Photographic timeline via Freefight Videos

Don't miss this Bloody Elbow FanPost by Sam Cupitt on the topic. Here's an excerpt:

For the (November 2007 Strikeforce) bout he came in at 6 ft. 5in. and 224 lbs. while his opponent, Buentello, came in at  6 ft. 2 in. tall and 250 lbs..

...

For the DREAM 6 bout against Cro Cop, Overeem came in at 241.8 lbs. while his opponent came in at 6 ft. 2 in. and 225.9 lbs.

For the K-1 Dynamite show, Overeem came in at 253.4 lbs. while his opponent did not weigh in (however, for the K-1 Grand Prix, Hari was around the 210 lbs. mark).

Rumors mount that Alistair is talking to the UFC. Wonder if he'll be able to pass the drug tests.

Fighters Only has a new interview up with Cro Cop here.  He makes a few really interesting revelations as well:

"I believe that during 2009 I will fight three more times for Dream, then I hope for a farewell fight in the UFC."

I'm under the impression there were some preliminary talks about having Cro Cop return for the Germany show in the Summer, but it looks like he'll be out beyond then.  I think we all know watching Mirko that it is time for him to get out.  He is slow and tentative, and the last thing we need to see is a series of knockouts like the Gonzaga one.

There are any number of fights that I think would make for fun final fights in the UFC. Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Antonio Nogueira all come to mind as suitable candidates.

Fresh from beating Eddie Alvarez at FiELDS Dynamite! and claiming the money WAMMA belt, Shinya Aoki tells Sherdog where he thinks he rates:

"I think there's no doubt that B.J. Penn is still the best at 155 pounds. He's most likely the best fighter in the world. I don't ignore the UFC," Aoki commented. "I respect the UFC because it's a very high level organization -- a high summit in the sport."

The UFC lightweight king also figures into Aoki's hopes for the as-yet uncertain future.

"Personally, the most decisive fight in the world, the culmination, the pinnacle for me is B.J. Penn," Aoki said on the eve of arguably his greatest victory. "Please do not misunderstand -- I really need this to be clearly expressed in the media: Shinya Aoki will not go to the UFC. I just want to fight B.J. Penn. This is my selfish wish. I know that everyone says they want Penn, but I think I'm the number one Japanese fighter to be saying this."

Presumably Aoki is clarifying that he won't go to the UFC to keep in good terms with the overlords of DREAM/K-1. Of course that will prevent him from fighting B.J. Penn any time soon.

HT MMA Mania

I just watched the Badr Hari fight, and all I have to say is, Holy Shit.
He looked like he was 2 weight classes above Hari.
If Fedor continues to fight in Japan I would love to see him vs Alistair.

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I was pretty confident that the FiELD Dynamite! show would produce something worthy of a Judo Chop and sure enough Shinya Aoki came through.

As the gif to the right begins with both fighters standing and Aoki behind Alavarez with his arms wrapped around Eddie's waist.

Alvarez responds with a nice judo takedown -- I'm going to call it Harai Makikomi but please correct me in the comments. The announcers called it Harai Goshi.

Alvarez lands in side control and quickly takes mount attempts to get mount but Shinya gets his right knee between Eddie's legs and messes things up. In 99% of fights, that's the move we'd be discussing cause it's pretty bad ass.

From there Aoki immediately wraps up Alvarez' right leg and when Alvarez stands up, Aoki spins around and immediately achieves total control of Alvarez' right leg and the heel hook finish is imminent.

Amazing stuff. Has anyone seen this technique described in a video or book? Is this something I'd find in one of the Eddie Bravo books?

UPDATE: As Jordan Breen Points out in the comments, Alvarez never got full mount. Shinya gets his right knee up high between Alvarez' legs and was working for half-guard. Eddie made the fatal decision to stand up, thereby giving up his leg.

Gif by smoogy. Couple more in the extended entry.

About the name of this feature: I chose Judo Chop because it’s an utter misnomer that is sometimes used by poorly informed MMA commentators during fights. It’s also from the Austin Powers movie. I chose it because it reflects my own lack of expertise and what this column is: my stumbling along in the dark trying to get a handle on the technical aspects of the fights. The techniques featured here will sometimes involve judo but not always. Sorry if that's confusing.

Continue reading this post »

Bob Sapp punching Akihito "Kinniku Mantaro" Tanaka in the infamous "Japanese MMA Jumps the Shark" match. Image via www.mmaweekly.com

From a WAMMA press release:

"Dynamite!!" featured the crowning of the second-ever undisputed champion in World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) history with Shinya Aoki defeating Eddie Alvarez via heel hook submission at 1:32 of round 1. In the process, Aoki became the first-ever WAMMA lightweight champion.

WAMMA would like to publicly congratulate Shinya Aoki on his historic victory and looks forward to presenting him with his championship belt at a ceremony to be scheduled at a later date.

"Dynamite!! was phenomenal event and quite possibly one of the best New Year’s Eve shows in Japan’s history," said WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Michael Lynch. "We’re also delighted to have a fighter the caliber of Shinya Aoki representing WAMMA as its lightweight champion. On behalf of WAMMA, we’d like to congratulate Mr. Aoki on his sensational victory."

WAMMA would also like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. The organization is already looking forward to a big 2009 with its recognized undisputed heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko scheduled to defend his WAMMA belt against Andrei Arlovski on January 24 in Anaheim, California during Affliction’s "Day of Reckoning."

Of course WAMMA's own rankings have had UFC Champ B.J. Penn at the #1position for months. It's time for WAMMA to admit they are issuing the best non-UFC title, not the best overall.

[UPDATE] by Nick Thomas: Videos after the jump.

For the full Play-by-Play, check out Sherdog.com:

Moments before the event was to begin, Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante entered the ring and announced that his bout with Joachim Hansen has been called off. Apparently, Hansen did not pass pre-fight medicals, and the Norwegian is currently being hospitalized for a "head injury."

Ikuhisa Minowa > Errol Zimmerman by Submission (Toe Hold) R1 [1:01]


Andy Ologun > Yukio Sakaguchi by KO (Punches) R1 [3:52]


Hayato "Mach" Sakurai > Katsuyori Shibata by TKO (Punches) R1 [7:01]


Daisuke Nakamura > Hideo Tokoro by Submission (Armbar) R1 [2:23]


Alistair Overeem > Badr Hari by KO (Punches) R1 [2:07]


Tatsuya Kawajiri > Kozo Takeda by TKO (Punches) R1 [2:37]


Bob Sapp > Akihito "Kinniku Mantaro" Tanaka by TKO (Punches) R1 [5:22]


Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic > Hong Man Choi by TKO (Low Kick) R1 [6:32]


Gegard Mousasi > Musashi by TKO (Punches) R1 [2:32]


Shinya Aoki > Eddie Alvarez by Submission (Heel Hook) R1 [1:32]


Kiyoshi Tamura > Kazushi Sakuraba by Decision (Unanimous)


Melvin Manhoef > Mark Hunt by KO (Punches) R1 [0:18]


Semmy Schilt > Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 [5:31]

From Japan-MMA:

The odds are currently:
Joachim Hansen -115
Jz Cavalcante -115

Eddie Alvarez -115
Shinya Aoki -115

Semmy Schilt -600
Siala Siliga +450

Daisuke Nakamura -110
Hideo Tokoro -120