Dynamite!! USA Provides Electrifying Fights for Record Crowd

The Los
Angeles Coliseum had never hosted an MMA event in its 74-year history until
Saturday night, but it was well worth the wait. An early estimated total
attendance of 54,000, the largest to witness an MMA event in

U.S. history,
saw 10 wildly exciting fights as part of FEG’s Dynamite!!

USA in
association with Pro Elite. Celebrities such as Dennis Rodman, Nicholas Cage
and recent UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson were on hand to see
the fight card, which also was televised live on Showtime and Showtime PPV.

In one of
the featured bouts of the evening and most anticipated fights in years, Royce
Gracie defeated Kazushi Sakuraba with a 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 decision. To
nobody’s surprise, the two MMA legends punched and grappled their way through
three rounds reminiscent of their memorable match from 2000. Both Gracie and
Sakuraba held positions on the mat and against the ropes, as Gracie looked to
force the bout to the ground. He was successful at times, but Sakuraba would
not submit and the fight turned into a stalemate on the ropes. In the end,
Gracie showed his superiority and avenged the loss to Sakuraba from seven years
earlier.

“I’m
satisfied with the fight, Sakuraba is still dangerous, he’s still strong and
still on top,” said Gracie. “This is the largest fight in

America for
MMA, we were part of history.”

The
co-main event saw MMA newcomer Brock Lesnar take down South Korean Min Soo Kim
with a submission in the first round. Lesnar immediately wrestled Min to the
mat and the two fighters grappled for several minutes. In that time, Lesnar
delivered a number of powerful blows to Min’s head, enough to force a tapout.
The winning match was Lesnar’s MMA debut after a successful amateur and pro
wrestling career.

“I’m
absolutely happy about how this fight went,” said Lesnar. “I was
totally prepared for my first MMA fight and looking forward to doing this
again. There’s no holding me back.”

In a
stunning and impressive knockout, Bernard Ackah of the

Ivory Coast put
former NFL and USC football star Johnnie Morton out cold with a right hook to
Morton’s head. The knockout occurred 38 seconds into round one after the two
fighters exchanged a number of kicks and punches. Morton had Ackah on the mat
early before Ackah delivered the deciding blow, sending Morton crumbling to the
mat and out of the ring on a stretcher. Morton, competing in his first MMA
competiton, signaled to his hometown fans to announce he was ok after leaving
the ring.

“Johnnie
was a very good puncher, he made me change my tactic as the match began,”
said Ackah. “Johnnie is a big guy with muscles who is much faster than I
thought, but he definitely needs more experience.”

A matchup
of two American warriors saw local favorite

Mighty
Mo
take out Warpath with a powerful undercut blow to the left eye while holding
his opponent to the mat. The TKO occurred at 38 seconds in the first round
after the two fighters went toe-to-toe on the ropes.

“Warpath
was a strong fighter and gave me a strong match, I was just looking for that
last punch,” said

Mighty

Mo. “It was nice to be here
and win in front of my countrymen showing my skills.”

With a
large Korean fanbase behind him, Dong Sik Yoon of
South
Korea won a hard-fought second round victory against
Melvin Manhoef of the

Netherlands.
The fight went back and forth, from the ring mat to the ropes, with each
fighter claiming supremacy at various times. Dong finally took down Manhoef
midway through the second round with a submission and Manhoef tapped out to end
the fight.

A hotly
contested lightweight fight between Hideo Tokoro of

Japan and British brawler Brad
Pickett was won by Tokoro with a tapout submission in the first round. Both
fighters delivered a share of kicks and body blows during the early part of the
round before Tokoro wrestled Pickett to the ground and held his opponent
helpless on the mat.

“I am
more comfortable on the ground and once we got down there, it was the turning
point of the submission,” said Tokoro. “I was slow to start but in
the end I was able to fight my own way.”

Elite XC
fighter Jake Shields continued his successful young MMA career by taking out
Ido Pariente with a first-round submission. Bay Area native Shields, weighing
in at 170 pounds, brought Pariente to the mat and held ground on the 168-pound
Israeli fighter.

“I
wanted a knock out, but I am very happy to win another fight by
submission,” said Shields. “I am ready to go back in the ring and
fight again because I want to take the title.”

An
All-American bout saw Tim “Big Perm” Persey fall to Jonathan Wiezorek
50 seconds in the second round. Both fighters struggled through the first
round, but Wiezorek was able to take Persey to the mat and deliver numerous
blows to Persey’s head before the referee stopped the fight.

“My
game plan was to jab and take him down because I am best on the mat,” said
Wiezorek. “I thought I could take him in the first round. He fought back,
and I finally rolled him over.”

Another
fight that went the maximum three rounds saw Katsuhiko Nagata of
Japan win a split decision against Isaish Hill
of the

U.S.
Both fighters delivered their share of kicks and body blows, yet judges decided
upon Nagata based on his ability to keep Hill on the ropes. The final decision
in favor of Nagata went 29-28, 29-28 and 27-30.

In the
first, and shortest, match of the evening, J.Z. Calvan of
Brazil took out

Garden Grove,
Calif.
native Nam Phan with a TKO 26 seconds in the first round. Calvan immediately
took Phan to the mat and delivered an array of punches before the referee
called the fight.

Dynamite!!

USA marked the first U.S.
MMA event by Japanese-based FEG, which brought the event to

Los Angeles in hopes for continued popularity
of the sport. The previous record for an MMA event in the
U.S. was 19,049 for an event in

Columbus,
Ohio.

“We
had hoped that people would be excited to witness a first-class mixed martial
arts event in the Los Angeles Coliseum, and that is exactly what they
saw,” said Sadaharu Tanikawa, president of FEG. “This event showed
that MMA is here to stay and FEG is excited to grow our presence in the

U.S. with more
events to come.”

“Although
there were a lot of naysayers out there, in the end, it proves that two great
MMA organizations can come together for a spectacular event, as well as an
entertaining night of television,” said Elite XC President Gary Shaw.

FEG’s
Heroes MMA events in
Japan
and

Korea
have routinely sold out major arenas and stadiums, including the 74,000-seat
Tokyo Dome. The inaugural Dynamite in August of 2002, held at Tokyo National
Stadium, drew a record crowd of 92,000 fans.

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