Frye Bows Out of Yamma; Taktarov to Face Pat Smith
Don Frye (Pictures) has pulled out of a scheduled
April 11 main event against Oleg Taktarov for the debuting
Yamma Pit Fighting promotion, Sherdog.com learned Wednesday.
Taktarov will instead face UFC 1 tournament entrant Patrick Smith, according to Smith's co-managers Francois Nguyen and Tommy Rojas. A contract is expected to be signed and returned this week.
Smith, 2-1 in 2007, trains out of Arlington MMA in Arlington, Texas. According to Rojas, the 45-year-old athlete was invited to participate in a June Yamma event, but Frye's cancellation created an opportunity to compete sooner.
Smith and Taktarov were originally slated to meet in a July 1995 UFC event. Smith, who had won his first-round match against Rudyard Moncayo, complained of stomach pains and declined to continue in the tournament. Taktarov eventually defeated David "Tank" Abbott to claim the championship.
The Russian recently ended a nearly 10-year hiatus with a kneebar victory over John Marsh (Pictures) in November 2007.
Smith-Taktarov will be part of Yamma's "Masters Superfights" series for veteran combatants and will consist of two five-minute rounds. An eight-man heavyweight tournament and a bout between Eric "Butterbean" Esch and Gary Goodridge (Pictures) rounds out the card, which will be broadcast live on pay-per-view from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.
Taktarov will instead face UFC 1 tournament entrant Patrick Smith, according to Smith's co-managers Francois Nguyen and Tommy Rojas. A contract is expected to be signed and returned this week.
Smith, 2-1 in 2007, trains out of Arlington MMA in Arlington, Texas. According to Rojas, the 45-year-old athlete was invited to participate in a June Yamma event, but Frye's cancellation created an opportunity to compete sooner.
Smith and Taktarov were originally slated to meet in a July 1995 UFC event. Smith, who had won his first-round match against Rudyard Moncayo, complained of stomach pains and declined to continue in the tournament. Taktarov eventually defeated David "Tank" Abbott to claim the championship.
The Russian recently ended a nearly 10-year hiatus with a kneebar victory over John Marsh (Pictures) in November 2007.
Smith-Taktarov will be part of Yamma's "Masters Superfights" series for veteran combatants and will consist of two five-minute rounds. An eight-man heavyweight tournament and a bout between Eric "Butterbean" Esch and Gary Goodridge (Pictures) rounds out the card, which will be broadcast live on pay-per-view from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J.
