Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE Bushido 10 Part I
Denis Kang vs. Mark Weir
Mar 30, 2006
KANG: Canadian Denis
Kang (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter
with a professional record of 19-7-1. He trains with Marcus Aurelio (Marcus Aurelio'
class='LinkSilver'>Pictures), Thiago Alves, Gesias Calvancanti, Din Thomas (Pictures), Wilson Gouveia (Pictures), Dustin Denes (Pictures), Aaron Riley (Pictures), Jeff Monson (Pictures) and the rest of the American Top
Team. Denis began training in wrestling in high school and moved on
to Hapkido but eventually found BJJ to be the art that moved him.
He started training with Marcus Soares when he was 20 and has
studied the art for nearly a decade.
Kang began fighting MMA in 1998 in the Ultimate Warrior Challenge show. He went 2-0 before taking part in the second Bas Rutten (Pictures) Invitational tournament. He won his first bout but lost the second to Jacen Flynn by submission.
A bout with Miletich fighter Joe
Slick followed but Kang was submitted again. Kang met Pancrase
legend Minoru Suzuki in
2000 and defeated Suzuki due to injury. However, he would lose his
next three bouts, including Keiichiro Yamamiya
(Pictures) and Osami Shibuya (Pictures). Kang had a No Contest with
Dennis Hallman
(Pictures) at the World Fighting
Federation 1, but came back at WFF 2 to score a submission win over
MFC veteran Shane
Biever.
A debut in the UCC and a return to the Extreme Challenge saw Kang lose back-to-back bouts by submission. Both Joe Doerksen (Pictures) and Jason Miller (Jason Miller' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) choked him out. He knocked out Keith Rockel (Pictures) prior to winning the Super Brawl 30 four-man tournament.
In ’04, Kang fought in the M-1 MFC Heavyweight Grand Prix and defeated Russian Red Devil Alexei Veselovzorov. Kang made his Bushido debut by submitting Takahiro Oba (Pictures) in the first round. He returned to Bushido 8 to take revenge in the rematch and defeat Semenov by decision. Last December in the AFC, Kang defeated Ron Fields by rear-choke in the opening period.
WEIR: Mark Weir (Pictures) is a Tae Kwon Do stylist and cross-trained mixed martial artist, but was self-trained for much of his early career. He now trains as part of “The Range” with Matt Ewin (Pictures) and Danny Price. Weir sports a professional MMA record of 17-9.
Mark was one of the youngest black belts to win a world championship (he beat his own master Hee Il Cho’s top fighter Phillip Amirez), and gives seminars on his Range Fighting Programme for MMA practitioners (developed in 1992).
He holds a number of amateur and pro titles, including the 1995 “Clash For Cash” Fight Challenge, 1996 MMA Superfight, the 1999 “Battle of the Celts” Super Fight, the 2000 International Pancrase Heavyweight belt, the 2000 and 2001 Grapple & Strike Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight titles, the 2001 Switzerland Grapple & Strike Super Fight strap and the Millennium Brawl 3&4 Super Fight in 2001.
In 1995 Weir issued an open challenge to any fighter and allowed them to make their own rules. He fought both Wayne Turner and Buster Reeves (in what was an MMA-style bout) and defeated them in two rounds each. Weir began fighting professional MMA bouts in 2000 at the Grapple and Strike shows and was knocked out in his first outing. He roared back to win nine in a row, including wins over CJ Fernandes and Ben Earwood (Pictures).
Weir made his UFC debut in England against Eugene Jackson (Pictures) and made short work of the Gladiator Training Academy fighter, finishing him with a short right to the head in just 10 seconds. At UFC 40 Weir faced another rising star in the middleweight division, Phillip Miller (Pictures). Weir seemed in control early but with just 10 seconds left in the second round, Weir tapped to a rear-naked choke. He fought David Loiseau (Pictures) at UFC 42 and “The Crow” knocked out “The Wizard” late in the first round.
In October of ’03 Weir made his way to the Cage Rage event and he has been an integral part of the promotion since. Weir would fight in other small shows like Extreme Brawl, Pain and Glory and the XFC, but he’d always come back to Cage Rage.
At CR 7, Weir met Jorge Rivera (Pictures) and lost via cut stoppage in the first round. He beat Vale Tudo legend Johil de Oliveira (Pictures) but a string of losses followed. Weir fell to two Matt Lindland (Pictures) and Curtis Stout (Pictures), as well as to Russian stud Alex Serdyukov (Pictures) in the WEC. He got back on track at CR 12 by defeating Sol Gilbert (Pictures) and rolled through his last two opponents, including Akira Shoji (Pictures).
MY PICK: Kang. This bout may not have the big-name appeal for audiences outside Canada or England, but U.S. fans should not ignore this one. It could be very competitive. Weir has won three in a row; Kang hasn’t lost since ’03, right before he won the WFF Canadian middleweight championship (that’s 14 in a row with one draw). Kang’s spot in any future GP rides on this bout. He’s 2-0 in the promotion but he’s done it very quietly. It’s time to make some noise. Kang by submission (likely a choke) in the second round.
Kang began fighting MMA in 1998 in the Ultimate Warrior Challenge show. He went 2-0 before taking part in the second Bas Rutten (Pictures) Invitational tournament. He won his first bout but lost the second to Jacen Flynn by submission.
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A debut in the UCC and a return to the Extreme Challenge saw Kang lose back-to-back bouts by submission. Both Joe Doerksen (Pictures) and Jason Miller (Jason Miller' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) choked him out. He knocked out Keith Rockel (Pictures) prior to winning the Super Brawl 30 four-man tournament.
Kang returned to TKO and defeated fellow Canadian Stephan Potvin (Pictures) before traveling to Russia to
face Andrei Semenov
(Pictures) in M-1. The bout ended in a
draw and Kang jumped to the Spirit MC promotion in Korea. There he
rattled off five straight wins, including a sweep of the
competition in the Spirit MC Grand Prix.
In ’04, Kang fought in the M-1 MFC Heavyweight Grand Prix and defeated Russian Red Devil Alexei Veselovzorov. Kang made his Bushido debut by submitting Takahiro Oba (Pictures) in the first round. He returned to Bushido 8 to take revenge in the rematch and defeat Semenov by decision. Last December in the AFC, Kang defeated Ron Fields by rear-choke in the opening period.
WEIR: Mark Weir (Pictures) is a Tae Kwon Do stylist and cross-trained mixed martial artist, but was self-trained for much of his early career. He now trains as part of “The Range” with Matt Ewin (Pictures) and Danny Price. Weir sports a professional MMA record of 17-9.
Mark was one of the youngest black belts to win a world championship (he beat his own master Hee Il Cho’s top fighter Phillip Amirez), and gives seminars on his Range Fighting Programme for MMA practitioners (developed in 1992).
He holds a number of amateur and pro titles, including the 1995 “Clash For Cash” Fight Challenge, 1996 MMA Superfight, the 1999 “Battle of the Celts” Super Fight, the 2000 International Pancrase Heavyweight belt, the 2000 and 2001 Grapple & Strike Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight titles, the 2001 Switzerland Grapple & Strike Super Fight strap and the Millennium Brawl 3&4 Super Fight in 2001.
In 1995 Weir issued an open challenge to any fighter and allowed them to make their own rules. He fought both Wayne Turner and Buster Reeves (in what was an MMA-style bout) and defeated them in two rounds each. Weir began fighting professional MMA bouts in 2000 at the Grapple and Strike shows and was knocked out in his first outing. He roared back to win nine in a row, including wins over CJ Fernandes and Ben Earwood (Pictures).
Weir made his UFC debut in England against Eugene Jackson (Pictures) and made short work of the Gladiator Training Academy fighter, finishing him with a short right to the head in just 10 seconds. At UFC 40 Weir faced another rising star in the middleweight division, Phillip Miller (Pictures). Weir seemed in control early but with just 10 seconds left in the second round, Weir tapped to a rear-naked choke. He fought David Loiseau (Pictures) at UFC 42 and “The Crow” knocked out “The Wizard” late in the first round.
In October of ’03 Weir made his way to the Cage Rage event and he has been an integral part of the promotion since. Weir would fight in other small shows like Extreme Brawl, Pain and Glory and the XFC, but he’d always come back to Cage Rage.
At CR 7, Weir met Jorge Rivera (Pictures) and lost via cut stoppage in the first round. He beat Vale Tudo legend Johil de Oliveira (Pictures) but a string of losses followed. Weir fell to two Matt Lindland (Pictures) and Curtis Stout (Pictures), as well as to Russian stud Alex Serdyukov (Pictures) in the WEC. He got back on track at CR 12 by defeating Sol Gilbert (Pictures) and rolled through his last two opponents, including Akira Shoji (Pictures).
MY PICK: Kang. This bout may not have the big-name appeal for audiences outside Canada or England, but U.S. fans should not ignore this one. It could be very competitive. Weir has won three in a row; Kang hasn’t lost since ’03, right before he won the WFF Canadian middleweight championship (that’s 14 in a row with one draw). Kang’s spot in any future GP rides on this bout. He’s 2-0 in the promotion but he’s done it very quietly. It’s time to make some noise. Kang by submission (likely a choke) in the second round.
