Kongo Needs a Stoppage in August

Sunday, “Unstoppable” Cheick Kongo (11-4-1) announced that he’ll bounce off his March defeat to Fighters.com eighth-ranked heavyweight “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13) versus Norwegian Dan Evensen (10-2) in Minneapolis in August.

Evensen is primarily a BodogFight product, going 3-0 in that now-defunct promotion.

Evensen won his last fight in November by unanimous decision over Konstantin Gluhov (2-2).

The Norwegian’s record lists an April 2006 loss to UFC heavyweight “Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch (8-3).

Kongo seemed slated for stardom by the UFC after forcing a unanimous decision “W” over “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2).

After UFC 77 in October, fourth-ranked “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) called out the surging Frenchman as an alternative to a then-uncertain title challenge versus top-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1).

When Sylvia scored his title shot versus Nogueira, Kongo was matched against Herring.  An unimpressive wrestling slog saw Herring take a split decision.

The “L” added to another split decision loss to “Fury” Carmelo Marrero (7-2) in October 2006 and a majority decision Kongo squeaked over Assuerio Silva (13-6) in April 2007.

Evensen’s 10-2 record belies his pedestrian competition.

The match-up reveals the UFC’s waining confidence in their statuesque kickboxer.

Kongo needs a stoppage victory in the UFC’s current heavyweight climate which has seen Filipovic, Sylvia, and “Irish” Jake O’Brien (10-1) cut loose.

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Kicking Back With The Goat

By Jon Grilz

“I would love a shot at [Yushin] Okami,” exclaimed Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked welterweight “The Goat” Nick Thompson (35-9-1), when asked if he would like a shot at redeeming a loss years prior.

“Thunder” Okami (22-4) is Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked middleweight.

“No disrespect to him, but I got injured in the fight right after taking him down.  I took him down fairly easily.  I’m fairly confident that when I’m on top of anybody I’m going to end the fight.”

To the average MMA fan, this might seem like a lofty goal, but it doesn’t stop there for Thompson.

“I have my last final [exam before graduating University of Minnesota Law School], then I take the bar [exam] in July.”

Not to mention his fight scheduled for 3 June at Sengoku III versus Chute Boxing Academy’s “Maicon” Michael Costa (9-3).

“I’ll fight at heavyweight if the offer is right! Or 155, I’ll just cut off a leg!”

Perhaps a fight against sixth-ranked heavyweight “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (28-1).  “It’d be scary, but fun from my position!”

There is no shortage of personality for the man that has enough sense of humor to be known as “The Goat”.  Not to mention continuing with MMA after starting 1-3.

“I just enjoy it.  I was never really good at it.  It was just something that I was enjoying, then I started beating people I wasn’t supposed to beat.
 
“I would be brought in as an opponent.  I think Josh Neer is a prime example.  He had just fought in the UFC; and, they brought me in just to get him a win, then I beat him [via rear naked choke in the second round] and a couple of black belts from Top Team.

“I was just being brought in as a tune-up fight and, suddenly, I was beating guys; and, my coach pulls me aside and says ‘Hey, you should really think about doing this and really taking a shot at it.’”

“It wasn’t even really until after the Karo Parisyan fight that my wife sat me down and said that I had to make a decision whether I was going to train full time or not.  Until the Karo fight, I was only training maybe four hours a week.  Now I’m training four or five hours a day.”

Of course, that isn’t to say that all of Thompson’s fights have been lined up as he would like.  Thompson admits that “there have been sometimes when I wasn’t excited to fight.”

“My last fight, [a controversial unanimous decision win over "Pitbull" Fabricio Monteiro (16-7)], I was excited to be in Japan; but, just style-wise and where I was coming from in my career, it seemed like a lose/lose fight.

“If I beat him, I was supposed to be him.  If I lost to  him, I lost to a guy that wasn’t very good.  Fights like that are hard to get up for.

“Mark Weir was another example when I fought him in BoDog.  Mark is a tough guy, he will knock you out if you make a mistake.  He hits fairly hard, but, at the same time, he was on like a four- or five-fight losing streak; and, it’s kind of like: If I beat him, so what?  And, it’s not an easy fight.”

Easy or not, Thompson has strung together 11 straight wins after losing to “Heat” Karo Parisyan (18-5) at UFC 50 in April 2006, many of which he has fought at 170-pounds, a difficult achievement for a fighter who stands 6′1″ and walks around at around 210-pounds, according to his trainers.

And now, fighting at Sengoku, the welterweight fighter will have to drop even more weight to get to the required 167-pounds for his division.  Nick confessed that on Mother’s Day he, “went over to my mom’s house; and, they made a great dinner; and, I brought my own Tupperware of chicken, heated it up in the microwave.”

For a moment, Nick’s usually cheerful face suddenly showed a sign of regret.  “It’s not just hard on me, it’s hard on my wife.  We’re newlyweds, 25-, 26-years old.  Most people like to go out and get burgers or go to bars with friends.  I can’t do that.”

Of course, that isn’t to say that he has to either.  Remember, Thompson is a graduating law student who has more than just mixed martial arts as an option.  So, why wouldn’t he give up being hit in the face for a living?

To Nick the answer seemed simple.  “I can be a lawyer when I’m 40!”

After years of fighting and enduring strain to personal relationships, Nick has learned the hard lessons he wishes he had known earlier.

He said, “One [lesson] is really surrounding yourself with good guys.

“Coming to a  school like [Minnesota Martial Arts Academy] may be more expensive than going to a smaller school, but the learning curve is just so exponential.  If you are paying $15 more a month to come and train with top level guys, it really pays for itself.”

Without pausing to think, Nick offered more advice for prospective fighters.  “Another one is: Get management!  It is really tempting when you’re a young fighter that, if a promoter says, ‘Here’s $50 and a sandwich, go fight this guy.’

“When you are a young fighter, you should have the mentality that you will fight anyone, but you really need a manager or a coach to say, ‘Hey, no, here’s what you are going to do.’

“And the last thing is something I learned too late in my career.  I wished I had learned sooner…to train out of your comfort zone.  If you are really good at jiu-jitsu and suck a wrestling, you need to practice your wrestling.

“It’s better to suck in practice than to get in a fight and realize ‘this guy is better than me at jiu-jitsu and I don’t know how to wrestle’.  It isn’t terribly fun at practice, but it’s better than losing in a fight.”

As always, Nick is thankful for his wife, his training partners at Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy, and his sponsors Tapout and Island Nutrition.

Photos of Thompson with Emelianenko and Thompson in Costa Rica are copyrighted by Nick Thompson from www.nickthompson.tv.

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Cullum Captures KOTC Flyweight Title

Saturday night at Harlow’s Casino and Resort in Greenville, Mississippi, Abel Cullum (11-1) submitted “Lion” Ryan Diaz (12-11) in a fifth-round armbar to take the Canadian’s King of the Cage 135-pound title.

Cullum has stopped his last ten opponents; Diaz is the first of the string to get out of the first round.

Lightweight Jarrett Becks (7-6) won a three-round unanimous decision over “No Love” Rich Clementi’s (31-12-1) Team Voodoo stablemate JC Pennington (15-5-1).

Mississippi middleweight Chris Gates (6-5) TKO’d debuting Will Whilow (0-1) at 1:58 of round two.

Mike Perez (3-2) choked out Jason Goodin (1-1) at 2:57 of round one in a rear naked.

Rookie Brian White (0-1) debuted forcing a doctor stoppage TKO of Johnny Hughes (2-4) in 2:22 of round one.

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Barnett Weathers Snowman’s Assault at Sengoku

Sunday in Tokyo at Sengoku II, Fighters.com’s third-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (22-5) ground out a unanimous decision over “Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-8) in a match battled mostly on the mat.

Heavyweight “Monster” Kevin Randleman (17-12) also pulled out a UD over Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura (8-3-2).  The decision was considered controversial.

Monson and Randleman are scheduled to fight on a 24 June card in Charlotte.

Highly-touted Roger Gracie (2-0) remained undefeated after tapping MMA vet Yuki Kondo (48-22-6) in a rear naked choke at 2:40 of round one.

“Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (7-1) called out “Ironhead” Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) after knocking out Kiwi “Big” Jim York (9-2) 46-seconds into round two.

American Top Team welterweight Jorge Santiago (17-7) fought off near-submissions before finding his own submission of Grabaka’s Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) in a third-round armbar at 2:10.

Lighweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) took only 4:15 to sink a rear naked choke submission in on “Crazy” Kwang Hee Lee (5-1).

Xtreme Couture welterweight “Quicksand” Mike Pyle (16-5-1) locked in a triangle choke to tap “Handler” Dan Hornbuckle (15-2) at 4:52 of round one.

Welterweight Pancrase vet Satoru Kitaoka (20-8-9) submitted Aussie Ian James Schaffa (7-5-1) in a guillotine choke in just 50 seconds to begin the night.

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Fighters.com Makin’ Moves From Omaha to Las Vegas

Makin’ moves!  Fighters.com proudly sponsored Omaha Fight Club’s Amateur Fight Night Friday night, then the Xtreme Couture Operation Freedom 5k Run Saturday morning in Las Vegas.

Photos From Omaha

The Omaha Fight Club’s Fighters.com-sponsored cage.

You can always spot a fighter as the guy with both eyes black and both arms full.

The new Fighters.com t-shirt was a rage in Omaha.

Photos From Las Vegas

Fighters.com’s Jeremy Schoemaker with second-ranked heavyweight and UFC Heavyweight co-Champion “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8).

Schoemaker, Kim Couture (”The Natural’s” wife), and D.K.

Couture talking fighters.

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TUF Bowman Successful in Pro Debut

A card featuring a former combatant on The Ultimate Fighter, Blake Bowman (1-0), and “Mr. International” Shonie Carter (38-17-7) as referee proved to be one of those where you truly “didn’t want to blink.”

At Legends of Fighting 25: Breaking Point in Indianpolis, Bowman, oft-criticized cast-member of TUF 6, made his pro debut and first fight after the show on which he was seriously injured in a fight with Richie Hightower (7-2), and seriously ridiculed by eventual champion Mac Danzig (18-4-1).

“Believe it or not, there is life after TUF,” Bowman said.  “Undoubtedly, I wasn’t UFC caliber when I got onto the show.  I teach at Defcom One, Gracie Baja now, and, thanks to those guys on TUF, trainers and critics, they made me a fighter.”

The 6′2″, lanky fighter was sporting some new red and pink hair, silver painted toenails, and impressive musculature.  He wasted little time getting over what he called “basically, first-time jitters.”

After throwing some long, quick jabs to measure distance, Bowman used that rehabbed left leg - which is still slightly thinner than his right - to launch a crisp left high kick that caught his opponent, Kevin Walker (0-1), along the jaw and neck.

The crack popped throughout the venue; Walker fell like a board; and, finally, after nine-months of frustration, Bowman proved he at least belongs in a cage.

In two bouts before Bowman’s, the crowd was treated to a site few will ever get to witness.

Middleweights Shaun Parker (0-0-1) and Tyler Bryan (0-0-1) squared off for only a few seconds before both fighters threw big, looping right hooks simultaneously.

Both fists landed!  Both fighters were knocked cleanly unconscious.

When they hit the mat in opposite directions and with both mouth pieces rolling, “Mr. International” seemed truly confused, hardly knowing which man to attend to.

That fight, which kept the crowd on its feet for two minutes after the knockouts, was called a draw.

In other action:

Super Heavyweight: Tiny Norton (2-1) over Brian Veach (1-2) in a TKO, round 1.

Heavyweight: Chris Canale (1-1) over Jason Hayes (0-1) with an arm lock, round 1.

Heavyweight: Sean Sallee (9-15) over Tim Wills (0-18) by TKO, round 1.

Middleweight: Matt Roland (5-1) over Josh Rines (0-1) by TKO, round 1

Middleweight: Gabe Holmes (4-4) and Steve Frits (0-1) fought to a draw after 3 rounds.

Welterweight: Daniel Nuttall (2-1) over Bobby Chadwell (0-1) by TKO, round 1.

135 lbs.: “The Asian Sensation” Kris Boyden (1-0) over Scott Blevins (0-6) by TKO, round 1.

The main event featured lighweights Jeremy Ashley (6-5) over Jacob Cory (0-1) after Cory’s corner threw in the towel just a two minutes into the fight.

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Redemption For Sean Sherk

By Jon Grilz

“I’m ready to get in there and show everyone who the champ is,” Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked lightweight “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (32-2-1) told Fighters.com Thursday from the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy in Minneapolis.

At UFC 73 last July, then UFC Lightweight Champ Sherk defended his title by unanimous decision over Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked lightweight Hermes Franca (18-6).

In the post-fight drug test administered by the California State Athletic Commission, Sherk tested positive for the banned substance Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid that occurs naturally in the human body in small amounts.

After a lie detector test (which Sherk passed) and hearing, Sherk’s one-year suspension was reduced to six months and the UFC stripped him of the 155-pound title.

“Redemption,” Sherk described his UFC 84 match-up with current UFC Champ and fourth-ranked “Prodigy” BJ Penn (12-4-1).  “I got my belt taken away for something I didn’t do.  Beating one of the best guys in the world is a big part of it, too.”

Many critics contend Sherk shouldn’t be the top contender coming off his suspension.

“As the facts unfolded,” Sherk explained, “[UFC President Dana White] realized that I was telling the truth and he saw how the commission handled my case.  So, with all that he felt that it was very important that I come back in as the number one contender.

“Realistically, me and BJ have been on track to fight for a long time.  It’s a dream match-up.  We’ve both been on top of the game for a long time; so, this is a great fight not only for us but for the fans.”

When the UFC began, the question was: Which combat style is most dominant?  Sherk versus Penn, wrestler versus jiu-jitsu player, harkins back to those beginnings.

“Obviously, my wrestling is better than his wrestling and his jiu-jitsu is better than my jiu-jitsu,” Sherk claimed, but, “We are both mixed martial arts fighters.  This fight is the fight that people are going to see all my attributes.”

Sherk has weathered seventh-ranked “KenFlo” Kenny Florian’s (9-3) sharp elbows, Francas knees, and lasted the distance against fifth-ranked welterweight Matt Hughes’s (42-6) wrestling, not to mention training under Pedro Sauer black belt Greg Nelson.

Sherk sized-up that Penn has “got some tricks; and, I’ve got some tricks to that he hasn’t seen before.  It’s going to come down to who executes their game plan best.”

He believes, “BJ wants to get in there and win this one early.  He’s got to know that a conditioning battle isn’t a good battle for him.  So, I expect him to come out strong.

“I think that he’s going to be in better shape for this fight [than his last fight versus "Daddy" Joe Stevenson (28-8)]; but, Stevenson didn’t push him the way I’m going to push him.  I’m going to test him.  I’m going to try to push this thing as fast and hard as I can and see where his conditioning is.”

Penn isn’t known for being reserved.  The Hawaiian has mocked Sherk’s suspension, steroid allegations, and even his size.

Sherk said, “That’s just his personality.   I think he wants to hate people.  Maybe it motivates him.  And he wants to get into my head.  A lot of people that fight BJ buy into the hype: ‘Ooo, he’s a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.  He’s the first American to win the BJJ Worlds.’  Big deal!  I don’t care about any of that.  Take away his flexibility and he’s just like any other guy I’ve fought.  I don’t buy into the hype.”

Through the last tough ten months, Sherk has been thankful for his true fans.

“The people that have stood by my through the hard times, that’s when you find out who your real fans are,” Sherk confided.  “Minnesota Marital Arts Academy and all my sponsors that stood by me: Island Supplements, MMA Overload, MTX Audio, Warrior Wear, and Affliction.”

In the end, it’s all about one thing Sean said, “I could have had a warm-up fight, didn’t feel like I needed it.  I want to get back in there.  I want to get this belt back and just want to get my career back on track.”

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Nelson, Schultz Defend IFL Titles, Miller Wins First Belt

Friday in Connecticut, IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson (13-2) blitzed “Hillbilly Heartthrob” Brad Imes (11-5) at the bell to score a TKO in 2:55 and retain his title.

“Lion” Ryan Schultz (20-9-1) defended his IFL lightweight title in a five-round unanimous decision “W” over tough Lithuanian Deividas Taurosevicius (9-3).

Middleweight Dan Miller (8-1) blew through IFL Middleweight Champion Ryan McGivern (12-6).  At 3:36 of round one, Miller sucked up McGivern’s right leg in a kneebar to tap the champ and take his strap.

On the undercard at the Mohegan Sun, “Indio” Danillo Villefort (7-2) tapped middleweight Mike Massenzio in a kneebar at 3:25 of round one.

Jorge Gurgel-trained lightweight “Pitbull” Josh Souder (7-2) dispatched Zac George (12-3) by TKO in 47 seconds.

Middleweight “Suave” Matt Horwich (23-10) won a unanimous decision over “Coyote” Joey Guel (13-6).

Welterweight “Doomsday” John Howard (9-3) TKO’d Nick Calandrino (4-1) at 2:24 of round three.

Light heavyweight Aaron Stark (6-4) won a unanimous decision over “Philly Bad Ass” Lamont Lister (4-4), fresh off his win at YAMMA Pit Fighting.

Lightweight John Franchi (4-0) remained undefeated tapping Frank Latina (4-2) in a rear naked choke at 2:19 of round one.

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KOTC: Opposing Force Results

Two No Contests marred Thursday’s King of the Cage Opposing Force card at San Manuel Casino in Highland, California, outside of San Bernardino.

The card’s main event between welterweight champion “Slam” Aaron Wetherspoon (7-2) and challenger Anthony Lapsley (11-3) was one of the false starts.

Top super heavyweight contender “Rhino” Mike Bourke’s (8-11-1) match-up versus “King of the Streets” Chance Williams (6-2) never had a chance, also ending in a No Contest.

In the match-ups that actually got off, top 205-pound contender “Kryptonite” Tony Lopez (8-2) submitted Joey Beltran (4-2) by Kimura at 3:15 of the first round.

Donald Sanchez (11-7) TKO’d William Sriyrapai (10-4) at 3:41 of round two to climb into the lightweight rankings.

Lightweight “Dynamite” Gregg Dalton (5-2) exploded on Dave Rivas (8-7-1) for a second round knockout at 3:41.

“Insane” Georgi Karakhanyan (5-1-1) won a unanimous decision over “Mando” Armando Sanchez at lightweight.

Light heavyweight Ben Fuimaono (2-1) tapped lanky kickboxer Miguel Cosio (1-5) in an armbar at 2:11 of round two.

Daniel Hernandez (2-3) scored a first round TKO of Daniel Mancha at 1:10.

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Starnes Claims He’s Still With ATT

I can defend the reasonable.

When middleweight Kalib Starnes (8-3-1) was being derided as a coward after losing to “Rock” Nathan Quarry (10-2) last month, I took his word that he broke his foot early in the fight, tried to look at the fight through his eyes, and posted the best defense I could.

Fighters deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Wednesday, The Pit boss John Hackleman told Fight Hype, “I talked to the coach at ATT (American Top Team) and they kicked [Kalib Starnes] off.”

Again, I gave Starnes the benefit of the doubt and, as Fighters.com always does, sought his side of the claim.

Starnes told me, “Nobody from American Top Team has contacted me and said any such thing.  What kind of team would turn on you for losing a fight?  Do you think it would be reasonable for them to kick me off of the team for losing?  If they were the type of team who would drop you because you lost a fight or had some bad press, I wouldn’t want to be there anyway!”

Fine.

American Top Team didn’t respond to my request for confirmation.

Someone needs to tell Starnes when he’s said enough.

Starnes continued, “If the same people that elected George W. Bush twice and made Britney Spears the most searched name on the Internet think that I’m not a good fighter or a good person because I lost a match, well, I guess that I’ll just have to live with that.”

Huh?  Is that a poke at Americans?

Whether or not you like G-Dub or Britney Spears, it was Starnes’s fellow Canadians that booed him out of the Octagon, though I’m sure Americans would’ve been content to do the same.

That’s not even reasonable.

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