Pedro Rizzo

(Murilo "Ninja" Rua wrecks Alex "The Brazilian Killa" Stiebling in 39 seconds. Fight starts at the 0:22 mark. Props to TheGarv. More videos to come...)

BITETTI COMBAT: NORDESTE 4 (9/12; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Ricardo Arona def. Marvin Eastman via unanimous decision
- Paulo Filho def. Alex Schoenauer via unanimous decision
- Pedro Rizzo def. Jeff Monson via unanimous decision
- Murilo “Ninja” Rua def. Alex Stiebling via KO, 0:39 of round 1
- Milton Viera def. Luciano Azavedo via split decision
- Fabio Maldonado def. Vitor Miranda via unanimous decision
- Glover Texeira def. Leonardo Nascimento via submission (guillotine choke), 3:18 of round 1
- Luis Dutra Jr. def. Henrique Nogueira via TKO, round 1
- Cassiano Tytschyo def. Fausto Black via submission (guillotine choke), round 1
- Alexandre Pimentel def. Luciano “Izzy” Correa via unanimous decision

(Bobby Lashley vs. Bob Sapp. Props to MMA Scraps.)

We were promised a train-wreck -- what we got was slower and far less dramatic. (An ice-cream truck crashing into a tree, maybe?) Bobby Lashley got down to business right away in his main event fight with Bob Sapp at last night's "Ultimate Chaos" show in Biloxi, taking the Beast down immediately and working some steady ground-and-pound in half-guard for a couple minutes, until Sapp tapped from the abuse. Unfortunately the ref didn't see it, so Lashley was forced to beat on the helpless 322-pounder some more until a second tap finally caught the ref's attention. Lashley moves to 4-0 in his budding MMA career, and plans to fight again in September.

The co-headlining fight looked like it was going to turn out the same way, with Pedro Rizzo quickly establishing top position on Gilbert Yvel and throwing down elbows. But Yvel stayed active, kicked Rizzo off and escaped to his feet. Back to his comfort zone, Yvel unleashed a striking assault that sent Rizzo to the mat, and knocked him out cold with strikes from the top. Yvel increased his record to 35-12, with 30 wins by KO/TKO; after the fight, he confirmed that he'll be facing Paul Buentello at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1st.

Ben Rothwell confirmed today that he will face Pedro Rizzo on the next Affliction show in Las Vegas on October 11. The bout has been officially signed, Rothwell told CagePotato.com, though it was agreed to on separate terms from his original contract, which means he will be taking a pay cut for this fight but still has two more fights at the previous rate on his existing contract with Affliction.

"[Agent] Monte [Cox] turned down their original offer for this fight, so that's why he said none of his guys would be fighting on the show. Then they came back with another offer that was better, so we agreed to it," Rothwell said.

Fighting a legend of the sport like Rizzo is something Rothwell says he's ambivalent about, however.

"With Pedro, I not only respect his abilities, I watched him as a kid just getting into this sport. He's one of the most down-to-earth, nicest guys in this sport, so on that level I don't really want to fight him. But the fighter in me is amped for this. I'm going to go out there and do what I didn't do against Andrei Arlovski."

Rothwell said that he spoke with Rizzo at their first Affliction show and they both sensed that they may face each other next.

"I said I was going to ask for Buentello," said Rothwell. "Then he said he was going to ask for Buentello. And Tim [Sylvia] also asked for Buentello."

Rothwell criticized a report to the effect that he might face K-1 kickboxer "Mighty Mo" Siliga as completely false, adding that Siliga hadn't ever been mentioned as a potential opponent.

Fresh off their respective losses at Affliction: Banned, Ben Rothwell and Pedro Rizzo will square off at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11, according to MMA Mania. If true, this goes against Monte Cox's claim that Rothwell would sit this one out. It would also add another interesting match-up to a fight card that's already brimming with them.

Rothwell-Rizzo is a good match for finding out exactly where both these guys stand in their careers. A Rothwell victory would confirm the sneaking suspicion that he should be taken seriously in the heavyweight division, while a loss to Rizzo would likely mean his removal from the top ten until further notice.

For Rizzo, a win means he can make a compelling case to keep fighting and a loss means he can't. As great as "The Rock" was in his time and as deserving as he is of a spot among MMA's forefathers, he can't hang around forever. A knockout loss to Josh Barnett is nothing to be ashamed of, nor would a loss to Rothwell necessarily be a career-ender. But at Rizzo's age (34), it would hardly be encouraging.

- In slightly related news, fellow ex-IFL fighter and Quad Cities Silverbacks team member Bart Palaszewski has signed with Zuffa to compete in the WEC. "Bartimus" (laziest nickname ever?) reportedly signed a six-fight deal and plans to be ready for action in September.

When the Affliction: Banned media tour came to the Trump Towers in New York City, it was hard to say who the fans were lined up to see. With so many international MMA stars on one stage, it was a toss-up. But by the time they left there was no question who had stolen the show and cemented himself in the minds of all those present. As soon as Josh Barnett took the microphone in hand, it was almost a foregone conclusion.

Now the talented heavyweight and star pro wrestler in Japan talks to Cage Potato about his career in the U.S. and abroad, about his upcoming fight against Pedro Rizzo, and much more.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me, Josh. Pedro Rizzo seems like an interesting opponent for you right now. What have you been doing to get ready for him?

Same thing I always do, training really hard in all aspects of mixed martial arts. I’ve got some really good sparring partners, like Babalu, Jamie Fletcher, and Ben Jones, who are in here every day, helping me out. I’ve also been working with a couple of boxing coaches, too, just to help work on some of the standup aspects because I wouldn’t mind knocking [Rizzo] out. So a guy named Oscar Muniz and Marvin Cooke have been helping me, and it’s just a pretty steady training camp.

Are you worried that if you go in there planning on standing and striking with him that you won’t use your grappling, where you seem to have the edge?

There’s no reason to worry. There’s no place for worry or doubt in anything that you do in the fight. I know I can fight smart. I’m going to go out there and see what’s available. I’m not going to force any particular game plan on to the fight. But I will make things go my way. There’s no worries, no concerns.

Affliction has mentioned having the winner of your fight face the winner of the Fedor-Sylvia fight at their next event. Do you think that’s really going to happen, and are you going to be paying close attention to all the other heavyweight fights on the card, just in case?