10/1 K-1 World MAX Tournament Final

Monday 29 September 2008

K-1 is haveing their World MAX finals in Nippon Budokan this Wednesday. Participating are stars like Andy Souwer, Masato, Albert Kraus, Buakaw and Black Mamba. It should be a good event, as usual, there are semi-finals and finals on the same night. Also on the card is the ISKA (International Sports Karate Association?) World Lighweight Title fight between Susumu Daiguji and Daisuke Uematsu.

Filling up the card are the "Koushien" (youth) quarter finals and of course tournament reserve fights. Should be a good event. This event is happening at the same time as the Pancrase event is in Korakuen Hall.

13. Main event: World Max Tournament Final:
Winner Fight 7 vs. Winner Fight 8

12. ISKA World Lightweight Title Fight:
Susumu Daiguji vs. Daisuke Uematsu

11. Haruaki Otsuki vs. Ryuji Kajiwara
10. Reserve Fight: Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Black Mamba
9. Super Fight: Taishin Kohirumaki vs. Joeri Mes

K-1 Worl MAX Semi-Finals
8. Andy Souwer vs. Artur Kyshenko
7. Masato vs. Yoshihiro Sato

6. Reserve Fight: Yasuhiro Kido vs. Albert Kraus
5. Koushien Final 8: Hiroya vs. Taishi Hiratsuka
4. Koushien Final 8: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Daizo Sasaki

Opening Fights
3. Nieky "The Natural" Holtzken vs. Virgil Kalakoda
2. Koushien Final 8: Shota Shimada vs. Ryo Murakoshi
1. Koushien Final 8: Koya Urabe vs. Yusuke Tsuboi

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10/26 Pancrase Shining Tour - Welterweight Tournament Announced

Pancrase have added a welterweight tournament to their event on October 26 in Differ Ariake. The goal is to fill the vacant King of Pancrase welterweight spot. The final is scheduled for the December 7 event also held in Differ Ariake. Intrim champion, Takayuki Wada is not in the tournament, the winner of the tournament will face him in the spring for the King of Pancrase title. In other words, the winner will earn the right to face Wada for the title.

Welterweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Asaki Honda 4-2-1 vs. 5-3-2 Hiroyuki Nozawa
Tomoyoshi Iwamiya 4-7-0 vs. 5-2-2 "Strasser" Kiichi Kunimoto

Previously announced:

Takuya Wada 17-8-8 vs. 6-3-3 Masahiro Toryu
Takuya Eizumi 2-1-0 vs. 1-2-0 Takayuki Hirayasu
Yuichi Ikari 10-4-3 vs. 2-3-0 Yukio Sakaguchi
Kenji Arai 13-12-2 vs. 9-5-7 Tashiro Akai (Name changed from Nishiuchi)
Takafumi Ito 33-26-11 vs. 7-10-6 Takaichi Hirayama

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11/8 Cage Force - Valkyrie 01 EX

Cage Force makes it a double header on November 8! They have announced a new event, "Valkyrie" and the main event for this card. It will feature 2 experienced SmackGirl fighters. V Hajime won the SmackGirl Cinderella tournament in 2007, she will take on SmackGirl lightweight champion Yuka Tsuji.

This event in held on the same day as the Cage Force EX Eastern Bound, but looks like Cage Force is taking a page out of DEEP's book and making it a double header. This Valkyrie card will feature 8 female fights. Is this an attempt from Cage Force at a SmackGirl "replacement" we will see... Either way, it is good to see female fighters getting an opportunity to show their skills.

Yuka Tsuji 19-1-0 vs. V 3-1-0 V Hajime

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12/14 HEAT 8 - In Tokyo!

HEAT is coming to Tokyo! Normally they hold their events in Nagoya, but in December HEAT is taking their show on the road and hitting Differ Ariake! I have never been to a HEAT event (actually never been to Nagoya), but from what I have seen of them they put on a good show. I have put a couple of videos on the bottom so you can see what it looks like. The rules are no elbows (both Kick and MMA rule).

Not sure how to spell his name... Fabiakato Lukafa has 115 pro Muay Thai fight with a W-L record of 90-25 and a pro-boxing record of 14-1.

Announced so far:
HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament
Jotaro Usui vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)
Yuso Matsumoto vs. Kinji

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament
Max Fernandez 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Hyong Yo Im
Yoshitaro Niimi 6-2-2 vs. 1-1-0 Justin Holdaas

There will also be heavyweight fights, both MMA (2 fights) and Kick-rule (3 fights) tournament fights.

This is a fight with Kick-Rule, Tatsufumi Tomihira vs. Big Mo from HEAT 4 August 11 2007.


MMA Fight: Hiroshi Uemura vs. Seo Su In from the same event.

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11/29 Shooto Tradition 04 - First fights announced

Shooto announced a few things relating to this card yesterday, and already it looks good. Most likely the main event will be the world lightweight title fight between Hideki Kadowaki (champion) and "Lion" Takeshi Inoue. Takeshi is coming off a loss to Savant Young in Tradition 01, but is getting a shot at the world title. Kadowaki has built a lot of comfidence with his 2 last fights, submitting Rumina Sato and getting a decision win over Akitoshi Tamura to claim the title belt. This will be his first defence and it should be a very good fight.

Shooto also announced the participation of two of their biggest stars, Rumina Sato and welterweight champion Takashi Nakakura, to face a yet to be named opponents. Also on the card, Tazawa So will take on the rising star Hiromasa Ogikubo in what is sure to be a very good fight.

Announced:
Hideki Kadowaki 13-7-2 vs. 14-3-0 "Lion" Takeshi Inoue
So Tazawa 8-3-2 vs. 5-0-1 Hiromasa Ogikubo
Jin Kazeta 8-8-2 vs. 5-1-1 Yutaka Ueda

Participating:
Takashi Nakakura 10-2-1
Rumina Sato 24-12-2

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9/28 Shooto Tradition 3 - RESULTS

Sunday 28 September 2008

Shooto Tradition 3 is happening in Korakuen Hall. There are some results available, I will try to get them up as soon as possible.

Somdet won his fight and has I hope he comes back soon.

During the event it was announced that Kadowaki will take on Lion Takeshi for the lightweight world title in Shooto - Tradition 04, on November 29. Other participants in this event will include Rumin Sato and welterweight champion Takashi Nakakura.

I hope to have all the results done before I call it a night, but for now, these are what I have.

Featherweight World Title Fight:
9. Masakatsu Ueda vs. Marcos “Louro” Galvao 1-1 DRAW

8. Yuki Shoujou Def. Yasuhiro Urushitani by guilliotine choke Round 3 3:39
7. Shintaro Ishiwatari Def. Tenkei Fujimiya by TKO Round 1 4:08
6. Rambaa "M-16" Somdet Def. Noburo "Shinpei" Tahara by Decision 3-0
5. Masaaki Sugawara Def. Takuya Mori by Decision 2-0

Rookie Tournament:
4. Junji Ito Def. Yoshitaka Aki by TKO Round 1 4:01
3. Atsushi Kobayashi Def. Horishige by TKO Round 2 0:59
2. Kentaro Watanabe Def. Kota Funaki by Decision 2-1
1. Takuya Sato Def. Naoki Hirayama by decision 2-0

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9/28 Sengoku - Results

I am having issues with my connetion and I will see if it gets going... For now, I am not able to watch the event! Sorry...

I'll do a double header this weekend. Dont know if I will do a PBP, but most likely. Either way, the results will be here LIVE!

Should be a good event, and there are some interesting fights on the card. Xande Ribeiro makes his MMA debut, so does King Mo as a late replacement for Roger Gracie.

Kazuhiro Nakamura is back in Japan after an unsuccessful stay in the UFC. He is still the odds favorite against Paul Cahoon, who I think might be underestimated here. Should be a good event, and there is potential for some very good fights.

It starts at 3PM Japan time (Japan time is showing on top right)

1. Jorge Masvidal Def. Ryan Schultz by TKO Round 1 1:57
2. Kiuma Kunioku Def. A Sol Kwon by decision 3-0
3. Siyar Bahadurzada Def. Evangelista Santos "Cyborg" TKO Round 1 0:22 (Cyborg dislocated elbow)
4. Jorge Santiago Def. Logan Clark by arm-triangle Round 2 3:35
5. Kazuhiro Nakamura Def. Paul Cahoon by decision 3-0
6. Yuki Sasaki Def. Yuki Kondo by rear-naked choke Round 2 1:08
7. King Mo Def. Travis Wiuff by TKO Round 1 2:11
8. Xande Ribeiro Def. Takashi Sugiura by TKO Round 3 4:18

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9/27 Cage Force 8 - RESULTS

Saturday 27 September 2008

Cage Force held the Semi-Finals of the featherweight and bantamweight tournaments today. After today, the final in the featherweight tournament is ready, and so is one of the finalists in the bantamweight tournament.

The featherweight final will be between Yuji Hoshino and "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura. The
bantamweight final will be Masahiro Oishi against either Takeya Mizugaki or Taiyo Nakahara. Their semi final will be fought in November.

TV Tokyo should show this event, and it will air October 19 26.40 (2.40 on 20th) - 27.35 (3.35).

All the results:

Featherweight Tournament Semi-Finals:
12. Yuji Hoshino Def. Takeshi Yamazaki by Kimura Round 3 3:23
11. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura Def. Fanjin Son by Decision 3-0

Bantamweight Tournament Semi-Final:
10. Masahiro Oishi Def. Tetsu Suzuki by Decision 3-0

9. Yoshihiro Koyama Def. Bum Chang Kang(?) by TKO Round 1 3:25
8. Takeya Mizugaki Def. Daisuke Endo by rear-naked choke Round 1 4:34
7. Wataru Miki vs. Tomohiko Hori DRAW
6. Daisuke "Hunt" Okumiya Def. Tetsuo Seto by TKO (doctor stop) Round 1
5. Yuta Nezu Def. Ryo (?) Taguchi by KO Round 3 3:36
4. Daisuke Hoshino Def. Junichi Ota by decision 3-0

Preliminary fights:
3. Lightweight: Koji Ando 1-0-1 vs. 0-1-0 Masayoshi Ichikawa
2. Masaaki Hasegawa Def. Tomoyuki Miyaji by submission Round 3 2:55
1. Suberu Yoshikawa vs. Kenichi Kokura/Ogura (?) DRAW

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10/23 DEEP 38 Impact - Additional Fights Announced

DEEP announced an additional 2 fights for their event on October 23.

Worth noticing in the addition of Masayuki Okude, this fight is pitted as one or the ZST vs. DEEP challenges and should be interesting. Okude has turned a bad run lately and racked up 3 straight wins in ZST. He will be facing "ISE" or Toshikazu Iseno, who has actually lost his only DEEP fight. "ISE" did have a decent run in GCM (Cage Force) though and this should be a competitive fight.

In the other fight, 2 DEEP fighters will square off. Sojiro Orui has had 2 ZST fights, but the rest of his 11 fights are all in DEEP. He will face the very experienced Ryuta Sakurai. Both of these guys lost in the first round of the DEEP middleweight tournament. I would still favor Sakurai in this one.

This is the card as it looks now, there should be lots more fights to be announced.

Added:
Toshikazu Iseno "ISE" 5-4-2 vs. 5-4-5 Masayuki Okude
Sojiro Orui 5-2-4 vs. 17-14-4 Ryuta Sakurai

Previously announced:
Daiki Hata "DJ Taiki" 8-5-3 vs. 15-7-2 Naoya Uematsu
Masanori Kanehara 10-4-5 vs. 6-3-1 Takafumi Otsuka
Satoko Shinashi 28-2-2 vs. 4-13-0 Yukiko Seki
Seigo Mizuguchi 3-3-0 vs. 2-1-0 Shunji Kosaka

Participating:
Riki Fukuda 11-4-0
Yasuhito Namekawa 24-16-3
Yusuke Kawaguchi 7-0-0
Eiji Ishikawa 16-14-3

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9/27 K-1 World GP Korea - LIVE PBP

It is an extremely busy weekend, and I was planning to get to the Cage Force event tonight. Unfotunately, I wont get there, so I was looking for other things to do. As luck has it, K-1 is holding an awesome event in Korea today. They are broadcasting it live on SkyPerfect (channel 739), so I will give you live updates of what happens there.

It startes at 5PM Japan time, to make it easier I have added a clock on the top right showing Japan time (please let me know if the clock is showing you the time where you are!).

This is the World GP Final 16, so this card is stacked with stars and good fights. The main for the Korean fans will be the return of Hong Man Choi, and he is facing non other than Badr Hari today! It will be interesting to see how Choi handles that in his return to the ring.

The card tonight looks like this and I will post the live updates here.

The broadcast has started, but expect it will take a few minutes before the action starts.

1. Opening Fight: Keijiro Maeda vs. Min Ho Song
Fight not broadcast

2. Opening Fight: Zabit Samedov vs. Fabiano Da Silva
Fight not broadcast

3. Opening Fight: Yong Soo Park vs. Randy Kim
Round 1
Randy Kim comes out with some very strong leg-kicks. Gaining confidence, he moves in behind straight punches. Park is being hit with some strong punches but stands his ground for now. The bell rings and Park is clearly tired. Kim also took some punches, but the round clearly to Randy Kim.

Round 2
Park starts this round better, but Randy Kim comes back and Park turns his back. Park takes a standing count and the ref stops it. Park looks confused, TKO win to Randy Kim. Replay shows that it is the leg kicks that makes Park turn his back.


4. Final 16: Rusland Karaev vs. Chalid "Die Faust"
Round 1
Time for the first fight in the GP, this should be a very good fight.
Karaev storms out and forces "Die Faust" back. "Die Faust" fights back but Karaev gets the best of the initial exchange. As the inital attack finishes, "Die Faust" is able to fight back and Karaev is the first to take count half way through the round. Very exciting first round with Karaev attempting several back kicks.

Round 2
Starts with "Die Faust" working some leg kicks. It looks like "Die Faust has the upper hand, then Karaev hits with a left that sends him to the ground half way through the round. Karaev can see the finish now, and Die Faust goes down again. The ref starts the fight again, but Die Faust is done. The ref waives of the fight, but forgets to stop the fighters. Die Faust goes down again, but does not seem to be injured.

5. Final 16: Jerome LeBanner vs. Junichi Sawayashiki
Round 1
Time for a rematch between these two fighters that had a very good fight in Yokohama March last year. On that occation Sawayashiki got out on top after a decision win.

LeBanner comes out and takes his position in the middle of the ring chasing Sawayashiki. So far its all LeBanner. Half way through the round Sawayashiki is trying some leg kicks, but this round belongs to LeBanner. He even manages to taunt Sawayashiki in the end. Clear round for LeBanner, but Sawayashiki has done well not to go down.

Round 2
LeBanner looks very determined at the start of round 2, which starts like the last one. After the inital charge Sawayashiki is starting to fight back. Still LeBanner with the upper hand though. LeBanner using more kicks now, then he hits with punches. The following highkick sends Sawayashiki to the ropes the following punches makes him take count. The bell rings and the round goes clearly to LeBanner again.

Round 3
LeBanner is very confident and it opens him a bit, LeBanner gets hit with a few punches but he is still in control. Sawayashiki gets more into the fight in this round as LeBanner gets tired, but this should be a revenge for LeBanner. LeBanner gets the decision 3-0

6. Final 16: Ray Sefo vs. Gokhan Saki
Gokhan Saki is a relatively new name for me, but I know he is a muay thai world (2003) and european (2002) champion. He will turn 25 next month, so a relatively young fighter taking on the very experienced Ray Sefo.

Round 1
Fight starts off with both fighters going for leg kicks. A back kick from Saki sends Sefo to the ground, but no count is taken and looks like there is minimal damage. A strong leg kick from Sefo hits well, but hard to tell it there was any damage. The bell rings for a tight round, I would give it to Saki.

Round 2
Saki is more active with kick where as Sefo is trying to close the distance to get some punches in. Sefo seems to get a better distance in this round, Saki is not able to get as many kicks in. Sefo with good body shots, Saki looks like he is hurt then gets a chance some kicks just as the bell rings. I would give this round to Sefo.

Round 3
Sefo is taunting Saki now. He clearly feels confiedent, and is chasing Saki. Saki fights back though, again with leg kicks followed by hooks. Sefo is so confident he drops his guard. A knee from Saki hits Sefo in the mid section, but Sefo keeps coming. It looked like Sefo was hurt at the end of the round, but hard to know if he was taunting or really hurt.

The judges score it a draw and we will have an extention round.

Extention round
Ray Sefo looks like he is taking extra time in the break here. He looks very tired in this round and the leg kicks from Saki is hitting the thigh again. Action is much slower in this round and Saki looks like he is in charge here. Sefo's legs are clearly hurting. Sefo is stumbling in the ring now, Saki will get this round unless there is a miracle. The bell sounds and this should be a decision win for Saki.

Gokhan Saki gets the decision 3-0

7. Final 16: Glaube Feitosa vs. Errol Zimmerman
Errol Zimmerman, another talent coming out of the Netherlands. The 23 year old fighter beat Bjorn Bregy and Zabit Samedov to claim the World GP title in Amsterdam earlier this year.

Round 1
Feitosa hits with a good body kick. The fighter are still feeling eachother out, Feitosa looks more comfortable at the moment though. Feitosa has Zimmerman on the ropes and tries to finish with a highkick, but it is blocked and seems to wake Zimmerman who fihgts back. A flurry of punches from Zimmerman forces Feitosa to take count and Zimmerman gets this round.

Round 2
Feitosa does not looks fresh coming out and Zimmerman hits Feitosa with a taste of his own medicine, a left highkick. Feitosa still standing though, but looks like a matter of time. A straight right from Zimmerman sends Feitoas to the ropes again but he is able to recover and fihgts back. Somehow Feitosa is still fighting back. Then a right hits from Zimmerman again, the following punches forces a staning count again. Zimmerman is not able to stop Feitosa in this round, but we will see if Feitosa comes out for more... He looks very tired as he is led to his corner.

Round 3
Feitosa comes out and starts off with some kicks, but when Zimmerman starts his attack Feitosa looks tired again and is backing up. Feitosa tries a highkick, but there is no power. Feitosa is still fighting and Zimmerman is looking tired too now. Feitosa with a last attempt, he has Zimmerman on the ropes and is hitting with body punches and uppercuts. Zimmerman should get the decision, but Feitosa finished strong.

Zimmerman gets the decision 3-0

8. Final 16: Remy Bonjasky vs. Paul Slowinski
Round 1
Paul takes position in the middle of the ring and is puching he action initially. Then Remy comes back with a knee attempt that makes the Japanese commentators overreact. Leg kicks from the Aussie, but then Remy gets a knee in that seems to damage Slowinski. Bonjasky tries to follow up, but Slowinski defends well. The round ends and I would give it to Bonjasky.

Round 2
Slowinski starts the round better, has some good hooks and uppercuts. Bonjasky comes back, the highkick attempts does not hit the target, but entertains the crowd. Bonjasky moves forward with hooks and uppercuts. Followed by a knee attempt. Slowinski is able to fight back, and there is no clear winner of this round, I would give it to Bonjasky though.

Round 3
Looks like Slowinski is fresher in this round, has Bonjasky on the ropes now. Bonjasky is very tired, even turns his back as he is puches back on the ropes. Slowinski is unable to capitalize and Bonjasky fights back. As the ine of the round comes, both fighters are tired and throwing everything at their opponent. I would give the fight to Bonjasky, lets see if the judges agree.

Remy Bonjasky gets the decision 2-0

9. Final 16: Ewerton Teixeira vs. MUSASHI
Ewerton Teixeira is on a very strong run, winning the World GP in Fukuoka coming into this fight, can Musashi stop him?

Round 1
Musashi circling. Teixeira is the agressor initially, but no damage so far. He seems to beat Musashi to the punch all the time though. Teixeira hist with a body kick hook combination at the end of the round. Round to Teixeira.

Round 2
Teixeira is continuing to move forward and Musashi is warned for holding. Musashi is not able to find his distance. Musashi get yellow for holding. Good highkick from Teixeira, but Musashi continues to hold and is warned again. A flurry of punches from Teixeira as the round finishes, it looked like Musashi blocked one of them, but a left definitely hit the target. Clear round to Teixeira.

Round 3
Left jab hits straight off from Teixeira. Both fighters are throwing combinations after that and the crowd really gets into it. Teixeira is hitting with leg kicks, but Musashi's counter punches are also hitting. Both fighters throwing combinations as the round ends, Musashi slightly more desperate. This fight should go to Teixeira, Musashi might have won the last round though.

Teixeira gets the decision 3-0

10. Final 16: Badr Hari vs. Hong Man Choi
Hong Man Choi makes his return against Badr Hari. This should be a good test for how his recovery is going. I was not expecting him to return against Hari, lets see how Hari deals with an opponent as large as Choi. It is reported that Choi has lost 20kg following the surgery.

Round 1
Choi has definately lost weight, so far Hari is the agressive fighter. Legkicks from Hari, when he moves closer Choi hits him with a straight and Hari deceides to keep better distance. The legkicks are doing damage, but Choi is throwing strong punches to. Not a action packed round. I would give it to Hari, sho is cut over his right eye.

Round 2
Choi's counters are dangerou and when Hari moves in, Choi hits with a left that sends Hari down. Hari has to take count. The fight is back on, and Hari should know now that he cant move in... Hari's kicks are largly unanswered. The bell rings as Hari was moving forward again, Choi did not answer this time. Still round to Choi.

Round 3
Not much happening in the opening. Hari keeping his distance and this might be going towards extention. Choi hits with another good right that looks like it damaged Hari a bit. Hari is hiting iwht more punches, but Choi's seems to do more damage. Body punches from Hari has turned Choi's side red, Choi looks tired now and the guard is going down. Hari more agressive as the round ends. Round should go to Hari, and if it goes to extention Hari should have the upper hand.

Judges score 1 for Choi and 2 draw. We will have extention. It should be said that the Korean fans was buuhing when the one umpire gave his decision to Choi.

Hong Man Choi gives up before the round starts. Looks like the damage to the body wsa too much. The Japanese commentators are saying it was doctor stop, but the corner through the towel. I am not sure, but Hari is the winner.

I think it was a strong return for Choi, it is not easy coming back like he has and I am impressed. He will be part of the K-1 scene going forward too. Pretty sure we will see him on NYE.

11. Final 16: Semmy Schilt vs. Peter Aerts
Can Peter Aerts beat Semmy Schilt? He holds one win over him ,but it is from 2006. After that Schilt has beaten Aerts twice.

Round 1
Aerts is wasting no time and pushes Schilt back with punches. Schilt regains his composure, and tries a knee. Looks like Schilt is in control now. A strong legkick from Schilt makes Areats lose his balance. But Aerts is still throwing good punches and Schilt is hiting with good counters. The round finishes and I would give it to Aerts, just think he hit more even if Schilt never was in danger.

Round 2
Aerts comes out again throwing punches. Schilt looks like he is uncomfortable with an opponent as agressive as Aerts here. Schilt is able to get clinch and knee from there, but Aerts is really pushing the action here. He has Schilt in danger for a second, but Schilt recovers. A highkick form Schilt seems to damage Aerts, looks like he lost focus and was at a wrong distance for a second, it was enough. Aerts is very tired as the round ends. I would give the round to Aerts again, first round was closer than this.

Round 3
Schilt hits with a few straigth punches at the opening of the round. Aerts fights back and scores with some good punches. Aerts continues to push forwards but is clearly tired now. Shilt is getting some good punches in and are clearly the fresher fighter at this point. Aerts hits with a couple of strong punches in the end of the round though. I think we have an upset.

Decision to Aerts 2-0!!!

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9/23 DREAM 6 - PICTURES


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Originally uploaded by japanmma
DREAM kicked off their 6th event with the Middleweight reserve fight. Yoon Dong Sik was the favorite here, but Andrews Nakahara pulled out the surprise win. It has to be said that Nakahara had a lot of fans in the audience, most likely due to his karate background rather than his MMA debut fight.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
The second fight was Mousasi against Manhoef. I expected Manhoef to come out swinging for the fences, but he never really got going. Mousasi was all over him on the ground and pulled out a spectaturlar (much due to Manhoef's strength) triange choke submission. Manhoef has later announced that he will retire from MMA, but seems more to spend time with his family than disapointment.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Jacare was able to take Galesic to the ground quickly, once there he wasted no time in getting mount. Galesic showed a lot of strength in being able to turn the mount, but then he had to deal with Jacare's guard. Jacare was able to secure a quick armbar.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
K-Taro made his return to MMA and Japan against Krazy Bee's BJJ coach, Adriano Martins. The fight went the distance, but K-Taro was the better fighter in the end.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Kharitonov was meant to face Mighty Mo, but due to injury DREAM had to find a very late replacement. Up stepped Jimmy Ambriz. Taking a fight against Kharitonov on such short notice shows a lot of courage, but he was outclassed in this fight.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
The fight I had the highest expectations for was Yamamoto vs. Tokoro. Tokoro has a string of very entertaining wins in DREAM now, but this one he was not able to take Yamamoto to the ground as much as he wanted.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Once on the ground, he was close to securing an armbar, but Yamamoto was saved by the bell. The fight went the distance and Yamamoto took the decision. A strong performance by the Krazy Bee fighter.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Minowa made his signature entry. Facing him this time was the old Pro-Wrestler and Pancrase veteran, Funaki.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Funaki pulled out something that a lot of people would view as an upset, but Minowa's form lately has not been great. Funaki won by a heel-hook, or was it a toe-hold?



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Akiyama will never be finished appologizing... But it makes for a good entry, so I think he almost does it more for show now...



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
His opponent today was the relatively inexperienced Masannori Tonooka. Akiyama was able to do pretty much as he wanted.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
He secured a quick win by armbar.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Aoki faced the American wrestler Todd Moore. It went as you would expect, Aoki was able to wrap Moore up pretty quickly. Looked like he was going for a rear-naked choke, but in the end the winning submission was a neck crank.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
There were glimmers of the old Crocop, but he did not seem to threaten Overeem too much. Overeem hit Crocop with an accidental knee to the groin and the fight ended in a no contest. But until that point there was little doubt that Overeem had Crocop on the ropes. Hopefully Crocop recovers so we can see a re-match.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
The Middleweight final was between Jacare and Mousasi. Jacare took Mousasi down, but Mousasi does have a good guard. Jacare got careless diving in and Mousasi hit him with a well placed upkick. KO win for Mousasi and he is the DREAM middleweight champion.



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Originally uploaded by japanmma
Mousasi was the big winner on the night, but now comes the big question about DREAM's future.

Just on a side note, any ring girl pictures will from now be posted here: http://japanese-ringgirls.blogspot.com/

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9/28 Sengoku - Odds

The betting lines are out, as always my source is MMA Betting (link on the left). The odds this time is from Betcris/Bookmaker Group.

Siyar is favorite in his fight, despite returning from injury (earlier than exptected too). Kazuhiro Nakamura is HUGE favorite against Paul Cahoon, almost worth the bet and hope for the upset...

Yuki Sasaki +150
Yuki Kundo -180

Evangelista Santos +120
Siyar Bahadurzada -150

Logan Clark +220
Jorge Santiago -280

Paul Cahoon +550
Kazuhiro Nakamura -750

Ryan Schultz +200
Jorge Masvidal -250

Read more...

Busy Weekend Ahead

Friday 26 September 2008

It is the one of those weekends... A very packed on of MMA in Japan. So what have we got to look forward to?

Here is a quick breakdown:

Saturday: Cage Force 08 - This year Cage Force are holding featherweight and bantamweight tournaments. This event will have 3 of the 4 semi-finals, in addition to other good fights. This will be a very good event, held in Differ Ariake.

Sunday: 2 events, Shooto in Korakuen Hall and Sengoku in Yoyogi Gymnasium

Shooto - This is the 3rd Traditions event. Will be an awesome event, very good card and I am sure they are not worried that it is on the same day as the Sengoku event. This should fill Korakuen Hall regardless.

Sengoku - The middleweight GP will kick off in this one, can it live up to the DREAM tournament? I am sure opinion will be split on that... In addition to that there will be some interesting fight outside the GP.

Some of my thoughts for these events:

Cage Force: This card has some stars that most fans of Japanese MMA would be familiar with like "Wicky" Akiyo, Takeya Mizugaki and Takeshi Yamazaki. You can see the complete card here. But in addition to the familiar names there are some future fighters to watch out for too. I would mention:

-Yuta Nezu - he lost his last fight, but it was a strange one. I think he will come back in this one.
-Daisuke Hoshino - he is 3-0, but is fighting a more experienced fighter than in his previous fights, will be interesting to see if he can keep his perfect record.
-Masaaki Hasegawa - Krazy Bee fighter in his second professional fight, he won his first in July and it will be interesting to see if he can build on that.

Shooto: This is a great card again from Shooto. You can see the complete card here. Again Shooto is putting on something special for fans of Japanese MMA. The main event here is a featherweight title fight between the Japanese champion Ueda (who is undefeated) and Brazilian "Louro". It will be a very tough fight, and it should go the distance. If I were a betting man (I am not and it costs me nothing to say this), I think Ueda will get the decision.

The fight I am really looking forward to here is the "M-16" vs. "Shinpei" fight. These fighters are VERY entertaining, and I am pretty sure this will not go the distance.

Sengoku: The thing to look forward to on this card (there are of course more) are the middleweight GP fights. Sengoku is kicking off their GP just as DREAM has finished their. DREAM got very mixed reviews, but can Sengoku do better? The lighweight division has Gomi there, it is a bit different. Who will be the Sengoku middleweight champ? There are some good fighters in there, but does anyone stick out as a champion? I guess thats something we will get an answer to.

Otherwise, I look forward to the opening fight between Jorge Masvidal and Ryan Schultz. Fighters I need to mention is Xande Ribeiro making his MMA debut and Travis Wiuff (though he didnt get his fight against Roger Gracie).

Some videos of the fighters participating in these events:
Cage Force 06 April 5 2008: Masahiro Oishi vs. Paul McVeigh



Cage Force Eastern Bound February 11 2008: "Wicky" Akiyo vs. Kim Jong Man



Sengoku 3 - June 8 2008 Travis Wiuff vs. Kazuyuki Fujita



Sengoku III - Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Travis Wiuff
Uploaded by villleee

Sengoku 2 - May 18 2008: Jorge Santiago vs. Yuki Sasaki



Shooto Back to Our Roots 6 - November 8 2007: Rambaa Somdet vs. Masaaki Sugawara



Read more...

9/28 Shooto Tradition 3 - Fight Order

Can't believe I didnt post this yet... At least I had posted all the fights, but anyway... Better late than never.

Of course Shooto pulls out some GREAT fights here. I just wish they'd let Rambaa Somdet fight more. The main event is the featherweight title fight between Masakatsu Ueda and Marcus "Louro".

Featherweight World Title Fight:
9. Masakatsu Ueda 8-0-1 vs. 6-2-0 Marcos “Louro” Galvao

8. Bantamweight: Yasuhiro Urushitani 14-3-6 vs. 7-4-2 Yuki Shoujou
7. Lightweight: Tenkei Fujimiya 7-3-2 vs. 5-1-2 Shintaro Ishiwatari
6. Flyweight: Noburo "Shinpei" Tahara 5-2-0 vs. 4-2-0 Rambaa "M-16" Somdet
5. Bantamweight: Masaaki Sugawara 6-3-0 vs. 5-2-0 Takuya Mori

Rookie Tournament:
4. Flyweight: Junji Ito 2-1-0 vs. 1-0-0 Yoshitaka Aki
3. Lightweight: Horishige Tanaka 1-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Atsushi Kobayashi
2. Bantamweight: Kota Funaki 1-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Kentaro Watanabe
1. Middleweight: Naoki Hirayama 1-0-0 vs. 1-2-2 Takuya Sato

Read more...

9/28 Sengoku - Roger Gracie's Replacement Announced

Sengoku revealed today that "King Mo" will take on Travis Wiuff, King Mo takes the fight on short notice after Ju Jitsu star Roger Gracie pulls out from a controversial rib injury.

As for who King Mo is... I dont know too much, but here is what I have found out researching the net. He is a very accomplishe free style wrestler, training with Team Quest.

Ryo Chonan has a post on his blog about King Mo, but it is more on a personal level. Chonan says he a rapper with a lot of tatoos and a Cadillac. They are friends and Chonan was able to stay at his place. About King Mo's ability, Chonan is saying that he is a very talented wrestler and his goal is qualifying fo the olympics (post is from April).

Even though the card has lost one of the big stars, I think this should be a very interesting event. The middleweight GP will be interesting, even though it doesnt have the stars we might be used to from the Pride days.

Main event is of course Xande Riberio making his long awaited MMA debut.

8. Light-heavyweight: Xande Ribeiro vs. 1-2-0 Takashi Sugiura
7. Heavyweight: King Mo vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff

Middleweight GP
6. Yuki Kondo 49-22-6 vs. 21-14-1 Yuki Sasaki
5. Kazuhiro Nakamura 11-8-0 vs. 10-11-0 Paul Cahoon
4. Jorge Santiago 17-7-0 vs. 11-2-0 Logan Clark
3. Evangelista Santos "Cyborg" 16-11-0 vs. 13-3-1 Siyar Bahadurzada

2. Lightweight: Kiuma Kunioku 33-22-9 vs. 5-3-0 A Sol Kwon
1. Lightweight: Jorge Masvidal 13-3-0 vs. 20-10-1 Ryan Schultz

Read more...

9/27 Cage Force 8 - Fight Order

This weekend will be super busy! Kicking things off on Saturday is Cage Force with their tournament semi-finals. These fight should provide some very good entertainment.

The main event is Yuji Hoshino vs. Dream "veteran" Takeshi Yamazaki. In the other featherweight semi final the always entertaining "Wicky" Akiyo will take on Fanjin Son who is a very talented fighter.

In the Bantamweight tournament the very experienced Masahiro Oishi will take on the exentric grappler Tetsu Suzuki in a fight that should also be very exciting. Oishi got through a tough opponent in Paul McVeigh in the first round, while Suzuki left Katsuya Toida with egg on his face after a 16 second TKO win.

Also on the card are fighters like Takeya Mizugaki, Yoshihiro Koyama and Wataru Miki. A very good card again from Cage Force!

The second bantamweight semi-final has been moved, you can read more on that here

Featherweight Tournament Semi-Finals:
12. Yuji Hoshino 14-7-7 vs. 14-8-2 Takeshi Yamazaki
11. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura 8-2-1 vs. 5-2-0 Fanjin Son

Bantamweight Tournament Semi-Final:
10. Masahiro Oishi 18-9-7 vs. 8-5-3 Tetsu Suzuki

9. Lightweight: Yoshihiro Koyama 10-2-1 vs. 2-1 (?) Bum Chang Kang*
This is a lightweight fight, so not the guy Minowa faced in DREAM. The record and name is from the Cage Force site, I have not been able to work out who he is.
8. Bantamweight: Takeya Mizugaki 9-2-2 vs. 2-1-0 Daisuke Endo
7. Featherweight: Wataru Miki 13-8-2 vs. 7-3-2 Tomohiko Hori
6. Welterweight: Tetsuo Seto 4-1-2 vs. 1-2-1 Daisuke "Hunt" Okumiya
5. Bantamweight: Yuta Nezu 4-2-0 vs. Ryo (?) Taguchi
4. Lightweight: Daisuke Hoshino 3-0-0 vs. 2-1-1 Junichi Ota

Preliminary fights (3x3min):
3. Lightweight: Koji Ando 1-0-1 vs. 0-1-0 Masayoshi Ichikawa
2. Featherweight: Masaaki Hasegawa 1-0-0 vs. 3-1-0 Tomoyuki Miyaji
1. Lightweight: Suberu Yoshikawa 0-1-0 vs. Kenichi Kokura/Ogura (?)

Read more...

10/26 Pancrase Shining Tour - 2 Fights Announced

Thursday 25 September 2008

Pancrase have announced an additional 2 fights for their October 26 event.

A lot of experience added to this card today, it will be a good event.

Added:
Kenji Arai 13-12-2 vs. 9-5-7 Tashiro Akai (Name changed from Nishiuchi)
Takafumi Ito 33-26-11 vs. 7-10-6 Takaichi Hirayama

Previously announced:
Takuya Wada 17-8-8 vs. 6-3-3 Masahiro Toryu
Takuya Eizumi 2-1-0 vs. 1-2-0 Takayuki Hirayasu
Yuichi Ikari 10-4-3 vs. 2-3-0 Yukio Sakaguchi

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - RESULTS

Tuesday 23 September 2008

I just came back from the event. I assume most of you know the results now, but here they are anyway.

In addition to the results, it was confirmed today that Joachim Hansen will fight on NYE against an opponent yet to be named. Also fighting is Fedor (I think that was confirmed, at least I feel like it....).

It was a very good event, some upsets. However, I have to say that the always underestimated Mousasi now HAS to be in the top 3! He really proved himself today! I would like to congratulate him, he really deserved the victory today!



12. DREAM Middleweight Final: Gegard Mousasi Def. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by KO (upkick) round 1
11. HW: Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic vs. Alistair Overeem no-contest
10. Lightweight: Shinya Aoki Def. Todd Moore by neck crank Round 1 1:10
9. Middleweight: Yoshihiro Akiyama Def. Masanori Tonooka by armbar Round 1 6:26
8. Welterweight: Hayato Sakurai "Mach"Def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka by decision 3-0

7. Middleweight: Masakatsu Funaki Def. "Minowaman" by heel-hook Round 1 0:52
6. Featherweight: Atsushi Yamamoto Def. Hideo Tokoro by decision 3-0
5. HW: Sergei Kharitonov Def. Jimmy Ambriz by TKO Round 1 2:15
4. Lightweight: Keita Nakamura "K-taro" Def. Adriano Martins by decision 2-1


Middleweight GP Semi-Finals
3. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza Def. Zelg Galesic by armbar Round 1 1:27
2. Gegard Mousasi Def. Melvin Manhoef by Triangle choke Round 1 1:28
1. Reserve: Andrews Nakahara Def. Yoon Dong Sik by TKO Round 2 0:30

Read more...

9/28 Sengoku - Roger Gracie Accused of faking Injury

Monday 22 September 2008

Sengoku have put out a report on their web-site basically accusing Roger Gracie of faking injury.

Here are the accusation points:
-They requested an official doctors certificate and CT scan showing the injury.
-They requested Roger Gracie to come to Japan to be examined by WVR's doctor

On both these points Roger Gracie has failed to comply and WVR/Sengoku are considering penalties.

In addition to the above points:
-For a scheduled phone conference Roger Gracie's management did not call in.
-Roger Gracie's doctor told WVR staff in a mail September 20 that there was no break or fracture detected and a CT scan was not done in order to determine the extent of injury.

http://www.sengoku-official.com/pc/topics/2008/09/22_322.html

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - NOT Airing Live in Japan

Sunday 21 September 2008

A huge disappointment for me... I have been planning this for weeks, have friends over and watch the live PPV of DREAM 6. I have just assumed that it would air live, as all the others have.

But this time there is no live broadcast! Instead the earliest you can watch the event is on TBS at 9PM, then the SkyPerfect uncut version airs as PPV at 11PM. You would think it would be cheaper then, but no... I guess its an attempt to get more viewers to the TBS broadcast, but I hope they improve on the production! It has not been good so far.

Just to mention it, the ONLY way I know to get this live is then HDNet! Or going to the event. For me, I am heading out early to get my ticket at the door. Hope its not sold out...

12. DREAM Middleweight Final: Winner of Fight #2 vs. Winner of Fight #3
11. HW: Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic 23-6-2 vs. 28-11-0 Alistair Overeem
10. Lightweight: Shinya Aoki 17-3-0 vs. 9-2-0 Todd Moore
9. Middleweight: Yoshihiro Akiyama 11-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Masanori Tonooka
8. Welterweight: Hayato Sakurai "Mach"32-8-2 vs. 12-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Intermission

7. Middleweight: Ikuhisa Minowa "Minowaman" 40-28-8 vs. 38-13-1 Masakatsu Funaki
6. Featherweight: Hideo Tokoro 21-13-1 vs. 11-5-1 Atsushi Yamamoto
5. HW: Sergei Kharitonov 15-3-0 vs. 13-9-1 Jimmy Ambriz
4. Lightweight: Keita Nakamura "K-taro" 14-3-2 vs. 9-3-0 Adriano Martins

Middleweight GP Semi-Finals
3. Zelg Galesic 9-3-0 vs. 9-1-0 Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
2. Melvin Manhoef 22-4-1 vs. 22-2-1 Gegard Mousasi
1. Reserve: Yoon Dong Sik 4-5-0 vs. 0-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

Read more...

11/1 Sengoku - Josh Barnett Participating!

Josh Barnett has confirmed today that he will be fighting in Sengoku's November 1 event. This event will also include the Lightweight GP semi-finals, so it should be a very good event!
*Small correction, it is Josh himself that is the source, not Sengoku. I would actually say that it is just as reliable.

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080921-00000008-spnavi_ot-fight.html

Participating:
Josh Barnett 23-5-0

Fights Confirmed:
Satoru Kitaoka 21-8-9 vs. 14-5-2 Eiji Mitsuoka
Kazunori Yokota 7-1-3 vs. 10-2-0 Mizuto Hirota

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - Mighty Mo out!

MMARated is reporting that Mighty Mo is out of his fight with Sergei Kharitonov. The fight was scheduled for DREAM 6 on Tuesday (Japan time).

They are looking for a replacement fighter for Kharitonov, and hopefully he will make his DREAM debut later this week.

I will come back with more as soon as there is some official announcement.

http://www.mmarated.com/blogs/blog/20080919/friday_night_notes__noons_stripped__thompson___mighty_mo_out-747.html;jsessionid=F3CD850966064FDE2FCC207A8F30701D

Looks like DREAM has found a replacement for Mighty Mo, Jimmy "the Titan" Ambriz is flying out today, that means Kharitonov is still fighting! Ambriz is an experienced opponent with fights in several organizations including WEC and IFL.

http://www.punchdrunkgamer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=48:fl_new&id=285:ambriz-sergei

Here is Ambriz vs. LeBanner from HERO's March 15 2006 (the only fight I could find).


One more... Ambriz vs. Richard Hale from February 2007



12. DREAM Middleweight Final: Winner of Fight #2 vs. Winner of Fight #3
11. HW: Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic 23-6-2 vs. 28-11-0 Alistair Overeem
10. Lightweight: Shinya Aoki 17-3-0 vs. 9-2-0 Todd Moore
9. Middleweight: Yoshihiro Akiyama 11-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Masanori Tonooka
8. Welterweight: Hayato Sakurai "Mach"32-8-2 vs. 12-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Intermission
7. Middleweight: Ikuhisa Minowa "Minowaman" 40-28-8 vs. 38-13-1 Masakatsu Funaki
6. Featherweight: Hideo Tokoro 21-13-1 vs. 11-5-1 Atsushi Yamamoto
5. HW: Sergei Kharitonov 15-3-0 vs. 13-9-1 Jimmy Ambriz
4. Lightweight: Keita Nakamura "K-taro" 14-3-2 vs. 9-3-0 Adriano Martins

Middleweight GP Semi-Final
3. Zelg Galesic 9-3-0 vs. 9-1-0 Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
2. Melvin Manhoef 22-4-1 vs. 22-2-1 Gegard Mousasi
1. Reserve: Yoon Dong Sik 4-5-0 vs. 0-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

Read more...

9/20 Shooto GIG West 10 - RESULTS

Saturday 20 September 2008

This was a card with a lot of fighters that is yet to get a win as a professional fight. In addition to that there were some interesting Rookie Tournament fights.

After this event, Ishinaka is still without a win after 8 fights and "Mark" Kano has lost 9 in a row now to make it a perfect 0-9! That's the sort of record that can ruin anyone's confidence, I really hope he wins one soon.

Middleweight: Tomokazu Yuasa Def. Yoshifumi Dogaki by decision 3-0
Middleweight: Toshihiro Yoroi Def. Toru Ishinaka by rear-naked choke Round 1 1:34
Featherweight: Yasuaki "AKI" Nagamoto Def. Manabu "Mark" Kano by Guillotine Choke Round 1 2:21

Rookie Tournament Fights:
Light-heavyweight: Takaaki "C-Boy" Oban Def. Yudaku Tanaka
Welterweight: Hiroshi Sugimoto vs. Yukinari "Hibiki" Tamura 0-1 DRAW
*Tamura goes through to the next round
Featherweight: Yoshihiko "Kagero" Oyama vs. Keita Yoshida DRAW
*Fight stopped due to an accidental headbut, not sure who will go through to the next round

Read more...

10/23 DEEP 38 Impact

Friday 19 September 2008

DEEP has announced the first fights for their DEEP Impact 38. It looks like it will be a very good card again. There are no title-fights so far (looks like the Satoko Shinashi fight is a non-title fight), but there are some good fights and with the participants announced it looks very promising.

Yusuke Kawaguchi went through the MegaTon GP without much trouble (one fight was a split decision, the rest were mismatches). After winning the title, he said that fighting in DREAM was the... well, dream... Lets see what Saeki has planned for him. I hope it is someone good.

Also participating are Ryuta Sakurai and Riki Fukuda.

Daiki Hata "DJ Taiki" 8-5-3 vs. 15-7-2 Naoya Uematsu
Masanori Kanehara 10-4-5 vs. 6-3-1 Takafumi Otsuka
Satoko Shinashi 28-2-2 vs. 4-13-0 Yukiko Seki
Seigo Mizuguchi 3-3-0 vs. 2-1-0 Shunji Kosaka

Participating:
Ryuta Sakurai 17-14-4
Riki Fukuda 11-4-0
Yasuhito Namekawa 24-16-3
Yusuke Kawaguchi 7-0-0
Eiji Ishikawa 16-14-3
Toshikazu Iseno "ISE" 5-4-2
Sojiro Orui 5-2-4

Read more...

9/27 Cage Force 8 - 2 Fights added

Cage Force have added 2 more fights to their card for September 27. This is the day before the Sengoku event, and it looks like a very good card too.

There are 3 semi-finals (1 bantam and 2 featherweight) on the card. The reminaing bantamweight semi will take place November 8.

In the welterweight fight added, we will see GCM talent Tetsuo Seto face off against Shooto fighter "Hunt" Okumiya. The other fight added is a preliminary fight between Koji Ando who was very good in his fight July 21 and Masayoshi Ichikawa, who suffered a 26 seconds KO loss in the same event.

Fights added:
Welterweight: Tetsuo Seto 4-1-2 vs. 1-2-1 Daisuke "Hunt" Okumiya
Preliminary Lightweight: Koji Ando 1-0-1 vs. 0-1-0 Masayoshi Ichikawa

Previously announced:
Bantamweight Semi-Final: Masahiro Oishi 18-9-7 vs. 8-5-3 Tetsu Suzuki
Featherweight Semi-Final: Yuji Hoshino 14-7-7 vs. 14-8-2 Takeshi Yamazaki
Featherweight Semi-Final: ”Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura 8-2-1 vs. 5-2-0 Fanjin Son

Bantamweight: Takeya Mizugaki 9-2-2 vs. 2-1-0 Daisuke Endo
Lightweight: Yoshihiro Koyama 10-2-1 vs. 2-1 (?) Bum Chang Kang*
This is a lightweight fight, so not the guy Minowa faced in DREAM. The record and name is from the Cage Force site, I have not been able to work out who he is.
Featherweight: Wataru Miki 13-8-2 vs. 7-3-2 Tomohiko Hori
Lightweight: Daisuke Hoshino 3-0-0 vs. 2-1-1 Junichi Ota

Preliminary fight:
Featherweight: Masaaki Hasegawa 1-0-0 vs. 3-1-0 Tomoyuki Miyaji

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - Odds

The first odds are available for DREAM 6.
I am not generally a betting man, but Galesic seems to be good value for me. Of Course I dont thing he can take "Jacare" on the ground, but the fight doesnt have to go there.

Gegard Mousasi -155
Melvin Manhoef +125

Ronaldo De Souza -345
Zelg Galesic +275

Odds are from:
http://bookmaker.com/

Learn about MMA betting here:
http://www.betwwx.com/ufc-odds/

***UPDATE***
The odds for the GP are also ready now:

Odds to Win Dream 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix
Ronaldo de Souza +140
Gegard Mousasi +185
Melvin Manhoef +265
Zelg Galesic +450
Field (Any fighter not listed/replacement) +550

http://www.betwwx.com/319/dream-6-odds-middleweight-gp-cro-cop-vs-overeem/

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - Fight order

DREAM has announced the fight order for their 6th event. This card is looking awesome! I just hope there are no last minute injuries or anything like that. 12 fights, and most fights shoule be very good.

Just have to hope this is a card that gets the Japanese fans excited as well! I think it should though, even if there is no Sakuraba this time.

12. DREAM Middleweight Final: Winner of Fight #2 vs. Winner of Fight #3
11. HW: Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic 23-6-2 vs. 28-11-0 Alistair Overeem
10. Lightweight: Shinya Aoki 17-3-0 vs. 9-2-0 Todd Moore
9. Middleweight: Yoshihiro Akiyama 11-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Masanori Tonooka
8. Welterweight: Hayato Sakurai "Mach"32-8-2 vs. 12-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Intermission
7. Middleweight: Ikuhisa Minowa "Minowaman" 40-28-8 vs. 38-13-1 Masakatsu Funaki
6. Featherweight: Hideo Tokoro 21-13-1 vs. 11-5-1 Atsushi Yamamoto
5. HW: Sergei Kharitonov 15-3-0 vs. 3-0-0 Siala Siliga "Mighty Mo"
4. Lightweight: Keita Nakamura "K-taro" 14-3-2 vs. 9-3-0 Adriano Martins
3. Middleweight GP Semi: Zelg Galesic 9-3-0 vs. 9-1-0 Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
2. Middleweight GP Semi: Melvin Manhoef 22-4-1 vs. 22-2-1 Gegard Mousasi
1. Middleweight GP Reserve: Yoon Dong Sik 4-5-0 vs. 0-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

Read more...

10/26 Pancrase Shining Tour - Fights added

Wednesday 17 September 2008

The Pancrase event for October 26 is taking shape. Added to the card is welterweight interim champion Takuya Wada, in a non-title fight against Masahiro Toryu.

In the other fight added today, another Neo-Blood finalist is added in Takuya Eizumi in a rematch of the neo-blood 1st round against Takaya Hirayasu. Eizumi won the previous fight by TKO (doctor stoppage) and ended up losing only the final.

Added:
Takuya Wada 17-8-8 vs. 6-3-3 Masahiro Toryu
Takuya Eizumi 2-1-0 vs. 1-2-0 Takayuki Hirayasu

Previously Announced:
Yuichi Ikari 10-4-3 vs. 2-3-0 Yukio Sakaguchi

Read more...

10/1 Pancrase Shining Tour - Fights added/Fight Order announced

Pancrase have added 2 fights to the October 1 event, one of these I predict will be a masacre. Maximo Blanco destroyed his previous opponent, but got a NC for an accidental headbut leading to a cut. It was a controversial fight, but there is no doubt that this guy is talented. "AB" fought agaist Steve Magdaleno in the same event. He suffered a loss, and never really showed anything. Magdaleno was better standing and on the ground. I predict a very tough fight for "AB".

The other fight added today is between Yasutomo Tanaka, who also fought in the Neo-Blood finals, he lost the final to Hirotoshi Saito in a very good fight. Hayato Shimizu last to Hirotoshi Saito in the Neo-Blood semi-final, so this looks like it will be an interesting fight.


Added:
Maximo Blanco 0-0-0 (1NC) vs. 0-1-0 Hiroki "AB" Aoki
Yasutomo Tanaka 5-2-3 vs. 4-2-0 Hayato Shimizu

Fight Order:
King of Pancrase Ligh-Heavy weight Title fight:
8. Keiichiro Yamamiya 34-22-9 vs. 8-3-2 Ryo Kawamura

7. Lightweight: Koji Oishi 16-6-6 vs. 17-7-6 Naoyuki Kotani
6. Middleweight: Hiromitsu Kanehara 16-21-1 vs. 7-9-3 Ichiro Kanai
5. Middleweight: Yuji Hisamatsu 11-14-4 vs. 5-5-4 Takenori Sato
4. Bantamweight: Yuichiro Shirai "Yukito" 4-5-3 vs. 9-1-5 Ranki Kawana
3. Lightweight: Maximo Blanco 0-0-0 (1NC) vs. 0-1-0 Hiroki "AB" Aoki
2. Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-2-3 vs. 4-2-0 Hayato Shimizu
1. Flyweight: Kiyotaka Shimizu vs. 1-3-0 Takuma Ishii

Read more...

A Personal Note

Been going back and forth whether I should post something about this, and deceided to. It is NOT MMA related, its actually kind of personal, so there is no need to keep reading if you dont want to.

It will affect this blog though. I just dont know how much yet...

To get to the point, I work at Lehman in Tokyo. I guess most have heard the news about Lehman Brothers, so I wont go in details. Basically I dont know right now what the future holds. This is not something that was totally unexpected to me, but it still comes as a huge shock.

This week there has been very little sleep for me, I still have a job but dont know for how long. I have a wife and a kid, so packing up and leaving is not done over night.

So what does this mean for the future? Well, I will continue this blog. It has been a great source of motivation in anything I do and I would hate to give it up. When the day to leave Japan, the most likely destination is Norway. The only change I can see is that I wont get to events in Japan. BUT in that case I am will get to events in Europe.

Whatever the future holds, I know it will be exciting. Whatever happens, I will make the best of it, and if this blog is affected, I hope it will be an improvement.

Here is a video of what happened in NY when Lehman announced that they were filing for chapter 11.

http://gall.dcinside.com/list.php?id=userinfoslr&no=252090
(Humor is needed in times like these... Also, New Yorkers are emotional people)

Read more...

9/28 Sengoku - Roger Gracie Out!?!

Adcombat.com is reporting that Roger Gracie injured a rib in training and is out of action for at least 8 weeks. They are further saying that he is unlikely to fight again in 2008, meaning that a comback in November event is also out of the question.

I have not yet seen an official announcement in Japan, but if Sengoku is looking for a replacement it would most likely be announced at the same time.

Sherdog has received confirmation of Roger Gracie's injury http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/gracie-withdraws-from-sengoku-14431

The card:
8. Light-heavyweight: Xande Ribeiro vs. 1-2-0 Takashi Sugiura
7. Heavyweight: Roger Gracie (?) 2-0-0 vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff

Middleweight GP
6. Yuki Kondo 49-22-6 vs. 21-14-1 Yuki Sasaki
5. Kazuhiro Nakamura 11-8-0 vs. 10-11-0 Paul Cahoon
4. Jorge Santiago 17-7-0 vs. 11-2-0 Logan Clark
3. Evangelista Santos "Cyborg" 16-11-0 vs. 13-3-1 Siyar Bahadurzada

2. Lightweight: Kiuma Kunioku 33-22-9 vs. 5-3-0 A Sol Kwon
1. Lightweight: Jorge Masvidal 13-3-0 vs. 20-10-1 Ryan Schultz

Read more...

11/1 Sengoku - Lightweight GP Semi-Finals

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Sengoku have had a busy day of announcements. They have revealed the match-ups for the Lightweight GP. Of course, after an event full of exciting upsets there are only Japanese fighters left, but these fights should be very good.

Satoru Kitaoka 21-8-9 vs. 14-5-2 Eiji Mitsuoka
Kazunori Yokota 7-1-3 vs. 10-2-0 Mizuto Hirota

Read more...

9/28 Sengoku - Fight Order Announced

Sengoku have announced the fight order for their next event, which will include the quarterfinals in the Middleweight GP. The main event is the MMA Debut of Xande Ribeiro against Takashi Sugiura. I am a bit surprised... I would have thought the Roger Graice fight would have won out. Either way, a good card and I look forward to this event.

8. Light-heavyweight: Xande Ribeiro vs. 1-2-0 Takashi Sugiura
7. Heavyweight: Roger Gracie 2-0-0 vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff

Middleweight GP
6. Yuki Kondo 49-22-6 vs. 21-14-1 Yuki Sasaki
5. Kazuhiro Nakamura 11-8-0 vs. 10-11-0 Paul Cahoon
4. Jorge Santiago 17-7-0 vs. 11-2-0 Logan Clark
3. Evangelista Santos "Cyborg" 16-11-0 vs. 13-3-1 Siyar Bahadurzada

2. Lightweight: Kiuma Kunioku 33-22-9 vs. 5-3-0 A Sol Kwon
1. Lightweight: Jorge Masvidal 13-3-0 vs. 20-10-1 Ryan Schultz

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - Aoki added

DREAM has added another fight to the already stacked card for DREAM 6. No doubt this is to draw more viewers, but that's never a bad thing. I am surprised to see Aoki return so soon, but it will be an exciting fight. I dont know much about Todd Moore, but he was undefeated before his WEC debut and should be a good fighter.

Added:
Lightweight: Shinya Aoki 17-3-0 vs. 9-2-0 Todd Moore

It is also rumored that the Heavyweight fights between Kharitonov vs. Mighty Mo and CroCop vs. Overeem will be semi-finals for a HW title fight.

Previously Added:
Lightweight: Keita Nakamura "K-taro" 14-3-2 vs. 9-3-0 Adriano Martins
Middleweight: Ikuhisa Minowa "Minowaman" 40-28-8 vs. 38-13-1 Masakatsu Funaki
Welterweight: Hayato Sakurai "Mach"32-8-2 vs. 12-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Middleweight: Yoshihiro Akiyama 11-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Masanori Tonooka
HW: Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic 23-6-2 vs. 28-11-0 Alistair Overeem
HW: Sergei Kharitonov 15-3-0 vs. 3-0-0 Siala Siliga "Mighty Mo"
Featherweight: Hideo Tokoro 21-13-1 vs. 11-5-1 Atsushi Yamamoto

Middleweight GP Reserve Fight
Yoon Dong Sik 4-5-0 vs. 0-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

DREAM Middleweight Final: Winners of semi-finals

DREAM Middleweight Semi-Finals:
Melvin Manhoef 22-4-1 vs. 22-2-1 Gegard Mousasi
Zelg Galesic 9-3-0 vs. 9-1-0 Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza

Read more...

Sengoku Gets a TV Deal

Sunday 14 September 2008

Nightmare of Battle reports that Sengoku has landed a TV deal. It is with TV Tokyo, which means that they will broadcast free to air. Personally, I would have prefered to see them get a deal with Fuji, but you cant always get what you wish for.

In addition, TV Tokyo will have a weekly 25 min. program with the working title Sengoku G. This is very interesting, depending on the time they show it, but it is still very good news.

Oh, BTW... TV Tokyo also shows Cage Force. Cage Force 8 will air October 19 26.40 (2.40 on 20th) - 27.35 (3.35).

http://nightmareofbattle.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/sengoku-gets-tv-deal-with-tv-tokyo/
http://www.g-c-m.net/news/080927.html

Read more...

9/27 Cage Force 8 - Fights added

Saturday 13 September 2008

Cage Force have added 5 fights to their September 27 card. These are in addition to the previously announced semi-finals.

The Bantamweight semi-final between Takeya Mizugaki and Taiyo Nakahara has been moved to the November 8 "Eastern Bound" event. Nakahara was injured during training, but should be ready for the event in November. Mizugaki will instead face Daisuke Endo in a non-tournament fight.

As always, I expect Cage Force to put on a good show, and the tournament fights are looking very interesting.

The finals will be held in Cage Force 9, December 6.

Added:
Bantamweight: Takeya Mizugaki 9-2-2 vs. 2-1-0 Daisuke Endo
Lightweight: Yoshihiro Koyama 10-2-1 vs. 2-1 (?) Bum Chang Kang*
This is a lightweight fight, so not the guy Minowa faced in DREAM. The record and name is from the Cage Force site, I have not been able to work out who he is.
Featherweight: Wataru Miki 13-8-2 vs. 7-3-2 Tomohiko Hori
Lightweight: Daisuke Hoshino 3-0-0 vs. 2-1-1 Junichi Ota

Preliminary fight:
Featherweight: Masaaki Hasegawa 1-0-0 vs. 3-1-0 Tomoyuki Miyaji

Previously announced:
Bantamweight Semi-Finals:
Masahiro Oishi 18-9-7 vs. 8-5-3 Tetsu Suzuki

Featherweight Semi-Finals:
Yuji Hoshino 14-7-7 vs. 14-8-2 Takeshi Yamazaki
”Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura 8-2-1 vs. 5-2-0 Fanjin Son

Moved to November 8:
Takeya Mizugaki 9-2-2 vs. 10-6-0 Taiyo Nakahara

Read more...

9/12 Shoot Boxing - Pictures


IMG_4437
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Last night's Shoot Boxing event was very good. It was the first time for me to go to Shoot Boxing, but it wont be the last. Korakuen Hall was packed and it was a good night of fights. This picture is from the fight between Hirokaki Suzuki (red gloves) and Yoshiki Harada. Suzuki won the fight, but it was a good and close one.



IMG_4545
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Megumi Fuji doesn't normally compete with these rules, and even though she showed that she knows how to throw a punch, Misato Tomita proved to strong on the night.



IMG_4596
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Takanori Fujiwara didnt get the result he wanted against Shimada. In the end Fujiwara got tired and Shimada took advantage of that.



IMG_4636
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Buakaw's pupil, Pajunsuk, was very strong and knocked his opponent down 3 times in the first round earning a quick TKO win.



IMG_4676
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Ishikawa was better than Crazy Hill in their fight.



IMG_4697
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Title fight of the night was for the Super-Bantamweight belt, between Noriyuki Enari and the late replacement Akito Sakimura.



IMG_4723
Originally uploaded by japanmma
It was a very close encounter, the judges needed 2 extra rounds to seperate the fighters. In the end Noriyuki Enari (blue gloves) got the decision.



IMG_4820
Originally uploaded by japanmma
Australian Jason Scerri didnt get the result he wanted against "KO" Ogata. Scerri was trying to land powershots (superman punches and flying knees), but in the end Ogata was able to counter and got the TKO win.



IMG_4917
Originally uploaded by japanmma
The main event was between the 2 Shoot Boxing stars Kanei (blue gloves) and Shishido. It was again a very exciting fight, but Shishido proved the stronger. He eventually opened a cut over Kanei's left eye and the judges awarded him the win.



IMG_4921
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Read more...

9/12 Shoot Boxing - RESULTS

Friday 12 September 2008

Here are the results from the Shoot Boxing event today. It was AWESOME! Even if 2 of the 3 fighters I was looking forward to watching lost. This is the first time I can remeber that the Korakuen Hall was packed (at the events I have been to), and the value was very good.

As for the fights, I like watching this kind of fights, but I prefer that fighters get to show their ground game though. Value for money, this is the show to go to though! Shoot Boxing is gaining popularity, and I can see why... Good fights, good show and cheap tickets.

11. Main Event: 70Kg S-Cup Rule 5x3min (Unlimited Extention)
Hiroki Shishido Def. Kenji Kanei by Decision 3-0

10. Expert Rule 3x3min (Unlimited Extention)
Kenichi Ogata Def. Jason Scerri by TKO Round 3 0:56
I was looking forward to seeing the Australian Jason Scerri in this one. He was very entertaining, and would have won R1 IMO, but was knocked down in the last seconds. In the end, I think he lost because he was trying to put on a show. I hope the organizers realize that and invite him back! A fun fight to watch, but Ogata was too good in the end.

9. SB Japan Super-Bantam 5x3min (Unlimited Extention)
Noriyuki Enari Def. Akito Sakimura (after 2 ext. rounds) by decision 3-0

8. Expert Class Rule 3x3min 60kg (Unlimited Extention)
Takeshi Ishikawa Def. Crazy Hill by decision 3-0

7. 58kg 3min x 3 (unlimited extention)
Pajunsuk Por. Pramuk Def. Naguranchun Masa M16 by TKO Round 1 2:49 (3 downs)
Look out for Pajunsuk, very good performance today!

6. Expert Class Rule 3x3min 72kg (Unlimited Extention)
Takaaki Umeno Def. Tsuyoshi Torii by KO Round 2 2:37
Kiyoshi Tamura was in Torii's corner, but it didnt help tonight, as Umeno was much better in this form of fighting.

5. Freshman Class Rule 60kg 3x3min (2 rounds extention)
Kouya Shimada Def. Takanori Fujiwara by decision 3-0

4. Starting Class Rule 51kg 3x2min (1 round extention)
Misato Tomita Def. Megumi Fuji by decision 2-0
I was really looking forward to seeing Mega-Megu in this. It showed that this is not her type of event, but she will get better. In the end, Tomita was better and more experienced at Shoot Boxing. I would pay to watch Megumi fight any day though, she will be back!

3. Starting Class Rule 55kg 3x2min (1 round extention)
Kazuyuki Fushimi Def. Hideo Iwasaki by KO Round 1 1:44

2. Starting Class Rule 65kg 3x2min (1 round extention)
Hiroaki Suzuki Def. Yoshiki Harada by decision 3-0
A very entertaining fight.

1. Starting Class Rule 55kg 3x2min (1 round extention)
Toyochika Osawa Def. Tomonori Suzuki by decision 3-0

Read more...

9/7 ZST SWAT 20 - RESULTS

Thursday 11 September 2008

The results from last weekend's ZST event in Gold's Gym South Tokyo Annex:

Shunichi Shimizu Def. Kousuke Sakai by Triangle Choke Round 2 1:30
Tetsuya Yamada Def. Makoto Toriumi by arm-bar Round 1 1:58
Teruhiko Higashitani Def. Shinya Miura by KO Round 1 1:43
Toshihiro Shimizu Def. Yuru(?) Hayasaka by naked choke Round 1 0:45
Takahiro Ichijo Def. Naohiro Hasegawa by arm-bar Round 1 2:22
Atsuhi Ueda Def. Takahiro Baba by arm-bar Round 1 2:59
Zenya Shinya vs. Masatoshi Kondo DRAW
Takahiro Futatsumori Def. Taku Aramaki by guilliotine choke Round 2 0:22
Masaya Doi vs. Masayuki Hamagishi DRAW
Keisuke Tamaru Def. Takayuki Kanno by achilles hold Round 1 0:34
Yujiro Yamamoto Def. Yutaka Inada by ankle lock Round 1 2:05
Shin (or Makoto) Takenaka vs. Ryota Kobayashi DRAW
Yuji Nakamura Def. Yoichi Kaneko by arm-bar Round 1 4:29

Read more...

9/23 DREAM 6 - Akiyama's Opponent Announced

Looks like DREAM has completed their card today as well. This is an important event for them, it looks as though the pressure is really on to get the ratings up.

So the question is, will this draw the average Japanese viewers? They have really pulled in some Japanese stars though. Added today is Minowaman vs. Masakatsu Funaki, something that might go some way. Also fighting is "Mach" Sakurai and K-Taro.

I thought K-Taro had retired from MMA, so seeing him back is very welcome! (I dont know where I got it from though)

It should be a very good event! Let's see if it does as well as they hope though.

***UPDATE***
Akiyama have been given 3 choices of opponents, he is yet to answer, but is expected to fight in this event.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080911-00000024-spnavi-fight.html

***UPDATE 2***
Akiyama has chosen to fight Masanori Tonooka. Should be a win for him, Tonooka has 2 MMA fights and a 1-1 record.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080912-00000012-spnavi-fight.html

***UPDATE 3***
The new Metalica album will sponser this DREAM event.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080912-00000005-spnavi_ot-fight.html

Added today:
Keita Nakamura "K-taro" 14-3-2 vs. 9-3-0 Adriano Martins
Ikuhisa Minowa "Minowaman" 40-28-8 vs. 38-13-1 Masakatsu Funaki
Hayato Sakurai "Mach"32-8-2 vs. 12-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Yoshihiro Akiyama 11-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Masanori Tonooka

Previously announced:
HW: Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic 23-6-2 vs. 28-11-0 Alistair Overeem
HW: Sergei Kharitonov 15-3-0 vs. 3-0-0 Siala Siliga "Mighty Mo"
Featherweight: Hideo Tokoro 21-13-1 vs. 11-5-1 Atsushi Yamamoto

Middleweight GP Reserve Fight
Yoon Dong Sik 4-5-0 vs. 0-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

DREAM Middleweight Final: Winners of semi-finals
DREAM Middleweight Semi-Finals:
Melvin Manhoef 22-4-1 vs. 22-2-1 Gegard Mousasi
Zelg Galesic 9-3-0 vs. 9-1-0 Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza

Read more...

9/28 Sengoku - Card Complete

Sengoku added 2 fights to their card for the 28th. It looks like a very good card. Roger Gracie now has an opponent and it is his best to date, the very experienced Travis Wiuff. It will be very interesting to see this fight.

In the other fight added today is between former Middle- and welterweight King of Pancrase Kiuma Kunioku agaist Korean A Sol Kwon.

Added Today:
Heavyweight: Roger Gracie 2-0-0 vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff
Lightweight: Kiuma Kunioku 33-22-9 vs. 5-3-0 A Sol Kwon

Previously announced:
Light-heavyweight: Xande Ribeiro vs. 1-2-0 Takashi Sugiura

Middleweight GP
Kazuhiro Nakamura 11-8-0 vs. 10-11-0 Paul Cahoon
Jorge Santiago 17-7-0 vs. 11-2-0 Logan Clark
Yuki Kondo 49-22-6 vs. 21-14-1 Yuki Sasaki
Evangelista Santos "Cyborg" 16-11-0 vs. 13-3-1 Siyar Bahadurzada

Non-GP Fight (Winner will be in the LW reserve fight):
Jorge Masvidal 13-3-0 vs. 20-10-1 Ryan Schultz

Read more...

9/21 SmackGirl - Postponed

Wednesday 10 September 2008

SmackGirl have announced that the finals in the ReMix tournament is postponed, again... The finals were originally ment to be held on July 24, then September 21.

Either way, I am just happy to hear from them... It means there is still hope and I am really looking forward to the event, even if I have a wait a while longer...

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080910-00000022-spnavi-fight.html

Read more...

9/20 Shooto GIG West 10

Shooto is holding an event in Osaka's Azelea Hall. On the card are some interesting fights. Also, "Mark" Kano going for his first win. It is an annual thing (lately), and I hope he is successful this time.

This event is mainly about the Rookie Tournament though.

Middleweight: Tomokazu Yuasa 2-2-1 vs. 1-6-1 Yoshifumi Dogaki
Middleweight: Toru Ishinaka 0-4-3 vs. Toshihiro Yoroi
Featherweight: Yasuaki "AKI" Nagamoto 3-2-0 vs. 0-8-0 Manabu "Mark" Kano

Rookie Tournament Fights:
Light-heavyweight: Takaaki "C-Boy" Oban 1-1-0 vs. 1-0-0 Yudaku Tanaka
Welterweight: Hiroshi Sugimoto 1-1-0 vs. 8-1-3 Yukinari "Hibiki" Tamura
Welterweight: Yoshihiko "Kagero" Oyama 0-1-0 vs. 0-2-0 Keita Yoshida

Tickets are ¥4000

Read more...

10/26 Pancrase Shining Tour - First Fight Announced

Pancrase also announced the first fight for the event to be held in Differ Ariake on October 26.
This should be a very good fight, Sakaguchi is always exciting to watch and is much better than his record indicates. It will be interesting to see what he can do against the very talented Yuichi Ikari, who has not lost in 9 fights.

Fight Announced:
Yuichi Ikari 10-4-3 vs. 2-3-0 Yukio Sakaguchi

Read more...

10/1 Pancrase Shining Tour - Fight added

Pancrase have added 1 fight to the event taking place on October 1 in Korakuen Hall. Returning to the Pancrase ring is the excentric Pink Typhoon (Yuji Hisamatsu).

Announced today:
Middleweight: Yuji Hisamatsu 11-14-4 vs. 5-5-4 Takenori Sato

Previously announced:
King of Pancrase Ligh-Heavy weight Title fight:
Keiichiro Yamamiya 34-22-9 vs. 8-3-2 Ryo Kawamura

Koji Oishi 16-6-6 vs. 17-7-6 Naoyuki Kotani
Yuichiro Shirai "Yukito" 4-5-3 vs. 9-1-5 Ranki Kawana
Kiyotaka Shimizu vs. 1-3-0 Takuma Ishii
Hiromitsu Kanehara 16-21-1 vs. 7-9-3 Ichiro Kanai

Read more...

R.I.P Evan Tanner

The world lost a great fighter and a great personality on Monday. I am not much of a writer and not very good at expressing emotions, but it was a big shock.

I have mostly followed his adventures through the eyes of Fightlinker, and they have dedicated the day in his memory.

I think this fitting tribute to him:
http://www.fightlinker.com/?p=3107

Also, this site was set up in his honor:
http://www.evantanner.net/

Rest in peace.

Read more...

1st Anniversary

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Today it is 1 year for since I posted my first post on this blog.

I wanted to look back and asked my friends what stood out (always a bad idea). Most said the ring girl in this picture...

IMG_0641

I want to also look back at what were the highlights in terms of events too though.

The events that stood out for me were (I am only considering events I went to):

-DREAM 5 - Supporting "Hellboy" this was an experience I will never forget. (you will include DREAM 1 and 3 also).

Pictures from these events:
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/07/img3363.html
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/05/511-dream-3-pictures.html
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/03/315-dream-pictures.html

-Shooto "Back to Our Roots 6" - This card was awesome! Plus the fighters were there after the event, so it was very easy to meet them. It really sticks out as an event I enjoyed and a very good total experience.

Pictures:
http://www.japan-mma.com/2007/11/118-shooto-back-our-roots-6-pictures.html

-Cage Force 06 - This is the event most of my friends remember the best.Probably because there were 10 of us, and we had a great time. Again,fighters meeting the fans afterwards really makes the event more memorable.

Pictures:
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/04/img0639.html

-Cage Force 05 - This was the finals of last years Cage ForceTournament. Some great fighters including Dan Hardy and YoshiyukiYoshida.

Pictures:
http://www.japan-mma.com/2007/12/1201-cage-force-05-pictures.html

I want to give a special thanks to Paul McVeigh and Steve Magdaleno for taking time out of their schedule to answer my questions:
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/01/paul-mcveigh-interview.html
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/09/interview-steve-magdaleno-pancrase-neo.html

Other things that I want to mention, my post on "Hellboy" looking for a sponsor got more attention that I expected. It was a great honor for me to be able to help with this, and it seems that it helped in getting him 3 sponsors.
http://www.japan-mma.com/2008/06/joachim-hellboy-hansen-looking-for.html

I also want to thank everyone who have send me mails and contacted me over the last year. Some have been regulars, others one time. It has provided me with the encouragement I need to continue. I know I didn't get around to answering everyone, but hope I got to most of you. Thank you all, and hopefully the next year will be as fun as this has been!

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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