Strikeforce Saturday Night Fights
Bridgestone Arena
Saturday, April 17
Nashville, Tennessee
CBS
Strikeforce has an all-star card for the hardcore MMA fans with Dan Henderson/Jake Shields, Gegard Mousasi/King Mo Lawal, and Gilbert Melendez/Shinya Aoki. In my predictions I put out earlier this week I picked Henderson, Mousasi and Melendez. I honestly think all 3 fights could go either way so it will be interesting to see how they fall. Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock are the announcers and Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship: Gegard Mousasi (c) (28-2-1) vs. Mo Lawal (6-0)
Mousasi introduced himself to Strikeforce fans by decimating their champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral in just one minute. Fans of the DREAM promotion in Japan were not surprised at all as they had already seen Mousasi beat Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef and Jacare Souza. Mousasi is on a 15 fight win streak and has not lost since 2006 (submitted by Akihiro Gono via arm bar in Pride). Mousasi’s strength is his standup and lightning quick hands but he also is decent on the ground and has a good bottom game (just ask Jacare about that!). King Mo Lawal is one of the most charismatic fighters in MMA and he’s a guy that I think could really help put Strikeforce on the map as he’s much more marketable than Mousasi and guys like Dan Henderson and Jake Shields. Mo has a decorated past in wrestling. Just check Wikipedia, he was a stud. Mo is still very young in the MMA game. He’s beat guys like Travis Wiuff, Mike Whitehead and Mark Kerr. So he’s faced some veterans but he’s been relatively untested and has certainly not faced anyone with the type of skill that Mousasi has. Mo has finished 5 of his 6 wins by TKO.
R1- Mo went for a take down and ate a bunch of punches but completed the take down. Mousasi has a very active guard and he's keeping this round even despite fighting from the bottom. Mo is landing some strikes from the top but isn't landing anything cleanly. Mousasi got to his feet with one minute left in the round. Mousasi stuffed a take down and landed some knees. Mo got a take down with under a minute left. King Mo looks a bit tired and Mousasi easily got to his feet. Really close round that could have gone either way probably went to Mo due to dominating the position of the fight for the majority of the round. Shamrock gave the round to Mo 10-9.
R2- Mo got a quick take down in the first twenty seconds of the round. Mousasi landing strikes from his back. Mo is really exposing his head trying to get better position on the ground and is taking shots. Mousasi looked really good fighting off of his back and it looked like Mo just let him up so he wouldn't take anymore of Mousasi's strikes. Mousasi hit a good left up against the cage and then Mo immediately took him down. Mousasi landed some more shots from the bottom and then got to his feet with a minute left in the round. Mo got another take down but he's just eating strikes. Mousasi went for a submission but couldn't get it. Mousasi had Mo on his knees for a minute and landed some shots and then took his back but didn't have enough time to hook in a submission. That round goes to Mousasi making it 19-19.
R3- Mo keeping his hands down in this round and Mousasi landing some strikes. King Mo swinging for the fences but not hitting and then getting a take down. Mo is controlling this round and is starting to land some strikes from the top position. Mo took this round and he's up 29-28 going into the Championship Rounds.
R4- Mo got a take down about thirty seconds into the round. John McCarthy stands them up at the mid-point way of the round as Mo wasn't doing much from the top. Mo went for a take down and ate some strikes but completed the take down. Not a lot of action in this round but I've got Mo taking it and taking a 39-37 advantage in the final round. I think Mousasi has to finish if he wants to keep his championship.
R5- Mo shot in and got a take down thirty seconds into the round. The fight is stopped for an illegal up kick by Mousasi with two minutes left in the round. Mo's left eye is swelling shut. John McCarthy took a point away from Mousasi for kicking to the head of a grounded fighter. Mousasi landed some good shots when they were put back in play. Mousasi got back to his feet with under two minutes left. Mousasi threw some strikes but Mo took Mousasi back down with one minute left in the round. They are stood back up with twenty-five seconds left. Mo landed a take down with seven seconds left in the round and this one is over. Mo didn't do much in this round besides the take downs. I've got the fight scored 48-46 for Mo with Mousasi losing one point due to an illegal blow.
Not a sexy performance by King Mo but he showed his dominant wrestling tonight and while his stamina wasn't top-notch it was enough to win the fight over a very good fighter in Gegard Mousasi.
Judges score cards: 49-45 on all judges score cards
Winner and new champion: King Mo Lawal by Decision (Unanimous)
Strikeforce Lightweight Championship: Gilbert Melendez (c) (17-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (23-4)
Shinya Aoki is the challenger in this fight and in my book he has to be considered the favorite. Aoki has developed over the last few years into someone I thought of as a boring fighter to someone who starting snapping opponents arms and not thinking twice about it. Aoki has always been a gifted jiu jitsu practitioner but now that he has the attitude to go with it he is going to be trouble for anybody he’s fighting. Aoki has won his last 3 fights since he tried moving up in weight and got destroyed by Hayato Sakari at DREAM 8. Over the last two years Aoki has beaten a who’s who of MMA lightweights in Eddie Alvarez, Gesias Calvalcante, Joachim Hansen, Vitor Ribeiro, Caol Uno and Mizuto Hirota. Aoki has finished 5 of his last 6 wins and 4 of those have been by submission. Aoki has a 60% submission rate in his wins. Gilbert Melendez started his career by winning 13 straight fights including wins over Clay Guida and Tasuya Kawajiri. Melendez then dropped 2 of his next 3 fights as he fell to Mitsuhiro Ishida and Josh Thomson. Melendez’s last two victories have been over the only two men who have defeated him. Now that’s impressive, not many MMA fighters can boast that they have came back and re-claimed victories against the only men who defeated them. Without inside knowledge of Melendez it looked like he just got unfocused for a while and after watching his last 3 fights it seems like he is re-focused and back on track.
R1- Long feeling out process and the crowd is growing restless. Aoki continues his heeldom from the New Years Eve show and gives Melendez and eye poke. Aoki grabbed an arm and latched onto it and brought the fight to the ground but Melendez was able to escape without any damage. Melendez stuff an Aoki take down and then jumped in Aoki's guard to try to deliver some damage. Melendez landed some good shots but Aoki got back to his feet. Aoki landed a knee but Melendez absorbed it and landed a couple of strikes. Melendez 10-9.
R2- Aoki shot in and Melendez stopped him and Aoki ended up on his back but that's a position that he's comfortable with. Melendez has busted up Aoki's lip. Aoki landed a good left hand to Melendez chin. Melendez got Aoki up against the cage and threw a barrage of strikes but didn't land anything substantial. Aoki went for a take down and was stuffed and then tried to pull guard. Aoki shot in again and Melendez stopped it with a fist and ended the round on top of Aoki. Melendez 20-18. Strikeforce is in danger of going way over tonight, especially since Dan Henderson loves to go to decisions.
R3- Aoki went for a take down early and really fought for it but Melendez spun out and then jumped into Aoki's guard. Aoki keeps going to his back in this round and is drawing the ire of the Nashville crowd. Melendez landing some good shots on the ground. Aoki landed a knee but Melendez answered with some strikes. Melendez 30-27. So far I've enjoyed both fights but if I was a fan casually interested in MMA I don't know if I would. I think Strikeforce should book more guys that like to stand and bang in addition to it's great arsenal of wrestlers. I think they need more variety on the show.
R4- Aoki went in again and Melendez fought off the take down and took top position but gave it up. Melendez landed a good right hand that stopped Aoki from coming in for a take down. Melendez landed a good knee to Aoki's chest when Aoki tried another take down. The ref was trying to stop the fight to stand up the fighters and Melendez landed 3 good shots to Aoki and thought the ref was stopping the fight in his favor. Aoki tried for a take down and Melendez took his guard and landed some good strikes. Melendez 40-36.
R5- Ranallo says Melendez has landed 102 strikes to Aoki's 15 at this point in the contest. Aoki goes in for a take down and complains of an eye poke. Aoki pulled guard and went for a rubber guard or triangle and Melendez mashed him up against the cage. Melendez landed some good Ground and Pound half way through the round. Aoki pulled guard again with a minute left in the round but Melendez got free and stood up. Melendez lands some good strikes and lands a flurry to end the round. Melendez soundly wins this decision 50-45. Melendez has looked very impressive since he lost the decision to Josh Thomson. I'm thinking Josh Thomson or possibly KJ Noons would be the next fighter for Melendez unless they bring in somebody else from Japan like a Kawajiri or JZ.
Judges score cards: 50-45 on all three score cards
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Former NFL Player Eddie George, Bobby Lashley, Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Scott Smith, Herschel Walker, and Brett Rogers are shown in attendance.
Highlights are shown of Jason "Mayhem" Miller versus Tim Stout, which happened early this evening, were shown. Mayhem was shown completing a take down and then landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight as Stout turtled up. Ranallo says Jason Miller will fight Robbie Lawler on June 16th in Los Angeles.
Strikeforce Middleweight Championship: Jake Shields (c) (24-4-1) vs. Dan Henderson (25-7)
Former Pride champion Dan Henderson is the man that CBS and Strikeforce are marketing this night of fights around as he’s the most experienced and well known fighter fighting on this card. That being said, I really don’t see Dan as being very marketable. I like Dan Henderson as much as the next guy but his highest profile win in the last 2 years was against Michael Bisping (yes he beat Rich Franklin but that was a split decision and nobody remembers it). If Dan Henderson was that marketable the UFC would have kept him. That being said, Dan Henderson is still a very good fighter with his biggest strength being his wrestling as well as his punching power (at least that’s what Michael Bisping tells me). Jake Shields is a skilled jiu jitsu fighter who has an uncanny ability to control his opponents. He frustrated Mayhem Miller on his way to a decision victory at the last CBS show. Shields is on a 13 fight winning streak that includes Mayhem, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, Yushin Okami, Toby Imada and Carlos Condit but Dan Henderson is clearly the top fighter that Shields has faced.
They show some of the "simulated" fight between Henderson and Shields using the upcoming MMA game from EA. Definitely looks like a step down from the UFC Undisputed series.
R1- Henderson landed a big right hand 19 seconds into the fight and Shields went down hard. Henderson jumped on top and Sheilds grabbed Dan to survive and then grabbed on a leg lock but Hendo was able to slip out at the one minute mark of the fight. Hendo hit a right hand to the body that drove Shields back. Hendo definitely looks a lot bigger than Shields. Henderson landed some good strikes and Shields looked like he purposely fell to his back to invite Hendo to the ground and give himself an opportunity to recover. Hendo landed a good right hand and Shields is just trying to survive and we are only half way through the round. Shields shot in for a take down and looked like he got it but Hendo fought back and got the clinch back to their feet against the cage. Henderson looked really good and brought the striking that the first two fights did not. Hendo 10-8 in the first round and so far Shields is looking like he would be a better fit back at Welterweight.
R2- Shields shot in early and tried for a single leg and almost got caught in a Rear Naked but Shields ended up in Hendo's guard. Shields quickly passed Hendo's guard and took full mount. Shields lands some strikes from full mount. Shields landed some strikes and then tried an arm triangle but couldn't get it. Shields is landing some really good Ground and Pound. Shields landed some more Ground and Pound and then expertly grabbed onto the cage to hold position as Hendo bucked and the ref didn't even notice it. Borderline 10-8 round but I don't think Shields came close to finishing so I gave it 10-9 which makes it Hendo 19-18 so far. Great come back round by Shields in that round.
R3- Shields dove in for a single leg but Hendo sprawled and kept the fight standing. Sheilds went for another take down and got it with three minutes left in the round. Shields passed Hendo's guard and took side control with half the round remaining. Shields got full mount with a minute left in the round and briefly tried a guillotine but couldn't get it clamped in fully and released it. Shields landed some light Ground and Pound and then tried for an arm bar but couldn't get it before the bell rang. Shields took this round 10-9 and I've got the fight 28-28 right now.
Props to Gilbert Melendez who just finished his fight and is now cornering Jake Shields in this fight (along with Nick Diaz).
R4- Shields immediately went for a take down but Hendo scrambled out of it. Shields grabbed onto another single leg take down and Hendo locked Shields down temporarily before Shields completed the take down. Shields got full mount with one minute left in the round. Shields grinding out this fight even though the fans aren't too happy about it. Shields is up 38-37 on my score card.
R5- Shields got a take down with four minutes left in the round. Shields got full mount with three and a half minutes left in the fight. Shields landing some decent strikes from full mount. Shields went for an arm triangle but couldn't get in the right position to execute the submission. Shields tried for an arm bar in the last thirty seconds of the fight and then grabbed a knee bar but couldn't finish and the bell rung to finish the fight. Shields wins this 48-46 on my score card.
Judges score cards: 49-46, 49-45, 48-45
Winner: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Decent night of fights but Strikeforce definitely didn't create any new stars or gain any new fans tonight with three five round decisions. They really needed some electricity tonight and Hendo provided that in the first round but couldn't out last Shields. Hopefully Strikeforce learns from this and we don't get 3 championship fights on one card featuring wrestlers on the same show.
Post-Fight Mayhem Miller shows that he's a jackass and interrupts Jake Shields interview and a brawl ensues. That was straight out of Elite XC. I was asking for some more excitement but that's a little ridiculous. I love me some Pro Wrestling (well I use to until Vince McMahon took over) but you have to have respect for your opponents and Mayhem Miller showed his ass again here.
Showing posts with label Gegard Mousasi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gegard Mousasi. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
K-1 Dynamite 12/31/09 Re-Cap
K-1 - Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2009
December 31, 2009
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
The announcers for the show are Michael Schiavello, Guy Mezger and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. DREAM and Sengoku will join forces tonight and will pit their fighters against each other in 9 fights! We will also see the long anticipated MMA debut of Judo Olympic Gold Metalist Satoshi Ishii as he takes on Hidehiko Yoshida. Tonight we will see some big MMA names like Shinya Aoki, Alistair Overeem, Kid Yamamoto, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Melvin Manhoef in action. We will also see some K-1 fights tonight on this show!
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Semi-Final: Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
Hiroya won this title last year and this is his last chance to defend the championship as he turns 18 in January. Hiroya has a K-1 record of 14-1. Noiri has a record of 2-0 in K-1.
R1- Noiri landed some good offense and Hiroya dropped to his knee. Noiri took the first round. Metzger says it should be a 10-8 round.
R2- This round is closer but Noiri still looks really good and Metzger gives him this round as well.
R3- Noiri knocked Hiroya down a to a knee at the beginning of the round but the ref let them continue. Hiroya landed a good right hand that hurt Noiri. Hiroya landed some good shots at the end of the round but missed on some haymakers.
Winner: Masaaki Noiri by Decision
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Semi-Final: Shota Shimada vs. Katsuki Ishida
Ishida is 60-0 in Amateur kickboxing and 2-0 in K-1. Shimada has a K-1 record of 5-1.
R1- Good first round with Shimada having the advantage.
R2- Closer round this time as Ishida came out quickly and did a better job this round.
R3- Really close round. Good fight.
Winner: Shota Shimada by Decision
DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Final- Sokoudjou vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
Minowa beat Bob Sapp and Hong Man Choi to advance to the finals. Sokoudjou beat Bob Sapp (he was filling in for Gegard Mousasi) and Jan Nortje to advance to the finals. If this fight is finished in the first round it should go to Sokoudjou but anything beyond that should be Minowa’s advantage.
R1- Both guys really tentative at the beginning. They went to the ropes and Minowa pulled guard and really worked on getting a leg lock. Sokoudjou took Minowa’s back and tried to get a Rear Naked on a couple of different occasions. Sokoudjou 10-9 in the first round (this fight is 5-minute rounds on a 10-must scoring system which is different then a lot of DREAM’s fights).
R2- Minowa went for a take down and then Sokoudjou took top position and hit some Ground and Pound. Very little action in the second part of this round as both guys seem exhausted. Sokoudjou just lays on Minowa. Minowa grabbed a knee bar in the last 15 seconds of the round and almost got a stoppage. Sokoudjou 20-18 after two rounds but Minowa looks like he did some damage to Sokoudjou’s leg at the end of the round.
R3- No action in the first minute of the round. The ref gives both fighters a yellow card (which reduces their pay by 10%) as there has been no action in the first minute and a half of the round. Two minutes gone and neither guy is doing anything. The round is half way over and no action and the ref gives them another yellow card so their pay has now been reduced by 20%. Sokoudjou hit a spinning back kick to the mid-section for the only shot of the round so far. Minowa connected with a punch to Sokoudjou and he drops and the ref steps in and stops the fight. Wow, no action at all in the round and then all of a sudden it’s over. Sokoudjou continues his streak of not being able to compete/win after the first round of a fight. Looked like it might have been an early stoppage as Sokoudjou looked like he was still very aware when he went down.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO (Strikes) R3
K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
This is a K-1 contest with “special rules”. Nishijima is not allowed to kick in this fight.
R1- Sefo lands some good shots early. Sefo hit a big left half way through the land that gave Nishijima the “rubber legs”. Sefo took this round.
R2- Sefo landed a spinning back kick to the gut and then landed some punches. Sefo is going to take this round.
R3- They exchanged some strikes and Sefo downed Nishijima with a right hand and Nishijima got a standing 8-count.
Winner: Ray Sefo by Decision
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Final- Masaaki Noiri vs. Shota Shimada
R1- Good first round that could have gone either way. Noiri was more aggressive but Shimada landed more shots.
R2- Noiri landed some good shots toward the end of the round and the ref gave Shimada a standing 8-count.
R3- Noiri again landed some good shots towards the end of the round and Shimada’s nose started bleeding. Good fight.
Winner and K-1 High School Champion: Masaaki Noiri by Decision
Dynamite Team Fights #1- Katsuyori Shibata (Dream) vs. Hiroshi Izumi (Sengoku) (0-1)
R1- Not a lot of action in the first couple of minutes as Shibata is jabbing but not connecting on anything. Shibata landed some good shots and then a couple of knees. Shibata won this round 10-9.
R2- Izumi hit a good shot early but got caught in a clinch and Izumi brawled his way out of the hold. Izumi got a take down about half way through the round. Izumi took this round to even it up 19-19.
R3- Shibata landed some good shots in the first minute of the round. Izumi landed some big shots half way through the round and then got Shibata down on the mat. I’ve got Izumi 29-28 but I could definitely see Shibata taking the second round so I’m expecting a split decision.
Winner: Hiroshi Izumi by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 1 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #2- Featherweight Fight- Michihiro Omigawa (Sengoku) (8-8) vs. Hiroyoki Takaya (DREAM)
Omigawa lost in the Featherweight Grand Prix final and is coming off a controversial split decision over top ranked Featherweight fighter Hatsu Hioki. Takaya was a finalist of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix. So we have a match-up of the runners-up of each company’s Featherweight Grand Prix tournaments.
R1- Omigawa landed some good shots about half way through the first round and dropped Takaya and finished him on the ground. Good showing by Omigawa.
Winner: Michihiro Omigawa by TKO (Strikes) R1
Sengoku 2 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #3- Welterweight Fight- Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (DREAM) (35-9-2) vs. Akihiro Gono (Sengoku)
R1- Sakurai caught Gono coming in about half way through the round and landed some good strikes. Gono got a strong take down with about one minute left in the round. Close round probably went to Sakurai because the Japanese judges don’t count take downs as much as US judges.
R2- Pretty even first half of the round. Gono caught a kick of Sakurai’s and took him down. Gono grabbed an arm bar and got the submission. Big win for Gono.
Winner: Akihiro Gono by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Sengoku 3 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #4- Middleweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (DREAM) (23-6-1) vs. Kazuo Misaki (Sengoku) (22-9-1)
Miaski has won 4 of his last 5 fights. 22 of Manhoef’s 23 wins have come by TKO/KO.
R1- Manhoef charged in about two minutes into the round and moved forward throwing strikes. Melvin knocked Misaki down and the ref quickly stopped the fight. Melvin landed 4 good strikes on the feet but the ref definitely stopped the fight early.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes) R1
Sengoku 3 DREAM 1
Dynamite Team Fights #5- Featherweight Fight- Hideo Tokoro (DREAM) (22-15-1) vs. Jong Man Kim (Sengoku) (21-10-3)
Kim is a last minute replacement for Marlon Sandro and has taken this fight on only a few days notice. Kim is 1-6-3 in his last 10 fights.
R1- Tokoro hit a good knee during an exchange in the first minute of the fight. Tokoro hit another good knee with two minutes left in the round. Tokoro pulled guard into a flying triangle and then moved into an arm bar submission. Kim put his legs around Tokoro’s neck so he could not straighten out and get the maximum effect of the submission. Tokoro finally got free and tried to straighten out the arm bar again but couldn’t. Kim’s nose got bloodied up during the exchange. Really good end to the first round. Tokoro 10-9.
R2- Not as much action this round but I’ve got Tokoro taking it to lead 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Tokoro hit a nice jumping knee in the first minute of the final round. Kim landed a good combo and floored Tokoro. Kim jumped on top and went for a Rear Naked Choke but Tokoro fought him off. Tikoro comes back at the end of the round and nails some good strikes including two knees. Tokoro is really swinging for the fences at the end of the fight going for the knockout and Kim ends up getting taken down. Good round and I’ve got Tokoro taking this one. Kim showed a lot of heart in taking this fight on short notice and never giving up.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 3 DREAM 2
Dynamite Team Fights #6- Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM) (25-5-2) vs. Kazunori Yokota (Sengoku)
Kawajiri has won 8 of his last 10 and 4 of his last 5. Kawajiri is sporting a sweet mullet for this fight.
R1- Kawajiri got a quick take down in the first 20 seconds of the fight. Kawajiri got another take down about half way through the round. Kawajiri got the mount with two minutes left in the round. Kawajiri easily took this round.
R2- Yokota landed some strikes at the beginning of the round but Kawajiri got a take down. Kawajiri clamped in an arm triangle with about a minute and a half left in the round. but Yokota slipped out. Kawajiri took the mount position and landed some Ground and Pound. Kawajiri has taken the first two rounds so far in this fight.
R3- Kawajiri got an early take down despite Yokota doing his best to hold onto the ropes. Kawajiri mounted Yokota with three minutes left in the round. Kawajiri grabbed an arm bar near the end of the round and his arm bent in a weird way but he survived until the bell rang to end the round. Kawajiri takes this fight via unanimous decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 3 DREAM 3
Dynamite Team Fights #7- Kid Yamamoto (DREAM) vs. Masanori Kanehara (Sengoku)
Kanehara is the Sengoku Featherweight Champion. He lost to Hatsu Hioki in the semi-finals but Hioki could not continue so Kanehara took his place in the finals and won the fight.
R1- Both guys came out quickly. Kid hit a good shot that briefly brought Kanehara to his knees but it could have been a slip as he bounced right back up. Kid hit another jab that sent Kanehara back against the ropes. Kanehara has a large height advantage. Kanehara hit a left hand and Kid briefly went down. Kanehara got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Pretty good first round and close to call. Metzger calls it an even round and says that they can score even rounds in Japan.
R2- Kid ducked down and got tagged by a right hand and went down. Kanehara jumped on top but Kid wrapped him up to try and give himself time to recover. Kanehara didn’t really do anything after that punch but he’s going to take this round.
R3- Close round and Kid hit a left hand that took Kanehara down and then he clinched him and kneed him in the head a few times until they fell through the ropes. Kid hit another good left hand. Kid took this round. This one is a toss up with each guy taking one round a piece and the first round up for grabs.
Winner: Masanori Kanehara by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 4 DREAM 3
Dynamite Team Fights #8- Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem (DREAM) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (Sengoku) (15-8)
Fujita has only fought once this year and he lost by split decision. Alistair has a huge size advantage.
Mayhem Miller on Alistair Overeem: “He looks like a freakin’ super hero”
R1- Alistair hit a knee in the clinch to start things off. Alistair hit a big left knee and this one is over before it started. Wow. Alistair really needs to come over to Strikeforce.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by TKO (Knee) R1
Sengoku 4 DREAM 4
Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge (23-19-1)
Goodridge comes out to “We Will Rock You”. He hasn’t won a fight since 2007 and is 0-4 since then so I’m not sure why he picked that music.
R1- Mousasi hit some quick light strikes and then got a take down in the first twenty seconds of the round. Mousasi lands some Ground and Pound. Mousasi with some hammer fists and the ref stops the fight. Goodridge protests the stoppage but he was taking hard shots and not improving his position.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R1
Dynamite Team Fights #9- Shinya Aoki (DREAM) (22-4) vs. Mizuto Hirota (Sengoku) (12-3-1)
Hirota is the Sengoku Lightweight Champion. Aoki is the DREAM Lightweight Champion having defeated Joachim Hansen at DREAM 11. This is the final fight of the Dynamite Team Fights.
R1- Aoki shot in quickly and got a take down in the first minute of the fight. Aoki stuck Hirota’s arm behind his back and mounted him and landed some punches to the face. Aoki got on top of Hirota and got him in a body triangle and cranked back on the hammer lock and broke Hirota’s arm. Aoki then got in Hirota’s face and shot him with bird after he won the fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Kimura)
DREAM defeated Sengoku 5 fights to 4
Heavyweight Fight- Hidehiko Yoshida (8-7-1) vs. Satoshi Ishii (0-0)
This is Ishii’s much awaited MMA debut. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo. Yoshida was also an Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo back in the 90s. All of Yoshida’s victories have come by submission.
R1- Ishii looks a little uncomfortable in the first couple of minutes as they stand up and feel each other out. Yoshida landed a big time right hand that almost sent Ishii to the mat. Yoshida then landed several shots in the clinch but Ishii stays on his feet. Yoshida is just having his way with Ishii and Ishii has a bloody nose. Yoshida landed another good right hand. Ishii is really going for the fakes. Yoshida definitely took this round.
R2- Ishii starts off the round by landing some strikes in the clinch. Ishii was trying to get a take down but Yoshida just grabbed the ropes and avoided it and got admonished by the ref. Ishii landed some more good strikes. Ishii hit a low blow and got a point deducted. Ishii got a take down and took side control right at the bell. Ishii took this round but with the point deduction it’s a 9-9 round so we are looking at 19-18 or 19-17 in favor of Yoshida going into the final round.
R3- Not a ton of action in this round as both guys are pretty worn out but Ishii is landing more strikes. Yoshida went for a take down in the last minute and Ishii sprawl to avoid it. Ishii took this round so he will take two rounds but will lose the fight. Guy Metzger calls this one a draw and so does Mayhem Miller as they are thinking 28-28. I’m thinking there is a judge or two out there that scored the fight 10-8 in the first round and thus making Yoshida the winner 28-27.
Winner: Hidehiko Yoshida by Decision
K-1: Masato vs. Andy Souwer
Souwer is 21-4 in K-1 with 7 KOs but has an overall record 134-8-1 with 84 KOs. Masato is the only Japanese fighter to ever win a K-1 World Grand Prix Title. He was the K-1 Max 2003 and 2008. Masato has lost only 2 fights in the last 4 years and both of those fights were against Andy Souwer (by TKO and 2007 and by Decision in 2006). Masato has a K-1 record of 35-4-1 with 10 KOs and has a career record 54-6-2 with 24 KOs. This is a 5-round fight. Ray Sefo joins the announce team for this fight.
R1- Masato looked really good and took the first round. Two judges gave the first round to Masato and one judge gave the first round a draw.
R2- They start to open things up a bit at the beginning of this round and are throwing strikes more freely. Souwer landed a really good right hand half way through the round. Souwer really started to come on at the end of the round. I’ve got Souwer taking that round even through it looked like Masato hit more strikes. All judges gave this round a draw.
R3- And my DVR cut off during this fight after taping the live HDNet feed for 7 and a half hours.
Winner: Masato by Decision (Unanimous)
December 31, 2009
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
The announcers for the show are Michael Schiavello, Guy Mezger and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. DREAM and Sengoku will join forces tonight and will pit their fighters against each other in 9 fights! We will also see the long anticipated MMA debut of Judo Olympic Gold Metalist Satoshi Ishii as he takes on Hidehiko Yoshida. Tonight we will see some big MMA names like Shinya Aoki, Alistair Overeem, Kid Yamamoto, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Melvin Manhoef in action. We will also see some K-1 fights tonight on this show!
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Semi-Final: Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
Hiroya won this title last year and this is his last chance to defend the championship as he turns 18 in January. Hiroya has a K-1 record of 14-1. Noiri has a record of 2-0 in K-1.
R1- Noiri landed some good offense and Hiroya dropped to his knee. Noiri took the first round. Metzger says it should be a 10-8 round.
R2- This round is closer but Noiri still looks really good and Metzger gives him this round as well.
R3- Noiri knocked Hiroya down a to a knee at the beginning of the round but the ref let them continue. Hiroya landed a good right hand that hurt Noiri. Hiroya landed some good shots at the end of the round but missed on some haymakers.
Winner: Masaaki Noiri by Decision
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Semi-Final: Shota Shimada vs. Katsuki Ishida
Ishida is 60-0 in Amateur kickboxing and 2-0 in K-1. Shimada has a K-1 record of 5-1.
R1- Good first round with Shimada having the advantage.
R2- Closer round this time as Ishida came out quickly and did a better job this round.
R3- Really close round. Good fight.
Winner: Shota Shimada by Decision
DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Final- Sokoudjou vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
Minowa beat Bob Sapp and Hong Man Choi to advance to the finals. Sokoudjou beat Bob Sapp (he was filling in for Gegard Mousasi) and Jan Nortje to advance to the finals. If this fight is finished in the first round it should go to Sokoudjou but anything beyond that should be Minowa’s advantage.
R1- Both guys really tentative at the beginning. They went to the ropes and Minowa pulled guard and really worked on getting a leg lock. Sokoudjou took Minowa’s back and tried to get a Rear Naked on a couple of different occasions. Sokoudjou 10-9 in the first round (this fight is 5-minute rounds on a 10-must scoring system which is different then a lot of DREAM’s fights).
R2- Minowa went for a take down and then Sokoudjou took top position and hit some Ground and Pound. Very little action in the second part of this round as both guys seem exhausted. Sokoudjou just lays on Minowa. Minowa grabbed a knee bar in the last 15 seconds of the round and almost got a stoppage. Sokoudjou 20-18 after two rounds but Minowa looks like he did some damage to Sokoudjou’s leg at the end of the round.
R3- No action in the first minute of the round. The ref gives both fighters a yellow card (which reduces their pay by 10%) as there has been no action in the first minute and a half of the round. Two minutes gone and neither guy is doing anything. The round is half way over and no action and the ref gives them another yellow card so their pay has now been reduced by 20%. Sokoudjou hit a spinning back kick to the mid-section for the only shot of the round so far. Minowa connected with a punch to Sokoudjou and he drops and the ref steps in and stops the fight. Wow, no action at all in the round and then all of a sudden it’s over. Sokoudjou continues his streak of not being able to compete/win after the first round of a fight. Looked like it might have been an early stoppage as Sokoudjou looked like he was still very aware when he went down.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO (Strikes) R3
K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
This is a K-1 contest with “special rules”. Nishijima is not allowed to kick in this fight.
R1- Sefo lands some good shots early. Sefo hit a big left half way through the land that gave Nishijima the “rubber legs”. Sefo took this round.
R2- Sefo landed a spinning back kick to the gut and then landed some punches. Sefo is going to take this round.
R3- They exchanged some strikes and Sefo downed Nishijima with a right hand and Nishijima got a standing 8-count.
Winner: Ray Sefo by Decision
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Final- Masaaki Noiri vs. Shota Shimada
R1- Good first round that could have gone either way. Noiri was more aggressive but Shimada landed more shots.
R2- Noiri landed some good shots toward the end of the round and the ref gave Shimada a standing 8-count.
R3- Noiri again landed some good shots towards the end of the round and Shimada’s nose started bleeding. Good fight.
Winner and K-1 High School Champion: Masaaki Noiri by Decision
Dynamite Team Fights #1- Katsuyori Shibata (Dream) vs. Hiroshi Izumi (Sengoku) (0-1)
R1- Not a lot of action in the first couple of minutes as Shibata is jabbing but not connecting on anything. Shibata landed some good shots and then a couple of knees. Shibata won this round 10-9.
R2- Izumi hit a good shot early but got caught in a clinch and Izumi brawled his way out of the hold. Izumi got a take down about half way through the round. Izumi took this round to even it up 19-19.
R3- Shibata landed some good shots in the first minute of the round. Izumi landed some big shots half way through the round and then got Shibata down on the mat. I’ve got Izumi 29-28 but I could definitely see Shibata taking the second round so I’m expecting a split decision.
Winner: Hiroshi Izumi by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 1 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #2- Featherweight Fight- Michihiro Omigawa (Sengoku) (8-8) vs. Hiroyoki Takaya (DREAM)
Omigawa lost in the Featherweight Grand Prix final and is coming off a controversial split decision over top ranked Featherweight fighter Hatsu Hioki. Takaya was a finalist of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix. So we have a match-up of the runners-up of each company’s Featherweight Grand Prix tournaments.
R1- Omigawa landed some good shots about half way through the first round and dropped Takaya and finished him on the ground. Good showing by Omigawa.
Winner: Michihiro Omigawa by TKO (Strikes) R1
Sengoku 2 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #3- Welterweight Fight- Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (DREAM) (35-9-2) vs. Akihiro Gono (Sengoku)
R1- Sakurai caught Gono coming in about half way through the round and landed some good strikes. Gono got a strong take down with about one minute left in the round. Close round probably went to Sakurai because the Japanese judges don’t count take downs as much as US judges.
R2- Pretty even first half of the round. Gono caught a kick of Sakurai’s and took him down. Gono grabbed an arm bar and got the submission. Big win for Gono.
Winner: Akihiro Gono by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Sengoku 3 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #4- Middleweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (DREAM) (23-6-1) vs. Kazuo Misaki (Sengoku) (22-9-1)
Miaski has won 4 of his last 5 fights. 22 of Manhoef’s 23 wins have come by TKO/KO.
R1- Manhoef charged in about two minutes into the round and moved forward throwing strikes. Melvin knocked Misaki down and the ref quickly stopped the fight. Melvin landed 4 good strikes on the feet but the ref definitely stopped the fight early.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes) R1
Sengoku 3 DREAM 1
Dynamite Team Fights #5- Featherweight Fight- Hideo Tokoro (DREAM) (22-15-1) vs. Jong Man Kim (Sengoku) (21-10-3)
Kim is a last minute replacement for Marlon Sandro and has taken this fight on only a few days notice. Kim is 1-6-3 in his last 10 fights.
R1- Tokoro hit a good knee during an exchange in the first minute of the fight. Tokoro hit another good knee with two minutes left in the round. Tokoro pulled guard into a flying triangle and then moved into an arm bar submission. Kim put his legs around Tokoro’s neck so he could not straighten out and get the maximum effect of the submission. Tokoro finally got free and tried to straighten out the arm bar again but couldn’t. Kim’s nose got bloodied up during the exchange. Really good end to the first round. Tokoro 10-9.
R2- Not as much action this round but I’ve got Tokoro taking it to lead 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Tokoro hit a nice jumping knee in the first minute of the final round. Kim landed a good combo and floored Tokoro. Kim jumped on top and went for a Rear Naked Choke but Tokoro fought him off. Tikoro comes back at the end of the round and nails some good strikes including two knees. Tokoro is really swinging for the fences at the end of the fight going for the knockout and Kim ends up getting taken down. Good round and I’ve got Tokoro taking this one. Kim showed a lot of heart in taking this fight on short notice and never giving up.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 3 DREAM 2
Dynamite Team Fights #6- Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM) (25-5-2) vs. Kazunori Yokota (Sengoku)
Kawajiri has won 8 of his last 10 and 4 of his last 5. Kawajiri is sporting a sweet mullet for this fight.
R1- Kawajiri got a quick take down in the first 20 seconds of the fight. Kawajiri got another take down about half way through the round. Kawajiri got the mount with two minutes left in the round. Kawajiri easily took this round.
R2- Yokota landed some strikes at the beginning of the round but Kawajiri got a take down. Kawajiri clamped in an arm triangle with about a minute and a half left in the round. but Yokota slipped out. Kawajiri took the mount position and landed some Ground and Pound. Kawajiri has taken the first two rounds so far in this fight.
R3- Kawajiri got an early take down despite Yokota doing his best to hold onto the ropes. Kawajiri mounted Yokota with three minutes left in the round. Kawajiri grabbed an arm bar near the end of the round and his arm bent in a weird way but he survived until the bell rang to end the round. Kawajiri takes this fight via unanimous decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 3 DREAM 3
Dynamite Team Fights #7- Kid Yamamoto (DREAM) vs. Masanori Kanehara (Sengoku)
Kanehara is the Sengoku Featherweight Champion. He lost to Hatsu Hioki in the semi-finals but Hioki could not continue so Kanehara took his place in the finals and won the fight.
R1- Both guys came out quickly. Kid hit a good shot that briefly brought Kanehara to his knees but it could have been a slip as he bounced right back up. Kid hit another jab that sent Kanehara back against the ropes. Kanehara has a large height advantage. Kanehara hit a left hand and Kid briefly went down. Kanehara got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Pretty good first round and close to call. Metzger calls it an even round and says that they can score even rounds in Japan.
R2- Kid ducked down and got tagged by a right hand and went down. Kanehara jumped on top but Kid wrapped him up to try and give himself time to recover. Kanehara didn’t really do anything after that punch but he’s going to take this round.
R3- Close round and Kid hit a left hand that took Kanehara down and then he clinched him and kneed him in the head a few times until they fell through the ropes. Kid hit another good left hand. Kid took this round. This one is a toss up with each guy taking one round a piece and the first round up for grabs.
Winner: Masanori Kanehara by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 4 DREAM 3
Dynamite Team Fights #8- Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem (DREAM) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (Sengoku) (15-8)
Fujita has only fought once this year and he lost by split decision. Alistair has a huge size advantage.
Mayhem Miller on Alistair Overeem: “He looks like a freakin’ super hero”
R1- Alistair hit a knee in the clinch to start things off. Alistair hit a big left knee and this one is over before it started. Wow. Alistair really needs to come over to Strikeforce.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by TKO (Knee) R1
Sengoku 4 DREAM 4
Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge (23-19-1)
Goodridge comes out to “We Will Rock You”. He hasn’t won a fight since 2007 and is 0-4 since then so I’m not sure why he picked that music.
R1- Mousasi hit some quick light strikes and then got a take down in the first twenty seconds of the round. Mousasi lands some Ground and Pound. Mousasi with some hammer fists and the ref stops the fight. Goodridge protests the stoppage but he was taking hard shots and not improving his position.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R1
Dynamite Team Fights #9- Shinya Aoki (DREAM) (22-4) vs. Mizuto Hirota (Sengoku) (12-3-1)
Hirota is the Sengoku Lightweight Champion. Aoki is the DREAM Lightweight Champion having defeated Joachim Hansen at DREAM 11. This is the final fight of the Dynamite Team Fights.
R1- Aoki shot in quickly and got a take down in the first minute of the fight. Aoki stuck Hirota’s arm behind his back and mounted him and landed some punches to the face. Aoki got on top of Hirota and got him in a body triangle and cranked back on the hammer lock and broke Hirota’s arm. Aoki then got in Hirota’s face and shot him with bird after he won the fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Kimura)
DREAM defeated Sengoku 5 fights to 4
Heavyweight Fight- Hidehiko Yoshida (8-7-1) vs. Satoshi Ishii (0-0)
This is Ishii’s much awaited MMA debut. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo. Yoshida was also an Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo back in the 90s. All of Yoshida’s victories have come by submission.
R1- Ishii looks a little uncomfortable in the first couple of minutes as they stand up and feel each other out. Yoshida landed a big time right hand that almost sent Ishii to the mat. Yoshida then landed several shots in the clinch but Ishii stays on his feet. Yoshida is just having his way with Ishii and Ishii has a bloody nose. Yoshida landed another good right hand. Ishii is really going for the fakes. Yoshida definitely took this round.
R2- Ishii starts off the round by landing some strikes in the clinch. Ishii was trying to get a take down but Yoshida just grabbed the ropes and avoided it and got admonished by the ref. Ishii landed some more good strikes. Ishii hit a low blow and got a point deducted. Ishii got a take down and took side control right at the bell. Ishii took this round but with the point deduction it’s a 9-9 round so we are looking at 19-18 or 19-17 in favor of Yoshida going into the final round.
R3- Not a ton of action in this round as both guys are pretty worn out but Ishii is landing more strikes. Yoshida went for a take down in the last minute and Ishii sprawl to avoid it. Ishii took this round so he will take two rounds but will lose the fight. Guy Metzger calls this one a draw and so does Mayhem Miller as they are thinking 28-28. I’m thinking there is a judge or two out there that scored the fight 10-8 in the first round and thus making Yoshida the winner 28-27.
Winner: Hidehiko Yoshida by Decision
K-1: Masato vs. Andy Souwer
Souwer is 21-4 in K-1 with 7 KOs but has an overall record 134-8-1 with 84 KOs. Masato is the only Japanese fighter to ever win a K-1 World Grand Prix Title. He was the K-1 Max 2003 and 2008. Masato has lost only 2 fights in the last 4 years and both of those fights were against Andy Souwer (by TKO and 2007 and by Decision in 2006). Masato has a K-1 record of 35-4-1 with 10 KOs and has a career record 54-6-2 with 24 KOs. This is a 5-round fight. Ray Sefo joins the announce team for this fight.
R1- Masato looked really good and took the first round. Two judges gave the first round to Masato and one judge gave the first round a draw.
R2- They start to open things up a bit at the beginning of this round and are throwing strikes more freely. Souwer landed a really good right hand half way through the round. Souwer really started to come on at the end of the round. I’ve got Souwer taking that round even through it looked like Masato hit more strikes. All judges gave this round a draw.
R3- And my DVR cut off during this fight after taping the live HDNet feed for 7 and a half hours.
Winner: Masato by Decision (Unanimous)
Friday, November 13, 2009
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers 11/7/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers
CBS Saturday Night Fights
Sears Centre
Chicago, Illinois
11/7/09
They start the show with a hard hype push for Fedor and put Brett Rogers over as the “most exciting heavyweight on the planet.” Gus Johnson is the lead announcer tonight and he is joined by Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. Also on this card is a fight for the vacant Middleweight title (vacated by Cung Le) between Jake Shields and Jason Miller, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Sokoudjou and Antonio Silva will take on Fabricio Werdum.
Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
Gus Johnson puts over Werdum as one of the top Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu fighters. Silva has a 4” reach and 21 lb weight advantage. Silva is on a 6 fight win streak and is the former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won his Strikeforce debut by submitting Mike Kyle back in August.
R1- Werdum came in for some offense but ate some punches from Silva and then went to the mat. Silva landed a wild right hand and Werdum is trying to just hold onto Silva’s leg and withstand the barrage and he does. Werdum went for a takedown but Silva threw him down instead. Werdum hit a big right hand but Silva clinched and came back with a couple of elbows. Werdum came back and landed some strikes. Silva got Werdum to the mat and landed some strikes at the end of the round. Good first round with Silva taking it 10-9.
R2- Werdum came in early in the round but Silva counter punched and knocked Werdum to the mat. Werdum baited Silva to the ground and eventually flipped him over and got on top of him but Silva got back up with little damage taken. Werdum got another take down with about a minute left in the round. This was a really close round that Werdum might have stolen.
R3- Werdum got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Silva was able to get to the cage and get back to his feet. Silva landed a punch but Werdum responded with a knee. Werdum landed another knee in the clinch. Werdum grabbed Sliva and got another take down. Werdum finishes the round with some strikes. I’ve got Werdum taking this round. I could see a split decision by the judges. I’ve got Werdum 29-28.
Judges scores: 29-28 in favor of Werdum on all score cards
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Sokoudjou (7-4)
Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion as he destroyed Babalu Sobral in his last fight to win the title. Mousasi has a 3” height advantage. Sokoudjou has Dan Henderson in his corner. Mousasi is on a 13 fight win streak.
R1- Mousasi throws a couple of high leg kicks early that deflect off Sokoudjou. Mousasi has really taken the center of the cage and is stalking Sokoudjou but neither fighter has found the range yet. Sokoudjou went for a couple take downs but was fought off. Mousasi landed some shots but Sokoudjou got a judo throw and took Mousasi down. Mousasi rolled him over with about a minute left in the fight but Sokoudjou fought back and flipped him back over with a judo move against the cage. Sokoudjou went for a guillotine and Mousasi got out of it but ate a knee. Sokoudjou landed another judo throw. Mousasi ended the round by getting a take down that might have won the round for him. Very close round that could have gone either way. Sokoudjou has traditionally faded after the first round so it will be interesting to see if he’s improved his conditioning.
R2- Mousasi came in quickly in this round and they clinched and Mousasi landed some minor strikes. Mousasi threw a bunch of punches against the cage but Sokoudjou fought through the barrage. Sokoudjou tried a judo throw but Mousasi reversed it and Sokoudjou actually got the take down. Sokoudjou then pretty much just laid on Mousasi resting. Mousasi grabbed an arm and was able to take Sokoudjou’s guard. Mousasi is landing some good strikes on the ground. The ref stops the fight. Sokoudjou again faded in the second round and Mousasi outlasted him. Mousasi was never in trouble in this fight and while he didn’t look as dominant as his last fight he still fought a good fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:43
The show the “stars” in the crowd. The following people are shown: Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Matt Lindland, Shinya Aoki, Cung Le. Le will fight Scott Smith Dec 19th. They also say Lawler and Lindland will be on that show. Aoki will be coming to Strikforce soon and Arlovski is currently training with Greg Jackson
Middleweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6-1)
Shields is the former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and is coming off of a quick victory of Robbie Lawler. Miller comes out with red hair with a black skunk stripe and comes out with some dancers. Miller has a big 5” reach advantage in this fight. Shields has won 12 consecutive fights.
R1- Shields got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Shields took Miller’s back and then moved to full mount. Miller did a good job of getting back to his feet without taking much damage. Shields quickly got another take down. Miller got back to his feet and slammed Shields to the ground with about a minute and a half left in the round. Shields got back to his feet but Miller suplexed him to the ground. Really close round as Shields dominated the first part and Miller the second part. Shields controlled more of the round and landed more strikes but Miller ended with a couple of slams. Shields 10-9 after one round.
R2- Shields got cut at the beginning of the round but didn’t take any damage. Miller got a take down but then Shields quickly got the advantage on the mat. Shields is able to get a full mount but Miller flipped out using the cage and Shields took Miller’s back again. Shields really controlled Miller for the first 4 minutes of this round and is now up 20-18 on my score card. On the re-play it looked like Shields got the cut from a headbutt.
R3- Miller got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the round but Shields quickly got back to his feet and then took Miller down. Shields has full mount and is landing some strikes. About half way through the round Miller was able to get back to his feet. Big John McCarthy stops the fight briefly so Miller’s corner can fix his gloves. Shields got a take down as soon as they were re-started. Miller was able to take Shields back at the end of the round and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke with about 8 seconds left but Shields held on and did not tap. Shields dominated the entire round but almost got choked out with 8 seconds left so it will be interesting to see how this round is scored.
R4- Shields quickly got a take down to start the round and rode Miller for the first half of the round. McCarthy stood them up and Shields again quickly got a take down. Shields easily took this round. I’ve got Shields up on score cards. Miller needs to get a 10-8 round or finish the fight if he wants to win.
R5- Shields got a take down about a minute into the fight. Shields really controlled this round from start to finish. I think Shields won this fight 50-45. Although I could see rounds 1 or 3 going to Miller.
Judges score cards: 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 all in favor of Shields
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers has a lot of physical advantages in this fight as he has a 4.5” height, 7” reach and 32 lb weight advantage. Fedor is a Sambo/Judo fighter and Rogers is a Boxer/Muy Thai fighter. Fedor is introduced as the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion (the belt he won in Affliction) and gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Fedor threw a couple of big bombs at the beginning but missed. It didn’t look like Rogers hit Fedor with anything but his glove may have clipped his nose as Fedor’s nose had blood on the tip. Rogers looks a lot more apprehensive then I’ve ever seen him. Fedor got Rogers down but Rogers quickly got up and they clinched against the cage. Thre is a lot of blood coming out of Fedor’s nose. The announcers say he got caught by a jab. Fedor hit a big left hand and then was able to get Rogers down on the mat. Fedor landed some good punches on the ground. Rogers pushed out of the bottom but as he did so Fedor grabbed a kimura but had to release it and Rogers ended up in Fedor’s guard. Rogers hit some good Ground and Pound. Fedor went for an arm bar and couldn’t get it but was able to get out of the guard. Fedor caught Rogers with a punch as Rogers was really slow to get up and Fedor took the half guard position on Rogers and went for an arm triangle. Still a lot of blood coming out of Fedor. Great first round. Fedor takes this round 10-9 but has been cut badly in a couple of places.
R2- Fedor chants start this round and then some USA chants are started. Fedor got Rogers up against the cage and threw some punches but Rogers was able to block them. The announcers say the doctor believes Fedor’s nose is broken. Fedor landed a highlight reel right hand and Rogers dropped like a ton of bricks. Fedor jumped on top and landed some punches and the ref stopped the fight but I don’t think he needed those extra punches as the big right knocked out Rogers. Really fun fight and a fantastic Main Event for Strikeforce on their CBS debut.
Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
CBS Saturday Night Fights
Sears Centre
Chicago, Illinois
11/7/09
They start the show with a hard hype push for Fedor and put Brett Rogers over as the “most exciting heavyweight on the planet.” Gus Johnson is the lead announcer tonight and he is joined by Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. Also on this card is a fight for the vacant Middleweight title (vacated by Cung Le) between Jake Shields and Jason Miller, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Sokoudjou and Antonio Silva will take on Fabricio Werdum.
Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
Gus Johnson puts over Werdum as one of the top Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu fighters. Silva has a 4” reach and 21 lb weight advantage. Silva is on a 6 fight win streak and is the former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won his Strikeforce debut by submitting Mike Kyle back in August.
R1- Werdum came in for some offense but ate some punches from Silva and then went to the mat. Silva landed a wild right hand and Werdum is trying to just hold onto Silva’s leg and withstand the barrage and he does. Werdum went for a takedown but Silva threw him down instead. Werdum hit a big right hand but Silva clinched and came back with a couple of elbows. Werdum came back and landed some strikes. Silva got Werdum to the mat and landed some strikes at the end of the round. Good first round with Silva taking it 10-9.
R2- Werdum came in early in the round but Silva counter punched and knocked Werdum to the mat. Werdum baited Silva to the ground and eventually flipped him over and got on top of him but Silva got back up with little damage taken. Werdum got another take down with about a minute left in the round. This was a really close round that Werdum might have stolen.
R3- Werdum got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Silva was able to get to the cage and get back to his feet. Silva landed a punch but Werdum responded with a knee. Werdum landed another knee in the clinch. Werdum grabbed Sliva and got another take down. Werdum finishes the round with some strikes. I’ve got Werdum taking this round. I could see a split decision by the judges. I’ve got Werdum 29-28.
Judges scores: 29-28 in favor of Werdum on all score cards
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Sokoudjou (7-4)
Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion as he destroyed Babalu Sobral in his last fight to win the title. Mousasi has a 3” height advantage. Sokoudjou has Dan Henderson in his corner. Mousasi is on a 13 fight win streak.
R1- Mousasi throws a couple of high leg kicks early that deflect off Sokoudjou. Mousasi has really taken the center of the cage and is stalking Sokoudjou but neither fighter has found the range yet. Sokoudjou went for a couple take downs but was fought off. Mousasi landed some shots but Sokoudjou got a judo throw and took Mousasi down. Mousasi rolled him over with about a minute left in the fight but Sokoudjou fought back and flipped him back over with a judo move against the cage. Sokoudjou went for a guillotine and Mousasi got out of it but ate a knee. Sokoudjou landed another judo throw. Mousasi ended the round by getting a take down that might have won the round for him. Very close round that could have gone either way. Sokoudjou has traditionally faded after the first round so it will be interesting to see if he’s improved his conditioning.
R2- Mousasi came in quickly in this round and they clinched and Mousasi landed some minor strikes. Mousasi threw a bunch of punches against the cage but Sokoudjou fought through the barrage. Sokoudjou tried a judo throw but Mousasi reversed it and Sokoudjou actually got the take down. Sokoudjou then pretty much just laid on Mousasi resting. Mousasi grabbed an arm and was able to take Sokoudjou’s guard. Mousasi is landing some good strikes on the ground. The ref stops the fight. Sokoudjou again faded in the second round and Mousasi outlasted him. Mousasi was never in trouble in this fight and while he didn’t look as dominant as his last fight he still fought a good fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:43
The show the “stars” in the crowd. The following people are shown: Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Matt Lindland, Shinya Aoki, Cung Le. Le will fight Scott Smith Dec 19th. They also say Lawler and Lindland will be on that show. Aoki will be coming to Strikforce soon and Arlovski is currently training with Greg Jackson
Middleweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6-1)
Shields is the former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and is coming off of a quick victory of Robbie Lawler. Miller comes out with red hair with a black skunk stripe and comes out with some dancers. Miller has a big 5” reach advantage in this fight. Shields has won 12 consecutive fights.
R1- Shields got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Shields took Miller’s back and then moved to full mount. Miller did a good job of getting back to his feet without taking much damage. Shields quickly got another take down. Miller got back to his feet and slammed Shields to the ground with about a minute and a half left in the round. Shields got back to his feet but Miller suplexed him to the ground. Really close round as Shields dominated the first part and Miller the second part. Shields controlled more of the round and landed more strikes but Miller ended with a couple of slams. Shields 10-9 after one round.
R2- Shields got cut at the beginning of the round but didn’t take any damage. Miller got a take down but then Shields quickly got the advantage on the mat. Shields is able to get a full mount but Miller flipped out using the cage and Shields took Miller’s back again. Shields really controlled Miller for the first 4 minutes of this round and is now up 20-18 on my score card. On the re-play it looked like Shields got the cut from a headbutt.
R3- Miller got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the round but Shields quickly got back to his feet and then took Miller down. Shields has full mount and is landing some strikes. About half way through the round Miller was able to get back to his feet. Big John McCarthy stops the fight briefly so Miller’s corner can fix his gloves. Shields got a take down as soon as they were re-started. Miller was able to take Shields back at the end of the round and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke with about 8 seconds left but Shields held on and did not tap. Shields dominated the entire round but almost got choked out with 8 seconds left so it will be interesting to see how this round is scored.
R4- Shields quickly got a take down to start the round and rode Miller for the first half of the round. McCarthy stood them up and Shields again quickly got a take down. Shields easily took this round. I’ve got Shields up on score cards. Miller needs to get a 10-8 round or finish the fight if he wants to win.
R5- Shields got a take down about a minute into the fight. Shields really controlled this round from start to finish. I think Shields won this fight 50-45. Although I could see rounds 1 or 3 going to Miller.
Judges score cards: 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 all in favor of Shields
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers has a lot of physical advantages in this fight as he has a 4.5” height, 7” reach and 32 lb weight advantage. Fedor is a Sambo/Judo fighter and Rogers is a Boxer/Muy Thai fighter. Fedor is introduced as the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion (the belt he won in Affliction) and gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Fedor threw a couple of big bombs at the beginning but missed. It didn’t look like Rogers hit Fedor with anything but his glove may have clipped his nose as Fedor’s nose had blood on the tip. Rogers looks a lot more apprehensive then I’ve ever seen him. Fedor got Rogers down but Rogers quickly got up and they clinched against the cage. Thre is a lot of blood coming out of Fedor’s nose. The announcers say he got caught by a jab. Fedor hit a big left hand and then was able to get Rogers down on the mat. Fedor landed some good punches on the ground. Rogers pushed out of the bottom but as he did so Fedor grabbed a kimura but had to release it and Rogers ended up in Fedor’s guard. Rogers hit some good Ground and Pound. Fedor went for an arm bar and couldn’t get it but was able to get out of the guard. Fedor caught Rogers with a punch as Rogers was really slow to get up and Fedor took the half guard position on Rogers and went for an arm triangle. Still a lot of blood coming out of Fedor. Great first round. Fedor takes this round 10-9 but has been cut badly in a couple of places.
R2- Fedor chants start this round and then some USA chants are started. Fedor got Rogers up against the cage and threw some punches but Rogers was able to block them. The announcers say the doctor believes Fedor’s nose is broken. Fedor landed a highlight reel right hand and Rogers dropped like a ton of bricks. Fedor jumped on top and landed some punches and the ref stopped the fight but I don’t think he needed those extra punches as the big right knocked out Rogers. Really fun fight and a fantastic Main Event for Strikeforce on their CBS debut.
Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
Friday, May 29, 2009
DREAM 9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round 5.26.09 Re-Cap
DREAM 9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round
(5/26/09) – Nagoya, Japan (Yokohama Arena)
No Bas Rutten tonight, instead the announcers are the trio of Michael Schiavello (PBP), Guy Mezger and Michael Kegan as they are ringside at the event. Schiavello is hyping this as the “Show of the Year” as we have the second round of the Featherweight Tournament, JZ vs. Kawajiri, Mousasi and Jacare vs. Mayhem II.
Just a reminder that in DREAM they fight 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. The fights are not judged by the round but rather on the entire fight.
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Bob Sapp (10-3-1) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30-8)
Minowa’s last DREAM fight was on DREAM 8 where he fell to former NJPW wrestler Katsoyuri Shibata by Unanimous Decision. Sapp beat Akihito Tanaka at the DREAM/K-1 New Years Eve show by TKO at the 5 minute mark. Sapp has a gigantic weight and size advantage in this fight.
R1- Sapp sat down on Minowa early and Minowa gave up his back and then got in Sapp’s guard and Minowa transitioned to an Achilles Lock and Bob Sapp tapped out. Wow, that was surprising. Great showing by Minowa, very crafty work on his part. Minowa will be fighting the winner of Hong Man Choi/Jose Canseco in the 2nd round (so that means he will be fighting Hong Man Choi).
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Achilles Lock) R1 1:15
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Hong Man Choi (1-2) vs. Jose Canseco (0-0)
Jose comes out with a hot chick (apparently this is his girlfriend) who is throwing baseball into the crowd as he carries a bat to the ring. He’s going to need it to win this fight. He also comes out to “Wild Thing”. It’s rumored that he is receiving Six Figures for this fight. Choi is 7’2” 340 lbs and is not moving well on his way to the ring.
R1- Jose tried to duck and move early. He got caught by a counter punch and then started running away from Hong Man Choi, he must have watched some Khalib Starnes fight videos. Jose looked like he tweaked his knee running and then he got TKO’d via Ground and Pound. It didn’t look like Choi really landed anything too solidly but Jose wasn’t intelligently defending himself so the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Hong Man Choi by TKO (Punches) R1
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Jan Nortje (2-5) vs. Sokoudjou (5-4)
Nortje is 6’11’ and 350 pounds. Nortje won his last MMA fight by knocking out Bob Sapp in under a minute. Sokoudjou is on a two fight losing streak and is a former UFC and Pride fighter. Sokoudjou is pretty much a one round fighter. If he doesn’t win the fight in the first five minutes then he generally gasses out and gets finished (see: Luiz Cane fight). Sokoudjou is currently training with Team Quest. Nortje has a huge size and weight advantage in this fight as Sokoudjou is a Light Heavyweight Fighter.
R1- Sokoudjou clinched him early and spent a while trying to get him to the ground but the ref broke them up. Sokoudjou lands some leg kicks. Sokoudjou gets him down and lands some Ground and Pound and the ref steps in and breaks it up but Sokoudjou keeps on punching and there is a mini melee in the ring after the fight. I don’t blame Sokoudjou though, he was probably just shocked that he actually won a fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1 2:29
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) vs. Mark Hunt
Mousasi has recently moved up in weight from Middleweight to Light Heavyweight. I had Mousasi as one of the Top Middleweight’s in the world prior to his decision to move up. He has an upcoming fight with Affliction against Vitor Belfort on their next show. Hunt lost in 18 seconds to Melvin Manhoef on the K-1/DREAM show on New Years. On this same show Mousasi beat Musashi in a K-1 fight in the first round. Mousasi was the DREAM Middleweight Champion but gave up the belt when he moved up in weight.
R1- Mousasi pushed him down early and took side control. Mousasi went for a kimura and got it and Hunt tapped out. Pure domination by Mousasi.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Kimura) R1 1:19
Middleweight Championship Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) vs. JZ Calvacante (14-2-1)
This is probably the fight that I am looking forward to most on this show. Both guys are legit Top 10 Lightweight Fighters. I don’t have JZ in my Top 10 because he hasn’t won a fight in over a year and a half but his only loss in that time period was to Shinya Aoki. Kawajiri has been very active lately and is coming off of wins against Ross Ebanez and Kozo Takeda. The announcers are picking JZ in this fight. They said that at the Press Conference yesterday that Kawajiri refused to shake hands with JZ. JZ trains at American Top Team.
R1- They stand up early and JZ hits Kawajiri with a couple of decent shots and then stuffs a take down. JZ grabs a guillotine and pulls guard but cannot hold guard. Kawajiri slams him down but JZ still is attempting to lock in the guillotine but Kawajiri pops his head out. Kawajiri got some Ground and Pound but nothing major, JZ got up but Kawajiri wrestled him back down to the mat but the ref stands them up with three minutes left in the round and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. After some brief stand up JZ went for a take down but got stuffed. Kawajiri landed some knees in the clinch but the ref separated them again. Kawajiri hits a good combination and is threatening to pull away in this fight. Kawajiri got a take down towards the end of the round. Kawajiri ends the round with a couple of Ground and Pound shots. Kawajiri has the advantage at the end of the first round. It’s nothing that JZ can’t overcome but JZ needs to be more aggressive in the second round.
R2- Kawajiri landed a big right to start the round but JZ absorbed it although he sustained a cut on his nose from the punch. Kawajiri gets a slam and takes JZ down but JZ escapes with three and a half minutes left in the round. Kawajiri hits another right but then JZ avoids other shots and almost taunts Kawajiri. Kawajiri takes him down again. Kawajiri is two minutes away from winning this fight. This was a good fight but not quite the level I was hoping for. Kawajiri should take this by Unanimous Decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Second Round Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) vs. Abel Cullum (14-2)
In the first round of this tournament Abel Cullum defeated Akiyo Nishiura by Unanimous Decision. Hideo Tokoro lost to Daiki Hata by Decision in the first round and I don’t think they ever said why he is fighting here instead of Hata. Cullum comes out to Kid Rock’s “I want to be a Cowboy”.
R1- Cullum got a double leg about a minute into the fight but Tokoro quickly got up. Tokoro hit a good knee and Cullum held on but Tokoro caught him in an arm triangle but Cullum slipped out after being in the move for a while. Cullum then drilled Tokoro with some knees but Tokoro slipped out and went for another triangle but couldn’t get it locked in. Cullum got a takedown about mid-way through the round. Really good fight so far. Cullum grabbed a knee bar but Tokoro was able to get out by kicking Cullum. Cullum got a slam with about two minutes left in the round. Tokoro got a mount with thirty seconds left but couldn’t get anything before Cullum kicked him off. Really good and close round. The fight was pretty much even with both guys threatening to finish the fight at points and both guys fighting with a lot of spirit.
R2- Tokoro spent the first couple of minutes of the round on top of Cullum. Cullum went to get out and Tokoro caught him in a Rear Naked and finished him. Really good fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:38
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round Fight- Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1)
Maeda advanced to the second round by defeated Micah Miller by Unanimous Decision. Takaya defeated Jong Won-Kim by a TKO stoppage due to strikes in the second round of their fight. Maeda is the favorite to win this fight.
R1- Maeda caught a kick and landed some strikes in on Takaya before he advanced on the ground but he never really does any damage before they stand back up. Tokoro hit a good right hand to Maeda’s eye and the commentators said his eye started to well up. Maeda got another take down. Looks to me like Maeda is the superior ground guy and Takaya is superior when on his feet. Maeda nailed Takaya with a big knee but he got right up after it. Both guys exchange pretty well and Takaya also has some marks on his face. Maeda gets another take down and they almost fall out of the ring but the refs push them back in. They stop the fight to look at Takaya’s cut. The ref gives Takaya a yellow card after he stood up the fight. Maeda got tagged with about half a minute left and Takaya jumped in and threw some hammer punches and the ref stopped the fight. The stoppage looked a little early but Maeda took a while to get up so maybe not. That was an explosive finish by Takaya.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R1 9:40
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (4-2)
Fernandes won his first round fight by Unanimous Decision over Takafumi Otsuka. Fernandes only has a career record of 4-2 but his two losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto. Iminari defeated Atsushi Yamamoto by Split Decision in their first round contest. Both guys have strong BJJ and submission skills.
R1- Fernandes got some Ground and Pound early but Iminari went for a leg lock and Fernandes got out of dodge. Fernandes countered a punch with a take down but couldn’t take Iminari’s guard. Fernandes countered an Iminari kick with another take down but didn’t take his guard again. Fernandes game plan seems to be to counter Iminari’s strikes with take downs and look for Ground and Pound if it’s there but being very careful of Iminari’s submission skills. Iminari seems to want to spend this fight on his back. The ref stops the fight to ask both fighters for more action. The referee issues a yellow card to Iminari since he seems content to spend a good portion of the fight on his back waiting for Fernandes to enter his guard. Iminari went for a knee but Fernandes moved out of the way and hit some Ground and Pound and then took side control but doesn’t seem to be getting much offense in. Fernandes is throwing knees from the side but doesn’t look to be landing anything solidly. Not a real exciting round. Fernandes is up so far because he’s been countering everything Iminari has tried and has gotten numerous take downs (which the Japanese don’t weight heavily) but Iminari just hasn’t really done anything yet in the fight.
R2- Fernandes grabbed an Iminari kick and swept his leg from under him. Iminari sits down in front of Fernandes and tries to get him to enter his guard. Iminari goes for a flying arm bar but gets take down and punched instead. Fernandes lands some leg kicks and Iminari looks like he doesn’t want to be here. Fernandes takes down Iminari and give him a good punch. Iminari grabs a leg but Fernandes escapes. Iminari is lying on the ground and the ref stops the fight to issue a yellow card to Fernandes. Wow. Fernandes got another take down but Iminari got out with no damage.
The fight comes to an end and I don’t see how you could possibly score this fight for Iminari. Fernandes will advance to the next round. This was a little reminiscent of Anderson Silva versus Thales Leites fight although Iminari was more aggressive than Leites was in his fight.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Kid Yamamoto (17-1) vs. Joe Warren (1-0)
Joe Warren won his opening round fight against Chase Beebe by ref stoppage due to cut. This is only Warren’s second professional fight. Kid got a first round bye so this is his first fight of the tournament. Kid comes out to the Star Wars theme music. Kid is the favorite to win this tournament. Warren trains out of Team Quest and has also trained with Urijah Faber.
R1- Warren lands some shots in the clinch early. Kid responds with a good knee. Joe Warren got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Warren stays on top but isn’t really getting much in terms of offense but does land a shot that cuts Kid between his eyes on the bridge of his nose. Yamamoto is issued a yellow card for trying to stall so the ref would stand up the fight. Kid hit a good slapping type punch and is starting to land some kicks and then a good right hook. Kid has hit some good counter hooks in this round. Kid was starting to take over the fight but Warren got another take down. This was a good first round. Warren controlled on the ground at the beginning and end of the round and Kid controlled the middle with his stand up.
R2- Kid hit a big left and then a right and Warren took them and kept coming. Warren was able to get a take down about two minutes into the round. Kid went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it locked in on Warren. They stood back up and Kid hit a good right hand. Warren got another take down at the end of the fight and gets some brief ground and pound. Kid goes for a submission near the bell but couldn’t lock it in.
This was a good fight. I think Joe Warren deserves to win this fight. I think it will be close since Japanese judges don’t judge as much on take downs.
The first judge scores the fight for Warren. The second gives it to Kid. The deciding judge gives the fight to Joe Warren. Big time upset, great showing by Warren in only his second fight!
Winner: Joe Warren by Decision (Split)
DREAM Middleweight Championship Fight: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22-6)
This is a re-match from DREAM 4 where Jacare defeated Mayhem by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix. They are fighting for the belt that was vacated by Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi originally won the belt by defeated Jacare by KO at DREAM 6. I’ve got Jacare as a Top 10 Middleweight (although at the bottom of the Top 10) going into this fight. Jacare is the favorite going into this fight. Mayhem comes out with a red skunk stripe in his hair and with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Jacare comes out by himself. Mousasi is in the ring with belt that he is presenting to the winner and is wearing an Affliction T-Shirt.
R1- Jacare went for a double leg after some brief stand up but couldn’t get the take down. Miller looks like he has a cut on the side of his face but not too close to his eye. Miller cut Jacare with a kick to his head and the ref stops the fight to look at the cut that is on the top of his head. Jason Miller is given a yellow card as Miller kicked him on his head while he was down- which is illegal in DREAM (can’t kick to the head of a downed fighter). Looks like Jacare is ready to fight so the fight is back on. Jacare gets a quick take down. Jacare’s blood is all over Miller and the ref stops the fight again. The referee is calling a time out, Jacare says he wants to continue. The referee stops the fight and it’s ruled a no-contest as the illegal kick (called accidental by referee) caused the stoppage of the fight and at the time the fight was stopped the fight had not gone on long enough to be ruled a definitive decision.
Decision: No Contest
Good show with an unfortunate ending. Tokoro/Cullum was FOTN. Kid/Warren, Kawajiri/JZ, Maeda/Takaya were also worth watching if you are an MMA fan.
So the Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals lines up with these fighters (will probably take place at DREAM 11):
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hideo Tokoro
Hiroyuki Takaya
Here is the information on the new DREAM show:
OLYMPIA DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09) – Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: André Galvão/Jason High vs. Hayato Sakurai/Marius Zaromskis
Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Melvin Manhoef vs. Paulo Filho
Katsunori Kikuno vs. André Amade
Welterweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout: Seichi Ikemoto vs. TBA
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão vs. Jason High
(5/26/09) – Nagoya, Japan (Yokohama Arena)
No Bas Rutten tonight, instead the announcers are the trio of Michael Schiavello (PBP), Guy Mezger and Michael Kegan as they are ringside at the event. Schiavello is hyping this as the “Show of the Year” as we have the second round of the Featherweight Tournament, JZ vs. Kawajiri, Mousasi and Jacare vs. Mayhem II.
Just a reminder that in DREAM they fight 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. The fights are not judged by the round but rather on the entire fight.
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Bob Sapp (10-3-1) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30-8)
Minowa’s last DREAM fight was on DREAM 8 where he fell to former NJPW wrestler Katsoyuri Shibata by Unanimous Decision. Sapp beat Akihito Tanaka at the DREAM/K-1 New Years Eve show by TKO at the 5 minute mark. Sapp has a gigantic weight and size advantage in this fight.
R1- Sapp sat down on Minowa early and Minowa gave up his back and then got in Sapp’s guard and Minowa transitioned to an Achilles Lock and Bob Sapp tapped out. Wow, that was surprising. Great showing by Minowa, very crafty work on his part. Minowa will be fighting the winner of Hong Man Choi/Jose Canseco in the 2nd round (so that means he will be fighting Hong Man Choi).
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Achilles Lock) R1 1:15
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Hong Man Choi (1-2) vs. Jose Canseco (0-0)
Jose comes out with a hot chick (apparently this is his girlfriend) who is throwing baseball into the crowd as he carries a bat to the ring. He’s going to need it to win this fight. He also comes out to “Wild Thing”. It’s rumored that he is receiving Six Figures for this fight. Choi is 7’2” 340 lbs and is not moving well on his way to the ring.
R1- Jose tried to duck and move early. He got caught by a counter punch and then started running away from Hong Man Choi, he must have watched some Khalib Starnes fight videos. Jose looked like he tweaked his knee running and then he got TKO’d via Ground and Pound. It didn’t look like Choi really landed anything too solidly but Jose wasn’t intelligently defending himself so the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Hong Man Choi by TKO (Punches) R1
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Jan Nortje (2-5) vs. Sokoudjou (5-4)
Nortje is 6’11’ and 350 pounds. Nortje won his last MMA fight by knocking out Bob Sapp in under a minute. Sokoudjou is on a two fight losing streak and is a former UFC and Pride fighter. Sokoudjou is pretty much a one round fighter. If he doesn’t win the fight in the first five minutes then he generally gasses out and gets finished (see: Luiz Cane fight). Sokoudjou is currently training with Team Quest. Nortje has a huge size and weight advantage in this fight as Sokoudjou is a Light Heavyweight Fighter.
R1- Sokoudjou clinched him early and spent a while trying to get him to the ground but the ref broke them up. Sokoudjou lands some leg kicks. Sokoudjou gets him down and lands some Ground and Pound and the ref steps in and breaks it up but Sokoudjou keeps on punching and there is a mini melee in the ring after the fight. I don’t blame Sokoudjou though, he was probably just shocked that he actually won a fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1 2:29
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) vs. Mark Hunt
Mousasi has recently moved up in weight from Middleweight to Light Heavyweight. I had Mousasi as one of the Top Middleweight’s in the world prior to his decision to move up. He has an upcoming fight with Affliction against Vitor Belfort on their next show. Hunt lost in 18 seconds to Melvin Manhoef on the K-1/DREAM show on New Years. On this same show Mousasi beat Musashi in a K-1 fight in the first round. Mousasi was the DREAM Middleweight Champion but gave up the belt when he moved up in weight.
R1- Mousasi pushed him down early and took side control. Mousasi went for a kimura and got it and Hunt tapped out. Pure domination by Mousasi.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Kimura) R1 1:19
Middleweight Championship Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) vs. JZ Calvacante (14-2-1)
This is probably the fight that I am looking forward to most on this show. Both guys are legit Top 10 Lightweight Fighters. I don’t have JZ in my Top 10 because he hasn’t won a fight in over a year and a half but his only loss in that time period was to Shinya Aoki. Kawajiri has been very active lately and is coming off of wins against Ross Ebanez and Kozo Takeda. The announcers are picking JZ in this fight. They said that at the Press Conference yesterday that Kawajiri refused to shake hands with JZ. JZ trains at American Top Team.
R1- They stand up early and JZ hits Kawajiri with a couple of decent shots and then stuffs a take down. JZ grabs a guillotine and pulls guard but cannot hold guard. Kawajiri slams him down but JZ still is attempting to lock in the guillotine but Kawajiri pops his head out. Kawajiri got some Ground and Pound but nothing major, JZ got up but Kawajiri wrestled him back down to the mat but the ref stands them up with three minutes left in the round and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. After some brief stand up JZ went for a take down but got stuffed. Kawajiri landed some knees in the clinch but the ref separated them again. Kawajiri hits a good combination and is threatening to pull away in this fight. Kawajiri got a take down towards the end of the round. Kawajiri ends the round with a couple of Ground and Pound shots. Kawajiri has the advantage at the end of the first round. It’s nothing that JZ can’t overcome but JZ needs to be more aggressive in the second round.
R2- Kawajiri landed a big right to start the round but JZ absorbed it although he sustained a cut on his nose from the punch. Kawajiri gets a slam and takes JZ down but JZ escapes with three and a half minutes left in the round. Kawajiri hits another right but then JZ avoids other shots and almost taunts Kawajiri. Kawajiri takes him down again. Kawajiri is two minutes away from winning this fight. This was a good fight but not quite the level I was hoping for. Kawajiri should take this by Unanimous Decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Second Round Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) vs. Abel Cullum (14-2)
In the first round of this tournament Abel Cullum defeated Akiyo Nishiura by Unanimous Decision. Hideo Tokoro lost to Daiki Hata by Decision in the first round and I don’t think they ever said why he is fighting here instead of Hata. Cullum comes out to Kid Rock’s “I want to be a Cowboy”.
R1- Cullum got a double leg about a minute into the fight but Tokoro quickly got up. Tokoro hit a good knee and Cullum held on but Tokoro caught him in an arm triangle but Cullum slipped out after being in the move for a while. Cullum then drilled Tokoro with some knees but Tokoro slipped out and went for another triangle but couldn’t get it locked in. Cullum got a takedown about mid-way through the round. Really good fight so far. Cullum grabbed a knee bar but Tokoro was able to get out by kicking Cullum. Cullum got a slam with about two minutes left in the round. Tokoro got a mount with thirty seconds left but couldn’t get anything before Cullum kicked him off. Really good and close round. The fight was pretty much even with both guys threatening to finish the fight at points and both guys fighting with a lot of spirit.
R2- Tokoro spent the first couple of minutes of the round on top of Cullum. Cullum went to get out and Tokoro caught him in a Rear Naked and finished him. Really good fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:38
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round Fight- Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1)
Maeda advanced to the second round by defeated Micah Miller by Unanimous Decision. Takaya defeated Jong Won-Kim by a TKO stoppage due to strikes in the second round of their fight. Maeda is the favorite to win this fight.
R1- Maeda caught a kick and landed some strikes in on Takaya before he advanced on the ground but he never really does any damage before they stand back up. Tokoro hit a good right hand to Maeda’s eye and the commentators said his eye started to well up. Maeda got another take down. Looks to me like Maeda is the superior ground guy and Takaya is superior when on his feet. Maeda nailed Takaya with a big knee but he got right up after it. Both guys exchange pretty well and Takaya also has some marks on his face. Maeda gets another take down and they almost fall out of the ring but the refs push them back in. They stop the fight to look at Takaya’s cut. The ref gives Takaya a yellow card after he stood up the fight. Maeda got tagged with about half a minute left and Takaya jumped in and threw some hammer punches and the ref stopped the fight. The stoppage looked a little early but Maeda took a while to get up so maybe not. That was an explosive finish by Takaya.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R1 9:40
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (4-2)
Fernandes won his first round fight by Unanimous Decision over Takafumi Otsuka. Fernandes only has a career record of 4-2 but his two losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto. Iminari defeated Atsushi Yamamoto by Split Decision in their first round contest. Both guys have strong BJJ and submission skills.
R1- Fernandes got some Ground and Pound early but Iminari went for a leg lock and Fernandes got out of dodge. Fernandes countered a punch with a take down but couldn’t take Iminari’s guard. Fernandes countered an Iminari kick with another take down but didn’t take his guard again. Fernandes game plan seems to be to counter Iminari’s strikes with take downs and look for Ground and Pound if it’s there but being very careful of Iminari’s submission skills. Iminari seems to want to spend this fight on his back. The ref stops the fight to ask both fighters for more action. The referee issues a yellow card to Iminari since he seems content to spend a good portion of the fight on his back waiting for Fernandes to enter his guard. Iminari went for a knee but Fernandes moved out of the way and hit some Ground and Pound and then took side control but doesn’t seem to be getting much offense in. Fernandes is throwing knees from the side but doesn’t look to be landing anything solidly. Not a real exciting round. Fernandes is up so far because he’s been countering everything Iminari has tried and has gotten numerous take downs (which the Japanese don’t weight heavily) but Iminari just hasn’t really done anything yet in the fight.
R2- Fernandes grabbed an Iminari kick and swept his leg from under him. Iminari sits down in front of Fernandes and tries to get him to enter his guard. Iminari goes for a flying arm bar but gets take down and punched instead. Fernandes lands some leg kicks and Iminari looks like he doesn’t want to be here. Fernandes takes down Iminari and give him a good punch. Iminari grabs a leg but Fernandes escapes. Iminari is lying on the ground and the ref stops the fight to issue a yellow card to Fernandes. Wow. Fernandes got another take down but Iminari got out with no damage.
The fight comes to an end and I don’t see how you could possibly score this fight for Iminari. Fernandes will advance to the next round. This was a little reminiscent of Anderson Silva versus Thales Leites fight although Iminari was more aggressive than Leites was in his fight.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Kid Yamamoto (17-1) vs. Joe Warren (1-0)
Joe Warren won his opening round fight against Chase Beebe by ref stoppage due to cut. This is only Warren’s second professional fight. Kid got a first round bye so this is his first fight of the tournament. Kid comes out to the Star Wars theme music. Kid is the favorite to win this tournament. Warren trains out of Team Quest and has also trained with Urijah Faber.
R1- Warren lands some shots in the clinch early. Kid responds with a good knee. Joe Warren got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Warren stays on top but isn’t really getting much in terms of offense but does land a shot that cuts Kid between his eyes on the bridge of his nose. Yamamoto is issued a yellow card for trying to stall so the ref would stand up the fight. Kid hit a good slapping type punch and is starting to land some kicks and then a good right hook. Kid has hit some good counter hooks in this round. Kid was starting to take over the fight but Warren got another take down. This was a good first round. Warren controlled on the ground at the beginning and end of the round and Kid controlled the middle with his stand up.
R2- Kid hit a big left and then a right and Warren took them and kept coming. Warren was able to get a take down about two minutes into the round. Kid went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it locked in on Warren. They stood back up and Kid hit a good right hand. Warren got another take down at the end of the fight and gets some brief ground and pound. Kid goes for a submission near the bell but couldn’t lock it in.
This was a good fight. I think Joe Warren deserves to win this fight. I think it will be close since Japanese judges don’t judge as much on take downs.
The first judge scores the fight for Warren. The second gives it to Kid. The deciding judge gives the fight to Joe Warren. Big time upset, great showing by Warren in only his second fight!
Winner: Joe Warren by Decision (Split)
DREAM Middleweight Championship Fight: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22-6)
This is a re-match from DREAM 4 where Jacare defeated Mayhem by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix. They are fighting for the belt that was vacated by Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi originally won the belt by defeated Jacare by KO at DREAM 6. I’ve got Jacare as a Top 10 Middleweight (although at the bottom of the Top 10) going into this fight. Jacare is the favorite going into this fight. Mayhem comes out with a red skunk stripe in his hair and with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Jacare comes out by himself. Mousasi is in the ring with belt that he is presenting to the winner and is wearing an Affliction T-Shirt.
R1- Jacare went for a double leg after some brief stand up but couldn’t get the take down. Miller looks like he has a cut on the side of his face but not too close to his eye. Miller cut Jacare with a kick to his head and the ref stops the fight to look at the cut that is on the top of his head. Jason Miller is given a yellow card as Miller kicked him on his head while he was down- which is illegal in DREAM (can’t kick to the head of a downed fighter). Looks like Jacare is ready to fight so the fight is back on. Jacare gets a quick take down. Jacare’s blood is all over Miller and the ref stops the fight again. The referee is calling a time out, Jacare says he wants to continue. The referee stops the fight and it’s ruled a no-contest as the illegal kick (called accidental by referee) caused the stoppage of the fight and at the time the fight was stopped the fight had not gone on long enough to be ruled a definitive decision.
Decision: No Contest
Good show with an unfortunate ending. Tokoro/Cullum was FOTN. Kid/Warren, Kawajiri/JZ, Maeda/Takaya were also worth watching if you are an MMA fan.
So the Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals lines up with these fighters (will probably take place at DREAM 11):
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hideo Tokoro
Hiroyuki Takaya
Here is the information on the new DREAM show:
OLYMPIA DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09) – Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: André Galvão/Jason High vs. Hayato Sakurai/Marius Zaromskis
Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Melvin Manhoef vs. Paulo Filho
Katsunori Kikuno vs. André Amade
Welterweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout: Seichi Ikemoto vs. TBA
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão vs. Jason High
Saturday, January 17, 2009
K-1/DREAM Dynamite 12/31/08 Show Re-Cap
K-1/DREAM Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008
December 31, 2008
Saitama Super Arena,
Saitama, Japan
DREAM Open-Weight Fight- Ikuhisa Minowa (40-19-8) vs. Errol Zimmerman 0-0)
R1- Minowa pretty much immediately got a take down and submission due to a leg hold.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Toe Hold) R1 1:01
K-1 (156.5 pounds) Fight- Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko
This was fought under K-1 rules.
R1- Artur took a slight advantage in this round with a brief knockdown and hit a really nice spinning back fist.
R2- Artur got a kick for a knockdown and then basically got a trip for a second one. Good round.
R3- Artur basically controlled this round and got a take down. This was a good and competitive fight.
Winner: Artur Kyshenko by Majority Decision
DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Bob Sapp (9-3-1) vs. Akihito Tanaka (0-0)
Tanaka wore a fish mask to the ring and fought in it. I think this was supposed to be a "comedy" fight but man it was bad.
R1- The first 4 minutes were controlled by the guy in the fish mask. He got Sapp down and Sapp was like a turtle on his back. Sapp finally got back to his feet and finished the guy off. Embarrassing fight.
Winner: Bob Sapp by TKO (punches) R1 5:22
DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Semmy Schilt (25-14-1) vs. Siala Siliga (3-0)
R1- Siliga controlled most of the fight keeping Schilt on his back but Schilt was able to get a triangle from his back to get the win.
Winner: Semmy Schilt by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 5:31
DREAM (176.4 pounds) Fight- Hayato Sakurai (33-8-2) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-5-1)
Shibata is a former New Japan Pro Wrestler who has more heart than brains. Coming into this fight he is 2-5-1 and regularly takes on fights that he is almost no chance of winning (he has already fought Ralek Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Jason Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama in his young career). Sakurai is highly favored to win this fight. Shibata has a height advantage going for him.
R1- Shibata runs straight for him at the beginning and it almost looks like Sakurai tries to hit him with a leg lariot as they collide in mid-air. They go toe to toe right after each other from the opening bell. Hayato gets on top with some Ground and Pound but also gets bloodied up around his eyes. Hayato finally finished off the tough Shibata with a TKO at the 7 minute mark. Decent fight- a lot better than the first 3 DREAM fights.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai by TKO (Punches) R1 7:01
K-1 (154.3 pounds) Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kozo Takeda
This was fought under K-1 rules.
R1- Kawajiri quickly got a knock down and Takeda got a standing 10 count. Kawajiri was just all over him hitting huge uppercuts. Takeda's nose was busted open really badly. Kawajiri got a jumping knee knockdown and Takeda again took a standing 10 count but Kawajiri quickly finished him off. Kawajiri looked AWSOME in this fight.
Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO R1
K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Badr Hari
R1- Overeem hit a giant knee early in round 1 and then got a left handed KO. Domination.
Winner: Alistair Overeen by TKO R1
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (23-6-2) vs. Hong Man Choi (1-1)
Cro Cop got destroyed in his last fight against Alistair Overeem but was able to get a "no decision" out of it when he took a low blow and could not continue. Overeem wanted a re-match on this show but Cro Cop wanted no part of that. Instead Cro Cop takes on a 7'2" 352 lb giant who has little to no mobility. All Cro Cop needs to do here is stay out of his reach for the first couple of minutes until he tires out.This guy lost to Fedor last year in under two minutes.
R1- Hong Man is winning the fight early. Cro Cop nails Hong Man with a low blow. Hong Man gets up from the low blow and then Cro Cop destroys his leg with one kick to the knee. Cro Cop looked bored.
Winner: Cro Cop TKO (Low Kick) R1 6:32
K-1 Gegard Mousasi vs. Musashi
Mousasi is a Top 10 (maybe Top 5) Middleweight MMA fighter with superior submissions. He's had a great year.
R1- Mousasi shows great stand up in this fight and gets a quick knock down. He gets another knock down by basically pushing Musashi down. He gets a third knock down of the fight and gets a standing 10 count. Mousasi finally finishes him off. He just basically ate his lunch in this fight. Fantastic showing by Mousasi.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO R1
DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (22-5-1) vs. Mark Hunt (5-4)
Manhoef destroyed Sakuraba (who is in the Main Event tonight) last year before losing to Gegard Mousasi in the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix. Hunt has lost his last 3 matches. He has lost to Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett (all Top 10 Heavyweights). Manhoef has a weight disadvantage in this fight. Hunt holds victories over Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop in a past life.
R1- Hunt charged right in and ate a big right hook and then Manhoef reigned down shots on him until the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by KO (punches) R1 0:18
WAMMA Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Eddie Alvarez (15-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (18-3)
Both of these guys are legit Top 5 Lightweights. Alvarez is a Fighter of the Year Candidate and has had two of the most exciting fights in all of MMA this year (Hansen and Kawajiri). Aoki is a jiu jitsu beast who has beaten JZ Cavalcante (had a very controversial no contest and then just rode JZ to a lay and pray victory in the re-match), Katsuhiko Nagata, Todd Moore and Caol Uno in 2008. His only loss in 2008 was to Joachim Hansen in the finals of the Dream Lightweight tournament in which both guys fought twice that night and Hansen was filling in for an injured Alvarez.
This is defnitely the most anticipated fight of the show. Alvarez comes out to "The Champ is Here." Aoki is wearing his trade mark HIDEOUSLY UGLY tights. For this fight they are pink and yellow.
R1- Aoki grabbed an Alvarez kick shortly into the fight and took him down. Aoki grabbed a heel hook. Alvarez tried to counter but Aoki just had to good of a grip and Alvarez tapped. Very impressive showing for Aoki. He's one of the top jiu jitsu guys going in MMA and his jiu jitsu trumped Alvarez's stand up before Alvarez could even get going tonight.
Winner and new WAMMA Lightweight Champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Heel Hook) R1 1:32
DREAM Fight- Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-3) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1)
I'm not going to lie. This fight put me to sleep. From what I can remember Tamura controlled and got some good Ground and Pound in during the first round. Sakuraba basically just fought to stay in the fight and tried to grab submissions where possible.
Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by Decision (Unanimous)
This was not a good show. Aoki, Kawajiri and Mousasi were really impressive in their victories. Joachim Hansen vs JZ was unfortunately cancelled but I don't think that could have saved this wreck.
December 31, 2008
Saitama Super Arena,
Saitama, Japan
DREAM Open-Weight Fight- Ikuhisa Minowa (40-19-8) vs. Errol Zimmerman 0-0)
R1- Minowa pretty much immediately got a take down and submission due to a leg hold.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Toe Hold) R1 1:01
K-1 (156.5 pounds) Fight- Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko
This was fought under K-1 rules.
R1- Artur took a slight advantage in this round with a brief knockdown and hit a really nice spinning back fist.
R2- Artur got a kick for a knockdown and then basically got a trip for a second one. Good round.
R3- Artur basically controlled this round and got a take down. This was a good and competitive fight.
Winner: Artur Kyshenko by Majority Decision
DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Bob Sapp (9-3-1) vs. Akihito Tanaka (0-0)
Tanaka wore a fish mask to the ring and fought in it. I think this was supposed to be a "comedy" fight but man it was bad.
R1- The first 4 minutes were controlled by the guy in the fish mask. He got Sapp down and Sapp was like a turtle on his back. Sapp finally got back to his feet and finished the guy off. Embarrassing fight.
Winner: Bob Sapp by TKO (punches) R1 5:22
DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Semmy Schilt (25-14-1) vs. Siala Siliga (3-0)
R1- Siliga controlled most of the fight keeping Schilt on his back but Schilt was able to get a triangle from his back to get the win.
Winner: Semmy Schilt by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 5:31
DREAM (176.4 pounds) Fight- Hayato Sakurai (33-8-2) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-5-1)
Shibata is a former New Japan Pro Wrestler who has more heart than brains. Coming into this fight he is 2-5-1 and regularly takes on fights that he is almost no chance of winning (he has already fought Ralek Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Jason Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama in his young career). Sakurai is highly favored to win this fight. Shibata has a height advantage going for him.
R1- Shibata runs straight for him at the beginning and it almost looks like Sakurai tries to hit him with a leg lariot as they collide in mid-air. They go toe to toe right after each other from the opening bell. Hayato gets on top with some Ground and Pound but also gets bloodied up around his eyes. Hayato finally finished off the tough Shibata with a TKO at the 7 minute mark. Decent fight- a lot better than the first 3 DREAM fights.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai by TKO (Punches) R1 7:01
K-1 (154.3 pounds) Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kozo Takeda
This was fought under K-1 rules.
R1- Kawajiri quickly got a knock down and Takeda got a standing 10 count. Kawajiri was just all over him hitting huge uppercuts. Takeda's nose was busted open really badly. Kawajiri got a jumping knee knockdown and Takeda again took a standing 10 count but Kawajiri quickly finished him off. Kawajiri looked AWSOME in this fight.
Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO R1
K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Badr Hari
R1- Overeem hit a giant knee early in round 1 and then got a left handed KO. Domination.
Winner: Alistair Overeen by TKO R1
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (23-6-2) vs. Hong Man Choi (1-1)
Cro Cop got destroyed in his last fight against Alistair Overeem but was able to get a "no decision" out of it when he took a low blow and could not continue. Overeem wanted a re-match on this show but Cro Cop wanted no part of that. Instead Cro Cop takes on a 7'2" 352 lb giant who has little to no mobility. All Cro Cop needs to do here is stay out of his reach for the first couple of minutes until he tires out.This guy lost to Fedor last year in under two minutes.
R1- Hong Man is winning the fight early. Cro Cop nails Hong Man with a low blow. Hong Man gets up from the low blow and then Cro Cop destroys his leg with one kick to the knee. Cro Cop looked bored.
Winner: Cro Cop TKO (Low Kick) R1 6:32
K-1 Gegard Mousasi vs. Musashi
Mousasi is a Top 10 (maybe Top 5) Middleweight MMA fighter with superior submissions. He's had a great year.
R1- Mousasi shows great stand up in this fight and gets a quick knock down. He gets another knock down by basically pushing Musashi down. He gets a third knock down of the fight and gets a standing 10 count. Mousasi finally finishes him off. He just basically ate his lunch in this fight. Fantastic showing by Mousasi.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO R1
DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (22-5-1) vs. Mark Hunt (5-4)
Manhoef destroyed Sakuraba (who is in the Main Event tonight) last year before losing to Gegard Mousasi in the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix. Hunt has lost his last 3 matches. He has lost to Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett (all Top 10 Heavyweights). Manhoef has a weight disadvantage in this fight. Hunt holds victories over Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop in a past life.
R1- Hunt charged right in and ate a big right hook and then Manhoef reigned down shots on him until the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by KO (punches) R1 0:18
WAMMA Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Eddie Alvarez (15-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (18-3)
Both of these guys are legit Top 5 Lightweights. Alvarez is a Fighter of the Year Candidate and has had two of the most exciting fights in all of MMA this year (Hansen and Kawajiri). Aoki is a jiu jitsu beast who has beaten JZ Cavalcante (had a very controversial no contest and then just rode JZ to a lay and pray victory in the re-match), Katsuhiko Nagata, Todd Moore and Caol Uno in 2008. His only loss in 2008 was to Joachim Hansen in the finals of the Dream Lightweight tournament in which both guys fought twice that night and Hansen was filling in for an injured Alvarez.
This is defnitely the most anticipated fight of the show. Alvarez comes out to "The Champ is Here." Aoki is wearing his trade mark HIDEOUSLY UGLY tights. For this fight they are pink and yellow.
R1- Aoki grabbed an Alvarez kick shortly into the fight and took him down. Aoki grabbed a heel hook. Alvarez tried to counter but Aoki just had to good of a grip and Alvarez tapped. Very impressive showing for Aoki. He's one of the top jiu jitsu guys going in MMA and his jiu jitsu trumped Alvarez's stand up before Alvarez could even get going tonight.
Winner and new WAMMA Lightweight Champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Heel Hook) R1 1:32
DREAM Fight- Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-3) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1)
I'm not going to lie. This fight put me to sleep. From what I can remember Tamura controlled and got some good Ground and Pound in during the first round. Sakuraba basically just fought to stay in the fight and tried to grab submissions where possible.
Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by Decision (Unanimous)
This was not a good show. Aoki, Kawajiri and Mousasi were really impressive in their victories. Joachim Hansen vs JZ was unfortunately cancelled but I don't think that could have saved this wreck.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
DREAM.6 9/23/08 Re-Cap
DREAM 6 9/23/08 Re-Cap
Once again Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice are the announcers. This show will focus around the Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals and Finals. We have Souza vs. Galesic and Mousasi vs. Manhoef. Plus, we have Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem.
Middleweight Reseve Fight- Andrews Nakahara (0-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-5)
This is just in case someone gets injured in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Joachim Hansen fought in the Lightweight Reserve Fight and ended up fighting for the title and winning it at the last show. Yoon holds a win over both Galesic and Manhoef. Nakahara's only fight was against Sakuraba. Nakahara comes out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Not a bad choice.
R1- Nakahara hits an early kick but then they clinch. Yoon pulled guard but then they separated with little action. They stand up and then Yoon gets a take down. Nakahura goes for a submission but he's in the ropes and Yoon escapes. Yoon has a mount on Nakahara but doesn't really seem to be doing much with it, looks like he's waiting for a submission. Nakahara eventually escapes. Nakahara got Yoon down and hit some knees at the end of the round. Not a real thrilling round, fairly close, round probably goes to Yoon due to ring control (in DREAM rounds are not judged, the fights are judged as a whole).
R2- They swing pretty wildly to start the round and Nakahara connects with some shots and takes Yoon down and then works him over via Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight. Impressive round for Nakahara.
Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)
This is going to be striker (Manhoef) versus submission wrestler (Mousasi). Should be interesting. Mousasi has won his last 9 fights and beat Denis Kang in the opener of this tournament. Manhoef has 21 finishes by TKO or KO out of his 22 wins. Mousasi is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.
R1- Mousasi shoots in early and Manhoef sprawls but Mousasi eventually takes him down and almost immediately has his back. Manhoef flips him over but Mousasi gets a triangle. Manhoef picks him up and slams him down and the move gets clamped in harder and it's over as Manhoef taps. Very impressive and short victory for Mousasi. Getting a quick victory in this fight really sets up Mousasi as the probable favorite for the finals later.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Triangle) R1 1:28
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (9-1) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-3)
This is very similar to the last fight as it pits a striker (Galesic) versus the submission guy (Jacare). Galesic comes out to Linkin Park. Jacare lost his debut MMA fight and has not lost since.
R1- Jacare shoots in and gets a quick take down. Jacare gets some shots and then easily passes guard. Jacare takes the mount but Galesic flips him over and Jacare grabs an arm bar and wins. Wow, great performance by Jacare. That was one of the quickest arm bars and arm bar submissions that you will see.
Jacare and Mousasi both put their opponents away quickly in the first round with submissions. Should be a good final.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (22-13-1)
Tokoro has won fights on both DREAM.4 and DREAM.5. He's looking to make it three wins in three straight DREAM shows. His fight against Darren Uyenoyama was one of the better fights on that show. Kid Yamamoto is in Atsushi's corner for the fight. Yamamoto's last 6 fights have all gone to a submission (he is 4-2 in those fights).
R1- Tokoro gets a couple of good strikes in early. Yamamoto got in a big strike that knocked down Tokoro about 1 minute in and then pounced on him but Tokoro grabbed guard to protect himself. Back on their feet and Yamamoto continues to hit some jabs and lands a flying knee. Tokoro getting in a couple of kicks. Tokoro pulls guard as he went after Yamamoto's arm. Back to their feet and it's pretty even right now. Yamamoto bloodies Tokoro's nose. Tokoro pulls guard again after a missed somersault kick. Yamamoto has the advantage after the first round.
R2- Shortly after the round starts they stop the action to check Tokoro's bloody nose. Tokoro grabs an arm and gets a near submission but Yamamoto turns back into him. Tokoro really trying for the submission as this might be his only way to win. 30 seconds left in the fight and Tokoro is trying to straighten out the arm but Yamamoto is stopping him and then landing some strikes. Good effort at the end by Tokoro but it looks to me like Yamamoto is going to win by decision. Yamamoto does some post match push ups.
Winner: Atsushi Yamamoto by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2)
R1- Hironaka got a take down about a minute into the fight. Not much happened and they went back to their feet. Sakurai starts to find the range in the stand up game. Sakurai lost his balance and Hironaka took his guard and then tried to pass and ended back up in the guard. Hironaka hits an illegal kick as he kicked Sakurai in the chin when he was on the mat (in DREAM you can only kick a downed opponent- or knee- if both guys are on the mat). They re-start with 1:30 left in the round. Sakurai hit a good body shot. Sakurai is finishing the round strong.
R2- Hironaka works early to take this to the mat and Sakurai tries to keep it on the feet. No one really seems to be winning this round. Kind of a boring fight so far. Sakurai lands two knees towards the end and then a big punch that floors Hironaka and then gets some Ground and Pound to finish off the fight as the bell rings. Sakurai closed very well and should win this fight.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Masanori Tonooka (1-1) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1)
R1- Akiyama got a take down after about 2 minutes of stand up. Akiyama ties him up and gets some good Ground and Pound. Akiyama just kind of toying with his inexperienced opponent. Akiyama takes his back but then losses it. Akiyama takes him down again and lands in side control. Akiyama moves to a mount position and goes for an arm. He gets the arm bar and this one is over.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 6:26
Lightweight Fight- Todd Moore (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-3)
Moore fought most recently in WEC. He has lost his last 2 fights. This should be interesting as Aoki will try to jump on Moore and ride him to a submission victory or a decision and Moore is going to have to try and knock off the gnat that is the favored Aoki. JZ and Yves Edwards are in Moore's corner. Aoki has a height and reach advantage.
R1- Aoki jumps on Moore's back about a minute in and Moor backs into the corner. Aoki clamps in the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over before it started.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (23-6-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (28-11)
Overeem has a height and weight advantage. Overeem's strenghts are his strength and his striking and that's also Cro Cops strengths. Fedor is ringside at the fight tonight. Cro Cop is coming out to Duran Duran. Fedor enters the ring with a bouquet of flowers and shakes Overeem's hand and the Cro Cop and presents flowers to the corner of each fighter.
R1- Overem throws Cro Cop down for the first take down about one minute into the fight and takes Cro Cops guard. Cro Cop is busted open above the eye as Alistair is getting in some shots but nothing too damaging. The ref stops the fight a little under 3 minutes into the fight to check the cut. They re-start in the same position with Overeem in Cro Cops guard. Overeem gets pushed away and they stand back up. Cro Cop hits a kick and follows with a high kick but Overeem catches it and dumps Cro Cop onto the mat and takes his guard and starts to deliver some Ground and Pound. Overeem started to hit some better shots and he really lays into Cro Cop on a shot of two. The ref stops the fight at 5:30 to again check the cut above Cro Cops eye. They are back on their feet and Overeem hits some knees. Overeem hits a low blow. Cro Cop takes more than enough time to recover and now he will try to get back into this fight. Overeem clinches and goes back to the knees and Overeem hits him low again. Overeem gets a yellow card. Cro Cop is bleeding pretty good. Cro Cop is laying down like he's been shot. I think he knows he's overmatched and he's going to take this way out so that he gets a no decision. Overeem hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Ten minutes later and Cro Cop is still down. Cro Cop can't continue due to the shots to the family jewels but he was getting owned in this fight. Alistair won this fight easily in my mind. Once the fight was over Cro Cop got to his feet and left pretty quickly although still limping a bit but nothing like he looked like he was dying in the ring for the last 15 minutes.
Decision: No Contest
Alistair takes the microphone. He apologizes for the fight ending the way that it did. Says he's the number 1 heavyweight in DREAM.
Middleweight Grand Prix Finals Championship Fight- Gegard Mousasi (23-2-1) vs. Ronaldo Souza (10-1)
R1- Jacare gets a slam about a minute in. Mousasi tried to grab the ropes to hold on but the ref warned him. Jacare postures up and comes down with a punch but instead eats a kick and he is out! Mousasi with the up kick for the championship. Wow.
Winner and new Middleweight Champion: Gegard Mousasi by KO R1 2:15
Once again Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice are the announcers. This show will focus around the Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals and Finals. We have Souza vs. Galesic and Mousasi vs. Manhoef. Plus, we have Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem.
Middleweight Reseve Fight- Andrews Nakahara (0-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-5)
This is just in case someone gets injured in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Joachim Hansen fought in the Lightweight Reserve Fight and ended up fighting for the title and winning it at the last show. Yoon holds a win over both Galesic and Manhoef. Nakahara's only fight was against Sakuraba. Nakahara comes out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Not a bad choice.
R1- Nakahara hits an early kick but then they clinch. Yoon pulled guard but then they separated with little action. They stand up and then Yoon gets a take down. Nakahura goes for a submission but he's in the ropes and Yoon escapes. Yoon has a mount on Nakahara but doesn't really seem to be doing much with it, looks like he's waiting for a submission. Nakahara eventually escapes. Nakahara got Yoon down and hit some knees at the end of the round. Not a real thrilling round, fairly close, round probably goes to Yoon due to ring control (in DREAM rounds are not judged, the fights are judged as a whole).
R2- They swing pretty wildly to start the round and Nakahara connects with some shots and takes Yoon down and then works him over via Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight. Impressive round for Nakahara.
Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)
This is going to be striker (Manhoef) versus submission wrestler (Mousasi). Should be interesting. Mousasi has won his last 9 fights and beat Denis Kang in the opener of this tournament. Manhoef has 21 finishes by TKO or KO out of his 22 wins. Mousasi is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.
R1- Mousasi shoots in early and Manhoef sprawls but Mousasi eventually takes him down and almost immediately has his back. Manhoef flips him over but Mousasi gets a triangle. Manhoef picks him up and slams him down and the move gets clamped in harder and it's over as Manhoef taps. Very impressive and short victory for Mousasi. Getting a quick victory in this fight really sets up Mousasi as the probable favorite for the finals later.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Triangle) R1 1:28
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (9-1) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-3)
This is very similar to the last fight as it pits a striker (Galesic) versus the submission guy (Jacare). Galesic comes out to Linkin Park. Jacare lost his debut MMA fight and has not lost since.
R1- Jacare shoots in and gets a quick take down. Jacare gets some shots and then easily passes guard. Jacare takes the mount but Galesic flips him over and Jacare grabs an arm bar and wins. Wow, great performance by Jacare. That was one of the quickest arm bars and arm bar submissions that you will see.
Jacare and Mousasi both put their opponents away quickly in the first round with submissions. Should be a good final.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (22-13-1)
Tokoro has won fights on both DREAM.4 and DREAM.5. He's looking to make it three wins in three straight DREAM shows. His fight against Darren Uyenoyama was one of the better fights on that show. Kid Yamamoto is in Atsushi's corner for the fight. Yamamoto's last 6 fights have all gone to a submission (he is 4-2 in those fights).
R1- Tokoro gets a couple of good strikes in early. Yamamoto got in a big strike that knocked down Tokoro about 1 minute in and then pounced on him but Tokoro grabbed guard to protect himself. Back on their feet and Yamamoto continues to hit some jabs and lands a flying knee. Tokoro getting in a couple of kicks. Tokoro pulls guard as he went after Yamamoto's arm. Back to their feet and it's pretty even right now. Yamamoto bloodies Tokoro's nose. Tokoro pulls guard again after a missed somersault kick. Yamamoto has the advantage after the first round.
R2- Shortly after the round starts they stop the action to check Tokoro's bloody nose. Tokoro grabs an arm and gets a near submission but Yamamoto turns back into him. Tokoro really trying for the submission as this might be his only way to win. 30 seconds left in the fight and Tokoro is trying to straighten out the arm but Yamamoto is stopping him and then landing some strikes. Good effort at the end by Tokoro but it looks to me like Yamamoto is going to win by decision. Yamamoto does some post match push ups.
Winner: Atsushi Yamamoto by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2)
R1- Hironaka got a take down about a minute into the fight. Not much happened and they went back to their feet. Sakurai starts to find the range in the stand up game. Sakurai lost his balance and Hironaka took his guard and then tried to pass and ended back up in the guard. Hironaka hits an illegal kick as he kicked Sakurai in the chin when he was on the mat (in DREAM you can only kick a downed opponent- or knee- if both guys are on the mat). They re-start with 1:30 left in the round. Sakurai hit a good body shot. Sakurai is finishing the round strong.
R2- Hironaka works early to take this to the mat and Sakurai tries to keep it on the feet. No one really seems to be winning this round. Kind of a boring fight so far. Sakurai lands two knees towards the end and then a big punch that floors Hironaka and then gets some Ground and Pound to finish off the fight as the bell rings. Sakurai closed very well and should win this fight.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Fight- Masanori Tonooka (1-1) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1)
R1- Akiyama got a take down after about 2 minutes of stand up. Akiyama ties him up and gets some good Ground and Pound. Akiyama just kind of toying with his inexperienced opponent. Akiyama takes his back but then losses it. Akiyama takes him down again and lands in side control. Akiyama moves to a mount position and goes for an arm. He gets the arm bar and this one is over.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 6:26
Lightweight Fight- Todd Moore (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-3)
Moore fought most recently in WEC. He has lost his last 2 fights. This should be interesting as Aoki will try to jump on Moore and ride him to a submission victory or a decision and Moore is going to have to try and knock off the gnat that is the favored Aoki. JZ and Yves Edwards are in Moore's corner. Aoki has a height and reach advantage.
R1- Aoki jumps on Moore's back about a minute in and Moor backs into the corner. Aoki clamps in the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over before it started.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (23-6-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (28-11)
Overeem has a height and weight advantage. Overeem's strenghts are his strength and his striking and that's also Cro Cops strengths. Fedor is ringside at the fight tonight. Cro Cop is coming out to Duran Duran. Fedor enters the ring with a bouquet of flowers and shakes Overeem's hand and the Cro Cop and presents flowers to the corner of each fighter.
R1- Overem throws Cro Cop down for the first take down about one minute into the fight and takes Cro Cops guard. Cro Cop is busted open above the eye as Alistair is getting in some shots but nothing too damaging. The ref stops the fight a little under 3 minutes into the fight to check the cut. They re-start in the same position with Overeem in Cro Cops guard. Overeem gets pushed away and they stand back up. Cro Cop hits a kick and follows with a high kick but Overeem catches it and dumps Cro Cop onto the mat and takes his guard and starts to deliver some Ground and Pound. Overeem started to hit some better shots and he really lays into Cro Cop on a shot of two. The ref stops the fight at 5:30 to again check the cut above Cro Cops eye. They are back on their feet and Overeem hits some knees. Overeem hits a low blow. Cro Cop takes more than enough time to recover and now he will try to get back into this fight. Overeem clinches and goes back to the knees and Overeem hits him low again. Overeem gets a yellow card. Cro Cop is bleeding pretty good. Cro Cop is laying down like he's been shot. I think he knows he's overmatched and he's going to take this way out so that he gets a no decision. Overeem hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Ten minutes later and Cro Cop is still down. Cro Cop can't continue due to the shots to the family jewels but he was getting owned in this fight. Alistair won this fight easily in my mind. Once the fight was over Cro Cop got to his feet and left pretty quickly although still limping a bit but nothing like he looked like he was dying in the ring for the last 15 minutes.
Decision: No Contest
Alistair takes the microphone. He apologizes for the fight ending the way that it did. Says he's the number 1 heavyweight in DREAM.
Middleweight Grand Prix Finals Championship Fight- Gegard Mousasi (23-2-1) vs. Ronaldo Souza (10-1)
R1- Jacare gets a slam about a minute in. Mousasi tried to grab the ropes to hold on but the ref warned him. Jacare postures up and comes down with a punch but instead eats a kick and he is out! Mousasi with the up kick for the championship. Wow.
Winner and new Middleweight Champion: Gegard Mousasi by KO R1 2:15
Thursday, June 19, 2008
DREAM.4 Middleweight Grand Pix 2nd Round 6/15/08 Re-Cap
DREAM 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 2nd Round
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
They have Nate Marquardt and Ron Kruck break down the Middleweight Second Round match-ups.
Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2)
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki is probably my least favorite MMA fighter in the world. His style is to latch onto his opponent and take him down and then lay on him until the end of the match. He's awesome at it but it's one of the most boring things to watch in professional sports today. The announcers note that he is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight. Aoki also sports some of the most hideous tights in all of MMA.Wake me up when this one is over.
Just as a reminder, in DREAM they have 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes.
R1- Aoki gets two take downs in the first two minutes but doesn't do anything with them. He just clinches the guy and lays on top of him. Aoki shockingly moves to full mount and lays in some really weak looking punches. Aoki submits Nagata about 5 minutes in with a nice submission. This was much less painful than the other 2 Aoki fights that I've seen. He dominated this and finished it pretty quickly. Aoki advances to the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission R1
Heavyweight bout: Lee Tae-Hyun (1-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (26-11)
Lee has a huge size advantage as he's 295 lbs and Alistair is 225 but Alistair has the experience factor. They note that Alistair is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Alistair just destroys Lee very quickly after the opening sequence. About a minute in Alistair hits a great combo and Lee just crumples to the mat. Left hook, overhand right, left hand and a knee and then he hits the mat. Alistair looked phenomenal here but we have to wonder how good his opponent was. I'm looking forward to seeing Alistair take on some more competitive fights.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO R1
Light heavyweight bout: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0)
R1- Gadzhiev looks good early but then gets caught in a take down and gets tapped out by arm bar a little after the 3 minute mark.
Winner: Ralek Gracie by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Bout
Hideo Tokoro (19-13-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-1)
R1- Tokoro hits a big knee about a minute in and takes Darren down. Then they do some really nifty sprawling with Tokoro with the advantage and nearly getting a couple of submissions. Darren comes back with some nice strikes and looks like he has a chance to finish Tokoro but Tokoro takes him down and nearly misses another submission. This is a really entertaining fight and it was very back and forth in the first round.
R2- Good solid second round but not as exciting as the first round.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision
Next up they have the girls hold up signs in the ring to a New Kids on the Block classic smash hit. Wow.
They show a promo for the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce show.
They are in the ring and doing some sort of draw for the lightweight tournament semi-finals to see who will fight each other.
Here are the match-ups:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Both are very intriguing fights. I'm hoping for a Alvarez/Uno finals.
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) vs. Dong-Sik Yoon (4-4)
Yoon comes out to "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Not exactly the song I think of when I want to get pumped for a fight but what do I know. Mousasi upset Denis Kang in the first round, he is 22 years old and is fighting his 25th fight tonight. Mousasi is a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight.
R1- Mousasi controlls the first half of the round. Yoon got an early take down but after that it was mostly Mousasi controlling by taking Yoon's back twice and controlling the fight with leg kicks when they stood up. Mousasi drills Yoon with a knee at about the 4 minute mark and just crumples Yoon and then get goes after him with some Ground and Pound. Yoon fights back by getting Mousasi in a near arm bar. With 30 seconds left Yoon stretches the arm bar out but Mousasi slips out. Mousasi really controlled the fight but Yoon almost got a submission near the end of the round. Mousasi is clearly in control but he's got to be careful not to get submitted.
R2- Mousasi quickly takes Yoons back to start the round. This kind of moved to what I see as a typical DREAM style where one guy in the fight is either just laying there in the fetal position or laying on his opponent to try and ride him to victory. This was Yoon basically being fetal for the first 4 and a half minutes of Round 2. Mousasi wins this one by a landslide in a fight that was very bland and uneventful. Hopefully the other fights are more exciting than this and I think that Miller/Souza and Sakuraba/Manhoef definitely should be.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Zelg Gelasic (8-3) vs. Taiei Kin (3-2)
Kin was also 25-5-1 in K1.
R1- This match had just started and we were about two minutes in when Gelasic got a take down and then the fight was over due to ref stoppage. Upon replay Kin hurt his arm on the take down and he tapped out.The injury was pretty sick as Kin went to brace himself and his arm bend the wrong way, pretty sick looking replay.
Winner: Zelg Gelasic by Submission (Injury)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-5) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (8-1)
I'm looking forward to this fight more than any other fight in the Middleweight Quarterfinals as Souza really impressed me in his last fight and Miller, while talented, really pissed me off the way he disrespected his opponent. Both guys seem really talented and honestly I think this is a bad draw as both of these guys are probably better than the first four guys that we've seen tonight. Miller enters in a Halloween type mask and is throwing money or fake money into the crowd. Then he dances like a white guy trying not to be. Miller's best wins are against Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang. He has losses to Georges St. Pierre and Frank Trig. He's won 9 of his last 10 fights. All of Jacare's wins have been by submission.
R1- Good back and forth action early on with Jacare taking it at Miller and then both guys sprawling for position. Jacare gets the first take down of the fight. Miller reversed and then got caught in a leg lock. They got back to their feet and Miller hit a couple of knees. Jacare returns the favor with a knee in the corner. Jacare gets another take down. Miller does a good job reversing but gets his leg caught again and Jacare reverses. Jacare takes his back at the six minute mark of the round. Jacare control for a few minutes and then Miller escapes and gets a nice punch and takes the top. Miller tried to grab a guillotine but instead whiffed. This was a good round, probably the best fight of the night with the possible exception of the Featherweight Fight. Souza takes the first round as he really controlled the fight. Miller did a good job of minimizing damage and escaping Jacare's submissions but spend most of the round on defense.
R2- Jacare once again is the aggressor coming out to start the fight and gets a glancing high kick on Miller. Some nice sprawling and Miller basically avoids a take down but leaving the ring (didn't look intentional but Jacare definitely would have had a take down here) and then the ref re-starts the fight in the center of the ring. Miller starts to try some combos. Miller seems to be starting to gain some momentum on his feet with about 2 minutes left. Miller tries a guillotine but Jacare slams him down and escapes after the take down. Miller gives up his back and gets to his feet but Jacare takes him down again. Jacare gets full mount and Miller gives up his back and reverses and he is in Jacare's guard. Pretty close fight but Jacare wins this one based on controlling the fight and getting a ton of take downs. Miller started to push the pace towards the end of the fight but he just didn't inflict much (or enough) damage on his opponent. Nice to see Miller get a loss on his record, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
[b]Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1)
Manhoef has 20 wins by TKO or KO. He also has a kick boxing record of 34-4 with 25 T(KOs). Sakuraba has 24 wins with 17 by submission and holds victories over Rampage, Renzo Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
R1- Both guys being very cautious in the early going. Manhoef finally opens things up and just goes all after Skauraba and is just destroying him. The ref stops it at one and a half minutes of round one after Manhoef just ate him up for about 30 seconds non-stop. Great showing by Manhoef.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes)
So the Middleweight Semi-Finals will consist of:
Melvin Manhoef
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Zelg Gelasic
Gegard Mousasi
Hopefully we get a Manhoef/Souza finals.
Kind of a lackluster show from DREAM. The best fights were the featherweight fight and Jacare/Miller but neither of them is really worth going out of your way to see. Alistair Overeem looked really good in his fight and I look forward to seeing him fight more. Manhoef also had a great showing in a Elite XC style beatdown in the Main Event.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
They have Nate Marquardt and Ron Kruck break down the Middleweight Second Round match-ups.
Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2)
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki is probably my least favorite MMA fighter in the world. His style is to latch onto his opponent and take him down and then lay on him until the end of the match. He's awesome at it but it's one of the most boring things to watch in professional sports today. The announcers note that he is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight. Aoki also sports some of the most hideous tights in all of MMA.Wake me up when this one is over.
Just as a reminder, in DREAM they have 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes.
R1- Aoki gets two take downs in the first two minutes but doesn't do anything with them. He just clinches the guy and lays on top of him. Aoki shockingly moves to full mount and lays in some really weak looking punches. Aoki submits Nagata about 5 minutes in with a nice submission. This was much less painful than the other 2 Aoki fights that I've seen. He dominated this and finished it pretty quickly. Aoki advances to the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission R1
Heavyweight bout: Lee Tae-Hyun (1-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (26-11)
Lee has a huge size advantage as he's 295 lbs and Alistair is 225 but Alistair has the experience factor. They note that Alistair is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Alistair just destroys Lee very quickly after the opening sequence. About a minute in Alistair hits a great combo and Lee just crumples to the mat. Left hook, overhand right, left hand and a knee and then he hits the mat. Alistair looked phenomenal here but we have to wonder how good his opponent was. I'm looking forward to seeing Alistair take on some more competitive fights.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO R1
Light heavyweight bout: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0)
R1- Gadzhiev looks good early but then gets caught in a take down and gets tapped out by arm bar a little after the 3 minute mark.
Winner: Ralek Gracie by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Bout
Hideo Tokoro (19-13-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-1)
R1- Tokoro hits a big knee about a minute in and takes Darren down. Then they do some really nifty sprawling with Tokoro with the advantage and nearly getting a couple of submissions. Darren comes back with some nice strikes and looks like he has a chance to finish Tokoro but Tokoro takes him down and nearly misses another submission. This is a really entertaining fight and it was very back and forth in the first round.
R2- Good solid second round but not as exciting as the first round.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision
Next up they have the girls hold up signs in the ring to a New Kids on the Block classic smash hit. Wow.
They show a promo for the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce show.
They are in the ring and doing some sort of draw for the lightweight tournament semi-finals to see who will fight each other.
Here are the match-ups:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Both are very intriguing fights. I'm hoping for a Alvarez/Uno finals.
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) vs. Dong-Sik Yoon (4-4)
Yoon comes out to "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Not exactly the song I think of when I want to get pumped for a fight but what do I know. Mousasi upset Denis Kang in the first round, he is 22 years old and is fighting his 25th fight tonight. Mousasi is a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight.
R1- Mousasi controlls the first half of the round. Yoon got an early take down but after that it was mostly Mousasi controlling by taking Yoon's back twice and controlling the fight with leg kicks when they stood up. Mousasi drills Yoon with a knee at about the 4 minute mark and just crumples Yoon and then get goes after him with some Ground and Pound. Yoon fights back by getting Mousasi in a near arm bar. With 30 seconds left Yoon stretches the arm bar out but Mousasi slips out. Mousasi really controlled the fight but Yoon almost got a submission near the end of the round. Mousasi is clearly in control but he's got to be careful not to get submitted.
R2- Mousasi quickly takes Yoons back to start the round. This kind of moved to what I see as a typical DREAM style where one guy in the fight is either just laying there in the fetal position or laying on his opponent to try and ride him to victory. This was Yoon basically being fetal for the first 4 and a half minutes of Round 2. Mousasi wins this one by a landslide in a fight that was very bland and uneventful. Hopefully the other fights are more exciting than this and I think that Miller/Souza and Sakuraba/Manhoef definitely should be.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Zelg Gelasic (8-3) vs. Taiei Kin (3-2)
Kin was also 25-5-1 in K1.
R1- This match had just started and we were about two minutes in when Gelasic got a take down and then the fight was over due to ref stoppage. Upon replay Kin hurt his arm on the take down and he tapped out.The injury was pretty sick as Kin went to brace himself and his arm bend the wrong way, pretty sick looking replay.
Winner: Zelg Gelasic by Submission (Injury)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-5) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (8-1)
I'm looking forward to this fight more than any other fight in the Middleweight Quarterfinals as Souza really impressed me in his last fight and Miller, while talented, really pissed me off the way he disrespected his opponent. Both guys seem really talented and honestly I think this is a bad draw as both of these guys are probably better than the first four guys that we've seen tonight. Miller enters in a Halloween type mask and is throwing money or fake money into the crowd. Then he dances like a white guy trying not to be. Miller's best wins are against Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang. He has losses to Georges St. Pierre and Frank Trig. He's won 9 of his last 10 fights. All of Jacare's wins have been by submission.
R1- Good back and forth action early on with Jacare taking it at Miller and then both guys sprawling for position. Jacare gets the first take down of the fight. Miller reversed and then got caught in a leg lock. They got back to their feet and Miller hit a couple of knees. Jacare returns the favor with a knee in the corner. Jacare gets another take down. Miller does a good job reversing but gets his leg caught again and Jacare reverses. Jacare takes his back at the six minute mark of the round. Jacare control for a few minutes and then Miller escapes and gets a nice punch and takes the top. Miller tried to grab a guillotine but instead whiffed. This was a good round, probably the best fight of the night with the possible exception of the Featherweight Fight. Souza takes the first round as he really controlled the fight. Miller did a good job of minimizing damage and escaping Jacare's submissions but spend most of the round on defense.
R2- Jacare once again is the aggressor coming out to start the fight and gets a glancing high kick on Miller. Some nice sprawling and Miller basically avoids a take down but leaving the ring (didn't look intentional but Jacare definitely would have had a take down here) and then the ref re-starts the fight in the center of the ring. Miller starts to try some combos. Miller seems to be starting to gain some momentum on his feet with about 2 minutes left. Miller tries a guillotine but Jacare slams him down and escapes after the take down. Miller gives up his back and gets to his feet but Jacare takes him down again. Jacare gets full mount and Miller gives up his back and reverses and he is in Jacare's guard. Pretty close fight but Jacare wins this one based on controlling the fight and getting a ton of take downs. Miller started to push the pace towards the end of the fight but he just didn't inflict much (or enough) damage on his opponent. Nice to see Miller get a loss on his record, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
[b]Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1)
Manhoef has 20 wins by TKO or KO. He also has a kick boxing record of 34-4 with 25 T(KOs). Sakuraba has 24 wins with 17 by submission and holds victories over Rampage, Renzo Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
R1- Both guys being very cautious in the early going. Manhoef finally opens things up and just goes all after Skauraba and is just destroying him. The ref stops it at one and a half minutes of round one after Manhoef just ate him up for about 30 seconds non-stop. Great showing by Manhoef.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes)
So the Middleweight Semi-Finals will consist of:
Melvin Manhoef
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Zelg Gelasic
Gegard Mousasi
Hopefully we get a Manhoef/Souza finals.
Kind of a lackluster show from DREAM. The best fights were the featherweight fight and Jacare/Miller but neither of them is really worth going out of your way to see. Alistair Overeem looked really good in his fight and I look forward to seeing him fight more. Manhoef also had a great showing in a Elite XC style beatdown in the Main Event.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
DREAM.2 Middleweight Grand Prix 4/29/08 Re-Cap/Thoughts
DREAM.2 Middleweight Grand Prix 4/29/08
Lightweight Tournament Rematch:
Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
R1- Aoki just kind of latches onto JZ throughout the early parts of this match and just tries not to get hit. Aoki grabs a leg hold about 2 minutes in and JZ responds with lots of stiff strikes and Aoki is in danger but Aoki got to his feet and tied up JZ again. Aoki's strategy seems to be just to be so close to JZ that JZ can't strike and to them try to grab onto a submission. Aoki rides JZ's back and is trying for a headlock/choke type move. Aoki hits his first strikes of the night at around 5 minutes as he's hitting JZ in the back of the head and then again goes for the choke from behind. Aoki is effective but man he's tremendously boring. JZ slumps down to the mat and Aoki still has him hooked and has his back. JZ finally gets out of the move with about a minute and a half left. Aoki just lays on his back and refuses to come to his feet. Man, I hate Aoki. He's just no fun. Unfortunately, he's winning this fight.
R2- Aoki gets JZ in his guard early in this round and just looks like his plan is to hang on and back into a victory here this evening. Aoki goes for an armbar but loses. Aoki lays on his back until the ref makes him come to his feet and fight. Aoki goes for a flying submission but JZ grabs him but once again Aoki gets him in his guard and basically just hugs him so he can't do anything. Great defense by Aoki as he looks like he's going to ride to a decision here. Aoki lays on the ground again until the ref makes him get to his feet and fight. Aoki jumps onto his own back but the ref makes him get to his feet again and fight. Aoki just trying to kill time here as he's on his back again. Practicing his best "look at me I'm a hooker" pose. Aoki ends up grabbing an effective armbar and is going for a submission. JZ rolls through very nicely and gets out.
And the fight ends. Man, Aoki is just so so so so boring. He's going to advance but if I never see him fight again it will be too soon.
Winner: Shinya "yawn" Aoki via Decision
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Taiei Kin
R1- Not much going on early. Minowa has a dominate position but Kin just kind of sits back and defends in full guard. Kin hits a nice kick but Minowa takes him down again. Kin gets a yellow card for stalling (which the announcers say takes away 10% of his purse). This wakes up Kin and he starts to get in some strikes. Minowa takes him down again but isn't doing any damage. Really uneventful first down. Minowa got a bunch of takedowns but did nothing. Kin got a yellow card for stalling but did get some nice kicks.
R2- Minowa takes down Kin early in the round and lays on him. Then the round ends. This just wasn't a very good fight.
Winner: Taiei Kin via Decision (Unanimous)
Two real snoozefest fights to start off this show.
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Yoon Dong Sik vs. Shungo Oyama
R1- Both of these guys have losing records but the announcers are pimping them as "underrated" so it will be interesting to see who can live up to they hype the announcers are giving them. Yoon takes him down pretty quickly and is actually trying to do damage to his opponent (unlike the last fight). Oyama grabs an arm lock but can't hold it. Yoon continues to hold a dominant position over Oyama on the mat throughout the first half of Round One. Decent first round that I would give to Yoon as he dominated ring control throughout the round.
R2- Yoon drops Oyama at the beginning of the round but couldn't follow up. Yoon continues to control this fight with take downs. Yoon nailing Oyama with Ground and Pound punches in the final minute of the fight.
Winner: Yoon Dong Sik by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Zeig Galesic vs. Magomed Sultanakhmedov
R1- Magomed is sporting a "Volk Han" T-Shirt so he is immediately the guy I want to win this fight. Zeig came at Magomed early but Magomed took him down. Zeig quickly reversed and this one looks like it might be a pretty active fight. Zeig grabs an armbar and Magomed has to tap early.
Winner: Zeig Galesic via Submission (Armbar) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Ronaldo Jacare Souza vs. Ian Murphy
R1- This is Ian Murphy's first MMA fight. Souza is 7-1 gaining mostly first round submissions. Souza flies at Murphy at the beginning and Murphy is able to take him down but can't get an advantage. Souza just nailing him with knees. Souza takes him down and is going for an armbar. Souza is dominating since he got taken down that one time. Souza finally grabs a Rear Naked Choke and Murphy taps out. Murphy was just overmatched in this fight.
Winner: Ronald Jacare Souza via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
R1- Both of these guys have over 30 wins under the belt and both are over 30 years of age (38 and 39). Interesting how some relatively inexperienced guys got matched up against each other and then these two got matched up against each other. These guys mix it up pretty good early and Tamura is getting in a lot of shots and then takes down Funaki and is just destroying him and the ref calls for the bell. Impressive win by Tamura.
Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by TKO (punches) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
R1- Kang takes him down early after hitting a couple of punches. Kang is controlling the fight from the top. Mousasi grabs a triangle armbar from the bottom and taps Kang! Wow, this was a shocking upset in my book. Kang dominated but got caught with a submission and lost the fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi via Submission (triangle) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
R1- This is Nakahara's MMA debut. Sakuraba and his crew come in wearing pro wrestling masks and keep them on until the introductions. Sakuraba goes for a take down but Nakahara denies him early. Sakuraba gets kicked low and they stop the fight for a while. Nakahura hits a nice kick and then barely misses another after they re-start. This is a surprisingly even fight so far. Sakuraba grabs a rear naked choke and wins this one in a fairly competitive first round.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Overall Thoughts: This was a decent show. No great fights but after the first two clunkers it picked up. Surprise of the night was the Denis Kang upset. I'm thinking Souza looks like he might go on to win this one but there are also some real experienced fighters like Sakuraba and Tamura that will definitely have a say in this tournament.
Lightweight Tournament Rematch:
Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
R1- Aoki just kind of latches onto JZ throughout the early parts of this match and just tries not to get hit. Aoki grabs a leg hold about 2 minutes in and JZ responds with lots of stiff strikes and Aoki is in danger but Aoki got to his feet and tied up JZ again. Aoki's strategy seems to be just to be so close to JZ that JZ can't strike and to them try to grab onto a submission. Aoki rides JZ's back and is trying for a headlock/choke type move. Aoki hits his first strikes of the night at around 5 minutes as he's hitting JZ in the back of the head and then again goes for the choke from behind. Aoki is effective but man he's tremendously boring. JZ slumps down to the mat and Aoki still has him hooked and has his back. JZ finally gets out of the move with about a minute and a half left. Aoki just lays on his back and refuses to come to his feet. Man, I hate Aoki. He's just no fun. Unfortunately, he's winning this fight.
R2- Aoki gets JZ in his guard early in this round and just looks like his plan is to hang on and back into a victory here this evening. Aoki goes for an armbar but loses. Aoki lays on his back until the ref makes him come to his feet and fight. Aoki goes for a flying submission but JZ grabs him but once again Aoki gets him in his guard and basically just hugs him so he can't do anything. Great defense by Aoki as he looks like he's going to ride to a decision here. Aoki lays on the ground again until the ref makes him get to his feet and fight. Aoki jumps onto his own back but the ref makes him get to his feet again and fight. Aoki just trying to kill time here as he's on his back again. Practicing his best "look at me I'm a hooker" pose. Aoki ends up grabbing an effective armbar and is going for a submission. JZ rolls through very nicely and gets out.
And the fight ends. Man, Aoki is just so so so so boring. He's going to advance but if I never see him fight again it will be too soon.
Winner: Shinya "yawn" Aoki via Decision
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Taiei Kin
R1- Not much going on early. Minowa has a dominate position but Kin just kind of sits back and defends in full guard. Kin hits a nice kick but Minowa takes him down again. Kin gets a yellow card for stalling (which the announcers say takes away 10% of his purse). This wakes up Kin and he starts to get in some strikes. Minowa takes him down again but isn't doing any damage. Really uneventful first down. Minowa got a bunch of takedowns but did nothing. Kin got a yellow card for stalling but did get some nice kicks.
R2- Minowa takes down Kin early in the round and lays on him. Then the round ends. This just wasn't a very good fight.
Winner: Taiei Kin via Decision (Unanimous)
Two real snoozefest fights to start off this show.
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Yoon Dong Sik vs. Shungo Oyama
R1- Both of these guys have losing records but the announcers are pimping them as "underrated" so it will be interesting to see who can live up to they hype the announcers are giving them. Yoon takes him down pretty quickly and is actually trying to do damage to his opponent (unlike the last fight). Oyama grabs an arm lock but can't hold it. Yoon continues to hold a dominant position over Oyama on the mat throughout the first half of Round One. Decent first round that I would give to Yoon as he dominated ring control throughout the round.
R2- Yoon drops Oyama at the beginning of the round but couldn't follow up. Yoon continues to control this fight with take downs. Yoon nailing Oyama with Ground and Pound punches in the final minute of the fight.
Winner: Yoon Dong Sik by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Zeig Galesic vs. Magomed Sultanakhmedov
R1- Magomed is sporting a "Volk Han" T-Shirt so he is immediately the guy I want to win this fight. Zeig came at Magomed early but Magomed took him down. Zeig quickly reversed and this one looks like it might be a pretty active fight. Zeig grabs an armbar and Magomed has to tap early.
Winner: Zeig Galesic via Submission (Armbar) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Ronaldo Jacare Souza vs. Ian Murphy
R1- This is Ian Murphy's first MMA fight. Souza is 7-1 gaining mostly first round submissions. Souza flies at Murphy at the beginning and Murphy is able to take him down but can't get an advantage. Souza just nailing him with knees. Souza takes him down and is going for an armbar. Souza is dominating since he got taken down that one time. Souza finally grabs a Rear Naked Choke and Murphy taps out. Murphy was just overmatched in this fight.
Winner: Ronald Jacare Souza via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
R1- Both of these guys have over 30 wins under the belt and both are over 30 years of age (38 and 39). Interesting how some relatively inexperienced guys got matched up against each other and then these two got matched up against each other. These guys mix it up pretty good early and Tamura is getting in a lot of shots and then takes down Funaki and is just destroying him and the ref calls for the bell. Impressive win by Tamura.
Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by TKO (punches) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
R1- Kang takes him down early after hitting a couple of punches. Kang is controlling the fight from the top. Mousasi grabs a triangle armbar from the bottom and taps Kang! Wow, this was a shocking upset in my book. Kang dominated but got caught with a submission and lost the fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi via Submission (triangle) R1
Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
R1- This is Nakahara's MMA debut. Sakuraba and his crew come in wearing pro wrestling masks and keep them on until the introductions. Sakuraba goes for a take down but Nakahara denies him early. Sakuraba gets kicked low and they stop the fight for a while. Nakahura hits a nice kick and then barely misses another after they re-start. This is a surprisingly even fight so far. Sakuraba grabs a rear naked choke and wins this one in a fairly competitive first round.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Overall Thoughts: This was a decent show. No great fights but after the first two clunkers it picked up. Surprise of the night was the Denis Kang upset. I'm thinking Souza looks like he might go on to win this one but there are also some real experienced fighters like Sakuraba and Tamura that will definitely have a say in this tournament.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
