Vitor Belfort Joins Brazil’sbiggest Reality Show!
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Vitor Belfort Joins Brazil’s Biggest Reality Show! By Eduardo Alonso  In a huge surprise "The Phenom," Vitor Belfort, just joined Brazilian TV’s most popular reality show. Today, March 10th, Belfort joined a show called "Casa dos Artistas 2" (House of Artists 2). The show was already in progress when he joined. The concept of the program is somewhat like the "Big Brother" program that aired in the United States, but the Brazilian version comes with a twist: the housemates are all celebrities. Cast members have to live in a house for 90 days, without any communication with the world outside of the house while cameras broadcast their actions 24 hours per day over the Internet and cable television, with a prize of approximately $160,000 on the line. The TV show’s cast already featured 11 artists living in the house, and today two new "competitors" were brought into the house, with Vitor being one of the two! Belfort said on national TV before entering the house that he is looking to improve the sport of NHB’s image with his participation, helping the public to get to know the sport and its athletes. This will really cause an impact in the fighting world in Brazil. What impact will this have on the Belfort vs. Liddell fight that was considered set for UFC 37? Stay tuned folks. |
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HOOKnSHOOT OVERDRIVE: Salaverry Dominates; Rogerio Nogueira Successful in U.S. Debut By Joe Hall  EVANSVILLE, Indiana — Fans packed Memorial Coliseum Saturday night as HOOKnSHOOT jumpstarted their 2002 campaign with a show promoter Jeff Osborne has called their "biggest ever." In the main event, Ivan Salaverry of AMC Pankration captured the HOOKnSHOOT middleweight championship by quickly dismantling of John Renken with a series of vicious kicks. The first one, a Thai kick that plunged into Renken’s abdomen like a telephone pole, forced the champion to clutch his midsection. Salaverry felt no mercy as he launched another kick that rang throughout the coliseum as it landed. This time Renken crumbled in the corner, desperately searching for air. Salaverry, relentless in his pursuit for HOOKnSHOOT gold, followed and pounded Renken into submission less than a minute into the fight. It was a dominating statement delivered by Salaverry, who did not even need to showcase his talented grappling game.
As Nogueira went for another pass, Theobald narrowly missed a leg scissors sweep. Nogueira showed his skill by retrieving his balance and driving Theobald back to the mat. Eventually, Nogueira cleanly passed to the side and immediately began to work for an armbar. Theobald tried to defend, but Nogueira swung into a flawlessly executed straight armbar for the tap. In a non-title bantamweight bout, Hudson Rocha defeated HOOKnSHOOT Bantamweight Champion Ichaku Murata. Compared to the majority of the fights in the featherweight class, this one was a bit lackluster. In the match’s most entertaining moment, Rocha surprised Murata with an armbar from the guard. Murata feverishly defended, and though Rocha didn’t submit the champion, he moved to the mount where he scored points with punches. A decent exchange opened the third round, with Rocha landing a hard right hand as Murata attempted a kick. The fight closed slowly in Murata’s guard. The judges voted unanimously for Hudson Rocha, who was impressive in spurts. Murata complained in the ring afterward. In welterweight action, Dave Strasser dominated the second and third rounds to win a unanimous decision over Alexandre Barros. Strasser masterfully rode Barros, landing punches from on top in the half guard, the side mount, and the knee-on-belly position. Barros frantically tried to escape from underneath, but Strasser was glued to his opponent and as the fight wore on, it only worsened for the Ruas Vale Tudo stylist. Strasser closed strong, tearing through his foe’s defense with punches.
A war of words exchanged on the Internet was settled in the ring as Jeremy Bolt violently torqued the ankle of Dan Swift in the first round of a bantamweight bout. Swift writhed on the mat after tapping while Bolt stood at his feet and watched. Both fighters touched gloves afterward, although no remorse was offered from either side. In middleweight action, "Boca" Oliveira used his superior takedown skills and ground training to win a decision over Jason Rigsby. The opening round was a seesaw affair with Oliveira scoring on the ground and Rigsby landing on the feet. Oliveira cinched the decision by mounting Rigsby in the final round. Covering up, Rigsby was able to deflect many of the punches, but Oliveira impressed the judges with his advantage on the mat. Roger Neff awed the crowd by launching fellow heavyweight Jerome Smith through the air. After securing double underhooks, Neff tossed his hefty opponent as though he was a lightweight. Before Smith could recover, Neff aggressively seized a side choke for the submission. Hermes Franca pulled guard and abruptly reversed Mike Willus to begin their lightweight fight. Franca worked to pass, but Willus competently maintained his guard. Franca, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, applied steady pressure and attempted to control Willus’ legs. Eventually, Franca slyly passed to side control and transitioned to the mount. After a few punches, Franca locked out an armbar for his second consecutive submission victory in HOOKnSHOOT. The opening fight of the evening was a middleweight match pitting Jim DeSouza against Angelo Popofski. This bout belonged to DeSouza, who threw a bevy of strikes from the opening bell to the closing seconds of the final round. Popofski seemed caught at a perfect firing range for his opponent and could do little other than back peddle and cover up. DeSouza exploited the holes in his adversary’s defense with several combinations to win a unanimous decision. |
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Results from Super Brawl 23 Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii March 9, 2002 By Chris Onzuka – Chris@Onzuka.com  It was raining in Hawaii on the night of Super Brawl 23, but the thunder was inside the Blaisdell Arena. Some up and comers were tested and bested. Many of the fighters on the card wanted to see how they would do against top notch opponents and they found out. Yuki Nakai (Paraestra) and Eddy Millis (Shark Tank) each brought two incredibly tough fighters that systematically took apart their Hawaiian opponents. Egan Inoue’s fighters from Grappling Unlimited won their matches with the exception of Andy Wang, who talked about Samurai spirit before the match and showed it by staying in the fight against an incredible opponent. Wang scared the crowd by collapsing after the fight and had to get carried most of the way back to the dressing rooms. He did however, walk halfway there under his own power. Both Niko Vitale and Egan Inoue pulled off come from behind victories as their opponents were up on my unofficial scorecard until both fighters turned the fight around and pulled out victories. And of course the artist formerly known as Wesley Correira, now just known as Cabbage got to do the "Cabbage Patch" victory dance as he tired out and pummeled a game Brazilian, in Renato Bruzzi. 167.6lbs 2×5-minute rounds 167.5lbs 2×5-minute rounds Light Heavyweight 2×5-minute rounds 154lbs 3×5-minute rounds 154lbs 2×5-minute rounds 132.3lbs 3×5-minute rounds 198lbs 3×5-minute rounds 143.3lbs 3×5-minute rounds Super Heavyweight 2×5-minute rounds Super Brawl Middleweight Championship 3×5-minute rounds
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