» Fighter: Tatsuya Kawajiri

Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked lightweight “Bully” Gray Maynard (8-0) and Nate Diaz (10-5) will rematch an The Ultimate Fighter 5 exhbition match tonight at UFC Fight Night 20 in Fairfax, Virginia.

Read More About UFC’s Gray Maynard Deserves Title Shot With Win Over Nate Diaz – Fighters.com January Lightweight Rankings…

As the new year is fast approaching I sat pondering how far this sport of ours had come since it’s beginning. Then the future of the sport started to permeate my thoughts. Where will we see it go in the coming year? Will it fade a little bit or will we see it continue to forge ahead and make it’s way into the upper echelons of the sporting world? I am a mma radio host as well as a journalist but first and foremost I am a mixed martial arts fan and I have three wishes for the coming year.

Read More About DREAM Fighters in the U.S, Madison Square Garden and Judging Changes: My Three Wishes for 2010…

Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight and DREAM champion “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (14-3) has been matched up versus Sengoku champ Mizuto Hirota (9-3) at Fields Dynamite!! 2009 in Tokyo on New Year’s Eve, the promotion announced Tuesday.

Read More About DREAM v Sengoku: Shinya Aoki v Mizuto Hirota, Tatsuya Kawajiri v Kazunori Yokota…

UFC lightweight title contender “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (21-2) debuted at tenth in Fighters.com’s Lightweight Rankings in November due mostly to former top tenner Katsunori Kikuno’s (5-1-1) stoppage loss to third-ranked Eddie Alvarez (16-2) at DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25.

Read More About Fighters.com November Lightweight Rankings – The Rise of Diego Sanchez…

Fighters.com and UFC Lightweight Champion “Prodigy” BJ Penn (14-5-1) will defend his titles from unranked, but popular The Ultimate Fighter 1 champion “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (21-2) at UFC 107 at the FedExForum in Memphis December 12, the UFC officially announced Tuesday.

Read More About Fighters.com’s October Lightweight Rankings…

Fighters on DREAM.11’s card weighed-in in Yokohama Monday in advance of Tuesday night’s fight card.  All fighters made the weight limits.

Read More About DREAM.11 Weigh-In Results…

Lightweight “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2) and “Barracuda” Melchor Manibusan (1-1) will matchup at DREAM 11 in Yokohama October 6, DREAM announced Friday.

Also, “Beast” Bob Sapp (10-5-1) was officially announced as the replacement for injured “Dreamcatcher” Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1) versus “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-4) in the Super Hulk tournament and “JZ” Gesias Cavalcante (12-2-1) was officially withdrawn due to injury from his matchup versus Daisuke Nakamura (18-9).  Both moves had been expected.

Read More About “Crusher” Kawajiri, “Beast” Bob Sapp Added to DREAM 11…

DREAM Middleweight Champion “Young Vagabond” Gegard Mousasi (7-0) and lightweight “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) are scheduled for K-1 kickboxing bouts at Dynamite!! 31 December in Saitama, Japan.

Mousasi will face four-time K-1 Japan GP champion Musashi, while Kawajiri will face former K-1 World MAX Japan finalist Kozo Takeda.

Mousasi won DREAM’s Middleweight GP in September, knocking out eighth-ranked middleweight “Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (8-2) with an upkick at 2:15 of round one of the final.

Kawajiri last fought Fighters.com’s third-ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez (13-1) at DREAM.5 in July, losing via first-round TKO.

August brought the crowning of Fighters.com’s new Lightweight Champion “Prodigy” B.J. Penn (13-4-1) and the top ten debuts of fourth-ranked “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (19-7-1), sixth-ranked Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2), and eighth-ranked Kotetsu Boku (13-5-1).

“Hellboy” shocked Osaka 21 July by TKOing former Fighters.com Lightweight Champion “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-3) in the first round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix final.

Aoki spirals down eight wrungs to ninth on the loss, taking vanquished rival tenth-ranked “JZ” Gesias Calvancante (14-2-1) with him.

Penn takes the Championship from the second rank, but is torn between moving to welterweight to fight Fighters.com Welterweight Champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (17-2) or defending his Fighters.com and UFC titles from seventh-ranked, top UFC contender “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (10-3).

In Minneapolis 9 August, Florian cleared-up the UFC’s lightweight picture with a dominant UD over “El Matador” Roger Huerta (20-2-1).

Read More About Fighters.com’s August Lightweight Rankings…

In a stunning cyclone of events, DREAM Lightweight Tournament reserve fighter “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (19-7-1) captured the DREAM Lightweight Championship in Osaka Sunday night.

Hansen was originally eliminated from the tournament at DREAM.3 11 May after dropping a decision to Eddie Alvarez (15-1), but was drafted into the final after slapping an armbar on “Black Mamba” Kultar Gill (10-8) at 2:33 of round one in the tournament’s reserve fight Sunday.

Ironically, Hansen replaced Alvarez after Alvarez knocked out “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2) at 7:35 of round one in a thrilling slugfest.  A right hook, right uppercut combo floored “Crusher” and Alvarez pounded the Japanese fighter out, but sustained a cut over his right eye in the action that would prevent him from fighting for the title.

Tournament favorite “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-3) contorted himself into the final versus Hansen in a unanimous decision over “Uno Shoten” Caol Uno (25-11-4), throwing everything in the “Judan” book at Uno: armbar, triangle choke, heel hook, rear naked choke, gogoplata, etc.  Though Aoki wasn’t able to stop Uno, he dominated for the decision.

The final was set: Aoki v Hansen; and, in most people’s minds, already settled in favor of the Japanese favorite.

Read More About “Hellboy” Ruins Aoki’s DREAM, Akiyama Has Something Up His Sleeve…