It’s been a while since we could opine about Kimbo, but he has finally shed his indecision and has signed on to appear on The Ultimate Fighter season 10. Rumors had been swirling over the last few months and we can finally rejoice that Slice will not try his hand at boxing. Instead he will try to crack some heads and get himself into the UFC, a winning situation for both he and the UFC, which will most likely garner its highest ratings for the history of TUF.
Kimbo’s not the only man with Florida ties on TUF 10, as former Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive tackle Marcus Jones will vie for the open UFC contract. Jones has a stellar athletic resume and now stands at 4-1 in mixed martial arts competition. A football player at the University of North Carolina, Jones was selected in the first round of the 1996 NFL draft.
Mike Brown cemented his status as the world’s top featherweight, as he successfully defended his title against Urijah Faber at WEC 41. The event was held in Faber’s backyard, but was hampered when Urijah broke his hand in two places early in the fight. Faber battled like a warrior and went the distance, but Mike Brown was too much. The match ended in a unanimous decision for Brown.
Note to self, don’t mock Bobby Lashley. Mike Cook made that mistake and was submitted in just 24 seconds via the guillotine choke. Cook came to the ring in a pro wrestling mask, which just made Lashley angry. Lashley, who has been training out of ATT Coconut Creek, is now 3-0 in MMA competition. He faces the biggest challenge of his young career, literally, when he takes on the 345 pound Bob Sapp at “Ultimate Chaos” on June 27th in Biloxi, Mississippi. Sapp was the winner of the K-1 Japan GP in 2005.
It all starts and ends at the Hard Rock for the Bellator Fighting Championships, whose season 1 finals will be held on June 19th. Bellator’s season started at Hard Rock Live on April 3rd. You can find full coverage of the event on pages 6 and 7.
The Power Rankings are here at last. Where is your favorite local fighter ranked? The first installment of the Left Hook Productions Power Rankings are on page 5. Want to be a referee at the next Florida fight event? We hope you didn’t miss the ISKA referee seminar at the end of March. You can find coverage of the event on page 10 of this issue.
A new player hit the scene at the War Memorial on April 24th, as the Streetwise Fight League broke onto the scene. The event was headlined by two ISKA MMA Championship bouts. You can find out more on pages 8 and 9.
Sensei Daniel Pineda shares his thoughts on the martial arts and some of his history on pages 3 and 4. He runs the Martial Arts Training Academy in Hollywood.
