Earlier today a few eyebrows likely were raised when it was reported by MMA Junkie, that sources had informed the outlet, that Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem would fight Ricco Rodriguez, at Dream 15 on July 10th. Why may have a few people spit out their early morning brew (ok, maybe it wasn’t that shocking)? […]
Earlier today a few eyebrows likely were raised when it was reported by MMA Junkie, that sources had informed the outlet, that Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem would fight Ricco Rodriguez, at Dream 15 on July 10th. Why may have a few people spit out their early morning brew (ok, maybe it wasn’t that shocking)? Well, most of the talk surrounding Overeem lately has been tied to a certain Mr. Fedor Emelianenko and a certain Mr. Fabricio Werdum, and not former UFC champ Ricco Rodriguez, who hasn’t fought under big-major-promotion lights for some time.
In an updated report from MMA Fighting this afternoon, however, a source close to Overeem has apparently told the site that there is a “90% chance” the fight is not happening. The story also cites a report on Mauro Ranallo’s “The Fight Show”, where apparently Overeem’s trainer Martijn de Jong, denied the Dutchman is set to fight Rodriguez. On the other hand, sources from Dream and the camp of Rodriguez are saying that each man has verbally agreed to the fight. So WTF right? Guess we’ll wait and see what happens.
So why does any of this matter? Well, if you’re new to the sport you may only recognize Rodriguez from a stint on Celebrity Rehab, but there was a time when the veteran was a top ranked heavyweight. Although Ricco appears to have got things back in order, lost a ton of weight , and won 7 straight, a win over Overeem would certainly blow the minds of a lot of people…
DREAM.15 just seems to get better and better as word is coming out of a bout featuring Alistair Overeem. The strange part is that he’s fighting Ricco Rodriquez…yes Ricco Rodriquez. While nothing has been signed, MMAJunkie has reported that the fight has been verbally agreed to. This adds another marquee name to […]
DREAM.15 just seems to get better and better as word is coming out of a bout featuring Alistair Overeem. The strange part is that he’s fighting Ricco Rodriquez…yes Ricco Rodriquez. While nothing has been signed, MMAJunkie has reported that the fight has been verbally agreed to. This adds another marquee name to the card, but it certainly seems as lopsided a fight as Fedor vs. Wer…we’ll never mind but Rodriquez does seem to be a heavy underdog.
One has to give credit to Rodriquez for coming back from substance abuse and amassing a seven fight win streak, but Overeem is certainly the biggest test Rodriquez has had in some time. We’ll announce the official signing when it happens.
Former light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi will make his return to the ring after his loss to King Mo Lawal in April, taking on Jake O’Brien at DREAM.15 from the Saitama Super Arena In Saitama, Japan. The bout is scheduled for July 10, this according to MMAFighting.
Mousasi is coming off a tough loss to […]
Former light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi will make his return to the ring after his loss to King Mo Lawal in April, taking on Jake O’Brien at DREAM.15 from the Saitama Super Arena In Saitama, Japan. The bout is scheduled for July 10, this according to MMAFighting.
Mousasi is coming off a tough loss to King Mo, his first after having amassed 15 consecutive victories. Look for Mousasi to make a strong statement against O’Brien.
O’Brien, a former UFC fighter who last lost to UFC top prospect Jon Jones, is considered a very good test for Mousasi and has faced some big name fighters during his career.
This should be a good challenge for both fighters, with mixed martial arts fans sure to want to see if Mousasi can return to his winning ways.
Here’s the DREAM.15 card as it currently stands:
Lightweight Championship bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Lightweight bout: Gesias Cavalcante vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-final: Melvin Manhoef vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
Light Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-final: Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O’Brien[1]
With so many fights happening this past week, Strikeforce: LA, Bellator 22, TUF 11 Finale, and WEC 49, it’s easy to forget that there are some excellent promotions across the ocean in Japan.
The DREAM promotion updated it’s DREAM.15 card with a couple of bouts. The weigh-ins for World Victory Road’s latest Sengoku Raiden Championship […]
With so many fights happening this past week, Strikeforce: LA, Bellator 22, TUF 11 Finale, and WEC 49, it’s easy to forget that there are some excellent promotions across the ocean in Japan.
The DREAM promotion updated it’s DREAM.15 card with a couple of bouts. The weigh-ins for World Victory Road’s latest Sengoku Raiden Championship event, SVR 13, took place on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. A women’s event completed itself on Saturday with Valkrye 6, culminating with a flyweight championship bout between Naoko Omuro vs. Yasuko Tamada.
DREAM.15 will host the promotions opening round of it’s four-man Grand Prix tournament to determine it’s first-ever light-heavyweight champ, will see K-1 kickboxer Melvin Manhoef (24-7-1) take on Tatsuya Mizuno (7-5). Also announced was a lightweight matchup between Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (14-3-1) vs. Katsunori Kikuno (13-2-1).
DREAM.15 will take place on July 10 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. HDNet will carry the event for fans in North America. You can see the current DREAM.15 card near the bottom of the post.
World Victory Roads Sunday event, Sengoku Raiden Championship 13, will see a featherweight title fight and the opening round of it’s welterweight grand prix tournament. The weigh-ins took place on Saturday at East 21 Hotel in Toyocho, Tokyo. The actual event will take place in Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan, also known as Sumo Hall, and will be shown on HDNet in North America on June 25.
Defending his Sengoku featherweight title will be Masanori Kanehara (65.7kg) who takes on Marlon Sandro (65.7kg). The full weigh-in results and event match ups can be found near the bottom of the page.
The womens event, Valkyrie 6, took place on June 19 at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan and featured five female bouts. Yasuko Tamada picked up her thenth victory as well as the Valkrye flyweight title after earning a unanimous decision over Naoko Omuro.
Keeping her record unbeaten at 7-0, was Rin Nakai who defeated Megumi Yabushita, who holds 36 professional fights under her belt, via unanimous decision. With so few female fighters in the sport of MMA, the 135 pound Nakai could find herself as a potential opponent of Strikeforce bantamweight Strikeforce champ Sarah Kaufman.
The full results from the Valkyrie 6 event can be found at the end of the post.
Props to MMAFighting.com for providing updates on the Japanese events.
DREAM.15
Lightweight title bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Lightweight bout: Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Light-heavyweight tournament:
– Melvin Manhoef vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
– Gegard Mousasi
Sengoku Raiden Championship 13
SRC featherweight title fight: Masanori Kanehara (65.7 kg) vs. Marlon Sandro (65.7 kg)
Light-heavyweight bout: Hiroshi Izumi (92.5 kg) vs. Chang Seob Lee (92.2 kg)
Welterweight: Yasubey Enomoto (76.8 kg) vs. Sanae Kikuta (77.1 kg)
Lightweight: Maximo Blanco (70.2 kg) vs. Rodrigo Damm (70.2 kg)
SRC welterweight GP opening round:
– Omar de la Cruz (76.9 kg) vs. Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura (76.7 kg)
– Jae Sun Lee (77.1 kg) vs. Takuya Wada (77 kg)
Featherweight: Shigeki Osawa (65.7 kg) vs. Katsuya Toida (65.8 kg)
Featherweight: Doo Ho Choi (65.8 kg) vs. Ikuo Usuda (65.7 kg)
Light-heavyweight: Hidetada Irie (92.7 kg) vs. Ryo Kawamura (92.3 kg)
Valkyrie 6
Valkyrie flyweight title bout: Yasuko Tamada def. Naoko Omuro via unanimous decision
Rin Nakai def. Megumi Yabushita via unanimous decision
Ayame Miura def. Mutsumi Kasai via unanimous decision
Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama def. Megumi Morioka via TKO (referee stoppage) – R2, 2:20
“Butterfly Knife” Yuka def. Kimie “Sakura” Okada via unanimous decision
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Imani Lee
Minowa via ankle lock. Yet again.
Norifumi Yamamoto vs Federico Lopez
Kid Yamamoto gets back on the winning train here.
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Ralek Gracie
I don’t think Ralek brings enough to beat the “Gracie Hunter” despite being old at this point. Sakuraba wins.
Yoshiro Maeda vs Kenji Osawa
I like Maeda here.
Nick Diaz vs Hayato Sakurai
Sakurai […]
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Imani Lee
Minowa via ankle lock. Yet again.
Norifumi Yamamoto vs Federico Lopez
Kid Yamamoto gets back on the winning train here.
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Ralek Gracie
I don’t think Ralek brings enough to beat the “Gracie Hunter” despite being old at this point. Sakuraba wins.
Yoshiro Maeda vs Kenji Osawa
I like Maeda here.
Nick Diaz vs Hayato Sakurai
Sakurai doesn’t have the cardio, but has a punchers chance. Still like Nick Diaz to win this regardless too many tools and has age on his side. Plus oneof my favorite fighters, Nick has had a great run in getting great matchups. If he ever gets back to the UFC he will run into much stiffer competition.
Joachim Hansen vs Hiroyuki Takaya
Takaya has had trouble against hard punchers. That is what Hansen is, a really hard puncher. I like Hansen to win here.
