Mike Whitehead

('It's not a skirt, you assholes.  The Romans wore these. Read a book.')

The surprises just keep coming for the New Year’s Eve K-1 Dynamite show.  Jerome Le Banner is sick with the flu and has been forced to pull out of his fight with Mark Hunt, and Melvin Manhoef has agreed to take his place.  Despite the incredible weight difference between the heavyweight Hunt and the sort of middleweight Manhoef, the two will fight an MMA bout under “Dream rules” for three five-minute rounds.  

Is it a good idea for Manhoef, a vicious striker with an almost non-existent ground game to face a much heavier and damn near impossible to knock out fighter like Hunt, who also packs a serious wallop of his own?  Short answer: no.  No, it is probably not a good idea.  Especially on short notice.  But unlike many of the other bad ideas on the Dynamite NYE show, this one I’d actually love to see. 

Dammit, Japan.  Just when I want to curse your lack of rules and regulations, you go and do something like this to leave me more conflicted than ever.  I just can’t quit you.

In other news…

(Kim Couture at the first "Night of Combat" show in June; thankfully, she'll be behind the scenes this time. Photo courtesy of Mike Responts via MMA Junkie.)

With Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" card postponed, the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas was left with an open spot on its event schedule — which has been filled by a new MMA card, thanks to none other than Kim "Sugar Free" Couture. According to MMA Weekly, KC Concepts (a shadowy outfit headed up by Randy's wife) in partnership with boxing promoter Skip Kelp’s Superfights MMA have snatched up the October 11th spot at Thomas & Mack. Two Xtreme Couture fighters who were slated to fight at "Day of Reckoning" — Jay Hieron and Mike Pyle — will now compete at "A Night of Combat II," as well as a host of other mid-level names. Tickets are available now, and the lineup is looking like this:

1. Mike Whitehead vs. Alan Goes (205)
2. Jay Hieron vs Bryson Kamaka (170)
3. Mike Pyle vs. Brian Gassaway (170)
4. John Alessio vs. Gideon Ray (167)
5. Josh Haynes vs. Steve Byrnes (185)
6. JJ Mix vs. John Halverson (155)
7. Mike Dizak vs. Erick Uresk (155)
8. Patrick “Kui” Gonzalves vs. Ryan Lamareaux (145)
9. Ian Omalza vs Ryan Hass (135)
10. Elana Reed vs Stephanie Palmer (115) swing

Not too bad, considering the most expensive ticket is $53. I wonder if Ozzy will still show up...

Related: "Day of Reckoning" headliner Josh Barnett is also moving on with his life. He will reportedly fight at Sengoku 6 (November 1st; Saitama, Japan) against an opponent to be named later. The event will be co-headlined by the semi-finals and finals of Sengoku's lightweight grand prix, featuring Satoru Kitaoka, Eiji Mitsuoka, Kazunori Yokota, and Mizuto Hirota.