You wanna fight? (WMMA2 1st dynasty try)

[JonInMiddleGA]

After reading several dynasties here I decided to break down & buy WMMA2 from Greydog earlier this week. I figured I'm still one edition behind on TEW and haven't really gotten to the point of feeling so "finished" that I'm not enjoying still playing it at times so instead of moving on to the latest TEW I opted to buy WMMA for the first time.

I'm definitely not sure I know what I'm doing exactly but after one botched dry run (somehow screwed up a slightly edited new database & played six months before realizing that all of the US regions except Alabama were zeroed out completely), I'm going to let people learn from my mistakes.

I'm cautiously optimistic since the unbooked nature of WMMA results actually suits my style of creating matches better than TEW, even though I'm infinitely better versed in pro wrestling than in MMA.

I've read the threads here, I've skimmed through most of the (less than I expected) threads at the GDS forum, I think I've picked up on a few quirks of the game and some general ideas but nowhere near metagaming. Otherwise I'll just be working from the same "everything ends up in a giant Excel spreadsheet of my own" style of quantifying & decision making that I've used with every Ryland game I've played in the past and we'll see what happens.

Not sure how this will turn out and since I'm not storyline heavy it won't be everybody's cup of tea but we'll see what comes of it.

[BYU 14]

Looking forward to another MMA dynasty Jon, Adam has done a great job creating "personalities" in this game. It will be interesting to see how things play out in your universe in comparision to mine.

Are you creating your own promotion?

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's 1999, just one year away from the new millennium, but there's already a change in the air for combat sports.

Mixed martial-arts, or MMA, is the hot new thing. Not quite boxing, not quite wrestling, but not nearly the no-holds-barred barroom brawl that some still associate it with either.

As the sport has evolved, a definite pecking order has been established.

Alpha-1 is based in Japan and represents the pinnacle of MMA. With a roster led by the legendary Hassan Fezzik (25-0 lifetime) they're a dominant force.

GAMMA is the clear leader in the U.S., with quality fighters in all the major weight classes. In business since 1992, they hold a near stranglehold on the English-speaking North American markets.

SIGMA is to Europe what GAMMA is to the U.S., only not as far into their development. Fezzik protege Leftar Oktay has his sights set on Heavyweight champion Terron Cabal but unbeaten Armen "A-Game' Sarkisian stands in the way.

WEFF, the Women's Extreme Fighting Federation, is a Canadian-based promotion that has surprised most observers by steadily climbing into the public consciousness. Sarah Vaughn & Vicki Summers are their veteran mainstays but a new generation of female fighters are looking to send them into retirement.

British Cage Fighting (BCF) is committed to doing their own thing with quirky weight classes & scoring system. It's worked okay so far but their next challenge is to get beyond the point of being a regional promotion & expand into a larger awareness across Europe & the world.

In Asia, the upstart is KDM FC, Kadena De Mano Fighting Circuit. A haven for smaller fighters, their biggest asset is "Fury Awoken" Sukarno. The Indonesian lightweight is officially 3-0 in sanctioned matches but claims to be 173-0 overall. Whatever his record, he's a dangerous fighter who can & will (literally) kick your ass ... and your ribs, your head, and anything else he can get an open shot at.

In California, Xtreme Cage Combat is taking a similar approach with a focus on smaller lightweights & featherweights. Phillip Ziskie is around 140 pounds of dynamite and there's a wealth of little guys with big talent gathering on the coast.

And down in the south, there comes a new entry into the field ...

[JonInMiddleGA]

... Combat Supercell Alliance

After various startup promotions, one-off shady promoters, and money marks tried to bring MMA to the South and failed, it's an unlikely duo that's looking to take the MMA world by storm (hench the name).

28 year old Joseph Steven is a slick dressing, blow out 'fro wearing dude from New York, NY. With money made at an early age from his successful role in a pair of recording studios, Steven is both the money and the mouth of the CSA.

His opposite is the 40-something Jon Loveless, a small-town native Georgia who was looking for a new career. What he brings to the table (or at least Steven hopes he'll bring) is an ability to spot talent, make fights, and figure out how to put butts from all walks of life in seats. He may be "Southern Born, Southern Bred, and when he dies he'll be Southern Dead" but he also knows that money talks. And if he screws up too much, Joseph Steven will doubtless make it talk loud & clear. That bridge has already been crossed at least once, after someone tipped the owner to what the promotion name that the company President insisted upon harkened to when shortened to its initials. Luckily for everyone the city slicker found the humor in what the country boy had managed to pull off.
If it gets the crackers to show up for the fights in the early days, it's all good.

[Icy]

I'll be reading, but get ready for a tough start. If you read BYU's dynasty, he failed on his first attempt and in my game with a new started promo in Europe i just hit high level regional... that means the money will start to come... but just after my first show at high regional my company declared on bankrupt :(

If you are starting from zero, sign the cheapest rookies and develop them to grow their popularity as your company does, else you will run out of money so fast if you try to sign consolidated fighters.

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 1999

The Odd Couple agree that "It takes money to make money", so there's a cool quarter million in the CSA bank account ... but it doesn't grow on trees the goal is to keep the bleeding to a minimum in the early going in order to be able to strike as needed in the months & years to come.

The first real challenge is to build a roster that is able to help the company progress steadily with a mix of name value and raw talent, large enough to provide options ("can't have too many options" is a favorite Stevensism) but small enough to be manageable in a hands-on fashion ("if our reach exceeds our grasp by too much we'll be well & truly screwed in a hurry" is something the company President has said more than once).

So while there are quite a few relatively big names who would be happy to cash a fat check, work is underway to build a balanced roster that can both grow the company and grow with the company at the same time. Spreadsheets, a pile of DVD's that need to be filed properly eventually, and phone bills that defy imagination are all just part of the process.

The working plan is to focus on four weight classes for starters: Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight, and Lightweight. There may be some Light-Heavyweight fights at times but those will come mostly from people moving up or down in weight as needed to fill out cards. For now, there won't be an official women's division as such, although the it's possible that a few could be brought in from time to time to help draw fans that might be looking for some variety with the blood & beer.

[JonInMiddleGA]

January has been a busy month as we worked like fiends to put together contracts with enough fighters to not only get our first show going but also to let us plan ahead for at least another couple of months. Although there's still a few calls out that could add to the list, without further ado it's time to meet the opening day roster:

Rankings as per Blurcat.com on Sunday Wk 4 Jan 1999

Pound for Pound (Male)
#1 Ernie Bruns (17-10, 0-0) - LHW
#2 Woody Fierstein (10-2, 0-0) - MW
#3 Petey Barnum (21-13, 0-0) - LHW
#4 Don Norman (22-14, 0-0) - HW
#5 Shuler Eigenberg (9-2, 0-0) - LW
#6 Frank Analysis (36-19, 0-0) - HW
#7 Vincent Chapin (21-14, 0-0) - HW
#8 Zachary Gilbert (11-7, 0-0) - WW
#9 Drew Jenks (6-1, 0-0) - MW
#10 Ray Eton (7-1, 0-0) - WW

Heavyweight
#1 Don Norman (22-14, 0-0) - 31 y/o from Cochrane, ON, CAN
#2 Frank Analysis (36-19, 0-0) - 32 from Shreveport, LA, USA
#3 Vincent Chapin (21-14, 0-0) - 38 from Los Angeles, CA, USA
#4 Sylvester Collins (3-0, 0-0) - 24 from Thunder Bay, ON, CAN
#5 Wilson Franklyn (2-0, 0-0) - 25 from Columbus, GA, USA
** Spencer Rubenstein (0-0, 0-0) - 21 from Toledo, OH, USA

Light-Heavyweight
#1 Ernie Bruns (17-10, 0-0) - 36 y/o from Durham, NC, USA
#2 Petey Barnum (21-13, 0-0) - 34 from Charlotte, NC, USA
#3 Rupert Dreck (4-0, 0-0) - 23 from Provo, UT, USA
#4 Titus Mostel (3-3, 0-0) - 26 from Athens, GA, USA
#5 Adrian Pascal (2-0, 0-0) - 23 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
#6 Marlon John (1-0, 0-0) - 22 from Fullerton, CA, USA
#7 Jordan Flintstone (1-0, 0-0) - 21 from Albuquerque, NM, USA
#8 Joshua Hope (1-0, 0-0) - 23 from Edmonton, AB, CAN

Middleweight
#1 Woody Fierstein (10-2, 0-0) - 25 y/o from Corpus Christi, TX, USA
#2 Drew Jenks (6-1, 0-0) - 24 from Spokane, WA, USA
#3 Esteban Vega (2-0, 0-0) - 19 from Guadalajara, MEX
#4 Ed Burridge (2-0, 0-0) - 22 from Kailua, HI, USA
#5 Bill Brown (1-0, 0-0) - 21 from Riverside, CA, USA
#6 Kramer Mayweather (1-0, 0-0) - 22 from Honolulu, HI, USA
#7 Billy Russell (1-0, 0-0) - 24 from San Juan, PR
** Wes Hersch (0-0, 0-0) - 23 from Lincoln, NE

Welterweight
#1 Zachary Gilbert (11-7, 0-0) - 27 y/o from Lynn Lake, MB, CAN
#2 Ray Eton (7-1, 0-0) - 26 from Salt Lake City, UT, USA
#3 Garrison Gable (6-14, 0-0) - 29 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
#4 Evan Pizzarro (1-0, 0-0) - 18 from New Orleans, LA, USA
** Gideon Navarro (0-0, 0-0) - 20 from Honolulu, HI, USA
** Felix Matterhson, Jr (0-0, 0-0) - 22 from Puerto Rico
** Nathan Chambers (0-0, 0-0) - 22 from Tacoma, WA, USA
** Randy Carsley (0-0, 0-0) - 22 from Brooklyn, NY, USA

Lightweight
#1 Shuler Eigenberg (9-2, 0-0) - 30 y/o from Jerusalem, ISR
#2 Ian Linderman (7-1, 0-0) - 30 from Denver, CO, USA
#3 Dominic Ash (5-0, 0-0) - 28 from Pittsburgh, PA, USA
#4 Kyle Sagal (3-0, 0-0) - 23 from Boston, MA, USA
#5 Sammy Newton (2-1, 0-0) - 22 from Corpus Christi, TX, USA
#6 Hinton Grey (1-0, 0-0) - 22 from Raleigh, NC, USA
#7 Rory McEnterry (1-0, 0-0) - 20 from Boston, MA, USA
#8 Gonzalo Ramos (1-0, 0-0) - 21 from Aguascalientes, MEX
#9 Brock Youdale (1-0, 0-0) - 22 from Topeka, KS, USA

[BYU 14]

Ash, Pizzarro, Brown and Collins are always good early pickups. Were you able to get them signed to long term deals?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ash, Pizzarro, Brown and Collins are always good early pickups. Were you able to get them signed to long term deals?

Before I answer, what's the definition of "long term" in WMMA2? I basically worked from the default asking & tried to push guys up a couple of fights longer if I could without adding dollars.

I never really paid a lot of attention to the contract lengths in anyone's dynasties I guess and it felt like cheating somehow to go back & try to look at that (or several other things, I've made myself avoid reading anything much once I decided I was going to try a campaign here, until I got set up at least).

Almost all of my contracts are in the 4-6 fight range, with one guy on a 2 fight deal and 3 guys with 8 fight deals. I've also got 10 exclusives, 3 associates, and the rest are standard. Highest opening base is $1,600 per, lowest is $600, most are $1,000.

Problem is, of course, I really don't know if that's good, bad, or average.

Now as for the guys you asked about specifically
Collins, standard, $1400 base, 6 fights
Brown, exclusive, $1000 base, 4 fights
Ash, standard, $1000 base, 4 fights
Pizzarro, standard, $800 base, 4 fights

[BYU 14]

Now as for the guys you asked about specifically
Collins, standard, $1400 base, 6 fights
Brown, exclusive, $1000 base, 4 fights
Ash, standard, $1000 base, 4 fights
Pizzarro, standard, $800 base, 4 fights

I usually start with an 8 or 10 fight offer over 30 or 33 months with 4 or 5 fights guaranteed. To increase the odds they accept I wll also offer a +7.5/-7.5 performance incentive as well. Usually the only one I have a problem with is Brown, he really likes 4 fight deals so he can substantially raise his asking price every 12-18 months after 3 fights when people come bidding for him. He also has very little patience with me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

End of January 1999

It may take money to make money but it also takes money to make no money.

We finish the month in the red by $6,926. A little bit of marketing, some admin, and mostly ($5,400) in "we really want you to be a part of this" signing bonuses.

At one point owner Joseph Stevens asked me when I found the time to mail $100 bills addressed to "Occupant" but I'm sure he was just kidding.

[BYU 14]

One thing I will add that may be helpful is that signing bonuses are not a deal killer. I never give more than $400, with the normal being $200. Even when guys are asking for $2,000 I will drop it to $400 and rarely get a rejection. Fighters are more concerned with base pay, performance adjustments and win bonus as a general rule.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of Feb 1, 1999

Promotion Rankings (next event)
1. Alpha-1 (Alpha-1: Fezzik vs Kikuchi in Hokkaido Wk 2 Feb 99)
2. GAMMA (GAMMA 42: Foster vs Hughes in Nevada Wk 2 Feb 99)
3. SIGMA (SIGMA:Amaro vs Sriyanto in Germany Wk 3 Feb 99)
4. WEFF (WEFF 20 in Quebec Wk 2 Feb 99)
5. BCF (BCF: Laurent vs Rush in London Wk 2 Feb 99)
6. KDM FC (KDM FC 6 in Eastern Asia Wk 1 Feb 99)
7. XCC (XCC: Ziskie vs Gaffigan in Calfornia Wk 2 Feb 99)
8. CSA (CSA 1 in Georgia Wk 1 Feb 99)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1. Hassan Fezzik (25-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion; faces Kunimichi Kikuchi at Alpha-1:Fezzik vs Kikuchi
2. Neil Napier (15-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion; next fight TBD
3. James Foster (32-4-1); Gamma; faces Raul Hughes at Gamma 42
4. Tadamasa Yamada (21-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion; next fight TBD
5. Sean Morrison (26-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion; next fight TBD
6. Kunimichi Kikuchi; Alpha-1; faces #1 Fezzik at Alpha-1 Fezzik vs Kikuchi
7. Zvonimir Asanovic; Gamma LHW Champion; next fight TBD
8. Jin Katou; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
9. Raul Hughes; Gamma; faces Foster at Gamma 42
10. Roberto Aldez; Alpha-1; next fight TBD

Heavyweights
1. Hassan Fezzik; Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion; faces #3 Kikuchi at Alpha-1:Fezzik vs Kikuchi
2. James Foster; Gamma; faces #4 Raul Hughes at Gamma 42
3. Kunimichi Kikuchi; Alpha-1; faces #1 Fezzik at Alpha-1 Fezzik vs Kikuchi
4. Raul Hughes; Gamma; faces #2 Foster at Gamma 42
5. Terron Cabal; Sigma, next fight TBD
6-10. Gunnar Nilsson/A-1, Armen Sarkisian/Sigma, Gregorz Boniek/A-1, Jeff Carlton/A-1, Rick Stanley/Gamma

Light Heavyweights
1. Tadamasa Yamada; Alpha-1 LHW Champion; next fight TBD
2. Zvonimir Asanovic; Gamma LHW Champion; next fight TBD
3. Jin Katou; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
4. Roberto Aldez; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
5. John Rivero; Gamma; faces Christian Mountfield at Gamma 42
6-10. Mike Watson/Gamma, Linfield Ballard/Gamma, Anthony LeToussier/Gamma, Elgar/A-1, Lawrence Herringbone/Gamma

Middleweight
1. Neil Napier; Gamma Middleweight Champion; next fight TBD
2. Matthew Dean; Gamma; faces #8 Leonardo da Costa at Gamma 42
3. Mac Fuller; Gamma; faces Buddy Garner at Gamma 42
4. Heiji Endo; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
5. JJ Reid; Gamma; faces Thomas Smith at Gamma 42
6-10. Petey Mack/A-1, Stuart Strange/Gamma, Leonardo da Costa/Gamma, Maarten De Vries/Gamma, Thorbjorn Rekdal/Sigma

Welterweight
1. Carlos da Guia; Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion; next fight TBD
2. Julio Rugueiro; Gamma Welterweight Champion; next fight TBD
3. Jack Humphreys; Gamma; next fight TBD
4. Gabriel Gallego; Alpha-1; faces Chojiro Goto at A-1 Fezzik vs Kikuchi
5. Ricardo Fernandes; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
6-10. Charles Stiles/Gamma, Xie Ming/A-1, Ichisake Miyagi/A-1, Noach Van Der Capellen/Sigma, Alan Kendall/Gamma

Lightweight
1. Sean Morrison; Gamma Lightweight Champion; next fight TBD
2. Go Yamamoto; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
3. Bruce Steven; Gamma; next fight TBD
4. Luis Basora; Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion; next fight TBD
5. Fumiaki Hayashi; Alpha-1; next fight TBD
6-10. Brandon Sugar/Sigma & KDMFC, Fiyero Lermontov/Sigma, Helio/BCF, Milenko Rudonja/Sigma, Giovani Silva/A-1

Featherweight
1. Lars Bohlin; Sigma Featherweight Champion; next fight TBD
2. Tomohiro Takeuchi; KDMFC; faces #4 Li-Kong Ho at KDM FC 6
3. Phillip Ziskie; XCC; faces #5 Gaffigan at XCC Ziskie vs Gaffigan
4. Li-Kong Ho; KDMFC; faces #2 Takeuchi at KDM FC 6
5. Sammy Gaffigan; XCC; faces #3 Ziskie at XCC Ziskie vs Gaffigan
6-10. Norberto/none, Manish Khan/Sigma, Colm Dee/Sigma, Azor Portela Nunes/XCC; Luiz Machado/XCC

Pound for Pound (female)
1. Sayoko Ebisawa; KDM FC Women's Champion; next fight TBD
2. Sara Vaughan; WEFF Women's HW Champion; faces #8 Wood at WEFF 20
3. Vicki Summers; WEFF; next fight TBD
4. Haley Croft; WEFF; faces Henrietta Stein at WEFF 20
5. Karen Curtis; XCC Women's Champion; next fight TBD
6. Alison Beattie; XCC; next fight TBD
7. Seka Mutsu; KDM FC; next fight TBD
8. Alisha Wood; WEFF; faces #2 Vaughan at WEFF 20
9. Roz Wareling; WEFF; faces Jennie Gill at WEFF 20
10. Chiyo Yanagimoto; KDM FC; next fight TBD

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday, Week 1, February 1999

After a small amount of local advertising, we hold a press conference to introduce the fighters for our inaugural show ... which happens to be coming up on Friday night. As in THIS Friday night. It's a sparsely attended affair with only a couple of local reporters but everything starts somewhere.

Combat Supercell presents CSA 1
Friday February 5th, 1999 in Commerce, GA

Main Event:
Welterweights
Garrison Gable (6-14) vs Evan "The Carpenter" Pizarro (1-0)
Gable is a experienced fighter with a wrestling background while Pizarro has a background in both kick boxing & judo but what he lacks is experience.

Middleweights
"The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-0) vs Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (0-0)
Russell is a submission specialist but he's green with no striking & weak wrestling skills. Hersch is even greener than his opponent but if he can use his wrestling background without having to tap he might find himself with a win in his debut.

Welterweights
"Black Superman"Nathan Chambers (0-0) vs Randy "Super Snake" Carsley(0-0)
Chambers has a kick boxing background but it's his exciting style that has observers, well, excited about his future, but he needs to stay on his feet in order to succeed. Carsley spends his time looking for an opportunity to apply his strong triangle choke but will have to survive Chambers strikes to do it.

Light Heavyweights
Adrian "The Power" Pascal (2-0) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (1-0)
Pascal has a college wrestling background, Flintstone has a college wrestling background. This will either be pretty good or really dull.

Preliminary bout
Lightweights
Brock "The Spark Plug" Youdale (1-0) vs Gonzalo "The Gangsta" Ramos (1-0)
Youdale is a submission fighter who likes to isolate a body part & work it until someone taps. Ramos is an aggressive puncher who tends to come straight forward. This one might not last long but who will win is anybody's guess.

[JonInMiddleGA]

In the pre-show, company officials introduced the newest addition to the CSA roster, 42 year old veteran middleweight Greg Atteveld (37-14).

Combat Supercell presents CSA 1
Friday February 5th, 1999 in Commerce, GA

RESULTS

Preliminary bout: Lightweights
Brock "The Spark Plug" Youdale (1-0) vs Gonzalo "The Gangsta" Ramos (1-0)
Blurcat picks Youdale
Youdale defeats Ramos by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:57 of Round 1.
The match was rated as being Great.

Light Heavyweights
Adrian "The Power" Pascal (2-0) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (1-0)
Pascal defeats Flintstone by submission (armbar) at 4:57 of Round 2.
The match was rated as being Good

Welterweights
"Black Superman"Nathan Chambers (0-0) vs Randy "Super Snake" Carsley(0-0)
Blurcat picks Carsley
Chambers defeats Carsley by unanimous decision (30-27 x3).
The match was rated as being Good.

Middleweights
"The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-0) vs Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (0-0)
Hersch defeats Russell by unanimous decision (30-27 x3).
The match was rated as being Poor.

Main Event: Welterweights
Garrison Gable (6-14) vs Evan "The Carpenter" Pizarro (1-0)
Blurcat picks Pizarro to dominate
Pizzarro defeats Gable by Knock Out (knee to the face) at 4:04 of Round 1.
The match was rated as being Great.

Attendance: 82 for a gate of $820
Show Rating: Excellent

[Icy]

One thing I will add that may be helpful is that signing bonuses are not a deal killer. I never give more than $400, with the normal being $200. Even when guys are asking for $2,000 I will drop it to $400 and rarely get a rejection. Fighters are more concerned with base pay, performance adjustments and win bonus as a general rule.

I also always lower the bonus, even to $100 and they seem to be fine.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Saturday Feb 6, 1999
Morning after CSA 1

Kind of hard to be disappointed with anything except the crowd, the gate, and the impact on our bottom line.

We felt like the fights themselves were a success, with four out of five coming off good or better. Considering that 9 of the participants had 7 professional fights combined between them that speaks well of our raw talent.

On the downside our single night ledger showed us over $10k in the hole, with $11,680 paid in prize money & wages. "Takes money to make money", and owner Joseph Steven seemed happy even with the negative cash flow.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monthly Highlights for February 1999
1. Alpha-1 (Alpha-1: Fezzik vs Kikuchi in Hokkaido Wk 2 Feb 99)
Attendance: 12,646 for $758,760 gate
PPV: 80,640 buys for $322,560 revenue
Main: Hassan Fezzik beat Kunimichi Kikucki by submission at 4:45 of Round 5 to retain the Alpha-1 Heavyweight Title (Average)
Best other: Gunnar Nilsson beat Chuck Dooley by submission at 4:21 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

2. GAMMA (GAMMA 42: Foster vs Hughes in Nevada Wk 2 Feb 99)
Attendance: 4,944 for $247,200 gate
PPV: 64,051 buys for $256,204 revenue
Main: James Foster beat Raul Hughes by TKO at 1:54 of Round 1 to retain the GAMMA Heavyweight Title (Great)
Best other: Buddy Garner beat Mac Fuller by submission at 3:39 of Round 1 (Good)

3. SIGMA (SIGMA:Amaro vs Sriyanto in Germany Wk 3 Feb 99)
Attendance: 531 for gate of $10,620
Main: Bambang Sriyanto beat Fernando Amaro by unanimous decision after 5 rounds to win the SIGMA Middleweight Title (Poor)
Best other: Nicolai Mickiewicz beat Aleksei Chekhov by submission in 9:59 of round 3 (Great)

4. WEFF (WEFF 20 in Quebec Wk 2 Feb 99)
Attendance: 461 for gate of $9,220
Main: Alisha Wood beat Sarah Vaughan by unanimous decision after 5 rounds to win the WEFF Women's Heavyweight Title (Average)
Best other: Haley Croft beat Henrietta Stein by unanimous decision after 4 rounds (Average)

5. BCF (BCF: Laurent vs Rush in London Wk 2 Feb 99)
Attendance: 640 for gate of $12,800
Main: George Laurent beat Andrew Rush by TKO at 2:04 of Round 2 to retain the BCF Middleweight Title (Excellent)
Best other: Robert Darrell beat Richard Smith by unanimous decision after 12 rounds (Good)

6. KDM FC (KDM FC 6 in Eastern Asia Wk 1 Feb 99)
Attendance: 298 for gate of $4,470
Main: Li-Kong Ho beat Tomohiro Tekuchi by submission at 2:48 of Round 2 to retain the KDMFC Featherweight Title (Great)
Best other: Cong Dun beat Greg Chiang by Knock Out at 0:21 of Round 1 (Great)

7. XCC (XCC: Ziskie vs Gaffigan in Calfornia Wk 2 Feb 99)
Attendance: 254 for gate of $3,810
Main: Phillip Ziskie beat Sammy Gaffigan by TKO at 3:05 of Round 1 to retain the XCC Featherweight Title (Great)
Best other: Luiz Machado beat Azor Portela Nunes by submission at 2:35 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

8. CSA (CSA 1 in Georgia Wk 1 Feb 99)
Attendance: 82 for gate of $820
Main: Evan Pizarro beat Garrison Grable by Knock Out at 4:04 of Round 1 (Great)
Best other: Nathan Chambers beat Randy Carsley by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (Good)

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 1999 Preview

Events this month
Alpha-1 Battle (TV) - Wed March 3 in Chugoku
Main: "Brazilian Whirlwind" Giovani Silva (21-7) vs Claudio Palacios (22-6), welterweights

CSA 2 -- Sat March 6 in LaGrange, GA
Main: "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (3-0) vs Frank Analysis (36-19), heavyweights

KDM FC 7: Sukarno vs Nutnum -- Sat Mar 6 in Eastern Asia
Main: "Fury Awoken" Sukarno (3-0) vs Teeratep "Crazy Monkey" Nutnum (8-0) for the KDM FC Lightweight Title

GAMMA Warriors (TV) -- Mon Mar 8 in Hawaii
Main: "The Islander" Neil Napier (15-0) vs Patrick "The Titan" Thomas (10-3) for the GAMMA Middleweight Title

BCF: Zaco vs Cole -- Tue Mar 9 in London
Main: Zaco (43-14) vs Alex "Ace In the Hole" Cole (9-0), middleweights

XCC: Curtis vs Watson -- Mon Mar 15 in California
Main: Karen "The Demon" Curtis (7-1) vs "The Blonde Bombshell" April Watson (5-0) for the XCC Women's Title

SIGMA: Rekdal vs Gilchrist -- Tue Mar 16 in Germany
Main: "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (15-1) vs Shane "The Butcher" Gilchrist (16-2) for the SIGMA Light Heavyweight Title

GAMMA 43: Regueiro vs Cahill -- Sun Mar 21 in Ohio
Main: "Spanish Silk" Julio Regueiro (14-0-1) vs Geoff "Die Hard" Cahill (47-23) for the GAMMA Welterweight Title

Alpha-1 unnamed -- Fri Mar 26 in Chubu
Main: Heiji "The Immortal" Endo (13-1) vs "The Specialist" Keith Plaice (12-4) for the Alpha-1 Middleweight Title

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday, March 1, 1999

The rest of the month was busy after fight night, with most of the time devoted to finishing out the roster. We're at 49 fighters under some form of contract now, 10 in each division with the exception of heavyweight where we're stuck on 9.

In hindsight, I kind of wish I had stopped at 8 per division but at least this way we have some leeway if there's an injury or long medical suspension.

The additions to the roster are:
HW Murilo Satinho (0-0) -- 20 from Fortaleza, BRA
HW Mason Archer (0-0) -- 22 from Kingston, ON, CAN
LHW William Harrison (3-0) -- 24 from Sterling Heights, MI, USA
LHW Allen LaFleur (0-0) -- 18 from La Tuque, QUE, CAN
MW Heath Kaladaris (0-0) -- 19 from Perth, AU
MW Francis O'Leary (26-18) -- 45 from New York, NY, USA
WW Sinali Shomen (0-0) -- 21 from Nagoya, JPN
LW Tim Oldacres (0-0) -- 23 from Coventry, ENG
LW Doug Minnelli (0-0) -- 21 from New Orleans, LA, USA

With a pretty much full stable to work with, we not only announce our next show but two additional dates after that.

CSA 2 will be in LaGrange, GA this coming Saturday March 2 with a main event featuring heavyweights "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (3-0) vs Frank Analysis (36-19)

CSA 3 will be in Hinesville, GA (Ft. Stewart) on Sunday April 4 with a main event featuring middleweights "The Flying V" Esteban Vega (2-0) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (6-1)

CSA 4 will be in Cartersville, GA on Friday May 14 with a main event featuring lightweight "Scorching" Shuler Eisenberg (10-2) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (2-1)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday, March 1, 1999

After a small amount of local advertising, we hold a press conference to introduce the fighters for our inaugural show ... which happens to be coming up on Friday night. As in THIS Friday night. It's a sparsely attended affair with only a couple of local reporters but everything starts somewhere.

Combat Supercell presents CSA 2
Friday March 4th, 1999 in LaGrange, GA

Main Event:
Heavyweights
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (3-0) vs Frank Analysis (36-19)
The ground & pound attack of the former football player will give the wily veteran Analysis all he can handle. He has to hope Collins makes a mistake otherwise if he finds himself looking up from his back it may be over in a hurry.

Lightweights
Dominic"The Smash"Ash (5-0)vs"The Colorado Cobra" Ian Linderman (7-1)
Ash comes from a boxing background while Linderman has lesser skills but is more versatile with decent boxing & karate. If either man takes this one to the ground it will be a surprise.

Heavyweights
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (0-0) vs "The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-10)
Promising newcomer debuts with a strong submission offense and an even better defense. Bruns brings a ton of experience & plenty of stamina to try to teach the kid a lesson.

Middleweights
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (1-0) vs "Mr. Fantastic" Ed Burridge (2-0)
The Battle of Hawaii features a kickboxer that struggles if he's taken down in Mayweather against a guy with a better chin but limited offense.

Light Heavyweights
"Glorious" Joshua Hope (1-0) vs "The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (4-0)
Somebody gets their first loss of their young career and it will probably be whoever makes a mistake that their opponent can take advantage of. Dreck's facial hair isn't the only thing green in this matchup.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 2
Friday March 4th, 1999 in LaGrange, GA

RESULTS

Light Heavyweights
"Glorious" Joshua Hope (1-0) vs "The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (4-0)
Blurcat says Dreck better have been working on his submission defense because if he gets caught it'll be all over
Hope wins by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Very Poor

Middleweights
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (1-0) vs "Mr. Fantastic" Ed Burridge (2-0)
Blurcat says Mayweather wins unless he allows Burridge to get close enough to grapple
Mayweather wins by unanimous decision(30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent

Heavyweights
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (0-0) vs "The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-10)
Blurcat picks Rubenstein as long as his gameplan is solid
Rubenstein wins by TKO at 3:37 of Round 1[/b]
The match was rated as being Good

Lightweights
Dominic"The Smash"Ash (5-0)vs"The Colorado Cobra" Ian Linderman (7-1)
Blurcat says Ash will keep the match upright & win
Ash wins by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as Decent

Main Event: Heavyweights
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (3-0) vs Frank Analysis (36-19)
Blurcat says it'll be a long night for Analysis
Collins wins by TKO at 1:44 of Round 1.
The match was rated as Great

Attendance: 194 for a gate of $2,910
Show Rating: Excellent

[BYU 14]

Have say the Rubenstein match was a surprise, he is not that strong in my uni. Gotta love the Big Show, he might be the physically strongest guy in the game. Hope you can lock him up long term because the big boys will soon be after him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tuesday March 2, 1999

Can't be too disappointed I guess, not overjoyed either though. "TBS" Collins was the monster we hoped for on the high end while Hope vs Dreck was pretty much hopeless looking dreck.

On the bright side attendance was up more than double, our gate more than tripled but the gains were offset by increased prize money & production costs. The show itself loses $11,372 which was actually about $1k worse than the month before.

Takes money to make money, although I'm very happy that the main event got owner Joseph Steven excited at the end of the night. He's working just as hard as I've been lately and it can't be fun knowing you just dropped another $10k.

Everybody came out their fights relatively healthy, although the commission has informed us that based on his loss and the beating he took Frank Analysis is medically suspended for 4 months effective immediately.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Have say the Rubenstein match was a surprise, he is not that strong in my uni.

I got exactly what I wanted out of that fight. By the numbers Rubenstein is the most all around talented guy in my heavyweight division and in my screwed up first attempt with the game he did the same thing to Petey Barnum. I fed Bruns to him and he took advantage of it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monthly Highlights for March 1999
1. Alpha-1 (Alpha-1 Battle (TV) in Chugoku Wk 1 Mar 99)
Attendance: 3,333 for $199,980 gate
Main: Giovanni Silva beat Claudio Palacios by unanimous decision after three rounds (Decent)
Best other: Leandro Piquet beat Elgar by Knock Out at 2:16 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

1b. Alpha-1 (Alpha-1 Endo vs Plaice in Chubu Wk 4 Mar 99)
Attendance: 7,479 for $373,950 gate
PPV: 47,162 buys for $188,648 revenue
Main: Heiji Endo beat Keith Plaice by submission at 4:26 of Round 1 to retain the Alpha-1 Middleweight Title (Great)
Best other: Go Yamamoto beat Atep of Indonesia by unanimous decision after three rounds (Great)

2a. GAMMA (GAMMA Warriors (TV): in Hawaii Wk 2 Mar 99)
Attendance: 2,143 for $107,150 gate
Main: Neil Napier beat Patrick Thomas by TKO at 4:22 of Round 4 to retain the GAMMA Middleweight Title (Good)
Best other: Darin Blood beat Jack Humphreys by unanimous decision after three rounds (Average)

2b. GAMMA (GAMMA 43: Regueiro vs Cahill in Ohio Wk 4 Mar 99)
Attendance: 3,945 for $197,250 gate
PPV: 48,526 buys for $194,104 revenue
Main: Julio Regueiro beat Geoff Cahill by submission at 1:46 of Round 1 to retain the GAMMA Welterweight Title (Great)
Best other: Mike Watson beat Linfield Ballard by Knock Out at 0:29 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

3. SIGMA (SIGMA:Rekdal vs Gilchrist in Germany Wk 3 Mar 99)
Attendance: 561 for gate of $11,220
Main: Thorbjorn Rekdal beat Shane Gilchrist by unanimous decision after 5 rounds to retain the SIGMA Light Heavyweight Title (Good)
Best other: Fiero Lermontov beat Paulo Roberto Bezerra by submission in 9:38 of round 1 (Good)

4. WEFF did not run in March

5. BCF (BCF: Zaco vs Cole in London Wk 2 Mar 99)
Attendance: 523 for gate of $10,460
Main: Alex Cole beat Zaco by submission at 2:22 of Round 8 (Average)
Best other: Mick Curran beat Dave Lennon by split decision after 12 rounds (Good)

6. KDM FC (KDM FC 7 in Eastern Asia Wk 1 Mar 99)
Attendance: 340 for gate of $5,100
Main: Sukarn beat Terratep Nutnum by Knock Out at 1:39 of Round 4 to retain the KDMFC Lightweight Title (Great)
Best other: Kei Maki beat Yee Tsuji by Knock Out at 0:25 of Round 3 (Good)

7. XCC (XCC: Curtis vs Watson in California Wk 3 Mar 99)
Attendance: 253 for gate of $3,795
Main: April Watson beat Karen Curtis by unanimous decision after five rounds to win the XCC Women's Title (Decent)
Best other: Jamie Hewitt beat Marcus Speed by submission at 4:02 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

8. CSA (CSA 2 in Georgia Wk 1 Mar 99)
Attendance: 194 for gate of $2,910
Main: Sylvester Collins beat Frank Analysis by TKO at 1:44 of Round 1 (Great)
Best other: Spencer Rubenstein beat Ernie Bruns by TKO at 3:37 of Round 1 (Good)

[Flasch186]

I ONLY have a problem following this because it is fictional people :(

[JonInMiddleGA]

April 1999 Preview

Events this month

WEFF 21 - Tue March 30 in Quebec
Main: "Canadian Storm" Erica Page (9-3) vs "The Electrifying" Jenny DeNeuve (2-0) for the WEFF Lightweight Title

CSA 3 -- Sat April 4 in LaGrange, GA
Main: "The Flying V" Esteban Vega (2-0) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (6-1), middleweights

KDM FC 8: Ebisawa vs Watanabe -- Tue Apr 13 in Eastern Asia
Main: "The Phenom" Sayoko Ebisawa (11-0) vs Mizuki "The She-Wolf" Watanabe (7-0) for the KDM FC Women's Title

BCF: Alois vs Timms -- Fri Apr 16 in London
Main: "The Brixton Butcher" Stafford Alois (26-8) vs "British Beef' Vic Timms (16-3) for the BCF Heavyweight Title

SIGMA: Bohlin vs Kahn -- Tue Apr 20 in Germany
Main: "Ice Cold" Lars Bohlin (48-6-1) vs "Kid Britain" Manish Kahn (8-1) for the SIGMA Featherweight Title

ALPHA-1: Yamada vs Skala -- Sat Apr 17 in Kanto
Main: "The Dragon" Tadamasa Yamada (21-1) vs Daniil "Skull Crusher" Skala (19-5) for the Alpha-1 Light Heavyweight Title

Notes for April 1999
-- Alpha-1 lightweight Jin "The Tsunami" Katou (18-0) has climbed to the top of the Blurcat.com Pound-for-Pound rankings this month after his knock out win over Roberto Alvez, replacing Hassan Fezzik who slips to #2.
-- WEFF has now rescheduled their next show for this week after postponing it from the original mid-March date.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I ONLY have a problem following this because it is fictional people :(

I feel the same way and would love to have at least done a mixed real/fictional fed but best I could tell there really hasn't been a rock solid mod with depth completed for this version. And since the business model for this is somewhat different than TEW, I didn't want to get into bad habits with a mod that isn't to the specs that the engine was designed to work with.

But yeah, it would have been a lot easier for immersion (not to mention the learning curve) with about 1500 real guys to choose from.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday, March 1, 1999

Combat Supercell presents CSA 3
Saturday April 4th, 1999 in Hinesville, GA

Main Event:
Middleweights
"The Flying V" Esteban Vega (2-0) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (6-1)
The rookie from Mexico brings his versatile style to the ring against the former amateur wrestler. Jenks will have to keep this one grounded to have a chance.

Light Heavyweights
Marlon "The Punisher" John (1-0)vs Petey "The Broadstreet Bully" Barnum (21-13)
John was unbeaten as a college wrestler & tries to remain unbeaten as a pro against the veteran Barnum. Youth should be served here unless Barnum find an opening & lands a big punch or three.

Welterweights
Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (0-0) vs Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (3-0)
Shomen hopes his Japanese Jiu Jitsu is ready for the cage and has worked hard on his submission defense. He'll need it versus Sagal who will look to take this one to the ground and find a chance to make Shomen tap.

Heavyweights
Don "The Rumble King" Norman (22-14) vs "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (0-0)
The veteran against the promising rookie with knockout power. Is Archer ready for this? He would prefer to wonder whether Norman is still up to the task.

Lightweights
"Mr. T" Tim Oldacre (0-0) vs "The Earl" Hinton Grey (1-0)
The debuting kickboxer from Coventry, England can both give a punch and take one. Grey is only one fight removed from his own professional debut and will have to be smart enough to try to keep Oldacre off his feet to avoid the strikes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 3
Saturday April 4th, 1999 in Hinesville, GA

RESULTS

Preliminary Bout
Lightweights
"Mr. T" Tim Oldacres (0-0) vs "The Earl" Hinton Grey (1-0)
Blurcat says Oldacres will win
Oldacres wins by submission at 4:59 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Heavyweights
Don "The Rumble King" Norman (22-14) vs "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (0-0)
Blurcat says Archer should walk out with the win
Archer wins by Knock Out at 1:47 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great

Welterweights
Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (0-0) vs Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (3-0)
Blurcat says Sho Sho will win fairly easily
Shomen wins by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average

Light Heavyweights
Marlon "The Punisher" John (1-0)vs Petey "The Broadstreet Bully" Barnum (21-13)
Blurcat says Barnum is at a disadvantage on the ground or standing so John will win
John wins by TKO at 1:41 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great

Main Event:Middleweights
"The Flying V" Esteban Vega (2-0) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (6-1)
Blurcat says Vega will win this easily
Jenks wins by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as Average

Attendance: 211 for a gate of $3,165
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday April 6

Back to work after fight night, with almost identical financial results, about a $10k loss for the evening's work.

But some good fights to watch, including Archer taking out Norman in the second round.
>We are back underway!
>Moving in closer, Archer looks like he may want to wrestle Norman.
>Norman ends up grappling for supremacy with Archer.
>Archer is aiming to get Norman into a Muay Thai clinch.
>Archer manages it, and now controls Norman by the back of the head.
>From the clinch, Archer drives a knee to the chest of Norman, that has to do some serious damage!
>From the clinch, Norman gets hit with a brutal knee to the body!
>From the clinch, Archer drives a knee to the chest of Norman, that has to do some serious damage!
>From the clinch, Norman gets hit with a knee to the side of the face...and it's enough to knock him out cold!
>Archer loses his control of the Muay Thai clinch.
>By Knock Out, the winner is Archer!

Jenks over Vega also had some very good moments, including a second round where it looked like it might be over for Jenks not once but twice
>From what we could hear of his corner, it sounds like Vega has been instructed to look to finish it in this round.
>Jenks catches an attempted body kick and goes for the takedown, down goes Vega! He pulls guard though.
>Jenks looks to get past the guard.
>Vega is ready for the attempt though, and keeps Jenks firmly in guard.
>Vega attempts to lock on a triangle choke.
>The triangle is locked in deep, Jenks is in a world of trouble!
>Jenks picks him up, then brutally slams him right back down again!
>The triangle is broken and Vega is left dazed!
>Jenks dives in and gets ready to unload on Vega.
>Vega grabs Jenks into half guard as he moves in.
>Jenks fires off a few punches, but they aren't thrown with any great force.
>Vega tries to ensare an arm.
>Jenks doesn't let his arm get taken.
>We are now at the halfway point of the round.
>Jenks fires off a few punches as he catches his breath.
>Jenks fires off a few punches as he catches his breath.
>Jenks throws a few half-hearted punches as he takes a moment to plan ahead.
>Vega reaches over and tries to lock Jenks in a guillotine.
>Jenks defends it well.
>There's under a minute left in this round.
>With no progress being made, the referee brings the fighters back to their feet.
>Vega avoids a jab and scores with a sudden head kick, Jenks is knocked down!
>Time expires and we come to the end of round two.

Pretty good action in those as well as Marlon John simply destroying Petey Barnum, luckily no major injuries reported after the show.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monthly Highlights for April 1999
(in promotion ranking order)

1. ALPHA-1: Yamada vs Skala -- Sat Apr 17 in Kanto
Attendance: 11,460 for $687,600 gate
PPV: 77,420 buys for $309,680 revenue
Main: Tadamasa Yamada beat Daniil Skala by submission at 5:59 of Round 1 to retain the ALPHA-1 Light Heavyweight Title (Good)
Best other: Steve Mason beat Denbe Ekiguchi by Knock Out at 0:29 of Round 3 (Fantastic)

2. GAMMA did not run in April

3. SIGMA (SIGMA:Bohlin vs Kahn -- Tue Apr 20 1999 in Germany)
Attendance: 545 for gate of $10,900
Main: Lars Bohlin beat Manish Khan by submission at 5:14 of Round 4 to retain the SIGMA Featherweight Title (Good)
Best other: Niko Soldo beat Ralph Kohl by submission at 7:11 of round 1 (Great)

4. WEFF (WEFF 21 -- Tue Mar 30 1999 in Quebec
Attendance: 299 for gate of $5,980
Main: Jenny DeNeuve beat Erica Page by Knock Out at 2:33 of Round 5 to win the WEFF Women's Lightweight Title (Great)
Best other: Vicki Summers beat Hope Lehane by TKO at 2:41 of Round 1 (Great)

5. BCF (BCF: Alois vs Timms -- Fri Apr 16 199 in London)
Attendance: 734 for gate of $14,680
Main: Stafford Alois beat Vic Timms by unanimous decision after 12 rounds (Average)
Best other: Lenny McFadden beat Grant Shodwart by TKO at 3:46 of Round 2 (Great)

6. KDM FC (KDM FC 8 in Eastern Asia Tue Apr 13 1999)
Attendance: 620 for gate of $12,400
Main: Mizuki Watanabe beat Sayoko Ebisawa by submission at 4:56 of Round 3 to win the KDMFC Womens Title (Fantastic)
Best other: Greg Chiang beat Najib Sri Aziz bin Zai by TKO at 1:28 of Round 1 (Great)

7. XCC did not run in April

8. CSA (CSA 3 in LaGrange, Georgia Sat Apr 4 1999)
Attendance: 211 for gate of $3,160
Main: Drew Jenks beat Esteban Vega by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (Average)
Best other: Marlon John beat Petey Barnum by TKO at 1:41 of Round 1 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

May 1999 Preview

Events this month

XCC: Nunes vs Bokhour - Wed May 5 in California
Main: "The Tropical Tornado" Azor Portela Nunes (21-4) vs "The Archer" Ivan Bokhour (5-0); Featherweights

GAMMA 44: Asanovic vs Herringbone -- Fri May 7 in New Jersey
Main: Zvonimir "The Croatian Sensation" Asanovic (15-1) vs Lawrence "The Law" Herringbone (15-3) for the GAMMA Light Heavyweight title

KDM FC 9: Su vs Pau -- Tue May 11 in Eastern Asia
Main: Tan Su (9-6) vs Zhao "Ka" Pau (9-4); Featherweights

CSA 4 -- Fri May 14 in Cartersville, Georgia
Main: "Scorching" Shuler Eisenberg (10-2) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (2-1); Lightweights

BCF: Helio vs Hansen -- Sat May 15 in London
Main: Helio (20-2) vs Doug "The Nightmare" Hansen (15-3); Lightweights

ALPHA-1 Battle (TV) -- Sun May 16 in Tohoku
Main: Leandro Piquet (22-5) vs Pete "The Pain Train" Shilton (7-2); Light Heavyweights

SIGMA: Cabal vs Richelleau -- Tue May 18 in Germany
Main: "The Baddest Man in MMA" Terron Cabal (13-0) vs "The Count" Jean-Pierre Richelleau (22-7) for the SIGMA Heavyweight Title

WEFF 22 -- Mon May 24 in Quebec
Main: "The Sao Paulo Express" Janinha (7-0) vs Jennie "Bad Girl" Gill (6-0); Women's Lightweight

ALPHA-1: Atep vs Wai -- Fri May 28 in Kinki
Main: Atep of Indonesia (4-1) vs Masato "Heart" Wai (1-0);Lightweights

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday May 3, 1999

Another month in the books, another five figure loss on the books. Net loss of (-$13,713) for April, with tiny increases in both revenue & expenses. Technically speaking it was better, we actually lost $153 less than we did in March. Say it with me "It takes money to make money".

Although we haven't formally announced it yet, we've settled on the cards for both our May and June shows, at the end of which every fighter on the current roster will have made one appearance each. If you take Blurcat's rankings as gospel then we've yet to see any of our top three fighters pound for pound, and have only used 4 of our top 10 so far.

Privately, very privately as in only me & owner Joseph Steven have discussed it and then only in almost clandestine meetings, we're wondering whether we might be better served to narrow our focus to four divisions instead of the current five. Our lightweights are by far the least talented division we have in our opinion, but their name values (low though they may be) are better than our more talented welterweights. We're pretty happy with our light-heavies and middleweights, and we're hopeful about building the heavyweights.

Meanwhile, there are some appealing women fighters who aren't finding work at the moment & to be honest we're sorely tempted to see if they could provide a boost to our attendance. We're trying to hold off making a decision until we complete at least one pass through the roster but it's not easy. Right now we could sign at least a half dozen & possibly as many as a dozen women who could headline shows for us whereas a steadily growing number of our men aren't going to increase the number of butts in seats.

For now though, we've got one offer out to a heavyweight & that's only to serve as the replacement for Vincent Chapin who informed us & the world that he plans to retire after his next fight. That's coming up this month as Chapin faces the up & coming "Silent but Violent" Wilson Franklyn.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tuesday, May 4, 1999
For immediate release:

Combat Supercell presents CSA 4
Friday May 14th, 1999 in Cartersville, GA

Main Event:
Lightweights
"Scorching" Shuler Eisenberg (10-2) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (2-1)
The Israeli expatriate likes to bomb away & it usually succeeds as long as he avoids being taken down. That could be bad news for the kick boxer from Corpus Christi who doesn't favor a ground based offense

Heavyweights
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (2-0)vs "The American Male" Vincent Chapin (21-14)
Franklyn is about what you'd expect from a former bouncer in his hometown of Columbus, GA. Raw power with a bad attitude. On paper it's a horrible matchup for a 39 year old wrestler who has already announced his plans to retire after the fight.

Welterweights
"The Unbreakable" Gideon Navarro (0-0) vs Zachary "Manitoba Misery" Gilbert (11-7)
There are high hopes for the well-rounded Hawaiian making his professional debut. The more experience Gilbert has a lot of heart & a solid work ethic but not much else.

Middleweights
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (0-0) vs "Lightning Hands" Francis O'Leary (0-0)
Another big time prospect making his debut, the Australian of Greek descent is a cross-trained kickboxer. There was a time when the veteran's nickname was apt but that was a good bit before he reached 45 years old

Light Heavyweights
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (0-0) vs Titus "The Titan" Mostel (3-3)
Yet another rookie on the show, this time a Canadian who has worked hard to add striking to his wrestling background. His opponent is a native of Athens, GA known for his ring smarts & consistency but he has a very fragile jaw that makes him vulnerable at all times.[/QUOTE]

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 4
Friday May 14th, 1999 in Cartersville, GA

RESULTS

Light Heavyweights
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (0-0) vs Titus "The Titan" Mostel (3-3)
Blurcat says LeFleur should win without much problem as long as his gameplan is solid
LaFleur wins by TKO at 4:55 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Decent
Mostel won the first round & was doing fine until LeFleur finally got a takedown

Middleweights
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (0-0) vs "Lightning Hands" Francis O'Leary (0-0)
Blurcat says Kaladaris should win without too much trouble
Kaladaris wins by submission at 4:58 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Decent
Kaladaris striking was fairly ineffective but a rear naked choke did the trick

Welterweights
"The Unbreakable" Gideon Navarro (0-0) vs Zachary "Manitoba Misery" Gilbert (11-7)
Blurcat says Navarro is superior in every way & Gilbert has no chance
Navarro wins by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Gilbert spent half the match in guard, the other half trying to stay away from Navarro.

Heavyweights
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (2-0)vs "The American Male" Vincent Chapin (21-14)
Blurcat says Chapin goes out a winner if he's successful at putting the match on the ground early.
Franklin wins by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as Good
Much closer than the judges cards might indicate. If this fight had been against a slightly younger version of Chapin he probably would have reversed the score as he outperformed Franklin in every way except raw power & in that area the rookie was dominant

Main Event:Lightweights
"Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (10-2) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (2-1)
Blurcat says Eigenberg wins easily if he keeps this standing up
Eigenberg wins by Knock Out after 0:53 of Round 2
The match was rated as Fantastic
Eigenberg anticipated a body kick and hit a huge punch out of nowhere that knocked Newton out cold

Attendance: 229 for a gate of $3,435
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've got to try to pick up the pace here a bit or change my formatting or something. The cut & paste, try not to make a mistake, get the format tags right, figure out what's bolded, what's italicized, etc nature of how I've been doing this one is making me crazy & I suspect it's getting hard to read to boot.

I've reached the point where I'm holding back on game play just dreading the process of the updates & as we all know that's never a good thing. So try to bear with me as I figure out some format that will work better -- quarterly or something maybe -- since I don't do much in the way of roleplaying, I try to highlight the rest of the universe beyond my own company more to make up for it & will still try to do so but hopefully I'll find a better way of doing that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've also realized that I'm out of logical synch on things as far as calendar quarters go so I'm going to kind of roll through until July 1st and then update stuff like fighter rankings across the world.

Also, as much as I like looking at previewing the fights & then the results, the down time between notable occurrences in the game (unless I go card by card with the rest of the promotions or something) is such that they're ending up back to back and that seems sort of wasteful. I think I'm going to try something different there too, combine that into one post per card.

Not to beat a dead horse but I think this has been the toughest thing to get comfortable with that I've posted here in quite a while. I know I'm not the most compelling writer here by far but usually I'm at least personally fairly satisfied with what I put up for public consumption. I think what's throwing me off as much as anything is the much slower pace of MMA versus wrestling or stick & ball sports. Once a month scheduling & few roster changes at this stage of the game/how I'm trying to play the game combined with having only a semi-decent idea of what the heck I'm trying to do or should be doing makes this feel really awkward to me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday May 31, 1999

So the month of May comes to a close with at least one unintentional happy development: we lost less money than usual.

We were down (- $10,689) for the month on similar revenues & lower expenses. Although we didn't really plan it that way on purpose, we had a less expensive card in salaries this month & actually had slightly lower admin costs than usual too. Granted, it's still a five figure loss but any improvement on the financial side is welcome relief right now.

Only one real change on the roster for the month, as Vincent Chapin follows through with his retirement announcement & we add 37 year old veteran heavyweight Stan Blackheath (39 rep / 60 performance) to the roster to fill his spot. He's on the backside of his career but does have better name value than most of our fighters so there at least some justification for his higher than usual $1,600 per fight base.

Monthly Highlights from May 1999

GAMMA 43 was the big show in May (5,586 in New Jersey & 78,869 PPV buys) as "The Croatian Sensation" Zvonimir Asonovic (27-1) knocked out Lawrence Herringbone (16-4) midway through the 2nd round to retain his Light Heavyweight title (Good). On the undercard veteran Lightweight "Iron Jaw" Peter Bracewell (21-7) submitted Cory Brewer at 4:43 of the final round.

ALPHA-1 put on two shows in May, starting with their TV show Battle in the second week of the month. 3,383 in Tohoku & those watching saw Leandro Piquet beat Pete Shilton by unanimous decision (Decent) but most thought the highlight was Randall Donnelly's TKO win over Chuck Dooley midway through the second round was the fight of the night (Excellent).

On the last Friday of the month ALPHA-1 drew 4,306 in Kinki & 27,506 PPV buys as Atep of Indonesia beat Masato Wai by unanimous decision (Decent). Again it was the next to last fight on the card that drew the most praise, where Hiro Arai submitted Palmer Lette midway through the first round (Great)

SIGMA's May show in Germany drew 699 to watch "The Baddest Man in MMA" Terron Cabal (14-0) retain his Heavyweight title with a second round TKO of Jean-Pierre Richelleau (22-8) (Good). On the undercard "Blood Spirit" Hyun-Shik Lim (4-0) needed just 27 seconds to TKO Jacob Matthaus (Great)

WEFF 22 drew 394 in Quebec where Janinha (8-0) knocked out Jennie "Bad Girl" Gill (6-1) 87 seconds into the fight (Great). Just a little earlier, "Yellow Peril" Rachel McGuinness (8-0) remained unbeaten with a knock out of Kerry Silverman (Great)

BCF drew 638 in London where the main event went the full 12 rounds as Helio (21-2) beat Doug Hansen (15-4) by unanimous decision in a lightweight fight (Decent). More exciting was the early second round TKO of Steven Griffin by "G-Force" Rodolphe Gygax (27-8) (Great).

KDM FC 9 drew 559 in Eastern Asia where featherweight Tan Su (10-6) TKO'ed Zhao Pau (9-5) early in the second round (Excellent)

XCC drew 593 in California as featherweight Azor Portela Nunes (22-4) knocked out "The Archer" Ivan Bokhour (5-1) midway through round two (Great). Much more disappointing was the unanimous decision for "The Black Dog" aka "Decision Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (16-3) over Luiz Machado (Very Poor).

[JonInMiddleGA]

CSA 5 is coming up the third Saturday in June and the card is already set as we complete our first pass through the roster. After this show every member of the roster with the exception of one recent signee will have fought once. We feel pretty good about the prospects for a good main event this month as "The Marine" Bill Brown (1-0) takes on veteran "The Master" Greg Atteveld (37-14) in what should be a solid middleweight fight.

Which brings us to the current question of who is going to be in the main event of CSA 6 in July. The more shows we run the more the fans expect, so it's a balancing act between headlining with a match that's good enough now versus wasting a match that could be even bigger down the road with the right build up.

After considering several matchups ranging from good to very poor, we finally settle on a heavyweight fight to headline July between "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (1-0) and veteran Frank Analysis (36-20).

On the July undercard as a co-main event we'll see Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (1-0) drop down to light-heavyweight to take on Adrian "The Power" Pascal (3-0).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Friday June 4, 1999

Sometimes an opportunity comes up that you can't resist. Such was the case as we add middleweight Joaquim Fontes to the roster, outbidding GAMMA to do so.

Blurcat.com considers him the #3 pound-for-pound fighter on our roster and he should see plenty of action over the course of his 8 fight/24 month deal which had a base rate of $1,400 per.

He's capable of going up or down in weight class so where he'll eventually fit into our plans is still up in the air but we think all the Brazilian JJ specialist needs to become a star is experience.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday June 21, 1999

Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal will miss three months with an eye injury suffered while training at the Evolution MMA camp. He has appeared once for us so far, losing by unanimous decision to Sinali Shomen in April, and was ranked #6 in our middleweight division by Blurcat. He did not have a fight on the upcoming schedule.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 5
Saturday June 19th, 1999 in Dublin, GA

RESULTS

Preliminary Match
Lightweights
"Hollywood Player" Doug Minnelli (0-0) vs Rory "Maradonna" McEnterry (1-0)
We're privately hoping for a good fight that will provide a boost to one of these youngsters.
Blurcat says Minnelli has the clear edge on the ground but believes McEnterry will be able to keep things standing & win
Minnelli wins by submission at 3:49 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
McEnterry knocked Minnelli down in the opening minute but the Player survived and pulled him into a guillotine choke from the bottom of half guard

Main Show
Heavyweights
"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (0-0) vs Taye Burnett (0-0)
We're privately hoping that Satinho will live up to expectations & win.
Blurcat says Satinho is far too much for Burnett
Satinho wins by TKO at 0:49 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Decent
Satinho spent two rounds trying to get takedowns before opening the third with an enormous punch that floored Burnett & brought a quick end

Welterweights
Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (0-0) vs Ray "The Enigma" Eton (7-1)
We're privately hoping that Mattherson starts his career with a bang but won't be upset at all if Eton picks up the win.
Blurcat says Mattherson will win
Mattherson, Jr wins by submission at 4:54 of round 2
The match was rated as being Decent
A close first round gave way to Mattherson dominating action in the second, finally sinking in a rear naked choke for the win.

Light Heavyweights
"Major Damage" William Harrison (3-0)vs Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (10-2)
We're privately hoping that Harrison remains unbeaten as we think he's a future champion.
Blurcat says Harrison has the edge standing or on the ground & wins
Harrison wins by submission at 4:23 of round 2
The match was rated as Decent
Fierstein took a lot of punishment in the second round from solid striking by Harrison but the end came via rear naked choke

Main Event:Middleweights
Bill "The Marine" Brown (1-0) vs "The Master" Greg Atteveld (37-14)
We're privately hoping that youth is served since our internal assessment has Brown as the most talented guy in the company bar none.
Blurcat says Brown is better in every way & wins fairly easily
Brown wins by submission after 4:48 of Round 2
The match was rated as Good
Atteveld was game enough in the first round but let Brown dictate the flow in the second, eventually falling victim to an arm bar.

Attendance: 240 for a gate of $3,600
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday June 21, 1999
CSA 5 aftermath

Incremental progress, I just wish the increments were bigger. Increasing attendance by 11 people is pretty faint, revenue is similarly almost flat but technically growing. I hope we're just being consistent & growing but it's hard not to feel like we're stuck in neutral.

No major injuries from the show last night, no one needing more than three months to either recover, train, or sit out mandatory suspensions from the athletic commission.

In the ring itself, we pretty much got what we wanted. I hope Brown vs Atteveld would be a little better, hoped all the fights other than the prelim would be a little better really. None were bad, just all were about one notch less than we would have liked.

But another month is in the books, one way or the other, and now we turn our attention to the second half of our first year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of July 1, 1999

Promotion Rankings (size, change since Feb 99, top PFP fighter)
1. GAMMA (Mid Level National, +1, HW James Foster)
2. Alpha-1 (Mid Level National, -1, LHW Jin Katou)
3. SIGMA (High Level Regional, 0, HW Armen Sarkisian)
4. BCF (Mid Level Regional, +1, HW Stafford Alois)
5. WEFF (Mid Level Regional, -1, FW Alisha Wood)
6. KDM FC (Mid Level Regional, 0, FW Li-Kong Ho)
7. XCC (Mid Level Regional, 0, FW Phillip Ziskie)
8. CSA (Low Level Regional, 0, FW Shuler Eigenberg)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1. Jin Katou (18-0); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
2. Hassan Fezzik (26-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
3. James Foster (34-4-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4. Tadamasa Yamada (22-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
5. Neil Napier (16-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
6. Sean Morrison (26-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
7. Matthew Dean (32-5); Gamma; Middleweight
8. Armen Sarkisian (14-0); SIGMA; Heavyweight
9. Zvonimir Asanovic (16-1); Gamma LHW Champion since January 1998
10. Mike Watson (10-0); Gamma; Light Heavyweight

Heavyweights
1. Hassan Fezzik (26-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2. James Foster (34-4-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
3. Armen Sarkisian (14-0); SIGMA
4. Gregor Boniek (35-4); Alpha-1
5. Kunimichi Kikuchi (32-5) Alpha-1;
6. Raul Hughes (13-2); Gamma
7. Terron Cabal (14-0); Sigma Heavyweight Champion since October 1998
8. Jeff Carlton (33-7); Alpha-1
9. Rick Stanley (23-7-3); Gamma
10. Gunnar Nilsson (43-10); Alpha-1

Light Heavyweights
1. Jin Katou (18-0); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
2. Tadamasa Yamada (22-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
3. Zvonimir Asanovic (16-1); Gamma LHW Champion since January 1998
4. Mike Watson (10-0); Gamma;
5. Roberto Aldez (42-7); Alpha-1
6. Nicolai Mickiewicz (21-4); Sigma
7. John Rivero (15-2); Gamma
8. Leandro Piquet (23-5); Alpha-1
9. Anthony LeToussier (14-3); Gamma
10. Curt Kitson (20-3); BCF

Middleweight
1. Neil Napier (16-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
2. Matthew Dean (32-5); Gamma
3. Heiji Endo (15-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
4. JJ Reid (28-2); Gamma
5. Petey Mack (14-2); Alpha-1
6. Stuart Strange (12-1); Gamma
7. Mac Fuller (30-6); Gamma
8. Thorbjorn Redkal (16-1);Sigma Light Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1997
9. Buddy Garner (15-0); Gamma
10. Jaromir Grygera (19-5); Sigma

Welterweight
1. Carlos da Guia (15-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
2. Julio Rugueiro (15-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998
3. Ichisake Miyagi (30-9); Alpha-1
4. Xie Ming (22-4); Alpha-1
5. Jack Humphreys (25-4); Gamma
6. Darin Blood (13-2); Gamma
7. Gabriel Gallego (16-2); Alpha-1
8. Noach Van Der Capellen (10-3);Sigma Welterweight Champ since July 1998
9. Joe Hinchcliffe (28-6); Gamma
10. Jim Carpenter (50-9-2); BCF & Sigma

Lightweight
1. Sean Morrison (26-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2. Go Yamamoto (27-8-2); Alpha-1
3. Fiyero Lermontov (9-0); Sigma
4. Fumiaki Hayashi (18-4); Alpha-1
5. Helio (21-2); BCF
6. Luis Basora (23-3-2); Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion since Jan 1998
7. Bruce Steven (20-3); Gamma
8. Milenko Rudonja (18-4); Sigma
9. Bud Brockett (19-3); Gamma
10. Giovanni Silva (22-7); Alpha-1

Featherweight
1. Phillip Ziskie (11-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
2. Li-Kong Ho (19-0); KDM FC Featherweight Champion since June 1998
3. Lars Bohlin (49-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
4. Tomohiro Takeuchi (15-4); KDMFC
5. Sammy Gaffigan (15-2); XCC
6. Norberto (27-5); Sigma
7. Colm Dee (13-2); Sigma
8. Benedikt Street (19-5); Sigma
9. Rafael Tavares (12-2); KDM FC
10. Cong Dun (32-8); KDM FC

Pound for Pound (female)
1. Alisha Wood (6-0); WEFF Heavyweight Champion since Feb 1999
2. Mizuki Watanabe (8-0); KDM FC Women's Champion since April 1999
3. Vicki Summers (12-1); WEFF
4. Haley Croft (11-2); WEFF
5. Alison Beattie (7-1); XCC
6. Sarah Vaughan (11-2); former WEFF Heavyweight Champion
7. Sayoko Ebisawa (11-1); former KDM FC Women's Champion
8. Janinha (8-0); WEFF
9. April Watson (6-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999
10. Rachel McGuinness (8-0); WEFF

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of July 1, 1999

Pound for Pound
1. "Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (11-2, 1-0); Lightweight
2. "The Master" Greg Atteveld (37-15, 0-1); Middleweight
3. Joaquim Fontes (11-1, 0-0); Welterweight
4. Dominic "The Smash" Ash (6-0, 1-0); Lightweight
5. Stan "The Man" Blackheath (20-9, 0-0); Heavyweight
6. "The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-11, 0-1); Heavyweight
7. "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (7-1, 1-0); Middleweight
8. "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (4-0, 1-0); Heavyweight
9. "Major Damage" William Harrison (4-0, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
10. Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (10-3, 0-1); Light Heavyweight

Heavyweights
1. Stan Blackheath (20-9, 0-0); vs #4 Franklyn in August
2. Ernie Bruns (17-11, 0-1); vs #3 Collins in September
3. Sylvester Collins (4-0, 1-0); vs #2 Bruns in September
4. Wilson Franklyn (3-0, 1-0); vs #1 Blackheath in August
5. Frank Analysis (36-20, 0-1); vs #7 Archer in July
6. Don Norman (22-15, 0-1); unscheduled but ready
7. Mason Archer (1-0, 1-0); vs #5 Analysis in July
8. Allen LeFleur (1-0, 1-0); unscheduled but ready
9. Murilo Satinho (1-0, 1-0); recovering 47 days
10. Taye Burnett (0-1, 0-1); recovering 47 days incl. 19 medical susp.

Light Heavyweights
1. William Harrison (4-0, 1-0); recovering 37 days
2. Woody Fierstein (10-3, 0-1); recovering 60 days,incl. pectoral inj. 32 days
3. Petey Barnum (21-14, 0-1); unscheduled but ready
4. Marlon John (2-0, 1-0); vs #8 Dreck in September
5. Adrian Pascal (3-0, 1-0); vs #7 Rubenstein in July
6. Joshua Hope (2-0, 1-0); vs #10 Flintstone in August
7. Spencer Rubenstein (1-0, 1-0); vs #5 Pascal in July
8. Rupert Dreck (4-1, 0-1); vs #4 John in September
9. Titus Mostel (3-4, 0-1); unscheduled but ready
10. Jordan Flintstone (1-1, 0-1); vs #6 Hope in August

Middleweights
1. Greg Atteveld (37-15, 0-1); medical suspension 84 days
2. Drew Jenks (7-1, 1-0); unscheduled but ready
3. Bill Brown (2-0, 1-0); vs #8 Hersch in September
4. Kramer Mayweather (2-0, 1-0); vs #10 Russell in July
5. Heath Kaladaris (1-0, 1-0); vs #9 Burridge in August
6. Francis O'Leary (26-19, 0-1); medical suspension 11 days
7. Esteban Vega (2-1, 0-1); unscheduled but ready
8. Wes Hersch (1-0, 1-0); vs #3 Brown in September
9. Ed Burridge (2-1, 0-1); vs #5 Kaladaris in August
10. Billy Russell (1-1, 0-1); vs #4 Mayweather in July

Welterweights
1. Joaquim Fontes (11-1, 0-0); unscheduled but ready
2. Zachary Gilbert (11-8, 0-1); unscheduled but ready
3. Ray Eton (7-2, 0-1); medical suspension 84 days
4. Evan Pizzarro (2-0, 1-0); unscheduled but ready
5. Felix Mattherson, Jr (1-0, 1-0); recovering 16 days
6. Brock Youdale (2-0, 1-0); vs #9 Chambers in July
7. Gideon Navarro (1-0, 1-0); unscheduled but ready
8. Kyle Sagal (3-1, 0-1); out with eye injury 67 days
9. Nathan Chambers (1-0, 1-0); vs #6 Youdale in July
10. Garrison Grable (6-15, 0-1); vs unranked Carsley in July
un. Randy Carsley (0-1, 0-1); vs #10 Grable in July

Lightweights
1. Shuler Eigenberg (11-2, 1-0); vs #3 Linderman in August
2. Dominic Ash (6-0, 1-0); vs #8 Grey in August
3. Ian Linderman (7-2, 0-1); vs #1 Eigenberg in August
4. Doug Minnelli (1-0, 1-0); recovering 22 days
5. Tim Oldacres (1-0, 1-0); vs #10 Ramos in September
6. Sinali Shomen (1-0, 1-0); unscheduled but ready
7. Sammy Newton (2-2, 0-1); medical suspension 39 days
8. Hinton Grey (1-1, 0-1); vs #2 Ash in August
9. Rory McEnterry (1-1, 0-1); medical suspension 47 days
10. Gonazalo Ramos (1-2, 0-1); vs #5 Oldacres in September

[JonInMiddleGA]

CSA Office - July 1st 1999

So you know what the "experts" think but what about us? What about the thinking behind the scenes at CSA? Well, first of all, there's not been much "us" lately. Owner Joseph Steven is a hell of a guy and for fully funding the promotion me & a lot of up & coming fighters owe him a debt we may never repay in full (not at the rate we've been going anyway) but his physical presence has been steadily diminishing since the first couple of shows. I don't know if he's losing interest or enthusiasm along with about $10k a month or if this is his way of trying to take some of the pressure off or what it is, but what started with a very odd couple working too many hours has turned into one odd guy (namely me) working too many hours, as he spends more & more time back home in New York. "Just business", he says, "just taking care of all my business". That's fine, as long as he still considers CSA part of his business & the checks keep clearing, no reason for me to worry ... I hope.

But enough about that, what about the state of the union so to speak? Well, this certainly isn't anything I'd want any of the roster to know & it sure isn't fit for public consumption either but just between us ...

Blurcat's rankings are fine for generating a little hype and all but what really matters isn't just how some self-appointed experts see things nor ultimately what any sort of popularity contest thinks about our roster. What matters is who can get it done in the ring and put butts in seats while doing it. And privately, in the wee small hours of the morning, my thoughts about our roster can be quite different than what the press thinks about it.

I'm a numbers guy, I'll admit it. Trying to quantify things, assigning some sort of numeric value to them, finding the relationships between those values, that's what helps me keep things straight around here. It helps decide who stays & who goes, who gets a shot at making it big & who simply gets fed to the machine.

In terms of pure talent, the things that make it possible for a fighter to kick someone's ass once the bell rings, there's definitely some guys who stand out. And they're the fighters that I want to make stars of, as I'd like to see talent rewarded with great success.

1) 22 year old middleweight Bill "The Marine" Brown is the guy we think stands alone at the top pound for pound. If we've got anyone who could go toe to toe with anybody in his weight class, it's him. He's in his natural division right now but could be moved up to LHW. Currently training at the good American Cage Fighters camp.

2) 21 year old light heavyweight Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein. Not too far behind Brown is the tattoed wonder from Toledo. He can stand & strike, he can go to the ground and he can go up to HW if desired. A long-term member of the fantastic Animal House camp run by GAMMA lightweight champion Sean Morrison.

3) 19 year old middleweight Esteban Vega aka "The Flying V". Despite losing to Drew Jenks in his CSA debut, we think Vega is the real deal. He's got a long way to go but he's got the skills to get there. And he provides some options as he's built to go up or down in weight class. Currently training at the decent Pittsburgh Steel camp where he's a long-term member.

4) 22 year old Marlon "The Punisher" John is currently in our light heavyweight division although he prefers working at middleweight. Thing is, he can actually go all the way up to heavyweight & still be a factor. Currently training as a visiting fighter at Pittsburgh Steel.

5) 20 year old heavyweight Murilo Satinho might turn out to be the best big man ever from Brazil. Surprisingly quick for his size, he's got a lot to learn as seen in needing three rounds to finish young Taye Burnett, but his raw talent is incredible. Currently visiting the mediocre Combat Team Curitiba camp

In terms of talent we're strongest at light heavyweight & middleweight, okay at heavyweight & welterweight and much weaker at lightweight than we'd like to be. That smallest division is one that we've got to make decisions about in the months to come, whether to try to bring it up to the same standard as the others either through new additions or by combining it with the welterweights or perhaps let it begin to fade away & be replaced by some women that I'd love to have on the roster but really don't feel that we have room for at the moment.

Unfortunately, talent isn't the only thing that puts butts in seats, we have to take popularity with the fans into account. And sometimes there's just no accounting for taste. If you consider both talent & popularity equally, our own internal rankings are a good bit different than Blurcats. If you asked me privately, I'd tell you this is how we see the roster & it would tell you a lot about how we prioritize them today.

1. Bill Brown (MW)
2. Marlon John (LHW)
3. William Harrison (LHW)
4. Joaquim Fontes (WW)
5. Shuler Eigenberg (LW)
6. Spencer Rubenstein (LHW)
7. Heath Kaladaris (MW)
8. Sylvester Collins (HW)
9. Esteban Vega (MW)
10. Joshua Hope (LHW)

You see the logjam looming at light heavyweight, where four of our top ten most valuable overall fighters are currently stationed. That is going to have to change, and will, but for now that's where we're at.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 6
Sunday July 18th, 1999 in Bainbridge, GA

RESULTS

Preliminary Match
Welterweights
Randy "Super Snake" Carsley(0-1) vs Garrison Grable (6-15)
We're privately hoping for this not to suck.
Blurcat says Carlsley looks too good for Grable
Carsley wins by submission at 4:30 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
Carsley controlled from the opening seconds, Grable almost seemed resigned to his fate before the rear naked choke was applied

Main Show
Middleweights
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (2-0) vs "The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Mayweather positions himself as a contender
Blurcat says Mayweather wins by keeping it standing
Mayweather wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Russell spent three rounds trying to take Mayweather down, Mayweather spent three rounds countering every attempt with several punches

Welterweights
"Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (1-0) vs Brock "The Spark Plug" Youdale (2-0)
We're privately hoping that gets a hard fought win in a close match
Blurcat says Youdale will win a back & forth match
Chambers wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
When Youdale moved in, Chambers counterpunched him. When Youdale stayed back, Chambers moved forward & punched him. Somewhat methodical but very effective performance by Chambers

Light Heavyweights
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (1-0)vs Adrien "The Power" Pascal (3-0)
We're privately hoping that Rubenstein improves his profile with a win
Blurcat says Pascal will struggle to stay afloat, Rubenstein wins
Rubenstein wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as Average
First two rounds were clearly Rubenstein's but he clearly ran out of gas after that and was somewhat lucky that Pascal didn't have a little better offense.

Main Event:Heavyweights
"The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (1-0) vs Frank Analysis (36-20)
We're privately hoping that Archer remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Archer is way too talented for Analysis
Archer wins by TKO at 1:05 of Round 3
The match was rated as Good
Archer pounded away in the first but couldn't get the knockout. Tiring visibily, he spent most of the rest of the fight controlling Analysis with his wrestling but finished with a sudden burst of standup offense.

Attendance: 241 for a gate of $3,615
Show Rating: Great

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday July 19, 1999

Eh.

An attendance increase of 1 person over our last show.
Our best match was the prelim.
This was more like meh than eh.

To add to our dismal mood on the morning after we learn that Billy Russell will be out 6 1/2 months with a foot injury suffered in his loss to Mayweather.

And since things were going so well already, Greg Atteveld knocks on our door to inform us that he plans to retire after his next fight or in three months, whichever comes first.

On the bright side at least the building didn't burn do ... never mind, forget I said anything.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Saturday July 31, 1999

July ends with another losing month (- $11,702), more than $1k worse than last month in fact. Difference was in the prize money, not offset at all by the flat revenue.

In the past 30 days we've added one fighter, talented middleweight rookie Jakuchu "Sai" Abe. He's 20 years old from Tokyo, with a traditional Jiu Jitsu style. As mentioned, Greg Atteveld informed us of his retirement plans and Billy Russell suffered an injury that will keep him out until early 2000.

During the month we negotiated with a couple of fighters in other promotions who had expiring contracts but failed to reach agreement with Samantha Sachs or Cong Dun. Both were simply looking for more money than we were willing to pay right now (Dun wanted nearly double our largest salary, Sachs was close but we couldn't quite close the deal). Both resigned with their respective promotions.

Monthly Highlights from July 1999

GAMMA 46 (4,026 in Florida & 56,306 PPV buys)
Main: Sean Morrison (27-3) beat Peter Bracewell (21-8) by submission at 4:42 of Round 1 to retain the GAMMA Lightweight Title (Good)
Best other: Middleweight Patrick Thomas (11-4) beat Martin De Vries (13-6) by TKO at 4:50 of Round 2 (Great)

SIGMA: Basora vs Mullally (575 in Germany)
Main: Welterweight Mills Mullally (15-4) beat Alberto Basora (15-5) by TKO at 3:01 of Round 2 (Decent)
Best other: Middleweight Faas Smit (36-14) beat George Laurent (37-13) by submission at 6:11 of Round 1 (Great)

WEFF 23 (389 in Quebec)
Main: Jenny DeNeuve (4-0) beat Olivia Sweet (5-1) by TKO at 1:24 of Round 2 to retain the WEFF Women's Lightweight Title (Decent)
Best other: Roz Wareing (7-2) beat Rhonda Britton (9-5) by TKO at 2:57 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

KDM FC 11 (624 in Eastern Asia)
Main: Sukarno (5-0) beat Rayver Anzures (12-13) by Knock Out at 0:26 of Round 2 to retain the KDM FC Lightweight Title (Great)
Best other: Featherweight Ryota Sugimoto (5-0) beat Cong Dun (32-9) by TKO at 3:48 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

XCC: Watson vs Beattie (582 in California)
Main: April Watson (7-0) beat Alison Beattie (7-2) by Split Decision after 5 rounds to retain the XCC Women Title (Decent)
Best other: Samantha Sachs (7-0) beat Hester MacLean (8-3) by submission at 4:59 of Round 1 (Excellent)

-- Along with several dozen resignings, one notable roster change during the month, as heavyweight Gunnar Nilsson signs with GAMMA as his Alpha-1 contract nears expiration. He's currently ranked as the #10 heavyweight fighter in the world, so despite his age (37) and coming off a loss to Leon Banks in his last fight, this is a reasonably big defection as it gives each of the big two four of the top ten fighters in the division.

-- Retirements included veteran women Louise Griffin (6-5-1) and Diana Marr (0-4) and Argentinian old-timer Gustavo Bautista (62-23-9)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 7
Friday August 27th, 1999 in Dahlonega, GA

RESULTS

Light Heavyweight
"Glorious" Joshua Hope(2-0) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (6-15)
We're privately hoping that Hope remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Hope should get the win
Hope wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Average
Flintstone was able to punch almost equally with Hope but superior ground control proved to be the difference.

Lightweights
Dominic "Smash" Ash (6-0) vs "The Earl" Hinton Grey (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Ash wins in convincing fashion
Blurcat says Ash should win via ground & pound
Ash wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (29-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Ash struggled through the middle of the bout & was actually in trouble on two occasions before dominating the third round

Middleweights
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (1-0) vs "Mr. Fantastic" Ed Burridge (2-1)
We're privately hoping that Kaladaris stays on track for a showdown with Bill Brown
Blurcat says they can't see any way for Burridge to win
Kaladaris wins by submission at 4:59 of Round 1 (arm triangle)
The match was rated as being Decent
After going through the motions for several minutes, Kaladaris got the arm triangle from the top of half guard & Burridge tapped immediately

Heavyweights
"Silent but Violent" Wilson Franklyn (3-0)vs Stan "The Man" Blackheath (20-9)
We're privately hoping that this is an all out war that elevates Franklyn but doesn't hurt Blackheath much.
Blurcat says Franklyn will win
Franklyn wins by TKO at 0:21 of Round 2
The match was rated as Excellent
Blackheath had Franklyn in trouble early, threatening to punch the younger man right out of the fight. He survived & left nothing to chance in the second round, opening with an impressive flurry that Blackheath was unprepared for.

Main Event:Lightweights
"Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (11-2) vs "The Colorado Cobra" Ian Linderman (7-2)
We're privately hoping that this is a hell of a fight that keeps Eigenberg & Ash on a collision course
Blurcat says Eigenberg should get a close victory
Eigenberg wins by TKO at 1:57 of Round 2
The match was rated as Decent
Fears that Linderman's training did not go well were well placed, as Eigenberg simply punched away at will throughout the fight.

Attendance: 255 for a gate of $3,825
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday August 30, 1999

Well, at least nobody got hurt. Aw, it wasn't that bad really.

Attendance was up marginally again, by 14 this time, revenue up a few dollars too. Expenses for the fight grew by even more though, some $800 more paid out in prize money.

The good news is that we got wins from everyone we were hoping would win.
The bad news is that hardly any of the winners looked particularly good in doing so.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tuesday August 31, 1999

Ouch.

Not only did we have five figure losses for another month, but those losses soared to (- $18,709) with big increases in spending on marketing & administration. Merchandising revenue more than tripled (to just under $9k) but the cost of doing so came with much higher prices in New York. Now we now what our owner has been doing while he was away I guess.

In the past month we've added no new fighters while subtracting one, as Hinton Grey's loss to Dominic Ash was his final fight for us as we chose to simply let his contract expire without renewal. It wasn't for lack of trying though, as we negotiated with more than a half dozen fighters who had expiring contracts with bigger promotions but failed to reach agreement with any of them.

Monthly Highlights from August 1999

Busiest month so far this year I think, with a total of 9 fights in the other major promotions.

GAMMA 47 (5,404 in Nevada & 70,665 PPV buys)
Main: Julio Regueiro (16-01-1) beat Darin Blood (13-3) by submission at 4:51 of Round 3 to retain the GAMMA Welterweight Title (Fantastic)
Best other: Light heavyweight Mike Watson (11-0) beat Mark Cohen (34-8-2) by TKO at 2:59 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

GAMMA Warriors (TV) (1,715 in Hawaii)
Main: Middleweight Adam White(7-1) beat Leonardo da Costa (15-3) by split decision after three rounds (Average)
Best other: Light heavyweight Ken Peters (10-0) beat Glenn Pimm (29-13) by submission at 2:34 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

ALPHA-1: Fezzik vs Mason (5,615 in Kanto & 41,541 PPV buys)
Main: Hassan Fezzik (27-0) beat Steve Mason (6-1) by submission at 4:59 of Round 1 to retain the ALPHA-1 Heavyweight Title (Good)
Best other: Lightweight Go Yamamoto (28-8-2) beat Mikio Inouye (7-4) by TKO at 1:36 of Round 1 (Great)

ALPHA-1 Battle (TV) (1,937 in Kyushu)
Main: Welterweight Claudio Palacios (23-7) beat Ricardo Fernandes (34-6) by submission at 9:21 of Round 1 (Excellent)
Best other: Middleweight Atsushi Nakajima (30-14) beat Juro Fukazawa (12-7) by submission at 4:05 of Round 1 (Great)

SIGMA: Sriyanto vs Yenkini (610 in Germany)
Main: Bambang Sriyanto (24-6-2) beat Casim Yenkini (10-3) by submission at 9:50 of Round 1 to retain the SIGMA Middleweight Title (Good)
Best other: Featherweight Norberto (28-5) beat Colm Dee (13-3) by submission at 2:17 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

KDM FC 12 (572 in Eastern Asia)
Main: Li-Kong Ho (20-0) beat Tan Su (10-7) by submission at 4:42 of Round 1 to retain the KDM FC Featherweight Title (Decent)
Best other: Featherweight Tomohiro Takeuchi (16-4) beat Seigo Tsuda (38-30-2) by TKO at 4:07 of Round 1 (Great)

BCF: Zaco vs Baines (518 in London)
Main: Middleweight Zaco (44-15) beat Rob Baines (27-11) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds (Poor)
Best other: Heavyweight Lenny McFadden (8-0) beat Percy Catcher (9-4) by submission at 3:38 of round 4 (Fantastic)

BCF: Kane vs Carpenter (578 in London)
Main: Middleweight Jim Carpenter (51-9-2) beat Will Kane (15-7) by submission at 4:58 of Round 1 (Good)
Best other: Heavyweight Curt Kitson (21-3) beat Rav Kapur (8-1) by submission at 4:06 of Round 1 (Great)

XCC: Ziskie vs Nunes (532 in California)
Main: Phillip Ziskie (12-0) beat Azor Portela Nunes (22-5) by TKO at 1:29 of Round 1 to retain the XCC Featherweight Title (Great)
Best other: Katherine Williams (3-1) beat Simone King (3-3) by submission at 2:22 of Round 1 (Fantastic)


-- A few upcoming roster moves of note, as Alpha-1 announces they will not resign middleweight Marcelo Oberto (22-17), XCC will not be resigning lightweight Francisco Jimenez (5-2), BCF will not be resigning welterweight Will Kane (15-7).

-- GAMMA adds a new PPV deal with American Option.

-- Retirements included Alpha-1's Atsushi Nakajima (30-14) who leaves with a win over Juro Fukazawa, Alpha-1's Ebizo Fujishima (24-14) who leaves with a loss to Naoki Itoh, KDM FC's Seigo Tsuda (38-30-2) who leaves after his third straight loss this time to Tomohiro Takeuchi, New York fighter 31 y/o Donna Del Agnostini (2-2), and graybeard "Highlander" Cliff McAddam (31-21) formally retires at the age of 47.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 8
Saturday September 25th, 1999 in Albany, GA

RESULTS

Light Heavyweight
Marlon "The Punisher" John (2-0) vs "The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (4-1)
We're privately hoping that The Punisher rolls on
Blurcat says their even on the ground but John is clearly better standing
John wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28x2 & 30-27)
The match was rated as being Good
The first two rounds were split as John inexplicably tried to grapple with Dreck. In the third John found some striking offense as Dreck tired, with a big slam pretty much sealing things.

Lightweights
"Mr. T" Tim Oldacres (1-0) vs Gonzalo "The Gangster" Ramos (1-2)
We're privately hoping that T remains unbeaten against a guy who we share with XCC
Blurcat says Oldacres simply looks too good for Ramos
Oldacres wins by submission (armbar) at 4:38 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
All Oldacres, with ground control setting up elbows from mount that cut Ramos below the eye & then a quick armbar for the win.

Welterweights
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (2-0) vs Zachary "Manitoba Misery" Gilbert (11-8)
We're privately hoping that Pizzarro wins & look ready to move up in weight
Blurcat says Pizzarro has a clear edge in some areas & should win
Pizzarro wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Gilbert's strikes kept missing, Pizzarro's didn't and he kept it simple in the final round to cruise to a win, much to the displeasure of the crowd

Light Heavyweights
Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (10-3)vs Petey "The Broadstreet Bully" Barnum (21-14)
We're privately hoping that this is good, close, and helps one of them recover momentum after a recent loss
Blurcat says Barnum has to avoid being taken down at all costs
Fierstein wins by submission (Americana) at 4:19 of Round 1
The match was rated as Good
Both came out punching, Fierstein got the first good opening & took advantage of it

Main Event:Middleweights
"The Master" Greg Atteveld (37-15) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (7-1)
We're privately hoping that we get a slam bang main event from the retiring Atteveld.
Blurcat says Atteveld's only hope to win is to get the fight on the ground as quickly as possible
Jenks wins by sumbission(rear naked choke) at 3:39 of Round 3
The match was rated as Decent
Atteveld was equal to the task early but managed little offense. Once he ran out of gas it was just a matter of time for Jenks.

Attendance: 566 for a gate of $11,320
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of October 1, 1999

Promotion Rankings (size, change since July 99, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (High Level National, +1, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (Mid Level National, -1, HW James Foster)
3. SIGMA (High Level Regional, 0, HW Armen Sarkisian)
4. KDM FC (Mid Level Regional, +2, FW Li-Kong Ho)
5. WEFF (Mid Level Regional, 0, BW Jenny DeNeuve)
6. BCF (Mid Level Regional, -2, WW Helio)
7. XCC (Mid Level Regional, 0, FW Phillip Ziskie)
8. CSA (Mid Level Regional, 0, MW Jaromir Grygera)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(2) Hassan Fezzik (27-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 beat Steve Mason by submission in August
2(4) Tadamasa Yamada (23-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996 beat #5 Katou by submission in September
3(3) James Foster (35-4-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998 beat Fatuma Roy by TKO in September
4(x) Julio Regueiro (16-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998 beat Darin Blood by submission in August
5(1) Jin Katou (18-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight lost to #2 Yamada in September
6(7) Matthew Dean (33-5); Gamma; Middleweight beat Stuart Strange by split decision in July
7(5) Neil Napier (16-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998 last fought in March, next fight not scheduled
8(6) Sean Morrison (27-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 beat Peter Bracewell by submission in July
9(9) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-1); Gamma LHW Champion since January 1998 last fought in May, next fight not scheduled
10(8) Armen Sarkisian (14-0); SIGMA; Heavyweight last fought in March, next fight vs Ari Peltonen in October
Dropped out
X(10). Mike Watson (11-0); Gamma; Light Heavyweight

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (27-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) James Foster (35-4-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
3(3) Armen Sarkisian (14-0); SIGMA
4(4) Gregor Boniek (35-4); Alpha-1
5(5) Kunimichi Kikuchi (33-5) Alpha-1;
6(6) Raul Hughes (14-2); Gamma
7(7) Terron Cabal (14-0); Sigma Heavyweight Champion since October 1998
8(9) Rick Stanley (24-7-3); Gamma
9(8) Jeff Carlton (33-7); Alpha-1
10(x) Curt Kitson (21-3); BCF was #10 Light Heavyweight last quarter)
Dropped out
X(10) Gunnar Nilsson (43-10); GAMMA (was Alpha-1)

Light Heavyweights
1(2) Tadamasa Yamada (23-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
2(1) Jin Katou (18-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
3(3) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-1); Gamma LHW Champion since January 1998
4(4) Mike Watson (11-0); Gamma;
5(5) Roberto Aldez (43-7); Alpha-1
6(7) John Rivero (16-2); Gamma
7(6) Nicolai Mickiewicz (21-4); Sigma
8(8) Leandro Piquet (23-5); Alpha-1
9(9) Anthony LeToussier (14-3); Gamma
10(x) Alex Cole (12-0); BCF
Dropped out
X(10) Curt Kitson (20-3); BCF moved up to Heavyweight

Middleweight
1(2) Matthew Dean (33-5); Gamma
2(1) Neil Napier (16-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
3(3) Heiji Endo (15-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
4(4) JJ Reid (28-2); Gamma
5(5) Petey Mack (14-2); Alpha-1
6(7) Mac Fuller (30-6); Gamma
7(9) Buddy Garner (16-0); Gamma
8(6) Stuart Strange (12-2); Gamma
9(8) Thorbjorn Redkal (16-1);Sigma Lt Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1997
10(x) Bambang Sriyanto (24-6-2); Sigma Middleweight Champion since Feb '99
Dropped out
x(10) Jaromir Grygera (19-5); Sigma & CSA

Welterweight
1(2) Julio Rugueiro (16-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998
2(1) Carlos da Guia (15-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
3(5) Jack Humphreys (26-4); Gamma
4(3) Ichisake Miyagi (30-9); Alpha-1
5(4) Xie Ming (22-4); Alpha-1
6(x) Josh Aldarisio (5-0); Gamma
7(x) Helio (22-2); BCF Lightweight Champion since Sept 1999 (was #5 LW)
8(7) Gabriel Gallego (16-2); Alpha-1
9(10) Jim Carpenter (51-9-2); Sigma (was Sigma & BCF)
10(x) Giovanni Silva (23-7); Alpha-1 was #10 Lightweight
Dropped Out
x(6) Darin Blood (13-3); Gamma lost to Regueiro in August
x(8) Noach Van Der Capellen (10-3);Sigma Welterweight Champ since July 1998 no fights during this quarter
x(9) Joe Hinchcliffe (28-7); Gamma lost to Aldarisio in September

Lightweight
1(1) Sean Morrison (27-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2(3) Fiyero Lermontov (10-0); Sigma
3(2) Go Yamamoto (28-8-2); Alpha-1
4(7) Bruce Steven (21-3); Gamma
5(8) Milenko Rudonja (19-4); Sigma
6(6) Luis Basora (23-3-2); Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion since Jan 1998
7(x) Lubos Plasil (8-0); Sigma
8(x) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (7-0); KDM FC
9(4) Fumiaki Hayashi (18-5); Alpha-1
10(x) Beau Gorshin (38-8); Gamma
Dropped out
x(5) Helio (22-2); BCF moved up to Welterweight
x(9) Bud Brockett (19-4); Gamma lost to Luke Hilton in August
x(10) Giovanni Silva (22-7); Alpha-1 moved up to Welterweight

Featherweight
1(2) Li-Kong Ho (20-0); KDM FC Featherweight Champion since June 1998
2(1) Phillip Ziskie (12-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (49-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (16-4); KDMFC
5(6) Norberto (28-5); Sigma
6(x) Kei Maki (6-0); KDM FC
7(9) Rafael Tavares (13-2); KDM FC
8(x) Manish Khan (9-2); Sigma
9(x) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-3); XCC
10(x) Francesco Marazzina (19-6); Sigma
Dropped out
x(5) Sammy Gaffigan (15-3); XCC lost to #9 Shenkman in September
x(7) Colm Dee (13-3); Sigma lost to #5 Norberto in August
x(8) Benedikt Street (19-6); Sigma lost to Heiko Pander in September
x(10) Cong Dun (32-9); KDM FC lost to Ryota Sugimoto in July

Pound for Pound (female)
1(x) Jenny DeNeuve (5-0); WEFF Lightweight Champion since Apr 1999
2(x) Samantha Sachs (8-0); XCC
3(9) April Watson (7-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999
4(4) Haley Croft (12-2); WEFF
5(1) Alisha Wood (6-0); WEFF Heavyweight Champion since Feb 1999
6(2) Mizuki Watanabe (8-0); KDM FC Women's Champion since April 1999
7(3) Vicki Summers (12-1-1); WEFF
8(x) Yuya Shimizu (8-0); KDM FC
9(7) Sayoko Ebisawa (12-1); former KDM FC Women's Champion
10(10) Rachel McGuiness (8-0-1); WEFF
Dropped out
x(5) Alison Beattie (7-2); XCC lost to #3 Watson in July
x(6) Sarah Vaughan (11-3); WEFF lost to #4 Croft in July
x(8) Janinha (8-1); WEFF lost to #1 DeNeuve in September

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thursday September 30, 1999

Good news, bad news I guess.

Good news is that revenue was way up, nearly triple our previous best.
Bad news is that expenses were up too. Bottom line is that we lost another $11,055 for the month, which is much better than the $18k lost in August but right about where we were for the several months prior.

I've been busier than any time since we officially opened, working the phones trying to find some names to beef up the roster. We're actually fairly happy with some of the talent we've put together but the fans are getting a lot more demanding about wanting to see names they know if they're going to come to the shows. With that in mind we've reached agreement with a half dozen new fighters that will be worked into the mix.

-- 34 year old middleweight Jaromir Grygera (19-5), from Teplic, Czech Republic, a wrestler who will start in our light heavyweight division. He mainly works for Sigma but joins us for up to 6 matches as an associate fighter.
-- 30 year old middleweight Vagner (14-5) from Curitiba, Brazil, a kick boxer who really isn't known much outside of his native country. He comes on board for up to 6 matches on a standard contract.
-- 33 year old middleweight Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-9) from from Norfolk County, Ontario, a wrestler who joins us for up to 6 matches on an exclusive basis.
-- 26 year old welterweight Junmal Skinner (6-3), from Houston, Texas, an MMA boxer, who joins us for up to 8 matches on a standard contract.
-- 27 year old welterweight Nik "The Minotaur" Minear (10-2), from Halimand County, Ontario, a grappler who joins us for up to 8 fights on a standard contract.
-- 26 year old lightweight Lucas Mueller (7-1), from Hamburg, Germany, a ground & pounder who will start in our welterweight division for up to 6 matches on a standard contract.

I'm not at all sure any of these guys are actually better than our current average roster member but overall they're better known at the moment so hopefully they'll quell some of the grumbling we've started hearing from the fans about "nobodies" and "no-names". They're a step in that direction at least but we're really discovering how demanding even a small fanbase can be.

Monthly Highlights from September 1999

ALPHA-1: Yamada vs Katou (6,052 in Chubu & 46,368 PPV buys)
Main: Tadamasa Yamada (23-1) beat Jin Katou (18-1) by submission at 9:30 of Round 1 to retain the ALPHA-1 Light Heavyweight Title (Decent)
Best other: Heavyweight Kunimichi Kikuchi (33-5) beat Palmer Lette (20-7) by submission at 9:00 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

GAMMA 48 (6,183 in Alabama & 69,595 PPV buys)
Main: James Foster (35-4-1) beat Fatuma Roy (21-9) by TKO at 1:51 of Round 1 to retain the GAMMA Heavyweight Title (Great)
Best other: Welterweight Josh Aldarisio (5-0) beat Joe Hinchcliffe (28-7) by TKO at 0:35 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

SIGMA: Soldo vs Lim (682 in Germany)
Main: Light heavyweight Hyun-Shik Lim (6-0) beat Niko Soldo (2-1) by TKO at 1:10 of Round 1 to retain the SIGMA Middleweight Title (Great)
Best other: Lightweight Lubos Placil (8-0) beat Jeremy Sproule (4-3) by TKO at 2:10 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

KDM FC 13 (614 in Eastern Asia)
Main: Featherweight Kei Maki (6-0) beat Sugimoto (10-7) by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (Good)
Best other: Women's Openweight Seka Matsu (10-4) beat Chiyo Yanagimoto (9-2) by TKO at 3:07 of Round 3 (Excellent)

WEFF 24 (417 in Quebec)
Main: Jenny DeNeuve (5-0) beat Janinha (8-1) by Knock Out at 1:43 of Round 2 to retain the WEFF Women's Lightweight Title (Excellent)
Best other: Kerry Silverman (9-6) beat Henrietta Stein (8-4) by TKO at 1:14 of Round 1 (Great)

BCF: Sithalayan vs Helio (623 in London)
Main: Helio (22-2) beat Vikram Sithalayan (14-3) by TKO at 2:22 of Round 2 to win the BCF Lightweight Title (Good)
Best other: Middleweight Gordon Idle (10-2) beat Steven Griffin (12-7) by TKO at 3:19 of round 1 (Great)

XCC: Sachs vs Curtis (621 in California)
Main: Samantha Sachs (8-0) beat Karen Curtis (7-3) by submission at 2:20 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
Best other: Featherweight Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-3) beat Sammy Gaffigan (15-3) by TKO at 3:39 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

-- Disappointing news from Sigma as light heavyweight Shane "The Butcher" Gilchrist (17-3) fails a drug test & will serve a one year suspension.

-- #9 welterweight Jim Carpenter leaves BCF to join Sigma full time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of October 1, 1999

Pound for Pound
1(x) Jaromir Grygera (19-5, 0-0); Middleweight
2(1) "Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (12-2, 2-0); Lightweight
3(x) Vagner (14-5, 0-0); Middleweight
4(x) "Silent but Violent"Wilson Franklyn (4-0, 2-0); Heavyweight
5(7) "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (8-1, 2-0); Middleweight
6(3) Joaquim Fontes (11-1, 0-0); Welterweight
7(4) Dominic "The Smash" Ash (7-0, 2-0); Lightweight
8(x) Junmal Skinner (6-3, 0-0); Welterweight
9(6) "The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-11, 0-1); Heavyweight
10(10) Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (11-3, 1-1); Light Heavyweight
Dropped Out
x(2) "The Master" Greg Atteveld (37-16, 0-2); Middleweight; retired
x(5) Stan "The Man" Blackheath (20-9, 0-0); Heavyweight
x(8) "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (4-0, 1-0); Heavyweight
x(9) "Major Damage" William Harrison (4-0, 1-0); Light Heavyweight

Heavyweights
1(4) Wilson Franklyn (4-0, 2-0);
2(2) Ernie Bruns (18-11, 1-1);
3(3) Sylvester Collins (4-0, 1-0);
4(7) Mason Archer (2-0, 2-0);
5(1) Stan Blackheath (20-10, 0-1);
6(6) Don Norman (22-15, 0-1);
7(5) Frank Analysis (36-21, 0-2);
8(8) Allen LeFleur (1-0, 1-0);
9(9) Murilo Satinho (1-0, 1-0);
10(10) Taye Burnett (0-1, 0-1);

Light Heavyweights
1(x) Jaromir Grygera (19-5, 0-0);
2(2) Woody Fierstein (11-3, 1-1);
3(4) Marlon John (3-0, 2-0);
4(1) William Harrison (4-0, 1-0);
5(7) Spencer Rubenstein (2-0, 2-0);
6(6) Joshua Hope (3-0, 2-0);
7(3) Petey Barnum (21-15, 0-2);
8(5) Adrian Pascal (3-1, 1-1);
9(8) Rupert Dreck (4-2, 0-2);
10(x) Wes Hersch (1-0, 1-0); was #9 middleweight
Dropped out
x(9) Titus Mostel (3-4, 0-1);
x(10) Jordan Flintstone (1-2, 0-2); dropped to middleweight

Middleweights
1(x) Vagner (14-5, 0-0)
2(2) Drew Jenks (8-1, 1-1);
3(x) Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-9, 0-0);
4(3) Bill Brown (2-0, 1-0);
5(5) Heath Kaladaris (2-0, 2-0);
6(4) Kramer Mayweather (3-0, 2-0);
7(6) Francis O'Leary (26-19, 0-1);
8(7) Esteban Vega (2-1, 0-1);
9(9) Ed Burridge (2-2, 0-2);
10(x) Jordan Flintstone (1-2, 0-2); moved down from light heavyweight
un(x) Jakachu Abe (0-0, 0-0); hired in August
Dropped out
x(1) Greg Atteveld (37-16, 0-2); retired
x(8)Wes Hersch (1-0, 1-0); moved up to light heavyweight
x(10) Billy Russell (1-1, 0-1); [i]injured until February 2000

Welterweights
1(1) Joaquim Fontes (11-1, 0-0);
2(x) Junmal Skinner (6-3, 0-0); hired in September
3(4) Evan Pizzarro (3-0, 2-0);
4(x) Nik Minear (10-2, 0-0); hired in September
5(x) Lucas Mueller (7-1, 0-0); hired in September
6(3) Ray Eton (7-2, 0-1);
7(9) Nathan Chambers (2-0, 2-0);
8(2) Zachary Gilbert (11-9, 0-2);
9(5)5. Felix Mattherson, Jr (1-0, 1-0);
10(7) Gideon Navarro (1-0, 1-0);
un(x) Diego Arteta (1-0, 0-0); hired in August
Dropped out
x(6) Brock Youdale (2-1, 1-1);dropped to lightweight
x(8) Kyle Sagal (3-1, 0-1);
x(10) Garrison Grable (6-16, 0-2);
x(un) Randy Carsley (1-1, 1-1); dropped to lightweight

Lightweights
1(1) Shuler Eigenberg (12-2, 2-0);
2(2) Dominic Ash (7-0, 2-0);
3(5) Tim Oldacres (2-0, 2-0);
4(3) Ian Linderman (7-3, 0-2);
5(4) Doug Minnelli (1-0, 1-0);
6(6) Sinali Shomen (1-0, 1-0);
7(x) Brock Youdale (2-1, 1-1); was #6 welterweight
8(7) Sammy Newton (2-2, 0-1);
9(x) Randy Carsley (1-1, 1-1); was unranked welterweight
10(9) Rory McEnterry (1-1, 0-1);
Dropped out
x(8) Hinton Grey (1-2, 0-2); not resigned after contract expired
x(10) Gonazalo Ramos (1-3, 0-2);

[JonInMiddleGA]

Monday Oct 4, 1999

So we seem to be at some sort of turning point, with fans wanting more from us but we're not sure how much more we can give them with the current roster. We've been so careful, so methodical, about trying to tailor our fights & our cards in order to build a good foundation but there's a real concern that we may have plateaued. We've added a number of fighters with good reputations in the MMA world but the feedback we're getting from fans is that they aren't all that impressed by some of them. I guess our fans aren't quite the diehards for MMA we thought they were or something. But in the end, without them we're screwed so it's them we've got to please (at least until we can expand the fan base & convince others to get on board).

As the final quarter of our first calendar year approaches, we spent a lot of time going over the roster, trying to find fights that worked for us and for the fans. We avoided the temptation to take a month off during the holidays & decided to stay on our monthly schedule and hope for the best, so we've booked facilities for fights in October, November, and December already. Also, sooner than we anticipated, we're going to crown our first couple of champions.

At CSA 10 in November, Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (3-0) will face "The Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (2-0) for the CSA Welterweight Title, sharing the main event with a non-title light heavyweight bout between Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (2-0) and "Major Damage" William Harrison (4-0).

At CSA 11 in December, we'll close out the year with another championship fight, as "Scorchin' " Shuler Eigenberg (12-2) takes on Dominic "The Smash" Ash (7-0) with the winner becoming the first CSA Lightweight Champion.

Of course, we've just got to get through October first.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 9
Sunday October 31st, 1999 in Brunswick, GA

RESULTS

Middleweight
"The Flying V" Esteban Vega (2-1) vs "Lightning Hands" Francis O'Leary (26-19)
We're privately hoping that O'Leary ends his career with a loss
Blurcat says Vega is too talented for O'Leary
Vega wins by Knock Out (Muay Thai knee to the cheek) at 4:21 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
Several minutes of failed takedown attempts by each fighter, then lights out with a single ferocious knee

Middleweights
"The Unbreakable" Gideon Navarro (1-0) vs Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (1-0)
We're privately hoping that we don't regret moving Navarro up in weight
Blurcat says Hersch has the advantage if the fight goes to the mat, which he'll do to win
Hersch wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
A heck of a first round, with Hersch unable to get past guard, Navarro trying to lock in a choke & Hersch ending that thread with a wicked powerbomb. Round 2 saw Hersch again controlling most of the round as Navarro looked for submission opportunities, while Round 3 had Navarro on the offensive but Hersch able to play enough defense to avoid serious trouble. Fans & critics crapped on the match, I thought it was quite good in its own way.

Heavyweights
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (4-0) vs "The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-11)
We're privately hoping that youth will be served
Blurcat says Collins is better in every area, no way Bruns has a chance
Collins wins by TKO at 1:44 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Collins was too big & too aggressive for Bruns to have a chance, just manhandling from the outset

Main Event:Middleweights
Bill "The Marine" Brown (2-0) vs Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-9)
We're privately hoping that we put this card together correctly & that Brown lives up to expectations here
Blurcat says Brown should win easily
Brown wins by sumbission(armbar) at 1:45 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
Methodical win, takedown, past guard to side control, to mount, to tap out

Attendance: 627 for a gate of $12,540
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

November 1, 1999

How about that, our smallest financial loss in a month to date. Hot damn, we're cooking now I guess. Only lost (-$5,280) in October versus our usual $11k per month loss.

Let's see here, revenue must have been way up somewhere. Gate receipts were better but only about $1,200 gained there. Must have sold some t-shirts, nope, only up $150 over the previous month. Sponsorships must have ... nah, actually down $15 from last month.

Okay, must have been cheaper fighters. Hmm, not really, so how in the heck did we ... oh, wait a minute. We only had four fights on the card this month instead of the usual five.

Sigh. That'll teach me to get excited I guess.

Almost as disheartening was the call from the hospital, as we discover Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon will be out for 6-7 months recovering from a stomach injury suffered in his loss to Bill Brown. Guess that helps explain why Brown had no trouble with him.

We had a mini version of last month's hiring spree again in October, adding four new fighters to the roster although some won't be available for a while as their existing contracts expire.

-- 28 year old welterweight "Mr Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (16-7), is from right here in Athens, GA. He's a hybrid striker who is suffering through a three match losing streak at GAMMA. Those losses have been in good to great fights though, and we're hoping familiar scenery will help him get back on track. He's a lot better known both nationally & locally than anyone else in the division so we're happy to have him come on board losing streak or not.

-- 32 year old lightweight Anthony "The Black Dog" Shenkman (17-3) from Boston, MA is a wrestler best known for boring wins. But he is known, and is riding a winning streak highlighted by a TKO of Sammy Gaffigan at last month's XCC show. It's an exclusive deal for three fights which kicks in after his current deal expires in a couple of weeks. He won't be available for another couple of months though, as he's recovering from the Gaffigan fight.

-- 23 year old heavyweight Juozas "Anarchy" Skerla (6-0) is from Lithuania, a kickboxer who joins us for up to 8 bouts on an associate basis. He has no name value here yet but should be okay in the middle of the division and was willing to work fairly cheaply if we allowed him to work for other people as well.

-- 28 year old light heavyweight Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekhov (20-5), from Moscow, Russia, is a kickboxer, who joins us for up to 8 matches on an exclusive basis after going 1-2 for Sigma. He'll need three months to recover from his fight in October, but should be extremely competitive in the division once he gets started here.

Monthly Highlights from October 1999

ALPHA-1: Endo vs Kuroki (9,629 in Tohoku & 76,909 PPV buys)
Main: Heiji Endo (16-1) beat Dokuohtei Kuroki (35-14) by submission at 8:02 of Round 1 to retain the ALPHA-1 Middleweight Title (Average)
Best other: Lightweight Atep of Indonesia (6-1) beat Bunrakuken Abe (11-5) by knock out at 8:22 of Round 1 (Great)

ALPHA-1: Battle (TV) (3,202 in Kinki)
Main: Heavyweight Jeff Carlton (34-7) beat Randall Donnelly (13-7) by TKO at 1:31 of Round 1 (Great)
Best other: Middleweight Petey Mack (15-2) beat Mario de Souza (25-6) by TKO at 3:13 of round 1 (Great)

GAMMA 49 (5,757 in California & 74,848 PPV buys)
Main: Light heavyweight Anthony LeToussier (15-3) beat Lawrence Herringbone (15-5) unanimous decision after three rounds (Good)
Best other: Light heavyweight Ken Peters (11-0) beat Jerry Bogdonovich (6-2) by submission at 2:27 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

SIGMA: Van Der Capellen vs Rossi (540 in Germany)
Main: Noach Van Der Capellen (11-3) beat Carmelo Rossi (8-3) by unanimous decision after five rounds to retain the SIGMA Welterweight Title (Decent)
Best other: Featherweight Phillip Ziskie (13-0) beat Pedro Alves (12-6) by TKO at 1:07 of Round 3 (Average)

KDM FC 14 (891 in Eastern Asia)
Main: Featherweight Tomohiro Takeuchi (17-4) beat Davi Carlos Ramos (34-9) by submission at 3:57 of Round 2 (Great)
Best other: Lightweight Korekiyo Anzai (8-1) beat Fujimaro Hidaka (5-2) by TKO at 3:28 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

XCC: Silva vs Speed (471 in California)
Main: Lightweight Manuel Silva (2-0) beat Marcus Speed (3-2) by TKO at 2:47 of Round 3 (Good)
Best other: Featherweight Azor Portela Nunes (23-5) beat Stefan Champion (6-2) by TKO at 2:04 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

--- Contract renewals in October included Josh Aldarisio by GAMMA, Karen Curtis by XCC, Alex Cole by BCF, Pedro Alves & Ari Peltonen by SIGMA

-- In addition to our own Francis O'Leary retiring after his last fight, 39 y/o Geoff "Die Hard" Cahill (47-26) ends his career with a loss to Callum Henson at 49, 36 y/o "Mr Saturday Night" Phil Verdigree (14-22-1) ends his career with a loss on an independent show, and 44 y/o "Gorgeous" Ralf Puce (23-19) ends his career after several months of inactivity.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 10
Saturday November 27th, 1999 in Dalton, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fight
Welterweights
Garrison Grable (6-16) vs Ray "The Enigma" Eton (7-2)
We're privately hoping that Eton breaks his losing streak
Blurcat says Eton is better in every area & should win easily
Eton wins by submission (armbar) at 2:56 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Decent
First round was reversals against the cage by both fighters, second round action was mostly Eton who got past guard easily & sunk in the arm bar.

Heavyweights
Titus "The Titan" Mostel (3-4) vs "Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (1-0)
[i]We're privately hoping that Mostel doesn't get seriously injured
Blurcat says Satinho is much more talented & Mostel would do well to make this last long at all
Satinho wins by TKO at 0:42 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A couple of cursory punches followed by an easy takedown & it was bombs away for Satinho

Light heavyweights
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (1-0) vs Vagner (14-5)
We're privately hoping that we get a strong competitive fight
Blurcat says LeFleur should be able to end this quickly
LeFleur wins by submission (Americana) at 3:26 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Vagner avoided several takedowns in the first round, only going down just before the bell. His luck ran out in the second.

Heavyweights
Frank Analysis (36-21) vs Don "The Rumble King" Norman (22-15)
We're privately hoping that no one breaks a hip
Blurcat says Norman will win on the ground by preventing Analysis from keeping the fight standing where he has the edge
Norman wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-26x2 & 29-27)
The match was rated as being Decent
Norman dominated the first round, spending most of it on top of Analysis pounding away but other than a cut above the eye didn't seem to do much damage. The second round was similar but Norman seemed to be getting punched out & lost a lot of steam. The third had both fighters looking for either the bell or some oxygen.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (3-0) vs "Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (2-0)
We're privately hoping that our first ever title fight produces a bang rather than a bust
Blurcat says Pizzarro is much better in a couple of key areas & should win easily
Chambers wins by TKO at 3:23 of Round 4
The match was rated as Good
Chambers showed no offense at all under the latter part of round 3 and Pizzarro appeared to be headed to a relatively easy win. That was before he seemed to slow down in the fourth and Chambers exploded with a sudden barrage of punches after the ref moved the fighters to the middle of the ring from an inactive clinch against the cage. No choice but to save Pizzarro who was caught off guard & stunned badly.

Co-Main Event:Light heavyweights
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (2-0) vs "Major Damage" William Harrison (4-0)
We're privately hoping that this is a contender for our match of the year
Blurcat says Harrison is totally outgunned & has no chance
Rubenstein wins by unanimous decisionafter three rounds (30-27x3)
The match was rated as Decent
Strange fight & strange judging IMO. Harrison was the aggressor from start to finish, Rubenstein never made an aggressive move the entire fight. Harrison even managed to get a few takedowns on occasions when he fought threw counterpunches. And yet Rubenstein got the win, easily according to the judges. Strange.

Attendance: 604 for a gate of $12,080
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 1, 1999

Well our losses are back to normal I guess, down (-$9,025) for the month, which is actually better than usual since we our largest card of six fights in November.

Evan Pizzarro's loss led to a 3 months medical suspension by the state board.

One new hire during the month we're ready to announce, as well as one upcoming departure.

First the good news:

-- 26 year old welterweight Lloyd "The K.O. Kid" McAllister (13-6), a kickboxer from Newark, NJ. He's been working for GAMMA recently, going just 1-3 but is coming off a win in October. In spite of the losses (or because of them) he's actually one of our best known fighters in the U.S.

And then the bad news, as we learn that Jaromir Grygera won't be fighting for us in the coming year after all as he reaches an exclusive agreement with his current employer SIGMA. He'll be unavailable by the end of the months, weeks before he'll even be ready to fight again. Ah well, stuff happens.

In the weeks to come we'll have to make decisions about three fighters who have only one bout left on their current contracts: Evan Pizzarro, Frank Analysis, and Garrison Grable, all of whom lost in November.

Monthly Highlights from November 1999

ALPHA-1: Fezzik vs Boniek (6,130 in Kanto & 47,471 PPV buys)
Main: Hassan Fezzik (28-0) beat Grzegorz Boniek (35-5) by submission at 2:01 of Round 1 to retain the ALPHA-1 Heavyweight Title (Fantastic)
Best other: Heavyweight Gyokusho Fujimoto (5-0) beat Leon Banks (32-9) by TKO at 1:13 of Round 2 (Great)

GAMMA Warriors (TV) (2,479 in New Jersey)
Main: Neil Napier (17-0) beat Patrick Thomas (11-5) by knockout at 0:28 of round 3 to retain the GAMMA Middleweight Title (Good)
Best other: Light heavyweight John Rivero (17-2) beat Mark Cohen (34-9-2) by TKO at 1:35 of Round 1 (Great)

SIGMA: Rekdal vs Laurent (692 in Germany)
Main: Thorbjorn Rekdal (17-1) beat George Laurent (37-14) by unanimous decision after five rounds to retain the SIGMA Lightweight Title (Good)
Best other: Welterweight Jim Carpenter (52-9-2) beat Kenneth Toadspew (11-4) by TKO at 4:06 of Round 1 (Great)

KDM FC 15 (1,068 in Eastern Asia)
Main: Sukarno (6-0) beat Teeratep Nutnum (9-2) by knock out at 2:48 of Round 2 to retain the KDM FC Lightweight Title (Good)
Best other: Women's Bantamweight Yuya Shimizu (9-0) beat Maja Ukraden (9-5-1) by knock out at 1:32 of Round 2 (Great)

BCF: Rush vs Plumm (520 in London)
Main: Light heavyweight Andrew Rush (15-6) beat Tucker Plumm (15-8) by Knock Out at 1:19 of Round 1 (Great)
Best other: Welterweight Procopio Golias (14-4) beat Doug Hansen (15-5) by submission at 3:19 of Round 5 (Fantastic)

XCC: Bretton vs Cruz (417 in California)
Main: Nicholas Bretton (9-5) beat Hugo Cruz (2-2) by unanimous decision after 5 rounds to retain the XCC Lightweight Title (Good)
Best other: Featherweight Easton Frye (8-1) beat Harvey Ripa (9-5) by TKO at 2:48 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

--- Contract renewals in November included Petey Mack with Alpha-1, Lawrence Herringbone with GAMMA, and Azor Portela Nunes with XCC,

-- Retirements in November included 42 y/o heavyweight "Papa Bear" Solomon Austin (20-15) who won his last fight back in June, 46 y/o heavyweight "The Dark Knight" Theo Powers (16-13) who lost his final fight months ago to Solomon Austin, 42 y/o heavyweight Henrik Berg (19-17) whose active career ended with a loss in June, 40 y/o Koji Hashiranti (12-19) who lost a third straight fight at an indy show in November, and 40 y/o former football player Norbert Vinkus (13-9) who was knocked out in August at Gamma 47

[JonInMiddleGA]

Friday December 17th, 1999

We knew sooner or later somebody would leave & it would screw up our plans but boy is this one a pain in the ass.

Less than ten days before our scheduled Lightweight Title fight between Dominic Ash & Shuler Eigenberg at CSA 11: Season's Beatings, Eigenberg signs an exclusive contract with XCC. Since his remaining two fights with us were on an associate basis, he'll be unavailable to us after 28 days. Damned if I'm going to risk putting a title on him or even on him beating Ash who is still in line for a title fight of his own.

It wasn't for lack of trying either, we actually offered him as much as they paid, he just kept saying they had a better deal on the table. Fuck him then.

So we've had to do some rearranging of not only that card but also moving some fights around on our next couple of cards to accomodate the changes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 11: Season's Beatings
Sunday December 26th, 1999 in Statesboro, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Lightweights
Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (1-0) vs "Hollywood Player' Doug Minnelli" (1-0)
We're privately hoping that both youngster look good
Blurcat says if Shomen gets the takedowns he'll win, if he doesn't then he'll lose
Shomen wins by submission (armbar) at 1:16 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
After a very very close first round, Shomen shocked Minnelli with a flurry of punches & then pounced

Lightweights
"Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (2-2) vs Rory "Maradonna" McEnterry (1-1)
We're privately hoping that one of these guys can find momentum
Blurcat says they have a feeling Newton will win in a contrast of styles
McEnterry wins by TKO at 3:53 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A knockdown followed by another aggressive barrage of punches & it was all over

Main Show
Welterweights
Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (1-0) vs Nik "The Minotaur" Minear (10-2
We're privately hoping that Mattherson looks like a contender
Blurcat says Mattherson should win comfortably
Mattherson wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Very Poor
Nearly 15 solid minutes of Mattherson smothering Minear who was stuck in guard, bored the crowd silly

Welterweights
Chad "Easy Z" Zoff (0-0) vs "Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (12-2)
We're privately hoping that Eigenberg gets KTFO by the rookie
Blurcat says if it goes to the ground Zoff could win, if it stays upright then Eigenberg should win
Eigenberg wins by Knock Out at 0:32 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Excellent
A dominant first round of ground control by Zoff, an even second round, and then one punch & lights out

Co-Main Event: Middleweights
Joaquim Fontes (11-1) vs Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (3-0)
We're privately hoping that this is a very entertaining war
Blurcat says if Fontes can get to the ground then he'll win easily
Mayweather wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as Good
Mayweather stayed right up in Fontes face throughout, luring him into counterstrike after counterstrike. Especially effective with kicks to the leg that hobbled Fontes by the latter stages of the match

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Lightweight Title
"The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-3) vs Dominic "The Smash" Ash (7-0)
We're privately hoping that this impromptu matchup doesn't turn into a full blown schmoz or snoozefest. Even better if Ash can pull off the upset
Blurcat says Ash better have spent time working on his takedown defense or this could be over before it starts
Ash wins by TKO at 0:44 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
Ash avoids a straight right and hits a barrage of big punches knocking Shenkman down. Ash dives in & gets ready to unload on Shenkman. Down come the punches! Shenkman has no answer, forcing the referee to end the fight!

Attendance: 608 for a gate of $12,160
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 31, 1999

Nothing like our largest loss in 4 months (-$13,309) to close out the year. Our finances are so shitty that I don't really want to talk about them anymore.

Not too shabby a final card of the year though, Zoff nearly pulled off the upset of the traitorous Eigenberg, Ash was smashing in his title win, Mayweather was superbly tactical in his win over Fontes. Minear on the other hand left us wondering if he had a pulse during the fight.

Last month I mentioned one new hire that we were ready to announce. I'm not sure how many people picked up on that choice of words but now it can be told that we've made a large number of additions to the roster as we began hiring for our new women's division back in November. So far 15 women are under contract with more negotiations still in progress.

-- 25 y/o Allison "Dirty Angel" Beattie (7-3), a kick boxer from Minneapolis, MN
-- 26 y/o "The Queen of Mean" Simone King (3-4), a kick boxer from Oakland, CA
-- 26 y/o "The Wicked Bitch of the West" Honey Due (3-0), an MMA kick boxer from Long Beach, CA
-- 28 y/o Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (4-0), a Brazilian JJ specialist from Sunnydale, CA
-- 25 y/o "Deadly T" Thea Higgins (3-0), a wrestler from Chicago, IL
-- 23 y/o Alyssa "The Viper" Taylor (1-1), a kick boxer from New York, NY
-- 25 y/o Nina "Liberty" Belle (0-0), an all-out striker from Los Angeles, CA
-- 24 y/o "The Flame-Haired Phenom" Tabitha Cameron (0-0), a Muay Thai fighter from New York, NY
-- 23 y/o "Lost Innocence" Leslie Myers (1-0), a kick boxer from Amos, Quebec
-- 23 y/o Daniella Sadorra (0-0), a kick boxer from Saltillo, Mexico
-- 27 y/o Temperance "Bang Bang" McCoy (1-0), a kick boxer from Norfolk Co. Ontario
-- 28 y/o "The Beast from the East" Veronika Sablikov (4-0), a G&P fighter from Prague, CZE
-- 27 y/o "Stunning" Steph Smith (1-0), a Brazilian JJ fighter from Iroquois Falls, Ontario
-- 20 y/o Saya Ikegami (0-0), a hybrdi fighter from Kobe, Japan
-- 20 y/o "Glamorous G" Gianna Russo (1-0), a Brazilian JJ fighter from La Malbaie, Quebec

We weren't inactive on the men's side either, adding 7 fighters
-- 19 y/o welterweight Chad "Easy Z" Zoff (0-1), a hybrid fighter from Minto, Ontario who debuted against Eigenberg & acquitted himself well for a rookie
-- 23 y/o lightweight Elvis "The King" Milssis (4-2), a Filipino Martial Artist from Clarksville, TN
-- 26 y/o middleweight Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (11-2), a kick boxer from Houston, TX and the younger brother of Linfield Ballard.
-- 36 y/o middleweight "Knockout" Nigel Malley (19-14), a boxer from Baton Rouge,LA
-- 33 y/o welterweight Linton Berry (6-4), a Goju Ryu fighter from Louisville, KY
-- 23 y/o welterweight Rich "Hard Rain" Robinson (2-0), an MMA fighter from Wood Buffalo, Alberta
-- 19 y/o middleweight Julio "The Nightmare" Gutierrez(4-0), a Keysi Method fighter from Culiacan, Mexico

We also resigned Evan Pizzarro to a 7 fight max/4 guaranteed standard contract for 33 months.

Monthly Highlights from December 1999

ALPHA-1: da Guia vs Silva (10,698 in Hokkaido & 81,068 PPV buys)
Main: Carlos da Guia (16-0) beat Giovanni Silva (23-8) by knock out at 1:00 of Round 5 to retain the ALPHA-1 Welterweight Title (Great)
Best other: Light heavyweight Roberto Aldez (44-7) beat Sho Kitabatake (4-1) by knock out at 1:18 of Round 2 (Great)

GAMMA 50: Morrison vs Danare (6,857 in Ohio & 82,926 PPV buys)
Main: Sean Morrison (28-3) beat Benny Danare (9-2) by TKO at 3:51 of Round 1 to retain the GAMMA Lightweight Title (Good)
Best other: Middleweight Maarten De Vries (14-6) beat Ashley Ballard (11-2) by knock out at 2:21 of Round 3 (Excellent)

GAMMA 51: Foster vs Hughes II (6,637 in Texas & 82,320 PPV buys)
Main: Raul Hughes (15-2) beat James Foster (35-5-1) by TKO at 1:44 of round 1 to win the GAMMA Heavyweight Title (Great)
Best other: Light heavyweight Mike Watson (12-0) beat Jerry Bogdonovich (6-3) by TKO at 0:49 of Round 1 (Great)

SIGMA: Bohlin vs Norberto (635 in Germany)
Main: Lars Bohlin (50-6-1) beat Norberto (28-6) by submission at 7:27 of Round 1 to retain the SIGMA Featherweight Title (Good)
Best other: Heavyweight Stratos Papaioannou (27-6) beat Mugur Boc (7-2) by submission at 1:24 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

KDM FC 16: Ueda vs Yip II (690 in Eastern Asia)
Main: Featherweight Gu Ueda (19-10) beat So Yip (10-7) by unanimous decision after 3 rounds. (Average)
Best other: Women's Bantamweight Naora Kikuchi (7-1) beat Hanako Shimizu (9-3) by knock out at 4:58 of Round 3 (Fantastic)

BCF: Jankovic vs Dabrowski (517 in London)
Main: Welterweight Dominykas Jankovic (12-3) beat Piotr Dabrowski (19-7) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds (Poor)
Best other: Welterweight Gordon Idle (11-2) beat Shinji Oiwa (7-8) by TKO at 2:52 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

WEFF 25 (481 in Quebec)
Main: Women's Bantamweight Roz Wareing (8-2) beat Erica Page (10-5) by unanimous decision after 4 rounds (Good)
Best other: Women's Bantamweight Trish Biel (6-0) beat Rhonda Britton (9-6) by submission at 2:02 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

--- Contract renewals in November included featherweight Easton Frye with XCC, featherweight Li-Kong Ho with KDM FC, welterweight Vikram Sithalayan with BCF, and lightweight Bradon Rush joins SIGMA from KDM FC,

-- Retirements in November included 33 y/o heavyweight Nash Harbane (9-17) who last fought in a loss to Gareth Grundy at an indy show in September, 44 y/o Monty Oliver (26-30) who last fought in a loss to Kurt McDonald at an indy show in September, and 33 y/o Paxton Brinkal (4-8) who had lost three straight fights including a unanimous decision to Wayne McKellen at an indy show in December.

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 1, 2000

1999 Year-End Awards from Blurcat.com

Fighter of the Year
Gyokusho "Fujizilla" Fujimoto - ALPHA-1
Heavyweight was 4-0 for 1999 with two knockouts & two unanimous decisions, with wins over Gary Sampson (4/99), Carter Potter (6/99), Harry Milne (9/99), and Leon Banks (12/99)

Female Fighter of the Year
"The Electrifying" Jenny DeNeuve - WEFF
The WEFF Women's Lightweight Champion since April, she was 3-0 for the year with a knockout of Erica Page to win the title, a TKO win over Olivia Sweet in July, and a knockout of Janinha in September.

Rookie of the Year
Josh "TNT" Aldarisio - GAMMA
With a lifetime record of 5-0, the welterweight claimed four of his career wins in 1999 by beating Charles Stiles (3/99), Lloyd McAllister (5/99), Charles Stiles again (6/99), and Joe Hinchcliffe (9/99).

Rise of the Year
Sho Kitabatake - ALPHA-1
The light heavyweight recently had a four fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Roberto Aldez but the rookie still had a fine year as he transitioned from judoka to MMA.

Fall of the Year
Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan - XCC
A year he would like to forget, with a TKO loss to Phillip Ziskie in February that started a spiral that included a knock out loss to James Busfield (7/99) and a TKO loss to Anthony Ray Shenkman (9/99).

Promotion of the Year
ALPHA-1
It's good to be the king.

Team of the Year
Strike Force
The brainchild of "Live Wire" Anthony LeToussier is the state of the art in MMA today. The 18 current members include 1999 Female Fighter of the Year Jenny DeNeuve, WEFF Heavyweight champion Alisha Wood, and a number of promising newcomers male & female.

Show of the Year
KDM FC 6: Ho vs Takeuchi (February 1999)
Highlighted by Li-Kong Ho's successful Featherweight Title defense by submission over Tomohiro Takeuchi, the card also featured Cong Dun over Greg Chiang by knockout in 21 seconds, a submission win by Rafael Tavares over Sri Aziz bin Zai, Tan Su's KO of Seigo Tsuda, and Brandon Sugar's submission victory over Anderson Desailly.

Fight of the Year
Tan Su vs Zhao Pau (KDM FC May 1999)
Su got the TKO victory over Pau at 1:15 of Round 2 in an action packed fight that had everyone talking.

Worst Fight of the Year
Kafu Bunya vs Yeijiro Yamamoto (ALPHA-1 February 1999)
Bunya won a unanimous decision after three rounds in this preliminary fight but his defensive style does not make for entertaining viewing to say the least.

Knock Out of the Year
Jin Katou vs Roberto Aldez (ALPHA-1 March 1999)
One big punch at 3:02 of Round 3 was all it took to turn out the lights on "The Sniper".

Submission of the Year
Tadamasa Yamada vs Jin Katou (ALPHA-1 September 1999)
"The Dragon" showed why he's still the Light Heavyweight champion when he forced Katou to tap at 9:30 of Round 1.

Main Event of the Year
Tan Su vs Zhao Pau (KDM FC May 1999)

Upset of the Year
Gyokusho Fujimoto defeats Gary Sampson (ALPHA-1 April 1999)
No one expected the rookie to make such a decisive statement against the veteran, but the win only showcased the great year ahead for Fujimoto.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of January 1, 2000

Promotion Rankings (size, change since October 99, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (High Level National, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (High Level National, 0, WW Julio Regueiro)
3. SIGMA (High Level Regional, 0, HW Armen Sarkisian)
4. KDM FC (High Level Regional, 0, FW Li-Kong Ho)
5. BCF (High Level Regional, +1, WW Helio)
6. WEFF (Mid Level Regional, -1, BW Jenny DeNeuve)
7. CSA (Mid Level Regional, +1, MW Ashley Ballard)
8. XCC (Mid Level Regional, -1, FW Phillip Ziskie)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (28-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 beat Grzegorz Boniek by submission in November
2(2) Tadamasa Yamada (23-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996 last fought in September, next fight not scheduled
3(4) Julio Regueiro (16-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998 last fought in August, next fight not scheduled
4(5) Jin Katou (18-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight last fought in September, next fight not scheduled
5(6) Matthew Dean (33-5); Gamma; Middleweight last fought in July, next fight not scheduled
6(7) Neil Napier (17-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998 beat Patrick Thomas by knockout in November
7(x) Raul Hughes (15-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since December 1999 beat James Foster by TKO for the title in December
8(8) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 beat Benny Danare by TKO in December
9(3) James Foster (35-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion lost to Raul Hughes by TKO December
10(10) Armen Sarkisian (15-0); SIGMA; Heavyweight beat Ari Peltonen by split decision in October
Dropped Out
x(9) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-1); Gamma LHW Champion since January 1998 last fought in May, next fight not scheduled

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (28-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(6) Raul Hughes (15-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1999
3(3) James Foster (35-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(3) Armen Sarkisian (15-0); SIGMA
5(5) Kunimichi Kikuchi (33-5) Alpha-1;
6(7) Terron Cabal (14-0); Sigma Heavyweight Champion since October 1998
7(8) Rick Stanley (24-7-3); Gamma
8(9) Jeff Carlton (34-7); Alpha-1
9(4) Gregor Boniek (35-5); Alpha-1 lost to Fezzik in November
10(x) Tony McCall (35-10); Gamma beat Gunnar Nilsson in December
Dropped out
x(10) Curt Kitson (21-3); BCF last fought in August

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Tadamasa Yamada (23-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
2(2) Jin Katou (18-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
3(3) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-1); Gamma LHW Champion since January 1998
4(4) Mike Watson (12-0); Gamma;
5(6) John Rivero (17-2); Gamma; beat Mark Cohen by TKO in Nov 99
6(5) Roberto Aldez (44-7); Alpha-1 beat Sho Kitabatake by KO in Dec 99
7(x) Thorbjorn Redkal (17-1);Sigma;beat George Laruent by UD in Nov 99
8(9) Anthony LeToussier (15-3); Gamma;beat L.Herringbone by UD in Nov 99
9(x) Elgar (27-8); Alpha-1; beat Robun Yamazaki by TKO in Nov 99
10(10) Alex Cole (12-0); BCF;
Dropped out
x(7) Nicolai Mickiewicz (21-5); Sigma; lost to Faas Smit by UD in Dec 99
x(8) Leandro Piquet (23-6); Alpha-1; lost to Sho Kitabatake by submission in October 99

Middleweight
1(2) Matthew Dean (33-5); Gamma
2(1) Neil Napier (17-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
3(4) JJ Reid (29-2); Gamma beat Mac Fuller in Oct 99
4(8) Stuart Strange (12-2); Gamma beat Buddy Garner in Dec 99
5(5) Heiji Endo (16-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
6(5) Petey Mack (15-2); Alpha-1
7(6) Mac Fuller (30-7); Gamma lost to JJ Reid in Oct 99
8(x) Jaromir Grygera (20-5); Sigma beat Hans-Peter Schneider in Nov 99
9(10) Bambang Sriyanto (24-6-2); Sigma Middleweight Champion since Feb '99
10(7) Buddy Garner (16-0); Gamma;lost to Stuart Strange in Dec 99
Dropped out
x(9) Thorbjorn Redkal (16-1);Sigma Lt Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1997
moved back up to Light Heavyweight

Welterweight
1(1) Julio Rugueiro (16-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998
2(2) Carlos da Guia (16-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
3(3) Jack Humphreys (27-4); Gamma
4(5) Xie Ming (23-4); Alpha-1 beat Edison Edmilson in Oct 99
5(4) Ichisake Miyagi (30-9); Alpha-1
6(8) Gabriel Gallego (16-2); Alpha-1 beat Ricardo Fernandes in Dec 99
7(6) Josh Aldarisio (5-0); Gamma
8(7) Helio (22-2); BCF Lightweight Champion since Sept 1999 (was #5 LW)
9(9) Jim Carpenter (52-9-2); Sigma; beat Kenneth Toadspew in Nov 99
10(x) David Allen (18-2); Gamma; beat Simon Vine in Dec 99
Dropped Out
x(10) Giovani Silva (23-8); Alpha-1 lost to Carlos da Guia in Dec 99

Lightweight
1(1) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2(2) Fiyero Lermontov (11-0); Sigma
3(3) Go Yamamoto (28-8-2); Alpha-1
4(7) Lubos Plasil (9-0); Sigma beat P.R. Bezerra in Nov 99
5(8) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (8-0); KDM FCbeat Naizen Hamacho in Dec 99
6(4) Bruce Steven (22-3); Gamma beat Beau Gorshin in Oct 99
7(5) Milenko Rudonja (19-4); Sigma
8(6) Luis Basora (23-3-2); Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion since Jan 1998
9(x) Luke Hilton (10-0); Gamma; beat Jackson Gray in Dec 99
10(x) Branco (11-0); Alpha-1; beat Mikio Inouye in Dec 99
Dropped out
x(9) Fumiaki Hayashi (18-5); Alpha-1 last fought & lost in Sept 99
x(10) Beau Gorshin (38-8); Gamma; lost to Bruce Steven in Oct 99

Featherweight
1(2) Li-Kong Ho (20-0); KDM FC Featherweight Champion since June 1998
2(1) Phillip Ziskie (13-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (50-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (17-4); KDMFC
5(6) Norberto (28-6); Sigma lost to Lars Bohlin in Dec 99
6(x) Kei Maki (6-0); KDM FC
7(x) Colm Dee (14-3); Sigma; beat Francesco Marazzina in Nov 99
8(8) Manish Khan (10-2); Sigma & XCC
9(x) Luiz Machado (24-5-2); XCC beat Ivan Bokhour in Oct 99
10(x) Azor Portela Nunes (23-5); XCC beat Stefan Champion in Oct 99
Dropped out
x(7) Rafael Tavares (13-3); KDM FC lost to Ang Dong in Nov 99
x(9) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4); CSA (was XCC) lost to Dominic Ash in Dec 99
x(10) Francesco Marazzina (19-7); Sigmalost to Colm Dee in Nov 99

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) Jenny DeNeuve (5-0); WEFF Lightweight Champion since Apr 1999
2(4) Haley Croft (13-2); WEFF beat Hope Lehane in Dec 99
3(2) Samantha Sachs (8-0); XCC
4(3) April Watson (7-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999
5(9) Sayoko Ebisawa (13-1); former KDM FC Women's Champion
6(5) Alisha Wood (6-0); WEFF Heavyweight Champion since Feb 1999
7(8) Yuya Shimizu (9-0); KDM FC beat Maza Ukraden in Nov 99
8(6) Mizuki Watanabe (8-0); KDM FC Women's Champion since April 1999
9(7) Vicki Summers (12-1-1); WEFF
10(10) Rachel McGuiness (8-0-1); WEFF
Dropped out
None

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of January 1, 2000

Pound for Pound
1(x) Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (11-2, 0-0); Middleweight
2(7) Dominic "The Smash" Ash (8-0, 3-0); Lightweight Champion since Dec 99
3(x) Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (20-5, 0-0) Light Heavyweight
4(2) "Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (13-2, 3-0); Lightweight
5(x) "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (5-0, 2-0); Heavyweight
6(x) "The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1); Lightweight
7(4) "Silent but Violent"Wilson Franklyn (4-0, 2-0); Heavyweight
8(x) "The Marine" Bill Brown (3-0, 2-0); Middleweight
9(5) "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (8-1, 2-0); Middleweight
10(x) "Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (16-7, 0-0); Middleweight
Dropped Out
x(1) Jaromir Grygera (19-5, 0-0); Middleweight; left company
x(3) Vagner (14-6, 0-1); Middleweight lost to Allen LeFleur
x(6) Joaquim Fontes (11-2, 0-1); Welterweight lost to Kramer Mayweather
x(8) Junmal Skinner (6-3, 0-0); Welterweight; last fought in Sept
x(9) "The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-12, 0-2); Heavyweight lost to Sylvester Collins in Oct 99
x(10) Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (11-3, 1-1); Light Heavyweight last fought in Sept 99

Heavyweights
1(3) Sylvester Collins (5-0, 2-0);
2(1) Wilson Franklyn (4-0, 2-0);
3(4) Mason Archer (2-0, 2-0);
4(x) Juozas Skerla (6-0, 0-0);
5(5) Stan Blackheath (20-10, 0-1);
6(6) Don Norman (23-15, 1-1);
7(2) Ernie Bruns (17-12, 0-2);
8(9) Murilo Satinho (2-0, 2-0);
9(7) Frank Analysis (36-22, 0-3);
10(x) Titus Mostel (3-5, 0-2);
Dropped out
x(8) Allen LeFleur (1-0, 1-0);moved to light heavyweight
x(10) Taye Burnett (0-1, 0-1); last fought & lost in June 99

Light Heavyweights
1(x) Alexsei Chekov (20-5, 0-0)
2(5) Spencer Rubenstein (3-0, 3-0);
3(x) Vagner (14-6, 0-1);
4(2) Woody Fierstein (11-3, 1-1);
5(x) Allen LeFleur (2-0, 2-0);
6(3) Marlon John (3-0, 2-0);
7(4) William Harrison (4-1, 1-1);
8(6) Joshua Hope (3-0, 2-0);
9(7) Petey Barnum (21-15, 0-2);
10(8) Adrian Pascal (3-1, 1-1);
Dropped out
x(1) Jaromir Grygera (19-5, 0-0); left company
x(9) Rupert Dreck (4-2, 0-2)
x(10) Wes Hersch (2-0, 2-0) moved back to middleweight

Middleweights
1(x) Ashley Ballard (11-2, 0-0)
2(4) Bill Brown (3-0, 2-0);
3(2) Drew Jenks (8-1, 1-1);
4(x) Carl Ratcliffe (16-7, 0-0);
5(6) Kramer Mayweather (4-0, 3-0);
6(x) Joaquim Fontes (11-2, 0-1);
7(x) Lloyd McAllister (13-6, 0-0)
8(3) Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-10, 0-1);
9(5) Heath Kaladaris (2-0, 2-0);
10(x) Nigel Malley (19-14, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(1) Vagner (14-6, 0-1); moved to light heavyweight
x(7) Francis O'Leary (26-20, 0-2);retired
8(7) Esteban Vega (3-1, 1-1);
9(9) Ed Burridge (2-2, 0-2); moved to light heavyweight
10(x) Jordan Flintstone (1-2, 0-2); [i]moved back to light heavyweight

Welterweights
1(2) Junmal Skinner (6-3, 0-0);
2(7) Nathan Chambers (3-0, 3-0); Welterweight Champion since Nov 99
3(9) Felix Mattherson, Jr (2-0, 2-0);
4(5) Lucas Mueller (7-1, 0-0)
5(4) Nik Minear (10-3, 0-1);
6(3) Evan Pizzarro (3-1, 2-1);
7(6) Ray Eton (8-2, 1-1);
8(8) Zachary Gilbert (11-9, 0-2);
9(x) Linton Berry (6-4, 0-0);
10(x) Brock Youdale (2-1, 1-1);
Dropped out
x(1) Joaquim Fontes (11-1, 0-0); moved to middleweight
x(10) Gideon Navarro (1-1, 1-1) lost to Wes Hersch in Oct 99

Lightweights
1(2) Dominic Ash (8-0, 3-0); Lightweight Champion since Dec 99
2(1) Shuler Eigenberg (13-2, 3-0);
3(x) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1);
4(6) Sinali Shomen (2-0, 2-0)
5(3) Tim Oldacres (2-0, 2-0);
6(4) Ian Linderman (7-3, 0-2);
7(10) Rory McEnterry (2-1, 1-1);
8(5) Doug Minnelli (1-1, 1-1);
9(9) Randy Carsley (1-1, 1-1);
10(8) Sammy Newton (2-3, 0-2);
Dropped out
x(7) Brock Youdale (2-1, 1-1); moved to welterweight

[JonInMiddleGA]

If nobody has any objections, I think I'm going to try to pick up the pace a little. I'm probably going to drop the monthly recaps of the other feds & just let the quarterly reports on the rankings cover any major highlights outside of CSA. Some of the recognizable names are interesting to see what happens but frankly, a lot of them are just a blur & it's a time consuming thing to sit type up the little details, get them formatted right, etc.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 12
Friday January 21st, 2000 in Valdosta, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweights
"Knock Out" Nigel Malley (19-14) vs Jakuchu "Sai" Abe (0-0)
We're privately hoping that Abe starts his pro career strong
Blurcat says Abe should win as long as his game plan is sound
Abe wins by TKO at 2:54 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
A flurry of jabs, followed by a takedown and then a barrage of crashing elbows ended this one

Women's Openweight
Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (4-0) vs Saya Ikegami (0-0)
We're privately hoping that we get a competitive fight to debut our women's division
Blurcat says Holmes should have too much for the rookie
Holmes wins by submission(rear naked choke) at 4:54 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Ikegami was game & fought back throughout but was eventually overpowered by Holmes

Main Show
Women's Openweight
Alyson "Alley Kat" Arroway (4-0) vs "Glamourous G" Gianna Russo
We're privately hoping that the crowd responds to the women
Blurcat says Arroway can win standing or grounded
Arroway wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
A first round slam by Arroway was the early highlight. The next two rounds were mostly Arroway punching on Russo with the defender reduced to looking for submission attempts that were easily rebuffed

Welterweights
Brock "The Spark Plug" Youdale (2-1) vs Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (3-1)
We're privately hoping that both fighters look good after a layoff of six months or more each
Blurcat says they're even standing but Youdale should be able to win on the ground
Sagal wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Sagal controlled the first round on the ground, allowing Youdale very little. The rest of the fight was similar with Sagal content to sit on his lead although he did have a rear naked choke locked in as time expired

Welterweights
"Mr Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (16-7) vs Gonzalo "The Gangsta" Ramos (1-3)
We're privately hoping that Ratcliffe snaps his losing streak in impressive fashion
Blurcat says Ratcliffe should be too much standing or on the ground
Ratcliffe wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-26 x3)
A dominant performance by Ratcliffe for most of the fight although Ramos did knock him off his feet with punches in the third round. But even that couldn't prevent an easy win on the scorecards although the inability to finish a clearly outclassed opponent has to be a little disturbing.

Co-Main Event: Light heavyweights
Marlon "The Punisher" John (3-0) vs "Glorious" Joshua Hope (3-0)
We're privately hoping that both fighters look like their unbeaten records
Blurcat says John's ground game will overtake Hope's standup
John wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as Average
An early lead on points was enough for John to hold on for a win although a desperate Hope clearly controlled the final five minutes.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
"The Marine" Bill Brown (3-0) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (8-1)
We're privately hoping that Brown wins in dominanting style
Blurcat says Brown simply looks too good for Jenks
Brown wins by TKO at 2:50 of Round 1
The match was rated as Fantastic
After a couple of minutes of submission attempts, Brown simplified things and open up with a series of punches from the top of half guard

Attendance: 595 for a gate of $11,900
Show Rating: Excellent[/QUOTE]

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 31, 1999

Another year, another dismal financial performance. I think this is officially a trend.

Our worst month on the books in 5 months, losing (-$15,386) with revenue flat & prize money up considerably.

To add to our worries, the contracts of both Bill Brown & Drew Jenks have only one fight left and Brown is now officially the top name on our roster getting plenty of buzz coming off his title win. It may turn out to be a short reign as I don't have a lot of confidence that we'll even be close to able to afford to resign him.

The biggest move of the month was probably the resigning of Dominic Ash, although it cost more than we would have liked. A standard contract of up to 7 matches, 4 guaranteed within 24 months, at a starting rate of $2,750 per.

We beefed up our women's division a little more, adding three fighters, as well as two new lightweight men.

-- 26 y/o Kimie "LoKi" Igarashi (3-0), a bantamweight submission wrestler from Kobe, Japan.
-- 26 y/o Alyson "Alley Kat" Arroway (5-0), a bantamweight hybrid style fighter from French River, Ontario. She debuted in fine fashion at CSA 12.
-- 24 y/o "Hellhound" Mako Takagawa (7-1), a kick boxer from Nagoya, Japan.
-- 24 y/o Lazaro "Riptide" Campos (1-0), an hybrid striker from Recife, Brazil
-- 23 y/o Bosco "Bad Attitude" Curbeam (0-0), a freestyle wrestler from Akron, Ohio.

Around the rest of the business, the biggest news in personnel was the failed drug tests for WEFF star "Yellow Peril" Rachel McGuinness (9-0-1) following her win over Serena Hill at WEFF 26 and heavyweight Fletcher "The Drummer" Merman (8-5) after his win over Rick Stanley at GAMMA 52.

XCC certainly made a splash of their own with more conventional news, signing associate deals with BCF Lightweight Champion Helio (22-2) and SIGMA Featherweight Champion Lars Bohlin (50-6-1) .

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wednesday February 2, 2000

A new promotion has launched in Northern Mexico, OMEGA Fighting Championships.

They're expected to make waves as quickly as possible under owner Lance Decker and and President Dean Guest.

[ArlingtonColt]

Following along and enjoying the read. I used Daniella Sadorra a lot in my federation and she eventually became a star for me.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Following along and enjoying the read. I used Daniella Sadorra a lot in my federation and she eventually became a star for me.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I wasn't really sure that anyone was able to follow this particularly well, one of the reasons I'm trying to pick up the pace a little, just trying to give this some flow instead of being done in fits & starts because of the drudgery of posting the long form. Hopefully I'll find a happy medium.

[JAG]

Good read Jon. I don't have the game, so this may be a weird Q, but how much farther can you go with these losses month after month?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Good read Jon. I don't have the game, so this may be a weird Q, but how much farther can you go with these losses month after month?

With the initial setting for the wealth of my owner (I can't remember what it's called exactly but that was the gist of it as I recall) ... about another 12 years.

Whatever setting I chose started me with a bankroll of $2.5 million, of which I've lost about $150k so far.

Cheesy? Maybe. But since this was my first ever dynasty with WMMA (I never bought the first one) I felt like I needed room to work if I was going to learn much. I've still played it as frugally as I thought was reasonable & still try to limit the losses as much as possible without handcuffing myself completely, so hopefully that minimizes the wimpiness of having a big cushion.

From what I've gathered from reading the relatively sparse accounts of dynasties on the official forum, once you get to PPV status money stops being much of an issue for anybody so that kind of relieved some of my worries about the finances too.

[JAG]

Makes sense. You don't know what a fair amount to start with is until you start playing and see how it goes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 13
Saturday February 19th, 2000 in Valdosta, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Light heavyweights
"Mr Fantastic" Ed Burridge (2-2) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (1-2)
We're privately hoping that this doesn't suck
Blurcat says Flintstone simply looks too good for Burridge
Flintstone wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
As bad as we feared, with Flintstone controlling the action throughout but never able to get past half guard to finish things

Women's Openweight
"The Beast From the East" Veronika Sablikova (4-0) vs Daniela Sadorra (0-0)
We're privately hoping that the Czech looks like a monster without killing Sadorra
Blurcat says Sablikova wins if she takes Sadorra to the mat
Sablikova wins by unanimous decisionafter three rounds (29-28 x2 and 30-27)
The match was rated as being Decent
Sablikova was just too big & strong, although Sadorra was certainly game enough.

Main Show
Women's Openweight
"The Wicked Bitch of the West" Honey Due (3-0) vs "Stunning" Steph Smith (1-0)
We're privately hoping that the marketable nickname wins
Blurcat says takedowns for Smith mean a win, a lack of takedowns will mean a loss
Due wins by knock out at 2:32 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Smith probably regrets her decision to press the action as she walked right into more than one punch including the single shot that finished her

Heavyweights
Adrian "The Power" Pascal (3-1) vs Taye Burnett (0-1)
We're privately hoping that Pascal looks at home in the heavier weight class
Blurcat says Pascal is better standing or on the ground & will win
Pascal wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Very Poor
Pascal spent a lot of time smothering Burnett, whose defense was adequate but his offense was sorely lacking

Lightweights
Randy "Super Snake" Carsley (1-1) vs "The Colorado Cobra" Ian Linderman (7-3)
We're privately hoping that Linderman looks good here
Blurcat says Linderman should pick him apart if he keeps the fight standing but that Carsley can & should win it on the ground
Carsley wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:14 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Fairly even early until a slam put Linderman on the defensive. The finish came when Linderman tried to sweep from the bottom of the mount & gave up his back, an easy opening for Carsley to finish things.

Co-Main Event: Heavyweights
"The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (2-0) vs Juozas "Anarchy" Skerla (6-0)
We're privately hoping the winner looks like a legit contender for the title in a few months time
Blurcat says Archer will win fairly comfortably
Archer wins by knockout at 1:09 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
One Muay Thai, one brutal knee to the body, and one knee to the face that turned out the lights completely

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (5-0) vs "Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (4-0)
We're privately hoping that this turns out to be a war that sets up a rematch down the road sometime next year
Blurcat says Collins has an edge on the ground & that's where he should win it
Collins wins by submission(armbar) at 4:41 of Round 1
The match was rated as Fantastic
Franklyn may have had a slight edge after some early standup exchanges but Collins found an opening from side control & suddenly ended matters

Attendance: 704 for a gate of $14,080
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 28, 2000

So our biggest crowd to date produces our best revenue month to date & nearly doubled our merchandise revenue. The main event was a good one, Archer did his part in setting up Collins' first title defense later this year, and we're very happy with Honey Due. We still lost (-$9,104) for the month with some serious admin cost increases but it could have been worse

And it just wouldn't be CSA if there wasn't enough bad news to overshadow anything good.

Middleweight champion Bill Brown is in negotiations with ALPHA-1 and we couldn't find any offer that would make him happy so it looks like he's going to be gone without even making a title defense. I'd probably try to put something together on short notice but frankly I don't think there's anybody on our roster who would have more than a 1-in-3 chance of beating him on their best day even if he had the flu. He's just that good and I don't see much reason to give him another win on my nickel while sticking a loss on someone who wants to be here.

During the month we resigned Drew Jenks to a standard contract for 5/2 over the next 20 months. We also picked up Pamela "The Truth" O'Neill (4-1-1) from WEFF, unspectacular but talented bantamweight from Birmingham, England. We took a chance and signed light heavyweight Terry "The Tornado" Catt (4-2) who was 1-2 with GAMMA over the past year, just a 2 match guaranteed contract for 12 months. We took an even bigger chance & picked up lightweight Sammy Gaffigan (15-4) as a reclamation project. He's lost three in a row at XCC but has been entertaining while losing to top guys like Anthony Ray Shenkman & Phillip Ziskie, hopefully we can take advantage of the name value he still has and get him headed back in the right direction.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 14
Sunday March 19th, 2000 in Newnan, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Light heavyweights
"The Broadstreet Bully" Petey Barnum (21-15) vs "The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (4-2)
We're privately hoping that Dreck can turn his fortunes around
Blurcat says Dreck will win since Barnum shouldn't be able to handle him on the ground or standing
Dreck wins by TKO at 3:03 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Takedown to guard, pass to half guard, to mount, to "Oh God ref stop thsi before somebody gets hurt"

Women's Openweight
Pamela "The Truth" O'Neill (4-1-1) vs Temperance "Bang Bang" McCoy (1-0)
We're privately hoping that O'Neill looks as good in live action as she does on paper
Blurcat says O'Neill can overcome McCoy's slight striking edge
O'Neill wins by unanimous decisionafter three rounds (29-28 x3 )
The match was rated as being Good
Surprisingly effective kicks to the legs & body kept McCoy close although slightly behind through the first two rounds. A flurry of punches to open the final round sent O'Neill to the mat but she regained her feet before McCoy could follow up. A second knockdown followed as McCoy got the better of a punching flurry. O'Neill hit a near desperation diving punch leaping over a kick but McCoy recovered enough to pull guard and staved off several submission attempts in the final half of the round.

Main Show
Women's Openweight
Allison "Dirty Angel" Beattie (7-3) vs "The Queen of Mean" Simone King (3-4)
We're privately hoping that these veterans put on a good show
Blurcat says Beattie will win on the ground despite King's striking talent
Beattie wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
More Beattie than King in the first round. Much more King than Beattie in the second, including a high kick to the head that staggered Beattie. King got stunned with a high kick to open the final round & spent most of the rest of the fight hanging on for dear life on the mat.

Welterweights
"Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (17-7) vs Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (4-1)
We're privately hoping that Ratcliffe makes himself a legit contender
Blurcat says Ratcliffe needs to keep Sagal off of him in order to win
Ratcliffe wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Ratcliffe was basically a boxer for the entire match & denied Sagal's every effort to take the fight to the mat.

Light heavyweights
Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (11-3) vs Alexsei "Fists of Death" Chekov (20-5)
We're privately hoping that Fierstein can make a fight out of this seeming mismatch
Blurcat says Chekov's striking should keep Fierstein's wrestling at bay
Chekov wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:50 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Vicious kicks to the leg had Fierstein hobbling before the first round ended. A single big punch sent Fierstein crashing to the ground in the opening minute of round two. Another knockdown punch early in the third but again Chekov couldn't put him away. Finally with time winding down, Chekov switched tactics for the win.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
"The Marine" Bill Brown (4-0) vs "The Flying V" Esteban Vega (3-1)
We're privately hoping that Vega pulls the huge upset of course. He believes he can, nobody else seems to be nearly as confident.
Blurcat says Brown will win but Vega has a chance if he can keep it on the ground
Vega wins by TKO at 2:59 of Round 4
The match was rated as Decent
Vega tried to grapple with Brown but was overpowered in the first round. The second & third rounds saw Vega circling & Brown waiting, throwing the occasional punch to stay comfortably ahead on points. The decisive round saw Vega avoid a straight right and hit a huge counterpunch crumpling Brown to the canvas. Vega seized the moment & pounced on the champion, unloading with everything he had & leaving the referee no choice.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Lightweight Title
Dominic "The Smash" Ash (8-0) vs "Mr. T" Tim Oldacres (2-0)
We're privately hoping that is the second of two strong title fights tonight
Blurcat says Oldacres advantage on the ground is bigger than Ash's advantage standing, so they expect a title change
Oldacres wins by TKO(armbar) at 0:29 of Round 5
The match was rated as Great
Oldacres leads with kicks, Ash answers with more effective punching. Ash administered a lot of punishment with his second & third round punching. The challenger gained momentum with a strong fourth round, finding some success grappling with the tiring champ. The final round saw Oldacres spring out of the corner with a flurry of punches that caught Ash off guard & eventually defenseless.

Attendance: 1,068 for a gate of $32,040
18,173 PPV Buys for revenue of $72,692
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 31st, 2000

Gee, do you think I'm happy I decided to gamble on a 4 PPV deal with Tiny provider Public Access Select, with coverage in the US and Canada? Finally, a decision that even I can't find a lot to bitch about afterwards.

The staggering part is that 90% of the revenue went to them, that $70k plus is just our 10% cut. Even more astonishing is that if you took away the PPV money, the extra attendance led to higher gate receipts & merchandise sales to such a degree that we would have still turned a profit of about $3700. Instead we finish the month $76, 392 in the black and wiped out the past 7 months worth of losses in one night.

After seeing the financials, it almost made Esteban Vega sticking it to Brown as a lovely parting gift somewhat of a consolation prize for me. But God how I loved it. Okay, it probably wasn't real cool of me to go down to the ring and celebrate with Vega afterwards but sometimes you just can't help but keep it real. And I guess the criticism I got from some quarters for the Degeneration X inspired crotch chop that clearly indicated what Brown could suck might be somewhat deserved. But y'know, I really don't care right now & probably won't care next week either, in the end it'll just be some free publicity.

Let's see here, what else happened this month?
-- We resigned Jordan Flintstone (standard contract, 30 months, $800 per, 8 matches / 3 guaranteed) and Adrian Pascal (std, 27 months, $1,400 per, 6/3).
-- We signed Emi Nagano (1-2) to bring our women's roster to 20 fighters.
-- Bill Brown left CSA to join ALPHA-1. Hope that door in the ass as you left didn't hurt too much.

Elsewhere
-- OMEGA has been signing deals with nearly everyone who could show a pulse, including associate contracts with our own Sylvester Collins & Ashley Ballard.
-- BCF lightweight Thiago Gomes (8-0) failed a drug test & will be suspended for one year
-- "The Italian Strongman" Silvio Scirea (9-12) retired at the age of 39 after losing to Brian Barnes at an indy show. 34 year old Tammy "Bam Bam" Westenra (9-5) also retired after avenging an earlier loss to Lisa Labone at an indy show.
-- A-1 stole 30 y/o HW "Stormin'" Norman Pike (18-5) & 25 y/o Benny "The Jet" Danare (10-2) from GAMMA.
-- WEFF took the best female fighter in the world today, 25 y/o April Watson (8-0) from SCC

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of January 1, 2000

Promotion Rankings (size, change since October 99, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (up to Low Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. SIGMA (High Level Regional, 0, HW Armen Sarkisian)
4. CSA (up to High Level Regional, +3, MW Ashley Ballard)
5. BCF (High Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)
6. WEFF (up to High Level Regional, 0, BW April Watson)
7. KDM FC (High Level Regional, -3, LW Datuk Ong Ka Ting)
8. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, new, LHW Alex Cole)
9. XCC (Mid Level Regional, -1, FW Phillip Ziskie)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (28-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 beat Grzegorz Boniek by submission in November
2(x) Mike Watson (13-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; beat Zvonmir Asonovic for the title at GAMMA 53 in March
3(2) Tadamasa Yamada (24-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996 beat Sharuku Kon in March 2000
4(3) Julio Regueiro (17-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998 beat Jungo Futagawa at Gamma 52 in Jan 2000
5(4) Jin Katou (19-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight beat Leandro Piquet in Jan 2000
6(5) Matthew Dean (34-5); Gamma; Middleweight beat Osmosis Benn on GAMMA Warriors TV in Jan 00
7(6) Neil Napier (17-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998 last fought in Nov 99, faces Martin De Vries at Gamma 54 in Apr 00
8(7) Raul Hughes (15-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since December 1999 last fought in Dec 99, next opponent not scheduled
9(8) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 ast fought in Dec 99, next opponent not scheduled
10(9) James Foster (35-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion last fought in Dec 99, next opponent not scheduled
Dropped Out
x(10) Armen Sarkisian (15-0); SIGMA; Heavyweight last fought in October 99

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (28-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (15-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1999
3(3) James Foster (35-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(5) Kunimichi Kikuchi (34-5) Alpha-1; beat Jeff Carlton in Jan 2000)
5(4) Armen Sarkisian (15-0); SIGMA
6(9) Gregor Boniek (36-5); Alpha-1
7(x) Curt Kitson (22-3); BCF beat Stafford Alois in Mar 2000
8(10) Tony McCall (35-10); Gamma
9(x) Lefter Oktay (16-1); SIGMA;
10(x) Gyokusho Fujimoto (6-0); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(6) Terron Cabal (14-1); former Sigma Heavyweight Champion, lost to Aleksander Ivanovic in March 2000
x(7) Rick Stanley (24-8-3); Gamma lost to Fletcher Merman in Jan 2000
x(8) Jeff Carlton (34-8); Alpha-1 [i]lost to Kikuchi in Jan 2000

Light Heavyweights
1(4) Mike Watson (13-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000, beat Zvonmir Asanovic for the title
2(1) Tadamasa Yamada (24-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
3(2) Jin Katou (19-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
4(10) Alex Cole (13-0); BCF & OMEGA beat Davis Spyrou in Feb 2000
5(3) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-2); former Gamma LHW Champion lost title to Watson in Mar 2000
6(5) John Rivero (18-2); Gamma;
7(6) Roberto Aldez (44-7); Alpha-1
8(7) Thorbjorn Redkal (17-1);Sigma;
9(8) Anthony LeToussier (15-3); Gamma;
10(9) Elgar (27-8); Alpha-1;
Dropped out
None

Middleweight
1(1) Matthew Dean (34-5); Gamma
2(2) Neil Napier (17-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
3(7) Mac Fuller (31-7); Gamma beat to JJ Reid in Mar 00 rematch
4(4) Stuart Strange (13-2); Gamma
5(5) Heiji Endo (16-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
6(6) Petey Mack (16-2); Alpha-1
7(3) JJ Reid (29-3); Gamma lost to Mac Fuller in Mar 00 rematch/i]
8(9) Bambang Sriyanto (25-6-2); Sigma Middleweight Champion since Feb '99
9(8) Jaromir Grygera (20-5); Sigma
10(10) Buddy Garner (16-1); Gamma
Dropped out
None

Welterweight
1(1) Julio Rugueiro (17-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998
2(2) Carlos da Guia (16-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
3(4) Xie Ming (24-4); Alpha-1
4(3) Jack Humphreys (27-4); Gamma
5(7) Josh Aldarisio (6-0); Gamma
6(6) Gabriel Gallego (17-2); Alpha-1
7(8) Helio (22-2); BCF Lightweight Champion since Sept 1999
8(x) Kafu Bunya (13-0); Alpha-1
9(x) Claudio Palacios (24-7); Alpha-1 beat Ichisake Miyagi in Jan 2000
10(5) Ichisake Miyagi (30-10); Alpha-1
Dropped Out
x(9) Jim Carpenter (52-10-2); Sigma; lost rematch to Kenneth Toadspew in March 2000
x(10) David Allen (18-2); Gamma;

Lightweight
1(1) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2(2) Fiyero Lermontov (11-0); Sigma
3(5) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-0); KDM FCbeat Naizen Hamacho for the third time in Feb 2000
4(4) Lubos Plasil (9-0); Sigma
5(6) Bruce Steven (22-3); Gamma
6(x) Fumiaki Hayashi (19-5); Alpha-1 lbeat Go Yamamoto in Jan 2000
7(3) Go Yamamoto (28-9-2); Alpha-1 lost to Fumiaki Hayashi in Jan 00
8(9) Luke Hilton (10-0); Gamma;
9(8) Luis Basora (23-3-2); Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion since Jan 1998
10(10) Branco (11-0); Alpha-1; beat Mikio Inouye in Dec 99
Dropped out
7(5) Milenko Rudonja (19-5); Sigma lost to Jeremy Sproule in Jan 2000

Featherweight
1(21) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); KDM FC Featherweight Champion since June 1998
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (14-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (50-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997 & XCC
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (18-4); KDMFC
5(6) Norberto (28-6); Sigma
6(7) Colm Dee (14-3); Sigma;
7(8) Manish Khan (10-2); Sigma
8(6) Kei Maki (6-1); KDM FC lost to Li-Kong Ho in Jan 2000
9(x) Ryota Sugimoto (7-1); KDM FC beat Kenji Akita in March 2000
10(x) Cong Dun (34-9); KDM FC beat Gu Ueda in Feb 2000
Dropped out
9(x) Luiz Machado (25-6-2); XCC beat Reza Ashfar in Jan 2000 & lost to Phillip Ziskie in March 2000
10(x) Azor Portela Nunes (23-5); XCC

Pound for Pound (female)
1(4) April Watson (8-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999 & WEFF; beat Samantha Sachs in Feb 2000
2(1) Jenny DeNeuve (6-0); WEFF Lightweight Champion since Apr 1999
3(5) Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1); former KDM FC Women's Champion
4(7) Yuya Shimizu (10-0); KDM FC
5(6) Alisha Wood (6-0); WEFF Heavyweight Champion since Feb 1999
6(8) Mizuki Watanabe (8-0); KDM FC Women's Champion since April 1999 & XCC
7(x) Sarah Vaughn (13-3); WEFF; beat Vicki Summers in March 2000
8(3) Samantha Sachs (8-1); XCC lost to April Watson in Feb 2000
9(2) Haley Croft (13-3); WEFF lost to Serena Hill in March 2000
10(x) Janinha (10-1); WEFF
Dropped out
x(9) Vicki Summers (12-2-1); WEFF
x(10) Rachel McGuiness (8-1-1); WEFF

[BYU 14]

Good job on the PPV, were you getting close to bankruptcy before you pulled that out?

Bill Brown is always tough to deal with for me to, he always wants 3 - 4 fights deals and has little patience.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Good job on the PPV, were you getting close to bankruptcy before you pulled that out?

In game reality no, not at all. As I told JAG up the thread a bit, whatever setting I chose at the beginning of the game, I started with $2.5m in the bank so I could have gone on with losses for quite a while but I tried to play as though that wasn't the case.

And I had the uncertainty of not really knowing whether the AI could possibly fire my butt if I kept losing money regardless of whether we were bankrupt or not (heck, I wasn't even sure what was going to happen when the owner's contract expired, I hoped I wouldn't crash or get replaced or whatever when that happened a few game months back).

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of April 1, 2000

Pound for Pound
1(1) Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (11-2, 0-0); Middleweight
2(5) "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (6-0, 3-0); Heavyweight Champ since Feb 00
3(3) Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (21-5, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
4(2) Dominic "The Smash" Ash (8-1, 3-1); former CSA Lightweight Champ
5(x) "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (3-0, 3-0); Heavyweight
6(6) "The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1); Lightweight
7(10) "Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (18-7, 2-0); Middleweight
8(x) Marlon "The Punisher" John (4-0, 3-0); Light Heavyweight
9(x) Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (15-4, 0-0); Lightweight
10(x) Junmal Skinner (6-3, 0-0); Welterweight
Dropped Out
x(4) "Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (13-2, 3-0); left company
x(7) "Silent but Violent"Wilson Franklyn (4-0, 2-0);lost to Collins
x(8) "The Marine" Bill Brown (3-0, 2-0); left company
x(9) "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (8-1, 2-0); lost to Brown

Heavyweights
1(3) Sylvester Collins (6-0, 3-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since Feb 00
2(3) Mason Archer (3-0, 3-0);
3(2) Wilson Franklyn (4-1, 2-1);
4(5) Stan Blackheath (20-10, 0-1);
5(6) Don Norman (23-15, 1-1);
6(x) William Harrison (4-1, 1-1); was #7 Light HW
7(x) Terry Catt (4-2, 0-0)
8(4) Juozas Skerla (6-1, 0-1);
9(8) Murilo Satinho (2-0, 2-0);
10(x) Adrian Pascal (4-1, 2-1); was #10 Light HW
Dropped out
x(7) Ernie Bruns (17-12, 0-2); dropped to LHW
x(9) Frank Analysis (36-22, 0-3);
x(10) Titus Mostel (3-5, 0-2);dropped to LHW

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Alexsei Chekov (21-5, 1-0)
2(6) Marlon John (4-0, 3-0);
3(2) Spencer Rubenstein (3-0, 3-0);
4(3) Vagner (14-6, 0-1);
5(5) Allen LeFleur (2-0, 2-0);
6(4) Woody Fierstein (11-4, 1-2);
7(x) Ernie Bruns (17-12, 0-2); was #7 HW
8(8) Joshua Hope (3-1, 2-1);
9(x) Rupert Dreck (5-2, 1-2)
10(9) Petey Barnum (21-16, 0-3);
Dropped out
x(7) William Harrison (4-1, 1-1); moved to HW
x(10) Adrian Pascal (3-1, 1-1);moved to HW

Middleweights
1(1) Ashley Ballard (11-2, 0-0)
2(5) Kramer Mayweather (4-0, 3-0);
3(3) Drew Jenks (8-2, 2-1);
4(6) Joaquim Fontes (11-2, 0-1);
5(7) Lloyd McAllister (13-6, 0-0)
6(x) Esteban Vega (4-1, 2-1); CSA Middleweight Champion since Mar 00
7(9) Heath Kaladaris (2-0, 2-0);
8(8) Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-10, 0-1);
9(x) Julio Gutierrez (4-0, 0-0)
10(x) Nik Minear (10-3, 0-1);moved up from WW
Dropped out
x(2) Bill Brown (3-1, 2-1); left company
x(4) Carl Ratcliffe (16-7, 0-0);moved down to WW
x(10) Nigel Malley (19-14, 0-0);

Welterweights
1(x) Carl Ratcliffe (18-7, 2-0); was #4 MW
2(1) Junmal Skinner (6-3, 0-0);
3(2) Nathan Chambers (3-0, 3-0); CSA Welterweight Champion since Nov 99
4(3) Felix Mattherson, Jr (2-0, 2-0);
5(4) Lucas Mueller (7-1, 0-0)
6(6) Evan Pizzarro (3-1, 2-1);
7(8) Zachary Gilbert (11-9, 0-2);
8(9) Linton Berry (6-4, 0-0);
9(x) Kyle Sagal (4-2, 1-2);
10(x) Elvis Milissis (4-2, 0-0)
Dropped out
x(5) Nik Minear (10-3, 0-1); moved up to MW
x(7) Ray Eton (8-2, 1-1);
x(10) Brock Youdale (2-2, 1-2);dropped down to LW

Lightweights
1(2) Dominic Ash (8-1, 3-1); former CSA Lightweight Champion
2(3) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1);
3(x) Sammy Gaffigan (15-4, 0-0);
4(5) Tim Oldacres (3-0, 3-0); CSA Lightweight Champion since Mar 00
5(4) Sinali Shomen (2-0, 2-0)
6(9) Randy Carsley (2-1, 2-1);
7(5) Ian Linderman (7-4, 0-3);
8(7) Rory McEnterry (2-1, 1-1);
9(8) Doug Minnelli (1-1, 1-1);
10(x) Brock Youdale (2-2, 1-2);
Dropped out
x(2) Shuler Eigenberg (13-2, 3-0); left company
x(10) Sammy Newton (2-3, 0-2);

Women's Openweight
1(x) Allison Beattie (8-3, 1-0);
2(x) Mako Takagawa (7-1, 0-0);
3(x) Alyson Arroway (5-0, 1-0);
4(x) Layla Holmes (5-0, 1-0);
5(x) Honey Due (4-0, 1-0);
6(x) Veronika Sablikova (5-0, 1-0);
7(x) Pamela O'Neill (5-1, 1-0);
8(x) Thea Higgins (3-0, 0-0);
9(x) Kimie Igarashi (3-0, 1-0);
10(x) Alyssa Taylor (1-1, 0-0);

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 15
Sunday April 16th, 2000 in Douglass, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Women's Openweight
Alyssa "The Viper" Taylor (1-1) vs "The Flame-Haired Phenom" Tabitha Cameron (0-0)
We're privately hoping that Cameron starts her pro career with a win
Blurcat says Cameron will win easily
Cameron wins by Knock Out at 1:03 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
The first round was a preview of the finish, as Cameron's strikes were consistent both punching & kicking. The sudden end came with a head kick that turned out Taylor's lights.

Women's Openweight
"Deadly T" Thea Higgins (3-0) vs Emi "The Red Devil" Nagano (1-2)
We're privately hoping that Higgins remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Higgins will win fairly comfortably
Higgins wins by TKOat 2:29 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Nagano frustrated Higgins with good grappling & defense in the first round. In the second, Higgins persisted, finally got past guard & started pounding away.

Main Show
Welterweights
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (3-1) vs Linton Berry (6-4)
We're privately hoping that Pizzarro dents this can
Blurcat says Pizzarro will dominate
Pizzarro wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Pizzarro hammered Berry to the canvas as the first round ended. In control throughout, the heavy favorite never found a combination that would let him finish off the much weaker fighter.

Middleweights
Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (2-0) vs "The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (2-0)
We're privately hoping that this is fight of the night
Blurcat says Kaladaris should have too much for Hersch
Kaladaris wins by submission (armbar) at 2:08 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Hersch got an early takedown but couldn't get past guard, and Kaladaris took advantage of a small opportunity for the sudden finish

Middleweights
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (4-0) vs Julio "The Nightmare" Gutierrez (4-0)
We're privately hoping that Mayweather looks like a future champion
Blurcat says Mayweather's strikes should keep Gutierrez at bay
Mayweather wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Caught in a triangle choke, Mayweather lifted Gutierrez up with a powerbomb that ended the threat. Gutierrez controlled the second round with better grappling skills. Mayweather managed to keep just enough distance between them in the last round to make the difference. Good tactical fight by both, especially by Gutierrez despite the loss.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
"Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (3-0) vs Junmal Skinner (6-3)
We're privately hoping that Chambers retains in strong fashion.
Blurcat says Chambers will need good takedown defense in order to retain
Chambers wins by TKO at 3:09 of Round 4
The match was rated as Great
A dominant first round by the champ who landed punches & kicks at will. A little more of the same in the second round, and a lot more of it in the third round, so much that it was surprising the fight wasn't stopped. Finally the challenger found himself pinned against the cage & defenseless against the rain of pain coming down

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (3-0) vs Marlon "The Punisher" John (4-0)
We're privately hoping that the last of our original belts we award will have one of the best fights
Blurcat says Rubenstein will win a very competitive fight
John wins by TKO at 4:48 of Round 3
The match was rated as Great
Rubenstein controlled R1 with a takedown that lasted most of the round. It took six tries for him to get a R2 takedown but that was the bulk of R2 offense. R3 was similar until John managed a sweep from the bottom of guard, taking full mount in one fluid motion and starting to pound away with considerable bad intent.

Attendance: 988 for a gate of $29,640
18,990 PPV Buys for revenue of $75,960
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

April 30, 2000

$85k in profit for the month despite lower physical attendance, eliminates the rest of the debt from our first year and puts us in the black over our existence.
Nice feeling.

Good job by Chambers as he becomes our first champion to successfully defend a title, even better job by Marlon John as he surprised most observers by winning the LHW belt.

A busy month for our personnel department as we re-sign Woody Fierstein (Standard, $1600 per to start, 6 fights/4 guaranteed over 24 months) and Randy Carsley (Associate, $1200 per, up to 3 fights over fight 15 months). We also add a new announcer (after complaints following our first PPV), bringing in 31 y/o Terrance Grayson (61% Broadcasting skill) for $2000 per event over 24 months).

We also added five new fighters
-- 31 y/o featherweight (fights as LW for us) Zhao "Ka" Pau (10-6), one half of the 1999 Fight of the Year and 1999 Main Event of the Year for KDMFC when he faced Tan Su and lost by TKO. He's a Dumog fighter that should at least be a depth guy for us.
-- 29 y/o Tara "The Heat" O'Brien (7-2), a Muay Thai bantamweight from Los Angeles that was 1-2 for KDM FC last year.
-- 24 y/o Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (4-4), a welterweight kickboxer from Rome, Italy who was 0-3 for SIGMA.
-- 26 y/o "The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (10-0), a Russian Combat Sambo practioner that can fight at MW or LHW. He was previously 1-0 for SIGMA.
-- 34 y/o "No Surrender" Glenn Pimm (29-14), a wrestling LHW from Napierville, IL who was 0-3 for GAMMA.

And we've reached an uncomfortable crossroads as we continue to climb in popularity, as our individual parts no longer equal the sum. In other words, I can't really find a co-main event on the whole roster that is going to satisfy the demanding fan base we're starting to accumulate. The main is solid enough for May, but we know we're going to take some grief & probably lose momentum & some popularity after the show no matter how well everyone might perform. It is what it is, it's not for lack of trying, I must have talked to the agent of every available name fighter in the friggin' universe (the long distance charges to Venus are a real bitch incidentally), but we couldn't get agreements with virtually any of them since we wouldn't blindly outbid GAMMA & SIGMA in particular.

That's something that was definitely on our minds given the rumors about the increasingly desperate financial condition of KDM FC, who is reportedly on the verge of filing bankruptcy, thanks in no small part to things like paying the phenomenal Li-Kong Ho over $117,000 per fight when you're drawing less than 1000 people per show.

Elsewhere, ALPHA-1 made a big move, signing the #5 HW in the world Armen Sarkisian away from SIGMA. And OMEGA continues to try to sign short contracts with virtually any fighter that has a pulse.

41 y/o Yoshinobu "Spirit Roar" Tanaka announced his retirement after going 1-3 in recent fights while working for both Alpha-1 and GAMMA.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 16
Saturday May 27th, 2000 in Rome, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Welterweight
Zachary "Manitoba Misery" Gilbert (11-9) vs Garrison Grable (6-17)
We're privately hoping that even Gilbert can't lose to Grable
Blurcat says Gilbert should win easily, nothing to indicate that Grable even has a chance
Gilbert wins by TKO at 4:03 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
Grable appeared content to stay in guard, unfortunately even that didn't work out for him.

Lightweight
Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (15-4) vs Gonzalo "The Gangsta" Ramos (1-4)
We're privately hoping that this is the matchup that gets Gaffigan off the schneid
Blurcat says that Gaffigan should win by standing but will likely win by going to the mat instead
Ramos wins by TKOat 2:52 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Gaffigan didn't do much in the first round & did even less against a barrage of blows after he was trapped against the cage in the second round/i]

[I]Main Show
Light heavyweight
"The Muscle Mountain" Ernie Bruns (17-12) vs "Knock Out" Nigel Malley (19-15)
We're privately hoping that Bruns makes a case for having his contract renewed
Blurcat says Malley could get the win by taking Bruns to the mat
Bruns wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Bruns controlled the first two rounds, mostly by grappling then separating to throw combinations. Malley answered by flooring Bruns with a big punch that left the leader suddenly just trying to hang on.

Women's Openweight
Allyson "Alley Kat" Arroway (5-0) vs Pamela "The Truth" O'Neill (5-1-1)
We're privately hoping that this is an all out war
Blurcat says O'Neill's standup game is the one distinction that will determine the winner
Arroway wins by unanimous decision after 3 rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Round 1 went to O'Neill's striking, Round 2 highlighted Arroway's ground game & submission skills, Round 3 was almost as close as the total of the first two. The crowd is crazy, anybody who didn't like that one probably just watches racing for the wrecks too.

Heavyweights
Don "The Rumble King" Norman (23-15) vs Adrian "The Power" Pascal (4-1)
We're privately hoping that Norman defies the odds & gets the mild upset since he might make a better guy for a title shot
Blurcat says Pascal is simply more talented & will win for that reason
Pascal wins by submission (armbar) at 2:57 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Pascal spent most of Round 1 in mount trying to pound on Norman but to little effect. Round 2 started the same way until Pascal switched tactics for the win

Welterweight
Elvis "The King" Milissis (4-2) vs Diego "Apocalypse" Arteta (1-0)
We're privately hoping that a close matchup on paper looks good in the cage as well
Blurcat says Arteta could win here by keeping the match standing
Arteta wins by Knock Out at 1:13 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Arteta opened with a quick flurry of strikes, Milissis tried to close on him ... BIG mistake as Arteta flattened him with one punch, pounced & knocked him out cold with one of the follow up punches

Co-Main Event: Women's Openweight
"The Beast from the East" Veronika Sablikova (5-0) vs Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (5-0)
We're privately hoping that we don't regret throwing these two to the wolves howling about our disappointing co-main event
Blurcat says if Holmes can get The Beast on the ground she can win
Holmes wins by submission (armbar) at 2:28 of Round 1
The match was rated as Fantastic
An exchange of strikes was followed by Sablikova countering Holmes takedown attempt and ending up on top with Holmes in guard ... right where she wanted to be apparently, as she quickly found an arm to lock onto

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (6-0) vs "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (3-0)
We're privately hoping that Archer is ready for this sort of spotlight
Blurcat says Collins can & should take Archer down for the win
Archer wins by TKO at 3:10 of Round 2
The match was rated as Great
Collins controlled most of the first round with better grappling skills. The second round was fairly even until Archer stung the champ with counter punches & followed up with a barrage that stuck Collins against the cage & eventually found him defenseless.

Attendance: 1,054 for a gate of $31,620
19,980 PPV Buys for revenue of $79,920
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

May 31, 2000

Hard not to be happy about the show, with Sablikova & Holmes shutting up the critics of the card with a standout performance. Seems the critics were loud but somewhat off base since we did our largest PPV audience to date, even before we knew how well the fights would turn out.

The show marked the final appearances for us from Garrison Grable (0-4), Nigel Malley (0-2 but was okay as the can he was meant to be), and Gonzalo Ramos (1-3, and he picked a lousy time to get his only win for us).

We added five new fighters during the month:
-- 27 y/o LW Francesco Marazzina (19-8), a judo specialist from Torino, Italy. It's an associate contract while he remains available to SIGMA where he's gone 1-2 with back to back losses.
-- 28 y/o LHW Christian "The Tiger" Mountfield (13-7), a G&P fighter from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was 1-4 for GAMMA where his contract expires in a couple of weeks. We're hoping he'll be better here obviously.
-- 22 y/o LHW Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (1-0), a Muay Thai fighter from Curitiba, Brazil. Could turn out to be pretty good.
-- 19 y/o MW Danny "Pretty Boy" Akabaro (3-0), who fights a style based on the Nigerian Police Training of his homeland. Big time puncher.
-- 29 y/o WW Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9), a kick boxer who has gone 1-2 for GAMMA and has about a month before his contract there is up.

Biggest news of the month from the rest of the fight world was the failed drug test & subsequent one year suspension for HW Leftar "The Beast" Oktay (17-1) which probably doesn't hurt SIGMA as much as you'd think losing the erstwhile protege of Hassan Fezzik would. He's only been so-so in three wins since losing to Armen Sarkisian in March 1999.

-- Speaking of Sarkisian, he's now full time with ALPHA-1 and will debut for them in June against Norman Pike.
-- GAMMA has added MW Mal Phe Roby (16-6) and LHW Andrew Rush (15-6) to their roster, coming from A-1 and BCF respectively.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 17
Sunday June 25th, 2000 in Macon, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Light heavyweight
"The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-2) vs Vagner (14-6)
We're privately hoping that Russell looks good after a long injury layoff
Blurcat says Russell's ground game will be the edge over Vagner's striking
Vagner wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Average
Russell chose to stand & punch with Vagner in a very close R1. Vagner stuffed several takedown attempts in R2 & counterpunched well. Russell finally managed a takedown just as the final bell sounded.

Lightweight
Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (4-4) vs "The Colorado Cobra" Ian Linderman (7-4)
We're privately hoping that Bernacci debuts strong for us
Blurcat says as long as Bernacci's gameplan is good he'll win
Bernacci wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:59 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Bernacci controlled R1, lending credence to rumors that Linderman did not train well. R2 was more of the same, although Linderman staved off several submission attempts before the last one.

Main Show
Heavyweight
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (2-0) vs Petey "The Broadstreet Bully" Barnum (21-16)
We're privately hoping that LeFleur handles the higher weight against an opponent we're not renewing
Blurcat says LeFleur is better in every area, leaving Barnum no chance
LeFleur wins by TKO at 1:14 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
LeFleur shot in, got the takedown and proceeded to unload with everything he had.

Heavyweight
Stan "The Man" Blackheath (20-10) vs "Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (2-0)
We're privately hoping that Satinho continues his slow march toward the title
Blurcat says Satinho will win fairly comfortably
Satinho wins by TKO at 1:25 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Illness that disrupted Blackheath's training camp may have played a part, as he threw a couple of punches, got pushed against the cage & then got destroyed.

Heavyweights
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (4-1) vs Frank Analysis (36-22)
We're privately hoping that Franklyn comes back strong after his recent loss
Blurcat says they're going with Franklyn
Franklyn wins by TKO at 1:16 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Young hotness meets old & busted.

Women's Openweight
Allison "Dirty Angel" Beattie (8-3) vs "The Wicked Bitch of the West" Honey Due (4-0)
We're privately hoping that Beattie remains viable but due remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Due will take the victory
Due wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Good exchanges of attacks & counterattacks in R1. Beattie gets cut under the eye in another set of exchanges in R2. Due finished relatively strong.

Co-Main Event: Welterweight
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (4-1) vs Lloyd "The K.O. Kid" McAllister (13-6)
We're privately hoping that we don't regret this last minute matchup born of McAllister's negotiations with Alpha-1
Blurcat says Pizzarro is more talented & will walk away victorious
Pizzarro wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:28 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
An early slam left McAllister at a disadvantage that led to his undoing

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
"The Flying V" Esteban Vega (4-1) vs Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (5-0)
We're privately hoping that Mayweather didn't rush into this fight against the champion
Blurcat says Vega will retain his title
Mayweather wins by Knock Out at 2:57 of Round 2
The match was rated as Great
Close R1 with an aggressive Vega held mostly at bay by a countering challenger. Still the aggressor, Vega walked right into a punch that turned out the lights.

Attendance: 965 for a gate of $28,950
20,589 PPV Buys for revenue of $82,356
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

June 30, 2000

Not bad. Not great but not bad.

-- CSA 17 marked the final appearances on the current contracts for three fighters: Ian Linderman who went 0-4 here, Petey Barnum who went 0-4 here, and Frank Analysis who also went 0-4 here. Sense a trend?

-- We resigned two fighters, Zachary Gilbert (Standard, $1600, 3/1, 18 months) and Don Norman (Associate, $1200, up to 2, 9 months).

-- We added one new fighter to the roster, veteran LHW Jasper Osmond (12-14), a 36 y/o G&P'er from Durham, NC who was actually 2-0 in fights for BCF earlier this year. We're not expecting him to do anything notable but he's a body.

-- We renewed our PPV contract with Public Access Select for four fights, only able to get the same 90-10 (in their favor) revenue split. Not optimal but sufficient for the time being.

The big news from the rest of the MMA world is the bankruptcy filing of KDM FC which will put a number of big names in the lower weight divisions on the market including #4 Lightweight Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-0), #8 Lightweight Sukarno (7-0), #1 Featherweight Li-Kong Ho (21-0), #9 Featherweight Kei Maki (6-1), #10 Featherweight Tan Su (13-7), #4 Women's PFP Mizuki Watanabe (9-0), #6 Women's PFP Sayoko Ebisawa, and #7 Women's PFP Yuya Shimizu (10-0).

-- SIGMA signed our new HW Champion Mason Archer to an associate agreement, as well as top name Ashley Ballard and BCF/Omega LHW Alex Cole.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of July 1, 2000

Promotion Rankings (size, change since January 2000, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (down to High Level National, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. SIGMA (up to Low Level National, 0, LW Fiyero Lermontov)
4. CSA (High Level Regional, 0, MW Fjodor Kanchelskis)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, +1, BW April Watson)
6. BCF (High Level Regional, -1, LHW Alex Cole)
7. XCC (High Level Regional, +2, FW Phillip Ziskie)
8. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)
x. KDM FC (filed bankruptcy in July 2000 as a high level regional)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (29-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 beat Khru Dunagjan by submission in June
2(2) Mike Watson (13-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; last fought March 2000, next fight not yet scheduled
3(3) Tadamasa Yamada (24-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996 last fought March 2000, next fight not yet scheduled
4(4) Julio Regueiro (17-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998 last fought January 2000, next fight not yet scheduled
5(8) Raul Hughes (16-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since December 1999 beat Tony McCall by UD in June 2000
6(5) Jin Katou (20-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight beat Elgar in April 2000
7(6) Matthew Dean (35-5); Gamma; Middleweight beat Adam White by UD in May 00
8(7) Neil Napier (18-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998 beat Martin De Vries by TKO in Apr 2000
9(9) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 ast fought in Dec 99, next opponent not scheduled
10(10) James Foster (36-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion beat Gunnar Nilsson by TKO in May 2000
Dropped Out
None

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (29-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (16-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1999
3(3) James Foster (36-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (34-5) Alpha-1; beat Jeff Carlton in Jan 2000)
5(5) Armen Sarkisian (16-0); Alpha-1 (was SIMGA)
6(6) Gregor Boniek (36-5); Alpha-1
7(7) Curt Kitson (22-3); BCF
8(8) Tony McCall (35-11); Gamma
9(10) Gyokusho Fujimoto (6-0); Alpha-1
10(x) Jeff Carlton (34-8); Alpha-1
Dropped out
7(9) Lefter Oktay (16-1); SIGMA; suspended 1 year for failed drug test

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (13-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000,
2(2) Tadamasa Yamada (24-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
3(2) Jin Katou (20-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
4(4) Alex Cole (14-0); BCF & OMEGA & SIGMA
5(6) John Rivero (18-2); Gamma;
6(5) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-2); former Gamma LHW Champion lost title to Watson in Mar 2000
7(7) Roberto Aldez (45-7); Alpha-1
8(9) Anthony LeToussier (15-3); Gamma;
9(x) Faas Smit (39-14); SIGMA beat Thorbjorn Redkal in June 2000
10(x) Linfield Ballard (24-9); GAMMA beat Lawrence Herringbone in April 2000
Dropped out
x(8) Thorbjorn Redkal (17-2);Sigma; lost to Faas Smit in June 200
x(10) Elgar (27-9); Alpha-1; lost to Jin Katou in April 2000


Middleweight
1(1) Matthew Dean (35-5); Gamma
2(2) Neil Napier (18-0); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
3(3) Mac Fuller (31-7); Gamma
4(4) Stuart Strange (13-2); Gamma
5(5) Heiji Endo (17-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
6(6) Petey Mack (17-2); Alpha-1
7(7) JJ Reid (29-3); Gamma
8(10) Buddy Garner (17-1); Gamma beat Andrew Rush in June 2000
9(8) Bambang Sriyanto (25-6-2); Sigma Middleweight Champion since Feb '99
10(x) Fernando Amaro (44-9-4); former SIGMA MW Champion beat Jaromir Grygera in June 2000
Dropped out
x(9) Jaromir Grygera (20-5); Sigma lost to #10 Amaro in June 2000

Welterweight
1(1) Julio Rugueiro (17-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998
2(2) Carlos da Guia (16-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
3(8) Kafu Bunya (14-0); Alpha-1 beat Gabriel Gallego in June 2000
4(3) Xie Ming (24-4); Alpha-1
5(5) Josh Aldarisio (7-0); Gamma
6(4) Jack Humphreys (28-4); Gamma
7(9) Claudio Palacios (25-7); Alpha-1 beat Giovanni Silva in June 2000
8(7) Helio (23-2); BCF Lightweight Champion since Sept 1999
9(x) Darin Blood (15-3); GAMMA
10(x) David Allen (19-2); Gamma;
Dropped Out
x(6) Gabriel Gallego (17-2); Alpha-1 lost to #3 Bunya in June 2000
x(10) Ichisake Miyagi (30-10); Alpha-1


Lightweight
1(1) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2(8) Luke Hilton (11-0); Gamma; beat Bruce Steven in April 2000
3(2) Fiyero Lermontov (12-0); Sigma
4(3) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-0); unemployed (was KDMFC)
5(4) Lubos Plasil (11-0); Sigma won twice since April
6(6) Fumiaki Hayashi (19-5); Alpha-1
7(x) Shizuya Nakae (29-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion beat Luis Basora for title in May 2000
8(x) Sukarno (7-0); unemployed (was KDMFC)
9(7) Go Yamamoto (28-9-2); Alpha-1
10(10) Branco (12-0); Alpha-1;
Dropped out
x(5) Bruce Steven (22-4); Gamma lost to Luke Hilton in April 2000
x(9) Luis Basora (23-3-2); former Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion lost to #7 Nakae in May 2000

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); unemployed (was KDMFC FW Champion)
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (14-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (50-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997 & XCC
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (18-4); unemployed (was KDMFC)
5(6) Colm Dee (15-3); Sigma; beat Pedro Alves in May 2000
6(7) Manish Khan (11-2); Sigma beat Francesco Marazzina in June 2000
7(5) Norberto (28-6); Sigma
8(x) Azor Portela Nunes (24-5); XCC beat Shuler Eigenberg in April 2000
9(8) Kei Maki (6-1); unemployed (was KDMFC)
10(x) Tan Su (13-7); unemployed (was KDMFC)
Dropped out
x(9) Ryota Sugimoto (7-1); unemployed (was KDMFC)
x(10) Cong Dun (34-10); unemployed (was KDMFC) lost to Tan Su in May 2000

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) April Watson (8-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999 & WEFF;
2(2) Jenny DeNeuve (6-0); WEFF Lightweight Champion since Apr 1999
3(5) Alisha Wood (7-0); WEFF Heavyweight Champion since Feb 1999
4(6) Mizuki Watanabe (9-0); unemployed (was KDM FC Women's Champion since April 1999 & XCC)
5(3) Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1); unemployed (was KDMFC)
6(4) Yuya Shimizu (10-0); unemployed (was KDMFC)
7(8) Samantha Sachs (9-1); XCC
8(7) Sarah Vaughn (13-3); WEFF; beat Vicki Summers in March 2000
9(9) Haley Croft (13-3); WEFF lost to Serena Hill in March 2000
10(x) Rachel McGuinness (9-0-1); WEFF currently serving suspension for failed drug test
Dropped out
x(10) Janinha (10-1-1); WEFF drew vs Jessica Biel in May 2000

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of July 1, 2000

Pound for Pound
1(x) "The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (10-0, 0-0); Middleweight
2(1) Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (11-2, 0-0); Middleweight
3(5) "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (4-0, 4-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since May 2000
4(3) Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (21-5, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
5(x) Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (6-0, 5-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since May 00
6(2) "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (6-1, 3-1); former CSA Heavyweight Champ
7(8) Marlon "The Punisher" John (5-0, 4-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since April 00
8(x) "Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (4-0, 4-0); CSA Welterweight Champion since Nov 99
9(4) Dominic "The Smash" Ash (8-1, 3-1); Lightweight
10(6) "The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1); Lightweight
Dropped Out
x(7) "Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (18-7, 2-0); Middleweight
x(9) Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (15-5, 0-1); Lightweight
x(10) Junmal Skinner (6-4, 0-1); Welterweight

Heavyweights
1(2) Mason Archer (4-0, 4-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since May 2000
2(1) Sylvester Collins (6-1, 3-1); former CSA Heavyweight Champion
3(3) Wilson Franklyn (5-1, 3-1);
4(x) Allen LeFleur (3-0, 3-0); was #5 LHW
5(9) Murilo Satinho (3-0, 3-0);
6(6) William Harrison (4-1, 1-1);
7(7) Terry Catt (4-2, 0-0)
8(8) Juozas Skerla (6-1, 0-1);
9(10) Adrian Pascal (5-1, 3-1);
10(4) Stan Blackheath (20-11, 0-2);
Dropped out
x(5) Don Norman (23-16, 1-2);

Light Heavyweights
1(x) Fjodor Kanchelskis (10-0, 0-0)
2(1) Alexsei Chekov (21-5, 1-0)
3(2) Marlon John (5-0, 4-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since April 00
4(x) Jasper Osmond (12-14; 0-0);
5(4) Vagner (15-6, 1-1);
6(3) Spencer Rubenstein (3-1, 3-1);
7(x) Christian Mountfield (13-7; 0-0)
8(7) Ernie Bruns (18-12, 1-2);
9(6) Woody Fierstein (11-4, 1-2);
10(x) Glenn Pimm (29-14, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(5) Allen LeFleur (2-0, 2-0); moved up to HW
x(8) Joshua Hope (3-1, 2-1);
x(9) Rupert Dreck (5-2, 1-2)
x(10) Petey Barnum (21-16, 0-3); left company, contract not renewed

Middleweights
1(1) Ashley Ballard (11-2, 0-0)
2(2) Kramer Mayweather (6-0, 5-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since June 00
3(7) Heath Kaladaris (3-0, 3-0);
4(3) Drew Jenks (8-2, 2-1);
5(4) Joaquim Fontes (11-2, 0-1);
6(8) Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-10, 0-1);
7(10) Nik Minear (10-3, 0-1);
8(x) Ray Eton (8-2, 1-1); moved up from WW
9(6) Esteban Vega (4-2, 2-2);
10(9) Julio Gutierrez (4-1, 0-1)
Dropped out
x(5) Lloyd McAllister (13-7, 0-1) dropped to WW

Welterweights
1(3) Nathan Chambers (4-0, 4-0); CSA Welterweight Champion since Nov 99
2(1) Carl Ratcliffe (18-7, 2-0);
3(6) Evan Pizzarro (5-1, 4-1);
4(2) Junmal Skinner (6-4, 0-1);
5(4) Felix Mattherson, Jr (2-0, 2-0);
6(x) Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9, 0-0);
7(5) Lucas Mueller (7-1, 0-0)
8(x) Diego Arteta (2-0, 1-0);
9(x) Lloyd McAllister (13-7, 0-1) was #5 MW
10(7) Zachary Gilbert (12-9, 1-2);
Dropped out
x(8) Linton Berry (6-4, 0-0);
x(9) Kyle Sagal (4-2, 1-2);
x(10) Elvis Milissis (4-2, 0-0)

Lightweights
1(1) Dominic Ash (8-1, 3-1); former CSA Lightweight Champion
2(2) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1);
3(4) Tim Oldacres (3-0, 3-0); CSA Lightweight Champion since Mar 00
4(3) Sammy Gaffigan (15-5, 0-1);
5(x) Francesco Marazzina (19-9, 0-0);
6(x) Marco Bernacci (5-4, 1-0);
7(5) Sinali Shomen (2-0, 2-0)
8(x) Zhao Pau (10-6, 0-0);
9(6) Randy Carsley (2-1, 2-1);
10(8) Rory McEnterry (2-1, 1-1);
Dropped out
x(7) Ian Linderman (7-4, 0-3); left company, contract not renewed
x(9) Doug Minnelli (1-1, 1-1);
x(10) Brock Youdale (2-2, 1-2);

Women's Openweight
1(5) Honey Due (5-0, 2-0);
2(4) Layla Holmes (6-0, 2-0);
3(x) Alyson Arroway (6-0, 2-0);
4(1) Allison Beattie (8-4, 1-1);
5(2) Mako Takagawa (7-1, 0-0);
6(x) Tara O'Brien (7-2, 0-0)
7(8) Thea Higgins (4-0, 1-0);
8(6) Veronika Sablikova (5-1, 1-1);
9(7) Pamela O'Neill (5-2, 1-1);
10(x) Tabitha Cameron (1-0, 1-0)
Dropped out
x(9) Kimie Igarashi (3-0, 1-0);
x(10) Alyssa Taylor (1-2, 0-1);

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 17, 2000

ALPHA-1 has announced the signing of Kramer Mayweather to an exclusive contract.

We're privately thinking that it's a real f'n shame that his contractual obligation to us will expire just two days before he'll be able to fight again, denying us the opportunity to job his ass out

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 18
Saturday July 29th, 2000 in Brunswick, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Lightweight
"Hollywood Player" Doug Minnelli (1-1) vs Bosco "Bad Attitude" Curbeam (0-0)
We're privately hoping that the recently signed Curbeam shows us something
Blurcat says Curbeam is simply too good for Minnelli
Curbeam wins by TKO at 4:01 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Minnelli more than held his own with good counterstriking in R1, unfortunately he tried to press the attack in R2.

Light heavyweight
Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (1-0) vs "Mr Fantastic" Ed Burridge (2-3)
We're privately hoping that Villar doesn't hurt his opponent permanently
Blurcat says Villar should end this one quickly
Villar wins by submission (armbar) at 0:34 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Burridge absorbed several big shots and survived R1. Villar was sloppy in R2 but dodged a punch and blasted Burridge before securing the finisher early in R3.

Heavyweight
Titus "The Titan" Mostel (3-5) vs Taye Burnett (0-2)
We're privately hoping that this doesn't suck too much
Blurcat says Burnett should be able to keep Mostel at bay
Burnett wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Burnett got a R1 takedown but could do little with it. Even less action in R2. More of the same in R3.

Main Show
Lightweight
Rory "Maradonna" McEnterry (2-1) vs Lazaro "Riptide" Campos (1-0)
We're privately hoping that Campos like we planned it
Blurcat says Campos ground game should overcome McEnterry's striking
Campos wins by submission (armbar) at 4:48 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Lots of G&P from Campos, who switched up & secured the ending just before the round ended

Women's Openweight
"Deadly T." Thea Higgins (4-0) vs "The Flame-Haired Phenom" Tabitha Cameron (1-0)
We're privately hoping that might steal the show
Blurcat says Higgins is better in every area & can't see a chance for Cameron
Higgins wins by submission (armbar) at 4:00 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
It took three different submission moves before Higgins found one that worked but the experience difference here was clear

Lightweight
Rafael "Slick" Tavares (14-3) vs Zhao "Ka" Pau (10-6)
We're privately hoping that Pau regrets turning down the much easier fight we offered him originally
Blurcat says Tavares will win, just too much for Pau
Tavares wins by submission (armbar) at 3:02 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Tavares clearly better in R1 and finished it in R2.

Middleweight
Nik "The Minotaur" Minear (10-3) vs "The Unbreakable" Gideon Navarro (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Navarro gets back on track after his disappointing loss to Wes Hersch
Blurcat says Navarro should win
Navarro wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Very Poor
Navarro in control of R1 but couldn't get past guard. Same song, second verse in R2. Navarro seemed to go into cruise control in R3 and actually found himself defending against Minear late

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
"Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (4-0) vs Felix "The Daddy" Matterhson, Jr(2-0)
We're privately hoping that this turns out decent
Blurcat says if Mattherson gets the takedowns he'll win, if he doesn't then he won't
Mattherson wins by submission (americana) at 4:17 of Round 2
The match was rated as Great
The challenger was clearly the aggressor in R1 and had Chambers back on his heels. The champion responded in R2 pressing the attack with repeated strikes before Mattherson shot in for a takedown and worked to side control, landing the finishing hold from there

Co-Main Event: For the vacant CSA Middleweight Title
"Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (18-7) vs "The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (3-0)
We're privately hoping that this fight makes fans forget about Mayweather leaving less than a month after he won the title
Blurcat says it could be a long night for Ratcliffe
Kaladaris wins by TKO at 3:14 of Round 1
The match was rated as Fantastic
Explosive action as both fighters seemed to want to end it early, Kaladaris caught an attempted body kick & scored a takedown & quickly moved to side control where it was bombs away time.

Attendance: 960 for a gate of $28,800
21,237 PPV Buys for revenue of $84,948
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 31, 2000

Not bad, not bad at all really. We're still struggling to find fighters that are of the same profile level we've reached & that's only going to get tougher if Blurcat's designation of us as a true National promotion are accurate. We'll find out perhaps, as we take our next show down to the Sunshine State for our first show outside of Georgia.

During the month our roster moves included the re-signing of MW Billy Russell (1-3), in hopes that we'll get more out of him now that he's healthy (Standard, $600 per, 9 matches/4 guaranteed, 36 months).

The month also saw the end of contracts with 36 y/o HW Ernie Bruns (18-12) who was 1-2 for us but seemed to be getting further & further past his prime and 24 y/o LHW Ed Burridge (2-4) who went 0-4 during his stint here and never showed us much.

Five new additions to the roster, including FW Rafael Tavares (15-3) who debuted at CSA 18 with a win (STND, $2500 per, 9 mtc /4 guar, 36 months).
We also picked up
-- 30 y/o LW Jackson "The Pocket Rocket" Gray (20-10), a wrestler from Vallejo, California who went 1-3 in a run with GAMMA. (EXCL, $1600 per, 7 matches/3 guar, 29 months)
-- 26 y/o BW Mizuki "The She-Wolf" Watanabe (9-0), a judo specialist from Tokyo. She's the former KDM FC Women's Champion and should be a prime contender for an eventual title here as well.
-- 32 y/o BW "The Phenom" Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1), a Muay Thai pro from Kawasaki, Japan and a former KDM FC Women's Champion, the first true star of women's MMA whose only career loss is to Watanabe.
-- 30 y/o FW "The Miniature Killer" Jason Dalglish (16-9), a Jiu Jitsu style fighter from Edinburgh, Scotland. He was only 1-2 in a recent run with SIGMA but we think he can be better than that here in the right situation.

We also lost more bidding wars than I care to talk about, as talent seems to think we're rolling in money & want to relieve us of the burden of counting it.
Umm ... no.

The big news of the month came from ALPHA-1 but it wasn't what you might think. Yes, they did pick up some of the best fighters left out of work by the KDM FC closure but that wasn't their biggest news of all. After rising to Low Level International in late July, they slipped back to High Level National after a lackluster TV show on the final day of the month. Just hours later they fired President Meiji Nishimura, a long time friend & ally of company boss Ietsuna Hisamatsu, executive for NARUTO video game company that owns the promotion. Apparently Hisamatsu's ruthless reputation is well deserved.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Out of Character Post

I'm gonna step out of what little character I bother to play with this & bitch for a minute.

I think "annoyed" might be the right word to describe my feelings right now about the whole "the fans think this would be an XYZ main event" situation, the use of Name Value, Reputation, and Promotion Size.

I find it to be almost indecipherable, or maybe more accurately a pain in the ass to try to get a handle on, if you look at how the various elements of the game utilize the numbers.

Rankings are clearly based on strictly reputation, which are a function of your wins & losses regardless of where they are.

Fighters with the name value to headline shows (in the roster analysis screen) seems to be keyed to name value in your home location, something that is affected by wins & losses in areas where you're seen (i.e. I've been getting bumps in Canada because of the PPV deal). And that seems to be accurate except when it isn't.

Two fighters in that group but one of them has a recent loss or two? No dice sometimes. A fighter in that group & another fighter with a winning streak in the next name value level below it by a couple of points? No dice sometimes. But two fighters both in the group below (say mid regional while you're high regional as a promotion) who have a decent reputation? Suddenly that works sometimes.

And the worst combination (based on what you're told the crowd thinks of the card) that I've put together to date produces my highest ever attendance & no decline in PPV buys. So WTF does this advice really mean in the first place? Something? Nothing? Sometimes something?

You may wonder why I'm bringing this up now. Because I just watched the game fire the head of ALPHA-1, the most successful organization on the planet by a nice margin at this point, after they yo-yo'ed between High National & Low International a couple of times. Based on the relatively sparse comments on the official forum at GDS, that seems to be the trigger for getting fired - bouncing down in level twice, even if you're the guy who brought them to that level in the first place (i.e. they aren't worse off than when you started, they're better off). Assuming that the pre-booking reaction to my card means anything, I seem likely to drop back to High Regional, leaving me only one more slip up without being fired ... despite the fact that I've taken the company from dead zero to the #3 promotion in the world in less than 18 months and did most of it with fighters who were largely unknown when I signed them.

There's a thread (http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40586&highlight=reputation)at the forum that sort of explains how to use PPV & TV to game the popularity system & I guess I'll resort to trying that, but I'm frustrated that I have to.

edit to add: I think what really chaps me in particular with this is how fighter Reputation seems to represent their collective standing in the current MMA world overall but that apparently means nothing to fans in regions outside of the ones where they've watched them personally. Marketing a fight is merely abstracted so you have no opportunity to build up a guy without fighting him through a bunch of fights even if they're against junk. For an example take Armen Sarkisian, the #3 ranked HW in my world right now. He's 16-0 lifetime (pre-history & all), fought twice for SIGMA in game before signing with ALPHA-1, handed the heralded Leftar Oktay his only career defeat, by all accounts I can see he's a legit top guy for nearly anybody. But his name value in the U.S. (15.6 Low Regional) is worse than Titus Mostel (24.8 with 0 Reputation), my erstwhile can that bounces between HW & LHW. Sorry, but that defies logic to me, treating the name value system as though virtually everything occurs in a vacuum and the national/regional borders are virtually sealed for information. The relationship between Reputation & Name Value seems woefully inadequate and is really the biggest gripe I'd have at this point. Considering the improved but still too clicky interface that is Ryland's trademark, I guess it marks progress of sorts to have something else be the bigger glaring problem with the game but once again I'm left wondering "what might have been" if this had been handled better.

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 31, 2000

On the heels of our recent string of successes, we do something we haven't done since opening the doors: take a month off without presenting a card.

That wasn't how we planned it, actually had to pay a penalty to a building we had already booked in order to not run one in fact. But we wanted to take some time to regroup since we seem to be growing the promotion faster than we're growing our individual fighters.

And you know what they say about idle hands, so we turned our attention to some other matters ... and reached agreement with National Pride TV for "CSA Late Night", six episodes of four fights each, 90% of cost to us, 90% of revenue to them. Sucky deal but it's our first foray into TV so we'll see how it goes. And we'll see pretty quickly too, we debut in September.

During August we resigned Nathan Chambers (EXCL, $2750, 8/5, 33 months) and Rory McEnterry (EXCL, $800, 6/4, 27 months). We also added three new fighters:
-- Former BCF & SIGMA MW Davis Spyrou (21-6), a 29 y/o kick boxer from London, England who is riding a two match winning streak at the moment
-- Former GAMMA LHW Bryan Van Den Hauwe (15-8), a 31 y/o Greco-Roman Wrestler from Fort Collins, Colorado that's mired in a four match losing streak but recognizable in the U.S. since all of his losses came on their Warriors TV show.
-- Soon-to-be former SIGMA LHW Thorbjorn Rekdal (17-2), a 29 y/o kick boxer from Oslo, Norway who main evented three shows for them going 2-1 in the process, losing his title to Faas Smith back in July.

And, as we knew was coming, both Lloyd McAllister and Kramer Mayweather left for ALPHA-1 during the month.

Also during August, legendary MMA pioneer "The Perfectionist" Dan Halvorsen (37-14-2) called it quits after suffering three consecutive defeats for GAMMA. He'll turn his attention to running his highly acclaimed fight camp.

Back to back losses also surely played a role in the retirement of 39 y/o "The Pit Bull" Rick Stanley (24-9-3) who was also working for GAMMA. And women's pioneer Ayame "Komodo" Kondo (5-7) retired at the age of 34, never a star by any means but a trailblazer nevertheless.

And it's hard not to think XCC might be looking to recreate some magic down the road, with their signings of both participants in the 1999 Fight of the Year, Tan Su (13-7) and Cong Dun (34-10), as well as promising relative youngster Kei Maki (6-1) whose only loss came at the hands of Li-Kong Ho.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Friday September 15th, 2000 in West Palm Beach, FL

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Women's Openweight
Temperance "Bang Bang" McCoy (1-1) vs Daniela Sadorra (0-1)
We're privately hoping that we get a good fight from both
Blurcat says McCoy's edge standing will be the difference
Sadorra wins by Knock Out at 3:49 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Excellent
McCoy started finding the range with punches late in R1. Round 2 was mostly McCoy but Sadorra sent her sprawling with a big counterpunch to make the round very close. Good exchanges in R3 when Sadorra countered an attempted head kick with a fast & accurate punch that knocked McCoy out cold

Light heavyweight
Christian "The Tiger" Mountfield (13-7) vs "The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-3)
We're privately hoping that Mountfield snaps his losing streak & gets on a bit of a roll afterwards
Blurcat says a prolonged stand up battle will give Mountfield the win
Mountfield wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Mountfield was the aggressor in R1 but Russell seemed up to the challenge. With increased confidence perhaps, Russell was more aggressive in R2 and actually seemed to have the better of it. Both men were gassed by the end of the fight, which saw Mountfield pressing Russell against the cage for most of the round.

Women's Openweight
Tara "The Heat" O'Brien (7-2) vs Saya Ikegami (0-1)
We're privately hoping that this is our second good women's fight of the night
Blurcat says O'Brien's ground game beats Ikegami's stand up
O'Brien wins by split decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 & 28-29)
The match was rated as being Good
Good action both standing & grounded in a close R1. Ikegami got a takedown in R2 but O'Brien actually managed more offense. R3 was mostly Ikegami pushing O'Brien back but finding little offense otherwise

Main Show
Welterweight
Chad "Easy Z" Zoff (0-1) vs Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (4-2)
We're privately hoping that Zoff elevates his profile with a win
Blurcat says Zoff will not only win but dominate
Sagal wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Zoff got an immediate takedown but couldn't really threaten otherwise in R1. Sagal followed a similar pattern in R2. R3 saw virtually no offense from Zoff and Sagal did just enough

Light Heavyweight
"The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (10-0) vs "No Surrender" Glenn Pimm (29-14)
We're privately hoping that Pimm surrenders after all
Blurcat says Kanchelskis should win fairly easily
Kanchelskis wins by TKO at 3:33 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Kanchelskis in complete control in R1 but couldn't finish. He solved the problem in the second round

Heavyweight
"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (3-0) vs "The Tornado" Terry Catt (4-2)
We're privately hoping that Satinho comes away still unbeaten & finally starts to attract some attention outside of our own office
Blurcat says Satinho will taste victory one way or another
Satinho wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:43 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
Satinho needed a couple of tries but finally locked in the submission

Main Event: For the CSA Lightweight Title
"Mr. T" Tim Oldacres (3-0) vs Dominic "The Smash" Ash (9-1)
We're privately hoping that the fans were right & that a rematch so soon was a good idea
Blurcat says Ash will win by keeping the fight standing
Ash wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (48-47 x3)
The match was rated as Great
Ash hurt Oldacres with several series of punches in R1 but the champ managed to survive. R2 was the same, with Oldacres trying to press the action & Ash making him pay the price each time. Ash pushing in for R3, still scoring readily. Dirty boxing & brute strength finally gave Oldacres the edge in R4. In the final round, Oldcares was looking for a big finish to save his title while Ash kept checking his corner for time. BAM, a big counter punch flattens Ash & Oldacres seized side control but Ash recovered with a tight clinch. Oldacres ended up with a mount & fired all the elbow strikes he could but time expired.

Attendance: 634 for a gate of $25,360
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

September 30, 2000

Well that went fairly well I think. We ended up with a financial loss of (-$8,177) for the month but that's pretty tolerable I think. The TV looks to be about a $16k loss when you break it out by itself.

During the month Kyle Sagal's (5-2) contract ended but we're talking to him now about sticking around after his upset win, we'll see how that goes. We also re-signed Ray Eton (STND, $800, 6 match/4 guar, 24 months).

We also gambled a bit on three new hires, including one that's way outside our normal boundaries.

-- 27 y/o MW "The Soldier of Fortune" Thomas Smith (12-5), a submission fighter from Portland, Oregon. He was just 1-4 with GAMMA and tends to go the distance in relatively dull fights but he's much better known than most of our guys at the moment. (EXCL, $2500, 8/5, 33 months)

-- 33 y/o MW Mario de Souza (25-7), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Rio de Janiero. Only 1-3 with ALPHA-1, he's another guy that we looked at for his profile rather than his talent or performance. (EXCL, $2500, 7/4, 30 months)

-- 33 y/o WW Heikichi Shimizu (1-0), a Judo master from Sakai, Japan. A living legend in his speciality, he's been looking to try his hand at MMA and we're the first regular promotion willing to meet his terms to give him that chance. But he's hell to negotiate with that's for sure (STND, $8000, 5/4, 21 months)

Elsewhere in September ...
-- Old-school UK veteran fighter Travis Jones is the new boss at ALPHA-1
-- ALPHA-1 outbids us for LW Luke Hilton (12-0), who leaves GAMMA after five straight wins. They also take LW Darren Southall (8-2) from XCC.
-- XCC picks up Davi Carlos Ramos (35-10) from the defunct KDM FC
-- BCF WW Procopio "Porco" Golias (16-5) fails a drug test after beating H.M. Menzel by submission. He's gone for a year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of October 1, 2000

Promotion Rankings (size, change since July 2000, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (up to Low Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. CSA (Up to Low Level National, +1, LHW Thorbjorn Rekdal)
4. WEFF (High Level Regional, +1, BW April Watson)
5. SIGMA (down to High Level Regional, -2, LW Fiyero Lermontov)
6. BCF (High Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)
7. XCC (down to Mid Level Regional, 0, FW Phillip Ziskie)
8. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (29-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 last fought in June, faces Eien Kawano in October
2(2) Mike Watson (14-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; beat Ken Peters by TKO in August 2000
3(3) Tadamasa Yamada (25-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996 beat Daniil Skala by submission in Sept 2000
4(4) Julio Regueiro (17-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998 last fought January 2000, next fight not yet scheduled
5(5) Raul Hughes (16-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since December 1999 last fought in June 2000, next fight not yet scheduled
6(6) Jin Katou (20-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight last fought April 2000, faces Roberto Aldez in Oct 2000
7(7) Matthew Dean (36-5); Gamma; Middleweight beat Jorge Hormazabal by submission in Aug 2000
8(9) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 ast fought in Dec 99, next opponent not scheduled
9(10) James Foster (36-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion last fought in May 2000, faces Fatima Roy in October 2000
10(x) Kunimichi Kikuchi (33-5); Alpha-1; HW beat Gyokusho Fujimoto by submission in July 2000
Dropped Out
x(8) Neil Napier (18-1); former Gamma Middleweight Champion lost title to JJ Reid by submission in August 2000

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (29-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (16-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1999
3(3) James Foster (36-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (35-5) Alpha-1;
5(5) Armen Sarkisian (16-0); Alpha-1
6(6) Gregor Boniek (37-5); Alpha-1
7(7) Curt Kitson (23-3); BCF
8(x) Stratos Papaioannou (29-6); Sigma
9(8) Tony McCall (35-11); Gamma
10(x) Hiro Arai (10-1); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(9) Gyokusho Fujimoto (6-0); Alpha-1; lost to #4 Kikuchi in July 00
x(10) Jeff Carlton (34-9); Alpha-1 lost to Grzegorz Boniek in Sept 00

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (14-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000,
2(2) Tadamasa Yamada (25-1); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since October 1996
3(3) Jin Katou (20-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
4(4) Alex Cole (15-0); OMEGA MW Champion since May 2000 & SIGMA & BCF
5(5) John Rivero (20-2); Gamma;
6(6) Zvonimir Asanovic (16-2); former Gamma LHW Champion
7(7) Roberto Aldez (45-7); Alpha-1
8(8) Anthony LeToussier (16-3); Gamma;
9(9) Faas Smit (39-14); SIGMA LHW Champion since June 2000
10(10) Linfield Ballard (24-9); GAMMA
Dropped out
None

Middleweight
1(1) Matthew Dean (36-5); Gamma
2(7) JJ Reid (30-3); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Aug 2000
3(2) Neil Napier (18-0); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
4(3) Mac Fuller (32-7); Gamma
5(4) Stuart Strange (14-2); Gamma
6(5) Heiji Endo (17-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
7(6) Petey Mack (17-2); Alpha-1
8(x) Leonardo da Costa (18-3); Alpha-1
9(8) Buddy Garner (17-1); Gamma
10(10) Fernando Amaro (44-9-4); Alpha-1, was former SIGMA MW Champion
Dropped out
9(8) Bambang Sriyanto (25-7-2); former Sigma Middleweight Champion lost title to Ethan Sutton in Aug 2000

Welterweight
1(1) Julio Rugueiro (17-0-1); Gamma Welterweight Champion since April 1998
2(2) Carlos da Guia (17-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
3(3) Kafu Bunya (14-0); Alpha-1
4(5) Josh Aldarisio (7-0); Gamma
5(6) Jack Humphreys (29-4); Gamma
6(7) Claudio Palacios (25-7); Alpha-1
7(8) Helio (23-2); BCF Lightweight Champion since Sept 1999
8(9) Darin Blood (15-3); GAMMA
9(10) David Allen (19-2); Gamma;
10(4) Xie Ming (24-5); Alpha-1 lost to Callum Henson in Sept 2000
Dropped Out
None

Lightweight
1(1) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2(2) Luke Hilton (12-0); Alpha-1, was Gamma
3(3) Fiyero Lermontov (13-0); Sigma
4(4) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-0); Alpha-1, was KDMFC
5(6) Fumiaki Hayashi (20-5); Alpha-1
6(7) Shizuya Nakae (29-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion
7(8) Sukarno (7-0);Alpha-1, was KDMFC
8(5) Lubos Plasil (11-1); Sigma lost to Brandon Sugar in Sept 2000
9(10) Branco (12-0); Alpha-1;
10(x) Brandon Sugar (27-7); Sigma beat Lubos Plasil in Sept 2000
Dropped out
9(7) Go Yamamoto (28-10-2); Alpha-1 lost to Atep of Indonesia in Sept 00

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); unemployed (was KDMFC FW Champion)
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (15-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (51-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (19-4); XCC, was KDMFC
5(6) Manish Khan (11-2); Sigma
6(5) Colm Dee (15-4); Sigma; lost to Phillip Ziskie in Aug 2000
7(9) Kei Maki (6-1); XCC, was KDMFC
8(x) Easton Frye (10-1); XCC beat Luiz Machado in July 2000
9(x) Rafael Tavares (15-3); CSA beat Zhao Pau in July 2000
10(x) Shuler Eigenberg (14-3); XCC beat James Busfield in Sept 2000
Dropped out
x(7) Norberto (28-7); unemployed, was Sigma lost to Jason Dalglish in July 2000
x(8) Azor Portela Nunes (24-6); XCC lost to Reza Afshar in Sept 2000
x(10) Tan Su (13-7); XCC, was KDMFC

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) April Watson (9-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999 & WEFF Women's LW Champion since August 2000;
2(4) Mizuki Watanabe (9-0); CSA, was KDM FC Women's Champion & XCC
3(5) Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1); CSA, was KDMFC
4(6) Yuya Shimizu (10-0); unemployed (was KDMFC)
5(2) Jenny DeNeuve (6-1); former WEFF Lightweight Champion lost title to April Watson in August 2000
6(8) Sarah Vaughn (14-3); WEFF; former WEFF Women's HW Champion
7(3) Alisha Wood (7-1); fomer WEFF Heavyweight Champion lost title to Serena Hill in Sept 2000
8(x) Vicki Summers (13-2-10); WEFF beat Haley Croft in Aug 2000
9(x) Roz Wareing (10-2-1); WEFF beat Janinha in Sept 2000
10(10) Rachel McGuinness (9-0-1); WEFF currently serving suspension for failed drug test
Dropped out
x(7) Samantha Sachs (9-2); XCC lost to Katherine Williams in Sept 2000
x(9) Haley Croft (13-3); WEFF lost to #8 Summers in August 2000

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of October 1, 2000

Pound for Pound
1(x) "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (17-2, 0-0); Light Heavyweight
2(2) Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (12-2, 0-0); Middleweight
3(x) "The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (21-6, 0-0); Middleweight
4(1) "The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (10-1, 1-0); Middleweight
5(3) "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (4-0, 4-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since May 2000
6(4) Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (21-5, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
7(9) Dominic "The Smash" Ash (10-1, 4-1); CSA Lightweight Champion since Sept 2000
8(x) Rafael "Slick" Tavares (15-3, 1-0); Lightweight
9(x) "The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (4-0, 4-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since July 2000
10(x) Mario de Souza (25-7, 0-0); Middleweight
Dropped Out
x(5) Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (6-0, 5-0); left company
x(6) "The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (6-1, 3-1); last fought May 2000
x(7) Marlon "The Punisher" John (5-0, 4-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since April 00 last fought April 2000
x(8) "Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (4-1, 4-1); former CSA Welterweight Champion lost title to Felix Mattherson, Jr in July 2000
x(10) "The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1); Lightweightlast fought Dec 1999

Heavyweights
1(1) Mason Archer (4-0, 4-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since May 2000
2(x) Alexsei Chekov (21-5, 1-0); moved up from LHW
3(2) Sylvester Collins (6-1, 3-1); former CSA Heavyweight Champion
4(5) Murilo Satinho (4-0, 4-0);
5(x) Jasper Osmond (12-14; 0-0); moved up from LHW
6(3) Wilson Franklyn (5-1, 3-1);
7(6) William Harrison (4-1, 1-1);
8(8) Juozas Skerla (6-1, 0-1);
9(9) Adrian Pascal (5-1, 3-1);
10(10) Stan Blackheath (20-11, 0-2);
Dropped out
x(4) Allen LeFleur (3-0, 3-0); dropped down to LHW
x(7) Terry Catt (4-2, 0-0) lost to #4 Satinho in Sept 2000

Light Heavyweights
1(x) Thorbjorn Rekdal (17-2, 0-0)
2(1) Fjodor Kanchelskis (11-0, 1-0)
3(3) Marlon John (5-0, 4-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since April 00
4(x) Allen LeFleur (3-0, 3-0); was #4 HW
5(5) Vagner (15-6, 1-1);
6(7) Christian Mountfield (14-7; 1-0)
7(6) Spencer Rubenstein (3-1, 3-1);
8(9) Woody Fierstein (11-4, 1-2);
9(x) Bryan Van Den Hauwe (15-8, 0-0);
10(10) Glenn Pimm (29-14, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(2) Alexsei Chekov (21-5, 1-0) moved up to HW
x(4) Jasper Osmond (12-14; 0-0); moved up to HW
x(8) Ernie Bruns (18-13, 1-2); contract expired, not renewed, signed with GAMMA

Middleweights
1(1) Ashley Ballard (13-2, 0-0)
2(x) Davis Spyrou (21-6, 0-0)
3(3) Heath Kaladaris (4-0, 4-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since July 00
4(x) Mario de Souza (25-7, 0-0);
5(x) Thomas Smith (12-5, 0-0);
6(4) Drew Jenks (8-2, 2-1);
7(x) Carl Ratcliffe (18-8, 2-1); moved up from WW
8(5) Joaquim Fontes (11-2, 0-1);
9(x) Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9, 0-0);moved up from WW
10(6) Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-10, 0-1);
Dropped out
x(2) Kramer Mayweather (6-0, 5-0); left company, joined A-1
x(7) Nik Minear (10-4, 0-1); lost to Gideno Navarro in July 2000
x(8) Ray Eton (8-2, 1-1); last fought Nov 1999
x(9) Esteban Vega (4-2, 2-2); last fought June 2000
x(10) Julio Gutierrez (4-1, 0-1) last fought April 2000

Welterweights
1(5) Felix Mattherson, Jr (3-0, 3-0);CSA Welterweight Champion since July 2000
2(1) Nathan Chambers (4-1, 4-1); former CSA Welterweight Champion lost to #1 Mattherson in July 2000
3(3) Evan Pizzarro (5-1, 4-1);
4(4) Junmal Skinner (6-4, 0-1);
5(x) Marco Bernacci (5-4, 1-0); moved up from LW
6(8) Diego Arteta (2-0, 1-0);
7(10) Zachary Gilbert (12-9, 1-2);
8(7) Lucas Mueller (7-1, 0-0);
9(x) Heiki Shimizu (1-0, 0-0);
10(x) Rich Robinson (2-0, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(2) Carl Ratcliffe (18-8, 2-1); moved up to MW
x(6) Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9, 0-0);moved up to MW
9(x) Lloyd McAllister (13-7, 0-1) left company, joined A-1

Lightweights
1(1) Dominic Ash (10-1, 4-1); CSA Lightweight Champion since Sept 2000
2(x) Rafael Tavares (15-3, 1-0);
3(2) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4, 0-1);
4(x) Jason Dalglish (16-9, 0-0);
5(3) Tim Oldacres (3-1, 3-1); former CSA Lightweight Champion lost to #1 Ash in Sept 2000
6(x) Jackson Gray (20-10, 0-0);
7(4) Sammy Gaffigan (15-5, 0-1);
8(5) Francesco Marazzina (19-9, 0-0);
9(7) Sinali Shomen (2-0, 2-0)
10(8) Zhao Pau (10-7, 0-1);
Dropped out
x(6) Marco Bernacci (5-4, 1-0); moved up to WW
x(9) Randy Carsley (2-1, 2-1);
x(10) Rory McEnterry (2-1, 1-1);

Women's Openweight
1(x) Mizuki Watanabe (9-0, 0-0)
2(x) Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1, 0-0)
3(1) Honey Due (5-0, 2-0);
4(2) Layla Holmes (6-0, 2-0);
5(3) Alyson Arroway (6-0, 2-0);
6(4) Allison Beattie (8-4, 1-1);
7(5) Mako Takagawa (7-1, 0-0);
8(7) Thea Higgins (5-0, 2-0);
9(6) Tara O'Brien (8-2, 1-0)
10(8) Veronika Sablikova (5-1, 1-1);
Dropped out
x(9) Pamela O'Neill (5-2-1, 1-1);last fought May 2000
x(10) Tabitha Cameron (1-1, 1-1)lost to Thea Higgins in July 2000

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 19
Saturday October 21, 2000 in Marietta, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweight
Mario de Souza (25-7) vs Linton Berry (6-5)
We're privately hoping that the recently signed de Souza dominates the prototypical can
Blurcat says de Souza will win
de Souza wins by TKO at 2:54 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Thorough domination with de Souza raining blows down from mount to end it

Women's Openweight
"The Queen of Mean" Simone King (3-5) vs "Glamorous G" Gianna Russo (1-1)
We're privately hoping that King's slide continues
Blurcat says Russo can't stand with King & that will cost her
King wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
A boxing match in R1, advantage King who knocked Russo down just as time expired. R2 had King looking like Sugar Ray Leonard just stinging Russo repeatedly. R3 was much the same as the first two

Middleweight
Joaquim Fontes (11-2) vs Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-10)
We're privately hoping that "The Hunter" is more like "The Hunted"
Blurcat says Fontes will win fairly easily
Fontes wins by TKO at 2:35 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Fontes was just brutal to Dixon, who looked fairly brutal himself (brutally unprepared that is)

Main Show
Heavyweight
Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (21-5) vs Don "The Rumble King" Norman (23-16)
We're privately hoping that Chekov doesn't take his nickname too literally
Blurcat says Chekov should win easily
Norman wins by majority decisionafter three rounds (29-28 x2 & 28-28)
The match was rated as being Good
R1 showed why reports said Chekov was unhappy with his training for this fight, Norman pushed him around & the heavy favorite looked completely out of synch. R2 saw Chekov come back strong, looking awake for the first time in the fight. R3 may have come down to heart as Norman launched a punching assault that sent Chekov sprawling to the canvas & disheartened afterwards.

Lightweight
Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (2-0) vs Randy "Super Snake" Carsley (2-1)
We're privately hoping that one of these guys finally come away with some positive attention from a win
Blurcat says Carsley is totally outgunned & Shomen should not just win but dominate
Shomen wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
While Carsley spent the first round looking to his corner for advice, Shomen spent it looking for openings & found a few. Carsley tried to close the gap in R2 and was fairly successful doing so, mostly by scoring a few punches & avoiding Shomen's attacks. R3 was all about Shomen smothering Carsley for periods in between throwing combination punches.

Lightweight
"The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-4) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (2-3)
We're privately hoping that Shenkman makes us want to renew his contract
Blurcat says Shenkman should win this one on the ground
Newton wins by Knock Out at 0:47 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Decent
Shenkman controlled the first round with grappling but did eat a few punches. A flurry of small strikes by Newton to open R2, Shenkman answered with a big swing that missed the target and Newton landed a vicious head kick that knocked Shenkman out cold

Heavyweight
"Major Damage" William Harrison (4-1) vs Stan "The Man" Blackheath (20-11)
We're privately hoping that Harrison looks good fighting at a higher weight
Blurcat says Harrison is better in every way & the veteran has no real chance
Harrison wins by TKO at 1:49 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Nasty elbows left Blackheath defenseless pretty quickly

Light Heavyweight
Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (11-4) vs "The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (5-2)
We're privately hoping that neither fighter is rusty after a long layoff
Blurcat says Dreck is better in any position & will win
Dreck wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Very Poor
Dreck got ground control late in R1 and held it for the rest of the round. Dreck repeated the takedown early in R2 and spent virtually the whole round trying to get past guard or half guard. Same song next verse in R3

Women's Openweight
Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (6-0) vs Alyson "Alley Kat" Arroway(6-0)
We're privately hoping that our run of good women's bouts continues
Blurcat says Holmes has to get Double-A on the ground to win but they don't believe she can do that
Holmes wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as Average
Holmes had the better of a fairly even but uneventful R1. R2 saw the fighters swap control pinning each other against the cage. Holmes again took control with a takedown in the final round of a low impact bout.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
Marlon "The Punisher" John (5-0) vs "The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (3-0)
We're privately hoping that the pundits & fans have to eat crow after this main event
Blurcat says John could have problems if LeFleur's striking prevents the champ from being able to grapple effectively
LeFleur wins by split decision after five rounds (48-47 x2 & 47-48)
The match was rated as Great
Decent action in R1 with both men scoring with punches. More ground game from both in R2, again the challenger might have had a slight edge. R3 saw LeFleur again at worst holding his own but starting to look a little tired at the end. The champion scores big with a hard slam that winded LeFleur even further. John was visibly tired as the final round began and although he got a couple of takedowns he wasn't able to do much with them.

Attendance: 1,273 for a gate of $50,920
18,043 PPV Buys for revenue of $72,172
Show Rating: Very Poor

[JonInMiddleGA]

October 31, 2000

Sometimes you just gotta say "what the hell" and go for it.

That's what we did in putting together the card for CSA 19 and we sort of paid the price for it, our popularity seems to have dipped a bit from where we were although not horribly so. On the bright side, our net profit for the month was the highest ever, $96,614.

During the month we renewed the contracts of HW Stan Blackheath (STND, $1260, 3/2, 21 months), LW Anthony Ray Shenkman (STND, $1800, 3/3, 12 months), and LW Sammy Newton (STND, $1400, 4/2, 21 months).

We also added two new fighters
-- 35 y/o HW Gary "The Pit Bull" Sampson (18-8), a G&P'er from Mesa, Arizona who went 2-3 during a stint with ALPHA-1.
-- 35 y/o HW "Granite" Gary Portman (10-7), a wrestler from Manchester, England. He's coming off a 1-2 stint for GAMMA

October also marked the end of our two fight deal with WW Linton Berry (6-6) who went 0-2 exactly as expected.

We also extended our PPV deal with Public Access Select, to four shows with an improved 20-80 revenue split.

Also during the month, no surprise that Hassan Fezzik (30-0) renewed his contract with A-1, reportedly a half million per fight. And despite our best efforts GAMMA resigned HW Fatuma Roy (23-10)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Friday November 17th, 2000 in Tunica, MS

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Welterweight
Rich "Hard Rain" Robinson (2-0) vs Brock "The Spark Plug" Youdale (2-2)
We're privately hoping that Robinson can get a win to start his CSA tenure
Blurcat says Robinson should take the victory
Robinson wins by TKO at 3:16 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Two takedowns gave Youdale the edge in R1. R2 saw Robinson pounding away from half guard.

Women's Openweight
Alyssa "The Viper" Taylor (1-2) vs "Stunning" Steph Smith (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Smith gets a win here
Blurcat says Smith should win one way or another
Smith wins by submission (guillotine) at 2:41 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Great
Smith scored in nearly every way possible in R1. Slower pace in R2 but all the offense again belonged to Smith. The end came with a surprising standing guillotine after Taylor showed some offense with good dirty boxing

Light Heavyweight
"The Modern Day Gladiator" Bryan Van Den Hauwe (15-8) vs Titus "The Titan" Mostel (3-6)
We're privately hoping that the Gladiator can snap his four fight losing streak
Blurcat says VDH should win this on the ground
Van Den Hauwe wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Van Den Hauwe controlled much of R1 although they got stood up once & could have been again. Mostel missed a takedown attempt early in R2 & paid for it as VDH pounded on him for nearly a full minute. Good boxing by Mostel kept his tiring opponent at bay in R3

Welterweight
"Hellhound" Mako Takagawa (7-1) vs "Lost Innocence" Leslie Myers (1-0)
We're privately hoping that Myers hangs in there before the talented Takagawa increases her name value with a win
Blurcat says Myers is totally out-gunned
Takagawa wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Myers showed no fear & stung Takagawa repeatedly, including a knockdown with a big counterpunch on a takedown attempt. Myers solid defense kept Takagawa from doing any damage in R2 although the veteran was the aggressor. R3 was more strongly Takagawa's although she did little damage.

Main Show
Middleweight
Jakuchu "Sai" Abe (1-0) vs Ray "The Enigma" Eton (8-2)
We're privately hoping that Abe comes off looking great
Blurcat says as long as Abe has a good gameplan then he'll win this fairly easily
Abe wins by submission (armbar) at 4:16 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Takedown, side control, mount, tap.

Heavyweight
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (5-1) vs Jasper "The Mighty Wasp" Osmond (12-14)
We're privately hoping that Franklyn impresses
Blurcat says Franklyn will win
Franklyn wins by TKO at 2:52 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Franklyn was in control in R1 although his offense stalled after he got a takedown. Similar story in R2, Franklyn could finish the fight if he stayed standing but Osmond goes down & the assault stalls. Same formula in R3, this time Osmond finally can take no more.

Middleweight
"Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (18-8) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (8-2)
We're privately hoping that this one doesn't turn dull
Blurcat says if Jenks gets the takedowns he wins, if he doesn't then he loses
Jenks wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:17 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Ratcliffe punched well for about 30 seconds before being taken down and from there it was quickly over

Main Event: Women's Openweight
"The Wicked Bitch of the West" Honey Due (5-0) vs "Deadly T." Thea Higgins (5-1)
We're privately hoping that the spotlight isn't too bright for either fighter
Blurcat says Higgins has a clear advantage in the ground battle & should win it there
Higgins wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-26 x2 & 30-25)
The match was rated as Decent
Due was in trouble after being mounted late in R1 but time expired. Same thing in R2, Higgins pounding away & Due just hanging on. And again in R3, with elbow strikes from mount that cut Due over the eye & had handlers trying to stop the bleeding after the fight

Attendance: 696 for a gate of $27,840
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

November 30, 2000

Got mostly what we wanted from the show, raising the profiles of several fighters without doing too much damage to any of them really. And we did it without losing anything really, only (-$639) in the red for the month, far better than our first non-PPV month with TV back in September.

During the month we renewed the contract of HW Don Norman (EXCL, $1600, 6/4, 27 months) and after his win we renewed HW Wilson Franklyn (EXCL, $8000, 9/7, 36 months).

We signed two new fighters for the roster during November:
-- 27 y/o Bantamweight Tiiu "Tigress" Kass (6-0), a boxer from Estonia. She'll join us once her contract with XCC expires in a couple of weeks.
-- 26 y/o Lightweight "Storm Trooper" Jamie Hewitt (11-5), a wrestler from Akron, Ohio who was 3-3 with XCC and is coming off a split decision loss to Helio in April.

November also marked the end of the contract of Titus Mostel who leaves us after going 0-4 in a series of mostly so-so fights.

Elsewhere, November marked the end of the line for female MMA pioneer Rhonda Britton (9-6) who retires at the age of 37 after losing back to back fights to Roz Wareing & Trish Biel. Meanwhile SIGMA fighter Manish Khan resigns his position as a member of the GAMMA board of directors (odd situation from the get-go on that one IMO).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 20
Sunday December 17, 2000 in Macon, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Light Heavyweight
Vagner (15-6) vs Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (2-1)
We're privately hoping that no one sees us yawn during this filler
Blurcat says Hersch should win this as long as his gameplan is okay
Hersch wins by submission (armbar) at 2:03 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Vager was trying to defend against a flurry of elbows from the mount & left himself open for the armbar

Light Heavyweight
"Pretty Boy" Danny Akabaro (3-0) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (2-2)
We're privately hoping that Akabaro somehow looks like the next big thing
Blurcat says Akabaro should take Flintstone apart piece by piece with his striking
Flintstone by submission (kimura) at 2:20 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Excellent
Akabaro found himself defending from half guard in R1 & Flintstone scored plenty although he didn't appear to do much damage. Same story in R2 mostly, although Akabaro did manage a little kicking offense before going to the mat. Two knockdowns by Akabaro highlighted R3 but after a diving punch landed, Flintstone managed to pull guard & found an opening to win.

Women's Openweight
Kimie "LoKi" Igarashi (3-0) vs Nina "Liberty" Belle (0-0)
We're privately hoping that at least one of them looks promising
Blurcat says Igarashi just has to get past Belle's striking in order to win
Igarashi wins by submission (guillotine) at 1:37 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Belle came out quickly & knocked LoKi down with a barrage of punches but couldn't put her away, not even with another knockdown later in the round. An almost identical start to R2, with Igarashi again surviving the bombs that rained down, not only surviving but thriving with a sudden submission from the bottom of half guard

Welterweight
Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (5-4) vs Diego "Apocalypse" Arteta (2-0)
We're privately hoping that this is the last time on the undercard for these two talented relative unknowns
Blurcat says Bernacci should go to the ground & get the win
Bernacci wins by submission (kimura) at 4:44 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Arteta blocked a takedown attempt & made Bernacci pay with a number of heavy body blows in R1. R2 opened in similar fashion, with Bernacci clearly hurt but he still kept pressing forward, finally sucking Arteta into guard where he found an arm.

Main Show
Welterweight
Zachary "Manitoba Misery" Gilbert (12-9) vs Elvis "The King" Milissis (4-3)
We're privately hoping this doesn't suck
Blurcat says Elvis has a clear advantage as long as they're standing
Milissis wins by unanimous decisionafter three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
R1 saw Milissis in control of the grapples. R2 was one long Muay Thai clinch controlled again by "The King". A little better showing by Gilbert in R3 but not nearly enough to make up the gap.

Welterweight
Junmal Skinner (6-4) vs Heikichi Shimizu (1-0)
We're privately hoping that Shimizu looks like he's worth the big bucks he's getting. If not, we probably screwed up giving it to him
Blurcat says Shimizu is better in every area & Skinner has no real chance
Shimizu wins by submission (armbar) at 4:17 of Round 2.
The match was rated as being Great
Shimizu looked completely in control regardless of the situation in R1. A little offense for Skinner to start R2 but it was far too little, as Shimizu took him down & kept trying various holds until he found the right one

Heavyweight
"Glorious" Joshua Hope (3-1) vs Juozas "Anarchy" Skerla (6-1)
We're privately hoping that Hope handles this can after a long layoff
Blurcat says this could be a long night for Skerla. Or rather, a short night.
Skerla wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
R1 was all about who could shove the other guy against the cage for the longest time, Hope probably came out slightly ahead. R2 saw Hope go 0-2 for on slam attempts and 0-2 on takedown attempts but 1-0 in punching contests in the final minute of the stanza. R3 saw Skerla come close to knocking out Hope with punch after punch, as he found his opponent tired with his hands dropping steadily.

Heavyweight
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (6-1) vs "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (17-2)
We're privately hoping that this looks like a main event bout
Blurcat says Rekdal's striking should be the difference
Rekdal wins by TKO at 3:53 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Excellent
A little early offense by Rekdal & a lot of early offense by Collins, who left Rekdal with a nasty cut under his eye by round's end. R2 left Rekdal cut over the same eye after eating too many elbows from Collins on the mount. R3 was a sudden boxing exhibition by Rekdal, who finally set Collins up for a big punch that flattened him. Working from side control for the first time in the fight, Rekdal starting pounding away and forced a stoppage

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (4-0) vs Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (13-2)
We're privately hoping that Kaladaris retains & takes a little air out of Ballard's ego
Blurcat says Kaladaris should win fairly comfortably as long as he has a solid gameplan
Ballard wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (50-45 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Ballard was just quick enough to avoid takedown attempts in R1, the champ was not quick enough to avoid some punishing counterpunches. R2 was all Ballard with punches & several leg kicks that started to take a toll on Kaladaris. It's almost all the challenger in R3 as he continues to carve up Kaladaris with punches & kicks that score at will. The champion is clearly favoring one leg by the early part of R4, managing only a meaningless late round takedown as any sort of offense. Kaladaris was game for the final round but really couldn't accomplish anything of note.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (4-0) vs "Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (4-0)
We're privately hoping that Satinho is ready for this and that Archer renews his contract afterwards in order to get a rematch
Blurcat says it depends on whether this stays standing. If so, Archer retains, if not then we'll have a new champion
Archer wins by Knock Out at 1:27 of Round 4
The match was rated as Fantastic
An all stand-up R1 goes slightly in favor Archer. Time expired on R2 just as Satinho got past guard into mount position. Another mount late in R3 for Satinho, again time expires to protect Archer from any serious damage. R4 begins with a couple of standing exchanges of no real consequence, Archer then counter a flurry of punches with a vicious head kick that turned the lights completely out on Satinho.

Attendance: 1,688 for a gate of $67,520
24,600 PPV Buys for revenue of $98,400
Show Rating: Decent

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 31, 2000

Was what it was, some disappointing outcomes for us but nice to have a $117,725 profit for the month.

We didn't really need Ballard to win a title since he's splitting time between us & two other promotions and we didn't really need Archer to retain just as his contract expires but it is what it is.

We also didn't need Hope & Akabaro to take disappointing losses, nor Gilbert to suffer a foot injury that will cause him to miss six months but ... well, you know the drill.

During the month we renewed the contracts of LHW Rupert Dreck (EXCL, $1800, 8/7, 33 months) and HW Sylvester Collins (EXCL, $2750, 8/7, 33 months). We also signed two new fighters:
-- 26 y/o LW Ross "Harvard" Smith (7-3), a Jiu Jitsu fighter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He's gone 4-3 in an active stint with XCC and is coming off a poor split decision win over Campbell Crane earlier in December. (EXCL, $1600, 8/4, 33 months)
-- 29 y/o HW Gareth Grundy (10-3), a freestyle wrestler from Venice Beach, California. He's coming off a pair of wins for OMEGA and looked great doing it.

Elsewhere in December, ALPHA-1 signed HW Terron Cabal (14-1) away from SIGMA and XCC signed former CSA LW Hinton Grey (3-3) who has won two straight on indy shows.

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 1, 2000

2000 Year-End Awards from Blurcat.com

Fighter of the Year
"The Mack Attack" Petey Mack - ALPHA-1
Middleweight was 4-0 for 2000 with four TKO's, beating Dokuohtei Kuroki twice, Jerezo, and Fernando Amaro, three of the wins in less than two minutes.

Female Fighter of the Year
"The Arizona Animal" Sarah Vaughn - WEFF
The WEFF Women's Heavyweight Champion after regaining her title in December with a submission win over Serena Hill, she was unbeaten in 2000 with submission victories over Maggie Martin & Vickie Summers as well.

Rookie of the Year
"The Gladiator" Niko Soldo - SIGMA
He went 4-0 in 2000, including a big win in December over Faas Smit to capture the SIGMA LHW Title. His only career loss was to Hyun-Shik Lim in September 1999 which he avenged back in July.

Rise of the Year
"The Cockney Rebel" Mikey Wallace - GAMMA
The welterweight was 4-0 in 2000 but back to back knock outs of legend Dan Halvorsen in April & August sealed not only his notoriety but also the end of Halvorsen's career.

Fall of the Year
Laerte Portinari - Unemployed
2000 may be a year that Portinari does forget. It would be understandable since he suffered four straight knockout losses. That his promotion, KDM FC, went under just added insult to (possible brain) injury.

Promotion of the Year
GAMMA
An impressive roster that moved toward their potential helped propel the #2 promotion in the world to International status during 2000.

Team of the Year
American Cage Fighters
One of the oldest MMA camps is still one of the best. An impressive roster of 20 fighters including top rated April Watson, highly regarded Phillip Ziskie, and up & comers like Luke Hilton, Stuart Strange, and Bill Brown.

Show of the Year
KDM FC 17: Ho vs Maki (January 2000)
Obviously it wasn't the in-ring part of the business that sank KDM FC, as Li-Kong Ho again headlined the best show of the year for the second straight time.

Fight of the Year
Dana Delaney vs Agustin Gonzales (GAMMA [i]Warriors April 2000)
Delaney won by TKO at 1:02 of Round 2 in front of a TV audience that was still buzzing days after the fight

Worst Fight of the Year
Kafu Bunya vs Datuk Ong Ka Ting (ALPHA-1 November 2000)
An unfortunate back to back win in the category for Bunya whose defensive style has the potential to set new standard for lousy viewing every time out. But it's extremely successful so I doubt the awards will prompt any major change, although it'd be nice if more of his wins were like the one over Gabriel Gallego in June (UD - Good) than this one.

Knock Out of the Year
Kendall Tracey vs Tadamasa Yamada (ALPHA-1 December 2000)
A massive punch at 0:56 of Round 6 suddenly made Tracey the new A-1 light heavyweight champion and ended Yamada's long winning streak.

Submission of the Year
Tadamasa Yamada vs Daniil Skala (ALPHA-1 September 2000)
Second straight win in the category for "The Dragon" who earned it exactly one year later with a first round finish.

Main Event of the Year
Dana Delaney vs Agustin Gonzales (GAMMA April 2000)

Upset of the Year
Jeremy Sproule defeats Milenko Rudonja (SIGMA January 2000)
The unanimous decision win to start the year looks even more surprising when you realize that Sproule didn't win another fight in 2000. Rudonja on the other hand hasn't won since.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of January 1, 2000

Promotion Rankings (size, change since July 2000, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (Low Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (up to Low Level International, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. CSA (Low Level National, +1, LHW Thorbjorn Rekdal)
4. SIGMA (High Level Regional, +1, LW Fiyero Lermontov)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, -1, BW April Watson)
6. BCF (High Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)
7. XCC (Mid Level Regional, 0, FW Phillip Ziskie)
8. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (30-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 knocked out Eien Kawano in October
2(2) Mike Watson (14-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; last fought in August 2000
3(x) Kafu Bunya (15-0); Alpha-1, Welterweight beat Datuk Ong Ka Ting in November 2000
4(5) Raul Hughes (17-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since December 1999 TKO'ed Tim Boyer in December 2000
5(6) Jin Katou (21-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight beat Roberto Aldez by submission in October 2000
6(7) Matthew Dean (37-5); Gamma; Middleweight beat Buddy Garner by UD in December 2000
7(8) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 ast fought in Dec 99, next opponent not scheduled
8(9) James Foster (37-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion beat Fatima Roy by TKO in October 2000
9(10) Kunimichi Kikuchi (36-5); Alpha-1; HW beat Gyokusho Fujimoto by submission in November 2000
10(4) Julio Regueiro (17-1-1); former Gamma Welterweight Champion lost title to Darrin Blood by UD in November 2000
Dropped Out
x(3) Tadamasa Yamada (25-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Championknocked out by Kendall Tracey in December 2000

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (30-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (17-2); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 1999
3(3) James Foster (37-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (36-5) Alpha-1;
5(5) Armen Sarkisian (17-0); Alpha-1
6(6) Gregor Boniek (38-5); Alpha-1
7(7) Curt Kitson (23-3); BCF
8(8) Stratos Papaioannou (29-6); Sigma
9(9) Tony McCall (35-11); Gamma
10(x) Jeff Carlton (35-9); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(10) Hiro Arai (10-2); Alpha-1 lost to Palmer Lette in October 2000

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (14-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000,
2(3) Jin Katou (21-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
3(2) Tadamasa Yamada (25-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion lost to Kendall Tracey in Dec 2000
4(4) Alex Cole (15-0); OMEGA MW Champion since May 2000 & SIGMA & BCF
5(6) Zvonimir Asanovic (17-2); former Gamma LHW Champion
6(5) John Rivero (21-2); Gamma;
7(8) Anthony LeToussier (17-3); Gamma;
8(7) Roberto Aldez (45-8); Alpha-1 lost to Jin Katou in Oct 2000
9(x) Thorbjorn Rekdal (18-2); CSA beat Sylvester Collins in Dec 2000
10(x) Elgar (28-9); Alpha-1 beat Alekos Karabatos in Oct 2000
Dropped out
x(9) Faas Smit (39-15); former SIGMA LHW Champion lost title to Niko Soldo in December 2000
x(10) Linfield Ballard (24-10); GAMMA knocked out by Garry McSweegan in November 2000

Middleweight
1(1) Matthew Dean (37-5); Gamma beat Buddy Garner in Dec 2000
2(2) JJ Reid (30-3); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Aug 2000
3(7) Petey Mack (19-2); Alpha-1 beat Fernando Amaro in Dec 2000
4(3) Neil Napier (18-1); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
5(4) Mac Fuller (32-7); Gamma
6(5) Stuart Strange (15-2); Gamma
7(6) Heiji Endo (17-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
8(8) Leonardo da Costa (18-3); Alpha-1
9(9) Buddy Garner (17-2); Gamma lost to #1 Dean in Dec 2000
10(x) Ashley Ballard (14-2); CSA; beat Heath Kaladaris for CSA Middleweight Title in December 2000
Dropped out
x(10) Fernando Amaro (44-10-4); Alpha-1, lost to #3 Mack in Dec 2000

Welterweight
1(3) Kafu Bunya (15-0); Alpha-1
2(1) Julio Rugueiro (17-1-1);former Gamma Welterweight Champion lost title to Darin Blood in November 2000
3(2) Carlos da Guia (17-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
4(8) Darin Blood (16-3); GAMMA Welterweight Champion since Nov 2000
5(4) Josh Aldarisio (8-0); Gamma
6(5) Jack Humphreys (30-4); Gamma
7(x) Mikey Wallace (10-0); Gamma
8(9) David Allen (19-2); Gamma;
9(x) Gabriel Gallego (18-3); Alpha-1 beat Claudio Palacios in Dec 2000
10(7) Helio (23-2); BCF Lightweight Champion since Sept 1999
Dropped Out
x(6) Claudio Palacios (25-7); Alpha-1 lost to #9 Gallego in Dec 2000
x(10) Xie Ming (24-5); Alpha-1 last fought in Sept 2000

Lightweight
1(1) Sean Morrison (28-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
2(2) Luke Hilton (12-0); Alpha-1, was Gamma
3(3) Fiyero Lermontov (13-0); Sigma
4(6) Shizuya Nakae (30-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion beat Branco in Oct 2000
5(5) Fumiaki Hayashi (20-5); Alpha-1
6(7) Sukarno (8-0);Alpha-1
7(4) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-1); Alpha-1 lost to #1 WW Bunya in Nov 2000
8(8) Lubos Plasil (11-1); Sigma lost to Brandon Sugar in Sept 2000
9(10) Brandon Sugar (27-7); Sigma beat Lubos Plasil in Sept 2000
10(9) Branco (12-1); Alpha-1; lost to #4 Nakae in Oct 2000
Dropped out
None

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); unemployed (was KDMFC FW Champion)
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (15-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (51-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (20-4); XCC
5(5) Manish Khan (12-2); Sigma
6(8) Easton Frye (11-1); XCC beat Kei Maki in November 2000
7(6) Colm Dee (15-4); Sigma;
8(x) Tan Su (14-7); XCC; beat Davi Carlos Ramos in Nov 2000
9(x) Rafael Tavares (15-3); CSA
10(x) Shuler Eigenberg (14-3); XCC
Dropped out
x(7) Kei Maki (6-1); XCC lost to #6 Frye in November 2000

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) April Watson (9-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999 & WEFF Women's LW Champion since August 2000;
2(6) Sarah Vaughn (15-3); WEFF Women's HW Champion since Dec 2000 beat Serena Hill for title in December 2000
3(2) Mizuki Watanabe (9-0); CSA;
4(4) Yuya Shimizu (11-0); XCC
5(3) Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1); CSA;
6(5) Jenny DeNeuve (6-1); former WEFF Lightweight Champion
7(7) Alisha Wood (7-1); fomer WEFF Heavyweight Champion
8(8) Vicki Summers (14-2-1); WEFF
9(x) Tiiu Kass (6-0); CSA, was XCC
10(x) Haley Croft (14-4); WEFF beat Maggie Martin in Dec 2000
Dropped out
x(9) Roz Wareing (10-3-1); WEFF lost to Chiyo Yanagimoto in Dec 2000
x(10) Rachel McGuinness (9-0-1); WEFF currently serving suspension for failed drug test

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster? Note: Rankings delayed for CSA during significant roster additions

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of January 24, 2001

Pound for Pound
1(1) "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (18-2, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
2(2) Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (14-2, 1-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since Dec 2000
3(5) "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (5-0, 5-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since May 2000
4(3) "The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (21-6, 0-0); Middleweight
5(4) "The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (11-1, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
6(x) Benny "The Jet" Danare (13-2, 0-0); Welterweight
7(10) Mario de Souza (26-7, 1-0); Middleweight
8(x) Rafael "Slick" Tavares (15-3, 1-0); Lightweight
9(x) "The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (4-0, 4-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since Oct 2000
10(x) Mark "The Thing" Cohen (35-10-2, 0-0); Heavyweight
Dropped Out
x(6) Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (21-6, 1-1); Heavyweight lost to Don Norman in Oct 2000
x(7) Dominic "The Smash" Ash (10-2, 4-1); CSA Lightweight Champion since Sept 2000 lost to Tomohiro Takeuchi at XCC in Jan 2001
x(9) "The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (4-01, 4-01); former CSA Middleweight Champion lost title to #2 Ballard in Dec 2000

Heavyweights
1(1) Mason Archer (5-0, 5-0); CSA Heavyweight Champion since May 2000
2(x) Mark Cohen (35-10-2, 0-0);
3(2) Alexsei Chekov (21-6, 1-1);
4(3) Sylvester Collins (6-2, 3-2); former CSA Heavyweight Champion
5(6) Wilson Franklyn (6-1, 4-1);
6(x) Gary Sampson (18-8, 0-0);
7(x) Gareth Grundy (10-3, 0-0);
8(4) Murilo Satinho (4-1, 4-1);
9(x) Damien Jones (8-1, 0-0);
10(x) Kevin Portman (10-7, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(5) Jasper Osmond (12-15; 0-1); dropped back to LHW
x(7) William Harrison (5-1, 2-1); dropped back to LHW
x(8) Juozas Skerla (7-1, 1-1);
x(9) Adrian Pascal (5-1, 3-1);dropped back to LHW
x(10) Stan Blackheath (20-12, 0-3);

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Thorbjorn Rekdal (18-2, 2-0)
2(2) Fjodor Kanchelskis (11-0, 1-0)
3(4) Allen LeFleur (4-0, 4-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since Oct 00
4(3) Marlon John (5-1, 4-1); former CSA Light Heavyweight Champion lost title to #3 LeFleur in October 2000
5(6) Christian Mountfield (14-7; 1-0)
6(7) Spencer Rubenstein (3-1, 3-1);
7(x) Jasper Osmond (12-15, 0-1); dropped down from HW
8(x) William Harrison (5-1, 2-1); dropped down from HW
9(5) Vagner (15-7, 1-2); lost to Wes Hersch in Dec 2000
10(9) Bryan Van Den Hauwe (16-8, 1-0);
Dropped out
8(9) Woody Fierstein (11-5, 1-3); lost to Rupert Dreck in Oct 2000
10(10) Glenn Pimm (29-15, 0-1);lost to Fjodor Kanchelskis in Sept 2000

Middleweights
1(1) Ashley Ballard (14-2, 1-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since Dec 2000
2(2) Davis Spyrou (21-6, 0-0)
3(4) Mario de Souza (26-7, 1-0);
4(3) Heath Kaladaris (4-1, 4-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion lost title to #1 Ballard in Dec 2000
5(6) Drew Jenks (9-2, 3-1);
6(5) Thomas Smith (12-5, 0-0);
7(8) Joaquim Fontes (12-2, 1-1);
8(7) Carl Ratcliffe (18-9, 2-2); lost to #5 Jenks in Nov 2000
9(x) Jakachu Abe (2-0, 2-0);
10(x) Tora Mizwar (7-2, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(9) Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9, 0-0);dropped back to WW
x(10) Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-11, 0-2); lost to #7 Fontes in Oct 00

Welterweights
1(x) Benny Danare (13-2, 0-0);
2(1) Felix Mattherson, Jr (3-0, 3-0);CSA Welterweight Champion since July 2000
3(x) Thiago Ceni (20-16, 0-0);
4(2) Nathan Chambers (4-1, 4-1); former CSA Welterweight Champion
5(3) Evan Pizzarro (5-1, 4-1);
6(x) Ross Smith (7-3, 0-0);
7(x) Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9, 0-0); came down from MW
8(8) Lucas Mueller (7-1, 0-0);
9(x) Peter Bracewell (21-11, 0-0);
10(9) Heiki Shimizu (2-0, 1-0);
Dropped out
x(4) Junmal Skinner (6-5, 0-2); lost to #10 Shimizu in Dec 2000
x(5) Marco Bernacci (6-4, 2-0); dropped back to LW
x(6) Diego Arteta (2-1, 1-1); lost to Bernacci in Dec 2000
x(7) Zachary Gilbert (12-10, 1-3); lost to Elvis Milissis in Dec 2000
x(10) Rich Robinson (3-0, 1-0); beat Brock Youdale in Nov 2000

Lightweights
1(2) Rafael Tavares (15-3, 1-0);
2(1) Dominic Ash (10-2, 4-1); CSA Lightweight Champion since Sept 2000
lost to Tomohiro Takeuchi at XCC in Jan 2001
3(4) Jason Dalglish (16-9, 0-0);
4(5) Tim Oldacres (3-1, 3-1); former CSA Lightweight Champion
5(3) Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-5, 0-2); lost to Sammy Newton in Oct 00
6(9) Sinali Shomen (3-0, 3-0); beat Randy Carsley in Oct 00
7(x) Marco Bernacci (6-4, 2-0); dropped down from WW
8(6) Jackson Gray (20-10, 0-0);
9(7) Sammy Gaffigan (15-5, 0-1);
10(8) Francesco Marazzina (19-9, 0-0);
Dropped out
10(8) Zhao Pau (10-7, 0-1); last fought July 2000

Women's Openweight
1(1) Mizuki Watanabe (9-0, 0-0)
2(2) Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1, 0-0)
3(x) Tiiu Kass (6-0, 0-0)
4(4) Layla Holmes (7-0, 3-0);
5(8) Thea Higgins (6-0, 3-0);
6(6) Allison Beattie (9-4, 1-1); beat Brooke Rockefeller at WEFF in Dec 00
7(7) Mako Takagawa (8-1, 1-0);
8(3) Honey Due (5-1, 2-1); lost to #5 Higgins in Nov 2000
9(5) Alyson Arroway (6-1, 2-1); lost to #4 Holmes in Oct 2000
10(9) Tara O'Brien (8-2, 1-0)
Dropped out
x(10) Veronika Sablikova (5-1, 1-1);[/QUOTE]

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 24, 2001

As you no doubt noticed in the delayed rankings, we've been busy bolstering the ranks for the coming year, signing 8 new fighters of which 7 are ranked in the top ten of their division on our roster. The 8th is 30 y/o HW Brady Crawford (8-6) from Carrollton, Texas who'll add more depth to that division. More importantly, we renewed the contract of HW Champion Mason Archer although it certainly wasn't cheap (STND, $15,000, 4/4, 15 months) who will also be looking to work with SIGMA on an associate contract basis.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Thursday January 25th, 2001 in Panama City Beach, FL

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Women's Openweight
Emi "The Red Devil" Nagano (1-3) vs Tiiu "Tigress" Kass (6-0)
We're privately hoping that Kass remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Kass needs to keep this one standing or she'll be in trouble
Kass wins by TKO at 2:48 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Jab, jab, jab, backing Nagano into the cage & then The Tigress pounced with a flurry of punches

Lightweight
Francesco Marazzina (19-9) vs "Storm Trooper" Jamie Hewitt (11-5)
We're privately hoping that Marazzina starts to make a name for himself in the US
Blurcat says they feel Marazzina will win
Hewitt wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Hewitt dodged two takedown attempts & won R1 by making it a boxing match. Hewitt dodged a kimura attempt & had a slight edge with surprising wrestling skills in R2. Hewitt staved off two arm triangle attempts in half guard to survive R3.

Women's Openweight
"The Beast From the East" Veronika Sablikova (5-1) vs Pamela "The Truth" O'Neill (5-2-1)
We're privately hoping that O'Neill doesn't get hurt by the monster
Blurcat says if Sablikova can get the fight to the ground then it's likely over
O'Neill wins by submission (kimura) at 1:57 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Fantastic
A strong R1 for O'Neill who looked much quicker & made it pay with both strikes & kicks. For some unknown reason O'Neill decided to grapple with Sablikova in R2, not nearly as effective but she still held her own. R3 started with a quick takedown by Sablikova but she never expected to get caught in a kimura

Lightweight
Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (15-5) vs Jackson "The Pocket Rocket" Gray (20-10)
We're privately hoping that Gaffigan finally ends his losing streak at 4
Blurcat says Gaffigan's clear edge on the ground will be the difference
Gaffigan wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 & 30-27)
The match was rated as being Decent
Closely matched R1 with neither able to score a takedown but both scoring with strikes while trying. Gaffigan scored a R2 knockdown with an enormous punch but Gray recovered quickly. Another knockdown by Gaffigan early in R3 pretty much sealed an otherwise fairly even fight.

Main Show
Lightweight
"The Miniature Killer" Jason Dalglish (16-9) vs Lazaro "Riptide" Campos (2-0)
We're privately hoping that it's a good fight that helps both in the long run
Blurcat says it'll be a contest of ranges, Campos can't stand with Dalglish but Dalglish can't wrestle with Campos
Campos wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Dalglish came out firing looking for a big KO but it was Campos who scored the first knockdown. Several solid kicks that landed had Dalglish limping by the middle of R2. Campos scored two more knockdowns in R3 but Dalglish proved to be plenty tough and survived them.

Light Heavyweight
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (3-1) vs Adrian "The Power" Pascal (5-1)
We're privately hoping that Rubenstein controls this as he should
Blurcat says Rubenstein will take the victory no matter where the fight goes
Rubenstein wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Pascal slowed things down in R1 and kept Rubenstein from doing much outside of a late takedown. Rubenstein got another takedown & was just active enough to avoid being stood up in R2. Same story in R3.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (3-0) vs Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (5-1)
We're privately hoping that this is very good
Blurcat says Mattherson will win on the ground
Pizzarro wins by Knock Out at 1:49 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Tremendous ground defense by Pizzarro in R1 had to frustrate the champion a bit. Mattherson tried to pull the challenger down into his guard early in R2 and got caught flush with a countering uppercut

Main Event: Light Heavyweight
Christian "The Tiger" Mountfield (14-7) vs "The Modern Day Gladiator" Bryan Van Den Hauwe (16-8)
We're privately hoping that these two veterans turn it up a notch in the spotlight
Blurcat says VDH is totally outgunned in every way
Mountfield wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as Poor
A yawner R1 as Mountfield couldn't get past half guard & VDH couldn't get free. More yawns & a restless crowd with a carbon copy R2. I kept checking my watch & listening to viewers changing the channel during the carbon copy R3.

Attendance: 840 for a gate of $33,600
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 31, 2001

Not bad, really a better reaction to the show than we had a right to get given the lousy main event.

Our streak of unsuccessful title defenses is getting kind of silly. 15 title reigns among 14 fighters (Dominic Ash is a 2x Lightweight Champion) and between them a grand total of TWO defenses, one by Nathan Chambers and one by Mason Archer. We'll just maintain that it highlights the incredible level of competition in CSA.

We lost about $17k during the month, about twice as much as usual in a TV month but most of that was due to signing bonuses given out during the hiring frenzy at the beginning of the month.

Elsewhere, the big news around the MMA world is the opening of a new promotion based in Russia. Polish businessman Jacek Kasprzyk has controlling interest of Tap Out Promotions aka TOP, a Moscow-based company that wants to capitalise on the popularity of MMA & Sambo styles.

Also during the month, SIGMA signed an associate deal with our Drew Jenks and renewed the contract of Phillip Ziskie, GAMMA renewed the contract of Josh Aldarisio, and XCC re-signed Shuler Eigenberg in spite of some negotiations we had with him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 21
Saturday Feb 24, 2001 in Savannah, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweight
"The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (21-6) vs Nik "The Minotaur" Minear (10-4)
We're privately hoping that Spyrou debuts for us in fine fashion
Blurcat says takedowns = Minear wins while stand-up = Spyrou wins
Spyrou wins by Knock Out at 1:07 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
R1 saw Spyrou scoring every time Minear went for a takedown & failed. R2 was a more emphatic version of the same thing: Minear shot in, Spyrou caught him flush with a counterpunch & knocked him out during the pound-your-stunned-opponent phase.

Lightweight
Rafael "Slick" Tavares (15-3) vs "Hollywood Player" Doug Minelli (1-2)
We're privately hoping that Tavares steadily continues his roll
Blurcat says Minelli is totally outmatched
Tavares by submission (kimura) at 2:09 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Bang, Zoom, Tap. A barrage of punches sent Minelli down & Tavares locked on the submission before he has any chance to recover

Heavyweight
Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (2-0) vs Gary "Pit Bull" Sampson (18-8)
We're privately hoping that Villar looks good at the higher weight
Blurcat says Villar just needs to strike well enough to keep Sampson at a distance in order to win
Villar wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Great
Villar scored well with kicks in R1. For some bizarre notion known only to his corner, Villar tried to take Sampson down & found himself in trouble throughout R2 instead. Back to what worked for Villar in R3, a dominating performance that sent Sampson down twice.

Heavyweight
"The Tornado" Terry Catt (4-3) vs Stan "The Man" Blackheath (20-12)
We're privately hoping that Catt appreciates the opportunity to pad his record by sending Blackheath into retirement
Blurcat says Catt is better in every area, not much chance for Blackheath
Catt wins by submission (armbar) at 1:47 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Takedown, straight to mount, submission applied

Main Show
Heavyweight
Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekhov (21-6) vs Juozas "Anarchy" Skerla (7-1)
We're privately hoping that Chekhov makes the most of this last-second booking added after Skerla began negotiating a contract with SIGMA
Blurcat says Chekhov has the upper hand no matter how this is fought
Chekhov wins by unanimous decisionafter three rounds (29-27 x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Decent
R1 saw Skerla pinning Chekhov to the cage for over a minute as the favorite kept missing takedown attempts. Punch, kick, jab, kick, worked very well for Chekhov in R2. An all-out assault by Chekhov opened R3 but somehow Skerla survived, impressive in his determination if nothing else.

Light Heavyweight
"The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (11-0) vs "No Surrender" Glenn Pimm (29-15)
We're privately hoping that Kanchelskis makes it to an even dozen
Blurcat says Kanchelskis should win without too much trouble
Kanchelskis wins by TKO at 0:45 of Round 1.
The match was rated as being Great
Rumors of a bad camp seemed very true as Pimm barely showed up for this one.

Welterweight
"Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (4-1) vs Rory "Maradonna" McEnterry (2-2)
We're privately hoping that is ready after losing his title last time out
Blurcat says Chambers ground game will outweight McEnterry's stand up
McEnterry wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Chambers struggled to defend McEnterry's kicks in R1. Big roundhouse kick scored a knockdown for McEnterry & had Chambers in trouble late in R2. Smelling the upset, McEnterry pressed the action a bit in the final round but didn't score the big finish. Brilliant gameplan & execution by McEnterry.

Women's Openweight
Mizuki "The She-Wolf" Watanabe (9-0) vs "The Phenom" Sayoko Ebisawa (14-1)
We're privately hoping that more people learn about these talented ladies after this fight
Blurcat says if Watanabe gets the takedowns she'll win, if she doesn't then she won't
Ebisawa wins by Knock Out at 2:31 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Fairly close R1 but Watanabe had the edge on the ground after catching a leg kick & converting the block into a takedown. Ebisawa answered a single punch with a barrage of her own for an early R2 knockdown, dodged another punch & flattened Watanabe again before standing up & waiting for her opponent to come in again. The plan was perfect as a jab set up a perfect spinning back fist to end it.

Lightweight: For the CSA Lightweight Title
Dominic "The Smash" Ash (10-2) vs Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (3-0)
We're privately hoping that this is worthy of a title fight. Shomen's record says it is, his experience & name recognition doesn't.
Blurcat says this one comes down to whether Shomen can get the fight to the ground
Shomen wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (50-45 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Motivation issues reported from the Ash camp were a concern & Shomen outpunching him in R1 didn't ease those fears much. Shomen got control of R2 with a takedown but didn't do much afterwards. Ash was better in R3, although Shomen stuck to his gameplan. R4 was again mostly Ash early as he keeps looking better but for the 4th straight round Shomen got a late takedown. R5 had both fighters slowing as they ran out of gas.

Co-Main Event: Heavyweight
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (6-1) vs Mark "The Thing" Cohen (35-10-2)
We're privately hoping that Franklyn takes advantage of what we're paying Cohen to boost his resume
Blurcat says as long as Franklyn has a good gameplan then his superior skills will emphatically count
Franklyn wins by TKO at 0:35 of Round 2
The match was rated as Great
Cohen was reportedly unhappy with his training & appeared a bit lost at times in R1, as he didn't have much of a plan after getting a couple of takedowns. R2 didn't last long, Franklyn shot in for a takedown, sent Cohen to guard & then opened up the floodgate of punches.

Co-Main Event: For the vacant CSA Women's Openweight Title
Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (7-0) vs "Deadly T" Thea Higgins (6-0)
We're privately hoping that this is everything we've been building towards with the women's division
Blurcat says Holmes has a clear advantage on the ground, edge to Higgins if standing but the takedowns should carry the day
Holmes wins by submission (kimura) at 4:39 of Round 4
The match was rated as Good
Both fighters seemed tentative in R1, maybe feeling the pressure of the main event & the title at stake. Not much going on in R2 either, both looking to grapple or control the other. Holmes looked to get the fight on the ground in R3 but wasn't very successful doing it. In R4, with both fighters clearly spent, Higgins failed to get past guard & left Holmes a fateful opening.

Attendance: 1,571 for a gate of $62,840
20,018 PPV Buys for revenue of $80,072
Show Rating: Very Poor

[JonInMiddleGA]

OOC note

I believe I've officially decided that the show rating/popularity mechanism used in WMMA 2 is one of the piss-poorest implementations I've ever seen in a game I paid for.

It's extremely counterintuitive, the way it's handled does little except lead to confusion for the player, and does little for me except lead to a strong desire (and virtual necessity) to game the game instead of just playing the game. Ryland gets so hung up on making things obscure sometimes that he seems to forget that text simmers tend to like playing long careers, instead this convoluted abortion of a method of handling popularity makes it nearly impossible to enjoy the game for having to perpetually worry about the arcane system he devised getting you fired & abruptly ending your efforts. If I wanted constant job stress, I'd skip the games & worry about my real life. Instead we're stuck with a nearly nonsensical rapid growth/rapid decline model for promotions, an utter disregard for common sense model for fighter popularity, and in combination a system that seems designed for short attention spans who don't intend to play the game for more than a year or two of game time so they can rush off to the next one.

It borders on being a game killer for me at this point.

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 28, 2000

So it goes I suppose.

We get good to great matches, a variety of fight styles & outcomes, and the so-called fans crap all over the show. I'm about ready to say screw 'em & just let good fighters engage in good fights. Then again, these "fans" don't seem to really enjoy much of anything except flash knockouts in utter mismatches, sorry ass short attention span bitches.

For the month we cleared about $70k in profit, revenue eaten up by an almost absurdly high prize money payout.

We didn't lack for roster activity in the month, renewing the contract of Spencer Rubenstein (EXCL, $2500, 8/6, 33 months) and adding six new fighters in the never ending attempt to throw names at people.

-- 25 y/o MW Jonathan Huang (0-0), one of the world's top Jiu Jitsu artists from Thailand. Ridiculously expensive (STND, $17,500, 7/7, 30 months) so I hope to hell he's worth it once he actually steps foot in the ring
-- 26 y/o Flyweight Vivian Terkay (7-0), a Muay Thai lady from Lynn Lake, Manitoba. She'll come on board after going 2-0 in relatively easy WEFF bouts.
-- 28 y/o LHW "The Scourge of Europe" Nicolai Mickiewicz (23-5), a wrestler from Minsk, Belarus. He was 4-1 for SIGMA, with a win over Aleksei Chekhov to his credit. (STND, $3500, 6/6, 24 months)
-- 31 y/o LHW Lawrence "The Law" Herringbone (15-7), a sambo fighter from Raleigh, North Carolina. He's lost four straight fights at GAMMA, but has some name value in spite of the losses (STND, $7000, 6/6, 30 months)
-- 27 y/o Lightweight Colm "The Celtic Warrior" Dee (15-5), a boxer from Dublin, Ireland. Really a featherweight that we'll ask to fight up, he was 3-3 for SIGMA coming off back to back losses to Lars Bohlin & Phillip Ziskie (EXCL, $2500, 7/7, 30 months)
-- 27 y/o Welterweight Dana "Danger Man" Delaney (10-6), a hybrid boxer from Yonkers, New York. Was 2-4 for GAMMA, with losses in 4 of his last 5 outings but he tends to be entertaining to the masses before he taps out.

On the other end of the spectrum, Stan Blackheath retired after losing yet another fight, Peter Bracewell let us know that in spite of his new contract he'll be retiring by summer at the latest, and we'll have to schedule several fighters carefully with recent associate contract deals for Benny Danare (SIGMA), Christian Mountfield (SIGMA), Evan Pizzarro (SIGMA), and Simone King (WEFF).

And now to the really unpleasant news: former Lightweight Champion Dominic Ash flunked a drug test after his last fight and is now on medical suspension for one year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Thursday March 15th, 2001 in Tunica, MS

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweight
"The Unbreakable" Gideon Navarro (2-1) vs Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-11)
We're privately hoping that Navarro gets back on track with an easy win
Blurcat says Navarro should handle Dixon
Navarro wins by TKO at 2:14 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Average
Navarro did little after a R1 takedown except smother Dixon. He was more aggressive after another takedown early in R2

Middleweight
"The Soldier of Fortune" Thomas Smith (12-5) vs "The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-4)
We're privately hoping that Smith starts his CSA career with a win
Blurcat says Smith should win this fairly easily
Smith wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Smith scored early with strikes, Russell slowed him down with good grappling late in R1. Same basic story in R2 and again in R3.

Light Heavyweight
"The Queen of Mean" Simone King (4-5) vs Daniella Sadorra (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Sadorra gets her second straight win
Blurcat says Sadorra should win on the ground unless King's striking could somehow keep her at bay throughout
Sadorra wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Sadorra couldn't score much but controlled the tempo of R1. Sadorra had the better of R2, actually outstriking King. King flipped the script to open R3 and sent Sadorra sprawling but she recovered quickly, surviving that as well as a big roundhouse kick to the head.

Middleweight
"The Flying V" Esteban Vega (4-1) vs Julio "The Nightmare" Gutierrez (4-1)
We're privately hoping that the winner comes away looking very good
Blurcat says Vega has his opponent outclassed
Gutierrez wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Gutierrez couldn't get past guard but Vega couldn't shake him off either. R2 to Gutierrez again. Vega turned the tables in R3 but had no more success in finishing his opponent than Gutierrez had found.

Main Show
Light Heavyweight
Marlon "The Punisher" John (5-1) vs Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (11-5)
We're privately hoping that John starts working toward a rematch
Blurcat says John should handle this one easily
John wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Decent
The former champ in control of R1 but couldn't quite get to mount as he wanted. Close R2 with Fierstein getting a fairly uncontested takedown as John was content to pull guard. A close final round with one takedown apiece.

Lightweight
"Mr. T" Tim Oldacres(3-1) vs Zhao "Ka" Pau (10-7)
We're privately hoping that the former champ is hungry & ready to fight
Blurcat says Oldacres should control the fight
Oldacres wins by TKO at 2:10 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Punch, kick, shove into the cage and start pounding away

Co-Main Event" Welterweight
Thiago Ceni (20-16) vs "Iron Jaw" Peter Bracewell (21-11)
We're privately hoping Ceni sends Bracewell into retirement with a loss
Blurcat says Bracewell will go into retirement on a winning note
Bracewell wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Ceni controlled R1 with an effective jab. Bracewell controlled R2 with his grappling. Dirty boxing gave Bracewell the slight edge in R3

Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (4-0) vs Christian "The Tiger" Mountfield (15-7)
We're privately hoping that LeFleur finally lets us see another successful title defense
Blurcat says LeFleur has a slight edge overall & should win
LeFleur wins by TKO at 3:15 of Round 1.
The match was rated as Fantastic
LeFleur missed a takedown & got pounded a little for his troubles. Mountfield missed a takedown & got pounded a LOT for his troubles

Attendance: 749 for a gate of $29,969
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Excellent

[BYU 14]

Damn, Russell is stinking it up for you and he just took my undeafeted MW Champion to the brink. That randomness is one really cool thing about this game.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Damn, Russell is stinking it up for you and he just took my undeafeted MW Champion to the brink. That randomness is one really cool thing about this game.

Yeah, he's not just been bad, he's bordered on awful. 0-5 with his highest rated match being average. His ratings are killed by going the distance & losing unanimous decisions.

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 31, 2001

We're in a pretty familiar pattern at this point, gain some popularity with our TV shows, lose some popularity with our PPV's that aren't quite filled with big enough names to satisfy some fickle fans that seem more interested in names that skills or quality of fights. That's the way it goes.

Net loss of $15,610 for the month, about the usual and it's tolerable as long as the PPV revenue holds up around 4x-5x that amount in profits.

As most people probably expected, we released 2x former LW Champion Dominic Ash from his contract after the failed drug test. In part that's a statement about our feelings on banned substance use and in part a practical reality since his suspension lasted beyond the remainder of his contract anyway & no chance we were going to renew it. We did however renew the contract of former MW titleholder Esteban Vega (4-3) in spite of his televised loss to Gutierrez. Lot of talent there, just needs to be more focused (EXCL, $1800, 8/4, 30 months).

One other newcomer to the roster, 23 y/o FW Ashihei Bando (2-0), a judoka from Kitakyushu, Japan that will join our lightweight ranks for a look. (EXCL, $1000, 6/4, 27 months)

One exit from the roster as Juozas Skerla (7-2) joins GAMMA full-time. We knew this was coming & at least managed to get him to lose to Chekov before he departed.

Biggest news around the business came as no surprise either really, as BCF formally declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. It makes a few talented fighters available for hire but really has less impact than you might think. The other big move was A-1 signing #2 ranked HW Raul Hughes (17-2) away from GAMMA. The question now is whether he'll go on to face Hassan Fezzik at some point or if they'll shift him down to LHW to compete with Katou, Yamada, and surprising champion Kendall Tracey.

While we're on the subject of other fighters, I thought it might be interesting to check on the status of some guys who used to work here.

LW Hinton Grey - was 0-2 for us, has gone 3-1 since leaving including 1-0 in XCC.

FW Shuler Eigenberg - was 4-0 as a LW for us, is 2-1 for XCC since leaving

MW Bill Brown - was 3-1 for us & was our Middleweight Champion briefly before Esteban Vega took care of that. Has gone 1-0 for ALPHA-1 since leaving, beating Kramer Mayweather.

MW Kramer Mayweather - was 5-0 for us & is another former Middleweight Champion. His only fight for A-1 so far is the loss to Bill Brown.

MW Nigel Malley - was 0-2 for us and is 0-1 since leaving, losing to French Dancer at an indy show in February 2001.

WW Garrison Grable - was 0-4 for us and is 0-2 on the indy scene since leaving.

LHW Petey Barnum - was 0-4 for us and is 0-1 for GAMMA with a loss in February 2001.

HW Frank Analysis - was 0-4 for us and hasn't fought since leaving

LW Ian Linderman - was 0-4 for us, went 2-0 in indy fights, and is now 0-1 fighting for XCC

WW Lloyd McAllister - was 0-1 for us, and has gone 0-3 for ALPHA-1 since leaving. Has already been told that his contract there will not be renewed. We contacted him about a possible return but he was not interested at the time.

LHW Ernie Bruns - was 1-2 for us, has gone 0-3 for GAMMA since leaving

LHW Ed Burridge - was 0-4 for us and has gone 0-1 on the indy scene with a loss to French Dancer

WW Kyle Sagal - was 2-2 for us and hasn't fought since leaving after his September 2000 appearance. We're considering making him an offer to return.

WW Linton Berry - was 0-2 for us and is 0-1 on the indy scene since leaving.

LHW Titus Mostel - was 0-4 for us and is 0-1 on the indy scene since leaving, with a loss last month to Jethro Munter

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of April 1, 2001

Promotion Rankings (size, change since July 2000, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (Low Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (down to High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. CSA (Up to Mid Level National, 0, LHW Thorbjorn Rekdal)
4. SIGMA (Up to Low Level National, 0, LW Fiyero Lermontov)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, 0, BW April Watson)
6. XCC (Mid Level Regional, +1, FW Phillip Ziskie)
7. TOP (Mid Level Regional, NEW, HW Percy Catcher)
8. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, 0, LHW Alex Cole)
Out of business
X. BCF was #6, ceased operations on April 1, 2001


Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (31-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 beat Armen Sarkisian in March 2001
2(2) Mike Watson (15-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; beat Ken Peters in February 2001
3(x) Luke Hilton (13-0); Alpha-1, Lightweight beat Fumiaki Hayashi in February 2001
4(3) Kafu Bunya (15-0); Alpha-1, Welterweight last fought in Nov 2000
5(4) Raul Hughes (17-2); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion,now Alpha-1
6(5) Jin Katou (23-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight beat Sho Kitabatake in February 2001
7(6) Matthew Dean (37-5); Gamma; Middleweight last fought in December 2000
8(7) Sean Morrison (29-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 beat Anderson Desailly in March 2001
9(8) James Foster (38-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion beat Souleymane Ya Konan by TKO in February 2001
10(9) Kunimichi Kikuchi (36-5); Alpha-1; HW last fought in November 2000
Dropped Out
x(10) Julio Regueiro (17-1-1); former Gamma Welterweight Champion last fought in November 2000

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (31-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (17-2); Alpha-1, was Gamma
3(3) James Foster (38-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (36-5) Alpha-1;
5(6) Gregor Boniek (38-5); Alpha-1
6(5) Armen Sarkisian (17-1); Alpha-1 lostto #1 Fezzik in March 01
7(7) Curt Kitson (23-3); unemployed, was BCF
8(x) Terron Cabal (15-1); Alpha-1 beat Jeff Carlton in March 01
9(8) Stratos Papaioannou (29-6); Sigma
10(x) Aleksander Ivanov (7-0); Sigma beat Ikuhisa Tamura in March 01
Dropped out
x(9) Tony McCall (35-11); Gamma lost to Fatuma Roy in Feb 01
x(10) Jeff Carlton (35-10); Alpha-1 lost to #8 Cabal in March 01

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (15-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000,
2(2) Jin Katou (22-1); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
3(3) Tadamasa Yamada (25-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
4(8) Roberto Aldez (46-8); Alpha-1 beat John Rivero in Mar 01
5(6) Zvonimir Asanovic (18-2); former Gamma LHW Champion
6(7) Anthony LeToussier (17-3); Gamma;
7(6) John Rivero (21-2); Gamma; lost to #4 Aldez in Mar 01
8(9) Thorbjorn Rekdal (18-2); CSA
9(x) Nicolai Mickiewicz (23-5); CSA
10(x) Ken Peters (13-2); GAMMA; lost to Mike Watson in Feb 01
Dropped out
x(4) Alex Cole (15-0); OMEGA MW Champion since May 2000 & SIGMA moved back to MW
x(10) Elgar (28-9); Alpha-1 lost to Pete Shilton in Mar 01

Middleweight
1(1) Matthew Dean (37-5); Gamma
2(2) JJ Reid (31-3); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Aug 2000
3(3) Petey Mack (19-2); Alpha-1
4(4) Neil Napier (19-1); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
5(x) Alex Cole (16-0); OMEGA MW Champion since May 2000 & SIGMA
6(5) Mac Fuller (32-7); Gamma
7(6) Stuart Strange (16-2); Gamma
8(7) Heiji Endo (18-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
9(8) Leonardo da Costa (19-3); Alpha-1
10(9) Buddy Garner (17-2); Gamma
Dropped out
x(10) Ashley Ballard (14-2); CSA; last fought Dec 00

Welterweight
1(1) Kafu Bunya (15-0); Alpha-1
2(2) Julio Rugueiro (17-1-1);former Gamma Welterweight Champion
3(3) Carlos da Guia (18-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
4(4) Darin Blood (16-3); GAMMA Welterweight Champion since Nov 2000
5(5) Josh Aldarisio (9-0); Gamma
6(6) Jack Humphreys (31-4); Gamma
7(7) Mikey Wallace (10-0); Gamma
8(10) Helio (24-2); unemployed, was BCF Lightweight Champion
9(8) David Allen (20-2); Gamma;
10(9) Gabriel Gallego (18-3); Alpha-1
Dropped Out
None

Lightweight
1(2) Luke Hilton (13-0); Alpha-1, was Gamma
2(1) Sean Morrison (29-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(3) Fiyero Lermontov (15-0); Sigma
4(4) Shizuya Nakae (30-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion
5(6) Sukarno (8-0);Alpha-1
6(7) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-1); Alpha-1
7(5) Fumiaki Hayashi (20-6); Alpha-1 lost to #1 Hilton in Feb 01
8(8) Lubos Plasil (11-1); Sigma lost to Brandon Sugar in Sept 2000
9(x) Go Yamamoto (29-10-2);Alpha-1 beat Branco in Feb 01
10(x) Heiko Pander (6-1); Sigma; beat Jens Halle in Feb 01
Dropped out
x(9) Brandon Sugar (27-8); Sigma lost to Paulo Roberto Bezerra in Feb 01
x(10) Branco (12-2); Alpha-1; lost to #9 Yamamoto in Feb 01

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); unemployed (was KDMFC FW Champion)
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (16-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(3) Lars Bohlin (52-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (21-4); XCC beat Dominic Ash in Jan 01
5(6) Easton Frye (12-1); XCC beat Tan Su in Mar 01
6(5) Manish Khan (12-2); Sigma
7(7) Colm Dee (15-5); CSA, was SIGMA
8(x) Azor Portela Nunes (26-6); XCC
9(10) Shuler Eigenberg (15-3); XCC
10(x) Norberto (28-7); XCC, was SIGMA
Dropped out
x(8) Tan Su (14-7); XCC; lost to #5 Frye in Mar 2001
x(9) Rafael Tavares (15-3); CSA

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) April Watson (10-0); XCC Women's Champion since March 1999 & WEFF Women's LW Champion since August 2000;
2(5) Sayoko Ebisawa (15-1); CSA;
3(6) Jenny DeNeuve (7-1); former WEFF Lightweight Champion
4(2) Sarah Vaughn (15-3); WEFF Women's HW Champion since Dec 2000
5(7) Alisha Wood (8-1); fomer WEFF Heavyweight Champion
6(x) Layla Holmes (8-0); CSA Women's Champion since Feb 2001
7(4) Yuya Shimizu (11-1); XCC lost to #1 Watson in Jan 01
8(9) Tiiu Kass (7-0); CSA
9(3) Mizuki Watanabe (9-1); CSA; lost to #2 Ebisawa in Feb 01
10(x) Rachel McGuinness (10-0-1); WEFF beat Serena Hill in March 01
Dropped out
x(8) Vicki Summers (14-2-2); WEFF draw vs Laura Adair in Mar 01
x(10) Haley Croft (15-4); WEFF beat Harriet Fey in Mar 01

[JonInMiddleGA]

April 30, 2001

Ever hear the phrase "go big or go home"? That's kind of the theme for the month I guess, as we roll several handfuls of very big dice. First of all, we postpone CSA 22 until May. Then we eat nearly $60k in losses for the month, most of it related to the other things that transpired. Namely contracts, eleven of them to be more precise.

-- 29 y/o FW Katherine Williams (9-3), a submission fighter from Boston, Massachusetts, signed away from XCC (EXCL, $3250, 7/6, 30 months)
-- 29 y/o LHW Jethro "The Hunter" Munter (15-7-1), a submission fighter from Fort Worth, Texas. 0-3-1 with GAMMA but is coming off a win over Titus Mostel
-- 36 y/o HW Chuck "The Laughing Man" Dooley (21-18), a native of Toronto whose only style seems to be to hit the other guy really hard. Between A-1 & BCF he's lost 7 straight fights (and counting) but people strangely seem to like to see him fight. Or show up. Or whatever he does. (EXCL, $7500, 4/3, 24 months)
-- 28 y/o LW Aaron "The Patriot" McBroom (12-5), an American-style kick boxer from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 4-3 with GAMMA & coming off a win over Juan Pablo Rique. (EXCL, $25000, 4/4, 18 months)
-- 29 y/o MW Alex "Ace In the Hole" Cole (16-0), a wrestler from Overland Park, Kansas. Reigning OMEGA Middleweight Champion who has also worked for SIGMA & BCF in the past year. (EXCL, $25000, 4/4, 18 months). #5 ranked middleweight in the world.
-- 28 y/o MW Patrick "The Titan" Thomas (11-8), a freestyle fighter from Shreveport, Louisiana. Mired in a four match losing streak over the past year & half between A-1 and GAMMA. (EXCL, $7500, 5/5, 21 months)
-- 25 y/o WW Helio (24-2), a Muay Thai fighter from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Former BCF Lightweight Champion who is riding a four fight winning streak between BCF & XCC. (EXCL, $12000, 6/6, 24 months). #8 ranked Welterweight in the world.
-- 27 y/o LHW Rainieri "Martelo" Fernanda (4-0), a wrestler from Manaus, Brazil. Signed away from Omega before they ever used him.
-- 26 y/o BW April "The Blonde Bombshell" Watson (10-0), a Muay Thai fighter from Atlanta, Georgia. The reigning WEFF Women's Lightweight Champion, the reigning XCC Women's Champion and the #1 ranked female PFP fighter in the wooooooorld. (EXCL, $20000, 6/6, 24 months)
-- 34 y/o LHW "The Battering Ram" Andranik Paletilolu (19-7), a kick boxer from Belgrade, Serbia. 2-1 during his recent stint with OMEGA, just 1-2 in the prior run with SIGMA. (EXCL, $2500, 6/6, 24 months)

Oh yeah, we renewed the contract of Glenn Pimm and bid farewell to Brock Youdale as his contract expired.

What it comes down to is this. If we're really the #3 promotion in the world and want to not only stay there but continue to climb then we're going to have to have fighters that people perceive as being at that level and we're going to have to pay to get them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 22
Sunday May 27, 2001 in Jacksonville, FL

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Welterweight
Bradley "The Hunter" Dixon (17-12) vs Chad "Easy Z" Zoff (0-2)
We're privately hoping that Zoff finally gets his act together
Blurcat says hard to see any way that Dixon could win this one
Zoff wins by TKO at 3:23 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Takedown, side control, mount, and then an unending flurry of elbows

Women's Openweight
"The Flame-Haired Phenom" Tabitha Cameron (1-1) vs Nina "Liberty" Belle (0-1)
We're privately hoping that we'll have a better idea what to do with both fighters after this
Blurcat says Cameron just has to get the fight to the ground to win
Belle wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Two knockdowns in R1 gave Belle the early advantage. Both fighters unloaded barrages of punches in R2. Belle's superior kicks gave her the final round.

Heavyweight
"Longshore" Damien Jones (8-1) vs Taye Burnett (1-2)
We're privately hoping that this fight helps us decide the course for both men
Blurcat says Jones is more skilled & will win
Jones wins by Knock Out at 0:26 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Burnett was very aggressive punching in R1 but Jones countered well. R2 lasted one punch, a huge shot by Jones.

Welterweight
Junmal Skinner (6-5) vs Diego "Apocalypse" Arteta (2-1)
We're privately hoping that Arteta gets back on track
Blurcat says Skinner will be lucky just to make this last very long
Arteta wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Decent
Both fighters were effective with sweeps to create a back & forth R1. Arteta was effective striking in R2 as Skinner patiently looked for an opening. Skinner pushed more in R3 but Arteta kept him at bay easily.

Welterweight
Pirmin Zubriggen (13-9) vs Bosco "Bad Attitude" Curbeam (1-0)
We're privately hoping that Curbeam elevates himself with a win
Blurcat says Zubriggen is totally out-gunned in every way
Curbeam wins by submission (armbar) at 4:27 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Fairly easy win for Curbeam once he found an arm

Welterweight
Anthony Ray Shenkman (17-5) vs "The Wrecking Ball" Lucas Mueller (7-1)
We're privately hoping that long layoffs don't make either fighter rusty
Blurcat says Shenkman wins if he gets the action on the ground
Shenkman wins by split decision after three round (29-28 x2 and 28-29)
The match was rated as being Decent
Shenkman opened a cut with a spate of elbows from the mount in R1. Mueller controlled R2 but did little damage. Very close R3 as Shenkman could push Mueller to the cage but Mueller's wrestling gave him three reversals.

Main Show
Welterweight
Rich "Hard Rain" Robinson (3-0) vs Elvis "The King" Milissis (5-3)
We're privately hoping that Robinson stays unbeaten
Blurcat says Robinson should win this one on the ground
Robinson wins by TKO at 4:08 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
The match turned on a caught kick attempt, which gave Robinson a takedown, side control, and eventual mount.

Middleweight
Mario de Souza (26-7) vs Jonathan "The Locust" Huang (0-0)
We're privately hoping that both fighters elevate their profile here
Blurcat says Huang is superior in every area
Huang wins by submission (armbar) at 1:56 of Round 1.
The match was rated as being Great
Dominanting performance by Huang

Middleweight
Joaquim Fontes (12-2) vs Jakuchu "Sai" Abe (2-0)
We're privately hoping that Abe at least looks able to compete with a more experienced opponent
Blurcat says Abe's ground game edge will turn the tide
Fontes wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Fontes completely frustrated Abe in R1, blocking several takedown attempts from a grappling position. More solid defense from Fontes in R2. Nothing substantial from either fighter in R3

Light Heavyweight
"The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (6-2) vs "Major Damage" William Harrison (5-1)
We're privately hoping that we think both fighters are for real after the fight is through
Blurcat says they're picking Harrison
Harrison wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 & 30-27)
The match was rated as being Average
Harrison was active in R1 but Dreck kept him at bay easily. Harrison was more effective in R2, controlling Dreck on the ground for a large part of the round. Good punching from Harrison gave him the final round.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (14-2) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (10-2)
We're privately hoping that Jenks doesn't turn this into a dull dud
Blurcat says Ballard should be able to pick Jenks apart
Ballard wins by Knock Out at 0:51 of Round 4
The match was rated as Good
Jenks got a takedown early in R1 and made it last for virtually the entire round. A big barrage of punches to open R2 sent Jenks down, where he spent the rest of the round defending himself from Ballard's strikes. Jenks showed impressive strength, suddenly slamming the champion to take R3. A missed punch by the challenger to open R4, answered with a wicked sudden head kick & the champion pounced on the stunned Jenks to finish.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Women's Openweight Title
Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (8-0) vs Tiiu "Tigress" Kass (7-0)
We're privately hoping that Kass handles the weight difference & looks like a legit contender against all comers
Blurcat says Kass has to keep the fight standing to have a chance & they don't believe she can
Kass wins by Knock Out at 0:56 of Round 4
The match was rated as Fantastic
In R1 for every punch Holmes landed, Kass answered with 2 or 3. Late in R2 Holmes finally managed to close in & lifted Kass easily for a slam. The first successful takedown of the match came from Holmes late in R3. In R4 Holmes shot in for another takedown and went face first into a counterpunch that sent her down, Kass went quickly to her side raining down strikes including one that finished the match.

Attendance: 5,716 for a gate of $285,800
66,528 PPV Buys for revenue of $266,122
Show Rating: Fantastic

[Tellistto]

Wow, nice one there. Good stuff here, have been following and will continue.

Tell

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wow, nice one there. Good stuff here, have been following and will continue.Tell

Thanks, hard for even grumpy old me not to be pleased with that one. That's roughly the same attendance & PPV buys of my last three PPV's combined.
And with that, I might as well roll the end of the month credits too

May 31, 2001

Gosh. I think they liked it. We're more than a little stunned with the response in both ticket sales & PPV buys. I mean, in my wildest imagination I didn't expect to have a monthly profit of $488,891

for the MONTH !!!

I have to admit that I didn't expect Kass to beat Holmes and definitely didn't expect it to be by KO.

Also during the month, we renwed the contract of Joaquim Fontes prior to the PPV and added 6 new fighters to the fold:
-- 30 y/o LW Brandon "Sugar Rush" Sugar (27-8), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Indianapolis, Indiana. He was 1-2 during a run with SIGMA including a loss to Fiyero Lermontov and a win over Lubos Plasil. In 1999 he went 2-1 with KDM FC. (STND, $2500, 6/6, 24 months)
--29 y/o BW Karen "The Demon" Curtis (7-5), a Sambo fighter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She's lost four straight with XCC but had some very good matches including a TKO loss to Tiiu Kass (EXCL, $2000, 5/4, 21 months)
-- 29 y/o BW Samantha "The Predator" Sachs (10-3), a judoka from Perth, Australia. 5-3 in a long run with XCC with her only losses coming to Katherine Williams (2x) and April Watson. (EXCL, $2750, 6/5, 24 months)
-- 28 y/o MW Nick "Streets" Detroit (7-3), a kick boxer from Virginia Beach, Virginia. He won his last two fights at OMEGA and was fantastic in all three bouts there. (EXCL, $2000, 7/6, 28 months)
--24 y/o LW Guilherme "Zoom" de Barros (4-1), an Advanced Muay Thai fighter from Fortaleza, Brazil. Unbeaten until he faced Gonzalo Ramos in OMEGA last month. Young but fairly solid skills to build upon. (EXCL, $1200, 8/6, 33 months)
-- 27 y/o LW Anderson "Flash" Desailly (7-5), a Muay Thai fighter from Sao Paulo, Brazil. 1-2 with GAMMA, most recently TKO'ed by Sean Morrison (EXCL, $1600, 8/5, 30 months)

In other news from around the business, HW "The Street Fighter" Leon Banks (35-10) continues his world tour, signing an exclusive contract with GAMMA. In April he fought for SIGMA, in January for BCF and in 1999 & most of 2000 he was with Alpha-1. We may eventually try to sign him for at least one match just so he can continue to add promotions to his resume.

Alpha-1 signed promising LHW "Hollywood" Ricky Heath (19-6), although we tried they were willing to pay waaaaay more than we were. GAMMA got double dipped by A-1 in May, also losing HW Tim "The Tower Of Power" Boyer (21-6-2) as the war for supremacy continues.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Wednesday June 13th, 2001 in Marietta, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Lightweight
Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (16-5) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton(3-3)
We're privately hoping that Gaffigan can win his second in a row
Blurcat says Gaffigan is better standing or grounded & should win
Newton wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Decent
A close R1 with good grappling by Newton, good punching by Gaffigan. A dirty boxing exhibition in R2 with Newton having the better of it. A tired Gaffigan did what he could be nowhere near enough in the final round

Light Heavyweight
Vagner (15-7) vs "Glorious" Joshua Hope (3-2)
We're privately hoping that the talented Hope finally has his act together
Blurcat says Hope simply looks too good for Vagner
Hope wins by TKO at 4:17 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
An early takedown & a steady stream of blows by Hope

Welterweight
Ross "Harvard" Smith (7-3) vs Malcolm "Zodiac" O'Hearn (1-0)
We're privately hoping that somebody looks good here
Blurcat says Smith should taste victory
Smith wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Smith controlled R1 with a little striking & some grappling. Another round to Smith, although O'Hearn's wrestling skills let him avoid any serious damage by tying up Smith. Close R3, but O'Hearn lacked any serious threat.

Lightweight
Brandon "Sugar Rush" Sugar (27-8) vs Randy "Super Snake" Carsley (4-1)
We're privately hoping that Sugar debuts for us with a win
Blurcat says the Rush is on
Sugar wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Sugar dominated R1 with his striking but failed to hook any of three submission attempts. Same thing in R2, with elbows opening a cut under Carsley's eye. To a lesser degree, R3 was more of the same.

Light Heavyweight
Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (3-1) vs Jasper "The Mighty Wasp" Osmond (12-15)
We're privately hoping that Hersch can actually get on a winning streak
Blurcat says Hersch is too talented for Osmond to hang around for long
Hersch wins by submission (armbar) at 2:09 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Takedown, past guard to the finish

Main Show
For the CSA Lightweight Title
Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (4-0) vs Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (6-4)
We're privately hoping that Shomen at least looks legit & not like a fluke
Blurcat says they can only see one way for this to end: with a new champion
Bernacci wins by Knock Out at 4:29 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Average
An early takedown but Bernacci couldn't get past guard & they were finally stood up. That was bad news for the champion, who missed a punch ... the challenger landed a counter right on the button ala Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.

Light Heavyweight
"Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (18-2) vs "The Scourge of Europe" Nicolai Mickiewicz (23-5)
We're privately hoping that the TV exposure in the US outweighs a loss for either
Blurcat says Mickiewicz ground game trumps Rekdal's striking
Rekdal wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
A takedown by Mickiewicz was the only offense of note in R1. Rekdal answered with two knockdowns that had his opponent reeling in R2. More striking by Rekdal in R3 although Mickiewicz scored another takedown late in the round.

Co-Main Event: Middleweight
Alex Cole (16-0) vs "The Soldier of Fortune" Thomas Smith (13-5)
We're privately hoping that Cole makes his case as a ready contender for Ballard's MW Title.
Blurcat says Cole has a clear edge in enough places to make the difference
Cole wins by TKO at 3:35 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Cole got past half guard to mount, Smith gave up his back & Cole unleashed a barrage that left the referee little choice

Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (5-0) vs Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (4-1)
We're privately hoping that we close the show with a bang not a whimper
Blurcat says LeFleur should retain if he can turn the fight into a ground battle
Rubenstein wins by split decision after five rounds (48-47 x2 and 47-48)
The match was rated as Good
Most of R1 was spent with LeFleur pinned against the cage. R2 saw LeFleur's grappling edge Rubenstein's counter-punching & wrestling. R3 had Rubenstein on his back dazed after a counter-punch combo by the champ but he was stopped at side control which he relinquished to go back to standing. A close R4 with two exhausted fighters, the biggest moment was a punch by the challenger that staggered LeFleur. R5 featured little offense from either spent fighter.

Attendance: 2,346 for a gate of $117,300
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 23
Sunday June 24, 2001 in Reno, NV

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Special One Night Heavyweight Newcomers Tournament - Semi-Final #1
"The Public Enemy" Patrick Bennett (3-0) vs Eric "Big D" Dartmouth (1-0)
We're privately hoping that this idea doesn't suck
Blurcat says Bennett's striking & Dartmouth's wrestling make this a near toss-up with Dartmouth picked to win
Bennett wins by TKO at 1:19 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Bennett kept Dartmouth at bay in R1. Bennett was in control of R2 until Dartmouth caught a leg kick & took him down with it, reigning punches down from mount as time expired. Taking no chances in R3, Bennett roared out of his corner with a flurry of blows that pinned Dartmouth to the cage.

Special One Night Heavyweight Newcomers Tournament - Semi-Final #2
"Abyss" Javier Perry (3-0) vs "Boom Boom" Guy Broom (0-0)
We're privately hoping that this idea doesn't suck again
Blurcat says Broom is better in every area & should win easily
Broom wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
A fantastic sweep by Broom in R1 gave him mount position & he scored repeatedly with elbows although they didn't seem to do much damage. Same thing happened again in R2. A tiring Broom did enough in R3 to secure things.

Women's Openweight
Samantha "The Predator" Sachs (10-3) vs "Stunning" Steph Smith (2-1)
We're privately hoping that our homegrown fighter looks good here
Blurcat says Sachs should win narrowly
Smith wins by TKO at 1:43 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Smith wasted no time punching Sachs into the cage & more

Women's Openweight
Karen "The Demon" Curtis (7-5) vs Temperance "Bang Bang" McCoy (1-2)
We're privately hoping that our homegrown fighter could pull off an upset
Blurcat says Curtis has a clear edge on the ground & should win it there
Curtis wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Great
McCoy rocked Curtis with a big punch in R1 but most of the round had Curtis in control on the ground. McCoy scored at will with punches in R2, taken down only just before time expired. Curtis scored two takedowns in R3 to control the waning minutes of the fight.

Heavyweight
"Granite" Kevin Portman (10-7) vs Don "The Rumble King" Norman (24-16)
We're privately hoping that we feel good about whoever wins afterwards
Blurcat says Portman should have enough to win this
Portman wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 & 29-28)
The match was rated as being Average
An even R1 with both fighters scoring with several jabs. Portman took R2 by pinning Norman against the cage for more than half the round but Norman refused to be taken down. Portman finally got a takedown in R3 but was too tired to do much with it.

Women's Lightweight
"Lost Innocence" Leslie Myers (1-1) vs "Glamorous G" Gianna Russo (1-2)
We're privately hoping that this doesn't suck
Blurcat says Russo can't stand with Myers & that will be her undoing
Myers wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Myers scored big in R1 with a big time punch for a knockdown. Russo wanted to grapple in R2 but couldn't get close enough because of effective counterpunching. Another knockdown for Myers in R3 but she couldn't quite finish.

Special One Night Heavyweight Newcomers Tournament Final
"The Public Enemy" Patrick Bennett (4-0) vs "Boom Boom" Guy Broom (1-0)
We're privately hoping that this idea doesn't suck again
Blurcat says
Broom wins by TKO at 2:01 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Broom had the better of R1 after a takedown but did no significant damage otherwise. Another takedown early in R2 and this time Broom found a combination of elbows & punches that worked.

Main Show
Light Heavyweight
"The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (12-0) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (3-2)
We're privately hoping that Kanchelskis doesn't slip up here
Blurcat says Flintstone cant' stand with the big Russian and can't beat him on the ground either
Flintstone wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Solid defensive effort by Flintstone in R1. Kanchelskis controlled R2 after a takedown. Flintstone was the aggressor in R3 although Kanchelskis fought him every step of the way, even scoring a takedown in the final seconds of the fight.

Heavyweight
Lawrence "The Law" Herringbone (15-7) vs Chuck "The Laughing Man" Dooley (21-18)
We're privately hoping that Herringbone takes this seriously
Blurcat says Herringbone will snap his losing streak & extend Dooley's
Herringbone wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 29-28)
The match was rated as being Average
Herringbone couldn't hit the home run he kept looking for but still did plenty enough to win R1. Dooley did his best to stay away from Herringbone in R2, both men starting to tire from the process. Both fighters did what they had to in R3 but were obviously looking for the bell.

Welterweight
Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (3-1) vs Ray "The Enigma" Eton (8-3)
We're privately hoping that Mattherson looks worth the large contract extension he just signed
Blurcat says Mattherson should win without too much trouble
Mattherson wins by TKO at 2:53 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Mattherson controlled the fight on the ground in R1, showing why Eton was reportedly unhappy with his training coming into the fight. Another takedown & then a series of punches from side control ended it.

Lightweight
Colm "The Celtic Warrior" Dee (6-2) vs Heikichi Shimizu (2-0)
We're privately hoping that this is very good
Blurcat says if Shimizu gets this to the ground then it's over
Shimizu wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:24 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Several good punches had Dee in good position but a slow moving leg kick was caught by Shimizu. That led to a takedown, side control, and the finish.

Women's Lightweight
"The Wicked Bitch of the West" Honey Due (5-1) vs "Deadly T" Thea Higgins (6-1)
We're privately hoping that the winner looks like a worthy top contender for the new lightweight title
Blurcat says Higgins is better standing or grounded & will win
Higgins wins by TKO (armbar) at 4:00 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Higgins dominated R1 after a takedown. As in the previous fight, a leg kick that was far to slow led to the end for Due, as it was caught for a takedown & the mounted ending.

Co-Main Event: Women's Openweight
"The Blonde Bombshell" April Watson (10-0) vs Katherine "The Great" Williams (9-3)
We're privately hoping that Watson is still undefeated afterwards
Blurcat says they expect a huge upset because of Williams' ground game
Williams wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:58 of Round 2
The match was rated as Great
Williams won R1 with several good knees from side control, not much offense from Watson in the round. Watson gave up her back in R2 and that led to the finish as Williams flattened her out for the huge upset

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (5-0) vs "Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (7-1)
We're privately hoping that we get an upset to shake up the division even more
Blurcat says Archer looks to simply be too good for Franklyn
Franklyn wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (48-47 x3)
The match was rated as Good
Franklyn was more aggressive & kept shoving Archer against the cage in R1, couldn't keep him there but was able to at least get him there. Archer took control of R2 with an uncontested takedown, where Franklyn was hoping in vain to catch an arm or something he could pull. After controlling most of the round with counterpunching, the challenger barely survived the last minute of R3 after a standing choke from behind sent him face down on the mat where Archer was able to land several big punches. Archer looked spent from the effort of the previous round and Franklyn was the clear winner in R4 after scoring with several strikes including a picture-perfect roundhouse kick to the ribs as the round ended. The final round saw a tired Archer slowly going for takedowns that failed, the sight seemed to inspire Franklyn who landed several combinations that scored plenty.

Attendance: 5,588 for a gate of $279,400
70,540 PPV Buys for revenue of $282,160
Show Rating: Average

[JonInMiddleGA]

June 30, 2001

Didn't expect the upsets but we're okay with 'em. Also quite okay with the $433,873 profit for the month.

During June we renewed the contracts of Felix Mattherson, Jr, Mark Cohen, Allen LeFleur, and Wes Hersch. We also renewed both our PPV deal with Public Access Select (now with 30-70 revenue split) and our TV deal with National Pride TV (now with 20-80 revenue split).

In addition to the four new HW's that debuted in the mini-tournament, we also signed

-- 23 y/o MW Tuck "The Everlasting" Durdell (1-0), a G&P'er from Snow Lake, Manitoba. (STND, $1000, 6/3, 30 months)
-- 25 y/o BW "Too Physical" Elizabeth Fraser (4-1), a Jiu Jitsu specialist from Las Vegas, Nevada. (EXCL, $1200, 6/4, 27 months)
-- 25 y/o BW Lisa "The Future" Labone (6-2-1), a wrestler from Pembroke Pines, Florida who spent about a year with WEFF until early 2000. (EXCL, $2000, 6/4, 30 months)
-- 28 y/o BW Gina "The Vixen" Dixon (9-3-1), a Greco-Roman wrestler from San Bernardino, California. She'll be coming over from WEFF where she won four of her last five fights, losing only to Jenny DeNeuve. (EXCL, $3500, 6/6, 30 months)
-- 24 y/o MW "The Sewer Rat" Ronnie Allen Teller (2-0), a collegiate style wrestler from Hell's Kitchen, New York. (EXCL, $1000, 6/4, 30 months)
-- 31 y/o WW Jungo "The Spirit of the Ancients" Futagawa (22-11),a Muay Thai fighter from Kyoto, Japan. He was 3-3 over 18 months with GAMMA. (EXCL, $3750, 6/5, 27 months)
-- 25 y/o WW "Thunder & Lightning" Tyler Lass (7-4) a pankration fighter from San Diego, California. He comes to us from GAMMA where he was 1-1.
(EXCL, $2500, 6/5, 24 months)
-- 30 y/o LW "Mr. Intensity" Bruce Steven (22-6), a submission fighter from Port-Cartier, Quebec. He struggled recently in GAMMA, losing three in a row but we feel he can get that turned around (EXCL, $12500, 5/5, 24 months)
-- 30 y/o LHW "The Dockland Destroyer" Jerry Bogdonovich (11-3), a street brawler from Newark, New Jersey. He's the reigning OMEGA Light Heavyweight Champion and is on a five fight winning streak.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of July 1, 2001

Promotion Rankings (size, change since April 2001, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (down to High Level National, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. CSA (Mid Level National, 0, MW Alex Cole)
4. SIGMA (Low Level National, 0, LW Fiyero Lermontov)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, 0, BW Tiius Kass)
6. XCC (up to High Level Regional, 0 , FW Phillip Ziskie)
7. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, +1, MW Ashley Ballard)
8. TOP (down to Low Level Regional, -1, WW Gordon Idle)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (31-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 last fought in March 2001
2(2) Mike Watson (15-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; faces Gary McSweegan in July 01
3(3) Luke Hilton (13-0); Alpha-1, Lightweight last fought in February 2001
4(4) Kafu Bunya (16-0); Alpha-1, Welterweight beat Alberto Basora in June 2001
5(x) Julio Regueiro (18-1-1); former Gamma Welterweight Champion beat Josh Aldarisio in June 2001
6(x) Tadamasa Yamada (26-2); Alpha-1 Light Heavyweight Champion beat Jin Katou in May 2001
7(5) Raul Hughes (18-2); Alpha-1; Heavyweight beat Gyokusho Fujimoto in June 2001
8(8) Sean Morrison (29-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 last fought in March 2001
9(9) James Foster (39-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion beat Stjepan Andric by TKO in June 2001
10(x) Neil Napier (20-1); Gamma; Middleweight beat Matthew Dean in June 2001
Dropped Out
x(6) Jin Katou (23-2); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight lost to #6 Yamada in June 2001
x(7) Matthew Dean (37-6); Gamma; Middleweight lost to #10 Napier in June 2001
x(10) Kunimichi Kikuchi (37-5); Alpha-1; HW beat Gyokusho Fujimoto in April 2001

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (31-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (18-2); Alpha-1, was Gamma
3(3) James Foster (39-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (37-5) Alpha-1;
5(6) Armen Sarkisian (17-1); Alpha-1
6(9) Stratos Papaioannou (30-6); Sigma
7(8) Terron Cabal (15-1); Alpha-1
8(5) Gregor Boniek (38-6); Alpha-1 lost to Rav Kapur in April 2001
9(10) Aleksander Ivanov (7-0); Sigma
10(x) Lefter Oktay (18-1); Sigma beat Carter Potter in June 2001
Dropped out
x(7) Curt Kitson (23-4); Alpha-1, was BCF lost to Alekos Karabatsos in April 2001

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (15-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000,
2(3) Tadamasa Yamada (26-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion beat #3 Katou in May 2001
3(2) Jin Katou (22-2); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight lost to #2 Yamada in May 2001
4(4) Roberto Aldez (46-8); Alpha-1
5(5) Zvonimir Asanovic (19-2); former Gamma LHW Champion
6(6) Anthony LeToussier (18-3); Gamma;
7(8) Thorbjorn Rekdal (19-2); CSA beat Nicolai Mickiewicz in June 2001
8(7) John Rivero (21-3); Gamma;
9(x) Alekos Karabatsos (16-5); Alpha-1 beat Curt Kitson in April 2001
10(x) Faas Smit (40-15); Sigma beat Edilberto in April 2001
Dropped out
x(9) Nicolai Mickiewicz (23-5); CSA lost to #7 Rekdal in June 2001
10(x) Ken Peters (13-2); GAMMA; last fought Feb 2001

Middleweight
1(4) Neil Napier (20-1); former Gamma Middleweight Champion beat Matthew Dean in June 2001
2(2) JJ Reid (31-3); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Aug 2000
3(1) Matthew Dean (37-6); Gamma lost to #1 Neil Napier in June 2001
4(3) Petey Mack (21-2); Alpha-1 beat Patrick Thomas in April 2001 & Bill Brown in June 2001
5(5) Alex Cole (17-0); CSA, was OMEGA MW Champion beat Thomas Smith in June 2001
6(7) Stuart Strange (17-2); Gamma
7(8) Heiji Endo (18-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
8(9) Buddy Garner (18-2); Gamma beat Mal Phe Roby in June 2001
9(x) Ashley Ballard (15-2); CSA Middleweight Champion since Dec 2000 beat Drew Jenks in May 2001
10(6) Mac Fuller (32-8); Alpha-1, was Gamma lost to Sutton Ripley in April 2001
Dropped out
x(9) Leonardo da Costa (19-4); Alpha-1 lost to Maarten De Vries in May 2001

Welterweight
1(1) Kafu Bunya (16-0); Alpha-1 beat Alberton Basora in June 2001
2(2) Julio Rugueiro (18-1-1);former Gamma Welterweight Champion beat #8 Josh Aldarisio in June 2001
3(4) Darin Blood (17-3); GAMMA Welterweight Champion since Nov 2000 beat Gabriel Gallego in May 2001
4(3) Carlos da Guia (18-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
5(6) Jack Humphreys (31-4); Gamma
6(7) Mikey Wallace (11-0); Gamma
7(8) Helio (24-2); CSA, was BCF Lightweight Champion
8(5) Josh Aldarisio (9-1); Gamma lost to #2 Ruguerio in June 2001
9(x) Charles Stiles (17-5); Alpha-1
10(x) Alan Kendall (16-6); Gamma beat David Allen in May 2001
Dropped Out
x(9) David Allen (20-3); Gamma; lost to #10 Kendall in May 2001
x(10) Gabriel Gallego (18-4); Alpha-1 lost to #3 Blood in May 2001

Lightweight
1(1) Luke Hilton (13-0); Alpha-1, was Gamma
2(2) Sean Morrison (29-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(5) Sukarno (9-0);Alpha-1 beat Go Yamamoto in April 2001
4(3) Fiyero Lermontov (16-0); Gamma, was Sigma beat Lubos Plasil in May 2001
5(4) Shizuya Nakae (30-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion
6(6) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-1); Alpha-1
7(7) Fumiaki Hayashi (20-6); Alpha-1
8(10) Heiko Pander (7-1); Sigma;
9(8) Lubos Plasil (11-2); Sigma lost to #4 Lermontov in May 2001
10(x) Bud Brockett (22-5); Gamma beat Lukas Mellberg in June 2001
Dropped out
x(9) Go Yamamoto (29-11-2);Alpha-1 lost to #3 Sukarno in April 2001

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); unemployed (was KDMFC FW Champion)
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (17-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
3(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (22-4); XCC beat Kei Maki in May 01
4(3) Lars Bohlin (53-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997 beat Ivan Bokhour in June 2001
5(5) Easton Frye (12-1); XCC
6(6) Manish Khan (12-3); Sigma lost to #2 Ziskie in May 2001
7(9) Shuler Eigenberg (16-3); XCC beat Cong Dun in May 2001
8(8) Azor Portela Nunes (27-6); XCC
9(x) Tan Su (14-8); XCC;
10(x) Luiz Machado (26-7-2); unemployed, was XCC beat Richie Stiller in June 2001
Dropped out
x(7) Colm Dee (15-6); CSA lost to Heikichi Shimizu in June 2001
x(10) Norberto (28-8); XCC; lost to Stefan Champion in May 2001

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) April Watson (10-1); CSA; lost to Katherine Williams in June 2001
2(8) Tiiu Kass (7-0); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since May 2001 and WEFF beat Layla Holmes for title in May 2001
3(2) Sayoko Ebisawa (15-1); CSA & WEFF;
4(3) Jenny DeNeuve (8-1); former WEFF Lightweight Champion beat Janinha in June 2001
5(4) Sarah Vaughn (16-3); WEFF Women's HW Champion since Dec 2000
6(5) Alisha Wood (9-1); fomer WEFF Heavyweight Champion beat Rachel McGuinness in June 2001
7(7) Yuya Shimizu (11-1); XCC
8(9) Mizuki Watanabe (9-1); CSA;
9(x) Katherine Williams (10-3); CSAbeat #1 Watson in June 2001
10(x) Hester MacLean (14-3); XCC;
Dropped out
6(x) Layla Holmes (8-1); former CSA Women's Champion lost title to #2 Kass in May 2001
x(10) Rachel McGuinness (10-1-1); WEFF lost to #6 Wood in June 2001

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 2, 2001

With the company facing mounting debts with little relief in sight, the Women's Extreme Fighting Federation (WEFF) sold their remaining assets in return for assumption of all debt to Combat Supercell Alliance (CSA).

The deal, rumored to have cost CSA only in the low six figures to complete, puts the company solidly at the forefront of women's MMA.

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 31, 2001

As you might imagine, we've been busy working on the roster for both CSA and the newly acquired WEFF. We've also been trying to fine tune the women's roster for both promotions in particular, shuffling people from one to the other in order to maximize our opportunities.

In total, we signed 10 new fighters, including one name that you may not have expected.

-- 26 y/o LW Gregory "Chief" O'Hara (4-0), a ground-and-pounder from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He's been doing fine on the indy circuit, let's see what happens when the competition steps up several notches (EXCL, $1200, 8/5, 33 months)
-- 23 y/o LW Julian Beals (0-0), a submission fighter from Albuquerque, New Mexico who will get a shot in a one-night tournament similar to what we ran in June for the Heavyweights (EXCL, $800, 5/2, 21 months)
-- 22 y/o LW "Flaming Fury" Gene Oakley (0-0), a Korean Limb Boxer from San Diego, California. Also intended for the one-night tournament (EXCL, $600, 5/2, 24 months)
-- 22 y/o LW "The Coyote Kid" Floyd Haywood (0-0), a Jiu Jitsu specialist from San Diego, California. Another tournament newcomer (EXCL, $600, 5/2, 24 months)
-- 23 y/o LW "The Karate Kid" Carl Chenoweth (2-0), a Karate specialist hailing from "St. Elsewhere, Boston". Early favorite for the one night newcomer's tournament (EXCL, $1200, 5/2, 24 months)
-- 29 y/o LW Jake "The Natural Talent" Keane (11-2), a Jing Quan Do fighter from London, England. He was 1-0 for Sigma in a short stint and we hope he'll do well here. (EXCL, $3500, 8/6, 33 months)
-- 27 y/o BW Kelly "K.O." Andrews (1-0), a Muay Thai fighter from Haldimand County, Ontario. She's going to get a chance with WEFF (EXCL, $1000, 8/4, 33 months)
-- 28 y/o FW "Quick Silver" Anna Thompson (3-1), a Jiu Jitsu fighter from Oceanside, California. She's headed to WEFF until we figure out whether she's a prospect or a suspect (EXCL, $600, 8/4, 24 months)
-- 30 y/o BW Chie "The Bride" Namiki (6-5), a hybrid style fighter from Tokyo, Japan. Struggled to an 0-3 record in XCC but those losses were to Tiiu Kass and Katherine Williams (2x). (EXCL, $1000, 6/4, 30 months)
-- 24 y/o MW Bill "The Marine" Brown (5-2), a Jiu Jitsu fighter from Riverside, California. Yes, the former CSA Middleweight Champion is returning from a 1-1 stint with Alpha-1, where he beat CSA alum Kramer Mayweather but lost to Petey Mack (EXCL, $3500, 4/4, 18 months)

During the month we also renewed the contracts of Alyssa "The Viper" Taylor, Temperance "Bang Bang" McCoy", and LHW William Harrison (EXCL, $3500, 8/6, 30 months) who was being sought by Alpha-1.

July also marked the end of the contract of Randy "Super Snake" Carsley (2-3) who we wish well in his future endeavors.

Most of the shuffling between CSA & WEFF is complete for the moment, here's how the rosters currently stand.

CSA Women's Openweight (130 pounds & up)
April Watson (10-1)
*Tiiu Kass (8-0)
Sayoko Ebisawa (15-1)
Jenny DeNeuve (8-1) from WEFF
Katherine Williams (10-3)
Vicki Summers (14-2-2) from WEFF
Haley Croft (15-4) from WEFF
Gina Dixon (9-3-1)
Alison Beattie (9-5-1)
Samantha Sachs (10-4)
Echiko Watanabe (6-2) from WEFF
Maggie Martin (8-7) from WEFF
Steph Smith (3-1)
Stella Massey (5-4) from WEFF
Harriet Fey (2-3) from WEFF
Simone King (5-6)

CSA Women's Lightweight (100 to 129 pounds)
Janinha (12-3-1) from WEFF
Thea Higgins (7-1)
Mako Takagawa (8-1)
Hanako Shimizu (11-3) from WEFF
Alyson Arroway (6-1)
Vivian Terkay (7-0)
Junko Yamada (6-1) from WEFF
Romi Takahashi (6-2) from WEFF
Tara O'Brien (8-2)
Pamela O'Neill (6-2-1)
Lisa Labone (6-2-1)
Ellen Luger (5-3) from WEFF
Elizabeth Fraser (4-1) from WEFF
Leslie Myers (2-1)
Nina Belle (1-1)

WEFF Heavyweight (136-150)
*Sarah Vaughn (16-3)
Alisha Wood (9-1)
Rachel McGuinness (10-1-1)
Laura Adair (7-1-1)
Debra Everett (5-1)
Serena Hill (7-5)
Henrietta Stein (8-5)
Veronika Sablikova (5-2) from CSA (is retiring within 3 months)
Simone King (5-6) under dual contract
Verona Joseph (1-0)

WEFF Lightweight (100-135)
Tiiu Kass (8-0) under dual contract
Sayoko Ebisawa (15-1) under dual contract
Mizuki Watanabe (9-1) from CSA
Layla Holmes (8-1) from CSA
Roz Wareing (11-4-1)
Kit Sakamoto (8-2)
Chiyo Yanagimoto (11-5-1)
Alison Beattie (9-5-1) under dual contract
Karen Curtis (8-5) from CSA
Naora Kikuchi (8-3) from CSA
Honey Due (5-2) from CSA
Chie Namiki (6-5) via CSA
Daniella Sadorra (2-1) from CSA
Angelina Keiff (2-6)
Kelly Andrews (1-0)
Tabitha Cameron (1-2) from CSA
Alyssa Taylor (1-3) from CSA
Gianna Russo (1-3) from CSA
Emi Nagano (1-4) from CSA
Saya Ikegami (0-2) from CSA
Anna Thompson (3-1) via CSA

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 24
Saturday August 18, 2001 in Macon, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Light Heavyweight
Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (11-6) vs Vagner (15-8)
We're privately hoping that Fierstein gets the win & we can let Vagner's contract expire without any doubts
Blurcat says if Fierstein gets the fight to the ground then he'll win
Fierstein wins by TKO at 2:25 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Fierstein dominated R1 on the ground & could probably have finished the fight if he hadn't stopped punching to look for submissions. Vagner gave up his back to avoid a mount early in R2 and got destroyed for his decision

Welterweight
"The Wrecking Ball" Lucas Mueller (7-2) vs Junmal Skinner (6-6)
We're privately hoping that Mueller sends Skinner packing with another loss
Blurcat says they like Mueller in this one
Mueller wins by TKO at 3:29 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
When he couldn't catch the arm triangle he wanted, Mueller resorted to simply pounding away on Skinner

Women's Openweight
Hanako "The Storm Bringer" Shimizu (11-3) vs "Too Physical" Elizabeth Fraser (4-1)
We're privately hoping that at least one of these newcomers looks decent
Blurcat says Fraser has to win on the ground
Shimizu wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 & 30-26)
The match was rated as being Decent
Shimizu looked liked Sugar Ray Leonard in R1. Fraser slowed the assault in R2 by staying close & trying to wrestle. Same story in R3 but Shimizu was able to land several kicks this time.

Lightweight
"Mr. Intensity" Bruce Steven (22-6) vs Francesco Marazzina (19-10)
We're privately hoping that either Steven looks like a legit contender or that Marazzina really enhances his profile in a big way
Blurcat says Steven has the edge standing & that could be enough
Marazzina wins by sumbission (rear naked choke) at 3:54 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Steven pressed the action & Marazzina was equal to the task with two near submissions before the finish.

Welterweight
"Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (4-2) vs Nik "The Minotaur" Minear (10-5)
We're privately hoping that the one-time champ gets off his two loss schneid
Blurcat says they believe Minear will get the upset on the ground
Chambers wins by Knock Out at 0:21 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Minear was lucky to survive the onslaught that followed a sudden knockdown punch by Chambers early in R1. His luck ran out at the start of R2, with just one punch needed.

Middleweight
"The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (22-6) vs Tora "Bull" Mizwar (7-2)
We're privately hoping that Spyrou comes away looking ready for a title shot
Blurcat says if Spyrou avoids the takedown then he'll win. If he doesn't, then he won't.
Mizwar wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Several good kicks scored for Spyrou in R1. Mizwar's grappling was more successful in R2 & gave him control of most of the round by pinning Spyrou to the cage. Same tactic worked reasonably well again in R3.

Middleweight
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (4-1) vs "Torment" Genki Shinashi (8-4)
We're privately hoping that Kaladaris recovers from his loss to Ballard
Blurcat says Kaladaris should win fairly comfortably
Kaladaris wins by submission (guillotine) at 2:02 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Decent
Good defensive R1 by Shinashi kept things close. A late knockdown by Kaladaris in R2 provided the only highlight. In R3 Shinashi again shoved Kaladaris against the cage, where the former champ found a small opening & abruptly put an end to the fight

Main Show
Heavyweight
"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (4-1) vs Brady Crawford (8-6)
We're privately hoping that Satinho recovers from the loss to Archer with a big win
Blurcat says Crawford is totally out-matched
Satinho wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Satinho controlled R1 but spent a little too much time just smothering Crawford. R2 was also Satinho's but again, relatively little offense beyond just lying on his opponent. Ditto R3 as Crawford played keepaway & Satinho was content to let him to do just that.

Heavyweight
"The Big Show" Sylvester Collins (6-2) vs Gary "The Pit Bull" Sampson (18-9)
We're privately hoping that Collins shines & ends his own two fight losing streak
Blurcat says Collins should win fairly comfortably
Sampson wins by submission (guillotine) at 3:58 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Illness had disrupted Collins camp and it showed a little in R1 as Sampson was almost able to match him punch for punch. Collins couldn't get past guard in R2 & it cost him as Sampson found an opening from the bottom

Heavyweight
"The Dockland Destroyer" Jerry Bogdonovich (11-3) vs "The Tornado" Terry Catt (5-3)
We're privately hoping that Bogdonovich is more contender than pretender
Blurcat says if Catt keeps the fight standing then he'll get the upset
Catt wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:21 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Catt was rocked by a big counter punch early in R1 but just kept coming & it paid off after Bogdonovich gave up his back after being slammed hard to the mat.

Featherweight
Rafael "Slick" Tavares (17-3) vs Anthony Ray Shenkman (18-5)
We're privately hoping that Tavares keeps rolling back at his natural weight
Blurcat says if Shenkman doesn't tie Tavares up then it will be a short fight
Tavares wins by submission (armbar) at 4:43 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Shenkman was happy to keep Tavares pinned against the cage for most of the round. Tavares tried to stay in the center of the ring for R2 and it worked, as he creatively used an omoplate to shift into side control & then switched up for the hold that ended it.

Co-Main Event Welterweight
Dana "Danger Man" Delaney (11-6) vs Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (4-1)
We're privately hoping that we feel good enough about the winner to give them the next title shot
Blurcat says as long as Mattherson has a good gameplan then he'll win
Mattherson wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:47 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
After pounding away from mount for a while, Mattherson decided it was time to end the fight.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (5-1) vs Marlon "The Punisher" John (6-1)
We're privately hoping that we get more than people expect here
Blurcat says Rubenstein will retain his title
John wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (48-47 x2 & 49-46)
The match was rated as Decent
Both men threw punches & scored a takedown in a very close R1. John had the better of R2 by controlling the champion against the cage. A scoop slam by Rubenstein was the highlight of R3 but John again controlled over the half the round against the cage. A very close R4 as both men started to tire, Rubenstein did score with some effective counter punching. Neither fighter had much left for the fifth & final round.

Attendance: 3,899 for a gate of $194,950
47,697 PPV Buys for revenue of $191,868
Show Rating: Awful

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 19, 2001

Well that sucked. A show that fans weren't happy with beforehand turned out to be a show they really weren't happy with afterwards.

And we weren't real thrilled either once the medical folks came by to let us know that Dana Delaney had failed his post-fight drug test & was being suspended for one year.

And both attendance & PPV buys were way down, lowest in six months.

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 23, 2001

Quick results from last night's WEFF 36 show in Quebec, which drew 667 fans

-- Kit Sakamoto beat Mizuki Watanabe by KO at 0:52 of Round 2 to win the WEFF Women's Lightweight Title (Great)
-- Karen Curtis beat Chiyo Yanagimoto by submission at 2:27 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
-- Veronika Sablikova beat Serena Hill by TKO at 2:43 of Round 2 (Good)
-- Naora Kikuchi beat Daniella Sadorra by UD after three rounds (Good)
-- Anna Thompson beat Allison Beattie by submission at 0:52 of Round 1 (Great)

Prelims
-- Emi Nagano beat Chie Namiki by UD after three rounds (Poor)
-- Tabitha Cameron beat Alyssa Taylor by KO at 3:56 of Round 3 (Good)

edit to add:
Last night was the final fight for the retiring Veronika Sablikova. Last night will also be the last fight for at least four months for Mizuki Watanabe who will be out with a back injury. Chie Namiki was also injured, an ankle issue that will keep her out of training for at least a couple of months.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Thursday August 23rd, 2001 in Huntsville, AL

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Featherweight
"Hollywood Player" Doug Minnelli (1-3) vs Zhao "Ka" Pau (10-8)
We're privately hoping that we get an entertaining fight from these two at their more natural weight
Blurcat says Minnelli should get the win
Minnelli wins by TKO at 1:25 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Pau got a takedown midway through R1 to take a slight advantage early. A clean slam gave Pau control of R2 as well. Minnelli roared out of the corner with a furious barrage of punches that flattened Pau & then finished him from the mount.

Women's Openweight
Echiko "Rhino" Watanabe (6-2) vs Harriet Fey (2-3)
We're privately hoping that Watanabe looks strong after last fighting nearly a year ago
Blurcat says Watanabe is too good, as long as her gameplan is sound then she shouldn't have any problem here
Watanabe wins by TKO at 2:11 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Takedown, quickly past half guard, and then it was bombs away

Women's Lightweight
Allyson "Alley Kat" Arroway (6-1) vs Angelina Keiff (2-6)
We're privately hoping that Arroway makes short work of the can
Blurcat says Arroway is much more talented & as long as her gameplan is okay she'll get the win
Arroway wins by submisson (armbar) at 2:28 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Once Arroway got side control the fight was over.

Women's Lightweight
"Hellhound" Mako Takagawa (8-1) vs Lisa "The Future" Labone (6-2-1)
We're privately hoping that Takagawa puts herself squarely in the conversation about future women's lightweight title contenders
Blurcat says Labone has to get in close otherwise she'll get picked apart
Takagawa wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Labone got close in R1, but it was too close as Takagawa scored the takedown and controlled the round with relative ease. Labone got the takedowns in R2 but couldn't get past guard in spite of steady control. Round 3 shifted back to Takagawa despite steady defense by Labone

Main Show
Women's Openweight
"The Phenom" Sayoko Ebisawa (15-1) vs "Silent But Deadly" Haley Croft (15-4)
We're privately hoping that some TV time helps Ebisawa get over with the fans
Blurcat says Croft will do well just to hang with Ebisawa for very long
Ebisawa wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Ebisawa had all the offense in R1 but Croft's defense was pretty solid & prevented any real damage. Closer R2 with each fighter pushing the other against the cage & delivering some dirty boxing blows. Ebisawa looked to be slowing down as she tired in R3, giving Croft a number of solid boxing opportunities that she scored with.

Lightweight
Helio (24-2) vs "Storm Trooper" Jamie Hewitt (12-5)
We're privately hoping that Helio looks worth at least some of the money we're paying him
Blurcat says Helio just needs to strike steadily to keep Hewitt at bay
Helio wins by TKO at 2:20 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Hewitt took a pounding after ending up turtled early in R1 but came back solidly with grappling & wrestling to even up the round. Hewitt kept Helio pinned against the cage for much of R2, limiting his offense severely. Round 3 saw Helio circling, circling, and then landing a huge punch that sent Hewitt flying backwards. Helio pounced & began to punish Hewitt until the referee stepped in.

Co-Main Event: Women's Openweight
"The Electrifying" Jenny DeNeuve (8-1) vs Katherine "The Great" Williams (10-3)
We're privately hoping that Williams show her win over Watson was not a fluke
Blurcat says Williams should win on the ground as long as she gets past DeNeuve's striking ability
Williams wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:50 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
It took several different tries of several different submission moves but finally Williams found the one she was looking for

Main Event: For the CSA Lightweight Title
Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (7-4) vs Aaron "The Patriot' McBroom (12-5)
We're privately hoping that Bernacci elevates his profile with a successful title defense
Blurcat says McBroom is at a disadvantage everywhere but in name recognition
Bernacci wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (49-46 x3)
The match was rated as Decent
Bernacci got a takedown but couldn't do much with it before the ref stood them up late in R1. Some grappling, some speculative punching gave Bernacci R2 since McBroom really couldn't find an opening for any offense to speak of. Some kicks and then another takedown give the champion R3. Bernacci had most of R4 under control as well until McBroom landed two kicks & some stinging punches in the final minute of the round as Bernacci appeared to be hitting the wall. McBroom scored a big knockdown punch as the final round got underway but Bernacci managed to cover up & then tie him up to avoid serious damage.

Attendance: 2,164 for a gate of $108,200
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 31, 2001

I guess the month was what it was or something like that. I know we actually seem to be more popular after the TV show than we were when the month began. And I know that we made a nice $274k profit for the month in spite of the decrease attendance & buy rate. But for some reason I can't help but feel like we're getting into a rut at best and about to slip over a precipice at the worst.

During the month we renewed the contracts of Lucas Mueller and Francesco Marazzina, and we bid farewell to four fighters that we inherited in the WEFF takeover: Stella Massey (5-4), Ellen Luger (5-3), Maggie Martin (8-7), Harriet Fey (2-4), as well as the retiring Veronika Sablikova.

We also added ten new fighters to the roster, one of which may have something to do with why I've got that teetering-on-the-top-of-the-roller-coaster feeling in the pit of my stomach when I (try to) go to sleep at night.

-- 29 y/o LHW Christopher "The Knife" Sharp (13-4), a wrestler from Erie, Pennsylvania. After a sub-500 record in five fights with GAMMA, Sharp won back to back outings for SIGMA before joining us. We're currently thinking he'll fight up in weight class here.
-- 29 y/o WW Charles "Rogue" Stiles (17-5), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Sao Paulo. He was 1-3 for GAMMA but found his stride with back to back wins for Alpha-1 before we brought him on board.
-- 28 y/o BW Trish "The Real Deal" Biel (9-1-1) a Senshido fighter from Hannover, Germany. She'll join the roster offcially next week after her commitment to XCC ends. She's won three straight there and hasn't lost since being TKO'ed by Gina Dixon on a WEFF show in January 2000.
-- 32 y/o BW "The All American" Vanessa Phillips (7-6), a boxer from Houston, Texas. She's also finishing up with XCC where she's coming off a win over Jennie Gill after a pair of losses to Hester Maclean.
-- 27 y/o FW "The Bruiser From Belfast" Liam O'Donnell (8-4), a boxer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He's coming in with three straight wins between SIGMA & the indies.
-- 21 y/o HW "Chopper" Adelino Freiholc (6-0), a karate expert from Stuttgart, Germany. He's fought mostly in the indies although he did TKO Frank Analysis on a recent TOP show.
-- 27 y/o MW Hanarobu Oshiro (5-0), a kick boxer from Hiroshima, Japan. He knocked out French Dancer on a recent TOP show and comes in with some potential if he can just find any sort of ground game at all.
-- 31 y/o LHW Leandro Piquet (24-10), a Muay Thai fighter from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Big striker but he's suffered through a bad run losing 5 of his last six fights between SIGMA & Alpha-1, albeit in highly entertaining fashion.
-- 28 y/o Broadcaster Fiona Jacks comes to us from Shawingan, Quebec via WEFF. We'll bring her over here largely to keep her off the books over there.
-- 26 y/o FW Li-Kong Ho (21-0), a submission fighter from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The former KDM FC Featherweight Champion has had a long layoff, largely due to his pricetag. Okay, make that entirely due to his hefty pricetag. He's a big time star, to the extent of doing TV guest spots in South Korea, and likes to be paid accordingly. (Associate Fighter, $180,000 per fight, up to 4 matches over the next 18 months). We'll see how this goes, if someone else offers him an exclusive we may end up kissing our $120k signing bonus good bye without so much as an appearance from him.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 25
Sunday September 30, 2001 in Columbus, Ohio

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Special One Night Lightweight Newcomers Tournament - Semi-Final #1
"Flaming Fury" Gene Oakley (0-0) vs "The Coyote Kid" Floyd Haywood (0-0)
We're privately hoping that we might find something decent in these newcomers
Blurcat says Oakley just needs to keep the fight standing in order to win
Oakley wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
An active R1 even if neither was particularly successful. Haywood somehow kept his feet & survived several big punches in R2. Another big punch knocked Haywood down but not out in R3.

Special One Night Lightweight Newcomers Tournament - Semi-Final #2
"The Karate Kid" Carl Chenoweth (2-0) vs Julian Beals (0-0)
We're privately hoping that Chenoweth looks like the favorite he is
Blurcat says Beals has a clear edge on the ground & that's where he'll win it
Chenoweth wins by TKO at 3:35 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Beals narrowly avoided a flash knockout in the opening minute but cleared the cobwebs pretty quickly. Another big punch stunned Beals again to open R2 but it was another knockdown & quick follow up that finished the fight

Women's Openweight
Junko Yamada (6-1) vs Verona "The Samoan Tank" Joseph (1-0)
We're privately hoping that at least one of these newcomers looks decent
Blurcat says Joseph should wrestle her way to victory
Yamada wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Very Poor
Nice boxing by Joseph but Yamada may have grappled her way into winning R1. Punching & counterpunching in a fairly close R2, as Joseph couldn't manage the takedown she wanted. Another solid defensive round by Yamada to finish the fight.

Heavyweight
Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (22-6) vs Ranieri "Martelo" Fernanda (4-0)
We're privately hoping that we have a better read on Fernanda after this fight
Blurcat says Fernanda is better on the ground & that will be the difference
Chekov wins by TKO at 4:41 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Good striking by Chekov controlled R1. Fernanda couldn't quite get past half guard after a takedown early in R2 and the ref finally stood them up. Seconds later only Chekov was still standing after a high kick that wobbled Fernanda badly.

Welterweight
Thiago Ceni (20-17) vs Zachary "Manitoba Misery" Gilbert (12-10)
We're privately hoping that this doesn't suck
Blurcat says Gilbert looks to be too good for Ceni these days
Gilbert wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 29-28)
The match was rated as being Good
A big slam by Gilbert was the highlight of R1. R2 saw Gilbert in command, landing several hard knees from side control. R3 was mostly Gilbert avoiding Ceni's attempts to find any sort of submission hold.

Light Heavyweight
Mark "The Thing" Cohen (35-11-2) vs "No Surrender" Glenn Pimm (29-16)
We're privately hoping that we don't get accused of elder abuse for booking this fight
Blurcat says Cohen should simply be too good for Pimm
Cohen wins by split decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 28-29
The match was rated as being Average
Cohen was good in R1 but appeared to be tiring even before the opening round ended. A takedown gave Pimm a chance in R2 but he couldn't get past guard to do anything substantial with the opportunity. Another takedown by Pimm and more defense by Cohen in the final round.

Heavyweight
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (5-1) vs "Pretty Boy" Danny Akabaro (3-1)
We're privately hoping that the former champ rebounds here
Blurcat says LeFleur should win in a good fight
LeFleur wins by submission (americana) at 3:14 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Great
Early boxing by Akabaro was overwhelmed by some good G&P by LeFleur in R1 that opened a nasty cut under Akabaro's eye. Very close R2 with an effective jab by Akabaro & a late takedown by LeFleur. LeFleur caught a kick to score a takedown in R3 and when his opening came he made the most of it.

Special One Night Lightweight Newcomers Tournament - Finals
"Flaming Fury" Gene Oakley (1-0) vs "The Karate Kid" Carl Chenoweth (3-0)
We're privately hoping that the winner looks like a legit member of the roster afterwards
Blurcat says
Chenoweth wins by split decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 28-29)
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Both fighters were looking for the home run shot in R1, Oakley had to settle for keeping Chenoweth against the cage for a couple of minutes. Chenoweth hurt Oakley with a big head kick but he recovered quickly & got in some G&P of his own in the closing seconds of R2. The final round saw both fighters getting in some good combinations.

Main Show
Middleweight
"Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (20-9) vs Rich "Hard Rain" Robinson (5-0)
We're privately hoping that Robinson remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Robinson should win
Robinson wins by Knock Out at 1:39 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Robinson simply sidestepped Ratcliffe's jabs & then loaded up one big shot.

Middleweight
"The Unbreakable" Gideon Navarro (3-1) vs Jonathan "The Locust" Huang (1-0)
We're privately hoping that Navarro mixes things up with a win
Blurcat says Navarro can win if he keeps things vertical
Huang wins by submission (americana) at 3:48 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Huang just missed a kimura attempt that would have ended the fight quickly but controlled R1. Navarro's luck ran out in R2 after getting outgrappled & outwrestled.

Middleweight
Patrick "The Titan" Thomas (11-8) vs "The Flying V" Esteban Vega (4-3)
We're privately hoping that the winner looks good doing it
Blurcat says Vega will win one way or another
Vega wins by Knock Out at 3:18 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Thomas outwrestled Vega to control R1. Following the instructions of his corner, Vega went head hunting in R2 and found his mark with a high kick.

Welterweight
"Mr. T" Tim Oldacres (4-1) vs Diego "Apocalypse" Arteta (3-1)
We're privately hoping that Oldacres handles moving up in weight
Blurcat says Oldacres must negate Arteta's advantage standing if he's to have a chance
Arteta wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Arteta wanted to wrestle in R1 but was more effective punching. Solid kicks by Arteta in the final minute probably gave him R2 as well. Oldacres had little answer for Arteta's striking in the final round.

Light Heavyweight
"Major Damage" William Harrison (6-1) vs Jethro "The Hunter" Munter (15-7-1)
We're privately hoping that Harrison blows everybody away & earns a title shot
Blurcat says it's a nearly impossible task for Munter here
Harrison wins by TKO (armbar) at 4:19 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A big slam by Harrison spelled the beginning of the end for Munter. A little ground & pound finished it.

Heavyweight
"The Battering Ram" Andranik Paletilolu (19-7) vs "Granite" Kevin Portman (11-7)
We're privately hoping that U.S. fans start to know Paletilolu
Blurcat says Portman can win by making sure it's a ground battle
Paletilolu wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Excellent kicking by Paletilolu gave him the edge in R1 despite good wrestling by Portman. The Serbian narrowly avoided an americana that would have ended the fight in R2. A striking clinic by Paletilolu in the final round

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (7-2) vs Benny "The Jet" Danare (15-2)
We're privately hoping that the fans who bitched about this co-main look stupid afterwards
Blurcat says Danare must avoid standing with Pizzarro because he can't compete with him that way
Pizzarro wins by submission (guillotine) at 4:34 of Round 4
The match was rated as being Good
Danare got a takedown but couldn't get past guard, after being stood up Pizzarro rocked the challenger with a barrage of punches just before the bell. Two takedowns by Danare in R2 led to some solid side control punching. Very effective counterpunching by Pizzaro led to a R3 knockdown but Danare recovered. Stuck in guard and unable to advance, Danare suddenly found himself in a very bad position & had no choice but to tap.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (15-2) vs Alex "Ace In the Hole" Cole (17-0)
We're privately hoping that Cole runs his streak to 18 straight
Blurcat says Cole is better in every area & that Ballad has no chance
Cole wins by submission (armbar) at 3:55 of Round 2
The match was rated as Good
Cole gained side control just as R1 ended but he probably did enough counterpunching to win the round anyway. The challenger got the takedown he was looking for in R2, rocked Ballard with punches from mount & then shifted gears to force the tap out & become the new champion.

Attendance: 5,605 for a gate of $280,250
77,803 PPV Buys for revenue of $311,212
Show Rating: Great

[JonInMiddleGA]

September 30, 2001

Not too bad at all. We're happy with Cole's win, with Pizzarro's title defense, and with Vega's knock out which might be the best in CSA history.

We're not happy about the notification that Verona Joseph failed a post-fight drug test and is now suspended for a year. Then again, we're not particularly unhappy about it either since we weren't planning to renew her contract anyway. We're more disturbed by the fact that there have only been 3 drug test failures in the first nine months of 2001 and all have involved CSA employess: Dominic Ash, Dana Delaney, and now Joseph. Either we're getting tested more than everybody else or we may have a bigger problem than we realize.

Financially a pretty good month, $441,625 in profit which brings our bank balance to nearly $4.675 million. Another couple of months and we'll have doubled the investment of our owner which ain't bad in less than two years IMO.

Gonna need some name tags for the locker room I guess, with quite a few comings & goings this month.

Exiting with expired contracts that weren't renewed are Bradley Dixon (0-4 in CSA), Vagner (1-4 in CSA), and Junmal Skinner (0-4 in CSA).

Sticking around with renewed contracts are Light Heavyweight Champion Marlon John (6-1 in CSA), Anthony Ray Shenkman (1-3 here), Haley Croft (0-1 here), Jenny DeNeuve (0-1 here), Echiko Watanabe (1-0 here), Simone King (1-2 here), and Joshua Hope (1-2 here).

New arrivals include:
-- 23 y/o LW "Mighty Mouse" Heiko Pander (8-1), a wrestler from Hamburg, Germany. He'll come to us from SIGMA where he's on a 7-1 roll and hasn't lost since August 2000.
-- 30 y/o FW Reza "Prince of Pain" Afshar (6-2-1), a Muay Thai fighter from Abd Dhabi, UAE. Hasn't lost in his last three fights against lower caliber competiton.
-- 34 y/o HW Armen "A-Game" Sarkisian (17-2), a Kokh fighter from Artashat, Armenia. Was among the top HW's in the world until back to back losses to Hassan Fezzik and Eien Kawano. Still, he was 2-2 in Alpha-1 and we hope he has a little something left in the tank for us.
-- 31 y/o BW Chiyo "The Scorpion" Yanagimoto (11-6-1), a kick boxer from Tokyo, Japan. She's been with WEFF for the past year, going 2-2-1, but we put her under contract to us in order to manage her costs better.
-- 32 y/o FW "Miss Independence" Cindy Dumas (1-0), a wrestler from Independence, Missouri. She'll get a chance in WEFF despite her being older than the typical newcomer.
-- 32 y/o HW "The Muscles From the Midlands" Mark Bicknell (9-2), a pro wrestler from Coventry, England. Relatively no experience against top competition, we'll see how he fares here.
-- 25 y/o FW Maya "Vampiro" Komagata (0-0), a rookie submission fighter from Sakai, Japan. A fighter willing to work for $100 per show is perfect for WEFF.
-- 25 y/o MW Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (7-2), the Hawaiian Striker from Honolulu. Yep, the former CSA Middleweight Champion is brought back after going just 1-2 in Alpha-1. I suspect he'll find the sledding tougher here than he did in the early days when he went 5-0 in CSA cages.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of October 1, 2001

Promotion Rankings (size, change since July 2001, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (up to Low Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. CSA (Mid Level National, 0, MW Alex Cole)
4. WEFF (High Level Regional, +1, BW April Watson)
5. SIGMA (down to High Level Regional, -1, HW Stratos Papaioannou)
6. XCC (up to High Level Regional, 0 , FW Phillip Ziskie)
7. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, 0, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz )
8. TOP (down to Low Level Regional, 0, WW Gordon Idle)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (31-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 faces Ari Peltonen in October 2001
2(2) Mike Watson (16-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; beat Gary McSweegan in July 2001
3(3) Luke Hilton (14-0); Alpha-1, Lightweight beat Darren Southall in Sept 2001
4(4) Kafu Bunya (16-0); Alpha-1, Welterweight last fought in June 2001
5(5) Julio Regueiro (18-1-1); former Gamma Welterweight Champion last fought in June 2001
6(6) Tadamasa Yamada (26-2); Alpha-1 Light Heavyweight Champion last fought in May 2001
7(x) Alex Cole (18-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 2001 beat Ashley Ballard by submission for title
8(7) Raul Hughes (18-2); Alpha-1; Heavyweight last fought in June 2001
9(8) Sean Morrison (30-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 beat Korekiyo Anzai in Sept 2001
10(9) James Foster (40-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion beat Tony Mcall by UD in Sept 2001
Dropped Out
x(10) Neil Napier (20-1); Gamma; Middleweight last fought in June 2001

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (31-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Raul Hughes (18-2); Alpha-1
3(3) James Foster (40-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (38-5) Alpha-1; beat Tim Boyer in July 2001
5(6) Stratos Papaioannou (30-6); Sigma
6(9) Aleksander Ivanov (8-0); Sigma beat Gareth Grundy in July 2001
7(x) Rav Kapur (14-1); Alpha-1 beat Steve Mason in August 2001
8(8) Gregor Boniek (38-6); Alpha-1
9(x) Perry Barr (25-5); Alpha-1 beat Terron Cabal in August 2001
10(10) Lefter Oktay (18-1); Sigma
Dropped out
x(5) Armen Sarkisian (17-2); CSA, was Alpha-1 lost to Eien Kawano in August 2001
x(7) Terron Cabal (15-2); Alpha-1 lost to #9 Barr in August 2001

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (16-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000 beat Gary McSweegan in July 2001
2(2) Tadamasa Yamada (26-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
3(3) Jin Katou (22-2); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
4(4) Roberto Aldez (46-8); Alpha-1
5(5) Zvonimir Asanovic (19-2); former Gamma LHW Champion
6(8) John Rivero (22-3); Gamma; beat Elgar in August 2001
7(6) Anthony LeToussier (18-3); Gamma;
8(7) Thorbjorn Rekdal (19-2); CSA
9(x) Curt Kitson (24-4); Alpha-1 beat Michael Bannon in August 2001
10(10) Faas Smit (41-15); Sigma beat Leandro Piquet in July 2001
Dropped out
10(9) Alekos Karabatsos (16-6); Alpha-1 lost to Hyun-Shik Lim in September 2001

Middleweight
1(5) Alex Cole (18-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since September 2001 beat Ashley Ballard for title in Sept 2001
2(1) Neil Napier (20-1); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
3(2) JJ Reid (32-3); Gamma Middleweight Champion since Aug 2000
4(3) Matthew Dean (37-6); Gamma
5(4) Petey Mack (21-2); Alpha-1
6(7) Heiji Endo (19-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998 beat Kramer Mayweather in August 2001
7(8) Buddy Garner (18-2); Gamma
8(10) Mac Fuller (32-8); Alpha-1
9(6) Stuart Strange (17-3); Gamma lost to Osmosis Benn in Sept 2001
10(x) Fernando Amaro (46-10-4); Alpha-1 beat Keith Plaice in July 2001
Dropped out
x(9) Ashley Ballard (15-3); former CSA Middleweight Champion lost to #1 Cole in Sept 2001

Welterweight
1(1) Kafu Bunya (16-0); Alpha-1
2(2) Julio Rugueiro (18-1-1);former Gamma Welterweight Champion
3(3) Darin Blood (17-3); GAMMA Welterweight Champion since Nov 2000
4(4) Carlos da Guia (18-0); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 1997
5(5) Jack Humphreys (32-4); Gamma beat Doug Hansen in Sept 2001
6(6) Mikey Wallace (12-0); Gamma beat Simon Vine in Sept 2001
7(x) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (10-1); Alpha-1 beat Giovani Silva in Aug 2001
8(x) Ichisake Miyagi (32-11); Alpha-1 beat Xie Ming in July 2001
9(8) Josh Aldarisio (9-1); Gamma
10(x) Dominykas Jankovic (17-3); Gamma beat Vikram Sithalayan in Aug 2001
Dropped Out
x(7) Helio (25-2); CSA,dropped to Lightweight
x(9) Charles Stiles (17-5); CSA, was Alpha-1
x(10) Alan Kendall (17-6); Gamma beat Chojiro Goto in Sept 2001

Lightweight
1(1) Luke Hilton (14-0); Alpha-1 beat Darren Southall in Sept 2001
2(2) Sean Morrison (30-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 beat Korekiyo Anzai in Sept 2001
3(3) Sukarno (10-0);Alpha-1 beat Go Yamamoto again in August 2001
4(4) Fiyero Lermontov (16-0); Gamma
5(5) Shizuya Nakae (31-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion beat Drauzio Simaan in August 2001
6(x) Helio (25-2); CSA beat Jamie Hewitt in August 2001
7(7) Fumiaki Hayashi (21-6); Alpha-1 beat Branco in July 2001
8(x) Tarcisio Dantas (15-1); Gamma beat Paulo Roberto Bezerra in Sept 2001
9(8) Heiko Pander (8-1); CSA, was Sigma; beat Bussho Maruyama in August 2001
10(9) Lubos Plasil (11-2); Sigma
Dropped out
x(6) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (9-1); Alpha-1 moved up to Welterweight
x(10) Bud Brockett (22-5); Gamma

Featherweight
1(2) Phillip Ziskie (17-0); XCC Featherweight Champion since June 1998 & Sigma
2(4) Lars Bohlin (53-6-1); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Oct 1997
3(3) Tomohiro Takeuchi (23-4); XCC [i]beat Shuler Eigenberg in September 2001
4(5) Easton Frye (13-1); XCC beat Davi Carlos Ramos in July 2001
5(1) Li-Kong Ho (21-0); CSA, was unemployed
6(x) Rafael Tavares (18-3); CSA beat Anthony Ray Shenkman in August 2001
7(6) Manish Khan (12-3); Sigma
8(8) Azor Portela Nunes (27-6); XCC
9(7) Shuler Eigenberg (16-3); XCC lost to #3 Takeuchi in September 2001
10(x) Kei Maki (7-3); XCC & Sigma beat Ang Dong in July 2001
Dropped out
x(9) Tan Su (14-9); XCC; lost to Stefan Champion in July 2001
x(10) Luiz Machado (26-7-2); unemployed, was XCC

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) April Watson (10-1); CSA;
2(3) Sayoko Ebisawa (16-1); CSA; beat Haley Croft in August 2001
3(2) Tiiu Kass (8-0); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since May 2001
4(5) Sarah Vaughn (16-3); WEFF Women's HW Champion since Dec 2000
5(6) Alisha Wood (9-1); fomer WEFF Heavyweight Champion
6(9) Katherine Williams (11-3); CSA beat Jenny DeNeuve in August 2001
7(7) Yuya Shimizu (12-1); XCC beat Alicia Simmons in July 2001
8(4) Jenny DeNeuve (8-2); CSA lost to #6 Williams in August 2001
9(x) Vicki Summers (9-2-2); CSA
10(x) Layla Holmes (8-1); WEFF
Dropped out
8(9) Mizuki Watanabe (9-2); WEFF; lost to Kit Sakomoto August 2001
10(x) Hester MacLean (14-4); XCC; lost to Trish Biel in July 2001

[BYU 14]

Nice win for Cole, he always seems to find away to get it done. Building to a battle of unbeatens between him would be cool if they both keep winning.

[JonInMiddleGA]

October 31, 2001

A busy month for us in spite of the decision to postpone CSA 26 that was originally planned for the end of October. We just didn't have the right people ready to go at the right time in order to put on the caliber of card the fans are demanding so we eat a small penalty from the venue & push 26 back to November and schedule 28 for late December, as well as a year end TV show. For the month, we lost $54,309 but we're up nearly $2 million since we opened so that's an acceptable loss.

During the month we renewed the contracts of five fighters:
-- Gideon Navarro (3-2 all with us) who we still believe has a lot of potential that he hasn't tapped
-- Zachary Gilbert (2-3 with us but has won 2 of his last 3)
-- Drew Jenks (3-2 with us) although we pondered that one for a while. His fights have gotten more enjoyable to watch but he's probably not a true top guy for us anymore after the big additions to the Middleweights. Basically kept him to keep him away from other promotions.
-- Carl Ratcliffe (2-3 with us, 2-0 for Sigma during the same stretch) He's out for another six months with a leg injury but we've got the flexibility to absorb the hit & he was actually pretty easy to negotiate with, plus he's one of the few Georgia natives out there so keeping him wasn't a hard call.
-- Sarah Vaughn (17-3 overall), current WEFF Heavyweight Champion, and 2000 Female Fighter of the Year. She was technically working under a dual contract so the renewal keeps her on board while cleaning up the paperwork a little bit.

Two fighters left, one by choice & one by complete screwup. We simply failed to renew the contract of Junko Yamada although I'm not too upset about it. In her last fight she beat our other departing fighter, Verona Joseph, who we released from her contract after the failed drug test just as you probably expected us to do.

What you probably didn't expect were the 14 new fighters signed to the roster during the month
-- 25 y/o FW Maya "Vampiro" Komagata (0-1). We assigned her to WEFF where she promptly lost her debut to Honey Due. Pretty good potential though.
-- 36 y/o MW Mal Phe Roby (16-9), a Sumatran Pit Fighter from Indonesia. Once a top level fighter, he suffered three straight losses in GAMMA but we gambled on an associate deal at a fairly low rate ($35k) for someone of his stature.
-- 34 y/o FW Davi Carlos Ramos (36-12-1), a street fighter from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He's a guy we've wanted for a while and took the opportunity in spite of his recent 1-2-1 stint with XCC.
-- 23 y/o FW Toshie Nishina (0-0), a freestyle fighter from Osaka, Japan. Another rookie we think might have something, she'll get a chance in WEFF.
-- 27 y/o BW "Rapid Fire" Ramona Stivic (0-0), a kickboxer from Riverside, California. An older rookie that will also start out in WEFF.
-- 34 y/o LHW "The Big Dog" Linfield Ballard (26-11), a kickboxer from Houston, Texas. He was 5-3 in an extended run with GAMMA but typically puts on a good show.
-- 28 y/o BW "The Black Death" Yutsuko Sasaki (3-0), a sambo fighter from Sapporo, Japan. A couple of decent wins on the indie circuit, we'll see how she fares in WEFF.
-- 26 y/o MW Adam "Hollywood" White (9-3), a Jeet Kune Do fighter from Los Angeles, California. After a slow start in Gamma(2-3), he won back to back fights in Sigma by TKO and his charisma in undeniable. Whether he fights as good as he draws remains to be seen.
-- 30 y/o MW "Superstar" Stuart Strange (17-3), a Greco-Roman wrestler from Durham, North Carolina. Did we need him? Not really. But when you have a chance to acquire a fighter that's instantly the most recognizable name on your roster, it's hard to pass up even if he did lose his last fight to Osmosis Benn. Certainly wasn't cheap (EXCL, $80,000, 6/5, 27 months).
-- 24 y/o LW "110%" Teresa Batch (4-0), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Charlotte, North Carolina. Excellent charisma and pretty good talent. She'll head to WEFF but we expect her on the CSA roster sooner rather than later.
-- 32 y/o FW Luiz "The Tarantula" Machado (27-7-2), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Rio de Janiero, Brazil. He's won back to back fights in the indies after losing his way out of XCC with losses to Easton Frye & Phillip Ziskie. We'll see what he's got left in the tank, at worst he's still competitive in our Featherweight division.
-- 22 y/o FW Kenji "Star" Akita (4-3), a wrestler from Tokyo, Japan. With his charisma, we're surprised he didn't end up in pro wrestling in Japan. Let's see if his two recent wins in the indies are the real thing or if his lackluster 1-3 record back in KDM FC was more indicative.
-- 31 y/o MW "The Amazing" JJ Reid (32-3), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Val-d'Or, Quebec. Need him? Nope. But how could I pass up a chance to take the reigning Gamma Middleweight Champion from them? Was even more expensive than Strange but when you're trailing somebody, you have to be bold to make up ground (EXCL, $90,000, 6/5, 27 months)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sunday November 11, 2001

In a move that seemed to catch competitors off guard, Combat Supercell Alliance (CSA) has acquired controlling interest in the financially troubled Xtreme Cage Combat (XCC).

The California-based promotion has focused on fighters in the lighter weight classes as well as a limited amount of female fighters and counts some of the top featherweights in the world among it's current stable (6 of the Top 10 as rated by Blurcat.com)

From his New York office, CSA owner Joseph Steven said he was looking forward to working with the acquisition and integrating it into the CSA family and reminded reporters that "It takes money to make money".

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 25
Sunday November 25, 2001 in Columbus, Georgia

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweights
Mario de Souza (26-8) vs Jakuchu "Sai" Abe (2-1)
We're privately hoping that youth is served
Blurcat says Abe's talent edge should make this a one-sided fight
Abe wins by Knock Out at 3:00 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Abe controlled R1 but couldn't quite get past half guard. Similar story in R2 with de Souza narrowly avoiding two arm triangle attempts. Change of tactics worked beautifully for Abe as three vicious knees to the face from a Muay Thai clinch turned out de Souza's lights.

Welterweights
Elvis "The King" Milissis (5-4) vs Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (4-1)
We're privately hoping that Shomen comes back strong from his loss to Bernacci
Blurcat says Shonen must keep the fight grounded in order to win
Shomen wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:25 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Fairly close but Milissis took R1 with better boxing & avoiding takedowns. A sweep by Shonen reversed a takedown early in R2, and Milissis made the mistake of giving up his back.

Light Heavyweight
"The Scourge of Europe" Nicolai Mickiewicz (23-6) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (4-2)
We're privately hoping that the favorite at least looks competitive in the U.S., scourging can come later
Blurcat says Mickiewicz is superior in every area & should win
Mickiewicz wins by split decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 & 28-29)
The match was rated as being Average
Nice takedown early in R1 gave Flintstone the edge. Each man scored a takedown, neither could advance past guard in R2. Mickiewicz basically smothered Flintstone to take the final round.

Women's Openweight
Hanako "The Storm Bringer" Shimizu (12-3) vs "The Outlaw" Vivian Terkay (7-0)
We're privately hoping that Terkay remains unbeaten
Blurcat says Terkay just needs to make the fight a ground battle & she'll win
Terkay wins by Knock Out at 2:46 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
One Muay Thai clinch, one big knee to the face & BANG !

Women's Openweight
"Yellow Peril" Rachel McGuinness (10-1-1) vs Laura "The Pissed Off Angel" Adair (7-1-1)
We're privately hoping that Adair gives McGuinness her second straight loss
Blurcat says Adair should simply be too good for McGuinness
Adair wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Adair scored repeatedly with punches in R1 after avoiding a takedown but somehow McGuinness survived the onslaught. Dirty boxing against the cage keyed Adair in R2. Adair looked for the big finish in R3 but never could find the range.

Featherweight
Tan Su (14-9) vs Davi Carlos Ramos (36-12-1)
We're privately hoping that Ramos sends his opponent off to Sigma with a sound beating just as he did one year ago. He signed with them days before we acquired XCC.
Blurcat says Ramos has Su completely overmatched
Su wins by Knock Out at 2:49 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
R1 was all Ramos ... except for one big counterpunch.

Welterweight
Jungo "The Spirit of the Ancients" Futagawa (22-11) vs Nik "The Minotaur" Minear (10-6)
We're privately hoping that Minear remains winless after his final fight for CSA
Blurcat says Minear will pull off the upset with his wrestling
Futagawa wins by Knock Out at 1:53 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Minear spent much of R1 smothering Futagawa. Several stiff punches gave Futagawa the edge in R2. A quick kick to the hip after a missed punch was followed by a massive kick to the head for a very abrupt ending.

Main Show
Featherweight
Easton "Small" Frye (13-1) vs "The Serpent King" Cong Dun (34-13)
We're privately hoping that Frye's return to Georgia is highlighted with a win
Blurcat says Dun's only chance is to wrestle his way to a victory but that isn't likely to happen
Frye wins by TKO at 1:58 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A couple of simple boxing exchanges was followed by a quick takedown & mount by Frye and that opened the floodgates.

Women's Openweight
"Deadly T" Thea Higgins (7-1) vs Hazel "Make 'Em Pay" McClay (7-9)
We're privately hoping that Higgins doesn't slip up
Blurcat says McClay is totally outgunned & has little to no chance
Higgins wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
A burst of ground & pound by Higgins opened a cut under McClay's eye in R1. Higgins pretty much pushed her opponent around at will in R2. More punishment in R3 opened a cut above McClay's eye for good measure

Heavyweight
"The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (5-1) vs "The Dockland Destroyer" Jerry Bogdonovich (11-4)
We're privately hoping that Archer starts quickly back on the road to a title rematch
Blurcat says Archer will win as long as the fight isn't entirely on the mat
Archer wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Decent offense from Archer while stuck at half guard was enough to give him R1. Solid dirty boxing from the grapple gave Archer R2 as well. Bogdonovich gave a good accounting of himself with some boxing in R3 but it was too little too late.

Middleweight
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (7-2) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (10-3)
We're privately hoping that the fight between two guys I don't personally like much turns out to be a good one
Blurcat says Mayweather should be able to keep Jenks at bay with his striking & win the fight
Mayweather wins by Knock Out at 0:50 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Great
A midround takedown was the highlight of R1, with Jenks having slightly the better of it. A quick knockdown by Mayweather opened R2 but Jenks recovered well & may have stolen the round with his grappling & mat work. Mayweather was even more aggressive to start the final round & this time Jenks couldn't get away, not once Mayweather gained side control & started pounding.

Middleweight
Bill "The Marine" Brown (5-2) vs Mal Phe Roby (16-9)
We're privately hoping that Browns stomps a mudhole in Roby since he signed an exclusive deal with Sigma earlier in the month
Blurcat says Brown is better in any position & should win
Brown wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Brown won several boxing exchanges early in R1 and finished the round by smothering Roby on the ground. Punch, punch, takedown by Brown who then had to avoid submission attempts by Roby in R2. 2 punches by Brown for every 1 by Roby told the story in R3.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
Marlon "The Punisher" John (7-1) vs "Major Damage" William Harrison (7-1)
We're privately hoping that this fight is a dandy
Blurcat says if Harrison can takedown the champion, he'll pull off the upset
John wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (48-47 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Fairly close R1 with John's ability to control Harrison against the cage probably making the difference for the judges. More of the same in R2, despite a successful takedown by the challenger. R3 saw the third takedown by Harrison, who managed to control the round from there this time. Close in R4 as each man showed good defensive skills when taken down. Both men tired in R5, with Harrison reversing a grapple to get a takedown that he simply didn't have enough left to capitalize on.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (8-1) vs Christopher "The Knife" Sharp (13-4)
We're privately hoping that Franklyn defends the title in his hometown but knows that it won't be easy
Blurcat says if Sharp can get the takedowns he'll win the fight
Franklyn wins by TKO at 0:57 of Round 2
The match was rated as Excellent
Franklyn was doing fine with punches until he missed a leg kick & got taken down & mounted late in R1. Sharp missed a takedown attempt & Franklyn exploded with a furious barrage that brought the fight to a sudden stop.

Attendance: 4,600 for a gate of $230,000
63,034 PPV Buys for revenue of $252,136
Show Rating: Poor

[JonInMiddleGA]

November 30, 2001

With all the contracts that suddenly needed to be shuffled after the surprise acquisition of XCC, we somehow managed to put on a show. Damned if the "fans" didn't crap all over it but I was actually pretty pleased with what we got from most of the fights. Every night can't be the MMA-equivalent of Ali-Frazier although that seems to be what people expect.

Franklyn sent the crowd home buzzing with what was probably our best ever main event thanks to the electric atmosphere in his hometown, Harrison came up just a little short and we had a spate of knock outs. The biggest disappointment had to be Ramos loss to Tan Su but stuff happens.

A relatively small profit of just $49,200 for the month but considering we spent over $166k to pay off XCC's debts that's really not bad at all.

In addition to the takeover of XCC, we made a number of other moves during the month including the renewal of contracts with Tim Oldacres, Sinali Shomen, and Steph Smith. As mentioned, Tan Su exits having signed with SIGMA shortly because our deal with XCC was completed and Hazel McClay is one & done after being picked up in that same transaction.

It's hard to think that XCC wasn't influenced to deal by the fact that we had already reached an agreement with their top-ranked fighter Phillip Ziskie, as well as Azor Portela Nunes & Kei Maki which would have stripped them of a lot of their top draws.

We also signed
-- 32 y/o FW "Bulldozer" Benedikt Streit (23-8), a ground & pound fighter from Hamburg, Germany. Back to back wins on the indy circuit have him back on track after a lackluster 2-3-1 stint with Sigma.
-- 21 y/o LHW "The Joker" Anthony Deeley (4-0), an MMA-influenced Jiu Jitsu fighter from Motherwell, Scotland. He was 1-0 for Omega with a win over our own Terry Catt & we like his potential.
-- 41 y/o Announcer Garth Ward will be joining us just in time for the holidays as we take the talented voice away from Gamma.
-- 29 y/o LW Luis "El Diablo" Basora (24-5-2), a judoka from Barcelona, Spain comes to us from Alpha-1 where he was a lackluster 1-2. Hopefully his talent finally comes through here in CSA.
-- 27 y/o LW Korekiyo "Razor" Anzai (14-6), a submission fighter from Tokyo, Japan. He was 4-3 in Gamma, including a loss to Sean Morrison and a win over Milenko Rudonja in his last outing.

Other than our XCC purchase, the big news in MMA in November was the loss by the #2 Heavyweight in the world Raul Hughes (18-3), who was submitted by Kunimichi Kikuchi in ALPHA-1's PPV main event. It's the first loss in 2 and a half years for "The Demolition Expert" who was TKO'ed by James Foster back in February 1999 before going on a five fight winning streak that included revenge over Foster.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 27
Sunday December 16, 2001 in Orlando, Florida

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Lightweights
"Hollywood Player" Doug Minelli (2-3) vs Laerte "Ranger" Portinari (12-11)
We're privately hoping that Minelli can manage a win over an opponent who has lost seven straight & that has an expiring contract
Blurcat says Portinari will struggle just to stay afloat in this match
Minelli wins by TKO at 4:040 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Minelli's strikes were more numerous & more accurate in R1. An onslaught from side control put an end to the fight.

Women's Openweight
"The Japanese Buzzsaw" Naora Kikuchi (9-3) vs Angelina Keiff (2-7)
We're privately hoping that Kikuchi makes it look easy
Blurcat says Kikuchi should win fairly comfortably
Kikuchi wins by Knock Out at 3:26 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Kikuchi fairly well manhandles Keiff in R1. A more competitive fight in R2 but not by all that much. A tiring Kikuchi found an opening from a Muay Thai clinch & used a powerful knee to the cheek to abruptly end the fight.

Lightweight
Brandon "Sugar Rush" Sugar (28-8) vs "The Mentor" Rayver Anzures (13-17)
We're privately hoping that Sugar gets an easy win against an opponent on an expiring contract
Blurcat says Anzures is totally outgunned & has no chance
Sugar wins by TKO at 0:44 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Sugar shot in for the takedown & simply wailed away from guard until the referee could stop it.

Lightweight
"Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton" (4-3) vs "The Earl" Hinton Grey (4-5)
We're privately hoping that Newton gets his 3rd straight win over a briefly returning Grey & his expiring contract
Blurcat says Grey's ground game should be just enough for the win
Newton wins by submission (kimura) at 3:52 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
Grey was content to let Newton set the pace & that was a mistake. A solid punch stunned Grey & sent him sprawling where Newton pounced immediately.

Featherweight
"Mighty Mouse" Heiko Pander (8-1) vs "The Bruiser From Belfast" Liam O'Donnell (8-4)
We're privately hoping that this low-key fight gives Pander a chance to get comfortable in the States.
Blurcat says O'Donnell has to keep Pander off him with striking but that doesn't seem likely to happen
Pander wins by submission (armbar) at 2:37 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Pander finally got past guard and ended the fight quickly from there.

Women's Openweight
Pamela "The Truth" O'Neill (6-2-1) vs Henrietta "Hellcat" Stein (8-6)
We're privately hoping that O'Neill makes short work of Stein & her expiring contract
Blurcat says O'Neill is better in every area, leaving Stein no real chance
O'Neill wins by TKO at 1:52 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Methodical fight, takedown to side control to mount to beating the crap out of a hapless opponent

Light Heavyweight
"The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (12-1) vs Adrian "The Power" Pascal (5-2)
We're privately hoping that Kanchelskis rebounds after his first career loss
Blurcat says Pascal could pull the upset if he can smother Kanchelskis
Kanchelskis wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Most of R1 consisted of Pascal pushing his opponent around while standing. R2 went to Kanchelskis who was better on the ground & able to smother Pascal there. R3 was much like R2.

Main Show
Welterweight
Bosco "Bad Attitude" Curbeam (2-0) vs "Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (5-2)
We're privately hoping for a good fight between the relative newcomer & the former WW champion
Blurcat says Curbeam's advantages on the ground & wrestling will make him the winner
Curbeam wins by submission (armbar) at 4:17 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Early striking by Chambers ended with a takedown to side control & then Curbeam got the mount & found an arm to hang onto.

Featherweight
"The Black Dog" Anthony Ray Shenkman (18-6) vs Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (16-6)
We're privately hoping at least the winner comes away looking good
Blurcat says Shenkman's ground game will overcome Gaffigan's striking
Gaffigan wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Big knockdown by Gaffigan midway through R1 but Shenkman covered up & held on. Punches & counterpunches by Gaffigan scored frequently and a late round knockdown had him fully in control of R2. Shenkman handled R3 but there wasn't much offense beyond pinning Gaffigan to the cage.

Middleweight
"The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (22-7) vs "The Soldier of Fortune" Thomas Smith (13-6)
We're privately hoping that we're happy with the manner of winning more than caring about the winner when this one is over
Blurcat says Smith is too good on the ground for Spyrou
Spyrou wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Spyrou threw a ton of punches & landed enough of them to take R1. An even better R2 for Spyrou who punished Smith every time he got close. Closer maybe but similar sequence in R3, as Smith failed to get a single takedown in the entire fight.

Heavyweight
"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (5-1) vs "Boom Boom" Guy Broom (2-0)
We're privately hoping that Satinho takes the less experienced Broom seriously
Blurcat says Satinho should be the last man standing
Satinho wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Closer than expected in R1 as Satinho tried & mostly failed to grapple & wrestle with Broom. The favorite relied on his jab to keep Broom at bay & take R2. Satinho went back to trying to wrestle in R3 and had at least a bit more success than he found earlier in the fight.

For the CSA Lightweight Title
Marco Bernacci (8-4) vs Heikichi Shimizu (4-0)
We're privately hoping that this is a barnburner
Blurcat says Shimizu will win on the ground
Bernacci wins by Knock Out at 0:30 of Round 5
The match was rated as being Great
Two takedowns by Shimizu in R1 but he couldn't get past guard while having to defend against Bernacci's efforts to get an armbar. A massive punch sent Shimizu sprawling early in R2 but he recovered quickly. Effective kicks by Bernacci early in R3 before Shimizu got a takedown too late to do anything with it. Shimizu got another takedown in R4 but couldn't advance thanks to solid defense by Bernacci. R5 began and ended with a sudden head kick that caught Shimizu flush and left him out cold.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (8-2) vs Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (5-1)
We're privately hoping that the rematch is a crowd pleaser like the first time these two met
Blurcat says if Mattherson gets the takedowns he wins, if he doesn't get them then he loses
Pizzarro wins by submission (guillotine) at 2:07 of Round 5
The match was rated as being Great
Sort of ragged looking but active R1 with punches, kicks, takedowns, escapes, and reversals that made it tough to know who had the advantage. R2 saw another incredibly close round with Mattherson seeming to have the slight edge with equal punching and one takedown. Mattherson clearly won R3 with two takedowns & a slick move to gain side control in the final minute. R4 started with more of the same but after being stood up for lack of progress, Mattherson ate a big straight punch that flattened him. Mattherson started well in R5 by anticipating a body kick attempt & turning it into an easy takedown. He didn't finish well however as Pizzaro caught him with a guillotine from guard.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Women's Openweight Title
Tiiu "The Tigress" Kass (8-0) vs Katherine "The Great" Williams (11-3)
We're privately hoping that this fight lives up to it's anticipation
Blurcat says Kass will retain in an extremely close fight
Williams wins by submission (armbar) at 4:34 of Round 1
The match was rated as Good
Kass started the fight with some effective jabs but Williams quickly found a takedown and then methodically worked from guard to side control to mount before finding the finisher.

Attendance: 4,293 for a gate of $214,650
60,514 PPV Buys for revenue of $242,056
Show Rating: Poor

[Tellistto]

Screw the fans, that was a solid show!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Screw the fans, that was a solid show!

Kind of my feelings. Basically there doesn't seem to be much that matters in the game as far as your show ratings except name value, winning streaks, and popularity. Quality fights don't seem to mean much to the fans as long as they know who the guys are. You could get an Excellent show rating putting Jessica Simpson out there to fight Paula Abdul five times a night.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Sunday December 30th, 2001 in Las Vegas, NV

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Light Heavyweight
"The Modern Day Gladiator" Bryan Van Den Hauwe (16-9) vs Eric "Big D" Dartmouth (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Van Den Hauwe looks ready after a long layoff
Blurcat says VDH is clearly better in any position
Van Den Hauwe wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Two easy takedowns for VDH in R1 but he couldn't get past guard. Nice move by VDH was the highlight of R2 as he realized that the youngster was too high on a standing choke & flipped him right over his shoulder. Dartmouth got a takedown early & controlled R3.

Featherweight
Lazaro "Riptide" Campos (3-0) vs "The Colorado Cobra" Ian Linderman (10-7)
We're privately hoping that Campos stays unbeaten against the briefly returning expiring contract
Blurcat says Linderman is totally out-gunned
Campos wins by sumbission (rear naked choke) at 4:26 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Two quick knockdowns & then an easily applied submission move as Campos just ate Linderman alive.

Women's Openweight
Romi "WAR" Takahashi (6-2) vs Nina "Liberty" Belle (1-1)
We're privately hoping that even the slightest TV exposure is good for both fighters
Blurcat says if Takahashi can take Belle down it could be all over
Belle wins by TKO at 3:14 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Punching & counterpunching by Belle to start the fight & then she shoved Takahashi against the cage & just unloaded everything she had, which was more than enough.

Light Heavyweight
"Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (19-2) vs "The Green Machine" Rupert Dreck (6-3)
We're privately hoping that Rekdal brings his A-game
Blurcat says Dreck is well positioned for an upset
Rekdal wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Good standup offense by Rekdal to take R1. A takedown from against the cage gave R2 to Dreck. Very nice hit & run offense by Rekdal, weighted toward the hitting part, in R3.

Heavyweight
Don "The Rumble King" Norman (24-17) vs Taye Burnett (1-3)
We're privately hoping that this doesn't suck
Blurcat says Burnett should be too talented for the veteran
Burnett wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Old school big time punching by Norman was the story in R1. A quicker Burnett had the better of R2 with a takedown. Younger meant fresher in R3 as Burnett had an answer for everything Norman tried

Women's Openweight
"The Real Deal" Trish Biel (9-1-1) vs "Lost Innocence" Leslie Myers (2-1)
We're privately hoping that Biel starts looking even more like a legit contender
Blurcat says Biel's ground game is the key to the fight
Myers wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Myers scored on the ground, Biel scored while standing, in a fairly close R1 that probably went to Myers. Biel spent most of R2 trapped in half guard although she finally managed to get to mount just as time expired. Myers was a lot more aggressive in the final round, scoring with standing strikes almost at will.

Main Show
Middleweight
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (5-1) vs Julio "The Nightmare" Gutierrez (5-1)
We're privately hoping that Kaladaris gets past another talented young fighter
Blurcat says Gutierrez would do well just to hang with Kaladaris for very long
Kaladaris wins by split decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 28-29)
The match was rated as being Good
Solid R1 for Kaladaris who used his wrestling for control. Kaladaris somehow survived a head kick that would have KO'ed lesser fighters & probably ended up winning R2 with good striking. Another brutal head kick but again Kaladaris refused to go down, leaving Gutierrez fishing for answers in R3.

Welterweight
Charles "Rogue" Stiles (17-5) vs "Thunder & Lightning" Tyler Lass (7-4)
We're privately hoping that Stiles has a strong debut for us
Blurcat says Lass just has to keep the fight standing to pull off the upset
Stiles wins by submission (armbar) at 4:23 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Good leg kicks by Lass probably gave him the edge in R1. Stiles used his jab to set Lass up for a takedown & then found the opening he needed.

Co-Main Event: Featherweight
"Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (21-0) vs "The Miniature Killer" Jason Dalglish (16-10)
We're privately hoping that Ho looks like he's worth even half the ridiculous sum we're paying him
Blurcat says Ho should win but at least Dalglish has a strikers chance on the ground
Ho wins by submission (triangle choke) at 3:35 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Dalglish scored with a few jabs but once Ho got the takedown he made it look very easy.

Main Event: Light Heavyweight
Adam "Hollywood" White (9-3) vs Mark "The Thing" Cohen (12-5)
We're privately hoping that White handles the move up in weight well against a badly aging name
Blurcat says White is better in every area, hard to see how Cohen even has a chance
White wins by TKO at 1:11 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
Rumors of Cohen not being mentally prepared for the fight seemed well founded as White quickly got a takedown, side control, then mount, and then just pounded away until the ref stepped in.

Attendance: 2,488 for a gate of $124,400
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 31, 2001

The year ends well enough, or at least every way but financially. We actually lost $43,821 for December thanks to the enormous price of having Li-Kong Ho. Not really sure how I feel about that nor what to do about it (except hope someone signs him off our hands & makes it a moot point). The good showing on TV once again cleans up the popularity losses caused by two less than uber PPV lineups.

During the month we saw the exits of 11 fighters with expiring contracts, most of whom we had inherited from either the WEFF or XCC purchases.
Gone are Tan Su (0-1 for us, 15-9 overall), Hazel McClay (0-1, 7-10),
Edson Edmilson (0-0, 29-20), Nik Minear (0-5, 10-7), Cong Dun (0-1, 34-14), Mal Phe Roby (0-1, 16-10), Hinton Grey (0-3, 4-6), Laertre Portinari (0-1, 12-12), Angelina Keiff (0-2, 2-8), Henrietta Stein (0-1, 8-7), and Rayver Anzures (0-1, 13-18).

New signees include:
-- 31 y/o WW Carmelo Rossi (13-7), a wrestler from Florence, Italy who went 4-2 during a recent stint with Gamma.
-- 25 y/o FW Lucia "Lady O' War" Pessoa (0-0), a rookie karate specialist from Lisbon, Portugal who will get a chance to show what she can do with WEFF
-- 33 y/o WW Doug "The Nightmare" Hansen (18-8), a judoka from Falkirk, Scotland who was 1-2 with Gamma but we believe he can be competitive here
-- 34 y/o FW "Ice Cold" Lars Bohlin (53-6-1), a highly regarded wrestler from Stockholm, Sweden. He's the reigning Sigma Featherweight Champion and is capable of some big time fights. Much better known in Europe than the US but we believe that will change once audiences here get to see him regularly
-- 26 y/o WW Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (5-2, 2-2), a shooter from Boston, Massachusetts who returns after a 15 month absence from CSA which he spent honing his skills
-- 33 y/o LW "G-Force" Rodolphe Gygax (33-9), a bare knuckle boxer from St. Gallen, Switzerland who comes in with a six fight winning streak including three straight in a nine month stint with Gamma.
-- 28 y/o HW "The Beast of Birmingham" Rav Kapur (15-1), a kick boxer from Birmingham, England who is riding a 7 fight winning streak including three in a row in Alpha-1
-- 34 y/o HW Stratos "Atlas" Papaioannou (30-6), a wrestler from Athens, Greece who was 4-1 in Sigma including four straight wins
-- 33 y/o HW "Chief" Fatuma Roy (25-11), a wrestler from the San Francisco Bay Area, who was 5-3 during an extended run with Gamma that helped him build a name if not his record
-- 28 y/o FW "The Highlight" Harvey Ripa (12-5), a kick boxer from Charleston, West Virginia who won three straight on the indies after going 1-2 with XCC in 1999
-- 31 y/o FW "Vicious But Delicious" Tracy Garcia (1-0), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. She'll get a chance with WEFF
-- 25 y/o FW "The Human Arsenal" Joan Whitehouse (1-0), a wrestler from Mesquite, Texas who will start with WEFF
-- 33 y/o LW "Colorado Rapid" Emma Birch (7-7), a submission wrestler from Denver, Colorado who will return to WEFF after a year's absence

From XCC we renew the contracts of
-- 27 y/o LW Fujimaro Hidaka (10-4), a kick boxer from Osaka, Japan
-- 26 y/o FW Easton "Small" Frye (14-1, 1-1), a ground & pounder from Atlanta, GA who debuted for us earlier in the month
-- 32 y/o LW Naizen Hamacho (17-6), a brawler from Sendai, Japan
-- 26 y/o FW Ryota "Ronin" Sugimoto (8-3), a wrestler from Tokyo, Japan
-- 27 y/o BW Jennie "Bad Girl" Gill (7-4), a kick boxer from Fort Worth, Texas
-- 30 y/o BW Katarzyna "Killer" Wojciechowska, a kick boxer from Warsaw, Poland
-- 25 y/o Masato "Heart" Wai (4-3), a freestyle wrestler from Yokohama, Japan

From WEFF we renew the contracts of
-- 30 y/o LW "Yellow Peril" Rachel McGuinness (10-2-1, 0-1) who debuted for us in the prelims at CSA 26 but will be returning to WEFF. She'll be on a very short leash given her history with a failed drug test and we really struggled with the decision whether to give her another chance or not
-- 30 y/o LW Serena "Hunter" Hill, a kick boxer from Durban, South Africa

From our own roster we renewed the contracts of BW Hanako Shimizu (12-4, 1-1) who will head down to XCC for at least one fight, MW Ashley Ballard (1-2, 15-3), and WW Elvis Milissis (1-3, 5-5).

Elsehwere in December several recognizable names switched companies including MW "The Anarchist" Matthew Dean (38-6) who goes to Alpha-1 from Gamma, LHW Sho Kitabatake (6-3) who goes to Sigma from Alpha-1, HW Gyokusho "Fujizilla" Fujimoto (7-4) who goes to Gamma from Alpha-1, and LHW "The Hotshot Scot" Gary McSweegan (28-11) who goes to Alpha-1 from Gamma.

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 1, 2002

2001 Year-End Awards from Blurcat.com

Fighter of the Year
"The Beast Of Birmingham" Rav Kapur - ALPHA-1
Heavyweight was 4-0 for 2001 with two first round TKO's and two UD's between his time in BCF and Alpha-1. He will take a 7 fight winning streak into his new contract with CSA in 2002.

Female Fighter of the Year
Katherine "The Great" Williams - CSA & XCC
She wrapped up a 5-0 year with a submission win over Tiiu Kass to claim the CSA Women's Openweight Title in December. During the year she took wins over Jenny DeNeuve, Samantha Sachs, Chie Namiki, and her signature victory over longtime #1 women's fighter April Watson in her CSA debut.

Rookie of the Year
None
No rookie fighter was deemed to have had significant enough impact to warrant the award

Rise of the Year
Jonathan "The Locust" Huang - CSA
After dominating Jiu Jitsu in the late 90's, the middleweight finally got the MMA chance he wanted from CSA and was 2-0 with submission wins over Mario de Souza and Gideon Navarro.

Fall of the Year
Taufik Wijaya- Sigma
Nothing like 6 straight losses, including five in 2001, to cause your stock to fall. He also slipped from working Alpha-1 PPV's to working Sigma TV shows during the year and hasn't lasted past the opening minute of the second round since his last victory 19 months ago in KDM FC.

Promotion of the Year
ALPHA-1
They don't rebuild, they just reload and even that isn't really necessary when you're roster is headlined by Hassan Fezzik.

Team of the Year
Euro Team Thunder
Their 20 members include current & 2-time Gamma WW Champion Julio Regueiro, former A-1 LW Champion (now with CSA) Luis Basora, current CSA LW Champion Marco Bernacci, former SIGMA LHW Champion Faas Smith, former TOP HW Champion Cyrano Richard (now with Sigma), former BCF LW Champion Vikram Sithalayan and former ALPHA-1 MW Champion Fernando Amaro.

Show of the Year
XCC: Watson vs Shimizu (January 2001)
A fantastic 4th round knockout let Watson defend her XCC title and capped a solid show that also included a 23 second TKO of Dominic Ash by Tomohiro Takeuchi.

Fight of the Year
Lars Bohlin vs Colm Dee (SIMGA February 2001)
7:27 of all out war ended with Bohlin's submission victory

Worst Fight of the Year
Sammi Chan vs Rayver Anzures (Independent Show Jan 2001)
Chan won a UD in one of those fights that seemed it would never end.

Knock Out of the Year
Raul Hughes vs Gyokusho Fujimoto (ALPHA-1 June 2001)
Hughes got the KO with a massive punch in the opening minute of the 3rd round

Submission of the Year
Hassan Fezzik vs Armen Sarkisian (ALPHA-1 March 2001)
The great one's only submission win of the year oddly enough

Main Event of the Year
Lars Bohlin vs Colm Dee (SIMGA February 2001)

Upset of the Year
Jonathan Huang defeats Mario de Souza (CSA May 2001)
There were many who thought the Jiu Jitsu specialist was getting in over his head with MMA. Not nearly so many think so after a pair of submission wins, including this one in his MMA debut.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of January 1, 2002

Promotion Rankings (size, change since January 2001, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (Up to Mid Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (down to High Level National, 0, LHW Mike Watson)
3. CSA (Up to Mid Level National, 0, MW Alex Cole)
4. SIGMA (up to Low Level National, 0, HW Lefter Oktay)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, 0, FW Sayoko Ebisawa)
6. XCC (up to High Level Regional, +1, LW Naizen Hamacho)
7. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, +1, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)
8. TOP (Mid Level Regional), 0, WW Gordon Idle
Out of Business
x (6) BCF (was High Level Regional)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (33-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 3-0 in 2001
2(2) Mike Watson (16-0); GAMMA LHW Champion since Mar 2000; 2-0 in 2001
3(x) Luke Hilton (15-0); Alpha-1, LW 3-0 in 2001
4(9) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-5); Alpha-1; HW 3-0 in 2001 including submission win over Raul Hughes
5(3) Kafu Bunya (17-0); Alpha-1, Welterweight 2-0 in 2001
6(x) Darin Blood (18-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001 2-0 in 2001 including submission win over Carlos da Guia for title
7(10) Julio Regueiro (19-1-1); Current 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion since Dec 2001 2-0 in 2001 including submission win over Jack Humphreys for title
8(x) Tadamasa Yamada (27-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion 2-0 in 2001
9(x) Alex Cole (18-0); Current CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 2001, former Omega MW Champion 3-0 in 2001 including submission win over Ashley Ballard for title
10(7) Sean Morrison (30-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 2-0 in 2001
Dropped Out
x(4) Raul Hughes (18-3); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion 1-1 in 2001 with loss to #4 Kikuchi
x(5) Jin Katou (23-2); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight 2-1 in 2001 including loss to #8 Yamada
x(6) Matthew Dean (38-6); Alpha-1, was Gamma; Middleweight 1-1 in 2001 including UD loss to Neil Napier
x(8) James Foster (40-5-1); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion 3-0 in 2001

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (33-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-5) Alpha-1;
3(3) James Foster (40-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(2) Raul Hughes (18-3); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion
5(x) Rav Kapur (15-1); CSA, was Alpha-1
6(x) Lefter Oktay (19-1) Sigma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 2001
7(6) Gregor Boniek (39-6); Alpha-1
8(8) Stratos Papaioannou (30-6); CSA, was Sigma
9(x) Ari Peltonen (27-10); Alpha-1
10(5) Armen Sarkisian (17-2); CSA, was Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(7) Curt Kitson (25-4); Alpha-1, was BCF dropped to LHW
x(9) Tony McCall (36-13); Gamma 1-2 in 2001
x(10) Jeff Carlton (35-10); Gamma, was Alpha-1 lost to Terron Cabal in Mar 01

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Mike Watson (16-0); Gamma LHW Champion since Mar 2000,
2(3) Tadamasa Yamada (27-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
3(2) Jin Katou (23-2); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
4(7) Anthony LeToussier (19-3); Alpha-1, was Gamma;
5(8) Roberto Aldez (47-8); Alpha-1
6(9) Thorbjorn Rekdal (20-2); CSA
7(6) John Rivero (22-4); Alpha-1, was Gamma
8(x) Curt Kitson (25-4); Alpha-1, was BCF dropped from HW
9(5) Zvonimir Asanovic (19-3); former Gamma LHW Champion
10(x) Faas Smit (41-15); Sigma
Dropped out
x(4) Alex Cole (18-0); CSA, was OMEGA dropped to MW
x(10) Elgar (28-12); Sigma, was Alpha-1 0-3 in 2001

Middleweight
1(x) Alex Cole (18-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 2001
2(4) Neil Napier (20-1); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
3(2) JJ Reid (32-3); CSA, was Gamma Middleweight Champion since Aug 2000
4(1) Matthew Dean (38-6); Alpha-1, was Gamma
5(3) Petey Mack (22-2); Alpha-1
6(7) Heiji Endo (19-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
7(8) Leonardo da Costa (20-4); Alpha-1
8(9) Buddy Garner (18-2); Gamma
9(6) Stuart Strange (17-3); CSA, was Gamma
10(x) Sutton Ripley (21-5); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(5) Mac Fuller (32-9); Alpha-1, was Gamma 0-2 in 2001
x(10) Ashley Ballard (15-3); CSA; lost title to #1 Cole in Sept 01

Welterweight
1(3) Kafu Bunya (17-0); Alpha-1
2(4) Darin Blood (18-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001, was Gamma WW Champion
3(2) Julio Rugueiro (19-1-1); Current 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion
4(7) Mikey Wallace (12-0); Gamma
5(x) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (11-1); Alpha-1
6(5) Josh Aldarisio (10-1); Gamma
7(3) Carlos da Guia (18-1); former Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion
8(6) Jack Humphreys (32-5); former Gamma Welterweight Champion
9(x) Ichisake Mayagi (32-11); Alpha-1
10(x) Dominykas Jankovic (17-3); Gamma, was Sigma
Dropped Out
x(8) David Allen (21-3); Gamma; 2-1 in 2001
x(9) Gabriel Gallego (18-5); Alpha-1 0-2 in 2001
x(10) Helio (25-2); CSA, was BCF Lightweight Champion dropped to LW

Lightweight
1(2) Luke Hilton (15-0); Alpha-1
2(1) Sean Morrison (30-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(6) Sukarno (10-0);Alpha-1
4(3) Fiyero Lermontov (17-0); Gamma, was Sigma
5(4) Shizuya Nakae (31-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion
6(x) Helio (25-2); CSA, was BCF Lightweight Champion
7(5) Fumiaki Hayashi (21-7); Alpha-1 lost to #1 Hilton twice in 2001
8(x) Tarcisio Dantes (15-1); Gamma
9(x) Heiko Pander (9-1); CSA, was Sigma
10(8) Lubos Plasil (12-2); Sigma
Dropped out
x(7) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (11-1); Alpha-1 moved up to Welterweight
x(9) Brandon Sugar (29-8); CSA, was Sigma 2-1 in 2001
x(10) Branco (13-3); Alpha-1; 1-2 in 2001

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (22-0); CSA, was unemployed
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (18-0); CSA, was XCC Featherweight Champion
3(3) Lars Bohlin (53-6-1); CSA, was Sigma Featherweight Champion
4(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (23-4); CSA, was XCC
5(6) Easton Frye (14-1); CSA, was XCC
6(9) Rafael Tavares (19-3); CSA
7(5) Manish Khan (12-3); Sigma
8(x) Kei Maki (8-3); CSA, was XCC & Sigma
9(10) Shuler Eigenberg (16-4); CSA, was XCC
10(8) Tan Su (15-9); CSA, was XCC
Dropped out
x(7) Colm Dee (15-6); CSA/XCC, was Sigma 0-2 in 2001

Pound for Pound (female)
1(5) Sayoko Ebisawa (16-1); CSA/WEFF;
2(2) Sarah Vaughn (17-3); CSA, was 2x WEFF Women's HW Champion
3(x) Katherine Williams (12-3); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 2001
4(1) April Watson (10-2); CSA/WEFF, was former XCC Women's Champion & former WEFF Women's Champion
5(9)Tiiu Kass (8-1); CSA; former Women's Openweight Champion
6(4) Yuya Shimizu (12-1); CSA, was XCC
7(x) Layla Holmes (9-1); CSA; former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
8(7) Alisha Wood (9-2); CSA, was former WEFF Heavyweight Champion
9(6) Jenny DeNeuve (8-2); CSA/WEFF, former WEFF Lightweight Champion
10(x) Laura Adair (8-1-1); CSA
Dropped out
x(3) Mizuki Watanabe (9-2); CSA/WEFF;0-2 in 2001
x(8) Vicki Summers (15-2-2); CSA/WEFF 1-0-1 in 2001, retired in Dec 01 after beating Samantha Sachs
x(10) Haley Croft (15-5); CSA/WEFF 1-1 in 2001

[JonInMiddleGA]

We know what Blurcat thinks about the MMA world overall but what do they think about our roster?

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Roster as of January 1, 2002 (change since January 2001)

Pound for Pound
1(x) Alex "Ace in the Hole" Cole (18-0, 2-0) CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 2001
2(x) "The Amazing" JJ Reid (32-3, 0-0); Middleweight
3(x) "The Beast of Birmingham" Rav Kapur (15-1, 0-0); Heavyweight
4(x) Stratos "Atlas" Papaioannou (30-6, 0-0); Heavyweight
5(x) "Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (22-0, 1-0); Featherweight
6(1) "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (20-2, 1-0); Light Heavyweight
7(x) Phillip "Kid" Ziskie (18-0, 0-0); Featherweight
8(x) Helio (25-2, 1-0); Lightweight
9(x) "Samurai Spirit" Tomohiro Takeuchi (23-4, 0-0); Featherweight
10(x) "Ice Cold" Lars Bohlin (53-6-1, 0-0); Featherweight
Dropped Out:
x(2) Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (15-3, 2-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
x(3) "The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (6-1, 6-1); former CSA Heavyweight Champion
x(4) "The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (23-7, 2-1); Middleweight
x(5) "The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (13-1, 3-1); Light Heavyweight
x(6) Benny "The Jet" Danare (15-3, 0-1); Welterweight
x(7) Mario de Souza (26-9, 1-2); Middleweight
x(8) Rafael "Slick" Tavares (19-3, 3-0); Featherweight
x(9) "The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (6-1, 6-1); former CSA Light Heavyweight Champion
x(10) Mark "The Thing" Cohen (36-12-2, 1-2); Heavyweight

Heavyweights
1(x) Rav Kapur (15-1, 0-0);
2(x) Stratos Papaioannou (30-6, 0-0);
3(x) Armen Sarkisian (17-2, 0-0);
4(x) Fatuma Roy (25-11, 0-0);
5(1) Mason Archer (6-1, 6-1); former CSA Heavyweight Champion
6(5) Wilson Franklyn (9-1, 7-1); CSA Heavyweight Champion since June 01
7(x) Lawrence Herringbone (17-7, 1-0);
8(3) Alexsei Chekov (23-6, 3-1);
9(8) Murilo Satinho (6-1, 6-1);
10(x) Christopher Sharp (13-5, 0-1);
Dropped out
x(2) Mark Cohen (35-12-2, 1-2);
x(4) Sylvester Collins (6-3, 3-3); former CSA Heavyweight Champion
x(6) Gary Sampson (19-9, 1-1);
x(7) Gareth Grundy (10-5, 0-0);
x(9) Damien Jones (10-2, 1-0);
x(10) Kevin Portman (11-8, 1-1);

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Thorbjorn Rekdal (20-2, 3-0)
2(x) Nicolai Mickiewicz (24-6, 1-1)
3(x) Adam White (10-3, 1-0)
4(2) Fjodor Kanchelskis (13-1, 3-1)
5(x) Linfield Ballard (26-11, 0-0)
6(x) Andranik Paletilolu (20-7, 1-0)
7(4) Marlon John (8-1, 7-1); 2x CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since Aug 01
8(3) Allen LeFleur (6-1, 6-1); former CSA Light Heavyweight Champion
9(x) Leandro Piquet (24-10, 0-0);
10(x) Jerry Bogdonovich (11-5, 0-2);
Dropped out
5(6) Christian Mountfield (16-10; 2-1)
6(7) Spencer Rubenstein (5-2, 5-2); former CSA Light Heavyweight Champion
7(x) Jasper Osmond (13-16, 0-2);
8(x) William Harrison (7-2, 4-2);
9(5) Vagner (15-9, 1-4); contract expired, now with Omega
10(9) Bryan Van Den Hauwe (17-9, 2-1);

Middleweights
1(x) Alex Cole (18-0, 2-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 01
2(x) JJ Reid (32-3, 0-0);
3(x) Stuart Strange (17-3, 0-0);
4(1) Ashley Ballard (15-3, 2-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
5(2) Davis Spyrou (23-7, 2-1)
6(x) Kramer Mayweather (8-2, 6-0); former CSA Middleweight Champion
7(x) Bill Brown (6-2, 4-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
8(4) Heath Kaladaris (6-1, 6-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
9(7) Joaquim Fontes (14-2, 2-1);
10(x) Rich Robinson (6-1, 3-0);
Dropped out
x(3) Mario de Souza (26-9, 1-2);
x(5) Drew Jenks (10-4, 3-3);
x(6) Thomas Smith (13-7, 1-2);
x(8) Carl Ratcliffe (20-10, 2-3);
x(9) Jakachu Abe (3-1, 3-1);
x(10) Tora Mizwar (8-2, 1-0);

Welterweights
1(x) Charles Stiles (18-5, 1-0);
2(5) Evan Pizzarro (9-2, 7-1); CSA Welterweight Champion since Jan 01
3(1) Benny Danare (15-3, 0-1);
4(x) Jungo Futagawa (23-11, 1-0);
5(x) Doug Hansen (18-8, 0-0);
6(x) Carmelo Rossi (13-7, 0-0);
7(x) Bosco Curbeam (3-0, 3-0);
8(2) Felix Mattherson, Jr (5-2, 5-2); former CSA Welterweight Champion
9(x) Sinali Shomen (5-1, 5-1);
10(x) Dana Delaney (11-7, 0-1);
Dropped out
x(3) Thiago Ceni (20-18, 0-2);
x(4) Nathan Chambers (5-3, 5-3); former CSA Welterweight Champion
x(6) Ross Smith (8-3, 1-0);
x(7) Pirmin Zubriggen (14-11, 0-1);
x(8) Lucas Mueller (8-2, 1-1);
x(9) Peter Bracewell (22-11, 1-0); retired with win over Ceni in March 01
x(10) Heiki Shimizu (4-1, 2-1);

Lightweights
1(x) Helio (25-2, 1-0);
2(x) Tomohiro Takeuchi (23-4, 0-0);
3(x) Rodolphe Gygax (33-9, 0-0);
4(x) Brandon Sugar (29-8, 2-0);
5(x) Luis Basora (24-5-2, 0-0);
6(7) Marco Bernacci (9-4, 5-0); CSA Lightweight Champion since June 01
7(x) Heikichi Shimizu (4-1, 2-1);
8(x) Naizen Hamacho (17-6, 0-0);
9(x) Korekiyo Anzai (14-6, 0-0);
10(x) Aaron McBroom (12-6, 0-1);
Dropped out
x(1) Rafael Tavares (19-3, 3-0); dropped to FW
x(2) Dominic Ash (10-2, 4-1); 2x former CSA Lightweight Champion, sent to XCC
x(3) Jason Dalglish (16-11, 0-2); sent to XCC
x(4) Tim Oldacres (4-2, 4-2); former CSA Lightweight Champion, moved to WW
x(5) Anthony Ray Shenkman (18-7, 1-4); dropped to FW
6(9) Sinali Shomen (5-1, 5-1); former CSA Lightweight Champion, moved to WW
8(6) Jackson Gray (20-11, 0-1); sent to XCC
9(7) Sammy Gaffigan (17-6, 2-2); moved to FW
10(8) Francesco Marazzina (20-10, 1-1);

Featherweights
1(x) Li-Kong Ho (22-0, 1-0);
2(x) Phillip Ziskie (18-0, 0-0);
3(x) Lars Bohlin (53-6-1, 0-0);
4(x) Heiko Pander (9-1, 1-0);
5(x) Easton Frye (14-1, 1-0);
6(x) Rafael Tavares (19-3, 3-0);
7(x) Kei Maki (8-3, 0-0);
8(x) Shuler Eigenberg (16-4, 3-0);
9(x) Azor Portela Nunes (27-7, 0-0);
10(x) Benedikt Streit (23-8, 0-0);
Dropped Out:
None, new weight class for 2001

Women's Openweight
1(2) Sayoko Ebisawa (16-1, 2-0);
2(x) Sarah Vaughn (17-3, 0-0);
3(x) Katherine Williams (12-3, 3-0); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 01
4(3) Tiiu Kass (8-1, 2-1); former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
5(4) Layla Holmes (9-1, 4-1); former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
6(x) Alisha Wood (9-2, 0-0);
7(x) Laura Adair (8-1-1, 1-0);
8(x) Vivian Terkay (8-0, 1-0);
9(x) Gina Dixon (9-3-1, 0-0);
10(x) Hester Maclean (15-4, 0-0);
Dropped out
x(1) Mizuki Watanabe (9-2, 0-1); sent to WEFF
x(5) Thea Higgins (8-1, 5-1);
x(6) Allison Beattie (9-6-1, 1-1); sent to WEFF
x(7) Mako Takagawa (9-1, 2-0); sent to XCC
x(8) Honey Due (6-2, 2-2); sent to XCC
x(9) Alyson Arroway (7-1, 3-1); sent to XCC
x(10) Tara O'Brien (8-2, 1-0);

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 31, 2002

Sometimes you have to pull back just a little in order to move forward & that's what we decided to do with the early days of the new year.

We did not run a show this month nor do we plan to run one in February, instead holding back to run both a PPV and a TV show in the final weeks of March. In spite of all the acquistions, we really didn't have the right people ready to go any sooner & even now we're getting some grumbling from fans about the top of the card for CSA 28 where the Light Heavyweight Title will be on the line as Adam White moves up in weight to challenge Marlon John. The co-main event seems to be suiting people better, as "Superstar" Stuart Strange (17-3) takes on Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (15-3) as both fighters try to avoid a losing streak.

We lost about $38,000 in January, not too considering our only income was from merchandising.

XCC ran a show in the middle of the month, drawing 852 fans in California to see a decent card:
-- Alyson Arroway beat Yuya Shimizu by TKO at 3:36 of Round 1 to win the (meaningless as we shuffle rosters almost daily) XCC Women's Title (Great)
-- Honey Due beat Janinha by TKO at 1:28 of Round 2 (Fantastic)
-- Karen Curtis beat Vanessa Phillips by Submission at 3:49 of Round 1 (Great)
-- Colm Dee beat So Yip by UD after three rounds (Good)
-- Zhao Pau beat Stefan Champion by Submission at 3:27 of Round 2 (Good)
Prelims
-- Rory McEnterry beat Jamie Hewitt by UD after three rounds (Good)
-- Mako Takagawa beat Sandy Oliver by UD after three rounds (Poor)

Even poorer than the first prelim was the news afterwards that both So Yip and Sandy Oliver were being suspended for one year for failing drug tests. Yip has already been fired, we're wrapping up the paperwork on dismissing Oliver as well. No room for that crap around here.

Human resources stayed busy with more traditional details too, as Ian Linderman's inherited XCC contract expired following his loss to Lazaro Campos, keeping him winless in five appearances in CSA.

We renewed contracts with BW Naora Kikuchi (10-3), MW Davis Spyrou (23-7) gets a raise after flirting hard with A-1 but sticks around, WW Diego Arteta (4-1) is renewed for 8 fights, BW Romi Takahashi (6-3) is resigned & sent to XCC, LW Doug Minelli (3-3) sticks around, as does HW Murilo Satinho (6-1) who will headline next TV show against former HW champion Mason Archer in a rematch to see if Satinho can avenge his only career pro defeat, and Yuya Shimizu (12-2) will be sticking around longer as well.

New arrivals include:
-- 25 y/o FW "The Archer" Ivan Bokhour (7-5), a hybrid fighter from Indianapolis, Indiana that we think is better than his record given losses to the top names in his weight class (Ziskie, Bohlin, and Frye to name a few). He's assigned to XCC for now.
-- 29 y/o BW Clare Peyton (0-0), a wrestler from Oahu will make her pro debut soon for WEFF.
-- 21 y/o FW Masahiro Maeno (0-0), a submission specialist from Fukuoka, Japan, is a promising rookie starting in XCC
-- 27 y/o HW Jutaro Honma (0-0), a sumo style fighter from Osaka, Japan that we think could turn out to be good if he works hard
-- 23 y/o HW "The Great Japanese Hope" Kanezane Fujii (0-0), a Sanshou fighter from Yokohama, Japan could turn out to be downright great if he works hard
-- 25 y/o LW Sadahige Yoshida (0-0), is a submission fighter from Chiba, Japan that will get a chance in XCC
-- 29 y/o LHW Jon "Quick" Silvers (8-4), is a boxer from Port St. Lucie, Florida that has worked for both Sigma & Omega recently but went only 2-4. We've always thought he was a good prospect but we should know soon if he's really a suspect instead.
-- 30 y/o WW Chojiro Goto (11-10), a Muay Thai fighter from Tokyo, Japan struggled in Gamma (2-5) and is suffering through a 3 fight losing streak but at worst provides a recognizable name bit of depth.
-- 25 y/o MW Kadonomaro Deguchi (10-3), is a traditional Jiu Jitsu stylist from Tokyo, Japan that comes over from Gamma where he was up & down with 5 wins in 8 fights in the past two years.
-- 26 y/o WW Dominykas "Slamkovic" Jankovic (18-3), a sambo fighter from Varna, Bulgaria comes over from Gamma riding a 9 fight winning streak that includes a pair of wins over Benedikt Streit and victories over Jim Carpenter & Alan Kendall as well.
-- 26 y/o Tetsuji "Rampage" Myojin (12-2), a sambo fighter from Osaka, Japan is taken from Gamma where he was 2-1 with his only loss coming to JJ Reid.

Several of our fighters were active on other shows during January
-- Tomohiro Takeuchi beat Manish Khan by submission for Sigma
-- Gary Sampson beat Cyrano Richard by submission for Sigma
-- Terry Catt beat Rikiya Takimoto by submission for Omega
-- Thiago Ceni lost to Mills Mullaly by TKO for Omega
-- Kevin Portman beat Barry Strachan by submission for TOP

And in a couple of big upsets at Gamma 74 Junior Patikin claimed the GAMMA Light Heavyweight Title by submitting previously unbeaten Mike Watson at 4:55 of Round 1 and MW Buddy Garner beat Neil Napier by submission at 4:40 of the 4th round.

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 28, 2002

Another down month, another $113k in the red, mostly from signing bonuses.

We renewed the expiring contracts of MW Heath Kaladaris & BW Layla Holmes as well as the inherited contacts of XCC fighters LW James Busfield, LW Toson Ono, and BW Debra Everett.

New to the roster are
-- 35 y/o HW "The Tower of Power" Tim Boyer (22-8-2), a veteran pit fighter from Toronto. He's definitely on the backside of his career & was just 1-2 with Alpha-1 after leaving Gamma but he's got a lot of name value still.
-- 27 y/o HW Hiro Arai (11-3), a kick boxer from Kawasaki, Japan. Lost 3 of his last 4 fights in Alpha-1 after a 3-0 start but we like his youth & his potential.

February also saw the arrival of a new promotion, Universal Cage Fighting Federation (UCFF) which will try to tap the market in Africa. The owner is 37 y/o Japanese businessman Eisaku Higashikuni and the President will be a familiar face, recently retired LHW Glenn Pimm who ended his career in CSA just a few months ago.

Another development that might prove interesting at some point, various nations in Central America have agreed to begin regulating MMA and that regulation will included random drug testing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 2, 2002

WEFF 40
702 attendance for a gate of $21,060

Main Event:
Samantha Sachs beat Teresa Batch by UD after five rounds to win the WEFF Women's Heavyweight Title (Average)

Co-Main Event:
Daniela Sadorra beat Alyssa Taylor by TKO at 0:26 of Round 1 (Great)

Serena Hill beat Emma Birch by TKO at 2:40 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
Tabitha Cameron beat Katarzyna Wojciechowska by TKO at 2:01 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
Simone King beat Tracy Garcia by UD after three rounds (Decent)

Prelims:
Emi Nagano beat Toshie Nishina by submission at 3:00 of Round 1 (Great)
Joan Whitehouse beat Lucia Pessoa by submission at 4:12 of Round 3 (Fantastic)

After the fight Lucia Pessoa failed a drug test & is suspended for one year.

--- Also last night following Gamma 76, former top 10 WW David Allen was suspended for one year after failing a drug test following his UD loss to Josh Aldarisio.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 28
Sunday March 17, 2002 in Gainesville, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Featherweights
Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (17-6) vs Yee Tsuji (24-22-3)
We're privately hoping that Gaffigan sends Tsuji into retirement with a loss
Blurcat says this should be all Shark
Gaffigan wins by submission (armbar) at 4:45 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Tsuji was mostly a spectator as Gaffigan circled and landed punches & kicks almost at will in R1. Unable to finish with strikes from mount, Gaffigan switched gears & ended it.

Women's Openweight
"The Mighty" Alisha Wood (9-2) vs Allison "Dirty Angel" Beattie (9-6-1)
We're privately hoping that this is decent
Blurcat says only a weak gameplan could cost Wood a win
Wood wins by TKO at 4:37 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Wood kept looking for a takedown, Beattie kept her at bay with decent striking in R1. After more punching by Beattie, Wood finally caught her with a slam during a brief grapple & going straight to mount it was quickly over.

Women's Openweight
Gina "The Vixen" Dixon (9-3-1) vs Alicia Fothergill (3-7)
We're privately hoping that Dixon dominates in Fothergill's only CSA appearance
Blurcat says Dixon should walk away with an easy win
Dixon wins by TKO at 3:18 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
A series of vicious elbows from side control ended this quickly

Featherweight
"Ice Cold" Lars Bohlin (53-6-1) vs Norberto (4-5)
We're privately hoping that Bohlin's debut is low key but impressive
Blurcat says Bohlin shouldn't have too much trouble here
Bohlin wins by TKO at 1:43 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Bohlin shoots in for a takedown, works steadily to mount & then elbows his way to victory

Welterweight
Benny "The Jet" Danare (15-3) vs Pirmin Zubriggen (14-11)
We're privately hoping that Danare is a winner
Blurcat says Danare should be too good for this to be much of a challenge
Danare wins by TKO at 1:53 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Danare took his cue from the previous fights & used elbow strikes from the mount to finish

Middleweight
Patrick "The Titan" Thomas (11-9) vs "The Tap Out Artist" Billy Russell (1-5)
We're privately hoping that Thomas can at least break his losing streak against Russell. If he can't, we don't know if he ever will.
Blurcat says Russell could be the surprise winner if he gets the fight on the ground quickly
Russell wins by submission (armbar) at 4:49 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Russell snags an armbar & gets the win

Heavyweight
Stratos "Atlas" Papaioannou (30-6) vs Gareth Grundy (10-5)
We're privately hoping that the big Greek has a strong CSA debut
Blurcat says Grundy will struggle to stay afloat in this one
Papaioannou wins by submission (arm triangle) at 3:48 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
A takedown from against the cage gave Atlas control of most of R1. Another takedown, this time to half guard where the favorite hooked the finisher.

Main Show
Lightweight
Helio (25-2) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (5-3)
We're privately hoping Helio keeps on rolling
Blurcat says Helio wins pretty easily
Helio wins by TKO at 2:59 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Great
Helio went bombs away early but missed on two kicks that gave Newton an opening for an even more effective series of haymakers in R1. Both fighters much more patient in R2 but Newton landed more of the few punches thrown. Helio caught Newton off guard with a crisp teep to open R3 with a knockdown and once he got past guard it was just a matter of time & enough punches

Featherweight
"Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (16-4) vs Anderson "Flash" Desailly (7-5)
We're privately hoping that Eigenberg appreciates an easier than usual opponent
Blurcat says Eigenberg's stand up should be enough for the win
Eigenberg wins by TKO at 1:42 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Excellent
Quality punches worthy of much bigger men traded through R1 with Desailly getting a little better of it. Eigenberg landed a barrage of his own early in R2, forcing Desailly up against the cage where he got battered to the point of helplessness.

Lightweight
Luis "El Diablo" Basora (24-5-2) vs Campbell "Crash" Crane (11-5)
We're privately hoping that Basora starts his CSA run with a victory
Blurcat says Crane won't be able to stand with Basora for very long
Basora wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Basora got a takedown in R1 but Crane's defense was good enough to survive the difficult position. Basora kept Crane pinned to the cage for much of R2. Crane played defense in most of R3 but that left him no chance for any real offense.

Heavyweight
Armen "A-Game" Sarkisian (17-2) vs Chuck "The Laughing Man" Dooley (21-19)
We're privately hoping that Sarkisian does all the laughing in this one
Blurcat says Sarkisian should win fairly comfortably
Sarkisian wins by TKO at 2:33 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
A one-sided one rounder as Armen indeed brought his A-Game and landed punches & kicks while standing before finishing up with a barrage from guard.

Welterweight
Jonathan "The Locust" Huang (2-0) vs Carmelo Rossi (13-7)
We're privately hoping Huang handles the upgrade in competition
Blurcat says Huang should win but it could be close
Huang wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Rossi kept Huang pinned against the cage for nearly half of R1. A late takedown gave Huang a chance to try a gogoplata in R2 but Rossi blocked it & survived. Another takedown but Huang couldn't get past half guard as the fight ended.

Light Heavyweight
"The Big Dog" Linfield Ballard (26-11) vs Jasper "The Mighty Wasp" Osmond (13-16)
We're privately hoping Ballard gets right back on the winning track
Blurcat says Ballard is too good for this to last very long
Ballard wins by submission (armbar) at 0:47 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
A workmanlike offense of punches with a few kicks mixed in were plenty for Ballard to control R1. A sudden push kick by Ballard caught Osmond off guard & sent him sprawling, The Big Dog pounched & ended the fight moments later.

Co-Main Event: Middleweight
"Superstar" Stuart Strange (17-3) vs Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (15-3)
We're privately hoping that this is every bit as good as it has the potential to be
Blurcat says Ballard's only chance is to keep the fight standing but that's unlikely to happen
Ballard wins by TKO at 1:02 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A flurry of quick punches, followed by a barrage of bigger punches sent Strange sprawling. Ballard dove in & unloaded leaving the referee no choice

Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
Marlon "The Punisher" John (8-1) vs Adam "Hollywood" White (10-3)
We're privately hoping that the crowd gives this one a fair chance
Blurcat says John could be in big trouble if White takes him down
White wins by unanimous decision after five rounds (48-47 x3)
The match was rated as Decent
An early takedown by White and then four minutes of him working to get past guard for control of R1. White managed to make it through to half guard in R2 but a kimura attempt was blocked easily by John. A blocked kick nets another takedown for White but again he's stopped at half guard. John finally showed some spark with kicks early in the round and a major league head kick late in the round but White avoided him until the round ended. A sudden head kick by John led to a flash knockdown but White scrambled & recovered enough to dodge most of a diving punch & pulled guard. John disengaged and continued his late assualt, landing yet another big head kick that left White wobbling but standing, surviving more punches as time ran out.

Attendance: 4,850 for a gate of $242,500
57,259 PPV Buys for revenue of $229,036
Show Rating: Very Poor

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents "CSA Late Night" on National Pride TV
Saturday March 30th, 2002 in Tunica, MS

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweight
"Torment" Genki Shinashi (8-5) vs "Pretty Boy" Danny Akabaro (3-2)
We're privately hoping that this is a good fight from two lesser known names
Blurcat says Akabaro's standup striking should trump Shinashi's better ground game
Shinashi wins by submission (guillotine) at 1:04 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Shinashi made a takedown look easy, made the submission look even easier

Women's Openweight
"The Arizona Animal" Sarah Vaughn (17-3) vs Tara "The Heat" O'Brien (8-2)
We're privately hoping that this is nothing more than a tune up fight for Vaughn
Blurcat says Vaughn should make short work of the overmatched O'Brien
Vaughn wins by sumbission (americana) at 2:37 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
A barrage of punches netted a knockdown but it was the takedown & subsequent mount that made for the quick finish

Welterweight
Ross "Harvard" Smith (8-3) vs Chad "Easy Z" Zoff (1-2)
We're privately hoping that the good version of Zoff shows up
Blurcat says it's tough to see any way Smith can win this one
Smith wins by submission (armbar) at 3:08 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
An illness disrupted Zoff's training camp & Smith took full advantage, with a opening onslaught of punches that produced a knockdown & the opportunity to get the win

Welterweight
Jungo "The Spirit of the Ancients" Futagawa (23-11) vs Ray "The Enigma" Eton (8-4)
We're privately hoping that Eton provides a good test for Futagawa
Blurcat says Futagawa should win a back & forth match
Futagawa wins by TKO at 1:08 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Eton countered two takedown attempts with two takedowns of his own to control R1. Futagawa hit a magic bullet punch that leveled Eton to open R2 and pounced with elbows to the finish.

Lightweight
Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (5-2) vs Malcolm "Zodiac" O'Hearn (1-1)
We're privately hoping that Sagal can start on a little roll with a win
Blurcat says O'Hearn is totally outgunned
Sagal wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-26 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Sagal was too strong & too quick for O'Hearn in R1. Sagal won R2 as well although O'Hearn managed a couple of nice punching sequences for his first offense. R3 saw O'Hearn try but Sagal too good.

Heavyweight
Don "The Rumble King" Norman (24-18) vs "The Great Japanese Hope" Kanezane Fujii (0-0)
We're privately hoping that youth is served
Blurcat says Fujii should simply be too good for Norman
Fujii wins by TKO at 2:22 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
After some initial grappling, Fujii got the takedown & then unloaded to force a stoppage

Light Heavyweight
Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (3-0) vs Wes "The Hurt" Hersch (4-1)
We're privately hoping that the striking of Villar & the wrestling of Hersch makes a good fight of contrasting styles[i]
[i]Blurcat says Hersch will win by keeping the fight standing
Villar wins by Knock Out at 1:30 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good
Hersch took a good bit of punishment in R1 while trying to score takedowns. A much more successful R2 saw Hersch get an early takedown & keep control for nearly a full five minutes. A big barrage of punches by Villar knocked Hersch down, one punch of many that followed knocked him cold

Women's Openweight
Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (9-1) vs "The Black Widow" Michelle Addams (11-8)
We're privately hoping that Holmes takes care of business
Blurcat says Holmes is better in every area, leaving Addams nearly no chance
Holmes wins by TKO at 2:43 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Steady control of R1 by Holmes. Takedown, quickly past guard, and elbows ended the fight

Light Heavyweight
Nick "The Streets" Detroit (7-3) vs "Glorious" Joshua Hope (4-2)
We're privately hoping that Hope starts a run toward the upper half of the division with a win[i]
[i]Blurcat says Hope should taste victory tonight
Hope wins by TKO at 3:10 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Hope got the first takedown & nearly ended the fight with vicious elbows that cut Detroit under the eye. He did end it with punches from mount about a minute later.

Main Show
Featherweight
"Bulldozer" Benedikt Streit (23-8) vs Luiz "The Tarantula" Machado (27-7-2)
We're privately hoping that this close matchup on paper is good in reality
Blurcat says Streit has to keep his distance otherwise he'll be in trouble
Machado wins by submission (armbar) at 1:52 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Streit had the better of a back & forth grappling R1. Machado rocked Streit with a stiff punch, got a takedown & found an opportunity to end the fight.

Middleweight
"The Amazing" JJ Reid (32-3) vs Mario de Souza (26-9)
We're privately hoping that Reid doesn't slip against the retiring veteran
Blurcat says Reid should handle this one
Reid wins by submission (armbar) at 3:33 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A quick takedown by Reid and the second attempt at an armbar was successful

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Lightweight Title
Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (9-4) vs Korekiyo "The Razor" Anzai (14-6)
We're privately hoping that our most successful champion adds another defense to his resume
Blurcat says Bernacci should defend his title
Bernacci wins by unanimous decisions after five rounds (49-46 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Bernacci couldn't get past side control but otherwise dominated R1. A patient champion waited on Anzai to make a move in a slow R2. Much the same in R3. A close R4 saw Anzai just miss on two guillotine attempts. A tired champ kept Anzai from scoring anything major in the final round.

Main Event: Heavyweight
"The Merchant of Menace" Mason Archer (6-1) vs "Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (6-1)
We're privately hoping that this rematch from late 2000 is as good as the original
Blurcat says Archer should keep the fight standing & win
Satinho wins by submission (kimura) at 4:38 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
A missed leg kick by Archer led to a Satinho takedown where he delivered a good bit of punishment while stuck at guard in R1. Another takedown, finally Satinho reached side control & after some striking seized the opportunity.

Attendance: 2,628 for a gate of $131,400
PPV Buys: N/A
Show Rating: Excellent

[DaddyTorgo]

nice to see you knocking on GAMMA's door!!

[DaddyTorgo]

funny that CSA 29 was rated so poorly despite only having 2 matches that weren't great - the main event and the other. i really wish there was a way to tweak that so that the rating of the main event wasn't such a huge piece of the show's overall rating...

[JonInMiddleGA]

i really wish there was a way to tweak that so that the rating of the main event wasn't such a huge piece of the show's overall rating...

But that's not the problem as far as I can tell. Look at the Nov & Dec PPV's, good/great/excellent/decent in 3 of the 4 top of the card fights on those ... and Poor rating for both shows.

Unlike TEW where the last two matches weight heavily on your show rating, as far as I can tell WMMA is almost entirely about the name value + winning streaks building interest in the fight before the show that's dictating the final rating. Somewhere (game help? Ryland on their forum?) it's been spelled out explicitly that the rating of the fight(s) has only a limited impact on the rating of the show itself. That's my biggest complaint with the game by far to this point.

It's logical that the anticipation should effect buy rate & ticket sales (which it doesn't seem to do very much, those seem largely based on your promotion's name recognition instead of the individual cards) but I can put on a great show with Main eventers that are Low National fighters instead of Mid National fighter I'm still going to have subpar or worse show rating at the end of the night. It borders on FUBAR.

What it really amounts to is that the show rating at the end really doesn't refer much to the actual fights or the caliber of the show but rather just measures how the name value of the fighters matches the popularity of your promotion before the show.

It's highly contrary to my preferred booking style which makes it all even more confounding. I've accumulated probably half the most skilled fighters in the game at this point but instead of worrying about putting on killer fights, in order to succeed in game terms I have to force myself to put most of the top guys up against relative cans as often as possible in order to lengthen their winning streaks and maybe get a passable rating for a show later on.

[DaddyTorgo]

But that's not the problem as far as I can tell. Look at the Nov & Dec PPV's, good/great/excellent/decent in 3 of the 4 top of the card fights on those ... and Poor rating for both shows.

Unlike TEW where the last two matches weight heavily on your show rating, as far as I can tell WMMA is almost entirely about the name value + winning streaks building interest in the fight before the show that's dictating the final rating. Somewhere (game help? Ryland on their forum?) it's been spelled out explicitly that the rating of the fight(s) has only a limited impact on the rating of the show itself. That's my biggest complaint with the game by far to this point.

It's logical that the anticipation should effect buy rate & ticket sales (which it doesn't seem to do very much, those seem largely based on your promotion's name recognition instead of the individual cards) but I can put on a great show with Main eventers that are Low National fighters instead of Mid National fighter I'm still going to have subpar or worse show rating at the end of the night. It borders on FUBAR.

What it really amounts to is that the show rating at the end really doesn't refer much to the actual fights or the caliber of the show but rather just measures how the name value of the fighters matches the popularity of your promotion before the show.

It's highly contrary to my preferred booking style which makes it all even more confounding. I've accumulated probably half the most skilled fighters in the game at this point but instead of worrying about putting on killer fights, in order to succeed in game terms I have to force myself to put most of the top guys up against relative cans as often as possible in order to lengthen their winning streaks and maybe get a passable rating for a show later on.

aaah...yeah that was one of the things that always sorta frustrated me about WAMMA 1. Like you, I was accumulating skilled guys, but it was always frustrating to throw two of them in the ring together, have an epic fight and have it trash the card because the anticipation wasn't there. It'd be nice if the "Show Rating" in that sense didn't matter as much - MMA is significantly different then wrestling and I wonder if Adam just doesn't grasp that - yes everyone wants to see the two superstars battle it out, but a card can have a stinker of a main event in terms of action or result but have amazing undercard fights and still be viewed positively by the fans...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of April 1, 2002

Promotion Rankings (size, change since January 2002, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (Mid Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (up to Low Level International, 0, WW Julio Rugueiro)
3. CSA (Mid Level National, 0, MW Alex Cole)
4. SIGMA (down to High Level Regional, 0, HW Lefter Oktay)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, 0, FW Sayoko Ebisawa)
6. XCC (High Level Regional, 0, LW Jake Keane)
7. TOP (down to Low Level Regional, +1, MW Uwe Maier)
8. OMEGA (down to Low Level Regional, -1, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)
9. UCFF (Low Level Regional, 0, HW Stafford Alois)
Out of Business
x (6) BCF (was High Level Regional)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (33-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(3) Luke Hilton (15-0); Alpha-1, LW
3(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-5); Alpha-1; HW
4(5) Kafu Bunya (17-0); Alpha-1, WW
5(6) Darin Blood (18-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001
6(7) Julio Regueiro (19-1-1); Current 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion since Dec 2001
7(8) Tadamasa Yamada (27-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
8(9) Alex Cole (18-0); Current CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 2001
9(10) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
10(x) James Foster (41-5-1); Gamma, HW
Dropped Out
x(2) Mike Watson (16-1); former GAMMA LHW Champion lost to Junior Patinkin in Jan 2002

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (33-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-5) Alpha-1;
3(3) James Foster (41-5-1); Gamma Heavyweight Champion since June 1998
4(4) Raul Hughes (18-3); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion
5(5) Rav Kapur (15-1); CSA
6(6) Lefter Oktay (19-1) Sigma Heavyweight Champion since Dec 2001
7(7) Gregor Boniek (40-6); Alpha-1
8(8) Stratos Papaioannou (31-6); CSA
9(9) Ari Peltonen (28-10); Alpha-1
10(10) Armen Sarkisian (18-2); CSA
Dropped out
None

Light Heavyweights
1(2) Tadamasa Yamada (27-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
2(1) Mike Watson (16-1); former Gamma LHW Champion lost to Junior Patinkin in Jan 02
3(3) Jin Katou (24-2); Alpha-1; Light Heavyweight
4(4) Anthony LeToussier (19-3); Alpha-1, was Gamma;
5(6) Thorbjorn Rekdal (20-2); CSA
6(x) Shane Gilchrist (23-3); Gamma
7(8) Curt Kitson (26-4); CSA, was Alpha-1
8(x) Kendall Tracey (16-4); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since Dec 00
9(7) John Rivero (22-4); Alpha-1, was Gamma
10(9) Zvonimir Asanovic (19-3); former Gamma LHW Champion
Dropped out
x(5) Roberto Aldez (47-9); Alpha-1 lost to #8 Tracey in March 02
x(10) Faas Smit (41-15); Sigma last fought July 01

Middleweight
1(1) Alex Cole (18-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since Sept 2001
2(3) JJ Reid (33-3); CSA
3(6) Heiji Endo (20-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998 beat #6 Mack in Jan 02
4(4) Matthew Dean (39-6); Alpha-1
5(8) Buddy Garner (18-2); Alpha-1, was Gamma beat #7 Napier in Jan 02
6(5) Petey Mack (22-3); Alpha-1 lost to #3 Endo in Jan 02
7(2) Neil Napier (20-2); former Gamma Middleweight Champion lost to #5 Garner in Jan 02
8(7) Leonardo da Costa (20-4); Alpha-1
9(x) Ashley Ballard (16-3); CSA; beat Stuart Strange in March 02
10(10) Sutton Ripley (21-5); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(5) Mac Fuller (32-9); Alpha-1, was Gamma 0-2 in 2001
x(9) Stuart Strange (17-3); CSA, lost to #9 Ballard in March 02

Welterweight
1(1) Kafu Bunya (17-0); Alpha-1
2(2) Darin Blood (18-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001,
3(3) Julio Rugueiro (19-1-1); Current 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion
4(4) Mikey Wallace (13-0); Gamma
5(5) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (11-1); Alpha-1
6(10) Dominykas Jankovic (18-3); CSA , was Gamma
7(6) Josh Aldarisio (11-1); Gamma
8(x) Claudio Palacios (27-9); Alpha-1 beat Carlos da Guia in March 02
9(9) Ichisake Mayagi (33-11); Alpha-1
10(8) Jack Humphreys (32-5); former Gamma Welterweight Champion
Dropped Out
x(7) Carlos da Guia (18-2); former Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion lost to #8 Palacios in March 02

Lightweight
1(1) Luke Hilton (15-0); Alpha-1
2(2) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(3) Sukarno (10-0);Alpha-1
4(4) Fiyero Lermontov (18-0); Gamma
5(5) Shizuya Nakae (32-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion
6(6) Helio (26-2); CSA
7(7) Fumiaki Hayashi (21-7); Alpha-1
8(8) Tarcisio Dantes (16-1); Gamma
9(x) Bud Brockett (24-5); Gamma
10(9) Heiko Pander (9-1); CSA
Dropped out
x(10) Lubos Plasil (12-2); Gamma, was Sigma last fought Nov 01

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (22-0); CSA
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (18-0); CSA
3(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (24-4); CSA and Sigma beat #9 Khan in Jan 02
4(3) Lars Bohlin (54-6-1); CSA
5(5) Easton Frye (14-1); CSA
6(6) Rafael Tavares (19-3); CSA
7(9) Shuler Eigenberg (17-4); CSA
8(8) Kei Maki (8-3); CSA
9(7) Manish Khan (12-4); Sigma lost to #3 Takeuchi in Jan 02
10(x) Luiz Machado (28-7-2); CSA
Dropped out
x(10) Tan Su (15-9); Sigma, was CSA beat Cong Dun in Feb 02

Pound for Pound (female)
1(1) Sayoko Ebisawa (17-1); CSA/WEFF;
2(2) Sarah Vaughn (18-3); CSA
3(3) Katherine Williams (12-3); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 2001
4(4) April Watson (10-2); CSA/WEFF, former XCC & WEFF Women's Champion
5(5)Tiiu Kass (8-1); CSA; former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
6(7) Layla Holmes (10-1); CSA; former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
7(8) Alisha Wood (10-2); CSA, former WEFF Heavyweight Champion
8(10) Laura Adair (8-1-1); CSA
9(6) Yuya Shimizu (12-2); CSA, lost to Allyson Arroway in Jan 02
10(x) Haley Croft (16-5); CSA/WEFF, beat Debra Everett in Feb 02
Dropped out
9(6) Jenny DeNeuve (8-3); CSA/WEFF, lost to Roz Wareing in Feb 02

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 31, 2002

Tough month as we lose over $173,000 on a slight decrease in PPV revenue & a significant increase in prize money. Hopefully this is not the start of a trend.

During the month we renewed a number of contracts, including BW Kit Sakamoto, FW Sammy Gaffigan, announcer Terrence Grayson, HW Mason Archer, LHW Woody Fierstein, BW Allison Beattie (assigned to XCC), FW Simone King, and BW Olivia Sweet.

March saw the expiration of contracts for FW Norberto (29-10, 0-1), BW Alicia Fothergill (3-8, 0-1), and BW Michelle Addams (11-9, 0-1).

The loss to JJ Reid marked the end of the line for 35 y/o Mario de Souza (26-10, 1-3) who officially retired after the show.

A few new signings to head into summer, including
-- 37 y/o HW Tony "The Spider" McCall (37-13), a kick boxer from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Mainly hired for his name value, he's got plenty of experience & still some degree of skills, he's coming of an extended run with Gamma.
-- 26 y/o WW "Slow Hand" Bret Clement (7-0), a kick boxer from Christchurch, New Zealand. 3 straight wins, including a TKO of Fisher Kaye in February made him the TOP Welterweight Champion and got him hired by us.
-- 21 y/o LW Sid "The Misfit" Morgan (5-2), a submission fighter from London, England. After leaving Sigma he posted back to back wins in the indies & we'll give him a shot to see what he can do here.
-- 30 y/o LW "The Ice Cold Swede" Lukas Mellberg (20-6), a Jiu Jitsu fighter from Stockholm, Sweden. 0-3 in Gamma, he'll try to turn things around in XCC.
-- 28 y/o HW Kurt "Chopper" McDonald (11-2), a kick boxer from Auckland, New Zealand. He's won two straight in Omega including a March knock out of Gunnar Nillson, will probably end up being a middle of the pack fighter for us.
-- 32 y/o LHW "The Bad Element" Curt Kitson (26-4), a mixed style fighter from Aberdeen, Scotland. 3 straight wins in Alpha-1 lead him here.

We've also extended our PPV contract with Public Access Select for another four fights, can't get them past us getting 30% of revenue though.

April 1, 2002
edit to add: Some good news as we discover an uncredited deposit from our merchandise department, meaning that our actual net loss for March was only $165,851. It ain't much but we'll take it.

[DaddyTorgo]

Are you like the only one doing Featherweight and Female? Nice niches to build your business on!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Are you like the only one doing Featherweight and Female? Nice niches to build your business on!

I've got the women all to myself at the moment but technically not the FW's since Sigma does have a division.

They aren't really competitive in the class (or won't be much longer anyway) since three of their top five guys are also under standard contract to me (Takeuchi, Tavares, Gaffigan) and two others (their #4 Tan Su and their #8 Cong Dun) are fighters even I didn't keep around. I'll be upgrading the std contracts to exclusive as soon as I get the chance and only a couple of the others would have a chance to even be competitive in XCC much less in CSA.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thursday April 4, 2002

WEFF 41 Results
727 attendance in Quebec

April Watson beat Natalie Rogers by KO at 4:03 of Round 2 (Great)
Lisa Labone beat Vanessa Phillips by UD after three rounds (Good)
Romi Takahashi beat Hanako Shimizu by Submission at 3:54 of Round 1 (Great)
Chie Namiki beat Chiyo Yanagimoto by Submission at 1:38 of Round 1 (Great)
Ramona Stivic beat Gianna Russo by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Prelims
Janinha beat Tabitha Cameron by TKO at 3:28 of Round 2 (Good)
Elizabeth Fraser beat Sayoko Ebisawa by Submission at 3:18 of Round 1 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thursday April 18, 2002

XCC: Wareing vs Due Results
946 attendance in California

Honey Due beat Roz Wareing by TKO at 0:58 of Round 3 for the XCC Women's Title (Great)
Mizuki Watanabe beat Karen Curtis by submission at 3:02 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
William Powell beat Rory McEnterry by submission at 2:24 of Round 2 (Fantastic)
Gregory O'Hara beat Sid Morgan by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Ivan Bokhour beat Zhao Pau by UD after three rounds (Average)
Prelims
Trish Biel beat Daniela Sadorra by submission at 4:15 of Round 2 (Good)
Toson Ono beat Gene Oakley by submission at 4:12 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 29
Sunday April 21, 2002 in Fresno, CA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Women's Openweight
"Deadly T." Thea Higgins (8-1) vs "War Wolf" Gail Pendergarst (5-2)
We're privately hoping that Higgins rolls easily
Blurcat says it could be a long (or very short) night for Pendergarst as Higgins should dominate
Higgins wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:22 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
All Higgins, who was simply too strong & too skilled for Pendergarst.

Featherweight
Dominic "The Smash" Ash (10-3) vs Davi Carlos Ramos (36-13-1)
We're privately hoping that the veteran has at least one more good outing in him since we don't plan to resign Ash
Blurcat says Ramos' edge on the ground should make the difference
Ramos wins by submission at 3:16 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Ash took R1 with strikes that kept Ramos from being able to close for grappling. Ramos finally caught up to Ash in the middle of R2 and controlled him with good dirty boxing. Ash floored Ramos with a flurry of punches early in R3 but he survived to pull guard. That worked out nicely since he found an arm while there & pulled it straight.

Lightweight
"G-Force" Rodolphe Gygax (33-9) vs Aaron "The Patriot" McBroom (12-6)
We're privately hoping that the better known in the States McBroom gets the win
Blurcat says Gygax has to go to the ground to win, otherwise McBroom could get the upset
McBroom wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
McBroom had the better of R1 with good punching while Gygax was sprawled. Gygax started R2 as the aggressor but ended it backing up steadily as McBroom outpunched him consistently. No openings for Gygax in R3 either.

Welterweight
Doug "The Nightmare" Hansen (18-8) vs "Mr. T" Tim Oldacres (4-2)
We're privately hoping that we can understand the UK accents on both fighters in their interviews as Scotland take on England
Blurcat says this could be a back & forth fight, with Oldacres better striking & Hansen even more better wrestling.
Oldacres wins by KO at 3:05 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Hansen was rumored to have been very lax in training for this bout & it showed as Oldacres pounded him from the opening bell & got the win when Hansen followed his only combination attack of the fight by walking into a hook with his jaw.

Middleweight
Tetsuji "Rampage" Myojin (12-2) vs Jakchu "Sai" Abe (3-1)
We're privately hoping for a battle that boosts both fighters
Blurcat says Myojin just needs a good gameplan in order to win
Abe wins by Ud after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Abe was slightly more effective in R1, adding some grappling control to pretty even punching. Abe was headhunting for much of R2 but won the round by controlling Myojin for more than a minute after a takedown. After an early exchange of punches, the closest thing to a highlight in R3 was Abe smothering Myojin. A simply miserable outing for Myojin, who appeared to have no offense nor any idea how to create an offense.

Light Heavyweight
Lawrence "The Law" Herringbone (17-7) vs "The Battering Ram" Andranik Paletilolu (20-7)
We're privately hoping that Herringbone elevates himself to a legit title shot
Blurcat says Herringbone has the edge whether standing or on the ground
Herringbone wins by submission (arm triangle) at 1:40 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Herringbone caught an attempted leg kick, scored a takedown & found a limb from atop half guard.

Heavyweight
Hiro Arai (11-3) vs "Granite" Kevin Portman (12-8)
We're privately hoping that Arai's CSA debut is solid
Blurcat says Arai just needs a good enough gameplan to let his superior talent take care of the rest
Arai wins by submission (triangle choke) at 3:32 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Arai was happy to catch Portman in guard & wouldn't let him escape despite Portman clearly wanting to stand the fight back up. The reason became obvious when Arai raised his legs and locked in the triangle choke.

Main Show
Women's Openweight
Hester "The Slayer" Maclean (15-5) vs Nina "Liberty" Belle (2-1)
We're privately hoping Belle rings up Maclean
Blurcat says Maclean should be able to pick Belle apart
Belle wins by KO at 0:54 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Great
Maclean stepped in at the exact moment that Belle threw a speculative straight punch ... which landed flush on her chin.

Featherweight
Easton "Small" Frye (14-1) vs Stefan "Stealth Ninja" Champion (10-6)
We're privately hoping that Frye appreciates the can
Blurcat says Frye is superior in a couple of key areas & shouldn't have much trouble
Frye wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:03 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Champion won R1 by staying on top of Frye but it was the favorite who was most dangerous, narrowly missing on three different submission attempts while holding Champion in guard. A failed takedown attempt by Champion gave Frye control of R2, first punishing his opponent raining blows from side control & then moving to mount for more punches & the finisher.

Lightweight
"Samurai Spirit" Tomohiro Takeuchi (24-4) vs Henry "King" Baldwin (13-6)
We're privately hoping that Takeuchi gets his 10th straight win
Blurcat says Baldwin is totally outgunned & has virtually no chance
Takeuchi wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Takeuchi was comfortably in control of R1 but couldn't get past half guard. Similar R2 with Takeuchi unable to get past guard but Baldwin able to do nothing. Baldwin stayed upright for most of the round but could find no openings.

Welterweight
Kadonamoro Deguchi (10-3) vs Bosco "Bad Attitude" Curbeam (3-0)
We're privately hoping for a really good fight from two closely matched competitors
Blurcat says Curbeam may struggle to stay afloat in this match
Deguchi wins by UD after three rounds
The match was rated as being Poor
A close R1 won by Deguchi with a takedown that went no further. Same formula for R2. And more of the same in R3.

Light Heavyweight
Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (5-2) vs "The Joker" Anthony Deeley (4-0)
We're privately hoping Rubenstein brings his a-game
Blurcat says Rubenstein is simply too good for Deeley to handle
Rubenstein wins by TKO at 4:37 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good
A quick takedown & then a couple of minutes before Rubenstein slipped to mount & brought the pain

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
Alex "Ace In the Hole" Cole (18-0) vs Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (8-2)
We're privately hoping that Cole doesn't slip up
Blurcat says Cole should win one way or another
Mayweather wins by KO at 3:53 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Close exchange of punches in the early part of R1, Cole in control with a takedown after he caught a kick attempt in the second half. All stand up in R2 with Mayweather landing more punches & slipping in a couple of kicks for good measure. In R3 Mayweather moves in quickly after a wayward punch and hits a hard teep, putting Cole down on the ground. Mayweather quickly by the side of the dazed Cole looking to unload and one of the subsequent punches knocked Cole out cold.

Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (9-1) vs "Chief" Fatuma Roy (25-11)
We're privately hoping that Franklyn defends here against the newcomer
Blurcat says Franklyn should be fine as long as his game plan is solid
Franklyn wins by TKO at 4:39 of Round 4
The match was rated as Good
Both fighters wanted a takedown in R1, neither was successful. Muay Thai skills gave Franklyn R2 but he couldn't score much beyond the clinch. Not much landed by either fighter in R3, both are exhausted already. Franklyn flattened Roy with a single massive punch in R4 but he clinched & recovered enough for both to stand up. Moments later a high kick landed & this time only one man was left standing.

Attendance: 7,462 for a gate of $373,100
87,270 PPV Buys for revenue of $349,080
Show Rating: Excellent

[JonInMiddleGA]

April 30, 2002

Lots of people went home happy from this one ... unfortunately Alex Cole wasn't among them as once again the stiffer competition found in CSA knocks a highly regarded fighter from the ranks of the unbeaten.

The Middleweight Title has got to be our most cursed, with only one successful defense among six fighters & seven title reigns.

Bill Brown won it in Jan 00 and lost it first time out to
Esteban Vega in Mar 00 who lost it first time out to
Kramer Mayweather in June 00 who lost it first time out to
Heath Kaladaris in July 00 who lost it first time out to
Ashley Ballard in Dec 00 who {gasp} defended it 1x & then lost it to
Alex Cole in Sept 01 who lost it first time out to
Kramer Mayweather in Apr 02
It's like the SI cover of CSA titles.

Financially it was a good month, profit of $358,959 which covers all but $2216 of the losses of the past four months combined and actually leaves us about $46k ahead over the past six month total.

April saw the dismissal of Lucia Pessoa (0-1, 0-1) after her failed drug test & the exit of LHW Jasper Osmond (13-17, 0-3) with an expired contract.

During the month we renewed the contracts of HW Patrick Bennett (4-2, 1-1), LW Champion Marco Bernacci (10-4, 6-0), FW Anthony Ray Shenkman (18-8, 1-4), FW Shuler Eigenberg (17-8, 4-0), WW Benny Danare (16-3, 1-1), Roz Wareing (12-5-1), Honey Due (8-2, 2-2), and Karen Curtis (10-6, 1-0)

We also added some new fighters to the roster:
-- 26 y/o FW Sophan Sastrowardoya (3-0), a Horo-Kanu fighter from Jakarta, Indonesia. He'll open down in XCC
-- 27 y/o WW "Glasgow's Finest" Scott Gillespie (3-0), a kick boxer from Scotland. He'll also start in XCC
-- 31 y/o LW H.M. Menzel (15-7), a Vale Tudo fighter from Amos, Quebec. He's gone 2-1 since joining Gamma after the closure of BCF, we feel as though he can be very competitive in the division for us as well.
-- 31 y/o LHW John "The Ripper" Rivero (22-5), a sambo fighter from Puerto Rico. Just 1-3 in Alpha-1, he reeled off seven straight wins for Gamma before that. We'll give him a shot here to see which version we get.
-- 23 y/o HW "Stone Cold" Feliciano Ross (6-1), a sambo fighter from Bologna, Italy. We're still trying to decide whether to start him with CSA or with XCC
-- 27 y/o HW Lefter "The Beast" Okaty (19-1), a sambo fighter from Istanbul, Turkey. The protege of Hassan Fezzik has won five straight in Gamma since his loss to Armen Sarkisian back in March 1999 and two straight since he completed a one year suspension for a failed drug test. He's currently the #6 ranked Heavyweight in the world and gives us four of the top ten at the moment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

May 11, 2002

XCC: Van Den Hauwe vs Dreck
925 attendance in California

Main Event:
Rupert Dreck beat Bryan Van Den Hauwe by TKO at 3:50 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
Jerry Bogdonovich beat Leandro Piquet by Split Decision after three rounds (Great)

Main Show
Harvey Ripa beat Liam O'Donnell by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Kit Sakamoto beat Anna Thompson by UD after three rounds (Good)
Gideon Navarro beat Nathan Chambers by submission at 4:53 of Round 2 (Great)

Prelims
Diego Arteta beat Tyler Lass by UD after three rounds (Poor)
Elvis Milissis beat Jackson Gray by KO at 2:39 of Round 2 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

May 18, 2002

WEFF 42
831 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Samantha Sachs beat Serena Hill by submission at 4:06 of Round 2 to retain the WEFF Women's Heavyweight Title (Great)

Co-Main Event:
Tiiu Kass beat Jenny DeNeuve by TKO at 0:49 of Round 3 to win the WEFF Women's Lightweight Title (Fantastic)

Main Show:
Debra Everett beat Simone King by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Echiko Watanabe beat Alison Beattie by Submission at 1:55 of Round 2 (Good)
Tara O'Brien beat Chie Namiki by KO at 1:47 of Round 3 (Great)

Prelims:
Emi Nagano beat Hanako Shimizu by submission at 3:59 of Round 2 (Great)
Clare Peyton beat Elizabeth Fraser by submission at 4:49 of Round 1 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 30
Sunday May 19, 2002 in East Rutherford, New Jersey

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Middleweight
Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (4-3) vs Tuck "The Everlasting" Durdell (1-0)
We're privately hoping that experience carries the day
Blurcat says Flintstone gets the victory
Flintstone wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
An extended wrestling exchange ended emphatically when Flintstone scooped Durdell up and slammed him. Flintstone controlled R2 on the ground & failed to get past guard in R3 but allowed Durdell zero offense.

Women's Openweight
"The Outlaw" Vivian Terkay (8-0) vs Chiyo Yanagimoto (11-8-1)
We're privately hoping that Terkay remains unbeaten as this is Yanagimoto's final fight on her expiring contract
Blurcat says Terkay is simply too good to lose to Yanagimoto
Terkay wins by KO at 2:09 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
A little grappling, a Muay Thai clinch, and a knee straight to the face.

Heavyweight
"The Beast of Birmingham" Rav Kapur (15-1) vs "Longshore" Damien Jones (10-3)
We're privately hoping that Kapur can gain a little name recognition with US fans
Blurcat says Kapur should walk away with the win
Kapur wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Kapur powered Jones up for a slam then smothered him for the rest of R1. Another takedown, more lay & pray in R2. And again in R3.

Heavyweight
"The Great Japanese Hope" Kazezane Fujii (1-0) vs Taye Burnett (2-3)
We're privately hoping that Fujii rolls right laong
Blurcat says Burnett has no visible chance
Fujii wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:02 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Burnett should not have given up his back trying to escape after a takedown, he really shouldn't.

Middleweight
"The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (23-7) vs "The Flying V" Esteban Vega (5-3)
We're privately hoping that Vega reignites some interest with the fans
Blurcat says Vega is better standing or grounded & should win
Vega wins by KO at 3:29 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Average
Big slam by Vega was about the only offense in R1 that didn't involving shoving Spyrou against the cage. Spyrou tried to keep his distance in R2, good idea for as long as it worked. Vega caught him in a Muay Thai clinch & quickly turned out the lights with a knee to the face.

Lightweight
Brandon "Sugar Rush" Sugar (29-8) vs "The Wrecking Ball" Lucas Mueller (8-2)
We're privately hoping that we can pretend to look interested during this filler
Blurcat says Sugar wins relatively easily
Sugar wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor
Sugar never managed to get past guard but spent most of R1 trying. Another takedown, more smothering, another late round standup by the ref. Some combination punching by Sugar late in R3 at least changed the pace a little, same decisive control though.

Lightweight
Heikichi Shimizu (4-1) vs Malcolm "Zodiac" O'Hearn (1-2)
We're privately hoping that Shimizu makes short work of his opponent
Blurcat says Shimizu has to ground O'Hearn in order to win
Shimizu wins by submission (armbar) at 3:04 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Decent
Takedown, guard, side control, tap.

Featherweight
Kei "Demon Eyes" Maki (8-3) vs "Hollywood Player" Doug Minnelli (3-3)
We're privately hoping that Maki gets over with a few more fans
Blurcat says if Minelli could get Maki on the ground then the upset will be his
Maki wins by TKO at 3:49 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Maki flattened Minnelli with a barrage of punches in the opening minute, staggered him with a roundhouse kick, then attacked with another flurry of punches that forced the stoppage.

Main Show
Women's Openweight
Pamela "The Truth" O'Neill (7-2-1) vs Janinha (13-4-1)
We're privately hoping O'Neill sends Janinha packing with a decisive win
Blurcat says Janinha is totally outclassed
O'Neill wins by submission (armbar) at 4:26 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
"The Truth" got an early takedown, peppered her opponent with elbows and sunk an armbar in deeply.

Light Heavyweight
"The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (6-1) vs Woody "Buzz Saw" Fierstein (12-6)
We're privately hoping that the former champ shows up ready to fight
Blurcat says LeFleur should come away with a victory
LeFleur wins by TKO at 1:29 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
LeFleur stuffed a takedown, pushed Fierstein down & took his back, proceeding to pound away with elbows that threatened to knock his opponent out cold.

Light Heavyweight
Aleksei "Fists of Death" Chekov (23-6) vs "Major Damage" William Harrison (7-2)
We're privately hoping that we don't regret pairing these two based on their need for a fight instead of finding lesser opponents for them to build from
Blurcat says if Harrison gets the takedowns he'll win, if he doesn't then he won't
Harrison wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Two takedowns gave Harrison control of R1. Another takedown coming off a caught kick attempt but Harrison couldn't advance past guard in R2. Some tough standup exchanges in R3 before Harrison closed out the fight with a takedown that neutralized Chekov.

Middleweight
Bill "The Marine" Brown (6-2) vs Haranobu Oshiro (5-0)
We're privately hoping Brown takes care of business before we send Oshiro down to XCC to help his name recognition
Blurcat says Brown will handle things & give Oshiro his first loss
Brown wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
More defense than offense in R1 with Brown being a little ahead. Brown pinned Oshiro to the cage until he could figure out a way to get a takedown that gave him control of R2. Brown landed a lot of punches & elbows after a R3 takedown but could never really land any of them cleanly.

Welterweight
Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (5-2) vs Sinali "Sho Sho" Shomen (5-1)
We're privately hoping Shomen understands that he deserved an easier fight but that there just wasn't one available
Blurcat says Shomen is just totally outmatched
Mattherson wins by TKO at 3:39 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Decent
After an early takedown Mattherson couldn't get past half guard thanks to solid defense by Shomen. Another takedown to open R2, Shomen tried to scramble away but in doing so Mattherson gained side control & went quickly to mount where he brought the pain

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Welterweight Title
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (9-2) vs Charles "Rogue" Stiles (18-5)
We're privately hoping that Pizzarro gets a successful defense
Blurcat says Pizzarro has a clear advantage standing & that's where he'll try to keep it
Stiles wins by submission (armbar) at 4:07 of Round 4
The match was rated as being Great
Some decent standing offense from both fighters but Stiles took R1 with a takedown while pinning Pizzarro to the cage. An all standing R2 with Pizzarro landing a good many more punches than Stiles. R3 saw Stiles trying to shoot in & Pizzarro keeping at bay, scoring a big time knockdown as he time his punches just right but Stiles somehow managed to cover up enough to survive. Four wicked knees by the champ from a Muay Thai clinch opened a nasty cut under Stiles eye in R4. Smelling blood Pizzarro shot in for a takedown but from the bottom of guard Stiles found an arm and that was all she wrote.

Main Event: For the CSA Featherweight Title
"Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (22-0) vs Phillip "Kid" Ziskie (18-0)
We're privately hoping that Ziskie goes over big since he's much more reasonable that the outrageous salary of Ho.
Blurcat says Ho wins if the fight is grounded, Ziskie wins if it stays standing (way to go out on a limb there guys)
Ho wins by submission at 4:25 of Round 4
The match was rated as Fantastic
Ziskie scored with punches, Ho scored a takedown in a very close R1. As his corner instructed, Ho got the takedown earlier in R2 but couldn't get past Ziskie's guard. Ziskie regained the momentum & stung Ho with a flurry of jabs & kicks to the ribs in R3. Ho was floored by a push kick to the stomach to open R4 but Ziskie let him stand, countering a wayward jab with a spinning back kick that flattened Ho again but he recovered to scramble back to his feet with Ziskie in side control. Still in R3, Ho was knocked down again, this time by a barrage of big punches but quickly regained his senses in time to avoid a diving punch & catch Ziskie in guard. That's where Ho trapped him with a triangle for the big win.

Attendance: 11,415 for a gate of $684,900
138,542 PPV Buys for revenue of $554,168
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

June 1, 2002

Now THAT is an MMA show !

Maybe we didn't get the outcomes we were hoping for in the two major fights but they were both awfully good anyway. And our largest ever gate & buyrate, which leads to another $357,716 in profit, sending us over $5.2 million in the bank.

In spite of the momentum, which actually briefly had Blurcat.com listing us as the #2 promotion in the world (until Gamma ran a good show less than a week after CSA 30), we'll be taking June off in order to let our top guys rest & recuperate.

In May we renewed the contracts of MW Alex Cole, LW Gene Oakley, LHW/HW Aleksei Chekov, BW Thea Higgins, BW Tabitha Cameron, BW Nina Belle, LHW Adrian Pascal, LW Heikichi Shimizu, and WW Evan Pizzarro.

Leaving the company with expired contracts during May were FW Dominic Ash (10-4, 4-3), LW Jeremy Sproule (6-7, 0-0), LW Malcolm O'Hearn (1-3, 0-3), BW Janinha (13-5-1, 0-1), and BW Chiya Yanagimoto (11-9-1, 0-1). All were really our choice with the exception of Janinha whom we wanted & tried to re-sign but finally let her go after a series of entirely unrealistic contract demands.

Only a couple of new signings for us in May
-- 28 y/o HW Renato (8-2), a Brazilian Sambo fighter from Curitiba. He's on a 4 fight winning streak including a 3-0 record with TOP. He'll be assigned initially to XCC.
-- 34 y/o LW "The Lightning Kid" Fumiaki Hayashi (21-8), a submission wrestler from Sakai, Japan. He's lost 3 of his last 4 fights in Alpha-1 but two of those losses were to top-rated champion Luke Hilton (who we also tried to sign in May but couldn't satisfy his demands before he renewed his A-1 deal).

[DaddyTorgo]

man...i want this game

[JonInMiddleGA]

June 30, 2002

We lost about $44k in a fairly quite month as we take a little down time to let our top names rest a little & get ready for the third quarter of the year.

During June we renewed the contracts of FW Samantha Sachs, BW Daniella Sadorra (WEFF), BW Kimie Igarashi, BW Alyson Arroway, BW Mako Takagawa (XCC), and MW Jakachu Abe (who was pursued by A-1).

The month marked the end of our relationship with LW Alisha Wood (10-2, 1-0) who simply wanted far more than she was worth to re-sign and WW Pirmin Zubriggen (14-12, 0-2) who was so busy with Sigma that he didn't fight much for us & wasn't very good when he did.

Also in June we added several new fighters to the roster:
-- 26 y/o WW Houston "Furious" George (2-0), a wrestler from Thornton, Colorado. He'll get a chance to display his talents first in XCC.
-- 24 y/o HW "Big Cat" Jacob Tanner (4-0), an MMA fighter from Los Angeles, California. He'll also start out in XCC.
-- 30 y/o FW Mao Fukada (2-0), a ground & pound fighter from Tokyo, Japan. She'll debut for us down in WEFF.
-- 27 y/o MW "Ice Cold" Stephan DeWinter (9-2), a counter-striker from Auckland, New Zealand. Most recently he went 2-1 for Alpha-1 and has previously fought for both Sigma & Gamma.
-- 31 y/o LHW Alekos "Killer" Karabatsos (16-8), a Greek Wrestler from Athens. Stuck in a three fight losing streak currently, he was 2-4 overall for A-1 and provides some experienced depth to our division at worst.
-- 27 y/o MW "The Auckland Express" Jemaine McKenzie (7-5), a bare knuckle boxer from Auckland, New Zealand. Three straight defeats in A-1 but very entertaining in all of them. He'll be sent to XCC to work out the kinks.
-- 30 y/o HW "The African Dream" Souleymane Ya Konan (15-3), a kick boxer from Abdijdan, Cote d'Ivoire. The reigning Gamma HW Champion since May 2001, his only loss in the past 24 months was to James Foster

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of July 1, 2002

Promotion Rankings (size, change since April 2002, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (Mid Level International, 0, HW Hassan Fezzik)
2. GAMMA (down to High Level National, 0, WW Mikey Wallace)
3. CSA (up to High Level National, 0, FW Li-Kong Ho)
4. WEFF (High Level Regional, 0, BW Tiiu Kass)
5. XCC (High Level Regional, 0, LW Fumiaki Hayashi)
6. SIGMA (High Level Regional, -2, FW Tomohiro Takeuchi)
7. OMEGA (Low Level Regional, +1, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)
8. TOP (Low Level Regional, -1, WW Gordon Idle)
9. UCFF (Low Level Regional, 0, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)


Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (34-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(x) Mikey Wallace (14-0); Gamma Welterweight Champion since June 2002 beat Julio Regueiro by KO for title
3(3) Luke Hilton (15-0); Alpha-1, LW
4(4) Kafu Bunya (18-0); Alpha-1, WW
5(5) Darin Blood (18-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001
6(7) Tadamasa Yamada (28-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
7(x) Li-Kong Ho (23-0); CSA Featherweight Champion since May 2002
8(9) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
9(10) James Foster (42-5-1); Gamma, HW
10(x) Mike Watson (17-1); former GAMMA LHW Champion
Dropped Out
x(3) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-5); Alpha-1; HW lost to Tank Manu'a in June 2002
x(6) Julio Regueiro (19-1-1); former 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion lost to Mikey Wallace in June 2002
x(8) Alex Cole (18-0); former CSA Middleweight Champion lost to Kramer Mayweather in April 2002

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (34-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(3) James Foster (42-5-1); former Gamma HW Champion
3(2) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-6) Alpha-1; lost to Tank Manu'a in June 2002
4(x) Terron Cabal (17-2); Alpha-1; beat #10 Hughes in May 02
4(5) Rav Kapur (16-1); CSA
5(6) Lefter Oktay (19-1); CSA; was Sigma HW Champion
6(7) Gregor Boniek (40-6); Alpha-1
7(8) Stratos Papaioannou (31-6); CSA
8(9) Ari Peltonen (28-10); Alpha-1
10(4) Raul Hughes (18-4); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion lost to #4 Cabal in May 02
Dropped out
x(10) Armen Sarkisian (18-2); CSA

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Tadamasa Yamada (28-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
2(2) Mike Watson (17-1); former Gamma LHW Champion
3(4) Anthony LeToussier (20-3); Alpha-1
4(6) Thorbjorn Rekdal (20-2); CSA
5(x) Faas Smit (42-15); Alpha-1, was Sigma
6(x) Hyun-Shuk Lim (11-2); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since June 02 beat Kendall Tracey by TKO for title
7(7) Curt Kitson (26-4); CSA
8(6) Shane Gilchrist (23-3); Gamma
9(3) Jin Katou (24-3); Alpha-1; lost to Niko Soldo in Apr 02
10(x) Roberto Aldez (47-9); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(8) Kendall Tracey (16-5); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion lost to #6 Lim in June 02
x(9) John Rivero (22-5); CSA/XCC; was Alpha-1 lost to #6 Lim in Apr 02
x(10) Zvonimir Asanovic (19-4); former Gamma LHW Champion lost to #2 Watson in May 02

Middleweight
1(3) Heiji Endo (20-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
2(2) JJ Reid (33-3); CSA
3(4) Matthew Dean (40-6); Alpha-1
4(5) Buddy Garner (19-2); Alpha-1, was Gamma
1(1) Alex Cole (18-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion lost to Kramer Mayweather in Apr 02
6(6) Petey Mack (22-3); Alpha-1
7(7) Neil Napier (20-2); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
8(8) Leonardo da Costa (21-4); Alpha-1
9(9) Ashley Ballard (16-3); CSA;
10(x) Fernando Amaro (47-11-4); Alpha-1; beat Sutton Ripley in Apr 02[/i]
Dropped out
10(10) Sutton Ripley (21-6); Alpha-1; lost to #10 Amaro in Apr 02

Welterweight
1(4) Mikey Wallace (13-0); Gamma Welterweight Champion since June 02 beat #4 Regueiro by KO for title
2(1) Kafu Bunya (18-0); Alpha-1
3(2) Darin Blood (18-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001,
4(3) Julio Regueiro (19-2-1); former 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion lost title to #1 Wallace in June 02
5(9) Ichisake Mayagi (34-11); Alpha-1
6(5) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (12-1); Alpha-1
7(7) Josh Aldarisio (11-1); Gamma
8(6) Dominykas Jankovic (18-3); CSA
9(10) Jack Humphreys (33-5); former Gamma Welterweight Champion
10(x) Charles Stiles (19-5); CSA Welterweight Champion since May 02 beat Evan Pizzarro for title
Dropped Out
x(8) Claudio Palacios (27-9); Alpha-1

Lightweight
1(1) Luke Hilton (15-0); Alpha-1
2(2) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(3) Sukarno (11-0);Alpha-1 beat Fumiaki Hayashi in Apr 02
4(4) Fiyero Lermontov (18-0); Gamma
5(5) Shizuya Nakae (32-10); Alpha-1 LW Champion
6(6) Helio (26-2); CSA
7(8) Tarcisio Dantes (17-1); Gamma
8(9) Bud Brockett (25-5); Gamma
9(x) Lubos Plasil (13-2); Gamma
10(7) Fumiaki Hayashi (21-8); CSA, was Alpha-1 lost to #3 Sukarno in Apr 02
Dropped out
x(10) Heiko Pander (9-1); CSA

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (22-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since May 02 beat #4 Ziskie for vacant title
2(3) Tomohiro Takeuchi (25-4); CSA and Sigma
3(4) Lars Bohlin (54-6-1); CSA
4(2) Phillip Ziskie (18-1); CSA lost to Ho in May 02
5(5) Easton Frye (15-1); CSA
6(6) Rafael Tavares (20-3); CSA and Sigma
7(7) Shuler Eigenberg (17-4); CSA
8(8) Kei Maki (9-3); CSA
9(7) Manish Khan (12-4); Sigma
10(x) Luiz Machado (28-7-2); CSA
Dropped out
None

Pound for Pound (female)
1(2) Sarah Vaughn (18-3); CSA
2(3) Katherine Williams (12-3); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 2001
3(5)Tiiu Kass (9-1); CSA;& WEFF former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
4(4) April Watson (11-2); CSA, former XCC & WEFF Women's Champion
5(1) Sayoko Ebisawa (17-2); XCC/WEFF; lost to Elizabeth Fraser in Apr 02
6(6) Layla Holmes (10-1); CSA; former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
7(7) Alisha Wood (10-2); unemployed, was CSA
8(8) Laura Adair (8-1-1); CSA
9(x) Mizuki Watanabe (11-2); CSA
10(9) Yuya Shimizu (12-2); CSA
Dropped out
x(10) Haley Croft (16-5); CSA,

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 7, 2002

WEFF 43 Results
798 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Teresa Batch beat Rachel McGuinness by submission at 4:03 of Round 1 (Excellent)

Co-Main Event:
Tabitha Cameron beat Emma Birch by KO at 2:13 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

Gianna Russo beat Vanessa Phillips by UD after three rounds (Good)
Temperance McCoy beat Katarzyna Wojciechowska by TKO at 0:41 of Round 1 (Great)
Leslie Myers beat Alyssa Taylor by TKO at 1:28 of Round 1 (Great)

Prelims:
Saya Ikegami beat Maya Komagata by UD after three rounds (Average)
Joan Whitehouse beat Ramona Stivic by TKO at 3:50 of Round 1 (Decent)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 31
Sunday July 14, 2002 in Savannah, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Lightweight
Francesco Marazzina (20-10) vs "Sweet Sammy Silk" Sammy Newton (5-4)
Marazzina wins by submission (americana) at 2:33 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Welterweight
Rich "Hard Rain" Robinson (7-1) vs Carmelo Rossi (13-8)
Robinson wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 29-28)
The match was rated as being Poor

Light Heavyweight
"The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (13-1) vs Eric "Big D" Dartmouth (1-2)
Kanchelskis wins by TKO at 3:22 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Featherweight
"The Tropical Tornado" Azor Portela Nunes (27-7) vs Stefan "Stealth Ninja" Champion (10-7)
Nunes wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 29-28)
The match was rated as being Poor

Heavyweight
Lefter "The Beast" Oktay (19-1) vs "Granite" Kevin Portman (12-10)
Oktay wins by TKO at 4:35 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good

Middleweight
"Superstar" Stuart Strange (17-4) vs "The Soldier of Fortune" Thomas Smith (13-7)
Strange wins by submission (armbar) at 2:37 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Women's Openweight
Laura "The Pissed Off Angel" Adair (8-1-1) vs "The Pain" Alicia Simmons (8-2)
Adair wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 30-27)
The match was rated as being Decent

Main Show
Light Heavyweight
"Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (20-2) vs Jethro "The Hunter" Munter (17-8-1)
We're privately hoping Rekdal just keeps rolling
Blurcat says Rekdal should be able to keep Munter at bay with his striking & finish him on the ground
Rekdal wins by Knock Out at 0:41 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
One counterpunch for the knockdown, a flurry of punches for the win

Welterweight
Benny "The Jet" Danare (16-3) vs Jungo "The Spirit of the Ancients" Futagawa (24-11)
We're privately hoping Danare puts himself in position to challenge for the WW title
Blurcat says Futagawa will struggle just to stay afloat in this match
Futagawa wins by TKO at 1:34 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
An early takedown by Danare gave him control but little else accomplished in R1. Two missed leg kicks by Futagawa, two takedowns for Danare in R2. Futagawa landed a sudden high kick that stunned Danare & a series of vicious elbows finished him.

Featherweight
Luiz "The Tarantula" Machado (28-7-2) vs Colm "The Celtic Warrior" Dee (16-6)
We're privately hoping that Machado gets his fourth win in a row
Blurcat says Machado will get past Dee's striking defense & take the victory
Dee wins by unanimous decision after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Dee scored two knockdowns with counterpunches in an action-packed R1. Dee was solidly in control of R2 with accurate punching & kicking. A fresh Dee looked very good in the final round, scoring with strikes at will.

Heavyweight
"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (7-1) vs Kurt "Chopper" McDonald (11-2)
We're privately hoping Satinho dispatches the veteran
Blurcat says Satinho is better standing or grounded & will win
Satinho wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 29-28)
The match was rated as being Decent
Satinho couldn't get the takedown he wanted in R1 but was effective punching to take the round. McDonald's striking was better in R2 & he finished the round strong scoring several times in the final minute. Satinho finally got the takedown he wanted in R3 but McDonald defended well enough to survive.

For the CSA Lightweight Title
Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (10-4) vs Naizen Hamacho (17-6)
We're privately hoping that Bernacci keeps doing what he's been doing & retains
Blurcat says Bernacci should leave with the title still around his waist
Bernacci wins by TKO at 1:53 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
A takedown, then side control, then mount, and then Bernacci just pounded away on his challenger.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Women's Openweight Title
Katherine "The Great" Williams (12-3) vs "The Arizona Animal" Sarah Vaughn (18-3)
We're privately hoping that our top two ranked women put on a classic
Blurcat says Williams has to make this a short-range fight in order to retain
Williams wins by UD after five rounds (49-46 x2 and 50-45)
The match was rated as being Average
Williams pinned Vaughn to the cage enough to take R1. More grappling in R2 but Williams provided the highlight with a sudden slam in the final 30 seconds of the round. Williams blocked a slam attempt & then kept Vaughn at bay for the rest of R3 as both fighters showed signs of tiring. Decent striking by Williams amidst plenty of grappling by the spent fighters in R4. Williams couldn't get past guard in R5 but Vaughn couldn't find any submission move that worked either.

Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (9-2) vs "The Amazing" JJ Reid (33-3)
We're privately hoping that the champ looks ready for a huge challenge so soon after winning the title
Blurcat says if Reid can get takedowns then he'll also get the title
Reid wins by submission (guillotine) at 3:54 of Round 4
The match was rated as Good
Reid couldn't get a takedown & landed a low percentage of punches against Mayweather's solid defense in R1. Very little offense in R2 as Reid was ineffective & Mayweather failed to score much with the counter strikes. A couple of solid kicks by the champ gave him the edge in R3. Reid was punished by a big punch & numerous kicks to the knee which left him hobbling & exhausted. It didn't matter however, thanks to a guillotine from the bottom of guard.

Attendance: 10,823 for a gate of $649,380
135,990 PPV Buys for revenue of $543,960
Show Rating: Good

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 16, 2002

XCC: Steven vs Milissis
Attendance 649 in California

Main Event:
LW Elvis Milissis beat Bruce Steven by TKO at 2:11 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

Co-Main Event:
LW Sadahige Yoshida beat Masato Wai by UD after three rounds (Average)

WW Diego Arteta beat Zachary Gilbert by TKO at 2:11 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
FW Benedikt Streit beat Zhao Pau by TKO at 1:17 of Round 1 (Great)
WO Karen Curtis beat Hester Maclean by submission at 3:29 of Round 1 (Good)

Prelims:
WO Nina Belle beat Roz Wareing by TKO at 1:00 of Round 2 (Great)
WO Olivia Sweet beat Lisa Labone by TKO at 0:45 of Round 1 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

July 31, 2002

Solid month, with a good enough show and $573,896 profit on the books. Was actually over $600k for CSA but $1k loss for WEFF and a $43k loss for XCC drove our total down a little. But no complaints from me as we reach $5.79 million in the bank account.

During the month we extended our PPV deal with Public Access Select, an additional four shows with the same 30-70 split on revenue. Not great but we'll probably wait until we get a little bigger to try to shift our deal elsewhere.

July saw the exits of four fighters with expiring contracts we chose not to renew: HW Taye Burnett (2-4, 2-4), WO Gail Pendergarst (5-3, 0-1), FW Stefan Champion (10-8, 0-2), and LW Sammy Newton (5-5, 3-4).

We renewed the contracts of HW Gary Sampson, WO Serena Hill, WO Elizabeth Fraser, WO Hester Maclean.

We signed deals with five fighters new to the CSA family of companies:
-- 24 y/o MW Maxime Giresse (5-2), a judoka from Marseille, France. He was 1-0 for UCFF and 1-2 for Sigma in the past year or so, and will get a chance for us starting in XCC
-- 25 y/o MW Ethan "The Terror" Sutton (5-0), a wrestler from Red Lake, Ontario. He last fought almost two years ago, beating Bambang Sriyanto at a small independent show but has been training steadily since then.
-- 32 y/o HW "Stormin'" Norman Pike (20-8), an army veteran from Chandler, Quebec. Most recently went 1-1 for Sigma, with previous stints in both Alpha-1 and Gamma.
-- 32 y/o FW Pedro "The Wolverine" Alves (16-9), a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter from Lisbon, Portugal. He's won three straight in the indies after a long sting with Sigma.
-- 36 y/o HW Ari "The Finn-isher" Peltonen (29-1), a Sambo fighter from Helsinki, Finland. He'll come to us from Alpha-1 riding a three fight winning streak and was 5-1 overall for them with his only loss coming to the legendary Hassan Fezzik. He doesn't have many fights left in his tank most likely but he'll be making them for CSA.

Our next scheduled CSA show is at the end of September, headlined by "Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (23-0) defending his CSA Featherweight Title against Atlanta native Easton "Small" Frye (15-1).

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 14, 2002

WEFF 44 Results
735 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Natalie Rogers beat Hanako Shimizu by KO at 3:12 of Round 5 to win the WEFF Women's Heavyweight Title (Decent)

Co-Main Event:
Emi Nagano beat Kelly Andrews by UD after three rounds (Good)

Jennie Gill beat Tracy Garcia by UD after three rounds (Poor)
Cindy Dumas beat Anna Thompson by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Daniella Sadorra beat Simone King by KO at 1:27 of Round 2 (Good)

Prelims:
Mao Fukada beat Toshie Nishina by SD after three rounds (Poor)
Allison Beattie beat Elizabeth Fraser by UD after three rounds (Good)

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 19, 2002

XCC: Rivero vs Dreck
1,046 attendance in California

Main Event:
LHW Rupert Dreck beat John Rivero by submission at 1:41 of Round 3 (Decent)

Co-Main Event:
HW Mason Archer beat Renato by UD after three rounds (Good)

MW Julio Gutierrez beat Nick Detroit by submission at 2:43 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
WW Nathan Chambers beat Doug Hansen by TKO at 4:54 of Round 3 (Great)
LW Jamie Hewitt beat Anderson Desailly by submission at 1:32 of Round 2 (Great)

Prelims:
WW Gideon Navarro beat Ray Eton by TKO at 2:45 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
MW Danny Akabaro beat Wes Hersch by KO at 0:48 of Round 3 (Fantastic)

[JonInMiddleGA]

August 31, 2002

With the nice run we've been on lately, the down time was a little tougher to sit out that usual, especially the part where we lost $161,486 for the month. Over half that loss came from the expenses related to XCC, with John Rivero's salary to suffer an upset loss accounting for nearly half of that. So it goes.

During August we bid farewell to HW Kevin Portman (12-11, 1-3) whose contract we chose not to renew as well as reaching settlement terms with former WEFF co-owner & sometimes announcer Bethany Tonks (b'casting skill 45).

We renewed the contracts of LHW Thorbjorn Rekdal (21-2, 4-0), WO Lisa Labone (8-5-1, 0-1), XCC announcer Wyatt Sullivan (b'cast 65) who will begin working some CSA shows, MW Jordan Flintstone (5-3, 4-3), WW Chad Zoff (1-3, 1-3) who will still think can be a star someday if he ever gets his act together, and LW Campbell Crane (12-6, 0-1) who was recently called up to CSA from XCC.

Only a couple of new additions during the month but one of this was hella expensive.
-- 33 y/o LW "The Sharpshooter" Georges Nouri (16-3), a Pankration fighter from Athens, Greece who has won 7 of his last 8 bouts including 4 of 5 in Alpha-1. He's not the expensive one.
-- 29 y/o LHW "The Iron Man" Junior Patinkin (13-4), an Army Combatives/Judo fighter from Tacoma, Washington. He's been on a run of strong performances for Gamma & has a great deal of potential still to fulfill so we bit the bullet on one of the largest contracts we've ever signed ($250k per, 7 matches/6 guaranteed over 30 months). His name value is better than our own (LL International 10%) and is an expensive gamble on being prepared for the future as we grow.

We negotiated with a number of other big names (Josh Aldarisio, Alberto Basora, Fernando Amaro, Darrin Blood) during August but either failed to reach agreement or were simply unwilling to mortgage the company to bring them in. Some of the demands we were hearing made Patinkin's contract pale in comparison.

At the end of August, Blurcat.com ranks CSA as the #2 promotion in the world, having surpassed GAMMA after their August PPV in Texas brought them down a bit (James Foster over Harold Dale for the GAMMA HW Title in the main event)

[JonInMiddleGA]

September 8, 2002

XCC: Keane vs Milissis Results
1,106 attendance in California

Main Event:
Jake Keane beat Elvis Milissis by submission at 3:36 of Round 1 to retain the XCC Lightweight Title (Great)

Co-Main Event:
LHW Leandro Piquet beat Bryan Van Den Hauwe by TKO at 4:02 of Round 1 (Great)

LHW Alekos Karabatsos beat Jon Silvers by submission at 1:52 of Round 1 (Great)
MW Woody Fierstein beat Jemaine McKenzie by submission at 4:19 of Round 1 (Good)
FW Benedikt Streit beat Anthony Ray Shenkman by UD after three rounds (Average)

Prelims:
WO Steph Smith beat Karen Curtis by UD after three rounds (Decent)
WO Olivia Sweet beat Nina Belle by TKO at 2:28 of Round 3 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 32
Sunday September 29, 2002 in Miami, FL

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Lightweight
Aaron "The Patriot" McBroom (13-6) vs "The Karate Kid" Carl Chenoweth (4-0)
Chenoweth wins by KO at 0:22 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Welterweight
Dominykas "Slamkovic" Jankovic (18-3) vs "Slow Hand" Bret Clement (7-0)
Jankovic wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Good

Middleweight
"The Total Package" Heath Kaladaris (6-1) vs "The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (10-4)
Jenks wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 30-27)
The match was rated as being Decent

Light Heavyweight
"The Bad Element" Curt Kitson (26-4) vs "Glorious" Joshua Hope (5-2)
Hope wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor

Women's Openweight
"Silent But Deadly" Haley Croft (16-5) vs Gina "The Vixen" Dixon (10-3-1)
Dixon wins by TKO at 1:48 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Featherweight
"Mighty Mouse" Heiko Pander (9-1) vs James "Buster" Busfield (13-7-1)
Pander wins by submission (armbar) at 4:51 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Heavyweight
"Chief" Fatuma Roy (25-12) vs Chuck "The Laughing Man" Dooley (21-20)
Roy wins by TKO at 3:20 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Good

Main Show
Lightweight
Helio (26-2) vs Fujimaro Hidaka (10-4)
We're privately hoping Helio keeps rolling toward a title shot
Blurcat says Helio is clearly superior in a couple of areas & should win
Helio wins by TKO at 2:25 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
All Helio in R1, Hidaka was able to finally stop him at half guard as time ran out. A big barrage of punches while Hidaka was pinned against the cage ended it.

Welterweight
Jonathan "The Locust" Huang (3-0) vs Ross "Harvard" Smith (9-3)
We're privately hoping Huang adds to his reputation
Blurcat says Huang should be able to win this on the ground
Huang wins by submission (armbar) at 2:21 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Some striking success by Smith early in R1 but Huang ended that with a takedown & Smith was lucky to avoid several submission attempts. R2 was short, takedown to side control to mount to tap.

Middleweight
Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (16-3) vs "Mr. Awesome" Carl Ratcliffe (20-10)
We're privately hoping that Ballard does that thing he does
Blurcat says Ballard is better in any position & will win
Ratcliffe wins by KO at 0:55 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Ballard's body kicks were the difference in R1. An uneventful R2 probably went to Ballard although neither fighter did much. A sudden head kick provided the flash KO.

Light Heavyweight
"The Scourge of Europe" Nicolai Mickiewicz (25-6) vs Christopher "The Knife" Sharp (13-5)
We're privately hoping that Mickiewicz finally starts gaining a few fans in the US
Blurcat says Sharp will get the upset here
Mickiewicz wins by submission (triangle choke) at 1:41 of Round 3
The match was rated as being Decent
Mickiewicz kept Sharp pinned to the ground for most of R1. More of the same in R2 until the ref finally stood them up after 4 minutes. Sharp scored a takedown early in R3 but quickly wished he hadn't, as Mickiewicz ended it from the bottom of guard.

Women's Openweight
Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (10-1) vs Alyson "Alley Kat" Arroway (8-1)
We're privately hoping that the winner stakes a clear claim as a major title contender
Blurcat says Arroway has to keep the fight standing in order to survive
Holmes wins by TKO at 4:22 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Arroway controlled R1 by keeping Holmes pinned to the cage, although Holmes nearly ended it with a standing guillotine. Holmes scored early in R2 with a flurry of punches & finished the fight with a similar barrage late in the round.

Co-Main Event: Heavyweight
Tony "The Spider" McCall (37-13) vs "The Tower of Power" Tim Boyer (22-8-2)
We're privately hoping that the AARP doesn't accuse us of abusing seniors (McCall is 38, Boyer is 36)
Blurcat says McCall's striking gives him a slight advantage
McCall wins by KO at 0:28 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
R1 went to Boyer who got the better of a series of control changes on the ground. McCall caught Boyer on the side of the head with a sudden high kick that turned out his lights.

Main Event: For the CSA Featherweight Title
"Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (23-0) vs Easton "Small" Frye (15-1)
We're privately hoping that Frye can shock the world
Blurcat says Frye has to get in close to have any chance at all
Ho wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:53 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
A takedown in the opening minute sealed Frye's fate.

Attendance: 13,660 for a gate of $819,600
142,862 PPV Buys for revenue of $571,448
Show Rating: Fantastic

[JonInMiddleGA]

September 29, 2002

WEFF 45 Results
630 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Temperance McCoy beat Tabitha Cameron by KO at 1:14 of Round 3 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
Jenny DeNeuve beat Vanessa Phillips by UD after three rounds (Decent)

Romi Takahashi beat Emma Birch by UD after three rounds (Poor)
Ramona Stivic beat Alyssa Taylor by TKO at 3:06 of Round 1 (Decent)
Toshie Nishina beat Emi Nagano by UD after three rounds (Good)

[DaddyTorgo]

hey Jon - mind letting me know what you ended up settling on for finances? i picked up the game this weekend and am itching to do the same sort of thing, but I don't want to set my opening finances too low so that I end up going out of business.

[JonInMiddleGA]

hey Jon - mind letting me know what you ended up settling on for finances? i picked up the game this weekend and am itching to do the same sort of thing, but I don't want to set my opening finances too low so that I end up going out of business.

In hindsight, whatever setting I used that gave me $2.5 million as an opening balance was probably too easy. As I mentioned way up the thread somewhere, I did try to play as though it were smaller & minimize losses early but once you get to PPV level and those start generating then it seems like you just have to avoid going completely insane on contracts.

I don't remember what the various options for settings are called but to give yourself breathing room something that's about half what I started with would be more than adequate (I think I could have run in the red at the same pace for several years before putting myself out of business with the starting bankroll). The trick really seems to be getting to the PPV for revenue, avoiding stupid contracts, and then being careful to avoid the popularity yo-yo that can get you fired pretty easily best I can tell.

[DaddyTorgo]

In hindsight, whatever setting I used that gave me $2.5 million as an opening balance was probably too easy. As I mentioned way up the thread somewhere, I did try to play as though it were smaller & minimize losses early but once you get to PPV level and those start generating then it seems like you just have to avoid going completely insane on contracts.

I don't remember what the various options for settings are called but to give yourself breathing room something that's about half what I started with would be more than adequate (I think I could have run in the red at the same pace for several years before putting myself out of business with the starting bankroll). The trick really seems to be getting to the PPV for revenue, avoiding stupid contracts, and then being careful to avoid the popularity yo-yo that can get you fired pretty easily best I can tell.

Thanks. I think that was about the setting I used to start. I'm currently in the midst of negotiating a bunch of cheap contracts - I set myself a limit of $1000 just like you did, and only went over it once - to sign Helio to a deal @ $7,500 per fight (exclusive I think). Once I'm done with the last 30-40 contract feelers I threw out there I think maybe I'll startup a dynasty.

[JonInMiddleGA]

September 30, 2002

And the Ho Train keeps rolling along, although it does come with a price. Only $196k in profit for the month with nearly $950k in prize money paid out for the PPV.

We renewed the contracts of several fighters during the month, including MW Julio "The Nightmare" Gutierrez (6-2, 1-2), WO Saya Ikegami (2-3, 0-2), WO "Lost Innocence" Leslie Myers (4-1, 2-1), and LHW Jethro "The Hunter" Munter (17-9-1, 1-2).

September saw two contracts expire & fighters exit, one by our choice & one by their choice. 30 y/o WW Ray "The Enigma" Eton (8-6, 1-4) had some good fights for us but rarely came up on the winning side of them, maybe he'll have better success against lesser competition. 31 y/o FW "Samurai Spirit" Tomohiro Takeuchi (26-4, 1-0) is a different matter, we simply couldn't finds terms he would accept & he opted to join Sigma on a full-time basis.

As usual, we also added a handful of fighters to the roster
-- 24 y/o MW "The Surgeon" Atsutane Akera (1-0), a Jiu Jitsu fighter from Nagoya, Japan. A youngster with some potential brought in from the indy circut. He'll start out at XCC and we'll see what he can do.
-- 33 y/o WW "The Show Stopper" Jack Humphreys (34-5), a wrestler from Mobile, Alabama. The bad boy of MMA has been a mainstay for Gamma for years but we think he's got enough left in the tank to be useful for us over the next couple of years at least. Pricey as hell, $250k per show to start.
-- 32 y/o LHW "The Hotshot Scot" Gary McSweegan (29-13), a striker from Edinbrugh, Scotland, comes to us from Alpha-1 where he lost 2 out of 3 fights by submission. Should be competitive here though, with a 2-2 lifetime record against fighters on our current roster (wins over L. Ballard & Karabatsos, losses to Rivero & Kapur).
-- 32 y/o WW "Mad Dog" Gabriel Gallego (19-6), a Muay Thai stylist from Buenos Aries. He also comes to us from Alpha-1, where he just snapped a tough three fight losing streak (Ka Ting, Bunya, Blood).

[DaddyTorgo]

I remember in WAMMA 1 that Rivero was a BEAST for me. Absolutely wrecked EVERYONE.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of October 1, 2002

Promotion Rankings (size, change since July 2002, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (Mid Level International, 0, WW Darin Blood)
2. CSA (High Level National, +1, FW Li-Kong Ho)
3. GAMMA (High Level National, -1, WW Mikey Wallace)
4. XCC (High Level Regional, +1, LW Fumiaki Hayashi)
5. SIGMA (down to Mid Level Regional, +1, FW Tomohiro Takeuchi)
6. WEFF (down to Mid Level Regional, -2, BW Tiiu Kass)
7. OMEGA (Low Level Regional, 0, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)
8. TOP (Low Level Regional, 0, WW Gordon Idle)
9. UCFF (Low Level Regional, 0, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (34-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(5) Darin Blood (19-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001 beat #10 Bunya by UD in July 2002
3(2) Mikey Wallace (14-0); Gamma Welterweight Champion since June 2002
4(3) Luke Hilton (16-0); Alpha-1, LW beat Shizuya Nakae by UD in August 2002
5(6) Tadamasa Yamada (28-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
6(7) Li-Kong Ho (24-0); CSA Featherweight Champion since May 2002 beat Easton Frye by submission in September 2002
7(8) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
8(9) James Foster (43-5-1); Gamma, HW beat Harold Dale by submission in August 2002
9(10) Mike Watson (17-1); former GAMMA LHW Champion
10(4) Kafu Bunya (18-1); Alpha-1, WW lost to #2 Blood by UD in July 2002
Dropped Out
None

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (34-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(2) James Foster (43-5-1); former Gamma HW Champion
3(3) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-6) Alpha-1;
4(6) Gregor Boniek (41-6); Alpha-1
5(4) Terron Cabal (17-2); Alpha-1;
6(4) Rav Kapur (16-1); CSA
7(5) Lefter Oktay (20-1); CSA;
8(8) Stratos Papaioannou (31-6); CSA
9(8) Ari Peltonen (29-10); CSA,, was Alpha-1
10(x) Steve Mason (13-3); Alpha-1 beat Tank Manu'a in Sept 02
Dropped out
x(10) Raul Hughes (18-4); former Gamma Heavyweight Champion

Light Heavyweights
1(1) Tadamasa Yamada (28-2); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
2(2) Mike Watson (17-1); former Gamma LHW Champion
3(3) Anthony LeToussier (21-3); Alpha-1
4(6) Hyun-Shuk Lim (12-2); Alpha-1 LHW Champion since June 02
5(4) Thorbjorn Rekdal (21-2); CSA
6(5) Faas Smit (43-15); Alpha-1, was Sigma
7(8) Shane Gilchrist (24-3); Gamma
8(9) Jin Katou (25-3); Alpha-1;
9(x) Kendall Tracey (17-5); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
10(10) Roberto Aldez (48-9); Alpha-1
Dropped out
7(7) Curt Kitson (26-4); CSA lost to Joshua Hope in Sept 02

Middleweight
1(1) Heiji Endo (21-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
2(2) JJ Reid (34-3); CSA
3(3) Matthew Dean (40-6); Alpha-1
4(4) Buddy Garner (20-2); Alpha-1, was Gamma
5(5) Alex Cole (18-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
6(6) Petey Mack (23-3); Alpha-1
7(7) Neil Napier (20-2); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
8(8) Leonardo da Costa (21-4); Alpha-1
9(10) Fernando Amaro (48-11-4); Alpha-1;
10(x) Stuart Strange (18-4); CSA beat Thomas Smith in July 02
Dropped out
9(9) Ashley Ballard (16-4); CSA; lost to Carl Ratcliffe in Sept 02

Welterweight
1(3) Darin Blood (19-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001 beat #3 Bunya in July 02
2(1) Mikey Wallace (14-0); Gamma Welterweight Champion since June 02
3(2) Kafu Bunya (18-1); Alpha-1 lost to #1 Blood in July 02
4(6) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (13-1); Alpha-1
5(4) Julio Regueiro (19-2-1); former 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion
6(5) Ichisake Mayagi (34-11); Alpha-1
7(8) Dominykas Jankovic (19-3); CSA
8(7) Josh Aldarisio (12-1); Gamma
9(10) Jack Humphreys (34-5); CSA, was former Gamma Welterweight Champion
10(x) Charles Stiles (19-5); CSA Welterweight Champion since May 02
Dropped Out
None

Lightweight
1(1) Luke Hilton (16-0); Alpha-1 LW Champion since Aug 2002 beat #6 Nakae for title
2(2) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(3) Sukarno (11-0);Alpha-1
4(4) Fiyero Lermontov (18-0); Gamma
5(6) Helio (27-2); CSA
6(5) Shizuya Nakae (32-11); former Alpha-1 LW Champion lost to #1 Hilton in Aug 02
8(7) Tarcisio Dantes (18-1); Gamma
8(9) Lubos Plasil (14-2); Gamma
9(8) Bud Brockett (25-5); Gamma
10(10) Fumiaki Hayashi (21-8); CSA,
Dropped out
None

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (24-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since May 02 beat #6 Frye in Sept 02
2(2) Tomohiro Takeuchi (26-4); CSA
3(3) Lars Bohlin (54-6-1); CSA
4(x) Heiko Pander (10-1); CSA beat James Busfield in Sept 02
5(4) Phillip Ziskie (18-1); CSA
6(5) Easton Frye (15-2); CSA lost to #1 Ho in Sept 02
7(6) Rafael Tavares (21-3); CSA and Sigma beat Cong Dun for Sigma in July 02
8(7) Shuler Eigenberg (17-4); CSA
9(8) Kei Maki (9-3); CSA
10(9) Manish Khan (12-4); Sigma
Dropped out
10(x) Luiz Machado (28-8-2); CSA lost to Colm Dee in July 02

Pound for Pound (female)
1(2) Katherine Williams (13-3); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 2001 beat #3 Vaughn in July 02
2(3)Tiiu Kass (9-1); CSA & WEFF;former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
3(1) Sarah Vaughn (18-4); CSA lost to #1 Williams in July 02
4(6) Layla Holmes (11-1); CSA; former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
5(4) April Watson (11-2); CSA, former XCC & WEFF Women's Champion
6(7) Alisha Wood (10-2); unemployed
7(x) Gina Dixon (11-3-1); CSA beat Haley Croft in Sept 02
8(8) Laura Adair (9-1-1); CSA
9(9) Mizuki Watanabe (11-2); CSA
10(10) Yuya Shimizu (12-2); CSA
Dropped out
x(5) Sayoko Ebisawa (17-2); retired, was XCC/WEFF;

[JonInMiddleGA]

October 12, 2002

XCC: Thomas vs Oshiro
753 attendance in California

Main Event:
MW Haranobu Oshiro beat Patrick Thomas by TKO at 0:54 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
WO Tara O'Brien beat Yuya Shimizu by TKO at 2:26 of Round 2 to win the XCC Women's Title (Great)

WW Zachary Gilbert beat Tyler Lass by submission at 4:32 of Round 2 (Good)
LHW Adrian Pascal beat Ranieri Fernanda by UD after three rounds (Average)
LW Lukas Mellberg beat Jamie Hewitt by submission at 1:52 of Round 2 (Good)

Prelims:
MW Thomas Smith beat Maxime Giresse by TKO at 3:22 of Round 1 (Good)
WO Echiko Watanabe beat Debra Everett by submission at 4:57 of Round 1 (Decent)

[JonInMiddleGA]

October 23, 2002

WEFF 46 Results
628 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Daniela Sadorra beat Alison Beattie by TKO at 0:23 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
Lisa Labone beat Jennie Gill by UD after three rounds (Good)

Rachel McGuinness beat Katarzyna Wojciechowska by TKO at 3:02 of Round 1 (Good)
Anna Thompson beat Kelly Andrews by UD after three rounds (Average)
Roz Wareing beat Saya Ikegami by TKO at 3:32 of Round 1 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

October 31, 2002

So we take a month off, in spite of wanting to run two shows in the final quarter the recent schedule has taken its toll on our roster & the fans simply wouldn't have been satisfied with what we could put together for two shows. We'll settle for closing out the year with a busy show in November instead.

Tough month financially, losing $283,299, quite a bit worse than the last month off we took.

Most of our moves were contract renewals: WW Bosco Curbeam (3-1, 3-1), WO Ramona Stivic (3-1, 0-0), LW Aaron McBroom (13-7, 1-2), WO Pamela O'Neill (8-2-1, 4-1), LW Rory McEnterry (4-4, 2-2), LHW Fjodor Kanchelskis (14-1, 3-1), LW Jamie Hewitt (14-9, 1-1), and FW Champion Li-Kong Ho (24-0, 3-0) who we managed to upgrade to an exclusive deal for another six fights at a (relatively) reasonable rate of $240,000 per.

I said most of our moves were renewals but not quite all. New additions to the roster include:
-- 29 y/o LHW "Blood Spirit" Hyun-Shik Lim (12-2), a Wing Chun fighter from South Korea. 5-1 in Alpha-1 and the reigning Alpha-1 Light Heavyweight Champion ... but now he's coming to CSA and bringing his punching power with him.
-- 33 y/o HW "Sweet Baby" Tank Manu'a (24-9), a Mongolian wrestling style fighter from Pago Pago, American Samoa. This massive heavyweight was just 1-2 in Alpha-1 but had won 5 of his last 6 fights for Gamma & built his name value with that work.
-- 22 y/o FW Nuno "The Idol" Valentino (4-2), a Jiu Jitsu specialist from Lisbon, Portugal. All his fights had been for Sigma with his only losses coming to top ranked fighters Phillip Ziskie & Lars Bohlin. Lots of potential, even more charisma.

[JonInMiddleGA]

November 20, 2002

XCC: Dreck vs Munter
1,197 attendance in California

Main Event:
LHW Rupert Dreck beat Jethro Munter by TKO at 3:05 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
WW Doug Hansen beat Gideon Navarro by submission at 2:52 of Round 2 (Great)

WO Hester Maclean drew with Naora Kikuchi due to Majority Draw after three rounds (Good)
MW Danny Akabaro beat Jemaine McKenzie by UD after three rounds (Decent)
FW Pedro Alves beat Liam O'Donnell by submission at 4:05 of Round 1 (Great)

Prelims:
WW Nathan Chambers beat Chad Zoff by KO at 0:30 of Round 3 (Fantastic)
FW Jason Dalglish beat Harvey Ripa by submission at 3:01 of Round 2 (Decent)

Note: Nathan Chambers will miss 6 months due to a rib injury suffered during his fight against Chad Zoff

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 32
Sunday November 24, 2002 in San Diego, CA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Women's Openweight
"Hellhound" Mako Takagawa (10-1) vs Chie "The Bride" Namiki (7-8)
Takagawa wins by TKO at 1:07 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Featherweight
"Scorching" Shuler Eigenberg (17-4) vs Reza "Prince of Pain" Afshar (7-2-1)
Eigenberg wins by KO at 0:50 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Featherweight
Kei "Demon Eyes" Maki (9-3) vs Sammy "The Stealth Shark" Gaffigan (18-6)
Maki wins by TKO at 3:56 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Lightweight
Luis "El Diablo" Basora (25-5) vs Jackson "Pocket Rocket" Gray (20-13)
Basora wins by submission (rear naked choke)at 4:56 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good

Lightweight
"G-Force" Rodolphe Gygax (33-10) vs Korekiyo "Razor" Anzai (14-7)
Anzai wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent

Welterweight
Kadonomaro Deguchi (11-3) vs Kyle "The Guillotine" Sagal (6-2)
Deguchi wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 30-27)
The match was rated as being Decent

Middleweight
Marlon "The Punisher" John (8-2) vs "Torment" Genki Shinashi (9-5)
John wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent

Middleweight
Bill "The Marine" Brown (7-2) vs Ethan "The Terror" Sutton (5-0)
Brown wins by submission (arm triangle) at 4:14 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good

Light Heavyweight
"The Russian Nightmare" Fjodor Kanchelskis (14-1) vs Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (4-0)
Villar wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average

Heavyweight
Armen "A-Game" Sarkisian (18-2) vs "The Muscles From the Midlands" Mark Bicknell (10-2)
Sarkisian wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor

Main Show
Women's Openweight
Tiiu "The Tigress" Kass (9-1) vs "The Outlaw" Vivian Terkay (9-0)
We're privately hoping that Terkay remains unbeaten & elevates her profile with a win
Blurcat says Kass' striking can overcome Terkay's ground game
Kass wins by TKO at 1:31 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good
Some decent dirty boxing against the cage gave Terkay the edge in R1. A missed leg kick gave Kass an opening early in R2 and she exploded with a furious barrage of punches that gave the referee little choice.

Lightweight
H.M. Menzel (15-7) vs Henry "King" Baldwin (13-7)
We're privately hoping that we don't regret putting this fight on the main show
Blurcat says Menzel simply looks like too much for Baldwin to handle
Menzel wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Baldwin kept Menzel grounded for control of R1. Menzel couldn't score from a Muay Thai clinch but controlled R2 with it anyway. R3 resembled R2.

Light Heavyweight
"The Big Dog" Linfield Ballard (27-11) vs "The Dockland Destroyer" Jerry Bogdonovich (12-5)
We're privately hoping that Ballard doesn't take his opponent lightly
Blurcat says Ballard should ultimately prevail
Ballard wins by Split Decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 28-29)
The match was rated as being Great
A close R1 as Ballard swung for the fences & mostly missed while Bogdonovich was content to counter with a few jabs. An ever closer R2 that could have gone either way with more near misses than connections. Two knockdowns by Bogdonovich in R3 but he couldn't finish Ballard, and regretted it immediately after the controversial decision was announced

Heavyweight
"The Big Show' Sylvester Collins (7-3) vs "The Laughing Man" Chuck Dooley (21-21)
We're privately hoping Collins is the only fighter laughing when this one is over
Blurcat says Collins should dominate the fight
Collins wins by TKO at 1:47 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Dooley's strategy appeared to be go-for-the-one-punch-KO. It didn't work & Collins destroyed him with answering barrages.

Women's Openweight
"The Blonde Bombshell" April Watson (11-2) vs Mizuki "The She-Wolf" Watanabe (11-2)
We're privately hoping that Watson reasserts herself on the division with a win
Blurcat says Watanabe's ground game should prove to be Watson's undoing
Watanabe wins by submission (armbar) at 2:31 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Watson landed several punches, then missed & got taken down which indeed proved to be her undoing as the experts predicted

Featherweight
"Ice Cold" Lars Bohlin (54-6-1) vs Philip "Kid" Ziskie (18-1)
We're privately hoping that this is an all out thriller in spite of Ziskie coming off his first career defeat
Blurcat says Ziskie's stand-up game is the one deciding difference between the two fighters
Ziskie wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Bohlin scored a brief takedown in a R1 mostly filled with close in punching & elbowing & general nastiness. Two takedowns by Ziskie controlled R2. Two more takedowns by Ziskie gave him R3 even though the referee had to stand the fighters up after each.

Middleweight
Alex "Ace In the Hole" Cole (18-1) vs "The Spartan" Davis Spyrou (23-8)
We're privately hoping that Cole can shake off his first career defeat
Blurcat says Cole should be able to win this on the ground
Cole wins by submission (armbar) at 4:37 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Cole almost ended the fight with punches from the mount, when he didn't it was a simple matter of changing tactics.

For the CSA Welterweight Title
Charles "Rogue" Stiles (19-5) vs Heikichi Shimizu (5-1)
We're privately hoping that this is the first of three successful title defenses on the night
Blurcat says Stiles has to use his striking to avoid Shimizu's superior grappling skill
Shimizu wins by UD after five rounds (48-47 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Stiles looked like Sugar Ray Robinson for most of R1. Shimizu answered in R2 by keeping the champion pinned against the cage unable to continue his punching attack. Again, Stiles was frustrated by the challenger who kept him pinned against the cage in R3. Stiles was more effective in R4 but Shimizu finally controlled him with the grapple & pin strategy in the latter part of the round. Stiles scored frequently in R5 but lost precious time when he was taken down midway through the round.

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Light Heavyweight Title
Adam "Hollywood" White (11-3) vs "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (21-2)
We're privately hoping that White can retain against the higher rated but less fan favored challenger
Blurcat says should win since he's better both standing & on the ground
White wins by UD after five rounds (49-46 x2 and 50-45)
The match was rated as being Average
White scored a R1 takedown but couldn't get past half guard otherwise. Carbon copy in R2. And again in R3 in spite of urging from Rekdal's corner for him to look for the big shot to end it quickly. Rekdal actually managed more offense from the bottom of guard than White did during R4. Back to the ground & smother offense by White for R5.

Main Event: For the CSA Heavyweight Title
"Silent But Violent" Wilson Franklyn (10-1) vs "The African Dream" Soulyemane Ya Konan (15-3)
We're privately hoping that Franklin can manage to hold off the newcomer
Blurcat says Franklyn looks to be too good for the challenger
Franklyn wins by TKO at 1:29 of Round 1
The match was rated as Great
Franklyn dodged a few early punches then unleashed a barrage of his own that drove the challenger against the cage & left him fairly helpless. Still, some felt the stoppage came prematurely.

Attendance: 13,387 for a gate of $803,220
140,150 PPV Buys for revenue of $560,600
Show Rating: Good

[Tellistto]

Good stuff, Jon! Am still here reading.

Tell

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks Tell ... and everybody else who is still riding along, I actually kind of feel you out there even without someone saying so, which is different than most of these I've done.

I had to modify the format a little as the size of the promotion grew, reducing the details on the undercard a little to make those more manageable. With the combined roster of CSA and the two child promotions now sitting around 250 workers, the end of the quarter is a bear to track. Everybody is spreadsheeted & I currently update their skills info as well as tighten up my notes on contract status & the like at the end of each quarter, I was grinding to a halt on playing just to fight through the paperwork. I'm also posting the results pretty close to real time, so what you guys see is pretty much where I am.

I'm getting increasingly nervous as I creep near the national/international threshold. That'll put the possibility of being fired back into play if I yo-yo my status between them too much, so I'm trying to keep a close watch on that in order to be able to avoid dropping under once I rise past it.

One other thing I will comment on OOC here is the steadily rising number of fights on my cards. On the one hand I really hate having upwards of 20 bouts per show with a dozen or more on the undercard, it just doesn't feel realistic to me at all. I'm swallowing that discomfort & justifying it somewhat by remembering the unrealistic limitations that the game puts on the player, such as having no control over the booking of fighters or cards in the child promotions that I ostensibly have financial control over. I can't guarantee fights for borderline guys there, nor can I dictate the matchups, I can only send them down & hope for the best. Also, having a PPV deal, I'm not allowed to just run a regular house show somewhere to get guys work, nor do I have any say so on who might be loaned out for work that I get to approve. So I justify the extreme size of some of the shows I do run as a way to make up for some of the control I'm not given. Right, wrong, neutral, that's how I'm approaching that, figured I might as well explain it a little bit to those folks kind enough to follow it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

November 30, 2002

If that's indeed our final show of the year, I'll take it. Our 2nd best PPV buy rate ever, just a tick behind the previous show and it leads to a monthly profit of $628,929 as WEFF lost less than $5k and XCC lost less than $9k for the month.

A few contract renewals in the month: MW Tora "The Bull" Mizwar (9-4, 1-0) is renewed & is at XCC, HW "Longshore" Damien Jones (12-4, 1-1) is renewed as an exclusive which will take him away from where he's fought 5x in the past year & a half, and WW Dana Delaney (11-7, 0-1) who returns from a year long drug suspension and is assigned to XCC. We really struggled with the decision on Delaney & he'll be facing not only a very short leash but also he'll eventually be given an "opportunity" to face some top flight competition (aka I'm going to try to job his ass out).

Two fighters depart with contract expirations: WO Alicia Simmons (8-3, 0-1) who we didn't feel was ever going to develop to the point of being truly competitive here and LHW Bryan Van Den Hauwe (17-11, 2-1) who had lost two straight in XCC and we just didn't feel he was worth the cost of his Low National name value.

Naturally, given that we are who we are at this point & tend to do what we do, there are several new additions to the roster:
-- 36 y/o MW Ieyoshi Yamashita (28-17), a Hybrid fighter from Yokohoma, Japan. He's won his last two fights for Gamma & will likely wrap up his career here.
-- 31 y/o LW Bud "The Rocket" Brockett (26-5), a wrestler from Waterbury, Connecticut who is riding a 7 fight winning streak in Gamma and last lost back in January 2000 in a rematch against Aaron McBroom. Talented guy who become an immediate contender for Marco Bernacci's title.
-- 30 y/o WW "Dangerous" David Allen (21-4), a submission fighter from Gilbert, Arizona. One of the top contenders in his weight class, he's actually lost 2 of his last 3 in an extended stint with Gamma.
-- 25 y/o WO "Blinky" Phyllis Howard, a ground & pound fighter from Seattle, Washington. She's 6-0 as a pro against inferior competition, we'll start her in WEFF and see what happens.
-- 31 y/o WO Junko Yamada, a Muay Thai fighter from Tokyo. She's 9-1 lifetime with her only loss coming to Chiyo Yanagimoto almost two years ago in WEFF. She won her only previous CSA appearance (albeit in a bad looking fight) and we decided to give her another crack at it.
-- 27 y/o LW Drauzio "Predator" Simaan (10-4), a Muay Thai fighter from Brasilia, Brazil. He comes to us from Sigma on back to back wins.

Both XCC & WEFF have events scheduled in December and unless we have a sudden & dramatic change of heart about it, those will be the final events for us in 2002.

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 12, 2002

Most events have been overshadowed by the recent news that HW James Foster (44-5-1), the reigning 2x GAMMA Heavyweight Champion, has left the promotion and joined ALPHA-1. Could a fight between the top two HW's in the world be forthcoming and how would Hassan Fezzik deal with the future Hall of Famer?

WEFF 47
741 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Temperance McCoy beat Roz Wareing by KO at 0:45 of Round 3 (Excellent)

Co-Main Event:
Toshie Nishina beat Simone King by submission at 2:56 of Round 3 (Excellent)

Hanako Shimizu beat Debra Everett by UD after three rounds (Average)
Nina Belle beat Vanessa Phillips by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Emi Nagano beat Ramona Stivic by submission at 2:16 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

[DaddyTorgo]

Li Kong Ho vs. Ziskie is a great fight also. Or Ho vs. Bohlin for the "greatest featherweight ever" moniker.

Nice to see Franklin succeeding!

FWIW I have two little games going, one where I started as GAMMA just to mess around, and one where I started as my own promotion (that I should start a dynasty with).

I've found in both that you pretty much have to have a greater number of matches on the card than you might in real life, otherwise it's impossible as a growing promotion to get your guys enough exposure to build their reputation to the point where you can use them effectively. it's an unfortunate limitation of that aspect of the game design. it'd almost be better in some sense to remove that part of it, or severely curtail it.

at least if you wanted realistic card sizes

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 15, 2002

XCC: Hayashi vs Steven
Attendance 763 in California

Main Event:
LW Fumiaki Hayashi beat Bruce Steven by UD after three rounds (Average)

Co-Main Event:
LHW John Rivero beat Leandro Piquet by submission at 4:51 of Round 3 (Fantastic)

HW Renato beat Don Norman by TKO at 1:43 of Round 1 (Great)
MW Wes Hersch beat Nick Detroit by submission at 4:55 of Round 3 (Great)
WO Karen Curtis beat Olivia Sweet by submission at 3:33 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

Prelims:
LW Guillerme de Barros beat Anderson Desailly by UD after three rounds (Fantastic)
LHW Adrian Pascal beat Andranik Paletilolu by submission at 4:25 of Round 2 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

December 31, 2002

So the year closes with a financial loss of $236,904 as CSA took the month off to let fighters recover for a fresh start in the new year and various expenses took a big bite. Still, we've got just a tad over $6 million in the bank so it's not going to kill us if that happens once in a while.

2 fighters ended their runs with CSA in December: HW Chuck "The Laughing Man" Dooley (21-22, 0-4) leaves having served his purpose here and LHW Eric "Big D" Dartmouth (1-3, 0-3) leaves having accomplished virtually nothing.

We extended the expiring contracts of three fighters: LHW Terry Catt, WO Emi Nagano, and LW Bruce Steven, the latter in spite of an unbelievable 7 fight losing streak that includes 1 loss in CSA, 3 in XCC and 3 with his previous employer Gamma. Still, I'd swear he's got talent & has to eventually turn things around, but he clearly hasn't been the same since Luke Hilton knocked him out twice in consecutive fights.

With all that money we spent, you might suspect we must have hired some new fighters ... and you'd be right.

-- 31 y/o WO Suzanna "Rocky" Ramos (0-0), a rookie kickboxer from Bahia, Brazil. She'll being her pro career in WEFF.
-- 24 y/o FW Po-Han Yue (9-7), a shaolin karate practitioner from Batangas City, Phillipines. May turn out to be cannon fodder but we'll find out in XCC.
-- 20 y/o "The Dream" Harold Valentine (4-1), a wrestler from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. XCC will mark his major promotion debut later this year.
-- 31 y/o HW Duke "Nukem" Aiona (19-8), a kick boxer from Kailua, Hawaii. He's lost 3 straight in Alpha-1 but was 6-5 for them overall.
-- 30 y/o LHW "The Man of Steel" Ken Peters (15-3), a Pankration fighter from Markstay-Warren, Ontario. He'll come over from Gamma winning 2 of his last 3 fights and brings a ton of name value.
-- 34 y/o WW Yeijrio Yamamoto (23-7), a Muay Thai fighter from Nagoya, Japan. 3 straight wins in Gamma where he was 5-1 overall.
-- 32 y/o WO Shiho "Snake" Konno (2-0), a kick boxer from Nagoya, Japan. She'll start out for us in WEFF and could advance fairly quickly.

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 1, 2003

2002 Year-End Awards from Blurcat.com

Fighter of the Year
Manuel Silva- GAMMA
Welterweight was 4-0 for 2002 with three KO's and one UD, culminating with his main event KO of Mikey Wallace in December to claim the GAMMA Welterweight Title for the first time.

Female Fighter of the Year
Mizuki "The She Wolf" Watanabe - CSA & XCC
She wrapped up a 3-0 year in November with a submission win over April Watson, giving her three straight first round wins. She also took down Karen Curtis & Temperance McCoy earlier in the year in XCC and WEFF respectively, giving her wins in three different promotions in a 9 month span.

Rookie of the Year
None
No rookie fighter was deemed to have had significant enough impact to warrant the award

Rise of the Year
"The Great Japanese Hope" Kanezane Fujii - CSA
2 fights, 2 wins, in a total of 5:24 of action. But it's been enough to create a good bit of hype around the newcomer.

Fall of the Year
"The All-American" Vanessa Phillips- WEFF
4 losses in the year extends her losing streak to five, all by unanimous decision. She's 1-7 in the last 24 months, certainly enough to cause a major drop in stock.

Promotion of the Year
GAMMA
Not sure how droppping from the #2 promotion in the world to the #3 promotion in the world makes you promotion of the year but ... whatever.

Team of the Year
Euro Team Thunder
Their 20 members accounts for 7 champions with 9 title reigns between them.
'Nuff said, and 'nuff for a second straight honor.

Show of the Year
GAMMA 74: Watson vs Patinkin (January 2001)
Junior Patinkin shocked Mike Watson to win the GAMMA LHW Title in the main event, just minutes after Buddy Garner beat Neil Napier with the Submission of the Year to win the GAMMA Middleweight Title.

Fight of the Year
Shuler Eigenberg vs Anderson Desailly (CSA March 2002)
A second round TKO in the second fight of the night impressed a lot of people apparently.

Worst Fight of the Year
Melvin Custard vs Nicky Shapiro(Independent Show May 2002)
Custard won a UD in a fight that could have set the sport back several years if anyone had actually watched it.

Knock Out of the Year
Niko Soldo vs Jin Katou (ALPHA-1 April 2002)
Only a decent fight but a big KO at 4:32 of the final round of the opening match of the night.

Submission of the Year
Buddy Garner vs Neil Napier (GAMMA Jan 2002)
A rear naked choke at 4:40 of Round 4 made Garner the GAMMA Middleweight Champion. Little did anyone realize at the time that it would be his last fight for the company before jumping ship to Alpha-1.

Main Event of the Year
Temperance McCoy vs Roz Wareing (WEFF December 2002)
A knockout in the first minute of the final round of a main event that drew 741 people. The internet does strange things to people I guess.

Upset of the Year
Elizabeth Fraser defeats Sayoko Ebisawa (WEFF April 2002)
The fight hasn't exactly done much for either participant. Fraser hasn't won since while Ebisawa retired immediately afterwards.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Blurcat.com rankings as of January 1, 2003

Promotion Rankings (size, change since January 2002, top PFP fighter)
1. Alpha-1 (down to Low Level International, 0, WW Darin Blood[i])
2. CSA (Up to High Level National, +1, [I]FW Li-Kong Ho)
3. GAMMA (High Level National, -1, LW Sean Morrison)
4. XCC (High Level Regional, +2, LW Fumiaki Hayashi)
5. WEFF (High Level Regional, 0, BW Tiiu Kass)
6. SIGMA (down 2 to Mid Level Regional, -2, FW Tomohiro Takeuchi)
7. OMEGA (Mid Level Regional, 0, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz)
8. TOP (down to Low Level Regional), 0, WW Gordon Idle
9. UCFF (Low Level Regional), 0, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz
Out of Business
None

Pound for Pound (Male)
1(6) Darin Blood (19-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001 1-0 in 2002
2(1) Hassan Fezzik (35-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996 2-0 in 2002
3(4) Luke Hilton (16-0); Alpha-1 Light Champion since August 2002 1-0 in 2002
4(8) Tadamasa Yamada (29-2); 2x Alpha-1 LHW Champion since December 2002 2-0 in 2002
5(x) Li-Kong Ho (24-0), CSA Featherweight Champion since May 2002 2-0 in 2002
6(x) Matthew Dean (41-6), Alpha-1 MW 3-0 in 2002
7(10) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996 1-0 in 2002
8(x) James Foster (44-5-1); Alpha-1, was Gamma 4-0 in 2002
9(2) Mike Watson (17-1); former GAMMA LHW Champion; 1-1 in 2002
10(x) Mikey Wallace (14-1); former GAMMA WW Champion; 2-1 in 2002
Dropped Out
x(4) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-6); Alpha-1; HW 0-1 in 2002
x(5) Kafu Bunya (18-1); Alpha-1, Welterweight 1-1 in 2002
x(7) Julio Regueiro (20-2-1); former 2x Gamma Welterweight Champion 1-1 in 2002
x(9) Alex Cole (19-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion 1-1 in 2002

Heavyweights
1(1) Hassan Fezzik (35-0); Alpha-1 Heavyweight Champion since April 1996
2(3) James Foster (44-5-1); Alpha-1, was Gamma Heavyweight Champion
3(2) Kunimichi Kikuchi (39-6) Alpha-1;
4(7) Gregor Boniek (42-6); Alpha-1
5(5) Rav Kapur (16-1); CSA
6(6) Lefter Oktay (20-1); CSA, was Sigma Heavyweight Champion
7(8) Stratos Papaioannou (31-6); CSA
8(4) Raul Hughes (19-4); Alpha-1, was Gamma
9(9) Ari Peltonen (29-10); CSA, was Alpha-1
10(x) Terron Cabal (17-3); Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(10) Armen Sarkisian (19-2); CSA

Light Heavyweights
1(2) Tadamasa Yamada (29-2); 2x Alpha-1 LHW Champion since Dec 2002
2(1) Mike Watson (17-1); former Gamma LHW Champion
3(4) Anthony LeToussier (21-3); Alpha-1
4(x) Hyun-Shik Lim (12-2); CSA; was Alpha-1 LHW Champion
5(10) Faas Smit (43-15); Alpha-1, was Sigma
6(x) Shane Gilchrist (25-3); Gamma
7(3) Jin Katou (26-3); Alpha-1;
8(x) Kendall Tracey (17-5); former Alpha-1 LHW Champion
9(9) Zvonimir Asanovic (20-4); former Gamma LHW Champion
10(x) Nicolai Mickiewicz (26-6); CSA & Omega & UCFF
Dropped out
x(5) Roberto Aldez (48-10); Alpha-1
x(6) Thorbjorn Rekdal (21-3); CSA
x(7) John Rivero (23-6); CSA; was Alpha-1
x(8) Curt Kitson (26-5); CSA; was Alpha-1

Middleweight
1(4) Matthew Dean (41-6); Alpha-1, was Gamma
2(8) Buddy Garner (21-2); Alpha-1, was Gamma MW Champion
3(6) Heiji Endo (21-1); Alpha-1 Middleweight Champion since Nov 1998
4(3) JJ Reid (34-3); CSA Middleweight Champion since July 2002
5(1) Alex Cole (19-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
6(2) Neil Napier (20-2); former Gamma Middleweight Champion
7(7) Leonardo da Costa (22-4); Alpha-1
8(5) Petey Mack (23-4); Alpha-1
9(x) Fernando Amaro (48-12-4); Alpha-1
10(9) Stuart Strange (18-4); CSA
Dropped out
10(x) Sutton Ripley (22-6); Alpha-1

Welterweight
1(2) Darin Blood (19-3); Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion since Nov 2001
2(4) Mikey Wallace (14-1); former Gamma WW Champion
3(1) Kafu Bunya (18-1); Alpha-1
4(5) Datuk Ong Ka Ting (13-1); Alpha-1
5(3) Julio Rugueiro (20-2-1); former 2x Gamma WW Champion
6(9) Ichisake Mayagi (35-11); Alpha-1
7(x) Manuel Silva (12-2); Gamma Welterweight Champion since Dec 2002
8(10) Dominykas Jankovic (19-3); CSA ,was Gamma
9(6) Josh Aldarisio (12-1); Gamma
10(8) Jack Humphreys (34-5); CSA, was former Gamma WW Champion
Dropped Out
x(7) Carlos da Guia (18-3); former Alpha-1 Welterweight Champion

Lightweight
1(1) Luke Hilton (16-0); Alpha-1 Lightweight Champion since Aug 2002
2(2) Sean Morrison (31-3); Gamma Lightweight Champion since June 1996
3(8) Tarcisio Dantes (19-1); Gamma
4(6) Helio (27-2); CSA
5(4) Fiyero Lermontov (18-1); Gamma
6(5) Shizuya Nakae (32-11); former Alpha-1 LW Champion
7(3) Sukarno (11-1);Alpha-1
8(x) Bud Brockett (26-5); CSA, was Gamma
9(10) Lubos Plasil (14-2); Gamma, was Sigma
10(7) Fumiaki Hayashi (22-8); CSA/XCC, was Alpha-1
Dropped out
x(9) Heiko Pander (10-1); CSA dropped down to FW

Featherweight
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (24-0); CSA Featherweight Champion since May 2002
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (19-1); CSA
3(4) Tomohiro Takeuchi (26-4); Sigma Featherweight Champion since Sept 2002, was CSA
4(x) Heiko Pander (10-1); CSA dropped down from LW
5(3) Lars Bohlin (54-7-1); CSA
6(5) Easton Frye (15-2); CSA
7(9) Shuler Eigenberg (18-4); CSA
8(8) Kei Maki (10-3); CSA
9(6) Rafael Tavares (21-4); CSA & Sigma
10(7) Manish Khan (12-4); Sigma
Dropped out
10(8) Tan Su (17-10); Sigma, was CSA

Pound for Pound (female)
1(3) Katherine Williams (13-3); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 2001
2(5)Tiiu Kass (10-1); CSA/WEFF; former Women's Openweight Champion
3(2) Sarah Vaughn (18-4); CSA/WEFF, was 2x WEFF Women's HW Champion
4(7) Layla Holmes (11-1); CSA; former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
5(x)Mizuki Watanabe (12-2); CSA
6(8) Alisha Wood (10-2); Unemployed, was CSA
7(4) April Watson (11-3); CSA
8(x) Gina Dixon (11-3-1); CSA
9(10) Laura Adair (9-1-1); CSA
10(9) Jenny DeNeuve (9-4); CSA/WEFF
Dropped out
x(1) Sayoko Ebisawa (17-2); retired, was CSA/WEFF
x(6) Yuya Shimizu (12-3); CSA/XCC

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm going to try something a little different for the beginning of the year rankings for our roster. We've made so many additions and have so many fighters strung out across the two feeder promotions that I'm going to try to combine the weight class rankings for our entire group into one giant bundle so you can get a look at the bigger picture. This will probably be an oversized post but I think it will really illustrate just how large the roster has become (with all the attendant challenges of managing it).

The second record listed for fighters is their mark in the main CSA promotion only

Blurcat.com rankings CSA Group Roster as of January 1, 2003 (CSA rank from January 2002)

Pound for Pound
1(5) "Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (24-0, 3-0); CSA Featherweight Champion since May 2002
2(2) "The Amazing" JJ Reid (34-3, 2-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since July 2002
3(x) "Blood Spirit" Hyun-Shik Lim (12-2, 0-0); Light Heavyweight
4(1) Alex "Ace in the Hole" Cole (19-1, 3-1) former CSA Middleweight Champion
5(3) "The Beast of Birmingham" Rav Kapur (16-1, 1-0); Heavyweight
6(x) Lefter "The Beast" Oktay (20-1, 1-0); Heavyweight
7(4) Stratos "Atlas" Papaioannou (31-6, 1-0); Heavyweight
8(x) Dominykas "Slamkovic" Jankovic (19-3, 1-0); Welterweight
9(7) Phillip "Kid" Ziskie (19-1, 1-1); Featherweight
10(8) Helio (27-2, 3-0); Lightweight
Dropped Out:
x(6) "Brickhouse" Thorbjorn Rekdal (21-3, 4-1); Light Heavyweight
x(9) "Samurai Spirit" Tomohiro Takeuchi (23-4, 0-0); left company
x(10) "Ice Cold" Lars Bohlin (54-7-1, 1-1); Featherweight

Heavyweights
1(1) Rav Kapur (16-1, 1-0);
2(x) Lefter Oktay (20-1, 1-0);
3(2) Stratos Papaioannou (31-6, 1-0);
4(x) Ari Peltonen (29-10, 0-0);
5(6) Wilson Franklyn (11-1, 9-1); CSA Heavyweight Champion since June 01
6(3) Armen Sarkisian (19-2, 2-0);
7(x) Tony McCall (38-13, 1-0);
8(x) Hiro Arai (12-3, 1-0);
9(4) Fatuma Roy (26-12, 1-1);
10(x) Soulyemane Ya Konan (15-4, 0-1);
x(9) Murilo Satinho (8-1, 8-1);
x(5) Mason Archer (7-2, 6-2); XCC; former CSA HW Champ
xx Tank Manu'a (24-9, 0-0);
xx Duke Aiona (19-8, 0-0; XCC
xx Gary Sampson (21-9, 1-1);
xx Norman Pike (20-8, 0-0);
xx Tim Boyer (22-9-2, 0-1);
xx Sylvester Collins (8-3, 4-3);former CSA HW Champ
xx Kurt McDonald (11-3, 0-1); XCC
x(10) Christopher Sharp (13-6, 0-2); XCC
xx Damien Jones (11-4, 1-1);
xx Renato (9-3, 0-0); XCC
xx Brady Crawford (10-7, 0-1); XCC
xx Guy Broom (4-1, 2-1);
xx Gareth Grundy (10-7, 0-1); XCC
xx Mark Bicknell (10-3, 0-1): XCC
xx Kanezane Fujii (2-0, 2-0);
xx Adelinio Freiholic (6-2, 0-0); XCC
xx Jacob Tanner (4-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Feliciano Rossi (6-1, 0-0); XCC
xx Patrick Bennett (4-2, 1-1); XCC
xx Don Norman (24-20, 2-5);
xx Javier Perry (3-2, 0-1);
xx Jutaro Honma (0-1, 0-0); XCC

Light Heavyweights
1(x) Hyun-Shik Lim (12-2, 0-0);
2(2) Nicolai Mickiewicz (26-6, 2-1)
3(1) Thorbjorn Rekdal (21-3, 4-1)
4(x) Junior Patinkin (13-4, 0-0)
5(3) Adam White (12-3, 3-0); CSA Light Heavyweight Champion since Mar 2002
6(x) Curt Kitson (26-5, 0-1);
7(x) Ken Peters (15-3, 0-0);
8(x) John Rivero (23-6, 0-0);
9(5) Linfield Ballard (28-11, 2-0)
10(x) Garry McSweegan (29-13, 0-0);
xx Affonso Villar (5-0, 4-0);
x(8) Allen LeFleur (7-1, 7-1); former CSA Light Heavyweight Champion
xx Lawrence Herringbone (18-8, 2-0); was #7 LHW
x(4) Fjodor Kanchelskis (14-2, 4-2);
xx Alekos Karabatos (17-8, 0-0);
xx Christian Mountfield (19-10, 2-1);
xx Alexsei Chekov (23-7, 3-2); XCC, was #8 HW
x(10) Jerry Bogdonovich (12-6, 0-3); XCC
xx Terry Catt (9-4, 2-1);
xx William Harrison (8-2, 5-2);
xx Spencer Rubenstein (6-2, 6-2); former CSA Light Heavyweight Champion
xx Rupert Dreck (9-4, 2-4); XCC
x(9) Leandro Piquet (25-12, 0-0); XCC
x(6) Andranik Paletilolu (20-9, 1-1); XCC
xx Adrian Pascal (8-3, 3-3); XCC
xx Joshua Hope (6-2, 4-1);
xx Anthony Deeley (4-1, 0-1); XCC
xx Jethro Munter (17-10-1, 0-2); XCC
xx Ranieri Feranda (4-2, 0-1); XCC
xx Jon Silvers (8-6, 0-0); XCC

Middleweights
1(2) JJ Reid (34-3, 2-0); CSA Middleweight Champion since July 2002
2(1) Alex Cole (19-1, 3-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
3(3) Stuart Strange (18-4, 1-1);
4(4) Ashley Ballard (16-4, 3-2); former CSA Middleweight Champion
5(6) Kramer Mayweather (9-3, 7-1); former 2x CSA Middleweight Champion
6(7) Bill Brown (8-2, 6-1); former CSA Middleweight Champion
7(x) Marlon John (9-2, 8-2); former 2x CSA Light Heavyweight Champion was #7 LHW
8(x) Stephan de Winter (9-2, 0-0);
9(x) Ieyoshi Yamashita (28-17, 0-0);
10(x) Tetsuji Myojin (12-3, 0-1);
xx Drew Jenks (11-4, 4-3);
x(5) Davis Spyrou (23-9, 2-2); XCC
x(8) Heath Kaladaris (6-2, 6-2); former CSA Middleweight Champion
xx Carl Ratcliffe (21-10, 3-3);
xx Jakachu Abe (4-1, 4-1);
xx Thomas Smith (14-8, 1-3);
xx Esteban Vega (6-3, 4-3); former CSA Middleweight Champion
xx Haranobu Oshiro (6-1, 0-1);
xx Woody Fierstein (13-7, 2-5);
xx Tora Mizwar (9-4, 1-0); XCC
xx Julio Gutierrez (6-2, 1-2);
xx Patrick Thomas (11-11, 0-2); XCC
xx Ethan Sutton (5-1, 0-1); XCC
xx Jemaine McKenzie (7-7, 0-0); XCC
xx Jordan Flintstone (5-3, 2-3);
xx Danny Akabaro (5-3, 0-3); XCC
xx Genki Shinashi (9-6, 1-2); XCC
xx Wes Hersch (5-3, 4-2); XCC
xx Maxime Giresse (5-3, 0-0); XCC
xx Harold Valentine (4-1, 0-0); XCC
xx Nick Detroit (7-6, 0-1); XCC
xx Billy Russell (2-5, 1-5); XCC
xx Ronnie Allen Teller (2-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Atsutane Akera (1-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Tuck Durdell (1-1, 0-1); XCC

Welterweights
1(x) Dominykas Jankovic (19-3, 1-0);
2(x) Jack Humphreys (34-5, 0-0);
3(1) Charles Stiles (19-6, 2-1); former CSA Welterweight Champion
4(x) Gabriel Gallego (19-6, 0-0);
5(x) Yeijiro Yamamoto (23-7, 0-0);
6(x) Heikichi Shimizu (6-1, 4-1); CSA Welterweight Champion since Nov 2002 was #7 LW
7(x) David Allen (21-4, 0-0);
8(x) Joaquim Fontes (17-2, 2-1); was #9 MW
9(x) Kadonomaro Deguchi (12-3, 2-0);
10(4) Jungo Futagawa (25-11, 3-0);
x(2) Evan Pizzarro (9-3, 7-2); former CSA Welterweight Champion
xx Jonathan Huang (4-0, 4-0);
xx Rich Robinson (8-1, 4-0); was #10 MW
x(3) Benny Danare (16-4, 1-2);
x(8) Felix Mattherson, Jr (6-2, 6-2); former CSA Welterweight Champion
xx Bret Clement (7-1, 0-1);
xx Tim Oldacres (5-2, 5-2); former CSA Lightweight Champion
x(5) Doug Hansen (18-8, 0-0); XCC
x(7) Bosco Curbeam (3-1, 3-1);
xx Diego Arteta (6-1, 3-1);
xx Chojiro Goto (11-10, 0-0); XCC
x(6) Carmelo Rossi (13-9, 0-2); XCC
(10) Dana Delaney (11-8, 0-1); XCC
xx Nathan Chambers (7-4, 5-3); XCC former CSA Welterweight Champion
xx Ross Smith (9-4, 2-1);
xx Thiago Ceni (22-20, 0-2);
xx Zachary Gilbert (14-11, 2-4); XCC
xx Gideon Navarro (5-3, 3-2); XCC
xx Scott Gillespie (3-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Kyle Sagal (6-3, 3-3);
xx Tyler Lass (7-7, 0-1); XCC
xx Houston George (2-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Chad Zoff (1-4, 1-3); XCC




Lightweights
1(1) Helio (27-2, 3-0);
2(x) Bud Brockett (26-5, 0-0);
3(x) Fumiaki Hayashi (22-8, 0-0); XCC
4(6) Marco Bernacci (11-4, 7-0); CSA Lightweight Champion since June 01
5(x) Georges Nouri (16-3, 0-0);
6(5) Luis Basora (26-5-2, 2-0);
7(4) Brandon Sugar (30-8, 3-0);
8(x) Jake Keane (15-2, 0-0); XCC
9(x) Lukas Mellberg (21-6, 0-0); XCC
10(3) Rodolphe Gygax (33-11, 0-2);
xx H.M. Menzel (16-7, 1-0);
x(9) Korekiyo Anzai (15-7, 1-1);[/u]
x(8) Naizen Hamacho (17-7, 0-1);
xx Carl Chenoweth (5-0, 3-0);
x(10) Aaron McBroom (13-7, 1-2);
xx Drauzio Simaan (10-4, 0-0);
xx Fujimaro Hidaka (10-5, 0-1);
xx Francesco Marazzina (21-10, 2-1);
xx Henry Baldwin (13-8, 0-2);
xx Toson Ono (20-13, 0-0);
xx Campbell Crane (12-6, 0-1);
xx Sinali Shomen (5-2, 5-2); former CSA Lightweight Champion was #9 WW
xx Gregory O'Hara (5-0, 0-0);
xx Bruce Steven (22-10, 0-1); XCC
xx Jamie Hewitt (14-9, 1-1); XCC
xx Lucas Mueller (8-3, 1-2); XCC
xx Anderson Desailly (7-8, 0-1); XCC
xx Sid Morgan (5-3, 0-0); XCC
xx Elvis Milissis (7-6, 1-3); XCC
xx Guilherme de Barros (5-2, 0-0); XCC
xx Sadahige Yoshida (1-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Gene Oakley (2-2, 1-1); XCC
xx Jackson Gray (20-14, 0-2);
xx Masato Wai (4-5, 0-0); XCC
xx Floyd Haywood (0-2, 0-1); XCC
xx Julian Beals (0-1, 0-1); XCC
Dropped Out
x(2) Tomohiro Takeuchi (23-4, 0-0); left company

Featherweights
1(1) Li-Kong Ho (24-0, 3-0); CSA Featherweight Champion since May 2002
2(2) Phillip Ziskie (19-1, 1-1);
3(4) Heiko Pander (10-1, 2-0);
4(3) Lars Bohlin (54-7-1, 1-1);
5(5) Easton Frye (15-2, 2-1);
6(8) Shuler Eigenberg (18-4, 5-0);
7(7) Kei Maki (10-3, 2-0);
8(6) Rafael Tavares (21-4, 3-0);
9(x) Colm Dee (17-6, 1-1);
10(10) Azor Portela Nunes (28-7, 1-0);
xx Lazaro Campos (6-0, 3-0);
xx Luiz Machado (28-8-2, 1-1);
x(10) Benedikt Streit (23-8, 0-0); XCC
xx James Busfield (13-8-1, 0-1);
xx Davi Carlo Ramos (37-13-1, 3-4);
xx Ryota Sugimoto (9-4, 0-0);
xx Pedro Alves (17-9, 0-0); XCC
xx Nuno Valentino (4-2, 0-0); XCC
xx Sammy Gaffigan (18-7, 3-3);
xx Ivan Bokhour (8-5, 0-0); XCC
xx Jason Dalglish (17-12, 0-2); XCC
xx Reza Afshar (7-3-1, 0-1);
xx Kenji Akita (5-3, 0-0); XCC
xx Harvey Ripa (13-7, 0-0); XCC
xx Masahiro Maeno (1-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Po-Han Yue (9-7, 0-0); XCC
xx Liam O'Donnell (8-7, 0-1); XCC
xx Ashihei Bando (2-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Zhao Pau (11-11, 0-3);
xx Doug Minelli (3-4, 3-4);
xx Anthony Ray Shenkman (18-10, 1-4); XCC
xx Sophan Sastrowardoya (3-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Rory McEnterry (4-4, 2-2);

Women's Openweight
1(3) Katherine Williams (13-3, 4-0); CSA Women's Openweight Champion since Dec 01
2(4) Tiiu Kass (10-1, 3-1); former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
3(2) Sarah Vaughn (18-4, 1-1);
4(5) Layla Holmes (11-1, 6-1); former CSA Women's Openweight Champion
5(x) Mizuki Watanabe (12-2, 1-1);
6(x) April Watson (11-3, 0-2);
7(9) Gina Dixon (11-3-1, 2-0);
8(7) Laura Adair (9-1-1, 2-0);
9(x) Jenny DeNeuve (9-4, 0-1);
10(x) Thea Higgins (9-1, 6-1);
x(8) Vivian Terkay (9-1, 2-1);
xx Samantha Sachs (13-5, 0-1);
xx Honey Due (8-2, 2-2);
xx Mako Takagawa (11-1, 3-0);
xx Kit Sakamoto (10-2, 1-0);
xx Haley Croft (16-6-, 0-2); XCC
xx Karen Curtis (12-7, 0-0);
xx Yuya Shimizu (12-3, 0-0); XCC
xx Trish Biel (10-2-1, 0-1);
xx Alyson Arroway (8-2, 3-2); XCC
xx Pamela O'Neill (8-2-1, 4-1);
xx Tara O'Brien (10-3, 1-1); XCC
xx Steph Smith (6-1, 2-1);
xx Rachel McGuinness (11-3-1, 0-1); XCC
xx Teresa Batch (6-1, 0-0); XCC
xx Junko Yamada (9-1, 1-0); XCC
xx Naora Kikuchi (10-3-1, 1-0); XCC
x(10) Hester Maclean (15-6-1, 0-1); XCC
xx Echiko Watanabe (9-4, 1-0); XCC
xx Eiko Shiokawa (5-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Phyllis Howard (6-0, 0-0); WEFF
xx Nina Belle (5-2, 3-1); WEFF
xx Daniella Sadorra (6-3, 2-1); XCC
xx Joan Whitehouse (3-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Temperance McCoy (5-4, 0-3); WEFF
xx Roz Wareing (13-7-1, 0-0); WEFF
xx Clare Peyton (2-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Cindy Dumas (3-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Olivia Sweet (8-5, 0-0); XCC
xx Romi Takahashi (8-4, 0-1); WEFF
xx Lisa Labone (9-5-1, 0-1); WEFF
xx Natalie Rogers (8-7, 0-0); WEFF
xx Yutsuko Sasaki (4-0, 0-0); XCC
xx Leslie Myers (4-1, 2-1); XCC
xx Serena Hill (8-7, 0-0); XCC
xx Emi Nagano (6-6, 0-2); WEFF
xx Kimie Igarashi (4-0, 1-0); XCC
xx Debra Everett (6-5, 0-0); WEFF
xx Allison Beattie (10-9-1, 1-2); WEFF
xx Hanako Shimizu (13-7, 1-1); WEFF
xx Mao Fukada (3-0, 0-0); WEFF
xx Jennie Gill (8-6, 0-0); WEFF
xx Toshie Nishina (2-3, 0-0); WEFF
xx Anna Thompson (5-3, 0-0); WEFF
xx Shiho Konno (2-0, 0-0); WEFF
xx Vanessa Phillips (7-11, 0-0); WEFF
xx Ramona Stivic (3-2, 0-0); WEFF
xx Elizabeth Fraser (6-5, 0-1); WEFF
xx Tabitha Cameron (4-5, 1-2); WEFF
xx Kelly Andrews (2-2, 0-0); WEFF
xx Chie Namiki (7-9, 0-1);
xx Saya Ikegami (2-4, 0-2); WEFF
xx Tracy Garcia (1-2, 0-0); WEFF
xx Emma Birch (7-10, 0-0); WEFF
xx Simone King (6-10, 1-2); WEFF
xx Alyssa Taylor (2-7, 0-2); WEFF
xx Katarzyna Wojciehowska (4-6, 0-0); WEFF
xx Maya Komagata (0-2, 0-0); WEFF
xx Suzanna Ramos (0-0, 0-0); WEFF
[i]Dropped out
x(1) Sayoko Ebisawa (16-2, 2-0); retired
x(6) Alisha Wood (9-2, 0-0); unemployed, contract expired

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 14, 2003

WEFF 48
975 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Lisa Labone beat Natalie Rogers by submission at 4:07 of Round 3 to win the WEFF Women's Heavyweight Title (Decent)

Co-Main Event:
Romi Takahashi beat Sarah Vaughn by UD after three rounds (Average)

Elizabeth Fraser beat Katarzyna Wojciechowska by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Alison Beattie beat Emma Birch by KO at 3:41 of Round 1 (Good)
Saya Ikegami beat Phyllis Howard by TKO at 1:44 of Round 1 (Great)

Prelims:
Maya Komagata beat Tracy Garcia by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Mao Fukada beat Suzana Ramos by UD after three rounds (Good)

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 20, 2003

XCC: Mason vs Archer
1,134 attendance in California (2nd highest in promotion history)

Main Event:
HW Mason Archer beat Christopher Sharp by UD after three rounds (Decent)

Co-Main Event:
LW Elvis Milissis beat Masato Wai by TKO at 0:33 of Round 3 (Good)

FW Po-Han Yue beat Pedro Alves by UD after three rounds (Decent)
WW Zachary Gilbert beat Scott Gillespie by submission at 4:52 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
WO Rachel McGuinness beat Haley Croft by UD after three rounds (Decent)

Prelims:
FW Benedikt Streit beat Kenji Akita by TKO at 2:17 of Round 2 (Great)
LHW Aleksei Chekov beat Jon Silvers by UD after three rounds (Good)

[JonInMiddleGA]

January 31, 2003

So ends another month without a CSA card, although we're pretty happy with the XCC attendance. Our CSA losses were about $114k without a gate to generate revenue while WEFF lost $7,300 for the month, XCC lost $55,319, not insubstantial but somewhat tolerable for feeder promotions.

We aren't the only people who lose money at times, SIGMA is reportedly on the verge of being taken over by their creditors & are over a half million dollars in the red but it's understandable as between us, A-1, and GAMMA their roster has been picked over repeatedly.

Naturally no show did not mean we just sat around on our hands.

January saw the official exits of two fighters on the roster: FW Zhao "Ka" Pow (11-11, 0-3) who goes with our best wishes in his future endeavors & MW Bill "The Marine" Brown (8-2, 6-1) who chose to sign an exclusive with GAMMA instead of staying with us. That's twice now, as he left at the end of 2000 to go to Alpha-1 for a 1-1 cup of coffee. At some point I'm liable to start thinking it's personal instead of business.

During the month we extended the contracts of LW Lazaro Campos (6-0), MW Patrick Thomas (11-11), HW Brady Crawford (10-8), MW Genki Shinashi (10-6), WO Natalie Rogers (8-8), WO Tara O'Brien (10-3), and WEFF announcer Jimmy Stonor.

And as you've probably come to expect by now, we added some new names to the roster
-- 27 y/o LHW Ryuji "Shogun" Ganaha (0-0), a promising MMA-influenced wrestler from Sakai, Japan. He was actually on the Gamma roster for the past year but saw no action. We should be able to give him some work in XCC.
-- 26 y/o LW Min-Soo Sik (5-1), a Kifo Mokonko fighter from Jeongseon, South Korea. He's the reigning Omega LW champion after beating Francisco Jiminez in December.
-- 26 y/o MW Osmosis Benn (11-3), a wrestler from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He'll come to us riding a 5 fight winning streak in Gamma where he's spent his entire major professional career. Notable that he's 6-1 lifetime against current members of the CSA roster, including a win over Stuart Strange.
-- 19 y/o LHW "Guts" Gerald Burkman (2-0), a Muay Thai fighter from Naperville, Illinois. He'll come to us after a short stint with Sigma who failed to actually book him during his time there.
-- 25 y/o HW "The Great Bear" Aleksander Ivanov (9-1), a sambo fighter from Moscow. He's the reigning 2-time Sigma HW champion with his only pro career loss coming to Lefter Oktay 13 months ago.
-- 32 y/o LW Lubos "The Experiment" Plasil, a former Russian Combat Sambo instructor from Olomouc in the Czech Republic. He's currently riding a four fight winning streak, mostly in Gamma since last spring.

Elsewhere during January, Mike Watson regained his Gamma LHW Title by beating Shane Gilchrist by UD and Bernard Blue forced Kyuwa Itou to tap out on television to claim the Gamma MW Title. Several of our fighters worked elsewhere in the past month, Joaquim Fontes beat Ralph Kohl in 3:18 for Sigma, Gareth Grundy got knocked out by Frank Sheedy in Omega where Genki Shinashi got a submission win over Hunter Scribbins. Brady Crawford also suffered a KO loss, failing to claim the TOP Heavyweight Title from Khru Dunagjan.

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 1, 2003
WEFF 43
656 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Tabitha Cameron beat Jennie Gill by TKO at 3:13 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
Serena Hill beat Toshie Nishina by KO at 0:33 of Round 3 (Great)

Hester Maclean beat Simone King by TKO at 3:15 of Round 3 (Good)
Hanako Shimizu beat Alyssa Taylor by UD after three rounds (Great)
Kimie Igarashi beat Anna Thompson by KO at 0:22 of Round 2 (Average)

Prelims:
Shiho Konno beat Kelly Andrews by UD after three rounds (Poor)
Nina Belle beat Saya Ikegami by UD after three rounds (Decent)

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 3, 2003

(New York) In a move that surprised very few observers, Combat Supercell Alliance (CSA) announced today the acquisition of controlling interest in European based promotion Signature Martial Arts (SIGMA).

At a Monday morning press conference, CSA owner Joseph Steven said he was looking forward to bringing the excitement of the CSA brand to destinations across Europe and that he was confident the move would be positive for not only MMA fans around the world but for CSA both competitively and financially.

SIGMA was reportedly on the verge of being forced into bankruptcy by creditors who were owned an amount believed to be in the neighborhood of $750,000 (US).

--------------

If you've been following this thread then the purchase really shouldn't be a surprise. I seem to be on a mission to acquire every fighter in the universe under contract one way or another (although the talks with Hassan Fezzik ended once his demands went north of $700k per fight with a 90%+ win bonus).

With the sudden addition of more than 70 new fighters to our stable, the largest roster shuffle in CSA history took place. Several more changes will be made after already announced events for all three promotions are completed, with several fighters likely to be promoted to CSA briefly over the next few weeks for the purpose of granting them their unconditional release.

HW
Jutaro Honma,Patrick Bennett, Gareth Grundy, Adelino Freiholic & Mark Bicknell sent to Sigma from XCC
Damien Jones, Guy Broom, Tank Manu'a, Sylvester Collins & Soulyemane Ya Konan sent to XCC from CSA
Mason Archer recalled to CSA from XCC
Khru Dunangjan, Stafford Alois & Barry Strachan assigned to CSA from Sigma

LHW
Elgar, Sho Kitabatake, & Blaze Weeks assigned to CSA from Sigma
Alekos Karabatsos, William Harrison & Joshua Hope sent to XCC from CSA
Anthony Deeley, Jon Silvers & Ranieri Feranda sent to Sigma from XCC

MW
Tucker Plumm, Bradley Dixon & Mal Phe Roby assigned to CSA from Sigma
Woody Fierstein & Julio Gutierrez sent to XCC from CSA
Tuck Durdell, Nick Detroit, & Ronnie Allen Teller sent to Sigma from XCC

WW
Jim Carpenter assigned to CSA from Sigma
Bret Clement assigned to XCC from CSA
Chad Zoff, Scott Gillespie & Tyler Lass sent from XCC to Sigma
Brock Youdale, Cooper Richardson & Nik Minear sent from Sigma to XCC

LW
Helvecio Babenco, Seth O’Breen, & Roy Lynch assigned to CSA from Sigma
Floyd Haywood, Julian Beals, & Masato Wai assigned to Sigma from XCC
Guilherme de Barros & Sadahige Oshida assigned to Sigma from XCC
Kyle Sagal assigned to Sigma from CSA
Teeratep Nutnum & Sammy Newton assigned to XCC from Sigma

FW
Sammy Gaffigan & Reza Afshar assigned to XCC from CSA
Anthony Ray Shenkman, Sophan Sastrowardoya & Liam O’Donnell assigned to Sigma from XCC
Dominic Ash assigned to XCC from Sigma

Women’s Openweight
Hester Maclean, Nina Belle, Kimie Igarashi, & Serena Hill assigned to XCC from WEFF
Yuya Shimizu, Mao Fukada, & Yutsuko Sasaki assigned to WEFF from XCC

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 34
Sunday February 9, 2003 in Houston, TX

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Women's Openweight
"The Blonde Bombshell" April Watson (11-3) vs "The All American" Vanessa Phillips (7-11)
Watson wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor

Middleweight
"The Human Takedown Machine" Drew Jenks (11-4) vs Jordan "Fred" Flintstone (5-3)
Flintstone wins by TKO at 3:34 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Women's Openweight
"Deadly T." Thea Higgisn (9-1) vs Chie "The Bride" Namiki (7-9)
Higgins wins by submission (americana) at 3:29 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Good

Featherweight
Easton "Small" Frye (15-2) vs Rory "Maradonna" McEnterry (4-4)
Frye wins by submission (americana) at 4:33 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Lightweight
Naizen Hamacho (17-7) vs Gregory "Chief" O'Hara (5-0)
O'Hara wins by Split Decision (29-28 x2 and 28-29)
The match was rated as being Great

Welterweight
Kadonomaro Deguchi (12-3) vs Thiago Ceni (22-20)
Deguchi wins by TKO at 1:43 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Light Heavyweight
"The Bad Element" Curt Kitson (26-5) vs Spencer "The Reaper" Rubenstein (6-2)
Rubenstein wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Poor

Heavyweight
"The Great Japanese Hope" Kanezane Fujii (7-2) vs "Abyss" Javier Perry (3-2)
Fujii wins by UD[b] after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent

Middleweight
Kramer "The Predator" Mayweather (9-3) vs Tetsuji "Rampage" Myojin (12-3)
[b]Mayweather wins by TKO at 2:10 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great

Main Show

Light Heavyweight
"The Hotshot Scot" Gary McSweegan (29-13) vs "The Tornado" Terry Catt (10-4)
We're privately hoping that Catt fights for us the same way he's been fighting for Sigma & Omega
Blurcat says if Catt gets this one to the floor, he'll win quickly.
McSweegan wins by KO at 2:23 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
All McSweegan all the way. Punch after punch, lefts, rights, combinations, and finally one straight right flush on the chin.

Heavyweight
Lefter "The Beast" Oktay (20-1) vs "Stormin'" Norman Pike (20-8)
We're privately hoping that Oktay is ready for the dangerous Pike & stays on track for an eventual revenge match against Sarkisian
Blurcat says Oktay should get the win
Ballard wins by Split Decision after three rounds (29-28 x2 and 28-29)
The match was rated as being Average
A big slam gave Oktay an early lead after R1. R2 also to a patient Oktay after a takedown in the final minute. R3 saw Oktay simply too strong for Pike to do anything with from the grapple & without it he had no offense.

Women's Openweight
"The Electrifying" Jenny DeNeuve (9-4) vs "The Wicked Bitch of the East" Honey Due (8-2)
We're privately hoping Due takes advantage of this opportunity to shine
Blurcat says Due simply looks too good for DeNeuve
Due wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 29-28)
The match was rated as being Good
Due was frustrated on several early takedown attempts but settled for keeping DeNeuve pinned to the cage for some dirty boxing in R1. DeNeuve boxed from a distance, Due went back to the dirty boxing in a close R2. More dirty boxing from Due who was indeed a wicked bitch to DeNeuve

Featherweight
Colm "The Celtic Warrior" Dee (17-6) vs "Mighty Mouse" Heiko Pander (10-1)
We're privately hoping that Pander wins without turning this into a snoozefest
Blurcat says Pander should eventually get past Dee's striking & win on the ground
Pander wins by submission after three rounds (29-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Good
Dee's striking kept Pander at bay in R1. An early takedown by Pander gave him control of R2. Another takedown by Pander, this time followed by enough offense to cut Dee below the eye with an elbow.

Lightweight
"The Sharpshooter" Georges Nouri (16-3) vs Brandon "Sugar Rush" Sugar (30-8)
We're privately hoping that Sugar elevates his US profile with a nice win
Blurcat says Sugar wants to strike, Nouri wants to wrestle, the winner will be whomever imposes their will
Sugar wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent
Sugar takes R1 with a takedown & steady control. A much closer R2 with lots of back & forth grappling but it also goes to Sugar. Nouri exploded at the opening of R3 with a barrage of punches that floored Sugar but he recovered well enough to survive the round.

Welterweight
Evan "The Carpenter" Pizzarro (18-1) vs Dominykas "Slamkovic" Jankovic (19-3)
We're privately hoping that the highly regarded Bulgarian improves his name value in the States with a win
Blurcat says Jankovic should be able to win this fight on the ground
Jankovic wins by submission (armbar) at 2:14 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
A takedown left Pizzarro trying to recover but vulnerable for an armbar that ended it

Light Heavyweight
"The Man of Steel" Ken Peters (15-3) vs "The Chunky Monkey" Allen LeFleur (7-1)
We're privately hoping that Peters debuts looking worth his $150k price tag
Blurcat says Peters superior skills should carry the day
Peters wins by submission (guillotine) at 2:30 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Close R1 with plenty of reversals & counters. LeFleur got a quick takedown but found himself caught in guard where Peters produced more than enough offense, including the sudden finisher.

Co-Main Event: Heavyweight
"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (8-1) vs Tony "The Spider" McCall (38-13)
We're privately hoping that the action lives up to the pre-fight anticipation which was surprisingly good
Blurcat says Satinho will win as McCall struggles just to survive
Satinho wins by TKO at 2:18 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic
Takedown, mount, and then bombs away.

Main Event: For the CSA Middleweight Title
"The Amazing" JJ Reid (34-3) vs "Superstar" Stuart Strange (18-4)
We're privately hoping that Reid retains in a solid fight
Blurcat says Strange will take the title
Strange wins by Ud after five rounds (50-45 x3)
The match was rated as Poor
Strange had slightly the better of R1 with more cage control & offense than Reid managed following a takedown. Almost identical R2. More of the same from Strange in R3, not much of anything from a tiring Reid. Not much from either spent fighter in R4, but a little more from Strange than the champ. And mercifully a carbon copy final round comes to an end, Strange ending a completely dominant performance.

Attendance: 13,757 for a gate of $825,420
147,182 PPV Buys for revenue of $588,728
Show Rating: Great

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 10, 2003
XCC: Keane vs Mellberg
1,068 attendance in California

Main Event:
Jake Keane beat Lukas Mellberg by submission at 4:06 of Round 5 to retain the XCC Lightweight Title (Great)

Co-Main Event:
MW Doug Hansen beat Carmelo Rossi by submission at 3:36 of Round 2 (Decent)

LW Jamie Hewitt beat Sid Morgan by submission at 4:18 of Round 1 (Great)
LW Gene Oakley beat Anderson Desailly by TKO at 2:15 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
LHW Adrian Pascal beat Jethro Munter by submission at 4:41 of Round 3 (Good)

Prelims:
MW Jemaine McKenzie beat Tora Mizwar by UD after three rounds (Average)
WO Leslie Myers beat Naora Kikuchi by KO at 3:18 of Round 1 (Great)

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 13, 2003
SIGMA: Huang vs Sato
446 attendance in Germany

Main Event:
Jonathan Huang beat Yukichi Sato by submission at 4:50 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
LHW Lawrence Herringbone beat Inejiro Chiba by TKo at 6:38 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

FW Greg Chian beat Rafael Tavares by split decision after 3 rounds (Great)
FW Stefan Champion beat Tan Su by submission at 2:50 of Round 3 (Good)
WW Randy Carsley beat Paul Duffell by submission at 3:43 of Round 1 (Good)

[Tellistto]

Rough attendence numbers there in Germany. No wonder Sigma was going under if that was what they were pulling for their shows.

Tell

[JonInMiddleGA]

Rough attendence numbers there in Germany. No wonder Sigma was going under if that was what they were pulling for their shows.

I don't think it's so much their attendance that was killing them as it was their spending.

The prize money payout on that show (which was booked by the AI before I took over & started scrambling their roster) was just over $97,000 for five fights. By comparison, this month's XCC prize money was just over $50,000 for seven fights. And there's still a less profitable TV show still to run for Sigma this month.

In the last six months when they've run two shows they've lost over $250k each time and between $90k & $100k twice with one show, and $50k in another one show month. That's way more on average than I'm losing each month on WEFF & XCC combined even with stripping away a lot of their most successful/best fighters.

[JonInMiddleGA]

February 23, 2003

SIGMA Gladiators (TV)
175 attendance in Germany

Main Event:
FW Sophan Sastrowardoya beat Jonathan Chai by TKO at 1:21 of Round 1 (Great)

Co-Main Event:
MW Nick Detroit beat Nicolas Martins by UD after three rounds (Decent)

MW Maxime Giresse beat Wayne McKellan by TKO at 0:46 of Round 1 (Great)
HW Anthony Deeley beat Rikiya Takimoto by UD after three rounds (Good)

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 1, 2003

A heck of a busy month in the books, with a loss of nearly $482k. Not bad really, considering we spent about $750k buying out Sigma. Those losses will drop a little, as their Gladiators TV show was cancelled by the network, meaning it will no longer need to be produced.

With the influx of fighters from Sigma & all the paperwork we had to process for them, I couldn't even begin to cover all the new faces in detail, but in addition to those we shuffled earlier in the month you'll be seeing their names pop up in the weeks to come.

February saw the end of three fighters stints with CSA, including veteran HW Don Norman (24-20, 2-5), LW Jackson Gray (20-14, 0-2), WO Chie Namiki (7-10, 0-2), and WW Thiago Ceni (22-21, 0-3). We also terminated the final few weeks of an agreement with Sigma acquisition Helvecio Babenco who will be out with an injury for the next six months.

We renewed a number of contracts in February, LHW Nicolai Mickiewicz (which will end his runs with Omega & UCFF), LHW Lawrence Herringbone, HW Tim Boyer, WO Hanoku Shimizu, FW Anthony Ray Shenkman, LHW Christian Mountfield, HW Javier Perry, WO April Watson, HW Adelino Freiholc, WO Jenny DeNeuve, and Sigma acquisition Greg Chiang.

New hires in February included:
-- 21 y/o WW Oscar Tufnel (4-0), a wrestler from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He's being assigned to XCC to begin his CSA contract.
-- 26 y/o FW Shinsui Okanaya (8-4), a Muay Thai fighter from Nagoya, Japan. He'll return to XCC hoping for better luck than his 0-3 stint with them in late 2000/early 2001.
-- 25 y/o LW "The Jester" Ron Chuckle (6-1), a Greco-Roman wrestler from Liverpool, England. 4 straight wins on small indy shows earns him a slot in XCC for now.
-- 34 y/o FW Taizoh Chung Man (19-13-1), a wrestler from Tokyo. A veteran of the indy scene, he hasn't fought for a major promotion since KDM FC closed but will provide a little depth for Sigma in the featherweight division.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Combat Supercell presents CSA 35
Sunday March 9, 2003 in Atlanta, GA

RESULTS
Preliminary Fights
Welterweight
Benny "The Jet" Danare (16-4) vs "Ninja" Steven Petty (8-5)
Danare wins by TKO at 1:26 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Middleweight
"Ice Cold" Stephan de Winter (9-2) vs Felix "The Daddy" Mattherson, Jr (6-2)
Mattherson wins by submission (guillotine) at 1:48 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Heavyweight
"The Tower of Power" Tim Boyer (22-9-2) vs Jesse "The Spartan" Singh (16-12)
Boyer wins by TKO at 2:51 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Light Heavyweight
Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (5-0) vs Christian "The Tiger" Mountfield (19-10)
Villar wins by TKO at 1:01 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Women's Openweight
Samantha "The Predator" Sachs (13-5) vs "Colorado Rapid" Emma Birch (7-11)
Sachs wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:43 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Good

Featherweight
Kei "Demon Eyes" Maki (10-3) vs Luiz "The Tarantula" Machado (28-8-2)
Machado wins by submission (armbar) at 3:41 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Lightweight
"G-Force" Rodolphe Gygax (33-11) vs Francesco Marazzina (21-10)
Marazzina wins by submission (americana) at 3:23 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great

Weltereight
"Mad Dog" Gabriel Gallego (19-6) vs Jungo "The Spirit of the Ancients" Futagawa (25-11)
Futagawa wins by UD after three rounds (29-28 x3)
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Middleweight
Ashley "The Tiger" Ballard (16-4) vs Haranobu Oshiro (6-1)
Ballard wins by submission (armbar) at 2:23 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Fantastic

Light Heavyweight
"The Big Dog" Linfield Ballard (28-11) vs Alekos "Killer" Karabatsos (17-8)
Ballard wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Decent

Main Show

Heavyweight
Stratos "Atlas" Papaiannou (31-6) vs "The Brixton Butcher" Stafford Alois (30-13)
We're privately hoping that neither veteran breaks a hip
Blurcat says Alois needs a standup fight but won't get it
Papaiannou wins by TKO at 3:06 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Alois put up very little resistance to the takedown attempts that spelled his doom

Women's Openweight
Gina "The Vixen" Dixon (11-3-1) vs Laura "The Pissed Off Angel" Adair (9-1-1)
We're privately hoping that the PPV fight elevates the profile of both talents
Blurcat says if Dixon takes this to the mat then Adair is in trouble
Dixon wins by submission (arm triangle) at 3:09 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Dixon had the edge with striking but won when she quickly switched gears & caught Adair off guard.

Lightweight
Helio (27-2) vs Toson Ono (20-13)
We're privately hoping Helio wins big enough to position himself for a title shot soon
Blurcat says Ono is in deep doodoo here
Helio wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x2 and 30-26)
The match was rated as being Good
Ono took a lot of punishment in R1, getting knocked down twice by big punches from Helio. Punching & counterpunching were about equally effective for Helio in R2 where he scored another knockdown. R3 saw Helio easily turn away Ono's takedown efforts while scoring with leg kicks of his own.

Featherweight
"The Tropical Tornado" Azor Portela Nunes (28-7) vs Ryota "Ronin" Sugimoto (9-4)
We're privately hoping that Nunes gets the victory
Blurcat says Sugimoto could win on the ground but won't get close enough to Nunes to do so
Nunes wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Sugimoto was the clear aggressor in R1, might have been enough to take the round despite a relative lack of success. A flurry of punches scores a knockdown for Helio in R2. A good series of leg kicks by Helio highlighted R3.

Welterweight
"Dangerous" David Allen (21-4) vs Bosco "Bad Attitude" Curbeam (3-1)
We're privately hoping that Allen looks worth his high price
Blurcat says Allen should win this one way or another
Allen wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
Allen scored a quick takedown in R1 but Curbeam was very effective in holding him to guard. R2 went to Allen courtesy of a takedown. R3 was mostly Allen using his strength to keep Curbeam at bay

Middleweight
"The Flying V" Esteban Vega (6-3) vs Mal Phe Roby (17-12)
We're privately hoping that Vega gets a big win over the departing veteran
Blurcat says Vega will keep this standing & win
Vega wins by UD after three rounds (30-27 x3)
The match was rated as being Average
R1 saw Vega scoring repeatedly with punch/kick combos. Add a takedown and some dirty boxing to give Vega the lead after R2. Not much offense from either fighter in R3, despite a pretty good amount of trying by both

Light Heavyweight
"Blood Spirit" Hyun-Shik Lim (12-2) vs "The Legend Killer" Elgar (28-15)
We're privately hoping that Lim dispenses with Elgar easily
Blurcat says Elgar is totally outgunned in every area
Lim wins by TKO at 0:28 of Round 1
The match was rated as being Great
Quick trigger for the referee after relatively few punches up against the cage

Heavyweight
"The Beast of Birmingham" Rav Kapur (16-1) vs Hiro Arai (12-3)
We're privately hoping that Kapur goes over here
Blurcat says Kapur just has to avoid being taken down by Arai
Kapur wins by TKO 1:36 of Round 2
The match was rated as being Great
Kapur neutralized Arai's mat skills by keeping him pinned to the cage for much of R1. From a Muay Thai clinch in R2, Kapur landed a knee to the ribs, a knee to the head & then the KO knee to the side of the face

Co-Main Event: For the CSA Women's Openweight Title
Katherine "The Great" Williams (13-3) vs Layla "The Slayer" Holmes (11-1)
We're privately hoping that this is very good no matter who wins
Blurcat says Williams should win this by keeping it standing
Holmes wins by submission (ankle lock) at 2:05 of Round 5
The match was rated as being Great
A fairly close R1 with neither fighter getting a solid advantage. Williams took R2 mostly by being very aggressive. Holmes got the takedown in R3 but Williams likely too the round. An extremely tired Williams kept Holmes pinned to the cage for most of R4. A flurry of punches from the final round opening bell eventually led to Willliams being knocked down and then forced to tap

Main Event: For the CSA Lightweight Title
Marco "The Bomb" Bernacci (11-4) vs Bud "The Rocket" Brockett (26-5)
We're privately hoping that Bernacci keeps on rolling
Blurcat says if Brockett can get the fight to the floor we may have a new champion
Bernacci wins by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:25 of the final round.
The match was rated as Decent
Close R1 with good moves & counters from both fighters. A close R2 as well but this time Bernacci probably got slightly the better of it. R3 was clearly Bernacci's with a takedown that kept Brockett from really accomplishing anything in the round. The champ controlled R4 by manhandling Brockett. A quick takedown to open R5 and that sealed Brockett's fate.

Attendance: 9,167 for a gate of $550,020
105,093 PPV Buys for revenue of $420, 372
Show Rating: Poor

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 12, 2003

XCC: Manu'a vs Konan
1,199 attendance in California

Main Event:
HW Soulyemane Ya Konan beat Tank Manu'a by KO at 2:58 of Round 3 (Fantastic)

Co-Main Event:
WW Gideon Navarro beat Dana Delaney by submission at 4:57 of Round 2 (Great)

MW Wes Hersch beat Davis Spyrou by submission at 3:01 of Round 1 (Fantastic)
FW Dominic Ash beat Po-Han Yue by TKO at 4:25 of Round 3 (Fantastic)
LW Bruce Steven beat Moss Gilbert by submisison at 3:278 of Round 1 (Great)

Prelims:
WW Sinali Shomen beat Brock Youdale by UD after three rounds (Very Poor)
WO Temperance McCoy beat Daneila Sadorra by KO at 3:20 of Round 2 (Fantastic)

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 12, 2003

SIGMA: Kawano vs Kwiatkowski
490 attendance in Germany

Main Event:
HW Eien Kawano beat Piotr Kwiatkowski by TKO at 1:49 of Round 1 to win the SIGMA Heavyweight Title (Great)

Co-Main Event:
WW Ikku Funaki beat Kojuro Ichiri by TKO at 1:137 of Round 2 (Great)

FW Anthony Ray Shenkman beat Liam O'Donnell by submission at 4:14 of Round 1 (Great)
LW Kyle Sagal beat Guilherme de Barros by TKO at 4:34 of Round 1 (Decent)
WW Chad Zoff beat Tyler Lass by UD after three rounds (Average)

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 28, 2003

WEFF 50
975 attendance in Quebec

Main Event:
Lisa Labone beat Cindy Dumas by UD after five rounds to retain the WEFF Women's Heavyweight Title (Decent)

Co-Main Event:
Yuya Shimizu beat Roz Wareing by TKO at 0:29 of Round 1 (Great)

Emi Nagano beat Olivia Sweet by submission at 3:16 of Round 1 (Good)
Alison Beattie beat Debra Everett by UD after three rounds (Decent)
Ramona Stivic beat Tabitha Cameron by KO at 2:02 of Round 1 (Fantastic)

Prelims:
Suzana Ramos beat Yutsuko Sasaki by UD after three rounds (Good)
Maya Komagata beat Mao Fukada by UD after three rounds (Very Poor)

[JonInMiddleGA]

March 31, 2003

Okay, I've tried posting this three times and each time it's glitched while composing before I could finish it. Enough is enough, screw it, I'm tired of typing the same crap over & over.

Basically we lost over $300k in March, mainly on a quarter million dollar shortfall in XCC due to the oversized (for the minors) contracts of Tank Manu'a and Gabriel Gallego who are trying to snap losing streaks.

We resigned a bunch of people, signed a few minor players from Alpha-1 and the indies, and bid farewell to some spare parts mostly picked up with the Sigma acquisition including
LW Seth O'Breen (8-4, 0-0) (signed with Gamma)
LW Roy Lynch (9-13, 0-0)
MW Mal Phe Roby (17-13, 0-2) (signed with Alpha-1 !)
LHW Elgar (28-16, 0-1) (signed with Gamma)
WW Steven Petty (8-6, 0-1)
HW Jesse Singh (16-13, 0-1)
LHW Blaze Weeks (1-2, 0-0)

The biggest news of the month came when LHW "The Big Dog" Linfield Ballard (29-11, 3-0) failed his post-fight drug test & got suspended for a year. Dumb sumbitch was well on his way to a title shot too.

[Flasch186]

Still hoping for a real world mod, and perhaps Ill try a dynasty since my UFC undisputed one died when I started to realize that there wasn't much variety in what was going to happen NOR the evolution of any of the fighters in the game, meaning you generally will always have the same few at the top and the same few at the bottom. It got old.

Without a RW mod, for me this game has been a waste of money.

[BYU 14]

Still hoping for a real world mod, and perhaps Ill try a dynasty since my UFC undisputed one died when I started to realize that there wasn't much variety in what was going to happen NOR the evolution of any of the fighters in the game, meaning you generally will always have the same few at the top and the same few at the bottom. It got old.

Without a RW mod, for me this game has been a waste of money.


Have you tried Tap or Snap 2? I have it and it appears pretty solid at this point in time, a lot of fighters as well.

[Flasch186]

I did and it seemed very minimal in data no?

I mean the one I had Gina was not even on Strikeforce...Do I have an old version?

[BYU 14]

I did and it seemed very minimal in data no?

I mean the one I had Gina was not even on Strikeforce...Do I have an old version?

Possible, I think the latest version is about a month old

[Flasch186]

A little help guys

How do I dL a mod from the greydog site and have the game recognize the database. I keep trying it, dumping the files all over the place and it never gets seen. For example, Modern Warriors 5 (is the name too long?), when I put it in the data folder it doesnt see it as is. what am I missing?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Re-read this tonight for the first time in a looooong time.

One of my best dynastic efforts ever I think. Lost momentum as it became such a beast to manage.