Results from
Ultimate Ring Challenge 4
Held March 29, 2003
At the Red Lion Hotel – Kelso, WA
By Mike Neva

Pope pounding on Yohe

Benji Radach, Brad Blackburn, and Ryan Healy were all casualties of the injury bug in the weeks prior to the Ultimate Ring Challenge. As the event drew closer, the line up had to be juggled on various occasions as both Blackburn and Healy were forced to withdraw from the welterweight title fight. In their absence, Dax Bruce, a formidable adversary in his own right was brought in to challenge for the belt. After a seesaw opening round, which saw both combatants battle for leg submissions, Bruce appeared to be sucking wind between rounds. Irvine seized the opportunity at the start of round 2 by garnering top position and pounding away for the TKO victory.

Of the ten matches, only two went past the first round and all turned out to be one-sided affairs. Five of ten matches were stopped by the referee Joe DeRobbio who did an excellent job of letting the fighters work, but always had the fighters’ safely in mind and called a halt to the action when a fighter was unable to defend himself.

Josh Haynes and Jim Pope culminated the evening’s action as they battled it out for the PPKA Heavyweight Title. With each punch these two behemoths threw, the ring literally shook at the foundations. With neither man able to land a clean shot the fighters clinched in the corner as Pope dropped his head giving Haynes the opportunity to swing around and pull to guard with a tight guillotine choke. Try as he might, Pope was unable to work out of the submission and tapped just 34 seconds into the opening round.

Davis dominating Robinett

1. Ryan Pope (Gresham, OR) def. Jake Yohe (Longview, WA) by TKO referee stoppage from punishment at 2:34 of round 3

2. John Hill (Everett, WA) def. Chris Lyles (Yakima, WA) by arm lock at 2:58 of round 1

3. Paul Purcell (Spokane, WA) def. Chad Wimberly (Euphrada, WA) by rear naked choke at 2:10 of round 1

4. Dave Cochran (Redmond, OR) def. Dave Banuet (Long Beach, WA) by TKO referee stoppage from strikes at 1:17 of round 1

5. Wesley Welch (Yelm, WA) def. Ben Augburn (Yakima, WA) by TKO referee stoppage from strikes at: 29 of round 1

6. T.J Edwards (Olympia, WA) def. Bud Wall (Kelso, WA) by arm bar at 2:32 of round 1

7. Shane Davis (Castle Rock, WA) def. Josh Robinett (Toledo, WA) by arm bar at 1:15 of round 1

PPKA Welterweight Title Match

8. Chris Irvine (Spokane, WA) def. Dax Bruce (Olympia, WA) by TKO referee stoppage from punches at 2:29 of round 2

9. Adam Oliver (Kelso, WA) def. Justin Gardner (Quincy, WA) by TKO referee stoppage from strikes at 1:12 of round 1

PPKA Heavyweight Title Match

• Vitor Belfort’s UFC 43 fight against Marvin Eastman is pretty much a go! Belfort’s camp is already starting his preparation for the bout and the plan is to have Vitor in perfect shape, both technically and physically by fight-time. "The Phenom" himself told FCF he knows he wasn’t the same in his last fights, and wants to concentrate on his preparation now, using his new training center, to show a level of performance he wasn’t able to do in his last outings.
• Chute Boxe heavyweight fighter Assuerio Silva isn’t going to fight in Switzerland anymore. Word has that the event was called off, and besides that Assuerio is continuing to train hard but with PRIDE set as his next goal. It looks like he may compete at the next PRIDE event and now this is the heavyweight’s main priority.
• Speaking of the Chute Boxe team, young fighter Jadson who fought at MECA 7 and was submitted by Chute Boxe own and Royler Gracie black, belt Cristiano Marcello, is about to make his NHB debut as a Chute Boxe fighter! Jadson joined Chute Boxe after his loss to Cristiano, feeling the need to train with a bigger team to improve his skills. Some months later the kid is now part ot the team and will be making his Chute Boxe debut in a small NHB event in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, at April 11th. It looks like FCF may be there to cover the action.
• Jiu-Jitsu black belt, UFC veteran and event promoter Amaury Bitetti is coming back to the USA looking to open his academy in Florida and pursuit fighting opportunities. Amaury just recently promoted his second NHB event in Natal, Bitetti Combat 2, and is already working on the next one. Despite his promoting ventures, Bitetti will return to America with his wife Aline, since Amaury just got married not too long ago, and expect to appear in the UFC in the near future.
• Speaking of Bitetti Combat, co-promoter Conrado Carlos is planning things for Bitetti Combat 3, and the event is scheduled to take place at August 7th of 2003! Among the promoters’ plans is the intent to have some rivalry matches on the card, as well as still give incentive to local fighters. However Bitetti Combat 3 will most likely see more famous names competing on the ring in Natal, and FCF will keep you posted on the news.

  

• As NHB events seem to be happening everywhere in Brazil now, this Wednesday April 2nd, the city of Santos, near Sao Paulo, will hold the Second Brazilian Gladiators NHB event! The show will take place in a house of spectacles and promoters are expecting a crowd of 1.000 spectators at the gates, and the fights will also be broadcast in tape delay down the road in a Brazilian cable channel called BandSports. The card will feature some Jiu-Jitsu fighters making their NHB debut, but will also count with some MMA veterans. Among the 7 fights scheduled for the card, the main event will feature Jiu-Jitsu black belt, fresh from his win at the 2nd Black Belt Challenge, Gabriel Napao against MECA 6 winner Alexandre Gomes of BVT. FCF is also looking to be there to bring you all the action.
• NHB events are not the only fighting shows going down in Brazil, and as time goes by the first ever STORM Grand Prix is rapidly approaching! This Saturday, April 12th, Opera the Arame in Curitiba will receive some of the best Muay Thai fighters in Brazil to battle in a Heavyweight tournament. Originally the event would feature two tournaments, one below 85kg and another above it, however it was decided that only the Heavyweights will have a tournament and lighter fighters will compete in single fights. Chute Boxe sensation Anderson Silva, coming from his win over Carlos Newton at PRIDE 25, will still fight in the show on a single bout, as well as Chute Boxe Muay Thai stand out Marlon Matias. FCF will soon have all the details about the event and will surely be there to bring you all the action.
• Jiu-Jitsu legend, PRIDE veteran and four times BJJ World Champion Royler Gracie is another top name to appear at this year’s Abu Dhabi World Submission Grappling tournament, to be held in Brazil this May! Royler, who is also a multiple times Abu Dhabi champion, is already preparing hard for the competition where he always enters as a favorite. The legend stated that however he is still not retired from NHB competition if the right offer comes up.
• K-1 Brazil winner Jefferson Tank made his international K-1 debut this weekend in Japan, and suffered a first round KO to the hands and feet of "Mr. Perfect" Ernesto Hoost. However, despite the loss Jefferson is still going to appear at K-1 USA in Las Vegas this May 2nd, and believes he will take advantage of the experience learned in Japan to do better in Vegas.
• Chute Boxe founder and coach Rudimar Fedrigo and his wife gained a baby for the family! This Wednesday March 26th Master Rudimar’s son Rigan Fedrigo was born and needless to say, the so strict and professional Chute Boxe coach was all smiles. Rigan came to the world as healthy as he could be and is the newest member of the Chute Boxe family. FCF wishes nothing but the best for the baby and his parents.
• Speaking of Mr. Fedrigo, the man is not only a dad and a coach but also a event promoter! His event, promoted alongside with Sportv’s own Jorge Guimaraes, MECA World Vale Tudo has almost everything planned for its 8th edition, and the date was now confirmed as May 16th. The date is confirmed by the promoters and by Sportv and PREMIERE COMBATE, the channels that will broadcast the event (The first on tape delay and the other live on Pay Per view). The venue will once again be the "Palacio de Cristal" in Curitiba, and this time the show will feature 10 NHB fights on its card! Besides those fights already announced some surprises are bound to be announced at anytime, and FCF will keep you informed on the news about the biggest NHB show in Brazil.
• It was reported previously on the Brazilian Beat that BTT fighter Roan Carneiro would headline an NHB event in Argentina. Although this was considered certain and the fighter was preparing for it, it now looks like the event was cancelled after being postponed several times due to local political pressure. FCF will continue to look out for news and will inform you as soon as they appear.
• PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva is now finally back from Japan. Silva went for the land of the rising sun along with the Chute Boxe crew for PRIDE 25, and stayed there for two more weeks after the show, only coming back to Brazil this Monday March 31st! "The Axe Murderer" stayed there shooting a TV commercial for Japan’s most used shaver, and according to him it all went well. Another NHB star featured on the commercial is PRIDE GP Champion Mark Coleman, and both guys shot some scenes together! Wanderlei also did some autograph sessions in Japanese malls during his stay and his fans were absolutely crazy to meet him. Now reality gives a call and is back in training for the "Axe Murderer" with an eye set on Quinton Jackson.