva attackingwith strikes and the world champion BJJfighter Leites either running away or flop-ping on his back. Knowing that rolling onthe canvas was Leites’ only feasible wayto take his title, Silva was content with hisoccasional strikes to earn the unanimousdecision victory. While a perfect strategyfor maintaining control of his belt, it wasa tactic that resulted in boos from the

Montreal crowd. Even Anderson Silva’snumber one super-fan Dana White calledthe fight “disappointing.”

This was Silva’s second lackluster fight ina row. His last defense against CanadianPatrick Cote also involved Silva’s conser-vative striking style but ended in a bizarrethird-round injury to Cote’s knee as prob-ably the only thing keeping the fight fromturning into a five-round unanimous deci-

by RJ Clifford

What to Do With ThisANDERSON SILVA


82 The World-famous

sion. Both Cote and Leites seemed con-tent in simply surviving Anderson Silvainstead of defeating him as evidenced bytheir timid game plans. Leites’ proudproclamation as being the only guy to lastthe distance with the champ and Coteholding up three fingers at the start of thethird round more convinces this writer.

Through nothing but excellent fighting,Silva has thrown a monkey wrench intothe UFC middleweight division. He sin-glehandedly shoved Rich Franklin up tolight heavyweight, struck fear into theentire UFC stable of fighters and froze theprogression of potential big name stars in

the middleweight division like DemianMaia and Michael Bisping. Why then,when standard rhetoric from Dana Whitedemands fighters continue to win if theywant to remain in the UFC, would win-ning become an issue?

Despite his history of delivering exactlywhat UFC fans want—devastating knock-outs—Silva’s successes in the cage havenot translated into pay-per-view success,the lifeblood of the promotion. WhileUFC cards stacked with superstars canpull upwards of one million buys, Silva’scards hit basement-level numbers hover-

ing between 300,000 and 375,000 buys.Add to that his limited English and thescenario has created a real disconnectwith the fans, which in turn creates a realdisconnect with their wallets. Whiteattempted to side step this hurdle bypainting him as the best pound-for-poundfighter in the world, but now he’s paintedhimself into a corner.

This has left the UFC in quite the pickle.Who does your proclaimed best fightermatch up with when he cannot deliverpay-per-view numbers and your potentialnew stars cannot beat him?

Like any decent college philosophy pro-fessor, this writer will answer this ques-tion with a well thought out, reputableresponse, then proceed to demolish anyvalidity of that last statement and start allover again with another rock solidanswer. (You have to justify four years ofcollege somehow.)

NEW CONTENDERSThe UFC does have a respectable line ofpossible contenders in its piggy bank thatcan take a decent stab at King Silva.Yushin Okami has been the red-headedstep child of the division as he has gone 7-

1 in the Octagon, but has yet to be men-tioned by anyone at the UFC as a realpotential contender. Demian Maia hasreeled off five straight submission winsby choke and is becoming a cult favoritewith his ability to win fights withoutthrowing a punch.

The problem lies in the fact that a match-up against these two contenders has allthe makings of another Silva/Cote orSilva/Leites. Both fighters are experi-enced grapplers with little interest in slug-ging it out in an exchange that more timesthan not will end up with their brainsscrambled. Maia’s strategy will likelyparallel Leites; avoid damage, try for atakedown and pull guard when necessary.Silva is even less likely to play the jiu-jitsu game with Maia than he is Leites.Okami is a better takedown fighter, buthis reliance on the clinch and top controlmixed with Silva’s shaky, yet savvy take-down defense will result in a fight withmore time locked up against the fencethan looking for knockouts.

OLD CONTENDERSThe UFC’s second and third best mid-dleweights, Dan Henderson and NateMarquardt, are two of Silva’s brutal vic-tims but are better matchups against Silvaas far as creating an exciting fight.Henderson has never shied away from aslugfest and can always fall back on hisincredible wrestling pedigree to get himout of trouble and keep it interesting.Marquardt is a 38-fight veteran with hisonly losses in the UFC coming to Silvaand a split decision to Leites in a bout thatsaw Marquardt lose two points for illegalattacks.

While these matches present a better pos-sibility of an exciting fight, it is also atougher sell. Rematches have always beena well the UFC has been more than will-ing to dip into, but it still has to be doneunder a few guidelines. Unless the firstmatch presented some controversy thatneeds collusion, which neither fight did, acertain length of time is needed betweenfights to get fans onboard for a rematchthat might yield different results. BothHenderson and Marquardt are far alongenough in their careers that forging majorchanges in their ability is unlikely, espe-cially with Hendo. All in all, it’s a toughsell as a blockbuster title fight.

“Who does your proclaimedbest fighter match up withwhen he cannot deliver

pay-per-view numbers andyour potential new stars

cannot beat him?”



NON-UFC CONTENDERSLet’s face it, the middleweight divisionis one of the few where Zuffa does nothave a stranglehold on all the talent.MMA Worldwide’s rankings have onlysix out of the top ten best 185-poundersgracing the Octagon. Given the UFC’sapparent rock solid position of not co-promoting, they are going to have todig into a roster that is not their own tofind suitable contenders.

Robbie Lawler, Jorge Santiago, VitorBelfort and, provided he does not jumpup to light heavyweight, GegardMousasi would all be more than willingto battle Silva in far more entertainingways than fans witnessed with Leitesand Cote. But again, the chances of theUFC co-promoting are nil and thesefighters have contracts of their own thatlimit their ability to compete for theUFC, not because their contracts tiethem exclusively to their promotion,but because UFC contracts do. TheUFC would rather boost their mid-dleweight ranks with Ultimate Fighterrejects than give validity to a rival pro-motion.

WANDERLEI SILVALooking for a fighter who does not carewho he fights and is guaranteed tostand and trade with his opponent? Callin “The Axe Murderer.” Anderson’spast teammate at Chute Boxe is morethan wired to pursue the champion andcreates a perfect matchup of aggressivestriker versus counter striker. At onepoint, when asked in interviews if theywould fight each other, they refused,saying their friendship would preventthem from pursuing a fight against oneanother. As of late however, AndersonSilva has taken offense to WanderleiSilva dropping into “his” weight classat 185. A war of words has surfacedthat Zuffa could easily box up and sell,complete with ribbons and bows.

While the knee-jerk reaction fan in meis screaming for this match, it presentsanother line of problems. It would be atough sell, even to UFC fans, that aWanderlei Silva fighter that has lostfour out of his last five is due for a titleshot. Tie that into the fact that Silva hasnever fought at 185 pounds. This matchwould almost surely not happen if

Wanderlei losses to a man Andersonhas defeated twice in Rich Franklin.(See p. 22)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUTSThey have done it before and they can doit again. While the middleweight divisionis scratching and crawling for con-tenders, the light heavyweight division isoverflowing with them. Forrest Griffinand Quinton Jackson are past titleholdersthat will not back down. Keith Jardine isalways game and let’s not forget a unifi-cation bout if Rashad Evans defeatsLyoto Machida at UFC 98. (TeammatesMachida and Silva refuse to fight eachother.)

Bumping up Anderson Silva for lightheavyweight matches is like our federalbudget plan; it simply provides a band-aid. Silva has shown no interest in com-peting at 205 so as not to interfere withMachida’s plans at light heavyweightdomination and it does not serve the orig-inal purpose of finding a middleweightcontender. Even so, look for the UFC touse this tactic to buy some time withSilva facing a mid-level 205-pounder as aco-main event on a small market UFCcard guaranteed to sell out to hungryMMA fans regardless of who they put inthe cage.

GEORGES ST. PIERREIronically, this fight makes the mostsense. Both fighters are at the peak oftheir careers and both are quickly runningout of contenders. Provided GSP getspast Thiago Alves (no small order), Silvahas fought in Shooto at 167 pounds andRumble on the Rock at 175 pounds. St.Pierre is a monstrous welterweight someeting somewhere in the middle for acatch weight bout, or fighting for the185-pound title, would not be a stretchphysically for either man.

St. Pierre’s popularity is at an all-timehigh so the UFC could bank on his popu-larity and not have to rely on Silva’sweak drawing power. With the bad tasteleft in the mouth of MMA fans afterSilva’s past two performances, especiallyCanadian fans, the story of the bout couldpaint Silva as the villain and St. Pierre asthe knight in shining-spandex shorts.

[email protected]


84 The World-Famous

Ms.

MM

A W

orld

wid

e

Photos byJacob Andrzejczak

www.jsaphoto.com



Sarah Ashley BarkerHeight5'1"

Measurements34C-24-34

HometownLas Vegas, NV

Favorite FoodChips and Salsa

Dream VacationExploring Europe!

FavoriteActivitiesTraveling, going toparties and themedevents, readingmurder mysteries,scrapbooking,watching shows andfights, sleeping andsurfing the net!

Turn OnsAccents, dark hairand eyes, charm,funny, positive anddrive.

Turn OffsDouche bags. ;)


88 The World-famous

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 fight-

ers. We can’t fight forever, so hopefully we can make a

living out of this.

Q

by Connor Bell

Experts Roundtable

JAKE SHIELDSFor information on Jake Shields, logon to

www.jakeshields.com.

After EliteXC fizzled away it was Scott Coker promotedStrikeforce that swooped in and bought up the coveted contractsand television agreements left over by the defunct organization.Strikeforce has already promoted one show under the contractwith premium cable network Showtime and is swimming in thebig pool of MMA promotion. But how does all this affect thefighters?

Strikeforce Fighters



Jake Shields: I think that Strikeforce is a much more pro-

fessional 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.

Does a fighter treat a fight differently know-

ing 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 for-

ward 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.

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

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.

Q

Q

CUNG LEFor information on Cung Le,logon to www.cungle.com.


90 The World-famous

Cung Le: I think that it shouldn’t matter; you get to expe-

rience 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 over-

seas 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.

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 sta-

ble 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 fight-

Q

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



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.

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 main-

stream 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 judg-

ing 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 aggres-

sive here in the future. I think Scott Coker and Strikeforce

are really going to start turning the temperature up, pro-

moting 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

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.

Q

GILBERT MELENDEZFor information on Gilbert Melendez, logon to

www.myspace.com/gilmelendez.


92 The World-famous


*MMAworldwide-15 4/26/09 8:57 PM

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