MIXED MARTIAL ARTS NEWS

UFC 116 - Brock Lesnar Defends Title over Shane Carwin !

Las Vegas, USA- UFC world heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, 32 years old, defended his UFC title over challenger Shane Carwin on July 3rd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. After a long time intestinal illness, 5-1-0, 6�f3�h, 265 lb Lesnar came back to the ring. In the beginning of the match, Carwin (12-1-0 record, 6�f2�h, 265 lb) ambushed Lesnar with a rash of punching to almost knock him out! Lesnar went to the ground with Carwin on top. Carwin's punches never stopped reigning down on Lesnar's face; it was a bloody battle! Lesnar barely made it out of round one. The second round bell sounded with a surprisingly refreshed Lesnar. He now gained control of the fight. Lelsnar took Carwin to the ground and mounted side control with a (Katagatame) shoulder lock. This forced Carwin to tap out at 2:19 in the second round. It was a big sudden change in the tempo of the match to defend his title.
Akiyama vs Leben
The other title match was initially between Japan's judo player Yoshihiro Akiyama and Wanderlay Sylva of Brazil. Silva pulled out of the fight due to a broken rib injury. Two weeks before the match, Chris Leben accepted the match against Akiyama. The Japanese suffered a surprising loss to Leben by a sankaku-jime (triangle choke) with just 20 seconds remaining in the third round. It was a very entertaining co-main event. Akiyama and Silva must still face each other in the near future for the title. (7/03/LV)

World Champ Fedor Suffers Spectacular Upset In First Round!

San Jose,Ca-Two time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum (14-4) registered the most spectacular upset in MMA history with a 1:09, first-round submission (triangle choke) over the world's No. 1 heavyweight and pound-for-pound fighter, Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko (31-2) before 12,649 Saturday at HP Pavilion.
Fedor, a six-footer, had Werdum in trouble in the opening moments after dropping him with a right uppercut that was followed with several more punches. But from his back, Werdum, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and member of Brazil's vaunted Chute Boxe fight squad, got Fedor into a combination triangle- and arm-choke. Within seconds, the fight was over. The famed Fedor had tapped out.(6/26, SJ CA)

Veteran Gracie Killer Sakuraba Revenged By Young Gracie!

Saitama, JPN – Dream 14 MMA championship was held at Saitama Super Arena on May 29th, which was almost filled to capacity with spectators. Kazushi Sakuraba is known as a Gracie killer in the MMA world. He has defeated many Gracies in the past. But here, 24 year old Ralek Gracie revenged his family name against 40 year old Sakuraba. For all three rounds the fight went to the ground, where Gracie fought inside Sakuraba's guard. From there, the Brazilian edged out Japan's hero by a referee's decision. Finally, a Gracie prevailed over Sakuraba.
Former lightweight superstar Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (33 yrs.) of Japan lost his last three fights. He had one more chance here to prove his ability against USA's Kiko Lopez of Team Quest. Both fighters started out watching each other closely, but making no serious attacks. This lasted for over one minute. Then the fight quickly changed tempo. Lopez took a swing at Yamamoto, but the Japanese was fast on his feet, and side stepped to hit Lopez on the chin. Lopez dropped quickly and Yamamoto gave chase. He began pounding Lopez, one punch after another until the referee stepped in and stopped the fight by knock out.
Other fights: Former Pride top fighter Sakurai "Mach" Hayato was defeated by First Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz by cross arm bar and Minowa man of Japan defeated Imani Lee of Sharktank gym in USA with bear hand chock. They had total 8 matches today. (5/29/2010, JPN)

Babalu (36-8) Wins Main Event / Cyborg Knocks Out Zaromskis!

Los Angeles, CA - Strikeforce held its first midweek mixed martial arts tournament on Wednesday, June 16 at the Nokia Theatre on Showtime. The main event pitted former light heavyweight champ Renato "Babalu" Sobral against "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler. This fight was held at a catch weight of 195 pounds. Here, Brazilian Jiujitsu/submission specialist Babalu narrowly edged out Lawler by unanimous decision after 3 rounds of MMA action. Now Babalu can fight for the title against his 205 lb. friend Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal. However, Babalu later stated that he was uncertain whether he would compete against his friend for the title, as "friends last longer than title belts."
The co-main event matched Evangelista Cyborg against "Dream" welterweight champ Marius Zaromskis. Here, Cyborg of the Chut Box Academy took Marius to the ground and began pounding away until the referee stepped in and called it a knock out at 2:38 into the first round. Cyborg said, "I am very happy with my performance and this fight ... I want to fight Nick Diaz (Strikeforce welterweight champ). He's the fighter I want more than anybody right now."(6/16/2010, L.A.)

STRIKEFORCE Tripleheader World Title Match

Shields and Melendez Prevail, Mousasi Looses Title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 18, 2010) – Saturday night marked MMA�fs return to primetime on CBS featuring a STRIKEFORCE World Championship Tripleheader. The event aired live on the CBS Television Network at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Attendance at the Bridgestone Arena was 8,196. Jake Shields (21-4-1) of San Francisco, Calif., retained his STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight title with a unanimous five-round decision over Dan Henderson (25-8) of Temecula, Calif. Scored: 49-45, 49-46 and 48-45. Veteran former Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson took first two round with powerful punches but rest of three round young enegetic Jake Shields came back with Jiujitsu take down to controlled Henderson for the decision victory to retain the title. �gKing Mo�f�f Lawal (7-0), of Carlsbad, Calif., by way of Murfreesboro, Tenn., captured the STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight championship with a unanimous five-round decision over defending titlist Gegard Mousasi (28-3-1) of Leiden, Netherlands. Scored: 49-45 three times. A personal conflict between the two fighters added to the tension, with Mousasi the kick boxer deciding to avoid a standing fight and taking the fight to the ground. This gave Mo the advantage as he used his grappling skills to help while he hit Mousasi from the top. Mousasi tried to strike and kick from the bottom but was not able to gain any control. Five rounds of this led to Mo winning by decision to become the new champion. STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez (18-2) of San Francisco via Santa Ana, Calif., retained his belt with a unanimous five-round decision over DREAM 155-pound champion Shinya Aoki (23-5, 1 NC) of Tokyo, Japan. Scored: 50-45 three times. What went to wrong for Aoki? Judo/Jiujitsu fighter Aoki insisted on a ground fighting against wrestler Melendez. Instead, Melendez avoided a ground fight and his hit and run strategy used his boxing skills to stay out of reach. Aoki's strategy failed utterly as he was unable to get in a combination punch into judo take down throw into jiujitsu ground fight. Melendez just kept punching from top to defend his title.( NASHVILLE, Tenn 4/17/2010)

Interview with Former Judo-ka Shinya Aoki

JJ & Shinya A Interview with Former Judo-ka Shinya Aoki

Judo Journal publisher Nori Bunasawa met with young Waseda University judo team alumni Shinya Aoki on March 17th on a recent trip to Los Angeles. The 26 yr old former judo-ka has developed into a pro MMA fighter with a 23-4 record. Aoki came to L.A. for a Strikeforce World press conference at Legends MMA training center to hype his lightweight title match against champion Melendez on April 17th in Nashville Tennesee. Fighters for two other matches were there as well. The World middleweight title match will be between champion Jake Shields and veteran Dan Henderson, the former Pride champion. Light heavyweight champion Mousasi will face King Mo. Publisher Nori Bunasawa holds a rank of 8th dan (red & white belt) in Judo and is a former Japanese World team member as well as the founder of Juken-do (Maeda style of fighting for MMA). Bunasawa is a graduate of Waseda University and met fellow Waseda judo team member the last time he visited the U.S. Today, he asked Aoki about the criticism he faced after his Dynamite fight in Tokyo last December. Briefly, some background information about Aoki: Shinya Aoki: Born May 9th, 1983 in Shizuoka, Japan. 5ft 11in (180cm), 155lb (70kg), 26 years old. Style: Judo black belt, Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt and Shoot fight champion. MMA record: 23-wins 4-losses 1-no contest. Currently Dream Lightweight champion. Nori Bunasawa (JJ): How are you? Nice to see you again. My first question. How old are you when you started judo? Aoki Shinya (AS): I sarted judo when I was 9 yrs old (3rd grade) in Shizuoka city. After that I went to Tokai Daiichi junior high school and Shizuoka Gakuen high school. JJ: Did you win any title when you were in high school? AS: Yes! I was the -81kg (-178lb) champion in Shizuoka prefecture. JJ: When you entered Waseda University you joined the judo team. I first met you when you visited the U.S. with the Waseda judo team in 2003. You were just a freshman and you wanted to come to US at that time. AS: Yes! JJ: How did you do your freshman year on the Waseda judo team? AS: I won the -81kg division and was selected for the All Japan Jr. special training team. JJ: What happened after that? I heard you were kicked off the Waseda judo team. AS: Well, I just could not get along with my coach, Onozawa Sensei. JJ: What problem did you have with head coach Onozawa? AS: I wanted to train my way, especially before big fights, but my coach did not like way I handled myself. JJ: I heard you broke your teammate�fs arm. Is that true? AS: Whooo! JJ: I will skip this question then. JJ: What happened during your last MMA Dynamite match on Dec 31,2009? Why did you break the arm of Sengoku (SRC) champion, shoot boxer Mizuto Hirota? AS: Well! Hirota didn't give up or tap out of my arm bar (udegarami) so I kept going until it broke. That is not my fault. JJ: I agree, if your opponent doesn't give up then you can do that in a pro-MMA level competition. However, some commentators in the media said he couldn�ft give up because both of his arms were locked in. AS: Then the referee should have stopped the situation.

JJ & Shinya A

Veteran Pro Judo-ka Yoshida Defeats Gold Medalist Ishii!

Saitama, JPN - Satoshi Ishii (23 yrs) announced in December, 2008 that he would become a pro fighter after winning a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. After 14 months of training, Ishii faced Hidehiko Yoshida (40 yrs) in his first MMA fight. 45,606 fans filled Saitama's Super Arena on New Year's Eve to witness this fight between two judo Olympic gold medalists and welcome Ishii as Japan's newest MMA star. Ishii started out with a good one-two combination punch, but his lack of experience quickly showed as he couldn't settle into a rhythm. Yoshida quickly struck Ishii down with a combination ending with a left knee kick. Ishii missed a knee kick and struck Yoshida in the groin with 30 seconds left in the second round, causing the match to stop for almost 10 minutes. The round ended with Ishii getting in a good two punch combo and blocked Yoshida's side kick. Ishii managed to take Yoshida down and get on top to strike, but the round ended. In the last round, Ishii attacked with a judo ouchi-gari foot throw and punch combo to no effect. Yoshida attacked to move to the ground, but time was up. Ishii's much anticipated MMA debut turned out to a disappointment for him, as Yoshida won by a 3-0 decision. Saitama super arena. (12/31/09, Japan)

The King of MMA Fedor wins By Spectacular TKO

CHICAGO,IL �EThe No.One MMA fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko 5'11" 232lb, 33yrs-old from Russia against undefeated Brett Rogers 6'4" 264lb, 28yrs-old of Minneapolis in the main event at M-1/Strikeforce went to Fedor's spectacular knock out with in 1:48sec 2nd round in front of 11,512 fans.

Champion Gegard Mousasi from Netherland defeated Judo black belt R.T.Sokoudjou of Murrieta Ca by 3:43sec TKO.

Other results:In the Middleweight championship match Jake Shields of San Francisco won by decision over Jason Miller of Orange county, Ca and Fabricio Werdum won a three-round decision over Antonio Silva in the heavyweight.

The event aired live on the CBS Television Network at 9 p.m. ET/PT. (11/07/09,Sears Center Arena)

World Champ Fedor Signs with Strikeforce

Fedor Emelianenko “The Last Emperor�Ewas scheduled to face Josh Barnett at Affliction on August 1, but the fight was abruptly canceled. Was this because Barnett tested positive for an illegal performance enhancing drug? Or has Affliction run out of money? Has UFC bought out Affliction? It has been a busy week for MMA fans with so many rumors to sort out. Now Strikeforce has announced they have signed Fedor for a multi-fight agreement. His debut will most like be this fall in a Showtime event.(8/03,CA)

Judo Champ Akiyama Victorious at UFC-100 Debut

Las Vegas NV- 100th UFC held at Mandalay Bay event center in Las Vegas. Japan’s former -81kg judo champion Yoshihiro Akiyama made his UFC debut on Saturday July 11th. With a MMA record of 13-1-0, the 33 year old Akiyama faced Muay thai kick boxer Alan Belcher (25yrs, 13-5-0 record). Akiyama entered the ring wearing a Judo uniform and bowed to the center of the octagon. When he took off his gi, Japanese and Korean flags could be seen on his red shorts. In the 1st round, Belcher’s left low kick struck Akiyama several times and kick his groin, and the round ended with Belcher leading the round. Akiyama came back in the 2nd round by pressing his advantage on the ground, but he could not finish Belcher. Belcher connected with another low kick in the third round and injured Akiyama’s left leg, but Akiyama fought back to finish slightly ahead. Akiyama won his UFC debut fight with a 2-1 split decision. Akiyama went straight to the hospital after his match and found he had suffered nerve damage in his left leg from Belchers low kick. (7/11/09, LV)

UFC Champ Brock Lesnar & George St. Pierre Wins Titles

Las Vegas- UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (6�E�E 265lb, 4-1-0) accepted a challenge from Frank Mir (6�E�E 240lb, 12-4-0 records). Lesnar’s only MMA loss was to Mir in 2008, when Mir defeated Lesnar with an ankle lock. In the press conference, Lesnar had stated that he will avenge his loss to Mir at UFC-100. Lesnar proved he was true to his word and dominated the entire title match. 1:48 into the 2nd round, the referee stopped Lesnar’s punches for a TKO victory. In the welterweight division, George St. Pierre (5�E0�E170lb, 19-2-0) was challenged by Thiago Alves (5�E�E 170lb, 22-5-0) in a fight that went the full five rounds. St. Pierre’s punches and quick double leg take-downs allowed him to dominate on the ground and he defended his welterweight title with a win by unanimous decision. UFC middleweight champion Dan Henderson (6�E�E 205lb, 25-7-0) from Temecula, CA, defeated his challenger from England, Micheal Bisping (6�E�E185lb, 18-2-0) by knock out 3:20 into the 2nd round. (7/11/09, LV)

Olympic Judo Champ Ishii May Postpone MMA Debut

Tokyo, Japan- Beijing Olympic Judo heavyweight (+220 lb) champion Satoshi Ishii broke his first MMA contract with UFC after signing this January, then more recently reached an agreement with the Sengoku Organization on June 1st. Ishii's two year contract would cover multiple fights where he could also participate in other organization's events. The 22-year old planned an August 3rd MMA debut at the 9th Sengoku event but has announced he will withdraw due to a neck operation. Ishii's plans to train with Fedor in Holland were also cancelled. The Olympic gold medalist may delay his debut until the 11th Sengoku on November 7. (6/28/09)

New MMA Dream Championships

Hong-Man Choi Defeats MLB Player Jose Canseco  

Tokyo, Japan- The MMA Dream middleweight championships and second round of the featherweight grand prix were held at the Yokohama Arena on May 26th. One of the first rounds of the "Super Hulk" tournament featured former MLB player Jose Canseco challenging the gigantic Korean former pro-sumo champion, Hong-Man Choi. The 44 year old slugger gamely faced the 7'2", 355lb Choi, but 1:17 into the first round, Choi's left hook connected with Canseco's head to knock him down. Choi followed up by punching Canseco on the ground to quickly finish the match. In another "Super Hulk" fight, Thierry Sokoudjou, the 25yr old judo champion from Cameroon, defeated South African K-1 fighter Jan Nortje 2:29 into the first round of the middleweight. The middleweight title match between Brazilian World jiiujitsu champion Ronaldo Jacare and American Jason Miller ended in no contest. Winners of the featherweight fights, Japan’s Tokoro and U.S. Greco-roman champ Joe Warren, move up to the semi-finals. (5/26/09, Yokohama arena)

Georges St. Pierre Holds Onto Welterweight Title

Las Vegas, NV - UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre decisively held off rival lightweight champ B.J. Penn at UFC-94. The January 31st fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas showcased the 27-year-old French Canadian controlling B.J. Penn by blocking Penn's punches and wearing him down on the ground in the first two rounds. St. Pierre maintained the pressure through the 3rd and 4th rounds to drain Penn of his will to fight. When the 5th round started, the 30 year old Penn gave up from his corner and submitted to St. Pierre's endurance.

Top US Judo-ka Karo Parisyan Wins
 

Karo Parisyan (19-5), a former American top level judo competitor, faced another judo-ka from Korea, Dong Hyun Kim (4-3-2). The first two rounds saw exciting and dynamic judo take-down throws, but the fans booed their disappointment when the 3rd round saw little action. Parisyan won by split decision to earn $80,000, which included a $40,000 winning bonus. Parisyan will need to improve his fighting style to effectively challenge welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.(1/31/09, LV)

UFC-94 Results (Winner on left) Georges St. Pierre ($400,000) -TKO- B.J. Penn ($125,000) Lyoto Machiada ($120,000) - KO - Thiago Silva ($29,000) Jon Jones ($14,000) - ? - Stephan Bonnar ($22,000) Karo Parisyan ($80,000) - Decision - Dong Hyun Kim ($26,000) Clay Guida ($40,000) - ? - Nathan Diaz ($20,000)

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