''SoftBank presents Dynamite!! USA'' was a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

(MMA) event co-promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), the promoters of

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

kickboxing events and

Hero's Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the ''K-1 Romanex'' ...

MMA events, and

EliteXC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States–based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decem ...

. The event was held on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Mauro Ranallo,

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...

, and Jay Glazer did commentary.

Background

The event featured the MMA debut of former professional wrestler

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...

and the anticipated rematch between

Royce Gracie Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a member of the Gracie jiu-jitsu family, a UFC Hall of Famer ...

and

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, submission wrestling, submission wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently signed to Pro Wrestling NOAH, Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Championship, G ...

. The show also featured the

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

debut of NFL

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Johnnie Morton. The event was aired in two parts in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, with three preliminary bouts airing for free on Showtime and a main fight card shown on pay-per-view. In

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the card was aired as a two-hour edited broadcast on TBS on June 4, 2007. A condensed one-hour version of the entire event was broadcast on Showtime June 9, 2007. The Pay Per View cost viewers $29.95

Controversy

Pre-fight problems

The event encountered numerous problems and controversies even before it began. FEG had difficulties obtaining a promoter's license, and was only granted a temporary one by the California State Athletic Commission eight days before the event. Popular South Korean fighter Hong-Man Choi, initially scheduled to fight

, was denied a license to fight in the state roughly a week and a half before the event for medical reasons (later reported to be a tumor on his pituitary gland). K-1 continued to advertise a Lesnar vs. Choi bout up until the day of the fight, despite knowing that it would not occur. An originally announced women's bout featuring Jan Finney vs.

Gina Carano Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. She competed in Elite Xtreme Combat and Strikeforce (mixed martial arts), Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled a 7– ...

was canceled on May 16, 2007, when Carano withdrew due to illness. Antônio Silva was also removed from the card due to an undisclosed medical condition, and was replaced by Tim Persey. An announced match between Ray Sefo and Marvin Eastman was dropped from the card with no explanation given.

Attendance and live gate

On June 7, 2007, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) announced that 42,757 tickets were distributed for the event – something promoters say validated the claim of having the largest attendance for a Mixed Martial Arts event in North America (a record previously held by UFC 68). The paid gate for the event was $2,545,590. However, the promoters of the event paid $2,342,500 of that to buy 39,083 tickets to its own event. The final verified paid attendance number for K-1 Dynamite stands at 3,674 which generated $203,090 in revenue.

Post-fight

Fighter Tim Percy tested positive for methamphetamines after his fight, and was suspended by the CSAC. In addition, Johnnie Morton tested positive for anabolic steroids and Royce Gracie tested positive for

Nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an endogenous androgen. It is also an anabolic steroid (AAS) which is medically used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate ...

, a commonly used anabolic steroid.

Results

Purses

The overall disclosed fighter payroll for the event was $1,057,500.

References

External links

Dynamite!! USA Official WebsiteOfficial DiscussionK-1 Official WebsiteOfficial EliteXC Website
{{2007 K-1 Events Elite Xtreme Combat events K-1 events Hero's events 2007 in mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts events in Los Angeles 2007 in sports in Los Angeles June 2007 sports events in the United States