|
Posts Tagged ‘Haiti’Crow Time in Canada Delayed, not DeniedJune 3rd, 2010 | Author: UFC Press Releases Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - To say that 2010 has been a tumultuous year for UFC veteran David Loiseau would be an understatement of epic proportions. Champions II Features Falaniko Vitale Vs. Kalib Starnes.February 26th, 2010 | Author: TheMMANews.comThis article was originally published at TheMMANews.com. Copyright: TheMMANews.com.
Honolulu, HI (USA): X-1 World Events, the top entertainment company in Hawaii, is proud to announce that on Saturday, March 20th, 2010, they will produce one of the most highly-anticipated fight events in the history of Islands at it presents “Champions II,” live from the premiere venue in the heart of Honolulu, the Neal Blaisdell Arena. UFC and StrikeForce veterans will vie for coveted X-1 gold, as X-1 World Middleweight (185 lb.) Champion and Hawaiian Falaniko “Niko” Vitale will defend his belt against the controversial Kalib Starnes. In the co-main event, X-1 World Welterweight (170 lb.) Champion and Hawaii native Brandon Wolff will defend the strap against an opponent yet to be determined. Also featured will be several title fights for vacant X-1 belts, as Ultimate Fighter combatant Richie Witson and StrikeForce veteran Harris Sarmiento will battle for the lightweight (155 lb.) belt. Dave Moreno and Kurrent Cockett lock horns with the X-1 World Featherweight (145 lb.) Championship at stake, and Bryson Hansen clashes with Riley Dutro for the X-1 World Bantamweight (135 lb.) Championship. The undercard will feature some talented rising stars the Islands. Exciting young fighters Michael Brightmon, Bryson Kamaka, Dejuan Hathaway, and others will showcase to the Islands what the Hawaii fighting spirit is all about. “We are excited to bring five world title bouts to Hawaiian fight fans,” said Mike Miller, Owner/Promoter of X-1 World Events. “This event will surely excite the crowd, and satisfy the appetites of everyone in attendance that loves a good scrap!” The full fight card includes: Main Card Undercard X-1 recently presented top comic Eddie Griffin to Island entertainment fans, and will be putting on a Haiti benefit event in early March. About X-1 World Events Founded in 2004 by Mike Miller, X-1 World Events is a world-class mixed martial arts (MMA) promotional company based in Honolulu, HI. Locally-owned and operated, X-1 delivers exciting live arena-based entertainment events to fight fans all over the islands. The events feature some of the MMA world’s most talented fighters, including UFC, Pride, and Abu-Dhabi veterans such as former UFC champions Dan “The Beast” Severn and Ricco Rodriguez, UFC veterans Jeff Monson, Kimo Leopoldo, Chad “The Grinder” Reiner, “Sugar” Shane Nelson, Brandon Wolff, Wes “The Project” Sims, Ronald “The Machine Gun” Juhn, Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, and Falaniko Vitale, as well as Pride veterans Chris Brennan and Ron “H2O-Man” Waterman. X-1 World Events can be found online at http://www.x1events.com/ Grappling with Issues – 2/26February 26th, 2010 | Author: Five Ounces of PainThis article was originally published at Five Ounces of Pain. Copyright: Five Ounces of Pain.
Keyboard warrrrriors….come out to plaaaay-yay! If you’re reading these lines you’ve made it through another work-week and are back in the friendly confines of “Grappling with Issues”, our site’s resident feature highlighting insight and opinion from around the Mixed Martial Arts landscape. My regular foil, Adam Tool, was too busy rebuilding Haiti, counseling Tiger Woods, and playing PS3 to contribute to this edition of GWI but rest assured his stylings will be back next week. Sorry, Elin, but that’s how we roll at Five Ounces. Filling in for Tool is another familiar face, Dustin Zuch, whose items you may have seen ‘round these digital parts. As always, we will be offering our thoughts on six subjects related to MMA. However, just because we staffers get the fancy set-up, please don’t feel precluded from dishing out your own thoughts on each matter in the comments section at the bottom of the column… With five losses in his last seven bouts, is Keith Jardine at risk of being released without an impressive win in his next fight? Zuch:My first instinct says no. A win would certainly help, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be impressive. Despite the “The Dean of Mean’s” recent lacking track record, he still remains a solid challenger to any light heavyweight looking to make a step up in competition. Jardine may have a suspect chin but I think his wins over two former UFC champions in the recent years (Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin) stay in the minds of the UFC brass. That’s not to say he’ll get the Stephan Bonnar treatment though… Conlan: Though I agree Jardine is a “solid challenger” for any 205-pounder I don’t think that necessarily means his contract is safe by any means. Yes, he beat Liddell and Griffin, but you’re talking about wins coming 2 ½ – 3 years ago and sandwiched between them was a devastating knockout loss to Houston Alexander. Do you know what else I suspect is also in the minds of UFC executives? The fact Jardine is 1-4 in his last five bouts, hasn’t finished an opponent other than Griffin since December 2005, and refuses to compete against Rashad Evans. Though Jardine may be a tough draw he also has quite a bit working against him in terms of drawing future checks from Zuffa without an immediate turnaround in the ring. A decision win in his next fight will likely buy him a stay of execution while an exciting finish certainly will. However, another loss – especially by knockout – and I think “The Dean” is definitely at risk of relegation to a Division II-level MMA promotion. True/False – Joe Stevenson will never again fight for the UFC Lightweight Championship. Zuch: True. I don’t foresee any more title shots for Joe Daddy. He will, however, remain as one of the most well rounded gatekeepers at lightweight. You can’t take away that vicious guillotine from him either. Conlan: I’m hesitant to say “never”, especially since Stevenson is only 27, but in a division as deep as lightweight my confidence is equally lacking in terms of saying the Ultimate Fighter Season 2 champion will almost certainly fight for UFC gold again. He’s extremely talented, yet can’t seem to find consistent success against high level opponents. To that end I wonder if perhaps a sports psychologist would help him a la GSP, and with St. Pierre being one of his training partners at Greg Jackson’s camp in New Mexico it might behoove Stevenson to seek out his opinion on the matter. Stevenson has been dealing with more pressure than your average “Joe” for a long time. You’re talking about a guy who, amongst other things in his life, watched his father die of cancer while still a child, dealt with his mother being incarcerated, fought Jens Pulver professionally two weeks shy of his seventeenth birthday, and had both 35 fights and four children before the age of 25. If he’s a human being how can those things not have added some additional weight on his soul? Which former Ultimate Fighter coach should be more concerned after losing last weekend – “Minotauro” Nogueira or Michael Bisping? Zuch: As much as I hate to admit, Big Nog aka “Minotauro”, needs to start thinking about his future in the heavyweight division. His days of being able to absorb mass amounts of punishment and still chug on are wearing thin. He still is a top guy in the division, no doubt, but the Cains and Mirs will always give him trouble. Conlan: I suppose I’ll say Nogueira due to age and the amount of punishment he’s absorbed over his career, but I also think Bisping is at a very interesting crossroads. “The Count” has been primarily known as a striker but looked apprehensive to engage Silva and ultimately came closer to la-la land than “The Axe Murderer” did at any point in the bout. He scored a number of takedowns and did absolutely nothing with him. Those things should concern him, even to the point of finding a new training camp, and if they don’t then I suspect his future in the UFC will consist of gate-keeping and acting as a draw in the UK. Back to “Minotauro”, the PRIDE icon has been knocked out twice in the past three fights and hasn’t even come close to unleashing his BJJ mastery at any point in either bout. It’s also important to remember that not only was Tim Sylvia beating him up before pulling a “Tim-Meh”, but Heath Herring also left Nogueira on the cusp of consciousness in Rodrigo’s UFC debut. However, I am not going to jump the gun and say the affable Brazilian is finished or should be overly concerned about continuing to compete. He may have passed the proverbial torch to other younger fighters with less brain-rattling to their credit, but he’s absolutely good enough to be a part of the UFC’s heavyweight picture. Facial differences not withstanding, is it safe to say the old Wanderlei Silva is back? Zuch: Ok, let’s not get carried away here. The old Wanderlei is not back, but he is definitely rejuvenated and seems highly focused. I’m impressed with his decision to go back to his roots at Chute Boxe and improve upon them. His standup against Bisping was much more technical than normal and he wasn’t just looping wild punches. I don’t think we’ll ever see the Wanderlei from the PRIDE days again, but at least the new focused Wanderlei will have a good chance of succeeding in this middleweight division. Conlan: It’s safe to say he was back for about thirty seconds of the Bisping fight but other than that, as Zuch referred to, Silva will never be the same fighter he was in PRIDE due to MMA’s unified rules and the UFC’s unwillingness to showcase him against tomato cans. However, though he may not be “The Axe Murderer”, he’s at least “The Hatchet Murderer” and a threat to separate any opponent from consciousness. I’m not quite ready to give him my endorsement in terms of finding a lot of future success at 185 pounds, because Bisping took him down at will and isn’t considered much of a grappler. Had “The Count” been Chael Sonnen or Nate Marquardt it might have been a much shorter night for Silva. Does Cain Velasquez pose a bigger threat to Brock Lesnar than both Shane Carwin and Frank Mir? Zuch: Cain proved against Big Nog that his standup game is scary good. Big Nog is arguably the most difficult guy to finish across any division and Cain made it look easy. Lesnar’s sheer size, strength, and power are also scary good. I’d really like to see how Lesnar would do against a guy most comparable to his size and strength, such as Shane Carwin. Ask me this question again after we see Mir vs Carwin on March 27 and I’ll have a better answer as to who is the biggest threat to Lesnar’s strap. Either way, I hope somewhere down the line we get to see Cain vs. Carwin. Jeez, I tackled most of that spectrum. Conlan: Going into UFC 110 you wouldn’t have been able to bribe me into believing Velasquez was a superior threat to someone with Mir’s jiujitsu or Carwin’s size/strength but currently I’m taking offers. Velasquez has the grappling background to fend Lesnar off and exhibited precise, powerful striking against Nogueira. Randy Couture was able to put a few dents in Brock’s armor with a similar approach minus Cain’s intangibles (youth, knockout ability, progressive development in the gym, etc.). Why shouldn’t Velasquez be able to capitalize on the same flaws? Out of the following “small” fights scheduled for this weekend, which are you most interested in – Yves Edwards vs. Derrick Noble (MFC), Glover Teixeira vs. Jeff Monson (Bitetti Combat), Trevor Prangley vs. Karl Amoussou (Strikeforce Challengers), Paul Bradley vs. Luke Rockhold (Strikeforce Challengers), or Sarah Kaufman vs. Takayo Hashi (Strikeforce Challengers)? Zuch: Without even hesitating I can say that I am most intrigued by Rockhold vs. Bradley. Rockhold is a great grappler with solid standup skills and Bradley is known for his dominating wrestling skills. It seems as if Rockhold will be comfortable wherever the fight goes, but I think Bradley will definitely be looking for the takedown and sticking to what he does best. Conlan: Call me a sucker for any pairing featuring veterans who are still competitive fighters if you must but I’m looking forward to the Canadian clash between Edwards and Noble moreso than the other bouts on the list. Though neither will be challenging for a slot in the “Top 5” at any point in the future, both will be looking for a third straight victory at the event and have emerged a winner in their careers more than twice as often as the opposite. They are also well-rounded competitors in the sense they’re each as likely to submit an opponent as knock him out. Though Strikeforce offers a number of intriguing match-ups, and Bitetti is interesting for a variety of reasons (some positive, some not so much), I suppose the long-time MMA fan in me has a certain level of investment in Edwards and Noble exceeding that of the other fighters listed. Add in the fact the winner is likely to have an opportunity to silence Antonio McKee on a future MMA card and it’s a wrap. MFL 2: Battleground Update And Information.February 25th, 2010 | Author: TheMMANews.comThis article was originally published at TheMMANews.com. Copyright: TheMMANews.com.
During the press conference, the Mixed Fight League announced a partnership with Hollywood’s producer, James Hergott and his company, « Owned Entertainment », which engaged itself to make an important donation to David Loiseau to support him and the MFL in their fundraising efforts to help the Haiti earthquake’s victims. The donation amount will be revealed on February 27th during the event. The Canadian Red Cross will be there to ask the public to donate for the cause and to receive the Owned Entertainment’s donation given to Loiseau. Also, during the event, there will be a special auction held by the Red Cross. A lot of collectibles and autographed items will be available for auctions and all the profits will be to the benefits of the Haiti disaster’s victims. The MFL was also proud to reveal that former TKO voice and host, Anthony Horng, will be back in the Octagon as he has been nominated by the Mixed Fight League to become the new official MFL octagon announcer. Anthony Horng had been recognized to be one of the best MMA announcers in Canada and is compared by many people to Bruce Buffer. His nomination should please MMA fans which enjoyed and recognized Horng’s excellent knowledge, professionalism, dedication and enthusiasm in his work these past years. The tickets for MFL 2 : Battleground are currently on sale on Admission at http://www.admission.com, or by phone at (514)790-1245 or toll-free 1-800-361-4595. They are also available at the Boutique StreetFighters (http://www.boutiquestreetfighters.com) located at 1699, Chemin Chambly, Longueuil on the south shore of Montreal. MFL 2 : Battleground – Official lineup UFC fighters Frankie Edgar and Ricardo Almeida host Feb. 17 fundraising seminarFebruary 15th, 2010 | Author: MMAJunkie.comThis article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com. Copyright: MMAJunkie.com. g The event takes place this Wednesday, Feb. 17, from 6:30-10:30 p.m. at Thomas Clifford's Martial Arts (8 Orangetown Shopping Center) in Orangeburg, N.Y. A minimum donation of $25 is required to attend the session, and a $50 donation allows you to participate in the hands-on seminar.
February 21 in California: BJJ Black Belt Seminar for Haiti ReliefFebruary 8th, 2010 | Author: iCompeteThis article was originally published at iCompete. Copyright: iCompete. On February 21st, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community of the Greater Bay Area and beyond will gather together for a “Mega Seminar” to raise money for Haiti Relief. It is a day where no matter what flag we fly, the Jiu Jitsu family will rally together for an important cause. From 11AM – 4PM we will have a scheduled formal seminar, with each visiting instructor taking turns in 20 minute blocks to show a sampling of the technique they spent years honing. That will mean those attending the seminar will get technique from at least 15 different black belts in one day! In addition, there will be time for open mat before and after the formalized seminar. This is not only a tremendous cause, but an absolutely tremendous opportunity! 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross for Haiti Earthquake relief. Heroes Martial Arts More information on the official site. David Loiseau gets charity fight, headlines MFL 2 to benefit Haitian earthquake victimsFebruary 1st, 2010 | Author: MMAJunkie.comThis article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com. Copyright: MMAJunkie.com.
Loiseau (18-9), a former top UFC middleweight contender, headlines "Mixed Fight League 2: Battleground" against Isidro Gonzales (16-13) on Feb. 27 at the Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event also features UFC vets Marvin Eastman and Jon Murphy, and $2 from each ticket sale will be donated to the American Red Cross to benefit the Haitian relief efforts.
Following tragic losses, David Loiseau unable to get charity fight for Haiti aidJanuary 22nd, 2010 | Author: MMAJunkie.comThis article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com. Copyright: MMAJunkie.com.
Loiseau, a Montreal, Quebec resident born to Haitian parents, recently put the word out that he'll fight for free to aid relief efforts to the earthquake-ravaged country. Those calls went unanswered, he told MMAjunkie.com on Friday afternoon, but he will continue doing what he can to raise awareness and funds for organizations such as the American Red Cross.
With Haitian relatives now safe, WEC’s Macken Semerzier asks fans for supportJanuary 18th, 2010 | Author: MMAJunkie.comThis article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com. Copyright: MMAJunkie.com.
WEC featherweight Mackens Semerzier is not one of those people. Born in Florida to Haitian parents and married to a Haitian wife,
With Haitian relatives now safe, WEC’s Mackens Semerzier asks fans for supportJanuary 18th, 2010 | Author: MMAJunkie.comThis article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com. Copyright: MMAJunkie.com.
WEC featherweight Mackens Semerzier is not one of those people. Born in Florida to Haitian parents and married to a Haitian wife,
|
|||
In an effort to raise funds to help victims of last month's devastating earthquake in Haiti, UFC fighters Frankie Edgar and Ricardo Almeida this week host a training seminar in New York.
After his pleas for a charity fight initially fell on deaf ears, David Loiseau has finally secured a bout - the proceeds of which will benefit victims of the January earthquake in Haiti.
Most of us will never fully understand the amount of destruction this