Tag: Eddie Alvarez

Bellator: Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki Rematch Possible in 2012

Two of mixed martial arts’ elite lightweights appear set to face each other once again.According to Sherdog.com, Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez may face each other in a rematch in the works under …

Two of mixed martial arts’ elite lightweights appear set to face each other once again.

According to Sherdog.com, Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez may face each other in a rematch in the works under the Bellator banner.

The bout, targeted for early 2012, will be the first time these two champions have faced each other since the Dynamite!! 2008 New Year’s Eve event where Aoki submitted Alvarez with a heel hook less than two minutes into the first round.

Since the loss, Alvarez has won seven straight fights and captured the Bellator lightweight title.  He is currently scheduled to face Michael Chandler at Bellator 54 on October 15th, Alvarez’s second title defense.

Aoki has gone 9-2 since defeating Alvarez, winning the Dream lightweight belt in 2009 by submitting Joachim Hansen.

The rumored bout is planned to take place in the United States in what would be only Aoki’s third fight outside of Japan.

In his first fight in America, Aoki faced Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez in April of 2010, losing a lopsided decision in the five round title affair. Aoki has rebounded from the loss by going 5-0, including a win over Strikeforce lightweight Lyle Beerbohm in his second overseas bout.

The current Dream lightweight champion is set to face Rob McCullough in September at Dream 17.

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Hot Rumor of the Day: Alvarez-Aoki Rematch in the Works for 2012

Bad news for Aoki: he may not be able to use those magic tights.

According to a report by Sherdog, Bellator is trying to wrangle a actual, no-shit SuperFight for Eddie Alvarez — a rematch against the Japanese submission wizard Shinya Aoki. The two met previously at Dynamite!!! 2008 for the DREAM lightweight championship, which Aoki won in just 92 seconds via heel hook.

The loss was Alvarez’s first (and only) loss at 155; he’s since reeled off seven straight wins in Bellator and DREAM, winning the Bellator lightweight strap along the way. Alvarez has seen his stock rise in the intervening years, while Aoki has suffered some humiliating losses, including an epic beatdown from Gilbert Melendez for Strikeforce and a hilarious KO loss to Yuichiro Nagashima at DREAM’s 2010 New Year’s Eve show.

Bad news for Aoki:  he may not be able to use those magic tights.

According to a report by Sherdog, Bellator is trying to wrangle a actual, no-shit SuperFight for Eddie Alvarez — a rematch against the Japanese submission wizard Shinya Aoki. The two met previously at Dynamite!!! 2008 for the DREAM lightweight championship, which Aoki won in just 92 seconds via heel hook.

The loss was Alvarez’s first (and only) loss at 155; he’s since reeled off seven straight wins in Bellator and DREAM, winning the Bellator lightweight strap along the way. Alvarez has seen his stock rise in the intervening years, while Aoki has suffered some humiliating losses, including an epic beatdown from Gilbert Melendez for Strikeforce and a hilarious KO loss to Yuichiro Nagashima at DREAM’s 2010 New Year’s Eve show.

(That Nagashima matchup was conveniently labeled an “exhibition” so it’s like it never happened. Except it did happen, and it’s on YouTube, and it’s still a splendidly humorous illustration that karma will occasionally catch up with you, send flying knees into your face, and then laugh while you weep openly.)

While nothing has been made official at this time, we cannot articulate how much we would like to see this bout. Alvarez has continued to develop his game since New Year’s Eve 2008, and Melendez demonstrated a perfect gameplan to beat Aoki. (** Spoiler alert: it involves hitting him until he cries.) Meanwhile, the only part of Aoki’s game that has improved is his asshole persona.

Reportedly, the fight to determine the best lightweight in the world not fighting for Zuffa is being targetted for early 2012 sometime, to take place somewhere. Bellator has stood by its stance that fighters will only get title shots through winning tournaments, so the BFC big gold belt won’t be on the line. Likewise, don’t expect Aoki to put his DREAM title up for grabs either.

Not that titles are what’s important here. Just keep your fingers crossed that this fight goes down.

[RX]

 

MMA Submission of the Day: Shinya Aoki Shows No Love in Submitting Rich Clementi

It wasn’t too long ago that Japanese standout Shinya Aoki was making his second appearance in the United States, defeating Lyle Beerbohm by neck crank—one of his most dangerous submissions. He returned to Japan to take on UFC veteran Rich Clement…

It wasn’t too long ago that Japanese standout Shinya Aoki was making his second appearance in the United States, defeating Lyle Beerbohm by neck crank—one of his most dangerous submissions.

He returned to Japan to take on UFC veteran Rich Clementi on May 29, 2011.

Clementi, who has over 60 professional MMA bouts, went 5-5 inside the Octagon before being released by the promotion in 2009.

Aoki (26-5), who is widely considered to be one of the best grapplers in the sport, made it look easy when he submitted “No Love” in the second round of their bout in front of 7,000 fans. The bout was featured as the main event of Dream. Fight for Japan!

It was Aoki’s 16th submission victory of his career. Being a submission wizard, he has won his bouts using a wide variety of submission and grappling techniques, including a gogoplata, flying triangle choke, standing armlock and achilles lock.

The 28-year-old has established a name for himself, fighting in many organizations, including Dream, Strikeforce, Pride FC, Shooto and DEEP.

Wins over lightweight standouts Eddie Alvarez, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen have earned Aoki top 10 recognition in the division, but it’s his grappling ability that continues to fascinates fans.

Don’t forget to check out Sal DeRose’s “Knockout of the Day” article, here.

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MMA Knockout of the Day: Eddie Alvarez Celebrates Too Soon, Still Gets TKO Win

In the semifinals of the Dream 5 lightweight tournament, Eddie Alvarez met Japanese sensation, Tatsuya Kawajiri. Alvarez had beaten his two previous opponents, Andre Amade, and a tough Joachim Hansen to get to this fight. The bout began off with both f…

In the semifinals of the Dream 5 lightweight tournament, Eddie Alvarez met Japanese sensation, Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Alvarez had beaten his two previous opponents, Andre Amade, and a tough Joachim Hansen to get to this fight.

The bout began off with both fighters trading blows, Alvarez with cool combinations and Kawajiri with a mixture of leg kicks, knees and punches.

Three minutes in, Alvarez had Kawajiri rocked and was teeing off. But somehow Kawajiri was able to recover and got back up and continued to press on.

Then the bout was quickly stopped for a tiny cut under the eye of Alvarez and then quickly started again.

Then after they began the fight again, Kawajiri knocked down Alvarez and began to turn the tables. Kawajiri then controlled Alvarez for a long amount of time on the ground and began to wear down Alvarez.

Alvarez then got up and both fighters began teeing off. Ironically, commentator Bas Rutten said “It’s like a Rocky movie!” Alvarez is from Philadelphia and is a great boxer. Then again, both fighters started trading blows and got up against the ropes. With both fighters getting hurt over and over, it was Alvarez who began to go off on Kawajiri, knocks him down, thinks the bout is over, and then goes on to to beat him senseless on the ground.

Alvarez was unable to compete in the finals of this tournament due to that cut under his eye, and was replaced by Joachim Hansen, who would go on and beat Shinya Aoki in the finals.

Since this card, Alvarez has gone 7-1 with his only loss coming against Aoki in his next fight at Dynamite!! 2008. Alvarez is currently the Bellator lightweight champion and is set to face Michael Chandler sometime soon.

Kawajiri is 5-2 since this fight with losses to both Aoki and Gilbert Melendez. His most recent bout was against Melendez where he was dominated in the first round and lost by TKO. Kawajiri is set to face Willamy Freire at Dream 17.

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MMA Top 10 Lightweights: Gilbert Melendez Makes His Case

Filed under: UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Rankings, LightweightsGilbert Melendez thinks he’s the best lightweight in mixed martial arts. Is he right? I don’t think so, not yet. But I sure would love to find out.

The best thing about the UFC buying…

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Gilbert Melendez thinks he’s the best lightweight in mixed martial arts. Is he right? I don’t think so, not yet. But I sure would love to find out.

The best thing about the UFC buying Strikeforce is that it means we’ll eventually see the champions of the respective promotions fighting each other. For now the mantra is “business as usual,” but we all know it’s just a matter of time before we see the best of Strikeforce inside the Octagon. And there might not be a better fight out there than Melendez taking on the top of the UFC lightweight division.

It will probably be 2012 before we get to see that: UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar has to fight Gray Maynard in May, and the winner of that fight is expected to fight the winner of the June Anthony Pettis-Clay Guida bout after that. But it sure would be fun to see Melendez retiring the Strikeforce belt to his trophy case and fighting for the UFC gold.

Find out where I think Melendez stacks up in the lightweight division below.

Nick Thompson Trades Cage for Court, Retiring from MMA to Practice Law

Filed under: Fighting, FanHouse ExclusiveOn Monday morning, Nick Thompson was at his desk at O’Flaherty, Heim, Egan and Birnbaum, a Wisconsin law firm in which he specializes in criminal and personal injury law. Less than 36 hours earlier, Thompson was…

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On Monday morning, Nick Thompson was at his desk at O’Flaherty, Heim, Egan and Birnbaum, a Wisconsin law firm in which he specializes in criminal and personal injury law. Less than 36 hours earlier, Thompson was in a cage, fighting the former Olympic wrestler and current Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. Upon losing a unanimous decision, Thompson, a 29-year-old who once held a place among MMA’s top 10 welterweights, retired from competition.

For a fighter who had competed in nearly every top organization including the UFC, Strikeforce, EliteXC and Sengoku, it was a surprising decision, but one that was a long time coming.

Thompson says the beginning of the end came in July 2008, when he fought for a championship and passed the Minnesota bar exam in a one-week span. At the time, he had just just turned 27 years old and was in the best stretch of his career, winning 20 of his last 21 fights. He had just completed the best training camp he’d ever experienced as a pro, had cracked the top 10, and took that wave of momentum into an EliteXC championship match with Jake Shields. Everything suggested he was in the prime of his career and would give Shields a run. But when the fight came, Thompson was overwhelmed, and tapped out to a guillotine choke in just 64 seconds.

In the aftermath of the loss, Thompson faced the reality of what happened.