Filed under: News, JapanTOKYO — Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada stormed onto the Shoot Boxing scene in 2010, capturing an incredible decision win over the best the sport has to offer in Andy Souwer and decisioning long-time veteran Hi…
TOKYO — Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada stormed onto the Shoot Boxing scene in 2010, capturing an incredible decision win over the best the sport has to offer in Andy Souwer and decisioning long-time veteran Hiroki Shishido earlier this year. The judoka’s luck under the Shoot Boxing banner ran out at Korakuen Hall on Saturday night against Muay Thai stylist Bovy Sor. Udomson, Imada falling once in each round en route to losing a unanimous decision. Imada was able to make the bout exciting though, scoring a down in the second stanza and landing a plethora of heavy punches.
Other MMA fighters competing under the “standing vale tudo” rules were more successful however, Bellator veteran Jessica Penne scored a shocking upset, besting promotional postergirl and two-time S-Cup winner Rena Kubota while former Sengoku star Shigeki Osawa nudged out a close decision via throws over Yusuke Sugawara.
Former Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai champion Bovy Sor. Udomson (87-31 in kickboxing) went into his bout with Shoot Boxing upset-artist Toby Imada (3-2 in Shoot Boxing, 29-14 in MMA) on a five-fight losing streak, with many questioning if he was able to continue to competing at the elite levels of kickboxing. With his gutsy win over Imada, Udomson made a significant step towards proving those doubters wrong.
An extremely aggressive Imada put the pressure on Udomson from the onset, the mixed martial artist looking for a knockout with winging hooks and straights and to score Shoot points with his judo. Udomson stood his ground though, countering the judo perfectly with his Muay Thai clinch and delivering hellish hook counters, catching Imada and sending him to the canvas once in each stanza during the three round bout.
Imada was good enough to score his own knockdown though, Udomson caught hook across the jaw while taunting his opponent in the second. Although significantly down on the score cards Imada remained in the fight with his judo and relentless attacks but with as the final bell sounded, the points for Imada were nowhere to be found and Udomson took the decision.
Bellator veteran and Shoot Boxing newcomer Jessica Penne (9-1 MMA, 1-0 Shoot Boxing) scored a massive upset and another point for the MMA fighters, snatching a huge decision over promotional poster girl, 2009 Girl’s S-Cup champ and 2010 Girl’s S-Cup World Champion Rena Kubota (16-5-1 kickboxing). Although Rena managed to win rounds one and three with her kicks, Penne scoring a throw for a Shoot point in the second evened the score and saw the bout go to an extension round.
Rena controlled the first extension period, scoring again with her kicks but seeming very tight with her fists, consistently missing. Somehow, despite Rena’s control and Penne looking winded and managing no offence, the judges rules that the bout go to a second extension period. Penne looked rejuvenated in the fifth and final round, scoring a throw midway through to give her a fight-winning Shoot point. Rena pushed to score a down or Shoot point herself but it was not forth-coming, the bout going to the judges.
One apparently distracted judge somehow scored the final round a draw for the hometown favorite but the other two got it right, awarding the bout to Penne for the huge upset.
Rena, whose younger sister Mio was victorious earlier in the night, is scheduled to rematch Erika Kamimura for a title under the RISE banner in November. It is not yet known whether tonight’s result affects that bout.
Fellow MMA fighter and former Sengoku sponsored Shigeki Osawa (1-1 Shoot Boxing, 6-1-2 MMA) also managed to pull off a significant upset, besting J-Network Super Flyweight champion Yusuke Sugawara (21-12-2 in kickboxing) with throws to take the unanimous decision. Osawa clearly lost in the kickboxing department but Osawa’s impressive throws score highly under Shoot Boxing rules and the wrestler was able to win the judges favor despite taking a beating.
No. 2-ranked Japanese super welterweight Satori Suzuki (6-7 in kickboxing) utilized a 4.5-inch height advantage (on paper) to brutalize No. 1-ranked Kenji Kanai (16-12 in kickboxing), dropping his opponent with punches three times in the first round to get the TKO referee stoppage in under two minutes. Kanai, although never noted as a real power-puncher, seemed to have no heat on his hands and proved easy pickings for the much taller Suzuki.
Top-ranked Japanese featherweight Naguranchun Masa M16’s (14-5 in kickboxing) forward pressure and aggression proved too much for No. 2-ranked Akito Sakimura (9-9 in kickboxing) in a bout to fill the vacant Shootboxing Japan featherweight title. Punches sent Sakimura to the canvas in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, with the final down leading to the referee calling the bout. The loss marks Sakimura’s third title bout loss in as many attempts.
Filed under: UFC, News, JapanTOKYO – For the first time in more than 10 years, and for the first time in the Zuffa era, the UFC is finally set to invade Japan.
UFC President Dana White and Zuffa LLC Asia Executive Vice President and Managing Director …
TOKYO – For the first time in more than 10 years, and for the first time in the Zuffa era, the UFC is finally set to invade Japan.
UFC President Dana White and Zuffa LLC Asia Executive Vice President and Managing Director Mark Fischer made the announcement on Tuesday at the Shinjuku Wald 9 Theater, revealing that the world’s leading MMA promotion will head to the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Feb. 26, 2012.
It is also not yet known if the UFC Japan event will be part of the numbered UFC series or a “Fight Night” event. Fischer stated, “We’re not identifying that today but it will be, you can be assured, a major, major event here.”
“It’s been over 10 years since a UFC event was held in Japan and we’re pumped to bring the fastest growing sport in the world there once again,” said UFC President Dana White via video message. “Japan has played a huge role in getting the sport to where it is today. UFC stars such as [Quinton] “Rampage” Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, [Antonio Rodrigo] “Minotauro” Nogueira all made names for themselves fighting in the Pride organization and dozens more fought in front of the passionate Japanese fans at some point in their careers. Japan has also produced world class fighters such as [Yoshihiro] Akiyama, [Takanori] Gomi and Yushin Okami. They have all headlined major UFC events all over the world. Now, this February, the wait is finally over – we’re coming back to Japan.”
Mark Fischer, who was also responsible for the NBA’s expansion in Asia, noted the economic benefits associated with the UFC returning to Japan.
“To give another idea of the scope of this event, it will literally be witnessed by millions of fans all over the world,” stated Fischer. “Moreover, this event will be a boon for Japan’s economy. For example, UFC 100 in Las Vegas generated more than $51 million for the local economy. In Sydney, Australia, our two events generated over $30 million for the local economy. We’re pleased to bring the similarly anticipated event to Saitama and the greater Tokyo area.”
The Saitama Super Arena, the former home of the defunct Pride Fighting Championships, and current home to DREAM, will be configured for 20,000 seats.
Fischer also made it clear that it will not take the UFC another 10 years to return to Japan after this February, giving the outline behind the UFC’s planned expansion into Asia.
“Let me also say that while UFC Japan in 2012 will be the first event for Zuffa in Asia, it certainly won’t be the last,” said Fischer. “We hope to make UFC Japan an annual fixture on our calendar and we also have plans to follow-up with a series of high quality events across Asia,”
To fit with American broadcast plans, the UFC Japan event is scheduled to begin 10:00 a.m. local time, with the main card running from 12:00 noon to approximately 3:00 p.m. No details were given as to the event’s local broadcast plans, however the UFC currently has deals in place with TV Bank, NTT Plala’s “Hikari TV” and WOWOW satellite TV.
The UFC first visited Japan in Dec. 21, 1997 for “Ultimate Japan,” an event which saw the birth of Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba. The UFC returned twice more in November 1999 and April 2000 for UFC 23 and UFC 25 respectively, but the upcoming Japanese UFC event will mark the first time the promotion has visited while under the Zuffa banner.
Since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, former Shooto heavyweight champion and Pride veteran Enson Inoue has been tireless in his charity efforts, repeatedly traveling to northeast Japan to directly help those in need.
Inoue’s work has helped countless people and brought much needed light to the situation in Fukushima and the areas affected by the disasters. This work has been costly though, Inoue sacrificing a gym, his pets and spending an incredible amount of money and time in the process.
On his last trip, Enson Inoue possibly made the greatest sacrifice of all – he risked his life by traveling to one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Speaking exclusively with MMA Fighting, Enson Inoue describes his journey directly into the highly radioactive Fukushima evacuation zone and his covert visit to the the heavily damaged Fukushima power plants.
MMA Fighting: How many times have you been to the Tohoku region now?
Enson Inoue: Nine times. Nine times already.
How have you seen things progress since you’ve been up working up there? What is happening with the people in the evacuation centers?
The last time I went to Fukushima prefecture and everyone was starting to move into the temporary housing. They are given these temporary houses and allowed to stay there for up to two years. They are free but the problem is that the moment they leave the evacuation centers, they are being cut off from most of the aid. A lot of people need support though so basically, they don’t want to leave.
The evacuation centers are short staffed though and they need to get the people out of there so they are doing things to make it less comfortable – turning the lights out super early for example. That caused a lot of big fights of course, so now people are just leaving.
Are evacuees given assistance in moving or setting up their new homes?
In Fukushima, they are given 30,000 yen (approximately $390 US) by the government or TEPCO, they are basically the same thing, for bills – water, electricity or whatever and they are also given five items: a refrigerator, washing machine, TV, rice cooker and a microwave. In other places, like Iwate, they are just given a 10-pound bag of rice.
Most of these people lost their cars and businesses or jobs so it’s really hard for them to get back on their feet. What I’m doing now is going to the people in these temporary houses and giving them things they need to get set up. Soap, you know, basic things you need to buy when you move into a house.
What are these temporary houses like?
They are actually pretty nice, I guess. They are adequate, but they are temporary. A lot of people in these temporary houses will never be able to return to their real homes because of the radiation. They are talking about not being able to live in some places in Fukushima for at least a century.
What I’ve heard lately is that some of the older people are committing suicide. They think that even if they have these places to live for two years, they can’t pay the bills. They can’t support themselves now. They are too old to get jobs and so they just commit suicide. There’s a lot of suicides.
What do they need? How do you think they can be helped?
The last time I was there, the people were really cold. I don’t know why. I guess I haven’t met a lot of these people before so they are wary of me. I try to help them but they just say they are OK. You know they aren’t OK. They are hurting. They lost everything. I think it’ll just be a matter of time until they are comfortable with me, until I get to know them.
You’ve also been making trips into the Fukushima evacuation zone to feed abandoned pets. This last time though, you went right into the Fukushima power plant?
The last time I was up in Fukushima I met one of my friends for drinks. He’s a contractor who works inside the evacuation zone. We were sitting at a bar and he told me, “Enson, if you want to go in, this is the time.”
I said, “What do you mean?”
He said, “The security. All the security is really going down. We can get you in easy.”
I was with another friend so I asked if he could get him in too. He said OK, but because he isn’t Japanese, he has to hide under blankets.
Why did you want to go in there though? It’s one of the most dangerous places on earth right now.
I felt like it was an opportunity. No one can go in there. My mother asked me why too. She said, ‘Why do you want to go in there? You want to go in just feed dogs?! Why?!’
No one can go in there, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to go in there again. It wasn’t about the dogs. I mean, while I was in there I brought more food for the dogs, but it was just being able to go in there and not turning this opportunity down.
She never could understand that. I just told her to drop the conversation. I told her, ‘One – You’re in Hawaii and you’re not here. Two – you don’t consider Japan your home.’ So I told her, ‘You are not here in my shoes. The bottom line is you’re there, I’m here. We are coming from completely different places.’ She never completely understood that.
What did you want to do inside evacuation zone though? Was it just curiosity?
I wanted to go in for two reasons.
One was to feed the animals, and I also wanted to see what the radiation was really like and see how far I could get towards the plant. It was out of curiosity but also to let people know what I found there. I had bought two radiation meters, they were both geiger counters and dosimeters, and I wanted to put one inside of my suit and one outside of my suit.
What kind of suit?
Those white radiation suits you see on TV. They are thin, almost like paper. The contractors have a whole bunch of them. Masks and everything. We were completely sealed off. They have to burn them after every time they go in so they had a bunch of them.
So what did you find out?
Well those suits aren’t working. They do nothing. If the meter on the outside of my suit was reading 19 micro seiverts or whatever, the one on the inside was reading around 17. The suits don’t do jack s***. They aren’t protecting those workers. I don’t understand how those people are allowed to go in. They have a false sense of security.
Did you tell the contractors about this?
Yeah I showed my friend the meters, and he kind of freaked out, and said it was his last week working there. You don’t feel anything, you get a real false sense of security. We weren’t really supposed to be there though so we didn’t talk to anybody else.
Once you were in there though, you went right up to the power plant?
Yeah, we just kept driving further and further in and there was no security or anything. We got to the plant and there was a checkpoint, but we just kind of waved our way through with these fake IDs and my other friend hid under some blankets.
What did you do in there?
We got out to take a few pictures, or whatever, but then our driver got really freaked out. We were right there, you know? We were standing right next to one of these reactors and it was completely blown up (pictured above). Our driver jammed the car into reverse and raced out of there so we had to go too. We were never checked or monitored or anything.
What did you feel in there? No fear at any point?
It’s hard to fear radiation because you can’t feel anything. I was talking to a former marine nuclear expert and he told me everything I needed to know. I was watching the meters, and I knew what levels were safe. I felt educated so I felt safe. It is kind of scary in a way though. It’s so bad for you, but you can’t feel a thing.
Do the contractors hired to work in there have the same amount of information as you?
No, they don’t know anything. They take off their masks all the time, and they don’t have meters or anything. All the workers are like that. When they first started going in they were freaking out over every little thing, but as time goes by, because you don’t feel it or see it, you get careless.
You know what was crazy though? There is no one checking you as you leave either. We could have gone to a restaurant or something before cleaning and radiated all those other people. No one is really checking that. I was thinking about going to the doctor actually, just to check.
What was the rest of Fukushima evacuation zone like?
Like a ghost town. Convenience stores cleaned out, no one around. The animals that are still alive are walking all through the towns. There are some real hot spots of radiation in there but some places, I guess because of the mountains and valleys or something, have almost nothing. I don’t understand why the people who live there can’t be allowed to go in and retrieve their things. They aren’t allowed to make that choice.
What do you learn from an experience like this?
There are three kinds of things in your life. Three circles I guess. The circle of things that annoy you, the circle of things you don’t care about and the circle of things you appreciate and enjoy.
Before I went to jail, the circle of things that annoyed me was pretty big. (Note: Inoue was jailed in 2008 for possession of marijuana. Inoue spent 30 days in prison and is currently serving a three-year probation.)
You know, sitting in traffic used to p*** me off, having to do chores or whatever, people that get to you. That circle was pretty big in my life. Your every day things like eating breakfast, going for a run, showering – they were in the circle of things I didn’t care about. Going out and meeting friends, eating a really good meal – they were the things that I enjoyed.
When you go to jail though, your values change. Having miso soup for breakfast is all of a sudden something you really enjoy. You look forward to taking a shower. You become much more patient so traffic doesn’t p*** you off. The circle of things that annoyed me shrank and the circle of things that I enjoyed grew. It really made me a lot happier and a more relaxed person.
After jail, I did the pilgrimage and that helped me enjoy and appreciate things more. (Note: after his release from prison, Inoue completed a 30-day 750-mile pilgrimage on foot, visiting 108 temples in Shikoku.)
Just getting a bottle of water from someone was amazing! When I was in jail I knew what it was like to have nothing and on the pilgrimage I had nothing there too. Before I would say thank you and forget about it. But now, I’m so appreciative! I still haven’t forgotten the people that helped me!
Appreciation is what drives me to go up north. I can understand what they are going through, to some extent. I can’t compare going to jail to what the tsunami victims and people from Fukushima are going through, but I know what it’s like to have everything taken away from you. I know how good the small things can feel.
Going into the Fukushima power plant is part of me appreciating my freedom. Yeah it’s dangerous, but when I was in jail, I had no opportunities to make any choices – even dangerous ones. They told me when and how to do everything. Enjoying my freedom and making the most of all the opportunities I get in my life – doing the pilgrimage, going into Fukushima, spending all my time helping the people up north – it allows me to shrink that circle of annoyance even more. It makes me a more appreciative and happy person.
Since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, former Shooto heavyweight champion and Pride veteran Enson Inoue has been tireless in his charity efforts, repeatedly traveling to northeast Japan to directly help those in need.
Inoue’s work has helped countless people and brought much needed light to the situation in Fukushima and the areas affected by the disasters. This work has been costly though, Inoue sacrificing a gym, his pets and spending an incredible amount of money and time in the process.
On his last trip, Enson Inoue possibly made the greatest sacrifice of all – he risked his life by traveling to one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Speaking exclusively with MMA Fighting, Enson Inoue describes his journey directly into the highly radioactive Fukushima evacuation zone and his covert visit to the the heavily damaged Fukushima power plants.
MMA Fighting: How many times have you been to the Tohoku region now?
Enson Inoue: Nine times. Nine times already.
How have you seen things progress since you’ve been up working up there? What is happening with the people in the evacuation centers?
The last time I went to Fukushima prefecture and everyone was starting to move into the temporary housing. They are given these temporary houses and allowed to stay there for up to two years. They are free but the problem is that the moment they leave the evacuation centers, they are being cut off from most of the aid. A lot of people need support though so basically, they don’t want to leave.
The evacuation centers are short staffed though and they need to get the people out of there so they are doing things to make it less comfortable – turning the lights out super early for example. That caused a lot of big fights of course, so now people are just leaving.
Are evacuees given assistance in moving or setting up their new homes?
In Fukushima, they are given 30,000 yen (approximately $390 US) by the government or TEPCO, they are basically the same thing, for bills – water, electricity or whatever and they are also given five items: a refrigerator, washing machine, TV, rice cooker and a microwave. In other places, like Iwate, they are just given a 10-pound bag of rice.
Most of these people lost their cars and businesses or jobs so it’s really hard for them to get back on their feet. What I’m doing now is going to the people in these temporary houses and giving them things they need to get set up. Soap, you know, basic things you need to buy when you move into a house.
What are these temporary houses like?
They are actually pretty nice, I guess. They are adequate, but they are temporary. A lot of people in these temporary houses will never be able to return to their real homes because of the radiation. They are talking about not being able to live in some places in Fukushima for at least a century.
What I’ve heard lately is that some of the older people are committing suicide. They think that even if they have these places to live for two years, they can’t pay the bills. They can’t support themselves now. They are too old to get jobs and so they just commit suicide. There’s a lot of suicides.
What do they need? How do you think they can be helped?
The last time I was there, the people were really cold. I don’t know why. I guess I haven’t met a lot of these people before so they are wary of me. I try to help them but they just say they are OK. You know they aren’t OK. They are hurting. They lost everything. I think it’ll just be a matter of time until they are comfortable with me, until I get to know them.
You’ve also been making trips into the Fukushima evacuation zone to feed abandoned pets. This last time though, you went right into the Fukushima power plant?
The last time I was up in Fukushima I met one of my friends for drinks. He’s a contractor who works inside the evacuation zone. We were sitting at a bar and he told me, “Enson, if you want to go in, this is the time.”
I said, “What do you mean?”
He said, “The security. All the security is really going down. We can get you in easy.”
I was with another friend so I asked if he could get him in too. He said OK, but because he isn’t Japanese, he has to hide under blankets.
Why did you want to go in there though? It’s one of the most dangerous places on earth right now.
I felt like it was an opportunity. No one can go in there. My mother asked me why too. She said, ‘Why do you want to go in there? You want to go in just feed dogs?! Why?!’
No one can go in there, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to go in there again. It wasn’t about the dogs. I mean, while I was in there I brought more food for the dogs, but it was just being able to go in there and not turning this opportunity down.
She never could understand that. I just told her to drop the conversation. I told her, ‘One – You’re in Hawaii and you’re not here. Two – you don’t consider Japan your home.’ So I told her, ‘You are not here in my shoes. The bottom line is you’re there, I’m here. We are coming from completely different places.’ She never completely understood that.
What did you want to do inside evacuation zone though? Was it just curiosity?
I wanted to go in for two reasons.
One was to feed the animals, and I also wanted to see what the radiation was really like and see how far I could get towards the plant. It was out of curiosity but also to let people know what I found there. I had bought two radiation meters, they were both geiger counters and dosimeters, and I wanted to put one inside of my suit and one outside of my suit.
What kind of suit?
Those white radiation suits you see on TV. They are thin, almost like paper. The contractors have a whole bunch of them. Masks and everything. We were completely sealed off. They have to burn them after every time they go in so they had a bunch of them.
So what did you find out?
Well those suits aren’t working. They do nothing. If the meter on the outside of my suit was reading 19 micro seiverts or whatever, the one on the inside was reading around 17. The suits don’t do jack s***. They aren’t protecting those workers. I don’t understand how those people are allowed to go in. They have a false sense of security.
Did you tell the contractors about this?
Yeah I showed my friend the meters, and he kind of freaked out, and said it was his last week working there. You don’t feel anything, you get a real false sense of security. We weren’t really supposed to be there though so we didn’t talk to anybody else.
Once you were in there though, you went right up to the power plant?
Yeah, we just kept driving further and further in and there was no security or anything. We got to the plant and there was a checkpoint, but we just kind of waved our way through with these fake IDs and my other friend hid under some blankets.
What did you do in there?
We got out to take a few pictures, or whatever, but then our driver got really freaked out. We were right there, you know? We were standing right next to one of these reactors and it was completely blown up (pictured above). Our driver jammed the car into reverse and raced out of there so we had to go too. We were never checked or monitored or anything.
What did you feel in there? No fear at any point?
It’s hard to fear radiation because you can’t feel anything. I was talking to a former marine nuclear expert and he told me everything I needed to know. I was watching the meters, and I knew what levels were safe. I felt educated so I felt safe. It is kind of scary in a way though. It’s so bad for you, but you can’t feel a thing.
Do the contractors hired to work in there have the same amount of information as you?
No, they don’t know anything. They take off their masks all the time, and they don’t have meters or anything. All the workers are like that. When they first started going in they were freaking out over every little thing, but as time goes by, because you don’t feel it or see it, you get careless.
You know what was crazy though? There is no one checking you as you leave either. We could have gone to a restaurant or something before cleaning and radiated all those other people. No one is really checking that. I was thinking about going to the doctor actually, just to check.
What was the rest of Fukushima evacuation zone like?
Like a ghost town. Convenience stores cleaned out, no one around. The animals that are still alive are walking all through the towns. There are some real hot spots of radiation in there but some places, I guess because of the mountains and valleys or something, have almost nothing. I don’t understand why the people who live there can’t be allowed to go in and retrieve their things. They aren’t allowed to make that choice.
What do you learn from an experience like this?
There are three kinds of things in your life. Three circles I guess. The circle of things that annoy you, the circle of things you don’t care about and the circle of things you appreciate and enjoy.
Before I went to jail, the circle of things that annoyed me was pretty big. (Note: Inoue was jailed in 2008 for possession of marijuana. Inoue spent 30 days in prison and is currently serving a three-year probation.)
You know, sitting in traffic used to p*** me off, having to do chores or whatever, people that get to you. That circle was pretty big in my life. Your every day things like eating breakfast, going for a run, showering – they were in the circle of things I didn’t care about. Going out and meeting friends, eating a really good meal – they were the things that I enjoyed.
When you go to jail though, your values change. Having miso soup for breakfast is all of a sudden something you really enjoy. You look forward to taking a shower. You become much more patient so traffic doesn’t p*** you off. The circle of things that annoyed me shrank and the circle of things that I enjoyed grew. It really made me a lot happier and a more relaxed person.
After jail, I did the pilgrimage and that helped me enjoy and appreciate things more. (Note: after his release from prison, Inoue completed a 30-day 750-mile pilgrimage on foot, visiting 108 temples in Shikoku.)
Just getting a bottle of water from someone was amazing! When I was in jail I knew what it was like to have nothing and on the pilgrimage I had nothing there too. Before I would say thank you and forget about it. But now, I’m so appreciative! I still haven’t forgotten the people that helped me!
Appreciation is what drives me to go up north. I can understand what they are going through, to some extent. I can’t compare going to jail to what the tsunami victims and people from Fukushima are going through, but I know what it’s like to have everything taken away from you. I know how good the small things can feel.
Going into the Fukushima power plant is part of me appreciating my freedom. Yeah it’s dangerous, but when I was in jail, I had no opportunities to make any choices – even dangerous ones. They told me when and how to do everything. Enjoying my freedom and making the most of all the opportunities I get in my life – doing the pilgrimage, going into Fukushima, spending all my time helping the people up north – it allows me to shrink that circle of annoyance even more. It makes me a more appreciative and happy person.
After three consecutive losses as a middleweight, Japanese UFC judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama is finally moving to welterweight.
Akiyama, who is 1-3 in the UFC and 14-4 with two no contests overall, considered retirement after getting knocked out by Vitor Belfort last month, but now instead intends to drop down 15 lbs and ideally seek the guidance of divisional king Georges St. Pierre.
Speaking to Japanese outlet Sponichi, the 2006 K-1 Heros Light Heavyweight GP champ also stated he would like to debut as a welterweight at the UFC’s return to Japan in February 2012. Before his move to the UFC, Akiyama was the biggest draw in Japan and he would certainly be an asset to any event in the East.
Due to financial problems surrounding a former manager, Akiyama was forced to close his highly regarded Cloud Dojo prior to his meeting with Belfort at UFC 133 and with his move to welterweight, Akiyama stated that he would like to make the move to the champion’s gym to become St. Pierre’s “apprentice”.
The move to welterweight was a long time coming for Akiyama – although he has put on three “fight of the night” performances and was successful in his UFC debut against Alan Belcher, the Japanese fighter was widely considered to be too small to compete in the upper echelons at middleweight in Western promotions.
Filed under: News, JapanGRABAKA, the Japanese gym and now MMA promotion, will go old school for its first MMA card, announcing recently a main event between Japanese MMA icon Sanae Kikuta and former UFC title challenger Kenichi Yamamoto for the Oct. 15…
GRABAKA, the Japanese gym and now MMA promotion, will go old school for its first MMA card, announcing recently a main event between Japanese MMA icon Sanae Kikuta and former UFC title challenger Kenichi Yamamoto for the Oct. 15 event in Tokyo.
Both fighters are making rare in-ring appearances for this “Grabaka Live! First Cage Attack” event in association with DEEP. Kikuta, who will turn 40 in just over a week, has fought less frequently, having only accepted four fights in the past five years. Meanwhile, Yamamoto, 35, will be fighting for the first time in five years.
Kikuta (29-7-3), who began MMA in March 1996 and was a competitor on the second PRIDE card, is recognized as one of the sport’s pioneers. In 2000, he founded the GRABAKA gym best known for developing future PRIDE stars Akihiro Gono and Kazuo Misaki. The former Pancrase and ADCC champion Kikuta made a stop last October on the star-studded DEEP 50 anniversary event, beating Lee Sak Kim by TKO.
Yamamato (5-9-1) has been far less successful in MMA, but can say he once challenged for the UFC middleweight title. Back in UFC 23 in November 1999, Yamamoto beat Daiju Takase and Katsuhisa Fujii in a single-night tournament to earn a title shot. However, Yamamto would fall short at UFC 29 via guillotine choke to Pat Miletich.
Other matchups official for the card are Yutaka Ueda vs. Ryuki Ueyama and Shigeyuki Uchiyama vs. Tomoaki Ueyama. If the name Shigeyuki Uchiyama sounds familiar, he was the guy who lost his ear in a Pancrase fight last year.
Japan is obviously the next big goal for the UFC now that they have made it to Brazil, but it might not happen. Dana White has long clashed with not only the Japanese promoters but the yakuza too. Though the UFC is doing well, DREAM is still in J…
Japan is obviously the next big goal for the UFC now that they have made it to Brazil, but it might not happen. Dana White has long clashed with not only the Japanese promoters but the yakuza too. Though the UFC is doing well, DREAM is still in Japan and might do anything in their […]
TOKYO — Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada stormed onto the Shoot Boxing scene in 2010, capturing an incredible decision win over the best the sport has to offer in Andy Souwer and decisioning long-time veteran Hiroki Shishido earlier this year. The judoka’s luck under the Shoot Boxing banner ran out at Korakuen Hall on Saturday night against Muay Thai stylist Bovy Sor. Udomson, Imada falling once in each round en route to losing a unanimous decision. Imada was able to make the bout exciting though, scoring a down in the second stanza and landing a plethora of heavy punches.
TOKYO – For the first time in more than 10 years, and for the first time in the Zuffa era, the 
Since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, former Shooto heavyweight champion and Pride veteran 
The last time I was up in Fukushima I met one of my friends for drinks. He’s a contractor who works inside the evacuation zone. We were sitting at a bar and he told me, “Enson, if you want to go in, this is the time.” 
After three consecutive losses as a middleweight, Japanese 
GRABAKA, the Japanese gym and now