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Home , Dan Severn, Don Frye, Kimbo Slice, Mark Kerr (fighter), Oleg Taktarov, Pancrase

ECW Press Copyright © Jonathan Snowden and Kendall Shields, 2010

Published by ECW Press 2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, m4e 1e2 416-694-3348 [email protected]

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other- wise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors’ rights is appreciated.

library and archives canada cataloguing in publication

Snowden, Jonathan, 1975- The MMA encyclopedia / Jonathan Snowden and Kendall Shields.

Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-1-55022-923-3

1. Mixed --Encyclopedias. i. Shields, Kendall ii. Title.

gv1102.7.m59s65 2010 796.81503 c2010-901256-9

Developing Editor: Michael Holmes Cover Design: Dave Gee Text Design: Tania Craan Color Section Design: Rachel Ironstone Typesetting: Gail Nina Photos copyright © Peter Lockley, 2010 Printing: Solisco Tri-Graphic 1 2 3 4 5

The publication of The MMA Encyclopedia has been generously supported by the Government of Ontario through Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit, by the OMDC Book Fund, an initiative of the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and by the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

printed and bound in canada Contents

Introduction v

A: Abbott–Arona 1 M: Machida– 267 B: Bader–Bustamante 21 N: Nakamura–North-south 301 C: Cage Force–Cummo 49 O: Ogawa–Overeem 313 D: Danzig–Dream 81 P: –Pulver 325 E: Edgar–Ezequiel choke 95 Q: Quadros 349 F: Faber–Funaki 111 R: Randleman–Rutten 351 G: Garcia– 129 S: Sakuraba–Sylvia 373 H: Hackney–Hunt 163 T: Tadeu–TUF 457 I: IFL–International U: Ultimate Fighting –Uno 479 Championship 189 V: Vale Tudo–Vovchanchyn 489 J: Jackson–Just Bleed Guy 197 W: War Machine– 497 K: Kang–Kung fu 213 Y: Yamada–Yvel 513 L: Lashley–Luta Livre 235 Z: ZST–Zuffa 523

Appendix I: Ultimate Fighting Championship Results 525 Appendix II: Other Major MMA Results 561 Notes on the Photos 583 Acknowledgments 585

Introduction

On its surface, is a simple game. There’s something uni- versal about fighting, after all. And when two combatants square off inside a cage in a brutal contest that leaves one man standing and the other unwilling or unable to continue, audiences connect on a visceral, primal level, not an in- tellectual one. So why, you might ask, is this book necessary? Because, as simple as the concept of mixed martial arts may be, the exe- cution is infinitely complex. Take the fistic repertoire of traditional western and add to that the precise savagery of Muay Thai , the ex- plosive athleticism of collegiate and international wrestling, the dynamic techniques of and , and the methodical submission fight- ing of the world’s top Brazilian Jiu-jitsu stylists. These diverse disciplines, each one complex enough to warrant a lifetime of study on its own, now reg- ularly collide, with fascinating results, at mma events the world over. With The MMA Encyclopedia we hope to provide some insight into the techniques, styles, and tactics on display in the cage, as well as shed light upon the fighters and promotions that have helped make mma one of the fastest growing in the world. Along the way, many of the ’s luminaries tell their own stories under the heading “In Their Own Words.” The entries are arranged alphabetically, and when we make reference to a topic addressed elsewhere in the encyclopedia, the subject appears in bold type. As you’ll see, the world of mixed martial arts is deeply interconnected. Peter Lockley has provided some of his top notch photography to illustrate the book, and Chris “Mookie” Harrington helped put together the appen- dices: a complete look at the results from every major fight show in both America and as well as a collection of interesting miscellany. We hope you’ll agree that these combined efforts have yielded the best overall picture of the mixed martial arts industry ever put to press.

v

A

Abbott, David Nickname: Tank Height: 6’ Weight: 285 lbs Born: 4/16/65 Debut: UFC 6 (7/14/95) Career Record: 10–14 Notable Wins: Paul Varelans (UFC 6); (UFC 15.5); Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (ROTR 7) Notable Losses: (UFC 6); (Ultimate Ultimate 95); (Ultimate Ultimate 96); (UFC 17.5); Kevin “” Ferguson (EliteXC: Street Certified)

It wasn’t the brutal of the 400-pound John Matua that made David “Tank” Abbott stand out in a crowded mma landscape. It was the dance — just a little shimmy mimick- ing Matua’s scary convulsions as he lay unconscious on the mat — that im- mediately made Abbott one of the UFC’s biggest stars. Before Abbott burst onto the scene in 1995 at ufc 6, the ufc was filled with respectful athletes, martial artists who conducted themselves with class and dignity. With his crass interviews, often mocking his opponents and making light of the trauma he had just inflicted on their brains with his ham- mering fists, Abbott was a breath of fresh air. He was the anti–martial artist, a welcoming and familiar figure for fans who still weren’t sure what to make of Gracie Jiu-jitsu and the ground game. This was a fighter they could feel comfortable with: a bar fighter with a bald head, barrel chest, and long beard. This was what a fighter was sup- posed to look like. “I just got out of jail for beating somebody up — in fact, a cop’s son,” Abbott said. His background gave ufc promoters reason to worry. But Abbott had a solid case for his inclusion in the event. “Isn’t this supposed to be about fighting? And they said, ‘Yeah, but you’ve got to have some kind of a black belt or something.’ And I said, ‘That’s not what I’m about. I’m about fighting in the streets.’ They called me a couple days later and said, ‘We came up with this thing called . It’s from the Every Which Way But Loose movie from Clint Eastwood.’ That’s where the Tank came from.” It was a brilliant marketing ploy, not just by Semaphore Entertainment Group, but by Abbott himself. The Tank may have looked like an ignorant thug, but that was for show. He was a legitimately guy, but he was also a college graduate and a junior college wrestling star. This wasn’t part of the ufc’s pitch, though. Fans preferred to think of Abbott as a menacing street fighter and that was what seg gave them. Unfortunately for Abbott, the martial artists he professed to hate so much were more than a match for him. Abbott’s career is filled with devastating of journeymen and tomato cans, but every time he stood in the cage with a legitimate martial artist, he lost and lost convincingly. Even in de- feat, Tank was still able to convince fans he was the tougher guy. He was famous for heading to the bar while his conqueror headed to the hospital. It was an act that seemed to age poorly. If tapping out to a sneering ’s toe hold didn’t kill the Abbott myth, a first round knockout in just 43 sec- onds at the hands of street fighter Kimbo Slice surely did. Despite these convincing losses, Abbott will continue to fight on. As long as there are pro- moters who are willing to pay big bucks for the nostalgia of having Tank Abbott on their cards, the Tank will be there, lacing up his gloves and ready to fall down for old time’s sake.

n Tank Abbott: Wrestling Star During his UFC run, Tank Abbott’s biggest nemesis was the promotion’s pretty boy . One SEG insider thought of Shamrock’s Lion’s Den and Abbott’s crew as the Sharks and the Jets. Like the gangs in West Side Story, the two crews seemed destined to rumble. Instead, the fireworks were all verbal, especially after Shamrock left fighting for . Abbott mocked him mercilessly, but as the UFC paychecks got smaller, Abbott’s oppo-

2 sition to pro wrestling shrank as well. In 1999, Abbott took the leap with Time Warner’s World Championship Wrestling. He joined the promotion in a tumultuous time. WCW had peaked with an evil Hulk Hogan leading his New World Order stable against aging good guys like and . They were desperate for the next big thing and were tossing ideas against the wall with reckless abandon. Abbott was far from the only experiment; WCW also brought in KISS to help christen a KISS Demon character and signed the rapper Master P to headline a rap versus country music feud. In this creative chasm, Abbott’s wrestling persona changed by the day. He was a tough guy with one--knockout power during a “Colors on a Pole” match with Big Al at one pay-per-view and the goofy dancing bodyguard for the boy-band knockoff “” at another show. “The powers that be in WCW were changing every day; you never knew who was in charge. They just came up with new ideas and things for me to do. I think they were hoping it wouldn’t go well for me,” Abbott said. “I thought it was actually kind of funny to go out and dance with those guys. What the hell — let’s go have some fun.”

Achilles hold: see Leg locks

ADCC The Abu Dhabi Club Submission Wrestling World Championship — more often referred to as adcc, or simply Abu Dhabi — is the most presti- gious competition in the world of no-gi submission grappling. Founded by mma enthusiast Sheik Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Brazilian Jiu- jitsu instructor Nelson Monteiro in 1998, the adcc’s mandate is to bring grapplers from various disciplines together to compete under rules agreeable to competitors from all styles — though adcc rules resemble those of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu more closely than those of any other art or sport. And in- deed, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners have enjoyed far more success at adcc than representatives of sambo, judo, or wrestling. Aside from and Sanae Kikuta, representing wrestling and judo respectively, all adcc champi- ons have been top Brazilian Jiu-jitsu exponents. This is no doubt due to at least two factors: the undeniable, inherent quality of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as the premier submission discipline of its era, and the fact that the adcc is simply not on the radar of active elite wrestlers and judo players. Perhaps one day Sheik Tahnoon’s dream of top athletes from every major grappling discipline competing under a common rule set will be fully realized. Until then, it is

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