April 24, 2002
 FCF TV returns this summer for an action-packed new season! Bigger, badder and better than ever! New fight footage from around the world. New sponsors join the FCF team for the new season. |
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Heating up for PRIDE 20 Arona is looking for the belt! By Eduardo Alonso  Brazilian fighter Ricardo Arona impressed all the fighting world with a great showcase of strategy and grappling skills at Abu Dhabi wining both the absolute and his weight division at the event at 2001! However, for his teammates this wasn’t much of a surprise since he had already won his weight division at Abu Dhabi on the previous year, and used to show tons of skills at every Jiu Jitsu tournament he fought in! Combining a lot of power with good strategy and great technique, Arona quickly made the transition to NHB, where he found the same success at RINGS in Japan, and rapidly drawing the attention of PRIDE! With people like Mario Sperry helping his career, it didn’t take long before Ricardo Arona was finally making his debut at Japan’s biggest NHB event, facing the seasoned veteran Guy Mezger at PRIDE 16. Despite being ill he won the fight, and established his name among the contenders for PRIDE’s middleweight belt. After some time away from the ring, due to a rib injury suffered at his PRIDE debut, Arona is now finally returning to action against another top fighter, non other than Team Quest’s own Dan Henderson! The Abu Dhabi and RINGS champion is eager to fight again, and more importantly has a close eye on Vanderlei Silva’s belt! In this interview during Arona’s class he shared his expectations for this fight, and his views about the future of his career as FCF continues to get more and more heated for PRIDE 20! FCF: You suffered an injury in your ribs that prevented you from training for a good period of time. How was your recovery? Don’t you feel any pain right now? FCF: You’re finally coming back to PRIDE after your win over Guy Mezger at PRIDE 16. Was it tough to stay away from the ring all that time? FCF: Did you get anxious to fight again? FCF: How was your preparation for this fight? FCF: What about your ground game? Who has been preparing you on the ground? FCF: How much will you be weighting for this fight? FCF: A fight between you and Dan Henderson started to be rumored some months ago. What do you think of him as a fighter? FCF: What do you expect from this fight? How do you think the fight will unfold? Click here to continue the interview |
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Check back tomorrow for Eduardo’s pre-PRIDE interview with Mario Sperry! |
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From the event’s promoter: Super Brawl 24: Return of the Heavyweights April 26-27 – Blaisdell Arena – Honolulu, Hawaii Sylvia vs. Whitehead 4.23.02 Somebody’s "0" must go. Sylvia is a menacing 6’8" and earned a berth in the tournament by winning the Utah qualifier. He is coming in to the tourney as a favorite. Whitehead will have something to say about that. With an impressive 7-0 record and trained by "Crazy" Bob cook, he will give Sylvia all he can handle.
Jordan vs. Schall Schall is still stinging from his loss to Ben Rothwell in the Iowa qualifier. He fractured his foot in the first bout of the night but fought on anyway. The foot is healed and he already has his sights set on revenge. He may get the opportunity in the second round.
Cambra vs. Ballard Ballard has a solid wrestling background. He is one of the up and coming stars from the talent rich Northwest and those in the know are calling him an early favorite. Lambert vs. Faircloth Faircloth is another Dave Strasser trained fighter. He is rough and can do damage from both the top and bottom. What he lacks in weight (235lbs is light in this behemoth field) he makes up for in heart. Rothwell vs. Crawford Crawford is a kick-boxer who trains with former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and the rest of Team Quest. With lethal hands and wrestling and submission instruction from some of the best in the business, he will be a formidable opponent for anybody in this tourney.
Wiuff vs. Henderson
Beauperthy vs. Stromberg
Cabbage vs. Neal |
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From the event’s promoter: "KING OF THE CAGE: REVOLUTION" COMING TO SILVER LEGACY IN RENO AND TO THE COUNTRY ON PAY-PER-VIEW LOS ANGELES, California -"King of the Cage," the hottest brand of no-holds-barred fighting, takes its show on the road! "King of the Cage: Revolution" is proud to feature nine bouts in all on a stellar fight card. In the first of two main event title matches, Daniel "The Bull" Bobish defends his King of the Cage World Heavyweight Championship against bruiser Mike Kyle of the Primal Fighting Club. Then, Javier "Showtime" Vazquez puts his World Lightweight title on the line against Sean "The Peace Maker" Wilmot. Also included on the card . . . Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Akira Shoji from Pride, and Mike Rogers. MAIN EVENTS: King of the Cage World Heavyweight Championship Match King of the Cage World Lightweight Championship Match FEATURE FIGHTS: Quinton Jackson Akira Shoji Mike Rogers Zane Frazier "King of the Cage: Revolution" will be held on May 17, 2002 from Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada. Doors open at 3:30pm PST and preliminary matches begin at 4:30pm. Combining Nevada’s turn-of-the-century silver mining heritage with state-of-the-art architecture and unrivaled entertainment theming, Silver Legacy Resort Casino is northern Nevada’s most spectacular "must see" property. Silver Legacy also features the finest in gaming, with 85,000 square feet of gaming space, including the newly renovated Race & Sportsbook, two Keno lounges, 80 table games, 2,500 slot machines, and 7 night clubs. In addition, "King of the Cage: Revolution" marks the North American pay-per-view debut of the show. "KOTC" will be available to over 27 million households. The pay-per-view broadcast begins at 6:00pm PST/9:00pm EST. For more information on pay-per-view listings or availability, check your local listings. For tickets, go to www.ticketsplus.net or call 1-800-585-3737. For general information, visit our web site: www.kingofthecage.com KING OF THE CAGE . . . KNOCKING OUT THE COMPETITION! |
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From the event’s promoter: ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP, LMNO PRODUCTIONS READY TO "GET IT ON" IN PRIMETIME Leading mixed martial arts sports company to expand brand into mainstream TV LAS VEGAS, April 24, 2002… Officials of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and LMNO Productions of Los Angeles, Calif., today announced they have signed an agreement to bring UFC to broadcast television. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world’s pre-eminent fight promotion that brings together world-class, mixed martial artists (MMA) from disciplines such as karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, sumo and others in a quest to become an ultimate fighting champion. "The UFC is the only real fighting sport that is available to fans on every pay-per-view television platform in the United States. Presently UFC events air in over 52 million households on pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, the Dish Network, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada. With our amazing success in pay-per-view the timing is prefect to develop a weekly program based on the only original brand. We have the premier fighters, the experience and credibility, " said Dana F. White, UFC president. LMNO’s CEO Eric Schotz said his company will develop multiple ideas for broadcasters including a weekly program as well as a large scale network reality series. "Ultimate Fighting is a quality brand name sport that until now was virtually untapped on network or cable TV." Schotz said, "Ultimate Fighting Championship is a rare blend," he added. "It has all the entertainment value of WWF, but it is completely real. There is nothing like it on the air." The UFC was purchased in January 2001 by Zuffa LLC of Las Vegas, Nev. The new owners, Frank J. III and Lorenzo J. Fertitta designed a marketing strategy to take the UFC to pay-per-view television prominence and into the mainstream of sports in the U.S. and internationally. The once " no holds barred sport has made a dramatic transformation since Zuffa took over in 2001. In addition to new rules and new fighters, the sport is now officially sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board. Now the fans can’t get enough. After two sellouts in New Jersey at the Trump Taj Mahal and Meadowlands Arena, the UFC held two fight events in Las Vegas, September 28 at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino and November 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Both ranked in the top 10 list of fight gate receipts for 2001 published by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. On March 22, 2002, UFC enjoyed another sell-out at the MGM Grand, which is the highest-grossing fight gate receipt in 2002 in Nevada. LMNO (Leave My Name Off) Productions is one of the foremost providers of reality-based programming for network, cable and syndicated television. Some of its high-profile credits include the FOX series, "Boot Camp"; the CBS series "Kids Say The Darndest Things," hosted by Bill Cosby; the FOX series, "Guinness World Records: Primetime"; and "Behind Closed Doors With Joan Lunden." Currently, LMNO is producing the series "I Want A Husband: Alaska" for FOX; the new primetime series, "Sidelines," for ESPN; the third season of "Behind Closed Doors With Joan Lunden" for A&E; "Final Justice" for Lifetime; "Intuition" for the Game Show Network; "Cold Clues" for Court TV; "Travel Channel Secrets," "Best of" and "Destination Earth" for the Travel Channel as well as several hours of programming for Discovery Health Channel. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., is the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) fight promotion. It is owned and operated by Zuffa LLC and has distribution agreements with WOWOW, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan; British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) in London, England, and Globosat Programadora LTDA and Sportv in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
