6/20 SRC 13 - Fight Order

WVR have announced the fight order for SRC 13. The main event will be the title fight between Masanori Kanehara and challenger Marlon Sandro. SRC are using the 5 round title fight rule and this should be a good battle, I would not be surprised if it goes the distance.

This is another card where WVR are giving talented fighters a shot on a higher profile card along side some of the big stars in Japan.

Main Event - Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
10. Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
9. Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
8. Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm

Welterweight Tournament Round 1 (Block A):
7. Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura 18-4-2 vs. 6-2-0 Omar de la Cruz
6. Takuya Wada 19-8-10 vs. 5-5-0 Jae Sun Lee

5. Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
4. Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho
3. Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie

Opening Fight:
2. Light: Kazuki Tokutome 4-1-1 vs. 2-5-0 Yuma Ishizuka
1. Middle: Ikkei Nagamura 3-2-1 vs. 3-1-0 Ye Won Nam

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6/20 SRC 13 - Welterweight GP Announced

WVR have announced the addition of a 8-man tournament to SRC13 and SRC14. The first 2 fights will take place at SRC13 and includes Japanese star "K-Taro" and King of Pancrase Takuya Wada.

The other round 1 fights will take place at SRC14 and will include: the winner of Yamamiya vs. Ura at Pancrase on June 5. Also participating will be Kenta Takagi and Taisuke Okuno.

Matchups announced for SRC13 are:
Welterweight GP Round 1:
Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura 18-4-2 vs. 6-2-0 Omar de la Cruz
Takuya Wada 19-8-10 vs. 5-5-0 Jae Sun Lee

Previously Announced:
Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Non-Title Fights:
Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm
Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho

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6/20 SRC 13 - Fights Announced

WVR is putting on their 13th event in Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 20. And they are continuing the tradition of announcing the fights early (I like that).

Added to the card today was 2 fights, both with some very talented Japanese fighters. Shigeki Osawa will take on the experienced Katsuya Toida. The other fight announced today will see the former Shooto Rookie Tournament champion, Ikuo Usuda take on Kang Kyung Ho (Osawa's opponent on SRC12.

The main event will most likely be the featherweight title fight between Kanehara and Marlon Sandro, who was my personal favorite in the tournament last year. It should be a very good and tactical fight.

Added:
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho

Previously Announced:
Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Non-Title Fights:
Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm
Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie

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12/31 Fields Dynamite! - RESULTS

The event is underway in Saitama. I will be posting results in HDNet time, since that is what most people are watching (still earlier than Japan).

And I can promise that there will be upsets!

Over 37,000 in attendence in a sold out SuperArena!

Read on for spoilers.


K-1 Koshien (Highschool) Tournament Semi-Finals:
1. Reserve: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Tsukasa Fuji
2. SF 1: Masaaki Noiri Def. Hiroya by decision
3. SF 2: Shota Shimada Def. Katsuki Ishida by Decision

Super Hulk Tournament Final:
4. Minowaman Def. Sokoudjou by TKO Round 3
Minowa floors Sokoudjou with a right late in the 3rd round, just about the 1st punch thrown in the round.

5. K-1: Ray Sefo Def. Yosuke Nishijima by Decision
Very one sided fight that somehow goes the distance.

K-1 Koshien (Highschool) Tournament Final:
6. Final: Masaaki Noiri Def. Masaaki Noiri by Decision

DREAM vs. Sengoku (3x5min.):
7. DREAM vs. SRC: Hiroshi Izumi Def. Katsuyori Shibata by Decision 3-0
Izumi gets a decision in a fight that could have gone either way. Some would say this was controversial.

8. DREAM vs. SRC: Michihiro Omigawa Def. Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO Round 1
Sengoku is off to a flying start. As expected, these fighters didnt wait to exchange! Omigawa pulls of a small upset! Sengoku is in the lead 2-0!

9. DREAM vs. SRC: Akihihiro Gono Def. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai by armbar round 2
Gono pulls out another win for Sengoku!! 3-0 now!

10. DREAM vs. SRC: Melvin Manhoef Def. Kazuo Misaki by TKO Round 1
Manhoef gets the first win for Dream, usual style just came out more carefully this time. Misaki is complaining (maybe rightly) of an early stoppage.

11. DREAM vs. SRC: Hideo Tokoro Def. Jong Man Kim by Decision 3-0
Fight of the night so far!!!

12. DREAM vs. SRC: Tatsuya Kawajiri Def. Kazunori Yokota by Decision 3-0
HUGE War, Kawajiri was the better fighter and it looked like the armbar at the end should finally put Yokota away. It is now 3-3 between Sengoku and Dream, Dream have levelled the score!!

13. DREAM vs. SRC: Masanori Kanehara Def. Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto by Decision
Another fight of the night candidate! Kanehara had a very strong round 2, and it was enough even though Kid came on strong in the end of round 3.

15. DREAM vs. SRC: Alistair Overeem Def. Kazuyuki Fujita by KO Round 1
Huge knee sends Fujita out of the ring. Fujita is grabbing his head, but not getting up! It is 4-4 between Sengoku and Dream!

17. Dream (3x5min): Gegard Mousasi Def. Gary Goodridge by TKO Round 1
Mousasi took Goodridge down with ease and Goodridge never really had an answer.

DREAM vs. Sengoku (3x5min.):
THe fight between DREAM and Sengoku comes down to the 2 champions!
16. DREAM vs. SRC: Shinya Aoki Def. Mizuto Hirota by submission round 1
Aoki litterally took Hirota's arm off, as Hirota didnt tap. I have no idea what it was though.

14. Sengoku: Hidehiko Yoshida Def. Satoshi Ishii by Decision
Yoshida used his experience and got a close win here. A knee to the groin of Yoshida earned Ishii a red card (point reduction) in round 2 that could have tipped the fight in Yoshida's favor.

Main Event:
18. K-1 (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.): Masato Def. Andy Souwer by Decision
A good fight to end the night, and Masato's career!

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12/31 Fields Dynamite! - Fight Order

The fight order for tomorrows Dynamite! event is announced. Not surprising that Masato gets the honor of fighting in the main event in his last fight.

I am surprised that the last fight to be announced, Mousasi vs. Goodridge is the co-main event though... I was expecting it to be Ishii vs. Yoshida, OR the clash of champions Aoki vs. Hirota.

This card is huge, 18 fights and a lot of the top fighters in Sengoku and DREAM. There are fighters I wish were on the card, I think especially in the lightweight division there are some big names missing.

I also think K-1 fans will be disappointed at this year's card. It has ended up being a MMA event, I think due to the cooperation with Sengoku. The result is 2 K-1 fights (not counting the Koshien tournament (which is really the undercard).

Main Event:
18. K-1 (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.):Masato vs. Andy Souwer
17. Dream (3x5min): Gegard Mousasi vs. 23-19-1 Gary Goodridge

16. DREAM vs. SRC: Shinya Aoki 22-4-0 vs. 12-3-1 Mizuto Hirota
15. DREAM vs. SRC: Alistair Overeem 31-11-0 vs. 15-8-0 Kazuyuki Fujita

14. Sengoku: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida

13. DREAM vs. SRC: Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto 17-2-0 vs. 15-7-5 Masanori Kanehara
12. DREAM vs. SRC: Tatsuya Kawajiri 25-5-2 vs. 11-2-3 Kazunori Yokota
11. DREAM vs. SRC: Hideo Tokoro 25-21-1 vs. 21-10-3 Jong Man Kim
10. DREAM vs. SRC: Melvin Manhoef 23-6-1 vs. 22-9-2 Kazuo Misaki
9. DREAM vs. SRC: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai 35-9-2 vs. 30-15-7 Akihihiro Gono
8. DREAM vs. SRC: Hiroyuki Takaya 12-7-1 vs. 8-8-1 Michihiro Omigawa
7. DREAM vs. SRC: Katsuyori Shibata 4-6-1 vs. 0-1-0 Hiroshi Izumi

K-1 Koshien (Highschool) Tournament Final:
6. Final: Winner of SF 1 vs. Winner of SF 2

5. K-1: Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
4. Super Hulk Tournament Final: Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou

K-1 Koshien (Highschool) Tournament Semi-Finals:
3. SF 2: Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada
2. SF 1:Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
1. Reserve: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Tsukasa Fuji

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12/31 Fields Dynamite! - Changes and Additions

There has been a change to the SRC "Team" on the Dynamite! card. Jong Man Kim is stepping in for an injured Marlon Sandro. Kim is a very good fighter, but he has not had a win since his very surprising upset of Hatsu Hioki in 2007, or 7 fights.

Also added to the card is Gegard Mousasi, who will take on the veteran Gary Goodridge in a MMA rules fight. Goodridge is riding a 4 fight losing streak and is facing the former DREAM middleweight title holder and current StrikeForce champion, Mousasi, who has a 14 fight winning streak.

Added:
MMA: Gegard Mousasi vs. 23-19-1 Gary Goodridge

Change:
Hideo Tokoro 25-21-1 vs. 21-10-3 Jong Man Kim

Previously Announced:
DREAM Vs. SRC:
Shinya Aoki 22-4-0 vs. 12-3-1 Mizuto Hirota
Tatsuya Kawajiri 25-5-2 vs. 11-2-3 Kazunori Yokota
Melvin Manhoef 23-6-1 vs. 22-9-2 Kazuo Misaki
Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto 17-2-0 vs. 15-7-5 Masanori Kanehara
Hiroyuki Takaya 12-7-1 vs. 8-8-1 Michihiro Omigawa
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai 35-9-2 vs. 30-15-7 Akihihiro Gono
Katsuyori Shibata 4-6-1 vs. 0-1-0 Hiroshi Izumi
Kazuyuki Fujita 15-8-0 vs. 31-11-0 Alistair Overeem

K-1 Fight:Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima

MMA: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
K-1 (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.):Masato vs. Andy Souwer
Super Hulk Tournament Final: Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou

K-1 Koshien (Highschool) Tournament Finals:
Final: Winner of SF 1 vs. Winner of SF 2
Reserve: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Tsukasa Fuji
SF 1:Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
SF 2: Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada

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12/31 Fields Dynamite! - The Champions will Fight

FEG and WVR have announced 2 additional fights for the NYE Dynamite! event. Everyone was hoping for a DREAM title fight between Aoki and Kawajiri, but that will not happen. Instead Dream champion Shinya Aoki will take on Sengoku champion Mizuto Hirota in a fight that should be very interesting. No doubt Hirota will need to keep this off the ground, while Aoki will be desperate to get it there.

The other fight added could end up being a very good fight. Dream title challenger Tatsuya Kawajiri will take on Sengoku title challenger Kazunori Yokota. Yokota has had a very good 2009 and will be looking to end on a high. Kawajiri will be looking to cement himself as the #1 challenger for Aoki's title when 2010 starts.

A lot on the line in both these fights. There will be 2 more K-1 fights added to the card.

***UPDATE***
Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki has been added to the card during Christmas. Should be a good fight, everyone knows what Manhoef is planning. I am interested in seeing what Misaki is planning to counter though.


Added:
DREAM vs. SRC:
Shinya Aoki 22-4-0 vs. 12-3-1 Mizuto Hirota
Tatsuya Kawajiri 25-5-2 vs. 11-2-3 Kazunori Yokota
Melvin Manhoef 23-6-1 vs. 22-9-2 Kazuo Misaki

Previously Announced:
DREAM Vs. SRC:
Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto 17-2-0 vs. 15-7-5 Masanori Kanehara
Hiroyuki Takaya 12-7-1 vs. 8-8-1 Michihiro Omigawa
Hideo Tokoro 25-21-1 vs. 15-1-0 Marlon Sandro
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai 35-9-2 vs. 30-15-7 Akihihiro Gono
Katsuyori Shibata 4-6-1 vs. 0-1-0 Hiroshi Izumi
Kazuyuki Fujita 15-8-0 vs. 31-11-0 Alistair Overeem

K-1 Fight:Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima

MMA Fight: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
K-1 (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.):Masato vs. Andy Souwer
Super Hulk Tournament Final: Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou

K-1 Koshien (Highschool) Tournament Finals:
Final: Winner of SF 1 vs. Winner of SF 2
Reserve: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Tsukasa Fuji
SF 1:Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
SF 2: Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada

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12/31 Fields Dynamite! - Fights Announced

FEG have announced an additional 6 fights for the Dynamite card today

6 fights are DREAM vs. SRC. "Kid" is returning to take on Sengoku featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara. And Hiroshi Izumi will have his 2nd MMA fight against Katsuyori Shibata.

Also a K-1 fight is announced. Veteran Ray Sefo is returning to take on former boxing champion Yusuke Nishijima.

DREAM Vs. SRC:
Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Masanori Kanehara
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Hideo Tokoro vs. Marlon Sandro
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Akihihiro Gono
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Alistair Overeem

K-1 Fight:Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima

Previously Announced:
MMA Fight: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
K-1 (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.):Masato vs. Andy Souwer
Super Hulk Tournament Final: Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou

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9/23 Sengoku 10 - The Fresh King of Pancrase fighting

The newly crowned King of Pancrase has been added to the upcoming Sengoku card, Maximo Blanco have always been a very talented fighter his problem has been containing his enthusiasm. This time he will take on the very talented Tetsuya Yamada, who was very impressive in his loss in the featherweight GP. He is still very young, and weight gain is natural he will move up to lightweight and his first fight will be a tough one.

There are also 3 opening fights added, these are the winners of the Sengoku G tournamnets in Japan and Korea taking eachother on.

This looks to be another very interesting event from Sengoku, to be held in Saitama Community Arena. They seemed to have settled on a format of very talented fighter forming the opening fights, and I think it is a very good way of giving these young fighters invaluable experience.

Added:
Maximo Blanco 3-2-1 vs. 3-1-0 Tetsuya Yamada
Kazunori Yokota 9-2-3 vs. 20-11-1 Ryan Schultz

Opening fights:
Light: Ikuo Usuda 5-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Baek Woo Hyun
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 3-0-0 vs. Kim Ki Hyun
Bantam: Ryosuke Komori 4-1-0 vs. So Jee Hyun

Participants:
Hiroshi Izumi (debut)
Makoto Takimoto 5-5-0
Antonio Silva 12-1-0
Joe Doerksen 42-12-0

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9/23 Sengoku 10 - Participants announced

Yesterday Sengoku had their 9th event, they also introduced a judging system where the judge can chose the fighter they like. I have to say I hate the way they developed the "must" system. It allowes the judge to chose the fighter, if they rule it a draw.

Anyway, the card was solid, Kanehara vs. Hioki was fight of the night, and Sengoku got their Japanese champion.

Anyway, looking forward to Sengoku 10, there are some very interesting fighters announced. I just hope they dump the "must" system. They have really signed some very good fighters, and managed well they can attract a lot of new fans.

Announced for this event are:
-Athen Olympics judo silver medalist, Hiroshi Izumi.
-Sydney judo gold medalist, Makoto Takimoto.
-The fighter that knocked the new Sengoku lightweight champion out of the tournament, Kazunori Yokota.
-Former EliteXC heavyweight champion, Antonio Silva.
-Former IFL lightweight champion, Ryan Schultz.
-Former WEC title contender, Joe Doerksen.

Participant:
Hiroshi Izumi (debut)
Makoto Takimoto 5-5-0
Kazunori Yokota 9-2-3
Antonio Silva 12-1-0
Ryan Schultz 20-11-1
Joe Doerksen 42-12-0

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Izumi confusion/Ishii to MMA

I felt like it was confirmed earlier that Hiroshi Izumi (Judo Olympic Silver medalist from 2004) was going to MMA and Sengoku. Today there is confusion again... He is saying he did NOT receive an offer from Sengoku and is concentrating on Judo. He is compating in a Judo competition later this month.

Satoshi Ishii (olympic Judo gold medalist from Beijing) confirmed yesterday that he is quitting Judo and will be competing in MMA. But he did not confirm any organization yet.

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20081104-00000002-spnavi_ot-fight.html
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20081103-00000015-spnavi-fight.html

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Sengoku Signs Izumi

It is confirmed today that Sengoku has signed the Judo 90kg Olympic silver medalist from Athens. Hiroshi Izumi is a popular Judo fighter in Japan and now he will change to MMA.

It is really an exciting time in Japanese MMA these days! Izumi might make his debut in January.

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20081031-00000000-spnavi_ot-fight.html

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