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, Bellator, Rankings, FeatherweightsJose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the U…
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?
The fight I think the UFC really wants to make for Aldo is against Kenny Florian, who has more name recognition than anyone else on the UFC’s featherweight roster. If Florian wins his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, he’ll instantly step into title contention — and into the featherweight Top 10.
But for now, the No. 1 featherweight appears headed toward an August showdown with the undefeated Chad Mendes — and on my featherweight rankings, that’s the right call.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Chad Mendes following his UFC 126 win over Michihiro Omigawa about his performance against the Japanese fighter, fighting in the UFC in the first time and why he thinks he’s ready to fight for the title.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Chad Mendes following his UFC 126 win over Michihiro Omigawa about his performance against the Japanese fighter, fighting in the UFC in the first time and why he thinks he’s ready to fight for the title.
Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — This is the UFC 126 live blog for Michihiro Omigawa vs. Chad Mendes, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike TV preliminary card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Mendes (9-0) enters the UFC undefeated in four WE…
LAS VEGAS — This is the UFC 126 live blog for Michihiro Omigawa vs. Chad Mendes, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike TV preliminary card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Mendes (9-0) enters the UFC undefeated in four WEC fights. Omigawa (12-8-1) went from 4-6 as a lightweight to 8-2-1 since dropping down to featherweight. The winner here will likely face the winner of Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick for the WEC featherweight strap.
Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Sengoku, JapanWhen Michihiro Omigawa enters the cage on Saturday at UFC 126 to fight Chad Mendes, the weight of Japanese MMA will be on his shoulders. The judoka will be the only example of a born and bred Japanese fighter that…
When Michihiro Omigawa enters the cage on Saturday at UFC 126 to fight Chad Mendes, the weight of Japanese MMA will be on his shoulders. The judoka will be the only example of a born and bred Japanese fighter that has fought in the UFC in his prime, and the fight could not come at a more important time.
The days of Pride FC are long gone. We are waiting patiently to see if DREAM is also dead. We are hearing that Sengoku Raiden Championship may be losing their financial backing.
Omigawa is not just fighting for himself. He will be fighting to maintain the relevance of Japanese MMA.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Michihiro Omigawa about his return to the Octagon against Chad Mendes at UFC 126. The Japanese MMA star talked about why he chose to come back to the UFC now, how he has improved as a fighter since dropping down to featherweight and the state of Japanese MMA.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Michihiro Omigawa about his return to the Octagon against Chad Mendes at UFC 126. The Japanese MMA star talked about why he chose to come back to the UFC now, how he has improved as a fighter since dropping down to featherweight and the state of Japanese MMA.
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.
Jose Aldo has now made his UFC debut and won the UFC’s first featherweight title fight, an entertaining if not terribly competitive unanimous decision over Mark Hominick at UFC 129. So what does the UFC do with Aldo from here?
LAS VEGAS — This is the 
When