From Bare Knuckles to Boardrooms (WMMA 3 Dynasty)

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Originally Posted by SirFozzie

*bump* did this die down?

I have this show saved, and it was epic. I will get it posted tomorrow.

[dubb93]

Been a long time coming.....

Saturday Week 3, March 1993



Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts presents

GAMMA 8: Sampson vs. Verdigree

Live from Las Vegas, Nevada

Prelims

Murray Darby (1-1) defeats Noah Musch (1-3) by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 15:35. (Great)

Felipe Luiz Rosa (1-0) defeats Susumu Katoh (4-7-1) by TKO (Punches) at 1:15. (Good)

***PPV Begins

GAMMA 8 Tournament Opening Round

Eugene Clough (6-4) defeats Barry Strachan (1-1) by Submission (Armbar) at 19:56. (Poor)

This fight was definitely one-sided as Clough pretty much dominated it everywhere he wanted to.

At different times during the fight he turned a takedown into some solid elbows from the top, good wrestling and clinch control into effective dirty boxing, and even solid standup into a knockdown that he finished with an Armbar on his groggy opponent.

This wasn't the same Eugene Clough we have seen in the past. This is a much more motivated man! This could be his last great ride into the sunset. At 38, Clough doesn't have a whole lot of time left in his career. He needs a tournament victory tonight to cement his legacy.

Graham Goodbody (3-2) defeats Greg Atteveld (1-3) by TKO (Knees and Punches) at 3:45. (Great)

Atteveld's return to GAMMA was not what he had in mind as the giant Goodbody easily got him to the ground and took the fight out of him with knees to the body.

Once the knees had taken Atteveld's will to fight, Goodbody finished him with punches from the top.

Atshushi Nakajima (7-3) defeats Pedro Sousa (1-1) by Submission (Guillotine) at 24:14. (Good)

We have had a couple of really good fights so far tonight!

Sousa started the fight by knocking Nakajima down early with punches, but he choose not to follow him to the ground. He instead decided to play it safe and wait for Nakajima to stand up.

The majority of the rest of the fight played out with Sousa the aggressor, but getting caught with counter strikes in bunches as a result of his aggression. Nakajima was 0/9 in takedown attempts during this fight, but eventually was able to pull guard on an exhausted Sousa.

From there it didn't take long before Sousa was caught deep in a Guillotine and the fight was over. If Nakajima is able to score two more victories in this tournament tonight where does that put him in GAMMA's hierarchy? That would give him a tournament victory, a tournament runner-up, and a big super fight victory in his three GAMMA appearances. We will see if Nakajima has what it takes to pull it off.

Vincent Chapin (5-3) defeats Stan Blackheath (1-1) by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 12:18. (Good)

I thought Chapin was out!

About six minutes into the fight Blackheath landed a monster head kick that sent Chapin to the ground in a heap. I thought it was over, but somehow Chapin was able to survive the ensuing onslaught of punches and pull guard.

Blackheath looked great in the standup, Chapin was clearly outmatched. He was also unable to score a takedown. He was 0/3 in takedown attempts. If it weren't for that massive headkick that Blackheath landed, odds are Chapin would have been beaten up with strikes the entire fight.

Instead he was able to sweep Blackheath and work his way to a submission. Chapin moves on, but he took some damage AND I don't think this is the same guy who won GAMMA 3. The Chapin that fought that night showed takedowns that couldn't be stopped. This Vincent Chapin hasn't finished a takedown in the GAMMA cage in since GAMMA 4 when he took Joaquim Fontes to the ground. Unfortunately for Chapin, father time may not be on his side.

GAMMA 8 Tournament Semi-Finals

Graham Goodbody (4-2) defeats Eugene Clough (6-5) by Decision. (Average)

Yea, I'm not too sure about this one. I scored it for Clough who I felt controlled the fight with three big takedowns and top game.

The judges on the other hand scored it for Goodbody, who was the more active fighter in the standup, but for all of that action he only landed 16 significant strikes the entire fight. So despite throwing nearly 5x as many strikes as Clough, Goodbody only landed a mere 3 more significant strikes.

I would also say the majority of this fight was on the ground. That was where Clough wanted it to be and he made it happen to the tune of three solid takedowns that Goodbody could do nothing to stop.

If this is the end for Clough, and at 38 it very well could be, I hate to see it end with a controversial decision.

Atshushi Nakajima (8-3) defeats Vincent Chapin (5-4) by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 16:28. (Average)

Nakajima is the most underrated fighter in GAMMA.

I've been calling him a "jack of all trades" fighter with no weaknesses, and after watching this fight I don't think that is fair. Nakajima is clearly a wizard on the ground. His sweeps, transitions, and chain submission attempts are without rival in GAMMA right now. I think a re-match between him and Fontes would be fun to watch, especially if it was a Super Fight rather than a fight at the end of a tournament.

Nakajima has to be the favorite over Goodbody. Nakajima submitted him the last time the two met in the tournament at GAMMA 6. In that fight Nakajima finished Goodbody with a Guillotine Choke that, by all rights, he wasn't even in position to finish. The submission is included on nearly every GAMMA highlight reel.

GAMMA 8 Tournament Final

Graham Goodbody (5-2) defeats Atshushi Nakajima (8-4) by TKO (Punches) at 0:49. (Good)

Graham Goodbody gets his revenge! He won't ever be able to get his GAMMA 6 submission loss off the GAMMA highlight reel, but he sure can make a highlight of his own!

Nakajima didn't really do anything wrong here, he just got clipped by a punch early and finished. Goodbody emerges from the fringes of GAMMA's roster and defeats three men, including a legend and one of GAMMA's top fighters, enroute to becoming the GAMMA 8 Tournament Champion.


Graham Goodbody is declared the GAMMA 8 Tournament Champion. It may not have been without a little controversy, but his knockout of Nakajima in the finals left no doubt who deserved the crown tonight.

Main Event



GAMMA World Championship

Gary Sampson (8-1) defeats Phil Verdigree (5-4) by TKO (Punches) at 24:14 to retain the GAMMA World Championship. (Good)

I think this is one of the most important fights in GAMMA's history.

The "invincible" Gary Sampson was battered and bruised. Verdigree knocked the mighty Sampson down not once, not twice, but three times with strikes!

On top of that on two other occasions he had Sampson on rubber legs and on the verge of going down. Big Phil has some power!

Sampson added to his mystic though by surviving it all. He survived three knockdowns to land that one great punch he needed. When it landed, Big Phil went down in a heap. It was over in a flash as the referee had to pull Sampson off Verdigree.

Sampson retains his title in a fight that was simply an amazing to watch! No one has ever done to Gary Sampson what Phil Verdigree did tonight. He deserves all the credit in the world for putting on one hell of a show.


Gary Sampson, pictured, survived the ultimate challenge at GAMMA 8

Critical Rating: Good
Commercial Rating: Decent
Attendance: 2,709 for a gate of $216,720
PPV Buys: 76,300

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GAMMA sent out a presser.

The GAMMA Tournament of Champions

One Night. One Title. Every GAMMA Tournament Champion.

Press Conference Soon.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

*bump* did this die down?

To more fully answer this question: No.

This is just how I tend to play WMMA. When I run out of ideas I take a break. Expect to see more breaks of about the same length as this goes on, probably at about the same amount of events. I'm usually pretty consistent.

[dubb93]

Thursday Week 4, March 1993

ISL is back! ISL held ISL 12 last night in Kanto.

The Main Event saw Oleg Dorosklov defend his Light Heavyweight Championship successfully by defeating Yukichi Sato by decision. Dorosklov is now 4-0 in his MMA career. For some reason many MMA journalists think Dorosklov is the top MMA fighter on the planet.

And I have ocean front property in Oklahoma for ya too.....

[dubb93]

Friday Week 1, June 1993



GAMMA called a press conference today and Scott Avatar used it to reveal more about what he called "The GAMMA Tournament of Champions." It was revealed the location for the event would be Denver, Colorado.

Avatar said that the tournament would be for the GAMMA World Championship and that all six Tournament Champions in GAMMA's history would be in the tournament, including GAMMA World Heavyweight Champion Gary Sampson, who won the Tournament at GAMMA 4. They will be joined by the only two men to be runner-up in multiple tournaments, Atshushi Nakajima(GAMMA 6 and 8) and Eugene Clough(GAMMA 1 and 2).

At this point all eight men joined Scott Avatar on the stage as it was revealed that the all important tournament drawing would be happening tonight!

Following a random drawing the bracket was determined to be:

Mantas Andreyev vs. Joaquim Fontes
Atshushi Nakajima vs. Rick Stanley
Eugene Clough vs. Vicent Chapin
Graham Goodbody vs. Gary Sampson

After the drawing Avatar talked about the match-ups for a few minutes. He noted how Goodbody and Sampson are "...probably the two top ranked guys in the world right now." And that a potential second round fight between Joaquim Fontes and Rick Stanley would "...be the fight of the year again. The two guys have gone to war twice and for my money delivered the fight of the year both times."

It was also announced that preliminary fights would scrapped in favor of fights live on Pay-Per-View. "We are going to try a new format," revealed Avatar. The fight between newcomers Arthur Franco and Petey Barnum will take place after the first round fights and the evenings Co-Main Event will be a battle between strikers Pedro Sousa and Phil Verdigree. "If Gary and Graham are one-two right now then Big Phil has to be number three," added Avatar.

The new fighters were introduced:

Petey Barnum



"The Broadstreet Bully" Petey Barnum is a boxer from North Carolina. At twenty-nine Barnum is entering MMA a little later in life than most, but Barnum has a really solid striking game to build upon. Barnum is 3-0 on the regional MMA circuit.

Arthur Franco



Young Arthur Franco, 23, is a wrestler from Brazil. The Brazilian is thought to be one of Brazil's top amateur wrestlers.

The conference ended with Avatar doing one last hard sell of the card and telling everyone to make sure they find a way to catch the action on Saturday Week 1, July 1993.

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Thursday Week 3, June 1993

Following alot of buzz and rumors GAMMA was forced to send out a press release today.

GAMMA can confirm that "The GAMMA Tournament of Champions" will be the last GAMMA event to feature no weight classes.

Following meetings with the Nevada State Athletic Association we have made the following changes to our weight classes going forward.

Heavyweight 206-265lbs
Lightweight 205lbs and under

GAMMA will not be able to retain the services of any fighter who is not able to meet these weight requirements.

GAMMA will return to our standard numbering format later this year at GAMMA 9 where we will crown our very first GAMMA Lightweight Champion.

We had hoped for a big reveal, but following the commission going public with the information we felt inclined to confirm the news.

In other news ISL is now making up for lost time. They signed a deal with a Japanese TV station and are running so many shows now that I'm not going to be able to cover them all.

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Friday Week 1, July 1993

The GAMMA Tournament of Champions Official Weight-In

GAMMA Tournament of Champions Brackett

Mantas Andreyev (6-4) [205] vs. Joaquim Fontes (9-3) [180]
Atshushi Nakajima (8-4) [185] vs. Rick Stanley (6-4) [235]
Eugene Clough (6-5) [285] vs. Vicent Chapin (5-4) [226]
Graham Goodbody (5-2) [275] vs. Gary Sampson (8-1) [251]

Super-Fights

Pedro Sousa (1-1) [205] vs. Phil Verdigree (5-4) [236]
Arthur Franco (MMA Debut) [205] vs. Petey Barnum (3-0) [202]

Weight in []

[dubb93]

This will be up later tonight. In the meantime I'll post a short teaser.

This card contains not 1, but 2 legit Fight of the Year contenders. If I sort by best fights ever this card has 2 in the top 5 in the history of MMA and the top 2 fights in the history of GAMMA.

It was also a night of firsts. By the end of the night we had something we have never had before.

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Saturday Week 1, July 1993



Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts presents

The GAMMA Tournament of Champions

Live from Denver, Colorado

PPV Begins

The GAMMA Tournament of Champions Opening Round:

Graham Goodbody (6-2) defeats Gary Sampson (8-2) by TKO (Punches) at 0:44. (Good)

Are you kidding me!? Where has Sampson's chin gone? For the second fight in a row he gets hurt with punches and this time he gets finished. Graham Goodbody scores the biggest victory of his career in the opening fight of the tournament. This is also one of GAMMA's biggest upsets to date.

Where can this fight card possibly go from here?

Vincent Chapin (6-4) defeats Eugene Clough (6-6) by Submission (Standing Guillotine) at 9:56. (Great)

Vincent Chapin turned the clock back for atleast one fight tonight and turned in a dominant performance here.

Chapin was able to keep Clough on the outside most of the fight with solid jabs and leg kicks. Once Clough was able to close the distance, after absorbing a considerable amount of damage I might add, Chapin slapped on a choke that ended the fight. Chapin looked like a man ten years his junior in this fight.

Rick Stanley (7-4) defeats Atshushi Nakajima (8-5) by TKO (Punches) at 5:48. (Decent)

Nakajima came out and wanted to trade punches with Stanley in this fight. In what was a surprise to nobody, expect maybe Nakajima, that was a terrible idea. Stanley's power was just way too much for Nakajima. Stanley moves on in the tournament.

A second round fight between Stanley and Fontes could be a FOTY contender if Fontes can defeat Mantas Andreyev in his first round fight.

Joaquim Fontes (10-3) defeats Mantas Andreyev (6-5) by Submission (Triangle Choke with Armbar) at 1:06. (Good)

Andreyev came out and scored an early takedown on Fontes. Fontes didn't even attempt to defend it and was more than happy to pull guard. Fontes then quickly worked his way to a submission victory.

We've now seen questionable strategy decisions in back to back fights. One has to wonder what these two guys were thinking taking on world class fighters and trying to beat them at what they do best. You don't try to submit a BJJ expert just like you don't stand and bang with one of the top kickboxers in the world.

This sets up Fontes-Stanley 3 which is a fight that probably could have headlined an entire fight card. Rick Stanley knocked out Fontes at GAMMA 1 to become the first GAMMA World Champion. Joaquim Fontes submitted Rick Stanley at GAMMA 3 to take the title for himself. These are the only two former World Champions left in the tournament and their rubber match will be in the semi-finals.

Super-Fight

Arthur Franco (1-0) defeats Petey Barnum (3-1) by Submission (Armbar) at 1:52. (Good)

Barnum's lack of wrestling and submission defense shot him in the foot here. Franco turned an early takedown into a quick submission victory. One has to wonder if Barnum was ready for this level of competition.

The GAMMA Tournament of Champions Semi-Finals

Vincent Chapin (7-4) defeats Graham Goodbody (6-3) by Submission (Guillotine) at 29:42. (Good)

This was an amazing fight! So much emotion!

Chapin showed great jabs and leg kicks again. His striking has greatly improved, but he got himself in trouble by chasing takedowns. Goodbody kept stuffing them and really pounding him with strikes on the ground. Had Chapin just kept his distance he probably would have won this fight on points. By chasing the takedowns he probably had the fight scored closer to even.

The last minute of this fight was just epic. As I said the fight outcome was still up in the air. Either guy could have came away with the decision if they finished strong.

Goodbody was able to clip Chapin with a wild haymaker and sent him crashing to the ground. As Goodbody went to finish the fight with strikes from the top it became apparent that he really hadn't hurt Chapin as much as he thought he had. Chapin kept his composure and after Goodbody had quickly punched himself out he locked on a guillotine choke that finished the fight with just 18 seconds left!

Who had Chapin fighting for the GAMMA World Championship at this point in his career? How does GAMMA top this? How about the re-match of the 1991 fight of the year?


Vincent Chapin managed to turn back time tonight and has earned a shot at the GAMMA World Championship

Rick Stanley (8-4) defeats Joaquim Fontes (10-4) by TKO (Punches) at 7:40. (Fantastic)

Well, that was probably the Fight of the Year again. These two absolutely went to war. Fontes punished Stanley with leg kicks, which he has developed nicely since the last time these two had last fought. Stanley, on the other hand, was landing hard and straight power punches.

The fight had two big highlight worthy moments in it. The first one brought everyone back to Stanley-Fontes 1 when Stanley punished Fontes with soccer kicks following a failed takedown attempt.

The other was the end of the fight where Stanley overwhelmed Fontes with straight power punches up against the fence.


Rick Stanley's victory over Joaquim Fontes in their rubber match will earn him a shot to regain the GAMMA World Championship that he lost at GAMMA 3.

Super-Fight

Phil Verdigree (6-4) defeats Pedro Sousa (1-2) by TKO (Punches) at 18:42. (Excellent)

By the fight rating this was actually the best fight GAMMA has ever put on! What a night of fights tonight!

These two had a hard fight to follow, but they actually did the impossible and put on an absolute classic. The explosive Sousa battled against the counter puncher Verdigree. Sousa landed nearly twice as many significant strikes in this fight, but it was Verdigree who picked his shots wisely and made them count.

It was a counter punch that ultimately put Sousa down for good.


Following the fight, GAMMA president Scott Avatar joined Phil Verdigree (pictured) in the cage and announced that he was the number one contender for the GAMMA World Championship. It was announced that a fight between Verdigree and the winner of the tournament finals will happen later this year!

Main Event

Finals of The GAMMA Tournamet of Champions

for the



GAMMA World Championship

Rick Stanley (9-4) defeats Vincent Chapin (7-5) by TKO (Punches) at 2:05 to become the [b]NEW[b] GAMMA World Champion. (Great)

Rick Stanley does it again! He becomes the only two time champion in GAMMA history and repeats his historic feat of winning the title in a tournament that he accomplished at GAMMA 1. He is the only fighter in GAMMA history to win the GAMMA World Championship in a tournament and he has now done that twice!

The actual fight here was short and sweet. Stanley showed tons of power and too much aggression for Chapin, who couldn't stand the heat. Stanley's first solid combination ended the fight.


Rick Stanley is now a two time GAMMA World Champion!

Critical Rating: Fantastic
Commercial Rating: Good
Attendance: 3,341 for a gate of $459,000
PPV Buys: 76,500

-GAMMA Bonuses-

$1500 to each of the following:

Fight of the Night: Phil Verdigree vs. Pedro Sousa
Knockout of the Night: Rick Stanley
Submission of the Night: Vincent Chapin

[dubb93]

Saturday Week 4, July 1993

A GAMMA presser is making the rounds today....

GAMMA returns in September with GAMMA 9: The Lightweight Tournament.

The event will be headlined by a tournament for the new GAMMA Lightweight Championship. The single night, four man tournament will feature Joaquim Fontes, Atshushi Nakajima, Arthur Franco, and Pedro Sousa.

Also on the card will be a re-match between Graham Goodbody and Vincent Chapin in the GAMMA Heavyweight division.

The card will take place Saturday Week 4, September 1993 live from Las Vegas, Nevada.

In other news, Blurcat Fight Magazine is reporting the following:

Following his defeat at the GAMMA Tournament of Champions, Gary Sampson has been seen in Philly training at Rick Stanley's American Cage Fighters training camp. ACF is ran by Stanley and is considered the largest and most successful training camp in the United States.

It is unknown what this means for any potential Stanley-Sampson title fights down the road, but in the long run these two teaming up under the same building can be nothing but good for American MMA.

It is also being reported that Sampson is unlikely to return to the cage this year. His return is expected in early '94, while Stanley is expected to defended his title against Phil Verdigree in November at GAMMA 10.

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Monday Week 1, September 1993



Today is a historic day in the history of Mixed Martial Arts. In a landmark press conference in Tokyo Japan, ALPHA-1: Japanese Mixed Martial Arts was announced as the new big player in MMA.

The company debuts with an unprecedented budget and the support of the entire country of Japan. The company is expected to debut their first show by the end of the year. The company has signed a prime-time TV deal to air their shows in Japan and Asia on a major network. The company will use a rule-set very similar to GAMMA, with the exceptions of fights taking place in a ring rather than a cage and ALPHA-1 will use rounds. ALPHA-1 fights will have a ten minute first round with each additional round being five minutes long.

In other news Blurcat is reporting the following...

GAMMA has signed a TV deal with National Pride TV to air a show called "GAMMA Live!" on cable TV.

The show will air in late evening and is expected to feature four fights per card. Details are sketchy at the moment, but the company is expected to air three to four events in the first year.

National Pride TV has coverage in most major markets in United States.

Another MMA promotion was also founded as HILITE opened in Hawaii. This company will not compete with any existing promotions and will instead focus on lower level and rookie fighter. This company is said to be a low level regional company. Blurcat approached Scott Avatar who said that he thinks companies like HILITE are great for MMA and he looks forward to seeing them develop guys who can go on to become stars under the bright lights of GAMMA. He did not rule out a future partnership between the two companies.

Author note: I don't like the idea of rushing to a TV show, but with both ISL and ALPHA-1 airing shows on regular TV, my hand has been forced. If I don't follow suit then I will be left behind.

Also, it should be clear that the MMA landscape has drastically changed at this point. HILITE should develop into a feeder league for GAMMA, along with more companies that have yet to debut, and ALPHA-1 is now the #1 MMA company in the world. We are beginning our fast track towards modern MMA.

[dubb93]

Friday Week 1, September 1993



GAMMA called a press conference for their GAMMA 9: The Lightweight Tournament event.

Avatar began the conference by putting over the new Lightweight division. He then revealed that the bracket for the tournament would be:

Joaquim Fontes vs. Pedro Sousa
Arthur Franco vs. Atshushi Nakajima

The finals for the tournament, which will be the main event on the card, would be for the new GAMMA Lightweight Championship. At this point Avatar brought the four fighters out and revealed the new belt.



Following some pictures with the fighters and the new championship, Avatar began to talk about the rest of the card. The Co-Main Event on the card will be a re-match between Graham Goodbody and Vincent Chapin in the Heavyweight Division. Avatar remarked, "Their last fight really doesn't get the credit it deserves because of some of the other fights on the card. It was truly epic, and we fully expect the re-match to be even better."

The rest of the fight card was also revealed to be:

Stan Blackheath vs. Barry Strachan
Frank Analysis vs. Jack Cobblepot

Both fights were announced as fights in the Heavyweight division. Avatar then began his hard sell of the event, ending with a reminder that the card is live from Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday Week 4, September 1993.

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Friday Week 4, September 1993

GAMMA 9: The Lightweight Tournament Official Weight-In

GAMMA Lightweight Championship Tournament
Joaquim Fontes (10-4) [180] vs. Pedro Sousa (1-2) [205]
Arthur Franco (1-0) [205] vs. Atshushi Nakajima (8-5) [185]

Graham Goodbody (6-3) [265] vs. Vincent Chapin (7-5) [226]
Stan Blackheath (1-1) [228] vs. Barry Strachan (1-1) [240]
Frank Analysis (1-2) [233] vs. Jack Cobblepot (1-3) [265]

Weight in []

*Heavyweight division 206-265 / Lightweight division 205 and under
**Feedback and predictions are absolutely welcome. Is there a fight you want to see? Fan influence can definitely impact booking decisions.

[dubb93]

Saturday Week 4, September 1993



Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts presents

GAMMA 9: The Lightweight Tournament

Live from Las Vegas, Nevada

PPV Broadcast Begins

Lightweight Tournament Semi-Finals:

Atshushi Nakajima (9-5) defeats Arthur Franco (1-1) by Submission (Arm Triangle) at 25:46. (Average)

Atshushi Nakajima is the winner of GAMMA's first ever fight in the Lightweight division. By winning this fight he will now fight for the vacant Lightweight Championship later tonight.

Arthur Franco looked really good in this and really controlled the flow of most of the fight with wrestling. He put Nakajima up against the cage and punished him with dirty boxing. It wasn't until much later in the fight when Nakajima used a Guillotine Choke to get the fight to the ground. From there he showed his skill getting a sweep and a submission. He may be without equal on the ground at this point in his career.

Joaquim Fontes (11-4) defeats Pedro Sousa (1-3) by Submission (Guillotine) at 4:04. (Great)

Fontes really survived a scare here. At 1-3 Pedro Sousa is probably the best fighter in the world with a losing record. His fight with Goodbody at the ToC was the best MMA fight in history and he follows that up here at GAMMA 9 by knocking Fontes off his feet and nearly finishing him with an exciting burst of soccer kicks followed by big punches.

His aggression is what makes him such a dangerous and exciting fighter, but it is ultimately what has cost him another fight. Fontes survived the storm, and once it was clear that Sousa wasn't going to be able to knock Fontes out they were both left on the ground. Sousa tried to escape, but he was in over his head on the ground and quickly submitted.

Most 1-3 fighters would be cut from GAMMA, but I just can't do it to Sousa. He's one of our better fighters and he's absolutely the most explosive and exciting fighter on the roster. He will be back. For Fontes it's a date with Atshushi Nakajima in the Main Event tonight for the GAMMA Lightweight Championship.

Non-Tournament Fights

Jack Cobblepot (2-3) defeats Frank Analysis (1-3) by Unanimous Decision. (Poor)

Jack Cobblepot picks up the win in what was a fairly lackluster thirty minutes of action. A quick takedown by Cobblepot put him on top of Analysis who was not able to escape...for nearly thirty minutes. Would have been nice to see the referee stand these two up at some point.

Barry Strachan (2-1) defeats Stan Blackheath (1-2) by Unanimous Decision. (Average)

Our second straight thirty minute decision of the night definitely had more action than the previous fight. With good reason too as both of these guys really needed to get a victory here in the GAMMA cage to keep the paychecks rolling in.

The majority of the fight played out with Strachan as the more active and accurate striker and Blackheath throwing, and occasionally landing wild haymakers. Strachan destroyed Blackheath 93-20 in significant strikes landed, but it was Blackheath who had the advantage in knockdowns 2-1.

Ultimately the judges gave the fight to Strachan and I agree with the score. It seems like Strachan was scoring well with strikes the entire fight.

Hopefully we get some more finishes before the night is over.

Vincent Chapin (8-5) defeats Graham Goodbody (6-4) by Submission (Americana) at 13:43. (Fantastic)

What a fantastic fight here. This would have been a candidate for Fight of the Year in most years, but with Goodbody-Sousa from the ToC show no other fight really has a chance this year. This has been an amazing year of fights in the GAMMA cage so far.

These two were extremely well matched in the striking game, but it was a Vincent Chapin takedown that really changed the complexion of this fight. On the ground Chapin moved to mount and opened Goodbody wide with elbows. The amount of blood was astonishing.

Once Goodbody saw his own blood it was almost like his will to fight was sucked from him, or maybe he just literally got it beaten out of him, but Chapin was able to get a fairly easy Americana submission victory.

After the fight Scott Avatar joined the fighters in the cage. Prior to the fight he had made the comment that if Goodbody was able to win this fight he would be the #1 contender for the GAMMA World Championship. When asked if Chapin was now the top contender, Avatar confirmed that Vincent Chapin was next in line. "You could argue he just had his shot at the Tournament of Champions, but really that was his third fight of the night. I said it would be Goodbody if he won, well it's fairly obvious Vincent felt slighted and was out to make sure it didn't happen. He's [Vincent Chapin] earned it," added Avatar.


Following the fight, it was announced that Vincent Chapin is in line for a shot at the GAMMA Heavyweight Championship. He will meet the winner of Rick Stanley and Phil Verdigree. That fight is scheduled for GAMMA 10.

Main Event

Finals of the GAMMA Lightweight Tournament

for the



GAMMA Lightweight Championship

Joaquim Fontes (12-4) defeats Atshushi Nakajima (9-6) by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 28:22 to become the NEW. (Average)

I've wanted to see a re-match between these two for some time and we finally got it. This was a MUCH more even fight than their encounter at GAMMA 6. The amount of respect Fontes showed to Nakajima here is a sign of just how far he has come as a fighter. At GAMMA 6 Fontes went right at him and scored a quick submission. Here Fontes took it slow and made sure not to end up in a bad position.

Fontes eventually took this to the ground and improved his position to the point where he was able to finish a submission. It was impressive seeing how he worked on the ground against a top guy like Nakajima. With the Heavyweights out of the picture, Joaquim Fontes could hold this title for quite some time. There isn't any obvious contenders lined up for him at this point(and even fewer people who would seem to have a shot of actually taking the title from him).


Joaquim Fontes is GAMMA's first Lightweight Champion. He is GAMMA's first and only two division champion.

Critical Rating: Good
Commercial Rating: Poor
Attendance: 2,801 for a gate of $224,080
PPV Buys: 76,800

-GAMMA Bonuses-

$1500 to each of the following:

Fight of the Night: Vincent Chapin vs. Graham Goodbody
Submission of the Night: Vincent Chapin

[dubb93]

Monday Week 1, October 1993

There is a GAMMA press release making the rounds today.

GAMMA will hold two more events this calendar year. We will make our cable TV debut on Friday Week 3, November 1993 with GAMMA Live! from Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event will be headlined by a Heavyweight bout between the legendary Eugene Clough and Norman Pike.

Then on Saturday Week 4, November 1993 we cross state lines and invade New York City with GAMMA 10: Aftershock. The event will be headlined by the much anticipated GAMMA Heavyweight Championship fight between Rick Stanley and Phil Verdigree. The Co-Feature of the night will be a fight between Mantas Andreyev and Greg Atteveld. The winner of this fight will be declared the #1 contender for the GAMMA Lightweight Championship and will receive a shot against Joaquim Fontes early next year.

Author Note: Expanding to two divisions means I needed to sign many new fighters to contracts. I have done that and they will be debuting over the next few cards. I've come up with what I think are some interesting ways to debut them and get the new weight classes rolling.

[dubb93]

Monday Week 2, October 1993

Blurcat is reporting that Japanese star Atshushi Nakajima has left GAMMA and signed a three fight deal with ALPHA-1. The bidding war was said to be furious between the two companies. Could this be the start of a war between the two biggest MMA companies in the world?

[dubb93]

Monday Week 1, November 1994



GAMMA held a big press conference today to cover both their GAMMA Live! From Atlantic City card and GAMMA 10: Aftershock.

Avatar said the company would first cover the GAMMA Live! From Atlantic City card. He talked about the opportunity to expose GAMMA to a wider audience. He said he thinks matching a war hero and a legend against one another was going to be a great way to cap the night off. He said the other fights on the card are going to be all about the Lightweights. The full fight card was revealed as follows:

Eugene Clough vs. Norman Pike
Cliff McAddam vs. Thais Antonio Taffarel
Mick Curran vs. Josh Aldarisio
Bill Cumming vs. Sean Morrison

Avatar then talked excitedly about the newcomers:

Josh Aldarisio



The compact Aldarisio is a former three time All-American wrestler at Michigan. While he may be on the smaller side at about 170lbs, he more than makes up for that with youth, 26, and pure explosiveness. He is an extremely high level wrestler.

Sean Morrison



Morrison, like Aldarisio, is an extremely high level wrestler. He's also undersized at about 170lbs. Morrison, 23, had an extremely successful collegiate wrestling career at the University of Kentucky.

Thais Antonio Taffarel



Taffarel, the largest of the newcomers, is able to tip the scales much closer to the Lightweight Divison's limit of 205lbs. The twenty-one year old Brazilian is one of the best Muay Thai fighters on the planet. Since deciding to make a run at MMA he has begun training at the Escola Da Luta fight camp where he receives world class Jiu Jitsu instruction from Joaquim Fontes.

The event then shifted its focus on GAMMA 10: Aftershock. Avatar brought out the champion, Rick Stanley, followed by the challenger, Phil Verdigree. The two fighters took turns taking questions from the media. Avatar then took the event back over. Avatar said to expect fireworks when these two titans hit the cage.

Avatar then revealed the entire fight card for the event

GAMMA Heavyweight Championship
Rick Stanley(c) vs. Phil Verdigree

Lightweight Divison #1 Contender Fight
Mantas Andrey vs. Greg Atteveld

Murry Darby vs. Lukas Pokorny

Heavyweight Tournament
Bence Bodor vs. Felipe Luiz Rosa
Gunnar Nilsson vs. Soren Jellyman

Avatar then began to talk about the newcomers scheduled for the fight card.

Lukas Pokorny



The young Lukas Pokorny, 22, comes from a Taekwondo background. He hails from Bulgaria and has a 1-0 record on the regional European circuit. His ground game is not nearly as polished as his striking.

Bence Bodor



The thirty-three year old Bodor is a journey-man boxer turned MMA fighter. He's 1-0 on the regional European circuit after scoring a highlight reel KO that caught the attention of GAMMA.

Soren Jellyman



Soren Jellyman is a twenty-eight year old kickboxer from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He's traveled the world and been a successful kickboxer for nearly a decade now. He joins GAMMA with a 1-0 record after a brutal (t)KO victory he scored at an event in Minnesota.

Gunnar Nilsson



The twenty-eight year old Gunnar Nilsson is a complete physical specimen. Nilsson stands 6'5 and actually has to cut weight to make the limit of 265. He's also a mound of solid muscle. Nilsson trains in Europe with the legendary Mantas Andreyev. According to Andreyev, Nilsson has world class wrestling and ground striking on par with Gary Sampson. Only time will tell how accurate that is.

Avatar ended the press conference by thanking everyone for their patience and by saying how excited he is for GAMMA's recent expansion. Avatar ended the event with, "This sport has grown so much in the last couple of years. These new guys are really good. I can't wait for you all to see how good these guys are."

[dubb93]

Thursday Week 3, November 1993

Blurcat is reporting the following news....

GAMMA newcomer Sean Morrison has been making headlines this week when talking to the press about his upcoming fight with Bill Cumming. He told the press that he, "...plans on breaking his arm, I don't even care if he taps. I'm breaking it. He's probably too stupid to tap anyway."

Bill Cumming has not responded to these comments.

Official GAMMA Live! from Atlantic City Weight-In

Eugene Clough (6-6) [265] vs. Norman Pike (1-2) [210]
Cliff McAddam (1-3) [202] vs. Thais Antonio Taffarel (MMA Debut) [185]
Mick Curran (1-1) [201] vs. Josh Aldarisio (MMA Debut) [170]
Bill Cumming (3-3) [205] vs. Sean Morrison (MMA Debut) [155]

Weight in []
*Predictions and comments are welcome

[dubb93]

Friday Week 3, November 1993



Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts presents

GAMMA Live! From Atlantic City

Live from Atlantic City, New Jersey

Sean Morrison (1-0) defeats Bill Cumming (3-4) by Submission (Armbar) at 24:13. (Poor)

Morrison caused some serious controversy leading up to this fight by flapping his jaws to the media, but he backed it up here. He said he was breaking Cumming's arm, and while he didn't back that up, he did finish this with an armbar. Morrison struggled with the size of Cumming, but he eventually was able to get this where he needed it to finish the fight.

To show you how tough it can be in GAMMA, take a look a Cumming's record. He's now 0-4 in two stints in GAMMA. In between that time he was 3-0 away from GAMMA.

Josh Aldarisio (1-0) defeats Mick Curran (1-2) by TKO (Punches) at 8:14. (Fantastic)

This was another fight where the newcomer was obviously more skilled, but struggled a bit with a large size difference.

The most impressive part of this fight was a huge slam by Aldarisio. He got the bigger guy up on his shoulder and planted him down on the ground by the cage. On the ground Aldarisio quickly finished the fight with punches from the top.

We have already seen alot of talent debut tonight, now we get to see Thais Antonio Taffarel next. Taffarel is probably the most exciting newcomer to debut on this card and from a hype standpoint Taffarel is definitely the top. He is a world class striker and trains Jiu Jitsu with Joaquim Fontes. GAMMA has been sure to feature Taffarel on their hype campaign for this event. Time to see if he can live up to that hype.

Thais Antonio Taffarel (1-0) defeats Cliff McAddam (1-4) by TKO (Punches) at 3:36. (Good)

Taffarel was absolutely as good as advertised. He knocked McAddam out on the fence with a short right hook from the clinch and followed it up with a few shots on the ground for good measure.

Following this fight, McAddam came just short of announcing his retirement. He blamed everything from a bum knee to age [39] on his defeat here. He made no bones about the fact that he felt he had a poor camp and wasn't really ready for this fight.

Main Event

Norman Pike (2-2) defeats Eugene Clough (6-7) by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 26:13. (Average)

Norman Pike snatched victory from the jaws of defeat here over Eugene Clough in a fight that was heading for a Clough decision victory.

Before I get to the fight recap, I need to say that I have serious problems with the way Clough fought this fight. As he has often done over the course of his career he was simply out to win a decision. However he really took it to the next level here, actually taking down Pike to score points and immediately standing back up. It wasn't something that needed to be done, and it most certainly isn't anything I like to see. I'm glad he ended up losing this fight. Now onto the fight recap.

Clough was able to control most of the fight with his wrestling, without really doing any damage to Pike. As the fight wore on Pike was obviously frustrated, as most guys who fight Clough are. Eventually Pike was able to bring this fight to the ground with a takedown and he used his skill on the ground to take Clough's back and score the submission victory.

Don't sleep on Pike. He may just be 2-2, but he now has victories over Vincent Chapin and Eugene Clough. Both of those guys are, at worst, top 10 in the world at Heavyweight. Chapin is absolutely top 3. Pike's two losses are to current GAMMA Lightweight Champion Joaquim Fontes and ALPHA-1 superstar Atshushi Nakajima. Not bad losses by any stretch of the imagination. This win definitely makes Pike crack GAMMA's top 10 in Heavyweight. If he strings together a few more, who knows? Maybe he could shoot up into the title picture.


Norman Pike took a big risk and it paid off tonight as he scored the upset over Eugene Clough in the main event.

Critical Rating: Good
Commercial Rating: Decent
Attendance: 1,233 for a gate of $98,640

-GAMMA Bonuses-

Fight of the Night: Josh Aldarisio vs. Mick Curran
Knockout of the Night: Thais Antonio Taffarel
Submission of the Night: Sean Morrison

Following the event Blurcat reported the following:

Thais Antonio Taffarel suffered a fractured ankle last night in his knockout victory over Cliff McAddam. The injury is expected to keep him out of the cage for roughly six months.

[dubb93]

Friday Week 4, November 1993

GAMMA 10: Aftershock Official Weight-In

Main Event

GAMMA Heavyweight Championship
Rick Stanley(c) (9-4) [235] vs. Phil Verdigree (6-4) [236]

Mantas Andreyev (6-5) [205] vs. Greg Atteveld (1-3) [185]
Murray Darby (1-1) [211] vs. Lukas Pokorny (1-0) [260]

GAMMA 10 Heavyweight Tournament
Bence Bodor (1-0) [232] vs. Felipe Luiz Rosa (1-0) [237]
Gunnar Nilsson (MMA Debut) [265] vs. Soren Jellyman (1-0) [233]

Weight in []
*Predictions and feedback are always welcome

[dubb93]

Saturday Week 4, November 1993



Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts presents

GAMMA 10: Aftershock

Live from New York City, New York

GAMMA 10 Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Finals

Gunnar Nilsson (1-0) defeats Soren Jellyman (1-1) by Submission (Armbar) at 5:25. (Average)

Nilsson lived up to his billing here as he wasted little time with Jellyman. Nilsson really muscled him around before getting him to the floor and locking on the submission.

Jellyman was outmatched with someone who was able to close the distance and muscle him around the cage.

Felipe Luiz Rosa (2-0) defeats Bence Bodor (1-1) by TKO (Punches) at 20:40. (Great)

This fight turned out to be a really awesome standup battle. If I were a betting man I would say Rosa felt disrespected when he didn't get his own spotlight at the press conference like Bodor did.

Anyway, since he hasn't been introduced formally, Felipe Luiz Rosa is a big heavyweight striker. He's got some big power to go with that size too as he's now 2-0 in GAMMA with two knockouts.

These two went back and forth the entire fight and were extremely close in significant strikes (31-29 Bodor), but it wasn't until after the twenty minute mark when Rosa was able to land a punch with significant power and drop Bodor. Rosa quickly swarmed and finished the fight.

Felipe Luiz Rosa will look to make it 3-0 in GAMMA later tonight when he will be matched up against Mantas Andreyev Fighting Systems fighter Gunnar Nilsson.

Non Tournament Fight

Lukas Pokorny (2-0) defeats Murray Darby (1-2) by TKO (Punches) at 0:16. (Good)

That was quick! Lukas Pokorny looked absolutely awesome tonight with a quick stoppage of Murry Darby. Darby falls to 1-2 in GAMMA, including a thirty minute decision loss to highly ranked Heavyweight Vincent Chapin. For Pokorny to finish Darby so quickly is extremely impressive.

GAMMA 10 Heavyweight Tournament Finals

Gunnar Nilsson (2-0) defeats Felipe Luiz Rosa (2-1) by Submission (Armbar) at 4:53. (Great)

Nilsson was just simply too strong and bullish for Rosa who was pushed around the cage, taken down multiple times, and ultimately submitted. Rosa wanted to stand at range and strike Nilsson, but I'm not sure that is possible as Nilsson relentlessly closes the distance and fights you right up in your face. His brute strength allows him to take you down at will too.

I think Gunnar Nilsson is a future superstar for GAMMA. The debut of Gunnar Nilsson and Lukas Pokorny tonight tells me the future of the GAMMA Heavyweight division is in good shape as I could see both of them becoming highly ranked fighters very shortly.


Gunnar Nilsson had an amazing debut at GAMMA 10. His massive strength and relentless nature makes him GAMMA's top Heavyweight prospect. Big things are expected from him in the near future.

Mantas Andreyev (7-5) defeats Greg Atteveld (1-4) by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 8:48. (Good)

Atteveld drops his forth straight fight in the cage. Andreyev looked like he was simply better than Atteveld in every way. Andreyev was the better wrestler, striker, and submission fighter in this fight and eventually got Atteveld's back on the ground and submitted him.

This fight was billed as the #1 contender fight for the GAMMA Lightweight Championship and after the fight Scott Avatar jumped in the cage and confirmed that Andreyev is the top contender at Lightweight.

Greg Atteveld will probably ride off into the sunset following this fight. I suspect he'll either retire or pop up somewhere like ISL. They seem to be a good fit for him. He's clearly past his prime at this point.


The legendary Mantas Andreyev submitted Greg Atteveld at GAMMA 10 to earn a shot at the GAMMA Lightweight Championship.

Main Event



GAMMA Heavyweight Championship

Phil Verdigree (7-4) defeats Rick Stanley (9-5) by TKO (Punches) at 5:56 to become the NEW GAMMA Heavyweight Champion. (Great)

Vegas had this one wrong! Rick Stanley was the massive favorite coming in at -520 despite a prior defeat to Verdigree at 7. Stanley has now lost the GAMMA Heavyweight Championship on his first defense both times he has held it. Rick Stanley just doesn't look like he normally does when he fights Verdigree. It's hard to explain, but he's super tentative when he is matched up against another high level fighter, whereas he's laid back and lets his hands and feet go against guys who don't have the big power threat in their hands. If he's going to stay at the top of this division he needs to figure out what the hell goes on in his head when he steps into the cage with an elite striker.

The fight started with an extended feeling out process and neither guy wanted to put themselves at risk of getting caught. As the fight wore on, Verdigree began to land more and more clean, hard punches. Eventually a big left hook clipped Stanley and put him down. A flurry of follow up shots resulted in the referee jumping in to save Stanley.


Big Phil Verdigree knocked out Rick Stanley to become the new GAMMA Heavyweight Champion at GAMMA 10.

Critical Rating: Great
Commercial Rating: Good
Attendance: 3,862 for a gate of $461,700
PPV Buyrate: 76,950

-GAMMA Bonuses-

Fight of the Night: Felipe Luiz Rosa vs. Bence Bodor
Knockout of the Night: Phil Verdigree
Submission of the Night: Gunnar Nilsson

[dubb93]

Blurcat has released their updated GAMMA rankings.

Heavyweight



Champion: Phil Verdigree (7-4)
1. Gary Sampson (8-2)
2. Vincent Chapin (8-5)
3. Rick Stanley (9-5)
4. Gunnar Nilsson (2-0)
5. Graham Goodbody (6-4)
6. Jack Cobblepot (2-3)
7. Barry Strachan (2-1)
8. Felipe Luiz Rosa (2-1)
9. Norman Pike (2-2)
10. Luka Pokorny (1-0)

Lightweight



Champion: Joaquim Fontes (12-4)
1. Mantas Andreyev (7-5)
2. Thais Antonio Taffarel (1-0)
3. Sean Morrison (1-0)
4. Bill Cumming (3-4)
5. Josh Aldarisio (1-0)
6. Arthur Franco (1-1)
7. Mick Curran (1-2)
8. Pedro Sousa (1-3)

Author's Note: I figured this may help you guys follow along better with all the new fighters being added. I felt kinda lost myself. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I don't think the newcomers will be stopping anytime soon. GAMMA is going to be forced to hold shows more frequently to maintain pace with the other companies and that means more fighters are going to be required.

The current plan is to update the lists about two or three times a year.

[dubb93]

Friday Week 2, December 1993

GAMMA sent out their last presser of the year today.

GAMMA will return to our home base with GAMMA 11: Best Served Cold, live from the LMN Grand Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

What is "Best Served Cold" you ask? Revenge! The Pay-Per-View event will be headlined by the return of former GAMMA World Heavyweight Champion Gary Sampson as he will seek payback on the man who knocked him out five month ago, Graham Goodbody.

The event will also feature the return of the former 2x GAMMA World Heavyweight Rick Stanley. Rick Stanley will face the hard hitting Brazilian Felipe Luiz Rosa in the evenings Co-Main Event. Expect even more great fights to be added to the card as we get closer to the day of the show, including the all important reveal of the fighters who will be taking part in the GAMMA 11 Heavyweight Tournament.

GAMMA 11 isn't the only event we are ready to announce! Early 1994 will be a busy and exciting time for fans of GAMMA. In February, GAMMA returns to cable TV with GAMMA Live! From Detroit. It will air live on National Pride TV and will be our biggest free show yet! Expect the return of top Heavyweight prospect Gunnar Nilsson as well as GAMMA's first free tournament! Four of the top Lightweight contenders in the world will battle it out on free TV in a single night tournament. The winner of the tournament will shoot straight to the top of the contenders list and will earn themselves a shot at the GAMMA Lightweight Championship later in the year.

Speaking of the GAMMA Lightweight Championship, GAMMA Lightweight Champion Joaquim Fontes will return in early April to do battle with the top contender, the legendary Mantas Andreyev at GAMMA 12: Legacy. Both men seek to secure their "Legacy" as GAMMA's premier fighter in the Lightweight Division. Live in Ohio? Join us in Cincinnati for this star studded event. Tickets go on sell tomorrow!

Also in April, GAMMA returns to Hollywood with GAMMA 13: The Tournament. What Tournament you ask? How about the return of the single night, eight man tournament format, only this time in the Lightweight Division? You read that right! GAMMA will be returning to the eight man tournament format for GAMMA 13! How can we top that? How about we add the GAMMA Heavyweight Championship fight between Phil Verdigree and Vincent Chapin to the top of the bill? This could be the biggest card in GAMMA's history!

These are very exciting times to be a fan of GAMMA! 1994 will be the year of GAMMA!

[dubb93]

Monday Week 1, January 1994

Sad that 1993 has wound to it's conclusion? Don't be! Blurcat is here with the a recap of the best that 1993 had to offer in MMA.

Happy to be a year wiser? Don't be! Blurcat is here to bring you down with the worst that MMA had to offer in 1993!

Company Rankings

1. ALPHA-1: Japanese Mixed Martial Arts (ALPHA-1)
--Mid Level National and based in Japan
2. Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA)
--Low Level National and based in America
3. International Shoot League (ISL)
--High Level Regional and based in Japan
4. HILITE Fighting (HILITE)
--Low Level Regional and based in America

1993 MMA Awards, presented by Blurcat

Fighter of the Year
Graham Goodbody

Rookie of the Year
Noach Van Der Capellen (Undefeated in ISL, now signed with ALPHA-1)

Show of the Year
The GAMMA Tournament of Champions

Fight Team of the Year
Mantas Andreyev Fighting Systems

Rise of the Year
Vincent Chapin (He did have a great year with wins over Eugene Clough, Stan Blackheath, and Graham Goodbodyx2. His run to the finals of the ToC was amazing as well. Pretty good for a guy who was just 4-3 coming into this year. I may have given it to someone else though, as Vincent has now won this award twice in three years. I guess that goes to show how bad his really 1992 was. He was 1-2 in 1992, including a bad loss to Norman Pike.)

Fall of the Year
Bokkai Iida (Went 2-2 this year in ISL after previously being ranked as the #8 ranked fighter in the entire world.)

Fight of the Year
Phil Verdigree vs. Pedro Sousa at The GAMMA Tournament of Champions

Worst Fight of the Year
Zachary Gilbert vs. Yoshinobu Tanaka at ISL 12

Knock Out of the Year
Noach Van Der Capellen knocks out Bokkai Iida at ISL "Head to Head" in June

Submission of the Year
Joaquim Fontes submits Atshushi Nakajima at GAMMA 9

Main Event of the Year
Phil Verdigree vs. Rick Stanley at GAMMA 10

Upset of the Year
Zachary Gilbert defeats Yoshinobu Tanaka at ISL 12

[dubb93]

Monday Week 2, January 1994

Breaking news being reported by Blurcat.

There is some controversy following last night's ISL Head to Head show from Kanto, Japan. In the main event of the evening, feared striker Chew Chua extended his undefeated streak to 3-0 by defeating the man regarded as one of the top fighters in the world, the undefeated and revered Oleg Dorosklov. Chua scored the victory by third round technical Knock Out. This victory earned Chew Chua the ISL Light Heavyweight Championship.

This is where the controversy began. Following the event, Chua surrendered his title, thanked the fans for all the support they have showed him, and revealed that he is heading to GAMMA. We contacted GAMMA who confirmed that they had a signed contract with the new ISL champion.

Chua's reputation as a striker is fearsome. Will GAMMA rush a "Champion vs. Champion" fight? Only time will tell.

[dubb93]

Friday Week 2, January 1994

GAMMA called their GAMMA 11: Best Served Cold Press Conference.



Scott Avatar took to the podium as he played to the media in attendance. He talked at length about the main event of the card between Gary Sampson and Graham Goodbody. "Sampson took some time away from the cage after Goodbody knocked him out. He went to train with Rick Stanley in Philly. Good things are coming from that camp. Sampson, Stanley, Chapin, Morrison all train there. Gary really picked a good place to be at. Gary begged me for this fight. He says he's in the best shape of his life," added Avatar.

Avatar then revealed the entire fight card for GAMMA 11.

Gary Sampson vs. Graham Goodbody
Rick Stanley vs. Felipe Luiz Rosa
Jack Cobblepot vs. Norman Pike
Mick Curran vs. Osmosis Benn

GAMMA 11 Heavyweight Tournament
Waly da Cunha vs. Randall Donnelly
Tim Boyer vs. Edward Zahn

"We got some serious new fighters debuting at this event. Let me tell ya about these guys," Avatar began.

Osmosis Benn



Osmosis Benn, 21, is a huge signing for GAMMA. The Lightweight fighter is a solid 205, and a former high level NCAA collegiate wrestler. Benn was the national runner-up last year in his weight class, but after he was ruled academically ineligible for his senior year he turned to MMA. He debuts in GAMMA with high expectations.

Tim Boyer



Boyer is a giant in the cage at 6'7 and weighting in at 250+. At twenty-eight, Boyer is veteran no-holds barred fighter from Canada. He uses his long arms to destroy his opponents with jabs.

Waly da Cunha



The twenty year old Brazilian gave up a promising Muay Thai career to begin training MMA and fight in GAMMA.

Randall Donnelly



Randall Donnelly, 21, is another collegiate wrestler who has turned his attention to MMA. Donnelly wasn't as successful as Benn, but he was about middle of the pack at his Junior College in Oregon. Unlike Benn, who couldn't make the grades, Donnelly's college wrestling career ended when he got into trouble with the law.

Edward Zahn



The twenty-five year old Zahn is a roughneck from Texas with a reputation for being wildy unpredictable. Some say Zahn may be off his rocker, but one thing is certain, he's got some heavy hands. Zahn has been fighting anybody and everybody since, roughly, the time he started walking.

Avatar ended the event by doing his standard hard sell for GAMMA 11.

[dubb93]

Friday Week 4, January 1994

GAMMA 11: Best Served Cold Official Weight-In

Main Event
Gary Sampson (8-2) [251] vs. Graham Goodbody (6-4) [265]

Rick Stanley (9-5) [235] vs. Felipe Luiz Rosa (2-1) [237]
Jack Cobblepot (2-3) [265] vs. Norman Pike (2-2) [210]
Mick Curran (1-2) [201] vs. Osmosis Benn (MMA Debut) [185]

GAMMA 11 Heavyweight Tournament
Waly da Cunha (MMA Debut) [231] vs. Randall Donnelly (MMA Debut) [239]
Tim Boyer (MMA Debut) [253] vs. Edward Zahn (MMA Debut) [206]

*Weight in []
**Predictions, Comments, and Feedback are welcome!

[dubb93]

Saturday Week 4, January 1994



Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts presents

GAMMA 11: Best Served Cold

Live from Las Vegas, Nevada

GAMMA 11 Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Finals

Tim Boyer (1-0) defeats Edward Zahn (0-1) by TKO (Punches) at 4:32. (Decent)

Tim Boyer was extremely impressive in his debut fight. He used long straight punches from his 6'7 frame and even tossed in some brutal leg kicks. He showed a complete striking game here.

It was those leg kicks that quickly wore Zahn down and allowed Boyer to tee off on a stationary Zahn. It was an awesome strategy to watch play out, and it was Boyer's amazing power that allowed it to be employed.

Randall Donnelly (1-0) defeats Waly da Cunha (0-1) by Knock Out (Punch) at 5:24. (Great)

Woah!

Waly was awesome in this fight. He really made Randall Donnelly look slow and lumbering by comparison. I don't know if he got too comfortable in the striking game, but out of nowhere Donnelly leveled Waly with a right cross and knocked him completely stiff. The announcer at cage side said Waly da Cunha looked like Frankenstein after he got whacked.

Donnelly has got some freakin' power!

Non-Tournament Fights

Osmosis Benn (1-0) defeats Mick Curran (1-3) by TKO (Punches) at 3:16. (Great)

It only took a single takedown attempt from the fearsome wrestler, Osmosis Benn, to set the end of this fight in motion. Benn shot in hard and fast and put Curran on his back. He passed guard all the way to full mount and pounded him out with strikes from the top.

Osmosis Benn is the highest level wrestler to debut in GAMMA since Vincent Chapin. The difference between the two is Benn's youth. That makes his takedown attempts faster and more powerful. At only 21, Benn could be a nightmare for alot of GAMMA fighters for a long time coming.

Norman Pike (3-2) defeats Jack Cobblepot (2-4) by Decision. (Average)

I'll start this by saying I had the fight scored for Jack Cobblepot. It was a close fight and the judges went the other way. That said this was a huge win for Norman Pike against a fighter higher up the rankings than he is.

The striking battle was extremely close in this fight [55-54 in significant strikes in favor of Pike]. Bearing that in mind, the majority of the fight (about 20 minutes) was fought with Norman Pike's back to the cage and Jack Cobblepot being the one to push (and hold) him up against it. Still, I will say again, this was a big win for Norman Pike that should push him up the rankings. He could even be in line for a title eliminator after this one.

GAMMA 11 Heavyweight Tournament Finals

Tim Boyer (2-0) defeats Randall Donnelly (1-1) by Knock Out (Knee) at 3:05. (Good)

Boyer showed off some great kicks again this fight with both kicks to the legs and the body. It became clear early in the fight that Boyer wanted to soften Donnelly up and get him to a clinch. Donnelly was able to fight it off for a few minutes, but eventually the kicks took their toll and Boyer ended the fight with a picture perfect knee from the clinch.

It will be interesting to see how far Boyer is able to go in GAMMA. His striking is a truly beautiful thing to watch. He is going to really beat some people up in the cage. Donnelly is a wrestler, but at what level his wrestling is at is still not known. I would have liked to see Donnelly shoot in on Boyer to get a real gauge for both guys wrestling. Alas, Donnelly had to be on the defensive the entire fight.

Boyer's takedown defense, or lack there of, will determine how far he is able to go in GAMMA. Right now we don't know anything about it, it could be great, or the top wrestlers could have him on his back the entire fight. If he can stay upright his ceiling is the title. There is no doubt that if he can build a great takedown defense around this striking game that he could be something special in the cage.


Tim Boyer showed extremely high level striking at GAMMA 11 to win the GAMMA 11 Heavyweight Tournament.

Rick Stanley (10-5) defeats Felipe Luiz Rosa (2-2) by TKO (Punches) at 6:01. (Great)

Rosa was probably in over his head here if we are being honest, but I will give props for stepping up and taking on Rick Stanley. He also did a good job to survive the early fight Rick Stanley flurry and actually make a fight of it. Stanley had Rosa on queer street less than a minute into the fight, but couldn't finish it.

Stanley was able to finish it at about the six minute mark with a flurry of punches standing. He then followed him to the ground where the referee stopped the fight. This was a solid, if not spectacular, bounce-back fight for Stanley after losing his title at GAMMA 10.


Rick Stanley started his quest to become GAMMA's only three time Heavyweight Champion with his TKO victory over Felipe Luiz Rosa at GAMMA 11.

Main Event

Gary Sampson (9-2) defeats Graham Goodbody (6-5) by Decision. (Poor)

It wasn't the greatest fight in GAMMA's history, but it was the fight Gary Sampson needed, as revenge is his over Graham Goodbody. I agree with the judges, even if I was a bit surprised that Sampson had so much trouble with Goodbody. I thought coming in that Goodbody's victory over Sampson at ToC was a fluke punch and this would be closer to their GAMMA 4 fight that Sampson completely dominated, but as closely matched as these two actually are I'm not so sure now that these guys aren't a coin flip fight.

What makes Goodbody such a tough matchup for Sampson is Sampson's inability to get Goodbody off his feet. Goodbody is a larger (and possibly more skilled) wrestler than Sampson. The only way that Sampson can get Goodbody off his feet is to send him down by strikes. I think we have all seen enough Graham Goodbody at this point to know that probably isn't going to happen. The man may have the best chin in MMA.

I wish I could go into detail about the thirty minutes of action in this fight, but it was just thirty minutes of rather boring standup and clinching. Neither fighter was in any trouble at any time and the fight was really even throughout. Had Goodbody won the decision I would have been a bit up in arms, but there wouldn't have been a riot or anything.

After Sampson's title run where he won the title and then defended it three times in dominant fashion, one would think he has to be at the very top of the contender's list after this fight. Right? Time will tell, Scott Avatar didn't confirm or deny anything relating to the title picture after the fight.


Gary Sampson was the most dominant champion GAMMA has had in the company's history. After defeating Graham Goodbody tonight it is safe to say that Gary Sampson is back! The entire Heavyweight Division has been put on notice.

Critical Rating: Decent
Commercial Rating: Average
Attendance: 3,432 for a gate of $274,560
PPV Buyrate: 77,150

-GAMMA Bonuses-

Fight of the Night: Osmosis Benn vs. Mick Curran
Knockout of the Night: Randall Donnelly

[dubb93]

Do the readers think there was enough star power on the GAMMA 11 card to make up for the fact that there was no title fight?

Mantas Andreyev is laid up with an elbow injury and Phil Verdigree won't be ready until late March, at the earliest, to defend his title. That forced the move. Both are on schedule for their GAMMA 12 and GAMMA 13 main event fights barring a setback. Surprisingly, Rick Stanley was rocking and ready to go despite his loss at GAMMA 10. That guy is literally ALWAYS ready for a fight.

[dubb93]

Friday Week 1, February 1994



GAMMA held the press conference for GAMMA Live! from Detroit today. Scott Avatar started the event by revealing the entire card:

Lightweight Tournament
Josh Aldarisio vs. Sean Morrison
Niko Soldo vs. Arthur Franco

Gunnar Nilsson vs. Barry Strachan

Scott Avatar revealed that the Main Event of the fight card would be the finals of the Lightweight Tournament. He said that the tournament, GAMMA's first being held on free TV, would really flesh out the Lightweight Division. "Whoever wins this tournament is next in line behind Mantas Andreyev. The winner will meet the Fontes-Andreyev winner, probably in July or August."

Moving on, the media asked Avatar about Sean Morrison's mouth and how much smack he has been talking since he joined GAMMA. Avatar replied, "It isn't something we are used to, but I kinda like it. He said he was going to break Bill Cumming's arm and he finished him with an armbar. This is the fight game. If you can back it up, you can say whatever you want." Later during the question and answer session Avatar added, "The guy [Morrison] is going to keep doing it. He already broke news of the fight with Aldarisio early by talking to you guys. We talked with him about that and he knows that was the wrong thing to do, but once it's official he can say whatever he wants. You know, he better be able to back it up though or you guys will really hammer him."

Avatar then introduced the lone new-comer appearing on this card:

Niko Soldo


Avatar was extremely excited when talking about Soldo. He had a damn good reason to be excited about Niko. The twenty-five year old Soldo, a Croatian National, is a former World Champion kickboxer. Even though Soldo never met Rick Stanley in an organized kickboxing fight, it wasn't until Stanley transitioned to MMA that Soldo began to rise in the kickboxing ranks. In 1993 Soldo accomplished the feat that Stanley tried and failed multiple times. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix in Japan.

The talk moved on to Gunnar Nilsson. "He's not in the conversation about a title fight right now. He's still new to the sport, he really needs to concentrate on Barry Strachan. This will be a tough fight for him. He gets past him then we can begin to talk. Don't sleep on Barry. The guy is 2-1 in GAMMA and he's ranked in the top 10 at Heavyweight."

Avatar finished the press conferance by telling everyone that this is the biggest TV card that GAMMA has had. "I can't think of any reason to miss this card. These guys are the future of GAMMA."

[dubb93]

Thursday Week 3, February 1994

GAMMA Live! From Detroit Official Weight-In

GAMMA Lightweight Tournament
Josh Aldarisio (1-0) [170] vs. Sean Morrison (1-0) [155]
Niko Soldo (MMA Debut) [205] vs. Arthur Franco (1-1) [205]

Gunnar Nilsson (2-0) [265] vs. Barry Strachan (2-1) [240]

*Weight in []
**Comments and Predictions are always welcome