Saturday, Nov 09, 2002
Sportfighting:the New Kid On The Block
 SportFighting: The New Kid On the Block By Jim Genia (November 9th, Bayonne, New Jersey) There’s a new kid on the block in mixed martial arts, and its name is SportFighting. Promoter Brian Cimins pulled out all the stops for his debut venture into closed-fist competition, and the result was a night of some very entertaining fights. There were upwards of seven hundred people in the audience cheering on as the local fighters battled it out, and rounding out the experience was a roving ESPN television crew and a brief cameo by UFC Heavyweight Champ Ricco Rodriguez and UFC veteran Ricardo Almeida. In the ring and out, Sportfighting was a success. Highlights of some on the action in the ring included: Combined Martial Arts middleweight representative Mark Papadimitriou suplexing Rich Latta of Team Renzo/Hatfield Martial Arts, then pulling off an elbow-dislocating shoulder throw to secure the win; the stand-up war between featherweights Mike Acosta of Yamasaki Jiu-Jitsu and Deividas Taurosevicvs of Professional Karate Academy; and the slick armbar from Team Renzo’s Mark Colangelo that forced Team Hybrid Elite bad-ass Jon Weidler to tap out.
The Results:
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 Rivera rains down punches |
 MECA 7 Worth the Wait! A packed house of 4,000 spectators and a live pay per view audience witnesses a action packed night of fights, with only one fight out of nine going the distance. At 9 pm Brazilian time the lights went out and music started playing on the arena, it was the sign that MECA 7 was beginning, as it was its pay per view broadcast.  From Brazilian Top Team members like Mario Sperry, Rodrigo Minotauo and Murilo Bustamante, to Chute Boxe stars like Vanderlei Silva, Murilo Ninja and Anderson Silva, going through famous veterans like Jorge Macaco Patino and Johil de Oliveira, all the Brazilian fighting community were on hand for the show that started with an exhibition fight from two kids from the Chute Boxe school, showing NHB has a great future ahead! It was amazing to see the technique displayed by kids who couldn’t be more than 6 years old, and they traded some strikes, worked some takedowns and got the crowd clapping all the time! After that brief exhibition it was the time for the fights to begin, and the fighters intro movies started playing on the two big screens placed in the arena.
Carlinhos vs. Gaz posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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