Dana White is a fight promoter. His purpose to sell the public on fight cards and main events are included in that responsibility. So, with that being the case, the UFC boss is more than willing to tell people why they should care about the UFC on Fox …
Dana White is a fight promoter. His purpose to sell the public on fight cards and main events are included in that responsibility. So, with that being the case, the UFC boss is more than willing to tell people why they should care about the UFC on Fox event that takes place this Saturday. In […]
Fighting and Entertainment Group, the Japan-based K-1 promoter and co-promoter of DREAM, is falling apart at the seams.
As if Simon Rutz‘s claims of bankruptcy earlier this week were not enough, top DREAM featherweight Kazuyuki Miyata also spoke publicly against Japan’s leading fight-sport promoter this week, claiming in a blog post that after two and a half years of patience, he has had enough of the dishonesty and problems surrounding FEG.
Speaking exclusively to MMAFighting.com, the recent DREAM title contender detailed his problems with FEG, his plans for the future and gave his thoughts on the UFC‘s 2012 Japan return.
Although foreign fighters have been vocal about their problems with FEG, Kazuyuki Miyata became the first Japanese fighter to publicly speak out against the troubled Japanese promoter this week, stating in a blog post that his contract with FEG has been “irreparably damaged due to payment issues” and “dishonesty” and that he will not continue to work with them.
“Well, as it has already been known or [at least] rumored by most in the industry for some time now, and recently has come to light in the world media, certain fighters, such as myself, have not been paid either in full, and/or at all by FEG for quite some time now… a couple of years actually, in my case,” said Miyata to MMAFighting.com.
“In the beginning, Mr. Tanikawa and FEG where very good to me. They treated me very well and I was on a good contract,” said the former Olympic wrestler. “Before going any further, let me take this opportunity to state how much I sincerely appreciate those initial stages of my relationship with FEG and Mr. Tanikawa, The opportunities [I received due to that contract] helped me, my family and my career during those initial stages.”
Although falling victim to the incredibly difficult matchmaking during the early stages of his career, Miyata received almost unparalleled support from FEG at the height of the Japanese fight-sport bubble. In addition to the exceptional purses up for grabs in the Japanese fight scene during the mid 2000s, Miyata also received a monthly salary and support for his family during training camps.
With the collapse of PRIDE in 2007 however, the fight-sport bubble was burst and Miyata, Alistair Overeem, Ray Sefo, Jerome LeBanner, Peter Aerts and many more have been chasing payments for years now. While Miyata declined to reveal how much is owed by FEG, if it is in line with his others who have gone public against FEG, it is likely to be a significant amount.
“It is for the reasons above that I trusted Mr. Tanikawa and FEG and continued to be patient with the ongoing promises of being paid in full for as long as I did,” said Miyata.
Although Miyata has been able to survive financially due to sponsor support, after not receiving fight payment for so long, one may wonder where the recent DREAM featherweight title contender gets his motivation to compete. Removing money from the equation though has actually brought surprising clarity to Miyata’s career.
“Japanese events used to be on network TV and more mass media exposure. Being in the public eye really inspired and motivated me, but in recent times the events have been aired really late at night, edited down to only an hour or so, and eventually not aired on free to air at all,” explained Miyata. “But now with events not being shown on network TV and without as much media exposure, it has made me realize my real passion for the sport and why I evolve and compete. [Fighting] has been my life for many years and I appreciate the opportunity to do what I love professionally. That’s what really inspires and motivates me now.”
Despite his problems with FEG while fighting for DREAM, Miyata does intend to continue fighting and will fight in Japan’s leading MMA promotion, at least for the time being.
“Of course I am planning to continue competing,” said Miyata. “My contract with FEG was completed at the end of last year and it was from that time forward that I negotiated a fight-by-fight contract with DREAM [co-promoter] Real Entertainment. I am very interested in the UFC and potentially entering that realm but at present, I have my sights set on the end of year show here in Japan [but] will consider my options after that, sometime early next year.”
Miyata mentioned in a blog post earlier this week that Real Entertainment, the company formed by ex-PRIDE FC employees who partnered with FEG to co-promote DREAM, is financially “healthy.” Although DREAM still lacks TV support and sponsors, fighters who have been directly contracted to Real Entertainment (i.e. those who didn’t extend their contracts from the former FEG-run K-1 Heroes promotion) have not publicly complained of payment issues.
Whether or not the UFC can be successful in Japan with their Feb. 26 Saitama Super Arena daytime event is a hot topic among pundits. For Miyata though, rather than speculate on the possible failures of a Japanese UFC event, he is more interested in finally seeing the evolution of MMA in Japan.
“I’m no expert on [promotion], but what I can say is that I am very interested in seeing firsthand the top fighters the UFC has to offer on Japan soil. I’m much more interested in the new and exciting evolution of the sport, rather than continually seeing ex-Pride fighters perform.”
Filed under: DREAM, K1, Japan”FEG, the parent company of the former K-1 brand, is technically bankrupt,” comes the message from IT’S SHOWTIME president Simon Rutz via a statement posted to the IT’S SHOWTIME website on Monday.
Adding to the crippling blow dealt to the sport of kickboxing, Rutz also confirmed the rumors that the 2011 K-1 World Grand Prix will not happen.
Bankruptcy has been long suspected of K-1 promoter and DREAM co-promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group, but Simon Rutz, who was set to play a major part in supporting this year’s doomed K-1 World Grand Prix, is the first high-profile figure to come out with the truth on the record.
With the leading promoter reportedly bankrupt, the biggest event canceled and the biggest stars in Alistair Overeem, Badr Hari and Gokhan Saki all leaving the sport, it is tempting to declare the sport of kickboxing dead however the prominent Dutch promoter did reveal several possibilities for the future of K-1 in his detailed statement.
“The name K-1 lays now at the Japanese company Barbizon. There are two serious parties now, which try to pull the K-1 brand name towards themselves and place this in a new company,” says Rutz in the statement.
Japanese real estate firm Barbizon Co,. Ltd., acquired rights to the vast majority of K-1 trademarks earlier in the year in an undisclosed deal. FEG officials never publicly admitted that Barbizon had acquired the rights although the Japanese trademark database did confirm the transfer.
“The first one to find an investor is FEG’s president, Mr. Tanikawa. He has found a Korean investor who has big plans with the K-1 label,” continued Rutz. “This investor claims to have a verbal agreement with Mr. Ishii and Barbizon regarding the takeover of the K-1 label. Details were already discussed and agreed upon, but the only missing thing is the necessary signature of Mr. Ishii.”
Kazuyoshi Ishii, the founder of K-1, ran kickboxing’s leading promotion up until he was arrested for tax evasion in 2003. During Ishii’s absence, former journalist Sadaharu Tanikawa took the reins of K-1 and also formed parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group. Tanikawa took a more pro wrestling and entertainment-based approach to the promotion but after a boom in popularity peaking on Dec. 31, 2003, Tanikawa’s new approach proved to be unpopular with fans and fighters and K-1 has been on the decline ever since. Due to his criminal past, Ishii has returned to play a powerful although private role at K-1 since being released from prison.
“The second one to find a potential investor is [Golden Glory co-owner] Bas Boon,” said Rutz in the statement. “He has found an American company which also has big opportunities to bring the K-1 brand to high levels. However, also this company needs the signature of Mr. Ishii.”
Bas Boon and business partner Frederico Lapenda have already reportedly acquired some rights to the K-1 video library and have been attempting to seize control of K-1 for quite some time. Boon’s health issues, turmoil at Golden Glory and apparent organizational issues have continued to push the deal back however.
“In the meanwhile, even a third potential investor has reported itself to take over the K-1 label, but this investor has presented itself only a couple of days ago,” says the IT’S SHOWTIME president. “All three companies have big plans to bring the K-1 label back to the place where it belongs and therefore make sure that the brand of K-1 has a healthy future.”
Confirming what many had assumed, Rutz continued on to say that the 2011 K-1 World GP will not happen.
“This year there will be no K-1 Final Elimination and K-1 World Grand Prix Final for the following reasons:
– It’s currently unknown which investor gets Mr. Ishii’s signature.
– There’s not enough time left to organize such a big event.
– The visas for the fighters to travel to China haven’t been arranged and these are essential to be able to fight there.
The decision to not rush into crazy things is a wise one, because severe mistakes that could cause more unnecessary damage to the K-1 label are being prevented.”
Although K-1 does represent IT’S SHOWTIME’s biggest rival, Rutz does intend to assist in the rebuilding of the promotion for the good of the sport.
“From next year there will be a new and healthy company that will work on the worldwide brand of K-1,” stated Rutz. “We from IT’S SHOWTIME support the plans to make the K-1 label a strong brand again, because this is in the best interest of the sport, the fighters and the millions of fans around the world.”
“For the fighters who were already preparing to fight on October 29 in China this will be a hard pill to swallow, but on the other hand, these developments offer enough perspective to positively look ahead to the future.”
FEG are yet to respond to the release from Rutz or officially call off the 2011 K-1 World GP.
It is not yet known how this news will affect the leading Japanese MMA promotion DREAM.
DREAM executive producer Keiichi Sasahara indicated post-DREAM.17 that the traditional New Year’s Eve “Dynamite” event may not actually be called “Dynamite” due to the distinct possibility that K-1 fighters will not be participating at the event. It is highly probable that Sasahara and Real Entertainment will continue to operate DREAM on their own with limited or no involvement from co-promoter FEG.
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, RankingsNow that Frankie Edgar has finally beaten Gray Maynard, it’s time to break up the bottleneck at the top of the lightweight division.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear that we’re actually close to see…
Now that Frankie Edgar has finally beaten Gray Maynard, it’s time to break up the bottleneck at the top of the lightweight division.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear that we’re actually close to seeing that happen.
In 2010, the only lightweight title fights were Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn, and in 2011, the only lightweight title fights have been Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard. Edgar will definitely fight someone new in 2012, but who? We’ll go over some of the options as we run through the list of the Top 10 lightweights in MMA below.
Top 10 Lightweights in MMA (Editor’s Note: The fighter’s rankings the last time we ranked the lightweights are in parentheses.)
1. Frankie Edgar (1): UFC President Dana White says Edgar would be even better at featherweight than he is at lightweight, but I disagree. I think part of Edgar’s greatness is his speed and stamina, and both of those advantages over his lightweight opponents would be diminished if he were fighting against faster opponents at featherweight, and weakening himself the day before the fight by cutting an additional 10 pounds. I think Edgar is fighting right where he belongs.
2. Gilbert Melendez (3): The Strikeforce lightweight champion would have a good chance of beating Edgar, but he’s not going to get that chance just yet. Up next for Melendez is Jorge Masvidal in December.
3. Gray Maynard (2): Maynard will get a long layoff after getting knocked out by Edgar, but when that layoff ends I’d like to see him take on the loser of the upcoming fight between Clay Guida and Ben Henderson, assuming the winner of that fight gets the next crack at Edgar.
4. Clay Guida (4): If he beats Ben Henderson at the upcoming UFC on Fox event, he’d have to be considered the favorite to get the next crack at Edgar. Guida is on a four-fight winning streak and is one of the UFC’s most popular lightweights, and it would be hard for the UFC brass to turn down the possibility of a very entertaining Edgar-Guida title fight.
5. Anthony Pettis (5): Pettis is a lot of fun to watch, but I got the sense during his UFC 136 victory over Jeremy Stephens that he had decided to fight with a more cautious, deliberate style, perhaps burned by his last fight, a unanimous decision loss to Guida. What makes Pettis special is his unique, exciting style. I hope he doesn’t lose that.
6. Ben Henderson (6): After losing his WEC title to Pettis, Henderson has bounced back in a big way by beating Mark Bocek and Jim Miller in the UFC. If he beats Guida to move to 3-0 in 2011, he’d likely get a title shot in his first fight of 2012.
7. Shinya Aoki (7): Aoki likes to stay active, and he’s won six fights since his loss to Melendez a year and a half ago. The problem is that as long as he’s fighting in Dream, there aren’t many big fights available to him. A Top 10 lightweight should be fighting better opposition than Rob McCullough, whom Aoki beat at Dream.17.
8. Jim Miller (8): Miller had a title shot within his reach before he lost to Henderson. His 20-3 career record is impressive, but the three losses were to Edgar, Maynard and Henderson — the only three times he’s fought truly elite competition.
9. Eddie Alvarez (10): An injury forced Alvarez to delay his Bellator lightweight title fight with Michael Chandler until November 19. Alvarez is Bellator’s top fighter and biggest draw, and an inexperienced prospect like Chandler probably won’t give him much of a challenge. There’s talk of an Alvarez-Aoki rematch in Bellator in 2012, which could be the biggest non-UFC fight of the year.
10. Dennis Siver (NR): With Melvin Guillard dropping out of the Top 10, Siver moves back in. Siver will attempt to run his winning streak to five straight fights when he takes on Donald Cerrone at UFC 137.
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Bellator, Rankings, FeatherweightsJose Aldo is continuing to run roughshod over the rest of the featherweight division, improving his professional MMA record to 20-1 with a unanimous decision victory over Kenny Florian at UFC 1…
Jose Aldo is continuing to run roughshod over the rest of the featherweight division, improving his professional MMA record to 20-1 with a unanimous decision victory over Kenny Florian at UFC 136. So does anyone at 145 have a chance against Aldo?
So far it hasn’t looked like it. It’s not just that Aldo has won every single one of his fights since coming to North America at WEC 34 in 2008. It’s that none of his fights have been close. He’s shifted from being a knockout artist to usually winning one-sided decisions, but he really hasn’t been tested by anyone.
Is Chad Mendes the man to change that? He’s certainly the most worthy challenger to Aldo’s title. We’ll run down the top of the featherweight division below.
Top 10 featherweights in MMA (Number in parentheses is the fighter’s previous ranking.)
1. Jose Aldo (1): After struggling to cut down to 145 pounds, Aldo has talked about moving up to lightweight, but I think that would be a mistake. I don’t think he has the frame for 155, and I think he’d really struggle against big lightweight wrestlers. In fact, I think he might struggle against a good featherweight wrestler like …
2. Chad Mendes (2): The undefeated Mendes was a good college wrestler and may be the opponent to put Aldo on his back and keep him there. If there’s anyone in the featherweight division who represents a threat to Aldo, it’s Mendes.
3. Hatsu Hioki (3): Hioki is the big question mark in the UFC‘s featherweight division. He’s about to make his UFC debut after going on a great run in Japan, and if he can make the adjustment to the cage and the North American unified rules, he could be a title contender: Hioki’s reach, high-volume striking and active guard make him a tough puzzle to solve. Unfortunately, the recent track record of Japanese fighters coming to the U.S. has not been good. Hioki makes his debut against George Roop at UFC 137.
4. Pat Curran (NR): Curran has looked sensational since dropping from lightweight to featherweight, and after seeing him knock out Marlon Sandro, I think he’s the best featherweight outside the UFC. Bellator has a strong featherweight division, and fights with Joe Warren or Patricio “Pitbull” Freire would be great matchups for Curran.
5. Erik Koch (8): Koch looked good in his September victory over Jonathan Brookins, which improved his record to 13-1, with the only loss coming against Mendes. At age 23, Koch has a very bright future ahead of him.
6. Mark Hominick (7): After taking several months off following his loss to Aldo, Hominick will return at UFC 140 against Chan Sung Jung in what should be an outstanding battle.
7. Kenny Florian (4): It’s tough to see where Florian goes from here. He’s good enough that he’s earned three title shots in his career, but not good enough to win any of them, or even be competitive in any of them. And at age 35, with 20 pro fights under his belt, it’s not like he’s suddenly going to get a lot better. Still, I hope we haven’t seen the last of Florian. He can have a gatekeeper role at either featherweight or lightweight, even if he’s done fighting for belts.
8. Tyson Griffin (NR): Featherweight — not lightweight — has always been the right weight class for Griffin. It was the right weight class for him when he beat Urijah Faber in 2005, and it’s the right weight class for him now, after he’s moved back down from lightweight and beaten Manny Gamburyan. Up next for Griffin is a featherweight fight with another former lightweight, Bart Palaszewski, at UFC 137.
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri (NR): Another former lightweight dropping down, Kawajiri put on a good show in submitting Joachim Hansen at Dream.17. I’d like to see the UFC add Kawajiri to its featherweight roster.
10. Dustin Poirier (9): The 22-year-old Poirier is a rising star at featherweight. He gets Pablo Garza on the undercard of the November 12 UFC on Fox event.
Filed under: DREAM, K1, JapanSeven-foot-two K-1 World GP in Seoul Champion and DREAM “Super Hulk” Hong Man Choi has been booked with assault following an October 8 altercation with a female customer at a bar he owns and operates in Seoul, South Korea.
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Seven-foot-two K-1 World GP in Seoul Champion and DREAM “Super Hulk” Hong Man Choi has been booked with assault following an October 8 altercation with a female customer at a bar he owns and operates in Seoul, South Korea.
The alleged assault occurred when a female customer refused to pay a tab at Choi’s bar which turned out to be more expensive than she had anticipated. Following an argument, the female patron claims that Choi punched her in the face.
Posting on his blog on Wednesday, Choi vehemently denied punching the woman, stating, “She verbally insulted me. I just could not take it anymore. I just pushed her a little bit. I swear that I never punched her.
Choi continued, putting his (admittedly dormant) fighting career on the line by writing, “If I am lying, I will quit my career as a K-1 fighter.”
The charges against Choi do seem dubious as witnesses have stated that the women pressing charges was heavily intoxicated, threw a glass at Choi’s head, kicked and punched the former K-1 star and made derogatory comments about his parents. When the women brought up Choi’s family, witnesses stated that he pushed the woman aside in an attempt to end the argument.
Korean reports do not indicate if the charges being leveled against Choi are civil or criminal, but the South Korean giant does intend to take legal action against the female customer if she, “continues lying about the incident.”
Fighting and Entertainment Group, the 
“FEG, the parent company of the former K-1 brand, is technically bankrupt,” comes the message from 
Now that Frankie Edgar has finally beaten 
Jose Aldo
Seven-foot-two K-1 World GP in Seoul Champion and DREAM “Super Hulk”