Author: Daniel Herbertson

Alistair Overeem Splits With Golden Glory, Possibly More to Follow

Filed under: UFC, K1, News, JapanEnding a relationship that dates back to the beginning of his career, former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, DREAM interim heavyweight champion and 2010 K-1 World GP champion Alistair Overeem announced on Wednesday th…

Filed under: , , ,

Ending a relationship that dates back to the beginning of his career, former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, DREAM interim heavyweight champion and 2010 K-1 World GP champion Alistair Overeem announced on Wednesday that he has left the Golden Glory fight team.

Overeem chose not to give specific details on the reason behind the move but cited “a breach of trust” and continued to say that there was, “no turning back and no way to continue a positive, working relationship.”

In July of this year, Overeem was cut from Strikeforce due to a disagreement regarding payment methods between Golden Glory and Zuffa, but the Dutch heavyweight finally resigned with Zuffa earlier this month to make his UFC debut and to meet former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar on Dec. 30.

The complete statements from Overeem and Golden Glory co-owner Bas Boon are after the break.

Alistair Overeem released the following statement via Twitter:

“I would like to make a statement regarding the recent news of the separation from my long-time management Golden Glory. As with any relationship, there are good times and bad times – you have your common ground and your differences. As with any relationship, you have trust. When differences lead to a breach of trust, there’s no turning back and no way to continue a positive, working relationship. I don’t air my dirty laundry. I would appreciate the respect regarding my privacy to not disclose any further details on this matter.

Again, I would like to thank team Golden Glory for all the years we worked together and wish them success for the future.”

Overeem, the favorite to win the troubled Strikeforce Heavyweight GP, withdrew from the tournament in July due to injury and was cut from the promotion later in the month due to a dispute between Golden Glory and Zuffa. Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen, Alistair’s brother Valentijn Overeem and former UFC heavyweight John Olav Einemo were also cut from Zuffa promotions as a result of the rift between Zuffa and Golden Glory.

With Overeem only stating that “a breach of trust” was the reason for his departure, details behind the split are up for speculation and many people may be quick to point the finger at the recent issues between Golden Glory and Zuffa. Bas Boon, co-owner of Golden Glory and Overeem’s former manager, released the following statement to make it clear that this is not the case.

“The UFC is not wrong!

I want to make the following statement to clear up any speculation.

The UFC did nothing wrong and neither did Golden Glory management when signing up Alistair Overeem with the UFC. It is public knowledge how the UFC does business. The fighters sign their own contracts and agreements. If journalists have any questions regarding Alistair Overeem’s statement about G.G please contact the UFC for any further questions. ALL correspondence between the UFC and Golden Glory was also shared/CC’d to Alistair Overeem, who finally made a decision to sign the agreements.

These are difficult times in the fighting industry. We are still waiting for payment of FEG, as Alistair said in the press, and the future of FEG is still unclear. There is a Dutch law called bibop in the Netherlands which makes promoting events there extremely difficult. There will be a lot of rumors like in the recent past when 4 G.G fighters were released from the UFC and Strikeforce and that was the so called end of G.G relationship with the UFC.

Not long after this rumor, Golden Glory made a mega-deal with Alistair Overeem signing with the UFC. John Olaf Einemo is now back with the UFC and Siyar Bahadurzada just got offered a UFC contract.

There is also some really good news coming soon about the situation in Japan and I really want to let everybody know the details – but I have signed multiple NDAs (non-disclosure argreements) and I have to wait before publicly elaborating further.”

While we can only guess until either side gives a definitive answer, due to Boon’s hints it seems that the reason behind the split is the money owed by K-1.

Alistair Overeem, Peter Aerts, Jerome Le Banner, Ray Sefo and a host of other fighters are owed an enormous sum of money by the struggling kickboxing promotion and like most involved, Golden Glory have reportedly been unable to make any progress towards receiving payment.

It has long been rumored that Golden Glory was getting set to take over the K-1, possibly as partial payment for debts, but with the transfer of K-1 rights to real estate company Barbizon that talk has gone cold. Still, given that Boon is talking non-disclosure agreements in Japan, there may be something in the works.

Alistair Overeem may not be the only athlete to leave the vaunted Golden Glory team as Liverkick.com also reports that Gokhan Saki may also be splitting. The Turkish-Dutch K-1 star, who has recently talked of making a move into MMA, is apparently unhappy the the Golden Glory team and has been seeking an out for his contract for some time.

It is also possible that Errol Zimmerman, a close friend of Saki, is leaving Golden Glory as 2011 K-1 Final 16 entrant Hedsey Gerges revealed that he is set to face Zimmerman in Nanjing. Due to a large amount of money owed, K-1 and Golden Glory do not currently have a working relationship so if the match is indeed set, Zimmerman may have left the team. Neither Golden Glory nor K-1 promoter FEG have confirmed the match.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ikuhisa ‘Minowaman’ Minowa vs. Baru Harn Completes DREAM.17

Filed under: DREAM, JapanOnly four days out from DREAM.17, event officials have added one more fight with DREAM “Super Hulk” GP champion Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa agreeing to meet 275-pound Mongolian Baru Harn in a “Super Hulk” open weight match at th…

Filed under: ,

Only four days out from DREAM.17, event officials have added one more fight with DREAM “Super Hulk” GP champion Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa agreeing to meet 275-pound Mongolian Baru Harn in a “Super Hulk” open weight match at the Saitama Super Arena on Sept. 24.

Due to his pro wrestling responsibilities as Tiger Mask V, Ikuhisa Minowa (49-32-8) has been relatively inactive in the MMA ring in 2011, picking up two wins in two attempts at regional level shows. Minowa, a natural middleweight, went 3-0 against super heavyweight fighters in 2010 but had two high-profile losses to Olympic judo medalists Satoshi Ishii and Hiroshi Izumi.

Baru Harn (1-1) is a former bouncer and two-time Mongolian wrestling champion who made his MMA debut in 2008 against defending DEEP “Megaton” champion Yusuke Kawaguchi, but lost a majority decision. Harn returned at Astra in 2010 to face former “Megaton” title contender Seigo Mizuguchi and managed to utilize his striking to win a hard fought decision.

DREAM.17, the first full DREAM event for 2011, is set to air live on HDNet in North America. The complete card is after the break.

DREAM.17 – Sept. 24 2011 at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan

Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen
Caol Uno vs. Takeshi Lion
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yan Cabral
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Willamy Chiquerim
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Gerald Harris
Hideo Tokoro vs. Antonio Banuelos
Takafumi Otsuka vs. Bibiano Fernandes
Masakazu Imanari vs. Abel Cullum
Yusup Saadulaev vs. Rodolfo Marques Diniz
Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa vs. Baru Harn

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Badr Hari Returns for K-1 World GP Final 16; Overeem, Schilt, Aerts, Saki Absent

Filed under: K1, JapanAfter much speculation due to the troubling financial state of event promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group, the K-1 World Grand Prix has finally returned with the Final 16 to take place on Oct. 29 at the the Nanjing Olympic Sp…

Filed under: ,

After much speculation due to the troubling financial state of event promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group, the K-1 World Grand Prix has finally returned with the Final 16 to take place on Oct. 29 at the the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Nanjing, China.

Badr Hari, one of kickboxing’s most polarizing figures and the last man to defeat 2010 K-1 World GP champion Alistair Overeem, is also making his return following his absence from 2010’s GP for a self-imposed break from the sport due to numerous disciplinary problems.

Hari, Hesdy Gerges, Tyrone Spong, Ruslan Karaev, Daniel Ghita, Ben Edwards, Melvin Manhoef, Dzevad Poturak, Sergei Lascenko, Rico Verhoeven and Anderson “Braddock” Silva are the names currently listed for the Final 16, with five more to be announced at a later date.

Although many fans will be delighted that Hari is back in the mix, there are host of missing names from the 2011 Final 16.

Traditionally the final eight from the previous year’s K-1 World Grand Prix are granted slots in the Final 16; however Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Kyotaro, Gokhan Saki, Siala-Mou “Mighty Mo” Siliga and eventual champion Alistair Overeem are not among the names listed for Nanjing. Due to his recent signing with the UFC, Overeem will not be defending his title but the other absentees have not yet been explained.

K-1 Event Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa revealed that he has been in talks with Bas Boon and the Golden Glory team which houses Schilt, Overeem and Gokhan Saki among others, but he did not give the reason for their absence. Tanikawa did state however that the Final 16 is being produced in co-operation with It’s Showtime promoter Simon Rutz which led to Hari, Spong, Ghita, Gerges and Karaev being included on the card.

Additionally, some of the remaining eight spots in the Final 16 have been traditionally filled by regional tournament champions but this custom has not been adhered to this year as there were no regional tournaments in 2011 due to the financial difficulties with K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. In the past there has also been fan voting to fill remaining Final 16 spots but this has also not happened for 2011’s tournament.

No broadcast details have been released for the Final 16 in Japan but the event is set to be broadcast to the Nanjing and Jiangsu provinces in China via co-promoter Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation. HDNet representatives were not immediately available for comment regarding broadcast plans in North America.

Event Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa promised that the Final 16 at the 13,000-capacity Nanjin Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium is only the start of K-1’s expansion into Asia, also singling out Singapore as possibility for future K-1 events.

Speaking via the internet broadcast, Tanikawa did not address any of the financial issues facing FEG or the transfer of the K-1 trademarks to real estate firm Barbizon.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Bovy Sor. Udomson Downs Toby Imada Three Times to Win Thriller in Shoot Boxing

Filed under: News, JapanTOKYO — Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada stormed onto the Shoot Boxing scene in 2010, capturing an incredible decision win over the best the sport has to offer in Andy Souwer and decisioning long-time veteran Hi…

Filed under: ,

TOKYO — Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada stormed onto the Shoot Boxing scene in 2010, capturing an incredible decision win over the best the sport has to offer in Andy Souwer and decisioning long-time veteran Hiroki Shishido earlier this year. The judoka’s luck under the Shoot Boxing banner ran out at Korakuen Hall on Saturday night against Muay Thai stylist Bovy Sor. Udomson, Imada falling once in each round en route to losing a unanimous decision. Imada was able to make the bout exciting though, scoring a down in the second stanza and landing a plethora of heavy punches.

Other MMA fighters competing under the “standing vale tudo” rules were more successful however, Bellator veteran Jessica Penne scored a shocking upset, besting promotional postergirl and two-time S-Cup winner Rena Kubota while former Sengoku star Shigeki Osawa nudged out a close decision via throws over Yusuke Sugawara.

Former Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai champion Bovy Sor. Udomson (87-31 in kickboxing) went into his bout with Shoot Boxing upset-artist Toby Imada (3-2 in Shoot Boxing, 29-14 in MMA) on a five-fight losing streak, with many questioning if he was able to continue to competing at the elite levels of kickboxing. With his gutsy win over Imada, Udomson made a significant step towards proving those doubters wrong.

An extremely aggressive Imada put the pressure on Udomson from the onset, the mixed martial artist looking for a knockout with winging hooks and straights and to score Shoot points with his judo. Udomson stood his ground though, countering the judo perfectly with his Muay Thai clinch and delivering hellish hook counters, catching Imada and sending him to the canvas once in each stanza during the three round bout.

Imada was good enough to score his own knockdown though, Udomson caught hook across the jaw while taunting his opponent in the second. Although significantly down on the score cards Imada remained in the fight with his judo and relentless attacks but with as the final bell sounded, the points for Imada were nowhere to be found and Udomson took the decision.

Bellator veteran and Shoot Boxing newcomer Jessica Penne (9-1 MMA, 1-0 Shoot Boxing) scored a massive upset and another point for the MMA fighters, snatching a huge decision over promotional poster girl, 2009 Girl’s S-Cup champ and 2010 Girl’s S-Cup World Champion Rena Kubota (16-5-1 kickboxing). Although Rena managed to win rounds one and three with her kicks, Penne scoring a throw for a Shoot point in the second evened the score and saw the bout go to an extension round.

Rena controlled the first extension period, scoring again with her kicks but seeming very tight with her fists, consistently missing. Somehow, despite Rena’s control and Penne looking winded and managing no offence, the judges rules that the bout go to a second extension period. Penne looked rejuvenated in the fifth and final round, scoring a throw midway through to give her a fight-winning Shoot point. Rena pushed to score a down or Shoot point herself but it was not forth-coming, the bout going to the judges.

One apparently distracted judge somehow scored the final round a draw for the hometown favorite but the other two got it right, awarding the bout to Penne for the huge upset.

Rena, whose younger sister Mio was victorious earlier in the night, is scheduled to rematch Erika Kamimura for a title under the RISE banner in November. It is not yet known whether tonight’s result affects that bout.

Fellow MMA fighter and former Sengoku sponsored Shigeki Osawa (1-1 Shoot Boxing, 6-1-2 MMA) also managed to pull off a significant upset, besting J-Network Super Flyweight champion Yusuke Sugawara (21-12-2 in kickboxing) with throws to take the unanimous decision. Osawa clearly lost in the kickboxing department but Osawa’s impressive throws score highly under Shoot Boxing rules and the wrestler was able to win the judges favor despite taking a beating.

No. 2-ranked Japanese super welterweight Satori Suzuki (6-7 in kickboxing) utilized a 4.5-inch height advantage (on paper) to brutalize No. 1-ranked Kenji Kanai (16-12 in kickboxing), dropping his opponent with punches three times in the first round to get the TKO referee stoppage in under two minutes. Kanai, although never noted as a real power-puncher, seemed to have no heat on his hands and proved easy pickings for the much taller Suzuki.

Top-ranked Japanese featherweight Naguranchun Masa M16’s (14-5 in kickboxing) forward pressure and aggression proved too much for No. 2-ranked Akito Sakimura (9-9 in kickboxing) in a bout to fill the vacant Shootboxing Japan featherweight title. Punches sent Sakimura to the canvas in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, with the final down leading to the referee calling the bout. The loss marks Sakimura’s third title bout loss in as many attempts.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

UFC to Return to Japan in February 2012

Filed under: UFC, News, JapanTOKYO – For the first time in more than 10 years, and for the first time in the Zuffa era, the UFC is finally set to invade Japan.

UFC President Dana White and Zuffa LLC Asia Executive Vice President and Managing Director …

Filed under: , ,

TOKYO – For the first time in more than 10 years, and for the first time in the Zuffa era, the UFC is finally set to invade Japan.

UFC President Dana White and Zuffa LLC Asia Executive Vice President and Managing Director Mark Fischer made the announcement on Tuesday at the Shinjuku Wald 9 Theater, revealing that the world’s leading MMA promotion will head to the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Feb. 26, 2012.

The entire Japanese UFC roster – Yushin Okami, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Hatsu Hioki, Michihiro Omigawa, Takanori Gomi, Riki Fukuda, and Takeya Mizugaki – were said to be possibilities for the Japanese event by Fischer but the official card is scheduled to be announced in November.

It is also not yet known if the UFC Japan event will be part of the numbered UFC series or a “Fight Night” event. Fischer stated, “We’re not identifying that today but it will be, you can be assured, a major, major event here.”

“It’s been over 10 years since a UFC event was held in Japan and we’re pumped to bring the fastest growing sport in the world there once again,” said UFC President Dana White via video message. “Japan has played a huge role in getting the sport to where it is today. UFC stars such as [Quinton] “Rampage” Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, [Antonio Rodrigo] “Minotauro” Nogueira all made names for themselves fighting in the Pride organization and dozens more fought in front of the passionate Japanese fans at some point in their careers. Japan has also produced world class fighters such as [Yoshihiro] Akiyama, [Takanori] Gomi and Yushin Okami. They have all headlined major UFC events all over the world. Now, this February, the wait is finally over – we’re coming back to Japan.”

Mark Fischer, who was also responsible for the NBA’s expansion in Asia, noted the economic benefits associated with the UFC returning to Japan.

“To give another idea of the scope of this event, it will literally be witnessed by millions of fans all over the world,” stated Fischer. “Moreover, this event will be a boon for Japan’s economy. For example, UFC 100 in Las Vegas generated more than $51 million for the local economy. In Sydney, Australia, our two events generated over $30 million for the local economy. We’re pleased to bring the similarly anticipated event to Saitama and the greater Tokyo area.”

The Saitama Super Arena, the former home of the defunct Pride Fighting Championships, and current home to DREAM, will be configured for 20,000 seats.

Fischer also made it clear that it will not take the UFC another 10 years to return to Japan after this February, giving the outline behind the UFC’s planned expansion into Asia.

“Let me also say that while UFC Japan in 2012 will be the first event for Zuffa in Asia, it certainly won’t be the last,” said Fischer. “We hope to make UFC Japan an annual fixture on our calendar and we also have plans to follow-up with a series of high quality events across Asia,”

To fit with American broadcast plans, the UFC Japan event is scheduled to begin 10:00 a.m. local time, with the main card running from 12:00 noon to approximately 3:00 p.m. No details were given as to the event’s local broadcast plans, however the UFC currently has deals in place with TV Bank, NTT Plala’s “Hikari TV” and WOWOW satellite TV.

The UFC first visited Japan in Dec. 21, 1997 for “Ultimate Japan,” an event which saw the birth of Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba. The UFC returned twice more in November 1999 and April 2000 for UFC 23 and UFC 25 respectively, but the upcoming Japanese UFC event will mark the first time the promotion has visited while under the Zuffa banner.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

ONE FC: The Good, the Bad and the Future

Filed under: ONE FCOn Sept. 3, we saw a new potential contender on the global MMA scene. The self-proclaimed “Asian major leagues.” The new “king of MMA in Asia.”

The first event from the Singapore-based ONE FC was highly touted and full of action, b…

Filed under:

On Sept. 3, we saw a new potential contender on the global MMA scene. The self-proclaimed “Asian major leagues.” The new “king of MMA in Asia.”

The first event from the Singapore-based ONE FC was highly touted and full of action, but did it live up to the hype?

After the break, we have a detailed look at the good, the bad and the future of the upstart promotion.

The Good:
Talent. Like most people, this was my first time seeing a lot of these fighters in an MMA ring – and on the whole, I was very impressed. Although there were matchmaking issues (see below), ONE FC (and the pilot promotion Martial Combat) has unearthed some genuinely good talent.

Eduard Folayang and A Sol Kwon put on a fantastic show in the main event, and I can’t wait to see Zorobabel Moreira, Eddie Ng, Vuyisile Colossa, Eric Kelly and Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai again. That is an impressive amount of names for a debut show. Yes, some of these guys were given squash matches, but it was clear that they had legitimate MMA skills and were not your typical ill-equipped crossover athletes.

Pre-fight hype. This was promotion done right. ONE FC CEO Victor Cui’s experience was clear as his debut event garnered far more interest than any recent event in Asia. Some of the claims leading up to the event were dubious (calling it “Asia’s largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event,” before their first event springs to mind), but they served their purpose.

In their first event, ONE FC was able to generate far more fan interest than the likes of Shooto, Pancrase and Deep in Japan, the Hong Kong-based Legend FC or the South Korean Road FC – no mean feat considering that a significant portion of the card was populated by MMA rookies.

Those expecting the second coming of Pride FC were gullible but people were genuinely excited – and that is something no Asian MMA event has been able to accomplish for a long, long time.

Local focus. Phil Baroni was the only real international “name” fighter brought in for the event and that is very smart. ONE FC is tailored to an Asian audience and they don’t need to waste money bringing in expensive foreign heavyweights or the big MMA names that western fans know – they need local, sustainable talent.

ONE FC is looking for long-term success here, and bringing in outside talent, would only bring short-term benefits at a high cost. Developing its own stars is the way to go.

The Bad:
Matchmaking. The biggest problem with the event,and the most difficult issue to overcome for ONE FC brass, was the matchmaking.

With so many inexperienced MMA fighters on the card, it really wasn’t a difficult issue to foresee, but five of the 10 bouts were completely one-sided. These mismatches made for great violence, but they were not great sport. The challenge in fixing this issue will be finding depth

This is not to say the entire card consisted of poorly made bouts though, the main event between Eduard Folayang and A Sol Kwon was absolutely superb.

Production. ONE FC has a lot of new athletes and is appealing to a new fan base – they really needed to introduce the fighters better. Just having the commentators list accomplishments and a few tidbits of information as a fighter makes his way to the ring is not enough. Potential fans need to care about these fighters. Small vignettes introducing the fighters were posted on YouTube so why not include them in the stream?

Unfortunately the ring announcer’s voice wasn’t capable of doing the epic things, he thought it could do. Normally I would not deem something like this worth mentioning, but it detracted from an otherwise polished production.

I would also like to see localized introductions to MMA prior to the event. The vast majority of the audience will have never seen MMA before.At the time of writing there is still no schedule for the ESPN Star Sports broadcast through Asia and so it his highly likely that these minor production issues are addressed.

Fight week. Despite generating an impressive level of media and fan interest leading up to the event, the international promotional efforts tapered off in the week leading up to the event.

The ONE FC website provided no link to the live stream, no TV broadcast information, no links to fight week interviews, no weigh-in results and at the time of writing, 24 hours after the event finished, still no results.

The Future:
The biggest difficulty facing ONE FC is correcting the matchmaking problems. This is mainly due to the simple fact that there is a lack of MMA gyms in Asia outside of Japan and South Korea. ONE FC will need to do some impressive scouting to come up with local guys that can compete with the likes of Eduard Folayang, Zorobabel Moreira, Eddie Ng, Vuyisile Colossa, Eric Kelly and Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai.

Given some of the talent they were able to unearth in their debut event though, I have faith.

The production and promotional issues we saw are easy to fix – some of them were just minor organizational problems and obviously any new event will have hiccups initially. The challenge will be to tailor the production to this completely new audience through Asia. Victor Cui has a huge amount of experience here and I’m interested to see how he introduces the sport and fighters. It will be crucial to their success.

Prior to the first ONE FC event, the Singapore-based promotion was being touted as “The king of MMA in Asia.” It’s premature to crown ONE FC, it will take at least a year for the promotion to really show its true potential, but it is off to a solid start.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments