» Fighter: Oleg Taktarov

“Diesel” Travis Wiuff (52-11) battled five rounds versus three heavyweights Friday night in Atlantic City to conquer YAMMA Pit Fighting’s first tournament.

In non-tournament action, forty-four-year old original Ultimate Fighter challenger Patrick Smith (15-13) submitted 417-pound “Butterbean” Eric Esch (10-6-1) with strikes.

And, “The Russian Bear” Oleg Taktarov (16-5-2) also won by submission over “The Titan” Mark Kerr (15-7).

The tournament featured one-round fight-offs into the semi-finals.

Wiuff drew Brazilian Marcel Pereira (0-1) and pummeled the jits player on the mat over five minutes for the unanimous decision.

The tourney had commenced with an Alexey Oleinik (7-4) front-choke submission of “The Tank” Sherman Pendergarst at 4:18.

Chris Tuscherer (13-1) had dominated Tony Sylvester (10-2) for a unanimous decision.

And, former UFC Heavyweight Champion “Suave” Ricco Rodriguez (28-9) had taken George Bush (5-1) down at will to score a UD.

The second round also featured one-round fight-offs pairing Oleinik versus Tuscherer and Wiuff versus Rodriguez.

Again, Tuscherer dominated his opponent in G’n'P fury for a unanimous decision; and, Wiuff similarly overwhelmed the veteran Rodriguez, also for a UD.

In the three-round tournament final, Tuscherer didn’t do more than frustrate the seemingly fresher Wiuff.  Wiuff closed out round one with a left-right combo that bloodied Tuscherer.  Rounds two and three were fought mostly on the mat, with Wiuff unloading ground’n'pound in spurts while Tuscherer was somewhat effective tying him up.

At the final bell, Wiuff took all three judges’ cards 30-27 twice and 29-28.

In the event’s “Masters Superfight” main event, Smith shredded Bean’s pillar-like legs with kicks that eventually fell the massive man.  Esch was helpless on his back as Smith beat him to verbal submission at 3:17 of round one.

After absorbing a massive right from Kerr in the other “Masters Superfight”, Taktarov swept into a side kneebar to tap “The Titan” at 1:50 of round one.

The night had popped-off at the end of a “Philly Badass” Lamont Lister (4-3) overhand right that dropped Russian Oleg Savitsky (1-2) in a tournament alternate bout.  “Badass” finished him on the mat for a 33-second TKO.

In the other tourney alternate bout, Bryan Vetell (4-3) won a one-round unanimous decision over Antwain Britt (3-1).

Today YAMMA Pit Fighting (YPF), a new mixed martial arts (MMA) organization created by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) founder Bob Meyrowitz, announced that their first matchup will pit Russia vs. U.S.A, as “The Russian Bear” Oleg Taktarov and “The Predator” Don Frye will go toe-to-toe in the organization’s first live pay-per-view event.

The event will air live from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City on April 11, 2008.  Tickets for the event will go on sale March 8, and can be purchased through  Ticketmaster.

This first matchup will witness two MMA legends battle in a totally new and unique arena.  The veteran fighters will face off in one of the ‘Masters Superfights’, one-on-one matches that feature some of MMA’s most illustrious and legendary fighters. 

“Don Frye needs to do only two things: fly to Russia and stay there for ten years to study Sambo.  Then, maybe he’ll be ready,” said Oleg Taktarov about his upcoming face off with Frye.

In addition to the Superfights, the 11 April event will showcase the skill and endurance of eight fearsome competitors in a tournament match for the title of YAMMA Heavyweight Champion.  Tournament fighters include:

“Pato” Marcelo Pereira – a multiple world and Brazil BJJ champion known for his strong chin and very heavy hands with an MMA record of 5-0-0.

Sherman Pendergarst – a 6′1 230-pound former collegiate wrestler and state high school wrestling champion with a background in BJJ, boxing, and kickboxing with an MMA record of 10-8-0.

Rex Richards – a former lineman for the Indianapolis Colts and Machado BJJ brown belt.  Richards is a veteran of Strike Force and Art of War with a professional mixed martial arts record of 4-1-0.

Tony Sylvester – a boxing/wrestling expert who is considered to be one of the top up-and-coming heavyweights in the nation with a MMA record of 10-1-0.

“The Diesel” Travis Wiuff – a UFC, Pride and IFL veteran, and current IFO World Champion with an MMA record of 47-11-0.  He is known for his well-rounded fighting style with vicious elbows on the ground

The additional three tournament fighters will be announced in the coming weeks.

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.