Shooto Results

Blink and you may have missed a duo of Shooto fight cards in Tokyo and Hiroshima respectively.

On 21 March Shooto rumbled into Kitazawa Town Hall featuring a pair of 2008 Rookie Tournament middleweight bouts.

Nipponese Naoki Hirayama (1-0) began the night and his pro MMA career with a unanimous decision over Shin Kochiwa(0-1); and, Yoishiro Sato (1-0) tied Hirayama with a UD over pitiful Toru Ishinaka (0-4-2).

In the evening’s main event, 65-kilo Yuji Inoue (4-3-1) broke a two-fight losing streak with a UD over Kyotaro Nakao (5-7-2).

In a 2008 Rookie Tournament welterweight scrap, Kazuya Satomoto improved to 4-1 with a triangle armbar submission of Mach Dojo’s “KG Kokoroto” Hiroki Kuga (0-1).

At 56 kilos, Hiroharu Matsufuji (2-4) submitted pathetic Katsuhisa Akasaki (2-14-1) in a Kimura at 3:04 of round deuce.

In the same weight class, Shinichi Hanawa (4-6-1) outlasted Joji Shimada (1-4) to a unanimous decision victory.

Finally, 52-kilo Katsuya Murofushi (3-2) wrapped Kenichi Sawada (3-8-2) in a triangle choke for the first round finish.

Two moons forward in Hiroshima, 56-kilo Takeshi Okada (4-3-2) and debuting Mike Hayakawa (0-0-1) fought to an even clip for a majority draw scored 19-19 twice and 19-20 for Hayakawa.

In a 2008 Rookie Tournament lightweight bout, Makoto Akazawa (5-1) submitted Katayoshi Ono (0-1) in a rear naked choke.

Finally, Kentaro Watanabe (1-0) won his debut unanimously in a decision over Jun Nagasoe (0-1).

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Malaipet DQ’d for Going Muay Thai on Denny

The rules are abundantly clear: in mixed martial arts, a fighter is not permitted to deliver an elbow in a downward motion (ceiling to floor).  Nor is a fighter allowed to strike an opponent behind the back of the head.

“The Diamond” Malaipet Sitprapom (3-2) did both in the closing seconds of the first round against “Wildman” Thomas Denny (26-16) Friday in the main event of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series on Showtime, and was disqualified.

“I’m sorry because I came here to fight, but this is MMA and you have to follow the rules,” said Denny, who could not continue after he was nailed by three blatant elbows to the back of the head.  “I may have been dazed but I wasn’t knocked out.  One thing I could not do, however, was move my neck.”

Knowing his advantage on the ground, Denny took Malaipet to the ground in the opening seconds and kept him there for more than four and a half minutes of the initial five-minute session.

At one point in the 160-pound fight, it appeared that Malaipet would get choked out, but he rallied to work his way out of it and managed to continue.  Denny quickly locked him up again and tried to take matters back to the ground.  A frustrated Malaipet then committed the three flagrant fouls.

Denny was given a few minutes to recover, but when he couldn’t the fight was called at the 4:51 mark.

“Malaipet was tough because I thought I had him with the rear naked choke,” Denny said.  “But I will definitely fight him again.  I was totally dominating.”

A world-class superstar Muay Thai kickboxer with reportedly more than 300 Muay Thai fights, Malaipet had a three-fight MMA winning streak end.

“I definitely want to fight him again,” Malaipet said.  “If he wants to do it at 150 pounds, I’ll fight him any time, any place.  This wasn’t my type of fight.  But there was no way I was ever going to tap out.”

In other televised bouts, Conor Heun (7-2) won an unpopular, unanimous decision over Marlon Mathias (5-2); Jaime Fletcher (6-3) recorded an upset points victory over Aaron Rosa (10-2); Shane Del Rosario (4-0) scored an opening-round knockout over Analu Brash (1-2); and Mark Oshiro (10-1) knocked out previously unbeaten Chris Cariaso (6-1) in the first round.

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Primetime MMA

CBS and ProElite, Inc. have announced that the first live primetime mixed martial arts event will be broadcast Saturday, 31 May (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.  CBS EliteXC Saturday Night Fights will be broadcast live from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

“We’re excited to introduce broadcast television viewers to America’s fastest growing sport with this prime time event,” said Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime.  “EliteXC is putting together a lineup card that showcases the unique personalities, world-class athleticism, and raw power and emotion that characterizes mixed martial arts.”
  
Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (15-4) will put his title on the line against “Hands of Steel” Scott Smith (13-4) in a middleweight championship bout.  EliteXC heavyweight phenom, “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson (3-0), will also participate in the May 31 event along with other stars from mixed martial arts.  Additional matchups will be announced at a later date.

“I am very happy for the highly trained fighters, who will finally get the kind of exposure they deserve, and, of course, the viewers, who will get the opportunity to learn that MMA is truly a sport that requires an abundance of skills, both mentally and physically,” said Gary Shaw, EliteXC Live Events President.

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Baker Replaces Filho Versus Sonnen

Undefeated Bryan Baker (6-0) gets the late call to replace “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-0) versus Chael Sonnen (19-9-1) at 26 March’s WEC 33.

Filho, the WEC Middleweight Champion, bailed out of the rematch with Sonnen after checking into a Brazilian clinic for substance addiction.

Baker, a student of “Wildman” Thomas Denny (25-16), had won all of his fights by stoppage until a split decision over Eric Schambari (7-1) last December.

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Pair of Welterweight Bouts Added to 84

The UFC has announced a pair of welterweight bouts for UFC 84 24 May in Vegas. 

“War Machine” Jon Koppenhaver (5-1) and Yoshiyuki Yoshida (9-2) will match-up well as Jason Tan (5-2) and Dong Hyun Kim (9-1).

Koppenhaver appeared on the sixth season of TUF and is coming off a bloody, brutal slog with cast-mate Jared Rollins (6-4) on the season’s finale.

Yoshida debuts in the UFC with an eight-fight streak stretching back to a 2005 Shooto majority technical decision loss to “K-Taro” Keita Nakamura (14-3-2).  In 2007 he stopped both Akira Kikuchi (16-4) and Katsuya Inoue (16-5-2) in the first round of Greatest Common Multiple events in Japan.

Tan lost his UFC debut last year by KO to “Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis (14-3), but has since recorded a unanimous decision over “Xandinho” Alexandre Izidro (6-7) in a Cage Gladiators.

DEEP vet Kim hasn’t lost since his MMA debut in 2004 versus “RYO” Young Choi (9-4) by unanimous decision, though he only muddled a draw out of Hidehiko Hasegawa (14-9-4) in his most recent start.

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No Way, Hose!

Everyone who streamed Icon Sport: To Hell and Back live Saturday at ProElite.com witnessed something special.

Why do fighters fight?

Versus “The New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (10-9) for the Icon Sport Middleweight World Championship, Hawaii’s Kala Kolohe Hose (6-1) found his answer.

Hose found out what he’s made of, inside and out.

At the opening bell, “Bad Ass” catapulted out of his corner with bad intentions.  He easily dumped Hose to the mat with a double leg takedown and dumped leather in Hose’s face.

The island boy bucked and dodged as Baroni punched, scrambled, and stomped at Hose’s head.

“I honestly thought I was in trouble at that point,” Hose said.

The doubters must’ve been right.  The local boy was outclassed by the international journeyman.

But, three minutes into round one, Baroni began to whither, heaving for air.  Hose was gassed too after the initial adrenaline dump of his first title fight.

Despite the hype, it was Baroni’s first title fight too.  After a three minute ground’n'pound barrage, Baroni was done.

The final two minutes of round one wound down with the fighters on the mat gasping for air.

The New Yorker never met his rep as a big puncher, never even really tried.

In the second round, Baroni took Hose back to the mat where Hose attempted a Kimura without proper leverage.  Baroni toughed out the arm twist, but, before round two closed, Hose began pin-pointing punches.

By round three, Baroni’s hands dangled at his waist and, when distance allowed, he bent over with his hands on his knees for breathers.

Hose had recovered from the initial energy dump and found his game standing and on the ground.

When Baroni could no longer weather Hose’s punches, kicks, and knees, he’d shoot sluggishly and Hose would stuff him and tenderize his kidneys with hooking body punches.

Confidence that wasn’t present in Hose as he entered Icon Sport’s ring, now swelled the Waianae kid’s chest.  He was sure he belonged in the ring with Baroni.  He was going to win.

Baroni was deducted a point in the fourth round for continually throwing himself beneath the ropes to avoid Hose’s onslaughts.

At the beginning of round five, the Hawaiian tossed a big right hand in Baroni’s face.  Baroni crumbled and Hose unloaded over top of him.

At :26 of round five, the grueling slog was called by TKO for Kala Kolohe Hose, Icon Sport’s new middleweight world titlist.

“It feels good. I’d like to thank everybody out there,” a bashful, but ecstatic Hose announced after the fight.

An Icon Sports announcer called Hose’s TKO of Baroni, “One of the biggest upsets in MMA history.”

Not quite.  Don’t overrate 10-9 Baroni.  However, with the “W” comes a new confidence for Hose, enough now to meet former champ “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (15-4) with some mo’.

On the undercard, the Icon Sport’s Hawaii 145-pound strap also found a new waist.  “The Chosen One” and now former champ Bronsen Pieper (2-1) blocked a lunging right hook from Sadhu Bott (3-0) with his face.  Pieper crumbled forward and Bott took his back.  The islanders scrambled until Bott sucked an arm into an armbar.  Pieper held on longer than necessary, but tapped in agony at 4:33 of round one.

It took BJ Penn’s training partner “Da Boss” Ross Ebanez (18-6) just nine seconds to knockout 175-pound Brennan Kamaka (3-12) with a left hook that nearly sent Kamaka through the ropes.

Legend’s Gym fighter “Half Man Half Amazing” Jeremy Williams (5-0) matched Ebanez with his own left hook that knocked out “The Warrior” Auggie Padekan at 2:18 of round one.

“I’m looking for an Icon world title,” Williams announced, then noted, “I can either fight in Iowa or in Hawaii.”

At 135-pounds, Russell Doane (2-1) upset Icon vet Tyson Nam (4-2).  Doane began with a slick single leg takedown, but Nam smartly regained his feet as Doane stood to slam him.  Nam landed a stinging left hand, but Doane finagled the fight back to the mat and pounded Nam out at 3:53 of round one.

“Pretty Boy” Wayne Perrin, III (1-2) was probably feeling out 170-pound Koa Ramos (4-0) when he threw a lazy right high kick.  Ramos took the opportunity to plant Perrin III into the mat and pound “Pretty Boy” until he gave up his back for a first round guillotine choke submission.

“P.J. is animal, brah,” 160-pound Eddie Rincon described PJ Dean (1-2) after losing a unanimous decision to the Hawaiian.

Rincon pulled guard to open round one and got slobber-knocked into the mat the rest of the three round fight.

“I ain’t no steppin’ stone for nobody,” said Dean.

145-pound Matt Comeau (2-1) flattened Elias Delos Reyes (1-1) out and pound him to a second round TKO.

“The Tan Superman” David Padilla (7-13) and lightweight Alan Lima (2-0) spent three romantic rounds on the mat before the BJJ player, Lima, was awarded a unanimous decision.

135-pound Duane Haney (3-0) tapped touted striker Zack Rapal (0-1) in a guillotine choke as Rapal tried to stand out of guard.

145-pound Brandon Pieper (0-4) tapped out to “Hoku” Ricky Wallace (1-2) of Icon Gym at :37 seconds of round one in a standing guillotine.

Jay Bolos (1-3) walked his guard up the back of “Soljah Boy” Nui Wheeler (0-3) right into an armbar for the tap in round two.

In the first fight, Kona Ke lit-up Micah Ige with a right hook as Ige sought to clinch.  Ige fell forward and Ke threw him to the mat, fell on him, and wrapped up a rear naked choke for the tap.

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Alvarez Impressive, Ishida Durable at DREAM.1

Saturday’s DREAM.1 at Saitama Super Arena was the whole Japanese MMA shabang from tip to toe.

The K-1/former-PRIDE collaboration featured mismatches of size and skill, world-class MMA, late stoppages, carnival theatrics, a tournament format, and the banshee herself, Lenne Hardt, introducing it all.

The card featured the opening round of DREAM’s lightweight grand prix in which Eddie Alvarez (13-1), “Buscape” Luiz Firmino (12-3), “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (17-6-1), “Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1), “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2), and Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2) all advanced to the next round.

The tournaments seventh and most anticipated match-up betwen “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (14-2) and “JZ” Gesias Calvancante (14-1-1) ended in a No Contest.

In non-tournament bouts, “Mach” Hayato Sakurai (32-7-2) and “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic both won first round TKOs and “The Punk” Ikuhisa Minowa won a first round submission.

Ishida and Korean judoka Bu Kyung Jung (0-2) fought the most competitive bout with Ishida squeezing a unanimous decision over the MMA rookie.

The Japanese wrestler, Ishida, whirled around Jung for the first two minutes, peppering leg kicks into the Korean’s thighs.  On Jung’s lunging clinch attempt, Ishida slammed him to the mat.

On the mat, inside Jung’s tightly closed guard, Ishida heaved him into the air and slammed him again before raising back to his feet.

Jung followed and lunged to clinch again, but Ishida ducked.  Jung slammed face first into the corner, Ishida pouncing atop him.

From a full guard body lock, Jung transitioned into an armbar as the Japanese fighter tried to yank free.  It was close, and Jung took the opportunity to kick the struggling wrestler in the face before Ishida broke free.  Another powerful Ishida slam countered Jung’s near miss.

As the ground game went on, Ishida’s spurts of G’n'P became more effective as the Korean filed through submissions, but the ref stood them anyway.

Backed into a corner, Ishida threw a clumsy left roundhouse kick Jung blocked as Ishida slipped.  This time it was Jung who pounced, locking Ishida’s head beneath his armpit for another tight neck crank submission attempt.

Again, Ishida popped free, both fighters slick with sweat by that point, and worked an effective ground’n'pound until the ref stood the fighters.

This time it was Ishida who lunged for a single leg takedown and Jung pulled guard, then slipped a slick armbar on the wrestler.  Again, the “Endless Fighter” slipped free and hammered on the judoka to the first round bell.

The second round began as the first, with Ishida avoiding a head-on collision by circling.  Ishida shot for the same single leg takedown that got him in trouble near the end of round one and Jung again pulled guard and sucked up arms at angles looking for submissions.  Ishida countered by grinding fists into Jung’s face until the ref stood them up.

Ishida made it a trilogy with a third identical takedown and Jung responded as he had to the first two.  Both fighters exchanged leather while Jung worked his high guard into a weak triangle choke, but wasn’t able to lock his leg beneath his knee.

The bout ended with both exhausted fighters pitty-patting each other on the mat.

An argument could be made to give the judoka the win, but the judges saw Ishida’s aggressive ground’n'pound as the deal breaker and awarded him a unanimous decision.

In another exciting tournament fight, at the bell Alvarez and “Dida” Andre Amade (6-3-1) stormed to the center of the ring throwing leather.  The American shot a single leg and stood-up with the ankle he had snatched.  He swept Dida’s other foot from beneath him and dumped the BJJ black belt on his back.

The ref stood Dida and he immediately resumed throwing haymakers, catching Alvarez square on the chin with two big left hooks, then dropping him with a third as the American retreated.

But on the mat Alvarez’s superior wrestling positioned him for a two-minute vicious ground’n'pound onslaught that lead to the TKO stoppage at 6:47 of round one.  Dida was simply overpowered and out-positioned.

Tattooed Norwegian Hansen resembled a snow leopard feasting on Kotetsu Boku (13-5-1) of Krazy Bee.  Since becoming the first MMA fighter to tap in a gogoplata in 2006, the former kickboxer Hansen has been all out on the mat.  He took Boku to the ground and paired an octopus-like submission game with brutal ground’n'pound for the entire 15 minutes.  The decision was unanimous for Hansen.

“Buscape” of Brazilian Top Team found a rear naked choke on undersized Kazuyuki Miyata (5-7) at 7:37 of round one.

In a mild upset, Nagata took a unanimous decision over the Russian Artur Oumakhanov (7-3).

Kawajiri earned the sixth spot in round two of DREAM’s lightweight grand prix with a unanimous decision over surprisingly durable “Black Mamba” Kultar Gill (9-7) of Canada.

The tournament’s most hyped match-up fizzled when Aoki took an errant elbow to the back of the head from Calvancanti after much ado about nothing.  There’s been no clarification about a rematch or whether either fighter will advance in the tournament.

Hidetaka Monma (14-8-3) was never in his fight with Sakurai, but evidently the ref was unaware of the mismatch.  From the top position, Sakurai pounded Monma in the head 20-seconds longer than necessary before the referee called a stoppage at 4:12 of round one.

I’m hereby dividing the MMA universe into two halves.  Those, like me, who’re disgusted to witness “Cro Cop” as a characterture of himself matched up against veritable heads-on-a-tee like Tatsuya Mizuno (3-3) and those who lust to see the former PRIDE OWGP champ served-up such heads for entertainment, not sport.  “Cro Cop”, in an awkward performance, TKO’d Mizuno at :56 of round one.

And in the last of the three rings that made-up non tournament action at DREAM.1, Minowaman swung from half mount into a kneebar to submit overweight Korean Bum Chang Kang (1-2) at 1:25 of round one.

DREAM.2 follows on 29 April with the first round a a middleweight grand prix.

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Cro Cop Nixed Mighty Mo, Overeem, and Saki

“Mighty Mo” Siala-Mou Siligia’s (3-0) agent, Steve Rusich, has confirmed that “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (22-6-2) turned down a DREAM.1 debut versus Rusich’s fighter from American Samoa.

“Mo was excited,” Rusich said.  “He wants to get more MMA fights.  A win over Cro Cop would’ve been huge!”

“Mighty Mo” fights a K-1 kickboxing match versus Keijiro Maeda in Yokohama 13 April, but is undefeated in mixed martial arts versus softies.  “Cro Cop” would’ve been a leap forward.

“What they do is offer [Filipovic] three options.  We had the whole thing negotiated with K-1,” Rusich explained, “but, they came back and said Cro Cop turned down the fight.”

Agent Bas Boon has also alleged “Cro Cop” nixed DREAM.1 fights with his charges, “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (26-11) and Gokin Saki (0-1), who may have been the other two fighters in K-1’s original offer to Filipovic.

Boon hasn’t replied to my request for further explanation.

“Apparently he wanted James Thompson,” Rusich added.

“The Colossus” Thompson (14-8) has slept through the finale of seven of his eight losses, earning him a reputation for his glass jaw.  Thompson was laid out in just over two minutes in his last fight versus “The Grim” Brett Rogers (6-0) in EliteXC.

“Cro Cop” returns to Japan after a nosedive in the UFC, losing consecutive battles with “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) and Cheick Kongo (11-4-1).

DREAM, a K-1 MMA promotion, originally paired “Cro Cop” with “Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (6-1); but, Nakao dropped the fight without official explanation.

DREAM then dug up veritable head-on-a-tee Tatsuya Mizuno (3-2), whom Filipovic will take aim on today in Tokyo.

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Kiss of Death

“["Kiss" Yoshihiro] Nakao will be sunk in Tokyo Bay by the terrible Yakuza [if he fights "Cro Cop" Mirko Filipovic],” posted “The Oriental Mystery” Takumi Yano (9-8-3) last week on his blog at blog.livedoor.jp/ugokai.

Yano trains Nakao (6-1), who recently pulled out of his announced DREAM.1 bout with Cro Cop (22-6-2) without explanation.

Yakuza, or Japanese mafia, connections to combat sport promotions in Japan have long been alleged, most notoriously resulting in PRIDE’s loss of Japanese television coverage leading to their eventual demise.

My request to Yano for comment received the mysterious response: “Gone fishing.”

Kidding…

Yano didn’t respond to my English request, most likely because he speaks Japanese.

I can’t decide which is more dangerous: posting the comment as a joke or posting it because it’s the truth.

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M-1 Global and Emelianenko “Still Together”

Because of a Ryan Hockensmith article published 6 March at ESPN The Magazine’s website, it’s been a foregone conclusion for nearly a fortnight that Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) would “divorce” M-1 Global.

“Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent,” Apy Echteld, one of Emelianenko’s agents, told Hockensmith.

But, hold on!  There’s the inconvenience of an iron-clad contract in the way.  MMA fans should be smarter after the Contract Law 101 course we’ve all taken since “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8) “resigned” from his Zuffa LLC contract in October 2007.

Hockensmith reported, “A source close to the situation previously told The Magazine: M-1 Global and Emelianenko will part ways some time in the next week.”

Yet, next week has come and gone now.

M-1 Global Vice President Brian Patton told me hours ago, “Our relationship [with Emelianenko]…is still unresolved, which means we are all still together.”

Recall it was an agent who advised Couture to “resign” from his Zuffa LLC contract.  Now, again, recall how well that’s worked out.  The word “clusterfuck” comes to mind.

Couture and Zuffa LLC have had one court matchup to date, regarding Couture’s participation in the IFL.

Zuffa 1, Couture 0.

Emelianenko may well receive his release from M-1 Global eventually, and Emelianenko’s management’s involvement in M-1 Global may precipitate that; but, it won’t be because of his agent’s declaration to ESPN The Magazine.  That’s what agents do; but, that’s not how contracts work.  Just ask Randy Couture.

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