News 2006

|January 22nd 2006| Two-time UGC Champion Franco "Ortega" De LeonardisFranco De Leonardis has done it again! In a Superfight against multiple BJJ and SW Champion Michael "Maluco" Hockenjos Ortega showed his tremendous technique and skills to finish the fight after app. 10 minutes with a wonderful Mata Leao. This is another great win for one of Europe's hottest Grapplers! Ortega's team mate Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer also competed with a broken hand and one weight-class over his usual weight in the Advanced Division, where he finished Stefan Breiksch - a student of Blackbelt and World Champion Kazeka Muniz - after only one minute with a text-book guillotine choke.

|February 17th 2006| Tomorrow, on Saturday February 18th, three fighters of the German Top Team will face a tough international competition at the S1 Fight Night in Basel (Switzerland). GTT's Thaiboxing icon Andreas "Iron Man" Beckert will fight in an 8-Man-Tournament to qualify again for the next European Grand Prix of S1 later this year. In his quarterfinal match he will face the swiss Irjad Muji. In a Superheavyweight fight under K1 rules Thorsten "German Oak" Kronz will fight against the turkish Hasan Kuzucular and Vlajko "Psycho" Perovic will enter the ring for a professional Freefight against Yasubey Enomoto from Switzerland. Here you will find a complete program for tomorrow's event: s1fightnightprogramm.pdf [222 KB]

| February 19th 2006| Last night Andreas Beckert and Vlajko Perovic have fought at the S1 Fight Night in Basel (Switzerland). Beckert, a veteran of the S1 European Grand Prix, looked sharp and ready in his fight against Irjad Muji and dominated the first two rounds. In round 3 both fighters clinched and Beckert slipped, when he fell down, he hit the lowest rope with his neck and got stunned. He couldn't continue the fight and the referee stopped it to award the TKO to Murji. An unlucky and sad loss for Beckert who was one of the favourites to win the tournament. Vlajko Perovic has fought a professional Free Fight Match against Yasubey Enomoto (Switzerland), which saw both fighters exchanging heavy leather in stand up for almost both rounds. Due to a knockdown in round 1 Enomoto was awarded the win by unanimous decision.

|March 1st 2006| On next Sunday, March 5th 2006, Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer will fight at "Cagewarriors - Enter the Wolfslair" in Liverpool (UK) in an 8-Man-Tournament to determine the #1 challenger for a Welterweight Title Match on May 27th 2006. Angerer, who is a veteran of "Ultimate Combat" and "FX 3" looks forward to this challenge and is eager to show his skills against some of the best welterweights in the world.

|March 7th 2006| Last sunday Yamatodamashii was part of an 8-Man-Tournament at Cagewarriors - Enter the Wolfslair in Liverpool, to determin the #1 challenger for a title shot at the welterweight belt of Cagewarriors. Angerer's first opponent was Arnie "Ice Viking" Isaksson from Iceland (representing SBG Ireland). Isaksson opened the round with strong punches and was able to take Angerer to the ground, where he worked with short ellbows to the head of the GTT fighter. Calmly Angerer escaped the shots and was able to stand up again, when he was caught in a guillotine choke by Isaksson, who pushed Angerer running against the fence of the cage. In this situation Angerer suffered a fractured breastbone but kept on fighting, when Isaksson unleashed a flurry of punches. Angerer took all shots but was unable to defend properly and so the referee stopped the fight. Isaksson later won the tournament, beating the other two opponents from USA and Germany. Back in Germany Angerer went to a hospital to receive medical assistance and hopefully recovers fully soon.

|March 21st 2006| Last Saturday Andy fought on a Thaiboxing Gala in Grenoble (France) against Silvio Periera in an A-Class Match. The powerfull GTT Fighter won in round 4 via low-kick KO and is currently preparing for his next fight on April 29th in Kreuzlingen (Switzerland).

|April 22nd 2006|Tonight GTT's Heavyweight Thorsten "German Oak" Kronz gave his MMA pro debut at the "Rookies Fight Night" in Zürich (Switzerland), where he fought a professional MMA fight against Dusan Simidzja (Fight World Zürich). Thorsten won by verbal submission after round 1 due to heavy punches he rained down on Dusan from the mount at the end of round 1.

|May 2nd 2006| Last saturday during the nightshow of the "Ultimate Grappling Challenge VII" a teamfight between Pancrace France and fighters from Germany was held in Submission Wrestling and Pancrace. Three fighters of the GTT represented Germany at this teamfight. La Locita Annika Sitter lost in her match against Karin Bertoud (France), when she was thrown on her head and got injured so bad, that she had to be taken to the hospital and had to stay there. We wish La Locita a speedy recovery! Thorsten "The German Oak" Kronz was supreme in his Pancrace fight against Teddy Renard (France). With numerous hard punches to the head Thorsten stunned his oppenent, followed by two solid knee shots to the head. The fight was ended at 1:03 minutes in the first round, when Thorsten knocked his opponent out with a heavy roundhouse kick to the head. Also Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer was on deck to represent Germany against France's Alexandre Lecardonnel, who is a multiple french champion in Pancrace and Submission Wrestling. Peter fought in Submission Wrestling and made quick work, as he jumped into the Guard, secured a Half Guard to sweep his oppnent, took the Mount and finished the fight at 4:59 minutes in the first round with a Francesa.

|May 6th 2006| Today a BJJ Tournament of Team Outrival was held in Garmisch Partenkirchen, including a Superfight between GTT's Luta Livre Black Belt and 8time UGC Champion Andreas "Andyconda" Schmidt and Gracie Barra Black Belt and Brazilian Champion Rodolfo Amaro Da Silva. After a cruel battel of 1 hour and 15 minutes the fight between these two living Grappling legends has been declared a draw. Andyconda proofed again, that he can stand and fight against the best in the world!

|May 15th 2006| May 27th 2006 is one of the busiest days for the GTT so far! Almost all fighters of the GTT will compete on that day on two events in Germany and England. In Villingen the SHI KON Fight Night will be held, where GTT's Muay Thai standout and S1 veteran Andreas "Iron Man" Beckert will fight for the World Title against multiple World Champion Paulo Balicha. Also Annika Sitter will give her Muay Thai debut, while Jochen Gieb, Thorsten Kronz, Stephan Wurster and Altan Seven will battle also in Muay Thai matches. On the same day Cagewarriors will host the show "Strikeforce 6: Germany vs. UK" in Coventry (England), where Peter Angerer and Franco De Leonardis will square up with top contenders from UK. A detailed report about both events will follow soon.

|May 30th 2006| Last Saturday Franco "Ortega" De Leonardis and Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer of the GTT have fought at Cagewarriors Strike Force 6 "Germany vs. UK" in Coventry (England). Ortega faced Mark "Spenna" Spencer and made quick work with the english. In only 40 seconds of round 1 Ortega applied a tight Triangle Choke to secure the victory with the fastest finish of the night over Spencer. After one and a half year of absence in the cage Ortega came back impressively to the european MMA circuit with this fantastic win. Also Peter Angerer lost no time to beat the reigning House of Pain Champion of Cagewarriors Jim Wallhead of the Rough House Gym in Nottingham. After some sharp exchanges in stand up Wallhead took Yamatodamashii down and rained down bombs on the german. But Yamatodamashii stayed calm and executed a tight Side Choke from the Halfguard to Wallhead to force him to tap after 1:49 minutes in round 1. Another great win for the reigning SHIDO MMA Welterweight Champion who is back on the winning course. Pictures of these fights can be found here.

|May 30th 2006| The last saturday marked a very important date in the carreer of Andy "Iron Man" Beckert of the GTT. The Villingen based S1 veteran and two time SHI KON Grand Prix winner (2003 and 2005) fought for the SHI KON World Title in Thaiboxing against no other but multiple World Champion Paulo Balicha (Switzerland). The Fight Night in Villingen was completely sold out, when the Iron Man stepped into the ring for his biggest fight so far. Beckert gave Balicha a hard time in the ring, seeing the portugese native Balicha in some serious troubles because of Beckerts crushin low kicks. The match was very close but even when in round 4 Balicha managed to throw Beckert in the clinch and Beckert landed unluckily directly on the head, causing to knock him unconsious. Balicha won the match via TKO in round 4. Other GTT athletes, who have competed on that event were Annika Sitter, losing her Muay Thai debut against Kristina Schwanz (SHI KON Fight Club Villingen) by TKO in round 2 and Thorsten Kronz, winning in a fashion way against Dennis Titscher (SHI KON Fight Club Villingen) by a brutal KO in only 20 seconds in round 1. Altan Seven, one of the most promising newcomers in the GTT fought against the Thai Worapoth Norachanto and he indeed did the battle of his life. The 17 year old Seven agreed to fight the 20 year old Thai and both athletes showed excellent skills, spirit and dedication in this match. Norachanto won the bout by decision.

|September 18th 2006| Last saturday the "Dynamic Duo" of the GTT - Franco "Ortega" DeLeonardis and Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer - have fought again in England at Cagewarriors "Showdown" in the Octagon Center in Sheffield. Yamatodamashii faced the Northern Cartell Fighter Matt "12 Gauge" Thorpe. After a short exchange of punches and lowkicks the fight went to the floor, where Yamatodamashii managed to pull guard and work for a heelhook on Thorpe, which Thorpe could escape and start pounding on the GTT fighter. Thorpe broke Angerer's nose and punched the german into submission with heavy hands. In the co-main event of the night Ortega faced Ze Marcello's student Alexandre "Xandinho" Izidro (Brazil) for the Lightweight Championship of Cagewarriors. Both fighters showed tremendous skills on the ground with nonstop submission attempts, paired by some really good exchanges in the stand-up. The fight went toe to toe the entire distance of five 5minute rounds and so the outcome went to a decision of the judges, who gave the win to the Champion Izidro with a majority decision. Ortega showed, that he can stand and trade with real worldclass athletes at any time over the full distance and it is just a matter of time, until we see Ortega crowned as a World Champion.

|September 17th 2006| David Adam, a Judo Black Belt of the GTT, will participate in the first european TV reality show about Cagefighting, called "MAX Super Fighter". David entered the casting for this show today in Switzerland and got invited to compete at the show, which will be broadcasted on DSF every Saturday night.

|September 17th 2006| Yesterday GTT's Daniel "Rednose" Ackerman made another impressive performance at the ADCC Swiss Open in Switzerland. Beating all of his opponents by submission the two-time UGC Champion conquered the title in the -65 kg division and qualified for the European trials of ADCC in Stockholm. Congratulations to Daniel!

|October 6th 2006| Three fighters of the GTT will compete at the biggest MMA show to date in Germany called "MAX". Markus "Arashi" Hipp, Franco "Ortega" DeLeonardis and Philipp "Marvel" Schade have signed contracts to compete on October 31st in Düsseldorf against european top competitors. Ortega will fight against Jani Lax, who is a Shooto Japan and K1 Heros veteran. Marvel faces Hilti BJJ's own Diego Gonzales and Arashi will square off with the bulgarian Ivailo Markov.

|October 8th 2006| Last night Gracie Barra Black Belt and multiple Brazilian Champion Philipe "Furao" Della Monica of the Equipe Caveirinha made a Superfight at the "Ultimate Grappling Challenge" in Mössingen against GTT's Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer. The brazilian Champion finished the fight after app. four minutes with a Mata Leao from the Back-Mount to secure the win, but the fight was technical on a very high level.

|October 9th 2006| Two of GTT's finest will go to Japan to compete at the annual All Japan Shidokan Open in Tokio on October 29th. Daniel "Rednose" Ackerman and Peter "Yamatodamashii" Angerer - both are wellknown as strong Grapplers and MMA Fighters - will travel to the land of the rising sun to face some of Japan's toughest Knock-Down Fighters.

|October 9th 2006| Last Saturday GTT's Andreas "Iron Man" Beckert has fought for the German Title in Kickboxing of the WPKC in Nürtingen-Wolfschlugen against Giuseppe De Mitri. The Iron Man won the bout in fashion via Low Kick KO in round 3 to conquer the title of the WPKC in the -72,5 kg division. Congratulations to Andreas for another fine win!

|October 21st 2006| GTT Rookie David Adam was part of the new TV Reality Show "MAX", which is aired weekly on the german sportschannel DSF. Tonight David was set to fight SHOOTO veteran Iwan Musardo of Switzerland in his debut MMA bout. Musardo is a highly talented professional fighter and was too much for David to handle. David tapped out after approximately 2 minutes in the first round due to a Mata Leao, but the entire GTT is proud of David, who fought a Pro Fighter in his MMA debut.

|November 3rd 2006| Last Sunday Daniel Ackerman and Peter Angerer have fought at the All Japan Shidokan Open in Differ Ariake in Tokio. Daniel won a great match against Omura Tatsuya via heelhook in round 1 but couldn't continue the tournament because of a bad flue. Peter fought in the Open Weight Class and won a decision against Takahashi Ryuhei in his first match and faced Mashiko Susunu in the quarterfinals. Mashiko was 15 kg heavier than Peter but the GTT fighter fought a good match, resulting in a draw. The fight went over an extra round, resulting in a draw again and so both fighters had to go for a second and final extra round, which won Mashiko by decision of the judges. A great and hard match, which earned Peter the Samurai Spirit Award of the event.

|December 5th 2006| Last saturday two of GTT's finest have fought at the annual World Shidokan Open in Chicago (USA): Thorsten "German Oak" Kronz and Valjko "Psycho" Perovic showed supreme Stand-Up skills and a well rounded Ground Game in front of a sold-out crowd at the Park West Theater in Chicago. The World Shidokan Open are considered one of the toughest tournaments overall in the world of MMA, as the participants have to fight in a triathlon, consisting of two rounds bare knuckle knock down Karate, two round of vicious Thaiboxing and two rounds of MMA in each match. Vlajko Perovic beat the Canadian John Kazuba by unanimous decision after six rounds to advance to the finals in this 4-Man-Tournament in Middleweight. His final opponent from the USA wasn't able to fight the title match due to severe injuries suffered in his match against "Magnum" Sakai (Japan), so the match will be held at a later event next year in Chicago. His team mate Thorsten Kronz captured the crown in the Heavyweight division by beating Quincy Sutton (USA) by TKO in round 4 in his semi final match and winning a split decision against Ali (Canada) in the finals after six brutal rounds.