DREAM New Year's Eve Card Update: Kazushi Sakuraba Returns to Pro Wrestling
by Fraser Coffeen on Dec 20, 2011 10:03 AM EST
in Asian MMA News
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If there's one thing you can say for Japanese MMA, it's this: they sure know how to put together an entertaining card. This year's big New Year's Eve show is the Antonio Inoki/Dream co-promoted Genki Desu Ka!! and will be headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii. Now, we have a number of other fight announcements - and some are pretty fun.
First up, Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba will return to action, but for the first time since the 1990's, it will be in a pro wrestling match, not MMA. Sakuraba will team with fellow wrestler turned MMA fighter Katsuyori Shibata to wrestle against Shinichi Suzukawa and Atsushi Sawada. Sakuraba started his career as a pro wrestler training under Nobuhiko Takada before making the switch to MMA when Pride started. Good move for Sakuraba here, who has looked increasingly bad inside the MMA ring in recent years.
More on the pro-wrestling side: Peter Aerts, the legendary, multi-time K-1 champion, will face Kazuyuki Fujita. And there are rumblings of a possible Mirko Cro Cop vs. Jerome Le Banner wrestling match.
Back in the world of real fighting, they've also announced the sequel of sorts to one of last year's most bizarre fights. Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima, the cosplaying K-1 fighter who shockingly defeated Shinya Aoki in last year's mixed rules fight, will face Dream veteran Katsunori Kikuno. Again, the fight will be mixed rules, with a 3 minute K-1 rules round to start, and a 5 minutes Dream rules round for round 2.
One last announcement: in women's MMA action, it will be Bellator's Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez.
The Japan MMA scene may have had a rough year in 2011, but it's good to see there will still be a night of crazy action on New Year's Eve - it wouldn't be the end of the MMA year without it!
Complete card (for now) is as follows:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii
DREAM Lightweight Title: Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka
DREAM Featherweight Title: Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi Inoue
DREAM Bantamweight Tournament Semi-Final: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques Diniz
DREAM Bantamweight Tournament Semi-Final: Antonio Banuelos vs. Masakazu Imanari
DREAM Bantamweight Tournament Reserve: Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saadulaev
DREAM Bantamweight Tournament Final
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
Hayato Sakurai vs, Ryo Chonan
Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez
DREAM/K-1 Mixed Rules: Yuichiro Nagashima vs. Katsunori Kikuno
IGF (Pro Wrestling) Rules: Peter Aerts vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
IGF Rules: Kazushi Sakuraba/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinichi Suzukawa/Atsushi Sawada
UPDATE: Three more new fights just added, including, at last, some K-1 action:
K-1 Rules: Yuta Kubo vs. Nils Widlund
K-1 Rules: Masaaki Noiri vs. Kengo Sonoda
IGF Rules: Josh Barnett vs. Hideki Suzuki
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Nonsense! Nagashima vs. Aoki was last year’s highlight. I am thrilled for this fight.
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by Fraser Coffeen on Dec 20, 2011 10:15 AM EST up reply actions
it sure was the highlight
but the first round of that fight was a joke …
Matt "The Terror" Serra!!!!
I doubt
Kikuno will pull an Aoki during that first round. Except I hope he tries that Hagar-style drop kick. That was cool.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
true that
kikuno is a better striker than aoki. but i think jienoutsu is still a far better striker than kikuno and i think he knows it … so i know its not likely to happen but i REALLY hope he doesnt pull aoki just in case.
Matt "The Terror" Serra!!!!
there is a new promo video where he said he would not do what Aoki did
but judging by Kikuno’s recent striking defense of keeping his hands all the way down and chin out, I think he will probably get ko’d
My brain agrees with you.
But my gut also agrees with you.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
Very happy about this.
DREAM is finally giving Sakuraba a break here. We know that the man will never quit being an entertainer, so instead of having him fight every rising Brazilian fighter, they put him in a pro-wrestling/purosesu match.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind to see Sakuraba stick with pro-wrestling for the rest of his career.
"Referees, be sure to step in and stop the fight on time tomorrow, because I might get carried away in the moment and my many punches may end up destroying my opponent." - Tatsuya "CRUSHER" Kawajiri
Agreed.
It would be nice to scratch one name off the “Jesus Christ this guy needs to hang it up he’s making me cry” list.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
Pro wrestling is just as hard on the body as mixed martial arts.
by discoandherpes on Dec 20, 2011 2:14 PM EST up reply actions
Only if you don’t know how to properly pull off a Shooting Star Press.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
There are plenty of wrestlers who don’t have high risk styles and fuck up their bodies.
by discoandherpes on Dec 20, 2011 8:31 PM EST up reply actions
As an aside
how man matches is Saku doing? As many as Superfly? Razor Ramone? Edge?
One pro wrestling match didn’t do any of these guys in. The sheer number of them did. But you’re also right for sure, wrestling is certainly taxing on the body.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
Yeah, but Sakuraba’s body started falling apart in Pride. That damage has built up and I don’t think pro wrestling is gonna help anything.
by discoandherpes on Dec 21, 2011 8:12 AM EST up reply actions
Of course.
I agree there.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
Bibiano Fernandes gonna smash everybody up in this bitch
"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
Real talk.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
and then not get paid for a year and a half for it.
by The Hamburger Pimp on Dec 20, 2011 11:05 AM EST up reply actions
Le Banner and Cro Cop in a wrestling match?
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
The most classless fan in college football since 1984.
by Avap on Dec 20, 2011 10:21 AM EST reply actions 5 recs
Dammit Japan, get your pro wrestling out of my MMA.
An annoying Fitch fan. Also, captain of the inaugural BE Civil War champions, the K-1 Level Predictions Team.
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When I read "Kazushi Sakuraba Returns.." I nearly face_palmed
because I was expecting it to finish with “…to MMA”. Thank jebus Sakuraba is not in an actual fight
by Ricardo Arguello on Dec 20, 2011 10:38 AM EST reply actions
they added a few other things too
64kg: Yuta Kubo vs. Nils Widlund
64kg: Masaaki Noiri vs. Kengo Sonoda
IGF Rules: Josh Barnett vs. Hideki Suzuki
IGF Rules: Josh Barnett vs. Hideki Suzuki
I wonder if Barnett happened to accidentally get hurt and the injury further delayed the GP finale If he would simply get cut from SF… I understand he gotta get paid in his down time but is it worth losing a chance at a contract extension downthe road or even getting transfered over to the ufc?
Visit fiveouncesofpain.com
He will probably be ok. He has been an active IGF wrestler during the whole SF tournament
I know you can get injured a million ways but he wrestles a pretty safe style
Probably the last hurrah for him in pro wrestling for awhile unless he chooses not to go to the UFC (or they don’t have him).
I wouldn’t understand if the ufc didn’t pick up josh he’s definitely a top ten heavyweight easily we could also see another big nog rematch
by youfailme91 on Dec 20, 2011 11:01 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
It might be a taste thing but,
these Japanese events just seem a god-awful mess. Real mixed with the scripted… different rules between rounds… washed up legit fighters making it seem like they are still worth watching by being in non-legit contests.
The most interesting thing about any MMA card should be the competition and the display of the skill sets of the ATHLETES who come to test themselves.
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Mohandas Gandhi
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
Muhammad Ali
"If MMA is like dog fighting, those are some pretty fucking smart dogs."
"I don’t want to lick any butt."
GSP
America: Entertainment value > Sport element
Japan: Entertainment value >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sport element
"Referees, be sure to step in and stop the fight on time tomorrow, because I might get carried away in the moment and my many punches may end up destroying my opponent." - Tatsuya "CRUSHER" Kawajiri
The thing with real vs scripted though is that in Japan, from what I have heard, they take professional wrestling much more seriously. It gets much more media coverage in Japan, and pro wrestlers take a lot of time training before they got in the ring.
As far as this whole card goes, Japan is just a different culture, and having these types of cards is par for the course. If you are just looking for serious MMA, then there are some good fights though especially the Bantamweight Tournament.
Check out the C&D Channel on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Gobusiness123 for MMA reviews, predictions, analysis, and other MMA related content.
by chrisbboy82 on Dec 20, 2011 11:04 AM EST up reply actions
I think they actually did a good job this year not having as many squash matches as typical on NYE
Fedor/Ishii is really the only thing I would classify as “non-competitive”. Though there is a silly rules match and pro wrestling.
It might be a taste thing but, these Japanese events just seem a god-awful mess. Real mixed with the scripted
This is the big NYE blow out show, which is being co promoted by a Pro Wrestling league. This isnt the norm. If you’ve ever watched MMA promotions in Japan you would know they focus on MMA, but since this is an end of the year thing being copromoted by a wrestling league they want to make it as entertaining as possible and want to mix it up. Because why else would IGF be helping out?
by Ricardo Arguello on Dec 20, 2011 11:08 AM EST up reply actions
pretty much
it should be noted that Inoki is far more connected in television/media and IGF is a lot more popular than Dream right now. I can see why they want help putting on an event.
NYE blow out show tradition began with a pro wrestling show by Antonio Inoki that used mixed martial artist in pro wrestling matches. Lots of MMA promotions in Japan focus on pro wrestlers, even PRIDE had a pro wrestling match early on. Not to mention, all the pro wrestlers PRIDE used.
"Caol Uno was like Mutoh. He developed into a star overseas and then returned to his home country a much bigger deal. Dokonjonosuke Mishima is like Kobashi because they both do moonsaults. Don Frye is like Stan Hansen because they are both fat dumb rednecks with mustaches." - Jonathan Snowden
by RagingNoodles on Dec 20, 2011 12:02 PM EST up reply actions
This is going to be so awesome.
And it’s most likely going to start right as UFC 141 ends.
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