Dream Stage to Contribute to New York, D.C. Disaster Funds
By Aaron Crecy
Even as the world’s top mixed martial artists prepare for battle in Pride 16, the terrible tragedy that befell America on September 11 remains in the forefront of everyone’s thoughts and conversations. When the combatants — save for Mark Coleman — gathered for the pre-fight rules meeting, they applauded Dream Stage Entertainment’s announcement that it would bequeath a percentage of the proceeds from Monday’s event to the victims’ families.
"In honor and memory of our American friends, Dream Stage Entertainment has decided to donate a portion of the revenue from Pride 16 to the victims and surviving families of the New York and Washington D.C. tragedies," said Dream Stage USA attorney Tawnya Wojciechowski.
The organization will also honor the victims of the terrorist attacks during the opening ceremony for Pride 16.
Pride 16 News and Notes
- Word has it that Coleman is weighing around 230 pounds for his fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, just five pounds heavier than his weight when he destroyed Allan Goes in Pride 13. However, Coleman is said to be suffering from flu-like symptoms, causing him to miss Saturday’s rules meeting.
- According to Chute Boxe coaches, Anderson Silva will face Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Carlos Newton in UFC 34 on November 2 in Las Vegas. Silva, who defeated Hayato Sakurai by unanimous decision last month, is currently the Full Contact Fighter fifth ranked welterweight while Newton holds the top spot. With Vanderlei Silva set to fight Kazushi Sakuraba in Pride 17 on November 3 in Tokyo, the notoriously clannish Chute Boxe team will have to divide its coaches and training partners into two contingents.
- Rodrigo Nogueira was asked to participate in a photo shoot with Norohisa Yamamoto during Friday’s workout. Because Yamamoto is fighting Assuerio Silva, Chute Boxe coaches and athletes were upset with Nogueira, worrying that he might have been offering the Japanese fighter pre-fight advice. Nogueira assured them that this wasn’t the case — in fact, he admitted to having submitted Yamamoto eleven times during the course of the hour-long exhibition.
- An assortment of world-class fighters are on hand this week, including Josh Barnett (with Coleman); Tom Erikson (with Gary Goodridge and Don Frye); Jeff Monson; Alex Andrade (with Guy Mezger); Rogerio Nogueira (with twin brother Rodrigo); and Team Chute Boxe’s Anderson Silva, Vanderlei Silva and (with Assuerio Silva and Murilo "Ninja" Rua). Ken Shamrock is putting on a clinic in Okinawa but will be in Osaka on Monday to corner Mezger.
- On Sunday, fighters and their camps will travel from Tokyo to Osaka by bullet train.
Be sure to check back frequently for full Pride coverage. But rest assured, we will not put the results up on the main news page, nor will we have any references to winners or any spoiler information on the news page. We will have a link on the news page to click over to if you want to know the results before the PPV broadcast.
Full coverage of Pride 16 will be in the October 2001 issue of Full Contact Fighter, order your subscription today!
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