Tag: rizin ff

Ian McCall Signs With New MMA Promotion

One week after publicly announcing his release from the UFC, former flyweight title contender Ian McCall already has a new promotion. News came from MMA Junkie today (Mon., October 16, 2017) that McCall has signed with Japanese promotion Rizin FF and will compete in the second round of their upcoming bantamweight Grand Prix when he […]

The post Ian McCall Signs With New MMA Promotion appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

One week after publicly announcing his release from the UFC, former flyweight title contender Ian McCall already has a new promotion.

News came from MMA Junkie today (Mon., October 16, 2017) that McCall has signed with Japanese promotion Rizin FF and will compete in the second round of their upcoming bantamweight Grand Prix when he takes on 23-year-old Manel Kape. The event, Rizin FF 8: World Grand Prix Second Round, will take place on December 29 from Japan’s famed Saitama Super Arena.

It’s an odd set of circumstances for “Uncle Creepy,” who has fought only one single time since 2014, losing a hard-fought decision to John Lineker. Since then, he’s been scheduled to fight several times, but for one reason or another involving injuries, illness, and weight-cutting issues, McCall has been unable to fight and therefore asked for his release from the UFC.

He got it, and now he could be fighting three times in three days after fighting once in three years. He’ll meet a rising prospect in the 7-1 Kape, who knocked out Erson Yamamoto in the opening round of the bantamweight GP last weekend.

The two squared off in a heated staredown on social media today:

The post Ian McCall Signs With New MMA Promotion appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Video: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic KOs Baruto Kaito In First Round At Rizin GP

At the Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix Finals event held in Japan early Saturday morning, MMA legend and former PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic moved on to the finals by knocking out Baruto Kaito in the semifinal bout he…

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At the Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix Finals event held in Japan early Saturday morning, MMA legend and former PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic moved on to the finals by knocking out Baruto Kaito in the semifinal bout held early in the show.

Featured below are video highlights from Twitter that show the devastating former K-1 and PRIDE/UFC star Cro Cop knocking out Kaito with a vicious body shot in the very first round.

A fresh Cro Cop, who also finished Bellator MMA fighter and Rizin FF’s first ever Grand Prix champion, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal earlier this weekend in the Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix quarterfinals, will now move onto the tourney finals where he will meet Amir Aliakbari.

Video: Gabi Garcia KOs 49-Year-Old Pro Wrestler Yumiko Hotta At Rizin GP

Amanda Nunes wasn’t the only female MMA star to score a quick knockout victory this weekend.

At the Rizin FF World Grand Prix Finals event held in Japan early Saturday morning, rising women’s MMA star Gabi Garcia improved to a perfect 4-0 profession…

garcia-hotta-rizin-ff-ko

Amanda Nunes wasn’t the only female MMA star to score a quick knockout victory this weekend.

At the Rizin FF World Grand Prix Finals event held in Japan early Saturday morning, rising women’s MMA star Gabi Garcia improved to a perfect 4-0 professional MMA record with a vicious knockout in another lopsided affair that saw her challenged by an aging former pro wrestler.

Featured below are video highlights from Twitter of Garcia’s finish of Yumiko Hotta, the 49-year-old former professional wrestler who was clearly out-classed and out-matched against Garcia.

Video: Rena Kubota KOs Hanna “Tyson” Gujwan With Liver Kick To Body At Rizin GP

kubota-gujwan-ko-rizin-ff

“El Guapo” Bas Rutten would be proud.

Rena Kubota impressed MMA fans with a vicious liver-kick knockout of Hanna “Tyson” Gujwan at the Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix Finals on Saturday morning in Japan.

Featured below via Twitter is a video highlight of the kick from Kubota that ended the night of Gujwan.

Rena Kubota defeated Hanna “Tyson” Gujwan via body kick knockout in round three of their meeting in the Rizin FF ring on Saturday. With the win, Kubota improves to a perfect 3-0 professional MMA record.

Rena TKO’s Hanna Gujwan. KIKUNO KICK. Toes to the liver pic.twitter.com/ebZXaGymQG

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) December 31, 2016

kubota-gujwan-ko-rizin-ff

“El Guapo” Bas Rutten would be proud.

Rena Kubota impressed MMA fans with a vicious liver-kick knockout of Hanna “Tyson” Gujwan at the Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix Finals on Saturday morning in Japan.

Featured below via Twitter is a video highlight of the kick from Kubota that ended the night of Gujwan.

Rena Kubota defeated Hanna “Tyson” Gujwan via body kick knockout in round three of their meeting in the Rizin FF ring on Saturday. With the win, Kubota improves to a perfect 3-0 professional MMA record.

Highlights: Watch Cro Cop Demolish King Mo In RIZIN

Pride legend and longtime UFC stalwart Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ made his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) today (December 29, 2016), facing former Strikeforce champion Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal in the quarterfinals of the RIZIN FF Openweight Grand Prix from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. After a run-in with USADA prompted his early retirement

The post Highlights: Watch Cro Cop Demolish King Mo In RIZIN appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Pride legend and longtime UFC stalwart Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ made his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) today (December 29, 2016), facing former Strikeforce champion Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal in the quarterfinals of the RIZIN FF Openweight Grand Prix from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

After a run-in with USADA prompted his early retirement from the UFC, Cro Cop made a thunderous statement by running through Lawal with surprising ease, hitting him with some heavy hands on the feet before following him to the ground to earn a TKO stoppage with a fight-ending onslaught.

Watch the highlights of the stoppage courtesy of Zombie Prophet right here:

The post Highlights: Watch Cro Cop Demolish King Mo In RIZIN appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Gabi Garcia Has New Opponent For Rizin New Year’s Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz5v2Afwp0s

Gabrielle Garcia’s fight against 52 year old Shinobu Kandori, a Japanese politician and former pro-wrestler, is off. That hasn’t, however, changed the controversial nature of the bout. The hulking Garcia w…

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz5v2Afwp0s

Gabrielle Garcia’s fight against 52 year old Shinobu Kandori, a Japanese politician and former pro-wrestler, is off. That hasn’t, however, changed the controversial nature of the bout. The hulking Garcia will now face 49 year old Yumiko Hotta at the New Year’s Eve show hosted at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Hotta, herself a former pro wrestler with an MMA record of 5-4, has not won a fight since 1998. She last competed against Amanda Lucas, daughter of Star Wars creator George Lucas, in 2012 under the Deep banner. Hotta will give up a massive amount of size to Garcia, who has fought between 215 and and 245 pounds. Japan’s Hotta, on the other hand, clocks in at about 160lbs. She has remained active in pro wrestling, and has a background in Karate.

Interestingly, Garcia will not be the largest woman Hotta has faced during her MMA career. In a July 1995 tournament she took on Russia’s Svetlana Goundarenko, a judoka who competed at 330lbs.

Garcia, 3-0 as a pro thus far in her MMA career, picked up gold medals on multiple occasions between 2008 and 2014 at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship. She has fought exclusively in Rizin FF to date. Her last win came by submission (Americana) against Destanie Yarbrough this past September.

The booking of the 31 year old jiu-jitsu champion Garcia against a 52 year old opponent raised eyebrows when it was announced earlier this year. Recent matches involving the likes of Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and Tsuyoshi Kosaka have seen older fighters return to action. However in those cases, fighters were paired up with opponents closer to their own age. The opponent switch here will also nothing to alleviate the concern for fighter safety, as Hotta is just weeks shy of her fiftieth birthday.