UFC Fight Night 39 will have a very interesting bout in its co-main event, as it was just announced that Pride veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri will face former fan favorite Clay Guida. The news was announced by MMA Weekly.
Kawajiri has almost exclusively foug…
UFC Fight Night 39 will have a very interesting bout in its co-main event, as it was just announced that Pride veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri will face former fan favorite Clay Guida. The news was announced by MMA Weekly.
Kawajiri has almost exclusively fought in Japan throughout his MMA career, moving from Shooto to Pride to Dream and competing primarily as a lightweight. He joined the UFC following Dream 18, choking out Sean Soriano at UFC Fight Night 34 and moving to 5-0 as a featherweight.
That effort was good enough to put Kawajiri on the UFC’s featherweight rankings, and his strong performance rekindled fans’ love for “Crusher.” He could launch right into the top 10 and title relevance with a win over “The Carpenter.”
Guida, meanwhile, finds himself in dire straits in his MMA career. Since dropping a lightweight top contender bout to eventual champion Benson Henderson in 2011, he has failed to get traction in either the featherweight or lightweight division and is 1-3 in his four most recent fights. While he was regarded as one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC from 2006 through 2009, he has rapidly declined in popularity since 2011.
Given his lackluster performances against Gray Maynard and Hatsu Hioki, which were followed by his devastating knockout loss to Chad Mendes, it’s definitely possible he may be fighting for his job.
UFC Fight Night 39 will mark the return of the UFC to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on April 11. The card is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. No other fights have been announced, so keep an eye on Bleacher Report for more news as the card grows.
For $10/month, not only do you get to see a bunch of overseas cards not aired in the United States, you get access to the UFC’s entire video library—which includes fights from the WEC and Pride, as well as episodes from TUF.
It wouldn’t have been a bad deal if the UFC’s execution hadn’t been lacking in all departments.
FightOpinion, a firebrand MMA website that has recently earned the ire of Dana White, extensively covered the UFC Fight Pass, and not the fluff coverage the paid for media often provides for anything Zuffa-owned. If you want the dirt on the UFC Fight Pass, FightOpinion has the shovel. They ran three articles on the star-crossed streaming service. You should read each one.
Here’s what they concluded:
-The UFC Fight Pass isn’t worth the money, especially when you consider that you have to pay for 13 PPVs throughout the year as well. It costs over $700 a year to be a UFC fan.
-The UFC Fight Pass doesn’t even work from a promotional point of view; the pay wall ensures that the fighters who need exposure most won’t get it.
-The UFC Fight Pass pales in comparison to the WWE’s digital network, a sentiment we share.
-The UFC Fight Pass is lacking a plethora of features that are standard issue on other digital streaming networks (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, etc). It’s also in dire need of polish. An example they give is that searching for “UFC 1” will give you every single event starting with “UFC” and “1”, so you’ll get UFC 1, 10, 11…100, 101, etc.)
-The legalese in the UFC Fight Pass’ terms of use agreement is binding and horrific (although this isn’t unique to the UFC).
But FightOpinion wasn’t the only MMA Media outlet to have doubts about the UFC Fight Pass. MMA Mania’s Matt Roth wenton a twitterrantagainstthe service. Even worse, he says that the UFC charged him for watching fights on the Fight Pass—fights that your monthly $10 is purportedly granting you access to.
It’s clear that the Fight Pass is a half-finished cash grab that’s held together by duct tape. If you buy it in its current, faulty incarnation, you’re either a mark for the UFC or an MMA media member (though there’s a lot of crossover here). Stay away from the fight pass for a while longer. It’s not ready for public consumption.
However, that didn’t stop the UFC from airing its first card on the UFC Fight Pass: UFC Fight Night 34, an event that was held in Singapore this morning.
For the most part, there wasn’t a whole lot of game-changing stuff to happen on this event. We’ll give you a quick rundown with some GIFs (all courtesy of @ZProphet_MMA) and then the complete results:
(The UFC, where tapping out doesn’t matter, like the points in “Whose Line is It Anyway?” / Photo Via Getty)
For $10/month, not only do you get to see a bunch of overseas cards not aired in the United States, you get access to the UFC’s entire video library—which includes fights from the WEC and Pride, as well as episodes from TUF.
It wouldn’t have been a bad deal if the UFC’s execution hadn’t been lacking in all departments.
FightOpinion, a firebrand MMA website that has recently earned the ire of Dana White, extensively covered the UFC Fight Pass, and not the fluff coverage the paid for media often provides for anything Zuffa-owned. If you want the dirt on the UFC Fight Pass, FightOpinion has the shovel. They ran three articles on the star-crossed streaming service. You should read each one.
Here’s what they concluded:
-The UFC Fight Pass isn’t worth the money, especially when you consider that you have to pay for 13 PPVs throughout the year as well. It costs over $700 a year to be a UFC fan.
-The UFC Fight Pass doesn’t even work from a promotional point of view; the pay wall ensures that the fighters who need exposure most won’t get it.
-The UFC Fight Pass pales in comparison to the WWE’s digital network, a sentiment we share.
-The UFC Fight Pass is lacking a plethora of features that are standard issue on other digital streaming networks (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, etc). It’s also in dire need of polish. An example they give is that searching for “UFC 1″ will give you every single event starting with “UFC” and “1″, so you’ll get UFC 1, 10, 11…100, 101, etc.)
-The legalese in the UFC Fight Pass’ terms of use agreement is binding and horrific (although this isn’t unique to the UFC).
But FightOpinion wasn’t the only MMA Media outlet to have doubts about the UFC Fight Pass. MMA Mania’s Matt Roth wenton a twitterrantagainstthe service. Even worse, he says that the UFC charged him for watching fights on the Fight Pass—fights that your monthly $10 is purportedly granting you access to.
It’s clear that the Fight Pass is a half-finished cash grab that’s held together by duct tape. If you buy it in its current, faulty incarnation, you’re either a mark for the UFC or an MMA media member (though there’s a lot of crossover here). Stay away from the fight pass for a while longer. It’s not ready for public consumption.
However, that didn’t stop the UFC from airing its first card on the UFC Fight Pass: UFC Fight Night 34, an event that was held in Singapore this morning.
For the most part, there wasn’t a whole lot of game-changing stuff to happen on this event. We’ll give you a quick rundown with some GIFs (all courtesy of @ZProphet_MMA) and then the complete results:
22-year-old kickboxing ace Max Holloway, who recently suffered a loss to Conor McGregor, returned to the winning column on the prelims.
In the co-main event, famed Japanese fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri made a successful UFC debut, submitting Sean Soriano via rear naked choke in the second round—a submission where the referee literally missed the frantic tapout while he was standing right in front of the fighters.
The main event featured a fight between Tarec Saffiedine and Hyun Gyu Lim. By all accounts the fight was entertaining, but Saffiedine was clearly the better fighter. He made use of his signature leg kicks throughout the fight to cripple Lim, stymieing the Korean’s offensive efforts. Saffiedine walked away with a unanimous decision victory.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Tarec Saffiedine def. Hyun Gyu Lim via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Sean Soriano via technical submission (rear naked choke), 0:50 of Round 2
Kiichi Kunimoto def. Luiz Dutra via DQ (illegal elbows), 2:57 of Round 1
Kyung-Ho Kang def. Shunichi Shimizu via submission (arm triangle), 3:53 of Round 3
Preliminary Card
Max Holloway def. Will Chope via TKO (punches), 2:27 of Round 2
Katsunori Kikuno def. Quinn Mulhern via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Royston Wee def. Dave Galera via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Mairbek Taisumov def. Tae Hyun Bang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Dustin Kimura def. Jon Delos Reyes via submission (armbar), 2:13 of Round 1
Russell Doane def. Leandro Issa via technical submission (triangle), 4:59 of Round 2
After the run the UFC just came off in the previous year, there is going to have to be a lot of work put in to raise the bar higher in 2014.
Following a campaign where there was no shortage of “Fight of the Year” candidates, highlight-reel knockouts an…
After the run the UFC just came off in the previous year, there is going to have to be a lot of work put in to raise the bar higher in 2014.
Following a campaign where there was no shortage of “Fight of the Year” candidates, highlight-reel knockouts and unforgettable tilts is going to be no small task, but the UFC made its first steps of the new year on Saturday morning at Fight Night 34 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The card was also the debut event held on the UFC’s newly launched digital network Fight Pass, the place where the organization intends to hold a handful of their global efforts going forward. While there are many reasons the UFC will be airing certain cards on their new on-line outlet, one of more poignant causes has to do with airing live events from countries on the other side of the globe.
The first preliminary fight on Saturday’s card kicked off at 6:30 a.m. EST stateside and that is certainly an awkward viewing time slot for the American audience. In addition to the early start time, the card was light on names that would ring familiar with the fan base, which put the majority of the focus on the welterweight tilt in the main event between Tarec Saffiedine and Lim Hyun Gyu.
The last man to hold the Strikeforce 170-pound strap was making his long-awaited Octagon debut at Fight Night 34 and his Korean opponent was eager to keep the momentum he’s built under the UFC banner rolling when the two collided on Saturday in Singapore. And what a fight it was.
Lim got off to a strong start in the early goings, but the Team Quest fighter used his precision striking to chop away at his opponent’s left leg. Once the damage started to tally up, “Sponge” took a clear lead, but his inability to put Lim away allowed the big welterweight to remain dangerous.
With the clock ticking down—and in full desperation mode—Lim went on full attack and wobbled Saffiedine with a flurry. While his show of heart was impressive, it wasn’t enough to steal the win, and the Belgian fighter took the unanimous decision victory.
Outside of the fight at the top of the bill, a collection of promotional newcomers, veterans and prospects eager to make their marks let the leather fly as they attempted to get their new year off on the right foot. While there were solid performances on Saturday, there were also a few flat showings and that made for a relatively mild showing at Fight Night 34.
And of course any time a promotion kicks off a new endeavor in a new market with a cast of unknown fighters like they did in Singapore, there are going to be a few curious happenings.
Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from Fight Night 34.
The Good
Tarec Saffiedine’s first go inside the Octagon had been stalled on previous occasions, but he finally got back to business on Saturday night by defeating Lim Hyun Gyu. The 27-year-old used his striking pedigree to take away Lim’s size and reach advantage as Saffiedine peppered and battered his Korean counterpart.
Once the vicious array of leg kicks he was handing out began to take their toll, Saffiedine showed excellent patience as he continued to work an effective game plan. With Lim barely standing in the fourth round, Saffiedine fired off a beautiful flying knee that dropped “The Ace” to the canvas.
While Saffiedine’s performance was impressive, the only knock would be his inability to finish a visibly wounded opponent. Lim stayed in the fight and nearly finished Saffiedine with a flurry of his own as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
With the victory Saffiedine has now won five consecutive showings and has been successful in eight of his last nine outings. The welterweight ranks in the UFC are deeper than any other division on the roster, and Saffiedine kept himself in position to be a major player as the title race heats up in 2014.
A night in the Octagon has been a long time coming for Tatsuya Kawajiri and he certainly made the most of it at Fight Night 34. “Crusher” has been one of the elite fighters in the ranks of Japanese MMA for years, and he finally made his UFC debut against Sean Soriano on Saturday night in Singapore.
While the 24-year-old held his ground early, Kawajiri’s pursuit of the takedown was relentless. After eating a few well placed knees and counter punches, the 35-year-old was finally able to get Soriano’s back on the canvas, which was exactly where he wanted him.
Once Kawajiri had the dominant position, he unloaded his signature brand of ground and pound until he found an opening and moved to Soriano’s back. After locking on a body triangle, Kawajiri latched onto a rear naked choke and secured his first victory under the UFC banner.
With the win, Kawajiri has now found success in six consecutive showings, with his last loss coming in 2011 at the hands of top lightweight Gilbert Melendez. Shortly after the loss to “El Nino,” Kawajiri made the drop to featherweight, and has looked impressive in every outing at 145 pounds. His performance against Soriano proved he will be a solid addition to an already deep pool in the UFC featherweight division.
*** Max Holloway put the brakes on a two-fight skid by chopping down UFC newcomer Will Chope on the final bout on the preliminary portion of the card. Despite having difficulty getting through Chope’s reach in the opening two minutes, the young Hawaiian finally found his groove midway through the first, and started to put the hurt on his opponent.
Although Chope made it out of the opening frame, he had defeat written all over his face in between rounds, and was finished shortly into the second stanza. In doing so, Holloway picked up his fourth UFC win in seven showings and continues to be a solid prospect at 145 pounds.
*** It was a great night for the Hawaiian fighters on the card (3-0) for Fight Night 34 and Dustin Kimura got things off to a hot start for the island contingent with a first-round submission victory over Jon Delos Reyes. The victory for Kimura makes him successful in two of his three showings inside the Octagon and keeps the future looking bright for the 24 year old.
The Bad
As if one dismal officiating performance wasn’t enough, Steve Percival brought a unique brand of poor officiating on Saturday. While he doled out a rare two-point deduction in a fight early on the card, he came back with force a few bouts later by blanking out at a crucial moment in the co-main event between Tatsuya Kawajiri and Sean Soriano.
The Japanese fighter had a rear-naked choke locked in and despite the Team Blackzilians fighter clearly tapping out, Percival missed the tap. This forced Soriano to endure a few extra seconds of a deep choke and to briefly lose consciousness.
Fighter safety is the primary reason a referee is inside the cage and Percival failed miserably at his job at Fight Night 34.
One of the perks of viewing cards on Fight Pass is the corner audio provided in between rounds and this feature gave a look at just how poor of a job Will Chope’s coaches did in his fight with Holloway.
The 23-year-old Sacramento native had some early success against the Hawaiian, but was definitely on the business end of things in the second half and certainly the end of the round. Chope at a nasty flurry of knees to the midsection and big shots to the chin and those shots appeared to take the fight right out of his body.
Once he sat down on the stool and dropped his head, his corner man immediately set in with telling him how great he looked and that he had won the round. While the psychology of every fighter is different, blatantly lying to your fighter is never the way to go.
Granted, with Chope being broken in the opening round and Holloway with a full head of steam, there wasn’t much he was going to be able to do to stop the 22-year-old, but his corner should have addressed the reality that was clearly in front of them.
The Strange
Call it what you will, but working fight coverage at 6:30 a.m. EST is strange. With that out of the way let’s move on to take a look at the other weird happenings in Singapore.
Katsunori Kikuno may have picked up a victory in his promotional debut over Quinn Mulhern on the preliminary portion of the card, but there was nothing typical about anything that happened. Despite having over 30 fights in Japanese organizations, this was the first look UFC fans were privy to seeing Kikuno’s awkward karate stance.
Where movement is key to former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida’s karate-based style, the Japanese fighter is known to use the exacct opposite approach and that is certainly the attack he used against Mulhern—who had a nine inch reach advantage in the tilt.
What would a fight card be without some questionable officiating or judging to be had? While the majority of the card went off without a hitch, referee Steve Percival put his skills on display during the first bout of the main card between Kang Kyung-Ho and Shunichi Shimizu.
After Ho had Shimizu locked in a triangle for most of the first two minutes of the fight, he started dropping a bevy of illegal 12-6 elbows down on his opponent’s face which forced the referee to jump in and call time out.
While the elbows definitely warranted punishment, Percival dropped the iron gauntlet and issued a two-point deduction to Ho. Where that level of penalization was debatable, it was ultimately Percival’s call and he stuck by it.
That said, what made things even more curious was Percival continuously speaking to both fighters as if they were fluent in the English language. During a stop in the action for what was a legal kick, Percival carried on conversation with both fighters as they stared blankly at him in confusion.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.
Kawajiri has been inactive for all of 2013, but longtime MMA fans will surely remember his appearances in PRIDE and Dream, including the classic wars he had against Eddie Alvarez and Takanori Gomi. We’ve placed both those fights after the jump for your enjoyment. UFC Fight Night 34 is slated to go down at the Marina Bay Sands in Marina Bay, Singapore, and will likely be headlined by Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine.
Kawajiri has been inactive for all of 2013, but longtime MMA fans will surely remember his appearances in PRIDE and Dream, including the classic wars he had against Eddie Alvarez and Takanori Gomi. We’ve placed both those fights after the jump for your enjoyment. UFC Fight Night 34 is slated to go down at the Marina Bay Sands in Marina Bay, Singapore, and will likely be headlined by Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine.
(Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Eddie Alvarez, DREAM.5, 7/21/08)
(Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Takanori Gomi, Pride Bushido 9, 9/25/05)
(Tatsuya Kawajiri highlight via Kid Milly. The video says “Fight, Billy, fight!” but the music says “Dance, Billy, dance!”)
Some moderately interesting news out of Japan today (no, not the countries newfound enthusiasm for abstinence), as it is being reported that former Strikeforce title challenger Tatsuya Kawajiri has signed with the UFC.
Currently riding a five fight win streak (with four finishes) and sporting an overall record of 32-7-2, Kawajiri has long been considered one of the greatest Asian lighterweight fighters currently competing today. With victories over Joachim Hansen, Yves Edwards, Josh Thomson, Gesias Cavalcante and Krazy Horse to his credit, it seemed as if a call up to the UFC was inevitable for the former Shooto champion.
Although Kawajiri’s signing has yet to be confirmed by the UFC, sources close to “Crusher” told MMAJunkie that Kawajiri is hoping to make his promotional debut on the UFC’s inaugural Singapore-based card, “Fight Night 34,” in January. Given that Kawajiri’s only stateside appearance resulted in an annihilation via elbows to Gilbert Melendez in their Strikeforce lightweight title fight at Strikeforce: Diaz vs Daley, we can’t really argue with his logic.
We will have more on Kawajiri’s signing as details are made available.
(Tatsuya Kawajiri highlight via Kid Milly. The video says “Fight, Billy, fight!” but the music says “Dance, Billy, dance!”)
Some moderately interesting news out of Japan today (no, not the countries newfound enthusiasm for abstinence), as it is being reported that former Strikeforce title challenger Tatsuya Kawajiri has signed with the UFC.
Currently riding a five fight win streak (with four finishes) and sporting an overall record of 32-7-2, Kawajiri has long been considered one of the greatest Asian lighterweight fighters currently competing today. With victories over Joachim Hansen, Yves Edwards, Josh Thomson, Gesias Cavalcante and Krazy Horse to his credit, it seemed as if a call up to the UFC was inevitable for the former Shooto champion.
Although Kawajiri’s signing has yet to be confirmed by the UFC, sources close to “Crusher” told MMAJunkie that Kawajiri is hoping to make his promotional debut on the UFC’s inaugural Singapore-based card, “Fight Night 34,” in January. Given that Kawajiri’s only stateside appearance resulted in an annihilation via elbows to Gilbert Melendez in their Strikeforce lightweight title fight at Strikeforce: Diaz vs Daley, we can’t really argue with his logic.
We will have more on Kawajiri’s signing as details are made available.
ONE Fighting Championship’s third event was billed as War of the Lions, and it certainly lived up to its moniker with exciting bouts, quick knockouts and brilliant submissions. In the wake of the success of the event, we grade the fighters involv…
ONE Fighting Championship’s third event was billed as War of the Lions, and it certainly lived up to its moniker with exciting bouts, quick knockouts and brilliant submissions. In the wake of the success of the event, we grade the fighters involved and look forward to what their next fight in ONE FC could be.
Zorobel Moreira (B+) defeats Felipe Enomoto(C) (Armbar, 1:04 of round 3)
Moreira, the head Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) instructor at Evolve MMA, demonstrated his striking skills in the first two rounds with an array of vicious leg kicks. Enomoto seemed to be wary of trading with Moreira, and the damage to his leg was evident when he crumbled after yet another leg kick but was able to hang on. When Moreira chose to take the fight to the ground, he displayed his BJJ prowess with a beautiful transition from the mount position to an arm-bar and Enomoto has no choice but to tap.
Tatsuya Kawajiri (A-) defeats Donald Sanchez (D) (triangle choke, 3:32 of round 1)
Donald Sanchez was billed as a wrestling, but it was Kawajiri who had the edge there as he took Sanchez down and worked the top position until he locked in a triangle choke and left the match more or less unscathed.
What’s Next: Tatsuya Kawajiri VS Zorobel Moreira.
Kawajiri is currently a featherweight, but there is nobody else for Zorobel Moreira to fight in the promotion, and Kawajiri has to fancy his chances. Moving up in weight could create a size and strength disadvantage, but the Moreira is not the kind of fighter to seize that advantage and the stock Kawajiri might even be able to muscle him around. This should be to crown the first ONE FC lightweight champion.
Ole Laursen (B-) defeats Eduard Folayang (B) (split decision)
This is a back-and-forth affair with Ole starting off strong and being able to take Eduard to the canvas several times. They traded dominant positions several times and had many good exchanges over the three rounds. All three rounds were extremely tight. We went to the Judges scorecard and Laursen, who looked worse than Folayang, prevented an upset by split decision.
What’s Next: Ole Laursen vs Eduard Folayang
This fight was an exciting extravaganza, and it was close the entire way. Clearly there were sections of the crowd who thought Folayang won and voiced their displeasure after the result. In the post-fight interview, Laursen was open to a rematch and the amount of action the first bout provided, seems like a easy call.
For the majority of the three rounds, Monteiro used his superior strength and clinch work to grind Shirai against the cage, with a few punches and knees thrown in to stop the referee from quickly separating them. Shirai demonstrated cleaner boxing techniques but kept getting into clinch range with Monteiro who was more than happy to clinch.
What’s Next: Fabricio Monteiro VS Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Yoshiyuki Yoshida brings vast experience to the cage and was victorious the previous time he was in ONE FC, defeating Phil Baroni. He provides a stiff test for the Brazilian and is another big name for him to potentially add to his list.
Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi ruled a no-contest
They trade shots for awhile with none of them finding its target, thankfully for Nakanishi as Manhoef is famous for his powerful punches. Midway through the first round, the referee stops the fight as both the fighters had cuts on their legs. Manhoef’s cut is incredibly nasty as it goes from the knee to just above the foot and is at least a few centimeters thick. The referee makes the unpopular decision of calling off the fight after the doctor’s advice.
What’s Next: Melvin Manhoef VS Yoshiyuki Nakanishi
Clearly there is unfinished business, and it is very likely that their next fights will be against each other, though that fight might occur in a different promotion, possibly in Japan.
UFC Fight Night 39 will have a very interesting bout in its co-main event, as it was just announced that Pride veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri will face former fan favorite Clay Guida. The news was announced by MMA Weekly.
