Noons to Defend Title Versus Edwards

EliteXC 160-Pound Champion Karl James Noons will make his first defense versus Yves Edwards April 26 in Honolulu.

Noons, 6-2, TKO’d Nick Diaz on cuts last November to become the first EliteXC 160-pound champion.

Edwards, 33-13-1, knocked out James Edson Berto last weekend via flying knee to make three straight wins after a three-fight winless streak.

Nick Diaz has been taunting Noons for a rematch after the brawler’s controversial loss on cuts, accusing Noons of ducking him.

Noons and Edwards have been friends for awhile.

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Kimbo Blows Up Tank in 43 Seconds

Before a sellout crowd of 6,187 that produced the single largest gate in the history of the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami, Kimbo Slice registered a spectacular 43-second, first-round knockout over David Abbott Saturday on Showtime.

The exciting event, which was presented by Los Angeles-based ProElite, Inc.’s EliteXC, aired on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).  It will be replayed a few times in the next several days, including Wednesday on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

As far as homecomings go, it doesn’t get better than this, as the incredibly popular Pride of Perrine, Fla, gave the raucous but well-behaved fans what they came to see: a devastating knockout win.

A YouTube legend and legitimate mixed martial arts superstar, Kimbo’s performance put an exclamation point on what was an excellent night of MMA action.

“We promised the fans a good, classy show and we delivered a great one,’’ said “EliteXC Live Events President and University of Miami alum, Gary Shaw.  “EliteXC showed tonight, once again, what MMA is all about.  There were great fights with dramatic finishes, a little bit of everything for everybody.

“As a promoter, you want the fans to leave with a good taste, and I truly believe that each and every person in attendance here tonight left the venue happy and completely satisfied.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the athletes, who acted like world champions before, during and afterward, or the fans, who turned out in record numbers.  We look forward to returning to Miami again.

“This was just a tremendously exciting night from start to finish.  Honestly, I don’t think any organization puts on better, more competitive fights that we do.’’

Kimbo (2-0), who may indeed be more popular than sliced bread, wowed the crowd en route to demolishing Abbott, an MMA icon who entered the cage to win.  But Tank spent more time on the ground than on his feet, going down three times from legitimate punches and a couple other times from slips.

“I wanted him to get up, I wanted to bang,’’ Kimbo said.  “I had to push him off because we were too close.   Then I just knocked him down.  It was great fighting in front of the hometown fans.  I’d be lying if I told you they didn’t jack me up. Miami, you are my home. 

“I have a lot of respect for Tank.  This was one of my dream fights, along with Mike Tyson.  But I am ready to fight anybody and ready to fight again really soon.

“I want to thank Showtime and EliteXC for making this night possible for me and my family.” 

Abbott (9-14), of Huntington Beach, Calif., gave it his all, as expected.  “I tried to take it to him at the start and take him to the ground, but then I just said, the heck with that and started to fight,’’ Tank said.  “But I ran into one and that was it. I was just getting started.

“It is still too early to know how good or great Kimbo will be.  But what I do know is that I absolutely want to keep fighting. Maybe I will go after Ken Shamrock.’’

In other Showtime fights Saturday, “Big Foot” Antonio Silva (10-1), a highly touted Brazilian who lives in Coconut Creek, Fla., recorded a hard-fought three-round split decision over former champion Ricco Rodriguez (27-8), of Staten Island, N.Y., unbeaten Brett Rogers (8-0), of  St. Paul, Minn., blasted out England’s “The Colossus” James Thompson (16-8) in the first round, “Hands Of Steel’’ Scott Smith (15-4), of Sacramento, Calif., knocked out Australian “The Ozzie” Kyle Noke (14-4-1), the bodyguard of the late Steve “Crocodile Hunter’’ Irwin, in the second round and Yves Edwards (33-13-1), of Conroe, Tex., stopped  ”Little Tiger” James Edson Berto (14-5-1), of Tampa, Fla., in the opening session.

In non-televised undercard fights that aired for free on MMA Internet site,  ProElite.com: Moyses Gabin (2-0), of Miami, registered a 2:32, first-round knockout over Jirka Hlavaty (1-2), of Miami, Lorenzo Borgameo (3-0), of Miami, won by submission (triangle) at 4:11 of the second round over Mike Bernhard (3-1), of Miami; Eric Bradley (3-1), of Las Vegas, Nev., took a unanimous  decision over Mikey Gomez (6-4), of Orlando, Fla.; Dave Herman (10-0), of Indiana, scored a third-round TKO over Mario Rinaldi (6-3), of Miami, Yosmany Cabezas (5-0), of Tampa, Fla., won by second-round submission (rear naked choke) over Jon Kirk (10-3), of Houston, and Rafael Feijao (4-1), of Brazil, knocked out John Doyle (6-2), of Allentown, Pa., at 2:17 of the first round.

All the fights were scheduled for three, 5-minute rounds.

 Silva, whose initial nine victories had come in the first round, got the nod on two of the judges’ cards by the scores of 30-27 and 29-28. The third judge had it for Rodriguez, 29-28.

“Ricco is a dangerous fighter,’’ said Silva, who was making his second start since dropping down after competing as a 300-pound super heavyweight.  “I knew it was going to be a tough fight.  I fought hard and came out with a victory, but it was a difficult fight for me. 

 “I want that belt.  I am sorry that this was not the best night of fighting for me, but I promise I will deliver in my next bout.  I want that heavyweight title.”

Rodriguez entered the cage with a vast advantage in experience, having fought and defeated some of the biggest names in MMA, including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Tim Sylvia, Jeff Monson, Andrei Arlovski, Pete Wilson, and Randy Couture. 

“The reality is, I didn’t train as long for this fight as I needed to, but I think I showed that I am still dedicated and can fight,’’ Rodriguez said.  “I am in this for the long haul and appreciate the opportunity EliteXC is giving me.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we fought a rematch.  I would love to fight Silva again.’’

Smith, who has won all 16 of his fights inside the distance, knocked out Noke in devastating fashion.  After losing the first round, he came out blazing in the second.  Two brutal right hands did all the damage.  The referee halted matters at 0:07 of the round. 

“I’m sorry for that first round, that’s not the way I fight,” Smith said.  “I didn’t start to get comfortable until toward the end of the round.

“When I got to my corner between rounds, I told my trainer that I had found my range.  I came out pumped and made up for it.  I was fighting way too much on the outside, but once I got inside — bam, I knocked him down.”

Noke had a four-fight unbeaten streak (3-0-1) end.  “This is a different feeling for me,’’ he said.  “I’ve never been knocked out by a punch before.  I felt good after the first round, but I got caught in the second. Scott is a good, strong fighter.”

Edwards earned his fourth consecutive victory by knocking out Berto with a knee and punch combination at 4:56 of the first round. Berto had a three-fight winning streak snapped.

“I am back and ready to fight anybody,’’ Edwards said.  “I’d love to fight [EliteXC lightweight champion KJ] Noons.  He’s the guy with the gold.  If you’re not doing this to be a world champion, you better do something else.’’ 

In an upset in the first Showtime fight, the hard-hitting Rogers spoiled the United States debut of Thompson, bringing “Colossus” down to size with a flurry of powerful combinations at 2:24 of the first round.

“I don’t think I have to say anything; it showed for itself,” Rogers said.  “He’s got a weak chin and I knew it was going to happen.

“All he kept trying to do was wrestle me to the ground.  I got back up and I knocked him out.  When I touch him, he’s going down.  There’s going to be more of Brett Rogers on EliteXC.”

Thompson offered no excuses.  “He caught me with good punches,” he said.  “He hits a lot harder than I thought.  I’m very disappointed.  My confidence isn’t where it should be or where I would like it to be since after my last fight.  I would fight him again in a rematch.’’

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Cuban Sues Zuffa

HDNet Fights, owned by Texas billionaire Mark Cuban, filed suit against Zuffa in district court in Dallas Wednesday.

The suit seeks a declaratory judgment concerning the contractual status of Randy Couture under his Zuffa promotional contract.

Cuban wants the Texas courts to clarify when Couture’s contract expires and therefore when HDNet Fights can offer a contact to Couture.

The law suit is a direct challenge to the murky terms of Couture’s contract with Zuffa, specifically the “retirement clause”.

Couture maintains that the term of his contract and non-compete commitment with Zuffa ends in  October 2008.

Zuffa maintains Couture cannot end his contract with two fights remaining regardless of the contract’s term unless he retires, in which case the term of the contract is suspended until Couture decides to fight again.

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Joe Riggs Takes Shot at the Dome

Former UFC welterweight title challenger “Diesel” Joe Riggs will replace Cedric Marks versus Cory Devela in a middleweight fight on February 23’s Strikeforce card at the Tacoma Dome.

Riggs returns to Strikeforce after knocking out Eugene Jackson at the Playboy Mansion in September.

Devela makes his Strikeforce debut after a three round unanimous decision victory over Lodune Sincaid at SportFight in December.

Marks pulled out of the fight with a shoulder injury.

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Bitter Divorce: Cro Cop Quits the Cage

UFC President Dana White announced via letter to Croatian sports website Javno Thursday that he has terminated heavyweight Mirko Filipovic’s contract pursuant to a clause that allows renegotiation after Cro Cop lost two consecutive fights.

At the same time in Tokyo, Cro Cop shocked a press conference announcing the creation of a new Japanese mixed martial arts promotion called Dream.

“I’m very excited to be here again,” Cro Cop said.  “I’m so excited to be part of this.”

Cro Cop scored a single victory in the cage while disappointing twice, in a vicious knockout to Gabriel Gonzaga and a grueling tussle with Cheick Kongo.

Cro Cop indicated he preferred fighting in a ring, but hoped to return to the Octagon one day.

White welcomes him whenever he’s ready.

The 33-year old explained, “I left because I couldn’t wait any longer.  I asked for a fight earlier, as early as March 1; but, I was offered May, or even later.  I asked for a rematch with Gonzaga in Zagreb; but, he lost to [Fabricio] Werdum, so that fell through.  And I’m in shape, I gained muscle mass, I’m 105 kilograms and I want to fight.”

Cro Cop’s departure from PRIDE to the UFC in December 2006 was exciting, most predicting a virtual coronation as UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Cro Cop, however, was unprepared for the Brazilian Gonzaga and uninspired versus the Frenchman Kongo, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of White, Cro Cop, and MMA fans.

Cro Cop admitted, “The last two years I’ve been in some kind of mental blockade.  I was empty before fights, depressed, I hated myself.  I’m sorry to have disappointed my English fans who welcomed me like a king.”

Dream will be a homecoming of sorts, returning Cro Cop to his comfort zone.

The promotion is a collaboration between ex-K-1 and PRIDE executives.  Norifumi Yamamoto, Shinya Aoki, Hayato Sakurai, Gesias Calvancante, and Royce Gracie have all joined Filipovic at Dream.

The Saitama Super Arena will host the first fight card March 15 when Calvancante and Aoki will finally showdown and Cro Cop will return versus an unnamed opponent.

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Meyrowitz and Frye To Recapture UFC Glory

UFC co-founder Bob Meyrowitz and UFC 8 champion Don Frye will come together in Atlantic City April 11 to recapture past glory.

Meyrowitz has formed YAMMA Pit Fighting, an MMA promotion set to return to the tournament format of the original UFC events.

“It’s with great excitement that we launch YAMMA Pit Fighting,” says Bob Meyrowitz.  “Our deep and proven knowledge of the entertainment and MMA spheres put us in a great position to add a new dimension to the presentation of MMA as it moves into the future.”

YPF will debut at the Trump Taj Mahal with a main event featuring 44-year old Fry versus Russian UFC veteran Oleg Taktarov.

Since sitting out 2005, Frye, 18-6-1, has remained active since submitting Chad Rowan in K-1 Hero’s in May 2006.  He’s 4-1-1 since 2006.

Taktarov, 15-5-2, retired in 1998, but returned in 2007 with kneebar submission of John Marsh in BodogFIGHT.

Despite being apart of the same era of UFC competition, the two fighters have never faced each other.

 The YPF debut will be broadcast via PPV.

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Emelianenko to White: “Let me face…Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.”

M-1 Global heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko posted an open letter to UFC President Dana White at Russia-based MFC M-1’s website Saturday, February 9.

“Let my fight with Randy [Couture] happen or let me face the reigning UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira,” Emelianenko challenges.

Emelianenko was responding to White’s frequent accusations that the widely-regarded top-ranked heavyweight in the world is overrated.

“Fedor isn’t even a top-five heavyweight,” White stated in October 2007.

“Allowing yourself to say those things is not a sign of a gentleman or a grown man at all,” the Russian samboist responded in his letter.

The UFC and Emelianenko’s management led by Vadim Finklestein failed to agree to terms to bring Emelianenko into the organization in October 2007.

Emelianenko eventually signed with the newly created M-1 Global promotion.  UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture ”resigned” shortly thereafter to pursue a fight with Emelianenko.

Couture was sued in January by Zuffa, LLC, parent company of the UFC, for breach of contract.

Since signing with M-1 Global, Emelianenko, 27-1, tapped out K-1 kickboxer Hong Man Choi on New Years Eve while his former PRIDE foe, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, picked up the interim UFC heavyweight strap after tapping Tim Sylvia at UFC 81 February 2.

At the UFC 81 post-fight press conference, Noguiera called on Couture to fight to legitimize the UFC Heavyweight Championship completing the disappointing triangle atop the heavyweight class.

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“The Beast” Beats Another Rookie

Fifty-four year old icon Dan Severn submitted Ian Asham by Kimura at the Iroquois MMA Championships II in Ohsweken, Ontario Saturday.

“The Beast” rides a seven-fight win streak dating to a February 2007 rear naked choke submission of Clifford Coon at Caged Combat Championship Fights in Oklahoma.

All but one of his seven victims had less than four professional fights.  Asham was making his professional debut.

Severn raises his score to 83-15-7 with over 50 submission victories, most notably the keylock submission of Dave Beneteau at UFC 5 that gave Severn the championship and first belt awarded in the original MMA promotion.

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Baroni: “Too bad Lawler was afraid to fight [Hose], but I’m not.”

Icon Sport’s President T. Jay Thompson solemnly announced Saturday in Honolulu, “Icon Sport has taken the unprecedented action of stripping Robbie Lawler of his Icon Sport world middleweight title.”

Icon Sport is a Hawaii-based promotion under the ProElite umbrella.

Lawler, known as “Ruthless”, knocked out Frank Trigg for the title in March 2007, but has failed to defended due to various training injuries.

“I’m as disappointed as anybody with the injuries that have prevented me from fighting,” complained Lawler by SMS message.

Icon’s top contender has been Kala Kolohe Hose of Waianae since June 2007, most recently matched-up with Lawler in December.  Lawler pulled out of that title fight with a torn bicep.

“We had to bring in a fighter worthy of this belt,” Thompson claimed at Saturday’s press conference.

Hose grinned ear-to-ear as his opponent for a March 15 title showdown was announced.

“One of the most feared strikers in MMA,” Thompson teased.  “You know him as ‘The New York Bad Ass’, Phil Baroni will be [Hose's] opponent.”

Baroni last fought in June, suffering a rear naked choke TKO loss to Frank Shamrock in Strikeforce.

Thompson put the best possible spin on the fight, calling Baroni, “Someone that brings the honor and respect to the sport,” despite Baroni emerging from a six-month suspension after testing positive for steroids after his Shamrock loss.

“Too bad Lawler was afraid to fight [Hose], but I’m not,” Baroni taunted, then claimed, “I’ve fought the best fighters in the world, all over the world.”

Baroni is 10-8, 3-3 since winning his first two PRIDE fights in 2005 versus Ikuhisa Minowa and Ryo Chonan.

Hose is 5-1, knocking out five consecutive cans.

At Saturday’s press conference, Baroni called Hose, “A young Phil Baroni, chin down, hands up, and let’em fly.”

Lawler is 16-4 with wins versus Murilo Rua, Trigg, Joey Villasenor, and Falaniko Vitale.  Lawler said, “I also look forward to…winning the title back and wearing the Icon belt around my waist where it belongs.”

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Lauzon Taps Out Latina on “TapouT”

Former UFC lightweight Dan Lauzon tapped his late-replacement opponent, Frank Latina, in a triangle choke at 3:01 of the first round at the World Championship Fighting event in  Wilmington, Massachusetts Friday.

Lauzon, 8-2, cranked up after a straight right bent his head backwards.  The fight hit the mat and Lauzon took Latina, 4-1, through a list of submissions before sinking the final technique.

Lauzon’s fight will be featured in a future episode of “TapouT”, an MMA reality show on the Versus network hosted by the founders of the TapouT apparel line.

“The Upgrade” Lauzon is noted as the youngest fighter to appear in the UFC at 18-years old in October 2006, losing to Spencer Fisher.  His win versus Latina may have been an audition for a gig in the WEC.

Also on the card, Henrique Bicalho tapped Jason Bennett at 2:15 of the first round.

Nate Kittredge fell to 2-1 after a disqualification loss to Ronnie Wuest at 1:40 of the first.

Welterweight Nuri Shakur ended a four-fight losing strike with a TKO of Travis Lerchen.

John Benoit choked out Justin Hammerstrom in a triangle 45-seconds into the second round.

Ken Stone improved to 3-0 after 1:46 with winless Daniel Duarte.  Duarte has lost both of his professional MMA fights in a rear naked choke.

John Franchi TKO’d Justin Homsey at 40 seconds of the second round to improve to 3-0.

Nate LaMotte ended Stephen Stengal’s night in 39 seconds.

Dan Bonnell evened to 3-3 with a guillotine choke of Mark Giove 2:45 into the fight.

Greg Croteau defeated Aaron Chidester by unanimous decision.

Larry Kerrigan choked out Lou Czekalski by guillotine at 3:23 of the second round.

Jose Lopez notched his first win, a unanimous decision over Sean Ratcliff.

UFC President, Bostonian Dan White made a special guest appearance at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium for the second WCF card.

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