Superbrawl 31: Crossroads
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SuperBrawl 31: Crossroads Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii September 20, 2003 By Chris Onzuka Due to a last minute injury to his eye, Hawaii’s most popular MMA fighter, Egan Inoue had to pull out of his fight with Team Oyama’s Jason Miller. This fight was supposed to keep Inoue sharp and prepared for a possible rematch with Masanori Suda in November. The rematch is rumored to be very close to finalizing for the November event. Due to Inoue’s withdraw, the Vitale-Ellison fight was made the main event and local kickboxer, Shawn Taylor stepped up to fight Miller. Vitale is another Hawaii fighter with big plans for November, where he is rumored to make his return to the UFC for a possible rematch with Matt Linland, who Vitale beat via a freak KO in their last meeting. Even with Inoue out and the shuffling of the main event, SuperBrawl 31 brought together a solid card with great matches like Jhun-Ghosen and Yagin-Yueng. Ghosen’s leg kicks edged him out the victory as these two fighters just went after each other in a great battle of striking exchanges and heart. At times the Yagin-Yeung fight was a sleeper due to the fact that both fighters are primarily counter punches and were waiting to react off of each other. One judge gave it to Yeung due to his effective leg kicks, but the other two judges saw it even. In addition there were some surprises like King Kong beating Fulton by out striking him and displaying superior take down defense. And Shawn Taylor’s sheer tenacity as Jason Miller put on a submission clinic, locking Taylor in everything but the kitchen sink, but Taylor would some how get out of it. He finally had to put Taylor to sleep in a triangle to finish the match. Tons of heart was shown by Taylor for staying in the fight. Exhibition 3×1 minute rounds 135lbs 3×3 minute rounds 185lbs 3×3 minute rounds Heavyweight 3×3 minute rounds 170lbs 3×5 minute rounds 185lbs 3×5 minute rounds 145lbs 3×5 minute rounds 160lbs 3×5 minute rounds 185lbs 3×5 minute rounds |
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JUNGLE FIGHT REVIEW: Amazing landscape sets the stage for MMA matches in Brazil By Eduardo Alonso At the last Saturday, September 13th, the show that attracted the curiosity of many MMA fans around the world finally became reality at the Brazilian Northern region. Jungle Fight surely had a breakthrough concept as a fighting show was never brought so near the Amazon Forrest, and the Wallid Ismail/Antonio Inoki partnership succeed in that field as the event took place in a location that needed a two hours boat ride to reach the venue were the fights too place. The atmosphere was interesting, and expectation was created from the get going to please the local government who invested in the idea and helped making the show a reality. With a small crowd composed only of guests and mostly VIP people, and a number of fighting personalities, the stage was set to create a savage environment betting on the jungle-like concept as it couldn’t be different in a show that was happening deep in the rain forest. However, unfortunately not all of the fights lived up to the magnitude of the stage and the persons involved as some of the combats had a huge difference in skills between the competitors. Thankfully though, some fights still manage to portrait the real skills of today’s MMA fighters bringing everybody a taste of good action. The show kicked off with the return of fighting veteran Ebenezer Fontes Braga, doing his first outing as a Brazil Dojo member (Inoki and Wallid’s Brazilian team) facing MECA veteran Rodrigo "Riscado". Braga was coming to this fight as the favorite and needing a win, after his loss to American sensation Forrest Griffin at Heat FC 1 and this is what he got. The fight merely lasted a minute as Ebenezer sunk in a guillotine choke at his opponent’s first takedown attempt, that caused Riscado to oddly go out despite not showing a huge effort to escape. Props to Braga who is back on the winning track and is still a very talented fighter who deserves respect. Another Brazil Dojo fighter making his team debut was Marcelo Tigre. Famous for the controversy on most of his combats, Tigre showed an uncharacteristic calmness in this fight against the inexperienced Joseph Banguis, taking him down and working a rear-naked choke in another quick match, where Tigre didn’t have to spend energy to throw almost any strikes in the match to defeat his opponent, who didn’t belong in the same ring with him. Outwheighing his opponent by around 30 kg, PRIDE veteran Ricardo Morais also did quick work of unknown fighter "Mestre Fumaca", who came in with a Capoeira background and proved to be no match for the Brazilian Giant. Morais simply took the fight to the ground, passed his opponent’s guard and threw some strikes from the mount to have the fight ended by the referee, showing he could be matched against a tougher opponent. Before Jungle Fight took place the show was believed to have some Pro-Wrestling matches, however as the pay per view broadcast started none of the fights were billed as such, and this left the fans wondering since some of the fights had pro wrestling characters performing and left a uncertainty on everybody’s mind. PRIDE veteran Murakami Kazunari took Lee "Young Gun" from Korea in a fight were both fighters came with intensity, and soon after a scramble in the ground Kazunari found an armbar from the guard to win the match in the early minutes. Later in the evening Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Shane Etner by dominating the groundwork and working his positions until he got a key lock on his opponent. As those fighters were billed as real, they surely were and hopefully we’ll see the winners in future fights against tough opponents so they can attest their skills and keep their hard fought winning streak.
A good surprise for both promoters and fans was the showing of young fighter Lyoto Machida, who showed good ring composure and stand-up skills in his victory over Stephan Bonner. Lyoto punished Bonner a lot in the stand up exchanges, connecting with kicks and punches and making his opponent bleed a lot, causing the fight to be stopped for several times to allow the doctors to check his cuts, until they decided Stephan couldn’t continue. Make no mistake about it, as Lyoto has some decent skills. The so awaited debut of rAw team master Rico Chiapparelli came with a win to his record, in a match where he completely dominated his opponent, controlling the Wrestling during the whole match and pounding Luis Pantera with strikes from the top. Rico sure showed good skills, as everybody believed he has, and can take a tougher opponent in his next fight, if he wants to do one. On the other hand American Wrestler Mark Schultz came back to the scene years and years after his UFC outing to experience a defeated to the hands of young Brazilian BJJ fighter Leopoldo Montenegro. Mark maybe suffered from ring rust, and lack of knowledge about his opponent as Montenegro quickly adjusted a triangle choke after being taken down by Schultz, in a surprisingly quick match up that can add a lot to the Brazilian young career.
As it was said previously, some fights brought a lot of excitement to the show, whether due to the skill lever of the fighters, or to the will showed by then in pursuit of the win. In a back and forth exciting match, Abu Dhabi runner up Fabricio Werdum stopped last MECA winner Gabriel Napao by Ref. Stoppage in the final round, after two rounds of a war by both fighters. In the first round, Napao managed to take Werdum down a lot of times, but couldn’t capitalize from the top position. As the fight continued, Fabricio started to turn things around and get the better of the stand up, hurting Napao with punches and knees, and getting top position often on the ground, until Gabriel couldn’t take it anymore, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Pancrase veteran Evagelista Cyborg took on HEAT FC fighter Lucas Lopes and both fighters ended up doing a stand up match for most of the bout. As Cyborg was able to defend Lopes’ takedown attempts, Lucas found himself forced to stand up against the dangerous striker, resorting to butt scoot on some occasions, but managing to handle himself in most moments. In the middle of the fight the lights went out around three times, causing the fight to be stopped and then re-started later. After those problems Cyborg finally managed to take work of the already tired Lucas with good low kicks to finally win a TKO at the second round. In the main event of the show veteran MMA fighter Jorge Macaco Patino proved his will and experience were too much for BJJ phenom Ronaldo Jacare. Jacare was visibly nervous in his MMA debut, and made the mistake of trying to trade blows with Macaco, who wanted the fight to be a stand up war. After some exchanges, with wild punches being thrown, Patino ended up catching Jacare with a strong right hand that sent Ronaldo to the mat dazed, only to stumble later after trying to regain his feet, giving Macaco a KO win to get his career back on track. The other fight of the show saw American Justin McCully defeating Dario Amorim by judges’ decision in a fight that was spent almost all in the clinch position. Overall Jungle Fight managed to attend its proposal to gather everybody’s attention, and in such a gorgeous landscape fights may have been only a detail, so let’s wait for the next one! |
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From Koichi "Booker K" Kawasaki: K-1 SURVIVAL 2003 JAPAN GP FINAL K-1 SURVIVAL 2003 JAPAN GP FINAL takes in Japan on Sep 21. K-1 will host an 8-man Japan GP tournament and K-1 super fight and 2 MMA fight. Kimo is off of the card, Ivan Salaverry is in as his replacment and will fight against Rene Roose under MMA rules. In other K-1 news, reknowned boxer Francois Botha made an appeal at the press conference to participate in K-1 in the near future. K-1 SURVIVAL 2003 JAPAN GP FINAL 11th Match Tournament – Final 3x3min 10th Match Super Fight 3x5min – MMA RULE 9th Match Super Fight 3x5min – MMA RULE 8th Match Tournament – Semi Final 2nd Fight 3x3min 7th Match Tournament – Semi Final 1st Fight 3x3min 6th Match Super Fight 3x3min – K-1 RULE 5th Match Super Fight 3x3min – K-1 RULE 4th Match Tournament – Quarter Final 4th Fight 3x3min 3rd Match Tournament – Quarter Final 3rd Fight 3x3min 2nd Match Tournament – Quarter Final 2nd Fight 3x3min 1st Match Tournament – Quarter Final 1st Fight 3x3min |
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From the event’s promoter: COMBATZONE 3 Saturday, September 20, 2003 Club Lido, Wonderland Entertainment Center, Revere, MA RESULTS Professionals HEAVYWEIGHTS — Jason Bonacorsi, Concord (NH) WUDEC5 John Marzullo, Providence (RI). SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS – Gary Bonenfant, Manchester (NH) WSDEC5 Frank D’Ambra Rochester (NY), (Bonefant won New England Combatzone Championship) Amateurs Full Contact Kickboxing MIDDLEWEIGHTS – Huzon Alexander, Waterbury (VT) WTKO2 Richard Feliciano, New Bedford (MA), (Alexander retained NE Combatzone Championship); Billy Allison, Manchster (NH) WTKO2 Greg Rogers, Concord (NH). FEMALE WELTERWEIGHTS – Dawna Creighton, Quincy (MA) WUDEC3 Suzie Paschkewitz, (Boston (MA). San Shou WELTERWEIGHTS – Michael Norman, Boston (MA) WUDEC3 James Battle, New York City (NY); Albert Pope, Riverdale (CT) WUDEC3 Ian Morgan, New York City (NY). Mixed Martial Arts SUPER HEAVYWEIGHTS – Joe Borges, Fall River (MA) WS1 Richard Mitchell, Attica (NY). CRUISERWEIGHTS – John McCarron, Dorchester (MA) WTKO1 Rob Marvin, Churchville (NY). Muay Thai CRUISERWEIGHTS – Derrick Szmyt, Boston (MA) WDQ1 Bill Newcomb, Revere (MA). Combatzone 4 will be held Dec 6 featuring champion Tony "TNT" Ventura, New Bedford (MA) vs. No. 1 contender Tommy "The Terminator" Kimber, Lynn (MA) for the world super middleweight championship at Club Lido in Revere (MA). |
