TOP - Honey, I Hired a Giant Headed Cat as Booker

[Generic Heel 104]

January 2002
Third Monday



"Hello, I'm Jerome T. McCallum. I've called this press conference today to make an announcement regarding Tapout Promotions, the mixed martial arts organization I own and finance.

"Since we opened in January 1999, our organization has seen much in the way of progress, but recently we have not been making the strides that we wished. As a result, I have fired our last match maker. We wish Vince Russo the best in his future endeavors.

"I am also pleased to announce our newest match maker: a cat whose head is approximately five times the size of his body, Mittens.



"Mittens will not be taking questions at this time. I expect that we will have matches for our next pay-per-view announced in the near future, though."

[Generic Heel 104]

Heavyweight

Champion: Jacco Landeweed (7-0)

1. Damien Jones (6-0)
2. Oscar Gomez (16-7)
3. Tomoji Takaoka (6-3)
4. Juozas Skerla (7-2)
5. Perry Barr (15-7)
6. Marvin Stevens (22-12)
7. Frank Sheedy (21-13)
8. Nash Harbane (15-12)
9. Sherman Shields (19-12)
10. Bob Dozier (14-10)
11. Reinhardt Rhett (5-3)
12. Linton Renn (6-4)
13. Efren Luat (6-3)

Light Heavyweight
Champion: Jerry Bogdonovich (9-1)

1. Guillermo Morales (16-3-1)
2. Andoni Olano (7-1)
3. Daniil Skala (21-8)
4. Gekko Goto (11-4)
5. Terry Catt (6-2)
6. Mantas Andreyev (37-15)
7. Volker Herzog (7-0)
8. Trevor Murray (21-13)
9. Nestor Morozov (22-13-1)
10. Andranik Paletilolu (15-8)
11. Jethro Munter (11-8)
12. Samuel Russo (19-13)
13. Denilson da Cunha (11-7)
14. Justin Brannagh (4-1)
15. Adrian Swall (3-2)

Middleweight
Champion: Leonardo da Costa (17-6)

1. Alex Cole (13-0)
2. Ethan Sutton (12-1)
3. Kojuro Kudo (16-6-1 NC)
4. Todd D'Abruzzo (10-2)
5. Mal Phe Roby (19-8)
6. Carl Ratcliffe (19-6)
7. Casim Yenkini (12-4)
8. Davis Spyrou (19-7)
9. Drew Jenks (7-3)
10. Pepe (7-3)
11. Otto Cascudo (25-12)
12. Zenko Hatakeyama (12-8)
13. Juro Fukazawa (12-7)
14. Marcelo Oberto (24-17)
15. Mily Golovanov (3-0)
15. Nick Detroit (5-3)
16. Franz Ludwig (12-9)

Welterweight
Champion: Agustin Gonzalez (13-3)

1. Fukusaburu Hirano (13-2-1)
2. Syed Tan (24-7-1)
3. Yeijiro Yamamoto (23-8)
4. Nik Minear (13-3)
5. Zachary Gilbert (16-8)
6. Evgeni Medtner (21-7)
7. Joshua Ziegler (8-2)
8. Ikku Funaki (17-8)
9. Lloyd McAllister (14-4)
10. Keith Jolly (7-1)
11. Paul Duffell (21-12)
12. Rich Robinson (7-2)
13. Bokkai Iida (18-13)
14. Washichi Kobayashi (11-7)
15. Godofredo Tavora (5-2)

[Generic Heel 104]

(This game was created from the default data and forwarded five years to 2002 with my avatar sitting on the sidelines until the first day of that year)

Championship history

Heavyweight Title

Current champion: Jacco Landeweer (won 1/02, beat Juozas Skerla via TKO (strikes) for the vacant title)
Former champions:
Christopher Sharp 06/01-10/01 (beat Steve Mason via 1st round TKO (strikes))
- stripped of title after signing exclusive contract with ALPHA-1
Wilson Franklyn 02/01-04/01 (beat Fletcher Merman via 2nd round KO (punch))
- stripped of title after signing exclusive contract with GAMMA
Fletcher Merman 09/00-02/01 (beat Oscar Gomez via unanimous decision)
Oscar Gomez 02/00-09/00 (beat Steve Mason via 2nd round TKO (strikes))
Steve Mason 06/99-02/00 (beat Russell McPhee via 2nd round TKO (strikes) for the vacant title)

Light Heavyweight Title
Current Champion: Jerry Bogdonovich (won 08/01, beat Guillermo Morales via 2nd round TKO (strikes) for the vacant title)
Former Champions:
Marcos Maciel 04/01-05/01 (beat Terry Catt via 6th round KO (kick) for the vacant title)
-stripped of title after signing exclusive contract with ALPHA-1
Silvio Leite 01/01-02/01 (beat Jerry Bogdonovich via 2nd round TKO (strikes))
-stripped of title after signing exclusive contract with ALPHA-1
Jerry Bogdonovich 08/99-01/01 (beat Jon Silvers via 1st round TKO (strikes) for the vacant title)

Middleweight Title
Current Champion: Leonardo da Costa (won 10/99, beat Carl Ratcliffe via 3rd round submission (kimura) for the vacant title)
-defended against Ethan Sutton (02/02) via 7th round submission (heel hook)
-defended against Mal Phe Roby (4/00) via 3rd round submission (RNC)
-defended against Kojuro Kudo (7/00) via 1st round submission (RNC)

Welterweight Title
Current Champion: Agustin Gonzalez (won 10/01, beat Zachary Gilbert via 7th round submission (armbar))

Former Champions:
Agustin Gonzalez 12/99-10/01 (beat Delroy Rhodes via 2nd round TKO (strikes) for the vacant title)
-defended against Yeijiro Yamamoto via 6th round submission (guillotine)

Company rankings (as of 02/02):
1. ALPHA-1
2. GAMMA
3. SIGMA
4. BCF
5. FLB
6. XCC
7. TOP
8. WEFF
9. OMEGA
10. SAMA

[Generic Heel 104]

All right, Mittens. If you're reading this, you've managed to open your email account. There are a couple of things I expect out of you:

* First, you are not going to be allowed to hire more than one new fighter for each of the existing weight classes (welter, middle, light heavy, and heavy) until after you turn around our financial situation so we make money for at least a month. We haven't been having huge losses - nothing more than $50k in a month - but at some point, our seed money will run out. Let's avoid that.
* You cannot fire anyone until after the second event you organize.
* You cannot create new weight classes until you have my explicit approval.

The toys and kibble specified are available in your office as specified in your contract.

I've attached the results from our last card to this email.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jerome

TOP: Skerla vs. Landeweerd
Attendance: 525
Andoni Olano beat Jethro Munter by TKO (Strikes) in round 1
Kojuro Kudo beat Pepe by Unanimous Decision in round 5
Gekko Goto beat Mantas Andreyev by TKO (Strikes) in round 1
Guillermo Morales beat Adrian Swall by Submission (RNC) in round 3 - Submission of the Night
Tomoji Takaoka beat Efren Luat by TKO (Strikes) in round 1
Syed Tan beat Ikku Funaki by KO (Punch) in round 3 - Fight & KO of the Night
Jacco Landeweerd beat Juozas Skerla by TKO (Strikes) in round 1 to win the vacant Heavyweight Championship

[Generic Heel 104]

Card for TOP: Sutton vs. Costa announced!

This event will be held in Moscow on the last Friday of February, 2002.

Rising star Ethan "The Terror" Sutton (12-0, 5-0 in TOP) will challenge Leonardo da Costa (16-6, 3-0) for the TOP Middleweight Championship in a seven round match. da Costa is ranked 4th in the world at middleweight, and 23rd in pound for pound. Sutton is the world's 7th ranked middleweight. da Costa has not defended the title since July 2000.

The co-main event will see Joshua Ziegler (8-1, 2-0) face off against Fukusaburu Hirano (13-2-1, TOP premier) in the welterweight division. Ziegler knocked out Washichi Kobayashi in his TOP debut and then won a unanimous decision from then-ninth best light heavyweight in the world Yeijiro Yamamoto at TOP: Gilbert vs. Gonzalez. Hirano, the 21st best welterweight in the world, holds a victory over Syed Tan from their time in ALPHA-1.

The rest of the card features:
Middleweight: "Iron Man" Juro Fukazawa (12-6, 0-1) vs. Todd "The Bruiser" D'Abruzzo (9-2, 1-1)
Welterweight: Keith "Dodger" Jolly (6-1, 0-1) vs. Bokkai "Thunder" Iida (18-12, 0-1)
Heavyweight: "The Emperor" Otto Renner (7-3, 2-2) vs. Nash "Crash" Harbane (15-11, TOP premier)
Heavyweight: Frank Analysis (37-22, 0-3) vs. "The Halifax Smasher" Linton Renn (6-3, 0-2)
Light Heavyweight: "The Tornado" Terry Catt (5-2, 1-2) vs. Denilson da Cunha (11-6, TOP premier)

[Generic Heel 104]

Events in the rest of January:

We extended the contracts of Gekko Goto, Tomoji Takaoka, Efren Luat, and Ikku Funaki. Funaki's coming off a loss; Luat has lost three straight, but I brought him back on a contract with one guaranteed fight and three non-guarantees, as a "last chance" deal; Goto and Takaoka are riding winning streaks.

We also made our new hires:

Heavyweight: Roland Frye. A brand-new rookie, he's listed as "very strong" in wrestling and ground skills, and no worse than average in the other three categories available under his scouting. He looks an awful lot like Jack Cobblepot.

Light Heavyweight: Daniil Skala (21-8). He just left SIGMA, where he want 2-3, with the wins acting as bookends to a three-fight loss streak. He's on the downslide, but he is from Russia, has some name value there (which is more than can be said for other new guys), and could work as a draw, or make up-and-comers look legit.

Middleweight: Mily Golovanov (3-0). Another native of Russia, he's proven himself on indy shows. He's very strong at wrestling/takedowns/takedown defense. He's just 27, so he can hopefully get better.

Welterweight: Rich Robinson (7-2). The Canadian had a stint in GAMMA where he want 1-2, beating Iain Fussell but losing to Datuk and Bobby Brubaker. He's another strong ground-and-pound guy, who can make a definite impact.

[Generic Heel 104]

We just signed a TV deal with Continental Sports X1! A sports specific station! With very low patience! And tiny size! And highly against MMA! In a graveyard time slot!

Well, it's time.

TOP: Sutton vs. Costa

Light Heavyweight: "The Tornado" Terry Catt (5-2, 1-2) vs. Denilson da Cunha (11-6, TOP premier)

Catt is heavily favored in the lead-in to this. Round one sees him score a single-leg takedown, and nearly grab an armbar from side control. He moves to mount and goes for another armbar, but da Cunha shifts into side control and then stands up. This allows Catt to get another takedown and lock in a kneebar just after the end of the round.

Round two opens with another takedown from Catt, leading to him getting control of da Cunha's back. Terry Catt eventually locks in a rear naked choke with 29 seconds left in the round for the win. It should be noted that da Cunha generated absolutely no offense in this fight. Match rating: good.

Heavyweight: Frank Analysis (37-22, 0-3) vs. "The Halifax Smasher" Linton Renn (6-3, 0-2)

This is essentially a last chance fight for both fighters; it's hard to imagine either sticking around with a loss, barring a strong performance. Renn received some pre-fight hype from TOP.

The first round sees absolutely nothing happen for a couple of minutes until a Renn takedown is stuffed with Analysis on top. Renn sweeps out of Analysis' guard, leading to a few jab attempts from both fighters until the round ends.

Round two opens with Renn throwing bunches of punches to little avail. Both looked gassed just two minutes into the round. Not much of note happens the rest of the round.

The third round sees Renn finally end up in control by pushing Analysis against the cage, using that to score a takedown that ends up with Analysis sitting against the cage. Renn manages to work him so he has control of his back with his hooks in, but the round ends.

Round four opens with a lot of Analysis punches, all of which miss. I'm not certain anyone actually landed a punch in this round, but the entire round is spent upright.

Round five opens with another exchange of punches, which Analysis wins with a pair of big right hands. Renn is rocked, leading to an Analysis knockout cross. Renn was going to win if this one went to the cards. Match rating: Good

Post-match, Renn says he was dealing with personal issues in the fight

Heavyweight: "The Emperor" Otto Renner (7-3, 2-2) vs. Nash "Crash" Harbane (15-11, TOP premier)

Otto Renner was getting the build going into this fight, but the betters favored Harbane.

Round one sees the fighters lock into a grapple, which leads to an indecisive struggle for position against the cage and occasional dirty boxing. Renner finally gets a takedown with a trip. He works into side control, but time expires. The crowd boos the lack of action in this period.

Round two opens with Renner already visibly tired. Renner tries a couple more takedown tries, but he doesn't succeed, so absolutely nothing happens. Time expires. The crowd boos more.

The third round sees Renner try to move into Harbane's pocket, and Harbane back up. Renner moves into Harbane's pocket, and Harbane backs up. Renner moves into Harbane's pocket, and slams him to the ground. Renner gets stuck in half guard as time expires. More booing.

The fourth round sees... Renner try to wrestle with Harbane more! And Harbane doesn't want any, despite that apparently being his best offensive skill. Unless you count "sweeping" or "scrambling." Renner drives Harbane against the cage, where they stand clinched until the ref breaks them up as the round ends. Even more booing.

Round five sees Harbane actually attempt a takedown, but Renner blocks it and pushes him against the cage in a clinch. You'd be able to play tic tac toe on these guys by the time this fight is over. Harbane tries a slam, but Renner avoids it. A follow up takedown attempt is stuffed into Renner being in Harbane's guard. Harbane tries a guillotine, but Renner avoids it before passing into side control. That round did not result in boos, which is an improvement.

This match goes to the card, which sees Otto Renner receive a 50-45 unanimous decision. Match rating: poor. Harbane, you are so fired.

Welterweight: Keith "Dodger" Jolly (6-1, 0-1) vs. Bokkai "Thunder" Iida (18-12, 0-1)

Iida is a big favorite in this match, but Jolly received the build.

36 seconds into the first round sees Jolly strike with a series of hard right hands, but Iida withstands it. They exchange more strikes, with Jolly tending to come out ahead, though Iida does some good footwork and even scores with a few jabs of his own. Iida eventually goes for a double leg, but Jolly responds with a right hand to turn him back. The round ends shortly after.

Round two opens with more Jolly strikes. An Iida takedown attempt is avoided. A number of strikes are thrown, with few landing and fewer having any real effect. They slip into a clinch, which leads to a successful Iida takedown but time ends shortly after that.

The third round opens with more strikes exchanged and a failed Iida takedown. Iida finally gets Jolly in a grapple and pushes him back and pretty much forces him against the cage for two minutes. The round ends, probably as Iida's first win of the night.

The fourth round again opens with strikes and a failed Iida takedown pushing Jolly against the cage. For four minutes. Fighting, yay.

The final round sees Jolly open with several hard right hands that hit, leaving Iida open to a knockout right cross from Keith Jolly. Match rating: poor. This was nowhere as bad as Narbane-Renner.

Middleweight: "Iron Man" Juro Fukazawa (12-6, 0-1) vs. Todd "The Bruiser" D'Abruzzo (9-2, 1-1)

D'Abruzzo is a decent favorite here.

The first round has a Fukazawa body kick countered by a barrage of D'Abruzzo punches, leaving Juro groggy. The Bruiser tries a knock out punch, but Fukazawa covers up and survives. Fukazawa connects with a leg kick before the round ends.

The second round has an exchange of strikes leading to a missed body kick by Juro leading to a knockdown from D'Abruzzo's punches. Juro stays alert, and D'Abruzzo lets him stand back up with less than two minutes less. Juro misses a leg kick and D'Abruzzo scores with two punches before the end of the round.

Juro opens the third round with successful counterstrikes. Fukazawa finally outstrikes D'Abruzzo for a round,though not with anything too significant, and the round ends.

Round four has more minor exchanges of strikes, though Juro continues to use leg kicks, which are having a cumulative effect on D'Abruzzo, causing him to limp. Juro may have made this fight even here.

Round 5 opens with an immediate jab from Juro, which D'Abruzzo dodges. This leaves Fukazawa open to a big right hook, which connects and knocks him clean out. Todd D'Abruzzo wins by knock out!Match rating: good. Todd connected with 45 of 119 punches; no action took place on the ground in this one.

Your co-main event!

Middleweights: Joshua Ziegler (8-1, 2-0) vs. Fukusaburu Hirano (13-2-1, TOP premier)

The winner of this match positions himself for a title shot against Agustin Gonzalez. Hirano has received promotion from TOP.

Round one is essentially a standup fight, and Hirano comes out ahead in that, though nothing significant lands.

Round two opens with more missed punches. Ziegler eventually misses with a punch, leading to Hirano teeing off on him with big right hands. Ziegler is knocked down, Hirano takes the mounter and keeps swinging. The ref has to stop this one - Fukusaburu Hirano wins via TKO! Match rating: decent.

Ethan "The Terror" Sutton (12-0, 5-0 in TOP) vs TOP Middleweight Champion Leonardo da Costa (16-6, 3-0)

Sutton is the favorite on the betting line. Sutton's a great wrestler but lacks knockout power; da Costa succeeds due to his submissions work.

Round one opens with da Costa almost immediately diving for a kneebar. Sutton fights it off but is tripped down. da Costa then starts improving his position, going from guard to side control to mount. Sutton punches his way out of an armbar try and gets his own side control, though he lets go and stands up. Sutton gets a grapple going and pushes da Costa to the cage, where he just controls him. The round ends; the game thinks Sutton won it, which doesn't seem right to me.

Round two opens with da Costa again diving for a kneebar; Sutton responds by punching him until da Costa is turtled up. Sutton takes side control and is blocked from getting the mount. Sutton then stands up and lets da Costa get to his feet. Sutton starts a grapple, leading to da Costa trying to pull Ethan into his guard. The Terror responds with a big slam, and then stands back up and lets da Costa take his feet again. Another grapple starts, with Sutton again pushing da Costa to the cage while taking a few shots with dirty boxing. That's it for the round, an easy win for Sutton.

The third round does not start with a submission try from da Costa, but half-hearted strikes. Sutton grapples da Costa against the cage, but it's reversed into a takedown by da Costa. A leglock attempt is blocked by Sutton's guard; da Costa then passes guard but has a triangle try blocked. da Costa then lets Sutton stand up in a reversal. da Costa tries another takedown, but fails. A da Costa clinch is countered by a failed Sutton takedown. The last minute is uneventful.

In the fourth round, a da Costa takedown is stuffed by Sutton. Sutton takes side control and fails to get an americana locked in. da Costa keeps him stuck in his guard, but can't get the Canadian's arm. Sutton eventually gives up and stands. That round is over.

The fifth round has another stuffed da Costa takedown try, with nothing happening after that attempt.They end up clinched with neither getting much done before the round ends.

The sixth round has Sutton get a Muay Thai clinch set up, but da Costa slips out before anything bad happens. Sutton wins some exchanges on his feet, and little else happens.

The seventh round opens with another surprise submission try from da Costa, and this one succeeds, with Sutton being stuck in a flying heel hook. Leonardo da Costa manages to pull this one out by submission! Match rating: decent.

Fight of the Night: Frank Analysis vs. Linton Renn
KO of the Night: Frank Analysis vs. Linton Renn
Submission of the Night: Leonardo da Costa

This card had a decent critical rating and a great commercial rating. 543 people showed up for the action. That's our biggest attendance since April 2000, when 602 showed up for Leonardo da Costa's fight with Mal Phe Roby.

Unfortunately, both Otto Renner and Frank Analysis' contracts expired. Mittens!

[TakerNGN74]

I don't own this game but I frequently check the dynasty forums for this game and this one caught my eye because of the title of it just thought I would let you know that.

[Generic Heel 104]

Thanks! I hope this stays half-way interesting, at least.

Some updates on contracts:

Linton Renn was released after losing his third straight fight.

Our replacement heavyweight looks to be rookie Jozef Krajnc. Krajnc is from Poland, is 25, has a karate background, and has very good striking. He's also very charismatic.

We'll be having a show on Saturday, Week 4 of March that will be headlined by Andoni Olano challenging Jerry Bogdonovich for the Light Heavyweight title. We'll also have a TV show the following Saturday that'll show off a few of our better fighters, hopefully.

Look for cards in the future.

[Generic Heel 104]

The card for TOP Main Event (the TV show):

Main event: Casim Yenkini (12-4, 0-0 in TOP) vs. Alex Cole (13-0, 5-0 in TOP) in the middleweight division.
Semi-main: Paul Duffell (21-12, 0-1 in TOP) vs. Lloyd McAllister (14-4, 1-1 in TOP) in a match of welterweights
Opener: Bob Dozier (14-10, 0-0) vs. Juozas Skerla (7-2, 2-2) in a heavyweight bout.

And for our show TOP: Olano vs. Bogdonovich

Main: Andoni Olano (7-1, 3-1) vs. Jerry Bogdonovich (9-1, 3-1) (c) for the Light Heavyweight Title
Semi: Yeijiro Yamamoto (23-8, 6-2) vs. Syed Tan (24-7-1, 8-2)
Davis Spyrou (19-7, 0-0) vs. Mal Phe Roby (19-8, 3-2)
Samuel Russo (19-13, 0-2) vs. Justin Brannagh (4-1, 0-1)
Rich Robinson (7-2, 0-0) vs. Washichi Kobayashi (11-7, 0-3)
Roland Frye (0-0, 0-0) vs. Reinhart Rhett (5-3, 0-0)
Mily Golovanov (3-0, 0-0) vs. Franz Ludwig (12-9, 0-0)

Predictions are welcomed.