SHOOTO DISC 10: Las Grandes Viajes 2 (3/1/1998)

Back to SHOOTO! Its been awhile, but I'm now planning on watching at least one a week. Maybe more when I'm in a groove. I have two dates on this show - March 10th from the list I have which was created from the master list of Shooto created by Jeff Lynch, and another of March 1st from Sherdog. I went with Sherdog's date. Show opens with Enson Inoue talking about something. We are at Korakuen Hall.

1) Hiroki Kotani vs. Katenori Ito: Don't know either guy.

FIGHT: Ito Unanimous Decision. Only round 2 is seen in full. From what is seen, Ito is a top control grappler and not all that active inside the guard. Kotani keeps his guard closed almost the entire 5 minutes. We see Kotani catch a kick and get a takedown in the first, but it doesn't last long. (0)

2) Hiroyuki Kojima vs. Takaharu Murahama: Kojima is a Shootboxing guy. I think. Well, I don't know. I didn't pay enough attention.

FIGHT: Murahama KO Rnd 1. Huge KO. The fight starts with Murahama leaping with a flying knee that Kojima ducks under and promptly gets on top inside the guard during the resulting scramble. Murahama just sorta powers his way out from under the bottom - it wasn't like a technical sweep or anything. After doing so, they stand up and Kojima trades. Murahama lands a left hook flush to the chin and lays out Kojima hard. The ref starts a count but the doctor intercedes and its obvious he's not moving, much less getting up at the count of 10. Impressive KO. (0)

3) Masahiro Oishi vs. Yoshihiro Fujita: I've seen Oishi previously named Doishi and he threw an awesome suplex.

FIGHT: Oishi Submission Rnd 1. Technical submission, really. Fujita clearly is not well versed at submissions and possibly even grappling, and Oishi gets a judo takedown and passes half guard easily, locking in a kimura and cranking it until the ref is forced to call a halt. (0)

4) Caol Uno vs. Yuji Fujita: This is a good career fight for Uno at this point. Fujita is not any great fighter, but he's a decent grappler who might give Uno some issues.

FIGHT: Uno Unanimous Decision. First is seen only in highlights, and that is a tragedy. It looks positively riveting. Uno is getting some cool takedowns and Fujita is locking the armbar up and Uno escapes and man, it is good stuff. Lots of that. Uno springs off the ropes for a shot at one point. Second is nowhere near as good. (3)

Uno: Lots of good positives about the young Uno. He's got decent hands even here and his wrestling is a strong point. He leaves the arms in, but since its not that dangerous a guy he's fighting, he gets away with it. He times the shot well but you can see that someone who might feint him could throw off that timing.

Fujita: He is such a active bottom player that its a shame he can't finish or wrestle guys down. There's a lot of raw talent to build on but he never progressed in other facets and that's probably this would turn out to be his last fight.

5) Hisao Ikeda vs. Omar Salvosa: Ikeda is a poor grappler and Salvosa is here with Carlos Newton, so he might be better. Salvosa says he is happy to be here to display his skills in an arena where you can show your abilities regardless of where they lie in martial arts. Now MMA is barely about the martial arts. Crazy, huh?

FIGHT: Ikeda Submission Rnd 1. Salvosa takes down Ikeda immediately. There's not even the pretense of takedown defense from Ikeda. Its not clear what his gameplan is until about 3 and a half minutes of Salvosa as blanket has passed. He postures up from the half guard to throw shots and Ikeda starts to try and push for some separation. He gets it with a sort of butterfly guard and then grabs the leg. Ikeda submits Salvosa with an achilles hook and man, it is so beginner to go down like that. Ikeda in his post fight interview looks like a total nerd. (0)

6) Masanori Suda vs. Kenji Kawaguchi: Big time fight. Kawaguchi is a former champion that Paulson chased and defeated. Suda is a future champ.

FIGHT: Suda Submission Rnd 3. The stop actually comes with 28 seconds gone in the round, not 1:08.

Suda: You know, I expected Suda to dominate this fight. Won't lie. I didn't think Kawaguchi would win two round of the 3 that this went. But that is precisely what happened. Suda looked poor on his feet, being knocked down for a ten count in the second round's early parts. Grappling wasn't much better - Kawaguchi threw him a couple times and escaped his submissions in the first two stanzas. Suda learned from this, closed the distance instantly and powered Kawaguchi down out of the body lock, taking his back and transitioning to an armbar that forced the early tap.

Kawaguchi: Got a throw in the early stages of round one and never budged from top position on Suda. In round two, an early exchange ended with Suda on his back getting counted to 8. While Suda took another throw attempt to go for a heel hook, Kawaguchi skillfully maneuvered out of the hold and punched Suda a lot, then got dominant position. Round 3 was different. (3)

7) Carlos Newton vs. Kasuhiro Kusayanagi: Kusayanagi is the much smaller of the two men, and frankly he's not that great a fighter to watch. Newton comes in at 85KG? (187lbs)

FIGHT: Newton Submission Rnd 1. It looked like Newton tried for a belly to belly but Kusayangi ends up on top at the start. Doesn't matter since Newton gets back up. When they clinch again, we see a legtrip takedown from Newton and he's looking to pass guard in a weird way. Kusayangi goes for a straight armbar from the bottom and Newton just uses the bad positioning to pass through the open, pseudobutterfly guard, turn over the top of Kusayanagi, and get an armbar. Cool stuff as expected by Newton. Newton says in the post fight interview that he was able to overcome the newaza of Kusayanagi and that personally, he lacked "the fire" to punch hard. (3)

8) Rumina Sato vs. Joel Gerson: Gerson is another fighter from the camp Newton was then with (Survival Jiu-Jitsu). The Moon Wolf is his opposition for the night in this main event. Gerson claims that "anyone can punch" and that winning by submission is the ultimate. Gerson comes out to O Fortuna.

FIGHT: Gerson Submission Rnd 1. Really surprising result for a lot of reasons. Interesting contest for as long as it lasted with Gerson dodging Sato's wild submission attempts (including a flying armbar) and then being chased around with punches by Sato before taking him down into side control. As Sato flailed, he gave up the arm and Gerson knew exactly what to do. He grabbed it and extended into a straight armbar. The ref gave plenty of time for a tapout and instead was forced to make it a technical submission to keep Sato from being a cripple. Sato is clearly upset and in some level of disbelief. Gerson admits that he is surprised that Sato hit him as hard as he does. (4)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Suda/Kawaguchi

KO OF THE NIGHT: Kojima/Murahama

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Gerson/Sato

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. You see a Sato loss, early wins for Uno and Suda, and some filler. But for the elite stuff that's there, hey, I'm not about to complain. Its a decent sorta stop gap show.

D&R Rating: 32% (13/40)

KOTC: Collision Course (8/5/2007)

We're back in Soboba for show #3 of 5 from Combat Collection Vol.2. Steve Inman welcomes us and talks about stuff.

1) Sal Fernettie vs. Issac Newman-Gomez: Fat heavyweights.

FIGHT: Newman-Gomez TKO Rnd 1. Fernettie shows no real talent in the ring except that he's tough, but still manages to take down Newman-Gomez at one point. Newman-Gomez has very rudimentary striking and basically no grappling. Fight ends after Newman-Gomez just kinda rolls himself from being on his back to being in the mount on top of Fernettie and beats the dude out. (0)

2) Josh Miller vs. Tony Cruz: Welterweight fighter. Miller is pretty tall.

FIGHT: Cruz Submission Rnd 1. KOTC Special in progress until Miller just powers his way out of back control and into being on top inside the full guard. Unfortunately, he does nothing with the position and gets stood up. When that happens, the ownage continues. Cruz lands a body kick and knees and then takes down Miller, eventually setting up and getting the submission by RNC. (0)

3) Melvin Costa vs. Sean McCafferty: Costa is a white supremacist with a penchant for prison time. McCafferty is looking mean and has the fans, but is small.

FIGHT: Costa TKO Rnd 1. (0)

Costa: Costa is strong and has heart. And he has some cardio. I can't deny any of that. Talentwise, he is lacking. But against bad fighters, that's all you need.

McCafferty: The guy has something resembling takedown ability and better technical striking, but he is gassed two minutes into the fight and his grappling is basically nothing but control without any real attempt at finishing. He takes a big knee in the second as he tries to shoot in and eats some punches too as he's out.

4) Travis Havens vs. Tim Humphrey: Uhh, I don't know these guys. Welterweights.

FIGHT: Havens Submission Rnd 1. KOTC Special ending in RNC in like, 25 seconds. (0)

5) Chon Stinson vs. Dave Cryer: Cryer had a bunch of wins over non-names and is now not very active, having fought once in about 18 months. Cryer enters to bagpipes.

FIGHT: Cryer TKO Rnd 1. Assbeating. Lands some tight hooks as Stinson runs forward at him over and over. Stinson eats a knee and just turns and runs. Cryer catches him and hits him with a right hand and he drops and turtles up taking shots until the fight is stopped. (0)

6) William Syriapai vs. Soky Aguilar: Really excited to see this. Syriapai is one of my favorite gatekeeper fighters in the sport.

FIGHT: Syriapai TKO Rnd 1. Syriapai shows off his great kickboxing on a moving heavybag. All time, top 10 ass kicking. Aguilar is just retarded hurt by low kicks, and then a high kick that grazes his head causes him to slowly stumble and fall as the towel from his corner comes in. (1)

7) Jesse Beede vs. Ernie Peria: Peria is a cop who fought in the Cop vs. Con fight that was a feature attraction on KOTC Booyaa.

FIGHT: Peria TKO Rnd 1. Beede gets a takedown, Peria sweeps him with a kimura from the bottom, ends up in mount, and punches him out. (0)

8) Junior Kling vs. Cody Bollinger: Really excited to see this kid (Bollinger) again go after some sort of amateur belt.

FIGHT: Kling Unanimous Decision (1)

Kling: Good wrestler who decides to let Bollinger try and take the front foot and its a smart move. He stuffs Cody over and over and over again, gets dominant position, rolls him from north/south on his power, and also lands much better strikes. Kling has fought once in 3 years, unfortunately. He might still be a decent prospect if he puts his mind to it.

Bollinger: Cody totally disappointed me here. He relies on athleticism to try and do anything, basically never setting up the takedown. With no setups, Kling has wrestling skills that are capable of stopping the shot. When that happens, Bollinger's game literally falls apart. He has few moments of success from there in. Hey, at least he's young. Learning experience. You see him learning to throw punches before shooting from way outside late in the bout but it is way too much too late.

9) Edgar Cruz vs. John Brock: Heavyweights. Cruz is so fat, but they give him credit for having taken a fight with Buckley Acosta on a couple minutes notice. Raul Peralta (one of the worst in the game) is reffing now.

FIGHT: Brock Submission Rnd 1. KOTC special, sorta. Modified, if you will. Cruz gets taken down, is mounted, takes shots, and Brock decides to give up the position trying for an armbar, but when that goes wrong he transitions to triangle. Neither is relevant. (0)

10) Dave Rivas vs. Shad Smith: Oh man! This isn't Gabe Rivas vs. Shad Smith but will do. Both dudes are complete journeymen. Did you know that Shad Smith is a decorated street fighter? Did you know Shad Smith been to prison? Did you know Shad Smith is gay? Did you know that Shad Smith is believed to have raped dudes in prison? He himself experienced prison rape in the single greatest beatdown in MMA ever against Duane Ludwig. They even reference how incredible the beating was that Duane gave him. But seriously, Shad Smith is awesome for being so honest now about who he is. I didn't remember he had Tapout tattooed on his body either.

FIGHT: Draw. (0)

Rivas: Gabe controls the first round against the right hand happy Shad Smith by taking him down and controlling the action on the mat with a pair of shots. And it looks like this is, at least initially, going to be easy. Then in the second, Shad throws two punches and shoots. Gabe never expected it and gets taken down on a double leg takedown and ends up being totally controlled the vast majority of the round. With a minute left he is generally nullified from landing anything big while inside the guard of Shad. He doesn't get separation until there's ten seconds left and its 50 seconds too late.

Smith: Smith gets taken down repeatedly in the first but does a good job tying up Rivas and preventing real damage from being done. In the second, he gets the takedown himself. Hey, he was a street brawler, now he's just a not very good MMA fighter. But that's better than being outright bad. He has guts.

11) Reggie Orr vs. Brian Baker: The first really meaningful bout of the night. Baker got to the WEC, Orr to TUF.

FIGHT: Baker TKO Rnd 1. Man, wild, wild brawl. It looks like it'll be over early with a right hand by Orr and Baker comes storming back. On the feet its just tight, hard, bad ass punching that Dana White loves. Seriously, no joke; These dudes threw thunder. As hard as I've seen in a long time. Baker hurts Orr with a combination and then throws knees to the body as he curls up on the mat to force the stop. Fun! (2)

12) Buddy Clinton vs. Clay French: TITLE ON THE LINE. I remember nothing about the first and wrote about that much having seen it years ago now.

FIGHT: French TKO Cuts Rnd 3. (2)

Clinton: Clinton was always a guy who was a BJJ player first. And if you are going to be on your back early in a fight, you need to be great throwing the hips around. Clinton is good, but not great. And that leads to his downfall. French is a good top control grappler who separates wheat from chaff, and Clinton doesn't turn out to be wheat. The fight ends off a really terrible cut somewhere around the mouth that is pouring blood.

French: Strong, small wrestler who might be better suited to 145. Hell, if Mike Brown could win a title and be the top featherweight in the world, why couldn't French have? He just didn't get the opportunity. Or wasn't willing. I don't know which. He's not an elite fighter but no one who isn't good will beat him.

13) John Cole vs. Thomas Denny: Cole drops from 185 to meet a guy at 170 who is really a lightweight. Incredible prefight video pacakge from Denny as the "Mild Man".

FIGHT: Denny Submission Rnd 1. Easy win for the Wildman, actually. Standing, Cole is apparently the shorter man and throws a lot of single power shots. Denny is decent at jabbing the guy up. He takes down Cole, moves to side control, and it turns into a long KOTC special. RNC finish and the crowd is happy. (1)

14) Keith Berry vs. Sean Loeffler: Loeffler was previously seen losing to a lumpy guy making his pro debut. Berry went to ShoXC.

FIGHT: Berry Submission Rnd 1. They rush at each other like sumo to start, and Loeffler is in full mount 8 seconds in. Naturally he does nothing with it and Berry bucks him and gets to his feet. Loeffler rushes him for another takedown and basically does nothing while Berry sets up a slow motion triangle choke and gets the tap. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Orr/Baker

KO OF THE NIGHT: Syriapai/Aguilar

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Cruz/Brock

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. Nothing stupendous or even really worth chasing down aside from MAYBE the asskicking handed out by Syriapai but this was a generally entertaining show where the low point action wise came in, of all things, a Shad Smith fight.

D&R Rating: 11% (8/70)

King of the Cage: Sinister (4/27/2007)

Another show from the Combat Collection Vol. 2 Boxed set. The show comes from Soboba Casino and we have Kenoda and Inman announcing. Bad sign - "Lots of newcomers on tonight". Oh god. Main event features Laverne Clark. Yes.

1) Aljalon Pace vs. Alex Rickards: Dudes. Rickards has wrestling shoes on.

FIGHT: Rickards Unanimous Decision. Not very good MMA. Rickards controls the pace showing a so-so single and should have had Pace pounded out early on, but there's a standup for no good reason and instead the viewer is forced to suffer through more of this. When they stand and trade its all one shot at a time. Rickards is tuckered out after that opening salvo and so when he gets on top later on, he's nowhere near as effective. Pace has heart but is short on talent and technique. (0)

2) Andy Balmore vs. Nicholas Gallegos: Balmore is from De La O Jiu-Jitsu. The other guy I know nothing about.

FIGHT: Balmore Submission Rnd 1. Balmore is also given a different last name by the ring announcer Tyson Johnson. Why? I dunno. Easy fight with Gallegos being wild as a striker, going to take down Balmore, and Balmore sprawls, pulls the switch, flattens him out, and gets a RNC. Nothing shown from either aside from Balmore having good instincts. (0)

3) Joe Calavitta vs. Ty Gilstrap: Calavitta is a Wildman trainee.

FIGHT: Calavitta Submission Rnd 1. Decently competitive fight with Gilstrap coming out swinging and being a decent little grappler. Calavitta is better though - he almost gets a d'arce but is slammed out and then eventually ends up taking the back of Gilstrap and getting the RNC. (0)

4) Adrian Perez vs. Keith Berry: Adrian Perez is known because he has tons of tattoos on his face. Berry made it to ShoXC.

FIGHT: Berry TKO Rnd 1. 12 seconds after the bell rings, the fight is over and so is Perez's career. Berry knocks him out with a knee and then follows up with punches and Perez needs help to get out of the ring when he finally comes to. (0)

5) Ben Beebe vs. Duane Harrison: Harrison is wearing a plain white t-shirt. Heavyweight "action".

FIGHT: Beebe TKO Rnd 2. Duane was actually doing well standing with Beebe but runs out of gas, ends up getting taken down and gets mounted in the second. This is just ugly looking stuff. Beebe is no longer fighting for whatever reason and Harrison is gone too. (0)

6) Sean Loeffler vs. Uber Gallegos: Gallegos is debuting against a top prospect. What great matchmaking. Loeffler is wearing wrestling shoes and black socks, so he looks like an old Portuguese man.

FIGHT: Gallegos Majority Decision. (0)

Gallegos: Uber might be a newb, but he has heart and good instincts. When Loeffler comes in chin up and hands down, Gallegos throws counter shots that connect. When the fight hits the mat in the second, its the lumpy Gallegos taking down the muscular Loeffler and controlling the position. Gallegos gives the neck up for guillotines repeatedly and Loeffler never takes advantage.

Loeffler: His ground game isn't bad - he gets to mount in the first. But he's not active with ground and pound or setting up submissions. He's more of a blanket. A strong blanket, but a blanket. Stand up in this fight was robotic and telegraphed.

7) Dave Roberts vs. Reggie Orr: Orr was sorta on TUF 7.

FIGHT: Orr TKO Rnd 2. A beat down from bell to bell. Orr hits Roberts with a ton of stuff in the clinch and at distance, utilizing every thing from his muay thai bag of tricks. He even drops levels and takes down Roberts with a double. Just a beatdown. Not even remotely competitive. (1)

8) Lucas Taber vs. Calvin Bell: Light heavyweight fight. Bell is merely 5'9'', Taber is from Team Wildman.

FIGHT: Taber Submission Rnd 1. Bell gets the clinch and a belly to belly, and I'm like, "Hey! Its Proto-Rodney Wallace!" And then Taber rolls and gets a heel hook and Bell taps immediately. (0)

9) Ben Fuimaono vs. Josh Griggs: Fuimaono is claimed to be a boxer or something. Griggs is some guy.

FIGHT: Griggs Unanimous Decision. Fuimaono lives up to his billing in so much as he has no ability to defend the takedown whatsoever. He is repeatedly taken down by Griggs and punished with punches and elbows. His only display of grappling comes with a minute left when he sweeps Griggs from half guard and ends up in north south on top. Fuimaono gives some distance and Griggs scrambles and gets back on top. Whatever. Neither guy has progressed. (0)

10) Jon Murphy vs. Chase Gormley: Gormley got trashed in the UFC and recently lost to a super huge version of Mike Whitehead. Murphy has lost to less.

FIGHT: Gormley Unanimous Decision. Pretty simple fight to understand. Gormley may be new to the sport in this, but he knows to go at Murphy, close the distance, and take him down. He does this over and over and over. The punches he lands busts up Murphy's nose and cause him to gas even faster than he generally does. Murphy does have a couple moments in between standups by the ref - for instance, he lands with the foot throwing a high kick, but it only bothers Gormley a little bit. Since then, both have fallen by the wayside of contenderdom and are now solidly B show fighters for life. (1)

At this point in the show, 2003 Playmate Kitana Baker starts doing interviews.

11) Matt Dell vs. Charlie Kohler: Kohler was once a decent fighter and somewhat well regarded. That was years ago.

FIGHT: Kohler TKO Rnd 1. Easy fight for Kohler, particularly since it seems that Dell has an asthma attack after getting hit with a couple uppercuts against the cage. Dell doesn't even make the takedown too much of an issue with Kohler. Oh well. (0)

12) LaVerne Clark vs. Aaron Witherspoon: Laverne Clark looks old old old. Hard to believe he was still fighting a year later against Jeff Ford.

FIGHT: Witherspoon Submission Rnd 1. Slam gets a slam to start the fight. Shock! I think his attempts early on for guillotines and armbars weren't strong - the first two times he went for the armbar he didn't have it in properly. Clark got caught the third time though and the tapout was forced. The submission "proved" that Witherspoon was well rounded, but that proof disappeared soon. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Gormley/Murphy

KO OF THE NIGHT: Perez/Berry

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Taber/Bell

OVERALL FOR THE SHOT: 3 out of 10. Fairly substance-less event with mediocre fighters doing battle. Pretty sad LaVerne Clark bout.

D&R Rating: 5% (3/60)

RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Execution Day (10/29/05)

Again, another one from the KOTC of the Day thread of yore.

1) STEPHEN THAMES vs. AARON JAMESON: Two dudes I have no familiarty with whatsoever. Jameson beats the dude up pretty bad and wins with a guillotine easily.

2) ADAM TORRES vs. PAT HEALY: Torres is some dude from a Gracie JJ dojo. Healy, of course, went on to some measure of fame being on Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions where he did okay. Serious ass staredown too. Healy is way taller.

Healy’s size advantage is a big factor. He slams Torres a couple times easily and uses it to gain dominant position. He eventually gets the armbar and surprises the announcers, ending before the first round passes.

3) PHIL GARCIA vs. DAN MOLINA: This is a heavyweight fight, and I’m kinda worried. Garcia is a Kerry Schall victim. Molina is from Lions Den and looks way blown up here. Like, the Baldwin brother on Celebrity Rehab blown up. Ken Shamrock is cornering him, and I’m sure this would already be Clown’s favorite bout.

Molina shoots in, Garcia is on the ground, but still sorta defending it, though he’s on his ass. Molina rolls him over, and in doing so, opens some space, enough to grab the left foot of Garcia. Garcia rolls back, essentially in a kneeling/sitting position, and when he does that, he traps his own leg in a toehold. Lions Den fighter by leglock. Sorta. Hey, a fitting tribute.

4) JOE COTA vs. JAMIE JARA: Jara is from CAL WORSHAM’S TEAM. WHAT. I didn’t know that. Worsham was a cop, right? Jara looks like a MS-13 member. How does that work? Joe Cota is a dude of a nondescript nature. This is a 185lb fight, BTW.

Good first round, really, Jara gets a takedown and a leg and gets to work submissions on it for a good minute, but never figures out what to do. Go figure that the trainer with a heavy background in TKD isn’t good teaching kneebars. Cota eventually gets his leg free and ends up in top position for awhile, though he’s not particularly effective with anything. Jara is able to force the fight to the feet and when it gets there, they throw down with a lot of looping bombs. Both men are poorly conditioned and with about :30 left in the round, they are breathing really heavy.

Second round is equally fun. Standup is brief and Jara ends up getting the takedown and controls Cota, beating him pretty heavily, attaining mount, and then getting Cota’s back. Cota, nearly being choked out, responds to the camera and perhaps Jara’s camp by giving the middle finger. Chin tucked in, Cota survives, is able to turn into Jara’s guard, and unleashes some shots of his own. Cota eventually leaves Jara’s open guard and stands up, forcing both men to their feet and a slow dance for the rest of the round as they stare at each other, both super winded. Third round is almost sleep inducing though. Cota’s all done and operating off just heart, and Jara has just fumes in the tank, but that’s more than Cota, and thus he wins a primarily slow standup final 5 and takes the decision. And now Jara has fought MMA on national television. What a world. Of course, so has Ray Steinbeiss, so it doesn’t really mean anything.

THIS IS THE MAIN CARD. A BIG VIDEO PACKAGE TELLS ME SO. The ring girls get introduced and shit and I just fast forward past it. Like I give a fuck about whatever local strippers they’re paying $300 to for the show.

5) TAKEFUMI HANAI vs. BUDDY CLINTON: Clinton shares his name with a dead ex-presidential dog, whereas Hanai fought in everyone’s favorite MMA organization with techno music and weird rules about closed guard.

Hanai attempts to channel Genki Sudo and does a weird sideways stance. Clinton takes a few seconds to analyze it, throws a solid leg kick, then takes down Hanai and beats him up. In fact, he’s pretty much totally dominant in the round. Hanai ends up on his feet and does nothing with it, at one point throwing a koppo kick looking thing.

Round 2 has Hanai faking the leaping Mongolian Chop on a standing Clinton and absorbing a right to the face. He clinches up and goes for a ride, with Clinton slamming him hard. Hanai locks up Clinton and gets the fight stood up. While there, he lands a hard right hand that so bothers Clinton that he backs up most of the rest of the round, even as Hanai turns away from him and expresses his discontent with the lack of action to the crowd. Towards the end of the round, Clinton shoots in and Hanai tries a guillotine. It doesn’t work though, and Clinton lays on him till the bell sounds.

Round 3 doesn’t last long. Takefumi lands a hard right hand and drops Clinton, and following punches cause Mazagatti as close to early as he’s ever been.

6) JASON WEISS vs. WARPATH: Warpath is the Gladiator Challenge Native American Champion of the World. Only in the world of combat sports, man. Jason Weiss is a pro boxer as well as MMA fighter, and was picked among Joe Mesi’s early comeback opponents when he got braindamaged. He’s also been knocked out by modern day Bigfoot Martin, sub .500 fighter Demetrice King.

Weiss pops the jab a little, shoots in for some reason, Warpath holds him in a front head lock and hits his back for about 2 minutes. Eventually Warpath gets him down and wins by GNP. Exciting stuff. Not really.

7) SHAWN BIAS vs. URIJAH FABER: There’s prefight segments with both men interviewed, so you know this one is extra important or something. Faber is then the KOTC Featherweight Champ.

Fight is a single round in length, chiefly controlled by (SHOCK) Faber. Bias does throw a kick right at the onset and uses it to get Faber down and take his back, but doesn’t get his hooks in and Faber ends up in his guard. From there, Bias never again puts forth any serious offense, nearly getting caught in a triangle in a weird sideways attempt by Faber and eventually submitting to a guillotine. Faber is now the WEC’s headline star and for good reason.

9) AARON BRINK vs. RICHARD MONTOYA: Montoya is some kid from Lion’s Den. Brink is a full time fighter, part time porn star who isn’t actively horrible, while one would expect Montoya to perhaps be given the place of Lion’s Den in the overall scene of MMA in 2007. Lots of prefight interview stuff for both.

Nothing fight. Montoya shoots at the very onset, gets Brink against the cage and eventually down. Brink is able to get back up but finds himself in a guillotine. Apparently unaware as to how to defend against it, he ends up tripping Montoya, putting himself in Montoya’s guard and has to tap.

10) MAC DANZIG vs. TAKUMI NAKAYAMA: Danzig is the Gladiator Challenge Lightweight champ, Nakayama the KOTC title holder. Nakayama is a fairly mediocre fighter from Japan who is an okay benchmark. Some more prefight interview blather.

I’ve seen this fight before and thus I wasn’t as intruiged by it as others. Nakayama is generally dominated by Danzig from the early going, as Danzig’s wrestling and strength is way too much for Nakayama. As the bout labors on, Danzig gets busy with a flurry on the feet, causes a massive gash on Nakayama with some knees from the thai clinch, and Herb is forced to stop it. Just another stop on the Mac Danzig Express.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Jara/Cota in a landslide. Two dudes showing a modicum of skill in the cage against each other rather than against far inferior competition. Best matchmaking of all.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Warpath/Jason Weiss: Weiss is ruined by the assault on the ground, and while its not unexpected, the violent nature of it should create some sort of visceral "oh fuck" response.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Molina/Garcia. Toe hold FOREVER.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6.5 out of 10: Not a bad show per se, with nothing outwardly offensive in it and some guys who are decent names in the sport competing in bouts that helped develop their reputation and career. Decent production quality and nothing outlandishly dumb being said in commentary helps out. Honestly, Apple/Williams isn't any worse than a team involving Ranallo and a pro wrestler.

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POSTSCRIPT:

Jamie Jara can now be seen in Bellator.

Pat Healy beat the crap out of Lyle Beerbohm in the headlining position on a Strikeforce Challengers card.

Takefumi Hanai lost to future Shooto 167lb champ Katsuya Inoue and then to Keita Nakamura. He lost a third time in a row to a nondescript opponent in Pancrase then retired in 2008.

Warpath Villareal was last seen nearly beating Brett Rogers in the Canadian Maritime provinces.

Urijah Faber is Urijah Faber.

Shawn Bias has a face tattoo and last fought in 2009.

Takumi Nakayama last fought in December 2010 having transitioned to full bore gatekeeper status in Japan.

Aaron Brink is now well known for appearing on a TLC show about drug addiction.

Mac Danzig is still with the UFC after winning TUF 6.

Shark Fights 14 (3/11/2010)

Exactly 7 months after their last show, Shark Fights returns with new management/ownership and a TV deal. Really important women's bout on the card along with an entertaining middleweight contest. Same generic music being used for the walkouts as KOTC. The poster looks like a KOTC poster. Imitation, flattery, you know the drill.

1) Joseph Sandoval vs. Sean Shakour: Some prospects at bantam.

FIGHT: Sandoval Unanimous Decision. (0)

Sandoval: So the positives first - he's not bad when the fight hits the mat. He can get sweeps and survive bad positions. He also has a good gas tank - he basically outlasts Shakour here. The problem is just that though. Sandoval is taken down repeatedly with takedowns from way, way outside in the first two rounds. I mean, we're talking 6-7 feet out. Sure, he stops a takedown in the third and beats up Shakour as a result, but that's only because he was better conditioned. A superior top control grappler may wear him out and take an easy decision.

Shakour: Good shot. Striking doesn't really exist. Doesn't have a game off his back, like a lot of newer wrestlers. His finishing ability is not that good - he has Sandoval's back twice and can't make anything happen. So green. So, so green.

2) Layne Hernandez vs. Gabe Vasquez: 3 minute rounds.

FIGHT: Vasquez Submission Rnd 3. (0)

Vasquez: Dude likes crazy kicks. He lands one in the second round. Most of the time though, he gets taken down as a result of them. He has to fight for submissions here and there and has little luck until catching Hernandez with an arm-in guillotine in the third round after being taken down. This is why he's 3-2.

Hernandez: Can shoot. Has no standup. Decent at top control and wins the first two rounds by laying on his opponent. He's forced to stand up a couple times though due to inactivity, and it seems like every time it happened, he was seriously afraid.

3) Alex Cisne vs. Eric Davila: Davila beat Pete Spratt in a stunning upset after an (unintentional?) headbutt hurt Spratt.

FIGHT: Davila TKO Rnd 3 (1)

Cisne: Its really simple - yeah, he has a decent base of skills. Yeah, he is entertaining to watch. But you look at him physically next to the lumpy Davila - his chest is smaller, his shoulders aren't as wide, his torso as a whole is smaller, his legs are smaller. He's small for the weight class, and when you are like that, you gotta work hard to push guys around in the clinch or to stay on top of them. He does that and is running on fumes halfway through the second. By the third, his mouth is open, his hands are down, and he's squared up. You can practically feel his arms being tired out and feeling like limp noodles. Either he moves down, bulks up, or hopes for a new weight class to be made for him.

Davila: "Big Head" wins because he is comfortable fighting and because he can mitigate damage done to him. Technically he is nothing special, but the mental game is so important you can't ignore it. When you have the confidence that you can take the best the opponent can offer and come back with twice as much punishment, and you have the technical ability to make it happen, you're gonna be a challenge for fighters.

4) Lucas Lopes vs. Mike Bronzoulis: Lopes I've seen only once in a fight at Jungle Fight 1. There is a t-shirt with a LOU SAVARESE quote. How do I know? IT SAYS LOU SAVARESE SAID IT.

FIGHT: Bronzoulis Unanimous Decision. Close fight. (0)

Lopes: Honestly, Lopes looked great in the first. Well, great for being Lopes. He's a lot bigger of a guy. Very tall. But he ran out of gas in the first and ends up eating right hands and knees throughout the second and third en route to losing the decision. He was a better grappler than Bronzoulis as well.

Bronzoulis: The Greek doesn't really do anything to throw off Lopes' timing. No movement, he runs straight back when Lopes comes forward, etc etc etc. Bronzoulis admits he has middling talent and technique and comes to scrap. Why sit here and argue with the guy?

5) Tara LaRosa vs. Carina Damm: LaRosa is maybe the best women's fighter ever. Ever! Damm is good, but on a losing stretch.

FIGHT: LaRosa Submission Rnd 2. Damm is scared to engage standing and is happy to get the clinch in this fight because she can get the takedown and work. But as soon as she's in mount, she's bucked off, and LaRosa spends over 3 minutes in top control. In the second, she comes straight at Damm and Damm folds and drops to her butt looking for a desperation leg lock. LaRosa isn't being extended or figure four'd, so she does it to Damm instead and locks in an inverted heel hook. (4)

6) Matt Horwich vs. Danillo Villefort: Main event, but not for a title, sadly.

FIGHT: Villefort Unanimous Decision (2)

Villefort: Good win. He didn't wilt under the pressure of Horwich (who was there all night) and that was important. As was expected, he's a far mroe dynamic striker than Horwich and as far as grappling goes, he's at least as good or better. He had some great throws. If you want to complain, there's are some things to look at. His lateral movement stopped after the first round. Did he get tired? Maybe. But he stopped moving and giving angles and Horwich closed the distance. Against Horwich, that is something that can be forgiven. Against a big wrestler like, I dunno, Chael Sonnen, its not an option.

Horwich: He fights like a robotic Matt Lindland, except now with 100% more submission skill. Of course he isn't as good a wrestler as Lindland, but he sure has a better chin, and that's almost as important.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Hernandez/Vasquez

KO OF THE NIGHT: Davila/Cisne

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Hernandez/Vasquez

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. This was not mindblowing bad but it wasn't very good either. Highlight is most definitely the women's bout.

D&R Rating: 23% (7/30)

THE BIG SHOW REVIEW: Week of 3/7

Fist, let's recap:

STRIKEFORCE -

-How about that Dan Henderson? Still relevant after all these years. I hate how he loads up with the right hand, but people don't give him enough looks to take his timing away and instead he blast through them after they throw lazy jabs and shots. In a division that is strong on talent, I gotta say I think Dan is in the top 10 still. Maybe #9 or #10, but he's there. I think he's done at least as much as Thiago Silva to belong, and most consider him to belong there.

The one thing I see coming up is this - if Mousasi wins and gets the next title shot with Hendo, Hendo's not the same sort of wrestler that King Mo is. Yeah, he's an Olympian, but he's a Greco wrestler with a slow shot, and not even necessarily great takedown defense. Mousasi isn't likely to leave his hands down and be lazy punching or kicking as Feijao was.

-Coenen wins by submission in Round 4 after being dominated and marked up. Score another one for 5 rounders being better. She got taken down repeatedly and didn't even look better standing, getting banged up by a shorter slugger.

-Jorge Masvidal has gotten better by being less exciting. We can't blame Greg Jackson for that either. But man, classic stick and jab performance in MMA. Doesn't get easier than that.

-Tim Kennedy takes down Manhoef and submits him easily. I AM SHOCKED.

BELLATOR:

-Chris Lozano had beaten the right kind of opponents to prepare him for a bout like this against Good, but just not enough of them. He needed seasoning - lots of it - and it showed. Good was the smaller man, yet dictated the distance, pressed Lozano into the cage, and wore him down. Takedowns were all Good, and when he was able to control the place the fight took place, Lozano fought scared.

-Anthony Lapsley was pretty well dominated even though he wasn't actually getting choked out when the ref jumped in. He got deep with a shot but I think if it wasn't for Hieron pulling back into the guillotine, he never would have been on top. He was quickly swept and dumped on his own back before being mounted, forced to roll over, and the end came shortly thereafter (even if premature). Hieron, meanwhile, proves he has ability off his back in addition to being such a strong wrestler.

-Most people would have said looking at Weedman/Hornbuckle that it was an easy pick. Fighters like Weedman are why I don't pick against people I haven't seen. Lots of complaints about the decision and I think they're fair, but look; if you spend almost the whole round on top, and you end up nearly having an arm outstretched for the submission at the end of the round, you're going to win even if you spend most of it dodging triangles. Weedman's unorthodox striking is not merely unorthodox, it isn't that good. Big wide openings often times that Hornbuckle took advantage of.

Going back to Hornbuckle; the reason why he isn't elite is that he gets situations that are meant for him to win and he takes too long to process. He sweeps Weedman off his feet and there's about two seconds of Weedman on his ass looking confused before Hornbuckle chases him down and takes his back. A faster reaction to something so obvious would have gotten him the win. Instead? He is out of the tourney.

-Rick Hawn is tiny for welterweight and as a wrestleboxer, he's merely OK. I don't think he has any power in his shots at all. Lots of arm punches. His judo (his whole base) seemed absent here. I get that it was another judoka he was facing, but he couldn't do anything really to get him down? We had to have this instead?

Predictions for 2011: 5-1. Somehow the full review on Hawn/Wallhead didn't save but I was going to pick Hawn because of his team. That's alright.

CORRECT: Masvidal/Evangelista, Kennedy/Manhoef, Coenen/Carmouche, Good/Lozano, Lapsley/Hieron

WRONG: Henderson/Cavalcante

PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS PREDICTIONS

Bellator:

Toby Imada vs. Ferrid Kheder: This is the only fight where I've seen multiple fights of both men and feel safe in doing anything close to a prediction. The popular pick online is Imada because Kheder typically never looks that good in big steps up in competition. Right or wrong, people are going to pick against him because he looked bad in robbing Hermes Franca blind. But he is a strong guy, a stout guy, and he's very dangerous. And with people loving Imada, Toby really is not a great finisher, isn't that strong, and while he goes for a lot of stuff, its often low percentage and leaves him open for counters of all sorts. As a result, yes, I will pick Kheder to win.

NEWS FLASH 3/11 - Kheder misses weight by a truck load. This isn't necessarily shocking news because he's done it before. He paid a bunch for having missed weight by 10 lbs against Nakamura at M-1's Kansas City event a couple years ago. This time he was told he wasn't needed and Imada now has Josh Shockley tabbed as his opponent.

Shark Fights 14:

Matt Horwich vs. Danillo Villefort: Villefort is a more consistent and skilled fighter. Horwich will come on strong in round 3, but he's the MMA version of a 15 round fighter. This is just a 3 round sprint, and that favors Villefort who is better at more things though perhaps not as singularly driven as Horwich.

Tara LaRosa vs. Carina Damm: Damm can roid up if she wants. LaRosa, skillwise, is possibly the best women's fighter ever. This isn't at a bad weight for her either. I think Damm will look for takedowns and to go to top control but end up meeting sweeps, scrambles and knees as a result. LaRosa by decision.

THATS ALL FOLKS. ENJOY THE FIGHTS!

NAAFS Cage Fighting (2/13/2011)

More from the 12/4/2010 Night of Champions show. Stipe Miocic headlines.

1) Bob Rech vs. Chase Owens: NAAFS Amateur Middleweight belt on the line.

FIGHT: Owens Unanimous Decision. Good decision. Honestly, Rech isn't that bad a fighter, but his ability to stay on top is not that great and his striking is nonexistent. He's got a decent shot and he's a solid athlete. Owens isn't much of a striker other, throwing haymakers with the right, but his ability to scramble and control the clinch is really impressive. He's out of breath after the fight (which is merely 9 minutes) so he probably needs to work on his cardio, but that's something to discuss for the future. He's not even pro yet. I was pretty impressed. Both guys have raw physical talents. They just need the right training. (1)

2) Mike King vs. Jeff Hughes: NAAFS Light heavyweight amateur title.

FIGHT: King TKO Rnd 1. King and Hughes box badly and clinch and there's a knee to the balls of Hughes. The fight starts again and they box badly some more until King eats a couple right hands on the end of 1-2 combos and he's on queer street. He takes a bunch more shots until the ref jumps in. So, Hughes has a good chin that won't last long taking those punches. (0)

3) Greg Maynard vs. Stipe Miocic: Maynard is said to be a Bellator vet. Like, so? Miocic is a guy that NAAFS has been hyping FOREVER.

FIGHT: Miocic TKO Rnd 2. Not much to discuss here. Maynard is much shorter and is tubby. Miocic lands a billion leg kicks and jabs and this is basically a sparring session in which the bag gets tired and drops after a right hand and a knee. One thing the announcers note, and I'll agree, is that Miocic is moving away from being more or less just a boxer/slugger type fighter and is now throwing leg kicks and looking like a more dynamic striker. He's young enough that this is still a reasonable thing to do as far as his career goes. He's only 4-0 as a pro, and those are the fights that really matter. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. Opener was pretty fun to watch and it went downhill from there. Miocic is a good fighter but stuff like this where he basically practices stuff on a barely responding opponent isn't must see TV.