Since they’re all in the twilight of their careers, it seemed natural for the UFC to add Takanori Gomi, Norafumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Yoshihiro Akiyama to the UFC Fight Night 52 card in September in Japan, according to Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting.
Altho…
Since they’re all in the twilight of their careers, it seemed natural for the UFC to add TakanoriGomi, Norafumi “Kid” Yamamoto and YoshihiroAkiyama to the UFC Fight Night 52 card in September in Japan, according to Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting.
Although none of the three men have flourished since joining the UFC, the company’s brass must assume that if anything’s going to motivate them, it’ll be the UFC’s first trip to Japan since UFC on Fuel TV 8.
Of the three, only Gomi fought on the UFC on Fuel TV 8 card, which was held at the Saitama Super Arena—the same venue that will play host to UFC Fight Night 52—in March 2013. Gomi lost via split decision to Diego Sanchez in a catchweight bout at 158 pounds.
Gomi, who sports a UFC record of 4-4, has won three of his last four fights, the latest win coming via unanimous decision over Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 172 in April.
Gomi has fought 28 of his first 30 bouts in Japan and holds a 31-5 record there. In his sovereign land, The Fireball Kid has never been KO’d and has only been submitted twice.
Neither Yamamaoto nor Akiyama have fought since the company’s first trip to the Saitama Super Arena, where the pair suffered losses at UFC 144 in February 2012. Yamamoto got armbarred by Vaughan Lee to drop his third straight UFC bout, and Akiyama dropped a unanimous decision to Jake Shields to lose his fourth straight fight in the promotion.
Yamamoto won 16 of his first 17 bouts in Japan, 13 of which he won by way of KO. He has dropped three of his last four bouts in his home country.
Akiyama lost just once in his first 13 bouts in Japan.
New Zealander Mark Hunt, a legend in Japanese MMA, will lock horns with ninth-ranked UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson in the night’s main event.
The eighth-ranked Hunt went 5-3 in Japan during his days with PRIDE FC in its cutthroat heavyweight division. Hunt’s only losses in PRIDE came in bouts against FedorEmelianenko, Josh Barnett and HidehikoYoshida.
In 29 pro fights, Big Country has yet to compete in Japan. Nelson has won seven of 12 fights in the UFC.
UFC fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama’s next fight could be in court.According to AsianMMA.com (via BJPenn.com), Akiyama’s now-former manager, Sawayama Tarou, was recently arrested for allegedly stealing $140,000 from the MMA star in a major embezzlement scand…
According to AsianMMA.com (via BJPenn.com), Akiyama‘s now-former manager, SawayamaTarou, was recently arrested for allegedly stealing $140,000 from the MMA star in a major embezzlement scandal.
Tarou, who was also a close personal friend of Akiyama‘s, was put in charge of overseeing the professional fighter’s finances, sponsorships and endorsement deals.
An arrest has been a longtime coming in this pending investigation, which Akiyama reported to the police back in 2008. He posted about the incident in a blog post back in 2010, which was translated by Got MMA? (via BloodyElbow.com):
It is embarrassing to share this personal story but all of my fight money, the money I’ve been saving from beginning of my MMA career, is gone. I had a friend who I became acquainted with when I was practicing judo. We became close friends and I respected him very much as a person. But basically, he has embezzled all the money. That’s hundreds and thousands of dollars.
According to the police, Tarou was caught after attempting to use the stolen money for a credit card payment. He allegedly stole five times from the account that held Akiyama‘s earnings from fighting.
After being picked up in Osaka, Japan, Tarou is expected to face charges in an unknown location.
Coming off a four-fight losing streak, Akiyama hasn’t competed in over a year. He was initially expected to be released from his UFC contract after a unanimous decision loss to Jake Shields at UFC 144, but the UFC opted to keep him around due to his charisma and exciting fighting style.
After the bout, he was slated to face ThiagoAlves at UFC 149, but an undisclosed injury forced him to withdraw from the fight. He has been on a quiet hiatus ever since.
Tarou is currently under investigation for the possibility of being involved in other crimes.
The term “swag” or “swagger” denotes specifically a person’s style of dress as well as how they carry themselves. That’s quite a subjective criteria and in terms of MMA, can denote anyone not dressing in the usual mi…
The term “swag” or “swagger” denotes specifically a person’s style of dress as well as how they carry themselves.
That’s quite a subjective criteria and in terms of MMA, can denote anyone not dressing in the usual mixture of Affliction t-shirts and neck tattoos. But it takes more than that to rank in the top ten of the most “swagtastic” fighters competing today.
With the media attention and image consultants that now surround the modern MMA athlete, here’s a look at 10 fighters that represent the finest turned-out men in the sport.
The reason that the Superbowl is the biggest event of the year is based on official rankings. After a season of play, teams move to the playoffs, where the best representatives of each league emerge to battle for the biggest prize in sports. The two te…
The reason that the Superbowl is the biggest event of the year is based on official rankings. After a season of play, teams move to the playoffs, where the best representatives of each league emerge to battle for the biggest prize in sports. The two teams playing have earned the right to call themselves the best in their respective league.
In mixed martial arts, promoting a fight between two of the baddest men on the planet can generate an enormous buyrate. However, without a regular season in which you compete against everyone in your division, a fighter doesn’t have the opportunity to make an undisputed claim that he is the best.
That’s where hype comes into play.
Anything can happen in mixed martial arts. Upsets occur on a regular basis as a way of reminding us that we cannot predict with 100 percent certainty who will win any given matchup.
Because of this ambivalence, hype can convince fans that some promising fighter is the next big thing in the business. By pushing the strengths of unproven or unworthy commodities, promoters can add a “must-see” level of intrigue to their next matchup.
Do you remember believing, if only for a second, that Dan Hardy could defeat Georges St-Pierre? Behold the power of hype.
Some hyped prospects are labeled as such early on in their careers, and eventually strap championships around their waists. Junior dos Santos, Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar are members of that elite club. Others didn’t fare quite so well.
Today, we focus on the losers. Here is a look at fighters who entered the UFC with a lot of hype, but failed to live up to the expectations.
With a big mouth, never-ending confidence and a charismatic bravado, Chael Sonnen went from being a forgettable wrestler to a worldwide sensation almost overnight. His rants that focused on middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Brazilian culture and ot…
With a big mouth, never-ending confidence and a charismatic bravado, ChaelSonnen went from being a forgettable wrestler to a worldwide sensation almost overnight. His rants that focused on middleweight champion Anderson Silva, Brazilian culture and other assorted topics commonly left readers wondering, “Did he really just say that?”
The braggadocio of Sonnen made the world believe that he was a true-blue contender, and although his losses to Demian Maia and Paulo Filho would seemingly dictate otherwise, the American Gangster had recently put together big wins over YushinOkami and Nate Marquardt (who were ranked No. 4 and No. 2 respectively) to his credit.
Due to the love-him-or-hate-him image of Sonnen, many claim that he is not a serious threat in the cage and that he is a product of hype. Contrarily, people commonly agree that Michael Bisping, someone with similar personality traits and cocky self-image, is worthy of a title shot. There are some big differences between the two men, but the biggest of them all comes in terms of quality wins.
On September 22, Michael “The Count” Bisping will meet Brian Stann on the main card of UFC 152. Bisping believes that a win over Stann is the only thing between him and a crack at the UFC middleweight championship.
I’ve been there in the UFC now for six years, fighting the best the UFC’s had to offer and I’m still here. I’ve got a stellar record and I want to fight the champ. Obviously I got to earn that right, and that starts on September 22nd pay-per-view against Brian Stann.
I’m training as hard as I ever trained. I’ve got a fantastic camp going on. Other than that, I’m going to go out there to completely embarrass Brian Stann. I’m going to prove that I’m in a completely different league, beat the crap out of him and take my title shot.
If the things that Bisping said in this interview were true, then I would have no issues with him contending for the belt. However, the claim that he has been fighting the best that the UFC has to offer is a bit misleading.
While The Count has squared off with “the best”, such as middleweight title contenders Dan Henderson and ChaelSonnen, he came up short in both instances. In addition, Wanderlei Silva was an unranked fighter who had lost five of his last six bouts before meeting Bisping at UFC 110. Once again, Bisping was given an opportunity to beat a highly regarded opponent with name value, but came up short.
Then, there is the “stellar record” that the British star referenced. Since moving down to middleweight, Bisping has put together eight wins, while losing three bouts. That makes his win percentage 72.7 percent, which is a very strong number, but it needs further examination to avoid being misleading.
When looking strictly at Bisping‘s record against the division’s former world champions or title contenders, The Count has found success in one of four fights—the three aforementioned losses with the lone victory coming against Jason “Mayhem” Miller last December.
Miller’s presence in that list is a mere technicality, as he once fought for the Strikeforce Middleweight championship, but he was gifted that based on name value alone, as he had never even competed in the organization prior to the shot at gold.
Against elite competition, we can see that Bisping‘s “stellar record” is actually 1-3, with a major leap in calling Mayhem an elite fighter.
You may be asking yourself about the other opponents whom Bisping has bested. Let’s take a brief look.
Charles McCarthy was an unranked cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 4 whose biggest career win was over Gideon Ray. He entered the fight with a record of 10-4 and promptly retired after the loss to Bisping.
Jason Day was also unranked, but coming off of a win over Alan Belcher. His record was 18-7 heading into the fight with Bisping, but he clearly wasn’t ready for the UFC. After this loss, he would lose four of his next five fights, and he hasn’t competed since June 2011.
Chris Leben is arguably the biggest win of Bisping‘s career. A fan favorite known for his brawling style and unflinching chin, Leben does well against fighters who are willing to stand and bang, but Bisping kept Leben at bay by jabbing from a distance and circling away for much of the fight. Leben was ranked No. 22 at the time of this fight.
Denis Kang is yet another fighter on this list who is no longer on the UFC roster. A former star for PRIDE, Kang had some star power, but it was quickly removed when he lost his promotional debut to Alan Belcher. Going 4-4 leading up to the Bisping fight, Kang was unranked and was released by the UFC after a disappointing 1-2 run.
Dan Miller is a solid fighter, but he had lost two straight bouts leading up to the contest with Bisping. Miller has never defeated a ranked fighter in his career, with his biggest win coming over Joe Doerksen. He, too, was unranked.
YoshihiroAkiyama has not looked good in a single UFC appearance. His decision win over Alan Belcher is deemed to be controversial, and all four of his other Zuffa bouts ended in a loss. He was ranked No. 17 at the time of this fight.
Jorge Rivera fought Michael Bisping on the eve of his 39th birthday. He was ranked No. 25 in his division, and the fight is horribly marred by an illegal knee that The Count planted on his opponent in a moment of rage. Rivera is a prideful guy and chose to continue, but there is little question that this fight should have been a DQ loss for Bisping.
To sum up, we are looking at five unranked fighters (Miller wasn’t ranked, either), No. 25 Rivera, No. 22 Leben and No. 17 Akiyama.
With the recent divisional departures of ChaelSonnen, Demian Maia and VitorBelfort, the big-mouthed basher from the U.K. is now ranked No. 3 in the world. Of the fighters who you just read about, who exactly did Michael Bisping beat to make him worthy of his ranking?
Sure, Brian Stann is ranked No. 7 in the world, but that’s really by default. With Sonnen and Belfort leaving, everyone got boosted two spots in the rankings without doing anything to earn their new spot.
I am positive that the comments on this article are going to be fueled with readers who scream that Bisping performed well against ChaelSonnen on short notice. Sure, that’s true. But did he win the fight? Can we please not forget that right now, Michael Bisping is coming off of a loss?
People seem satisfied ranking the Brit at No. 3 and praising him as if he is a title contender. Is it because he the best British fighter in the UFC? Is it because of his status as a winner of The Ultimate Fighter? Is it possible because he is the most popular middleweight to never challenge Anderson Silva? I’m not sure.
In the immortal words of Ric Flair, to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man, and as of today, the best man that Bisping beat was sitting at No. 17.
We don’t have an easy way to break this to you, so we’ll just come out and say it: Afghan knockout artist Siyar Bahadurzada has been sent to live with our friend who owns a farm upstate. He’ll be able to frolic in an open field to his heart’s desire, and he’ll have plenty of friends to play with. Because of this, he won’t be fighting at UFC 149 against Chris Clements.
Just kidding, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. What, you actually believed your parents when they told you your dog was living on a farm upstate? That’s adorable.
Injury victim, or karma victim?
We don’t have an easy way to break this to you, so we’ll just come out and say it: Afghan knockout artist Siyar Bahadurzada has been sent to live with our friend who owns a farm upstate. He’ll be able to frolic in an open field to his heart’s desire, and he’ll have plenty of friends to play with. Because of this, he won’t be fighting at UFC 149 against Chris Clements.
Just kidding, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. What, you actually believed your parents when they told you your dog was living on a farm upstate? That’s adorable.
Replacing Bahadurzada will be Matt Riddle. Riddle is coming off of a split-decision over Henry Martinez, a lightweight who took the welterweight bout on short notice, at UFC 143. The victory snapped a two fight skid which saw him drop unanimous decisions to Sean Pierson and Lance Benoist.
Okay, so it’s not the most compelling matchup, but given the way that injuries have ravaged this card, it’s a small miracle we even have a UFC 149.
For those of you keeping score, this bout was initially set to be Thiago Alves vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, which became Alves vs. Bahadurzada after an injury to Sexyama, which became Bahadurzada vs. Clements after an injury to Alves, and is now Clements vs. Riddle after an injury to Bahadurzada. And this doesn’t even put a dent in the injuries that have plagued the rest of the card.
We’d ask who ya got for this one, but honestly, the odds are pretty good that this bout is going to be changed before it’s all said and done.
Since they’re all in the twilight of their careers, it seemed natural for the UFC to add Takanori Gomi, Norafumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Yoshihiro Akiyama to the UFC Fight Night 52 card in September in Japan, according to Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting.