Gamma 2k

[Pander Opiate]

[CENTER][IMG]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/Ash17485/GAMMA.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] The parties are over. The hungover world sighes in relief as the Millenium Bug turned out to be nothing. It is January 1st 2000 and Mixed Martial Arts is about to enter the 21st century. Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) has risen and risen since it's birth in 1993 and a lot of this success can be attributed to it's current president, Tim Johnson. Many feel that Johnson's appointment in July 1996 was one of the key factors in MMA's current world wide success. His most notable achievement was the successful invasion of Japan, pushing ALPHA into the number 2 slot in it's own backyard. However, although GAMMA's finances are huge and their popularity is at an unimaginable high there is dissent stinking up the GAMMA offices. Many feel that for the last year GAMMA has just been riding on the wave of their success without breaking any new ground. Soon their momentum will cease and GAMMA will be dead in the ocean. These complaints are not limited to disgruntled office staff. It is a problem that has been eating away at Johnson for the last few months. GAMMA's stars are becoming increasingly worn from their constant fighting and many feel that it will not be long until a vast majority of them are forced to retire. The title picture over the last year can only really be described as mediocre. It started with the sudden loss of their flagship champion, Lightweight Charles Stiles. The unbeatable Stiles was finally beaten, not by a fighter but by a drugs test resulting in a vacated title and a 12 month suspension. The other titles were defended infrequently by unmotivated champions with very few managing to leave much of a mark. (The Middleweight champion, Fernando Amaro, being the only exception. He has held the title since October 1996 and has never been close to losing it.) On the 29th of December Johnson called a meeting with GAMMA's top staff to discuss his displeasure of the last year and his plans and dreams for the years ahead. GAMMA would be taken off cruise control and would instead force its way into historical greatness. [CENTER][U][B]GAMMA Fighters[/B][/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Below are a list of GAMMA fighters that are currently under contract and have fought over the last year. [/CENTER] [CENTER][U]Lightweight Division[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Champion: Mario de Souza (15-9)[/CENTER] [CENTER]Bruno Epps (8-6) Callum Hensen (11-4) Giovanni Silva (23-12) Malcolm O'Hearn (7-3-1) Nicholas Bretton (5-1) Sadahige Yoshida (2-1) Sean Morrison (17-8)[/CENTER] [CENTER][U]Welterweight Division[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Champion: Jack Humphreys (20-4)[/CENTER] [CENTER]Alan Kendall (14-10) Casim Yenkini (12-7) Darin Blood (10-2) David Allen (4-5) Heikichi Shimizu (8-3) Joe Hinchcliffe (17-6) Julio Regueiro (18-1-1) Luis Basora (14-3) Nathan Chambers (11-3) Noach Van Der Capellen (15-6) Peter Bracewell (18-10) Randy Carsley (7-3) Ray Eton (12-8) Simon Vine (8-6)[/CENTER] [CENTER][U]Middleweight Division[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Champion: Fernando Amaro (21-3)[/CENTER] [CENTER]Andrew Rush (21-5) Bixente Fontaine (12-7) Buddy Garner (15-5) Carl Ratcliffe (15-6) Greg Atteveld (17-13) Jethro Munter (2-3) Linfield Ballard (15-11) Maarten De Vries (22-6) Matthew Dean (13-7) Neil Napier (7-3-1) Patrick Thomas (9-3) Robun Yamazaki (18-8) Stuart Strange (8-6)[/CENTER] [CENTER][U]Light Heavyweight[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Champion: Mike Watson (11-1)[/CENTER] [CENTER]Aleksei Chekhov (16-7) Anthony LeToussier (19-9) Ashley Ballard (10-3) Bryan Van Den Hauwe (14-12) Elgar (16-10) Faas Smit (10-7) George Laurent (14-5) Inejiro Chiba (22-10) JJ Reid (18-4) John Rivero (10-2) Leon Banks (14-6) Nick Detroit (6-4) Owen Hyde (3-3) Petey Mack (13-2) Ricky Heath (11-6) Zvonimir Asanovic (18-3)[/CENTER] [CENTER][U]Heavyweight[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Champion: Tim Boyer (22-4-2)[/CENTER] [CENTER]Dave Lennon (12-2) Derek South (5-5) Frank Sheedy (13-11) James Foster (22-6) Lefter Oktay (12-3) Marvin Stevens (9-7-1) Milton Harvey (13-11) Raul Hughes (16-9) Rav Kapur (14-5) Rick Stanley (23-10-3) Stafford Alois (25-8) Steve Mason (4-3) Thomas Smith (13-2) Vincent Chapin (11-11)[/CENTER] [CENTER][U]Popularity[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]America: Fantastic Japan: Fantastic Canada: Awful Mexico: Awful South America: - UK: Awful Europe: Awful Asia: Decent Australia: -[/CENTER] [quote][U]Official Message by Tim Johnson from Gamma.com[/U] [CENTER][U]1st January 2000[/U][/CENTER] [CENTER]Happy New Year everybody. Right now I am in the middle of arranging the first few GAMMA events of the new millenium but I just wanted to quickly discuss the GAMMA title situations. [/CENTER] [CENTER]First the Lightweight title. This division has had a hard year after being vacated at the end of 1998 and it is only now starting to get back on it's feet. I spoke to champ Mario de Souza last week and he assured me he is ready and willing to face any man I put in the ring with him. He also specifically mentioned he'd love the opportunity to face Charles Stiles who will be returning to the company very soon. Although Stiles was never beaten for the title, his disregard for the rules that resulted in his suspension overides all claims he has to a title shot. I have been in regular contact with Stiles over the last few months and he is a repentent man. He has accepted my decision that his previous reputation means nothing now and that before he recieves a title shot he will have to work his way up from the very bottom. As for the number 1 contendership for the title, I will soon sign a match between Bruno Epps and Giovani Silva. The winner will then recieve a title shot in the near future. [CENTER]Jack Humphreys looked very strong in his two defences of the Welterweight title winning both by TKO. He has proven to be a respectable champion and I believe it is time to give him an equally respectable challange. Since losing the title to Darin Blood, Julio Reguiero has put together an impressive 4 match win streak and clearly deserves to be the number one contender. [/CENTER] [CENTER]Fernando Amaro looks unbeatable in the Middleweight division and finding him a suitable challanger is hard. However Martin De Vries has beaten 4 of the Middleweight division's best in back to back matches and clearly deserves another title shot. [/CENTER] [CENTER]Mike Watson has been a promising fighter for a long time but he has finally took that step from promising to worldclass. I have decided to put him against another young fighter in Ashley Ballard. Ballard beat George Laurent and Anthony LeToussier last year and deserves a chance.[/CENTER] [CENTER]After many years of fighting Tim Boyer has finally reached the pinacle of the Heavyweight world. There are a number of Heavyweights that deserve a shot but after Rav Kapur brutally knocked out Raul Hughes in November I think there are few that deserve it more then him. Look out for that hard hitting match soon.[/CENTER] [CENTER]The official card for the first GAMMA show of the new millenium will be announced shortly [/CENTER] [/CENTER] [/quote]