ROTR 8 World Championships Hosts 8-Man Welterweigh

[DUCE]

ROTR 8 World Championships Hosts 8-Man Welterweight Tournament at Blaisdell Center Arena January 20th
Submitted by: The Event Promoter
Posted On 01/11/2006


Event to Feature World’s Top MMA Athletes and Debut of Local Favorite “Butterbean”


HONOLULU, HAWAII - Jan 09, 2006 On January 20th Rumble World Entertainment, promoters of Hawai‘i’s largest and most respected Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event Rumble on the Rock (ROTR), will hold the first ever ROTR World Championships at the Blaisdell Center Arena in Honolulu. The event will be the preliminary test in an attempt to crown the first ROTR world champion at the highly anticipated ROTR Welterweight Grand Prix in April 2006.

RWE searched the world to find eight of the best welterweights in MMA today. In Los Angeles they found UFC contender and World Fighting Alliance (WFA) Champion ranked 5th in the world Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg. In Brazil they found Cage Rage Champion Anderson Silva and hailing from Japan is K-1 representative Yushin Okami. Former UFC Champion Dave Menne, former Shooto champion Jake Shields, New Mexico’s Carlos Condit, jiu-jitsu champion and ROTR veteran Renato “Charuto” Verissimo and former King of the Cage (KOTC) champion Ron “Machine Gun” Jhun were also signed to give the ROTR 8 card a bevy of undisputed champions.

To top off the star-studded evening, two Superfights featuring ROTR veteran and Hawaii football star Scott Junk as well as Hawaiian knockout royalty Wesley “Cabbage” Correira against Eric “Butterbean” Esch will draw the event to a close with Superfights that are the kind that make MMA history.

Promoters are hopeful that bringing these legends to Hawaii’s shores will help to further Hawai‘i’s appreciation of MMA and the caliber of fighters coming to compete in the tournament. According to JD Penn, “The athletes we’ve signed for this event are the very best in the sport right now, the top- ranked group in the welterweight division today. We originally scheduled this event for November but postponed it so that we could bring the fans a card packed with the world’s best. We’ve put together a card we’re proud of and we hope that the fans enjoy it,” he said.

In the first match-up of the evening, Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert and coach to BJ Penn, Renato “Charuto” Verissimo (5-2) will take on the up-and-coming Carlos Condit (13-2). Verissimo, ranked #6 in the world, is known to be the most technical in his division holding victories over Carlos Newton in the UFC and Yuichi Nakanishi in ROTR 7. Condit is a rising star with recent wins over Ross “Da Boss” Ebanez in a ROTR Qualifier event in November 2005 as well as Pete Spratt in a recent kickboxing match.

Hawaii’s most experienced professional fighter Ronald “Machine Gun” Jhun (23-15-2) will take on former WFA champion Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg in the second match-up of the evening. A former KOTC champion, Jhun is considered to be a heavy underdog. Trigg, known for his flashy antics and exciting style, is currently ranked #5 in the world after beating Verissimo in UFC #50. A possible re- match between Trigg and Verissimo in April’s ROTR Grand Prix Championships is highly anticipated.

The third match-up of the evening will bring together Dave Menne (38-12) and Jake Shields (11-4-1). Menne, UFC’s first-ever middleweight champion, is arguably the most skilled and experienced tournament fighter and will move down a weight class to take on former Shooto champion Shields who is currently ranked #9 in the world.

Former Shooto Champion, current Cage Rage champion and Pride veteran Anderson Silva (14-3) of Brazil will compete against K-1 representativeYushin Okami (13-2) of Japan. Silva who is ranked #1 in the middleweight division will drop a weight class and attempt to capture the ROTR Welterweight Grand Prix Title. Standing in his way is Demolition of Octagon Gear champion and K-1 rival Yushin Okami.

Two Superfights will draw the evening to a close. The first will feature the comeback of football star Scott Junk who returns to ROTR after his impressive debut against UFC veteran Ricco Rodriguez at ROTR 7.
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The final Superfight of the evening will be between two knockout artists likely to cause fireworks in the Blaisdell Arena. With a professional record of 63 wins and 3 losses, Eric “Butterbean” Esche of Alabama will make his transition into MMA against Hilo’s Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (17-8). Nicknamed the “King of four-rounders” and “The man Mike Tyson refused to fight,” Butterbean proved to be very popular in K-1’s World Grand Prix event in May 2005 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. Hawai‘i fans were so impressed with Butterbean that RWE promoters decided to bring him back to compete in ROTR.

Rising off three straight wins in October, November and December 2005, Cabbage is on a warpath with a vengeance. The relentless 27-year-old Hilo native has come to be known for a willingness to accept bouts with some of the toughest fighters in the sport today. The heavyweight Superfight between Butterbean and Cabbage promises serious knockout power when one of the most famous boxers of our time will make his debut against a Hilo boy who just wants to scrap.

The evening’s grueling tournament promises to bring the action and excitement that has made ROTR the fastest-growing event in the U.S. and Hawai‘i’s premiere MMA event. The event will be held under MMA rules with three, five-minute rounds held in an octagon-shaped cage. A press conference will be held Thursday, January 19 at Ala Moana Centerstage at 5pm. On January 20, doors to the Blaisdell Center Arena will open at 6pm.

The event will also feature world-renown Polynesian entertainment group Malu Productions, known for their Snoop Dogg video performance on MTV as well as their performances with the NFL and the Hawai‘i International Film Festival. Malu Productions highlight the Polynesian dance styles of Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa.

Tickets to ROTR 8 can be purchased at the Blaisdell Box Office, at www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster toll-free at 1-877-750-4400. Tickets are priced at $35, $60, $100, $200, and $300 Up-to- date event news can be found by visiting www.rumbleontherock.com.

ROTR 8 will be broadcast on Canadian pay-per-view and worldwide Internet pay-per-view on January 21 by visiting www.rumbleontherock.com and clicking on “RumbleVision.”

[DUCE]

January 21, 2006
by Josh Gross ([e-mail])

HONOLULU, Jan. 20 — Of the four remaining competitors for Rumble on the Rock’s 175-pound tournament, which will culminate April 7 in this city, only Frank Trigg (Pictures) could legitimately claim he was favored heading into his fight Friday evening at the Blaisdell Center Arena.

An unfortunate disqualification, stunning upset and dominating three-round effort put Trigg, who went the distance to win a close decision, in the same company as Yushin Okami (Pictures), Carlos Condit (Pictures) and Jake Shields (Pictures) — perhaps not the group promoters or fans expected, but a worthy quartet nonetheless.

The final tournament bout of the evening saw Trigg (13-4-0) go to the judges for the first time in his career, as he beat fan-favorite Ronald Jhun (Pictures) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Save the final 20 seconds of the opening round, when Jhun, 23-16-2, went for but could not finish an armbar from the guard, Trigg was the early aggressor.

A takedown in the first minute allowed him to knee Jhun to the head while the Hawaiian was forced into a bad position. Yet with the submission attempt, Jhun energized the crowd and took that momentum into round two. The heavy-punching Hawaiian wouldn't let his hands loose, but he did scrap well from the bottom.

The two fought in the center of the cage and with Jhun starting to score on the outside, Trigg went back to his safety net, once again putting Jhun on his back.

With 40 seconds remaining in round two, a questionable stand-up led to Jhun again scoring on Trigg, who by now appeared fatigued.

In the final period, Jhun still refused to string his punches together, offering instead what seemed like a series of one-punch combinations rather than the rat-tat-tat punching he’s done so well previously.

Playing it safe for the first half of the round, Trigg again fell victim to a quick stand-up by referee Troy Mandaloniz, this time as he was setting up a side-choke. Because of this, in the final minute of the fight Jhun landed his best punch of the contest — the back end of a rare one-two combination. Trigg answered in kind with his most explosive double-leg takedown of the night, finishing with side-control.

The final period was a tough round to score (Sherdog.com had it 10-9 for Trigg and overall 29-28 in his favor), but Jhun’s indecisiveness on the feet cost him dearly.

The upset of the night belonged to young Carlos Condit (Pictures), who needed just 17 seconds to stop UFC veteran and Hawaiian-fan favorite Renato Verissimo (Pictures) (5-3-0). With the arena rocking in anticipation of their man, “Charuto,” advancing to the next round, Condit countered the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a knee to the face as he shot in for a takedown.

“Charuto” stumbled to the floor and Condit, a now 14-2-0 fighter out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, moved in, dropping several punches before connecting with another heavy knee. Additional strikes removed any doubt, and referee Larry Landless (Pictures) moved in to save Verissimo.

Jake Shields (Pictures) showed flashes of grappling brilliance in his convincing decision victory over former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne (Pictures). Throughout their 15 minutes in the cage Shields shot off Menne’s punches as if he knew exactly when and where they were coming.

During stretches Shields was incredibly active from the top. He passed guard numerous times, working from both side-control and mount against Menne, a man who’s not used to getting put on his back or out-worked on the floor.

Between rounds, Shields’ corner worked professionally, refreshing their fighter in advance of another five minutes of action. Menne, however, stood alone in the cage for nearly half the break before finally being brought a stool and drink of water.

Menne, despite this, stopped Shield’s takedown attacks twice to begin the middle period. Instead of playing on the feet with Menne, who looked meager while weighing in at 175 pounds on Thursday, Shields pulled guard, where he nearly sunk a fight-ending triangle choke.

When Menne had Shields in trouble it was during transitions. If Shields couldn’t finish a takedown, Menne took his chance and connected with knees. But against the controlling former SHOOTO 167-pound champion, those opportunities were few and far between.

Up two rounds to none heading into the third, and having worn Menne with strikes and grappling, Shields started the final period by methodically finishing a takedown and controlling position, before passing to side- and full-mount. A missed armbar put Shields on his back, but the Cesar Gracie-trained fighter had little trouble with Menne there.

In the final 45 seconds, Shields secured back-control and tried to end the bout by submission. But against a man as crafty and experienced as Menne, it would not come and each of the three judges at ringside rendered the same verdict: 30-27 Shields.

One major failing of mixed martial arts is its lack of standardized rules and regulations. That shortcoming smacked Brazilian Anderson Silva (Pictures) across the face tonight much harder than his opponent, Yushin Okami (Pictures), ever did, as the former SHOOTO champion and PRIDE veteran idly watched a fight he thought he’d won by knockout go to the guy across the cage.

Okami had very little for the Silva, who moved up in weight in recent years. Fighting at 175 the Brazilian looked skinny, though Okami, an inch taller at 6’ 2”, appeared to be equally slender.

As far as movement there wasn’t a contest. Silva flowed in the cage, shifting angles and closing distance at will. For the first 120 seconds the bout was his — and there didn’t appear to be any change in that in the offing.

Okami, showing no desire to stand and trade, made no real effort to bring the bout to the floor, though he finally put it there and sat high in Silva’s closed guard.

Scoring his only effective strikes of the fight, Okami looked comfortable in the position, though as he’d learn moments later, there is no comfortable position when you face a man who is used to the Vale Tudo-style bouts of Brazil and the less prohibitive PRIDE rules.

Silva swung his long right leg past Okami’s arms and planted the bottom of his right foot on the Japanese fighter’s face. Okami fell back, obviously hurt, and he would have taken more punishment had referee Troy Mandaloniz not held Silva back before he could regain composure.

There was no doubting the strike was a foul, but it took several minutes before Silva was made aware of this as his corner man, Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), helped explain the situation.

Okami was given every chance to recover, though even if he’d been lucid the disqualification still could have been warranted. Okami could not continue and Mandaloniz waved off the fight just 2:33 after the opening bell.

[ryanm2k4]

Trigg must relieved for getting the win because he made a bold claim in saying that if he lost to Jhun, then he would retire from MMA competition.

Holy crap on Charuto getting KO'ed in 17 seconds. It looks like in welterweight rankings that Charuto may no longer be in the top 10. Sucks that Anderson Silva got DQ'ed, but that is what happens when one fights in many different MMA organizations with dramatic changes in the rules. I hope there is a Trigg/Shields final.

[DUCE]

I want to see Condit vs.Trigg or Shields.