(Clements v. Travis Briere, end comes at the 2:44 mark.)
Aside from The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, December 3rd also features an interesting welterweight battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and up and coming KO artist Chris Clements under the Score Fighting Series promotion. And after doing a quick check-up on Clements, we thought he was a guy that was worth talking about, so let’s, shall we?
“The Menace” is a 9-4 product fighting out of Ontario, Canada who has collected all 9 of those wins by way of KO or TKO inside the first two rounds. He often trains with the likes of Mark Hominick and Sam Stout, because there can only be so many MMA gyms in that tundra known as Canada, am I right or am I right? *High fives self*
A little known fact about Clements: he is the man responsible for retiring UFC vet Jonathan Goulet back at Rinside MMA-Payback in November of 2010, the video of which is after the jump.
(Clements v. Travis Briere, end comes at the 2:44 mark.)
Aside from The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, December 3rd also features an interesting welterweight battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and up and coming KO artist Chris Clements under the Score Fighting Series promotion. And after doing a quick check-up on Clements, we thought he was a guy that was worth talking about, so let’s, shall we?
“The Menace” is a 9-4 product fighting out of Ontario, Canada who has collected all 9 of those wins by way of KO or TKO inside the first two rounds. He often trains with the likes of Mark Hominick and Sam Stout, because there can only be so many MMA gyms in that tundra known as Canada, am I right or am I right? *High fives self*
A little known fact about Clements: he is the man responsible for retiring UFC vet Jonathan Goulet back at Rinside MMA-Payback in November of 2010, the video of which is below.
Anyway, back to Clements. Three of his four losses have come against notable opponents like John Alessio, Jesse Bongfeldt, and Rory Markham, so he will definitely be out to prove something against Clementi, who has been struggling a bit as of late. Despite holding 25 of his 42 wins by submission, we last saw “No Love” get absolutely dominated on the ground by Shinya Aoki at Dream 17 “Fight for Japan” and somehow manage to talk shit to Aoki whilst doing so.
That being said, three of Clements’ aforementioned losses have come via submission to opponents with arguably lower level grappling credentials than Clementi (not sure about Alessio), so it will be intriguing to see if Clements is able to keep the fight standing, where, as far as we can tell, he holds a combination of technique and power that would give Clementi all kinds of trouble. Just check out that spinning back kick in the top video, fricken’ beautiful.
Filed under: NewsFormer WWE superstar Bobby Lashley became a titleholder in MMA on Friday, beating Karl Knothe to win the Shark Fights heavyweight title at Shark Fights 21 in Lubbock, Texas.
Lashley, who had to endure four opponent changes for his pro…
Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley became a titleholder in MMA on Friday, beating Karl Knothe to win the Shark Fights heavyweight title at Shark Fights 21 in Lubbock, Texas.
Lashley, who had to endure four opponent changes for his promotional debut with the Texas organization, won by keylock submission over Knothe (20-7) at three minutes and 44 seconds of the first round.
With the win, Lashley improved to 7-1 and is on a two-fight win streak since losing to Chad Griggs at a Strikeforce event in August 2010. Lashley has two more fights with Shark Fights.
In addition to the historic UFC on FOX event on Saturday, other MMA action took place over the weekend and we’ll take a look at some notable fights after the jump.
— PRIDE veteran Aleksander Emelianenko was knocked out in 23 seconds by Magomed Malikov (4-1) on Saturday in the main event of M-1 Challenge 28 in Russia. In his first punch of the fight, Malikov timed an overhand right to level Emelianenko against the ropes.
The setback put Emelianenko (17-5) in a position of back-to-back losses for the first time in his eight-year career.
Aleksander’s older brother Fedor, 35, fights this Saturday against Jeff Monson in Moscow.
— On Saturday, Douglas Lima earned a title shot against Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren by stopping Ben Saunders in the second round with strikes at Bellator 57 in Rama, Ontario, Canada.
At the same Bellator event, Alexander Shlemenko won this season’s Bellator middleweight tournament and will rematch Bellator champion Hector Lombard at a later date. Shlemenko on Saturday took a unanimous decision over Vitor Vianna.
— UFC veteran Rich Clementi bounced back from his May loss to Shinya Aoki in DREAM by defeating Ronnie Rogers Saturday at a Victory Promotions event in Lowell, Mass. The 34-year-old Clementi won with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
GSP admits he cried over the knee injury forcing him out of UFC 137 fight with Carlos Condit. UFC fights go 3D starting Super Bowl Weekend 2012. TUF 14‘s Akira Corassani explains he did not.
GSPadmits he cried over the knee injury forcing him out of UFC 137 fight with Carlos Condit.
UFC fights go 3D starting Super Bowl Weekend 2012.
TUF 14‘s Akira Corassani explains he did not tap in his quarter-finals fight with Dustin Neace.
Ringside 12 will feature headlining bout: Paul Daley vs. Luigi Fioravanti this Friday, October 21st.
Last night, HDNet aired their footage from DREAM’s disaster benefit show, which took place last weekend. Most of you already know what to expect, as results were posted immediately after the event took place, but the fights are worth a quick look. During Aoki vs Clementi Frank Trigg generously guestimated that a half dozen fighters were mentioned as possible opponents for Shinya Aoki. To be fair, that’s about when we stopped paying attention to rumored opponents for Aoki as well. Unfortunately, we don’t have any videos from the bantamweight tournament semifinal matchups. If we find some we’ll get them up. Videos are after the jump.
Last night, HDNet aired their footage from DREAM’s disaster benefit show, which took place last weekend. Most of you already know what to expect, as results were posted immediately after the event took place, but the fights are worth a quick look. During Aoki vs Clementi Frank Trigg generously guesstimated that a half dozen fighters were mentioned as possible opponents for Shinya Aoki. To be fair, that’s about when we stopped paying attention to rumored opponents for Aoki as well. Unfortunately, we don’t have any videos from the bantamweight tournament semifinal match ups. If we find some we’ll get them up. Videos are after the jump.
Shinya Aoki vs. Rich Clementi. At 5:34, Clementi politely informs Aoki that he punches like a girl. Have to admire a guy who can taunt an opponent who is absolutely dominating him.
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, JapanFew will be able to see it, but DREAM returns from an almost six-month hiatus on Sunday with it’s “Fight for Japan” charity event at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
With Japan recovering from the March 11 earthquake and DREA…
Few will be able to see it, but DREAM returns from an almost six-month hiatus on Sunday with it’s “Fight for Japan” charity event at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
With Japan recovering from the March 11 earthquake and DREAM having financial issues, the event will take place in front of only 7,000 spectators, will be on a two-day tape-delayed PPV in Japan and will be broadcast on a five-day tape delay in North America on HDNet.
After the break, predictions for the first major Japanese MMA event of 2011 featuring DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki taking on longtime UFC veteran Rich Clementi and the opening rounds of the bantamweight tournament.
What: DREAM “Fight for Japan”
When: May 29, 2011. The event will be broadcast on HDNet on Fri, June 3rd 10 pm ET.
Where: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan Shinya Aoki vs. Rich Clementi
Injury and DREAM’s current dire financial state led to a steady stream of cancelled opponents for lightweight champion Shinya Aoki but after 4 candidates, the job eventually went to Rich Clementi.
Clementi has slipped somewhat in recent years, going 7-7 since his last win in the UFC in May 2008 with back-to-back losses to Gray Maynard and Gleison Tibau seeing the 60-fight veteran lose his UFC contract.
The memory of Aoki’s humiliating loss to Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima was somewhat erased with his impressive domination of Lyle Beerbohm in Strikeforce and the submission specialist should put on a similar performance here against Clementi. The 12 days notice for the American won’t help his cause. A first-round rear-naked choke seems likely. Pick: Aoki Joachim Hansen vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Longtime lightweight veterans of the Japanese circuit, Joachim Hansen and Mitsuhiro Ishida both dropped to featherweight in 2010 but they have had varying results: Hansen has fought a much higher quality of fighter, going 2-2 but Ishida has been flawless with two tireless decision wins.
The real difference is in how easily the former lightweights have cut the ten pounds. Ishida has not missed a step at featherweight and as always, has had a bottomless gas tank. Hansen on the other hand has had be drawn out, running low on cardio and suffered the first KO loss of his career against current champ Hiroyuki Takaya.
I’m still not convinced that Hansen is able to fight at 100 percent at a featherweight and Ishida will test his gas tank to the limit. The former DREAM lightweight champion drops a close and entertaining decision to Ishida. Pick: Ishida
“Lion” Takeshi Inoue vs. Koichiro Matsumoto
The former Shooto champion “Lion” Takeshi and reigning Deep featherweight champion Koichiro Matsumoto are similar fighters, both being rangy strikers with heavy hands supported by excellent low kicks, but Lion is the better and more experienced fighter of the two. This superb bit of matchmaking should lead to an interesting fight, but Lion’s experience should get him across the line. Look for multiple knockdowns and a dramatic comeback in classic “Lion” style. Pick: Inoue
Caol Uno vs. “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura
One of the legends of the Japanese MMA scene, Caol Uno, is on the verge of retiring and given his record over the past few years, it may not be a bad thing. The former Shooto ace and long-time UFC veteran has gone 1-4-1 in his last six outings as a lightweight (although two decisions during his recent UFC run were questioned by some), and his drop to featherweight was spoiled in humiliating fashion by the chain suplexes of Kazuyuki Miyata.
Unfortunately for Uno, he is just the kind of opponent that “Wicky” Akiyo enjoys. The hard hitting “Lion” Takeshi teammate has had problem with wrestlers (although Matt Hume has been correcting this issue for the past year) but seems to be unsubmittable and as his dramatic knockout of Hideo Tokoro showed, he has incredible one punch power.
Uno may be able to avoid the hands of Wicky for at least one round but he doesn’t have the strength and wrestling ability to keep the striker on his back for the full duration of the bout. Uno gets caught with a crushing uppercut and I have a feeling we may see him retire post-fight. Pick: Nishiura Katsunori Kikuno vs. Daisuke Nakamura
Karate practitioner and reigning Deep lightweight champion Katsunori Kikuno is believed by many to be the next generation of Japanese fighter but criminally underrated armbar king Daisuke Nakamura shouldn’t be considered just a stepping stone for the rising star.
Kikuno’s remarkable strength and trademark crescent kick should lead to a knockout victory but Nakamura’s low kicks, jabs and movement on the feet and chain submissions on the mat will make it interesting. Pick: Kikuno
Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Masakazu Imanari vs. Keisuke Fujiwara
Deep bantamweight champ Imanari’s leg locking style was largely developed due the unusual no closed guard rule in ZST and Fujiwara, being the current bantamaweight champion promotion, may be able avoid the constant stream of leg attacks.
Fujiwara has knockout power in his hands and is difficult to submit while Imanari has incredible submissions and is difficult to knockout as he flops to his back whenever pressed too hard on the feet. The potential for a snoozer is high here and a decision seems likely. It’s Imanari’s fight to lose but Fujiwara does have the upset in him. Pick: Imanari
Kenji Osawa vs. Takafumi Otsuka
Former Deep champion Takafumi Otsuka’s career could easily look very different.
The Hiroyuki Abe student started his career with two losses but recovered to build an unremarkable record of 11-7- 1. Of the five losses that have come since his initial rough start though, four of those were very controversial decisions and he would most likely be in the UFC right now if the coin had have been flipped in his favor. This fortune is a product of his style: an athletic and strong wrestler, Otsuka has next to no finishing ability.
WEC veteran Kenji Osawa has a similar style but Otsuka is better in every aspect of the game. It’s bound to be a long, back and forth positional battle but Otsuka takes the decision. Pick: Otsuka
Hideo Tokoro vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Tokoro and Maeda are unusual fighters in that they are supremely talented but their records and careers show a different story.
Tokoro’s penchant for entertainment and submission over safety and position has led to him winning only just over half of his bouts in his 51-fight career while Maeda has the ability to push anyone to the limit, as his incredible WEC title match with Miguel Torres showed, but sometimes he just implodes and loses in truely dramatic fashion.
It’s very difficult to predict an outcome in this excellent bit of match making but Maeda is more consistent (I never, ever thought I would say that) and he has much more power on the feet. A potential fight of the night candidate that Maeda takes by TKO. Pick: Maeda
Yusaku Nakamura vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Late replacement Yusaku Nakamura won’t be known by the vast majority of fans, only fighting three professional bouts on regional events and Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto student Atsuhi Yamamoto has been away from the ring for almost one and half years.
Nakamura has rare power for a bantamweight, possessing legitimate one-punch power in his hands but he is still too raw for a tournament of this level. Yamamoto’s wrestling and boxing logically leads him to take a dominant decision but for some reason I wouldn’t be surprised if Nakamura scores a surprise knockout. Pick: Yamamoto
Bantamweight Grand Prix Semifinals:
If my predictions prove to be correct, we should have Imanari vs. Otsuka and Maeda vs. Yamamoto for our semifinals.
Masakazu Imanari actually lost his last fight, a decision to Hiroshi “Iron” Nakamura. Nakamura is a physically strong wrestler who is difficult to submit and wont go away and Takafumi Otsuka’s wrestling is better than Nakamura’s and he is slicker on the feet. Otsuka takes another decision as long as his mind is solid, his history of losing focus late in a bout is troubling against ruthless submission artist like Imanari.
As always it is impossible to predict a Maeda bout but I like Yamamoto to take a decision over Maeda. Atsushi Yamamoto has better wrestling and is solid on the feet but note hugely powerful. Although Maeda is beautiful to watch and powerful, his history of imploding worries me. Yamamoto grinds Maeda down in a tough decision.
Few will be able to see it, but DREAM returns from an almost six-month hiatus on Sunday with it’s “Fight for Japan” charity event at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.