11/16 SmackGirl --> JEWELS

Finally there is a decision of that becomes of SmackGirl. It is pretty much done, but will continue... Sound confusing? Its not really. SmackGirl becomes JEWELS, in essence.

JEWELS will pick up where SmackGirl left us, and hopefully put on awesome events. They have a new competitor though... GCM is putting on Valkyrie, and they are kicking off just 8 days before this.

JEWELS will cooperate with DEEP, and we can expect to see some of the DEEP girls participate in this. Saeki is involved in the management and this should be a very exciting venture. It is offical, SmackGirl is gone but JEWELS will try to fill that spot.

BTW, no word on the SmackGirl finals.

Read more...

9/21 SmackGirl - Postponed

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...

MMA-Week Shattered! SmackGirl Event Postponed

It is still going to be a very busy time for MMA in Japan, and in general... But for me, it is no longer a MMA-Week... It's more like a long-weekend.

SmackGirl today announced that the ReMix finals are postponed! This is very disappointing for both fighters and fans, but hopefully they will be able to hold the event in September (that is the new plan). Sherdog is speculating that there are financial problems that is the cause of this, but whatever it is I hope they will work it out. SmackGirl is a unique concept and this year's tournament has been very exciting!

http://www.gbring.com/sokuho/news/2008_07/0710_smack.htm
http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=13616

Read more...

MMA Week Coming up

Well, I guess its not officially MMA week, but for me it wil be. Between July 17-24 there are so many events happening that it is hard to choose what to go to. Anyway, here is the schedule:

7/17 - DEEP/M-1 Challenge in Korakuen Hall
7/18 - Shooto Tradition 2 in Korakuen Hall
7/20 - ZST - SWAT 19 in Gold's Gym South Annex
7/21 - DREAM 5 in Osaka Jo Hall (card not offical, this is what we have so far)
7/21 - GCM Demolition in Differ Ariake (card not announced)
7/21 - Shoot Boxing in Korakuen Hall (card not announced)
7/24 - SmackGirl ReMix Tournament Finals in Korakuen Hall(I will have something here shortly)

I have deceided to go to Shooto and DREAM for that week. I hope to get to DEEP and SmackGirl as well, but will see how the finances are doing :).

In regonition of MMA Week, I will give you some videos of fighters participating.

Joachim Hansen vs. Olof Inger (from Finn-Fight 5 2001). This is the early days of Joachim's career, a decision win (its not easy to make out the result in the video) in his 3rd fight. A video I havnt seen before and I am sure fans will appreaciate.



Mamoru Yamaguchi is fighting "BJ" Kojima in the main event of Shooto - Tradition 2. Should be a good event, here are some highlights.



Daisuke Nakamura is fighting in the DEEP/M-1 Challenge. Here he is tapping (or maybe that should be not tapping...) against Vitor Ribeiro.



Megumi Fujii is fighting Ana Michelle Tavares in the final of the ReMix Tournament. This is her opening fight against Cindy Hales. Mega-Megu is currently 15-0-0 in MMA, and in the final she will meet a very competent fighter in Ana Michelle Tavares, I will post one of her fights too.



Ana Michelle Tavares has fought Mega-Megu before and lost by decision. Can she win this time? Here she is in the opening round against Kyoko Takabayashi.



And of course we cant forget the DREAM finalists. This is a higlight video of Shinya Aoki. I am sure I will have more chances to post the rest of the fighters in this tournament.

Read more...

4/25 SmackGirl - ReMix Tournament - PICTURES

IMIGA 002
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Time for the SmackGirl pictures. This was a very good event and I will definitly go to the next event as well.

IMIGA 010
Originally uploaded by japanmma

These girls are strong and very technical. This is Rin Nakai after her decision victory over Kanako Takeshita. Nakai is still undefeated.

IMIGA 011
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Windy Tomomi took on karate expert Azuma. Windy was too strong and experienced in this fight.

IMIGA 016
Originally uploaded by japanmma

IMIGA 043
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Josh Barnett had two of his fighters entered in this event. Ginele Marquez was the first one as she took on Atusko Emoto in the Open-weight tourament.

IMIGA 053
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Ginele was a convicing victory even though it went to decision she was never really threatened in this fight.

IMIGA 067
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Then it was Michelli Tavarez against Lisa Ward. This was a close fight.

IMIGA 074
Originally uploaded by japanmma

But Tavarez was the better on the ground.

IMIGA 076
Originally uploaded by japanmma

And she took the decision to move on the the final.

IMIGA 093
Originally uploaded by japanmma

In the other open-weight fight of the night, the very tall Hiroko fought Hitomi Akano. Hitomi looked small compared to Hiroko and even though Hitomi was clearly the more technical, it was a hard fight. Eventually Hiroko got tired.

IMIGA 108
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Hitomi got an arm-bar victory and moves into the final against Ginele.

IMIGA 113
Originally uploaded by japanmma

The main event was the undefeated Megumi Fuji against Korean kickboxer Su Hi Ham.

IMIGA 118
Originally uploaded by japanmma

It was close while the fight was a standing battle. But eventually Mega-Megu got Ham to the ground.

IMIGA 123
Originally uploaded by japanmma

It was just a question of time and Megumi Fuji got her 15th victory. She also celebrated her 34th birthday on April 26.

IMIGA 129
Originally uploaded by japanmma

Josh Barnett as always there to support her.

IMIGA 139
Originally uploaded by japanmma

The final in the light weight tournament will be very good. Michelli Tavarez is a very good BJJ fighter, so this should be close.

IMIGA 142
Originally uploaded by japanmma

The participants in the event. It was very good and some very exciting fights!

Read more...

4/25 SmackGirl - ReMix Tournament - RESULTS

Just got home from what was an awesome event!! It is the first time I have been to a SmackGirl event. There are several reasons why I havnt made it earlier, but finally today I got to it. I was really impressed!! The event was in Korakuen Hall, but they had changed the set-up from what I was used to and I almost didnt reconize it.

The fights where good, and of course the BIG star was Megumi Fuji. Again today she was cornered by Josh Barnett, who was willingly posing for pictures and signing autographes after the event. Mega Megu is celebrating her 34th birthday tomorrow and after her win today I am sure there will be a party.

I was also very impressed by Ginele Marquez, she was very good in her fight and won a very deserved vicory even after receiving a yellow card for punching in the face on the ground.

I will post some pictures from this event on Sunday.

The Tournament finals will be the following:
Lightweight: Megumi Fuji vs. Anna Michelli Tavares
Openweight: Ginele Marquez vs. Hitomi Akano

For the results:
Megumi Fuji Def. Su Hi Ham by Arm-bar Round 1
Hitomi Akano Def. Hiroko by Arm-bar Round 2
Anna Michelli Tavares Def. Lisa Ward by decision 3-0
Ginele Marquez Def. Atsuko Emoto by decision 3-0
Windy Tomomi Def. AZUMA by KO Round 2
Rin Nakai Def. Kanako Takeshita by deicision
Mika Nagano Def. Asami Kodera by decision
Miki Morifuji Def. Benkei by decision
Megu Def. Hitomi Sakamoto by decision

Read more...

Random Bits 4/12

-Seems everything happening now is about K-1 tomorrow, it is going to be a huge event. It is showing live on SkyPerfect ch. 721 from 3-8 PM. I am considering doing live updates, but not 100% sure yet... Either way, the results should be up quick.
http://mmamanjapan.blogspot.com/2008/04/77-k-1-world-max-final-8-matchups.html


-ZST has announced 2 fighters for their May 18 show. Pretty big names, but remember that Sengoku is holding their second event next doors on the same day... Anyway, participating in ZST 17 will be Hideo Tokoro and Masayuki Okude (Mini Hong Man Choi).
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080412-00000003-spnavi-fight.html

-SmackGirl has added 2 fights to their April 25 card today, undefeated Kanako Takeshita (6-0-0) will meet another undefeated fighter, Rin Nakai (3-0-0).

Also added was the discovery fight between Benkei (2-4-0) and Miki Morifuji (5-4-0). I am sure there will be additions to this card, but its already looking pretty good in my eyes.
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080412-00000025-spnavi-fight.html

-Wednesday's K-1 event scored 12.4% of the viewers. I don't normally pay attention to these, so not sure if that is high or low but have a feeling its on the low side. To be honest, I am not a fan of the TBS production... Something I also had a problem with when DREAM was on...
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/k1/headlines/20080411-00000004-spnavi_ot-fight.html

Read more...

4/25 SmackGirl - ReMix Tournament

SmackGirl has another awesome event coming up in April, they are bringing out one of their biggest stars. In addition to bringing back an old veteran.

Megumi Fuji made it through to the second round in the ReMix Tournament (not surprisingly), and will now face Korean Thai boxer Su Hi Ham. This will be a good fight, Su Hi Ham holds a win against Hisae Watanabe and should not be underestimated.

Also confirmed for this event is Windy Tomomi, who returned after a long injury break to demolish Emi Tomimatsu's career in her last fight.

confirmed so far:

World ReMix Tournament Lightweight Fights:
Megumi Fujii 14-0-0 vs. 3-2-0 Sec Hee Ham
Lisa Ward 11-3-0 vs. 6-2-0 Michelli Tavares

Non-Tournament fight:
Windy Tomomi 10-8-0 vs. AZUMA

Discovery Fights:
Asami Kodera 2-2-0 vs. 0-1-0 Mika Nagano
Megu vs. 0-1-0 Hitomi Sakamoto

ReMix Openweight Tournament Participants:
Hitomi Akano
Atsuko Emoto

http://gbring.com/sokuho/news/2008_04/0402_smack.htm

Read more...

2/14 SmackGirl - PICTURES

I didnt make it to this event, but thanks to Cliff I am able to show you a few pictures from this event. Everyone I have spoken to that went to this event really enjoyed it! I will make every effort to make it to the next one.

And yes, SmackGirls has ring girls too.

Michelli Tavares get her prize after defeating Kyoko Takabayashi

Su Hi Ham giving it to Saori Ishioka.

Lisa Ward after her victory against Ayumi Saito.

Hitomi Akano and Megumi Yabushita

Megumi Fujii against Cindy Hales

Josh Barnett was taking time out of his schedule to support his fighter.

Group shot

Ring girl posing after the event.

Read more...

2/14 SmackGirl - RESULTS

I wasn't able to get to this event, followed some of Don's advise for Valentine's Day last year and this year I was ordered straight home after work. I am sure there will be other chances though, and I hope to get to the next on. Got some friends there and told them to get me some good pictures, hopefully they deliver.


(I am updated the results as they become available on http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/live/2008/2008021401/index.html)


Lightweight Tournament Fight:
Megumi Fujii Def. Cindy Hales by arm-bar, Round 2, 0:27
Openweight Tournament Fight:
Hitomi Akano Def. Megumi Yabushita by Heel-hold, Round 2, 4:1
Lightweight Tournament Fight:
Lisa Ward Def. Ayumi Saito "EDGE" by ankle-lock、Round 1, 4:41
Lightweight Tournament Fight:
Su Hi Ham Def. Saori Ishioka by Decision 3-0
Lightweight Tournament Fight:
Michelli Tavares Def. Kyoko Takabayashi by arm-bar Round 2, 0:26
Openweight Tournament Fight:
Atsuko Emoto Def. “Tama-chan” Keiko Tamai by Decision 3-0


Discovery Fights:
Madoka Okada Def. Sakura Nakamura by rear-naked choke, Round 1, 4:43
Masako Yoshida Def. Asami Kodera by Decision 3-0
Megu Def. HARUMI by arm-bar, Round 1, 1:19

From what I hear this was a very good event and I will be at the next one, which will feature the fight between Megumi Fuji and Su Hi Ham. I am also hearing a lot of people want to watch Mega-Megu fight Yuka Tsuji, unfortunately that will not happen in this tournament, but keep in mind that Tsuji's only loss has come to Tavares.

Read more...