The MMA veteran and former top-ranked UFC contender John Dodson made an impressive debut in RIZIN earlier today. The US-born athlete made quick work of the DREAM and RIZIN veteran Hideo Tokoro. Dodson only needed one minute and forty-three seconds of fight time to finish the bout via knockout. John Dodson wins via KO in […]
The MMA veteran and former top-ranked UFC contender John Dodson made an impressive debut in RIZIN earlier today. The US-born athlete made quick work of the DREAM and RIZIN veteran Hideo Tokoro. Dodson only needed one minute and forty-three seconds of fight time to finish the bout via knockout.
‘The Magician’ John Dodson made his RIZIN debut in the competitive flyweight division at 125 lbs. The 5’3″ fighter humorously listed himself as 6’2″ on the TV broadcast. He is a long-time veteran of MMA collecting a record of 23-13 between the UFC, XMMA, King of the Cage, and several other organizations. Most notably, he has faced fighters such as Merab Dvalishvili, John Lineker, Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw, and two bouts against ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson. Currently, Dodson is on a two-fight win streak having both of his 2022 MMA fights, plus a BKFC bout he won via KO.
Hideo Tokoro is a Japanese-born submission grappling athlete. In his 22-year-long career, he has fought from flyweight to heavyweight. Tokoro was a staple of the DREAM organization where he was known as one of the most exciting fighters on the roster. Over his impressive career, he has put together a record of 35-32 against notable fighters such as Kyoji Horiguchi, Masakazu Imanari, Joachim Hansen, Abel Cullum, Brad Pickett, Ivan Menjivar, and UFC 1 winner Royce Gracie, plus even grappled against Wanderlei Silva.
With this notable win, the Jackson-Wink-trained John Dodson is likely to continue climbing the ranks of MMA around the globe. Yesterday on Instagram he promised fireworks, and today he delivered.“It’s time for the real fun to begin. Tomorrow night is nothing but fireworks.”
Filed under: DREAMWill Fedor Emelianenko continue his winning ways on New Year’s Eve in Japan? Or will Satoshi Ishii take an enormous step forward in his MMA career with a huge upset? Will Japanese stars Shinya Aoki, Hiroyuki Takaya and Tatsuya Kawajir…
Will Fedor Emelianenko continue his winning ways on New Year’s Eve in Japan? Or will Satoshi Ishii take an enormous step forward in his MMA career with a huge upset? Will Japanese stars Shinya Aoki, Hiroyuki Takaya and Tatsuya Kawajiri put on impressive performances? Will American fans manage to stay awake after UFC 141 and watch several more hours of fighting into the wee hours of Saturday morning?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions and more as we predict the winners of this year’s New Year’s Eve event in Japan below.
What: Dream: Fight for Japan New Year 2011
Where: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan
When: Friday late night, the HDNet broadcast will begin at 1 AM ET, just after the conclusion of UFC 141.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii Fedor is 5-0 fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve, and it would be an enormous upset if he doesn’t improve to 6-0 against Ishii, a former Olympic judo gold medalist who is 4-1-1 in his MMA career. Fedor has obviously declined significantly from the days when he was the top fighter in the sport, but I don’t think he’s fallen so far that he’ll lose to Ishii. This should be a relatively easy win for Fedor. Pick: Emelianenko
Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka Aoki is arguably Japan’s best pound-for-pound fighter, but he’ll have his hands full with Kitaoka, who’s a good grappler and has beaten some very solid opponents, including Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Takanori Gomi. I see this one going the distance and being closer than most people think, with Aoki eking out a close decision. Pick: Aoki
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi Inoue Takaya is making his second defense of the Dream featherweight title, which he won by defeating Bibiano Fernandes on New Year’s Eve last year. Inoue is coming off a great head kick knockout of Caol Uno, but Takaya’s kickboxing is better than Inoue, and I like him to win by decision. Pick: Takaya
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata Kawajiri dropped to featherweight and looked great in his recent win over Joachim Hansen. His striking will be too much for Miyata. Pick: Kawajiri
Hayato Sakurai vs. Ryo Chonan Both of these guys are past their primes (Sakurai is 36 and has lost four in a row; Chonan is 35 and has fought low-level competition since losing three of four in the UFC a few years ago), but I think Sakurai has a little more gas left in the tank and will avenge Chonan’s 2003 victory. Pick: Sakurai
Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez Fujii is one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world, and Benitez is simply not at her level. This should be an easy submission victory for Fujii. Pick: Fujii
Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques Fernandes, the former Dream featherweight title, is more comfortable fighting at bantamweight, and he has to be considered the favorite to win this tournament. I look for him to beat Marques easily. Pick: Fernandes
Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Masakazu Imanari vs. Antonio Banuelos Banuelos was released by the UFC after losing a decision to Miguel Torres early this year, but he’s a dangerous opponent for anyone and a much better striker than Imanari. I like Banuelos to win by TKO. Pick: Banuelos
Bantamweight Tournament Reserve Bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev Tokoro, who lost a split decision to Banuelos in the tournament quarterfinals, should win the reserve bout against Saadulaev, who lost to Marques. Pick: Tokoro
Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner of Imanari/Banuelos vs. Winner of Fernandes/Marques Fernandes has an excellent opportunity to make a statement that he’s the best bantamweight outside Zuffa, and I think he’ll put on a show by beating Banuelos in the tournament finale. Pick: Fernandes
Filed under: News, JapanA lightweight title bout between Shinya Aoki and Satoru Kitaoka and a bantamweight reserve bout between Hideo Tokoro and Yusup Saadulaev are recent additions to the New Year’s Eve “Genki Desu Ka!!” event at the Saitama Super Are…
A lightweight title bout between Shinya Aoki and Satoru Kitaoka and a bantamweight reserve bout between Hideo Tokoro and Yusup Saadulaev are recent additions to the New Year’s Eve “Genki Desu Ka!!” event at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
DREAM last weekend made official that Aoki will be defending his DREAM belt against former teammate Kitaoka in a five-round affair. On Tuesday, Tokoro and Saadulaev, who were both ousted in quarterfinal bouts in September, were given a second chance at returning to the tournament. The reserve winner could potentially enter the finals in the event an injury replacement is needed.
Aoki (29-5), who will be fighting for the fourth time in 2011, is looking to extend his win streak to seven as well as a successful second title defense. Aoki last fought in September, submitting “Razor” Rob McCullough with a neck crank at DREAM.17. Kitaoka (29-10-9) is a former Sengoku lightweight champion who made his DREAM debut in September, beating Willamy Freire by split decision.
Tokoro (30-24-1) had a four-fight win streak snapped by Antonio Banuelos at DREAM.17. Meanwhile, Saadulaev suffered his first career loss in a unanimous decision loss to Rodolfo Marques.
The current “Genki Desu Ka!!” lineup is below.
Dream Lightweight Title Bout Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Dream Featherweight Title Bout Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi “Lion” Inoue
Dream Bantamweight World GP
Semifinals: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques
Semifinals: Masakazu Imanari vs. Antonio Banuelos
Finals: Winner of Fernandes-Marques vs. Winner of Imanari-Banuelos
Reserve: Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev
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 McKeeNelson 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.
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.
Filed under: DREAM, News, JapanDream has announced the first- and second-round matchups for the May 29 Dream “Fight for Japan” event at the Saitama Super Arena, the promotion’s first card of 2011.
In the 134.5-pound tournament, Darren Uyenoyama will f…
Dream has announced the first- and second-round matchups for the May 29 Dream “Fight for Japan” event at the Saitama Super Arena, the promotion’s first card of 2011.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will both take place on May 29. The winner of Uyenoyama vs. Yamamoto will fight the winner of Maeda vs. Tokoro. On the other side of the bracket, the winner of Imanari vs. Fujiwara will face the winner of Osawa vs. Otsuka. The finals will be held at a Dream event planned for July.
Filed under: DREAM, Fighting, JapanIn an event that will be held in part to benefit its ravaged home country of Japan, DREAM on Friday announced its first major show since New Year’s Eve. The promotion will host a bantamweight tournament, scheduled to …
In an event that will be held in part to benefit its ravaged home country of Japan, DREAM on Friday announced its first major show since New Year’s Eve. The promotion will host a bantamweight tournament, scheduled to take place on May 29 at Saitama Super Arena.
The tourney, titled the “Fight for Japan DREAM Grand Prix,” will feature the first- and second-round matchups of an eight man field. The participants will be Hideo Tokoro, Masakazu Imanari, Yoshiro Maeda, Keisuke Fujiwara, Darren Uyenoyama, Kenji Osawa, Takafumi Otsuka and Atsushi Yamamoto.
Will 
A lightweight title bout between 
Dream has announced the first- and second-round matchups for the May 29 
In an event that will be held in part to benefit its ravaged home country of Japan, DREAM on Friday announced its first major show since New Year’s Eve. The promotion will host a bantamweight tournament, scheduled to take place on May 29 at Saitama Super Arena.