MFC sent out a press release to announce the signing.

Once thought to be the “next big thing” in the 205 division after knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in the PRIDE organization, Sokoudjou has failed to find consistency in the sport following a short-lived run in the UFC that saw him post a 1-2 record. Since being released by the company in 2008, the Cameroon native has fought for various organizations, including Strikeforce, DREAM, and Shark Fights against the likes of Gegard Mousasi, Renato Sobral, and Houston Alexander. He’s currently on a three fight win streak.

“The Real Deal” is on a win streak of his own, one that is five times longer than Sokoudjou’s run. During the course of his 15 fight win streak, Jimmo has defeated UFC veterans Marvin Eastman and Wilson Gouveia, along with fighters such as Emanuel Newton and Zak Cummings. Often criticized for his less than spectacular performances, Jimmo will be looking to put on a show against “The African Assassin”

MFC 31 in scheduled for October 7 at the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.

*PHOTO CREDIT – MFC*

The evening will be a particularly memorable one for Shonie Carter though unfortunately for the wrong reasons. “Mr. International” found himself on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against local product Jeremy Knafo, who was making his professional debut, and openly questioned his future in the sport shortly after the defeat. Whether or not he will retire remains to be seen, but the possibility was certainly laid out there by Carter.

Also losing based on the judges’ scorecards to a lesser-experienced Israeli, former WEC lightweight champ and one-time challenger for the UFC’s 155-pound title Hermes Franca was outpointed by Moshe Kaitz who had been 2-2 entering the bout. The loss was Franca’s sixth in his last seven fights.

However, while Franca and Carter fell at the event, a handful of their Zuffa-stamped brethren were able to escape unscathed including Frank Trigg, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Jeff Monson, and Ricco Rodriguez.

Sokoudjou got back on the winning track against Valdas Pocevicius, a Lithuanian with more than 60 fights under his belt, after having lost back-to-back bouts by way of TKO.

Former UFC heavyweight champ Rodriguez, who faced 16-4-3 Daniel Tabera, also won via decision in what was to be his unveiling at 205 lbs. (he came in around ten pounds over). Rodriguez has now notched a victory in ten straight in-ring appearances.

Scoring a finish at the event, Monson submitted 26-year old Russian Sergey Shemetov with a Keylock a little over four minutes into the first round of their match-up, while Trigg had the night’s only knockout. “The Snowman” was later challenged by Rodriguez to a future scrap after having also stated his interest in making a divisional drop.

Meanwhile, “Twinkletoes” Trigg had the night’s only knockout, pounding Roy Neeman out less than three minutes into their catch-weight affair after dropping him to the mat with some well-places strikes.

Here is the rundown of remaining results from “IFC – Genesis”:

Roy Peretz def. Fabrice Riconneau via Submission Round 1 (Triangle Choke)
Ido Pariente def. Joshua Hewlett via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Vitali Karberski def. Serob Minasyan via Unanimous Decision
Thiago Meller def. Ariel Abargel via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Alexandro Ceconi def. Vitaly Shemetov via Submission Round 1(Triangle Choke)
Daniel Gracie def. Martin Wojcik via Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)

Jardine found himself on the wrong side of a split-decision to opponent Trevor Prangley at the event after being dropped early with strikes, then battling back in the bout’s closing moments with a late flurry leaving Prangley somewhat stunned but ultimately unfinished. As a result of the outcome, the 15-9-1 Greg Jackson staple has now notched losses in five consecutive bouts and in seven of his last nine in-ring appearances.

His opponent, Prangley, improved his record to 23-6-1 with the performance and is now 6-1-1 in his previous eight bouts.

Like Jardine, fellow light heavyweight Houston Alexander found himself in trouble during his respective bout’s opening frame but was more successful at overcoming the damage sustained. Alexander appeared to be fighting on fumes after absorbing a few clean shots from Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou early in the fight. However, the tables quickly turned in the second round, as Alexander put Sokoudjou on the canvas with a series of punches against the cage and eventually pounded him out for the TKO win.

The victory brought Alexander’s record to 11-6 while Sokoudjou is now 9-7 in his career.

Here is a complete list of results from Shark Fights 13:

Eric Davila def. Pete Spratt via Submission Round 2 (Guillotine Choke)
Daniel Straus def. Karen Darabedyan via Unanimous Decision
Aaron Rosa def. Devin Cole via Unanimous Decision
Ronnie Mann def. Douglas Evans via Split Decision
Paul Bradley def. Johnny Rees via Submission Round 1(Rear-Naked Choke)
Tarec Saffiedine def. Brock Larson via Unanimous Decision
Danillo Villefort def. Joey Villasenor via Unanimous Decision
Paul Daley def. Jorge Masvidal via Split Decision
Houston Alexander def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO Round 2
Trevor Prangley def. Keith Jardine via Split Decision

Comparably, Masvidal weighed in at 168.75 pounds and will be looking for a second consecutive win by beating the powerful striker. He is 20-5 in his career and most recently won a split decision over Naoyuki Kotani last April.

The evening’s main event between Keith Jardine and Trevor Prangley had no such stumbling blocks with both fighters actually coming in below the “205″ mark. Jardine registered in at 204.5 pounds, while sometimes-middleweight Prangley came in at 202.75 pounds.

Here is a complete rundown of results from the Shark Fights 13 weigh-in:

Pete Spratt (170.25 lbs) vs. Eric Davila (176.5 lbs)*
Karen Darabedyan (155.75 lbs) vs. Daniel Straus (152.75 lbs)
Devin Cole (233.25 lbs) vs. Aaron Rosa (241.75 lbs)
Paul Bradley (170.5 lbs) vs. John Reese (169.25 lbs)
Douglas Evans (144.25 lbs) vs. Ronnie Mann (144.75 lbs)
Brock Larson (170.75 lbs) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (169.75 lbs)
Joey Villasenor (185.5 lbs) vs. Danillo Villefort (184.5 lbs)
Paul Daley (171.75 lbs) vs. Jorge Masvidal (168.75 lbs)**
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204.5 lbs) vs. Houston Alexander (202.25 lbs)
Keith Jardine (204.5 lbs) vs. Trevor Prangley (202.75 lbs)

* – Spratt agreed to a catch-weight bout with Davila
** – Daley will forfeit 10% of his “show” pay to Masvidal for the infraction

Sokoudjou rebounded from consecutive losses at the hands of Luiz Arthur Cane and Renato “Babalu” Sobral when he stopped the much larger Jan Nortge by TKO with a storm of punches in the first round of the DREAM Super Hulk Tournament .

The Team Quest fighter fell under a great amount of criticism after failing to cease his assault on the fallen Nortje when the referee called a halt to the action. Sokoudjou recently apologized for his actions on the latest episode of Inside MMA.

Mousasi is fresh off of his first round submission over Mark Hunt at the same Super Hulk Tournament that was held on May 26, 2009. He has gone undefeated in his last twelve straight bouts.

Recent reports have speculated that Mousasi will be facing off with Renato Sobral at the upcoming Affliction III: Trilogy event as well.

FiveOuncesofPain.com originally reported the matchup as being finalized upon hearing the news Friday afternoon from Mousasi’s manager, Apy Echteld. However, additional sources within M-1 Global later informed the site that the Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou fight is still tentative.

Mousasi, 24-2-1, has not competed in an MMA bout since winning the DREAM middleweight Grand Prix after defeating Ronald “Jacare” Souza during the finals on Sept. 23, 2008.

Sokoudjou, 5-4, is currently on a two-fight losing streak that began at UFC 89 against Luiz Cane this past October following a second round TKO. He was defeated in his most recent fight against Renato “Babalu” Sobral during Affliction and M-1′s “Day of Reckoning” in January.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com first became aware of Sokoudjou having been dropped from the UFC roster last week but could not find a second source for verification. However, published reports have surfaced on the Internet today confirming his release.

Sokoudjou’s release comes as the culmination of a disappointing stint in the UFC that began with high hopes. An accomplished Judoka hailing from Cameroon, Sokoudjou became an overnight success while competing for the PRIDE Fighting Championships.

Entering the promotion with a 2-1 record, many considered Sokoudjou a significant underdog during an encounter at PRIDE 33 in February of 2007 in which he was matched up against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Despite the long odds, Sokoudjou managed to upset the native Brazilian with a knockout just 23 seconds into the bout.

Sokoudjou returned a couple of months later at PRIDE 34 in April of the same year and was matched up against another renowned Brazilian light heavyweight in Ricardo Arona. Despite his win over Nogueira, Sokoudjou was still pegged as the underdog. However, lightning struck twice with Sokoudjou knocking out Arona at 1:59 into the first round.

After becoming a free agent following Zuffa’s acquisition of PRIDE, Sokoudjou negotiated with several promotions before inking a deal with the UFC late last year. After signing with the organization, he was immediately thrown into the fire last December at UFC 79 with another talented Brazilian light heavyweight. This time, Sokoudjou would not be nearly as successful as he submitted to an arm triangle at the hands of the undefeated Lyoto Machida at 4:20 of round 2.

Sokoudjou rebounded at UFC 84 with a first round TKO over Kazuhiro Nakamura after Nakamura was unable to continue into the second round because of a leg injury. However, Sokoudjou’s winning ways would be short lived after being TKO’d a 4:15 of round 2 against Luis Cane at UFC 89 last month.

While I have not seen the event in its entirety, I have watched clips online and have also seen the infamous Ferrall video that is currently making the rounds.

Maybe I’m biased because I’ve listened to Ferrall since high school. I am a huge fan of his and listen to his show on Sirius Satellite Radio on an almost nightly basis. That’s the thing though — I’ve heard Ferrall and know what he’s about.

Ferrall is unique and doesn’t believe in presenting a cookie cutter template sports talk show. Nothing that he does is conventional. His style isn’t for everyone, but there are a lot of people who enjoy his show. Myself included.

Ferrall is great in the right role but putting him in as a ring announcer was short-sighted on the part of the organizers of YAMMA. To expect Ferrall to come in and play the role of traditional ring announcer — if that’s what they expected — was just unrealistic.

To think Ferrall wasn’t going to try and add his personal flair to the introductions in an attempt to make them more interesting is just ignorant. YAMMA is either at fault for not doing their homework or if they were familiar with Ferrall, then they are at fault for not casting him in a role that he was better suited for.

To me, the natural fit for someone as charismatic as Ferrall is as a backstage interviewer. The guy is all personality so why make him the ring announcer, which is traditionally a role where you have to restrain your personality? Let him talk to the fighters and see if he can ask them irreverent questions and draw something out of them.

To those who continue to rip the guy, chances are you’re not familiar with his sports talk show. Because if you were, you’d understand that the guy was just doing what he makes a living at doing every day. If you’re going to blame someone, you should blame YAMMA.

The fact that Ferrall’s presence on the show wasn’t promoted at all is another issue. Perhaps if they did, more of his listeners would have gone down there to check out the event. And if Ferrall had been playing to a more favorable crowd, his routine would have come off much differently. Instead, you had him trying to throw out one-liners that were met with absolutely no response. Trying to revolutionize the role of the ring announcer in front of a dead audience just wasn’t a good idea in hindsight.  Put him in front of a crowd that understands what he’s all about, and the end result might have been different.

The funny thing is that in the days proceeding the event, Ferrall has gotten more attention from the MMA media than any fighter involved on that card. That can either be a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, at least YAMMA is getting some publicity. On the other hand, the tournament was supposed to build new stars and it’s not a good sign when more people are talking about your ring announcer than your tournament winner.

Pics by freelance photog Andrew Gehman

Check out Results and Commentary for YAMMA here.

If you didn’t watch the inaugural YAMMA Pit Fighting then God has smiled upon you this day.

It was seriously terrible. There was a novelty value for all of about 10 minutes but once it wore off you found yourself watching some very sloppy and very unexciting MMA, with terrible, terrible commentary.

The show was a train wreck which I couldn’t take my eyes off. But in all great disasters there are lessons learned, so it is without any further waffle I provide, 10 things learned from YAMMA Pit Fighting.

10. John Peretti should not be a commentator.

If you remember back to the early UFC’s, John Peretti was the UFC matchmaker and would frequently be in the commentary box and would provide little to no insight. Nothing much has changed. Peretti’s commentary would consist of either saying Sherman Pendergarst was “built like a sprinter” (the relevance of that I have no idea) or he would either make disparaging remarks about the fighters appearance or what they were doing. The guy basically spewed negativity and showcased basically no knowledge of the sport. If YAMMA continues beyond this event, they seriously need to ditch Peretti. Beck and Blatnik are OK for nostalgic purposes but they really need a fighter in the booth to give at least some sort of insight. Let me narrow that down, a fighter who isn’t Ron Waterman. Was anyone else like “WTF?” when he just showed up randomly?

9. Butterbean should stick to boxing.

There’s that small part of me I try to hide that loves the “freakshow” aspect of MMA. That small part of me most likely got me to watch this event and it also keeps me interested in the career of Eric “Butterbean” Esch. However after tonight I can safely say I never want to watch Butterbean in an MMA arena ever again. His fight with Patrick Smith was just mean. There was something about watching Butterbean stuck on his back like a turtle, unable to get up while Smith just wailed on him that made me feel uneasy. Butterbean should either go back to boxing where he doesn’t have to worry about that aspect or just hang up the gloves.

8. Scott Ferrall is… just no.

Some of you will probably disagree with me and say that ring announcer Scott Ferrall was the best thing about the whole show and for the first 10 minutes of listening to him croak out the verbal diarrhoea he calls announcing I would have agreed with you. For that 10 minutes I was laughing along with the rest of you while shaking my head at the absurdity of it all but then after having to sit through the fights and then struggle to make out the clutter of words he was moaning I was pretty much over Scott Ferrall. The novelty had worn off and when he labelled the YAMMA heavyweight belt as the “big strap on” I was pretty much begging for a large hook to come in from off screen and pull him out of view. The only time I will ever watch anything starring Scott Ferrall again is if it is a deathmatch between he and Rich “G Man” Goins.

7. Ricco Rodriguez looked bad.

Admittedly, I am not a fan of Ricco’s. I’m not a fan of the way he acts or carries himself but tonight I kind of felt sorry for him. The guy used to be the UFC heavyweight champion but now he finds himself fighting in this… thing. If he had won the thing there would have been some dignity in that but to go out in the second round after being laid on for five minutes was just sad. Add to that the fact he looked really out of shape and really slow and you have a very depressing concoction.

6. Mark Kerr looked worse.

Mark Kerr used to be the most feared MMA fighter in the world. Mark Kerr used to be a physical specimen. But as John Peretti so bluntly pointed out during Kerr’s walk in, “he didn’t use to look like that.” Gone are the days of the muscular frame and the ferocious ground and pound. They have been replaced my the lumbering shell of a former fighter. Congratulations to Taktarov for getting the knee bar submission victory, but really what else did Kerr have to watch out for?

5. Heavyweights probably wasn’t the best of ideas.

I know heavyweights are the marquee attraction in combat sports. The reason for this being that when you get huge, athletic and skilled guys fighting each other the stakes and scale seem so much more grander because the blows taken and received are so much more powerful. However heavyweight fights only work if the competitors are huge, athletic and skilled. Unfortunately there is a shortage of heavyweight fighters in this world who meet all the criteria. YAMMA didn’t have any of those fighters in their tournament and as a result we received a night of slow and sloppy action.

4. One five minute round is not enough time to determine the winner of a fight.

There was absolutely no closure in any of the fights in the first two rounds of the tournament (except for Sherman Pendergarst, forearm choke? WTF?!). I found it pretty hilarious in a sad kind of way that YAMMA was created on the premise that it was going to eliminate the wrestling/stalling tactics but in the end six out of the seven tournament fights ended in some form of lay and pray with the one five minute rounds in the opening stages of a tournament a major factor.

3. There is no place for 8 man tournaments in the modern day of MMA.

If YAMMA had their way I think we would have seen three 5 minute rounds for every fight in the tournament. However this isn’t the mid-90s. MMA now has to go through various athletic commissions that won’t allow fighters to fight more than 25 minutes each night. YAMMA worked with what they were given but you can’t work three fights into the 25 minute window without losing the spectacle. The audience just feels cheated when a fighter gets to proceed in a tournament after laying on a fighter for 5 minutes. There isn’t enough time for the fighters to work and in the end, the legitimacy of the title given to the eventual winner is tainted. MMA has moved on.

2. The Trump Taj Mahal was way too big for the YAMMA.

I don’t know what Bob Meyrowitz was expecting crowd-wise but he seemed to have pretty high hopes when he booked the Trump Taj Mahal. At the weigh-in on Thursday, Meyrowitz was expecting 1,000 people to show up… no one did. Sherdog.com reporter, Josh Gross described it as, “depressing”. There was a crowd at yesterday’s event but I think they basically filled up the first few rows and were made up mostly of Ricco Rodriguez’s immediate family. The venue was lighted in such a way that you couldn’t see past the few rows but when the camera panned up and you got a flash of the rest of the seating in the building, you saw that the arena was pretty much empty.

1. The YAMMA Pit does more harm than good.

Finally, number one on the list of things learned from the inaugural YAMMA Pit Fighting event. The pit was designed in order to negate stall tactics by wrestlers. I believe that’s why the cast of fighters were predominantly wrestlers to try and prove this point. That may have been the theory but that is not how things played out. The “height advantage” the fighter was meant to gain from standing on the raised part of the pit was completely non existant. The raised part of the pit only aided the wrestler in being able to achieve a double leg much easier. Countless times, the bigger, stronger fighter pushed his opponent to the raised part of the pit and simply scored the easy double leg takedown. For a show that was claiming they had eradicated “lay and pray” with their new revolutionary surface, they had more decision wins from that very method than I had ever seen in any other MMA show. Also I can’t imagine what it would have been like for the 5 or so people that attended who were on ground level and could only see the head of the fighter laying on top of his opponent due to the raised sides of the pit. The YAMMA Pit and the whole event in general basically proves that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

That’s all from me. I hope to never hear from the YAMMA again unless its their dismal live gate and PPV numbers.

Read more YAMMA Pit Fighting content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

The YAMMA

The only thing that I took from the YAMMA is that it promotes a lot of takedowns. There were a lot of wrestlers on the card so that probably had something to do with the amount of takedowns, but more often than not, when a fight hit the lip of the YAMMA, it went to the ground almost automatically. It’s certainly not the “revolutionary fastest fighting surface” that they talked it up to be nor did I expect that going in. I got exactly what I thought I would get and that was a lame gimmick that backfired in YAMMA’s faces. Instead of speeding the action up and creating scrambles, it created boring fights.

The Tournament

I know that YAMMA has no control over the amount of time that the fights could last during the tournament. That’s all up the the athletic commission, but the single five minute round format for the opening and semifinal bouts were way too short. One single five minute round doesn’t allow you to feel an opponent out and sort of work on a gameplan that you have for that particular fighter.

One takedown under this format and the fight was more or less over. With only five minutes to move onto the next round, it promoted a lot of lay ‘n pray and boring rounds because no one wanted to waste energy or risk losing the round and the fight. I know YAMMA doesn’t have a thing to do with this, but perhaps the next tournament (if they have one) should be fought in a state where they can increase the time limit on the fights.

Travis Wiuff ended up winning and being presented with possibly the most meaningless piece of metal in mixed martial arts, the YAMMA Pit Fighting heavyweight championship after his victory in the finals over Chris Tuscherer. The fight ended up being the fight of the night and even it wasn’t all that fantastic. Tuscherer impressed me, though. He trains out of Minnesota Martial Arts and was very tough to finish against a very experienced Wiuff. If there’s one fighter that came out of this with a great experience and something to build on, it was Tuscherer. He might be a heavyweight to keep an eye out for.

Sherman Pendergarst did exactly what we thought he would do and that’s get eliminated quickly. His fight was the only fight not to go the distance in the first round of the tournament. He looked totally out of shape and was visibly gassed in the middle of round one. Good work, Sherm.

There’s not really much to say about Ricco Rodriguez because he put up exactly the kind of performance you expect from him nowadays. He looked out of shape, but was able to put together one victory in the opening round of the tournament. When he ran into Wiuff in the second round of the tournament though, it was clear that Wiuff actually trained properly and came to fight for a full 25 minutes and that Ricco did not.

The Superfights

It’s time for Mark Kerr to hang it up. When you’re getting caught in kneebars that easily by Oleg Taktarov, it’s time to hang the gloves up. Kerr came in at his heaviest weight ever and was submitted easily by Taktarov in the opening minutes of the fight. Taktarov expressed after the fight that he wished he was one of the tournament participants and would like to compete in one in the future. You and me both, Oleg, but at 40 years old and with your history of fights, you aren’t getting licensed to fight in a tournament anytime soon.

I have to admit, I am an Oleg Taktarov fan from way back, so I was glad to see him get the W over Kerr tonight. A fight between these two in their prime is something that would have been great to see, but these days it has certainly lost its luster.

Butterbean vs. Pat Smith was a real sight to behold. Butterbean was looking to land the haymaker right hand and Smith stayed out of range and peppered him with punches and leg kicks standing up. The funniest part of this fight was really a tossup for me. Was it Butterbean’s piss poor attempts at leg kicks? Or was it when he fell down and literally was so huge that he couldn’t get back to his feet? Definitely the latter.

When Butterbean fell to his back, he was a beached whale. He literally could not get up and Pat Smith capitalized. Smith wasn’t even holding Butterbean down with his body. No, he was just kneeling beside him and punching him in the face on the ground. Butterbean showed no attempt to get to guard or anything and just let Smith literally kneel right next to him and punch him in the face repeatedly. In my opinion, the referee could have stepped in and stopped it much sooner, but he had to be dumbfounded by the position. Any other fighter would simply have gotten up. For Butterbean, that was too tall a task.

Pat Smith then proceeded to thank the entire state of Texas, person by person, in his post fight interview.

The Production

It had its ups and downs. Personally I enjoyed the commentary team which consisted of long time UFC announcer Jeff Blatnick, former UFC announcer Bruce Beck, and former UFC matchmaker John Peretti, who also used to do UFC broadcasts from time to time. That crew brought back some memories from the early days of the UFC, which I think was the point. Meyrowitz pulled these guys out of the woodwork for a reason. I specifically always enjoy listening to Blatnick because he brings a lot of knowledge to the announce booth, so I give them credit on getting this crew together. With the exception of an awkward statement from Peretti from time to time, the crew was pretty good.

The camera work and the overall production is something that definitely need work. For example, when there are key moments in a fight why would I want a shot of the fighter’s cornermen or a shot of the crowd? I felt like I was watching PRIDE shows on Fox Sports Net where they cut to the crowd to cut out foot stomps, knees to the head on the ground, and soccer kicks to make it more television friendly. Right in the middle of the action the camera turns to a shot of the crowd. Not particularly what I wanted to see.

Scott Ferrall as a ring announcer for YAMMA should be one and done. Probably the most unprofessional ring announcing job I have ever seen and that is saying something. How often does a ring announcer get described as unprofessional? They just go in and read off a card and tell the audience who the fighters are, right? No. Tonight Scott Ferrall and his voice that sounds like a voice box went over the line.

“Drink a cold one for Ricco ‘Suave’ Rodriguez”, he said at one point. Are you kidding me? Did Ferrall miss the boat that Ricco was just in rehab? Give me a break. Ferrall’s voice alone was enough to drive me batshit crazy let alone his antics in the cage and his ad libs. “Travis ‘Diesel’ ‘Room With A’ Wiuff” was another one. Stick to Sirius radio, Ferrall. I know you’re into MMA and all, but please stay out of the announcing business. The YAMMA show was a clear example of this.

Overall Impression

Other than providing a great night of comic relief, YAMMA was extremely lackluster. The surface isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, the fights were B-level at best, the talent on the card was extremely mediocre, and the superfights were nothing but novelties. I’ve seen better fights and fighters on local cards than what was on display tonight. If this is the standard for YAMMA, don’t expect them to be around very long. Lots of empty seats in the Taj Mahal and a ridiculously low pay per view buy will most likely make YAMMA a one and done promotion.

Heavyweight Quarterfinals:

Alexey Oleinik > Sherman Pendergarst, sub (choke), Rd1 (4:18)
Chris Tuscherer > Tony Sylvester, decision
Travis Wiuff > Marcelo Pereira, decision
Ricco Rodriguez > George Bush III, decision

“Master Fight”:

Oleg Taktarov > Mark Kerr, sub (kneebar), Rd1 (1:50)

Heavyweight Semifinals:

Chris Tuscherer > Alexey Oleinik, decision
Travis Wiuff > Ricco Rodriguez, decision

“Master Fight”:

Pat Smith > Butterbean, sub (strikes), Rd1 (3:17)

Heavyweight Final (YAMMA HW Title):

Travis Wiuff > Chris Tuscherer, decision

—–

- Wiuff, while winning, still isn’t good enough to make a major promotion.

- Butterbean needs to stop fighting mixed martial arts. He gets hit a couple of times and taken down and he simply quits.

- Everyone’s favorite fighter, Oleg Taktarov, is the only reason I don’t feel dirty having watched this.

And is it just me or does Bob Meyrowitz sound like the anti-promoter? The guy sounds like I should be listening to him lecture a college classroom about the Civil War or something, not a fight promoter. Thanks to MMA Mania for digging up the vid.

Check out more YAMMA Pit Fighting content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com!

Kerr was announced as a late replacement by YAMMA last week but his availability was immediately called into question after the New Jersey Athletic Control Board stated it had not approved Kerr for the bout and had no intention of doing so long as he was under suspension in the state of Connecticut.

However, when contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) on Tuesday, a representative for the NJACB indicated that Kerr has since been taken off the suspended list in Connecticut and is scheduled to face Taktarov on Friday, pending his ability to pass final medicals.

The NJACB also stated that former UFC competitor Ron Waterman has also be submitted and approved (pending final medicals) as an alternate for YAMMA’s single night, eight-man heavyweight tournament. It is uncertain as to whether Waterman will be an alternate-in-waiting or if he’ll compete in an alternate reserve fight.

The current scheduled tournament field consists of Ricco Rodriguez, George Bush, Chris Tuschscherer, Marcelo Pereria, Olexey Oleinik, Sherman Pendergarst, Tony Sylvester, and former IFO light heavyweight champion Travis Wiuff.

A second “Master’s Superfight” featuring Eric “Butterbean” Esch and UFC 1 competitor Pat Smith is planned as well.

Now that that’s out of the way, I can report that Bob Meyrowitz’s YAMMA Pit Fighting has issued a statement announcing that Gary Goodridge is off the card for their inaugural event on April 11 in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal.

Replacing Goodridge in a “Master’s Superfight” vs. Eric “Butterbean” Esch is…

PAT SMITH!

That’s right, Pat Smith is back on the card for a third time.

Goodridge was knocked out in the second round against Mu Bae Choi in Seoul, South Korea on March 30. When speaking with the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) was informed that Goodridge will not be approved for the fight vs. Esch due to concerns over health and safety.

The NJACB also informed this site yesterday that in spite of YAMMA’s public announcement, a match between Oleg Taktarov and Mark Kerr that is being advertised by the promotion has not been approved. Kerr is still under suspension in the state of Connecticut and will not be approved until he’s been reinstated.

Rodriguez will participate in the eight-man, single-night heavyweight tournament while Kerr replaces Pat Smith in a Superfight vs. Oleg Taktarov.

Updated: FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) has learned through the New Jersey Athletic Control Board that Mark Kerr has not yet been approved for YAMMA’s first show. There are questions whether he will get approved because he’s still under suspension in the state of Connecticut.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has confirmed with Nick Lembo, legal counsel for the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, that Maurice Smith has pulled out of the YAMMA Pit Fighting event due to illness. FiveOuncesOfPain.com announced yesterday that Maurice Smith was tapped as a replacement for Pat Smith after Smith’s legal troubles this past weekend.

We have also confirmed with Lembo that Pat Smith’s charges have been reduced to misdemeanors. Lembo also confirmed that his name was resubmitted to the NJACB for approval and that he has been approved to fight Oleg Taktarov at the event on April 11th.

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Several alterations have been made to YAMMA Pit Fighting’s debut card on April 11 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ.

Two unnamed fighters originally slated for YAMMA’s eight-man single-night heavyweight tournament have been scratched from the card for unspecified reasons. However, when contacted by ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com), Nick Lembo, the legal counsel for the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, indicated that YAMMA has submitted the names of two potential replacements.

According to Lembo, YAMMA has submitted the names of former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez and Red Devil Sport Club member Alexey Oleinik as tournament replacements. Lembo indicated that the NJACB has approved both fighters to be involved.

Rodriguez has received mainstream attention for his involvement on VH1′s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.” He last competed on February 16, losing a split decision to Antonio Silva at EliteXC’s “Street Certified.”

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Frye was set to face fellow MMA legend, Oleg Taktarov in one of the two “Superfights” but he has now been replaced by 45 year old Patrick Smith.

Smith (14-13) participated in the first ever UFC event where he was heel hooked by UFC Hall of Famer, Ken Shamrock in the first round of the tournament. He returned at UFC 2 where he made it to the tournament final after winning three straight bouts. In the final he faced another UFC Hall of Famer in Royce Gracie who made Smith tap out to strikes in a little over a minute. Smith went 2-1 last year with his last performance being a TKO victory over David Tyner.

YAMMA Pit Fighting is an upstart MMA promotion setup by UFC co-creator, Bob Meyrowitz. The first show will take place on Aprill 11th at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In addition to the aforementioned “Superfight” between Smith and Taktarov there will be another “Superfight” between Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch and Gary Goodridge as well as an 8-man heavyweight tournament.

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