Does anyone else find the funniest part of this video to be that Corassani calls himself a UFC fighter? He IS set to square off against British striker Jason Young at UFC on FUEL 2 in what will surely be a slobber knocker, but calling yourself a “UFC fighter” before actually having fought inside the real octagon seems a little preemptive to me. Then again, it’s been a good four years since I’ve even trained MMA (the gym went under in ’09), and a good two since I’ve gotten in a fight, so what the fuck do I know?
Filed under: UFCMichihiro Omigawa finally has a win inside the Octagon.
Omigawa, who had a sensational run in Japan in 2009 and 2010, just hadn’t been able to turn it on in the UFC, losing his first four fights in the Octagon. But on Saturday at UFC 1…
Omigawa, who had a sensational run in Japan in 2009 and 2010, just hadn’t been able to turn it on in the UFC, losing his first four fights in the Octagon. But on Saturday at UFC 138, Omigawa finally got his first UFC win, beating Jason Young by unanimous decision at UFC 138.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Omigawa, who struggled with Young’s stand-up in the first round but controlled the fight on the ground in rounds two and three.
“It’s really good to get my first win here,” Omigawa said afterward.
Young knocked Omigawa back with a body kick late in the first round and landed a couple of solid knees, and he deserved to win the round, although Young’s right eye was badly swollen at the end of the round, thanks to an accidental clash of heads.
Early in the second round Omigawa took Young down and got into side control, but Young did a great job of pushing Omigawa off and getting back to his feet. However, Omigawa then secured another takedown and stayed in side control for most of the rest of the round, a round Omigawa clearly won.
They traded strikes in a good stand-up exchange early in the third round, then went to the ground where Omigawa attempted a heel hook that Young was able to escape. But Omigawa once again got Young down and once again stayed in control for most of the round, and that was enough to win the third, and the fight.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
The undercard bouts are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins, Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa, Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young, Nick Ring vs. James Head and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio.
Round 1: A very calm Omigawa walks to the center of the cage with his hands down low. They feel each other out with punches from far out. Omigawa has the better head movement early, but Elkins is outworking him with punch combos. Good lead left hook from Omigawa jacks Elkins’ jaw. Elkins comes back moments later with a hard right hand that backs Omigawa up. Elkins clips Omigawa behind the ear and makes his legs go shaky for a second. Omigawa leaps in and Elkins takes him down, but is forced to relinquish top position when Omigawa looks for a heel hook. Very active first round by both men. Omigawa looks to be loading up for one big punch, and Elkins corner implores him to get off before the Japanese fighter can throw. Elkins is landing more punches, but a lot of them look like arm punches. He gets after Omigawa in the final twenty seconds and has him reeling a bit before the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.
Round 2: Omigawa starts the second much more aggressively, chasing Elkins across the cage with punches. Elkins corner assures him that Omigawa can’t keep it up the whole round. Almost on cue, Omigawa’s pace slows. Elkins tags Omigawa, but it’s Elkins who seems to be cut around his right eye. Elkins backs Omigawa against the fence and throws a combo, but Omigawa slips most of the punches and fires back one of his own that connects. Omigawa throws a left hook and Elkins beats him with a right hand counter. Good right hand by Omigawa. Elkins unloads a flurry in response, with Omigawa avoiding most of the blows. Omigawa ducks under a punch and lands a nice right. Elkins dives for an awkward takedown, but it’s not even close. Omigawa is the fresher, less damaged fighter at the end of two. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Omigawa.
Round 3: They touch it up to start the final frame and the crowd cheers their efforts so far. Omigawa wastes little time getting a takedown. Elkins thinks about a guillotine, but it isn’t there. Omigawa goes to work with some nice elbows in Elkins’ guard. Elkins thinks about a triangle/armbar combo, but Omigawa escapes and looks to pass. In the process, Elkins scrambles and tries to take top position before they eventually work back to their feet. Elkins’ face is a bloody mess now. Omigawa is still bobbing and weaving well, while Elkins might have tired a bit. Neither man is terribly active in the final thirty seconds, but the crowd cheers them anyway. Good first fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Omigawa.
Darren Elkins def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the UFC 131 live blog for all five preliminary bouts in support of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view at the Rogers Arena.
The undercard bouts are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins, Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa, Dustin Poirier vs. Jason Young, Nick Ring vs. James Head and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio.
Round 1: A very calm Omigawa walks to the center of the cage with his hands down low. They feel each other out with punches from far out. Omigawa has the better head movement early, but Elkins is outworking him with punch combos. Good lead left hook from Omigawa jacks Elkins’ jaw. Elkins comes back moments later with a hard right hand that backs Omigawa up. Elkins clips Omigawa behind the ear and makes his legs go shaky for a second. Omigawa leaps in and Elkins takes him down, but is forced to relinquish top position when Omigawa looks for a heel hook. Very active first round by both men. Omigawa looks to be loading up for one big punch, and Elkins corner implores him to get off before the Japanese fighter can throw. Elkins is landing more punches, but a lot of them look like arm punches. He gets after Omigawa in the final twenty seconds and has him reeling a bit before the horn. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Elkins.
Round 2: Omigawa starts the second much more aggressively, chasing Elkins across the cage with punches. Elkins corner assures him that Omigawa can’t keep it up the whole round. Almost on cue, Omigawa’s pace slows. Elkins tags Omigawa, but it’s Elkins who seems to be cut around his right eye. Elkins backs Omigawa against the fence and throws a combo, but Omigawa slips most of the punches and fires back one of his own that connects. Omigawa throws a left hook and Elkins beats him with a right hand counter. Good right hand by Omigawa. Elkins unloads a flurry in response, with Omigawa avoiding most of the blows. Omigawa ducks under a punch and lands a nice right. Elkins dives for an awkward takedown, but it’s not even close. Omigawa is the fresher, less damaged fighter at the end of two. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Omigawa.
Round 3: They touch it up to start the final frame and the crowd cheers their efforts so far. Omigawa wastes little time getting a takedown. Elkins thinks about a guillotine, but it isn’t there. Omigawa goes to work with some nice elbows in Elkins’ guard. Elkins thinks about a triangle/armbar combo, but Omigawa escapes and looks to pass. In the process, Elkins scrambles and tries to take top position before they eventually work back to their feet. Elkins’ face is a bloody mess now. Omigawa is still bobbing and weaving well, while Elkins might have tired a bit. Neither man is terribly active in the final thirty seconds, but the crowd cheers them anyway. Good first fight. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Omigawa.
Darren Elkins def. Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosThe MMA Hour returns on Monday, and five personalities from around the mixed martial arts world will be stopping by.
* MMA legend Renzo Gracie will visit our studio for the very first time.
The MMA Hour returns on Monday, and five personalities from around the mixed martial arts world will be stopping by.
* MMA legend Renzo Gracie will visit our studio for the very first time.
* Kurt Pellegrino will discuss why he is temporarily walking away from the sport.
* Female MMA fighter Felice Herrig will discuss her recent win and what’s next for her.
* UFC newcomer Jason Young will discuss his UFC 131 bout against Dustin Poirier.
* MMA trainer Duke Roufus will talk about Anthony Pettis and Danny Downes’ losses at the TUF 13 Finale.
* And Aaron Rosa, another UFC rookie, will discuss his UFC 131 bout against Joey Beltran.
Of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.
*** You can now stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.
(Editor’s note: The show is now over, but the video should be back Tuesday.)
The UFC announced yesterday that featherweight veteran Rani Yahya — who most recently scored an upset decision over Mike Brown at Fight for the Troops 2 — has suffered an injury, and will not be able to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 131 (June 11th, Vancouver). Filling in for him will be Octagon first-timer Jason “Shotgun” Young (8-3), a former Cage Rage lightweight champion based in London, England. Last month, Young competed at Ontario’s first sanctioned MMA event, where he scored a unanimous decision over Jorge Britto. (You can see Jason talk about that match here, if you want to get a sense of the dude’s vibe.)
The UFC announced yesterday that featherweight veteran Rani Yahya — who most recently scored an upset decision over Mike Brown at Fight for the Troops 2 — has suffered an injury, and will not be able to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 131 (June 11th, Vancouver). Filling in for him will be Octagon first-timer Jason “Shotgun” Young (8-3), a former Cage Rage lightweight champion based in London, England. Last month, Young competed at Ontario’s first sanctioned MMA event, where he scored a unanimous decision over Jorge Britto. (You can see Jason talk about that match here, if you want to get a sense of the dude’s vibe.)
Michihiro Omigawa
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – This is the 