MMA gossip 14/12/07-Fedor,Big John,Penn

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[SIZE="7"][FONT="Century Gothic"] Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong Man Choi Official for Dec. 31[/FONT][/SIZE]
Posted by MMA Junkie on December 13, 2007 at 12:19 pm ET



Fedor-EmelianenkoFormer PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (26-1) will battle Hong Man Choi (1-0) after all.

Promoters of the New Year’s Eve event, dubbed Yarennoka!, made the official announcement earlier today.

The Dec. 31 event takes place at the Saitama Super Arena, a 22,000-capacity multi-purpose venue in near Tokyo in Saitama, Japan. The show, broadcast by SKY Perfect in Japan, will be aired on HDNet in the U.S. beginning at 6 a.m. ET. The event’s entire fight card will be broadcast, according to HDNet executives.

The Emelianenko vs. Choi bout has long been rumored — ever since Emelianenko first teased Japanese fans with the possibility of his presence at the event last month.

Emelianenko, once considered the sport’s undisputed top pound-for-pound fighter, has been heavily criticized for facing just three fairly over-matched opponents over the past two years, so this latest booking probably won’t help matters. However, Emelianenko does own an 26-1 record, his reign as PRIDE champion lasted from March 2003 to the organization’s eventual demise this year, and he’s beaten an all-star lineup of MMA talent, including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko “Cro” Filipovic, Ricardo Arona and others.

He’ll now take on 7-foot-2, 350-pounder Choi, a 27-year-old South Korean who suffers from a rare disease that causes him to continue growing throughout his life. Although he has just one MMA fight to his credit, he’s an accomplished K-1 boxer (who owns a career 12-3 record) and wrestler. He made his MMA debut last New Year’s Eve in a K-1 event and defeated two-fight veteran Bobby Ologun — a 215-pounder — with a TKO via punches just 16 seconds into the fight.

Yarennoka! is being organized by former staffers of PRIDE with support from K-1, DEEP, and M-1 Global, an organization that was recently purchased from Emelianenko’s manager and restructured by a group of American investors. Emelianenko, then the world’s top free agent, signed a long-term deal with the organization in October.

The latest line-up for the event includes:

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]* Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong Man Choi
* Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kazuo Misaki
* Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Azeredo
* Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Gilbert Melendez
* Ricardo Arona vs. TBA
* Hidehiko Hasegawa vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
* Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias “JZ” Calvancante
* Luiz Azeredo vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri[/COLOR]

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[SIZE="7"][FONT="Century Gothic"] Big John McCarthy to Make Broadcasting Debut with TKO 31[/FONT][/SIZE]
Posted by Performify on December 12, 2007 at 2:46 pm ET



Big John McCarthyBig” John McCarthy, who officially joined The Fight Network December 7th in a full-time role, will make his broadcasting debut on December 14th in Montreal, Quebec.

McCarthy will team up with his Fight Network colleague, Mauro Ranallo, to call the English broadcast for TKO 31 “Young Guns” from the Bell Centre. McCarthy will provide color commentary for the event.

TKO 31 “Young Guns” airs on Pay Per View on January 4, 2008 at 9:00 pm.

The fight card features a main event of Steve Bosse (2-0 MMA) vs. one-time UFC fighter Icho Larenas (3-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and also features two other fighters who have formerly appeared in the UFC: Chad “The Grinder” Reiner (15-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) against Stephane Dube (6-2 MMA) and Mark “The Machine” Hominick (14-7 MMA, 2-0 UFC) against Danny Martinez (6-0 MMA).

For previous coverage of “Big” John McCarthy’s recently announced retirement from his role as a referee for the UFC, see “Big” John Set to Make Big Announcement Friday on MMAjunkie.com (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.).
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[SIZE="7"][FONT="Century Gothic"] B.J. Penn Gets Probation in Assault Case[/FONT][/SIZE]
Posted by Performify on December 12, 2007 at 1:24 pm ET



BJ Penn with beltUFC lightweight standout B.J. Penn (11-4-1 MMA, 7-3-1 UFC) was sentenced yesterday to one year probation and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution for hitting a Honolulu police officer outside of Waikiki bar two years ago, according to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper.

Penn agreed to a no-contest plea agreement with the prosecution, terms of which include a one year term of abstainance from alcohol, substance abuse treatment, 50 hours of community service, and random drug and alcohol tests.

Penn made a statement outside the courthouse, saying “I want to thank the fans for the support and for sticking by me through thick and thin. It’s time to move on with my life and focus on my career. I’m glad it’s done.“

The arrest and subsequent charges resulted from Penn’s involvement in a fight outside Waikiki’s Zanzabar nightclub, according to police. The club was hosting a pre-party for the following night’s Rumble on the Rock 7 event when the melee began.

Penn punched an officer in the face as he attempted to break up the fight with pepper spray, according to police. At the time, Penn claimed he was trying to get to his brother, who was involved in the fracas, and inadvertently shoved someone who turned out to be a police officer.

With the plea agreement, Penn was given specific allowance to travel to Newcastle, England to fight at UFC 80. There, Penn is set to fight Joe Stevenson in the main event for the UFC’s lightweight title, which was recently stripped from Sean Sherk (see: Sean Sherk Stripped of UFC’s Lightweight Title).

For previous MMAjunkie.com coverage of this situation, see “B.J. Penn Pleads No Contest to 2005 Assault Charge”.
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