Tag: DREAM.17

Better Clear Out Your DVRs — the Summer MMA Schedule is Packed

Come on Internet, where are all the awesome fan-made promos? VidProps: mleqs

Damn, we’re glad we didn’t make plans this summer, because we’re going to be typing our hands off over the next few weeks. After the warm up-act of the TUF 13 Finale, we enter one of those fun times when there’s always another show coming up to talk about: we’ll have some big MMA event every weekend. That’s good for you, since we’re less likely to try something new and different. Also good for us, because ideas are hard.

This Weekend

Friday, 10 June — MFC 30: Up Close and Personal The biggest MMA promotion in Canada returns for action, featuring Drew Fickett vs Brian Cobb, Marcus Davis vs Pete Spratt, Thomas Denny vs Sheldon Westcott, and the other Lima brother in welterweight action. Stay tuned for a full preview of the card.

Saturday, 11 June — UFC 131: Carwin vs Dos Santos. More like UFC 131: Snakebit, right? (Just kidding. But seriously.) Carwin vs Dos Santos; plus a pretty nice list of compelling names, but not a lot of intriguing matchups (Poirier vs who?) On the other hand, we couldn’t agree on many predictions while discussing this for the Bum Rush, so no telling how the card goes. Plus, Nick Ring vs James Head jokes will write themselves for a week, easy. Success!


Come on Internet, where are all the awesome fan-made promos? VidProps: mleqs

Damn, we’re glad we didn’t make plans this summer, because we’re going to be typing our hands off over the next few weeks. After the warm up-act of the TUF 13 Finale, we enter one of those fun times when there’s always another show coming up to talk about: we’ll have some big MMA event every weekend.   That’s good for you, since we’re less likely to try something new and different. Also good for us, because ideas are hard.

This Weekend

Friday, 10 June — MFC 30: Up Close and Personal The biggest MMA promotion in Canada returns for action, featuring Drew Fickett vs Brian Cobb, Marcus Davis vs Pete Spratt, Thomas Denny vs Sheldon Westcott, and the other Lima brother in welterweight action.  Stay tuned for a full preview of the card.

Saturday, 11 June — UFC 131: Carwin vs Dos Santos. More like UFC 131: Snakebit, right? (Just kidding. But seriously.) Carwin vs Dos Santos; plus a pretty nice list of compelling names, but not a lot of intriguing matchups (Poirier vs who?) On the other hand, we couldn’t agree on many predictions while discussing this for the Bum Rush, so no telling how the card goes. Plus, Nick Ring vs James Head jokes will write themselves for a week, easy.  Success!

Next Weekend

Saturday, 18 June — Strikeforce: Werdum vs Overeem. Yeah, we may poke fun at Strikeforce, but there is no way we would miss this card: Werdum vs Overeem, Barnett (maybe) vs Rogers, Cormier vs Monson, Riggs vs Bro Overeem — stop, stop! you had us “Grand Prix”!   Side note:  Strikeforce has finally figured out that people are interested in the preliminary cards, and have begun to air those as well. You’ll be able to catch Justin Wilcox vs JZ Cavalcante and the rest of the prelims on HDNet.

Minor League Weekend

Friday, 24 June — Strikeforce Challengers 16. Ryan Couture returns for a Challengers card headlined by Caros Fodor vs. James Terry. We were a little puzzled to see Jason High vs Quinn Mulhern on the prelim: a Dream/Affliction/UFC vet vs a young KOTC champ is on the un-televised portion of a Challengers card? Just who the hell is running things over there?

Saturday, 25 June — Bellator 46. Bellator returns for their Summer Series run, kicking off an eight-man featherweight tourney to bridge the gap between seasons 4 and 5.  We’ll probably ignore it.

Sunday, 26 June — UFC on Versus 4: Marquardt vs Story. We wish the UFC would go ahead and buy a damn network and be done with it, these naming schemes are getting convoluted. Ultimate Fight Night, UFC on Versus, UFC Live, TUF Finale — why do you make us work so hard Dana?? Rick Story steps in on short notice to headline UFC Whatever against Nate Marquardt, plus our BFF forever Pat Barry vs guy that really hates us Cheick Kongo. (We got Barry in this one.)

July 4th Weekend

Saturday, 2 July — UFC 132: Cruz vs Faber 2. Why not UFC 132: Role Reversal? Cruz was the challenger and Faber was the champ four years ago at featherweight, when Cruz suffered his only loss to date.   Now Faber has followed Cruz down to 135 and looks to claim his title.  Damn, we should totally start making promos for these things. All we need is a cool movie voice guy. And some video editing stuff. Probably some talent would help. Anyways, this is a wildly stacked card for fans of the lighter weight classes, for everyone else there’s Wandy vs Leben.

After UFC 132, there’s a full twelve days of waiting until Dream.17 (which you probably won’t see in the states live), and a terrifying 28 days until Strikeforce: Hendo v Fedor. Yikes. Guess we haven’t seen the last of Keyboard Warriors yet after all.

[RX]

While You Were Watching UFC 130: Ultimate Glory and Dream 17 Results


Mark Miller wastes no time knocking out Nikolaj Falin. Props: MMATKO

Chances are that you knew about the United Glory Tournament Finals that took place yesterday in Moscow. It featured some pretty intriguing fights, was available on YouTube and cost less than ten bucks. Of course, many of you figured you could save your money and check Cage Potato this afternoon for some highlights and a quick list of results. Don’t worry, we got your back as usual.

The welterweight tournament, which began in October of 2010, came to an end with a scrap between Golden Glory teammates Tommy Depret and Siyar Bahadurzada. To those of you who have concerns that two teammates fighting each other would lead to a boring fight, relax and take notes. Tommy Depret gave current SHOOTO light heavyweight champion Siyar Bahadurzada trouble in the opening round, but once the second round started, this fight was all Bahadurzada. Bahadurzada used his superior hands and clinchwork to get finish off Depret. Yes, we have a video of this after the jump.


Mark Miller wastes no time knocking out Nikolaj Falin. Props: MMATKO

Chances are that you knew about the United Glory Tournament Finals that took place yesterday in Moscow.  It featured some pretty intriguing fights, was available on YouTube and cost less than ten bucks. Of course, many of you figured you could save your money and check Cage Potato this afternoon for some highlights and a quick list of results. Don’t worry, we got your back as usual.

The welterweight tournament, which began in October of 2010, came to an end with a scrap between Golden Glory teammates Tommy Depret and Siyar Bahadurzada. To those of you who have concerns that two teammates fighting each other would lead to a boring fight, relax and take notes.  Tommy Depret gave current SHOOTO light heavyweight champion Siyar Bahadurzada trouble in the opening round, but once the second round started, this fight was all Bahadurzada.  Bahadurzada used his superior hands and clinchwork to get finish off Depret. Yes, we have a video of this after the jump.

Also of note, TUF Season 9 veteren Mark Miller returned to action in a kickboxing match.  In his first fight since undergoing open heart surgery, Mark Miller knocked out his opponent less than ten seconds into the fight. Just something to think about next time you skip going to the gym over a headache. Also of note, Strikeforce heavyweight tournament competitor Sergei Kharitonov squared off against Mighty Mo in a kickboxing match. Since this is Strikeforce we’re dealing with, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to read that Kharitonov not only lost, but sustained an injury that will sideline him for a pretty long time. Fortunately for Strikeforce, that didn’t happen. Kharitonov knocked out Mighty Mo in the first round. Video is below:

SPOILER ALERT: DREAM 17 took place last night in Japan. However, the fights will not air until HDNet plays a taped version of the event June 3. If you want to watch the event and be surprised, stop reading now. And no, this article doesn’t have videos of the fights

For those of you still here, Shinya Aoki delivered an impressive performance against McKee Nelson Rich Clementi. While Clementi showed a lot of heart, he was by no means ever in control of this fight. Aoki finished Clementi with a neck crank from back control in the second round. 

As for the Bantamweight Grand Prix, Masakazu Imanari and Hideo Tokoro will be fighting in the finale. Imanari locked in a heel hook over WEC veteran Kenji Osawa, while Tokoro squeezed out a very close split decision victory over Atsushi Yamamoto. The finale of the grand prix is set to take place on July 16. Also, both Caol Uno Joachim Hansen took home decision victories against Akiyo Nishiura and Mitsuhiro Ishida, respectively.

Full results:

Ultimate Glory Tournament Finals, courtesy of BoxeoMundial.com:

Igor Jurkovic defeats Pavel Zhuravlev via TKO in round 2 (kickboxing).
Denis Stojnic defeats Mladen Kujundzic via submission in round 1.
Errol Zimmerman defeats Mourad Bouzidi by unanimous decision (kickboxing).
Rasul Mirzaev deafeats Roman Kishev via submission.
Mark Miller defeats Nikolaj Falin via KO in round 1 (kickboxing).
Dion Staring defeats Roman Savochka via TKO in round 1.
Sergei Kharitonov defeats Mighty Mo via KO in round 1 (kickboxing).
Ali Cenik and Zabit Samedov fight to a draw (kickboxing).
Jason Jones defeats Shamil Abdoulmouslimov via KO in round 3.
Artur Kyshenko defeats Nieky Holzken via unanimous decision (kickboxing).

Tournament Finales:
MMA: Siyar Bahadurzada defeats Tommy Depret via TKO in round 2.
Kickboxing: Gokhan Saki defeats Brice Guidon via unanimous decision.

DREAM 17, courtesy of MMAJunkie.com:

Masakazu Imanari def. Kenji Osawa via submission (Achilles lock) – Round 2, 0:58 (Japan bantamweight-tourney semifinal round)
Hideo Tokoro def. Atsushi Yamamoto via split decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney semifinal round)
Shinya Aoki def. Rich Clementi via submission (neck crank) – Round 2, 2:17
Katsunori Kikuno def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision
Caol Uno def. Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura  via unanimous decision
Takeshi Inoue def. Koichiro Matsumoto via TKO (strikes) – Round, 6:51
Joachim Hansen def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via split decision
Kenji Osawa def. Takafumi Otsuka via split decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)
Masakazu Imanari def. Keisuke Fujiwara via unanimous decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)
Hideo Tokoro def. Yoshiro Maeda via TKO (corner’s stoppage) – Round 2, 0:43 (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)
Atsushi Yamamoto def. Yusaku Nakamura via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 8:43 (Japan bantamweight-tourney first round)

Hump Day Headlines with Stephanie Ann Cook

Chael Sonnen‘s indefinite suspension sticks; says he will retire. Jorge Masvidal vs. KJ Noons set for Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Frankie Edgar pushing off surgery for bulging discs; opts for epidural injections for pain. Shinya.

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Chael Sonnen‘s indefinite suspension sticks; says he will retire.

Jorge Masvidal vs. KJ Noons set for Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum

Frankie Edgar pushing off surgery for bulging discs; opts for epidural injections for pain.

Shinya Aoki vs. Rich Clementi on for DREAM 17.

Matt Hamill has a movie coming out. Yep, probably with subtitles.

Rich Clementi Agrees to Fight Shinya Aoki, After Aoki Turns Down Shane Nelson


(Rich’s chest-tattoo is fascinating. He literally buried a pitbull under a rose garden.)

I just want you guys to know that this is the last time we’ll be reporting on the various opponent switches for Shinya Aoki at DREAM.17. If this latest booking falls through, you’ll just have to be surprised on May 29th, because at this point we’re as tired of this mess as you are. And yeah, it’s kind of cruel to be hatin’ on a disaster benefit show, but GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, JAPAN.

Aaaaaanyway, here’s the latest. After Antonio McKee was pulled from the event under mysterious circumstances, DREAM moved to the next name on the list to face Aoki, which happened to be (of all people) BJ Penn training partner and Junie Browning drinking partner Shane Nelson. Nelson turned in a completed bout agreement, but Shinya politely declined the match, which we kind of respect. Nevertheless, Nelson was awarded a two-fight deal with DREAM for his troubles. (Cash equivalent: 1/20th of one cent.)


(Rich’s chest-tattoo is fascinating. He literally buried a pitbull under a rose garden.)

I just want you guys to know that this is the last time we’ll be reporting on the various opponent switches for Shinya Aoki at DREAM.17. If this latest booking falls through, you’ll just have to be surprised on May 29th, because at this point we’re as tired of this mess as you are. And yeah, it’s kind of cruel to be hatin’ on a disaster benefit show, but GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, JAPAN.

Aaaaaanyway, here’s the latest. After Antonio McKee was pulled from the event under mysterious circumstances, DREAM moved to the next name on the list to face Aoki, which happened to be (of all people) BJ Penn training partner and Junie Browning drinking partner Shane Nelson. Nelson turned in a completed bout agreement, but Shinya politely declined the match, which we kind of respect. Nevertheless, Nelson was awarded a two-fight deal with DREAM for his troubles. (Cash equivalent: 1/20th of one cent.)

DREAM quickly scrambled and got in touch with a fairly more legitimate name: Rich Clementi. 40-19-1 overall, the UFC veteran and submission specialist holds career wins over Anthony Johnson, Sam Stout, and Melvin Guillard (the infamous “nuts on my neck” fight), but has struggled recently in regional promotions, going 7-5 since being bounced out of the UFC in 2009. “No Love” last competed at Superior Challenge 7 in Sweden last month, dropping a very controversial decision to Reza Madadi, which he unsuccessfully appealed.

Luckily, Aoki has verbally agreed to face him. As long as Clementi can resist the urge to greet his host country during the fight, this could be a surprisingly good scrap.

Rich Clementi Agrees to Fight Shinya Aoki, After Aoki Turns Down Shane Nelson


(Rich’s chest-tattoo is fascinating. He literally buried a pitbull under a rose garden.)

I just want you guys to know that this is the last time we’ll be reporting on the various opponent switches for Shinya Aoki at DREAM.17. If this latest booking falls through, you’ll just have to be surprised on May 29th, because at this point we’re as tired of this mess as you are. And yeah, it’s kind of cruel to be hatin’ on a disaster benefit show, but GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, JAPAN.

Aaaaaanyway, here’s the latest. After Antonio McKee was pulled from the event under mysterious circumstances, DREAM moved to the next name on the list to face Aoki, which happened to be (of all people) BJ Penn training partner and Junie Browning drinking partner Shane Nelson. Nelson turned in a completed bout agreement, but Shinya politely declined the match, which we kind of respect. Nevertheless, Nelson was awarded a two-fight deal with DREAM for his troubles. (Cash equivalent: 1/20th of one cent.)


(Rich’s chest-tattoo is fascinating. He literally buried a pitbull under a rose garden.)

I just want you guys to know that this is the last time we’ll be reporting on the various opponent switches for Shinya Aoki at DREAM.17. If this latest booking falls through, you’ll just have to be surprised on May 29th, because at this point we’re as tired of this mess as you are. And yeah, it’s kind of cruel to be hatin’ on a disaster benefit show, but GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, JAPAN.

Aaaaaanyway, here’s the latest. After Antonio McKee was pulled from the event under mysterious circumstances, DREAM moved to the next name on the list to face Aoki, which happened to be (of all people) BJ Penn training partner and Junie Browning drinking partner Shane Nelson. Nelson turned in a completed bout agreement, but Shinya politely declined the match, which we kind of respect. Nevertheless, Nelson was awarded a two-fight deal with DREAM for his troubles. (Cash equivalent: 1/20th of one cent.)

DREAM quickly scrambled and got in touch with a fairly more legitimate name: Rich Clementi. 40-19-1 overall, the UFC veteran and submission specialist holds career wins over Anthony Johnson, Sam Stout, and Melvin Guillard (the infamous “nuts on my neck” fight), but has struggled recently in regional promotions, going 7-5 since being bounced out of the UFC in 2009. “No Love” last competed at Superior Challenge 7 in Sweden last month, dropping a very controversial decision to Reza Madadi, which he unsuccessfully appealed.

Luckily, Aoki has verbally agreed to face him. As long as Clementi can resist the urge to greet his host country during the fight, this could be a surprisingly good scrap.

Dream 17 Just Got a Little Less ‘Mandingo’

Shinya Aoki skirtantonio mckee
(Well, that’s a shame.)

Despite recent statements from DREAM and ‘Mandingo’ himself, Antonio McKee will not be facing Shinya Aoki at Dream’s “Bantamweight Japan Tournament” event on May 29th in Saitama. Andrew Simon of HDNet first broke the bad news yesterday evening. Afterwards, MMAWeekly reported that the withdrawal was due to McKee being unable to secure a visa in time to travel and fight in Japan, though FEG USA’s Mike Kogan denied that the situation was visa-related.

Shinya Aoki skirtantonio mckee
(Well, that’s a shame.)

Despite recent statements from DREAM and ‘Mandingo’ himself, Antonio McKee will not be facing Shinya Aoki at Dream’s “Bantamweight Japan Tournament” event on May 29th in Saitama. Andrew Simon of HDNet first broke the bad news yesterday evening. Afterwards, MMAWeekly reported that the withdrawal was due to McKee being unable to secure a visa in time to travel and fight in Japan, though FEG USA’s Mike Kogan denied that the situation was visa-related.

With the show less than two weeks away, DREAM will have to pull a rabbit out of their hat to find Aoki an opponent. (And by “pull a rabbit out of their hat,” I mean “find a totally unqualified journeyman for Aoki to choke out within 90 seconds.” You know how these things go.) Previously rumored opponents Willamy Freire and Jamie Varner are also no-go’s due to visa issues and failed negotiations, respectively.

As for McKee, the former MFC lightweight champ hasn’t competed since his one-and-done appearance at UFC 125, in which he dropped a split-decision to Jacob Volkmann — a bout highlighted by McKee possibly biting Volkmann — and was swiftly fired by the UFC. He was supposed to defend his MFC title against Drew Fickett in late February, but had to withdraw due to a knee injury, and was stripped of his title. A brutal start to 2011 for ‘Dingo, but as long as he still has his reality show and tattooed man-nanny, we have no doubt that McKee will land on his feet.