February Month in Review.

First of all, many many major apologies for the lack of update in this blog. Shortly, before UFC 94, I finally managed to land a full-time job at a production company and due to the hectic and unpredictable nature of my work, I had not much time to update the blog and bring in as much news as I can.

To make up for it, this will be the first of two Month in Review updates looking at the happenings and on-goings in the MMA world throughout the two months. The March Month in Review will happen once I'm done watching the recent K-1 WORLD GP 2009 in YOKOHAMA event. Let's take a look at some of the more notable happenings in the month of February:

UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2
- UFC 94 took place on January 31st and thus deserves to be talked about for a bit in this entry. In the semi-main event, Lyoto Machida proved to be the better undefeated Brazilian fighter, surprisingly knocking out a tougher Brazilian fighter in his opponent, Thiago Silva, right at the buzzer at the end of the first round! With the win, Machida's record improves to a perfect 14-0.
- The main event of UFC 94 saw Georges St-Pierre make a successful defense of his UFC Welterweight Title by defeating UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn in what was a one-sided affair as Penn had trouble getting in offense throughout the later rounds. Penn's exhaustion and what seemed like an unwillingness to continue forced the doctor and his team to call off the fight, awarding the victory to St-Pierre!
- A huge fight like that isn't one without controversy. Several days after losing to Georges St-Pierre, B.J. Penn immediately filed a complaint to the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding St-Pierre's body being somewhat greasy. This was due to one of St-Pierre's cornermen rubbing vaseline on his face and his shoulders as part of a routine breathing technique St-Pierre uses in his fights during intervals to calm him down in tensed situation. St-Pierre had mentioned that he would never cheat to gain any unfair advantage over his opponent, although he did admit in regards to the vaseline being used. Despite that, many critics, analysts and even UFC President Dana White himself said that with or without vaseline on St-Pierre's body, it would have no effect on the outcome of the fight.

UFC signs two top Japanese fighters!
- Making his return to the UFC in close to six years is none other than popular HERO'S and DREAM lightweight Caol Uno! Uno will be making his return to the Octagon when he faces Spencer Fisher at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany. It will be his first appearance in the Octagon since his loss to Hermes Franca back at UFC 44 in 2003. Uno's last fight was a loss against current WAMMA Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki during the semi-final of the DREAM Lightweight GP at DREAM.5 last year.
- While one fighter returns, another fighter debuts and boy is it a big one! In what many considered quite a surprise, the 2006 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama has signed with the UFC! The controversial, yet popular Zainichi fighter who fought for HERO'S and DREAM is set to make his Octagon debut at the huge UFC 100 event in Las Vegas, Nevada when he faces middleweight contender Alan Belcher! Belcher had defeated another former HERO'S and DREAM fighter, Denis Kang, who made his debut in the UFC at UFC 93 in Ireland. The question is would the outcoe be the same for the man many netizens dub Sexyama?

K-1 WORLD MAX 2009 JAPAN Tournament!
- This year's K-1 WORLD MAX JAPAN Tournament took place at the Yoyogi Gymnasium in Tokyo with an interesting mix of fighters, including K-1 WORLD MAX newcomer, NKJF Super Welterweight Champion Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima, known for being a crossplayer (a person who cosplay's anime/manga/video game characters of the opposite sex). However, the outcome was truly surprising as Taishin Kohiruimaki, the 2004 and 2005 WORLD MAX JAPAN Champion whom not many predicted to win, took the tournament win and became the first ever three-time WORLD MAX JAPAN Champion, defeating Yuya Yamamoto in the finals! With the victory, Kohiruimaki will be one of 16 fighters from around the world competing for the chance to become this year's K-1 WORLD MAX Champion when the FINAL 16 Tournament emanates from the Marine Messe in Fukuoka this coming April.

UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson
- UFC 95 emanated from the O2 arena in London, England and the main event saw welterweight fighter Diego Sanchez make his debut at lightweight against veteran Joe Stevenson. Sanchez put on an impressive performance in his lightweight debut, defeating Stevenson via unanimous decision to take the victory and proving himself to be a force in the lightweight division!
- Other results from the main card saw British welterweight Dan Hardy knocking out Rory Markham with a devastating KO, Nate Marquadt defeating Wilson Gouveia via TKO and both Demian Maia and Paulo Thiago earning Submission of the Night and Knockout of the Night honors respectively when they defeated Chael Sonnen and Josh Koscheck in their fights.

Ken Shamrock's ups and downs.
- UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock competed at the WarGods: Valentine's Eve Massacre event where he defeated Ross Clifton via armbar submission. Shamrock's victory allowed him to gain momentum in his upcoming proposed bout against a fellow WWE alumni in Bobby Lashley at the boxing and MMA hybrid PPV event promoted by Roy Jones Jr. in March.
- Unfortunately for the former UFC Superfight and WWE Intercontinental Champion, Shamrock tested positive for three banned substances following his fight against Clifton. The appeal is still in pending, but Shamrock was unable to compete in his fight against Lashley. More on Lashley's fight in the next update.

That's it for the month of February. If there is ever any significant happenings in that month which I had missed out on, do lemme know and I'll add them in.

Sources: Sherdog, MMAJunkie.com, MMAFighting.com and Nightmare of Battle

Affliction: Day of Reckoning quick results, plus Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pioneer passes away and Yoshihiro Akiyama getting his wish?

Affliction: Day of Reckoning quick results!

Here are quick results from the recent Affliction: Day of Reckoning event. When I have the time, I'll definitely post up my review of the show, which I found to be really really good and highly recommend it to MMA fans no matter where you're from.

Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Honda Center in Anaheim, CA

1. Brett Cooper def. Patrick Speight via TKO (punches) - R2 (4:10)
2. Albert Rios def. Antonio Duarte via unanimous decision
3. LC Davis def. Bao Quach via unanimous decision
4. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Vladimir Matyushenko via TKO (knee) - R2 (4:26)
5. Dan Lauzon def. Bobby Green via submission (RNC) - R1 (4:55)
6. Paul Buentello def. Kiril Sidelnikov via TKO (referee stoppage) - R3 (4:18)
7. Renato Sobral def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via sub (D'arce choke) - R1 (2:36)
8. Vitor Belfort def. Matt Lindland via KO - R1 (0:37)
9. Josh Barnett def. Gilbert Yvel via submission (strikes) - R3 (3:05)
10. WAMMA Heavyweight Title: Fedor Emelianenko (c) def. Andrei Arlovski via KO - R1 (3:14)
11. Jay Hieron def. Jason High via KO (punch) - R1 (1:04)

Helio Gracie passes away.

Helio Gracie, the founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and the patriarch of the famous Gracie family, passed away in his sleep Thursday morning at his home in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. He was 95 and at the moment, the cause of his death is still not known.

Adapting elements from traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, Grace developed his own techniques and refined them to suit smaller fighters like himself in order to defeat fighters bigger than him. His teachings were then passed down to his children, most notably Rickson, Royler, Relson, Royce and Rorion, all established and well-known MMA fighters themselves. His teachings was instrumental in the formation of what would years later become the number one MMA promotion in the world today, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Rorion Gracie, who was one of the co-founders of the UFC, believed it as the one organization to showcase the power of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. His vision became a reality as his brother, Royce Gracie, used the teachings to win the first, second and fourth UFC Tournaments during the promotion's beginnings and from there on, started a legacy of its own with many MMA prospects picking up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and using it as a staple martial art when training for MMA fights.

Helio Gracie's last major appearance was at the ill-fated Dynamite!! USA event where he witnessed his son, Royce, defeat Kazushi Sakuraba in a highly anticipated rematch in Los Angeles, California back in June 2007 via unanimous decision.

Yoshihiro Akiyama to finally get his wish in July?

At DREAM.6 after his victory over Masanori Tonooka, the 2006 HERO'S Light Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama stated his desire to fight Hidehiko Yoshida at Dynamite!! 2008. Obviously with Yoshida being contracted under WVR and Akiyama pulling out of the New Year's Eve bash mere weeks before the event, not to mention his DREAM contract, that fight did not take place.

But that could all change in July.

Recently, there has been a report on the Sponichi website in which both Akiyama and Yoshida will indeed be facing each other at Sengoku IX. WVR PR Kokuho has showed interest in the article and did not deny anything in regards to the fight. Another fighter showing interest in Akiyama is Kazuo Misaki, who fought Akiyama at Yarennoka! back in 2007 in a controversial bout. Misaki was quoted in the latest Gonkaku magazine as saying, "If Akiyama signs I will welcome him. I want to hold a boiling-like fight."

There have been rumors swirling around that this could possibly be Akiyama's last fight as he might retire from MMA after this fight. To make things more interesting, Yoshida himself stated after the recent Sengoku event that he is also contemplating on retiring depending on what the future holds out for him. If this ends up being both men's last match, expect the match to be one of the most highly anticipated matches of all time if it does take place.

Source: MMAFighting.com and Nightmare Of Battle

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