Riki Fukuda: UFC Is Now Goal of Japanese Fighters

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TOKYO — MMA Fighting met with Deep middleweight champion Riki Fukuda at Grabaka Gym ahead of his UFC debut against Nick Ring on Feb. 26 at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia.

Coming into the bout on the heels of his incredible title defense in Deep against Ryuta Sakurai, Fukuda spoke to MMA Fighting about making his promotional debut, his inability to watch his own fights and gave his thoughts on the struggling Japanese MMA scene.

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TOKYO — MMA Fighting met with Deep middleweight champion Riki Fukuda at Grabaka Gym ahead of his UFC debut against Nick Ring on Feb. 26 at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia.

Coming into the bout on the heels of his incredible title defense in Deep against Ryuta Sakurai, Fukuda spoke to MMA Fighting about making his promotional debut, his inability to watch his own fights and gave his thoughts on the struggling Japanese MMA scene.

Nippon Weekly: Strikeforce Considering Heavyweight GP Event in Japan

Filed under: DREAM, Strikeforce, K1, Sengoku, News, JapanThere are still no significant fights on the horizon, but there have been some big moves this week in Japan.

In this edition of Nippon Weekly, Strikeforce is considering holding its second quart…

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There are still no significant fights on the horizon, but there have been some big moves this week in Japan.

In this edition of Nippon Weekly, Strikeforce is considering holding its second quarterfinal round of their Heavyweight GP in Japan, UFC is planning its own Japanese events in 2011 and DREAM co-promoter Real Entertainment and Strikeforce are possibly planning a lightweight tournament sans-FEG.

Nippon Weekly: Aoki Thinking of Calling it Quits, Sakuraba’s Ear, Sandro’s Hand

From rabbit costumes to reattached ears, every week in “Nippon Weekly,” I will give you the low down on what’s happening on the other side of the Pacific.

In the inaugural edition of Nippon Weekly: Shinya Aoki ponders quitting MMA, Kazushi Sakuraba’s …

From rabbit costumes to reattached ears, every week in “Nippon Weekly,” I will give you the low down on what’s happening on the other side of the Pacific.

In the inaugural edition of Nippon Weekly: Shinya Aoki ponders quitting MMA, Kazushi Sakuraba’s ear is back on his head, Marlon Sandro shows off his ballooned hands, more Japanese fighters look to the West and Deep starts with a disaster while Pancrase begins “Impressively.”

Masakazu Imanari, Riki Fukuda Retain Titles at Deep 49

Filed under: Results, News, JapanThe words “war of attrition” should never be used again. They should be retired in honor of Riki Fukuda vs. Ryuta Sakurai 3.

After five minutes and thirty-two seconds of MMA, the challenger Ryuta Sakurai was laid out u…

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The words “war of attrition” should never be used again. They should be retired in honor of Riki Fukuda vs. Ryuta Sakurai 3.

After five minutes and thirty-two seconds of MMA, the challenger Ryuta Sakurai was laid out unconscious on the floor by the side of the ring and the champion Riki Fukuda was left an eye that was cut, bleeding and swollen completely closed.

In the evening’s main event top-ten bantamweight Masakazu Imanari had little trouble decisioning Tomoya Miyashita, coming close with triangles, kneebars, armbars, omo-platas while managing to land a few head kicks and flying knees along the way.