Cage Fighting Championship and DARE Fighting Championship are they still going?

CFC and DARE FC, Still Breathing?

                                            

Two pillars of the ONE FC network, the Australian, Cage Fighting Championship and Thailand's DARE FC seem to have fallen off the face of the earth.

The last time we saw an event from CFC was CFC 21 way back in May 2012

That event of course would not have done much to help the image of CFC as it featured the Bob Sapp Race to Tap tour, whereby Mr Sapp seemed to be on a personal mission to see just how quickly he could tap out and collect his ill gotten gains.

Since that event the MMA world in Australia has continued to grow, we have had the TUF Smashes leading to many fighters heading to the UFC. MMA in Australia is on the rise but CFC seems to have stopped and got off of the spinning wheel.

The last action on their website was news of a TV deal with the All Sports Network back in June 2012. This was an exclusive five year agreement.

Their facebook page  was silent from October 2012 but last month it did have one post but it was just an advert for “Natures Energy Juice”.

On March 19^th somebody wrote on their page asking if they were still putting on promotions and this has no reply.

Their twitter feed is following a similar path – dead since October and then a March 19^th advert for the same drink.

So let’s assume it’s dead or at the very least in a coma.

Are ONE FC going to replace them? Let’s be honest there are plenty of Australian organizations that could certainly step into fill the gap.

Perth has K’Oz Entertainment who put on the Bragging Rights events. They have run five events since January 2012 with their last show in February 2013 which featured ex UFC warrior Kendall Grove and they have a great knack for bringing in  American talent to really test the local fighters.

Or how about Brace? They have been running since 2009 and had their 19^th show in February 2013 with plans for at least two more shows this year.

They have also run the first Brace Girls event (October 2012). Kya Pate the CEO of Brace is one of the most knowledgeable men in the Australian fighting scene.

There are of course other organizations, Australian MMA is rapidly rising.

Then we come to Thailands DARE FC. They were the badboy of Asian MMA, The MMA brand for the party people. You were always guaranteed an exciting and well run show with DARE, a great event in a great venue with a great fight card, run by great people in a great city.

DARE FC started out with a bang in June 2011 with future ONE FC fighters: Arnuad LePont, Jian Kai Chee, Zorobabel Moreira, Daniel Mashamaite, Brian Choi, and well known Asian MMA fighter Will Chope, a pretty amazing first card.

March 17h 2012 they held their fourth show again featuring LePont, and Chope, also one of Asian MMA’s fastest rising stars Mark Striegl (PXC) as well as others who also ended up on ONE FC cards.

Then came the news that MMA was banned in Thailand. But DARE used the fuss this created to build an even bigger buzz around the organization, they truly were Asia’s masters of online marketing.

In September 2012 they held an event for invited guests only  - The Most Dangerous Gameshow. 

Sadly, the fight card was sub standard compared to their past shows epitomized by Mike Connnors: a tattooed  angry looking dude who sadly looked scarier than he was once in the cage. Where he suffered his second first round loss.

These fights were released by DARE as an internet show. The highlights of these shows was showman extraordinaire Jon Nutt and his little pre-fight cameos and then his stint on the commentary desk. (He would do a great job at ONE FC!) Sadly the fights were not of the standard that we had come to expect from DARE.

Since then nothing – a click on the events page comes up with a picture of a cage with one word – Patience ;) this gives hope that maybe they could come back. Especially as MMA in Thailand seems to be not so banned anymore, with regular events held in Phuket and Koh Samui seemingly without incident.

I for one hope DARE is not dead but if it is what next for ONE FC and Thai MMA?

Realistically there is no organisation in Thailand beyond DARE that is of a big enough size to be beneficial to ONE FC at present.

Of course it could be argued that ONE FC is now big enough that it does not need these allegiances anymore, it lays claim to 95% of all Asian fighters and it’s own shows are starting to come thick and fast with it’s third show of the year due in April in Manila. And, the crowds are really starting to build for these events.

Personally, I think it should make an allegiance with a major Australian MMA organization to feed it top quality Aussie and NZ talent as they come through. It’s time for ONE FC to drop some of the low level undercard fights and start using the reach and power it is attaining to really showcase some of the real Australasian rising talent.

Shane Suzuki Challenges Jason Quek

Shane Suzuki: “I am officially issuing a Challenge to Singapore BJJ's Instructor Jason Quek.”

(an article by the Coffee Boy)

         Shane Kohei Suzuki, the BJJ coach at FIGHT G Academy in Singapore has issued a challenge (through his Facebook page) to Jason Quek, the instructor at Singapore BJJ:

“I am officially issuing a Challenge to Singapore BJJ's Instructor Jason Quek. I am willing to give $500 to him if he can defeat me in a standard IBJJF ruleset match. Saturday December 1st, I'll even do it at his gym. Gi, 8 minutes, points or submission, and we'll get a Black Belt from a neutral gym to referee. Please spread the word guys, as I am not friends with anyone from his gym.”

I got a chance to catch up with Shane to find out more about him and the background behind the challenge he has issued, which has caused a bit of a stir in the Singaporean BJJ community.

          “I started training around six years ago under Ben Hall of Carlson Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Australia, he's the one who initially graded me,” he tells me, “Since Blue Belt, when I left Australia, I've been training primarily with Atos-VPF in Philippines under Ralph Go & Ali Sulit. Until now, I still train with them regularly every other month.”

         On why he moved to Singapore from Australia, he said “…I have family here. My father had lived in Singapore for 20 years already and my sister was born here, so I initially came here for them but then found an opportunity to teach BJJ.”

         Suzuki is currently a brown belt in the art, being promoted after having won the World Pro Cup back in May. He has a bunch of students under him at Fight G Academy, mostly new to the art while his top students are blue belts, and believes they will make a name for themselves in the BJJ Competition Circuit.

         After Suzuki issued the challenge, many BJJ practitioners and fans alike have been buzzing about the potential match, and a lot of rumors have been spreading as to why he issued the challenge. Suzuki explained that he originally wanted to keep his intentions private, but after so many people were unsure, he decided it was best to explain himself clearly:

         “I've actually had this in mind for a long time already, I'm friends with guys from almost every gym in Singapore and a lot of these guys told me things that Jason apparently has been saying about me and my students for ages. I'm tired of hearing these stories, so I figure to let him back up his words and prove himself against me in front of everyone, in a situation where no one can lie or hide.

         “Also, Jason tried to poach some of my students last year and early this year, which I take very serious offense to. I believe that an instructor should focus on producing his own students rather than stealing other instructors students, however that's a topic for another day.”

         When asked what it was that Jason Quek had been saying about him, Suzuki replied: “That is something I cannot publicly share, as everything that was said to me was said in confidentiality. All I can tell you is that I had more than one person from almost every gym in Singapore tell me something that was said.”

         In a nutshell, the reasons behind the challenge he issued basically boils down to Quek attempting to poach his students, and “stuff” that he has been saying to other people about him. As of now, Jason Quek has yet to formally accept the challenge, however, “…Only through his student have I been updated. As of now, his student said that if I give him some time to prepare he will most likely accept the match. So, as of now, it looks like he will accept, but the fight will not be until January.”

         For those unclear of the challenge, here is his full explanation, and then some:

“I've challenged him to a standard IBJJF Brown Belt rules match. Gi, 8 minutes, points or submission and Professor Leke from Impact has agreed to be the referee.

“The terms of the challenge is that if he can beat me under these rules, I will give him money from my own pocket.

“Venue does not matter to me one bit. I would of course prefer it to be at my own gym, Fight G, however I didn't want to give him anything as an excuse so I already offered to do it at his own gym.”

Right now, people are still waiting for a “formal” acceptance of the challenge, and in the meantime Shane Suzuki is just waiting and training.

“I hope he accepts the challenge match. I've said it before; he has nothing to lose and only everything to gain in this match. At the end of the day, even if he loses he'll still get a lot of respect from me and everyone in the Singapore BJJ community for just stepping up. The only way he loses out is if he declines my challenge.”

BRACE GIRLS ~ FIGHT CARD ANNOUNCED ~ Aussie MMA

The Australian Brace for War Organisation have released details of the Fight Card for their first  All Women's MMA Event.

MMA in Australia really is on the rise from an already lofty position. With the UFC TUF event: The Smashes showing the quality and depth of local fighters. UFC holding regular shows and of course countless great local MMA organisations.

Brace for War which is fronted by well known and respected Australian MMA figure Kya Pate are a well established organisation and this event is their first all Women's show.

Here's all the details:

BRACE 17 PRESS RELEASE

(SYDNEY 25 SEPTEMBER 2012 8.30am)

BRACE GIRLS FIGHT CARD ANNOUNCED

BRACE CEO Kya Pate today released the full card for the October 27th All Girls MMA fight event scheduled for the Gold Coast. This event is a historic event for Australian Mixed Martial Arts. It is the first time in the country’s history that this type of event is being staged. Women's MMA is still a growing sport and has been overshadowed by men’s MMA globally. It has been no surprise though that WMMA would continue to grow and gain more of the spotlight, especially considering the amount of interest that has been shown in Gina Carano, Rhonda Rousey and Miesha Tate over the last year or so.

Women have been competing on events like BRACE, Bellator, and Strikeforce for a number of years now, but it’s still rare for a full card to be made up completely of women. Events such as Jewels in Japan and Invicta FC in the United States have shown that there is a great deal of interest in WMMA and they have paved the way with full cards of women competing. BRACE known within Australia as one of the major players, being the only Australian event to stage in 7 cities over 4 states and with a heavy 2013 schedule looming, they have certainly played a major role in pioneering the sport "Down Under".

Kya Pate recently interviewed by No Gloves stated the reasons behind a full card of women competing “…girls would train as hard as the guys if not harder and it was very clear to me what this sport meant for their empowerment and enjoyment of life, so I suppose that was the main driving factor". Not only have BRACE decided to host a full card of women they have gathered together 95% of the country’s best calibre female competitors along with two Japanese Jewels stars. Fighters like Fiona Muxlow a great jiu jitsu champion and MMA fighter, Leanne Reid a champion Muay Thai fighter, Bianca Elmir and Australian Boxing Champion, Alex Chambers & Claire Fryer arguably regarded as the best 115's in the country amongst other notable females competing within Australia. BRACE will also feature two Japanese stars with Mika Nagano & Rina Tomita both fighting on the Jewels circuit.

FIGHT CARD

MAIN EVENT

Alex Chambers (AUSTRALIA) vs Mika Nagano (JAPAN)

Claire Fryer (AUSTRALIA) vs Rina Tomita (JAPAN)

Fiona Muxlow (Townsville) vs Leanne Reid (Sydney)

Sarah Morrison (Sydney) vs Bianca Elmir (Canberra)

Linda Nikeller (Gold Coast) vs Rhiannon Thompson (Tasmania)

Tanya Stevens (Tasmania) vs Mae-Lin Leow (Adelaide)

Shauna Carew (Brisbane) vs Gina Cardillo (Coffs Harbour)

Janice Yee (Sydney) vs Emma Rosenberg (Gold Coast)

Natalie Hills (Sydney) vs Sam Manderson (Townsville)

Kerry Barrett (Brisbane) vs Brettlyn Neal (Townsville)

Lana Kate (Melbourne) vs Helen Malone (Toowoomba)

Rebecca Steward (Wodonga) vs Maryanne Mullahy (Melbourne)

Kayla Woodbury (Coffs Harbour) vs Tam Ward (Newcastle)

Lisa Sutton (Toowoomba) vs Belinda Sedgwick (Canberra)

TICKETS ON SALE FROM

http://www.southportrsl.com.au/ or by phoning (07) 5552 4200

FOLLOW BRACE HERE

www.facebook.com/braceforwar

It’s K-OZ Entertainment Time – Bragging Rights in Perth – Australia

It’s K-OZ Entertainment Time – Bragging Rights in Perth – Australia

Published on January 17, 2012 by The Editor in Event, K-OZ

OK the good news is I can read the K-OzZ Website.

On Saturday 21st January 2012 K-OZ Entertainment present Bragging Rights at WA Italian Club in Perth Australia featuring Two Title Fights

Doors open at 6:00pm and Fight starts at 7:00pm.

Fight 1: Steve Wong Vs Uros Ljoboja

Fight 2: Briggs Foreman Vs TBA ?

Fight 3: @84kg Jack Johns Vs Paul Newman

Fight 4: Sharn Maharahja Vs TBA ?

Fight 5: @70kg Yumo Isazuki Vs Chris Kemps

Fight 6: Peter Kennedy Vs TBA ?

Fight 7: @84kg Rob ‘Powerdrill’ Powdrill (1-0-0) Vs Ashe ‘The Archer’ Bowman (9-10-0)

Fight 8: @84kg K-Oz Middleweight Gladiator Title Fight

Steve “Steam Rolla” Kennedy (4-4-0) Vs Dave ‘The Pain Train’ Manzany

The Main Event @ 125kg is a BIG one literally as two giants of fighting clash in the cage challenging for the

K-Oz Gladiator Heavy Weight Championship.

We have local boy and ex UFC fighter Soa ‘The Hulk’ Palelei vs the American ex Sumo wrestler and Pride fighter Henry ‘Sentoryu’ Miller.