8/2 Sengoku 9 - Fights Added

Sengoku have added 3 opening fights to their next event on August 2. These are the finals of the Sengoku Gold Tournament that they have been showing on their weekly show in Japan and there are some very talented fighters in this.

The lightweight final will see the undefeated Ikuo Usada, who was also the Shooto Rookie tournament champion last year. He will face the Cage Force veteran Koji Ando.

The featherweight final will see the Sengoku training fighter and awesome wrestler, Shigeki Osawa take on DEEP veteran Toru Harai. Harai holds wins over fighters such as Isao Terada and Ippo Watanuki.

The bantamweight final will see Takeshi Numajiri take on DEEP veteran Ryosuke Komori.

The Sengoku card looks final, the DREAM card for Monday is not... Hope there are some additions to that soon.

Added:
Don Quiote Presents Sengoku G Tournament Finals:
Bantam: Takeshi Numajiri vs. Ryosuke Komori
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 2-0-0 vs. 6-2-0 Harai
Light: Ikuo Usuda 4-0-0 vs. 2-0-2 Koji Ando

Previously Announced:
Lightweight Title Fight (5x5min):
Satoru Kitaoka 24-8-9 vs. 11-3-1 Mizuto Hirota

Featherweight GP:
Final: Winner Semi-final 1 vs. Winner Semi-final 2

Semi-final 1: Hatsu Hioki 19-3-2 vs. 13-5-5 Masanori Kanehara
Semi-final 2: Michihiro Omigawa 6-7-1 vs. 14-0-0 Marlon Sandro
Reserve: Chan Sung Jung 6-1-0 vs. 11-5-0 Matt Jaggers

Middleweight next title Challenger (If Nakamura wins):
Kazuo Misaki 21-9-2 vs. 13-9-0 Kazuhiro Nakamura

One-Fight:
Heavy: Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov vs. 15-7-0 Kazuyuki Fujita
Heavy: Yoshihiro Nakao 7-2-0 vs. 9-3-0 Chu Mu Bae
Light: Eiji Mitsuoka 15-6-2 vs. Clay French
Akihiro Gono 29-14-7 vs. 17-2-0 Dan Hornbuckle

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7/11 DEEP X04 - RESULTS

I have been a bit late with these results, it was a great grappling card and it created a lot of attention.

I saw the results were posted in Japanese in the comment field, but if you were not able to see that, here they are in English.

Main-Card:
16. Marcos "Marquinhos" Souza Def. Motoki Miyazawa by point 42-7
15. Rafael Mendes Def. Katsuya Toida by rear-naked choke Round 1 0:58
14. Kohei Yasumi Def. Taisho by points 18-1
13. Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki vs. Takayuki Hiose Draw (7-7)
12. Rikako Yuasa Def. Atsuko "Bull Fight - Sora" Emoto by points 13-1
11. Roberto Souza Def. Kotetsu Yamauchi by baseball choke 3:03
10. Yoshinori Fukumoto Def. Yuichi Ozono by guilotine choke 2:38
9. Sotaro Yamada Def. Matius Irie Kineo by point 17-2

Opening Fight:
8. Takumi Murata Def. Leandro Yamashita by points 2-0
7. Yasuyuki Yamamoto Def. Shinichiro Eguchi by points 4-2
6. Koji Shimazaki vs. Takehiro Iseya Draw
5. Ko Kiuchi vs. Kohei Nishibayashi Draw

Future Fight:
4. Yuto Hirao Def. Takamasa Kiuchi by point 9-0
3. Yuji Arai vs. Hideki Sekine Draw
2. Junior Handa Def. Yudai Mori by point 2-0
1. Satoru Enomoto Def. Tatsunori Kikuchi by points 6-2

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7/13 K-1 World Max Tournament Final 8 - RESULTS

Todays K-1 event saw FEG continue the experiment of mathing MMA fighters with K-1 fighters, this is something that started on last year's Dynamite! event, and today the K-1 fighters hit back. I have very mixed emotions about these fights, but one thing is for sure, they certainly deliver in terms of entertainment.

"Kid" went all out for the big KO, and instead was on the receiving end of a counter that KOed him. Krazy Bee team mate, Atsushi Yamamoto caught a beating, he never had a chance against Watanabe, who twice continued to punch a downed opponent. Yamamoto on the other side tried for a few takedowns and showed really why MMA fighters should fight MMA and K-1 fighters should fight K-1...

The last MMA fighter on this card was Kawajiri, taking on Masato in the main event. Kawajiri is an awesome athlete, but was never close on this occation. Masato was dominating the fight and completed the humiliation of the MMA fighters on this occation. I guess that was revenge for "Dynamite!"...

Even if the last few fights on this card were super-fights, this event was really about the final 8 in the World Max tournament. All these fights went the distance and the Japanese fans will be able to cheer on Yuya Yamamoto in the semi-finals. The other fighters going through are: Buakaw Por. Pramuk, Giorgo Petrosyan and Andy Souwer.

Main-Event - SuperFight:
Masato Def. Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO Round 2 1:43

K-1 World Max Tournament Reserve Fights:
11. Yoshihiro Sato Def. Joeri Mes by Decision (after Extention)
10. Yasuhiro Kido Def. Leroy Kaestner by Decision 3-0

SuperFights:
9. Kazuhisa Watanabe Def. Atsushi Yamamoto by TKO Round 1 2:40
8. Jae Hee Cheon Def. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto by KO Round 1 1:20

K-1 World Max 2009 - World Championship Tournament Final 8:
7. Buakaw Por. Pramuk Def. Nieky "The Natural" Holtzken by Decision 3-0
6. Andy Souwer Def. Artur Kyshenko by Decision 3-0 (after ext.)
5. Giorgo Petrosyan Def. Albert Kraus by Decision 3-0
4. Yuya Yamamoto Def. Drago by Decision 3-0

Superfights:
3. HIROYA Def. Kiko Lopez by Decision 3-0
2. Dzhabar Askerov Def. Hinata by decision 3-0 (after ext.)

Opening Fight:
1. Jae Gil Noh Def. Go Yokoyama by KO Round 3 2:01

This is how the Semi-Finals will match-up:
Giorgo Petrosyan vs. Yuya Yamamoto
Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Andy Souwer

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7/12 Cage Force & Valkyrie - RESULTS

Yesterday Cage Force held an event in Differ Ariake and the main focus was on the main event, even is there were more interesting fights on the card.

The Pride and IFL veteran Kazuhiro Hamanaka take on DREAM and Pancrase veteran Alavutdin Gadjiev. Personally I had Alavutdin winning this, but the fight ended in controversial fashion. In a fight where both fighters had their chances, Alavutdin suffered a DQ loss after landing a second illegal knee to a grounded opponent.

"V Hajime" should be a step closer to the Valkyrie featherweight title after a very close decision win against Takabayashi Kyoko.

Nobuhiro Tsurumaki got his 12th straight loss, and is now 0-12. This time it was a right that dropped Tsurumaki, who is much tougher than his record indicates. I hope he gets the win soon.

Main-Event:
Kazuhiro Hamanaka Def. Alavutdin Gadjiev by DQ Round 3 1:04

Tomonori Taniguchi Def. Wataru Takahashi by Decision 2-0
Ikkei Nagamura Def. Nobuhiro Tsurumaki by TKO Round 1 0:38
Valkyrie: Mei "V Hajime" Yamaguchi Def. Kyoko Takabayashi by Decision 2-1
Tetsuo Seto Def. Sapp Nishinari by Decision 3-0
Toshihiro Taguchi Def. Satoshi Nishino by TKO Round 1 2:05
Masaki Yokoyama vs. Hayato Shimizu Draw

Valkyrie Fights:
Mayumi Aoki Def. Mizuho Sato by TKO Round 3 2:48
Madoka "♂ha＠ＴＨＥ♀" Ebihara vs. Emi "Sakura" Okada by Heel-hook Round 1 2:00

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7/13 K-1 World Max Tournament Final 8

Today they had the weighin for tomorrow's K-1 event in Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The event is sold out and we will see a continuation of DREAM fighters taking on K-1 fighters. This time Tatsuya Kawajiri will take on the K-1 champion Masato in a fight that I am sure will get lots of attention.

Other DREAM/MMA fighters on the card include the Krazy Bee duo of "Kid" Yamamoto and Atsushi Yamamoto.

The weighin today saw one fighter not making weight, Hiroya came in 1.7kg over, something that will have consequenses for the fight tomorrow. My understanding of the rules are: Fighters that are less than 1 kg over gets 1 point deducted. Less than 2kg over and they gets 2 points deducted, more than 2kg over and you are not fighting.

I wont be able to follow this event and my results will be delayed tomorrow.

Main-Event - SuperFight:
Masato vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

K-1 World Max Tournament Reserve Fights:
11. Yoshihiro Sato vs. Joeri Mes
10. Yasuhiro Kido vs. Leroy Kaestner

SuperFights:
9. Atsushi Yamamoto vs. Kazuhisa Watanabe
8. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Jae Hee Cheon

K-1 World Max 2009 - World Championship Tournament Final 8:
7. Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Nieky "The Natural" Holtzken
6. Artur Kyshenko vs. Andy Souwer
5. Giorgo Petrosyan vs. Albert Kraus
4. Drago vs. Yuya Yamamoto

Superfights:
3. 62kg: HIROYA vs. Kiko Lopez
2. Hinata vs. Dzhabar Askerov

Opening Fight:
1. Go Yokoyama vs. Jae Gil Noh

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8/9 Shooto Gig Saitama 1 - Fights Announced

The 1st Shooto Gig Saitama card is taking shape and 4 more fights have been added. Most notable, Guy Delameau will take on Komei Okada. Guy Delameau was on a good run in 2008, but 2009 has started with a 1-1-1 record. Winning a decisive win in January and having 2 very close fights end in a loss and a draw. Okada has not won since 2007 and both these fighters will be hungry for the win here.

Also added is a female attraction. "Windy" Tomomi will take on "Jet" Izumi. "Jet" has not had a fight since 2005 and it will be interesting to see how she does in her return.

Added:
Fly: "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba 12-10-0 vs. 5-5-0 "Jet" Izumi Noguchi
Light: Hidenori Nishino 2-3-2 vs. 6-6-1 Masaki Yanagisawa
Light: Toshiaki Hayasaka 0-4-0 vs. 0-0-1 Kosuke Kindaichi
Welter: Komei Okada 5-9-2 vs. 9-5-1 Guy Delameau

Previously Announced:
54kg: Noboru "Shinpei" Tahara 6-3-1 vs. 5-3-2 Jessie Taitano
Fly: Mikitoshi Yamagami 3-1-0 vs. 5-7-2 Takehiro "Tiger" Ishii
Fly: Kazuyuki Yoshida 0-3-0 vs. Shuichiro Okumura
Grappling: Yoshihiko Matsumoto vs. TBA

Rookie Tournament:　
Bantam: Yosuke Saruta 0-2-0 vs. 2-1-1 Hidetaka Naka

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7/11 Jewels 4th Ring - RESULTS

Jewels held their 4th event in a packed Shin-Kiba 1st ring earlier today. The main event saw Japanese star Megumi Fuji take on the very popular Saori Ishioka.

I was expecting "Mega-Megu" to dominate this fight, but Ishioka should not be underestimated and she put of a good fight. This was Ishiokas first time to fight with punches to the face on the ground allowed, and she got to try out being on both sides of these.

It is interesting to see that both the AACC stars took exactly as long finishing their opponents in todays event.

Shizuka Sugiyama continues her winning streak and Harumi continues her losing streak (streaching 12 fights now).

Also, it seems the fight order that I posted earlier was wrong, but here are the results.

Main-Event - 52kg: Megumi Fuji Def. Saori Ishioka by arm-bar Round 2 4:17

ShootBoxing Rule: Rena Def. Tomoko SP by Decision 3-0
60kg: Hitomi Akano Def. Miki Morifuji by rear-naked choke Round 2 4:17
54kg: Mika Nagano Def. Rina Tomita by arm-bar round 2 0:35
64kg: Shizuka Sugiyama Def. Hari by Decision 3-0
50kg: Asami Kodera Def. Yukiko Seki by arm-bar Round 1 4:47
56kg: Mutsumi Kasai Def. Celine Haga by arm-lock Round 1 3:06
60kg: Hiroko Kitamura Def. Harumi by triangle choke Round 1 3:51

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CroCop Returning to the UFC?

There was a lot of controversy after CroCops last fight in UFC 99. It looked like it was confirmed that CroCop had signed an agreement with DREAM before entering the ring. Dana White was not happy and CroCop remained silent.

Now it looks like those rumors might not have been true, and we might see CroCop in the UFC cage in the near future.

This is kindly translated from Index.hr by Robert, you can find the UFC 100 betting odds on his page here.

Cro Cop To Return To UFC After All

After making a successful UFC comeback against Al Turk, Mirko Cro Cop’s next fight will most likely be on September 19th , at UFC 103, in Dellas, Texas. Although we’re still awaiting an official confirmation, Mirko’s opponent will likely be 24-year Brazilian Junior Dos Santos.

The rising star exploded into the heavyweight division against former UFC contender Fabricio Werdum. The fight lasted only 81 seconds.

Dos Santos, known as “The Gypsy” in Brazil was set to fight in August, but UFC organizers cancelled bout planned for UFC 102 in favour of a main event.

“I think I’ll fight September 19. They took me off the August 29 show,” he said, also announcing he will no longer be facing the same opponent. “My opponent’s changed. I’ll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I’ll be in really good standing. If that’s truly the case, I’m guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn’t be on the main card,” he said

“To me it’s incredible. When they asked me if they could change the fight date I was a bit bothered, because I wanted to fight right away. I’ve been away for some time now. But the Fertitta brothers asked me and I accepted. After that I found out it would be against Cro Cop and was overjoyed. It’ll be a big opportunity in my career. Lots of good things have happened in my life and this is one more. I’m going to make the most of it,” he concluded.

Cro Cop Remains Silent

The Cro Cop camp refused to comment on the situation, refusing to say whether the Croatian has signed a new contract with the UFC any other organization. Only weeks ago it was widley reported that Cro Cop had signed a three fight deal with Dream. Nonetheless Index understands that Cro Cop will more than likely return to the UFC against either Brazilian Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez or Shane Carwin. Dos Santos however remains the logical choice for Cro Cop. The most likely location is Dallas in September or Los Angeles in October.

From: Index.hr

Dana White now seems to welcome CroCop back, and this is from the UFC 100 press conference.

Dana White on Cro Cop

At the UFC 100 press conference Whie was asked to comment on the situation. Note: If you're looking for the current UFC 100 odds, head over to BigOddsMike.

On Mirko Cro Cop's possible return to the US:

"I hope so. Like I said at that last press conference in Germany, he and I had a deal, and I think he's going to honor the deal. ... I have said this many times and I'll say it again: there's some crooked sh*t that goes on over in Japan. They're all crooked. There's some sneaky sh*t going on over there, and that's always a big problem, you know. These guys who are in the fight business over there, for my Mexican friends, 'No bueno. No bueno.'"

On whether Cro Cop will face Junior dos Santos when he returns to the UFC:

"That's the fight I would like to see happen."

White said he hopes to secure a Dos Santos-Cro Cop match-up for UFC 103 in Dallas in September.

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7/19 Shooto - Revolutionary Exchanges 1 "Undefeated" - Fight Order

Shooto promotor Sustain have announced the new name for their series, previously they were celebrating the 20 years anniversary with "Tradition", now they are looking ahead with Revolutionary Exchanges.

The card is looking very good, with a title fight and a champion on the card. In addition to that there are some very interesting matchups. The flyweight rankings will most likely get some changes with #3 ranked "Heat" Takeshi taking on #5 Atsushi Takeuchi.

Also some news following the final Tradition card, Shooto champion Nakakura suffered a detached retina in his left eye following the KO he suffered in his loss to Gomi. He has undergone surgery, but is unsure about his future in the ring.

Main-Event: Featherweight Title Fight:
10. Masakatsu Ueda 9-0-2 vs. 7-1-0 Eduardo Dantas

9. Bantam: Jucie Formiga 2-0-0 vs. 10-3-1 Shinichi "BJ" Kojima
8. Fly: "Heat" Takeshi Sato 8-6-1 vs. 6-4-2 Atsushi Takeuchi
7. Bantam: Yasuhiro Akagi 6-4-0 vs. 7-3-1 Masaaki Sugawara
6. Welter: Shinji Sasaki 7-2-0 vs. 8-3-5 Yukinari Tamura
5. Light: Taiki Tsuchiya 4-2-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kazuhiro Ito

Rookie Tournament 2nd Round:
4. Light: Tsuneo Kimura 3-1-0 vs. Yoshinao Oki
3. Welter: Hiroki "KG Shinto" Kuga 2-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Munehiro "Mike" Kin
2. Welter: Koji Nishioka 0-0-1 vs. Harada
1. Feather: Kota Onojima 1-0-0 vs. Inagaki

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8/2 K-1 World GP - Asia GP - Participants Announced

FEG have announced some participants for the Asian GP being held in Seoul, South Korea.

I think it is always fun to see people I know being recognized for their performance and hard work. I caught up with Koichi in December last year, he was then training hard for his upcoming title fight in M-1 (Muay-Thai). He won that fight, and will come in with the M-1 heavyweight title. Koichi has a Kyokushin background and always leaves it all in the ring, and I am looking forward to seeing him fight here.

For the other fighters, I know very little Takumi Sato also has a Kyokushin background and he got to the semi-final in the K-1 Japan GP last year. On that occation he lost a decision to Keijiro Maeda (the current Heavyweight champion)

Participants:
Takumi Sato
KOICHI
Park Yong Soo
Kim Young Hyun
Singh Jaideep
Ko Taisei

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