Soar To The Limit: The Story of Rickard Patterson and the Canadian Tough Team

White Dolphin · May 8, 2018

(OOC: Quite the compliment coming from you Blake, thanks! I remember your Stone dynasty in TEW 2010 very well, it was a good read while it lasted. You should check out our site Discord and teach some of the degenerates there how to book. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> )

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Tuesday Week 4 June, 2004

-Our two Tough Team gals in Girl Fights Entertainment are booked for their debut card!

-Toshie Nishina takes on 7-0 Brawler Elizabeth Lindley. Lindley's a head hunter who just swings for the fences with reckless abandon, a real throwback to early 90s style MMA. She has minimal abilities on the ground and clinch so Nishina should win if she doesn't get caught with a lucky punch.

-Kyoko Junna will face 8-1 Judoka Natasha Mellow. Unfortunately Junna does not have the ground game necessary to cope with Mellow's submission skills, so barring a lucky shot Junna's probably toast. We'll work to improve the ground game during this camp, but we're not optimistic.......

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Saturday Week 4 June, 2004

-My next fight is booked! I'll be heading to Tokyo in late August to face 8-0 Submission Wrestler Sojuro Iriye. Iriye will be a tough opponent, although his standup is not very skillful, hes a good grappler with solid submission threat and strong top control. Hes also got terrific cardio and physical power. My best best will be to either get a takedown, as hes surprisingly lacks the ability to control things from his guard, or I stay at middle to long range and outstrike him. This is a tough matchup, but I'm ready for it, and I've been promised a raise and a top contender if I win.

-Leverett Chez's recovered from his pectoral injury and hes booked against Takafumi Ando again in the prelims. Not much has changed gameplan wise, although theres the worry that Chez isn't fully recovered and that could cost him in the grappling department.

-Main event on the card is Fjodor Kanchelskis defending his title for the first time in a while against Heiji Endo, who had beaten him on Fjodor's ALPHA-1 debut. Endo should win this one and reclaim his title, so I'll keep an eye out for that match. Co-main is Curt Kitson in a title eliminator against Affonso Villar at Light Heavyweight, and that'll be a fun match to watch.

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Friday Week 1 July, 2004

-ALPHA-1's signed a deal with internet video site SportTube to air their free Warriors of the Ring cards. This is a first for combat sports: having events on the internet available for free with's the company's consent.

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Saturday Week 1 July, 2004

-CCC 35 took place in Regina with a Tough Teamer on the card.

-Richie Stiller faced Blaze Brossette in the Featherweight division. Brossette the wrestler chose to stand with Richie and paid the price, getting outlanded in Round 1 even though Richie hurt his right hand on a hook early on the round. We tried to look at it between rounds but Richie wasn't having it and insisted on fighting. Richie then came out for Round 2, landed a few jabs, then a big head kick that knocked Brossette out 48 seconds into Round 2! It was against our better judgement, but Richie managed to get the job done and took another big victory. That will surely put him in a title match for the vacant Featherweight belt, if hes not too hurt.......

Official Result: Richie 'The Killer' Stiller defeats Blaze Brossette (Knock Out (Kick) in 0:48 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Decent.

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Monday Week 2 July, 2004

-Richie Stiller got his injury looked at and it seems he broke a bone in his wrist and is out for a while. Commission handed down a 6 month suspension anyways so Richie's on the shelf regardless.

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Saturday Week 2 July, 2004

-ALPHA-1 held their first card of the new era for them in Nagoya, and we had a Tough Teamer on it and two interesting Middleweight bouts to check out.....

-The opener was Kadonomaro Deguchi vs Joaquim Fontes, and Deguchi took a unanimous decision, scoring 4 takedowns and giving the dangerous Fontes nothing to work with for submissions from the bottom. Deguchi even got the better of the striking exchanges, landing a couple power punches and controlling things in the clinch. Deguchi showed good skills in this fight and looks set to make a go of it in the Middleweight division after beating the former champ. Fontes is out of sorts and needs to figure out how to get his groove back.

-Colin J L Capes faced Tomoji Takaoka. Capes came out guns blazing early, outlanding Takaoka easily in the standup battles, but Takaoka caught an errant leg kick from Capes and secured the takedown. As we expected he didn't do a lot with it, so the ref stood them back up. Capes got in a few more licks, but Takaoka clinched him and smothered him against the ropes. Again though, he didn't accomplish much except control, so the ref forced a break and restarted the fight. Before Takaoka could do anything else, Capes blitzed him with a bunch of jabs followd by a big head kick and knocked him out! Ref stopped Capes before he could follow up and that was that! Big upset win for our boy against the sumo champion!

Official Result: Colin J L Capes defeats Tomoji 'HULK' Takaoka (Knock Out (Kick) in 9:51 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Average.

-We stuck around for the rest of the card. Reed Howlett took on Davis Spyrou in an anticipated striking battle. Howlett won Round 1 with surprising ease, as Spyrou landed a few good shots, but missed many more and took damage from having a few reckless strikes countered. Round 2 Spyrou rocked Howlett with a nice head kick, but Howlett kept his wits about him and avoided the KO followups. Spyrou kept pressing to finish, but had a right hook countered with a stiff jab, then got blasted with a right hook as the followup and was knocked out cold halfway throuhg the round. Ref waved it off before Howlett could followup and that was that. This was the biggest win of Howlett's career, although we still think his weakness to wrestlers hasn't really been exploited yet.....

-The co-main event saw Mason Archer knock out Kunimichi Kikuchi in decisive fashion halfway throught he first round, and the main event saw a star-making performance by Gyokusho Fujimoto, as he knocked down Terron Cabal early in Round 2 with a highlight-reel spinning back fist, followed by some brutal ground and pound for a (very late) ref stoppage. Cabal looked absolutely messed up at the end of the fight, his face looked like hamburger and I'm certain his jaw looked out of place. Turns out according to Blurcat Fujimoto did indeed break his jaw in Round 1 with a right cross. Fujimoto looks like an absolute beast and far different from the meek rookie who was cast aside by Hassan Fezzik and Ikuhisa Tamura. Cabal did land a fair few shots, but was overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of Fujimoto's strikes, and the kickboxing gave him an even bigger edge. I'd been saying all along Cabal was overrated and this fight showed it.

-Overall this was a good card, drawing an MMA record 15000 plus, and its rumoured to have done an insane buyrate due to the wide-ranging PPV deals in place. Forward progress!

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Monday Week 3 July, 2004

-We've got a Tough Team booking at a show in Alberta, as our boy French Dancer faces 4-2 Amateur Wrestler Zosime Nier in a prelim bout. Nier debuted in 2002 to little acclaim and has made just an average start to his career. Hes a solid wrestler, better than Dancer, but is actually inferior to Dancer outside of that, particularly the striking and submission aspects of MMA. Dancer has a few outs to take victory and this isn't hopeless, but Nier's likely to secure the takedown and try for ground and pound or a decision win. We'll do our best to get Dancer ready for a career turnaround.

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Wednesday Week 3 July, 2004

-Another Tough Team booking! Christine Jameson's on the prelims of a TV card for the WEFF, taking on 11-2 Kick Boxer Toni Dietrich. Surely Christine can't screw this one up: Dietrich lost her last two fights by submission and has shown no real ground game or takedown defense. If Jameson can get over her consistency issues she should be able to get a round 1 submission win with ease. If not, its surely the end of the line for her, shes turned 33 this year and is showing signs of decline.

-Main event of this WEFF card looks really interesting: 10-0 Daniela Sadorra vs 18-0 Daljit Samir. The two best Flyweight women in the world, and two of the 5 best female fighters in the world. In hindsight this shouldn't have been a smaller TV special setup for them........

-ALPHA-1's latest rumoured talent raid: Alan Kendall from GAMMA. One has to wonder when GAMMA's gonna start firing back, but ALPHA-1's big coffers and worldwide PPV and TV deals are probably too enticing at this point.

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Friday Week 3 July, 2004

-Looks like we're double booked for tomorrow, with Aljur Paras and Roy Arnett fighting in CCC and Toshie Nishina and Kyoko Junna fighting in Jersey for GFE. We've got two crews split up to handle this, and it should be interesting.........

White Dolphin · May 11, 2018

Saturday Week 4 July, 2004

-We had another double booking, with Roy Arnett and Aljur Paras fighting in CCC while a couple girls were in Jersey fighting for Girl Fights Entertainment. I led one crew for Arnett's fight in my hometown, while Aidan led the other crew into Jersey.

-Roy Arnett's fight was against Tony Ibsen. Ibsen fought it perfectly, getting into the clinch and working constantly for takedowns and cage control. He only got 2 out of 13 takedowns on the night, as Arnett did really well to stymie the throws and trips, but it was enough for Ibsen to control the fight, and he even got a late flurry of punches in the clinch to outland Arnett in Round 3, the round he didn't get a takedown. It wasn't pretty, but take your hat off to Ibsen, because it worked.

Official Result: Tony Ibsen defeats Roy 'Trigger' Arnett (Unanimous Decision in 5:00 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Average.

-Aljur Paras did significantly better against Vardan Savel, getting a takedown early and destroying him with 5 punches from mount that turned his face into hamburger. Decisive win by Paras against a glorified can. Paras has improved his ground game quite a bit since joining this camp, although its really only good enough against guys like Savel. Paras is still a ways off from being able to handle guys like Nate MacReary, but we'll see what happens going forward.

Official Result: Aljur Paras defeats Vardan 'King Kong' Savel (Knock Out (Punch) in 3:11 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Good.

-Meanwhile in Jersey, we had our two Asian ladies fighting for GFE. Toshie Nishina went first versus Elizabeth Lindley, and had a stellar outing, showing very little rust from her extended period of inactivity. Lindley debatably won Round 2 with a knockdown towards the end of the round, but Nishina stayed alert and defended herself until the bell. Rounds 1 and 3 were clear-cut for Nishina due to a combination of clinchwork and top control, and she even managed to avoid all strikes in Round 3. The judges gave a 29-28 on all cards for Nishina, who got a good debut win for the company!

Official Result: Toshie Nishina defeats Elizabeth 'Bomber' Lindley (Unanimous Decision in 5:00 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Great.

-Kyoko Junna faced Natasha Mellow right afterwards. Unfortunately, Junna couldn't deal with the takedowns and lost in round 2 via Rear Naked Choke. Junna did win Round 1 with a barrage of nice striking to hold off a takedown attempt until late, but got taken down twice. Junna's likely on the way out after this loss to regroup elsewhere, unfortunately.

Official Result: Natasha Mellow defeats Kyoko Junna (Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 1:56 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Great.

-2 for 4 on the night for the Tough Team. A bit disappointing for us but thems the breaks.

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Sunday Week 4 July, 2004

-ALPHA-1's booked their next card and we've got a Tough Teamer on the prelims. Fabrice Marcil takes on 9-4 Wrestler Shinsui Sakata. Sakata's got some submission threat and ground and pound at his disposal, although I feel his real upside is his decent quality clinchwork. Marcil's got him outclassed in every area though, and Nakata also seems to have a glass jaw: all 4 of his losses are via KO. Marcil should win this in second gear.

-Theres 3 fights i'm keeping an eye on: Jakuchu Abe vs Motoyuki Matsumara in the prelims, former GAMMA champ Dwayne Alleyne debuting against Bambang Sriyanto, and the main event, which is a big-time catchweight bout between Atsutane Akera and Tadamasa Yamada. Beating a legend would be huge for Akera, as he can build up his popularity enough to justify a match with the contenders. Theres also a decent co-main with Fukusaburu Hirano and Chew Chua. Not a bad TV special card, and it'll have some big coverage worldwide due to these new deals.

-Later in the day, we got the call that Roy Arnett was cut from CCC. Another absolute farce of a decision, as CCC is going to the GAMMA school of ridiculous cuts. Not just Roy, 3 other fighters who were 1-1 in their last 2 got the chop. CCC's matchmaking and decision-making at the top have been terrible since Chris Penn left. Strangely this hasn't affected the product in the cage though: the last card drew nearly 1000, a company record. So the promotion of the actual fights has improved yes, but everything else is getting ridiculous, and Rumble at the Palms is poised to outclass them as the big company gateway for the heavier weight classes.

-Roy's sticking with us though, and we'll work to rebuild his career on the local scene for another shot.

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Monday Week 1 August, 2004

-Tuck Durdell's booked for CCC 37 at the end of August, he'll be taking on 3-2 Judoka Nick Janvrin. Janvrin is a decent enough fighter, with reasonable submission skills and a bit of power in his punches. This is a fairly even matchup in each facet of the game, but the fact Janvrin has a glass jaw might swing the fight in our favour, if Durdell can get top position without getting submitted from the bottom. Or Durdeel could get the KO standing, like he did with Chaz Babish. Either way a very interesting fight and we'll see what happens.

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Saturday Week 1 August, 2004

-ALPHA-1 made their online debut with Warriors of the Ring 6, and after a couple server crashes I finally got to watch the show. A rough debut for the technology, but thats to be expected and hopefully things smooth out for the next few cards.

-Middleweight prelims of note: Isaiah Monroe tapped out Juro Fukuzawa via RNC in impressive fashion, Tetsuji Myojin beat Kei Sakakibara via unanimous decision, mostly via jabs at middle range, and Kojuro Kudo got back on the winning track by KOing Marinho Gomes in 8 minutes.

-The triple main event went off well: Zvonimir Asanovic got a big win over Niko Soldo, rocking the kick boxer with a head kick, knocking him down with a right cross, then pounding for a stoppage after just 2 minutes, showing that maybe he does have something left in the tank. Sukarno beat Naizen Hamacho in very similar fashion to Asanovic, except the ref stopped it the instant Hamacho hit the canvas. Finally Motoki Hojo outclassed Heikichi Shimizu and won with a KO after 6 minutes. Shimizu tried a striking battle with the "Wing Chun Superstar" and paid dearly for it with a big loss in front of his own home fans that knocks him back down the ladder.

-Overall a fun card with some brutal KO finishes for the casuals and some slick technique for the more knowledgable fight fans. Can't ask for much more than that!

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Monday Week 2 August, 2004

-French Dancer had his fight on a local card against Zosime Nier. Dancer won Round 1 via some sloppy but effective striking, but Nier opened up with takedowns in Rounds 2 and 3 and we had no chance. Decision came down 29-28 for Nier on all cards. Dancer tried everything we suggested, even a few submissions from the bottom, but didn't have the skill to get the W. Dancer's still staying in the fight game, although I think getting into CCC was the peak of his career and theres nowhere to go but down from here.

Official Result: Zosime Nier defeats French 'Private' Dancer (Unanimous Decision in 5:00 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Average.

-I'm at #12 in the Middleweight rankings for ALPHA-1 and #18 in the world, going into this next fight. The fact ALPHA-1 has 12 of the top 18 fighters in a prestigious weight class right now is a good indicator of how this war with GAMMA is going.

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Thursday Week 2 August, 2004

-Latest ALPHA-1 poaching: Gladstone Lopes. While hes had a very up-and-down career in GAMMA, he does hold a win over Rav Kapur on his record and has the ingredients necessary to be a good Heavyweight gatekeeper.

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Monday Week 3 August, 2004

-Buster East is booked on a local show, he'll be taking on the intrepid journeyman battler known as Local Fighter. Mr. Fighter has about half of Buster's skill all-around, maybe slightly more than half on the defensive side, so this should be an easy win for our boy to get him in line for a CCC or RATP offer.

-Kyoko Junna left our team and is headed to America to find a new camp and change up her training after the loss. We wished her well.

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Sunday Week 3 August, 2004

-Danny Akabaro got an offer from ALPHA-1 after defending his BCF title. He'll be a good addition to the cards for the British TV fans.

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Friday Week 4 August, 2004

-Flew down to Tokyo for the big fight against Sojuro Iriye. I made weight successfully, although it was my hardest cut yet, as I've gotten up to 195 as my base weight. I eventually gave in and had a couple trips to the sauna, and I'm hoping that doesn't weaken me too much. Iriye looked great at the weight cut and this looks like it'll be my toughest test yet as a fighter. Time for battle!

-We're triple booked and spread pretty thin. We got a cutman on loan from another team, with Piper and a lone trainer as my only seconds along with Aidan. Ted's leading a crew for Tuck Durdell's fight, and a bunch of the girls and another cutman on loan are cornering for Christine Jameson. Leverett Chez is fighting in a prelim tonight before me as well. Big night for us, and we're aiming for 4 wins and no losses!

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CANADIAN TOUGH TEAM ROSTER

Protagonist:

Rickard Patterson (9-0)

Secondary Protagonist:

Piper Evergood (14-2)

Aidan Ryland (owner/trainer/agent)

Guest Starring:

Buster East (7-4)

Still Here:

Aljur Paras (10-1)

Christine Jameson (7-5)

Colin J L Capes (11-0)

French Dancer (7-10)

Richie Stiller (11-4)

Roger Bean (10-2)

Roy Arnett (9-5)

Leaving Soon:

Fabrice Marcil (6-0)

Helena Broderick (12-3)

Leo Maisonneuve (4-0)

Leverett Chez (5-0)

Rennaya Rives (13-1)

Toshie Nishina (11-4)

Tuck Durdell (10-2)

Upcoming Fights:

Rickard Patterson vs Sojuro Iriye (ALPHA-1 event, August 2004)

Leverett Chez vs Takafumi Ando (ALPHA-1 event, August 2004)

Christine Jameson vs Toni Dietrich (WEFF Unmissable, August 2004)

Tuck Durdell vs Nick Janvrin (CCC 37, August 2004)

Buster East vs Local Fighter (Canadian local show, September 2004)

Fabrice Marcil vs Shinsui Sakata (ALPHA-1 event, September 2004)

White Dolphin · May 16, 2018

Before the Show........

Christine Jameson faced Toni Dietrich, and won a fantastic fight via submission in Round 2. Round 1 was rough going, as Dietrich knocked down Jameson with a right cross and pounded away for the finish. Jameson managed to stay conscious and worked from the bottom to get back in the fight, almost locking in a couple submissions. Dietrich defended well to win the round, and the corner was worried going into Round 2, as Dietrich looked more capable on the ground than she was before. Jameson dispelled those worries, getting a leg trip in Round 2 and taking Dietrich's back. Dietrich somehow got out and got top position in guard, but then Jameson swept Dietrich to get mount and got an armbar late in the round for the big win. Dietrich retired after the fight, and Jameson said she'd fight on.

Official Result: Christine 'Miss Kimura' Jameson defeats Toni Dietrich (Submission (Armbar) in 4:24 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Fantastic.

The main event saw Daljit Samir win the undefeated battle and the Flyweight title against Daniela Sadorra via a controversial split decision with some awful scoring by the judges, in what was said to be a borderline draw or a 48-47 for Sadorra.

Meanwhile in CCC, Tuck Durdell exploited Nick Janvrin's weak jaw to win via referee stoppage in 34 seconds, hitting Janvrin with a one-two, then two uppercuts that had him out on his feet, with the ref rushing in to stop the fight as Janvrin slumped against the cage.

Official Result: Tuck 'The Everlasting' Durdell defeats 'Hurricane' Nick Janvrin (TKO (Strikes) in 0:34 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Good.

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Saturday Week 4 August, 2004

ALPHA-1: Kanchelskis vs Endo II

There was a good, confident vibe around Rickard's dressing room, after hearing about the two victories for the Team elsewhere. Jameson pulled it out of the fire........ and Durdell put his opponent into the fire. 2 for 2 for the team so far, and everyone felt it would be 4 for 4 by the end of the night.

Aidan wasn't buying it.

This could be the hardest fight yet for Rickard. Sojuro Iriye was a dangerous prospect on the come up. 8 wins, all via submission, but unlike some submission specialists he had a great wrestling base. With his physical strength and wrestling skills, he could actually grind out decision wins if he wanted, and had the submission defense to cope with threats from the bottom. It was a rough matchup for sure, and it could expose some possible weaknesses.......

At least Leverett Chez's fight would be easy enough. As if on cue, the prelim before finished and a flunky knocked on the door to let them know it was time. Rickard stretched out on the couch and got into his routine, while Aidan led his small crew out the door with Leverett for his debut fight.

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Leverett Chez did well against Ando, stunning him with a quick left cross before securing a single leg takedown into half guard early on. Chez pounded away with strikes for a bit, before passing, with some effort, into side control. Chez went for a Von Flue Choke, but Ando defended it well. Chez tried to get the crucifix position, and when that didn't work he floated over to the other side and got a Kimura lock. Ando struggled, but tapped to save his arm and that was that! A fine debut for Chez in ALPHA-1.

Official Result: Leverett 'Stylin'' Chez defeats Takafumi 'Dump Truck' Ando (Submission (Kimura) in 3:33 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Good.

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Leverett was thrilled and went into the dressing room to talk to Rickard and celebrate his victory. Aidan was happy, but Rickard's fight kept gnawing at him, so he stepped outside the dressing room to think things over.

Aidan had suspected for a while now that the initial theory he had about Mixed Martial Arts was false. He had recruited Rickard thinking that developing an all-rounder like him would be the way to go. All strengths, no weaknesses, well-rounded, comfortable wherever the fight goes. However, the continued dominance of certain fighters in the world had made Aidan take pause. Through quite a few fights in Rickard's career, he was worried that Rickard's main strength of being a talented all-around fighter......could also be his main weakness.

Yes, he was good at everything. The prevailing line of thinking for many years now was that you had to mix disciplines, cross-train, and soak up as much knowledge as you could. So why were so many fighters at the top not really doing this?

There were strikers who didn't need to learn a submission game, but just needed takedown defense in order to keep it upright and in their strongest area. Why bother with submissions if you can force a striking battle that you win by KO every time?

With wrestlers, you had people who didn't need a boxing or kickboxing game to win, so long as every takedown they tried was successful, why would you need a stand-up game? If you just had a good chin and good striking defense, and if you had the ability to always get the takedown, there was no point in being a top-class striker.

Rickard was well-rounded and good at everything, and had no real weaknesses. But he wasn't a world-class fighter in every discipline. Against the very best in the world, he could be outclassed striking, on the ground, hell even clinching. If he couldn't prevent the fight from being in his opponents strongest area all the time, it was actually a huge weakness.

This was the problem Rickard faced with Sojuro Iriye. If Iriye went for the takedown, could Rickard stop it? If Iriye got the takedown and kept top control, could Rickard get out? Even if Iriye had weaknesses, they wouldn't matter if the fight was always in his strongest area. That was the fatal flaw of a jack-of-all-trades fighter.

A flunky came by to let Aidan know that it was fight time. Aidan went in to let Rickard know.

Moment of truth. Would Rickard rise to the occasion...... or would Sojuro Iriye prove to be the first one capable of exploiting Rickard's weakness?

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Rickard's music: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMRS0QTbeKo" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMRS0QTbeKo</a>

Sojuro's music:

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No special outfit for Rickard this time, although he said he was saving a good one for New Year's.....whatever that meant. Iriye looked looked great as he came in, he was in the best shape of his career and given the shape he was normally in that was saying something. Aidan hoped Rickard would be up to the challenge.

After the intros, the bell rang, the fighters touched gloves, and the fight began....

Round 1

Both fighters feinted a bit after the glove touch. Rickard looked like he was going for a surprise takedown, but Iriye pre-empted it and shifted things into a clinch. Iriye tried to push Rickard into the ropes, but Rickard used that strength against him and managed to corrall him a bit, getting a dominant position in the clinch in the process. Rickard hooked his trademark Thai plum and drove a weak knee into Iriye's ribs. Rickard then fired a big knee to the head, but Iriye blocked it and managed to escape the clinch. Rickard fired a one-two, and Iriye dodged the jab badly into the power hand. Rickard then fired two nice jabs into a left hook to the body, but Iriye's abs shrugged it off. Another jab to body blow combination landed clean, followed by a nice one-two. Rickard looked to shoot in for a takedown, but Iriye read ahead and got into the clinch again..... only to get caught again in a Thai plum after failing to outwrestle Rickard. Iriye blocked a knee strike and punched Rickard away though, resetting the fight to middle range.

Rickard missed a jab, but landed a left cross, before coming in to clinch. Iriye tried some dirty boxing, but Rickard parried it and managed to hook the Thai plum again, only for Iriye to block a knee strike and wrestle free. Rickard feinted, then came in to clinch again. Rickard tried to push Iriye up against the ropes, but this time Iriye managed to use his physical power to outwrestle Rickard and drive him against the ropes instead. The two fired short punches at each other for several minutes against the ropes, with Iriye getting the best of it. Rickard managed to eventually wrestle free from the ropes, and tried a judo throw, only for Iriye to block it. Rickard worked his way to an excellent clinch position, waistlocking Iriye form behind, then tripped Iriye, taking him down and getting his back! Rickard tried to get the hooks in, but Iriye defended it well. Rickard tried a rear naked choke without the hooks, but Iriye blocked the arm from going under the throat, and was working his way out of the bad position as time expired for the end of Round 1.

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Rickard went back to his corner, and Aidan was pleased. That first round could've gone a lot worse. He was in the lead, although it might not be a safe lead with home country judges. Anything could happen in these kinds of situations, so this was the key point of the fight to make something happen......... before Iriye woke up and started using his power more.

"Alright Rickard, don't talk, steady your breathing. In and out! Deep breaths! Just nod if you're feeling good!"

Rickard nodded.

"You didn't gas out?"

Rickard shook his head.

"Alright..... I think you're beating him right now, but we can't be sure with the judges, so just keep firing in and stay active. Look for the takedown, strike from the clinch, or outbox. Do whatever, but don't get in a bad position, alright?"

Rickard nodded.

"He'll want top control to win! Don't get taken down! Don't let him push you around either, and keep control of the fight! Got that?"

Rickard nodded and clapped his fists together. Aidan smiled and felt a little better about this one. He knew Rickard would be looking for the finish in this round. Time to see what both of these men were made of.....

The gong rang, the seconds left, and Round 2 began......

Round 2

Iriye started tentatively, moving in and out of the pocket, looking for an opening. Rickard tried a quick combo with a spinning back kick at the end, but Iriye backed away, then darted back in behind the missed kick and got into the clinch. The two pushed each other around the ring for over a minute, jostling for position, before eventually the ref broke them up and reset the fight to middle range. Rickard landed another big left cross that backed Iriye up a bit, but was starting to tire. Uh oh. After taking a little bit to catch his breath, Rickard hit a nice jab-jab-short upper-left cross combo that landed clean and backed Iriye into the ropes. Rickard tried another combo ending in a body kick, but Iriye slipped through it and caught the kick! Iriye tried a takedown, but Rickard worked his leg free and they ended up clinching again. After some more jostling for position, Rickard hooked the Thai plum and managed to slip a big knee through Iriye's gloves right before the 30 second warning! Iriye went out cold and the ref stopped Rickard before he could follow up! Win number 10!

Official Result: 'The Dragoon' Rickard Patterson defeats Sojuro Iriye (Knock Out (Knee) in 4:29 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Average.

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It wasn't pretty by any means, but Rickard got it done. The fact he gassed a little in Round 2 was worrying, and Iriye did push him around in the clinch, but it seemed Aidan overestimated Iriye a bit. He didn't go for a takedown at all during the fight, but in the next fight against a grappler like him, it might not be so easy.......

Piper was jokingly asking Rickard what took so long, and everyone seemed to regard this as the expected outcome. Were they holding Rickard in too high of a regard, or did Aidan not see Rickard's true abilities? Points to ponder.

Rickard got interviewed briefly by a magazine reporter and praised Iriye for a tough fight, before joining the rest of the team around the monitor to see the main card. The co-main had a war between Curt Kitson and Affonso Villar, and Villar just edged it, landing decisive power shots throughout and holding on after two late takedowns from Kitson to win via unanimous decision. Villar looked good, but Kitson showed he had a lot of class as a fighter and he'd no doubt be back in the mix before too long.

The main event was the rematch between Heiji Endo and Fjodor Kanchelskis, and Endo took the title with a KO late in round 3. Endo won Round 1 in a boxing match, Kanchelskis got a takedown Round 2 and threatened to take control of the fight, but ran out of gas in Round 3 and had a wild overhand right countered perfectly with a one-two that knocked him down, then ground and pound knocked him out to make Heiji Endo a two-time champion. Kanchelskis tried, but in reality he was a high-end gatekeeper who lucked into a title by beating Fontes right as he started to go horribly off-form.

Afterwards the team hit up a restaurant for a small post-fight victory party before the flight home tomorrow. 10 wins and no losses for Rickard Patterson, the ace of the Canadian Tough Team, but now he was in the realm of Middleweight contenders in ALPHA-1. Would he swim with the best......... or would he sink below the surface?

White Dolphin · May 19, 2018

(OOC: Updates might be a bit slower from now on, as I hit writer's block trying to do the Iriye fight and had the forum posts catch up to my backlog of diary entries.)

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Monday Week 1 September, 2004

-Rough fight against Sojuro Iriye, but a successful effort in the end. He gave me the most trouble yet, and lasted the longest too. I drained a bit of my gas tank to get the W, which I think is down to the 10 minute first round. Its still weird to me and I can never quite get used to it. Anyways, Iriye should honestly have a nice careerin front of him despite this first big loss and he'll be back in the thick of things soon enough.

-We had a wild party at our Tough Team lounge after the big 4 for 4 weekend we had! A successful weekend for the team is always good for morale. The girls danced on the bar, the guys cheered them on, then played Street Fighter against me (and lost). I ate the good food while letting my teammates have the good alcohol, although I did take a shot of sake Aidan brought home in his luggage as a toast to my victory. These victory blowout parties are always good times and good memories!

-Speaking of good times, I got my paycheque for the fight, and it comes to $48166! $25000 of it was a performance bonus given to me for my milestone 10th win, as far as I know. Aidan also suspects the bonus is a carrot for contract negotiations. Pretty tasty carrot, I can tell you that! Aidan got his usual cut which amounted to $12000 or so and he'll be able to pay the light bill successfully this month.

-Speaking of contract negotiations, Aidan got the fax for ALPHA-1's best offer on Monday. 5 fights, 15000 per fight, 10% scaling, double win bonus, 20% for other bonuses, and signing bonus of 5000 up front. Aidan's slightly disappointed, but says he'll try and get GAMMA to throw out an offer and we'll see what happens from there.

-After the fight, Blurcat has me at #13 in the world and #9 in ALPHA-1. Iriye wasn't highly ranked, but was seen as a tough fighter on the come-up, so it was deemed a big enough win to leapfrog a few names and get on

-ALPHA-1's booked a show for the end of October with one Middleweight tilt: Adam White vs Haranobu Oshiro in the co-main event. I think White's wrestling will be too strong for the wily veteran, but Oshiro's gotten upsets before so this shouldn't be a walkover for White. Main event is the hyped up rematch between Ichisake Miyagi and Ikku Funaki for the Welterweight title.

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Tuesday Week 1 September, 2004

-CCC 38 is booked with a Tough Teamer on the main card. Aljur Paras is booked against 12-3 Wrestler Taye Burnett. Burnett's a good wrestler whos been up-and down since joining CCC, going 3-3 and losing a lot of the hype behind him that made him a big prospect. He is still a good wrestler and a troublesome opponent though, and has a lot of physical power. This could be a rough matchup if he gets top position, so Paras needs to be able to defend the takedowns and get the KO.

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Friday Week 1 September, 2004

-Buster East had his battle on a small show in Moose Jaw with Local Fighter. Buster made short work of Fighter, outlanding him early before getting a dazzling five punch combo followed by a head kick that rocked him, then a right cross scored the big knockdown! Buster pounded away with strikes on the ground, then surprised everyone by locking in a Kimura lock for the tapout win. I'd like to think Buster's turned a corner with his submission game, but I think its more likely he was just going for any sort of finish he could get on an incompetent can. Regardless, this is a good win for my best friend in the gym, and I hope he keeps them coming!

Official Result: Buster East defeats Local Fighter (Submission (Kimura) in 2:29 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Great.

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Saturday Week 1 September, 2004

-GAMMA did not give me an offer, so Aidan had no choice but to accept ALPHA-1's terms. Its still a decent raise, and they've still promised me a contender fight for their New Year's Eve card. Aidan's unhappy because he feels I deserve more (and that he deserves more by extension), but we've done really well this past year due to all the bonuses.

-Passed my doctor check with ease. I'm still taking it easy for a little while, but I'm cleared to accept my next fight.

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Tuesday Week 2 September, 2004

-Roger Bean's booked for an XCC card, he'll be facing 4-3 Submission Wrestler Clint Royle. Royle had a 2-3 run in CCC before getting the chop, after a 2-0 start on the local scene. Hes a decent grappler with some submission ability, particularly his leglocks, but his standup is lacking and his takedowns aren't all that great. Once he gets them hes pretty good, but he struggles a bit getting the fight to the floor. Bean has decent defense off his back if he does get taken down, but we don't want to test that, so the gameplan is keep the fight at long range, avoid getting clinched, and hope Bean's sprawl is up to the task.

-ALPHA-1's making moves to sign another GAMMA fighter in William Harrison, the world-ranked Light Heavyweight from the US Army. He got a shock win over Spencer Rubenstein in 2003, but has had a couple fights nixed to injury, and despite being 16-0 is not in line for a title shot anytime soon. He'll go right into the mix in ALPHA-1, who possess 7 of the top 10 Light Heavyweights in the world and this could make it 8.

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Wednesday Week 3 September, 2004

-WEFF's booked a card in November with Tough Team gals in the main event and co-main!

-The main event has our champion Piper Evergood taking on 10-3 Muay Thai striker Tabitha Cameron. Cameron's had a very up-and-down swing in WEFF, losing to Anna Thompson, beating former teammate Kirsten Page, losing a title shot to Hope Lehane, but has put together 2 straight to grasp another title shot, beating the undefeated prospects Idina Micklewhite and Tilly Hall. Its another boxer v kickboxer battle, but we have to be a bit wary of clinch threat from Cameron, if she decides not to engage in middle range with Piper. Cameron will also be tougher to knock out than the declining Thompson/McGuinness/Lehane. This could be a lengthy decision battle, which may very well favor Cameron in the later rounds due to sustained damage from leg kicks. Piper will need to land power punches and show clean defense to take the win in this fight. Its tough, but I think she can do it.

-The co-main is Helena Broderick taking on 12-3 BJJ ace Layla Holmes. The only way Broderick can win this is via a 3rd consecutive flash KO. Holmes is rumoured to have a weak chin and it can be done, but its more likely that Holmes gets the takedown first. This could be the last fight of Broderick's career, so we'll try to end it on a high note, but its a long shot.......

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Thursday Week 4 September, 2004

-Matthew Dean's has returned from hiatus. Since his contract lapsed with GAMMA, hes a free agent, and theres no chance in hell hes coming back, as ALPHA-1 have given him the big money offer. The question is can Dean still be a top player after an 18 month layoff? Me and Aidan are going through his tapes right now to try and find a weakness of the invincible Middleweight champion.

-Aidan's heard a rumour that the next March Grand Prix for ALPHA-1 will be Super Heavyweights. They're looking at Colin J L Capes to be one of the potential participants, so we'll get him ready for it.

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Friday Week 4 September, 2004

-We're double booked again, with Fabrice Marcil taking on Shunsui Sakata in an ALPHA-1 prelim while Aljur Paras has his match against Taye Burnett. Aidan's leading a crew in Japan while I'm cornering for Paras in Regina. We're aiming for 2 wins in 2 fights tonight! Hopefully it goes smoothly.

cymru96 · May 21, 2018

Really enjoying this mate. Hope you get the writer's mojo back, as this is definitely the best WMMA dynasty we've had on here for a while.

Doing a great job of making the reader care about the likes of Roger Bean and Roy Arnett, who honestly, I never normally would care about - as well as caring about the main cast, obviously.

Zmac32 · May 22, 2018

This has been pretty great, man. I have been chipping away at it for about a week now and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually came to the forum looking to do a similar "team centric" dynasty...so this has been great inspiration.

Keep it up, I'm sure the mojo will come back. Seems like some exciting match-ups ahead. Thanks for the enjoyable content.

White Dolphin · May 23, 2018

(OOC: Thanks for the kind words fellas, and thanks to everyone whos been following this diary! Next update might be a while as I've got a presentation to put together for a library group I'm part of. May have to wait until next week. Later this week though, I'll be posting a roster update, list of upcoming fights, and the World Middleweight Rankings for reference.)

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Saturday Week 4 September, 2004

-Before CCC started, we got word from Aidan in Japan about how our other fight went, and how some of the Middleweight tilts went.....

-Fabrice Marcil faced Shinsui Sakata in the middle of the prelims. Marcil got two takedowns, and the second got Sakata's back, only for Sakata to hold out on a Rear Naked Choke until the end of the round. Round 2 Marcil came out firing and landed three right crosses that knocked Sakata out cold to get the win very early in Round 2. Strong showing from Marcil, but he'll be headed to the deeper end of the talent pool soon and we'll see if he sinks or swims.

Official Result: 'The Shooter' Fabrice Marcil defeats Shinsui Sakata (TKO (Strikes) in 0:26 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Average.

-In the middleweight prelim, Jakuchu Abe beat Motoyuki Matsumara in under 5 minutes with a Rear Naked Choke and looked good. GAMMA champ Dwayne Alleyne debuted against Bambang Sriyanto and looked even better, getting 6 takedowns and wearing down Sriyanto in the later rounds for an unquestioned decision win to move to 16-0.

-The co-main and main events went well, Fukusaburu Hirano beat Chew Chua via Rear Naked Choke in 6 and a half minutes, and the main event saw a stunning victory in under a minute by Atustane Akera, who knocked down Yamada while he threw a leg kick then locked in a flash armbar for the tapout in 49 seconds. Akera's made himself into an instant star with this win and he'll be someone to deal with in the Middleweight division (if he doesn't decide to move up to Light Heavyweight after this fight.) What a shock result that was.

-Eventually we were ready for Aljur Paras vs Taye Burnett on our end. Paras won Round 1 with a solid power punch, although Burnett showed danger with a good takedown attempt. Paras blocked it but ended up clinched against the fence, taking dirty boxing for a minute or so. Burnett won round 2 with a takedown late, although he didn't do much with it. Worringly, Burnett seemed to have improved his head movement and was outlanding Paras standing, although Paras was landing with more power even with his jabs. Round 3 saw Burnett get dominant clinch position off of another blocked takedown, but Paras worked his way free with a couple minutes left and started swinging for the fences, landing a good kick and a good right cross to try to swing the round in his favour. Burnett survived to decision, and all 3 judges gave it.......to Paras! 29-28 on all cards!

Official Result: Aljur Paras defeats Taye Burnett (Unanimous Decision in 5:00 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Average.

-It was a close fight that could've gone either way, but Paras edged it. I don't like his chances if a possible rematch against Nate MacReary beckons, however. His takedown defense still isn't at the required level yet, and he needs to figure out how to harness that physical power better. He should be getting more KOes against wrestlers like this before he can get taken down. Still, a win is a win, and a post-fight party is in order after a couple of them! Arriba!

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Monday Week 1 October, 2004

-ALPHA-1's booked their next event, Warriors of the Ring 7. No Tough Team bookings, but there are a few important Middleweight showdowns. Esteban Vega takes on Petey Mack on the main card, while two prelim matches see Isaiah Monroe getting his next can crushing agaisnt Hayato Koga and Shuncho Sakurai taking on Meiji Hagiwara. Main event is Sho Kitabatake vs Anthony LeToussier, and the winner of that could end up in the Light Heavyweight title mix.

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Wednesday Week 1 October, 2004

-Matthew Dean signed with ALPHA-1, and the company held a press conference to announce it. His first fight is targeted for January against Carlos da Guia: a dream matchup if there ever was one. Surprisingly this got an apathetic response from the Japanese press and I have no idea why. Aidan's told me the fight is likely to only end up as a co-main if it does happen, or a main event for another free internet show. I don't get this at all. Matthew Dean is an unquestioned legend of the sport and his first bout back should really be a hot main event ticket.

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Friday Week 2 October, 2004

-Manuel Silva is also back from hiatus. Seeing as he moved to Japan and is becoming well-known in the area, its likely he heads to ALPHA-1 too. Its got to piss Matt Tripp off to be ALPHA-1's sandbag, but he seems to be powerless to resist at the moment. At least North America still has a very deep regional scene to draw new talent from the well.

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Sunday Week 2 October, 2004

-GAMMA held a pretty good card last night in Vegas, drawing nearly 10000 for a rematch between MArlon John and Spencer Rubenstein. Buddy Garner won a co-main fight in under 50 seconds with a Toe Hold to win Submission of the Forever Infinty Til The End Of Time award. Garner's also won a contract offer to ALPHA-1, as he has 1 fight left and is open for renegotiations. These Middleweight rankings are getting crowded, which will make my New Year's fight all the more important. We don't know who it is yet, but we have our suspicions.......

-The show also saw Harv Dennis retire Tim Boyer, which is sad. Hes one of the Canadian greats for sure, and would've been world champion if not for James Foster. He'll be focusing on running the Slaughterhouse and keeping that camp going.

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Tuesday Week 3 October, 2004

-Roy Arnett got a short-notice booking for a show in Quebec, he'll be facing 7-1 Wrestler Amato Montet. Montet debuted in 2002 with many others, and quietly compiled a 6-0 record on the local scene. All that momentum came undone via KO to a fellow up-and-comer named Theron Faniel, but he rebounded with a win over Urlington Rogers a few months later. He does seem to have a weak chin, as in addition to the KO loss he's gotten rocked by local competition during his victories. He also seems to be a lacksidaisical fighter doing this for an easy payday. If Roy catches him on an off-night, he can get a KO win and get back on track to fighting in the bigger leagues.

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Sunday Week 3 October, 2004

-ALPHA-1 held another press conference to officially announce the signings of Buddy Garner and Manuel Silva. Again, both were not seen as big deals amongst the mainstream press, even though Garner became famous in the east for his performance in grappling competitions, and it seems most of the people who care are the pure-blooded fight fans. While MMA is on the rise, and is being talked about a lot more in the news these days compared to the "human cockfighting" era, theres only a few stars with truly international appeal, and neither Garner or Silva are at that level yet.

-Me and Aidan have watched tapes of Buddy Garner many times before and have a good accounting of his strengths and weaknesses. I'm confident I can have a good showing against him if he does turn out to be my opponent on New Year's.

-ALPHA-1 is also pursuing various GAMMA Featherweights who have had their contracts come up.

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Friday Week 4 October, 2004

-Roger Bean fought Clint Royle at the XCC event in Santa Ana, California, and we flew down to be in his corner. It was a stunningly one-sided encounter. Bean got a knockdown early in Round 1, staggering Royle with a head kick, then landed a flying knee, then another head kick that knocked him down. Bean pounded away and we were screaming for the stoppage, but Royle managed to defend himself and tried to work his way out from full mount. Bean kept top control well and even tried a sloppy-looking submission that may have been a kimura, but it didn't work. Round 2 saw Bean working his combinations effectively and keeping Royle at arm's length. Royle did not even get a chance to clinch, let alone shoot for a takedown, and looked completely out of it heading back to his stool for Round 3. Bean kept up the assault in Round 3, making Royle look like a glorified sandbag, and eventually the ref waved it off after Royle got knocked down by a head kick. I'm not sure Royle was out, but he wasn't offering much resistance anyways, so a good decision there to just end the fight. Impressive win for our boy and Roger's surely in the conversation for a title shot at some point, having won 3 straight fights in a depleted division.

Official Result: Roger 'Jumpin'' Bean defeats Clint 'Honey Badger' Royle (Knock Out (Kick) in 3:22 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Good.

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Saturday Week 4 October, 2004

-Got home to watch a tape with Aidan of the ALPHA-1 show. The notable Middleweight fight was Adam White's debut in the East against the veteran Haranobu Oshiro. Oshiro came out guns blazing early on and got a knockdown off a head kick, but White managed to get his wits about him and avoided being curb stomped in unconsciousness by Oshiro. Back at middle range, White managed to get a takedown into side control. Oshiro tried to scramble away when White passed to mount, only for White to get up and catch him in a waistlock from behind against the ropes. White then suplexed Oshiro to the canvas, got his back, got the hooks, and got the Rear Naked Choke for the big, big win in 6 and a half minutes. White was a huge favourite with the bookies, but almost gave the match away with some poor striking defense. Thats definitely a weakness to look out for if I ever fight him.

-Main event was Ichisake Miyagi slowly grinding Ikku Funaki into dust over 6 full rounds for the unanimous decision win and successful title defense. Miyagi got takedowns in Round 2 and Round 4, but for the most part the fight was Miyagi clinching Funaki agaisnt the ropes. Funaki will have to retool after winning the Welterweight GP to get this chance, and at 34 his career is at a huge crossroads. Miyagi's next fight seems like it'll be Fukusaburu Hirano, and the two have surprisingly been kept apart til now.

-Rumour on Blurcat: Noach Van Der Capellen is potentially moving to Middleweight, or may just take a catchweight bout at 175 or 180 for his next fight. He had lost two fights to Miyagi after beating him for the title in 2000, and I don't think ALPHA-1 wants to do a 4th match. If true, it'll be interesting to see if Van Der Capellen can duplicate Carlos da Guia's feat of winning titles in two different weight classes.

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Sunday Week 4 October, 2004

-Finally got my fight for the New Year's Eve card! Dynamite 2004 will be taking place in Tokyo and I'm opening the main card against 14-0 Boxer Reed Howlett. I've been preparing for this match for years, since we were both in CCC. Reed has evolved a bit as a fighter based off the most recent tape we've seen, but so have I. The plan is still to work via the clinch, and maybe look for a takedown or two. Reed's wrestling abilities haven't really been tested yet, but I don't think they are up to world-level standards. A former sparring partner of Reed's has told us he does have excellent submission defense, so if I do get the takedown I intend to just throw ground and pound and keep top control. Reed's boxing is world class, but if I play it smart he won't get the chance to use it often enough to win the fight. I'm looking for a decision or late KO finish, and I know I can do it. It may not be for the CCC title, or the ALPHA-1 title, but its a match I've been waiting for, and I won't miss this chance. Time to shine!

Zmac32 · May 23, 2018

The battle of the immortals...this one's been brewing for a long time.

Can't wait (Bart Scott voice)

Blake Trask · May 23, 2018

It's on! Take 'im out, Rickard!

Great to see another win for the Bean man as well. I'm very invested in seeing his success.

White Dolphin · May 25, 2018

(OOC: Posting the Tough Team roster update and list of fights and etc.

I'm considering doing an interview for Rickard, about the Howlett fight and his career in general, feel free to leave questions for it if you want.)

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CANADIAN TOUGH TEAM ROSTER:

Main Characters:

Rickard Patterson (10-0)(ALPHA-1)

Piper Evergood (14-2)(WEFF, current Featherweight champion)

Aidan Ryland (Gym Owner/Agent/Head Trainer/Commentator)

Will Get A Scene Sometime, Honest:

Buster East (8-4)(Canadian Independent)

Roger Bean (11-2)(XCC)

Please Retire:

French Dancer (7-10)(Canadian Independent)

Not Gone After 3 Fights Or A Loss:

Aljur Paras (11-1)(CCC)

Christine Jameson (8-5)(WEFF)

Colin J L Capes (11-0)(ALPHA-1)

Richie Stiller (11-4)(CCC)

Roy Arnett (9-5)(Canadian Independent)

Gone After 3 Fights Or A Loss:

Fabrice Marcil (7-0)(ALPHA-1)

Helena Broderick (12-3)(WEFF)

Leo Maisonneuve (4-0)(CCC)

Leverett Chez (6-0)(ALPHA-1)

Rennaya Rives (13-1)(WEFF)

Toshie Nishina (11-4)(GFE)

Tuck Durdell (11-2)(CCC)

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UPCOMING TOUGH TEAM FIGHTS:

Roy Arnett (9-5) vs Amato Montet (7-1)

Quebec Local Show

Thursday Week 1 November, 2004

WEFF FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Piper Evergood (14-2)© vs Tabitha Cameron (10-3)

WEFF 40: Evergood vs Cameron

Saturday Week 1 November, 2004

Helena Broderick (12-3) vs Layla Holmes (12-3)

WEFF 40: Evergood vs Cameron

Saturday Week 1 November, 2004

Rickard Patterson (10-0) vs Reed Howlett (14-0)

ALPHA-1 Dynamite!: 2004 TV Special

Saturday Week 4 December, 2004

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TOUGH TEAM WORLD RANKINGS:

Piper Evergood (#2 Female Featherweight, #5 Female Pound for Pound)

Helena Broderick (#8 Female Flyweight)

Rennaya Rives (#9 Female Flyweight)

Colin J L Capes (#9 Super Heavyweight)

Rickard Patterson (#13 Middleweight)

Leverett Chez (#13 Super Heavyweight)

Toshie Nishina (#18 Female Flyweight)

Christine Jameson (#21 Female Flyweight)

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WORLD MIDDLEWIGHT RANKINGS

#1: Heiji Endo (22-4)(ALPHA-1)

#2: Matthew Dean (40-5)(ALPHA-1)

#3: Buddy Garner (20-4)(ALPHA-1)

#4: Dwayne Alleyne (16-0)(ALPHA-1)

#5: Snuffy Fontana (15-1)(BCF)

#6: Adam White (16-1)(ALPHA-1)

#7: Carlos da Guia (21-1)(ALPHA-1)

#8: Reed Howlett (14-0)(ALPHA-1)

#9: Braulio Moura (29-4-1NC)(GAMMA)

#10: Davis Spyrou (25-9)(ALPHA-1)

#11: Fjodor Kanchelskis (16-2)(ALPHA-1)

#12: Tora Mizwar (27-9)(ALPHA-1)

#13: Rickard Patterson (10-0)(ALPHA-1)

#14: Oleg Tariverdiev (13-2)(ALPHA-1)

#15: Neil Napier (19-4)(GAMMA)

#16: Thorjborn Rekdal (14-3)(GAMMA)

#17: Thais Antonio Taffarel (23-5)(ALPHA-1)

#18: Joaquim Fontes (28-6)(ALPHA-1)

#19: Bambang Sriyanto (31-13-2)(ALPHA-1)

#20: Esteban Vega (13-1)(ALPHA-1)

#21: Patrick Thomas (22-7)(GAMMA)

#22: Petey Mack (16-7)(ALPHA-1)

#23: Kadonomaro Deguchi (13-2)(ALPHA-1)

#24: Wes Hersch (13-1)(GAMMA)

#25: JJ Reid (28-8-1)(Canadian Independent)

Blake Trask · May 28, 2018

excuse me where is French Dancer on the rankings this is a travesty

White Dolphin · May 29, 2018

(OOC: Yeh, Dancer's had a rough time in this diary hasn't he. Guy lost to a generated fighter with 10 takedown defense, and lost to Jason Pilgrim. I dunno who he can beat that isn't named "Local Fighter"

Also, still willing to take reader questions for a Rickard interview later!)

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Monday Week 1 November, 2004

-Happy birthday to me! Had a nice party in the lounge, and this is my last big night out before starting my camp for Reed Howlett. A lot of stuff happened today besides my party, and things are heating up for the Tough Team (and the friends of the Tough Team.)

-Allen LeFleur called me to wish me a happy birthday, and he let me know he was booked for a CCC fight in Regina against Primeiro Banse, a 6-0 Kickboxer. Banse is said to be pretty good and challenged for the national kickboxing title once, but Allen says hes got no ground game, so hes confident of victory. I hope hes right about that......

-Aljur Paras also got booked for a CCC match on a later card in December, he'll be facing 5-0 Jiu Jitsu fighter Ambrogio Maret. Maret debuted in 2002 after some decent showings in regional grappling competitions. Despite his background, he actually showed more knock out power than submission prowess, winning three fights in a row via KO against decent competition. He then got a decision win over Fatuma Roy, followed by his first submission win via Rear Naked Choke against Bienviendo Romulo in May. Maret likes to stand just as much as grapple, and he mixes in the occasional kick, as well as some elbows and knees in the clinch. Maret struggled to take down Fatuma Roy though, and Paras is the best striker hes faced. This is an interesting matchup for sure and the winner could be in line for a title shot or an offer by a big company.

-Aidan says me, Piper, Roy, and the cornermen are leaving tomorrow on a trip to Quebec. We've got Roy Arnett fighting in Gatineau on a Thursday, then Piper fighting in Ottawa on a Saturday. We're heading to Ottawa, where the Strike Force camp is located, and everyone in the trip is going to get some sparring in before our big fights. I'm working with Anthony LeToussier, using my Judo experience to prepare him for Sho Kitabatake, and I'm also getting some work in with Bobby Brubaker. Piper's training with their female fighters to prep for the kickboxing game of Tabitha Cameron, and Roy Arnett's working with H.M. Menzel. It'll be good to work with different people for a bit to up the tempo of training.

-Helena Broderick is coming along as well, but as an observer, Helena hurt her wrist in training and shes not doing any sparring until the match. The plan is for her to shadowbox and do roadwork, and then we inject her with a painkiller the day before the fight. Shes done a lot of sparring back home anyways, we have quite a few female grapplers at home and Helena's done all she can to prepare for Layla Holmes.

-The rest of the Dynamite! 2004 card was revealed and its a doozy: Theres a triple decker title main event, with Atep of Indonesia rematching Motoki Hojo for the Lightweight title (this was the main event in my ALPHA-1 debut!), Gyokusho Fujimoto defending the Heavyweight title against Mason Archer, and Lito Alcala defending the Bantamweight belt against Markus Waller.

-My match is opening the main card. The match after mine (and before the title fights) is planned to be the finals of a "Challengers" Grand Prix. Its a one-night tournament to give the overloaded Light Heavyweight division something to do, and features a mix of journeymen and promising talents.

-Theres a middleweight bout in the prelims as well, as Joaquim Fontes tries to get his career back on track against Tetsuji Myojin. Fontes had an amazing rise in the world of MMA and then an even more amazing crash: starting with a title win over Carlos da Guia and a successful defense against Middleweight GP champ Heiji Endo, then three straight losses to Fjodor Kanchelskis, Haranobu Oshiro, and Kadonomaro Deguchi. Hes shown a glass jaw since, making his win over da Guia all the more bizarre, and he now needs to win this fight to save his job.

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Wednesday Week 1 November, 2004

-Showed up to Strike Force yesterday ready to train hard. I had some serious spars with Anthony LeToussier, where I focused primarily on working from the clinch and looking for takedowns, slipping through punches to do so. LeToussier's defense on the ground was solid: I got one submission on him in three spars (a Kimura late in Round 2), the other two would've been decisions. Even if it was just sparring, the fact I was pushing a world-ranker from a higher weight class (with a different strategy than the normal one I'd use) was a good sign. Later on I'll be sparring with Bobby Brubaker later in the week, and that should be a fun challenge.

-Roy's spars against H.M. Menzel went super well, he was landing enough power punches to influence the scorecards in a real fight, and even though he got taken down a few times, he left very few openings for the takedowns in the first place. Several times Menzel went to shoot and Roy preemptively jabbed him and pushed him back out of range. He's made weight and is ready for his comeback fight against Amato Montet, and its really helping him to practise with a former world-ranker.

-Piper also did very, very well, dominating Natalie Rogers and having some electrifying battles with Pamela O'Neill. The two threw leather and refused to back down, and the whole camp gave them a standing ovation after one particularly good round, where they both got knockdowns off of cross counters. O'Neill vs Evergood as a future Superfight would be very interesting, although neither sparring partner used their ground game against Piper at all. They were trying to duplicate Tabitha Cameron's abilities, and thus didn't go for takedowns like they would in an actual fight. Piper's had a terrific camp, and is motivated for this crucial title defense.

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Thursday Week 1 November, 2004

-Roy Arnett fought Amato Montet on the local show in Gatineau, a short drive away from our temporary base in Ottawa. First round was a bit of a snoozefest, Montet showed some clean head movement to dodge Roy's boxing, and Roy was wary of throwing too many easy kicks and geting taken down. Montet got into the clinch a couple times, and the second time Arnett sorta fell down with Montet on top of him trying to escape the clinch. Whoops. Arnett tried a submission from the bottom but was blocked, and Montet was content to ride it out in top position til the end of Round 1. Round 2 Montet went into the pocket to try to clinch and Roy hit a beautiful stopping jab followed by an uppercut that knocked him down! Roy pounded away until the ref waved it off! Great KO win for Roy, and hes back in sight of an offer for the regional companies.

Official Result: Roy 'Trigger' Arnett defeats 'The Bird Man' Amato Montet (TKO (Strikes) in 0:30 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Decent.

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Saturday Week 1 November, 2004

-The big WEFF show went down in Ottawa today, and we had our two Tough Team ladies ready for the top of the card.

-Helena Broderick took on Layla Holmes. We gave her the painkiller beforehand and she seemed fine hitting the mitts, but the flash KO wasn't to be, as Holmes went in under a one-two and got into the clinch. One quick trip later, and she had side control and a Kimura lock in for the tapout in a minute and a half. Broderick couldn't get the concept of submission defense down in camp, so we kinda expected this, but it still stings to see a veteran in Broderick fall before the last hurdle.

Official Result: Layla Holmes defeats Helena Broderick (Submission (Kimura) in 1:32 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Good.

-Piper had her fight against Tabitha Cameron in the main event. It started with Cameron ignoring a glove touch by Piper, which drew a big response from the crowd. Piper just shrugged and went in to fight, missing a few punches early before Cameron got into the clinch. Surprisingly, Cameron tried some takedowns in between attempts to hook the Thai plum, but Piper defended them, and then.......proceeded to pull Cameron down into guard? This was not part of the plan, or any plan, against any fighter. Me and Aidan were questioning the decision, but Piper proved she knew exactly what she was doing by sweeping Cameron and getting mount! Piper threw some fierce ground and pound, and Cameron made the mistake of turning away and giving up her back. Piper kept firing away, and managed to get both hooks in. Piper tried a couple Rear Naked Chokes in between some more GnP, but couldn't quite get them right before the round ended. Cameron looked flabbergasted heading back into her corner, she was clearly not expecting this. We were at a loss for words in the break, and Piper just smirked as if she knew this was gonna happen all along. Round 2 saw Piper decide to go for a striking battle, which she got the best of, breaking Cameron's nose with a one-two and hitting some more solid power punches. Finally, Piper finished Cameron off with a beautiful jab into overhand left that knocked Cameron out cold. Ref waved it off before Piper could follow up and she celebrated the victory.

Official Result: 'The Sniper' Piper Evergood defeats 'The Flame-Haired Phenom' Tabitha Cameron (Knock Out (Punch) in 3:11 of round 2). The fight was rated as being Good.

-In the post-fight interview Piper got in the plug for the Tough Team, thanked Strike Force for the additional training, and despite the glove touch deal and the lack of respect from Cameron, Piper did the classy thing and praised her for her skill and toughness.

-We had a small but subdued victory dinner afterwards. Helena just told us to not mind her and enjoy ourselves, but it always sucks when a teammate loses. Piper was happy with her title defense and says shes ready for the next challenge......

Zmac32 · May 31, 2018

(A few options )

1. Do you feel underappreciated in the World Rankings? You have finished all of your fights in impressive fashion, some have you higher on their lists?

2. Do you feel that the current middleweight scene is an accurate reflection of MMA as a whole at the moment? In the sense that Alpha-1's dominance of the middleweight scene is a bit unheralded for the company.

3. It's no secret we have all had our eye on the Patterson/Howlett fight for a long time, what kind of a fight should we expect to see given that both of you have studied each other so much over the years.

4. Your teammate, Piper Evergood has been running roughshot on the Women's MMA scene recently...would you expect women's MMA to grow as a whole? And do you see Piper as being someone who could help lead us into that new era?

White Dolphin · June 4, 2018

(OOC: LAST CALL FOR FAN INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. I'll do the interview with the 4 questions from zmac and whatever else I get by Thursday, then another update on the weekend, then the fated encounter with Reed Howlett.)

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Sunday Week 1 November, 2004

-Helena Broderick let us know she was retiring. She thanked us for the opportunities but said she was leaving the fight game to get married and start a family. We wished her well.

-Curiously, Helena's opponent Layla Holmes decided to retire as well. She didn't take any damage from the fight with Broderick, but she was 34 and perhaps felt her time was running out as a fighter. Not to mention the likely course of action for the Flyweight title is to have a rematch between Daljit Samir and Daniela Sadorra based off their last fight, so Holmes was a few months, maybe even a year away from a title shot (Broderick would've been too had she won.)

-Finished sparring with Bobby Brubaker today and did well. He did a good job defending my takedowns, and when I did get it he worked hard from his back to scramble out of the position. His punches had some serious power behind them too, and despite a weight disadvantage he seemed very strong physically. All of our spars would've been decision wins for me, but if we were serious and had no headgear.......who knows how it would've gone.

-ALPHA-1 are at it again with their hires. The latest ones are Nilson Fantoni and David James Diggle from GAMMA, XCC Bantamweight champ John Hatter, and JJ Reid. Reid won a fight on a local show I was at recently, and he's hungry for another shot at the big-time following a controversial cut from GAMMA.

-Adam White failed his post-fight drug test, chaning his fight with Haranobu Oshiro to a No Contest. It wasn't PEDs apparently, it was for marijuana. He's been hit with a year long ban which, again, is really harsh and unfair. This could potentially derail White's career, but I think he'll make it back somehow.

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Monday Week 2 November, 2004

-Returned home today to find an extra member in our team: Chisaki Gojo rejoined our gym today (Current Record: 14-4). She was working with Femme Fatale Fighting, but left after a loss to Layla Holmes and asked to come back here to shake things up again. We'll be happy to take her back in, and hopefully she can pick up some more striking ability to add to her skillset.

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Monday Week 3 November, 2004

-Buster East is booked for a local show in a couple weeks, he'll be facing 5-1 Mixed Martial Artist Madelon Bergeron. Bergeron debuted in 2002, and won 5 straight, showing a well-balanced skillset. He comes from a boxing background, but showed some submission ability, winning 2 of his frist 5 via tapout. He lost his first fight two months ago against a Wrestler named Derell Lariviere, via Majority Decision. He seems like a good fighter, but we think he has the weakness of being a slow starter. The decision loss came as a result of a bad first round, and a local fighter took him to Round 3 once because of a sluggish start. Buster still doesn't have much of a ground game, but if he can press Bergeron in a striking battle early, we could get a Round 1 KO or a decision win. We've tried getting Buster to use more kicks in his fights, so we'll see if he goes for that, or if he gets scared off it by the threat of a kick getting caught and leading to a takedown.

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Wednesday Week 3 November, 2004

-WEFF is running a card in January and a pair of Tough Team gals are booked!

-In the prelims, Rennaya Rives faces off with 12-4 Jiu Jitsu fighter Manami Ken. We know Ken well, shes a former teammate and opponent. She lost her last fight to Helena Broderick when Helena blitzed her for a KO inside one minute, and we'll have Rennaya follow that same gameplan, as Ken presents real threat to Rennaya if the fight gets to the ground.

-Chisaki Gojo will be on the main card against 13-4 Taekwondo fighter Nina Belle. Striker v Grappler, but Belle has won this matchup before with quick KOs, so Chisaki will need to play it smart to win her return fight. Belle doesn't have much in the way of TDD or submission defense so the first takedown has to end it.

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Saturday Week 4 November, 2004

-Watched the ALPHA-1 Warriors of the Ring show in Sendai online. SportTube's second effort at broadcasting was much improved and we had only a couple problems with the video skipping (luckily it was between fights).

-Middleweight prelims saw Shuncho Sakurai score a big KO over Meiji Hagiwara, and Isaiah Monroe knocking Hayato Koga into next week with a powerful one-two and follow up ground and pound that left Koga a bloody mess. Monroe is on the come-up and is probably going to get battles against world rankers again soon, so I'm keeping three eyes out for him.

-Main card Middleweight bout saw Esteban Vega score a knockdown early on Petey Mack by slipping a jab and throwing a right hook to the solar plexus that took the wind and also the everything else out of Mack. Vega followed up with ground and pound and got the win. Mack's lost two straight against elite competition and looks to be perpetually stuck in gatekeeper status.

-Main event saw a shock win for Anthony LeToussier over Sho Kitabatake, as he got a KO via a roundhouse kick to the ribs. Ref waved it off before he could even follow up and Kitabatake was in serious pain, although he made it to his feet for the decision afterwards. LeToussier did his usual fine job of hamming it up for the audience, while I sat back and smirked, because I knew it was down to my superior ability as Anthony's sparring partner a few weeks ago! All kidding aside, this was a hell of a win for LeToussier. His decision to fight in Japan after the release from GAMMA was a good one, and now hes back in the world title picture again.

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Sunday Week 4 November, 2004

-Caught up on the GAMMA card that I missed last night. Pretty damn good card by all accounts, Darin Blood got a shock main event win over Julio Regueiro for the Welterweight title, and in the co-main another new Middleweight champ was crowned when Thorbjorn Rekdal beat Wes Hersch in 41 seconds. It has to be said that the GAMMA Middleweight belt's lost its prestige, and despite some eerie similarities, these two did not bring back fond memories of Maarten de Vries fighting Matthew Dean.

-Of course, the big story from the card ended up being yet another ludicrous cut from GAMMA, as they kicked Sean Morrison to the curb. Sean won 2 straight going into a fight with Helio, which he lost decisively by KO. He didn't retire, but got cut anyways. Losing yet another draw is the last thing GAMMA needed and they didn't even lose it to ALPHA-1 this time, they gave it away. ALPHA-1 probably won't touch him until hes won again, but I could see XCC throwing him some money.

-ALPHA-1 booked a January event, headlined by Rafael Van Der Moot vs Affonso Villar for the Light Heavyweight title. Thats a hell of a first defense right there. Co-main, as expected, is Matthew Dean's ALPHA-1 debut against Carlos da Guia. A dream match that deserves its own card, but its a co-main in Japan. Thats the only Middleweight bout of note and no Tough Team fighters are booked. Colin J L Capes is seemingly a lock for the ALPHA-1 Super Heavyweight Grand Prix in March and we have no idea what the next plan for Fabrice Marcil or Leverett Chez is.

-Did a radio interview with Blurcat this week that will run tomorrow. I talked about the upcoming match with Reed Howlett, answered some fan questions, and talked about the current state of MMA in general. Hosts were pleased with it, and I personally hope it turns out well........

White Dolphin · June 9, 2018

(OOC: Sorry for the delay, I was busy getting my heart broken by the sport of hockey yet again last night. You'd think I'd learn....... Update and Reed fight should be up next week.)

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BLURCAT PRESENTS....... THE CRACKDOWN, LIVE WITH RICKARD PATTERSON

Blurcat aired another episode of "The Crackdown", our 2 hour internet talk show covering all things MMA. This show focused on Rickard Patterson, the 10-0 Canadian prospect making waves in the ALPHA-1 Middleweight division. The selected viewer questions are posted below and as always you can head to our archives to download the mp3 file of our latest episode! Hope you enjoy!

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"The Canadian Tough Team camp has been getting quite a reputation lately, with several fighters signed to ALPHA-1 including yourself. Who else should we watch out for from the Tough Team?"

"Theres a few people to keep an eye on for sure. Obviously everyone in the camp is a teammate I respect highly, but you've got some standouts.....

.....I think the real ringer is Leo Maisonneuve. Hes a great wrestler and I work with him regularly, but he hasn't had a fight in a while for CCC. I'm hoping he gets a fight soon to show what he can do, because he could win a Welterweight title and then get the call to ALPHA-1 or GAMMA easy.

.....Aljur Paras is rising up, and if he can get past Nate MacReary in CCC he could go to the big leagues.

.......Roger Bean is one to watch because GAMMA signed a bunch of fighters from XCC recently. Roger could be getting a title shot soon enough, and if he wins that then GAMMA and ALPHA-1 could come calling.

......Buster East is my best friend in the camp, and once he gets a ground game, look out! Hes as good as me sometimes with his striking, but he just needs to figure out how to get past the wrestlers and the jiu jitsu fighters. Buster's got a fight coming up soon actually, and we're all hoping he'll win it with a big KO to put people on notice."

"Hows the camp for Reed Howlett going?"

"Fantastic! I had a session with Strike Force a few weeks ago, and a few of my teammates came along for the ride. I sparred a bit with Anthony LeToussier and Bobby Brubaker and it was very productive. We got to see how a world-level camp does things first-hand and we got some ideas to take back home to the Tough Team. Reed's in some serious trouble, I can tell you that!"

"Do you feel underappreciated in the World Rankings? You have finished all of your fights in impressive fashion, and some have you higher on their lists."

".....Yes and no. On one hand, I'm old school in some ways, and I believe you earn your rank by beating the rank. You can only be Top 10 if you beat a Top 10 fighter, you can only be number one by beating number 1, stuff like that. The only world ranked fighter I've beaten is Ashley Ballard, so in a way I feel I've earned a spot on the World Rankings, but not necessarily so high up.

.....On the other hand, MMA isn't allowed to be that cut and dry. We can't always fight who we want just to climb the ladder, sometimes we have to fight the people put in front of us by the promoters, regardless of who they are or where they are on the rankings. I've won every fight and climbed to 10-0, so thats worth something on its own. I know I've beaten a lot of good, hungry opponents in decisive fashion. And I also know deep down I could take a lot of people in the world rankings, regardless of where they are. So there are people who could argue that yes, I deserve better, and they might be right. All I'm going to do is let my performances speak for themselves."

"Do you feel that the current middleweight scene is an accurate reflection of MMA as a whole at the moment? In the sense that ALPHA-1's dominance of the middleweight scene is a bit unheralded for the company."

"ALPHA-1's middleweight scene is nuts, isn't it? All these top-end fighters in their primes or close to it, so many championship caliber guys, so many former champions, all chasing that one belt. If you told me we'd have Heiji Endo, Carlos da Guia, Buddy Garner, and Matthew Dean in the same company a few years ago I would've raised an eyebrow or two.

.....But yeah, its an accurate reflection of the MMA scene. ALPHA-1 is dominating, but I wouldn't count out GAMMA just yet. Even though things look bad for them, they can turn it around if they just throw the cash like ALPHA-1's doing. A lot of fighters are mercenaries out for the best deal, and GAMMA can provide that deal if they really want to. I hope ALPHA-1 doesn't get careless though, because I like fighting here and I feel its something special to be part of the best division in the world right now."

"It's no secret we have all had our eye on the Patterson/Howlett fight for a long time, what kind of a fight should we expect to see, given that both of you have studied each other so much over the years."

"I mean, I've studied Reed a lot, but I'm not so sure Reed has studied me. I know what I can do and I know what his weakness is, but I don't know if he knows me that well, if hes been looking past me to bigger things.

.......Hes got expert instruction on his side from the Slaughterhouse, which is a good camp that we have a lot of respect for, so hes got help there. I had him as a goal for a while, because he was always a step ahead. He got a championship in Canada before I did, he got a world ranking before I did, he got a big-time fight before I did, and I've even found out he won a boxing tournament for teenagers that I won in that weight class a few years later. Hes always been one step ahead, but if hes not careful, he'll underestimate the people behind him trying to take him down."

"Your teammate, Piper Evergood has been running roughshot on the Women's MMA scene recently...would you expect women's MMA to grow as a whole? And do you see Piper as being someone who could help lead us into that new era?"

"Piper is awesome. Shes a fighter I'd be tested by if you put her skills into the body of a Middleweight guy with a good base. I've seen her knock out so many people with that left hand, and shes always willing to throw it. And that takedown defense means you have to risk being knocked out by it, cause she can sprawl to block your attempt and put you right back to square one. Shes a tricky fighter to face, for sure.

.....I think she can lead Women's MMA, but I'm not sure how far it can go. ALPHA-1 was supposed to start a Womens division but that fell through because they were full-up with their roster. So its down to the current women's promotions, or maybe even GAMMA, stepping up and getting women's MMA more exposure through TV and pay per view deals. I love women's MMA and I've seen a ton of exciting fights from it, but it needs to reach a bigger audience."

White Dolphin · June 10, 2018

Tuesday Week 1 December, 2004

-Buster East faced Madelon Bergeron at the local event in Saskatoon. Round 1 saw a striking exchange with both fighters showing some clean defense. Bergeron got a takedown late, and tried to pass to side control, but Buster scrambled for position and got Bergeron's back via a waistlock! Buster threw some huge shots, but couldn't finish before time expired. Round 2 saw both fighters open up a bit more in the striking exchanges, and Buster started to land more clean hits, getting a few power punches to take the round. Round 3 Buster started to open up a big lead, and rocked Bergeron midway through with a head kick. Bergeron stumbled away from a right hook followup and managed to stay in it. Buster started to slow a bit, and Bergeron picked the right time to go for a takedown. Buster defended it, but was left pinned against the fence with Bergeron clinging to a leg. Bergeron then tripped him to the canvas and got his second takedown of the fight. Bergeron tried an arm triangle, but Buster managed to block it, then got out from under Bergeron again after Bergeron tried to move to mount. Buster got Bergeron turtled and fired away with punches, but the fight ended before he could finish. Not that it mattered, as Buster had done enough to take the decision! 30-27 on all cards, and another good win for Buster to build his momentum!

Official Result: Buster East defeats Madelon Bergeron (Unanimous Decision in 5:00 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Good.

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Friday Week 1 December, 2004

-Things are continuing to go south for GAMMA, as Darin Blood, the new Welterweight champ, is on hiatus. He didn't take serious damage against Regueiro, but he may feel the need to step away from the fight game and recharge his batteries. Or this is his way of escaping his contract to go to ALPHA-1. Whatever works.

-Richie Stiller got an offer from XCC. There were negotiations between them a while back, but they fell through somehow. XCC is desperate for talent, as they're getting raided on two fronts, so they've clearly decided to try again. Richie being signed would be a good thing and I've urged him to take the offer, but he's not sure how it'll play out just yet.

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Saturday Week 1 December, 2004

-My friend Allen LeFleur had his fight against Primeiro Banse at a CCC event. LeFleur got a takedown right away, and got Banse seated against the cage. Allen passed to mount and tried an armbar, but somehow got stacked by Banse and conceded a dominant position to him. Whoops. Banse fired away from the top, but Allen calmly defended and got an armbar from the bottom for the win after 3 and a half minutes.

-I congratulated Allen backstage and we went with Buster for a small victory party at Bushwakkers. I took it easy though, as I was starting my weight cut. Allen was happy with his win and was boasting about how he was either going to get revenge against Joshua Hope, or beat down Mandel Belan, a Taekwondo striker who hes had a long-running feud with. I poked fun at him for getting stacked by a Kickboxer and not tapping him out right away while he got all uppity about it, while Buster sat back and laughed. Pretty good time with the boys and I hope we can do it again soon.

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Saturday Week 2 December, 2004

-ALPHA-1's booked their February show, which is another Warriors of The Ring internet special. Main event is BCF standout Danny Akabaro debuting against Jin Katou. Akabaro's in the deep end on fight number one and we'll see if he sinks or swims.......

-The notable Middleweight fights on the main card are Buddy Garner vs Atsutane Akera, which should be a hell of a match for fans of high-level Jiu Jitsu, and a catchweight bout between Noach Van Der Capellen and Fjodor Kanchelskis. Van Der Capellen is supposedly preparing to move up a weight class due to losing twice to Ichisake Miyagi and losing out in the Welterweight GP.

-Also nestled in the main card is the debut of Manuel Silva, and he'll be facing Eiji Masuko. Finally, there is also another Light Heavyweight tournament designed to clear out some of the young unranked fighters at the bottom of the pecking order. The Light Heavyweight division is flooded with fighters, the only other division that comes close in quanitity is the Bantamweight hiring spree.

-Richie Stiller signed with XCC. He's got nothing booked for CCC, so hes open for matches in both orgs right now. We'll see what happens for his next fight but it should be soon.

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Monday Week 3 December, 2004

-French Dancer has a booking at a small show in Gatineau, he'll be taking on 5-3 Kick Boxer Darcy Fusilier. Fusilier had no record as a competitive kickboxer before entering MMA, but he started decently enough, getting 3 straight wins before being outclassed by Owen Hyde. He won 2 more afterwards, but then lost his next two to Todd D'Abruzzo and Moe Muschin. This is winnable for Dancer, if he doesn't get knocked out yet again. Dancer can take Fusilier down and Fusilier hasn't shown much for a ground game so far in his career. We'll hope thats what happens, rather than yet another KO loss.

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Saturday Week 3 December, 2004

-Aljur Paras had his fight against Ambrogio Maret. Round 1 was a tentative striking exchange, with neither fighter landing anything clean. Maret showed better defense than he ever had, and it was close to a 10-10 round. Paras opened up a bit more in Round 2, and outlanded Maret to win the round. Round 3 Maret tried a takedown partway through but couldn't get it, and Paras got a crucial head kick knockdown midway through the round. Paras pounded away, but Maret kept his wits about him and almost got out from the bottom before time expired. We felt confident in the decision, and it was justified: 29-28 on all cards!

Official Result: Aljur Paras defeats 'L'Artiste' Ambrogio Maret (Unanimous Decision in 5:00 of round 3). The fight was rated as being Good.

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Tuesday Week 4 December, 2004

-Toshie Nishina has a booking for GFE in February, she'll be facing 7-8 Kickboxer Alyssa Taylor. Taylor's a decent striker who hit a real rough patch starting in 2002, losing 5 of 6. We've actually faced her before, back when Catalina Vinicios was with our camp, but the skillsets are totally different so we have no frame of reference. Nishina's usual strategy of clinch up and dirty box for points should work fine here though. Nishina's made some real strides since entering this camp and barring a flash KO this should be a win.

-I'm coming into the homestretch of my camp, and I'm using the lessons and experience I got from Strike Force to good effect. The weight cut's coming along and I should be ready for Reed Howlett.

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Friday Week 4 December, 2004

-Flew down to Japan and made weight for Reed Howlett. Reed looked strong and was said to have a good camp in preparation for this. I'm as prepared as I possibly can be for the biggest fight in my career to this point, now its time to see if I can get the big win on New Years!

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CANADIAN TOUGH TEAM ROSTER:

Main Characters:

Rickard Patterson (10-0)(ALPHA-1)

Piper Evergood (15-2)(WEFF, current Featherweight champion)

Aidan Ryland (Gym Owner/Agent/Head Trainer/Commentator)

Not Gone After 3 Fights Or A Loss:

Aljur Paras (12-1)(CCC)

Buster East (9-4)(Canadian Independent)

Christine Jameson (8-5)(WEFF)

Colin J L Capes (11-0)(ALPHA-1)

French Dancer (7-10)(Canadian Independent)

Richie Stiller (11-4)(CCC, XCC)

Roger Bean (11-2)(XCC)

Roy Arnett (10-5)(Canadian Independent)

Gone After 3 Fights Or A Loss:

Chisaki Gojo (11-4)(WEFF)

Fabrice Marcil (7-0)(ALPHA-1)

Leo Maisonneuve (4-0)(CCC)

Leverett Chez (6-0)(ALPHA-1)

Rennaya Rives (13-1)(WEFF)

Toshie Nishina (11-4)(GFE)

Tuck Durdell (11-2)(CCC)

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UPCOMING FIGHTS:

Rickard Patterson (10-0) vs Reed Howlett (14-0)

ALPHA-1 Dynamite!: 2004 TV Special

Saturday Week 4 December, 2004

Rennaya Rives (13-1) vs Manami Ken (12-4)

WEFF 41: O'Neill vs Masters II

Saturday Week 1 January, 2005

Chisaki Gojo (11-4) vs Nina Belle (13-4)

WEFF 41: O'Neill vs Masters II

Saturday Week 1 January, 2005

French Dancer (7-10) vs Darcy Fusilier (5-3)

Quebec Local Show

Tuesday Week 2 January, 2005

Toshie Nishina (11-4) vs Alyssa Taylor (7-8)

GFE 4: Peyton vs Mellow

SAturday Week 1 Fenurary, 2005

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TOUGH TEAM WORLD RANKINGS:

Piper Evergood (#2 Female Featherweight, #3 Female Pound for Pound)

Rennaya Rives (#7 Female Flyweight)

Chisaki Gojo (#8 Female Flyweight)

Colin J L Capes (#9 Super Heavyweight)

Rickard Patterson (#13 Middleweight)

Leverett Chez (#13 Super Heavyweight)

Toshie Nishina (#16 Female Flyweight)

Christine Jameson (#19 Female Flyweight)

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WORLD MIDDLEWIGHT RANKINGS:

#1: Heiji Endo (22-4)(ALPHA-1)

#2: Matthew Dean (40-5)(ALPHA-1)

#3: Buddy Garner (20-4)(ALPHA-1)

#4: Dwayne Alleyne (16-0)(ALPHA-1)

#5: Snuffy Fontana (15-1)(BCF)

#6: Carlos da Guia (21-1)(ALPHA-1)

#7: Reed Howlett (14-0)(ALPHA-1)

#8: Braulio Moura (29-4-1NC)(GAMMA)

#9: Thorjborn Rekdal (15-3)(GAMMA)

#10: Davis Spyrou (25-9)(ALPHA-1)

#11: Fjodor Kanchelskis (16-2)(ALPHA-1)

#12: Tora Mizwar (27-9)(ALPHA-1)

#13: Rickard Patterson (10-0)(ALPHA-1)

#14: Esteban Vega (13-1)(ALPHA-1)

#15: Oleg Tariverdiev (13-2)(ALPHA-1)

#16: Neil Napier (19-4)(GAMMA)

#17: Thais Antonio Taffarel (23-5)(ALPHA-1)

#18: Joaquim Fontes (28-6)(ALPHA-1)

#19: Adam White (15-1-1NC)(ALPHA-1)

#20: Bambang Sriyanto (31-13-2)(ALPHA-1)

#21: Patrick Thomas (22-7)(GAMMA)

#22: Kadonomaro Deguchi (13-2)(ALPHA-1)

#23: JJ Reid (28-8-1)(ALPHA-1)

#24: Haranobu Oshiro (25-10-1NC)(ALPHA-1)

#25: Tadao Miyazaki (14-3)(ALPHA-1)

White Dolphin · June 18, 2018

(OOC: Apologies for the delay. World Cup fever, considering a TEW diary, new games, etc. Will do an update for New Years in the game and then resume normal diary log entries.)

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Saturday Week 4 December, 2004

ALPHA-1 Dynamite!: 2004 TV Special

On the surface, it seemed like the usual routine for everyone in the Tough Team. Show up early, get Rickard through a quick workout to check his moves, then a pre-fight nap, then a quick warmup before heading out the door to an inevitable finish and another win.

Everyone knew though, that this was a bit different. Maybe not the ending, maybe not even the quality of opponent, but the tension in the air was electric. The arena was standing room only with over 16000 people, and the prelims hadn't even started yet. The ring announcer was revving up the crowd with his vocal practise, and you could hear the noise reverberate through the concrete of the arena. The waiting room was higher class than normal, the entourage was bigger, the monitor to watch the prelims was better, there was even a camera crew that briefly filmed the backstage happenings. Everything had the hype job of a big-time fight, and Rickard's fight was just the usual slot of main card opener.

Reed hadn't caused great concern amongst the camp, which always made Aidan wary. He had to admit though, seeing Rickard take down Bobby Brubaker and Anthony LeToussier in sparring gave him tremendous confidence. Reed was world-class at boxing to be sure, but his clinch game, sprawl, and his ability off his back had never really been tested. He was only seen to be vulnerable once, against Tuck Durdell, who had gotten a takedown and some good shots before losing in the 2nd round via KO. Maybe Howlett had improved. Maybe the Slaughterhouse was prepared for Rickard and got him working on his weaknesses.

Overconfidence would be fatal, but where exactly was the confidence limit here?

Aidan turned to the monitor as the prelims started. Rickard was joking around with Buster and Roger Bean, who was brought along today to meet the ALPHA-1 brass. Things were heating up with the Tough Team, but Aidan felt the need to keep up with the ALPHA-1 undercard. After a few lengthy fights, the lone Middleweight prelim came on.......

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Tetsuji Myojin scored a huge KO win over the former champ Joaquim Fontes. Myojin got a takedown midway through Round 1, and fended off a few submission attempts by Fontes. The 3rd one was a triangle choke, which Myojin broke with a highlight-reel powerbomb. Fontes was stunned, and this gave Myojin an opening to rain down ground and pound until the finish. A big upset win for Myojin, and possibly the end of the line for an embattled Joaquim Fontes.

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Aidan shook his head as the match finished up. It was still amazing that the legendary run of Carlos da Guia was ended by Fontes, only for Fontes to completely fall apart afterwards. A loss to Myojin really meant he was done as a top level threat.

Of course, Aidan knew that all it would take was one lapse and then Fontes could get a submission win and start the rebuild. Hopefully it wouldn't be against Rickard......

On cue, a flunky knocked on the door and said the main card was about to start with Rickard's fight. Rickard got up to head out the door after getting the finishing touches put on his costume by their interpreter. Rickard was going with a demonic martial arts warrior kind of look, probably from his fighting games. At least it was better than the ludicrous pink gi he wore before........

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Rickard's theme:

Reed's theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RliXWlEb7Iw

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Rickard got his usual positive response for his outfit. Rickard was getting to be quite popular amongst the Japanese fanbases for his ability, finishing power, and natural charisma. And maybe the outfits helped too. Nonetheless, the sound of a gaijin getting feedback was music to Aidan's ears, and music to the ears of the ALPHA-1 brass. If they could get past Reed Howlett, big opportunities awaited.

......If they got past him. Reed had made his entrance first and Aidan could tell he looked dangerous from the shadowboxing he was doing. Rickard wa showboating around for the crowd, but Reed was looking up for this and dead focused.

"Better stop showboating laddie, time to get serious."

"No doubt. Don't worry though. I'm not sure how long it'll take, but he'll be seeing the floor in this fight. Then we'll see whos better, won't we........"

"........We will. Don't get cocky though, this is what we trained for. Don't give him an opening to use those hands of his to take you apart. Remember the Strike Force camp!"

"Yes sir."

The seconds left, the ring announcer finished an electric intro for the standing room only crowd, and it was time for the fated battle........

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Round 1

They touched gloves. Howlett stepped in with a quick feint followed by a sweeping hook to the ribs, but Rickard backed off and circled around the ring. After some fancy footwork, Rickard stepped into the pocket and threw a jab and a body kick. Howlett shrugged it off and came back with a flurry, but only landed one punch. Rickard caught Howlett off-balance with a feint, then followed with a fast single leg takedown. Howlett defended but was left hopping around on one leg. Rickard muscled Howlett into the ropes, but lost control of the leg. Rickard kept at it though, jostled for position, worked to get underhooks, and got a good trip takedown into guard! Rickard threw a glancing elbow, then tried a pass to half guard. It was successful, so Rickard then tried for side control and got that too, with some effort. Rickard went for a kiumra, and had the arm extended.......but then Howlett popped it free! Rickard didn't have the hold tight enough. Rickard then switched to an armbar, and after a struggle, he managed to get it locked in! Howlett fought it, but had to tap out to save his arm! Win number 11!

Official Result: 'The Dragoon' Rickard Patterson defeats Reed 'Night Crawler' Howlett (Submission (Armbar) in 4:11 of round 1). The fight was rated as being Great.

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That was surprising. Aidan thought Howlett might have seen Round 2, but Rickard got the takedown early enough and showed that Howlett's weaknesses did exist after all.

"Nice fight laddie!"

"Was it really though? Didn't he hit me a few times? Isn't there room for improvement?"

Rickard laughed and popped off for the crowd, striking several poses on the turnbuckles, before getting dragged into center ring to have his hand raised. He tried not to show it, but Aidan could tell Rickard was really happy with that one. While rival might've been too strong a word to use, there was a lot of personal pride at stake in this fight, and Rickard clearly got what he wanted, a clean, decisive victory.

The group finally got backstage for the usual post-fight interview, this time with a few more reporters and a few more cents thrown in from the peanut gallery. One of reporters mentioned a challenge from Fjodor Kanchelskis, and Rickard said he'd be open to it after Fjodor's next fight, but was willing to step into the ring with anyone at Middleweight, and would be ready whenever he was needed. He talked a bit more about the importance of the fight, and then jokingly took full credit for the Anthony LeToussier win over Sho Kitabatake. Rickard was a natural in front of the camera, and Aidan smiled. He sure knew how to pick them. 3 years ago he wouldn't have dreamed of having a fighter in a place like this, yet here they were.....

The team stuck around for the rest of the card before heading out. Gyukudo Teshigahara beat Jiroemon Hasegawa in the finals of the Light Heavyweight Challengers GP, winning a tough decision thanks to several timely power punches. With the prestige from the tournament win Teshigahara looked prime for a run amongst the contenders, but Hasegawa didn't look too bad either. It seemed the mission of creating a National-level draw was accomplished however, and it got the overloaded Light Heavyweight division some action.

The triple decker title fights went off well. Markus Waller took the Bantamweight title in a come-from-behind effort against defending champ Lito Alcala. Waller got an armbar from the bottom in Round 2, after getting knocked down and almost pounded out by Alcala in Round 1. Strong start form Alcala, but he couldn't keep it up and there was a new champion crowned. Gyokusho Fujimoto defended his Heavyweight title successfully against Mason Archer. He got a knockdown with his signature spinning back fist and pounded away for the stoppage inside 2 minutes.

Main event saw Atep of Indonesia win a good back and forth striking battle with Motoki Hojo in their rematch, finally getting the big KO in Round 3 via a left head kick. Atep followed up with punches and that was that. A good main event to cap off the biggest card of the year.

After the card was done, the team hit Roppongi for a night of excess. ALPHA-1 had luckily booked their rooms for a few more days, and it was to be a New Year's celebration in Tokyo for the Tough Team!

James Casey · August 2, 2018

I almost hate to bump this in case people think the story's been continued, but figured I ought to thank White Dolphin for his fantastic diary - I love how you've brought the characters to life, even though I've barely only glanced at WMMA in any of its incarnations. I was inspired to at least give the demo a whirl <img alt="

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White Dolphin · August 2, 2018

This isn't totally dead yet. I got the New Year's Eve party bit half-written, but I got sidetracked by the World Cup and a few other things, like actually playing some of my Steam games and talking with new friends on a couple Discords and etc.

I'm considering starting a diary in the big leagues (known as TEW's section of the forum), but I've still got ideas in the notepad files for this. It may take a while for it to come back, but hopefully it'll be back for at least one more post when I find the motivation to finish the New Years scene.

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Soar To The Limit: The Story of Rickard Patterson and the Canadian Tough Team

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