7/12 Cage Force & Valkyrie - RESULTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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7/12 Cage Force & Valkyrie - Fight Order

Cage Force have published their card for July 12. The main-event made in onto the Sherdog's 10 fights to watch in July. It should be a good fight between to fighters that have fought on the big stage, but have yet to break through there. Hamanaka is on a 4 fight losing streak, but he has not fought often. Alavutdin has done very well since 2007, but lost in his DREAM debut against Ralek Gracie.

Of the Valkyrie fight, V hajime facing Kyoko Takabayashi should be a very good fight. V Hajime is a very talented fighter and Kyoko Takabayashi should be a good test for her.

Main-Event:
9. Middle: Alavutdin Gadjiev 14-8-0 vs. 4-6-1 Kazuhiro Hamanaka

8. Feather: Wataru Takahashi 8-10-3 vs. 5-6-2 Tomonori Taniguchi
7. Middle: Ikkei Nagamura 2-1-1 vs. 0-11-0 Nobuhiro Tsurumaki
6. Valkyrie Feather: Mei "V Hajime" Yamaguchi 4-2-0 vs. 9-3-0 Kyoko Takabayashi
5. Welter: Tetsuo Seto 4-2-2 vs. 1-0-0 Sapp Nishinari
4. Feather: Satoshi Nishino 5-4-2 vs. 2-2-0 Toshihiro Taguchi
3. Bantam: Masaki Yokoyama 2-2-3 vs. 4-3-1 Hayato Shimizu

Valkyrie Fights:
2. Welter: Mizuho Sato 4-2-0 vs. Cyou Benkei
1. Feather: ♂ha＠ＴＨＥ♀ vs. Sakura

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7/12 Cage Force & Valkyrie

GCM is holding a combination event on July 12 in Differ Ariake, by combination I mean that this will be both a Cage Force and a Valkyrie event.

There are some very interesting fight on this card. For one, we will see the return of the one time Pancrase ranker, Alavutdin Gadjiev taking on the IFL and Hero's veteran Kazuhiro Hamanaka. Hamanaka is coming of 4 straight losses and will be looking to get a win here. Gadjiev is not an easy opponent though, and he would be my pick here.

Also on the card is veteran Nobuhiro Tsurumaki. A record of 0-11, but this guy has been in the game for a long time and fought some very tough fighters. Lets see how he does against Team Cloud's Ikke Nagamura.

Cage Force:
Middle: Ikkei Nagamura 2-1-1 vs. 0-11-0 Nobuhiro Tsurumaki
Middle: Alavutdin Gadjiev 14-8-0 vs. 4-6-1 Kazuhiro Hamanaka
Feather: Wataru Takahashi 8-10-3 vs. 5-6-2 Tomonori Taniguchi
Feather: Satoshi Nishino 5-4-2 vs. 2-2-0 Toshihiro Taguchi
Bantam: Masaki Yokoyama 2-2-3 vs. 4-3-1 Hayato Shimizu
Welter: Tetsuo Seto 4-2-2 vs. 1-0-0 Sapp Nishinari

Valkyrie Fights:
Mei "V Hajime" Yamaguchi 4-2-0 vs. 9-3-0 Kyoko Takabayashi
Mizuho Sato 4-2-0 vs. Cyou Benkei
♂ha＠ＴＨＥ♀ vs. Sakura

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6/15 DREAM 4 - Live Results ***SPOILER***

For those counting down, 6 hours to go! I am not planning a play-by-play today, but will be giving a live result service.

The weigh-in results, posted in a Sherdog discussion thread with no source, but it looks ligit (DREAM weigh-ins are normally closed):

MW: Kazushi Sakuraba (83.6 kg) vs. Melvin Manhoef (84 kg)
MW: Ronaldo Jacare (83.9 kg) vs. Jason Miller (84 kg)
MW: Kin Taiei (84 kg) vs. Zelg Galesic (83.8 kg)
MW: Yoon Dong Sik (83.9 kg) vs. Gegard Mousasi (83.8 kg)
FW: Hideo Tokoro (62.9 kg) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (62.6 kg)
HW: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (89.5 kg) vs. Ralek Gracie (96 kg)
HW: Alistair Overeem (108.8 kg) vs. Lee Tae Hyun (126.7 kg)
LW: Shinya Aoki (69.7 kg) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (69.8 kg)

I had a feeling Alavutdin would be giving up a lot of weight, and this seems to confirm it. This time he has to be careful not to get mounted... Think it would be much harder to get out of this time.

Here are the fights coming up:

Lightweight Tournament:
1. Shinya Aoki Def. Katsuhiko Nagata by mounted gogopalata Round 1 (?)
Total domination by Aoki!

Non-Tournament Fights:
2. Alistair Overeem Def. Tae Hyun Lee by KO (Right hook) Round 1 0:35

This next one I am really looking forward to. It will be quick.
3. Ralek Gracie Def. Alavutdin Gadzhiyev by arm-bar Round 1
Alavutdin needs to work on his guard/ground game.

4. Hideo Tokoro Def. Darren Uyenoyama by Decision 3-0
AWESOME fight!!! This will be fight of the night.

They are drawing the LW tournament semi's in the intermission. I am confused as they asked the fans to vote for the match-ups... Either way, we will get the match-up tonight!

Matcu-ups are:
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno

BTW, I got my wish! This is how I voted!

5. Gegard Mousasi Def. Dong Sik Yoon by decision 3-0
First round was awesome! Both fighters looked like they had their chances, Dong should maybe have finished it, but Mousasi did well in defending himself.

6. Zelg "Benkei" Galesic Def. Taiei Kin by TKO injury to right armduring take down (dislocated elbow)
Again disappointing, 2nd time Taiei Kin got injured against Galesic.

7. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza Def. Jason "Mayhem" Miller by Decision 3-0
Both these fighter would have won some fans on this performance. I have a feeling "Mayhem" is really getting a lot of fans here!

8. Melvin Manhoef Def. Kazushi Sakuraba by TKO Round 1

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6/15 DREAM 4 - Fight Order Announced

No big surprise that Sakuraba vs. Manhoef is the main event, it is the one the Japanese fans are looking forward too and I don't think they are alone this time! It will be very interesting to see how Sakuraba approaches that task.

I am a bit surprised that, again, Shinya Aoki is in the opening fight. Either way, lots to look forward to in this event. I will be giving the results live on Sunday, but no plans for a Play-by-Play this time.

Middleweight Tournament:
8. Kazushi Sakuraba 24-10-1 vs. 21-4-1 Melvin Manhoef
7. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza 8-1-0 vs. 21-5-0 Jason "Mayhem" Miller
6. Zelg "Benkei" Galesic 8-3-0 vs. 3-2-0 Taiei Kin
5. Gegard Mousasi 21-2-1 vs. 4-4-0 Dong Sik Yoon

4. Hideo Tokoro 19-13-1 vs. 4-1-0 Darren Uyenoyama
3. Alavutdin Gadzhiyev 7-1-0 vs. 1-0-0 Ralek Gracie
2. Alistair Overeem 26-11-0 vs. 1-1-0 Tae Hyun Lee

Lightweight Tournament:
1. Shinya Aoki 15-2-0 vs. 4-2-0 Katsuhiko Nagata

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6/15 DREAM 4 - Fight added

FEG has managed to save the situation a bit. They have had 2 fighters withdraw this week and have been lucky in that the 2 remaining fighters have agreed to face eachother.

Ralek Gracie will take on Gadzhiev Alavutdin, in a fight added to the DREAM 4 card today. Gracie was meant to fight CroCop in a special rules grappling match, and Gadzhiev Alavutdin was fighting Cacareko. Unfortunately both these fights were cancelled and now they are fighting each other. It should be an interesting fight, Gadzhiev Alavutdin has been very good in his Pancrase fights and I am really looking forward to him getting his DREAM debut.

I will give live result update from this, but since most of you hopefully are able to catch the HDNet or SkyPerfect broadcast, I am not planning a play-by-play.

The card:
Alavutdin Gadzhiyev 7-1-0 vs. 1-0-0 Ralek Gracie
Hideo Tokoro 19-13-1 vs. 4-1-0 Darren Uyenoyama
Alistair Overeem 26-11-0 vs. 1-1-0 Tae Hyun Lee

Lightweight Tournament:
Shinya Aoki 15-2-0 vs. 4-2-0 Katsuhiko Nagata

Middleweight Tournament:
Kazushi Sakuraba 24-10-1 vs. 21-4-1 Melvin Manhoef
Gegard Mousasi 21-2-1 vs. 4-4-0 Dong Sik Yoon
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza 8-1-0 vs. 21-5-0 Jason "Mayhem" Miller
Zelg "Benkei" Galesic 8-3-0 vs. 3-2-0 Taiei Kin

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6/15 DREAM 4 - Cacareco out?

Sherdog is reporting that Cacareco will not be making his DREAM debut on Sunday due to visa issues. This is a blow to DREAM who just a few days ago had CroCop pull out.

This is disappointing, I was looking forward to seeing the 2 debutants battle it out. Hopefully they are able to find a replacement on short notice... I would like to see Alavutdin Gadzhiyev make his debut.

The card still looks good though:
Kazushi Sakuraba 24-10-1 vs. 21-4-1 Melvin Manhoef
Gegard Mousasi 21-2-1 vs. 4-4-0 Dong Sik Yoon
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza 8-1-0 vs. 21-5-0 Jason "Mayhem" Miller

Zelg "Benkei" Galesic 8-3-0 vs. 3-2-0 Taiei Kin
Hideo Tokoro 19-13-1 vs. 4-1-0 Darren Uyenoyama
Alistair Overeem 26-11-0 vs. 1-1-0 Tae Hyun Lee

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6/15 DREAM 4 - Fights Added

DREAM have added 2 more fights to their event June 15. Added to the card is Dutch fighter Alistair Overeem, it will be good to see him back in Japan.

Also added it the very exciting Alavutdin Gaddzhiyev, who as been outstanding in his Pancrase fights, he has 7 wins in a row and most finished within the first minute of the fight. He is facing BTT's Alexandre Cacareco who is on a 5 fight winning streak. This will be a Lightheavyweight fight and I think Cacareco is slightly heavier than Alavutdin.

Added:
Alistair Overeem 26-11-0 vs. 1-1-0 Tae Hyun Lee
Alavutdin Gadzhiyev 7-1-0 vs. 16-5-0 Alexandre "Cacareco" Ferreira

Previously Announced:
Grappling Fight: Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic vs. Ralek Gracie
Hideo Tokoro 19-13-1 vs. 4-1-0 Darren Uyenoyama

Middleweight Tournament:
Kazushi Sakuraba 24-10-1 vs. 21-4-1 Melvin Manhoef
Gegard Mousasi 21-2-1 vs. 4-4-0 Dong Sik Yoon
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza 8-1-0 vs. 21-5-0 Jason "Mayhem" Miller
Zelg "Benkei" Galesic 8-3-0 vs. 3-2-0 Taiei Kin

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3/26 Pancrase - Shining Tour 2 - PICTURES

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Some pictures from yesterday's Pancrase event, as always the Pancase sisters were there to cheer the fighters on and they always do a good job.

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Asano defeated Yukito by a close decision, Yukito looked a bit disappointed. It was a close one that could have gone either way.

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Kenji Arai entering the ring to face Krazy Bee fighter Shinsuke Shoji.

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This fight was not that close, but we still got to see the ring-girls at work.

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Shoji was going for takedowns and more often than not, he got them. But he was unable to finish the fight.

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Still, a comfortable decision to Shoji.

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Hacran Dias was the first of the undefeated fighters to take the ring. It was not a very exciting fight, Dias was aware of Ito's leg-locks and did everything he could to stay out of them. The fight ended in a draw, which was a correct reflection of how the fight went.

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Gadzhiev Alavutdin has been very good at ending fights early. He looked comfident as he entered the ring against the very experienced Hikaru Sato.

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Sato immediately took the fight to the ground.

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Mounted the Russian.

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And got KO'ed. I couldn't really see how, but he was out.

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For a while it looked as if a streacher was needed, be Sato eventually got back up and was able to walk out.

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Takeuchi entered the ring with some help from some young ladies.

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His fight was pretty boring though... He managed to get the decision, but I think it was a pretty close fight.

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Time for the main event, and Miki Shida started the fight Sumo style and ended it KO'ed style.

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Marlon Sandros again the victor, and now he gets a shot at the Pancrase title.

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After the event the Pancrase girls were busy posing for and with fans.

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3/26 Pancrase - Shining Tour 2 - RESULTS

Just came home from an event I had very high expectations for. It didn't turn out as well as I thought... The fights were not as good as the names on the card, but that happens some times. In the mix though, were some fights that did live up to my expectations.

Alavutdin has cemented his reputation as a KO machine! This guy is ploughing through the Pancrase ranks. Again winning by KO in less than 90 seconds. Also Sandros were impressive in his win, extending his winning record to 11-0. He also earned his shot at the Pancrase title with that win. Kenji Arai vs. Shinsuke Shoji was also a very entertaining fight, this time Shoji came out a clear winner.

I was really looking forward to seeing Takeuchi fight, but the most exciting thing about his fight was the entry. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Marlon Sandro Def. Miki Shida by KO, Round 2 4:19
Izuru Takeuchi Def. Hiromitsu Kanehara by decision 3-0
Gadzhiev Alavutdin Def. Hikaru Sato by KO, Round 1 1:20
Takafumi Ito vs. Hacran Dias Draw
Shinsuke Shoji Def. Kenji Arai by decision 3-0
Michihisa Asano Def. Yuichiro Shirai “Yukito” by decision 2-0
Ichiro Kanai vs. Takenori Sato Draw
Tomoyoshi Iwamiya Def. Asaki Honda by decision 3-0

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