Wow.  Who would have thought that a) we’d ever see Mark Hunt get knocked out by something as simple as a left hook-straight right combo, b) in the opening seconds of a fight, and c) by a middleweight.  This is the guy who walked right through a Cro Cop high kick.  Hats off to Melvin Manhoef.  Maybe now he’ll get that fight with Kimbo Slice that he wants. 

More videos from Fields Dynamite 2008 after the jump.

(Shockingly, this wasn’t the best fight of the night. Photo courtesy of CageWriter.) 

Total Bummer Update: The fight between DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen and Gesias Cavalcante was canceled. Hansen did not pass a pre-fight medical examination, reportedly due to a recent hospitalization for a head injury. So that sucks.

K-1 Youth Tournament
Reserve fight: Taishi Hiratsuka def. Daizo Sasaki via KO, 1:00 of round 2
Semi-final 1: Koya Urabe def. Tatsuya Kusakabe via TKO, 2:21 of round 3
Semi-final 2: Hiroya def. Shota Shimada via unanimous decision
Final: Hiroya def. Koya Urabe via unanimous decision

DREAM rules: Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa def. Errol Zimmerman via submission (toe-hold), 1:01 of round 1

K-1 rules: Artur Kyshenko def. Yoshihiro Sato via unanimous decision

DREAM rules: Daisuke Nakamura def. Hideo Tokoro via submission (armbar), 2:23 of round 1

DREAM rules: Andy Ologun def. Yukio Sakaguchi via KO, 3:52 of round 1

DREAM rules: Bob Sapp def. Akihito Tanaka (aka "Kinniku Mantaro") via TKO, 5:22 of round 1. Tanaka put Sapp in trouble early with takedowns and ground-and-pound, but Sapp was able to get to his feet and tag Kinnikuman with some of his big, wild punches against the ropes until the fight was stopped.

DREAM rules: Semmy Schilt def. Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga via submission (triangle choke), 5:31 of round 1

DREAM rules: Hayato Sakurai def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO, 7:01 of round 1

K-1 rules: Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kozo Takeda via TKO, 2:37 of round 1. Kawajiri dropped Takeda twice with punches in the first round, then once more with a flying knee. It was the first in a series of dominant victories by MMA fighters in kickboxing matches at Dynamite!! 2008.

(Gesias Calvancante, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Kinnikuman dress to impress at the Dynamite!! 2008 press conference. Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)

Heads up: Fields Dynamite!! 2008 kicks off tomorrow evening in Saitama, Japan, which, because of the sizable time difference, means it’ll be going on late tonight if you’re in the U.S., beginning at 3 a.m. ET. Since the 18-fight card won’t be broadcast live in the U.S. on HDNet or internet pay-per-view, you may have to resort to more roundabout means if you want to watch it live. At any rate, we’ll have full results and videos for you tomorrow, so don’t go nuts. Kinniku Mantaro, get ready to shock the world…

(Props: URDirt.com)

The big news out of Japan today is that Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, who is scheduled to take on Katsuyori Shibata on the New Year’s Eve Dynamite card, has unwittingly become a porn star.  A Japanese website has screen shots from videos featuring Sakurai and as many as three women who are not his wife.  One of them is allegedly the yoga instructor from his gym.  One of them is also pretty hot.

We don’t want to jump to any conclusions (yes we do), but we would like to point out that this is exactly why you don’t make sex tapes if you’re even remotely famous.  It’s tempting, yes.  You’re just dying to see what your patented "Carpet Bomber" technique looks like on film (the answer is, inevitably, not as cool as you think) but if you make a sex tape and don’t immediately erase it, somehow, eventually, it will get leaked.  And odds are it will be a most inopportune time for you, such as a couple days before a big fight.  

But now that I think about it, maybe this all a calculated ploy by Sakurai.  Maybe he’s MMA’s Kim Kardashian.  This puts him back in the news and adds some new interest to a fight that has been largely ignored, what with the freak shows and the big fights and the other freak shows that are oddly meaningful.  Now, suddenly, here we are talking about Sakurai and who he’s banging.

God, I hope this doesn’t become a popular publicity stunt for fighters who want a fast ticket back to the spotlight.  The last thing any of us needs is a Houston Alexander sex tape.  We already know that once the action hits the ground he’s clueless. 

(Unless he’s using it as a part-time chicken coop, what does Cro Cop want with a cage these days anyway?)

Our buddy Robert at FreeFightVideos has a report that suggests a return to the UFC for Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic might be as simple as a win over Hong Man Choi on New Year’s Eve.  Cro Cop has apparently been dropping hints lately that the fight at K-1 Dynamite will “end one chapter and start another” in his career, and insists he’s not retiring.  So okay, maybe he just means he’ll end the injury-riddled, lackluster performance chapter and begin another kicking ass chapter in 2009, right?

But Cro Cop has been increasingly vague about his plans for 2009, and when Dana White appeared on the “Best Damn Sports Show,” he stated that, “if [Cro Cop] wins, he will definitely be welcomed back into the UFC."

As Robert points out, Cro Cop still keeps a cage in his training facility, though he wouldn’t seem to have any use for it if he plans to keep fighting in Japan. Maybe the thing is just a pain in the ass to take down, or maybe he plans to come back to the UFC for some unfinished business.

Either way, does it seem odd to anyone else that a fight with Hong Man Choi, of all people, is the deciding factor in Cro Cop’s UFC career?  Choi is not really an MMA fighter.  He’s a kickboxer, in the loosest sense of the word, but mainly he’s a sideshow attraction. 

Everyone mocked Fedor for even taking a fight with Choi, and now it’s the fight that determines Cro Cop’s readiness to reenter the Octagon?  Why not ask him to beat Alistair Overeem to prove himself?  Or beat…anyone else, really.  Anyone with actual MMA experience, who isn’t wearing a mask at the time of the fight.  Then again, where is he supposed to find an opponent like that on New Year’s Eve in Japan?

(Overeem during his losing effort against Chuck Liddell at PRIDE Total Elimination 2003. Photo courtesy of AlistairOvereem.com.)

Though Alistair Overeem’s New Year’s Eve rematch with Mirko Cro Cop never panned out, another heavyweight match has been added to Fields Dynamite!! 2008 that almost makes up for it. In a new post on his website, Overeem writes:

In their most recent bouts, Overeem kneed Cro Cop’s nuts up into his chest cavity, while Hari was disqualified for using PRIDE rules in a K-1 match. I say K-1/FEG should also book Gilbert Yvel vs. Mike Kyle, and hold a four-man tournament to crown the World’s Dirtiest Fighter. Maybe the finals could be a fight to the death. What, you wouldn’t pay thirty bucks to spend New Year’s Eve watching that on your computer?

All respect to Overeem for stepping up and agreeing to fight Badr Hari on Hari’s terms, but the Demolition Man is in for a world of hurt. When they have their MMA-rules bout next year, it’ll be a different story, as Overeem is pretty damn handy with a choke-hold. In a standup-only fight, however, it’ll probably be all Hari. It’s strange that K-1, who just finished stripping Hari of his heavyweight title and prize money, are basically letting the dude call his shots for the Overeem fight — why not hold the MMA match first, as punishment? But business is business, and Hari’s nasty DQ probably increased his drawing power more than any respectable victory ever could.

(When Bob got stood up by the captain of the football team on prom night, it was simply more than he could bear.)

With crazy freak show fights mixed in among legitimately interesting real fights at K-1 Dynamite on New Year’s Eve, we were more than a little disappointed when we heard that the event might not hit airwaves in the U.S.  This is the type of thing that usually airs on HDNet, but because Dynamite is technically not covered under HDNet’s contract with FEG it may not get shown on American TV’s at all.

Never fear, though, as MMA Payout has passed along a press release from Event Magic TV suggesting that the fight may be available via streaming online video for $29.95 on pay-per-view.  

Yippee.  Nothing quite like paying money to watch fights on the computer, especially when those same fights are likely to be available for free on the internet a day or so later.  

Look, I’m not going to judge you.  I won’t call you a loser for staying home on New Year’s Eve and paying money to sit in front of your computer and watch Bob Sapp fight a guy in a mask while the rest of the world is out partying and kissing strange girls.  I’m not going to do that, because if that’s your plan I assume you already know what a loser you are, and me pointing it out would just be mean and unnecessary.  All I’ll say is that streaming video is a crapshoot to begin with, and Bob Sapp will still be there tomorrow.  So let’s leave it at that.  I know you’ll do the right thing.   

(Bob’s fist-allergy starts acting up at the worst possible time.)

There are freak show fights, and then there are fights that re-define the phrase "freak show." Bob Sapp’s next MMA appearance — his first in Japan since he beat comedian Bobby Olugun at last year’s K-1 Dynamite New Year’s Eve event — will be one of those fights.

It was announced today that the Beast will be competing at K-1/FEG’s Fields Dynamite!! 2008 card (December 31st; Saitama, Japan) against Kinniku Mantaro. And just who is this Mantaro fellow? Allow Nightmare of Battle to explain:

What we’re talking about here is a character from the Japanese comic series/cartoon Kinnikuman, which American audiences might remember from the ’80s collectible figurine line M.U.S.C.L.E. Playing the role of Kinniku Mantaro will be Akihito Tanaka, a heavyweight pro wrestler seven-time All-Japan Wrestling Champion who has been training recently at Kazushi Sakuraba’s Laughter 7 gym. And yes, he will be wearing the Kinniku mask during the fight, which will be "produced by DJ OZMA." Holy Crap. Good-natured comic relief, or the low point of Japanese sports entertainment? We’ll find out on New Year’s Eve. The nearly-complete lineup for Dynamite!! 2008′s otherwise-compelling card, and video of Kinniku in action are after the jump.

(It was totally worth kicking Bill Cosby’s ass to get that sweater.  Photo courtesy of K-1 Fans.)

Just when he thought he had safely escaped to the glorious city of Japan, Kimbo Slice may be finding out that Brett Rogers isn’t the only one who thinks it’d be fun to beat him up.  Nightmare of Battle is passing along a rumor that Melvin Manhoef spotted Kimbo backstage at last weekend’s K-1 2008 Grand Prix and wasted no time shouting out his appeal for Kimbo to, "Fight with me!”

Reportedly some K-1 officials got in between them before anything more happened.  Again, this is firmly in the rumor category at this point, but man would it ever be a fight I’d like to see.  Remember the punch from Seth Petruzelli that dropped Kimbo?  Manhoef throws harder punches in his sleep.  Seriously, he does.  As a kid he was banned from attending any and all slumber parties.  Plus, he uses those “Thai-style kicks” that Kimbo would rather just avoid altogether. 

My guess is that after seeing what he did to Paul Slowinski – who knows a thing or two about this kickboxing stuff – Kimbo wants no part of Manhoef.  Watch it for yourself after the jump, then see if you blame him: 

(Props: MMA Mania)

LOFL, people. Here’s video proof of the verbal gaffe made by Kimbo Slice immediately after he was introduced as a guest-commentator at last weekend’s K-1 World GP. It also gives you a sense of how overbearingly annoying Michael Schiavello is. Imagine being Mike Kogan (the other bald, goateed guy), sandwiched in the middle of these two doofs for like four hours. I have a feeling this isn’t what he had in mind when he entered broadcasting school.

After the jump: Mike Swick hangs out in a Thai snake-pit to fuck with some cobras for no good reason. Thanks to Old, Bald and Irish for the find!

(What a range of honest facial expressions.)

When I first heard that Kimbo Slice would be helping with commentating duties at this weekend’s K-1 World Grand Prix, I immediately wondered where he would fall on the scale of fighters-turned-broadcasters.  Obviously he’s not going to be a Randy Couture or Kenny Florian.  Anyone who saw his dour appearance on Jimmy Kimmel knows that.  But could he maybe be as inept, yet hilarious as the “Rampage” Jackson/Don Frye duo was?

Then I read the official press release and realized one of his broadcast partners will be Michael “The Voice” Schiavello.  Suddenly, it seems like Kimbo is going to be far from the worst sportscaster at the table on Saturday night.   If you don’t know, Schiavello’s an Australian commentator who’s done K-1, Dream, even the Beijing Olympics, and has never shied away from an unfunny quip in any of those jobs.  Check out some of his favorite lines.  As in, his favorite lines that he said, which he was kind enough to compile for us on his official website:

"There are two things I know for sure: Britney Spears will never win Mother of The Year and Albert Kraus didn’t win that fight!"

"Two things I know for sure: we will never beat Amy Winehouse in a drinking contest, and Texeira definitely won that fight."

"He’s been on his back more than my ex-girlfriend."

"He wears more hair product than Bon Jovi."

"He’s proving harder to catch than Osama Bin Laden!"

(Shinya Aoki: Always prepared for a chilly afternoon.)

Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki were supposed to have their showdown in the finals of DREAM’s lightweight GP in July — instead, Alvarez was declared unfit to advance after getting his right eye messed up during his thrilling quarterfinal bomb-fest against Tatsuya Kawajiri, which allowed alternate Joachim Hansen to step in and whip the already-exhausted Aoki. Now the two top-five fighters may finally get a chance to test themselves against each other, as a fight between Alvarez and Aoki is in the works for "Fields Dynamite!! 2008" on New Year’s Eve.

Cross your fingers that it actually comes together. Simply put, Aoki vs. Alvarez would be the most important lightweight fight you’d find outside of the UFC, as well as one of the best grappler vs. striker showcases in any weight class, in any organization. Though Alvarez hasn’t competed since the DREAM tournament, Aoki snuck in a quick submission victory over Todd Moore at DREAM 6 in September; his loss to Hansen snapped a three-year-long undefeated streak that saw him go 12-0 with one no-contest.

Hansen is slated to appear in a headlining bout at Dynamite!! against JZ Calvancante, alongside bouts between Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura, and Mousasi vs. Musashi. According to MMA Weekly, other rumored participants include Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Masakazu Imanari, Nick Diaz, Hayato Sakurai, and Ikuhisa Minowa.

From PRIDE Final Conflict (8/15/04), here’s one of Wanderlei Silva‘s nastiest finishes of all time. Soon after the fight’s one-minute mark, a sharp left-hook from Wandy knocks poor Yuki out, and the Axe-Murderer throws in six point-blank head-stomps just to make sure. Yeesh. Guest commentator Quinton Jackson got his wish to take another crack at Silva two months later — though we all know how that went. Will the third time be a charm at UFC 92 (December 27th, Las Vegas)? 

(Photo courtesy of Tim-Sylvia.com)

Tim Sylvia, who has been laying low since his 36-second humiliation at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko in July, may return to competition in a month — on the other side of the world. According to a new report on Sherdog, Sylvia’s manager Monte Cox is angling to get him booked at either DREAM/K-1′s "Dynamite!!" event on New Year’s Eve, or Sengoku 7 on January 4th. Cox said that Sylvia has been granted a "certificate of eligibility" to participate in either promotion, and confirmed that he won’t be a part of Affliction’s second show on January 24th. No word yet on who the Maine-iac might be facing in Japan; as he told Sherdog, "I don’t think anyone ever knows until about a week before they fight."

But there is somebody that Timmy does have his eyes on: None other than MMA cautionary tale Ken Shamrock. As Sylvia tells it, “I was supposed to fight Ken Shamrock December 20…in a small show called XP3 Promotions. I believe in Texas, but it’s postponed to February now." But why on Earth would Sylvia want to fight a 44-year-old light-heavyweight who’s lost seven of his last eight fights? Well:

(Kevin had made many trips to the pawn shop in his life, but this one was by far the saddest.)

According to Japanese tabloid Tokyo Sports, Kimbo Slice has joined up with K-1, and will appear at this Saturday’s K-1 show in Yokohama to introduce himself to fans; his debut match for the kickboxing organization will be in March, against K-1 heavyweight champion Badr "The Golden Boy" Hari. (You can see some of Hari’s work here and here.)

Look, I’ve never been a Kimbo-hater — the dude has unquestionably strong hands and may still develop into an impressive fighter — but if he could get knocked out by an off-balance jab from Seth Petruzelli, he may literally die in the ring against Hari, who is arguably the most devastating striker in the world right now. If I were Icey Mike, I’d be tempted by the surely-substantial payday, but the kind of loss that Kimbo could take against Hari might permanently relegate him to human-punching-bag status in the fight world. It’s choosing the short money over the long money, basically, and it’s a bad, bad idea. (Not to say that I wouldn’t watch the carnage if this freak-match actually came together, but still…)

In far more legitimate K-1 news, it has been announced that DREAM middleweight GP champ Gegard Mousasi will face four-time K-1 Japan tournament champion and two-time World GP finalist Musashi in a K-1 rules match at Fields Dynamite!! 2008 on New Year’s Eve. The NYE event, which goes down at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will be headlined by MMA fights between Joachim Hansen and Gesias Calvancante, and Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura.

(Image courtesy of Nightmare of Battle)

Two headlining matchups were announced today for DREAM and K-1′s combined “FieLDS Dynamite!!: Yuuki no Chikara 2008″ event, which will be held on New Year’s Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. In the main event spot will be Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba facing Kiyoshi Tamura. Sakuraba and Tamura are former UWFi pro wrestling stablemates who were previously supposed to fight each other in PRIDE, but the match never came together; there is a rumored rivalry between them dating back to Tamura’s disrespectful treatment of Sakuraba in the early ’90s when Tamura was a UWFi star and Sakuraba was a struggling up-and-comer. Tamura’s last ring appearance was a 57-second knockout victory over Masakatsu Funaki at DREAM 2 in April, while Sakuraba is coming off his brutal beating at the hands of Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4 in June.

In the co-main event spot is a non-title fight between DREAM lightweight GP winner Joachim Hansen and highly regarded American Top Team fighter Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Also on the card is a four-man K-1 tournament featuring Ryuya Kusakabe, Koya Urabe, Shota Shimada, and 16-year old Japanese kickboxing phenom “Hiroya“; check out some of his work here.

(Yeah, we definitely need to see this again.)

So, the South Florida Sun Suntinel has this story about how EliteXC’s collapse affects South Floridians (thanks for the tip, Fight Opinion), and it contains this rather amazing quote:

Rookie MMA fighter Kimbo Slice is already back in a local gym after his 14-second loss to last-minute replacement and UFC light heavyweight washout Seth Petruzelli in Sunrise.

Slice, who spent Thursday at one of his children’s school career day, is weighing his options with his agent Mike Imber. He may fight on the DREAM K-1 New Year’s Eve show in Japan, possibly a rematch with Petruzelli.

Oh man, career day? Poor Kevlar. I wonder if Kimbo was too embarrassed to talk about MMA following his recent loss, and instead delivered a five-minute speech about what it takes to be a porn company bodyguard.

(The Fireball Kid returns on Saturday; Diaz may be ringing in ’09 overseas.)

— Though most of us want to see him return to the UFC eventually, Nick Diaz‘s next fight will likely be in Japan. Diaz’s manager Cesar Gracie told MMA Weekly that he’s already been contacted by Fight Entertainment Group (Dream’s parent company) and Sengoku, and Diaz will be competing either on FEG’s K-1 Dynamite! card on New Year’s Eve, or Sengoku VII on January 4th. Diaz’s EliteXC contract states that he can compete in Japan as long as it doesn’t interfere with his EliteXC duties — so, no problems there.

— According to MMA Fighting, former IFL lightweight standout Chris Horodecki will return to action on November 24th at the Shootboxing “S-Cup 2008,” a one-night eight-man tournament that will go down at the Saitama Super Arena; the tournament will also feature PRIDE vet Luiz Azeredo. Known as “standing vale tudo,” Shootboxing doesn’t incorporate ground-fighting, although throws and standing submissions are allowed. Horodecki is still penciled in to compete at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” show on January 24th.

(Possession with intent to get groovy.)

First EliteXC shuts down and now this. Former Pride fighter and MMA veteran Enson Inoue was popped for marijuana possession in Tokyo this past weekend. The forty-one-year-old fighter was nailed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, and he admitted to getting the weed from an acquaintance and “inhaling three or four times in a month“:

According to reports at both Mainichi Daily News and Nikkan Sports, a policeman busted Inoue at 3 PM JST on the 18th (Saturday) at a coin-parking machine in (Ikebukuro) Toshima city (Tokyo). During a car inspection, the policeman discovered marijuana cigarettes (up to 16.9 grams of marijuana) in the car’s sunroof, door compartment, and pocket(s) of Inoue’s clothing.

Damn, Enson. In the sunroof? Really?

As you may or may not know, marijuana laws in Japan are pretty strict, as an unfortunate Russian sumo wrestler found out earlier this year, so this could go badly for Inoue. 16.9 grams is enough to get you in hot water lots of places, but especially in a country that’s been coming down hard on pot-smoking pro athletes lately. Ironic, considering it’s known to MMA fans as the home of rampant steroid use.

Best of luck, Enson. In trying times like these, who can blame a man for keeping a marijuana cigarette in his sunroof?

(Oh. No. She. Didn’t.)

- Matt Lindland’s MMA career now fodder for political smear campaign. (MMA Payout)

- Dana White says Anderson Silva could fight GSP, but never B.J. Penn. (The Sun)

- Little Nog is headed to Japan again, this time for Sengoku. (Fight Ticker)

- Chris Horodecki considering a fight in Japan while he waits for Affliction II. (MMA Weekly)

- Tim Sylvia headed to Dream or Sengoku? Really? (Nightmare of Battle)

- Fedor could fight Arlovski next, or Barnett. Who knows!? (MMA Fanhouse)

- Chuck Liddell turned away from big shot nightclub, and he’s not pleased. (TMZ)

- Robert Drysdale talks MMA debut. (Tatame)

- A movie trailer that is better than most actual movies. (Holy Taco)

- Life after Lehman Brothers. (Wall Street Fighter)

- Seven most underrated hot chicks on TV. (Screen Junkies)

- Brtual broken bottle beatdown. (Nothing Toxic)

(See, Japan? Dana White knows what you’re into. You guys are still into samurai swords, right?.)

The UFC is headed back to Japanese TV sets via a new two-year deal with the Japanese subscription-based broadcaster WOWOW. They’ll be broadcasting all UFC pay-per-views starting with this Saturday’s UFC 89 from England on a tape delay. From the press release:

“The Japanese market has always been important to the UFC, and we want to bring MMA and all of its biggest stars back to Japan,” said Dana White, UFC President. “We are thrilled to be back with WOWOW.”

“WOWOW is extremely pleased to announce that UFC is back on WOWOW, starting with the UFC 89 event in Birmingham, UK,” said Mr. Kazuyuki Omura, Chief Producer, WOWOW. “The UFC will telecast in High Definition on WOWOW’s popular “Timely-on-Air” format, a limited delay broadcast adjusting the airtime to a time that will be convenient for the sports fans in Japan. After airing over 50 UFC shows from 2001 to 2007, we are excited to once again provide our subscribers with the most prominent mixed martial arts program in the world.”

There, Japanese MMA fans, does that take some of the sting out of Zuffa buying Pride only to dismantle it? No, probably not, but what can you do. At least you’ve still got Dream, and at least they finally paid Nick Diaz for a fight that happened last spring.

This TV deal is just one more box checked in the UFC’s global domination plans. Now look the fuck out, Phillipines.

(‘Bring me your tired, your freaks, your outmatched fools. I fight them on eve of the new year, yes?’)

The official Dream website has posted an interview they conducted with Fedor Emelianenko, but unfortunately for me it’s all transcribed in squiggly lines that I can make neither heads nor tails of. Good thing Suki came along to translate it, otherwise we might have missed this:

- Japanese fans are expected to see you fight in NYE in Japan again.

I want to fight in Japan again; however, I cannot control everything. God knows what will happen. Whether I fight or not in NYE depends on a negotiation between my manager and DREAM.

Perhaps Fedor is just blowing smoke here to keep his Japanese public happy, but that’s a very different story than the one Tom Atencio is telling. He claims to have verification from Fedor’s management that he absolutely, positively will not fight on New Year’s Eve. So, assuming Fedor is not consciously lying in this Dream interview, this means:

1) Fedor’s management is willing to rent him out to the highest bidder, regardless of whether they’ve already committed him to fight elsewhere.

2) Fedor’s management doesn’t necessarily tell Fedor everything that’s going on.

3) There are some nuances being lost in translation.

The first option seems plausible because, well, Fedor is managed by crazy Russians, according Dana White. The second option is also not too unrealistic, for the same crazy Russian reasons. Option three is especially possible since Fedor’s comments had to go from Russian to Japanese to English. In other words, yeah, we don’t know what the hell is really going on. Which probably puts us in the same boat as Fedor.

(Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Schulz; more videos here.)

From today’s Sengoku show at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan…

Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Yuki Sasaki def. Yuki Kondo via submission (rear-naked choke), round 2
Siyar Bahadurzada def. Evangelista Santos via TKO (injury), round 1
Jorge Santiago def. Logan Clark via submission (arm triangle choke), round 1
Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Paul Cahoon via unanimous decision

Lightweights:
Jorge Masvidal def. Ryan Schultz via TKO, round 1
Kiuma Kunioku def. Sol Kwon via unanimous decision

Heavyweights:
Muhammed Lawal def. Travis Wiuff via TKO, round 1

Light-Heavyweights:
Xande Ribeiro def. Takashi Sugiura via TKO, round 3

In other weekend fight news…

– Phil Baroni scored his third-straight win as a welterweight on Friday with his unanimous decision victory over WEC vet Olaf Alfonso at Palace Fighting Championships 10 in Lemoore, California. Baroni later apologized for his performance, saying he couldn’t find his rhythm in the fight.

– Jeff Monson choked out MMA cautionary tale Mark Kerr in the first round of their bout at Don King Productions’ debut Vengeance FC card, held last night in Concord, North Carolina. It was Kerr’s ninth loss in his last 11 fights.

(‘Look at that, same size I was in high school.’)

Fedor Emelianenko loves three things: competing in Sambo tournaments, eating two ice cream cones at once, and fighting in New Year’s Eve freak show matches in Japan. We know this about Fedor. We accept this about him. So that’s why when he appeared at Dream.6 and made comments about a potential NYE fight in Japan, we naturally wondered what that meant for his participation in Affliction’s second event in California. You know, the one that was “rescheduled” for January after a Fedor-less card failed to sell tickets in Las Vegas.

But Affliction VP Tom Atencio says not to worry. Fedor won’t be fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve because Affliction has “extended his contract.” When asked if that meant Fedor was a lock for January 19, Atencio dropped this minor shocker:

“The date and location are not official,” Atencio said. “Everyone is tripping. Our next show will definitely be the 1st quarter of 2009 in January, possibly February. Nothing is confirmed though.”

Wait a minute, we’re tripping? Us, the people who think that maybe you should consider nailing down a venue, a date, and — dare I say it — even a fight card for the event you hope to sell tickets to? That’s “tripping”? Since when did Tom Atencio become a college sophomore at a Dave Matthews concert? We don’t mean to be a buzzkill or anything, but these are the kinds of details that could end up being pretty important down the road.

Armenian-Dutch fighter Gegard Mousasi put in a career-making performance at today’s DREAM.6 in Saitama, Japan, earning quick stoppage victories over Melvin Manhoef and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to win the middleweight grand prix. In his first fight of the night, Mousasi easily dominated Manhoef, quickly scoring a trip-takedown, then securing the mount and clamping on a triangle choke when Manhoef reversed the position. Manhoef attempted to slam out of it, but was forced to tap at the 1:28 mark. Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket, Souza enjoyed a similarly brief win over Croatian Zelg Galesic. After getting a double-leg takedown, Souza passed from guard to mount and snatched an armbar when Galesic tried to buck.

Both men moved into the GP finals relatively fresh — not that they needed to be. When Mousasi and Souza finally met in the last fight of the night, it seemed like Mousasi was in over his head, as Souza first slammed him then began to drop punches from half-guard. But Souza made the fatal error of standing up, and Mousasi caught him with a Hail Mary upkick that knocked Jacare out cold as he began to dive in for a punch.

DREAM.6′s non-tourney featured matches went pretty much as expected, with the stars beating up on the cans. Shinya Aoki returned to his flamboyantly winning ways, hopping on the back of WEC castoff Todd Moore and finishing him at the 1:10 mark with a neck crank. Jimmy Ambriz should be applauded for lasting over two minutes with Sergei Kharitonov, who battered The Titan with vicious strikes until Ambriz was forced to tap on the ground. After abusing him for most of the first round, Yoshihiro Akiyama submitted karate practitioner Masanori Tonooka (1-2), who, let’s just say, is no Lyoto Machida.

The only real surprise (and disappointment) was how the heavyweight feature between Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Alistair Overeem played out.

(“We’ll see who is bag of douche.”)

Dream’s sixth event — which goes down September 23rd in Saitama, Japan — may just feature its most compelling card yet. The show’s centerpiece is the semi-finals/finals of the middleweight grand prix, where Melvin Manhoef, Gegard Mousasi, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and Zelg Galesic will do battle to crown a single champion. A welterweight strap will also be on the line, decided by the long-awaited match between Nick Diaz and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. And now it looks like two big-name heavyweight bouts will be part of the action as well.

Over the weekend, PRIDE vet and reigning Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem revealed that he would be facing Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at Dream 6. Overeem and Cro Cop have been getting their trash-talk on lately — who isn’t these days? — with the Demolition Man calling Filipovic a “douche-bag” who ducked him in favor of fighting cans. Cro Cop hasn’t fought since March, when he earned his first post-UFC victory with a 56-second TKO rout of Japanese can Tatsuya Mizuno. Since then, Overeem has competed and won twice, scoring a quick knockout of Tae Hyun Lee at Dream 4 in June, and an almost-as-quick submission of Mark Hunt at Dream 5 in July.

This month’s Dream card will also feature the return of Russian PRIDE standout Sergei Kharitonov, who hasn’t fought since his TKO victory over Alistair Overeem at a K-1 HERO’s event last September. Kharitonov will be facing Siala-Mou “Mighty Mo” Siligia, the Samoan-American K-1 mainstay who defeated Justice Smith last month at the K-1 World GP 2008 in Hawaii. Mo is just 3-0 as a mixed martial artist, and hasn’t done the MMA thing since last June, when he beat down Ruben Villareal at K-1 Dynamite!! USA.

(Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Rodrigo Damm)

(Satoru Kitaoka vs. Clay French)

(In Trigg’s defense, he had just gotten out of the pool.)

Sengoku’s “Fourth Battle” went down today in Saitama, Japan, featuring the long-awaited returns of Takanori Gomi and Frank Trigg, and the first round of their lightweight grand prix. In a non-tourney main event bout, Gomi faced 5-1 Korean DEEP vet Seung Hwan Bang — who should have been steamrolled by the legendary “Fireball Kid” — but Bang hung in for all three rounds. Eventually, Gomi’s accurate striking and control of the fight’s pace convinced the judges to unanimously give him the win. Trigg’s opponent was Makoto Takimoto, a judoka and PRIDE vet who came into the fight with a 4-4 MMA record, and as with Gomi, the fight was a little more difficult than it should have been. Trigg dominated the standup and inflicted major damage from top positions on the ground, but Takimoto nearly caught Twinkle Toes in a kimura in the second round, and spent a lot of the third on top; still, it wasn’t enough to prevent the judges from giving Trigg the decision after the fight went the distance.

The first round of Sengoku’s lightweight tournament held some surprises as three big names were unceremoniously bounced out of the competition. The HIT Squad’s Clay French was tapped in 31 seconds via achilles lock by former Pancrase mainstay Satoru Kitaoka, and jiu-jitsu ace Rodrigo Damm also suffered a first-round submission at the hands of Eiji Mitsuoka. Former IFL lightweight champ Ryan Schultz, who was the biggest favorite to win his first GP match, got his lights put out by a superman-punch from Cage Force champ Mizuto Hirota in the second round of their fight. Full results after the jump; videos to come.

(“The Athlete” is ready to get back after it.)

- Jason “Dooms” Day has been forced to pull out of his UFC 88 bout with fattie-turned-middleweight Jason Lambert because of a biceps injury, but those of you who are fans of seeing Lambert’s man-boobs in the Octagon needn’t worry. Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald is stepping in as a replacement for Day, despite the fact that he just went three rounds in a losing effort against Demian Maia at UFC 87. Good move for MacDonald. If you can’t win ‘em all, the next best way to keep the UFC happy is to fight ‘em all, especially when called upon on short notice.

- Poor Nate Quarry just can’t catch a break. After coming back from a nearly career-ending back injury only to be forced to chase Kalib Starnes in circles, Quarry has now been sidelined with an eye injury that is strangely not related to fighting. Apparently Quarry was at a party where people were hitting golf balls into the woods — like you do, just for kicks — and he accidentally walked into someone’s backswing. Despite breaking the Orbital Floor bone in his eye, Quarry is not seriously hurt, though he will be kept out of action for at least a few more months.

- American Top Team coach Andrei Benkei is leaving the squad due to “ideological disagreements” with head coach Ricardo Liborio. Benkei told Tatame that he’ll still work with several high profile ATT fighters like Thiago Alves and “Bigfoot” Silva, among others, but it’s been reported that Benkei disapproved of the way Liborio was turning ATT into “a big McDonald’s” by selling its name to karate gyms. For shame, Ricardo. Karate gyms? That’s the MMA gym equivalent of giving hand jobs in the Wal-Mart parking lot. You never need money that badly.

- It’s not MMA news, but it’s worth mentioning: Sumo wrestling has been rocked by a drug scandal. A totally lame drug scandal. Russian Sumo wrestler (they exist?) Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev was arrested for possessing a third of a gram of weed. According to CNN, it’s “enough to land him in prison on a diet of forced labor for five years if he’s convicted.” Five years for a third of a gram in Japan? Nick Diaz should really be informed about that before returning to fight for Dream again.

(‘Where’s my money, homey?’)

In a new post on Graciefighter.com, a media outlet which might be slightly biased in favor of Nick Diaz, Stockton’s favorite son is said to be looking for a fight and an overdue paycheck. The site claims that Diaz passed his drug test for “Elite XC: Unfinished Business” — good news, assuming it’s true — but he is still waiting on his fight purse for his last bout in Dream. He beat Katsuya Inoue back in May, though the site says he hasn’t received “a cent” in payment for his work.

Can you really do that if you’re running a major MMA promotion? I’d hate to think of what happens if you don’t pay one of the Diaz brothers for a fight. Something tells me it involves you waking up wrapped in duct tape while they stand over you with their middle fingers in your face. Terrifying.

It’s a shame, too, since Diaz is supposedly hoping to face off against Hayoto Sakurai in September if he can’t convince KJ Noons to give him a rematch for the Elite XC title at the organization’s next big show on October 4. All this waiting around means Diaz doesn’t have a fight lined up for August, and since he seems to want to fight at least once a month, in between triathlons, he’s slated to put the gi back on and do some jiu-jitsu tournaments. Say what you will about Nick Diaz, he does work, son.

(Props: Five Ounces of Pain)