James Thompson vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka 1:58 R2
Kirill Sidelnikov vs. Carlos Toyota 2:23 R1
Felipe Efrain vs. Yuki Motoya R1 5:45
Kickboxing: Akiyo Nishiura vs. Hiroya 1:20 R3
Kickboxing: Hinata vs. Kazuyuki Miyata 2:14 R1
Anatoly Tokov vs. A.J. Matthews 0:55 R1
Kizaemon Saiga vs. Hideo Tokoro 5:16 R1
DJ Taiki (Daiki Hata) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya 3R UD
Fighting World Grand Prix 2015 Tournament Reserve: Valentin Moldavsky vs. Yuta Uchida 2:20 R1
Fighting World Grand Prix 2015 Tournament Quarterfinals
Brett McDermott vs. King Mo (Muhammed Lawal) 9:10 R1
Bruno Cappelozza vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis 4:32 R1
Vadim Nemkov vs. Goran Reljic 2:58 R1
Jiri Prochazka vs. Satoshi Ishii 1:36 R1
Shinya Aoki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba 5:56 R1
Jleana Valentino vs. Rena Kubota 3:31 R2
Fighting World Grand Prix 2015 Semifinal: Teodoras Aukstuolis vs. King Mo 2R UD
Fighting World Grand Prix 2015 Semifinal: Jiri Prochazka vs. Vadim Nemkov 10:00 R1
Brennan Ward vs. Ken Hasegawa 1:52 R2
Maike Linhares vs. Soo Chul Kim 3R UD
Kickboxing: Yang Ming vs. Takeru 3:00 R2
Lei'D Tapa vs. Gabi Garcia 2:36 R1
Shootboxing: Bob Sapp vs. Akebono Taro 3R TD
Baruto Kaito vs. Peter Aerts 3R UD
Yuichiro Nagashima vs. Andy Souwer 5:28 R1
Erson Yamamoto vs. Kron Gracie 4:58 R1
Fighting World Grand Prix 2015 Final: Jiri Prochazka vs. Muhammed Lawal 5:09 R1
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jaideep Singh 3:02 R1
Disc 1-2 Saraba 12/29/15
James Thompson vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka 1:58 R2
Kirill Sidelnikov vs. Carlos Toyota 2:23 R1
Felipe Efrain vs. Yuki Motoya R1 5:45
Kickboxing: Akiyo Nishiura vs. Hiroya 1:20 R3
Kickboxing: Hinata vs. Kazuyuki Miyata 2:14 R1
Anatoly Tokov vs. A.J. Matthews 0:55 R1
Kizaemon Saiga vs. Hideo Tokoro 5:16 R1
DJ Taiki (Daiki Hata) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya 3R UD
Shinya Aoki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba 5:56 R1
Disc 3-4 IZA no mai 12/31/15
Jleana Valentino vs. Rena Kubota 3:31 R2
Brennan Ward vs. Ken Hasegawa 1:52 R2
Maike Linhares vs. Soo Chul Kim 3R UD
Kickboxing: Yang Ming vs. Takeru 3:00 R2
Lei'D Tapa vs. Gabi Garcia 2:36 R1
Shootboxing: Bob Sapp vs. Akebono Taro 3R TD
Baruto Kaito vs. Peter Aerts 3R UD
Yuichiro Nagashima vs. Andy Souwer 5:28 R1
Erson Yamamoto vs. Kron Gracie 4:58 R1
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jaideep Singh 3:02 R1
Disc 5-6 Fighting World Grand Prix 2015 Tournament
Valentin Moldavsky vs. Yuta Uchida 2:20 R1
Brett McDermott vs. King Mo (Muhammed Lawal) 9:10 R1
Bruno Cappelozza vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis 4:32 R1
Vadim Nemkov vs. Goran Reljic 2:58 R1
Jiri Prochazka vs. Satoshi Ishii 1:36 R1
Semifinal: Teodoras Aukstuolis vs. King Mo 2R UD
Semifinal: Jiri Prochazka vs. Vadim Nemkov 10:00 R1
Final: Jiri Prochazka vs. Muhammed Lawal 5:09 R1
12/29/15: Shinya Aoki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba R1 5:56. A dream match pitting the top Japanese fighter of the PRIDE era vs. the top Japanese fighter of the DREAM era sounds nice on paper, but those days are gone, and the reality is Sakuraba is 46-years-old with way more wear & tear than even that age would suggest. He hasn't won an MMA fight in 6 years, while Aoki is still in his prime at 32-years-old & has won 16 out of 18 fights since Sakuraba's last win. Aoki just walked though Sakuraba, & it was just plain sad. It was no surprise, but seeing a legeng unable to muster the slightest bit of resistance is never pleasant to watch. The match was essentially over less than 2 minutes in when Aoki mounted (if we want to be very kind & not say 30 seconds in when he got the takedown). I can't remember the last time I saw someone do nothing beyond cover up while getting pounded for minute after minute, but that's because usually 20 seconds of that & the ref calls it. Granted Aoki doesn't punch very hard, but it seemed the ref didn't want the show & Sakurable to go out on such a feeble note, so he kept letting him take more & more punishment hoping something more would happen. It got to - & well past - the point where you just wanted to see Sakuraba's corner throw the towel in since the ref didn't want to do his primary & most important job, protect the fighters. Poor match, more depressing than anything.
RIZIN 2015 Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament Semifinal: King Mo vs. Teodoras Aukstoulis 2R. Aukstoulis comes forward & punches, but he lacks the foot & hand speed of Mo & seems a pretty straight up predictable fighter. Mo's standup game is improving, and he was content to box with Aukstoulis for the most part, landing a counter shot or two then backing out. Aukstoulis had his moments & wouldn't allow himself to be baited into leaving himself open by getting too overaggressive & extending too much, but Mo was the crisper, more accurate puncher. In the 2nd round, Mo shifted to his bread and butter grappling game. He scored a big slam early, but couldn't control, but then had another takedown 2 minutes in that led to him pounding Aukstoulis for the duration. The 1st round was competitive enough that it was marginally interesting despite the low volume, single shot style. The 2nd round was compete domination. Mo won a unanimous decision. Below average match.
RIZIN 2015 Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament Semifinal: Jiri Prochazka vs. Vadim Nemkov 1R. Probably the best match of the night. It was not only very competitive & back & forth match, but it just felt epic because these two were fighting their hearts out for the spot in the final. It depends upon how you want to view it though, as the 10 minute 1st round was totally killing them, probably even more than the punishment they were inflicting upon each other, so you could say that the fight wasn't that prodigious, and it was simply their lack of stamina that set the tone for the fight. In any case, they were really sucking wind, and that contributed to some errors, but it also kept the match exciting in a sense because the fatigue errors were at least partially contributing to the advantage changes. Nemkov survived a rear naked choke & took a knee & high kick late in the round, but managed to finish the round on top. Once the bell rang to end the 1st round, he just rolled onto his back though & never got back up. The ending was very unsatisfactory because it appeared to be a loss due to exhaustion, but it was a good, hard 10 minute fight. Above average match.
12/29/15: Hideo Tokoro vs. Kizaemon Saiga R1 5:16. Tokoro has long been one of the most, if not the most exciting fighter to watch. He already delivered the match of the year against LC Davis at Bellator 135 3/27/15. This was nowhere near that amazing. It was a classic submission vs. striker matchup, but Saiga only had two previous MMA fights, and it showed. Tokoro was standing too upright & getting tagged with big punches trying to get in on Saiga, but once he'd take him down he'd quickly manuever into a position where he could possibly finish. Saiga landed a nice right hand & backed Tokoro into the corner, but Tokoro threw him into side mount & quickly passed into an arm triangle that Saiga countered, taking top position. Tokoro dominated the ground otherwise though, getting Saiga'a back a few times but not quite being able to finish him. Finally Tokoro gave up on the rear naked choke & transitioned into an armbar for the win. Above average match.
Brennan Ward vs. Ken Hasegawa R2 1:52. Hasegawa was the aggressor, but he wasn't as powerful a puncher or as good a wrestler as Ward, and those were the two things he was trying to do. That being said, this was a tough fight for both men, with Hasegawa's heart & determination somewhat making up for what he was giving up in skill & technique. Hasegawa was able to tie Ward up, but Hasegawa was mostly just tiring himself out as Ward's guillotine prevented him from progressing very far with his takedown game. Ward finally timed Hasegawa's aggressiveness & dropped him with a big left hook coming in about 4 minutes in, but Hasegawa recovered enough to get a double leg off his knees when Ward tried to capitalize, buying him time to recover. Hasegawa had a good run during the middle of the round after attaining side control, but Ward finished the round strong after the separation with a couple big uppercuts then his own ground work. Ward was beginning to rely too heavily on his guillotine as the fight progressed, and Hasegawa had the confidence that he knew it was coming & knew how to defend it to allow himself to keep getting takedowns. Hasegawa was tiring in the 2nd from all his hard work struggling to will takedowns in the 1st, and began to get sloppy, slowly driving for a double leg while on his knees, which allowed Ward to hook a leg & sweep him into side mount. This was the beginning of the end, as Hasegawa gave his back before Ward even did anything from side mount, and Ward has a good rear naked choke, so once he flattened Hasegawa out it was game over. Overall, a fun, competitive fight where the better fighter won, but had it was close enough that had Hasegawa escaped & got another takedown he may have been able to win a really close decision. Above average match.
Asen Yamamoto vs. Kron Gracie R1 4:58. Gracie proved to be the better standup fighter, and his powerful punches from the clinch opened up a flying armbar that nearly - really should have - finished the fight. Yamamoto was in no mood to lose, and he was just being scrappy & determined, even if overmatched skill wise. The match again seemed ready to end when Kron mounted, but Yamamoto was able to sweep. Of course, he left his arm behind in the process & got triangled, but it was a great effort to evade finish long enough to get that far. Above average match.
Gabi Garcia vs. Lei'D Tapa R1 2:36. A standup match between two raw fighters with little technique isn't my cup of tea. Thankfully, it was quick, and wasn't totally one-sided, as Tapa did score a knockdown almost at the outset before getting nailed with a spinning backfist & pounded out on the mat.
Andy Souwer vs. Yuichiro Nagashima R1 5:28. Another old school striker vs. submission match. Souwer was pretty easy to get down, but Nagashima didn't have much of a takedown game, which kind of evened things out. Obviously no one wants to deal with the former S-cup & K-1 MAX champion in standup, so Nagashima wound up diving for a leg lock to try to get it to the ground anyway he could, only to be get pummelled when he quickly lost control. Nagashima had a weird half guard that was a remnant of the leg lock attempt and wasn't preventing Souwer from doing what he wanted to, to the point Souwer was essentially pounding from side mount, and poor Nagashima quickly got a tooth knocked out. I thought Souwer would just finish from this position because the weight he kept on his left leg prevented Nagashima from being able to sweep, and Nagashima was beginning to get woozy from the right elbows & knees, but Nagashima did just enough to change the position - sitting up - that Souwer decided to just disengage & finish with a flurry of punches on the ropes, beautifully mixing the left uppercut & body hook. Above average match.
RIZIN 2015 Heavyweight Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament Final: King Mo vs. Jiri Prochazka R1 5:09. Mo tried to have confidence in his striking again, but this was a much more dangerous opponent, as Prochazka had the reach and was using it to score with a variety of kicks. Once Mo went for the takedown, the fight turned drastically in his favor, and he quickly cut Prochazka outside the left eye with his ground and pound. Prochazka got overexcited when he was able to push Mo off with a foot & stand, and began to lunge in wildly trying to take advantage of his potentially time on his feet, but the I have to get it done now mentality led to him charging right into a huge right hook that put him out cold. Average match.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jaideep Singh R1 3:02. It's great to see Fedor back, but it would have been nice to have seen him fight a guy with any actual MMA experience. While this was more satisfying than seeing Sakuraba look like a legend in the worst sense of the word, it really didn't prove anything. Singh wasn't a strong enough opponent to get Fedor out of his comfort zone in any way. Fedor did what you knew he would, he charged in and got a hold of the kickboxer, tossed him to the ground, and then had his way. Singh didn't have a chance to use his range in standup, and once Fedor put him on his back, it was woefully appparent that he was way out of his depth. I thought Fedor was going to get a quick armbar because Singh exposed it, but he mounted, and all Singh could do was turn sideways and take punches. Below average match.
K-1 Rules: Yuya vs. Yuki R1 1:06
K-1 Rules: Danilo Zanolini vs. Norihisa Amimoto R1 2:19
K-1 Rules: Tetsuya Yamato vs. Hiroto Yamaguchi R1 2:37
Kanako Murata vs. Natalya Denisova 3R unanimous decision
Hisaki Kato vs. Yuta Watanabe R1 1:04
Kirill Sidelnikov vs. Chris Barnett 3R split decision
Daron Cruickshank vs. Shinji Sasaki R1 4:36
Shootboxing: Rena (Kubota) vs. Cyndi Alves 3R unanimous decision
Grappling Double Bout: Kazushi Sakuraba & Hideo Tokoro vs. Wanderlei Silva & Kiyoshi Tamura 15:00
Gabi Garcia vs. Anna Maliukova R2 2:05
Teodoras Aukstuolis vs. Jaideep Singh 3R unanimous decision
Karl Albrektsson vs. Vadim Nemkov 3R split decision
Jiri Prochazka vs. Kazuyuki Fujita R1 3:33
Gabi Garcia vs. Destanie Yarbrough R1 2:42
Kanako Murata vs. Kyra Batara 3R unanimous decision
Charles Bennett vs. Minoru Kimura R1 0:07
Openweight Grand Prix 1st Round: Szymon Bajor vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis 2R unanimous decision
Openweight Grand Prix 1st Round: Amir Aliakbari vs. Joao Almeida R1 2:25
Openweight Grand Prix 1st Round: Valentin Moldavsky vs. Karl Albrektsson 2R unanimous decision
Openweight Grand Prix 1st Round: Jiri Prochazka vs. Mark Tanios 2R unanimous decision
Asen Yamamoto vs. Kizaemon Saiga 2R split decision
Daron Cruickshank vs. Andy Souwer R1 4:10
Openweight Grand Prix 1st Round: Baruto Kaito vs. Kazuyuki Fujita 2R unanimous decision
Openweight Grand Prix 1st Round: Mirko Cro Cop (Filipovic) vs. Hyun Man Myung R1 2:20
Rena (Kubota) vs. Miyu Yamamoto R1 4:50
Kron Gracie vs. Hideo Tokoro R1 9:50
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Daron Cruickshank R1 8:18
Openweight Grand-Prix Reserve Fight: Vadim Nemkov vs. Alison Vicente R1 0:54
Alyssa Garcia vs. Kanna Asakura 3R unanimous decision
Yusuke Yachi vs. Mario Sismundo R1 0:18
Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Kai Kara France 3R. I'm really glad that Japan finally has a major MMA promotion again, but the disappointing aspect of this PRIDE revival promotion is they've mostly focused on the outdated openweight concept, which doesn't make for very exciting fights given that there are so few exciting heavyweight fighters, and this isn't the early 2000's anymore where you can be putting on tournaments with with Fedor, Nogueira, & Cro Cop in their prime while UFC is stuck with crap like Tim Sylvia vs. Gan McGee. Japan is probably never going to be a country with a strong crop of native heavyweights, but I loved the BUSHIDO shows where they had a number of fast, skilled fighters that could shine. If they ever do something more along those lines, or at least crown some lighter champions, DEEP's Flyweight champion Wada is an exciting fighter who could really make a name for himself. Though Wada's record of 16-8-2 is pretty good, he's much better than that in the sense that he started off 0-5, and was fighting at Bantamweight. He's 8-1 since he dropped to Flyweight, losing the title in the rematch to Yuki Motoya, who also could be a major player in RIZIN. Wada started out using his karate style to exploit his speed advantage here, staying on the outside & faking & feinting to try to open up darting attacks, but staying active landing low kicks & lead rights while evading most of what TUF 24 veteran France threw at him. Wada's low kicks added up quickly, and in three minutes he already knocked France down with one. As Wada tried to become more aggressive & fight at a closer distance, France began to land though, scoring a knockdown 40 seconds later with a right hook counter. Though Wada continued to damage with low kicks, he allowed France to drag him into a fire fight, which was great for the fans but not really to Wada's advantage, at least in so much as France's connect percentage has shot way up because Wada has conceded some of his evasion time. Wada hurt France's lead leg again at the start of the 2nd, already reaching the point that France was on borrowed time because he was hopping around even using it as his plant leg for a left kick. Wada had France circling with his back against the ropes for most of the 2nd, but France eventually tripped him up with a single leg & soccer ball kicked him as soon as he hit the ground. France failed to gain any real traction in his attempt to follow with a flurry of punches & stomps without actually going to the ground with Wada, and once the ref stood them back up, Wada against kicked his leg out. The first two rounds were quite good with some really exciting moments, but Wada pretty much took it all out of France. Once he rear mounted in the 3rd, France was truly in survival mode. France managed to make his way back to his feet twice, but couldn't dislodge Wada with his forward flips, and just got punched all round as he defended the rear naked choke. Wada won a unanimous decision. Good match.
Yuki Motoya vs. Allan Nascimento 2R. In addition to being a very competitive, back & forth match, it was enjoyable because they were able to take advantage of the broader RIZIN rule set to land some brutal techniques you can't see elsewhere. The fighters were more evenly matched in standup as Nascimento had the length, but Motoya had the speed. Motoya would take half steps forward, looking for his moment to dart into range, but Nascimento used his reach advantage in the first, keeping him back with an effective jab. Motoya conceeded going down on his back to stop Nascimento's right hands after Nascimento caught his kick, but that's more dangerous under these rules, and Nascimento was able to guard pass with regular or jumping stomps. Nascimento wasn't able to secure a guillotine, but had several minutes of top control before Motoya reversed him with an omoplata. Motoya's level on the mat was really high, as he was able to keep the submission pressure & striking pressure on while consistently advancing & adjusting positions. Motoya had less control time in the 1st, but made better use of it, landing several good punches & brutal knees to the face & threatening with a guillotine & from rear mount. Motoya did a better job of blocking or evading Nascimento's jab in the 2nd or just walked through it sometimes so he could get inside & land his hooks, but he took some good hooks as well before Nascimento took him down. Again, Nascimento was mainly just controlling, but Motoya used a gogoplata to transition into another omoplata sweep. Nascimento almost regained control as Motoya continued transitioning into a guillotine, but once Motoya had the body locked he swept into mount. Just a beautiful sequence that resulted in Motoya spending the final 75 seconds desperately trying to finish with the choke. Nascimento survived, but it was surprising that he even earned a judge given how strongly Motoya finished. Good match.
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Andy Souwer R1 4:39
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Nikita Sapun R1 2:45
Rin Nakai vs. Kanako Murata R3 1:16
Openweight Grand Prix Quarter Final: Valentin Moldavsky vs. Szymon Bajor 2R unanimous decision
Openweight Grand Prix Quarter Final: Amir Aliakbari vs. Heath Herring 2R unanimous decision
Openweight Grand Prix Quarter Final: Baruto Kaito vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka 2R unanimous decision
Openweight Grand Prix Quarter Final: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Muhammed Lawal R2 1:41
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Dylan Kawika Oligo R2 3:37
Openweight Grand Prix Semifinal: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Baruto Kaito R1 0:49
Openweight Grand Prix Semifinal: Amir Aliakbari vs. Valentin Moldavsky 2R split decision
Hayato Sakurai vs. Wataru Sakata R2 2:37
Gabi Garcia vs. Yumiko Hotta R1 0:41
Kizaemon Saiga vs. Dillin West R1 2:03
Andy Nguyen vs. Miyu Yamamoto R1 4:42
RENA (Kubota) vs. Hanna Tyson (Gujwan) R3 2:47
Hideo Tokoro vs. Asen Yamamoto R1 1:19
Kron Gracie vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri R2 2:05
Openweight Grand Prix Final: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Amir Aliakbari R1 2:03
Seiichiro Ito vs. Kizaemon Saiga 2R Unanimous Dec
Kanna Asakura vs. Aleksandra Toncheva 3R Unanimous Dec
Saori Ishioka vs. Bestare Kicaj 2:14 R1
Yusuke Yachi vs. Daron Cruickshank 5:11 R1
Reina Miura vs. Jazzy Gabert 4:54 R2
Satoshi Ishii vs. Heath Herring 2R Unanimous Dec
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Francesco Ghigliotti 1:07 R1
Rena Kubota vs. Dora Perjes 2:48 R1
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Yuki Motoya 2R Unanimous Dec
Amir Aliakbari vs. Geronimo Dos Santos 3:34 R1
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Anthony Birchak 2R Unanimous Dec
Karl Albrektsson vs. Teodoras Aukstuolis 8:01 R1
Shinju Nozawa-Auclair vs. Sheena Brandenburg 1:50 R1
Bantamweight Tournament 1st Round: Khalid Taha vs. Keita Ishibashi 4:52 R1
Bantamweight Tournament 1st Round: Takafumi Otsuka vs. Anthony Birchak 3R. The opening minute exemplifies why this is a fight Birchak should be able to win. Birchak just has so many more options and can keep pressuring the opponent. while Otsuka has a powerful right hand, which he got in once early, but he's only finished 3 of his 38 fights by KO/TKO, so it's not pleasant but you can take it & still win. Granted, some of Birchak's options may not be the most viable, but right away he used his standup combos to hit the single leg, and when he couldn't pass guard with his punches, he slapped on a standing achilles' tendon hold, not trying to drop down & finish but just waiting for the moment to toss Otsuka's legs aside & try to pass. Otsuka wasn't buying it & tried to sit up & get back to his feet only to be greated by a big knee, though Otsuka was able to just absorb it & get back to his feet, trying for his own takedown out of the clinch. Birchak kept being deceptive with his striking combos, mixing it up & changing levels until he was able to hit the double leg, but as usual Otsuka didn't take much damage on the ground and wound up getting an armbar attempt late. Birchak would win the round if it was the US, but 1st round top position with a couple of punches isn't that meaningful under a real scoring system. Otsuka dramatically turned the wrestling in his favor in the 2nd round with 4 brief takedowns, just maintaining the clinch & although Birchak could get up, Otsuka would just put him right back down. Birchak outlanded Otsuka, but his roundhouse kicks without any hip torque & short knees in the clinch were mainly just annoying whereas Otsuka's full power punches mainly mised, but the 2 he landed made an impression. Birchak always fights 3 hard rounds, but the way Otsuka was able to control him with the clinch game was a surprise, and the difference in the fight. It had definitely sapped some of Birchak's energy, and his striking game didn't have as much zip on it in the 3rd. The more Otsuka saw he was wearing Birchak down, the more he glued himself to Birchak, and when Birchak would slip free, Otsuka would have his opportunity to bomb a couple big right hands, grabbing Birchak again once he connected. The 1st round was definitely the best because Birchak was dynamic & opportunistic with his attack, whereas Otsuka had more success with his in the 2nd & 3rd rounds, so he could keep doing the same things because while Birchak had momentary answers, he lacked the adjustment that could break Otsuka's clinch/takedown or clinch/punch/clinch patterns. Again, this was one of those Rizin fights that was pretty entertaining the first time because it was a rare competitive match amidst a bunch of mismatches that result in quick finishes, but it doesn't look as good on the 2nd viewing because the pattern became repetitive since Birchak was unable to break it. Given Otsuka won the last 2 rounds, I was surprised that he only won via split decision. Good match.
Miyuu Yamamoto vs. Cassie Robb Unanimous 3R UD
Yusuke Yachi vs. Satoru Kitaoka 4:48 R2
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Kizaemon Saiga 1:36 R1
Reina Miura vs. Lei’D Tapa 3R UD
Gabi Garcia vs. Oksana Gagloeva R1 0:15
Amir Aliakbari vs. Tyler King 1:39 R1
Bantamweight Tournament 1st Round: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Hideo Tokoro 1:49 R1
K-1 Rule: Yoshihisa "Kyoken" Morimoto vs. Ryota RenseiGym 2:00 R3. I haven't been a huge fan of the kickboxing matches so far in Rizin, but tonights were all entertaining, especially this 1st one where they really hit it out of the park with what's likely the Rizin MOTY. Ryota had the reach advantage, but never found his range, as Morimoto was dead set on keeping that from being an issue, staying on the outside until he was ready to make his move then closing the distance with his punches & pressuring massively with hooks on the inside. Morimoto sometimes took his time working distance kicks to find his moment to enter, though mostly in the 1st round when he was figuring Ryota out, trying more to do damage with the middle & high kick than to chip away with the low kick, but once he got inside he fought in super aggressive full on pressure mode. What I loved about Morimoto is he stuck with his game plan even though he got spectacularly dropped almost as soon as the fight started. Morimoto would try to lead with the long right hand to close the distance, and he tagged Ryota good, knocking him off balance into the ropes. However, when Morimoto tried to capitalize by following with another big right, Ryota got inside it & beat him to the punch, dropping him with a left that had a lot more impact because Morimoto had a lot of forward momentum, though Morimoto did land his shot before he went down. Morimoto recovered quickly, and beat Ryota on the outside most of the round, nearly getting his own knockdown midway with a left body hook/right high kick/front kick/right hook combo that perhaps should have been scored a knockdown but likely wasn't because Ryota was too close for the hook, so it landed more as a lariat to the side of the neck with the glove hitting some to the back of the neck. Ryota wanted to use roundhouse kicks, so Morimoto closed the distance early in the 2nd, getting going early with a left hook counter for Ryota's liver kick. Morimoto really took over late in the 2nd after he totally misplaced his inside leg kick, blasting Ryota clean in the groin. Ryota didn't take nearly enough time to recover, though I'm not sure how long would have been adequate as Ryota never seemed to recover. Morimoto pounced on this, pressing for the finish as though Ryota had just got up from a knockdown. This time I thought Ryota definitely slipped, as the pressure was overwhelming but Morimoto didn't really land any clean blow amongst the several he threw after backing Ryota with a sweet front kick to the face, yet Yuji Shimada gave him a count. Now Morimoto really went to town, throwing one huge hook on the inside after another, and Ryota swung big as well, not seeming to have any other idea of how to potentially fight him off. This time Morimoto caught him clean with a right hook, cutting Ryota above the left eye, but the round was over by the time he got up. I'm used to Shimada making weird decisions, but starting the 3rd round then immediately having the doctor look at Ryota's cut was a new one. Most matches that have a lot of fierce swinging either end early or get worse with each round, but this actually got better with each round, as Morimoto continued to pressure heavily in the 3rd, trying to get the finish he potentially could have got if he had more time in the 2nd. Just when you thought Morimoto would be patient on the outside regaining his wind after Ryota had recovered enough to not succumb to some serious swinging in the 1st minute of the 3rd, Morimoto dropped him with one of his big right hands because Ryota was defending by throwing his own wild punches. Ryota's eye was looking worse, and you just felt like he was sick/injured & wanted the match to end already. He was very wobbly throughout his attempt to continue, and it was no surprise that Shimada called it after a few more rights put him down yet again. The match was a bit one-sided after the 1st 15 seconds, but Morimoto had a lot of work to do on the scorecards because of the initial knockdown for Ryota, and his aggressive constant push was really entertaining. Very good match.
K-1 Rule: Yuki vs. Darvish Kurogi (Hironori Kurogi) 3R. Yuki has one of the more interesting low kick games, and I really liked how he built on it with each round. In round 1, he'd lead with the right low kick and then varies his follow ups, sometimes jumping right into a left switch kick, sometimes doing the right low kick again, sometimes punching. In round 2, he led with the left leg kick & would go outside then inside or inside then outside, or just land the right low kick & start punching. In round 3, he came forward a lot more, and was just throwing combinations of low kicks, getting 2 or 3 in before Kurogi could fire back with a punch. These weren't the hardest kicks, but his ability to chain them together may be second to none. Yuki was clearly the better fighter, but he had a bad mental lapse with 70 seconds left in the 1st, for some reason just standing in front of Kurogi after a low kick. You could see Kurogi was surprised as he loaded up on the too good to be true right straight & just leveled Yuki with it for the knockdown. Kurogi landed a steady stream of right hooks, right uppercuts, & the left step knee for the last minute of the round while Yuki was recovering, but was never close to finishing him off. Kurogi did a good job of coming in behind the jab & landing the step knee in the 2nd, but recovered well in between wells, and fought very composed and within himself. Yuki just had too much volume for Kurogi in the 2nd, & was able to mix in the occasional high kick or liver hook. Darvish's legs were heavy in the 3rd from all the low kicks, but unfortunately they couldn't go to the bullpen, so he struggled through the round mostly getting backed up by the much fresher Yuki, who was now pushing forward with his attacks. The more Yuki came forward, the harder it was for Darvish to take the initiative because he lacked the space & momentum for his step knee. Kurogi snuck a good punch in here & there, but the third round was pretty much all Yuki. Yuki did well enough that 1 judge gave him the fight even in spite of getting knocked down, but the other two rightfully had it even, so it was a majority draw. Good match.
K-1 Rule: Jin Mandokoro vs. Issei Ishii 3R MD. Jin had a lot more power, but was pretty much a straight up slugger, whereas Ishii had a lot of options & did a number of things well, but couldn't figure out how to move to keep himself in positions to succeed. Jin rocked Ishii with a left high kick a minute in, and was just swinging for the fences trying to finish with Ishii on the ropes. Ishii quickly stabilized, but nonetheless was standing against the ropes blocking a disparate barrage of strikes whenever Jin wanted to pressure him. Lucky for Ishii, Jin expended a lot of energy right after gaining the advantage & wasn't going to blow himself out once he saw Ishii wasn't in immediate danger. Ishii managed a nice flying knee, but otherwise it was pretty much one way traffic in the 1st. Jin threw really hard, but he didn't do much feinting or throwing in combination unless he landed the big 1st shot, so Ishii was able to settle into a style of bouncing around feinting & either jumping back to avoid if Jin threw the power shot or landing his own shot & resetting. This seemed to frustrate Jin, and just make him throw harder, which meant he missed even more except when he walked Ishii down or threw in combination & the ropes prevented Ishii from jumping out of the way. This wasn't the highest level of technique, but I was impressed by Ishii figuring Jin out & making adjustments to win the 2nd round, even if it wasn't nearly as big a round as Ishii's 1st. The 3rd round is what made the fight, with both knowing they needed it & giving all they had. Ishii blocked Jin's jumping high kick early & began pushing forward & trading on the inside. This may have given him a better chance of doing something big to steal the decision, but you had to think Jin was licking his chops, just thrilled Ishii wanted to stand in front of him where he could actually land. Portions of this round were a real fire fight, but just slugging it out favored Jin every time as expected. Movement favored Ishii, but he really needed to avoid waiting too long because when he gave Jin enough time to decide to press forward he'd quickly run out of room because he backed straight up & thus ran out of territory rather than hitting an angle & circling to avoid getting himself trapped. Ishii could block kicks with his arm, but wasn't very good at ducking/dodging punches, and it was these times when Jin would drop the hammer with Ishii against the ropes that were the difference in the fight. Ishii responded with some good punches of his own on the inside, but couldn't back Jin with them or then take the opportunity to circle out. Ishii landed a couple good body punches in the final 30 seconds, which helped open the right hook to the head, but it was too little too late. 1 judge called it a draw, but the other 2 gave it to Jin. Good match.
Women's Super Atomweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Irene Cabello Rivera vs. Miyuu Yamamoto 2:26 R2
Women's Super Atomweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Kanna Asakura vs. Sylwia Juskiewicz 3R UD
Women's Super Atomweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Maria Oliveira vs. Alyssa Garcia 3R UD
Roque Martinez vs. Jerome LeBanner 2:10 R1
Bantamweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Manel Kape vs. Erson Yamamoto 1:11 R1
Bantamweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Kevin Petshi vs. Je Hoon Moon 3R SD
Bantamweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Shintaro Ishiwatari vs. Akhmed Musakaev 3R UD
Gabriel Oliveira vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri 1:00 R2
Reina Miura vs. Crystal Stokes 3R UD
Akiyo Nishiura vs. Andy Souwer 2R UD
Grappling Match: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Frank Shamrock 10:00 Draw
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Yamato Fujita 3R UD
Women's Super Atomweight Grand-Prix Tournament 1st Round: Rena Kubota vs. Andy Nguyen 3:05 R1
Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Satoru Kitaoka Unanimous Dec
Kana Watanabe vs. Shizuka Sugiyama Unanimous Dec
Kai Asakura vs. Kizaemon Saiga KO/TKO, 2:39 R2
Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament Reserve Match: Jae Hoon Moon vs. Anthony Birchak 3R. Moon isn't the greatest fighter, as evidence by his 9-10 record, but he has heart & belief & really brings it from start to finish. Birchak was thought to be pretty good not long ago, coming into UFC with an 11-1 record and getting an impressive quick win over last minute title challenger Joe Soto there, but he's 0-2 in Rizin since not being brought back by UFC despite winning his last fight there. He's a really tough guy & he knew he desperately needed this fight. This may just have been a reserve match, but these two went at it as though the title was within their grasp. Birchak got off to a strong start backing Moon with his aggressive kicks & body punches then getting inside & hitting a head & arm throw. Moon couldn't quite take his back, but got back to his feet in the scramble & began attacking aggressively only to get taken down again. When Birchak got a quick takedown to start the 2nd, it looked like he was simply going to outwrestle Moon, but Moon had other ideas and was able to negate the good standing offense we saw early from Birchak by always being the aggressor in standup while fighting off the takedowns better in the 2nd half of the fight and continuing to get up quickly when Birchak did get him down. Moon did a nice job of dropping down & mixing body punches with uppercuts. He also landed a couple nice switch strikes, though the knee also caught Birchak low. Still, if this was silly rounds scoring, Birchak would likely have won the 1st 2 rounds on control. The 1st two rounds were fairly entertaining, but the 3rd was a lot better as Moon still believed in his chances of winning, which were reasonable enough under this scoring system, and really picked up the pace, closing the distance with aggressive jumping techniques & mixing body shots on the inside. Moon found the liver late in the 2nd, but his left kick 2 minutes into the 3rd really took its toll on Birchak. Birchak didn't have the same drive on his takedowns after this, also Moon's pace was simply slowing him down, and Moon was better able to take advantage of being the more explosive fighter, landing a sweet flying switch knee to the chin. Birchak was trying to slow the fight down now, but Moon was clipping him with right hands on the outside or uppercuts on the inside. Down the stretch, Birchak was just blocking big right hands with his face. In the end, it was a close fight, but Moon did most of the damage while Birchak just had control. Moon won a split decision. Good match.
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Baataryn Azjavkhlan Unanimous Dec
Cindy Dandois vs. Reina Miura Split Dec
Jiri Prochazka vs. Karl Albrektsson 9:57 R1
Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament Quarterfinals
Takafumi Otsuka vs. Khalid Taha 2:23 R3
Shintaro Ishiwatari vs. Kevin Petshi 4:31 R1
Manel Kape vs. Ian McCall 1:46 R1
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Gabriel Oliveira 4:30 R1
Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament Semifinal: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Manel Kape. Kape is a great athlete, but he's not there yet technically. While this wasn't the most competitive fight you'll ever see, Kape's attributes made it a really exciting one because his answer to just about everything was to explode recklessly. He, of course, took a ton of punishment because of that, but he was chaos incarnate, and there were a lot of wild scrambles, and the general intensity & unpredictability of a sort were miles higher than the average match because Kape felt more like a force that was unleashed than a trained fighter. Horiguchi on the other hand, had technique & a plan, and was generally content to use some variation of a combo where he'd feint, left jab, then come back around with the overhand right since Kape seemed incapable of adjusting to it or stopping it. Kape would get rocked, but still just dart in & grab Horiguchi, machine gunning short punches while he tried for the takedown. Horiguchi would usually defend, and nail Kape a few more times before he got hold of him again. Horiguchi tried to use left high kicks because Kape kept his hands at his waist, relying solely on his athleticism, but they never really panned out. As the fight progressed, Horiguchi tried harder to wait for Kape to explode in so he could use Kape's force against him when he read Kape's single shot & landed the counter. Horiguchi got a flash knockdown when Kape charged into a right hand counter with 1:45 left in the 2nd, but waiting for Kape often meant Kape was able to then grab him, so Horiguchi knew he had to attack when Kape was resting in between explosions. I think Kape tried to close the distance & lead with a high kick at the end of the 2nd, but possibly Kape's left leg just ended up high when he fell down from getting drilled by Horiguchi's right hand! Horiguchi's confidence was definitely riding high in the 3rd, coming out with a jumping high kick. That didn't connect, but within 90 seconds he'd dropped Kape again with another big right hand. Kape was excited to finally have Horiguchi in a compromised position until the ref stepped in to give Horiguchi time to recover from the accidental headbutt when Kape's head came back to center after slipping Horiguchi's left straight. Horiguchi was lucky to escape unscathed, but was then cut on the eyelid with a left hook in the next exchange, which wasn't going to be particularly meaningful here, but presented a huge problem given the final was later that night. Horiguchi was happy to entertain, but got serious after this & just took took Kape down & smothered him until he had the arm triangle locked in. Though Kape only had random moments of success, he certainly delivered spectacular action & made Horiguchi look great. Very good match.
Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament Semifinal: Shintaro Ishiwatari vs. Takafumi Otsuka 3R. It's great to see a battle between longstanding Bantamweight champions, especially when there's a strong promotional rivalry. Ishiwatari has held Pancrase's bantamweight title for 6 years defending 6 times, while Otsuka has held DEEP's for 3 1/2 years but only defended twice, as they've really gotten away from having meaningful titles there. Ishiwatari is a really dangerous striker, but at the same time not necessarily a great striker. He's a hard hitter, but it's difficult for him to throw combinations because he sits down on all his power strikes. He can throw the same right jab/left straight combo that he used over & over & Otsuka just backed away from, but it doesn't really help him close the distance. When Ishiwatari can get inside, he likes to lead with power and then he can sometimes follow with more single power shots. He's not really flowing out there though, just bombing away, but his initial shot is strong enough that he can follow because his opponent is stunned or still trapped on the ropes. Otsuka looked to take him down rather than exchange with him, but after the ref broke them up midway through the 1st, had a right hook knockdown countering Ishiwatari's left that came up short. Otsuka through this was his chance to ground & pound, but Ishiwatari quickly escaped, hip tossed Otsuka, & stood over him drilling him with rights to the ribs or face. Ishiwatari finally faked the jab, and closed the distance landing a big left hook, and you just wondered what he'd be capable of if he used more feints, footwork, & deception rather than just defaulting to the same attack. Otsuka kept trying to draw Ishiwatari in, but even when he dropped down after Ishiwatari missed a superman punch, he couldn't finish the double leg. Otsuka eventually had to attack because he was down on the scorecards, and that made things a lot easier for Ishiwatari because he was coming into his power rather than running away from it. Otsuka landed a good right hand, but following with a kick got him dropped with a left cross & Ishiwatari nailed him with a kick as he was getting back up. With Otsuka stunned, Ishiwatari just kept bombing away, and though Otsuka was still moving laterally & throwing, he couldn't get himself off the ropes & was taking big damage. The fight seemed better the first time because the final 2 minutes of action packed slugging left a strong impression. The first round was good & possibly won by Otsuka not that it mattered, but his inability to get takedowns left him running away all too often. Ishiwatari won a unanimous decision. Good match.
Flyweight Kickboxing Tournament Semifinal: Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Yuta Hamamoto 1:58 R2
Flyweight Kickboxing Tournament Semifinal: Yamato Fujita vs. Mitsuhisa Sunabe 0:50 R3
Women's Super Atomweight Grand Prix Semifinal: Rena Kubota vs. Irene Rivera 4:31 R1
Women's Super Atomweight Grand Prix Semifinal: Kanna Asakura vs. Maria Oliveira 3:30 R2
Shinju Nozawa-Auclair vs. Chelsea LaGrasse R1 4:47
Yusuke Yachi vs. Takanori Gomi 2:36 R1. I'm rarely excited about matches under 5 minutes in any sport, but this was one of the most insanely violent MMA matches I've ever seen. Yachi came out with a flying high kick, and caution was never restored, they just threw flurries of insane, angry bombs until the finish. Gomi has been one of the most exciting fighters in the history of MMA, and this was certainly no exception. While he hasn't looked like he had much left in the tank since his 3 fight stretch from 11/10/12-4/26/14 where he beat Mac Danzig & Isaac Vallie-Flagg in Fight of the Nights & lost another excellent match in one of the most ridiculous decisions in MMA history to, of course, one of the 3 thieves (Sanchez, Bisping, & Rampage), hilariously enough in Saitama rather than in the Southwest where most of Sanchez's robberies have occurred, Gomi is never in a boring fight even when he gets bombed out quickly. Yachi had Gomi under so much pressure with big knees from the thai clinch & high kicks that Gomi was immediately put into survival mode, and even if Gomi appears to be finished as a high level competitive fighter, if there's one thing Gomi still knows how to do, it's swing for the fences. Gomi weathered the early barrage & wobbled Yachi with a right hook counter to Yachi's charging left straight, unleashed an insane barrage of short right body hooks after Yachi tried to tie him up. Gomi was just going to town as Yachi dropped to the ground & kept failing to tie him up, even throwing in one of the nasties, most blatantly illegal headbutts the sport has ever seen to no admonishment when Yachi finally managed to wrap both his wrists up, which broke the clasp & allowed Gomi to posture up & bomb more right hands. Somehow, amidst this onslaught, Yachi managed to keep his cool, trying to bait Gomi into getting triangled. Gomi is the veteran who should know better, but he just got so carried away trying to pound Yachi out, and frankly, a barrage of this magnitude would often garner the stoppage even though Yachi was defending himself. Anyway, Gomi eventually punched himself out bashing Yachi so fiercely, and then Yachi was able to get the triangle in deeper and deeper, especially since Gomi, who again should know better, tried to punch his way out instead of defending the submission then going back to pummelling Yachi when he was safe. By the time did the low percentage, desperation stand up & slam the opponent, he was already in big trouble, and Yachi tightened the choke after the impact failed to break it, quickly getting the submission over the exhausted Gomi. For pure excitement, this is probably the best match Rizin has produced. You just never see guys fight with such blatant disregard for percentages & their own safety. Good match.
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka 1:02 R1
Flyweight Kickboxing Tournament Final: Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Yamato Fujita 1:20 R1
Women's Super Atomweight Grand Prix Final: Kanna Asakura vs. Rena Kubota 4:41 R1
Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament Final: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari 0:14 R2