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The annual S-Cup tournament commenced on 11/24/08, with 2 mma artists joining the card including former IFL light weight champ Chris Horodecki and Chute Boxe Luiz Azeredo, 2 shoot boxing pioneer veterans current S-Cup World Champion Kenichi Ogata, S-Cup Japan Qualifier Hiroki Shishido, S-Cup Europe qualifier Edvin Kibus, David Schneldmiller a pupil of Andy Souwer all with their sites on an opportunity to face the favored tournament contender, WMTA, ISKA, WKA, 2 time K-1 Max and 4 time S-Cup World Champion Andy Souwer.
The 4th installment of the Shooto Tradition series was headlined by several veterans including Lion Takeshi Inoue recapturing the 143lbs Shooto Featherweight title from Hideki Kadowaki. Headlining the card was, Hatsu Hioki of Alive Academy vs. Rumina Sato of K'z Factory 月狼(Moon Wolf). The TKO Featherweight champ made easy work of Shooto pioneer veteran Rumina Sato. The end game arrived when Sato was overpowered by Hioki's over under middle clinch bating Sato into a underhook fight then immediately offbalancing into a kosoto gari leg trip into a side mount take down. The disparity in Hioki's ability to pass a virtually non existent rubber guard of Sato is perplexing despite Sato's decade long experience as a grappler, or it may speak volumes of Hioki's ground top game, half, side and mount positioning and basing capabilities. The stoppage came at 3:32 of Round 1, when Sato was unable to scramble or recover from a full mount to a half or full guard position absorbing insurmountable damage from Hioki's pounding hooks, reminiscent of Kenny Florian's pounding stoppage of Joe Lauzon at UFN 13 earlier this year.
As first reported by the U.K.-based The Sun, citing UFC officials, it appears that a monumental fourth clash between former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture (16-9 MMA) and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (21-6 MMA) is a distinct possibility to headline the promotion’s first foray into Germany, tentatively scheduled for a June 13th event in Cologne.
MMAJunkie.com has reported that “…a small contingent of German press” was invited to attend the UFC 91 event in which Couture recently lost his heavyweight belt, as the former champ is fluent in German and figures to be a favorite in that country.
While initial reports indicate that Couture is open to a fourth bout with “The Iceman”, no official statement has been released by Liddell’s camp concerning the possibility of the fight.
Even though the fight will clearly lose some of its luster considering the lopsided manner of their last two contests, both of which resulted in one-sided knockout victories for Liddell, and with both former champions coming off of knockout losses in 2008, Couture/Liddell IV figures to be a big seller for two legends in the sport.
Note: This fight, if made official, will obviously squash rampant rumors of a UFC 95 main event between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell to take place in London.
As we see a new wave of NCAA all american wrestlers and BJJ champions taking the MMA scene by storm, we observe stronger foundations and integration of a higher order of grappling, pounding, striking prowess by Team Quest - Mo Lowal(King Mo), Mark Layman BJJ - Jim Miller, Dan Miller, Extreme Couture - Jake Rosholt, anticpated debut of Robert Drysdale, UJJ - Xande Ribeiro, and former Penn State University No. 1 @ 197lbs - Phil Davis.
Across the pacific, a similar trend is ocuring as we see a new wave of amateurs making their pro come ups, as we take a closer look at a new life of artists from Japan. Seiya Kawahara, currently undefeated with a 6 fight winning streak since making his debut in GCM, now representing Pancrase out of P's Lab Yokohama, captures a 5/6 KO and TKO percentage streak, formidable upcomer.
Pancrase Shining 5 Pounding KO Off Of Open Guard Pass
In MMA bouts we have yet to see his BJJ aesthetics especially in the areas of submission finish capabilities, although we see some good ground defense with good base, keeping arms tight never allowing control of the shoulder via underhooks, pushing off of the opponents chest within the guard never allowing the hands to lay idle on the mat, positioning for pounding combos to TKO finishes. As we see in his bouts from January and June 2008, a natural rhythmic feel for the boxing and kickboxing game can be observed, his fluidity moving from partial under hooks clinches, simultaneously measuring distance during close and outside fire fights. With an ability to measure distance so effectively and generate the explosive speed and force on his pounding and initial inbound kicks, punches and footwork during stand up exchanges, the skill set of this upcomer is phenomenal. Kawahara's bouts against Pancrase journeymen Yuki Yamasawa and Masaki Yanagisawa starts to provide a new hope for the fledgling talent rich Japan MMA community. Only 20 years old, Kawahara hopes to secure his place in the Pancrase ranks and a possible title bout for the bantam weight King of Pancrase in 2009. If his win streaks continue in the manner which we have seen, we could see him stateside in the not too distant future adding greater depth to the WEC 135lbs. bantam weights with the likes of Brian Bowles, Will Ribeiro, Manny Tapia.
In a story originally reported by Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija and now confirmed by UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi, one of the UFC’s rising middleweight stars, Croatian fighter Goran Reljic (8-0), who was forced to pull out of his scheduled UFC 90 bout with Thales Leites due to a back injury, is responsible for saving the lives of two people who’s car went off the road and crashed into the sea in Zadar.
Goran, still nursing his training injury, was awakened by the crash and dove into the sea at great risk to himself, punched out the side window and pulled both passengers to safety before calmly heading back to his home. The parties involved have reported no injuries.
What is more surprising; upon telling the story, Reljic’s manager Zoran Saric claims that this is not the first time his fighter has saved a life. He went on to describe a former episode in which the Croatian, upon witnessing a helpless victim battling against the surf, dove into the sea in the middle of a storm and pulled the person to safety. This most recent story has made headlines across Croatia for the reluctant public hero.
“This situation…reminds me of his braveness and toughness,” Saric said to Gerbasi in an interview published today, “…he is truly a warrior who never gives up.”
Jake Shields (22-4-1), currently riding an impressive 11-fight winning streak with the most recent being an October arm bar submission over Brit Paul Daley at Elite XC’s final card, has attained free agent status following the collapse of Pro Elite Inc., the parent company of Elite XC.
To many MMA pundits, the news comes as no surprise, as Shields and his management team sent out a breach of contract letter to Pro Elite Inc. less than a month ago, which cited a clause in his contract that would allow the fighter to become a free agent if suitable proof of an immediate future venue and opponent could not be provided within 30 days.
The 30 days is up, and now begins the hunt for a new promotion for the No. 5 ranked welterweight in the world (MMA Weekly), who holds notable career wins over a who’s who of the MMA circuit, including Yushin Okami, Nick Thompsom, Paul Daley, Mike Pyle and Carlos Condit.
Where will this fighter end up? If he has his way, it will be whichever promotion current welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is calling home at present, which happens to be the UFC. Once Shields is in the UFC fold, he will face no shortage of top-flight competition in the stacked welterweight division before he can make it to the top to challenge for a belt, as notables such as Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Diego Sanchez, and a multitude of up-and-comers such as Dustin Hazelett call the promotion home.
For Shields, the move to the UFC—assuming his father/manager can reach a deal with White and the Fertittas in the coming weeks—is not as much about the exposure—which he has plenty of fighting for Elite XC—as it is about the competition. Continue reading "Jake Shields Free Agent; Planning Move to UFC"
In what has been a very bizarre 48 hours for the No. 2 ranked welterweight fighter in the world, Jon Fitch has reportedly—according to MMARated.com—agreed to sign the UFC’s proposed exclusivity contract in regards to THQ’s license to use his likeness in their upcoming video game “UFC 2009: Undisputed”.
Wednesday and today saw the two sides trade barbs back and forth, but ultimately it seems as though cooler heads—or at least threatened heads—are going to prevail, as the report states that Fitch is still expected to participate on the UFC 94 card on January 31st against highly-ranked (though not top ten) Japanese star Akihiro Gono, as was originally announced earlier this week.
The news will undoubtedly earn a collective sigh of relief from UFC fans; however, the subplots that this story has unraveled have yet to be tied up, including the fates of fellow AKA fighters Josh Koscheck, Christian Wellisch, and Cain Valasquez.
MMA fans, perhaps more than any other sport, require their forgiveness to be earned, so Dana White would do well for himself to officially go on record—with Jon Fitch—and together they can hash this whole situation out to the media and play it off as some horrible misunderstanding.
Considering both White’s less-than-kind remarks toward AKA, which—whether they were justified or not—clearly went over the line, even considering the UFC President’s well-documented no-BS attitude, as well as Fitch’s complete confusion as to the whole situation, do not expect the fans to fade quietly into the backgrounds following the fiasco. They care far too much about the sport and its fighters, and even though things seem to be heading in a better direction for Fitch and his AKA companions, the UFC’s blackballing strategies have looked largely barbaric, bordering on Mafioso to the general public.
According to a variety of sources, including Dana White, Yahoo Sports, MMA Weekly, and the highly-ranked fighter himself, Jon Fitch (17-3 MMA) has been cut from his current Zuffa contact, reportedly after failing to sign an exclusive merchandising agreement in connection with THQ’s upcoming UFC 2009: Undisputed video game set for release in 2009.
The news has taken the MMA community by complete surprise, as Fitch’s next fight had already been agreed upon by both parties to occur between himself and Japanese fighter Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 on January 31st. Perhaps most surprised—and confused—by the news was Fitch himself, who claims that he has yet to get a chance to speak with Dana White about the abrupt cut.
Citing seemingly unrelated reasoning, including his own hard work that has gone into the UFC, as well as the current state of the economy in connection with fighting promotions and sponsors, Dana White has gone on record to Yahoo Sports with incendiary remarks about Fitch and his AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) teammates for their refusal to sign the exclusive video game contracts.
Fitch, on a radio interview conducted today, confirmed that he has indeed been cut by the promotion and expressed confusion and indignation as to the UFC’s actions, especially considering his recent fighting record (his only loss in the UFC being a five-round war to the best welterweight fighter in the world, current champ Georges St-Pierre, in what has been lobbied as a candidate for Fight of the Year) and his traditional good standing with the promotion.
While the dust has yet to settle following Brock Lesnar’s thrashing of former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture to steal the title last Saturday at UFC 91, another card compiled by Strikeforce kicks off on Friday, November 21st at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. While Strikeforce has offered less than stellar cards in recent months, especially considering their upper-echelon of competitors, most namely the UFC and Affliction (although Affliction has only held one card to date, they have a decidedly deeper roster than Strikeforce at present) they have managed to put together an interesting group of match-ups for the hardcore MMA fan, even given the unfortunate withdrawal of lightweight champion Josh Thompson from the card. Headlining the California card is a battle for the Strikeforce heavyweight crown between current title-holder Bobby Southworth (9-5 MMA), perhaps best known for his antics on season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter, and world-class heavyweight contender Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7 MMA), a tough, gritty veteran with more than half of his career wins coming by way of submission. While Southworth has looked better in recent months than he did during his time in the UFC—where he holds a pro record of 0-1—he lacks not only the youth and physical prowess of his foe, but also faces a large gap in terms of submission and overall technical fighting skills. Expect “Babalu” to play with Southworth on the feet for the opening stanza before taking him down and submitting him, probably by some form of a choke, relatively early into the fight, marking the end to what really shouldn’t be the main event, given the apparent gap in skill between the two headliners. Continue reading "Strikeforce: Destruction Preview"
The term mixed martial arts is a new and controversial topic in the sporting world. Its utterance on popular sports forums, news and media outlets, and among the general public can evoke dichotomous images of blood, violence and barbaric brutality, while at the same time conjuring quite opposing ideas of skill, respect, and the beauty of the human form in top physical condition, depending on who you ask. For the former, simply ask popular and controversial political commentator Bill O’Reilly, host of the Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor, a man who has made his distaste to what he refers to as “human cock fighting” apparent and—at least in his view—inarguable; for the latter, turn to the ever-vocal President of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the self-made and self-promoted Dana White, who has responded to such adversity over the past several years with harsh words, a never-back-down attitude, and the successful pioneering of the UFC into one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. After all, when one thinks MMA—as Dana White will often remind us—one thinks UFC. While there is little doubt that the sport will be forced to combat its volatile socio-political image over the coming decade, it is apparent that—like it or not—MMA appears to be here to stay, with popular promoters such as the aforementioned Zuffa-owned UFC as well as clothing designers-turned fight promoters Affliction claiming the undivided attention—and prime time ratings in the male 18-49 demographic—that only the NFL, NBA, and occasionally NCAA programs were thought capable of. The sport’s ability to gather these shocking ratings is surprising to some, but its ability to do so consistently—as can be substantiated with the impressive PPV numbers and live TV audience ratings published by the UFC and the now-defunct EliteXC, which aired several record-breaking, albeit controversial shows on CBS in 2008—has taken the sporting and entertainment world by storm.
