By Joey Alarilla
INQUIRER.net
EXPECT the fireworks to fly this Sunday, Dec. 9 at the “Ring of Fire: World Team Challenge” mixed martial arts competition which kicks off 1 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
I was at the Crowne Plaza hotel with INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla and INQUIRER.net reporter Alex Villafania this afternoon for the press conference that formally introduced the fighters of the four teams competing in “Ring of Fire.”
Here’s a photo of (l-r) me, Erika, Royce Gracie and Alex taken by Rica Manalang, PR officer of Image Communicator, which is handling the publicity for the “Ring of Fire” event.
The four teams competing in “Ring of Fire” are Team Shamrock, coached by Ken Shamrock; Team Gracie, coached by Royce Gracie; Team Barnett, coached by Josh Barnett; and Team Gokor, coached by Gokor Chivichyan. Continuing the legendary rivalry between Shamrock and Gracia, their two teams will square off on Sunday, while Team Barnett will face Team Gokor. An alternate team whose fighters will step in case of injury was also introduced, coached by Kimo.
Here are photos taken by Alex.
Here’s Team Shamrock.
Team Gracie.
Team Barnett.
Team Gokor.
And Team Kimo.
Here’s a photo of me (right) and Alex with Ken Shamrock taken by one of our fellow journalists covering the event.
And here’s a pic of Erika and Royce Gracie taken by Alex. And guess what? Royce said “Mahal kita” to Erika, hehe 
Which is why our running joke now is “Hoyce (that’s how you pronounce his name, in case you’re not a fan of MMA) hearts Herika (’coz Erika quipped that all you see in many of her photos and videos is her long hair).
Will post our video interviews once they’re online.
December 13th, 2007 at 4:43 am
Missed this. Wanted to see it.
December 11th, 2007 at 8:18 am
im an avid fan of royce gracie, hope to have more action fighting pics at the araneta col…,god bless..
December 10th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
shamrock is a wrestler…and kimo too
December 10th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
just tell me where I can buy a copy of the fights
December 10th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Gracie is the best MMA fighter! Did you see how he beat Akebono? The sumo wrestling champ is 6′8″ 480 lbs. vs. Gracie 5′11″ 175 lbs. Akebono tapped out to an arm bar. Incredible!
The dream matchup would be Gracie vs. Randy Couture. I’m a big fan of Couture. He has beaten the greatest UFC fighters: Belfort, Rizzo, Moe Smith, Randleman, Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia. That will be one hell of a fight!
December 10th, 2007 at 2:57 am
Say hi to Joyce , from his pinoy friend in Seattle. Frank Dominguez
December 7th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
I love this kind of sport. It can help more body moves, display courage, discipline.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
HOPE THE COPY OF FIGHT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE MARKET SOON…AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVE ONE
THANKS,
JAC
December 6th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
I am now working in Qatar. I will surely miss this show. They are my favorites.
Mix martial arts fighting is the real thing.
Wrestling sucks!!!