"The back. It’s the easiest injury to fake," a slightly disappointed Lindland commented on Riggs’ yet-to-be-confirmed injuries this afternoon, "but the Doerksen match-up is a good one. He’s a very tough submission guy. He’s fought in one of my shows [Sport Fight]. He was fighting against Ed Herman and I thought he was going to lose the fight, and he toughed it out and pulled a triangle out in the latter minutes of the third round. He’s a tough kid."

That fight description might seem reminiscent of Doerksen’s last UFC showdown versus fellow Canadian Patrick Cote, a fight he had taken on two week’s notice. In that bout, a loopy Doerksen managed to catch his striking-savvy opponent in a rear naked choke in the third round. Since April’s UFC 52, Doerksen has chalked up another victory against Art Santore on July 9th at Canada’s Freedom Fight event.

"It’s a step up in competition for me," Winnipeg native Doerksen said of future opponent Lindland. "He’s one of the big names, but how many more chances will I get to fight a guy like that? I can’t say no. It’s a fight I think I can win."

Sato Surprises Shooto Dojo with Visit
By Roxanne Modafferi

Sato teaching at Cross Point Kichijouji

Cross Point Kichijouji is home to many professional and amateur fighters of Shooto, kickboxing, MMA, as well as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, whose enthusiastic students pack themselves into the underground dojo in a collage of white, blue, black and red gis.

On this night, however, a large percentage of the BJJ participants took off their gi tops and stayed to learn from K’z Factory fighter Sato, while some new faces joined in to participate in what might as well have been a free seminar. The deadly yet congenial MMA fighter taught for a solid hour and a half, covering arm-drag techniques from standing, heel picks, takedowns off of slipping punches, and a particularly unusual reverse triangle choke from spider guard.

• MMA legend Royce Gracie will likely be back to the ring at the very end of 2005. Sources close to the BJJ legend report that his camp is negotiating with the K-1 organization for a likely participation on the traditional year end event, in the never ending battle between Pride and K-1 for Japanese TV ratings on New Year’s Eve. Negotiations are still in the early stages, so no opponent is Known as yet. Rumors are running rampant that K-1 may push for a Bob Sapp versus Royce Gracie showdown. Meanwhile, Royce keeps running his very successful seminar business, doing a European tour that includes seminars in England, Scotland, Italy, Israel and a well-deserved vacation in Spain with his family.
• Brazilian Top Team heavyweight fighter Carlos Barreto finally had his knee surgery last week, and is currently recovering at his house in Rio de Janeiro. Injured at the last edition of Jungle Fight, in the early moments of his fight against UFC veteran Vladimir Matyushenko, Barreto had to wait surgery on his left knee to find out the exact extent of the injury. According to the doctors the surgery was a complete success, and although the injury turned out to be truly severe, Barreto is recovering very well, and is likely to be able to fight again until the end of 2005! At this moment the UFC and Pride vet has to stay resting in his house, without putting any weight on his left leg, and in about two weeks will start the Physical Therapy sessions that will complete his recovery process.
• Former Chute Boxe fighter and current Muay Thai Dream Team member, Anderson Silva, will be making his professional Boxing debut this coming August! Known as a stand-up fighter with high-level skills in Muay Thai, Anderson has practiced Amateur Boxing in the past, and now trough an invitation from his friend Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira, and Brazilian Boxing trainer Luis Dorea, the Pride veteran decided to go in this new venture and make his debut at the second edition of Minotauro Fight, scheduled for August 5th, in the city of Salvador, Brazil. Anderson’s opponent will be Ulisses Lopes, a former State of Bahia champion, who has a record of five wins and four loses. The MMA fighter is very excited and has been training a lot of Boxing looking forward to this fight.

New Series Debuts Sunday, Aug. 21st at 9:00 PM Local

"PRIDE Championship fighters are without a doubt the most feared and skilled fighters in the mixed martial arts world," said George Greenberg, Executive Vice-President of Programming and Production at FSN. "We are thrilled to bring PRIDE to U.S. cable television for the first time ever exclusively on FSN."

Each of the twelve episodes will showcase various fighters from PRIDE’s lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight classes. The debut program on August 21st will feature several of the most memorable matches in PRIDE’s history including Quinton "Rampage" Jackson versus current UFC light-heavyweight champion Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, reigning PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko versus Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic versus Igor Vovchanchyn, and reigning PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva versus Quinton Jackson.

"We’re extremely excited that FSN will be featuring PRIDE in the United States, " said Yukino Kanda, Executive Vice President of Dream Stage Entertainment. "We have a loyal following of fans in the U.S. who have been with us from the beginning … this deal will expose prospective fans in the mainstream to the intensity and excitement of PRIDE Fighting."