K-1 Finals 12/8 Yokohama

Sunday 30 September 2007

After having the best 16 fight it out yesterday, FEG has published the match-ups for the finals in Yokohama 12/8.

Jerome Le Banner vs Hong Man Choi
Semmy Schilt vs Glaube Feitosa

Badr Hari vs Remy Bonjaski
Peter Aerts vs Junichi Sawayashiki





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Shooto Gig West 8 - Results

The results of todays event in Osaka. An event without the big names, but some exciting new fighters.

Junya Kudou Vs. Yasuhiro Kanayama Draw
Hirosumi Sugiura Vs. Toru Ishinaka Decision Sugiura (3-0)
Teriyuki Matsumoto Vs. Kousuke Eda Decision Matsumoto (3-0)
Suguru Inoue Vs. Tatsuro Kamei Kamei won by Triangle choke Round 1, 2:18
Toshihiko Yokoyama Vs. Kazuhiro Ito Ito by TKO Round 1 0:32


Link to Sherdog review


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Denis Kang in Korea!

During today's K-1 GP in Korea, the cameras showed Denis Kang in the audience. Does this mean that he will fight in the HERO's event 10/28?? This is very likely, we just have to wait and see if this is confirmed and who will be the opposition?

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Video: Hisae Watanabe vs. Satoko Shinashi

This is the Deep title fight where Hisae Watanabe won her title in 2006 (Deep 25).

Watanabe lost her title to MIKU in Deep 31, Satoko Shinashi is part of the Deep 32 card where she will meet the relatively unknown Sachi.

Posting this video to show that female MMA can be entertaining and in Japan we have a few very good fighters.

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K-1 Seoul 9/29 Live Results

Saturday 29 September 2007

Hong Man Choi beat Mighty Mo by decision.

1 judge scores it a draw, 2 for Hong Man Choi.

3rd round is Choi trying to keep Mighty Mo at a distance with kick. He is successful with a few exceptions, where Might Mo shows his punching power. The fight goes to decision.

2nd round starts with punches from Mighty Mo. Choi answers with kicks and one hits illegally and there is a short break. The round finishes with Choi attempting leg kicks that look more like low blows.

1st round over. The fighters are showing that they respect eachother and no real danger for any fighter in the 1st round. Very close.
Hong Man Choi has learned from their earlier fight and is careful to keep it left guard up.

The main event is about to start.


Peter Aerts beat Ray Sefo by TKO. Towel thrown between round 1 and 2 after Aerts hurt Sefo with leg kicks at the end of round 1.

The fighters feel eachother out before Aerts goes to work with leg kicks. Sefo looks hurt. Sefo takes a count, but is able to continue.

Two of the most experienced fighters in K-1 make their way to the ring.

Junichi Sawayashiki beat Junichi Sawayashiki, the ref stopped the fight half way through the 3rd round. After a couple of well placed punches and knees to the body the ref rightly stops the fight.
Fujimoto down agian, 2 times. Looks tired.

2nd round
Fujimoto has to take a count after a knee to the body. Both fighters bloody now.
The crowd goes crazy when the cameras show Denis Kang. Will he fight in HEROs Korea next month?
Fujimoto takes another count after a high kick.

1st round finished.
Junichi Sawayashiki catches a few punches and has a bloody nose, but is allowed to continue. Sawayashiki catches another uppercut and we have a 2nd doctor check. The fight continues.

Jerome Le Banner beat Yong Soo Park by KO after about 40 seconds. The Korean Tae Kwon Do champion showed some kicks, but was over powered and got KO`ed by aquick right.

Glaube Feitosa beat Chalid "Die Faust" by decision.

"Die Faust" caught another knee in the 3rd round but finished better than Feitosa, who got a bit tired. A very good fight. Feitosa gets the decision.

2nd round is much closer, but "Die Faust" is the shortest man in the tournament and exposed to knees.

"Die Faust" went down from a knee, but is back up. He also had to take count after a punch, but made it to the second round. Despite taking 2 counts, he looks ok and fought hard at the end of round 1.

Remy Bonjasky VS Stefan"Blitz" Leko by TKO, knee again. Blitz took a count and looked ready to continue, a bad ref decision in my mind... Only 17 seconds left of round one. Up until the knee both fighters had thrown lots of punches and kicks. A very good fight that the ref stopped too early.

Semmy Schilt beat Paul Slowinski by TKO knee in the face in the 2:10 into the first round

Badr Hari beat Doug Viney by KO. Hits him with a right in the 2nd round. Very impressive victory.

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UFC Japan? Pride returns???

Friday 28 September 2007

It is reported that Pride/UFC has hired Saitama Super Areana for Dec. 31. This has of course traditionally been the main event of the year for Pride. Now it is rumored to return (http://blog.bodymaker.jp/user/takasu/002/8139.html).

This might still be only a rumor, and I remember something similar in May/June, when Pride/UFC was rumored to have rented the same areana for an event in August. Yoshida Hidehiko will hold center stage, the post does not actually say who is holding the event.

However, Sherdog reports today that UFC is close to getting a TV deal in Japan with the WOW network (http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=9252). This seems like too much of a coincidence... With a deal like that, they will likely start holding events in Japan and the best way to kick that off would be with a big New Year Eve event. But, as I have said, this is not the first time I have heard similar rumors. Lets hope there is something to it!

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Video: Dong Hyun Kim vs. Hidekiko Hasegawa DEEP 31 (Full Fight)

DEEP 32 on Oct 9 will feature the title fight between these two fighters, Dong Hyun Kim won this non-title fight and Hasegawa will have to find an answer to his attack.

No doubt this will be war!

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Video: JZ vs.Dida HEROs 9/17

The final of HEROs middle weight tournament September 17.

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Video Joachim Hansen Vs. Rumina Sato

Ok, just had to post this... 3 of my favorite fighters in the same ring. Joachim Hansen Vs. Rumina Sato from 2003. This is from a Shooto event in Korakuen Hall.

In Joachim`s corner is Jon Olav Einemo (the big guy).

Enjoy!

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K-1 Seoul 9/29

Tomorrow we have K-1 Korea. This is an event were FEG has pulled out many of their biggest stars in every meaning of the word.

The main event sees Hong Man Choi up against Mighty Mo. For me the most exciting fight of the night will be Badr Hari against Doug Viney. Doug Viney was the surprise winner of the last K-1 GP in Las Vegas. Tomorrow he will be up against Badr Hari, this should be a very good fight.


Hong Man Choi VS Mighty Mo
Peter Aerts VS Ray Sefo
Yusuke Fujimoto VS Junichi Sawayashiki
Jerome Le Banner VS Yong Soo Park
Glaube Feitosa VS Chalid "Die Faust"
Remy Bonjasky VS Stefan"Blitz" Leko
Semmy Schilt VS Paul Slowinski
Badr Hari VS Doug Viney
Young Hyun Kim VS Ryushi Yanagisawa


Undercard:
Min Soo Kim   VS Randy Kim
Kyoung Suk Kim VS Kyoutaro Ranger

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Pride Fighters Moving to UFC

Wednesday 26 September 2007

Sherdog has an interesting article today (http://www.sherdog.com/news/pictures.asp?n_id=9225) on the exodus of Pride fighters moving to UFC. For me it is not the fighters moving to the UFC that is eyecatching. I am surprised at a couple of things:

1. None of the really top Japanese MMA fighters have accepted any contract.
2. The UFC does not seem to want to keep their side of the contract they have taken over after Pride(Joachim Hansen was offered half his contracted salary to fight in the UFC).

December 31 is when we really know what will happen with stars such as Gomi, Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Kasuo Misaki and other international stars such as Joachim Hansen. This is reportedly when their contracts run out.

My guess is that if these fighters were going to the UFC, they would have signed already. And lets face it, Japan is one of the biggest MMA markets in the world and where these fighters are likely to make the most money. Most of these fighters will most likely find their way to HEROs.

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Latest Sherdog Rankings

The latest Sherdog rankings are out. Have to mention that I feel Sergei Kharitonov has been left out after his win earlier this month. Also worth a mention, I think is JZ that after winning the HERO`s tournament should have moved at least one spot up.

Anyway, the fighters most likely to fight in Japan:

Middleweight
7. (7) Denis Kang Signed with HERO’s, likely to fight in HERO’s in Korea Oct. 28

Welterweight
8. (8) Shinya Aoki Shooto champ, no fight set up currently. Free agent, will he take up JZ’s Challenge?

Lightweight
1. (1)Takanori Gomi Previous Pride champ, currently free agent. No fights set up. JZ also extended a challenge to Gomi. My guess is that he will sign with HERO’s
3. (8) Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti moved up in the rankings after winning the Hero’S tournament
4. (3)Tatsuya Kawajiri Shooto wrestler, future uncertain. Rumored to return to the ring Nov. 8 on the Shooto card
5. (4) Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro HEROs fighter, lost to JZ in the September tournament.

7. (6) Mitsuhiro Ishida Privous Pride fighter, future uncertain. My guess is that he will return to his roots in Shooto
8. Joachim Hansen Currently under Pride contract. Will be a free agent Dec. 31, stated recently that Hero`s would be an option.

Featherweight
1. (1) Akitoshi Tamura Shooto fighter
3. (3) "Lion" Takeshi Inoue Shooto fighter, no fight set. Possible for November 8
4. (4) Antonio Carvalho I am guessing he will be on the November 8 Shooto card.
5. (5) Hatsu Hioki Shooto fighter, Confirmed for Shooto Gig Central Vol.13 in Nagoya against Kim Hyon Man
7. (7) Masakazu Imanari Deep champion, due to appear in DEEP Impact 32 October 9 against Hiroyuki Abe
8. (8) Yoshiro Maeda Pancrase fighter. No fights set
9. (9) Bao Quach
10. (10) Tenki Fujimiya

Bantamweight
1. (1) Akitoshi Hokazono Shooto Champion who very rarely fights. No fights set
3. (3) Koetsu Okazaki Shooto Fighter, no fights set
4. (5)Atsushi Yamamoto Shooto fighter
5. (6)Ryota Matsune Shooto fighter, currently injured
6. Daniel Lima Shooto fighter, beat Kenji Osawa in September. My guess is that he will get a big fight in November
7. (4)Kenji Osawa Shooto fighter. Lost to Daniel Lima in September.
8. (7)Takeya Mizugaki
-. (10)Masakatsu Ueda Shooto fighter, falls out of the top 10

Flyweight
1. (1) Shinichi "BJ" Kojima Shooto Champion, next fight not set
2. (3)Yasuhiro Urushitani Shooto fighter, won against Yamaguchi September 22
3. (2) Mamoru Yamaguchi Shooto fighter, Lost against Urushitani September 22
4. (4) Masaaki Sugawara
5. (5) Yusei Shimokawa

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PANCRASE 2007 RISING TOUR 10.14 Differ Ariake

Tuesday 25 September 2007

Pancrase Rising Tour continues in Tokyo on October 14. Currently announced fighters include
Assuerio Silva, Yuki Kondo and Kenji Arai.

Kenji Arai was caught by a soccer kick from Jens Pulver in Pride`s Bushido 10 and has lost 3 fights in a row after that.

Yuki Kondo is the fighter that lost to Akihiro Gono in Gono`s last fight before signing with UFC. Yuki Kondo has himself fought in the UFC against fighters such as Tito Ortiz.

Assuerio Silva 13-6-0 VS. 7-4-0 Kestutis "Tiger" Arbocius
Yuki Kondo 46-20-6 VS. 8-8-0 Sakuragi Yuji
Manabu Inoue 5-3-1 VS. 1-1-0 Jung Jin Suk
Takuya Wada 14-8-8 VS. 0-1-0 Abe Kentaro
Kenji Arai 10-11-2 VS. 6-8-6 Takaichi Hirayama
Asaki Honda 3-1-1 VS. 1-1-0 Sakaguchi Yukio
Tatsuya So 1-1-1 VS. 3-4-3 Yuichiro "Yukito" Shirai
Yamasawa Yuki 1-3-0 VS. 2-0-0 Shimizu Hayato

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Akihiro Gono signs with UFC

Gryphon reports on his blog (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/gryphonjapan/20070925) today that Akihiro Gono has signed a deal with the UFC. The Pride veteran has not fought since Pride Shockwave. He is due to have his first fight in the UFC against Tamden McCrory in UFC 78.

Gono had 8 fights in Pride, losing only to Denis Kang, Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. McCrory had a record of 8-0-0.

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PANCRASE 2007 RISING TOUR 9.30

Monday 24 September 2007

The card for next weekends Pancrase in Osaka:

Daichi Fujiwara 5-1-1 VS. 8-4-3 Mitsuhisa Sunabe
Naoji Fujimoto 7-5-4 VS. 1-1-0 Panchii Yamauchi 
Takadaya Satoru 9-3-3 VS. Yushi Shiori
Toryu Masahiro 2-1-1 VS. 1-0-0 Noriyuki Kitaura
Yuta Nakamura 1-3-0 VS. 1-1-0 ストラッサー起一 (Kiichi Kunimoto)
Hasegawa Takashi 3-3-1 VS. 1-2-1 Kenta Nakamura
Asuka Ito 4-2-0 VS. 1-5-0 Kinuka Sasaki
土生陽介 VS. 阪本洋平
手塚基伸 VS. 上嶋祐紀
江崎賢二 Vs. 西田翔

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DEEP 32 Card

The fight card for DEEP Impact 32 October 9 looks to be finalized now (no guarantees, Deep tends to put up last minute matches). There are a couple of big name fights and, as usual a chance for new fighters to show their stuff.

The main event is without a doubt the title fight between Hasegawa and Dong. Dong beat Hasegawa in Deep 31 in a non title fight. Now he gets his chance at the belt.

Also fighting will be former Pride fighter Imanari, I have posted a video of his fight with Joachim Hansen. And Smackgirl champion Satoko Shinashi.

Hidehiko Hasegawa 14-8-3 VS. 8-0-0 Dong Hyun Kim
Imanari Masakazu 12-5-1 VS. 7-12-3 Hiroyuki Abe
Ryuta Sakurai 14-13-4 VS. 14-12-2 Eiji Ishikawa
Satoko Shinashi 24-1-2 VS. Sachi
Seichi Ikemoto 15-14-4 VS. 31-22-8 Kiuma Kunioku
Mizuguchi Seigo 1-2-0 VS. 2-0-0 Yusuke Kawaguchi
Yoshihiro Tomioka "Babaro44" 9-3-2 VS. Han So Fan
Yasuhito Namekawa 17-13-3 VS. 8-12-1 Katsuhisa Fujii
Takeshi Yamazaki 11-7-2 VS. 2-3-2 Koji Yoshida
Inoue Shunsuke Vs. Wakaarashi
Muscle Hiranuma 1-2-0 VS. 0-0-0 Hosaka Masanari

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New Joachim Hansen interview

Also reported on Nightmare of Battle, there is a new Joachim Hansen interview out on
http://www.ironlife.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87120

Though I live in Japan, I am still Norwegian and the prospect of Hansen potentially fighting in Japan excites me! Hopefully he can work out his contract with Pride/UFC and get a good deal with Hero's.

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Shooto - Back To Our Roots 5 Results

Sunday 23 September 2007

The biggest surprice of the night came when Kadowaki forced Rumina Sato to submit. The fighter from Fukuoka can look forward to a boost in his ranking after submitting Rumina at 4:09 in the 1st round.


Mamoru Yamaguchi VS. Yasuhiro Urushitani by decision 3-0
Kenji Osawa VS. Daniel Lima by decision 2-1
Rumina Sato VS. Hideki Kadowaki by rear-naked choke
Atsushi Yamamoto by decision 3-0 VS. Tetsu Suzuki
Jin Akimoto VS. Setsu Iguchi by decision majority
Atsushi Takeuchi VS. Shinya Murofushi by decision split
Takumi Ota by TKO VS. Sakae Kasuya
Hiromasa Ougikubo by rear-naked choke VS. Kazuya Tamura
Akihiro Yamazaki by decision 3-0 VS. Daisuke Okumiya

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Shooto - Back To Our Roots 5

Saturday 22 September 2007

For those of you that want to go out and watch MMA live, Shooto is putting on a good card at the Korakuen Hall.

The Main Event is Mamoru aginst Urushitani, these are world class fighters and this will be a good fight. Also fighting today is Rumina. I also want to mention Murofushi, who I belive will be one of the next shooto stars.

The card:
Mamoru Yamaguchi 18-3-3 VS. 13-3-4 Yasuhiro Urushitani
Kenji Osawa 12-6-1 VS. 7-2-2 Daniel Lima
Rumina Sato 24-10-2 VS. 11-7-2 Hideki Kadowaki
Atsushi Yamamoto 10-4-1 VS. 5-3-3 Tetsu Suzuki
Jin Akimoto 10-10-2 VS. 7-2-1 Setsu Iguchi
Atsushi Takeuchi 4-2-2 VS. 3-0-1 Shinya Murofushi
Eiji Murayama 3-4-2 VS. 3-1-3 Sakae Kasuya
Hiromasa Ougikubo 2-0-1 VS. 0-1-2 Kazuya Tamura
Akihiro Yamazaki 7-2-3 VS. 1-0-0 Daisuke Okumiya

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Cage Force on TBS

TBS will show Cage force Welterweight tournament at 4 PM today. For details:

http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/index/genre/sports.html
http://www.g-c-m.net/

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.... More pictures

Friday 21 September 2007




Dong Sik Yoon making his way to the ring. Won his fight in what I think was his best performance in HEROs to date.










Fabio Silva (the Wandy look alike) entering the ring. He was to loose to Melivin Manhoef.












Rickson Gracie, he annouced that he feels he has one more fight in him. Dear I guess that it will be against Sakuraba....











Sakuraba














Kharitonov with an uppercut.












Bibiano entering the ring for a fight with "Kid".











The Champ "JZ" entering the ring and receiving his award. JZ was the best fighter and deserved to win this! Lets hope his next opponent is Gomi or Aoki, at least thats how I feel.













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HERO`s pictures

Wednesday 19 September 2007

Ok, a little late with the post. Monday was the big event, and I had a great time. Since I am late, I will not spend too much time on the results.

There were some disapointments and some strong performances.

First of all disapointments:
-"Shaolin" I believe he is not happy with his performance, JZ won an easy victory.
-Also, I was disapointed with Uno, "Dida" outclassed him.
Update: It is reported that Caol Uno broke his jaw early in the first round. The damage was caused by a knee, and defiantely had an impact on how the match went.

On the positive side:
-JZ, defended his title and proved what a great fighter he is.
-Dong Sik Yoon, he was very impressive in his fight, I cant wait to see him again.
-Sakuraba, looked in shape and was very impressive.
-"Kid" got back in the ring. Did not win by KO, but looked in great shape and the KO will come in his next fight.

Now for some pictures:













































































































Will come back with more comments and pictures later.

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HERO`s Weigh-in Drama

Monday 17 September 2007

Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro did NOT pass his weigh-in. There are conflicting reports on this topic, (http://nightmareofbattle.wordpress.com/2007/09/16/results-from-the-weigh-ins-shaolin-overweight/) is reporting that he passed a second weigh-in, where as (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/gryphonjapan/) is reporting that he will have a second weigh-in today.

First of all, lets hope he passes the weigh-in. If he were to have a weigh in today, this will be a disadvantage to him, as the other opponents have had one more day to eat normal.

Either way, this is the BIG day and I hope to see all the fighters compete.

UPDATE: Shaolin is reported to have passed his weigh-in.

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Ryo Chonan signs with UFC

Sunday 16 September 2007

According to MMANews, Ryo Chonan has signed a deal with UFC. This unfortunately means that we are unlikely to see him fight in Japan in the near future, Ryo Chonan has up until now mainly fought in DEEP and Pride.

I am sure he will do well in UFC, good luck

Source:
http://www.mmanews.com/ufc/Ryo-Chonan-Officially-Signs-Deal-With-UFC.html

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HERO`s Middle Weight Tournament FIghts and Tip

Well, only one day to go. The fight order is set according to Nightmare of Battle (http://nightmareofbattle.wordpress.com/2007/09/16/fight-order-announced-changed-fight-times/#more-90).

Here it is with my tip. I have already tipped that Shaolin will win this and disregarded the reserve fight, as I dont think it will impact the tournament.

1 70 Kilo Takahashi Wataru 5-8-2 VS. 7-5-5 Tashiro Nishiuchi
Tip: Dont know these fighters, but will go with Nishiguchi
2 85 Kilo Takenori Satou 1-3-3 VS. 1-4-1 Nagai Kenji

Tip: Could go either way, Draw.

3 70 Kilo Kazuyuki Miyata 4-5-0 VS. 3-2-0 Harvey Harra
Tip: Miyata. He is just much more experienced at this level
4 70 Kilo Caol Uno 24-9-4 VS. 5-1-1 Andre "Dida" Amade
Tip: Uno.
5 70 Kilo Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti 12-1-1 VS. 19-1-0 Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
Tip: Ribeiro in a very tough fight.
6 Open Ikuhisa Minowa 36-25-8 VS. 0-0-0 Kevin Casey
Tip: Very hard, have not seen Casey. Will go with Minowa
7 85 Kilo DONG SIK YOON 1-4-0 VS. 6-2-0 ZELG "BENKEI" GALESIK
Tip: Galesik, in a quick match.
8 85 Kilo Melvin Manhoef 17-4-1 VS. 9-2-0 Fabio Silva
Tip: Silva, very tough match that could go either way.
9 85 Kilo Sergei Kharitonov 14-3-0 VS. 25-10-0 Alistair Overeem
Tip: Kharitonov, submission in 2nd round
10 85 Kilo KAZUSHI SAKURABA 21-10-1 VS. 2-1-0 KATSUYORI SHIBATA
Tip: Sakuraba, submission in first round.
11 63 Kilo Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 15-1-0 VS. 1-1-0 Bibiano Fernandes
Tip: Kid will outclass Bibiano. First round victory.


12 Tournament Final

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Satoru Kitaoka

Saturday 15 September 2007

This is a video of the fight that earned Kitaoka a fight in the Pride tournament that never happened. He is a fighter waiting to break through on the big scene (even though his last fight was average).

Satoru is now confirmed for Cage Force in December. This event will be held in Differ Ariake.

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DEEP 32

Sherdog has reported an update on the Deep 32 card:

Imanari Masakazu (12-5-1) will meet Hiroyuki Abe (7-12-3)

This will be a non-title fight.

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HERO`s Middle Weight Tournament Preview

Well, its 2 days to go. This is the BIG event in Japan, with Pride gone, HERO`s is the main MMA arena and they have put together some awesome match ups in this tournament. Here is how I expect it to go and why you should watch it.

Gesias "J.Z." Calvan vs. Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio
These are ranked #4 (Riberio) and #7 (Calvan) on the Sherdog ranking. This will be an amazing fight, and I can`t wait to see these battle it out. I expect Shaolin to win this, but this will be a tough fight and one I cant wait to see.

Caol Uno vs. Andre Dida
Caol Uno is a very experienced fighter, and he is up against a relatively new guy. I expect Uno will win this because of his experience and home advantage.

That puts Caol Uno Vs. Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio inn the final. I will have to give the advantage to Shaolin, but think he will be more tired than Uno after the first fight.

Other fights to look out for in Mondays event is Kharitonov vs Overeem, in my mind the main event. I expect Kharitonov will revenge his loss from last year.

The card also includes:
Zelg Galesic
Yamamoto "Kid"
Sakuraba
Minowaman

This will be an amazing event and I cant wait to go.

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Sherdog Top 10 Ranking

Wednesday 12 September 2007

As you probably have seen, the new Sherdog rankings are out. A few of these fighters are fighting in Japan, and some have fights in the near future.

As expected, the Japanese organisations are stronger in the lighter divisions, and there are no Light heavy or Heavy weight fighters fighting in Japan at the moment.

However, when you get to the lower weight classes, almost all are fighting in Japan. I have put their next fights, so make sure you go to support your favorites.

The fighters ranked by Sherdog fighting in Japan are:

Middle weight
Denis Kang (#7)
(Was rumored to have signed up to fight Sakuraba Sept. 17, not sure where his future is now)

Welterweight
Shinya Aoki (#8)
(Shooto champ, no fight set up currently. Free agent)

Lightweight
Takanori Gomi (#1)
(Previous Pride champ, currently free agent. No fights set up)

Tatsuya Kawajiri (#3)
(Shooto wrestler, future uncertain. Rumored to return to the ring Nov. 8 on the Shooto card)

Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (#4)
(Due to fight in HERO's September 17 middleweight tournament. My pick to win this)

Mitsuhiro Ishida (#6)
(Privous Pride fighter, future uncertain. My guess is that he will return to his roots in Shooto)

Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti (Lightweight #8)
(Due to fight in the HERO'S tournament September 17)

Featherweight
Akitoshi Tamura (#1)
(Shooto fighter, no Fights set, but a guess for November 8)

"Lion" Takeshi Inoue (#3)
(Shooto fighter, no fight set. Possible for November 8)

Antonio Carvalho (#4)
(Shooto fighter, requested fight in Back to Our Roots 5 currently not on that card and I am guess in November 8)

Hatsu Hioki (#5)
(Shooto fighter, Confirmed for Shooto Gig Central Vol.13 in Nagoya against a yet to be determined opponent)

Masakazu Imanari (#7)
(Deep champion, due to appear in DEEP Impact 32 October 9 against a yet to be determined opponent)

Yoshiro Maeda (#8)
(Pancrase fighter. No fights set)

Bao Quach (#9)
(Shooto fighter, no fight set)

Tenki Fujimiya (#10)
(Shooto fighter, No fight set)

Bantamweight
Akitoshi Hokazono (#1)
(Shooto Champion who very rarely fights. No fights set)

Marcos Galvao (#2)
(Shooto fighter, no fights set)

Koetsu Okazaki (#3)
(Shooto Fighter, no fights set)

Kenji Osawa (#4)
(Shooto fighter, due to fight Daniel Lima September 22)

Atsushi Yamamoto (#5)
(Shooto fighter, Due to fight September 22 against Tetsu Suzuki)

Ryota Matsune (#6)
(Shooto fighter, currently injured)

Takeya Mizugaki (#7)
(Shooto fighter, no fight set)

Masakatsu Ueda (#10)
(Shooto fighter, no fight set)

Flyweight
Shinichi "BJ" Kojima (#1)
(Shooto Champion, next fight not set)

Mamoru Yamaguchi (#2)
(Shooto fighter, Next fight September 22 against Yasuhiro Urushitani)

Yasuhiro Urushitani (#3)
(Shooto fighter, Next fight September 22 against Mamoru Yamaguchi)

Masaaki Sugiwara (#4)
(Shooto fighter, no fight set)

Yusei Shimokawa (#5)
(Shooto fighter, no fight set)

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New Fights Confirmed for HERO`s September 17

Yesterday FEG confirmed 2 fights that have been rumered a while now. In my opion this makes the upcoming HERO`s card the best since Pride.

Kharitonov vs. Overeem was a Pride fight last year and this is a rematch. Last year Karitonov suffered a serious shoulder injury, my guess is that he will revenge the loss this time.

Sergei Kharitonov 14-3-0 VS. 25-10-0 Alistair Overeem
Melvin Manhoef 17-4-1 VS. 9-2-0 Fabio Silva

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday 10 September 2007

The following is a list of the upcoming MMA events in Japan. The "Y" at the end is indicating which events I am planning to go to.

Hopefully this is a useful list for those of you who are having trouble finding the information on the Japanese websites.



Date/Event/Place/ Going
17-Sep Olympia Hero's Middleweight Tournament Final Yokohama Areana Y
22-Sep Shooto-Back to our roots 05 Korakuen Hall
29-Sep Shooto Gig Wets 8 Azeria Taisho Hall
30-Sep Pancrase Rising Tour Umeda Sterahall
8-Oct Shooto Gig Central Vol. 13
9-Oct Deep Impact 32 Korakuen Hall Y
14-Oct Pancrase Rising Tour Differ Ariake
20-Oct Shooto - Shooting Disc 3 Shinjuku Face
8-Nov Shooto - Professional Shooto Yoyogi second gymnasium Y
11-Nov Cage Force EX-Eastern Bound
Differ Ariake
28-Nov Pancrase Rising Tour Korakuen Hall Y
1-Dec Cage Force 05 Differ Ariake Y
8-Dec Shooto - Professional Shooto Shinjuku Face
22-Dec Pancrase Rising Tour Differ Ariake

Read more...

DEEP Impact 32 Matchups

DEEP 32 looks like it will be an interesting card. The following are the confirmed fights and fighters. I wont miss it.
Welterweight Title Fight/Main event
Hidehiko Hasegawa (14-8-3) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (8-0-0)


Prediction: These fighters fought in Deep 31, with Dong Hyun Kim winning by TKO. That win earned him this fight, my prediction is that he will have a harder time this time around and I am tipping Hasegawa by decision.

Other fights confirmed
Ryuta Sakurai (14-13-4) vs. Eiji Ishikawa (14-12-2)
Seichi Ikemoto (15-14-4) vs. Kiuma Kunioku (31-22-8)
Mizuguchi Siego (1-2-0) vs. Yusuke Kawaguchi (2-0-0)
Other participants:
Imanari Masakazu (12-5-1) Deep Featherweight champion
Satoko Shinashi (24-1-2)
Yasuhito Namekawa (17-13-3)

Read more...

Imanari vs. Hansen

Sunday 9 September 2007

Just an excuse to test the function to post videos. But a good video of Joachim Hansen, one of my favorite fighters. Previous Pride and Hero`s fighter, he has not fought since Pride 33. Lets hope he gets back in the ring soon.

Here he is against Imanari who will fight in Deep 32.

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Rumina Sato

Rumna Sato, Flying armbar. No words needed. Rumina (ranked #3) is due to fight in Shooto "Back to our roots 5" Sept. 22 in Korakuen hall. He will meet Hideki Kadowaki(ranked #8). Kadowaki is an experienced fighter with a 11-7-2 record.


I had a chance to see both fighters in Back to our roots 2, and my guess is that Rumina will win this. KO in round 1.

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K-1 HERO’S

HERO’S 9/17 2007

Middleweight Worldwide Ace Decisive Tournament Final
Date: 17/09-2007Place: Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan

Middleweight Tournament Finals (3 Rounds, 5 Minutes) 70 kg:
J.Z. Calvan vs. Vitor Riberio
Calvan/Riberio vs. Uno/Dida

MW Tournament Reserve (2 Rounds, 5 Minutes ; ExtraR = 5 Min If Draw):
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Harvey Harra

Superfights (R1 = 10 Min ; R2 = 5 Min ; ExtraR = 5 Min If Draw):
85 kg: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Katsuyori Shibata
85 kg: Yoon Dong Sik vs. Zelg Galesic
OW: Minowaman vs. Kevin Casey

Superfight (3 Rounds, 5 Minutes):
63 kg: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Bibiano Fernandes

Team Sakurabatake Vs. U-File (2 Rounds, 5 Minutes ; ExtraR = 5 Min If Draw):
70 kg: Wataru Takahashi vs. Tashiro Nishiuchi
85 kg: Takenori Sato vs. Kenji Nagai

Rumored fight:
Kharitonov vs Overeem

Read more...

James Thompson leaves Team Trojan

James Thompson has left Team Trojan in order to train with Randy Couture and his team.

Read more...

Followers

Read about this blog here.

If you have any suggestions for improvements, event we should cover etc.

Please contact me on japanmma@gmail.com
*I am not able to arrange or set up fights, for this please contact the organizations directly.

For Gyms in Japan see here

For purchasing tickets in Japan see here


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