The MMA Encyclopedia / Jonathan Snowden and Kendall Shields
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ECW Press Copyright © Jonathan Snowden and Kendall Shields, 2010 Published by ECW Press 2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 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 martial arts--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–Muay Thai 267 B: Bader–Bustamante 21 N: Nakamura–North-south 301 C: Cage Force–Cummo 49 O: Ogawa–Overeem 313 D: Danzig–Dream 81 P: Pancrase–Pulver 325 E: Edgar–Ezequiel choke 95 Q: Quadros 349 F: Faber–Funaki 111 R: Randleman–Rutten 351 G: Garcia–Guillotine choke 129 S: Sakuraba–Sylvia 373 H: Hackney–Hunt 163 T: Tadeu–TUF 457 I: IFL–International Vale Tudo U: Ultimate Fighting Championship–Uno 479 Championship 189 V: Vale Tudo–Vovchanchyn 489 J: Jackson–Just Bleed Guy 197 W: War Machine–Wrestling 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, mixed martial arts 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 boxing and add to that the precise savagery of Muay Thai kickboxing, the ex- plosive athleticism of collegiate and international wrestling, the dynamic grappling techniques of judo and sambo, 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 sports in the world. Along the way, many of the sport’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 Japan 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); Yoji Anjo (UFC 15.5); Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (ROTR 7) Notable Losses: Oleg Taktarov (UFC 6); Dan Severn (Ultimate Ultimate 95); Don Frye (Ultimate Ultimate 96); Pedro Rizzo (UFC 17.5); Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson (EliteXC: Street Certified) It wasn’t the brutal knockout 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 Tank Abbott. 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 tough 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 knockouts 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 Frank Mir’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 Ken Shamrock. 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 professional wrestling. 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 Sting and Ric Flair. 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-punch-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 “3 Count” at another show. “The powers that be in WCW were changing every day; you never knew who was in charge.