Mari’s Minute

Dynamite!! USA Recap

June 2, 2007

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles, California

I decided to wait a few days to write my recap of Dynamite!! USA that occurred this past Saturday at the Los

Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Mainly because during and after the event, I spoke to a lot of people who had

varying thoughts on the night - some good, some not so good. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t influenced

by their opinions. So after reviewing my photos and notes, here are my thoughts:

I was really looking forward to the rematch of former UFC champion Royce Gracie against former PRIDE

standout Kazushi Sakuraba in the semi-main event. After their 90 minute war in 2000 at PRIDE FC that

saw Gracie’s corner throw in the towel because of fatigue, I figured that he would be looking for some

redemption…especially coming off his recent loss in the UFC to Matt Hughes - while Sakuraba was looking

to get back to his old form where he racked up a lot of victories in the early PRIDE FC’s.

I figured wrong.

The bout was disappointing. Not much action and it became more and more predictable as the fight went on.

It started off slow and it ended slow with not much action in between.

When I say not much action, that sums it up nicely. Gracie may have been awarded the gift decision but in

my eyes, the only winner of this fight was their bank accounts. But I won’t put the blame solely on the

fighters…I’ll throw in the ref who on many occasions should have separated the fighters when they tied up

but didn’t.

Gracie and Sakuraba have proven time and time again what warriors they are and I won’t hold this fight

against them…after all, they know each other well and I choose to believe that they just didn’t want to be the

first to make a mistake and get caught but the ref…the ref should have jumped in there and separated the

fighters when they tied up and there was no action. Bottom line, the fight should have been a draw.

FEG’s first mma show in the United States in association with Pro Elite drew what I estimate at about

25,000 to 30,000 fans. FEG stated that they drew 50,000+ but to be honest, I couldn’t see outside the venue

so who knows how many people were standing out there.

That being said, I thought the night in its entirety was pretty good - nice live production, fireworks and some

quick action. Plus celebrities in attendance included Dennis Rodman, Nicholas Cage, Tracey Ullman,

All 4 One (pop star group), Yoshiki (Japan Rockstar), the new UFC Champion Quinton Rampage”

Jackson, “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge, Josh Barnett, Helio Gracie, Rico Rodriguez, Gilbert

Melendez, Murillo “Ninja” Rua, Sokoudjou, and Chute Boxe USA coach Roberto Piccinini.  DJ Hapa

from the KTLA morning news got the evening started with lots of music that had some fans off their seat and

dancing. The loud music and the fantastic sounds of the live drummers, Brazilian Zamba dancers and the

beautiful ring girls made for great entertainment.

The opening bout for the event was a lightweight showdown between Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante against Nam

Phan that ended in controversy. Calvincante got the win in 26 seconds of the first round over Phan via TKO

due to strikes but from my vantage point, the referee appeared to have stopped the fight too soon.

Calvincante took Pham down and from top position, started throwing punches. Pham had his hands up and

blocking - he didn’t appear to be hurt or in trouble when the referee stepped in to stop the fight. Most of the

fans agreed with me as they booed the referee’s decision. TheFightGame.tv’s Al was able to chat with Phan

after the fight and told him he was in no trouble and was surprised they stopped the bout.

A few more fights and we came to a break - as they brought out former NBA Star Dennis Rodman. The fans

did nothing but boo Mr. Rodman. It seemed like they could have cared less that he was there.  Rodman

stated “You guys can love me or hate me” acknowledging the fans reaction. But he ended by stating “UFC

Hell NO!, We are talking about K-1.”

We then got back to the action and action it was as former NFL player Johnny Morton stepped into the

squared circle for the first time with only two months of training against the 1-0, Bernard Ackah. Two

months…I’m not against seeing any fighter make his debut - but with only two months of training and landing

on the card of one of the elite promotions in the world – that bothered me a little. And it should have bothered

Morton as he got his bell rung big-time by an overhand right that put him down and out in 38 seconds of the

first round.  Morton was taken out by Paramedics with a neck brace on a stretcher. It was reported later that

he was doing well and will be fine.

Morton should have followed Brock Lesnar’s example - Lesnar stated he had been training for over a year for

his debut and it showed against his opponent, HERO’s veteran Min Soo Kim - as not 10 seconds went by

when he got a takedown – landing in half-guard. After a few strikes to the face, Lesnar was able to pass

guard and get full mount – From there, Lesnar continued the strikes to the head and at 1:09 of the first

round, Kim had had enough and tapped. Impressive first outing for Lesnar.

But even more impressive was Lesnar in the post-fight press conference. Lesnar was gracious enough to talk

to the media and express what this win meant to him. But in the interview room, it was expressed to the

internet media that no video recording was allowed. Per Dynamite media personnel, only TV broadcast or

Cable show media outlets were allowed to take video of the interview. Brock graciously indicated to the

personnel that he was ok with internet media and that internet media was just as important as TV - ending

by saying that if the Internet media was not going to be able to record, then he would end the interview. This

gave Dynamite media personnel no other choice but to allow all media to continue to do their job. Mr. Lesnar

deserves major kudos for seeing the importance of all media outlets.

In other action, Katzuhito Nagata defeated Isaiah Hill by split decision. Tim Persey lost against

Jonathan Weizorek due to uncontested strikes. Jake Shields won by rear naked choke submission over

a tough Ido Pariente. Crowd favorite “Mighty” Mo Siligia TKO’d Ruben “Warpath” Villareal. Dong-Sik

Yoon picked up his first win with an arm bar submission against Melvin Manhoef. And Hideo Tokoro also

won by arm bar over Brad Pickett. 

Until next time,

Mari

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(6/6/07)