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[VIDEO] Amorphous Tim Sylvia-Like Blob, and Other Attractions from Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012

Mirko Cro Cop VS Shinichi Suzukawa

DREAM 18 wasn’t the only Japanese MMA event on New Year’s Eve. Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012 – a hybrid MMA/Pro-wrestling card – also provided the MMA community with some freak show goodness. We’ve been putting off coverage of this event until videos surfaced because frankly, when the main event features a post-prime Cro Cop vs. a disgraced sumo wrestler turned professional wrestler, well, yeah, this event can wait a few days.

The main event, Cro Cop vs. Suzukawa, proved that no matter how far past his prime he is, Cro Cop can still submit a clueless jabroni making his MMA debut. In other words, it was a decent freak show fight that played out exactly as it should have. It just wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without a freak show fight, now would it?

The co-main event displayed Japanese judoka Satoshi Ishii fighting against what was apparently Tim Sylvia. Despite committing himself to the most explosive workout program in all of MMA, The Maine-iac showed up looking like he hasn’t even thought about training since his Arlovski fight in September, and did it ever show. Ishii took the fight by unanimous decision.

Video after the jump.

Mirko Cro Cop VS Shinichi Suzukawa

My favorite moment from this one comes around the 1:40 mark, when Ishii pushes Sylvia across the ring attempting a takedown. No one is here to say that judo doesn’t work against larger opponents, but Ishii found that it’s certainly much more difficult to implement when your opponent is a 300+ pounds of fat, ribs and lousy tattoos. Probably the best instance of a fighter being confused by his freaky opponent’s fatness since Minowaman vs. Butterbean.

Speaking of Minowaman, he fought on New Year’s Eve, as is tradition. His opponent was middleweight “Playbor” Bor Bratovz. Okay, so it wasn’t a freak show fight, but Minowa managed to defeat someone his own size, which is almost as impressive. He picks up a heel-hook in the first round of this one.

Rolles Gracie also defeated Yusuke Kawaguchi two minutes into the first round of their fight by arm-triangle choke. You’re on your own for a video of that one, though. Enjoy the freak shows.

Fight For Japan Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011Quick Results: Fedor Cruises, Sylvia “Loses,” Fernandes Wins Bantamweight Tourney

Spoilers after the jump, along with the Fedor/Ishii fight, the Sylvia/Le Banner “fight,” and the bantamweight tournament final match between Bibiano Fernandes and Antonio Banuelos.

Main Event:
Fedor Emelianenko def. Satoshi Ishii via knockout at 2:29 of round 1

Main Card:
Shinya Aoki def. Satoru Kitaoka via unanimous decision
Hiroyuki Takaya def. Takeshi Inoue via unanimous decision
Hayato Sakurai def. Ryo Chonan via unanimous decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kazuyuki Miyata via submission (arm triangle choke) at 4:55 of round 2
Megumi Fujii def. Karla Benitez via submission (armbar) at 1:15 of round 1

DREAM Bantamweight Grand Prix:
Bibiano Fernandes def. Rodolfo Marques via unanimous decision
Antonio Banuelos def. Masakazu Imanari via split decision
Yusup Saadulaev def. Hideo Tokoro via knockout (slam) at 0:42 of round one
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Antonio Banuelos via TKO at 1:21 of round 1

Mixed Rules Bout:
Katsunori Kikuno def. Yuichiro Nagashima via TKO in round two

Kickboxing Bouts:
Yuta Kubo def. Nils Widlund via knockout at 1:10 round three
Masaaki Noiri def. Kengo Sonoda via unanimous decision

Pro Wrestling Bouts:
Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata def. Shinichi Suzukawa and Atsushi Sawada via submission (neck crank)
Kazuyuki Fujita def. Peter Aerts via submission (ankle lock)
Josh Barnett def. Hideki Suzuki via pinfall
Jerome LeBanner def. Tim Sylvia via TKO

Fedor vs. Ishii

(Props to Youtube/KSWFights)

Banuelos vs. Fernandes

Sylvia/Le Banner

-Danga

Fedor Emelianenko Knocks Out Satoshi Ishii

Filed under: DREAMFedor Emelianenko returned to Japan on New Year’s Eve and earned an easy first-round knockout victory, leveling the Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii with a right-left-right combination that ended the fight quickly.

Fedor’s pe…

Filed under: DREAM

Fedor Emelianenko returned to Japan on New Year’s Eve and earned an easy first-round knockout victory, leveling the Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii with a right-left-right combination that ended the fight quickly.

Fedor’s performance in the main event at the Dream New Year’s Eve show at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan was impressive, but it also showed just how mediocre a fighter Ishii is: His striking and stand-up defense are extremely rudimentary, and he just wasn’t ready for an opponent of Fedor’s level.

The two had a good exchange in the early going that started with Fedor throwing a kick, Ishii catching it and going for a takedown, a brief clinch and ultimately Fedor knocking Ishii down, and after that it was all Fedor: The Last Emperor had settled in and gotten comfortable, and then he was going to win handily.

For Fedor, who left Strikeforce on a three-fight losing streak this summer, the win over Ishii was his second in a row, having previously beaten Jeff Monson by decision. Fedor is no longer fighting high-quality competition, but he is winning again.

In other Dream New Year’s Eve action:
— Shinya Aoki defended his Dream lightweight title with a one-sided unanimous decision victory over Satoru Kitaoka. Aoki wasn’t able to finish the fight despite repeatedly getting dominant positions on the ground, but he won this fight handily.

— Hiroyuki Takaya won an easy decision over Takeshi “Lion” Inoue in the Dream featherweight title fight. Inoue simply looked like he didn’t come to fight, as Takaya repeatedly battered him with punches, and Inoue spent most of the 25-minute affair backing away.

— Bibiano Fernandes won two fights to take the Dream bantamweight title, first defeating Rodolfo Marques by unanimous decision in the semifinal bout, then beating up Antonio Banuelos by first-round TKO in the final. Fernandes looked great, and he may just be the best bantamweight outside the UFC.

— Tatsuya Kawajiri looked very good in his featherweight fight with Kazuyuki Miyata, winning with an arm-triangle choke in the second round. Kawajiri is now 2-0 since dropping to featherweight.

— Megumi Fujii, one of the best female fighters in the world, did exactly what everyone expected her to do: She made short work of the overmatched Karla Benitez, winning with an arm bar in the first round.

— In a highly entertaining mixed-rules match, Katsunori Kikuno defeated Yuichiro Nagashima with a second-round TKO. Kikuno battered Nagashima in the first round of the fight, which used kickboxing rules, and then finished him off on the ground in the second round of the fight, which used MMA rules.

Full results are here.

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Dream New Year’s Eve Predictions

Filed under: DREAMWill Fedor Emelianenko continue his winning ways on New Year’s Eve in Japan? Or will Satoshi Ishii take an enormous step forward in his MMA career with a huge upset? Will Japanese stars Shinya Aoki, Hiroyuki Takaya and Tatsuya Kawajir…

Filed under: DREAM

Will Fedor Emelianenko continue his winning ways on New Year’s Eve in Japan? Or will Satoshi Ishii take an enormous step forward in his MMA career with a huge upset? Will Japanese stars Shinya Aoki, Hiroyuki Takaya and Tatsuya Kawajiri put on impressive performances? Will American fans manage to stay awake after UFC 141 and watch several more hours of fighting into the wee hours of Saturday morning?

We’ll attempt to answer those questions and more as we predict the winners of this year’s New Year’s Eve event in Japan below.

What: Dream: Fight for Japan New Year 2011

Where: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan

When: Friday late night, the HDNet broadcast will begin at 1 AM ET, just after the conclusion of UFC 141.

Predictions on all the MMA fights below.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii
Fedor is 5-0 fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve, and it would be an enormous upset if he doesn’t improve to 6-0 against Ishii, a former Olympic judo gold medalist who is 4-1-1 in his MMA career. Fedor has obviously declined significantly from the days when he was the top fighter in the sport, but I don’t think he’s fallen so far that he’ll lose to Ishii. This should be a relatively easy win for Fedor.
Pick: Emelianenko

Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Aoki is arguably Japan’s best pound-for-pound fighter, but he’ll have his hands full with Kitaoka, who’s a good grappler and has beaten some very solid opponents, including Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Takanori Gomi. I see this one going the distance and being closer than most people think, with Aoki eking out a close decision.
Pick: Aoki

Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi Inoue
Takaya is making his second defense of the Dream featherweight title, which he won by defeating Bibiano Fernandes on New Year’s Eve last year. Inoue is coming off a great head kick knockout of Caol Uno, but Takaya’s kickboxing is better than Inoue, and I like him to win by decision.
Pick: Takaya

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
Kawajiri dropped to featherweight and looked great in his recent win over Joachim Hansen. His striking will be too much for Miyata.
Pick: Kawajiri

Hayato Sakurai vs. Ryo Chonan
Both of these guys are past their primes (Sakurai is 36 and has lost four in a row; Chonan is 35 and has fought low-level competition since losing three of four in the UFC a few years ago), but I think Sakurai has a little more gas left in the tank and will avenge Chonan’s 2003 victory.
Pick: Sakurai

Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez
Fujii is one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world, and Benitez is simply not at her level. This should be an easy submission victory for Fujii.
Pick: Fujii

Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques
Fernandes, the former Dream featherweight title, is more comfortable fighting at bantamweight, and he has to be considered the favorite to win this tournament. I look for him to beat Marques easily.
Pick: Fernandes

Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Masakazu Imanari vs. Antonio Banuelos
Banuelos was released by the UFC after losing a decision to Miguel Torres early this year, but he’s a dangerous opponent for anyone and a much better striker than Imanari. I like Banuelos to win by TKO.
Pick: Banuelos

Bantamweight Tournament Reserve Bout: Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev
Tokoro, who lost a split decision to Banuelos in the tournament quarterfinals, should win the reserve bout against Saadulaev, who lost to Marques.
Pick: Tokoro

Bantamweight Tournament Final: Winner of Imanari/Banuelos vs. Winner of Fernandes/Marques
Fernandes has an excellent opportunity to make a statement that he’s the best bantamweight outside Zuffa, and I think he’ll put on a show by beating Banuelos in the tournament finale.
Pick: Fernandes

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Video of the Day: The Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory Has Returned

It’s official: Satoshi Ishii is a dead man walking. Don’t call it a comeback, but Fedor Emelianenko was spotted on his return flight home from Holland donning none other than the Glorious Sweater of Absolute Victory, or as MMA Mania calls it, The Ultimate Sweater of Destruction. I’m not going to lie to you, Potato Nation, I had to paste that name directly from their article, because as I tried to type it, it was as if some otherworldly force took over my body, choked me within an inch of my life, and then forced me to smash the ice cream cone I was eating into my face. Weird.

The sweater, which was retired amidst an undercover attempt by the Russian government to assassinate “The Last Emperor” and use its powers to bring on a new Ice Age, has been the sole factor in Emelianenko’s recent three fight skid, which saw him submitted by Fabricio Werdum before being TKO’ed by Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson. After a recent, secret shift in the Russian power paradigm, Emelianenko told CagePotato in an exclusive and possibly fake interview that he feels safe to wear the sweater again, and looks forward to going on another 30 fight win streak that will culminate in a “two man enter, one man leaves” match against Dan Severn.

As we all know, Emelianenko is set to face the former Olympic Gold Medalist on New Year’s Eve in Japan. And as per usual, Fedor was nothing but respectful when discussing his upcoming opponent:

I consider Ishii to be a serious opponent; he’s a very strong guy and great wrestler. Plus it’s clear that he is able to utilize his best characteristics in the fight. I will have to adapt, I’ll have to see how Ishii will be moving around the ring during the fight, what will he offer me, and what will I be able to showcase myself. It will all depend on the situation in the ring.

Well one thing’s for sure, “God’s will” just got a hell of a lot stronger with the return of the GSoAV. So suck it, you cynics; there is simply nothing stopping Fedor’s inevitable return to glory, and it is only a matter of time until we refer to him as “The Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World Colon Wicked Awesome Emperor Backslash The Real People’s Champ.com” You can call it fanboyism, but we’re calling it fact.

-Danga

Satoshi Ishii: Fedor Is a Legend, But I Will Beat Him on December 31st

(Photo courtesy of Scott Hirano. For more from this gallery, click here.)

By Anton Gurevich

A week away from his encounter with Fedor Emelianenko at Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011, it seems like not many people are giving 2008 Olympic Games Gold Medalist Satoshi Ishii a chance to get his hand raised at the Saitama Super Arena. After all, Ishii will be entering just his seventh professional MMA bout, as he currently holds a record of 4-1-1.

However, Ishii’s career decisions speak for themselves. The 25-year-old Judo phenom left his comfort zone in Japan to pursue a full-time Mixed Martial Arts career in the U.S. Ishii become a student of the game by training under Muay Thai extraordinaire Ed Buckley, and touring between some of the most famous gyms on the west coast.

Ishii could easily be labeled one of the most high-profile martial artists currently competing in the sport. The fight with Fedor could serve as a turning point for the decorated Judoka, who has set himself a clear goal of becoming one of the best MMA fighters on the planet. It’s an opportunity Satoshi Ishii will take full advantage of, especially when fighting on his home turf in Japan.

We had an opportunity to speak to Satoshi Ishii, who shared his thoughts about the December 31st date with “The Last Emperor,” and his preparations coming up to the fight…

Read the interview with Ishii on Lowkick.blitzcorner.com

(Photo courtesy of Scott Hirano. For more from this gallery, click here.)

By Anton Gurevich

We had an opportunity to speak to Satoshi Ishii, who shared his thoughts about the December 31st date with “The Last Emperor,” and his preparations coming up to the fight…

Read the interview with Ishii on Lowkick.blitzcorner.com