(Somehow, “Ostentatious Jacket of Crushing Defeat” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. PicProps: Strikeforce)

If Saturday night truly turns out to be Fedor Emelianenko’s swan song in mixed martial arts, the saddest part will be that we had to watch him go out on a live Strikeforce broadcast that can only be described as a terrible abortion. I mean, holy shit that was bad. From Gus Johnson showing up dressed as a beautiful woman to the horribly awkward interviews with Fedor/Gina Carano to the dreadfully anticlimactic end to the main event to the announce team desperately trying to close the show ad-libbing about Sergei Kharitonov – “He looked like a young Fedor!” Johnson said (Editor’s note: No, he didn’t) — it pretty much couldn’t have been any worse. And that doesn’t even begin to consider the fact that Emelianenko lost to a guy who just almost lost to Mike Kyle.

Even still, we’re going to avoid going full-on, tearful retrospective for a bit here. Though the man himself hinted that “maybe it’s time to leave” during his postfight interview it could have just been the initial depression and lingering effects of so many blows to the head talking. Give Fedor some time to get back to the Sport Palace and whip up on some pre-pubescent sambo white belts – and let Vadim Finkelstein start dropping hints about how that mortgage ain’t gonna pay itself – and it’s possible we could see “The Last Emperor” take at least one more bite of the MMA apple. No matter what though, we’ve likely witnessed the last of him as a top heavyweight, maybe even as a relevant one. For a lot of us, that’s a frightening reality, but one we must confront. Here are 10 questions that come immediately to mind about about our Fedor-less future …

(Antonio Silva is fascinated by Fabricio Werdum’s freakishly normal-sized chin.)

Photos and text by Matthew Kaplowitz

Strikeforce has graced the East Coast with their presence throughout this week, as the hype machine for their massive heavyweight grand prix is in full flux. Starting on Tuesday with a meet-and-greet for fans at the Roseland Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan with all eight of the tournament fighters, and continuing on Wednesday downtown with their press conference, Strikeforce is leaving their imprint on the tri-state area, informing natives of New York and New Jersey that the business of MMA has more than three letters.

This journalist/nerd was in the house for their press conference, which saw not only all members of the tournament, but the reserve fighters as well, packed into the swank Lighthouse 61 at Chelsea Piers, the skyline of New York dramatically posed behind them. Personally, I was excited to see that Strikeforce was feeding the reporters, and quite well at that, but even more exciting was the realization that this epic tournament was happening in my area. With MMA still illegal in New York, and very few big shows coming to neighboring states, having Saturday’s event a thirty-minute drive from The Big Apple was bound to help shed some light on how much of an impact MMA can have on the NY economy.

("I hear Dothan, Alabama is beautiful this time of year." PicProps: SB Nation )

Strikeforce appears on the verge of a solution to its Josh Barnett problem on Friday, as at least one internet report contends the company is close to a deal to take the MMA veteran/troubled teen to Japan for the first round of its heavyweight grand prix. MMA-Japan.com – a site affiliated with the good folks at Middle Easy – published the four-line story alleging that Strikeforce will partner with Real Entertainment and “possibly M-1 (Global)” to  stage a show on April 10 that will go down in “the afternoon hours (in Japan) in order to be shown live in the United States.” The story cites no sources and just states all of the above as fact, but since the boys at the Easy usually know their shit, we figure it’s worth repeating.

Obviously, rumors that Strikeforce is eyeing an international venue for this leg of the GP have been percolating for a few weeks. If true, it’ll mark the first time one of America’s two “major” MMA promotions has ventured to Japan since UFC 29 back in 2000. It also means the company will have found a temporary way around Barnett’s ongoing legal issues. In addition, the April show is expected to include Alistair Overeem’s opening round bout against Fabricio Werdum and staging it overseas would save The Reem from having to “pass” any more of those "independent drug tests." That’s what you call a “two birds, one stone” approach, kids.

(VidProps: YouTube/ZP420MMA)

With the opening bouts of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament less than a month away, embattled grand prix participant Josh Barnett turned up on HDNet’s Inside MMA over the weekend, where he and Bas Rutten both just started saying stuff. Protest if you want, but it makes for great TV when nobody is around to check facts or rein in the insanity. Clearly, Barnett and Bas just want to bro down, have a couple of drinks and reminisce about how radical it used to be to be King of Pancrase, leaving poor Kenny Rice to try to bumble his way through some actual journalism.

Things reach a fever pitch of awesomeness at about the 3:40 mark, when Rice asks Barnett a serious question about his efforts (or lack thereof) to get relicensed in California. Barnett dismissively waves his hands and pretty much says he doesn’t give a damn, that he doesn’t need no pencil-pushing lawmakers to tell him when and where he throws down. All the while Bas just chuckles to himself and mumbles stuff like “Right! Yeah!” as if to say “You tell it, brother!” Seriously, these guys are two peas in a pod …

("Yeah, I’ll take the soki soba, an Asahi, and 25mg of the…uh…you know…the usual." Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

We know what you’re thinking: Strikeforce’s 2011 Heavyweight Tournament isn’t nearly chaotic enough as it is, and it would be great if some of the fights were held in different countries like Canada and Japan. Basically, more moving parts is what they need, right? Scott Coker totally agrees with you. The Strikeforce CEO recently appeared on MMAJunkie.com Radio where he revealed that newly open-for-business Ontario, Canada, and Tokyo, Japan are both being considered as host sites for future fights in the HWGP.

"This is a world grand-prix tournament, which means we might not just be in the United States," Coker said. "This thing could be traveling."

Video courtesy TMZ. Josh Barnett Does Karaoke – Watch more Funny Videos

Recently signed Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett may be way too busy to attend his next California State Athletic Commission license reinstatement hearing in February, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time to belt out a few karaoke tunes.

Judging by the video above that was taken of Barnett last week at a bar in Los Angeles, it’s probably safe to say that the Babyfaced Assassin won’t be releasing an album anytime soon, but if he does, he might want to consider hiring a better hype man.

(Video courtesy YouTube/MegaDkstyle)

Okay, we admit we were just grasping for some way to make this hilarious suburb-dwelling gangster scrap video seem somewhat MMA-related so we could rationalize posting it on the site. If you’re reading this Josh and Brett, we didn’t mean anything by it, we swear.

Anyway, it’s obvious that these two tough guys train UFC, although the ginger-haired kid seems to prefer PRIDE rules.

Nothing we can say can come close to the hilarity of the actual video, so we won’t bother, but we will leave you with some sage advice.

Let this be a warning to you that you should never steal your buddy’s bong and take pictures of it and post them on your Facebook page. In the mean streets of Burbank, that kind of bullshit will earn you a beatdown in front of your parent’s house while they’re at work, son.

("You think it’s easy being the only reasonable person on Earth? I got news for you, it is *not* easy." PicProps: MMAFrenzy)

MMA’s most infamous steroid cheat says he hasn’t quite decided if he’ll be present next month when the California State Athletic Commission rules on his application to be relicensed to fight in that state. Nonetheless, Josh Barnett still plans on competing in this year’s Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, though the date and location of his first round bout against Brett Rogers is yet to be determined. With or without Barnett in attendance the CSAC will rule on his license come Feb. 4, according to executive director George Dodd, and that ruling will likely effect where the California-based promotion can hold events on which Barnett is scheduled to appear.

As of right now, we’d guess that we shouldn’t plan on seeing “The Baby Faced Assassin” compete in any of the “major” combat sports states like Cali, Nevada or New Jersey anytime soon, especially if he ghosts the CSAC next month. Naturally, Barnett is taking a typically nonchalant, borderline combative stance on the whole thing. Dig it: "There are still some things I have to figure out … with (legal) counsel and Strikeforce and also to hear something from the commission (about) what exactly they intend to do or want," he told MMAjunkie.com this week. "I definitely don’t want to spend my time and fly up there to be ambushed."

(Remember when Sergei Kharitonov sent Alistair Overeem‘s lifeless body through the ropes at K-1 Hero’s 10? No? Then you really need to watch these videos…)

In our excitement for Strikeforce’s potentially insane heavyweight tournament, one point seems to be getting lost in the narrative — namely, that these guys have already fought each other many, many times before. Five of the eight competitors (Werdum, Arlovski, Overeem, Emelianenko, Rogers) have previously faced at least three other fighters in the tournament field. Fabricio Werdum has actually fought everyone except Brett Rogers and Josh Barnett, and only Barnett himself has managed to go his entire career without bumping up against anybody else in this year’s bracket.

All told, there’s eleven twelve fights worth of shared history among the Strikeforce HWGP competitors, dating back over five years. To help you study for the quarterfinals next month, we’ve posted them all below in chronological order…

UPDATE: We originally forgot to include Fabricio Werdum’s decision win over Antonio Silva. So actually, there have been 12 previous meetings, not 11. The video has now been added. 

(Sergei Kharitonov def. Fabricio Werdum via split decision; PRIDE 30, 10/23/05)

(Alistair Overeem def. Sergei Kharitonov via TKO, 5:13 of round 1; PRIDE 31, 2/26/06)

(Image courtesy of Strikeforce via MMA Convert)

Strikeforce has just released the bracket for their clusterfuctacular heavyweight tournament, which should clear up some of the conflicting reports about who’s fighting who. What it doesn’t specify is when these fights are taking place. We know that Emelianenko vs. Silva and Arlovski vs. Kharitonov are both happening February 12th in New Jersey. Overeem/Werdum and Barnett/Rogers are tentatively slated to go down in April, exact date and location TBA. And the semi-finals and finals? Your guess is as good as ours, bro. With a little bit of luck, this entire dirty business will be settled by the time President Trump takes office.

(Personally, I think that getting all these guys together for a single-night tournament is the only way you can insure that the semi-finals and finals will actually take place, but we’re trying to stay positive here. For what it’s worth, Scott Coker is adamant that Josh Barnett’s licensing issues will not bar him from competing in the GP.)

(Dress it up however you like, this tournament will likely end in disaster for Strikeforce.)

Well it looks like Strikeforce is going ahead with its ill-fated heavyweight tournament after all.

The San Jose, California-based promotion revealed to Sherdog over the weekend three of its planned quarter final bouts. 

According to the report, Fedor Emelianenko will look to rebound from the only legitimate loss of his career when he takes on Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Andrei Arlovski will attempt to disprove all of his detractors who feel the Belarusian fighter would be better suited to play a henchman in b-movies when he locks horns with Josh Barnett at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey on February 12.

(Surprise, Strikeforce may be making a mistake with matchmaking.)

I never thought I’d ever speak out against a grand prix tournament, but because the proposed Strikeforce heavyweight tournament has so many question marks surrounding it, I’m almost hoping it doesn’t happen.

When Scott Coker mentioned earlier this year that Strikeforce was either going to piss or get off the pot when teasing its fans with heavyweight fights that never seem to come to fruition because of those crazy Russians for whatever reason, I thought he meant it.

What Sco-Co should have said was, "We’ll likely milk the current roster for whatever we can and if we can make the fights fans want to see, then we will, but we likely won’t."

According to Tatame, the California-based promotion is planning on stretching the tournament over three events and will likely anchor Strikeforce’s foray into pay-per-view TV — a move necessitated by the fact that it’s unlikely that CBS will be having them back on network TV in 2011 and the costs of greasing the pockets of M-1 Global for each Fedor-featured event are likely more than most Russians make in their lives.

(You like it? I’m having this airbrushed onto the hood of my Impala.)

As you’re all aware by now, Cain Velasquez became The First Mexican Heavyweight Champion in Fighting History™ on Saturday when he destroyed Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. The crowning of Velasquez should hopefully usher in a new wave of interest in the UFC from the Latino community — but the promotion still has a long way to go until it appeals to all demographics. If the UFC wants to achieve true mass appeal, they should work as hard as possible to check these categories off their list as well…

An African-American Lightweight Champion
Over the years, the UFC has awarded title belts to Maurice Smith and Kevin Randleman in the heavyweight division, and Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans at 205. And even though former welterweight champ Carlos Newton and middleweight king Anderson Silva aren’t American, they would certainly be described by my mother as "people of soul." But the history of the UFC’s lightweight division has been that of white dudes (see: Pulver, Sherk, Edgar) and a fiery Hawaiian warrior (come on, son.) What the division needs is an athletic and explosive champion at 155, who can serve as a role model for kids who are too short to make the basketball team. Do I have to spell it out for you? Okay, fine: A-N-T-O-N-I-O M-c-K-E-E, P-L-A-Y-E-R.

(Video courtesy YouTube/FightHubTV)

At last week’s Bellator show, middleweight Hector Lombard raised a few eyebrows when he said he wanted to face recently-signed Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett in his next bout.

It turns out that the pair have a beef between them that can be traced back to a particular sparring session in 2008.

According to Lombard’s former and Barnett’s current trainer from Combat Submission Wrestling, Erik Paulson, a day or two after a bloody 30-minute boxing match between the duo at the gym, "The Babyfaced Assassin" dragged Lombard into the cage and used his weight advantage to hold him on the canvas and humiliate the Cuban judoka in front of his teammates.

Paulson revealed that the incident was the reason Lombard walked away from the gym to join American Top Team and said he’s surprised that he’s still upset over it.

 
(Barnett? Yeah, right. You saw what he did to Affliction, didn’t you?)

Fabricio Werdum revealed to Sherdog today that he is targeting March for his return to the  Hexagon^tm, but says newly-signed Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett isn’t on his radar for his first or second fight back.

"The surgery was such a success and I’ve been working so hard with the physical therapy that I’ve already made some movement on the ground a few days ago using 70 percent of my power…I believe that by March, I’ll be back to the ring…My goal now is either a rematch with Fedor or (one) with Overeem for the belt," he said. "But actually the most important thing for me is not who they will choose, but that my body is 100 percent recovered, so I can show to the ones who thought I was lucky that I was actually ready and pretty well-trained to fight Fedor.”

According to Werdum, it’s not that he thinks "The Babyfaced Assassin" is any less of an opponent than "The Last Emperor" or "The Demolition Man," it’s that he hasn’t thought about fighting him at all.

"I thought it was a great acquisition to the event," Werdum explained. "Barnett is a really tough heavyweight. I haven’t thought about facing him yet."

Translation: "I’m waiting to see if Strikeforce is still around after I fight both of those guys and if I get an invite to return to the UFC before I commit to a fight with Josh."

(C’mon, what’s the worst that could happen? PicProps: MMA Gear Guide)

If you’re Strikeforce, this ought to make you pretty nervous. I mean, the last time Josh Barnett started angling toward a fight with Fedor Emelianenko it spelled the beginning of the end for the previous group of jokers who tried to take on the UFC. Nonetheless, the heavyweight fighter the fans love to hate went on MMA Weekly radio this week and said he still intends to make a fight with Emelianenko come to fruition, assumedly inside the Strikeforce cage.

"I’m sure it will happen at some point,” Barnett said during the on-air appearance. “And it will be just as amazing, at least for me anyways, as it would have been."

(Anybody know the heimlich? Josh swallowed one of his little toys again. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Despite the fact that he effectively torched Affliction’s MMA promotion by testing positive for steroids, Strikeforce has agreed to play ball with Josh Barnett, signing the former UFC heavyweight champion to a multi-fight contract. Strikeforce announced the news in a press release sent out this morning, but didn’t reveal the date of Barnett’s debut or the name of his first opponent. Said the Babyface Assassin:

“Strikeforce is the home of the best heavyweight division in the world and I’m proud to be able to call it my home now. I’m looking forward to competing amongst the greatest fighters in the world and fighting my way to another world title.”

(In my recurring nightmare a Brazilian spider chokes me out with his legs. He’s right behind me isn’t he? / Photo courtesy of Inphotography.com.)

Despite a general consensus that Fedor Emelianenko’s days as a Strikeforce fighter are likely over after he fulfills his last fight obligation with the organization, "The Last Emperor" says that he is happy with the California-based promotion and that he will likely sign another deal with them.

"So far I feel very comfortable fighting, very good with my fighting, and I’m planning [to fight] as long as I can physically," he said in a recent interview with M-1global.com. "As far and I’m concerned we should discuss the possibility of signing another contract for four to six fights." 

(Never surrender, except to leg kicks. VidProps: YouTube/ZP840)

If you can imagine a fight card populated by has-beens and no-accounts, filmed by the blind and narrated by the guys from “Flight of the Conchords” (except without the genuinely funny parts), then you have a pretty good idea what it was like to watch Impact FC’s first-ever pay-per-view on Saturday night. “The Uprising” was filled with plenty of the awkward pauses, even more awkward announcing, terrible camera work and retro graphics that we’ve come to expect from fledgling MMA promotions. As for the actual fighting? It played out about like you might have predicted, too.

Indeed when, just a few moments into the broadcast, nattily attired but totally incompetent ring announcer James White forgot his lines midway through his introductory remarks and had to stop cold to confess he’d drawn a blank, you knew it was going to be a long night. Despite how many times we were informed by the play-by-play team that the action in the cage was “thunderous” or “amazing” the show – filmed around noon local time in Sydney, Australia in a partially filled arena — felt so flat that the fighters themselves would’ve been hard-pressed to break the monotony. Luckily for them, it didn’t seem like they were trying too hard.

(A face made for pay-per-view. PicProps: Middle Easy.com)

As if you needed any reminder. For whatever reason – probably psychologically rooted in our inability to look away from the scene of a car crash – the MMA media has covered the shit out of Impact FC’s rapid fire debuts in Australia during the last couple of weeks. Last Friday’s show – in which Josh Barnett crushed some can named Geronimo Something-or-other — was just a subtle aperitif before tonight’s main course, which is available on pay-per-view for all to see, beginning at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST.

Look, we’re not going to beat around the bush here. Impact FC needs you to buy this card. For evidence, look no further than the promotion’s refusal this week to buy Bob Sapp a plane ticket from Bulgaria to Sydney because it allegedly couldn’t afford it. If true, that’s not the mark of a cash-rich business, people.

("I’m sorry, what was your name again?" PicProps: Sherdog)

Thank God that Josh Barnett only did a couple of the things he threatened to do to Geronimo dos Santos at Impact FC in Brisbane last night.  Despite his threats to the contrary, reports from Sherdog’s Jordan Breen – who was cageside for the event — indicate that Barnett’s short-and-sweet win over dos Santos in the main event of the upstart Australian promotion went strictly according to the unified rules. And no, that is not a euphemism.

The former UFC heavyweight champion took his enormo Brazilian opponent down and achieved full mount twice during the 2 minute, 45 second contest and eventually used a barrage of strikes from behind dos Santos to force John McCarthy to call the fight. Dos Santos attempted to protest the stoppage, but reportedly failed the “What the fuck is your problem?” test with his unsure, rubbery legs.

Fellow UFC castoffs  Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Jeff Monson also recorded wins, while former champion Carlos Newton lost an ugly fight to Brian Ebersole.

(Props: fighthub)

Heads-up: Impact FC’s first heel-tastic fight card goes down this Saturday at the Brisbane Entertainment Center, headlined by Josh Barnett (25-5) vs. Geronimo "Mondragon" Dos Santos (18-9). In the above video interview, Barnett predicts that Dos Santos will make a big thud when he hits the mat, and says he’ll "anally rape [Dos Santos] if possible." Would you expect anything less from The Greatest Sportsman in MMA?

Barnett is on a five-fight win streak, and most recently submitted Mighty Mo at DREAM.13. Dos Santos snapped a two-fight losing skid in May when he knocked out Fabio Jamantha at a Combat Fight event in Brazil. This weekend’s Impact event marks the first time that Mondragon will compete outside of his home country. The current lineup of "Impact FC: The Uprising – Brisbane" is below:

Josh Barnett vs. Geronimo Dos Santos
Karo Parisyan vs. Luis "Besouro" Dutra Jr
Carlos Newton vs. Brian Ebersole
Joaquim Ferreira vs. Sokoudjou
Jeff Monson vs. Brad Morris
Bira Lima vs. Felise Leniu
Jai Bradney vs. Thiago "Minu" Meller

After the jump: Three videos of Geronimo Dos Santos in action, including his beat-down of Zuluzinho…

(Video courtesy YouTube/WWE)

If you missed Quinton "Rampage" Jackson’s foray into the world of professional wrestling on Monday night’s WWE RAW Viewer’s Choice show, count yourself lucky. Let’s just say that Rampage and his A-Team co-stars fit right in with the calibre of acting that was featured on the show, which isn’t saying much. Hopefully his lines in the A-Team are few and far between.

(Protect yourself at all times. Seriously, Daniel, *all* times.)

Australian upstart fight promotion Impact FC recently confirmed that UFC refugee Paul Daley will be competing at their July 18th show in Sydney — not on 7/3 as originally reported — against Chute Boxe product Daniel Acacio (21-9). According to impactfc.au.com, the Sydney fight card currently looks like this:

Ken Shamrock vs. Pedro Rizzo
Paul Daley vs. Daniel Acacio
Murilo Bustamante vs. Jesse Taylor
Jeff Monson vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Joaquim "Mamute" Ferreira vs. Sokoudjou
Paulo Filho vs. Denis Kang

Two thoughts come to mind upon seeing this lineup: 1) Damn, that’s a lot of star power for a brand-new league. And 2) My God, this is like the MMA equivalent of the Legion of Doom. Let’s run it down…

(Note to Semtex: If your opponent looks like this guy, don’t fight him. He’s a ringer.)

Paul Daley has been officially let go from his UFC contract for his sucker punch of Josh Koscheck following their UFC 113 clash Saturday night in Montreal, but the British fighter won’t be unemployed long. CagePotato.com has learned that he will be fighting on the July 3 Impact Fighting Championships show at Trusts Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

Daley’s management confirmed the news originally reported today by MMA Weekly that "Semtex" received his pink slip this morning and clarified that he will be fighting for the IFC at the upstart promotion’s July 3 event.

(Coleman and Shamrock had to be restrained by their respective corners after being informed prior to their bout that prune juice had been added to the banned substances list)

I’m not sure if it’s because of the weather, the beaches or their commission’s lax drug testing policies, but Australian MMA is attracting quite a few fighters these days.

MMANews is reporting that Ken Shamrock and Mark Coleman will face each other under the Strikeforce Aussie-based Impact Fighting Championships banner July 10. The promotion’s inaugural event will also feature a main card bout between Josh Barnett and Geronimo "Mondragon" Dos Santos.

(Geronimo started noticing huge gains when he began following the Overeem diet book he got for Christmas.)

Citing a news article from TATAME.com, several outlets today are reporting that Josh Barnett will face Gerônimo “Mondragon” Dos Santos at an upcoming Strikeforce event in Australia. 

The Brazilian’s sentiments were apparently lost in translation, as TATAME is now reporting that the heavyweight will actually be fighting Barnett in Australia at the inaugural Impact MMA show on July 17.

Strikeforce does not have an event planned for that date and sources tell CagePotato.com that they have no immediate plans to follow in the UFC’s footsteps and hold a show down under.

(If you can’t beat [a drug test], join [a Japanese pro-wrestling organization])

Zach Arnold over at FightOpinion.com dug up an interesting story on where embattled former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is fighting next.

It turns out that "The Babyfaced Assassin," who was denied licensure in California last year due to a positive steroid test prior to his Affliction showdown with Fedor Emelianenko and was subsequently blamed for the promotion’s collapse by its president Tom Attencio, is stepping away from MMA and is going back to his pro wrestling roots. Barnett is said to have signed a longterm deal to "compete" under retired Japanese MMA fighter, pro wrestler and onetime Muhammad Ali opponent Antonio Inoki’s IGF (Inoki Genome Federation) banner in Japan.

(Josh Barnett vs. Mighty Mo. Skip to the 6:28 mark to see Barnett accept a knee to the groin as repayment for the one that happened during the fight. Video courtesy of 19054771 via Bloody Elbow.)

Full results from today’s seven-bout card in Yokohama are below; more videos after the jump.

– Bibiano Fernandes (champion) def. Joachim Hansen via split decision
– Josh Barnett def. Siala-Mou "Mighty Mo" Siligia via submission (kimura), 4:41 of round 1
– K.J. Noons def. Andre "Dida" Amade via unanimous decision
– Ryo Chonan def. Andrews Nakahara via unanimous decision
– Cole Escovedo def. Yoshiro Maeda via KO (head kick), 2:29 of round 1
– Katsunori Kikuno def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via KO (strikes), 1:26 of round 1
– Ikuhisa Minowa def. Jimmy Ambriz via submission (toe hold), 2:42 of round 2

(Mighty Mo knockout reel. Sound-effects added for emphasis!)

DREAM’s 13th show goes down in just 10 days, and in true Japanese MMA fashion, the card isn’t even close to being finalized. Currently, six fights have been announced, most notably the featherweight title fight between champion Bibiano Fernandes and Joachim Hansen, who will be dropping from lightweight to challenge for the title. Also, KJ Noons gets back in action against Andre "Dida" Amade, Cole Escovedo takes on Yoshiro Maeda, and Super Hulk champion Ikuhisa Minowa will have his next David vs. Goliath battle against heavyweight journeyman Jimmy Ambriz.

The semi-big news at today’s DREAM 13 press conference was that Josh Barnett has been officially added to the event, though his opponent hasn’t been announced yet. According to one report, the Babyface Assassin could be tangling with K-1 veteran "Mighty Mo" Siligia. Mo’s got knockout power to spare, but he’s lost six of his last seven kickboxing matches, and his last MMA appearance was a triangle-choke loss to Semmy Schilt 15 months ago. In other words, Barnett’s got this one. From a competitive standpoint, this is maybe one step up from bullying amateurs at a local grappling tournament. As we explained earlier, DREAM isn’t exactly the ideal promotion to work for if you want to test yourself against the best heavyweights in the world. But compared to fake-fighting Bob Sapp, anything seems legitimate…