Was it a Kage Kombat shirt or MATRAT? What exactly was it or what did it say?
Bas Rutten was there also wasnāt he?
de_braco
Yes. I believe that was it. I think his team was Iron-somethingā¦ My memory had been stellar for years. My friend who I attended each and every show with used to marvel at my recall. Last few years, Iāve been the one to have to go to him to fill in the blanks. He would rattle off all the people weāve seen fight and I would be like, āfuck! No waaayyy!ā
Fun factā¦he and I worked for the same state department. Different divisions, titles, etcā¦but the CA Department of Corruption and (later) Retribution.
I think I have a few copies of vale tudo news laying around. I was at UFC 6. Was going to go to 3. I was at the first dozen or so extreme challenge events. I took lessons from Jeremy horn when he was 19.
I feel oldā¦
crowbar
HA!!! Some good timesā¦some of the best. Iāve seen and enjoyed many of your posts on this forum. Lurking for years, only posting recently as I never had time to monitor posts with my career/family. Always thinking that you and I have crossed paths many of times. Used to live in the Central Valley. Used to have season tix for Da Raidaaahhhsss too.
I have a bunch of other āold schoolā memories but didnāt want to FRAT my post. Back when you couldnāt even watch UFC on normal cable, weād go to āThe Condorā in SF to watch and party. Later, weād go to some bar in Lodi where Bob Shamrock would usually be watching along with several other IFC/Shamrock folks, including Steve Heath. Somewhat befriended Eugene Jackson, in Jackson. One time when we told him about Central Valley cable not showing fights, he invited us to Gladiator Training Academy (?). Shit, I believe I still have GTA swag somewhere. We went up there and BBQād hot dogs, drank soda and watched some UFC (#?) with all his folksā¦Tim Lajcik, etcā¦ Eugene and Tim were some of the nicest, most genuine people Iāve ever met. We always used to spend the extra cash and get first or second row seats at all the IFC, KOTC, Gladiator Challenges, WEC Lemoore shows. Once in Colusa, I saw Ken Shamrock getting into an elevator. I asked him for a pic of he and I. He told me it would cost $20. I laughed and said, āYouāre joking, right?ā He told me to fuck off (or something quite similar) as the elevator doors closed. Saw him at a Dennyās parking lot in Modesto about five years ago and not learning my lesson, asked him again. Much nicer, and I got a pic. Used to see all the old school Lionās Den guys at sports bars in and around the Modesto area. I remember supposed to go to a show at āThe Flamingoā(?) (Charter Way) in Stockton but it was cancelled. IIRCC, I think I got stiffed for my tix $$$ on that one. For a brief period of time, there was some other dude, canāt recall his last name, Jeff Cā¦(?) I believe he was a cop with Modesto PD for a period of time. He was affiliated with Paul Smithās shows for a while. Heād provide us info on all the up and coming shows. I was at the Robbie Kilpatrick fights in Smoke Signals. Back in the day when I trained, couldnāt find quality, name brand giās. I forget how I got hooked up with Ralphās number, but I called him. He invited me up to his place in Dublin/Pleasanton area. I went up there and bought a Kickskin gi. I remember four thingsā¦he opened a closet where his giās were stored and (1) all the shit came crashing out onto the floor like a movie or something. He looked me up and down, rifled through a bunch and tossed me one and told me to try it on. It fit. (2) Then he gave me a lesson on his living room floor while (3) his Rottweiler that was the size of a fucking rhino was throwing himself at the sliding glass door trying to get inside to kill me. Needless to say, I didnāt pay too close of attention to the lesson. Oh, and (4) I remember his swimming pool being green with slime too, un-swimmable for sure!
Fuckā¦good times/memoriesā¦
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I remember when Dana White posted here under "Dana White @ Zuffa "
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Narco_Corrido,
Thank you for the kind words I most certainly appreciate it.
Yeah Steve Heath use to come over to my best friend Mikeās house in Escalon with Shilo Bacca to watch UFCās with us.Mike actually cornered Steve when he fought Chuck at that show in Friant along with Cesar if you can believe that (Cesar was there cornering Steve when Steve was representing Shamrock 2000)
Now about Eugene Jackson,at the 3rd show in Jackson at the Rancheria my friend Mike & I stopped at a gas station after the show and Eugene & Tim was there getting gas in their motorhome with some other guys.
Eugene & I started talking MMA & ended up talking a good 20 minutes.The guys in the motorhome kept getting out and telling Eugene to ācome on letās goā at least 3 times,but Eugene just stayed there talking to me.
My friend Mike took private lessons with Tim at the Gladiators Training Academy for a few months actually.One night Mike took me along to check out the academy & Tim hearing the shape I was in at the time actually offered me a place to stay at his house.And this was just after meeting me for the first time.
So,after that of course I followed Timās and Eugeneās career.Did you go to that Underground show in Roseville in 1998 where Tim ended up winning that tournament? Most of the Lionās Den guys were there including Bob Shamrock and Pete Williams was the referee.Steve Heath fought in that tournament also.
Here is the shirt from that underground show in Roseville along with one of the 2 shirts of Timās that I own.I bought the second one at a later time and donāt have a picture of it.
About Ken Shamrockā¦yeah there was a Lionās Den in Modesto.It became Modesto Power,but Kenās son Sean Shamrock runs a gym called the Lionās Den Performance Center.Iām not sure if they are still open.I quit working for the IFC a long,long time ago so Iām not sure of the Jeff that you are talking about.
About Ralphās.Were you there when BJ Penn & Bobby Southworth were there? I know that Gabe Ruediger trained there at also.
*Notice that Eugene was the main event on that show.It was supposed to be Vladdy vs Paul Varelans,but Paul pulled out.
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Narco_Corrido,
How about this show in Stockton it was also a underground show in 1998.It was held at the Main Street Gym.It was tournament also.My best friend Mike who was my training partner fought in it.
Cesar Gracie had a few of his guys there fighting and the Lionās Den had few guys there fighting.My friend Mike was a Lionās Den student at the time ended up getting choked out by one of Cesarās guys named Carlton.
Pete Williams was there and so was Jerry Bolander and Alex Andrade.Jerry Bolander was the referee.For some reason,Jerry who was the referee was replaced by Cesar Gracie in the final.In the final it was Lionās Den Vernon āTigerā White against Cesar Gracieās Gil Castillo.Gil ended up winning by armbar.
After the final fight was over there was some shit talking going on in the ring by the Lionās Den and Alex Andrade ended up getting slapped by Cesar Gracie.I of course didnāt know who Cesar Gracie was at the time,but he slapped Alex and the Lionās Den guys didnāt do shit.
What made this event unique was that the promoter whoās name was Neil,actually had strippers there serving free beer.Free beer I shit you not.He even had the strippers perform in the middle of the ring at intermission.
One bad thing about the show besides my friend Mike losing,was that this show was crowded just like sardines.I shit you not it was wall to wall with people.I asked Neil why he sold so many fucking tickets & he said that someone must have went to Kinkoās and duplicated the tickets.
- Steve Heath also fought in this show.He was the very first fight.He ended up armbarring some self proclaimed Special Forces guy.Steve lost his next fight to someone else that I didnāt know or see,because I was in the back with Mike.
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Somebody is leaving in an ambulance!!! - Lead in teaser
My first UFC I āwatchedā was UFC 5 on a scrambled PPV signal in my room. It was like radio with the occasional clear view about every 30-45 seconds.
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I have guys still waiting on medals they won at the Ferg. Price of Leglocks grappling Colorado tourney.
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how the fight go ?Good to see u posting its been a while
Robbie kilpatrick. How good was he ? I remember hearing the name back in the day
Haha ufc 5 was the first one I watched as well. I honestly did not enjoy it my first viewing as it seemed more like a wrestling match than an actual fight lol. My expectations of what a fight looked like were warped like many others ā¦ soon thereafter I got hooked on it
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You know,I honestly couldnāt tell you.I never seen him in real life & pretty much only know him from this pic with Ken & Vernon on the railroad tracks & that tournament in Jackson.Never ever even heard a story about him from anyone.Here he is on the left.
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crowbar,
Manā¦so many good times and from what I can remember, good memories. We used to go to Friant, Jackson and Colusa on a regular basis. Iād say for the first couple years, we didnāt miss any of them (IFC, GC, KOTC). What Iād give to relive one of those āSmoke Signalsā shows. A group that I used to hang out with back then was acquainted with another group that included Brian Sleeman. More of a brawler than any specific style. He fought a few times for Paulās shows. I was trying to remember shit and IIRC, I think āJeffāsā last name was Collins. I think he may have reffed a couple bouts for Paul Smith.
Man, all interesting information. When reading your previous posts, I had a hunch that you would have a great deal of IFC, Jackson, Friant, Central Valley information. One of these days maybe we can sit down over pizza and beers and shoot the shit.
Again, absolutely no surprises regarding Eugene and Timās character. I only wish I wouldāve had/made more time for those relationships and/or training, although my lifestyle at the time (party, training, work) almost cost me a lot back then thenā¦
I was aware of Ken/Lionās Den connection in Modesto. I believe he was tight with a Modesto area gym owner, Dan Freeman(?). Anyway, I funded a lot of bar ownersā kidsā college funds back then and Kenās boys made appearances on a regular basis. Having worked with some less than desirable folks, there was one who told me he was incarcerated for stealing Ken Shamrockās car (Camaro?). Said that Bob took him in at his place in Lockeford for a while and it was when he fled Bobās house that he took the car. I didnāt believe him as he sounded suspect. While watching UFC one night at the bar in Lodi, I asked Bob and he confirmed that the story was fairly accurate.
I did not attend the Main Street Gym show, however it was from that show that I learned about the other Stockton show (Flamingo Bar?). As I said, that show didnāt happen and IIRC, I never got my money back either. Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing about the āKinkoāsā fiasco. I think when I bought the āFlamingoā tix at MSG, the dude I bought them from said something about it. I was working in Stockton at that time. I did go to a few of the shows at the Stockton Arena. I donāt recall who foughtā¦ Had really good seats for the Shogun/Dan fight at San Jose courtesy of a friend in the military. Had really good seats for the ā1st CA legalā show (Strikeforce) in SJ as well.
I did go to the Roseville show, if weāre talking about the same one. I believe thereās footage of Tim on YouTube from that show? Didnāt that have something to do with the local PAL organization? Somewhere I have pictures of me with Pete, Jerry, Frank, Bob Cookā¦ One of the other fighters I really enjoyed watching from those days was John Marsh. Dude was a mauler! Reminded me of Mark Kerr. Gil Castillo was fun to watch as was Caleb Mitchel. I remember Gan McGee mauled a bunch of people one night in Friant. I know all the fight rosters are on one of those āother sites.ā Iāll have to review them sometime soon so I can see once again who I saw back then. I remember going to a show in Reno from that same era. Iāll have to dig out my ticket stubs/passes from then. I have them all, however I recently moved and shit is still all packed in some storage bin somewhere. Somewhere I think I have a āPlain Brutalā shirt or two.
I never trained āatā Ralphs, however I did train with a ānomadicā group of guys out of the Modesto area who were hooked up with David Camarillo for quite a while when he was at Ralphās, Joao Pierini for a very brief period, Sylvio Behring for an extended period of time, and later, a few of Sylvioās students from Brazil. Unfortunately, I havenāt trained in years.
Donāt quote me as Iāve said many of times here, my memory isnāt the greatest, but I believe Iāve read/heard Robby Kilpatrick was fairly talented (he beat up a bunch of people at Smoke Signals one night), however chose a different path as time went on.
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Norco_Corrido,
Yeah Sleeman was with Dragon Slayer or something close to that.I specifically remember his fight against Chris Leben in the WEC.He got kicked in the nuts and the fight was going to be over,but the crowd got real rowdy after Brian left the cage and the fight was allowed to restart.He ended up getting armbarred and walked around The Palace the rest of the night in a sleeve.
Would love to go back and reflect on the early shows.
Dan Freeman was very tight with Ken.
Elite XC I think had two shows in Stockton at the Stockton Arena?I didnāt go but watched at least one on tv.
Nick Diaz,Chris Cyborg,Jake Shields,Robbie Lawler & Scott Smith.
Now the Strikeforce show in San Jose.I think it was the HP Pavillion but now called SAP Center.I was there also.I ended up āupgradingā my seats to cageside right next to Dana Stubblefield for the 49ers.When I had to give up my seat to the owners,I went back to my seat next to Cole Escovedo.
That was Frank against Cesar right? The show that broke the North American attendance record for a long time.
There is footage of Timās fights in Roseville,and I swear on the holy bible if you watch that footage you can see Me,Mike,my Uncle Garland & my cousin Johnny in the front row.
Gan McGee won that $10,000 dollar tournament in Friant,I was there also.
The shirt that you are talking about is āJust Plain Brutalā I own one also.Those were IFC ring announcer Jeff Wellerās company that sold them.
Nice old school FCF magazineās that you bought online for $5.00 each.
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All of my NAGA medals and swords are in storage because my prize procession in a WAND Fight Gear Soccer Jersey for winning a Casca Grossa tourney.
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I donāt think hardcore gay porn is what OP he in mind.