Travis "Diesel" Wiuff became YAMMA Pit Fighting’s first ever heavyweight champion at last nights "YPF 1" event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ.

Those who witnessed the event were transported back in time to the early days of the UFC and had the privilege of seeing the old school 8 man elimination tournament once again come to fruition. The major difference I noticed between the old tournaments and this new tournament was the fact that fighters only had to compete for one five minute round in their first two fights if they made it through.

Back in the early UFC tournaments there was either unlimited rounds or no time limits which made it a lot tougher on the fighters.

The new revolutionary "Yamma" pit was unveiled at last nights event. So did it live up to the hype and excitement surrounding the new surface? In my opinion it did the complete opposite of what it was meant to do which was keep the action going non-stop. The steep incline at the outer edge of the canvas aided wrestlers when taking down their opponents and helped keep them on the ground. For example when a fighter would shoot and drive their opponent to the incline, their opponent wasn’t able to stand up against the fence to attempt an escape. Instead they would lose their balance and be taken down on the incline.

Both of the "Master’s Superfights" were complete spectacles. The winner was extremely obvious in both bouts. In the first Master’s fight you had Oleg Taktarov taking on an out of shape and overweight Mark Kerr who tipped the scales at 266lbs at the weigh ins. It was no surprise when Oleg finished Kerr off with a first round knee bar. In the second Master’s fight Pat Smith took on 416lb Eric "Butterbean" Esch. Amazingly Smith exploited Butterbean’s ground game and submitted Esch with strikes from the top.

The winner of the 8 man elimination tournament was no surprise. I think everyone pretty much knew that Wiuff or Rodriguez would take it. Seven of the tournament fights went to a decision mainly due to the fact that fighters only had five minutes to finish their opponent. All in all I don’t think it was an extremely strong showing for the new organization. Of course everyone wanted to watch it out of curiosity but will they fork out another $35 to see YAMMA II? That will be the true test and should determine YAMMA’s future success in the sport of MMA.

For those of you who are interested in YAMMA II, the event has officially been announced and will take place on June 21. The 8 man tournament will feature the 185lb weight class and "Master’s Fights" will be featured in both male and female divisions.

The debut of Bob Meyrowitz’s (creator of the UFC) new MMA promotion YAMMA Pit Fighting kicks off tomorrow night, April 11, at 10pm ET live on PPV.

Fans and fighters alike are anxious to see the new revolutionary surface called "Yamma" which in Russian stands for "pit in the ground". The new surface, which slants upwards at the edge of the canvas, was designed to avoid stalemates between fighters up against the fence.

This will be the first time in 10 years that a mixed martial arts elimination tournament is on TV according to Meyrowitz. Eight men will enter and only one man will leave victorious. The "masters fights" will take place in between tournament action.

RedSweat.com will be bringing you all of the action with up to the minute results and live play by play commentary for the entire event beginning at 10pm ET.

Please bookmark this post for easy access to YAMMA Pit Fighting results and subscribe to my feed for live results of all major upcoming mixed martial arts events in the future.

Also feel free to stick around after the fights for a discussion. Leave as many comments as you like and tell us what you thought about the fights and the new surface.

Important news, announcements and interesting moments during YAMMA

• YAMMA II is announced for June 21, 2008. This time the 8 man elimination tournament will feature the 185lb middleweight division. "Master’s Fights" will will be featured in both male and female divisions.
• The purpose of the new fighting surface somewhat backfired as wrestlers were able to use the incline to their advantage. It allowed them to take their opponents to the ground and keep them there. This allowed them to stall specifically during the one round bouts.

Master’s Superfights Quick Results

• Oleg Taktarov vs Mark Kerr (Oleg Taktarov wins via Knee Bar at 1:55 in the 1st round)
• Patrick Smith vs Eric "Butterbean" Esch (Smith wins via Submission (Strikes) at 3:17 in 1st)

8 Man Elimination Tournament Quick Results

Alternate Matchups:

• Lamont Lister vs Oleg Savitsky (Lister wins via TKO (Strikes) at 0:33 in the 1st round)
• Antwain Britt vs Bryan Vetell (Vetell wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round)

Quarterfinal Matchups:

• Ricco Rodriguez vs George Bush (Rodriguez wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round)
• Travis Wiuff vs Marcelo Pereira (Wiuff wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round)
• Chris Tuscherer vs Tony Sylvester (Tuscherer wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round)
• Sherman Pendergarst vs Alexey Oleinik (Oleinik wins via Choke at 4:18 in the 1st round)

Semifinal Matchups:

• Alexey Oleinik vs Chris Tuscherer (Tuscherer wins Unanimous Decision after 1 round)
• Ricco Rodriguez vs Travis Wiuff (Wiuff wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round)

Championship Match:

• Chris Tuscherer vs Travis Wiuff (Travis Wiuff wins via Unanimous Decision after 3 rounds)

YAMMA Pit Fighting Tournament Play by Play Commentary

Sherman Pendergarst vs Alexey Oleinik

• Round 1: Sherman starts the round out by driving Oleinik back to the incline and puts him on his back. Oleinik gets full guard and ties up Sherman long enough to get the referee stand up. Alexey lands a nice punch and once again takes Sherman to his back on the incline. Oleinik gets a warning from the ref after throwing some strikes while the ref was in the process of breaking up the fighters. Pendergarst gets upset that a point was taken. Oleinik shoots for a double leg and secures the takedown. He then begins to drop punches from the top. Oleinik catches Sherman in a forearm choke and Pendergarst is forced to tap.
• Final Result: Alexey Oleinik wins via Choke at 4:18 in the 1st round.

Chris Tuscherer vs Tony Sylvester

• Round 1: Tuscherer shoots for a takedown to start things off but Sylvester rejects his offer momentarily. Staying persistent, Chris eventually scores the takedown into side control and starts to work for a guillotine choke. Sylvester easily escapes and they are back to their feet. After landing a nice knee Tuscherer takes Sylvester back to the incline and on his back again. Chris starts to unload with 4 or 5 good punches as Tony tries to escape. For the rest of the round Chris has standing back control with one arm and lands short blows. He follows that assault with a few knees to the body of Sylvester and the round ends.
• Final Result: Chris Tuscherer wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round.

Travis Wiuff vs Marcelo Pereira

• Round 1: Travis Wiuff immediately takes Pereira down to the mat ending up in Pereira’s full guard. Both fighters begin to throw with nothing much landing. Marcelo is looking for submissions from his back but Wiuff isn’t having any of it. With Wiuff still on top and nothing much happening on the ground, the fighters are stood back up. Travis doesn’t waste any time, immediately taking Marcelo back to the canvas. Wiuff tries to land some punches with Marcelo’s back on the incline. Pereira continues to look for a submission while avoiding strikes from Wiuff. Wiuff finishes the round on top and in control. Pereira has a cut on the outside of his left eye. I score the round 10/9 for Wiuff.
• Final Result: Travis Wiuff wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round.

Ricco Rodriguez vs George Bush

• Round 1: Ricco starts things off with a takedown but Bush gets right back to his feet. Ricco says "nope" and suplexes Bush to the canvas. Once again Bush gets back up but this time gets caught with a grazing kick from Ricco. Ricco backs George up with a superman punch. He then picks Bush up, carries him to the middle of the ring and slams him to the mat. George manages to get back to his feet and throws a kick that Ricco catches. Ricco tries to throw Bush and then breaks with a kick. Ricco takes Bush down on the incline and immediately takes his back. He looks for the rear naked choke but can’t finish. He then goes for an armbar that misses and he loses position giving Bush top control. Bush tries to finish strong with strikes but the round ends. I score the round 10/9 for Rodriguez.
• Final Result: Ricco Rodriguez wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round.

Mark Kerr vs Oleg Taktarov (Special Master’s Superfight before Semifinals)

• Round 1: Both fighters begin with some small punches. Kerr shoots for a single and takes Oleg down into his guard. Taktarov pushes Kerr off of him and gets back to his feet. Kerr immediately takes him back down, this time against the incline. Oleg rolls right into a knee bar forcing Mark Kerr to tap in under two minutes of the first round. What a shocker?
• Round 2:
• Round 3:
• Final Result: Oleg Taktarov wins via Knee Bar at 1:55 in the 1st round.

Alexey Oleinik vs Chris Tuscherer (Semifinal #1)

• Round 1: Alexey starts out the round with a shot for the takedown. Tuscherer defends well and catches Oleinik in a front headlock. He uses the hold to drag Alexey down to the mat and moves into his guard. Chris starts to throw some strikes but Oleinik throws his hips up high and Chris is forced to defend a weak triangle. Tuscherer continues to control from the top while Alexey looks for submissions. Oleinik keeps looking for a knee bar but Tuscherer isn’t too worried about it. With half a minute left Chris gains side control and finishes the round in control but without inflicting any serious damage. I score the round 10/9 for Tuscherer.
• Final Result: Chris Tuscherer wins Unanimous Decision after 1 round.

Ricco Rodriguez vs Travis Wiuff (Semifinal #2)

• Round 1: Both fighters come out trading. After a few exchanges they clinch and Wiuff takes Ricco to the canvas towards the top of the incline. Wiuff begins to strike in Ricco’s closed guard. Rodriguez attempts a key lock but can’t secure it and Wiuff continues to control from the top while Ricco tries to separate. After a lag in the action, the ref brings them back to their feet. Ricco lands a knee to Wiuff’s family jewels but Travis is ok to continue. Rodriguez, unable to find his striking range, is thrown from the top of the incline down into the middle of the pit. Wiuff finishes the round in control. I score the round 10/9 for Wiuff.
• Final Result: Travis Wiuff wins via Unanimous Decision after 1 round.

Pat Smith vs Butterbean (Special Master’s Superfight before Final)

• Round 1: Both fighters come out swinging in the center of the pit. Smith is picking apart the pro boxer with strikes. Butterbean is throwing bombs as usual but can’t land the whale. Butterbean eats a kick and goes down. Smith begins to punch from side control and Butterbean can’t escape to his feet. He is unable to move as Pat is in total control at this point. Butterbean is trapped on his side with no defense and continues to eat punches. The Bean is forced to tap due to strikes and the ref steps in to save him from certain death.
• Round 2:
• Round 3:
• Final Result: Pat Smith wins via Submission (Strikes) at 3:17 in the 1st round.

Chris Tuscherer vs Travis Wiuff (Championship Match)

• Round 1: The fighters clinch and Tuscherer is thrown to the mat via hip toss. Wiuff ends up in side control and attempts to elbow Chris who tries to roll Travis off and escape from the bottom. Wiuff regains side control but Chris gets back to his feet and already looks tired. Travis lands a nice right hand and then pushes Tuscherer up against the fence. Travis takes him down and they slide down the incline. After a lack of action the ref stands the fighters up. Wiuff gets off a nice combo of punches that drops Chris to the mat. He follows that up with more punches on the ground. Tuscherer, with blood pouring onto the canvas from his nose, can do nothing but hang in there until the round ends. I score the round 10/9 for Wiuff.
• Round 2: Wiuff pushes Chris up against the incline and takes him down once again. Travis continues to control on top but isn’t doing much causing the ref to stand the fighters back up. Tuscherer wants it but can’t mount any type of successful offense. Both fighters are now worn out and the pace is extremely slow. Tuscherer is completely gassed at this point. Chris chases Wiuff around the cage but can’t catch him. The round ends and the game of duck duck goose is over. I score the round 10/9 for Wiuff.
• Round 3: Wiuff begins the round like the first two, taking Tuscherer down to the mat using the incline to his advantage. Wiuff starts to drop elbows while Chris lays against the warning track at the bottom of the incline. The ref is forced to stand up the fighters and for the first time Tuscherer scores a single leg takedown. However he can’t keep Wiuff down, and Travis is right back to his feet. Wiuff lands a nice right hand backing Chris up who fires back with a jab. Travis clinches but Tuscherer is letting his hands go and has Travis retreating. Wiuff drops down and scores one final takedown securing the win and earning himself the YAMMA championship title. The official scores are 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Travis Wiuff.
• Final Result: Travis Wiuff wins via Unanimous Decision after 3 rounds.

This weekend marks the debut of three exclusive MMA shows.

I wanted to give you a heads up so you wouldn’t miss any of the action. Here is your weekend calendar for MMA.

Friday April 11 (9:30-10:30pm ET) Inside MMA

Join hosts Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten for tonight’s edition of Inside MMA on HDNet. Tonight’s show features a great panel including Eddie Bravo, Phil Baroni and MMA promoter Bas Boon.

Tonight’s episode will feature video highlights of Kim Couture’s official MMA debut. Couture defeated Jessica Cruz at the Full Contact Fighting Federation event at the Roseland Theater in Portland, OR via third round ground and pound. If you can’t wait until tonight to see highlights from Couture’s debut here is a clip from tonight’s Inside MMA.

Kim Couture MMA debut highlights video (courtesy of Inside MMA and MMAjunkie.com)

Friday April 11 (10pm ET) Yamma Pit Fighting

Things will kick off on Friday with the debut of Bob Meyrowitz’s YAMMA Pit Fighting. RedSweat.com will be bringing you full coverage of the event including live results and play by play commentary. The organization will be unveiling their innovative new surface called "Yamma" which stands for "pit in the ground" in Russian.

The event will take you back in time to the 8 man elimination tournament format that was popular in the early UFC’s. The winner of the event will have to fight a total of three times in the same night to take the home the victory. Heavy favorites to win the tournament are former UFC heavyweight champ, Ricco Rodriguez and wrestler Travis Wiuff.

Friday April 11 (10:30pm ET) HDNet Fights "Upset Special"

Immediately following Inside MMA on HDNet is a special show debuting tonight called "Upset Special". The show will feature some of MMA’s most shocking upsets in the history of HDNet Fights.

A few of the upsets featured will include Ryan Fords victory over Pete Spratt via rear naked choke, Mitsuhiro Ishida’s shocking decision win over "El Nino" handing Melendez his first loss ever, and the amazing performance of Ryan Schultz who dominated the then undefeated Chris Horodecki finishing the fight via TKO.

Saturday April 13 (2am ET) StrikeForce on NBC

This will be a historical moment for the sport and the first time ever that MMA is on a major US television network. StrikeForce first struck the 52 week deal with NBC back in March. The show is scheduled to air at 2am ET Saturday night following the hit late night show "Poker After Dark" on NBC.

Featured during the first half of the show will be current EliteXC middleweight champion Cung Le who recently captured the title after defeating Frank Shamrock in an epic battle last month. This episode of "StrikeForce on NBC" will include Le’s June 2006 fight with Brian Warren and a legendary StrikeForce bout between Duane Ludwig and Tony Fryklund. The show will also detail Cung’s other endeavors outside of MMA including his role in the upcoming movie adaptation of the hit video game "Tekken" and upcoming film "Fighting".

Monday April 14 (10am ET) T.O.P. Army Fighter

An interesting new show on the Military Channel called T.O.P. Army Fighter debut’s on Monday at 10pm ET. The three part show will feature 28 competitors and 6 professional mixed martial artist competing in various weight classes with modified MMA rules. Each of the three episodes will feature at least four fights. Make sure you catch all three episodes at 10pm ET, April 14, 15, and 16.

Featured on the show will be International Fight League and HDNet Fights veteran Tim Kennedy who is currently 9-2. He recently fought at the IFL’s World Grand Prix Finals defeating Elias Rivera via knockout in 2 minutes flat.

Bouts on the show will take place in a ring and include rules that become more and more tolerant as the fighter advances. During the early rounds, fighters will begin on their knees and will not be allowed to perform leg locks. A modified scoring system will be used to determine winners. For example you will get three points to pass your opponents guard, four points if you mount, three points if you sweep etc. The producers of the show claim that some of the fighters are due to leave for Iraq the day after the competition.

YAMMA Pit Fighting announced part of the fight card for their upcoming heavyweight tournament set to debut on April 11 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ.

YAMMA Pit Fighting is a brand new organization founded by the original creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bob Meyrowitz. "Yamma" is a revolutionary new fighting surface that is designed to keep the fighting more explosive and continuous. For more info on YAMMA see this earlier post.

One of the non-tournament bouts on April 11 will feature old school warriors Don "The Predator" Frye taking on fighter turned actor Oleg Taktarov in what YAMMA executives are calling a "Masters Superfight".

The "Masters Fights’" are also meant to give the tournament fighters time to rest in between bouts since they will be fighting up to three times per event. Another "Masters Fight" listed on the website but not announced during the press conference features Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge squaring off against Butterbean in what should be an all out slugfest.

The 8 man heavyweight tournament will use modified rules that include shorter rounds and medical exams in between fights making the event safer for the fighters and more exciting for the fans. Prelims and semi final fights will last only one round of five minutes. The tournament final will be three rounds lasting three minutes each.

YAMMA Pit Fighting Fight Card (4/11/2008)

Super Fight Competitors

• Don Frye vs Oleg Taktarov
• Gary Goodridge vs Butterbean

8 Man Heavyweight Tournament Competitors

• Rex Richards vs Travis Wiuff
• Marcelo Pereira vs Alexey Oleynik
• Chris Tuscherer vs Tony Sylveter
• Sherman Pendergarst vs George Bush

Tournament card is subject to change.

On the front page of YAMMA’s website is says "The new fighting surface offers NO escape, NO give and NO mercy!". Any ideas on what the surface could be? Post a comment below and let us know.

Old school MMA is back as "The Predator" Don Frye takes on "The Russian Bear" Oleg Taktarov at Yamma Pit Fighting on April 11, 2008.

Yamma Pit Fighting is a brand new organization founded by UFC creator Bob Meyrowitz that will unveil a revolutionary fighting surface called "Yamma" at their inaugural show at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ in April. These two pioneers of the sport will be featured in a "Masters Fight" that will complement the eight man heavyweight tournament scheduled for that night.

Don Frye released news of his upcoming fight with fellow UFC veteran Oleg on TAGG Radio recently. In a joking manner Frye stated that he hopes Yamma made the announcement already because he just signed to fight Taktarov.

These two are the perfect fit for the debut of a new eight man tournament considering they were a part of the old UFC’s that also held similar tournaments back in the day. The new organizations goal is the bring back tournament style events in a way that is safe and still exciting for the fans. The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board has approved the event but the rules will be modified to include shorter rounds and medical exams in between fights. In addition the fighters will have more time to rest in between fights because of the "Masters Fight’s" that will take place between the tournament fights.

Don Frye is still in action and recently competed at a "No Limit Fighting" event that took place a couple of weeks ago on January 26. Frye blasted through his competition knocking out Bryan Pardoe in under a minute. Frye is known for his early days in the UFC where he was the tournament champion of UFC 8 as well as UFC 11.5 in 1996. The 42 year old also recently coached a team on the "International Fight League" and had a feature segment on the show as well.

Taktarov had similar success in the early days of the UFC winning UFC 6. He is known for his controversial fights including his bout with Dan Severn at UFC 5 in which the fight was stopped due to a cut that was bleeding profusely over his eye. Taktarov did not wan’t to give up and had Severn in position for a potential arm lock at the moment the fight was stopped. Oleg stopped fighting mma in February of 1998 to pursue his acting career and didn’t return until recently at a BodogFIGHT event on October 30, 2007. He defeated John Marsh via kneebar at 0:33 in the second round.

Visit the Yamma Pit Fighting post to find out more about the new organization and it’s revolutionary surface.