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Thursday, Oct 24, 2002

British Fighters Freeman, Weir; Heavyweight Mir Complete Ufc 40: Vendetta Pay-per-view Card, Nov. 22, At Mgm Grand


From Josh Hedges/Zuffa:



UFC Logo
BRITISH FIGHTERS FREEMAN, WEIR; HEAVYWEIGHT MIR COMPLETE UFC 40: VENDETTA PAY-PER-VIEW CARD, NOV. 22, AT MGM GRAND
All-Star Lineup Will Feature Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock Light Heavyweight Title Fight; Matt Hughes To Defend Welterweight Belt
Tickets Now On Sale; Chuck Liddell To Fight Renato "Babalu" Sobral


      LAS VEGAS, October 24, 2002… The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will offer fight fans an All-Star lineup at UFC 40: Vendetta, live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m., EST, Friday, Nov. 22, from the MGM Grand with today’s addition to the eight-fight card of two of Britain’s top fighters, Heavyweight Ian Freeman and Middleweight Mark Weir, and Heavyweight Frank Mir of Las Vegas. Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz will meet UFC legend Ken Shamrock for that title in the main event and Welterweight Champ Matt Hughes will defend his belt for the third time against Gil Castillo in the co-main event. In addition, Light Heavyweight top contender Chuck Liddell will take on Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Tickets, $300, $200, $100, $60 and $30, can be purchased at the MGM Grand box office and all Ticketmaster locations, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-877-880-0880 and 702-474-4000, or at www.ticketmaster.com.
      UFC 40: Vendetta will be available at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, BellExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. The suggested retail price is $29.95.
      Freeman, 13-5-0 in Mixed Martial Arts, of Sunderland, England, will clash with Andrei Arlovski, 5-3-0, of Minsk, Belarus, in a battle of strong strikers. Freeman is a former boxer who is also well-versed in jiu-jitsu and wrestling. In addition to previous UFC victories over Nate Schroeder and Tedd Williams, he won the FNC World Championship in Russia and defeated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Carlos Barreto to win the Hook N Shoot Super Heavyweight Championship. He handed Mir his first UFC loss with a first-round technical knockout July 13 at UFC 38: Brawl At Royal Albert Hall in London. Arlovski, a sambo/kickboxing style fighter, is a former World Sambo Champion and European Mixed Fighting Champion.
      Weir, 17-0-0, of Gloucester, England, will meet Phillip Miller, 14-0-0, of Hesperia, Calif., in a battle of unbeaten fighters. Weir, the U.K.’s top ranked middleweight contender, made an explosive UFC debut July 13 before a hometown crowd in London with a 10-second knockout of veteran Eugene Jackson. A Tae Kwon Do black belt, Weir opened with a kick to the chin that Jackson dodged, followed by a hard right hand that ended the fight. Miller, a striker/grappler, also made a successful UFC debut on the same London card with a hard-fought, unanimous decision over the U.K.’s James Zikic. Miller moved up to the light heavyweight division for that fight, but will return to middleweight to meet Weir.
      Mir, 4-1-0, of Las Vegas, will fight veteran wrestler/grappler Vladimir Matyushenko, 11-2-0, of Los Angeles, Calif., who is moving up a weight class for the fight. Before running into Freeman in London, Mir earned two UFC victories in less than two minutes. In an impressive debut November 2, 2001, at UFC 34: High Voltage in Las Vegas, he defeated previously unbeaten Brazilian Roberto Traven by armbar submission in just over a minute. In his second fight March 22 at UFC 36: Worlds Collide in his hometown, he submitted veteran Pete Williams by modified shoulder lock in just 47 seconds. Matyushenko will be formidable. In his last UFC fight, he met Ortiz for the light heavyweight championship Sept. 28, 2001 at UFC 33: Victory In Vegas. With less than two weeks to prepare, he went the full five rounds and gave the champ all he could handle.
      The Ortiz, 10-2-0, of Huntington Beach, Calif., versus Shamrock, 8-4-2, of San Diego, Calif., showdown for the light heavyweight title will settle a long-standing vendetta. Fight fans are well aware they have a major score to settle based on hostilities between each other, although the two have never fought. Shamrock is a UFC legend who was its first super fight champion. Ortiz has risen through the ranks to become light heavyweight champ and represents the new UFC.
      The Ultimate Fighting Championship, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., is the world’s leading mixed martial arts sports association. Owned and operated by Zuffa LLC, the UFC programs six live pay-per-view events yearly through cable and satellite providers. In addition to its U.S. distribution on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada, UFC events are distributed internationally through British Sky Broadcasting, WOWOW, Inc. in Japan, Globosat in Brazil and Modern Sports and Entertainment in Scandinavia. UFC licenses video games for all major playing platforms through Crave Entertainment.
      The UFC’s next live PPV event will be UFC 40: Vendetta at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on Friday, Nov. 22, from the MGM Grand.


Warriors Quest 8:
Young Guns: Wanted Dead or Alive

Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
October 24,2002
By Chris Onzuka – Chris@Onzuka.com

Nick Diaz punching Harris Sariento from mount
Warriors Quest 8, aptly named Young Guns, gave a chance for Hawaii’s young fighters to gain experience and build their records. The great thing about up and comers is that they go into fights with something to prove and nothing to lose, so the action is usually high intensity. Tonight was no exception, some fighters found out what people meant when they said that one mistake can cost you the match, while a few of the others fought it our for at least one round. The event was hurt by poor attendance, two matches being dropped due to two no-shows and bad refereeing. The referee halted one match prematurely to the extreme dismay of the losing fighter; one match way too late and he restarted two fighters that had just barely started touching the ropes instead of dragging them into the center of the ring. The crowd did not like this at all. Paul Smith flew to Hawaii for this show as his International Fighting Championship sanctioned all the bouts. Overall the event ran smoothly with exception of the problems previously mentioned.

Augie Padekan punching from inside Desmond Miner's guard
Cruiserweight 2×5-Minutes
Augie Padekan def. Desmond Miner (Koden Kan)
TKO via referee stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 1:27 into round 2.

Constructed 140lbs
Kyle Takai (HMC) def. Josh Vierra (Universal Roughhousing)
TKO via referee stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 0:54 into round 1.

Cruiserweight Constructed 190lbs 2×5-Minutes
Kapono Spencer (Team Spencer) def. Jason Verdadero (Bulls Pen)
Submission via strangle choke (both hands on neck) at 2:10 into round 1.

Middleweight 170lbs 2×5-Minutes
Tripstin Kerisiano (808 Fight Factory) def. John Naole (HMC)
Unanimous Decision after 2 Round.

Welterweight 155lbs. 2×5-Minutes
Neal Andres (HMC) def. Jim Kikuchi (808 Fight Factory)
TKO via referee stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 2:52 into round 1. Questionable call due to the fact that Kikuchi was getting up when the fight was stopped.

Welterweight 170lbs. 2×5-Minutes
Nick Diaz (Cesar Gracie) def. Harris Sariento (Koden Kan)
TKO via corner calling an end to the match due to strikes at 1:47 into round 2.

Lightweight 155lbs. 3×5-Minutes
Jamal Perkins (808 Fight Factory) def. JR Palmer (Universal Rough)
TKO via referee stoppage due to unanswered strikes at 2:50 into round 2.

IFC Championship 185lbs. 3×5-Minutes
Steve Heath (Cesar Gracie) def. Mark Moreno (Bulls Pen)
Submission via heel hook at 20 into round 1.

posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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