John Lewis

The World Fighting Alliance made its presence known today here in Las Vegas, with an official press conference/weigh-ins at the Aladdin Resort & Casino for its Level 3 show. Off the bat, the big news of the day came with co-promoter John Lewis’ announcement that the promotion had struck a (free) cable TV deal with the FOX Sports Network for a four-part series revolving around its show. The show, aptly titled "The World Fighting Alliance," is set to air January 21st and will introduce a new episode each week over the span of a month. According to a press release distributed at the event, "the episode will feature fight footage from past WFA events, including the WFA: Level 3 show." Lewis’ announcement was met with a definitive round of applause from a packed room of press, fighters, entourages, and fans that had come to observe the proceedings. Co-promoter John Huntington, the mastermind behind the popular "Club Rubber" traveling club parties, was also on hand to promise an even more elaborate display of lights, laser schemes, and trendy music. With a 15-minute performance by rap pioneer Ice-T, along with the usual offerings of gorgeous go-go dancers and wandering beauties, the event should uphold its "fight club meets the night club" mantra easily. The Aladdin’s Performing Arts Center boasts spacious, stadium-formatted seating and will have the capacity to hold 5,000 spectators for tomorrow night’s card of seven fights.

On to the weigh-ins–the entire card of fourteen promising fighters set to battle it out tomorrow night made weight with little problem.

VanArsdale

McCullough

Eastman

In the co-main event for tomorrow evening, "Brazilian Killa" Alex Stiebling came in at 200 pounds, while hometown boy Marvin "The Beastman" Eastman weighed in at 204 pounds. Stiebling plays an aggressive well-rounded game, while Eastman’s wrestling and Muay Thai background should serve him well. This fight has some serious potential as a crowd-pleaser.

Stiebling

Shaolin

Black

Next up were welterweights Chad Saunders and Jason Black. American Kickboxing Academy’s Saunders came in at 170, while opponent Black, a Miletich Martial Arts fighter, weighed in at 169.5 pounds. Saunders’ strength is the ground, while Black is an All-American wrestler with a superior sprawl and improved standup.

Grappling Unlimited’s Eddie Yagin easy made his lightweight bout at 153 pounds, while his opponent, the elusive Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro was 155 on the dot. At 4-0, Ribeiro represents the Nova Uniao team out of Brazil. Hawaiian Yagin is a last-minute replacement for an injured Chris Brennan and boasts an 8-0 record.

Lally

Curran

Yagin

FCF:   Your last fight was a true battle against the giant Bob Sapp at Shockwave! What was going on in your head during the fight feeling all the weight of that monster?
Mino:   I was sure he would get tired during that fight. I was like waiting for the right time once he would get tired, and doing my strategy. There were times where I would stay a bit quiet during the fight, with him hitting me while I would try to defend, but I didn’t want to exchange a lot of strength with him cause I knew if I would do it things would get tough. I needed to wait for him to get tired and after he would get tired it would be an even fight. If he wouldn’t get tired there would be now way for me to get him in a submission. In the beginning of the fight I tried for some submissions but he would power his way out of them pretty quick. So when he started to get tired I started to press the fight more, that was my strategy. To fight the first round only to make him tired, and to try and finish the fight on the second or on the third round. He entered the second round tired, on my hands [Laughs]

FCF:   Did you ever think you weren’t going to be able to win during the fight?
Mino:   No, not at all. Ever since I left Brazil for the fight I knew it was going to be tough. I saw the tapes of his fights, like his fight against Tamura, and Tamura is a relatively tough guy. He isn’t a top-notch fighter but he is a good striker that can take some punches, and he took a punch from Bob Sapp and went down with like 15 seconds in the fight [Laughs] So I thought "Man! I better be ready" You can even see that he [Sapp] is proving his value; he beat Abdil and Hoost in K-1 already.

FCF:   When did you feel you had the fight turning into your favor?
Mino:   When the first round was over and I went to start the second round I felt I could win the fight. I also don’t know exactly what happened but during the first round I wasn’t being able to see things well, because they used Vaseline or something like it above my eye, and during the fight this was preventing me from seeing things well. But on the break before the second round Luis Alves wiped it in the corner and I could see well on the second round. When I felt Sapp breathing harder than in the first round I thought, "Now I can change things up a bit"

FCF:   Sapp has been experiencing some success in K-1, and you risked some exchanges with him. What did you think of trading strikes with him?
Mino:   I thought he is very strong standing up but I believe I did better in our exchanges. I was able to hit him with some good combos and connect with some punches, use some movement. I couldn’t stop in front of him; this was the main thing as far as stand up is concerned. I think people pay a price for stopping in front of him. There’s no guard that can hold that guy’s punch [Laughs] you can’t stop and raise your arms trusting that your guard will hold that punch, cause once he hits you he will connect to your face with your arms on the way as well. So I would hit him, move a lot, hit him again, fake a takedown then hit him some more, always changing the strategy. You can’t go to tread strikes with him like crazy! It would be the same thing of getting your head down and running to a wall with your head [Laughs] you have to go with patience, getting one piece at a time. It’s a strategy fight. When the fight was about to start everybody was telling me not to go for a double leg, but once the fight started I went for it cause for me to trade strikes with him all rested it would be worst! So I tried the takedown and he slammed me, but he spent some energy doing so and when he got up again he was already breathing harder, so it’s a strategy fight.

Ortiz post-fight

      (Las Vegas, Nevada, November 22) "I killed Kenny!" "You bastard!" That’s what the shirt read when a relaxed and more respectful Ortiz donned it during the post-fight press conference, and while of course the very game Shamrock didn’t really die, the legend of the "World’s Most Dangerous Man" was certainly laid to rest. Zuffa pulled out all the stops to make UFC 40: "Vendetta" a thrill ride, and with three knockouts and two submissions, 13,770 fans in attendance and a record 1.5 million dollars in gate sales, the show could only be described as an overwhelming success. This was truly the greatest MMA show to ever happen in America.
      Putting the light-heavyweight championship on the line, Ortiz stepped into the Octagon for the first time since his knee injury a year ago. However, if that old wound affected him, it certainly didn’t show. For three whole rounds the champ delivered punishment to Shamrock, never relenting in his onslaught of knees while on their feet and ground and pound while on the canvas. The leader of the Lions Den rocked Ortiz once with a hard punch, but other than that, he had nothing. With incredible heart, the UFC legend endured — yet before the fourth round could begin, his corner threw in the towel. And all the months of hype and years of bad blood boiled down to this: Ortiz had bested Shamrock. He is still the champ.

Lawler

      Elsewhere on the card, welterweight champ Matt Hughes had his way with challenger Gil Castillo, slamming him and dominating on the ground until the first round ended. Castillo could not come out for the second round, complaining that he couldn’t see due to an unintentional headbutt that left him squinting. Hughes was awarded the victory. (Fans booed assuming that the doctor or referee had halted the match prematurely, but it was Castillo who had requested the medical attention, and Castillo who said he couldn’t continue.)
      In other action, the fight of the night was the opening match-up between middleweights Phillip Miller and Mark Weir. This one was a war that had Weir showcasing his deadly striking and looking great on the ground, but it was Miller’s unrelenting attack that eventually had him securing the choke and getting the tap out. In the light-heavyweight division, Chuck Liddell made short work of Renato "Babalu" Sobral, knocking him out with a round kick to the face, while welterweight bomber Robbie Lawler sent Tiki into La-La Land with a powerful combo of his own. And topping off all the hype and excitement came the announcement of the return of another UFC legend: the always-popular Tank Abbott. UFC 40 was an amazing experience.

Newton

Results:

• Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock: Ortiz, due to Shamrock’s corner throwing in the towel after three rounds.
• Chuck Liddell vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral: Liddell via KO, at 2:59 of the first round.
• Matt Hughes vs. Gil Castillo: Hughes via doc stoppage after the first round.
• Carlos Newton vs. Pete Spratt: Newton via submission, Kimura, at 1:45 of the first round.
• Robbie Lawler vs. Tiki: Lawler via KO, at 1:29 of the first round.
• Andrei Arlovski vs. Ian Freeman: Arlovski via KO, at 1:25 of the first round.
• Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Travis Wuiff: Matyushenko via ref stoppage due to unanswered strikes, at 4:10 of the first round.
• Phillip Miller vs. Mark Weir: Miller via submission, rear naked choke, at 4:50 of the second round.