A kinder, gentler Quinton Jackson has been on display in Tokyo this week. While still leveling complaints about the Pride organization — albeit halfheartedly — his ire has only been truly roused when discussing Daijiro Matsui, the recipient of a generous Christmas gift in the form of a DQ victory over Jackson in Pride 18 on December 23, 2001, due to an errant knee. So, other than an occasional profanity-laced tirade directed at Matsui, it appears that Jackson is focused on his bout with Masaaki Satake, a credible opponent with solid striking ability despite recording just one win in seven Pride appearances.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is excited to make his Pride debut. Accompanied by his twin brother, Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo, "Minotoro" is primed to put the beatdown on the bowling ball-like Yusuke Imamura. Just 5’6" and a corpulent 231 pounds, the latest Takada Dojo product would seem to be considerably overmatched by the fine-tuned Top Teamer. Six-foot three inches and 208 lbs., Rogerio has visions of someday claiming Silva’s middleweight title belt.

Coming in at 212 pounds for his fight with Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Mario Sperry is another Top Team fighter with middleweight title aspirations. Meanwhile, Ninja seems to be aimed at the heavyweight belt after weighing in at just a cheeseburger short of 214 pounds! Despite his increased weight, the gritty young Chute Boxer’s incredible cardio has yet to suffer.

Pride 20: Armed and Ready
Sunday, April 28, 2002 at 5:00 PM (US PPV 6:00 PM PST/9:00 PM EST)
Yokohama Arena, Ykohama, japan

Official Bout Order

Fight One
Bob Sapp (6’7", 359.3 lbs.) vs. Norihisa Yamamoto (6’2", 222.7 lbs.)

Fight Two
Quinton Jackson (6’0", 210.3 lbs.) vs. Masaaki Satake (6’1", 213 lbs.)

Fight Three
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (6’3", 208.6 lbs.) vs. Yusuke Imamura (5’6", 231.5 lbs.)

Fight Four
Dan Henderson (5’11", 194.9 lbs.) vs. Ricardo Arona (5’11", 201.9 lbs.)

Fight Five
Mario Sperry (5’11", 212.1 lbs.) vs. Murilo Rua (5’10", 213.8 lbs.)

Fight Six
Sanae Kikuta (5’8", 198.6 lbs.) vs. Alexander Otsuka (6’0", 200.6 lbs.)

Defeated or Cheated? Randy Couture Responds to Barnett Steroid Scandal

FCF:   It was recently reported that Josh Barnett failed his drug test after UFC 36. What is your initial reaction to that news?
RC:     My initial reaction is, what is that going to do to the sport? It doesn’t change the fact that I lost that fight, and that’s all that is really important to me — how I competed in that competition. What he does is of no consequence to me. If he chooses to take shortcuts… whether or not it’s true, I mean, I don’t really know.

FCF:   But if it is true?
RC:     I competed in a sport where that was reputed to be occurring in all the Eastern Bloc and former Soviet countries. We competed against them all the time and certainly we had plenty of successes. That’s their choice, and all I can really concern myself with is how I compete and how I prepare myself. So I’m not going to get pissed off or caught up in that whole deal because I can’t affect it — it doesn’t make any difference to me.

FCF:   What is your personal opinion on steroids and performance-enhancing drugs?
RC:     I don’t agree with them. You can call it cheating or taking shortcuts or whatever you want, but I don’t see how you can feel… at least my opinion is, how you can feel good about being victorious or about being a champion if you know you had to enhance what God gave you by using drugs to get there. Personally, I’m against it. The risks outweigh the possible gains, in my opinion.

Super Brawl 24:
Return of the Heavyweights
Day 1: The First Round
Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
April 26, 2002
By Chris Onzuka – Chris@Onzuka.com

I don’t know about you, but when I see some statistics like that, I get excited. I had to sit down and calculate that just for fun. I was expecting a lot of… lets say competitors with excess girth visited by the "questionable conditioning" fairy, but these big boys were in shape and came to fight. Another surprising fact was the lack of bombs being thrown by these fighters. Don’t get me wrong, there were hard punches, but not the knock out punches that you would have expected. The technical level varied a bit, but most of them had a background in wrestling and knew at least one submission hold — the Americana key lock — even though only one of them was successful with it. These fighters represent the new breed of heavy or super heavyweights. They are not only big, but are using more and more technique and strategy to beat their opponents. The field has been thinned down to eight fighters. Three of the fighters have to considered favorites based upon their performance tonight; winner of one qualifier, Tim Sylvia for his punching ability and sheer size, Brian Stromberg for his quick submission (from the guard no less), and of course, Cabbage who pounded his opponent. However, waiting in the wings, we have a fresh and uninjured Kerry Schall and Travis Wiuff, who received byes in the first round due to injured opponents. I can’t wait for tomorrow. Well, now that I have picked five of the eight fighters, I think my odds are good enough for now. This is the great thing about MMA, there are so many factors concerning each competitor that only time will tell which prove to be more valuable than others.

Day 1: The First Round Results – April 26, 2002
Tim Sylvia (Miletich Fighting Systems, Bettendorf, Iowa, 6’8" 265 lbs., 10-0)
Def.
Mike Whitehead (Medford, OR, 6’2" 260 lbs., 7-0)
TKO via referee stoppage from strikes at 3:46 into round 1.

Boyd Ballard (Pearson’s Martial Arts, Seattle, WA, 5’10" 220 lbs., 1-0)
Def.
Kumu Cambra (Grappling Unlimited, Honolulu, HI, 6’0" 240 lbs., 1-0)
Unanimous decision after 2 rounds.

Jason Lambert (Ted Williams Combat Grappling, Apple Valley, CA, 5’11" 245 lbs., 10-2)
Def.
Ron Faircloth (Freestyle Academy of MA, Madison, WS, 5’11" 235 lbs., 5-3)
Unanimous decision after 2 rounds.

Brian Stromberg (Team Quest, Portland, OR, 6’2" 235 lbs., 5-1)
Def.
Gabe Beauperthuy (Colorado Springs, CO, 6’2" 265 lbs., 6-3)
Submission via triangle choke at 1:43 into round 1.

Ben Rothwell (Freestyle Academy, Knish, WS, 6’5" 270 lbs., 12-1)
Def.
Curtis Crawford (Team Quest, Portland, OR, 6’2" 240 lbs., 1-1)
Submission due to forearm choke at 1:03 into round 1.

Kerry Schall (Meat Truck, Inc., Cincinnati, OH, 6’3" 270 lbs., 12-4)
Bye due to injury

Travis Wiuff (Lion’s Lair, Minneapolis, MN, 6’2" 270 lbs., 5-1)
Bye due to injury

Alternate Match:
Ron Faircloth (Freestyle Academy of MA, Madison, WS, 5’11" 235 lbs., 5-3)
Def.
Gabe Beauperthuy (Colorado Springs, CO, 6’2" 265 lbs., 6-3)
Submission due to Americana key lock at 0:22 into round 2.

Cabbage Coreirra (Grappling Unlimited, Hilo, HI, 6’3" 291 lbs., 12-3)

Def.
Kevin Jordan (Ranger Jiu-Jitsu, Columbus, Ga., 6’3" 245 lbs., 4-1)
TKO via referee stoppage from strikes at 4:28 into round 1.

Fighters that pulled out of tournament:
Ernest Henderson (6’3" 390 lbs., Ellensburg, Washington) – Did not pass medical exam.
Chad Neal (Fresno, CA, 6’0 290 lbs.) – No show.

Day 2: The Final Round – April 27, 2002
Tim Sylvia (Miletich Fighting Systems, Bettendorf, Iowa, 6’8" 265 lbs., 10-0)
Vs.
Boyd Ballard (Pearson’s Martial Arts, Seattle, WA, 5’10" 220 lbs., 1-0)

Brian Stromberg (Team Quest, Portland, OR, 6’2" 235 lbs., 5-1)
Vs.
Jason Lambert (Ted Williams Combat Grappling, Apple Valley, CA, 5’11" 245 lbs., 10-2)

Kerry Schall (Meat Truck, Inc., Cincinnati, OH, 6’3" 270 lbs., 12-4)
Vs.
Ben Rothwell (Freestyle Academy, Knish, WS, 6’5" 270 lbs., 12-1)

Travis Wiuff (Lion’s Lair, Minneapolis, MN, 6’2" 270 lbs., 5-1)
Vs.
Cabbage Coreirra (Grappling Unlimited, Hilo, HI, 6’3" 291 lbs., 12-3)

Alternate:
Ron Faircloth (Freestyle Academy of MA, Madison, WS, 5’11" 235 lbs., 5-3)