UFC 2007 - UFC: Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC 2007 - Best UFC Knockouts DVD - UFC DVD

Ultimate Fight Night will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada

Chris Leben, unbeaten in the Octagon at 5-0, will face the toughest test of his career when he takes on the UFC’s newest signee, Brazilian superstar Anderson Silva, and this is a bout practically guaranteed for a spot among the year’s best fights. Tickets are on sale now for June 28th’s Ultimate Fight Night!

UFC History

UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3 (2/4/06) Liddell defeated Randy Couture by KO at 1:28 of the second round.

UFC 54: Boiling Point (08/20/05) Chuck Liddell defeated Jeremy Horn by TKO from Strikes in 2:46 min of the fourth round.

UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell (4/16/05) Chuck Liddell became the first man to ever knock out Randy Couture, winning in 2:06 of the first round to become the new UFC World Light Heavyweight Champion.

UFC 49: Unfinished Business (8/21/04) Chuck Liddell knocked out Vernon "Tiger" White in 4:05 of the first round.

UFC 47: IT'S ON (4/02/04) Chuck Liddell knocked out longtime rival Tito Ortiz in: 38 seconds of the second round.

UFC 43: Meltdown (6/06/03) Chuck Liddell lost to Randy Couture by TKO in 2:39 of the third round in a fight for the interim LHW title.

UFC 40: Vendetta (11/22/02), Liddell knocked out tough Brazilian Renato "Babalu" with a kick to the head at 2:55of the first round.

UFC 37.5: High Impact (6/22/02) Chuck Liddell defeated Vitor Belfort by unanimous decision

UFC 35: Throwdown(1/11/02) Chuck Liddell defeated Amar Suloev by unanimous decision.

UFC 33: Victory in Vegas(9/28/01) Chuck Liddell defeated Murilo Bustamante by unanimous decision.

UFC 31: Locked and Loaded(5/04/01) Chuck Liddell knocked out former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman at 1:18 of the first round.

UFC 29: Defense of the Belts (12/16/00) Chuck Liddell defeated Jeff Monson by unanimous decision.

UFC 22: There Can Be Only One Champion (9/24/99) Chuck Liddell defeated Shootfighter Paul Jones by ref stop at 3:53 of the first round.

UFC 19: Young Guns (3/05/99) Jeremy Horn defeated Chuck Liddell at 12:00 by referee stoppage due to choke out.

UFC 17: Redemption (5/15/98) Chuck Liddell made his debut winning a decision over boxer Noe Hernandez.

UFC: Hughes meets up with Gracie

Making its Los Angeles debut tonight, Ultimate Fighting Championship knew that it had to break out a major name to challenge welterweight champion Matt Hughes for the title at Staples Center.
The company swung for the fences, bringing back Royce Gracie, arguably the most dominant UFC fighter in history, for a return to the Octagon after an 11-year hiatus.

Gracie (13-1-2), a member of the first family of mixed martial arts, won the first three UFC tournaments in the early '90s. His unique style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu flustered his opponents, who were often much bigger than he was.

"In the beginning it was a style against a style," Royce said. "My fights proved Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was the best style."

Hughes (40-4-0), who has held the welterweight title since August of 2002, disagrees with Gracie's assessment of the skill level during UFC's early days.

"There wasn't a lot of tecnique out there in those early days," said Hughes, who
has defended his title more than any fighter in UFC history. "Royce brought the only technique to the Octagon and he was able to dominate those guys. Honestly, we'll find out tonight if he's ready for the transition."

Fittingly, several young MMA fighters will be sprinkled throughout the undercard, before the veteran Gracie steps back into the Octagon.

Mike Swick and Diego Sanchez, who fans may remember from UFC's reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter" on SpikeTV, each have fights tonight.

Swick (10-1-0) will battle Joe Riggs (26-8-1), while the undefeated Sanchez (16-0-0) takes on John Alessio (22-8-0).

Slam Man Boxing Computer
Without a doubt, Slam Man is a high-tech, fun and motivating punching bag. Many boxing classes require you to punch against an imaginary target, but this product allows you to slam a real opponent. Maybe that's why so many people report that a boxing workout is a great stress reliever. After all, most of us wouldn't actually hit someone who was irritating us, but we might think about doing it, and that is how stress builds. You have no physical outlet. Slam Man can take your best punch and not hold it against you!

The Slam Man workout emphasizes eye/hand coordination, which can help improve performance in other activities or sports. Slam Man comes programmed with various combinations of punch locations (prompted by one of eight target lights illuminating), and tempo variations (prompted by audible beeps), in its "cyborg" computer.

The eight target lights are imbedded in Slam Man's face and torso region. Fifteen pre-programmed workouts challenge the user's coordination and endurance at 60 beats per minute. If you want to replicate the pace of the study mentioned below, just double your tempo. Or if you want additional variety, just slam-the-man to the beat of your favorite CD. Boxing footwork can be added to the workout if you want to increase your effort and calories expended.

Slam Man comes with an instructional video, eating guide and a pair of 12-ounce boxing gloves. What sets Slam Man apart from simple punching bags are the pre-programmed workouts that can motivate and offer the variety that many people need to stick with the program.

What Does The Research Say
The American Council on Exercise (ACE is a non-profit consumer watchdog for health and fitness products) commissioned a study to investigate the effectiveness of a boxing workout that featured a punching surface. At the time (November 1998), the Slam Man product had become a successful infomercial, having sold in excess of 100,000 units. So, ACE (ACE FitnessMatters, Jan/Feb, 1999) and a research team from the University of Mississippi put the high-tech punching bag and its claims to the test.

Heart Rate: The subjects were instructed to perform straight right and left punches ranging from 60 to 120 beats per minute. This tempo is similar to tempos used in box-aerobic classes. On average, the subjects worked at 84 to 92 percent (61 to 72 percent of their VO2max) of their heart rate max, which is at or above the range recommended for increasing or maintaining cardiovascular fitness (ACE, Jan/Feb 1999). (Note: For less fit individuals, lower levels of effort are recommended and are an option in the Slam Man programming, or you can simply work at a comfortable pace.)

Calorie Burn: If heart rates don't mean a whole lot to you, the study found that boxing proved to be a very effective calorie burner. Boxing burned an average of 9 to 10 calories per minute. Those numbers compare favorably with any cardiovascular workout, independent of equipment being used.

The Final Word
Slam Man is both a fun and functional workout and it is obvious that boxing represents effective exercise for reducing fat and improving cardiovascular fitness. And, none of these health benefits accrue unless you're having fun and stick with an exercise program. Slam Man will surely have you coming back for round after round!

Birthdate - 12/17/69
6'2" 199 lbs. - San Luis Obispo, CA
Team - SLO Kickboxing
Style - Kickboxing

Career Highlights
- Defeats Noe Hernandez at UFC XVII
- Gets a decision victory over Jeff Monsoon at UFC XXIX
- Defeats Kevin Randleman by knockout at UFC XXXI
- Knocks out Guy Mezger at Pride 14
- Beats Murillo Bustamante by decision at UFC XXXIII

Striking - Chuck Liddell is probably one of the best strikers in the world today. He is a kickboxer, so his punches, kicks, and knees are lethal. The Iceman is like a silent killer, whose lightning-like shots can end a match out of nowhere. Liddell's punches, namely his straight right, are his strong suit and they often get his wins.

Wrestling - Though he is primarily a striker, Liddell started as a wrestler. He is good at manuevering on the ground against decent grapplers and has a great sprawl that many talented wrestlers have struggled against.

Hooking - Like his wrestling, Liddell done some submission training and focuses on a leg lock, when he cannot knock his opponent out. Though he is able, Liddell seldom tries to submit or even shoot on anyone.

Strengthes - Liddell's obvious strength is his striking ability, but he is also a well-rounded fighter. He can do it all pretty well and the fact his wins give him little noteriety help him remain an upset master even if they're not upsets.

Weaknesses - Liddell has proven to be a stereotypical striker, he is dangerous early in fights if he can keep it standing, but long bouts and matwork hurt him. The "Iceman" has also appeared to melt quickly, then finds it difficult to put opponents away.

Outlook - Chuck Liddell has just exploded (in more ways than one) in the Middleweight scene in the past year. His big KO wins over Randleman and Mezger and decision win over Bustamante make him one of the top middle/light heavyweights in the MMA world. He has represented kickboxing well and may be able to show he is a top striker in the next few years.

Birthdate - 6/2/63
6'1" 225 lbs. - Corvallis, OR
Team - RAW Team/Team Quest
Style - Greco-Roman Wrestling

Career Highlights
- Wins the UFC XIII Heavyweight tournament defeating Tony Halme and Steven Graham
- Hands Vitor Belfort his first MMA loss at UFC XV
- Wins the Heavyweight title from Maurice Smith via decision at Ultimate Japan
- Beats Kevin Randleman to win the UFC Heavyweight title
- Successfully defends his title against Pedro Rizzo at UFC XXXI in a barnburner

Striking - Randy Couture may not be a top notch puncher, but he boxed extensively in the Army, so he can hold his own. Couture knows that striking is not what will get him victories, so he uses is sparingly. Like many wrestlers, he uses the "ground and pound" technique to perfection. He uses mainly punches, elbows, and knees to hammer on opponents he's mounted.

Wrestling - Being a Olympic level wrestler, Couture has a lot of power and is great at both takedowns and ground work. He can move most opponents around how he chooses, so he can take even the biggest men down with ease, keep them down, and have his way with them. Even when he has a momentary lapse in control, Couture can quickly and masterfully regain it.

Hooking - Couture is not going to cripple anyone, but he is a capable finisher. He will slap on a choke if he can. Being a Greco-Roman wrestler, Couture has a powerful upperbody that he will use to sink in a basic hold, but nothing to fancy. His submissions are strength over science.

Strengthes - Randy Couture has one of greatest natural qualities that helps him is his patience. He used it to gas Vitor Belfort and go the distance and defeat the likes of Maurice Smith and Pedro Rizzo. He is also great at winning little battles and thus tallies up the points to win fights.

Weaknesses - Couture is not a great striker, he uses it well when he's on the advantage, but when he is not, it can hurt him. He is in good condition, but his cardio appears to be a flaw now and again, but luckily it's one he can work around. Couture's only loss (that wasn't worked) was do to an armbar in his sophomore, but he has been able to to stengthen his game overall.

Look - Couture is one of the most unimposing looking stars, he has a nice build and dresses plainly in black tights and wrestling shoes. Though he has a light complexion and is balding, Randy Couture is no old man as his success in the Octogon has shown.

Outlook - Randy Couture came into the UFC and was really impressive, after vacating his title and leaving for a time, Couture returned just as strong. He is not the typical "ground and pound" wrestler as he is three dimensional and has fewer weaknesses than any wrestler turned mixed martial artist. "The Natural" will definately be a force for sometime and is proof that ability can overrule age.

Dan "The Beast" Severn (born June 8, 1954 in Coldwater, Michigan) is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, notable for his success in the early years of Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments. Severn has also fought for many NHB and shootwrestling organizations including International Fighting Championship, Extreme Challenge, Future Brawl, United Shoot Wrestling Federation, PRIDE, U-Japan, King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge and a number of Brazilian organizations.
Wrestling
Severn has a long history in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling. He was an All-American at Arizona State, a member of the Sunkist Kids[1] elite team, and a wrestling coach at both his alma mater Arizona State and Michigan State. He has wrestled in Turkey, Japan, Cuba, Hungary, Canada and France as well as the USA. In his long career, he has held many national and international titles; he was often introduced to the UFC Octagon as holding more than 70 in total. Severn also held the US national record for victories by pin from 1976 to 1992, his 112 eventually overtaken by the 114 of Matt Padgett[2].

Mixed Martial Arts
Severn was the first true wrestler to enter the UFC, becoming indicative of the ensuing period of dominance by wrestlers continued by men like Don Frye in UFC #8 to #9 and Mark Coleman in UFC #10. Severn entered the UFC in 1995 at UFC #4: Revenge of the Warriors, where he captured the hearts of many UFC fans by executing two impressive back suplexes on Anthony Macias. In the finals of UFC #4, Severn was defeated by Royce Gracie, who used a triangle choke hold, but only after the much bigger Severn dominated in Gracie's guard for around 15 minutes, lacking the striking experience to finish his opponent. Severn rectified this loss when he captured the championship in UFC #5: Return of the Beast, defeating Oleg Taktarov. Severn went on to win Ultimate Ultimate '96, a tournament of UFC champions. He also managed his friend and fellow champion, Don Frye, during UFC #8, and would later train the successful female competitor, Becky Levi. His first and only fight in Pride was a lacklustre draw against Kimo in 1997; since then, he has continued to compete in a variety of MMA promotions, such as King of the Cage, the UFC, the British Ultimate Combat and Gladiator Challenge among others. In 1999, Severn and Levi founded a new mixed martial arts promotion intended to provide a platform for amateur fighters, called The Danger Zone, in which Severn also took part. Danger Zone #33 is scheduled for 11 March 2006.

Professional wrestling
Severn is an accomplished professional wrestler, having worked for UWF International in Japan, the National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wrestling Federation. He entered the NWA in 1995, and defeated Chris Candido for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Severn would go on to win the UFC championship that year, making him the first and only man to hold the NWA and UFC championships simultaneously. During his short stint in WWE, he competed in the Brawl For All tournament, beating The Godfather in the first round. However, he withdrew prior to the quarterfinals, allowing The Godfather to advance by default. He appeared in 2000 in the short-lived WXO promotion. Severn would not again hold professional wrestling gold until 2001, when he again won the NWA championship, this time from Shinya Hashimoto. This title reign would be controversial (an American referee in a Japanese promotion issuing a fast count), and short-lived, as the title was stripped from Severn when he was unable to appear on the inaugural TNA pay-per-view to defend his title; the belt was won that evening by Severn's long-time rival, Ken Shamrock.

Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts fighting league, and for his brief professional wrestling career with the World Wrestling Federation.

Shamrock had started as a professional wrestler in small promotions in the Carolinas, being managed by Paul Jones, and from there he went to Japan, namely the Japanese UWF and its successor promotions, Fujiwara Gumi and Pancrase.

Back in the States, Shamrock appeared in the first UFC in November of 1993 where he progressed to the semi-finals, losing to eventual tournament winner Royce Gracie. Afterwards, Shamrock vowed to avenge his loss to Gracie. However, it would be nearly a year and a half later before he would get his chance. At UFC 5 in May of 1995, Shamrock and Gracie squared off in the UFC's first ever "Superfight." The Superfight was supposed to be a historic match that finally showed if Gracie's win over Shamrock at UFC 1 was a fluke, or if Gracie was as great as he appeared. Unfortunately, the match did not live up to expectations. At UFC 5, for the first time, the UFC had instituted time limits. Shamrock and Gracie fought for the entire allotted time of 30 minutes along with 5 minutes of overtime before the match was declared a draw. While purist fans of mixed martial arts consider the match to be a true classic, most thought the match was rather boring, lacking sufficient offense by either Shamrock or Gracie. While many people (including Shamrock) have wanted to see a rematch ever since, Shamrock and Gracie have never again faced each other in the octagon. Shamrock would go on to fight in further UFC Superfights against Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov and Kimo Leopoldo.

As of 2005, Ken is still making occasional appearances in the UFC, giving him the distinction of having the longest tenure of any UFC fighter to date. Shamrock also founded the Lion's Den, a group dedicated to the training of mixed martial arts fighters. Many Lion's Den fighters such as Pete Williams, Jerry Bolander, and Tra Telligman have achieved a modicum of success in mixed martial arts.

Shamrock's Lions Den also feuded with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz would go on a streak beating Lions Den fighters Jerry Bolander and Guy Mezger, eventually facing Shamrock in one of the highest selling mixed martial arts Pay Per View events of all time in the United States. At UFC 40, Ortiz defeated Shamrock when Shamrock's corner threw in the towel.

During his time in the WWF, he was billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man." Shamrock's finishing move was the Ankle Lock submission hold, one used very frequently by Kurt Angle. His display of technical wrestling earned him a WWF title shot which he missed out on thanks to Triple H.

Ken Shamrock entered the WWE in 1997 and was already making headlines thanks for his participation as a guest referee in the submission match at WrestleMania 13, after a string of impressive victories, he earned his first shot at Intercontinental gold at the 1998 WWE Royal Rumble, he defeated The Rock for the title, but was later reversed 75 seconds later when the referees discover he used brass knuckles to help him beat the Rock. 2 months later, Shamrock beat The Rock at WrestleMania XIV, but again his Irish mean streak got the better of him, when he refused to release the Ankle Lock causing the referee to reverse the decision to the victor, The Rock.

After defeating The Rock in the finals of the 1998 King of the Ring, his popularity grew, and he set his sights on the WWF Intercontinental Championship. After many memorable bouts with and without the belt, Shamrock, to the disbelief of the WWF fans, joined Vince McMahon's Corporation faction as a heel. His WWF character was never the same after that drastic change, so he decided to go back to his roots in the UFC.

Shamrock was a part of the first few Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Pay Per Views, and even won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He left the company after a few months of service, however he later reappeared when the company debuted their Impact TV show. Once again this was short lived and he left the company a month after re-joining.

April 9, 2005, proved to be a turning point in Shamrock's career and future in mixed martial arts. In the main event, the first ever UFC appearance on basic cable TV, on the popular reality series The Ultimate Fighter finale, Shamrock faced rising star Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight bout. Although Shamrock had more experience, he was soundly defeated by a TKO in the first round, thus instantly establishing Franklin as a legitimate threat to other UFC competitors.

In a post match interview, Shamrock indicated that he was unsure of his future in the UFC or MMA in general.

On October 24, 2005 Shamrock lost to fellow mixed martial arts legend Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in PRIDE: Fully Loaded, by TKO. The decision to stop the fight was considered controversial by some parties, including Shamrock himself, since he was able to bounce up off the canvas right after being knocked down. However, Ken had turned his back to Sakuraba and because he wasn't intelligently defending himself, the referee stopped the fight. His own brother Frank Shamrock commented on the stoppage in an interview with the site Sherdog.com: "…if you’re sleeping with your head through the second rope, you’re in a bad way. He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules he was no longer defending himself and that’s the end of the fight. Was it early? Sure it was early. But was he getting his ass kicked? Yeah. It just depends on how you want to look at it. I tried to look at it abstractly and I saw a guy sleeping with his head through the second rope. That’s not good, because if I’m there, please somebody stop this."

On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Dana White, the UFC president, announced that Shamrock would be one of the coaches (along with Tito Ortiz) for the upcoming third season of The Ultimate Fighter.

He appeared in the films Champions, Virtuosity, and Scarecrow Gone Wild.

MMA Record
26 wins (2 KO's, 22 submissions, 2 decisions), 10 losses (4 KO's, 4 submissions, 2 decisions), 2 draw.

Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie (born December 12, 1966) is a professional mixed martial arts fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practioner. He became well-known in the mid 1990s with a string of submission victories over larger opponents in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Between 1993 and 1994, he won 11 matches by submission and was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4. These results influenced traditional attitudes towards martial arts and contributed to the movement towards grappling, cross-training and MMA.

Biography
Childhood
Royce is a son of Hélio Gracie (Helio, along with his older brother Carlos Gracie, is considered one of the originators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and spent his childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a toddler, Royce learned Jiu-Jitsu from his father and his older brothers Rorion, Relson, and Rickson Gracie. He began competing at the age of 8 and by the time he was 16 had attained the level of blue belt. A year later he was invited by his brother Rorion to help teach Jiu-Jitsu from his garage in America. Despite not knowing English, Royce accepted the offer and moved to California. He competed in a number of Jiu-Jitsu tournaments in Brazil and the United States and compiled an amateur record of 51-3.

The Gracie Challenge
Royce received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 18 and soon began fighting in defense of the $100,000 "Gracie Challenge". This publicity stunt was an open challenge to all martial artists to see if they could defeat a Gracie in a no-rules fight. Most of these matches took place ad hoc in the Gracie gym when challengers would show up to fight. Many of these fights were videotaped and included in the Gracie In Action video series. While Gracies have lost in competition, there is no record of anyone successfully winning the Gracie Challenge. Royce had never fought professionally, but that would change on November 12, 1993.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship
Brainchild of Rorion Gracie and Art Davie, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was an eight-man single-elimination tournament with very few rules that would award $50,000 to the winner. The basic premise was to find out how different styles of martial arts would fare against each other. Art Davie placed ads in martial arts magazines and sent letters to anyone in any martial arts directory he could find to recruit competitors for the event. Among the takers were kickboxer Patrick Smith, #2 ranked shootfighter Ken Shamrock, and Savate world champion Gerard Gordeau.

While Art Davie felt that Royce's older brother Rickson Gracie, who was stronger and more skilled than Royce, was the obvious choice as the Jiu-Jitsu representative, Rorion Gracie chose Royce to represent the family style. At 175 pounds, and with a frame much smaller than his opponnents, the Gracie family felt that Royce would be the perfect fighter to demonstrate the claims that Jiu-Jitsu techniques could be employed to overcome a larger opponent.

In his first match, Royce defeated his opponent, boxer Art Jimmerson, once a top ten cruiserweight contender for the WBC. He tackled him to the ground and obtained a dominant "mounted" position on top. Jimmerson quickly conceded defeat, not attempting to escape the position as he would earn $20,000 regardless of whether he won.

In the semi-finals, Royce looked to be the underdog against 220-pound Ken Shamrock, who showed excellent grappling skills in his first-round submission win over Patrick Smith. Royce immediately rushed Shamrock, who sprawled effectively and got on top of Royce. Shamrock then grabbed Royce's ankle and sat back to attempt the same finishing hold he used to finish his first match, but Royce rolled on top of him and secured a rear choke that forced Shamrock to tap the mat in submission.

In the finals, Royce was again outweighed by 40 pounds, but defeated Savate World Champion Gerard Gordeau (who broke his hand in the first round of the tournament against Teila Tuli), taking his opponent to the ground and securing a rear choke. This victory, along with future UFC events, had a substantial impact on the public image of martial arts and fighting systems. Stand-up fighting arts lost some of their appeal to grappling arts such as wrestling, Sambo, Judo and Royce's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Over the next year, Royce Gracie continued his winning streak in the UFC, obtaining submission wins over fighters such as Patrick Smith, 250 pound (113 kg) European Judo Champion Remco Pardoel, and Kimo Leopoldo. His final UFC victory was in a match that lasted for 16 minutes (there were no rounds or time limits at the time), during which he was continuosly pinned underneath 260 pound (118 kg) wrestler Dan Severn. To end the match, Royce locked his legs in a triangle choke for a submission victory. The match extended beyond the pay-per-view time-slot and viewers, who missed the end of the fight, demanded their money back. Changes would have to be made if the sport was to be profitable.

Time limits were introduced into the sport in 1995 and Ken Shamrock would become the first fighter to survive Royce Gracie's submission attack and earn a draw. The match lasted for 30 minutes and a 5 minute overtime. Fans have been calling for a rematch ever since. While the match was a draw, the match also sparked much debate and controversy as to who would have won the fight had Judges determined the outcome. Rorion sold his share of the UFC to Art Davie.

In November of 2003, at the 10 year anniversary of the UFC, Royce Gracie was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Royce's official UFC record includes one loss. In the third round of UFC 3, Royce was to face fighter Harold Howard in the semi-finals. Although Royce came out to the ring, he was still exhausted from his prior match against Kimo Leopoldo, and had to be physically helped to the ring. Before the Howard match began, Royce's corner threw in the towel which conceeded the match Howard.

Shortly after he finished his tenure in the UFC, Royce was choked unconscious with a "clock choke" by Wallid Ismail in a no time limit jiu-jitsu tournament in Brazil.

Challenge to PRIDE Fighting Championship
With each of his first 11 victories, many in the martial arts world were impressed with Gracie and began cross-training in Jiu-Jitsu.

However one fighter in particular, Kazushi Sakuraba, a former amateur and professional wrestler with excellent submission skills derived from catch as catch can, arose from the ranks in the years following Royce's final UFC appearance to make a powerful argument for the potency of his particular approach to grappling with a series of wins over Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelts, including Marcus "Conan" Silvera, Vitor Belfort and Royce's brother, Royler Gracie. Sakuraba's victory over Royler constituted the first loss by a Gracie in professional fighting in several decades and as such, sent ripples of shock and controversy through the mixed martial arts community. Some protested that the victory was tainted due to the fact that Royler--although placed in a debilitating submission hold--never conceded defeat and was mere seconds away from the final bell when the bout was stopped. Others countered that Royler suffered a broken arm and several torn muscles stemming from the submission, thus validating the Sakuraba victory, but there is no medical evidence supporting or denying this.

The Gracie family took great umbrage over the incident, feeling that they had been cheated by Pride. Compelled to set the record straight, Royce Gracie returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix with dominant heavyweights Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn. However, it could be argued that Royce's main intention in entering the tournament was not winning the Grand Prix crown but rather doing battle with the Gracie family's new nemesis, Kazushi Sakuraba. In fact, a special set of rules were requested by the Gracies in advance for the possible Sakuraba-Royce match, which included no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out.

Royce advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Sakuraba's stablemate Nobuhiko Takada (ironically enough, with a judge's decision), before finding himself matched up with Sakuraba. Gracie and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half. Early in the fight, Sakuraba nearly ended things with a knee-bar towards the end of the first round. Later on, Royce returned the favor with a guillotine choke which Sakuraba lingered in, but appeared to be in no trouble since he took the time to play to the crowd by trying to pull Royce's pants down. Indeed, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce when Sakuraba, displaying much better conditioning, kept punishing Royce instead of going for submissions, prolonging the match.

As the fight wore on, Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and--in some instances--even pull guard. Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on the instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After the 90 minute battle of punishing leg kicks, Royce's brother threw in the towel. Gracie could no longer stand and suffered a broken foot from accumulated damage. Sakuraba would go on to defeat other members of the Gracie family including Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie earning him the nickname "Gracie Hunter."[1]

Royce returned to Pride in 2003 and showed off new-found striking skills and strong ground game against Judo gold-medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. The match went the distance and since there were no judges, it ended in a draw. However, consensus was that Royce's performance was dominant enough to avenge an earlier controversial limited-rules match against Yoshida, in which the referee stopped the match due to Yoshida and the referee's perception that Royce was choked unconscious. To this day, Royce claims that he was not unconscious and was just merely pinned underneath Yoshida.

Royce's most recent victory was against the former sumo wrestler Taro Akebono whom he defeated with a wristlock two minutes and thirteen seconds into their fight.

Return to UFC
On January 16, 2006, UFC President Dana White announced that Royce Gracie would return to the UFC to fight UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes in May. This will be a non-title bout, but under UFC rules (and so Gracie will uncharacteristically be fighting without a gi).

Mark "The Hammer" Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American mixed martial arts competitor. He is also famous for his Amateur wrestling career. He currently fights in Pride events. He is also the founder of the Hammer House team.

Mark Coleman was born in Ohio, USA in 1964. He is featured in the 2002 HBO documentary "The Smashing Machine - The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr".

Career

World wrestling championship freestyle 100kg 2nd place in 1991
Barcelona Olympic Games wrestling freestyle 100kg class 7th place in 1992
Professional
UFC 10 & 11 Tournament Champion
UFC Heavyweight Champion (first)
PRIDE GP 2000 tournament champion

Fighting Record
Win Milco Voorn Submission (Choke) Bushido Europe-Rotterdam Rumble 9 October 2005
Loss Mirko Filipovic KO (Punches) PRIDE 29-Fists Of Fire 20 February 2005
Loss Fedor Emelianenko Submission (Armbar) PRIDE-Total Elimination 2004 25 April 2004
Win Don Frye Decision (Unanimous) PRIDE 26-Bad to the Bone 8 June 2003
Loss Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Submission (Triangle/Armbar) PRIDE 16-Beasts From The East 24 September 2001
Win Allan Goes TKO (Knees) PRIDE 13-Collision Course 25 March 2001
Win Igor Vovchanchyn Submission (Strikes) PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Finals 1 May 2000
Win Kazuyuki Fujita TKO (Corner Stoppage) PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Finals 1 May 2000
Win Akira Shoji Decision PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Finals 1 May 2000
Win Masaaki Satake Submission (Neck Crank) PRIDE Grand Prix 2000-Opening Round 30 January 2000

Win Ricardo Morais Decision PRIDE 8-PRIDE 8 21 November 1999
Loss Nobuhiko Takada Submission (Heel Hook) PRIDE 5-PRIDE 5 29 April 1999
Loss Pedro Rizzo Decision UFC 18-Road to the Heavyweight Title 8 January 1999
Loss Pete Williams KO (Kick to the Head) UFC 17-Redemption 15 May 1998
Loss Maurice Smith Decision UFC 14-Showdown 27 July 1997
Win Dan Severn Submission (Choke) UFC 12-Judgement Day 7 February 1997
Win Brian Johnston Submission (Strikes) UFC 11-The Proving Ground 20 September 1996
Win Julian Sanchez Submission (Choke) UFC 11-The Proving Ground 20 September 1996
Win Don Frye TKO (Strikes) UFC 10-The Tournament 12 July 1996
Win Gary Goodridge Submission (Position) UFC 10-The Tournament 12 July 1996
Win Moti Horenstein Submission (Strikes) UFC 10-The Tournament 12 July 1996