Tag: Bellator

Japanese Legend Akihiro Gono Announces His Retirement from MMA

At the post-fight press conference following his quick TKO loss to Michael Chandler, Japanese star fighter Akihiro “DJ GOZMA” Gono announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.One of the main reasons I was so pumped for the Bellator 67 show last ni…

At the post-fight press conference following his quick TKO loss to Michael Chandler, Japanese star fighter Akihiro “DJ GOZMA” Gono announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.

One of the main reasons I was so pumped for the Bellator 67 show last night was a chance to see one of my favorite fighters of all time, Akihiro Gono, fight on Canadian soil for the first and possibly last time in his storied career. 

The 37-year-old Japanese star and mixed martial arts pioneer has given fans some of the most entertaining and colorful performances with his early fights in the Shooto, Pancrase and Pride organizations of Japan.

Despite Gono’s pre-fight claims that an upset may be in order, he lost to Chandler quickly and without a fuss, but it was his emotional post-fight press conference announcement and what followed that really stole the show on the evening for me.

After Gono announced through an interpreter that it would indeed be the last MMA fight of his career, his emotions came rushing out and tears streamed down his face as he looked to the sky to try and stop the momentum of his tears.

I was lucky to get the microphone for the first question of the night and I told Gono that despite his fight tonight, the Canadian fans know exactly who he is and what he is about and it was an honor to see him fight in our home country.

The tears continued and after another comment and verbal tribute from Sportsnet analyst Joe Ferraro, the entire press conference room rose in a tremendous standing ovation for Gono. The Japanese legend raised from his seat and bowed his appreciation as tears flowed to the carpet.

It was a classy move by the fans and media in the room and a well-deserved tribute for “The Japanese Sensation.”

Thanks for giving us your career, Gono-san. Domo arigato

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 67 Results: Ford, Baker and Chandler Highlight a Stellar Show at Rama

Bellator 67 took place tonight from a packed Entertainment Hall inside the beautiful Casino Rama and saw the fighters deliver an exceptional night of fights for the Ontario fans.The night tipped off with the highly anticipated …

Bellator 67 took place tonight from a packed Entertainment Hall inside the beautiful Casino Rama and saw the fighters deliver an exceptional night of fights for the Ontario fans.

The night tipped off with the highly anticipated Bellator debut of Canadian Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford taking on tough Bellator veteran Luis Santos. The first round saw Ford come out and feel out his opponent which gave Santos some space to land a solid head kick midway through the round. The kick hurt Ford and he went down before Santos jumped to take his back.

Ford stayed calm and composed and kept himself tight in his defense while Santos tried to find the opening to sink in a choke. The opening did not appear and Ford was able to recover and escape the round. The second saw Ford come out with a new aggression and he locked up Santos as the two backed up to the cage.

A clinch on the cage ensued and Ford was able to get position to open up his brutal knee strikes on Santos. The first one landed to the body and the second one landed flush on Santos’ jaw dropping the veteran to the floor. Ford pounced with a flurry and ended the fight via TKO early in the second round.

It was an impressive debut for Ford in front of a large entourage of family and friends who came in from Edmonton to support him. Ford can now expect to get a spot in the next welterweight tournament and make his run at a Bellator title from there.

There was a huge semifinal fight in this season’s welterweight tournament on the card and classy Bryan Baker was able to out-battle and outlast Ben Saunders in a very exciting fight.

Saunders used some solid knees early and had Baker in what looked to be a very tight triangle in the round, as well. Baker calmly defended and forced Saunders to give up on the hold as fatigue set in to end the round.

The second round saw a reversal of fortunes for Baker as he got top position on Saunders and rained down pressure for the majority of the round. I had the fight deadlocked going in to the third round and it was anyone’s fight to take with a win of the round.

Baker was the stronger, fresher fighter and he quickly got top position on Saunders again early where he rode that control to the win to move to the tournament final. Baker is a classy, impressive individual who is two years in remission after being diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago.

In the main event of the evening, lightweight champion Michael Chandler made extremely quick work of featured opponent Akihiro Gono, landing a right hand in the very first exchange and getting a TKO victory at 0:56 of the first round.

In the other main-card fight on the night, Polish heavyweight Damian Grabowski stole a controversial decision win over a tough and humble Dave Huckaba. I felt Huckaba was the busier fighter, and did more damage with his shots, but the judges saw it differently and chose Grabowski’s takedowns and top control in the decision.

The night of fights was a very good one with the Belllator fighters bouncing back from a disappointing card in Windsor just last month. It is Bellator’s third show at Rama and fourth in Ontario in a year and here’s hoping the trend continues and we see them back in Ontario sooner rather than later.

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 67 Chandler vs Gono: Live Results

Bleacher Report is set up cage side at Bellator 67 at Casino Rama in Ontario to bring you live results as they happen.Live Results:Preliminary Card 7:00pmRead more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bleacher Report is set up cage side at Bellator 67 at Casino Rama in Ontario to bring you live results as they happen.

Live Results:

Preliminary Card 7:00pm

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 67: Main Card Predictions

Tonight, Bellator 67 comes to you live on MTV 2, Spike.com and Bellator.com. The card will be headlined by Michael Chandler and Akihiro Gono in a non-title bout.Also on the card will be one of the welterweight semifinals, which will pit UFC veteran Ben…

Tonight, Bellator 67 comes to you live on MTV 2, Spike.com and Bellator.com. The card will be headlined by Michael Chandler and Akihiro Gono in a non-title bout.

Also on the card will be one of the welterweight semifinals, which will pit UFC veteran Ben Saunders against the always dangerous Bryan Baker. Let’s take a look at the main card.

Begin Slideshow

Lombard Could Get Title Shot With Win Over Stann at UFC on Fox 4

UFC President Dana White says that Bellator import, Hector Lombard, might just get a middleweight title shot if he beats Brian Stann in his UFC debut. “When you talk about cleaning out a division, there’s always another guy who comes up, even for a guy like Anderson…We just brought in Lombard. (If) Lombard beats Stann. … that (title) fight makes sense,” Sergio Non reports White as saying, for USA Today.

And, oh yeah, Stann vs. Lombard will headline UFC on Fox 4, according to MMA Fighting ace Mike Chiappetta. When a fan asked Chiappetta, via twitter, if the fight was set to be the main event for Fox’ fourth UFC installment, he replied in the affirmative.

UFC President Dana White says that Bellator import, Hector Lombard, might just get a middleweight title shot if he beats Brian Stann in his UFC debut. “When you talk about cleaning out a division, there’s always another guy who comes up, even for a guy like Anderson…We just brought in Lombard. (If) Lombard beats Stann. … that (title) fight makes sense,” Sergio Non reports White as saying, for USA Today.

And, oh yeah, Stann vs. Lombard will headline UFC on Fox 4, according to MMA Fighting ace Mike Chiappetta. When a fan asked Chiappetta, via twitter, if the fight was set to be the main event for Fox’ fourth UFC installment, he replied in the affirmative.

“Yes it is (UFC on FOX 4). 5 rounds. RT @MMAdamMartin Hey @MikeChiappetta, is @HectorLombard vs. @brianstann the main event of @UFConFOX?”

So there we have it – Stann (12-4) will take on Lombard (31-2-1) in a five-round main event with immediate title implications. Stann is coming off a KO win over Alessio Sakara last month and Lombard hasn’t lost since 2006, in Pride, to Gegard Mousasi.

What do you think, nation? Should Lombard get the Anderson Silva treatment and receive a title shot after an impressive organization debut? Would he have a better shot against Silva or Sonnen, who face one another this summer at UFC 148?

Consider those questions while watching highlights of Lombard’s all-natural self smashing cats:

– Elias Cepeda

Bellator 67 Weigh-in Highlights: Ryan Ford’s Bling; Akihiro Gono Promises Upset

The Bellator 67 weigh-ins were held today from the Casino Rama resort in Orillia, Ontario, and all fighters were on hand to step on the scales and offer final comments to fans and media in attendance.All main-card fighters made weight, and only prelimi…

The Bellator 67 weigh-ins were held today from the Casino Rama resort in Orillia, Ontario, and all fighters were on hand to step on the scales and offer final comments to fans and media in attendance.

All main-card fighters made weight, and only preliminary fighter and local Bellator veteran Will Romero weighed in at over the limit. He has one hour to lose the three pounds he needed to to make the 145-pound limit.

 

Weigh-in Quotes and Highlights

In what can sometimes be a fairly dull event, the clear highlight for me was when Japanese veteran star and long-time original in mixed martial arts, Akihiro Gono, answered Bellator MC Michael Smith’s question in English: “Old veteran is going to make big upset against undefeated champion tomorrow night. Look forward to it!” 

I love when foreign fighters try hard for the fans, and Gono put himself out there with his broken English. With my Canadian-Japanese heritage, it is an honor to have Gono fighting here this weekend, and I look forward to speaking with him tomorrow. 

Now, do I really think that the savy Japanese veteran has a shot at an upset tomorrow? It’s a fight and anything can happen, but I give it a 90 percent chance that Chandler beats him. If Gono pulls the upset, it will be a slick submission from a Chandler mistake. There is a large gap in experience there, and it’s Gono’s only chance.

Another highlight was watching the tattoo-riddled Canadian Ryan Ford take the scale with extremely thick bling around his neck. Even with the large, gold Jesus chain, Ford came in under weight at 169.8 pounds.

Ford is a very popular fighter in Canada and will probably get the biggest pop of the night when he enters the cage tomorrow night.

This is Ford’s Bellator debut and a huge fight for the future of his career. Luis Santos is an extremely tough and experienced fighter. 

Ford was asked by Smith what this debut means to him.

“Everything. I’m ready to put it on for Canada. Luis is explosive and experienced, but I’m ready to get in there and do my thing.”

 

Main Card Weigh-in Results

Welterweight: Luis Santos (170.0) vs. Ryan Ford (169.8)

Heavyweight: Dave Huckaba (255.4) vs. Damian Grabowski (241.4)

Welterweight: Bryan Baker (171.0) vs. Ben Saunders (171.0)

Lightweight: Akihiro Gono (155.6) vs. Michael Chandler (156.0)

 

Keep it locked here for Bellator 67 Results and Post-Fight press conference highlight’s

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com