No Holds Barred: MMA Comes to China, with Konrad Pi, Co-founder of Art of War Fighting Championship
http://nhbnews.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-04-30T01_43_32-07_00
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Konrad Pi, the co-founder of the Art of War Fighting Championship (http://mmachina.com) and president of the Adoria Entertainment Group in Beijing, China.
The next show for the Art of War Fighting Championship, scheduled for May 23 at the National Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Beijing, will feature a full card of mixed martial arts fights, headlined by a main event with rising Chinese star Wu Hao Tian facing the up-and-coming Japanese fighter, Yutaka Kobayashi. Also fighting on this card will be Rolles Gracie Jr. of Brazil, as well as Malik Mawlayi of Sweden taking on Fransino Tirta of Indonesia, and many other fighters from Asia and around the world.
This event will also be an international "coming out party for the Art of War Fighting Championship," said Mr. Pi in our lengthy interview. According to the Art of War, this show is being held "under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates." There is expected to be in attendance "a delegation of over 300 students, athletes, press representatives and martial arts fans from the United Arab Emirates."
In addition, there will be a reunion of the first family of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the Gracies, who are also of course mixed martial arts pioneers. So far listed as confirmed to attend are Rickson Gracie, Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie, and Royler Gracie. Other notables scheduled to attend this event are Demian Maia, Fabricio Werdum, Ricardo Liborio, Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, Bas Rutten, Josh Barnett, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Tim Sylvia, Jeremy Horn, referees Yuji Shimada and Big John McCarthy, Stephen Quadros, Michael Buffer, Todd Hester, Luca Atalla, and yours truly, Eddie Goldman.
The organizers of the Art of War Fighting Championship hope to use this event to begin to establish their promotion as not only the leading mixed martial arts company in China, the most populous country in the world, but also as one of the top world-class mixed martial arts events in the world. Accomplishing that, they are well aware, will take time, but this event is a major early step along that path.
In a lengthy interview with Konrad Pi, we discussed this May 23 event, the overall plans for the Art of War Fighting Championship, the top fighters on this card, and the rules of this event, which are similar to the old Pride rules. We also discussed the role of martial arts in Chinese history and culture, the importance of both grappling and striking to the Art of War Fighting Championship, the growth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in China, cultural differences and perceptions between many people in China and the West which cause them to look at many aspects of the combat sports in differing ways, the relationship of the Art of War Fighting Championship organization to the government of the People's Republic of China, prefight medical testing required by the Art of War Fighting Championship, and more.
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Make sure to check out my regular weekly boxing show SecondsOut Radio, at http://www.secondsout.com/radio/. On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, we focus on the top fighters in boxing in the UK today. We compare where the careers of Joe Calzaghe, Junior Witter, Amir Khan, Ricky Hatton, David Haye, and Carl Froch were one year ago with where they are today. And we comment on the thrilling come-from-behind 12th-round TKO victory Carl Froch scored over Jermain Taylor this past Saturday night, April 25. Ricky Hatton, of course, will be facing Manny Pacquiao, regarded by most as the current pound-for-pound king, this coming Saturday night, May 2, in Las Vegas. This fight will take place at 140 pounds, where Hatton is presently regarded as the best fighter in the world. We spoke with a confident Ricky Hatton on a media conference call this past week to get his take on this fight. David Haye, the former cruiserweight champion who relinquished his belts in that division to move up to heavyweight, will get his wish for a crack at a heavyweight title when he faces the top fighter in that weight class, Wladimir Klitschko, June 20 in Germany. David Haye was in New York this past week for a news conference, and we caught up with him there for some very poignant comments. It is free to listen to or download SecondsOut Radio, but you must register to gain access to it. Just click here, http://www.secondsout.com/radio/, and listen, learn, and enjoy.
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Thanks, Eddie Goldman
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Enjoy!
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