World Fighting Alliance:level 3 Card Doesn’t Skip A Beat
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From the event’s promoter:  WORLD FIGHTING ALLIANCE: LEVEL 3 CARD DOESN’T SKIP A BEAT HALLMAN STEPS IN FOR INJURED MILETICH (Las Vegas, November 8, 2002) With November 23rd drawing near, the World Fighting Alliance has been working on overdrive to bring fans the very best in mixed martial arts entertainment. Returning to Las Vegas, WFA: Level III event promises even more electrifying sights and sounds, this time at the beautiful Aladdin Hotel & Casino’s 5,000-seat venue. Matchmaker and co-promoter John Lewis has held fast to his commitment of assembling the best fight card possible. The fans have spoken and the WFA has answered…the WFA is proud to welcome Dennis "Superman" Hallman to its ranks of ever-growing stable of impressive fighters. Doing battle where "The Fight Club Meets the Nightclub," Hallman will meet Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg in the WFA cage for the Welterweight Title bout. The winner will face Pat Miletich at WFA: Level IV show. Miletich will be ringside to commentate for the match and to gaze upon his next opponent…whoever he may be. The quest for the undisputed welterweight champion has begun! Dennis Hallman, representing Team Quest/Victory Athletics, is known throughout the world for his phenomenal submission skills. A high school state wrestling champion, his experience clearly shines through with a MMA record of 43-5-0-2. He’s caught number-one world ranked welterweight and current UFC champion Matt Hughes in his slippery holds– not once, but twice. This makes him a deadly opponent for anyone on the ground. Fresh off an explosive submission victory (what else!) at KOTC, Hallman says he is ready to take his world-class wrestling adversary on. "Trigg’s a big, tough guy that’s beaten up a lot of submission guys. When big, giant scary guys come after you, you have to fight full blast. I usually do well in these types of situations." Rolling with the punches, Frank Trigg says, "I don’t have a problem fighting anybody. I’m ready to rock and roll." Just what are the RAW fighter’s thoughts on taking on Superman Hallman? "Honestly, I don’t know anything about this cat, but I don’t really need to." With top-notch takedown skills and "ground and pound" perfection, could Hallman’s days be numbered? Pat Miletich, recovering from two bulged disks and a herniated one all in his neck, has his own thoughts on these two contenders. "Hallman is a lot stronger than he looks and he’s a very, very good submission guy. Trigg better be careful, because at any time, Hallman can get something on him. Trigg will most likely have Hallman on his back and will be rifling that left hand at him, so he could do plenty of damage himself. I think it’s a phenomenal fight." Any preference to which warrior he’d like to meet for the coveted title? "Either or is fine with me. They’ve both had bad things to say about our gym, so whatever happens, happens." Fifteen days to go and counting! Get your tickets NOW by purchasing them directly through the Aladdin Resort & Casino’s box office (877-333-9474) and through all Ticketmaster locations (702-474-4000 or www.ticketmaster.com). Ticket prices range from $30, $50, $60, $100, $150, and $200 (18 years of age and over). Visit www.WFA.tv, the official web site of the world’s hottest MMA experience, for the latest news and updates. For additional event information, please contact: |
 MECA 7 is About to Take Curitiba by Storm! By Eduardo Alonso The seventh edition of MECA World Vale Tudo is finally set to go today in Curitiba. In a card that brings some tough veterans, but most of all bet all its tips on talented newcomers, the heat couldn’t be getting hotter in the cold weather of Curitiba. Yesterday, at 6 PM Brazilian Time the weigh-ins were held and the rules meeting took place right after it at the Caravelle Palace Hotel. For this event the promoters wanted to emphasize on fair match-ups, therefore athletes who weighed a considerable amount of weight more than their opponents were force to drop weight in order to fight. This was the case with Brazilian Top Team member Haroldo "Cabelinho" Bunn, who weighed 3Kg above his division, and managed to lose those 3 extra Kilos to face Claudionor Fontinelli. Generally all the fighters were able to make weight without any problems, therefore no fight will see the enforcement of the "10 kg differential rule" that would prevent knees and kicks on the ground, so MECA is set to go in pure NHB style in all of its matches. Luta-Livre legend Eugenio Tadeu will be one of the referees for the event, as well as the "Axe Murderer" Vanderlei Silva who wants nothing but action, as he told FCF with a typical grin on his face "I will be the referee for some of the fights, and you all can get tranquil cause the action is guaranteed!"
The rules, as always, follow the PRIDE rules and establishes one 10 minute round, followed by two 5 minute rounds with no overtime. If the fight goes the distance 3 ring side judges will render the decision, and their criteria will be based mostly on aggression and will to finish the fight, as promoter Rudimar Fedrigo explained. Elbows to the head are not allowed at any moment, as well as elbows to the spine, and all fighters will be wearing NHB gloves. Once again, Fedrigo explained the rules are the same as PRIDE uses, and there were few doubts or questions among the fighters.
Heart will certainly set the tone for the nine-fights action packed MECA 7 card, and being in Curitiba and mentioning heart, the Chute Boxe teams always come to mind. American fighter Dave Phillips will be making his first ever NHB fight outside of the USA and he is ready to throw some bombs to please the Curitibian crowd against Mario Sperry’s black belt Luizao "He is an Jiu-Jitsu guy and I expect to have a good fight, have some fun, throw some strikes, or if the fight goes to the ground do some Jiu-Jitsu. I’m very comfortable trading strikes and this Friday I’ll be surely doing that!" Dave has been doing some training in the Chute Boxe academy and some of his training partners are headlining this show. Silvio Urutum is finally making his comeback to NHB against a tough opponent in Cyborg, and this fight will determine the continuation of his career "This fight is what is going to decide my future. I stayed away from the game for a while, with personal problems and unfortunately I didn’t perform well in some fights I did. Now this is the opportunity of my life. I’m feeling confident and I never trained so much for a fight before, so I expect to please the fans"
Chute Boxe K-1 winner Nilson de Castro is also as trained as ever and you could see in his eyes he can’t wait to enter the ring "I want to finish the year as I started it. I want to give a show for the fans and get my passport ready for Japan, to fight in PRIDE" Nilson is splitting the attention of the Chute Boxe fans with a younger and smaller version of Murilo Ninja Rua at this event, Ninja’s younger brother Mauricio "Shogun" Rua [Pictured at the top of this article on the far left of the photo, with his brothers (Ninja is on the far right]. The fight between Shogun and Capoeira is probably the most anticipated fight of the night, with Mauricio being reputed as the next "big thing" from the Chute Boxe camp and Capoeira being known as a long time Ryan Gracie friend with lots of talents and street fight stories. Shogun feels like he is ready to deliver in great fashion "I trained so much for this fight, because MECA was initially set to be in July, and I was ready to fight then! Now I’m ever more prepared and I want to knock him out. I was already wanting to knocking him out, but after I heard he likes to fight on the streets and stuff I want to kick his ass ever more now!" His brother Murilo Ninja is always confident about a win tonight "My brother is very well trained, with great cardio, good on the feet and on the ground. He is going to give a show for the fans!" |
