Full and complete card for Dynamite!! 2008!

The full and complete card has been revealed and finalized about a few days ago! In total, 17 matches (the largest card ever for an MMA event, including K-1 fights, that I can recall) will take place on New Year's Eve when Dynamite!! 2008 emanates from the Saitama Super Arena! Here's a look at the complete lineup for this event.

The first fight will see PRIDE veteran and current DREAM mainstay Ikuhisa Minowa (known as Minowaman in Japan) take on the 2008 K-1 WORLD GP IN AMSTERDAM Winner Errol Zimmerman in a match that truly favors Minowaman, DREAM Rules. This will mark Zimmerman's first foray into MMA and will be a tough test for the Suriname native. This will be followed by two K-1 KOSHIEN fights as Ryuya Kusakabe battles Koya Urabe and HIROYA takes on Shota Shimada. The winners of both fights will compete in the seventh match where one of these young boys will become the first-ever K-1 KOSHIEN Champion!

K-1 WORLD MAX will be showcased at this event and for the first time ever, the two-time K-1 WORLD MAX Champion Masato will not be able to showcase the power of the dynamic and exciting K-1 WORLD MAX brand as he has had throughout the last four years at Dynamite!!. Instead, it will be two-time K-1 WORLD MAX Japan Tournament Champion Yoshihiro Sato going head to head against the 2008 K-1 WORLD MAX Finalist Artur Kyshenko! Both men fought Masato and lost to the Silver Wolf en route to Masato capturing his second K-1 WORLD MAX Title. Now is the time to redeem themselves and this fight between these two young and hungry fighters will guarantee to be explosive and intense. After this battle will be a showcase of two of DREAM's best featherweights as ZST and HERO'S veteran Hideo Tokoro takes on U-FILE wrestler Daisuke Nakamura in what should be a great match!

Another DREAM Rules match will follow as Yukio Sakaguchi of Pancrase, the son of New Japan Pro-Wrestling legend Seiji Sakaguchi and brother of popular actor Kenji Sakaguchi, will face Nigerian model turned K-1 and MMA fighter Andy Ologun, the younger brother of comedian Bobby Ologun! This will be Andy Ologun's second appearance at Dynamite!! since 2006 when he defeated popular actor Ken Kaneko in the opening bout of K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!!. After the finals of the K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament, the next fight will be one filled with bizarreness like never before. Produced by popular, yet controversial and recently retired j-pop artiste DJ OZMA and famous mangaka duo Yudetamago and to be held under DREAM Rules, the controversial Bob Sapp will make his return to the FEG ring exactly one year since his devastating win over Bobby Ologun at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! by taking on the 59th Prince of Planet Muscle, Kid Muscle (Kinniku Mantaro), the main protagonist of the popular manga and anime, Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E (Kinnikuman Nisei in Japan)! Underneath the mask is a prolific amateur wrestler in Akihito Tanaka, who at one point came in eleventh place in a World Cup amateur wrestling tournament! Some may say that with Yoshihiro Akiyama gone from DREAM and Satoshi Ishii looking to sign with the UFC, Tanaka could be the Japanese savior that fans could look up to as the new national MMA hero.

Another battle between two tough heavyweights will take place after this match as three-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion Semmy Schilt returns to MMA when he takes on the hard-hitting Mighty Mo! The last time both men fought was in 2007 under K-1 Rules when Schilt, in his hometown of Amsterdam, Holland, was able to defeat the tough Samoan after three rounds and at the same time, successfully retain his K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Title. Now both men will meet in a rematch, only this time, it will be held under DREAM Rules. In a match scheduled for 80kg fighters, it will be welterweight star Hayato "Mach" Sakurai taking on heavily struggling former pro-wrestler Katsuyori Shibata. Shibata has the added weight advantage over Sakurai, but will he be able to beat Sakurai, who has been in pretty good form as of late, despite the added weight advantage?

Yet another historic making moment, there will not just be one, but TWO K-1 WORLD MAX fights that will take place at this event! We already know that Yoshihiro Sato will face Artur Kyshenko in the first fight. Now, in another K-1 WORLD MAX contest, it will be grizzled veteran and former Muay Thai Champion, Kozo Takeda, taking on one of the top lightweight MMA fighters today, Tatsuya Kawajiri! Kawajiri displayed amazing stand-up skills in his thrilling fight against Eddie Alvarez during the DREAM Lightweight GP Tournament and impressed officials to be warranted a match under K-1 Rules. Takeda has not competed in the K-1 WORLD MAX in a very long time and is looking to making a huge comeback on the biggest night in Japanese MMA. Despite being fined, embarrassing the company and being stripped of his K-1 WORLD GP Heavyweight Title and title of 2008 K-1 WORLD GP Finalist, Badr Hari was controversially given another chance and thus will compete at Dynamite!! as he had announced back at DREAM.6. He also got his wish of challenging a DREAM fighter to step into his territory in this K-1 Rules match, but could be getting more than he could bargain for when he takes on the tough and hard-hitting Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem!

Speaking of Overeem, the man he wished to challenge, Mirko Filipovic, is in a match of his own. Returning to the ring since a brutal groin injury suffered at the hands of Overeem back at DREAM.6, Cro Cop will be taking on the 7'2" tall Hong Man Choi under DREAM Rules! Last year at Yarennoka!, Choi took a loss to the powerful and dominating Fedor Emelianenko. This year has not been a great year for Choi either with two losses in two fights, including a crushing loss to Badr Hari in his home country of Korea and a disappointing performance which led to his loss against Ray Sefo earlier this month. Will Choi be able to defeat Filipovic and gain momentum going into 2009 or will Cro Cop stop the Techno Goliath in his tracks? This will be followed by a K-1 Rules match between the two-time K-1 WORLD GP Finalist Musashi going up against the 2008 DREAM Middleweight GP Tournament Champion and current DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi! While the match seemed to play off the similar pronunciation of both fighters' names, it will give Musashi yet another chance to redeem himself and put himself back in the hunt to becoming the K-1 WORLD GP Champion next year and will be the fight to showcase what Mousasi can do in a K-1 match. The next fight between Jerome LeBanner and Mark Hunt, to be held under DREAM Rules, was unfortunately canceled due to undisclosed reasons.

EDIT: It's been announced that Jerome LeBanner was forced to pull out of the event due to suffering from influenza and a fever. Therefore, Mark Hunt will be competing against Melvin Manhoef instead under DREAM Rules.

Three huge fights will close out what would be a historic event. In a match that was supposed to be the fight to determine the first-ever DREAM Lightweight Champion, the 2008 DREAM Lightweight GP Finalist Shinya Aoki will go one on one with one of the hottest young stars in MMA today, Eddie Alvarez, with one of these men hoping to get a crack at the DREAM Lightweight Title in the near future! As if the stakes could not have gotten any higher, it was recently announced that the fight between Aoki and Alvarez will take place to determine the first-ever WAMMA Lightweight Champion! Up next is a huge fight between the 2008 DREAM Lightweight GP Tournament Champion and first-ever DREAM Lightweight Champion Joachim Hansen and two-time HERO'S Middleweight Champion Gesias Calvancante! Both men have fought each other several years ago back in Shooto with Hansen picking up the win and now, Calvancante is looking for revenge. Will he succeed and go one step closer to a future title shot against Hansen or will Hansen be able to show the world why he is one of the top lightweights in the world today?

EDIT: Unfortunately, the Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Calvancante fight has been canceled at the last minute due to Hansen not being able to pass pre-fight medicals. As there isn't a replacement in time for the fight, Calvancante will be forced off the card.

The main event will be a huge showdown four years in the making. After constant bickering and debates over who is truly the best, Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba will finally go one on one against another Japanese MMA legend in Kiyoshi Tamura! Both men were former wrestlers under the UWF-I promotion during the mid-90s and from what was heavily rumored, Tamura had repeatedly avoided facing Sakuraba, including not facing him during the DREAM Middleweight GP Tournament this year out of respect for Sakuraba, who is his senior, much to Sakuraba's dismay. Now the time for talk is over and one of these two men will look to prove to one another who really is one of the greatest MMA legends in Japan.

DREAM Rules Matches
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
WAMMA Lightweight Title: Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez
Melvin Manhoef vs. Mark Hunt
Mirko Filipovic vs. Hong Man Choi
Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Katsuyori Shibata
DJ OZMA Produced Fight featuring Yudetamago: Bob Sapp vs. Kid Muscle
Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Andy Ologun
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Errol Zimmerman

K-1 Rules Matches
Musashi vs. Gegard Mousasi
Badr Hari vs. Alistair Overeem
Kozo Takeda vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Final: Winner of HIROYA/Shota Shimada vs. Winner of Ryuya Kusakabe/Koya Urabe
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: HIROYA vs. Shota Shimada
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Koya Urabe

Source: K-1 Official Website

UFC 92 results postponed until further notice.

Dear readers. I will have to postpone results of UFC 92 as I have yet to watch the event yet and thus, would like to prevent myself from being spoiled by results. Once I've finished watching the event, I will definitely update this blog with results from the event and thoughts regarding it as well.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

UFC 92 weigh-ins, Anderson Silva headlines UFC 97, GSP wins award and UFC veteran shot dead over the weekend.

Apologies for the late updates as internet connection has been really terrible this month.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 weigh-in results!

On Friday, the UFC held their weigh-ins for the impending UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 event scheduled to take place later tonight (tomorrow morning for Malaysians). During the weigh-ins for the showdown between Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, there was a brief altercation between the two fighters when Silva stared down Jackson and Jackson replied with a sly smile. This resulted in Silva shoving Jackson with their bodyguards and security personnel breaking up the melee. Jackson finally had the last shot by taunting Silva with a throat-slash gesture followed by a thumbs down before unleashing his trademark howl.

These are the official results of the weigh-ins for all fights:

Pay-Per-View Bouts

* 205 lbs. | Forrest Griffin (205) vs. Rashad Evans (203)
* 265 lbs. | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (246) vs. Frank Mir (251)
* 205 lbs. | Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (206) vs. Wanderlei Silva (203)
* 265 lbs. | Cheick Kongo (233) vs. Mustafa Al-Turk (237)
* 185 lbs. | CB Dollaway (186) vs. Mike Massenzio (184)

Preliminary Bouts

* 185 lbs. | Yushin Okami (185) vs. Dean Lister (186)
* 265 lbs. | Antoni Hardonk (246) vs. Mike Wessel (260)
* 205 lbs. | Matt Hamill (205) vs. Reese Andy (206)
* 185 lbs. | Brad Blackburn (170) vs. Ryo Chonan (171)
* 265 lbs. | Dan Evensen (242) vs. Pat Barry (233)

Anderson Silva to headline UFC 97!

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva will be headlining UFC 97, which is set to take place on April 18th in Montreal, Canada. The Spider will be defending his UFC Middleweight Title against Thales Leites in what would possibly be the main event of the evening. This will be Silva's first fight since his unsatisfying performance during his last title defense against Patrick Cote at UFC 90 back in October and thus would want to put on a stronger showing this time in his next bout. For Leites, he has a lot to prove that he can hang around with the top dogs of the UFC's Middleweight Division and a win over former King of Pancrase Champion Nathan Marquadt has in a way solidified his position as a top player and a rightful number one contender. As of now, the venue for this event has yet to be announced, but it is rumored to take place at the Bell Center, the sane venue where Georges St-Pierre dethroned Matt Serra back in April this year to capture his second UFC Welterweight Title.

Georges St-Pierre is named Sportsnet.ca's Canadian Athlete of the Year!

Speaking of Georges St-Pierre, congratulations go out to the UFC Welterweight Champion for being voted as Sportsnet.ca's Canadian Athlete of the Year!

"It's an honor for me to have this award and being the first MMA guy to receive something like this," remarked St-Pierre on the Sportsnet.ca's website. "I want to congratulate the other nominees because they have done an incredible job in their respective sports, making this an even more special honor."

The other nominees that GSP (also known as Rush) was able to beat included Calgary Flames’ Captain Jarome Iginla, Minnasota Twins’ All-Star Justin Morneau, Tennis Player Daniel Nestor and paralympian Chantal Petitclerc.

It has been an amazing year for St-Pierre in his MMA career. Coming into 2008 as the UFC Interim Welterweight Champion after defeating Matt Hughes back at UFC 79: Nemesis, St-Pierre found himself up against rival Matt Serra in a bout for the UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 83. The stakes could not have gotten any higher as the match took place in GSP's hometown of Montreal, Canada, the UFC's first foray into Canadian territory. St-Pierre was able to bring home the gold that night when he defeated Serra with a TKO victory, leading to a new champion being crowned. He then went on to Minneapolis, Minnesota for UFC 87: Seek and Destroy, where he made a very successful title defense against Jon Fitch in one of the most thrilling fights of the year. St-Pierre's next title defense will be a huge one when he faces UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn, who looks to become the first man to hold two UFC Titles in different weight divisions simultaneously, at UFC 94 on January 30th.

Justin Eilers shot dead.

Former UFC veteran Justin Eilers was recently shot dead in what was described as an apparent domestic disturbance at an acquaintance's home in Canyon County, Idaho, on Friday morning. He was 30 years old.

According to an autopsy report, Eilers, who was pronounced dead at the scene, received a single gunshot wound to the chest. Monte Cox, Eilers' longtime manager, said that the bullet punctured Eilers' lungs before exiting his body. Cox continued by saying that Eliers' gathered with his relatives for the holidays, but tensions started escalating due to the appearance of his ex-girlfriend, who also attended the function. When Eilers was asked to leave, the MMA fighter protested by throwing dishes and other objects in his bid to refuse leaving the residence. The owner of the home, identified as James Robert Malec, who is believed to be the boyfriend of Eilers' mother, pulled a gun on Eilers and shot him in the chest after a verbal confrontation between both men. Malec has since been arrested and charged with second degree murder in relation with the shooting.

Eilers was introduced to MMA by his close friend, former UFC Champion Jens Pulver. Eilers was a well-liked figure and was also athletic and after rising through the ranks, he was able to get a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Title against then-champion, Andrei Arlovski, at UFC 53 whom he eventually lost to when Eilers incurred a knee injury during the first round of their fight. In the UFC, Eilers was able to finish with a record of 1-3. He then went over to EliteXC where he challenged EliteXC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Silva for the title last July and lost to the Brazilian during the second round. After the fight, Eilers had considered moving down to the light heavyweight division.

Eilers' overall record in MMA is 19-7-1.

Source: Sherdog and MMAFighting.com

CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!

To all readers, I would like to take the time to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May all your Christmases be blessed with warmth, love and joy wherever you are!

Next updates in the world of MMA is tomorrow, so look out for those!

UFC 92 Preview Part Three: Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans!

This is the final part in my three-part series of previews looking at this weekend's highly anticipated MMA event, UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008! Despite the big name talent that are a part of this huge event, two seasoned veterans and winners of the first two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter will clash for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship!

UFC Light Heavyweight Title: Forrest Griffin (c) (16-4) vs. Rashad Evans (12-0)

Currently ranked the number one light heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog and MMAWeekly, Forrest Griffin is quite possibly one of the top light heavyweights the UFC has to offer. Starting out from humble beginnings, Griffin once took part in law enforcement, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Georgia, serving as a law enforcement officer Richmond County Sheriff's Office in Augusta, Georgia and then went on to serve as a patrol officer with the University of Georgia Police. He then decided to embark on a career in mixed martial arts when he took part in the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter, under the persuasion of UFC President Dana White. It was in the finals where Griffin (trained by Chuck Liddell) met Stephan Bonnar (trained by Randy Couture). The match was regarded as one of the greatest and most important matches in UFC history and was known for being the match that helped the UFC attain mainstream appeal to the public. Griffin would eventually walk away from that match with a Scion car, a dirt bike, a watch and most importantly, a UFC contract. A year later, Griffin would compete against his toughest opponent since winning TUF, Tito Ortiz. At UFC 59, both men waged war but in the end, it was Ortiz who scored the win due to a controversial split decision, but it was the match that further boosted Griffin's popularity to an all-time high. After a second win over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 62, Griffin's momentum came to a halt when he lost to TUF 2 semi-finalist, Keith Jardine at UFC 66. Griffin was absolutely distraught over the loss, but promised that he would be back. Griffin was able to mount a huge comeback and scored a win over Hector Ramirez at UFC 72, then went on to score one of his biggest victories thus far, defeating at that time the number one ranked light heavyweight fighter in the world, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 76. Griffin went on to become a coach for TUF 7 where he went up against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who coached Griffin's opposing team. Griffin's chosen fighter, Amir Sadollah, was able to win that show's season, so he had a huge advantage going into his impending bout with Jackson over the UFC Light Heavyweight Title. Despite being billed as a major underdog going into their fight at UFC 86, it was Griffin who scored the win after a hard-fought battle and in the process, capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Title!

Meanwhile, Rashad Evans is proving to be a very tough opponent for Griffin. A prolific amateur wrestler back in his college days, Evans is truly a natural athlete for the sport of MMA. His defeat of wrestling legend, Greg Jones, is truly remarkable as only four men have been able to defeat him thus far, including Evans himself. Trained under the legendary Dan Severn, Evans competed in five MMA bouts in his early career and won all five of them. This led to him being chosen to compete in The Ultimate Fighter 2 where he was coached by former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. After a grueling season, Evans, who was 5'11" tall, was able to pick up a UFC contract after winning the tournament by defeating 6'7" Brad Imes in the finals. A natural heavyweight, Evans decided to shed some pounds by dropping down to the light heavyweight division where he competed against the likes of several TUF alumni, including Sam Hoger and Stephan Bonnar and accomplished MMA fighters, such as Jason Lambert and Sean Salmon. Next came a tough test at UFC 73: Stacked when Evans went up against the formidable Tito Ortiz. Despite a great effort by Evans and a point deducted to Ortiz for grabbing the fence, the match ended up going to a draw without a winner. Next up for Evans was a battle against the winner of TUF 3, Michael Bisping at UFC 78, where Evans continued his dominating ways by defeating the Englishman via split decision. His toughest test came at UFC 88 when he competed against Chuck Liddell. It all came down to luck and skill as an overhand right ounch took down The Ice Man and giving Evans his biggest win of his career thus far via KO!

The Ultimate Fighter winner vs. The Ultimate Fighter 2 winner!

It will be a huge, epic battle between two of the top light heavyweight fighters in the UFC today and something has got to give. Griffin has shown by facing tough competition that he is the real deal and truly deserving of being the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, not to mention being the number one ranked light heavyweight fighter in the world. Evans on the other hand has yet to be defeated with a perfect record of 12-0 and thus would prove to be a very tough challenger for Griffin. However...................

The winner of this bout will have a huge target on his back!

Depending on how you look at it, it might be the best time to be the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and it might be the worst time to be the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. The light heavyweight division has gotten very active and very heated as of late with many new challengers surfacing very now and then. Two of those fighters, Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, are competing against each other on the same card as Griffin vs. Jackson. If that isn't enough, take into consideration the impending bout at UFC 94 between undefeated Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva where one of these fighters, Machida especially, would love to make a mark and someday challenge for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title.

But one thing is for certain, fans will truly get their money's worth when Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans do battle for the first time and the stakes could not have gotten any higher with the UFC Light Heavyweight Title on the line. Which one of these two highly amazing fighters will walk out of Las Vegas with the gold?

UFC 92 Preview Part Two: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir!

In the second of a three-part series of previews leading up to this weekend's UFC 92 event, I will look at the first of two title matches scheduled for the event as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defends his UFC Interim Heavyweight Title against Frank Mir!

UFC Interim Heavyweight Title: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (c) (31-4) vs. Frank Mir (11-3)

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira is one of the toughest SOBs on the planet as far as being an MMA fighter goes. After all, this was the same man who, as a child, was run over by a truck while he was nine years old, went into a coma for 25 days and managed to survive the horrific accident where decades later, he would turn into one of the most accomplished heavyweight fighters in the sport's history. His durability level is at an all time high as he is one of the only fighters in the world to never be stopped in a fight. He has beaten and loss to a list of who's who in the world of MMA, beginning during his days in WEF and RINGS before making it over to PRIDE and becoming a top star. While in PRIDE, he fought two fights against current UFC fighter Heath Herring and defeated him twice, with their first battle seeing Minotauro become the first of only two fighters to hold the UFC Heavyweight Title! One of Nogueira's most memorable battles was at a one night only joint venture between K-1 and PRIDE. Under the PRIDE banner, the event was known as Shockwave, while under the K-1 banner, the event was known as Dynamite!!. Despite the two events being known to be held every New Year's Eve (with Shockwave's Japanese name being Otoko Matsuri, literally Man Festival), this particular event was held in August in 2002 and it was also held at the Tokyo National Stadium with a record-setting MMA attendance of 91,107 fans. On that hot summer night, Nogueira competed against the controversial Bob Sapp, who represented K-1 in their bout. During the match, Sapp piledrove Nogueira to the mat, which seemed like the match was over there and then. However, Nogueira failed to submit and after a hard fought battle, wore down The Beast and slapped on an armbar during the second round to pick up the huge win and gain even more fans after the fight was over. Nogueira also holds a win over three-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion Semmy Schilt, as well as a win over Dan Henderson, whom he suffered his first MMA loss to back in RINGS. It was then at PRIDE 25 where he made his first defense of his PRIDE Heavyweight Title against one of the greatest fighters of all time, Fedor Emelianenko. It was against Emelianenko where Nogueira suffered his second loss and also the loss of his title. The two men would face each other again two more times, with their second bout ending in a no contest after an accidental headbutt by Nogueira to Emelianenko's head and their third and up till now, final bout at PRIDE Shockwave 2004, where Nogueira once again lost to Fedor via unanimous decision. Throughout his career in PRIDE, Nogueira has also scored wins over some of the top fighters in the world, including Ricco Rodriguez, Mirko Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov, Kiyoshi Tamura, Mark Coleman, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett. After Zuffa bought out PRIDE, the UFC's parent company also purchased several PRIDE contracts and Nogueira was one of the few fighters to make the transition from the PRIDE ring into the Octagon. Nogueira's first match in the UFC was against his old rival, Heath Herring, and despite being taken down with a hard right kick to the head in the first round, Nogueira bounced back from the knockdown to earn a unanimous decision over Herring. Nogueira's second UFC fight saw the tough Brazilian go up against former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 81: Breaking Point where both men fought to determine who would be the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion in light of Randy Couture's shocking departure from the UFC back in 2007. In true Nogueira fashion against bigger fighters, Nogueira was able to stay focused and patient and in the third round, submitted The Maine-iac with a guillotine choke to earn the win and the title.

While not having a decorated career as his opponent, Frank Mir is still one of the more formidable fighters in the UFC's heavyweight division. Growing up in a martial arts family, it only seemed natural for Mir to someday compete as an MMA fighter. Making his debut at HOOKnSHOOT: Showdown with a win against Jerome Smith, Mir immediately gave notice to the UFC that he is one fighter that is worth signing and shortly after another bout at IFC, Mir made his UFC debut by defeating Roberto Travern at UFC 34: High Voltage. He also competed at the famed Royal Albert Hall in London, England for the UFC's very first PPV event in the United Kingdom, UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall, where he suffered a loss to Ian Freeman due to TKO after suffering a cut on his face which prompted the referee to stop the fight and award the bout to Freeman. In 2003, Mir also picked up a win at UFC 41: Onslaught against the infamous Tank Abbot. Things started picking up for Mir in 2004 when at UFC 48: Payback, Mir was able to win the vacant UFC Heavyweight Title by defeating Tim Sylvia 50 seconds in the first round with an armbar! The win also earned him a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt for his performance. Tragedy struck as Mir was involved in an accident where a car struck him while he was riding on his motorcycle. The accident caused Mir to break his femur and tore all his ligaments in his knee. Due to the injury he suffered, Mir was stripped off the title after not being able to defend it after 14 months. Mir would then return from his injury by facing Marcio Cruz at UFC 57: Liddell vs. Couture 3, but was defeated by the newcomer in a major upset. After rocky back and forth years in 2006 and 2007, Mir was finally able to pick up a victory that made headlines back in February 2008. On the same night Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira won the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title by defeating Tim Sylvia, Mir would face the debuting Brock Lesnar in an anticipated bout. Mir was able to expose Lesnar's inexperience in MMA by attempting an armbar, but after managing to escape the armbar, Lesnar found himself locked in a kneebar by Mir, getting the submission victory and putting him high in the rankings amongst the UFC's top heavyweight fighters!

From The Ultimate Fighter 8 to the Octagon!

Prior to their anticipated showdown, both Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir were coaches for their respective teams on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter. Nogueira seemed to have the upper hand as both of his trained fighters were able to pick up UFC contracts at the season finale of the show. This of course would mean that Mir is also on the lookout for revenge aside from wanting the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title bout. Both Nogueira and Mir are accomplished BJJ practitioners, although Nogueira has a lot more technique and a vast knowledge of the art over Mir. Nonetheless, this would make for an interesting battle between these two amazing fighters.

A monster challenge awaits the winner!

While Nogueira and Mir were busy coaching and looking for potential UFC champions, Brock Lesnar was soaking up the spotlight as he pulled off his biggest victory in his young MMA career. The former three-time WWE Champion and IWGP Heavyweight Champion was able to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion after defeating Randy Couture in Couture's return match at UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar. It was Lesnar's third bout in the Octagon and thus, he is now the man to beat in the heavyweight division. The winner of the fight between Nogueira and Mir would then go on to face Lesnar to crown the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion in a future bout in 2009. Despite still being a rookie in the MMA world, Lesnar has ascended quickly up the ranks much like he did when he started out in the WWE, proving that despite the criticism, is as much a natural athlete as most of the top fighters in MMA. That being said, he will be a huge threat to whomever that wins this bout. Nogueira has faced many big men such as Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt and Tim Sylvia and knows how to overcome the odds while Mir has a win over Lesnar in Lesnar's debut and would definitely find a way to beat him again should they ever compete against each other once again.

But the real question is, who will it be? Who will be the number one contender to Lesnar's gold? Will it be the former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Nogueira or will it be the former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mir? Can Nogueira successfully defend his UFC Interim Heavyweight Title or will we see a new UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion crowned?

UFC 92 Preview Part One: Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva!

The UFC will cap off what has been a storied and amazing 2008 with a stacked card that could rival one of their 2007 PPV events, UFC 73: Stacked, which like UFC 92, also boasts a Triple Main Event! Two title fights will take place that night and one fight will be a bout to determine a potential light heavyweight title contender in the near future.

In the first of three parts of the preview of UFC 92, I will look at one of the most anticipated rematches between two top light heavyweight competitors, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and "The Axe Murderer" Wanderlei Silva!

Quinton Jackson (28-7) vs. Wanderlei Silva (32-8)

One of the most popular fighters in the light heavyweight division today, Quinton Jackson is also one of the most entertaining. The 30-year old MMA fighter is a veteran of the ring with a career spanning in PRIDE and now the UFC. It was back in 2001 and Jackson could have not been there at a better time when MMA was beginning to gain a lot of steam en route to becoming one of the most popular sports in Japan. In his debut fight, he was matched up against a man whom during that time was considered the measuring stick for all middleweight fighters in that organization, Kazushi Sakuraba. The crafty Sakuraba was able to defeat Jackson, but the fight helped raised Jackson's stock, so much that he was matched up against fighters such as Masaaki Satake, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman and Mikhail Illoukhine. With powerful strikes, Jackson tried his hand out in K-1 fights, competing against French K-1 veteran Cyril Abidi and outmatching him in the two fights both men had against each other. He also scored some big victories over the likes of Ikuhisa Minowa and Ricardo Arona, in which in his bout with Arona, he used his pro-wrestling training to good use, winning the match via a devastating powerbomb while he was locked in a triangle choke. After a short stint in the World Fighting Alliance, Jackson signed with the UFC and gained success when in 2007, he defeated Chuck Liddell to become the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. It was Jackson's second victory over the MMA veteran as he had earlier gained a win over Liddell back when both men competed in PRIDE in 2003. It was at UFC 75 held in London, England where Jackson proved his superiority as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in the world when he defeated PRIDE veteran Dan Henderson to unify both the UFC Light Heavyweight Title and PRIDE Middleweight Title! Jackson would then be one of the two coaches for the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter, going up against fellow light heavyweight, Forrest Griffin. As per tradition, both fighters would then square off against each other after the season has ended and in the end, it was Griffin who defeated Jackson at UFC 86 and captured the UFC Light Heavyweight Title from Jackson. Jackson went through a terrible slump after the match, firing his trainer and manager, Juanito Ibarra, then got involved in a terrible road rage incident which made headlines in the news when Jackson drove recklessly in his Ford F-350 and got into a chase with the cops. Jackson has since pleaded not guilty to his actions during a hearing in August, but nothing has since come out of his recent hearing last month.

Wanderlei Silva is known as The Axe Murderer for a very good reason. If he could be compared to a K-1 fighter, Jerome LeBanner would be the best guy to compare Silva with. Silva is known for his super aggressive fighting style and his brutal strikes which would lead to a tough knock or stoppage of his opponents as he is a Muay Thai specialist and also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Silva started out in the UFC when he got knocked out by Vitor Belfort in his debut UFC fight. He then went on to knock out Tony Petarra with his knees, then lost to Tito Ortiz in his first and unsuccessful challenge for Ortiz's UFC Middleweight Title. It was then when he moved to PRIDE in 1999 during PRIDE's early years and defeated Carl Malenko at PRIDE 7 in his debut fight there. From that point on, Silva racked up a huge eighteen-fight winning streak, beating the likes of Dan Henderson, Shungo Oyama, Kazushi Sakuraba, Guy Mezger, Kiyoshi Tamura, Ikuhisa Minowa and Hidehiko Yoshida. After a very very impressive run over in PRIDE, things started to change for The Axe Murderer. Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, bought out PRIDE after the promotion folded due to a controversial yakuza scandal which brought bad light to television networks that air PRIDE, including Fuji TV. After buying out PRIDE, Zuffa was able to purchase several contracts of whatever that's left of PRIDE and Silva was one of the fighters that would make the transition to the UFC, returning to the promotion after seven years. To make his return highly publicized, UFC President Dana White decided to match Silva up against one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time, Chuck Liddell, in a match which White had been dreaming of putting together for a very long time. After so many years, the match finally took place at UFC 79: Nemesis, where Liddell and Silva were co-headliners of the historic event (right below the UFC Interim Welterweight Title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes). It was a heated fight which saw the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada come to life with zero silence as a dream match took place right before their very eyes. Unfortunately, Silva's performance was sub-par as he was not as aggressive as he should have been in the fight and in the end, it was a decision loss for Silva as Liddell took the win. Silva's next fight was a redeemer of sorts as he was able to bounce back from the loss against Liddell with a win over Keith Jardine in 36 seconds into the first round at UFC 84: Ill Will!

It's retribution for one fighter and a chance to thrust back into the spotlight for the other!

Both Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva have crossed paths on two occasions while both men were competing in PRIDE. The first time both men clashed was at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 at the Tokyo Dome in the finals of the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight GP Tournament, which also featured Chuck Liddell and Hidehiko Yoshida. It was actually at this very event where promoters were hoping for Liddell to face Silva in the finals, but after Jackson bested Liddell in the semi-finals, it came down to Jackson vs. Silva. Using his superb Muay Thai clinch coupled with his aggressive strikes, Silva was able to land seventeen consecutive standing knee strikes to the head of Jackson, forcing a referee stoppage and declaring Silva the winner and tournament champion via TKO! Both men would then meet a year later, this time with the PRIDE Middleweight Title on the line. It was Silva the champion meeting Jackson the challenger and much like the first fight, the result saw Silva taking the win over Jackson again with a series of punches and standing knee strikes 3:26 into the second round and at the same time, successfully defend his title against Jackson. Silva owns a 2-0 record over Jackson and both men are gunning for a huge win.

For Jackson, it would mean retribution after losing to Silva twice in PRIDE and a win in the UFC would raise up his stock, especially after the road rage incident which had shed some bad light on him and a terrible loss to Forrest Griffin, which also saw his UFC Light Heavyweight Title being taken away from him. That being said, Jackson must win this fight at all costs if he would like to re-challenge for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title again.

Silva on the other hand had a pretty bad start to his UFC return. In fact, prior to his return to the UFC, Silva chalked up two pretty tough losses, one to Mirko Filipovic, which cost him a chance to compete in the finals of the PRIDE Openweight GP Tournament against Josh Barnett (who would lose to Filipovic in the finals) and another to Dan Henderson whom he lost his PRIDE Middleweight Title to. The loss to Chuck Liddell put a dent on his record, but the win over Keith Jardine meant that The Axe Murderer is still alive and well. For Silva, he must win this match in order to gain contention in what is a very competitive light heavyweight division in the UFC thus far.

Who will win in this highly-anticipated rematch between two tough fighters and who will go up in the rankings for contention to face the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, whomever it may be after the night is over, be it Forrest Griffin or Rashad Evans? Will Rampage take the victory or will The Axe Murderer once again stop him in his tracks?

Full lineup for UFC 92, Dana White invites Satoshi Ishii to UFC 92, GSP nominated for award and Cro Cop vs. Choi added to Dynamite!!

Full line-up for UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008!

The UFC has finally disclosed its full line-up for next Saturday's huge MMA spectacular, UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008! The card boasts a Triple Main Event, featuring two title matches and a grudge match to cap off what has been an amazing 2008 for the company! There will be a three-part preview coming very soon to build hype for this highly anticipated bout, so keep an eye out for the previews!

Pay-Per-View Card:

* 205 lbs. | Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans (Title)
* 265 lbs. | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir (Title)
* 185 lbs. | CB Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
* 205 lbs. | Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
* 265 lbs. | Cheick Kongo vs. Mustafa Al-Turk

Undercard:

* 185 lbs. | Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister
* 265 lbs. | Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
* 205 lbs. | Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
* 185 lbs. | Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn
* 265 lbs. | Dan Evensen vs. Pat Barry

Dana White invites Satoshi Ishii to UFC 92!

To add to the glamor and spectacle of the event, UFC President Dana White has decided to invite the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo, Satoshi Ishii, to attend the event as a special guest! This was in light of Ishii's bold declaration that he has decided to head on to the UFC instead of DREAM where he believes that his status as Olympic Gold Medalist would bring him fame and fortune and in addition to that, help expand the UFC's Japanese market even further.

White released a statement through the Japanese PPV television network, WOWOW, which broadcasts UFC events from time to time. White believed that Ishii has a huge potential to become a great MMA fighter and applauded Ishii's decision of choosing the UFC over DREAM. It was through this statement that Ishii decided to extend his hand out to the talented judoka and invite him to Las Vegas to check out UFC 92 next Saturday.

Ishii has since accepted the invitation and will be jetting off to the United States in a few days time to attend UFC 92.

Georges St-Pierre nominated for Canadian Athlete of the Year!

Current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre has been nominated for Sportsnet.ca's award of Canadian Athlete of the Year! After what has been an amazing run in the UFC throughout 2008, including reclaiming the UFC Welterweight Title from rival Matt Serra in front of his hometown Montreal crowd and an amazing Match of the Year candidate bout between Jon Fitch and himself, it seems natural for the man known as Rush to be nominated for such an award.

GSP will be going up against some stiff competition as he will tackle the likes of Calgary Flames' Captain Jarome Iginla, Minnesota Twins' All-Star Justin Morneau, tennis player Daiel Nestor and paralympian Chantel Petitclerc.

To vote for GSP, visit http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/2008/12/11/2008_sportsnet_canadian_athlete_of_the_year/! Results will be announced this coming Monday, December 22nd (Tuesday, December 23rd for us Malaysians).

Cro Cop vs. Techno-Goliath at Dynamite!! 2008!

As it had been rumored for some time, Mirko Filipovic, known to Japanese fans as Mirko Cro Cop (Cro Cop being a term that derived from Filipovic's time as a police officer in his hometown of Croatia as a member of the most elite Croatian police's Anti-Terrorist Unit, ATJ Lucko) and Hong Man Choi (known as the Techno-Goliath due to his victory dance routine after his fights while he was a ssireum wrestler, not to mention standing 7'2" tall) will battle at FEG's New Year's Eve spectacular, Dynamite!! 2008 under DREAM Rules!

One of the most popular foreign fighters to ever grace the Japanese MMA world, Filipovic is known for his amazing stand-up, which consists of his trademark hard stiff kicks to the head. This showed as before his memorable run in PRIDE, Filipovic was an accomplished K-1 fighter, making it to the finals of the K-1 WORLD GP in 1999, losing to the four-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion Ernesto Hoost. Aside from PRIDE, Filipovic also dabbled in the UFC, but attained little success in the major company despite being pushed as a huge prospect, including his shocking knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 and unanimous decision defeat to Cheick Kongo at UFC 75, both events taking place in England. Filipovic made his DREAM debut, easily defeating Tatsuya Mizuno at DREAM.1, before going to a controversial no contest against Alistair Overeem at DREAM.6 after two knees to the groin by Overeem. It had been rumored before that Filipovic and Overeem would get a rematch to settle the score at Dynamite!!, but unfortunately, as we see now, that will not be the case.

Hong Man Choi is the largest fighter in the world at 7'2" and weighing 330 lbs. Despite his towering size and improved stand-up game, Choi has not been doing very well since returning from his compulsory military service back in Korea. This was shown after being pummeled by the former K-1 WORLD GP Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari in Seoul back in September and losing to Ray Sefo in Tokyo early this month. Successive losses adding up to lackluster performances in his past fights led to FEG Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa to move him into DREAM where he can hopefully improve his game in MMA fights rather than K-1 fights. Choi has had very poor experience going into this fight as an MMA fighter. He was able to defeat popular Nigerian comedian Bobby Ologun at K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!! in a squash, then a year later lost to the unstoppable Fedor Emelianenko at Yarennoka! in 2007. Both men will be gunning for a huge win, but only one will be able to walk out the victor.

DREAM Rules Matches
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Calvancante
Jerome LeBanner vs. Mark Hunt
Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez
Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura
Mirko Filipovic vs. Hong Man Choi

K-1 Rules Matches
Musashi vs. Gegard Mousasi
Kozo Takeda vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: HIROYA vs. Shota Shimada
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Koya Urabe
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Final: Winner of HIROYA/Shota Shimada vs. Winner of Ryuya Kusakabe/Koya Urabe
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko

Source: MMAFighting.com

Former UFC fighter found dead, Tito Ortiz joins Affliction commentating team and complete lineup for Affliction: Day of Reckoning.

Justin Levens and wife found dead.

Former UFC, IFL and WEC light heavyweight fighter Justin Levens and his wife, Sara McLean-Levens were found dead on Wednesday with gunshot wounds found on their body at their home in Laguna Niguel, California. Levens was 28 years old.

Lt. V. Wilson of the Orange County Sheriff's Department has preliminary suggested that the incident is currently being classified as murder-suicide, but nothing has been confirmed until the investigation is complete. He also informed that nobody knew who discovered the bodies of the deceased couple, although according to a CBS2 online report, the mother of the deceased female was the one who discovered their bodies before calling the police at 2:30 p.m. PST.

In his first seven fights, Levens went undefeated while he competed in the WEC. He then went over to the UFC where he made his debut against the late Evan Tanner at UFC 59 back in September 2006, losing via a first-round triangle choke submission. He went on to compete in the IFL shortly, but only managed a 0-3 record.

Levens was scheduled to compete at Affliction's inaugural event, Banned, but was pulled out at the last minute due to time constraints. It was later reported that Levens tested positive for the painkiller oxymorphone during pre-fight testing, according to the California State Athletic Commission.

Racking up an overall win-loss record of nine wins and eight losses, Levens last bout took place at the Palace Fighting Championships in Lemoore, California, where he lost to Kenny Ento via submission in the first round.

Tito Ortiz joins the Affliction commentating team at Day of Reckoning!

While Tito Ortiz won't be doing what he does best in the ring, not until he has fully recovered from his back surgery and not until his no-compete clause from the UFC is over in June, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy will be putting on the headset to join Sean Wheelock and Jimmy Smith, whom both are commentating for the M-1 Challenge series on HDNet Fights, at the commentating booth for Affliction's Day of Reckoning event.

"This has nothing to do with me fighting for Affliction," Ortiz remarked during the press conference for Affliction: Day of Reckoning. "I’ve been fighting for 11 years, so I think I know a thing or two about fighting."

Ortiz stated to Sherdog that he is currently at "about 40 per cent" and have "regained a lot of mobility just in the last two weeks." He hopes to continue fighting for at least another four more years.

Ortiz's last fight was a unanimous decision loss to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84: Ill Will. He and his longtime girlfriend, adult film star Jenna Jameson, are expecting twins in April.

The complete lineup for Affliction: Day of Reckoning!

It was announced at the press conference that 11 fights will take place at Affliction: Day of Reckoning on January 24th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Five of the bouts will be aired on HDNet Fights, while the last six bouts will air live on PPV.

Pay-per-view lineup:

WAMMA Heavyweight Title: Fedor Emelianenko (c) vs. Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Paul Buentello vs. Kirill Sidelnikov

HDNet Fights lineup:

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight

Source: Sherdog

Badr Hari's punishment revealed.

FEG has finally revealed Badr Hari's punishment after the self-proclaimed Golden Boy deliberately broke the rules in his fight with Remy Bonjasky in the finals of the K-1 WORLD GP 2008 Tournament.

After much discussion amongst FEG Producer Sadaharu Tanigawa and K-1 Rules Director Nobuaki Kakuda, Hari's official punishment are as follow:

1. Withdrawal of the entire fight purse from the event.
2. Being stripped off the K-1 WORLD GP Heavyweight Title.
3. No longer officially known as the 2008 K-1 WORLD GP Finalist.

When asked if there are any suspensions in mind for Hari, K-1 management indicated that in the near future, rules will be strongly implemented to disqualify and suspend fighters who deliberately break the rules much like Hari did in his fight against Bonjasky.

If you ask me for a personal opinion though, I don't think it is fair to not suspend Hari for his actions. Take a look at Yoshihiro Akiyama for instance. The popular judoka was suspended due to his use of skin cream, which he intended to use to treat his dry skin. However, after much protest by Kazushi Sakuraba, whom he faced at K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!! which led to the violation, not only was his fight purse withdrawn, he was also suspended for ten months. All that due to an unintentional use of a skin cream which he did not use in order to cheat. The sad thing about it though is that Akiyama was being a complete professional about the whole matter, apologizing sincerely for his actions, willing to take any punishment FEG handed over to him and also requesting (but never receiving) a rematch against Sakuraba to erase the whole memory of that match and start afresh. Even when he was getting booed and heckled by the fans and taunted heavily by Kazuo Misaki after their Yarennoka! fight, Akiyama took everything like a man and did not even do anything further to embarrass himself and the sport.

Hari on the other hand committed a huge foul which was absolutely embarrassing to the sport and at the same time, did not seem to show any remorse or regret over his actions. After grounding and pounding Bonjasky, he could have stopped, but he had to add a stomp as well. Then he had to make a scene by getting in Kakuda's face and also Ivan Hippolyte's face. I find it terrible how Hari commented on Bonjasky not showing any interest to fight anymore. What about Hari himself? If Hari was serious about wanting to compete for the richest prize in fightsport, he could have put personal issues aside and display professionalism by putting on a great fight and winning the tournament as many have predicted. Instead, he didn't seem to care about taking Bonjasky down. He didn't seem to care about grounding and pounding Bonjasky. He didn't seem to care about stomping on Bonjasky's head while he's on the ground. He didn't seem to care if getting in Kakuda's and Hippolyte's face would result in a disqualification.

Basically, on the grandest stage in fightsport and with the biggest opportunity of his life, Badr Hari didn't seem to care about becoming the K-1 WORLD GP Champion.

So why even bother competing for the title? I cannot imagine what must be going through the minds of the other six fighters who were watching the fight backstage and witnessing the humiliation Hari was bringing to the sport. To them, they could have been in the finals and fought for the title that they have been fighting for throughout the year and put on a better fight, not to mention a professional one as well without any controversies whatsoever. I mean, what was Hari trying to prove and gain out of this fight? This man has proven that no matter how good he is as a fighter, his personality and behavior is not worthy of being a role model to anyone. As a fight fan myself and as a man struggling to help Malaysians to see just how wonderful this sport is due to the professionalism shown by all fighters, it is absolutely discouraging and absolutely humiliating to see such action taking place that evening.

Let me make it very clear to everyone. K-1 and MMA are not sports-entertainment. Yes they have the glitz, the glamor, the pageantry with their always elaborate production for almost every event, especially in Japan, but this is a sport, a real legitimate sport. K-1 and MMA are as legit as football, as basketball, as baseball, as badminton, as tennis, as motorsports, as boxing and many other major sports out there. Yes the sport isn't as popular as it was years ago in Japan, but there is still a huge market there and also around the world. Having said that, I strongly pray and hope that such an incident would not be repeated ever again in this wonderful sport that I continue to love.

Perhaps this punishment would serve as a reminder to Badr Hari in the near future to not break any rules. I don't think it was justified fully as he truly deserves a suspension for his actions, but that's my opinion and sadly, I don't think FEG would even care about my opinion.

Source: FightOpinion.com

WEC fighter in a coma, Ken Shamrock to fight on February 13th and Satoshi Ishii targets the UFC!

Will Ribeiro in coma after motorcycle accident.

Yesterday, it was reported that WEC bantamweight fighter Will Ribeiro was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident that resulted in the 26-year old going into a coma and currently battling for his life. Ribeiro's coach, Luis Alvez, told Brazilian MMA magazine Tatame that the crash happened sometime around one a.m. and that Ribeiro was not wearing a helmet.

Ribeiro's manager, Ed Soares, reported on WEC.tv that according to the doctor, Ribeiro has lost sight in one of his eyes and that there is a 50-50 shot that he will come out of it after surgery has been completed.

Ribeiro's last match before the motorcycle accident was a submission loss to Brian Bowles at WEC 37.

Ken Shamrock to return on February 13th!

UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock will be returning to MMA on February 13th as he headlines Valentines Eve Massacre, an event promoted by Ken Shamrock Productions and War Gods. The event, that will be held at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California, will also feature Shamrock's son, Ryan, who made his debut at a Ken Shamrock-promoted event back in August 2007. Their opponents are to be determined in a future date.

This will be Ken Shamrock's first fight since infamously being pulled out of his scheduled fight against Kimbo Slice at EliteXC Heat back in October due to an injury on his left eye as a result of an accident during training hours before the event began. Shamrock has lost five fights in a row and eight of his last ten and therefore will be looking for a victory at this event.

Satoshi Ishii's preferred destination: The UFC!

In what some may consider to be a huge swerve, the 2008 Judo Olympic Gold Medalist Satoshi Ishii is reportedly very interested to compete in the UFC, according to Nikkansports. Previously, Ishii was heavily linked to competing in DREAM and although he came very close to signing a deal with the huge Japanese MMA promotion, he chose the UFC instead as it was his dream to compete in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.

"I made up my mind finally. The UFC is where I fight. If I'm an unknown judo-ka, I will definitely built up MMA experiences in Japan first. However, I decided to use my title of the Judo gold medalist. I believe my name value will attract the UFC. I'm sorry that my indecisive and expressive behavior confused DREAM staff and fans," he stated to the media after training on December 17th.

Ishii plans on starting out with WEC as he understands how the UFC does not simply give any opportunity to fighters without much experience and a good win-loss record. He now plans on contacting the UFC and going over to America to work out a deal with the promotion, then plans to train under the famed American Top Team MMA group (which has produced fighters such as Denis Kang, Thiago Alves, Jeff Monson, Thiago Silva and Gesias Calvancante) in March.

Source: MMAFighting.com and Sherdog

Tito Ortiz to Affliction? Plus, Semmy Schilt returns to MMA and five top UFC fighters in one movie!

Tito Ortiz to appear as a special guest at Affliction press conference!

In what is definitely huge news in the world of MMA, it's been announced that former multiple-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz will be appearing at the Affliction press conference tomorrow afternoon in Los Angeles to promote Affliction's upcoming January 24th PPV event, Day of Reckoning, headlined by a WAMMA Heavyweight Title bout between champion Fedor Emelianenko and challenger Andrei Arlovski.

Speculation is running rampant that Ortiz's appearance (he appeared at Affliction's inaugural PPV event, Affliction: Banned, and was announced as one of the special guests in attendance with his girlfriend, adult film star Jenna Jameson) could spark a major turning point for the upstart MMA promotion based out of Affliction Clothing. Ever since losing to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84: Ill Will this past May, Ortiz has since become one of the hottest free agents in MMA today. Ortiz appeared on EliteXC Heat and announced that he was about a week away from signing a major deal with the company until EliteXC's parent company, Pro Elite, folded sometime after their very last event six days later.

After recently appearing on the popular HDNet Fights weekly MMA program, Inside MMA, Ortiz hinted that he would make his impending return to MMA in July after recovering from surgery to repair his injured back. It seems that Ortiz is gunning to make his return to MMA by signing with Affliction, but at the same time, despite major heat between Ortiz and UFC President Dana White, has not ruled out a possible return to the company that made him who he is, the UFC.

The complete lineup for Affliction: Day of Reckoning to be held on January 24th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California is as follow:

WAMMA Heavyweight Title: Fedor Emelianenko (c) vs. Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight
Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov

Semmy Schilt to return to MMA at Dynamite!! 2008!

Three more bouts have been added to Dynamite!! 2008! The first big fight added will see three time K-1 WORLD GP Champion, former King of Pancrase Champion and current K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Champion Semmy Schilt facing the 2007 K-1 WORLD GP IN HAWAII Winner Mighty Mo! The last time both of these men faced each other was at the K-! WORLD GP 2007 IN AMSTERDAM event where both men fought under K-1 Rules with Schilt successfully defending his K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Title. This time around, both men will be facing each other under DREAM Rules.

Prior to becoming one of the most dominating K-1 WORLD GP Champions in recent history, the 6'11" Schilt made his start by competing in Pancrase and winning its coveted King of Pancrase Title held by such prominent MMA fighters such as Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Josh Barnett, Guy Mezger and Yuki Kondo. He had a short stint in the UFC before moving over to PRIDE and finally, making a name for himself, winning three K-1 WORLD GP Championships by defeating established fighters such as fellow Dutchmen Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts and Ernesto Hoost (whom he faced in Hoost's final-ever K-1 fight) and currently holding the K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Title.

The other two bouts will see two young and talented WORLD MAX fighters, two-time K-1 WORLD MAX JAPAN Champion Yoshihiro Sato taking on the 2008 K-1 WORLD MAX Finalist Artur Kyshenko under K-1 Rules while Hideo Tokoro and Daisuke Nakamura look to tangle in what could be an exciting bout under DREAM Rules!

DREAM Rules Matches
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Calvancante
Jerome LeBanner vs. Mark Hunt
Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez
Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura

K-1 Rules Matches
Musashi vs. Gegard Mousasi
Kozo Takeda vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: HIROYA vs. Shota Shimada
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Koya Urabe
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Final: Winner of HIROYA/Shota Shimada vs. Winner of Ryuya Kusakabe/Koya Urabe
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko

UFC fighters to star in a brand new mixed martial arts film!

Five of the UFC's elite fighters spanning all five major weight classes will star in a new mixed martial arts movie set in the world of underground street fighting, similar to movies such as Bloodsport. Titled Never Surrender and directed by world-famous martial artist, Hector Echavarria (who also stars in the film as the main character, Diego Carter), the film also stars the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, established heavyweight veteran Heath Herring, UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn and former UFC Light Heavyweight and PRIDE Middleweight Champion Quinton Jackson with Herring playing as Diego's friend, Stone, while the other fighters are competitors in the film's mixed martial arts tournament.

According to Echavarria, Never Surrender is a film best described as "an erotically charged, controversial action-thriller set in the world of underground street fighting where an MMA fighter who has been drawn into the world by an erotic and sexy promoter, quickly realizes that there is no way out, other than death."

The film is slated to be released in spring 2009.

Source: MMAFighting.com

The Ultimate Fighter 8 winners, Lashley wins in MMA debut and Couture stars in next film!

Ryan Bader and Efrain Escudero wins The Ultimate Fighter 8!

Congratulations go out to Team Nogueira's Ryan Bader of the light heavyweight division and Efrain Escudero of the lightweight division, also from Team Nogueira, for winning the eighth season of the popular reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter, after defeating Team Mir's Vinicius Magalhaes and Phillipe Nover, who ironically enough is also a Team Nogueira representative. With the win, both fighters walked away from The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada with not only a trophy, but also a six-figure contract to compete in the UFC.

Bader and Escudero now join the likes of Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Joe Stevenson, Diego Sanchez, Michael Bisping, Matt Serra and Amir Sadollah as winners of TUF who are now under UFC contracts. With some of these names (especially Griffin and Serra as Griffin is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion while Serra is a former UFC Welterweight Champion) making it to the big time in the world's largest MMA organization, it will only be a matter of time until Bader and Escudero make themselves well-known as elite fighters in MMA.

Former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley wins in his MMA debut!

Bobby Lashley, known for being a former WWE Superstar, ECW Champion and Donald Trump's representative in the Battle of the Billionaires match at WrestleMania 23, was able to pick up the win in his MMA debut this past Saturday.

The former National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) wrestling champion and former pro-wrestler defeated another fighter making his MMA debut that night, Joshua Franklin, at Mixed Fighting Alliance's inaugural show, There Will Be Blood, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Lashley ground and pounded his way to victory and opened up a cut on Franklin, leading to the match ending in only 41 seconds.

The event was headlined by a match between Jeff Monson and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez. Monson was able to avenge his previous TKO loss to Rodriguez at UFC 35: Throwdown six years ago with a win via unanimous decision.

Randy Couture to star in a new film alongside Sylvester Stallone!

MMA legend, UFC Hall of Famer and the only six-time UFC Champion in history, Randy Couture, will be starring in his next movie, The Expendables, alongside Sylvester Stallone and an all-star list of martial artists, including Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li and Jason Statham. Shooting for the film will commence in March 2009 with a scheduled release date sometime in 2010.

It will be Couture's next film since the straight-to-DVD release of the prequel to The Scorpion King, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior this year.

Source: MMAFighting.com

Yoshihiro Akiyama no longer under FEG.

On December 11th, controversial, yet immensely popular judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama, updated his blog regarding his shocking non-participation at the Dynamite!! 2008 event and where his future holds from here on:

“My contract with FEG expired on the end of November. Even though talking it over, we couldn't reach an agreement on the fight in Dynamite. Unfortunately, I cannot fight in Dynamite this year. I'm disappointed because I really wanted to participate in.

I will start negotiations with MMA events about my contract next year, and I don't know where I fight next year for now. Thank you for always supporting me."

This now leaves Akiyama without an MMA promotion to call home anymore. Many questions are raised in regards to the judoka netizens famously call "Sexyama", such as why agreements couldn't be made in regards to his participation at Dynamite!!. According to K-1 Event Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa, FEG officials had given a list of ten candidates for Akiyama to choose from as his opponent for Dynamite!!. Nobody knows who were in that list and nobody knows what else were discussed, which of course raised the question as to why Akiyama's contract was simply terminated without renewing it?

It is very questionable as Akiyama had been one of FEG's top drawing MMA fighters ever since he made his debut at K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite!!, submitting Francois Botha with an armbar and also headlining the very first HERO'S event in 2005, losing to Jerome LeBanner. His career came to a halt during the now infamous match between Kazushi Sakuraba and himself at the main event of K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!!, where he was caught using skin cream to treat his dry skin. The incident led to his suspension throughout the year where he was able to finally make his return at the final HERO'S show ever in Korea, defeating highly touted fighter Denis Kang.

His drawing power was very evident in the last two DREAM events, DREAM.5 and DREAM.6, where his fights against Katsuyori Shibata and Masanori Tonooka were the highest rated segments as far as television ratings are concerned, so obviously so many questions are raised over this matter. Sadly, ever since the controversial incident involving Sakuraba, Akiyama was continuously heckled and booed by the fans everytime he makes his entrance to the ring, making him hated over in Japan, but well-loved in Korea and especially in western countries, where he is treated as a cult figure.

Problems arose when Akiyama suddenly sent out a challenge to judo Olympic Gold Medalist, Hidehiko Yoshida. Yoshida currently competes for the SENGOKU promotion and Akiyama has expressed his strongest desires to face him in a match. This angered several fighters, especially Shinya Aoki, who challenged Akiyama to a match at Dynamite!!. Akiyama however never showed any interest in facing Aoki despite Aoki calling him out numerous times on his blog and on MMA radio interviews. With Akiyama now gone from FEG, it seems that SENGOKU might probably be Akiyama's next stop. Not only will he be able to fight Yoshida, but he will also be able to exact revenge on Kazuo Misaki, who humiliated Akiyama during their match at Yarennoka! back in December 2007.

Last month, Akiyama made a trip to Las Vegas to attend UFC 91 where Brock Lesnar captured the UFC Heavyweight Title from Randy Couture. Having attended his first UFC event, Akiyama was impressed by the atmosphere and the fights that took place that night. Prior to his visit, rumors were circulating around regarding the possibility of Akiyama jumping over to the UFC as it was said that UFC President Dana White had interest to further expand the number one MMA organization to Japan and Korea. If he does, it would be a huge risk for Akiyama as it is not known how he would be treated if he does sign with the UFC.

It remains to be seen where Akiyama will end up by the time 2009 rolls in, but MMA fans will realize that whichever MMA organization that is able to acquire the 2006 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Champion will gain a lot from his services. As for whether or not Akiyama would ever return to DREAM, never say never.

Sources: Sherdog, MMAFighting.com and Judo-Saiko.com

K-1 WORLD GP 2008 FINAL results: Remy Bonjasky becomes three-time champion!

Congratulations go out to Holland's Remy Bonjasky for winning the K-1 WORLD GP 2008 Title for the third time in his illustrious, yet rocky career filled with hardships, trials and tribulations. Unfortunately for the Flying Gentleman, his third reign as K-1 WORLD GP Champion did not come without its share of controversies which overshadowed his triumphant victory.

Held at the Yokohama Arena in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,823 fans, the tournament started with another Holland representative, three-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion in 1994, 1995 and 1998 Peter Aerts, taking on the reigning K-1 WORLD GP Heavyweight Champion, Morocco's Badr Hari. The match started out with an aggressive Hari attacking Aerts relentless, dropping him down in the first round, then dropping Aerts again in the second round before putting him away with a TKO victory due to referee stoppage after the referee found that Aerts was not fit to continue. Next up was a match between two excellent, formidable young fighters, Suriname's Errol Zimmerman, who took home the K-1 WORLD GP 2008 IN AMSTERDAM Tournament and Brazil's Ewerton Teixeira, the winner of the K-1 WORLD GP 2008 IN FUKUOKA Tournament. Both young fighters tore the house down with an excellent bout which saw a huge, drastic improvement from Teixeira in his boxing as like most Kyokushin Kaikan karate fighters, Teixeira relies heavily on his kicks, but his boxing that night was second to none. Zimmerman however was the better fighter, using his immense, vicious power to good use, knocking Teixeira down later in the match, then taking the win via 2-0 judges' decision.

The second half of the tournament started out with Turkey's Gokhan Saki, the winner of the K-1 WORLD GP 2008 IN HAWAII Tournament taking on Russia's Ruslan Karaev, who won the K-1 WORLD GP 2008 IN TAIPEI Tournament. This was another excellent bout which saw Karaev trying to put the tough-as-nails Turk down with his unpredictible fighting style, but Saki was the aggressor of the match and it showed, knocking Karaev down in their fight and scoring a 3-0 judges' decision victory to move on into the semi-finals. Then came the next bout featuring the then two-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion in 2003 and 2004, Holland's Remy Bonjasky going up against France's Jerome LeBanner, the K-1 WORLD GP 2002 Finalist, in a rematch from their controversial 2006 fight in Amsterdam. The match started out pretty slow at first, but picked up the pace with Bonjasky surprisingly being the stronger of the two. The match came to a halt sometime in the third round as vicious kicks from Bonjasky to LeBanner's surgerically repaired left arm resulted in the French powerhouse taking a standing count before the referee called for a time stop to check on LeBanner's left arm, which has been reinjured badly as there was a huge lump near his left elbow as a result. After ring doctors checked on LeBanner's arm, they deemed LeBanner unable to continue, thus giving Bonjasky the win via TKO and a trip to the semi-finals.

Two reserve bouts took place before the semi-finals, which would determine who would continue on as a substitute in case any of the four fighters left in the tournament are unable to continue. The first pitted Ray Sefo of New Zealand, who was the Finalist in the K-1 WORLD GP in 2000 and South Korea's 7'3" giant, Hong Man Choi, the Winner of the K-1 WORLD GP 2005 IN SEOUL Tournament. The match started out slow for both men, with both men being cautious but later on in the match, Sefo started getting cocky as his confidence started to build up slowly, allowing him to put on one of his best performances in a very long time. Choi was able to mount some offense of his own, but inactivity throughout the year due to his compulsary military service and injuries to his ribs as a result of his last fight against Badr Hari hindered his performance strongly. After controlling the fight for three rounds, Sefo was finally able to break his six-loss streak with a huge win over the Techno-Goliath himself. The second bout pitted Polish-Australian Paul Slowinski, the Winner of the K-1 WORLD GP 2007 IN AMSTERDAM Tournament and the current disciple of the retired four-time K-1 WORLD GP Champion Ernesto Hoost against Holland's Melvin Manhoef, who was the Finalist of the 2006 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Tournament. Manhoef, who is known for his punishing strikes, aggression and explosiveness, started out quick, knocking Slowinski to the ground early on in the fight. The fight ended very quickly as Manhoef pummeled Slowinski in the corner before catching him with a devastating right hook, knocking the Polish-Australian out for good and taking the win.

The semi-finals began with Badr Hari taking on Errol Zimmerman in what was truly the best fight of the night. It seemed like Hari came out very strong in the first round as he controlled the early parts of the fight very well, but Zimmerman came out with guns blazing in the second round, knocking the egotistical K-1 WORLD GP Heavyweight Champion down! Hari would then respond with a knockdown of his own to Zimmerman towards the end of the second round, turning the tide of the match in his favor! In the third round, a powerful left straight jab by Hari knocked Zimmerman, as the Bonecrusher was unable to answer the referee's count, giving Hari the win via KO and earning himself his first trip to the finals! The second semi-final pitted Gokhan Saki up against Remy Bonjasky. It seemed as if Saki was putting on a very strong showing against Bonjasky, but in the end, a flying knee kick to the left rib of Saki was able to put the Turk down and allow Bonjasky to head on to the finals without suffering any injuries whatsoever!

This set up the final which drew strong interest from the fans. Both Badr Hari and Remy Bonjasky have shared a major disdain towards each other and it was at last year's tournament in the quarter-finals where Bonjasky picked up what some may have considered an undeserving win against Hari via judges' decision. The story of this match seemed perfect for a main event. Badr Hari was the rising young star, the man many tipped to lead the new generation of K-1 WORLD GP fighters and the man, whom like Barack Obama brought change to America, could bring change to the K-1 WORLD GP. Remy Bonjasky had gone through very rough times, including a painful divorce in 2006, the passing of his mother in 2007 and his split from Mejiro Gym where he honed his skills. Now trained under the legendary Ivan Hippolyte and with a new girlfriend, the sky is the limit for Bonjasky to pick up his third K-1 WORLD GP Title.

Both men started out slow in the first round as they try to get a feel of each other and also see who makes the first move. Bonjasky was able to drop Hari down with a couple of punches, but unlike how he has done in his previous fights, was unable to quickly rebound and score a knockdown of his own. It got ugly in the second round as both men entered into a heated slugfest and as they got to center ring, Hari tripped Bonjasky down, then started going MMA on Bonjasky by grounding and pounding the Dutchman! As senior official and K-1 Rules Director Nobuaki Kakuda tried to restrain Hari, the Golden Boy added more insult to injury by stomping on a downed Bonjasky! Furious over the incident, Kakuda immediately called for a time stop and brought the ring doctors into the ring to check on Bonjasky while he shoved Hari to the neutral corner. As Hari continued to taunt Bonjasky while the crowd watched in stunned silence, Kakuda came up to Hari, scolded the Morroccan fighter for his foul play and unsportsmanship conduct, then proceeded to give him a yellow card, deducting one point from the judges' scorecards and a portion of Hari's fight purse! Kakuda went over to a seated Bonjasky, who complained about suffering from double vision as a result of the stomp and discussed with the doctors in regards to Bonjasky's well-being, all while Hari went over to Bonjasky's corner and taunted Bonjasky's trainer, Ivan Hippolyte! This prompted an even angrier Kakuda to shove Hari to his corner, before announcing that as a result of the injury he sustained due to the ground and pound and stomp, Bonjasky was recommended by doctors to not continue on in the match. However, due to Hari's unsportsmanship conduct and the foul he had caused, Kakuda had no other alternative, but to award the controversial Morroccan fighter with a red card, giving him an automatic disqualification, be fined his entire fight purse for the event and shockingly enough, resulted in the 2008 K-1 WORLD GP Championship going to Bonjasky!

It was a tournament that got off to a great start, but was marred by disaster as a result of the controversial ending in the second round. Bonjasky was in tears as he did not want to win the tournament the way he did in that match, but noted later on during the post-fight press conference that he doesn't have anything to say to Hari. "I was in tears because I trained very hard for this, and put many things aside to be able to train so much. I didn't want it to end like it did," Bonjasky said. Among many things, K-1 Event Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa noted that with the 2008 K-1 WORLD GP Tournament being broacasted to 150 countries, it would not be right to simply let Hari go off due to his actions as serious discussions will be held to determine the punishment Hari will receive. "As a Grand Prix, it was an extremely interesting event, however the ending wasn't good," Tanikawa said.

The win coincided with Masato's championship win at the K-1 WORLD MAX 2008 FINAL held this past October, as both Masato and Bonjasky both won their first respective titles in 2003, with Masato winning his second title this year and Bonjasky winning his third. A similar result was shared between fellow Dutch fighters, Andy Souwer and Semmy Schilt. Souwer won his first K-1 WORLD MAX Title in 2005, the same year Schilt won his first K-1 WORLD GP Title and both men picked up their second and third titles respectively in 2007.

Source: K-1 Official Website

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

Welcome to FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! This is my newest blog where I try to bring updates in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) through some of the best sources for MMA news and also give my thoughts on fighters, events, matches and happenings in the world of MMA.

A little bit about myself. I'm a 23 year old Malaysian who enjoys singing and performing on stage, which is my main forte, but in addition to that, I love watching MMA fights. My first real exposure to MMA actually came in 2003. I've been a pro-wrestling fan and still am up till today and it was through pro-wrestling where I discovered MMA due to the cross-promotions between both sports during that timespan. This resulted in me once traveling to the Tokyo Dome that same year and catching a few MMA fights live and in person, which included fighters such as Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Josh Barnett, Kazuyuki Fujita and also Lyoto Machida, who made his MMA debut on that night. It was also on that same year where in Japan, I watched my first K-1 fight on TV which was a bout between Musashi and the now-retired K-1 fighter, Nobuaki Kakuda. It was then when I studied in Perth did I discover a Japanese store which not only sells Japanese food products, but DVDs of TV shows and manga can also be rented at the store and this include MMA shows, such as all three of FEG's brands, the K-1 World GP, K-1 World MAX and the now-defunct HERO'S (currently replaced by DREAM). PRIDE and pro-wrestling events from New Japan and NOAH can also be rented there as well. By being able to rent and watch these events, I was able to enjoy watching these sports even further and developed a passion for them.

I must truly admit though that I find it simply frustrating that MMA events are currently not being shown in Malaysia. Last year, there were K-1 World GP, Cage Rage, King of the Cage and UFC events shown on Astro Box Office Sports, but since I was out of the country to further my studies for a year, I was unable to catch them, save for two UFC events and the terrible Dynamite!! USA event. Having completed my studies for good, I was hoping to catch more MMA events on the PPV channel, but unfortunately, due to what I would assume were poor buyrates since not many Malaysians save for a few like myself are into MMA, there are no longer any MMA events shown on Astro anymore. In addition to that, MMA DVDs are not even sold here and the only way for Malaysians to be able to get them easily are to either purchase them online or head on down to Singapore to buy them.

As a graduate with a Degree in Mass Communication, majoring in Journalism, I thought it might be a good idea to put my skills to the test and this blog might be useful to do so. At the same time, I would love nothing more than to try and spread the awareness of what is quickly becoming a huge trend in the world of combat sports today right here in Malaysia. I do hope you guys can frequent this blog as often as possible as it would be great for Malaysians to try and stay up-to-date regarding the happenings in the world of MMA today and also acquire some much-needed info and knowledge of the sport.

Till then, hope you enjoy this blog and become a loyal reader of FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!