MATCHES ANNOUNCED FOR FINAL CONFLICT 2004

At TOTAL ELIMINATION 2004 in April, sixteen fighters started, now four remain … only one will be champion!

Tournament Semi -Finals:
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Naoya Ogawa

Tournament Finals:
(Same Night)
Winner Nogueira/Kharitonov vs. Winner Emelianenko/Ogawa

Reserve Match:
Kevin Randleman vs. Ron Waterman

Non-tournament Matches:
Wanderlei Silva vs. Yuki Kondo
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Aleksander Emelianenko

• Although it was considered highly likely that former UFC Middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante would rematch Team Quest’s star Dan Henderson at the August Pride show, negotiations have been tough and now it looks like this match may not unfold. Murilo keeps training hard at the BTT headquarters and is willing to face another opponent if a re-match against Hendo isn’t possible at this point.
• Speaking of Brazilian Top Team, Paulo Filho’s performance against Akira Shoji at Pride Bushido 4 left a lot of people surprised, due to the lack of aggressiveness in the fight. What most doesn’t know though, is that Filho, who broke his hand in his fight against Matsui in Korea, suffered a serious car accident a few days before his departure to Japan, where he aggravated his hand injury. This made it almost impossible for the BTT fighter to perform his usual game, as he fought anyway and managed to sneak out a judges’ decision in his favor.
• MMA legend Royce Gracie just recently finished another European seminar tour, where he did seminars in Italy and Spain, among other countries, and now is back to L.A. for a quick period before traveling to Japan next week for more seminars. Although rumors are flying high regarding Royce’s next fight, likely at the New Year’s eve Pride show, there’s nothing sure right now regarding Genki Sudo as an opponent. Gracie is negotiating right now, and will likely be fighting, but the opponent at this point is anyone’s guess.
• The newest BJJ phenom around continues to dominate, as Ronaldo Jacare battled his way into winning the absolute black belt division on the BJJ World Championship, the most traditional of the two world championships of the "smooth art", known as the "Mundial". Being promoted by CBJJ, the 9th edition of the tournament brought the Alliance and Gracie Barra fighters to action, while Nova Uniao members were absent as usual. Ronaldo Jacare showed once again his amazing shape, as his became the absolute division champion after he defeated names such as Alexandre Ribeiro, Erik Wanderlei before defeating Roger Gracie on the finals, in a true effort as reports have that Roger broke Jacare’s arm in their final match, but Ronaldo survived and won by a score of 4 to 2. The injury caused Jacare to drop out during his run in the light heavyweight division, but didn’t prevent the young fighter to be the biggest stand out in the competition.

"I’m really excited and I’m really looking forward to fighting because its been a long time coming for me to fight there," said Sefo, an eight-year veteran of K-1 martial arts fighting whose best finish in "The New Fighting Sport" came in 2000 when he placed as runner-up during the annual "World Grand Prix Finals" tournament. Staged in Tokyo, Japan’s 70,000 crowd capacity Tokyo Dome, the event saw Sefo defeat two consecutive opponents before losing a judges decision to "Mr. Perfect" Ernesto Hoost. "I think, for me, physically and mentally I’m in the best shape of my life. Three years ago, I tried to put on a little bit of weight and I was coming into the ring at 240 or 245. Then, I got really sick right before the Grand Prix last year and, by New Years Day this year, I was like 260 pounds. It was a good wake up call for me. I knew it was time to get back in shape. I hired a few personal trainers and went from 260 to walking around at 230."

A native of New Zealand, the 33-year-old Sefo last saw action on June 26th when he went to war with 6 foot 3 inch, 360-pound former NFL football player, Bob "The Beast" Sapp, in Shizuoka, Japan. After trading blows with Sapp for a round, Sefo stepped up his game and unloaded a barrage of punches on the mammoth fighter. A Sefo right hook sent Sapp down for the 10-count at the 29 second mark of the second round.

Aside from his achievements in the K-1 circuit, Sefo is a four-time world champion in the sport of Muay Thai. His charisma and competitive nature in the squared circle have gained him an enormous international fanbase as well as a host of product endorsements.

Loiacono, a 35-year-old from New Jersey, comes to K-1 from the world of professional boxing where he earned 14 of his 17 career wins by way of knockout. Thoroughly impressed with his level of power, K-1 executives recently signed the fighter to a three-fight contract.

"It’s a great opportunity to be a part of something as big as K-1 and I’m looking forward to getting started," said the 6 foot 1 inch, 225-pound knockout artist, who has trained alongside some of the biggest names in "the sweet science," including former world champions Roy Jones, Jr, Ray Mercer, and Bobby Czyz. On January 12, 1996, Loiacono scored a first round stoppage on Robert Kirish during the undercard of a bill headlined by Jones, Jr. in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. "This guy had been in there with so many more people than me, but there’s a certain side that comes out of me when I fight. People used to call me lionheart and it’s really a lion that comes out. So, my first K-1 opponent is gonna be in for a rude awakening."

Tickets for Saturday, August 7th’s K-1 "Battle at Bellagio III" extravaganza can be purchased both online in the K-1 USA website (www.k-1usa.net) store as well as at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino box office by calling 1-800-963-9634. Tickets are priced at $50, $100, $150, and $250, respectively. The live Pay-Per-View television broadcast of the event will begin at 10 PM Eastern Standard Time (7 PM Pacific Standard Time).