Front Page NY Times Article on MMA



On the subway this morning I looked over someone's shoulder and saw the startling photo above on the front page of the New York Times. The article takes the occasion of a Fedor Emelianenko seminar in Atlantic City to examine the sport as a whole. It doesn't do a bad job, overall, and includes a slideshow of some great fight images from MFC 7 (one of which is reproduced below).



"I guess I'm a dreamer," said Joey Brown, a 39-year-old fighter from Lodi, N.J., who goes by the nickname Knockdown. "It takes a dreamer to do what we're doing."

Brown has a full-time job, a 1-5 record and an assistant manager he pays by helping to baby-sit her mentally disabled daughter. He works days for an auto parts company in North Jersey and trains nights at a gym in Manhattan. From the moment Brown saw the first Ultimate Fighting Championship — "Nov. 12, 1993," he recited proudly — he found a sport that spoke to him.

Read the whole article at NYTimes.com

Long Island Kickboxing Challenge Tomorrow

Mina Sarihasan

On Sunday, June 11, 2006, USKBA ACTION SPORTS Promoter Tommy "Bee" Bottone (AFC Kickboxing / Ring of Fire Kickboxing) will host the "LONG ISLAND KICKBOXING CHALLENGE" at the Atlantic Memorial Boxing Club in Shirley NY. This event will feature some of the best area amateur Kickboxing talent on the circuit today. Two Female USKBA Amateur Championship Title bouts will take place. Mina Sarihasan will be taking on Andrea Deangelo and Jennifer Sweeney will be squaring off against Jennie Nedel.

The action starts at 2:00 pm. For tickets and information, call 631-345-0100, or visit the event website at www.ringoffirekickboxing.com.

A special USKBA Officials Certification Seminar will take place prior to the "LONG ISLAND KICKBOXING CHALLENGE". At 11:00 am, the seminar will being. This seminar is to certify Officials to work USKBA Sanctioned events. Anyone interested in attending the USKBA Officials Certification Seminar, should call Promoter Bottone at 631-345-0100 to make the necessary arrangements.

Two NY Press Articles



Nice article this week in NY Press about "underground" fight clubs. They're perfectly legal, as the article explains, they're just not allowed to advertise or pay the fighters.

The crowd simmers, on the verge of boiling over into full-fledged mayhem, as the small Brazilian makes his way into the ring. At 135 pounds, Emerson Souza is a powerhouse of jiu-jitsu, and his students—over 100 hundred of them—rush the apron to cheer him on. Kaizen Karate-Do representative Angel Ortiz stands before him, ready to swing for the fences in hopes of scoring a knockout against the black belt, but when the referee signals for them to start, it takes only 36 seconds for Souza to take Ortiz down, straddle him and rain down punches.

Continue reading at nypress.com:::>>>>

Sumo in the City



Another article, this one on the World S.U.M.O. Challenge.