[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.