Smaller Promotions Discussion (MFC, Dream, Sengoku, Invicta, ect)
- Thread starter colonel_korn
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Captain_Cunney
Registered User
SPOILER ALERT:
Great night of fights, it was very odd to see Aoki/Riberio stay standing for the most part, don't think anyone would've called that. Filho gets mega props from me, can't beleive he took some of those shots from Melvin and didn't fold.
Did the GP final have the KO of the year thus far? It certainly has to be top 3.
Great night of fights, it was very odd to see Aoki/Riberio stay standing for the most part, don't think anyone would've called that. Filho gets mega props from me, can't beleive he took some of those shots from Melvin and didn't fold.
Did the GP final have the KO of the year thus far? It certainly has to be top 3.
Ensane
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[spoil]
I was okay with the decision in the High/Galvao fight. High was edging the fight before it went to the ground in the first half of the first round, and even though Galvao dominated him positionally, we all know the Japanese judges look favorably upon guys who are able to escape near submissions.
This was my first time seeing Zaromskis. What a coming out party for him.
Ribeiro/Aoki = yawn...though if they fought on the ground the entire fight, it probably would have been just as boring since they both potentially nullify each other there. Props to Aoki though, he fought a smart fight and finally put that reach to good use.
Yep, just like c_k said, Filho/Manhoef was predictable as anything. Wonder what's next for Filho...winner of Jacare/Miller perhaps?
Also, Dream.11 will feature an Aoki/Hansen rematch.
[/spoil]
I was okay with the decision in the High/Galvao fight. High was edging the fight before it went to the ground in the first half of the first round, and even though Galvao dominated him positionally, we all know the Japanese judges look favorably upon guys who are able to escape near submissions.
This was my first time seeing Zaromskis. What a coming out party for him.
Ribeiro/Aoki = yawn...though if they fought on the ground the entire fight, it probably would have been just as boring since they both potentially nullify each other there. Props to Aoki though, he fought a smart fight and finally put that reach to good use.
Yep, just like c_k said, Filho/Manhoef was predictable as anything. Wonder what's next for Filho...winner of Jacare/Miller perhaps?
Also, Dream.11 will feature an Aoki/Hansen rematch.
[/spoil]
colonel_korn
Luuuuuuuuuu....lay?
Well if you missed Zaromskis' opening round fight against Ikemoto then you should definitely watch it, it was seriously one of the most entertaining fights I've ever seen: http://ballhype.com/video/marius_zaromskis_vs_seichi_ikemoto_video_dream_8/
That's what I love about GPs, the tournament format really allows guys to come out of nowhere and make a name for themselves. Mousasi did it last year -- granted people knew about him because he'd fought a bit in PRIDE, but at the time I think a lot of people expected him to get beaten by Kang in the first round... and now he's mentioned as one of the top 185ers out there (though I guess he's a 205er now). This year you've got Zaromskis and potentially a guy like Joe Warren coming out of the featherweight GP, who are really guys that no one knew about a year ago... heck Zaromskis was fighting in Cage Rage I think
.
Sengoku's have been good too, Santiago really made a name for himself by winning it last year after a pretty mediocre run in the UFC, now he's on the main card of a stacked Affliction event. Satoru Kitoaka made a fan of me last year too by leglocking the **** out of everyone, and this year's featherweight tourney has been entertaining as well.
Too bad we'll never see tournaments in the UFC again, because something like that at lightweight or light heavy would be awesome. I guess the closest we got was the four-man Randy/Lesnar/Nog/Mir mini-tourney recently.
That's what I love about GPs, the tournament format really allows guys to come out of nowhere and make a name for themselves. Mousasi did it last year -- granted people knew about him because he'd fought a bit in PRIDE, but at the time I think a lot of people expected him to get beaten by Kang in the first round... and now he's mentioned as one of the top 185ers out there (though I guess he's a 205er now). This year you've got Zaromskis and potentially a guy like Joe Warren coming out of the featherweight GP, who are really guys that no one knew about a year ago... heck Zaromskis was fighting in Cage Rage I think
.Sengoku's have been good too, Santiago really made a name for himself by winning it last year after a pretty mediocre run in the UFC, now he's on the main card of a stacked Affliction event. Satoru Kitoaka made a fan of me last year too by leglocking the **** out of everyone, and this year's featherweight tourney has been entertaining as well.
Too bad we'll never see tournaments in the UFC again, because something like that at lightweight or light heavy would be awesome. I guess the closest we got was the four-man Randy/Lesnar/Nog/Mir mini-tourney recently.
Ensane
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Oh yeah, the Zaromskis/Moussasi parallels were all too apparent.
I think it's great that Dream has been able to find top talent even after Zuffa pillaged most of the non-Japanese stars from Pride.
And say what you will about JT Money, but he's got quite a bit of potential; getting to the finals on TUF isn't a fluke (unless you are, say, Josh Haynes).
It's that buy-low sell high mentality.
I think it's great that Dream has been able to find top talent even after Zuffa pillaged most of the non-Japanese stars from Pride.
And say what you will about JT Money, but he's got quite a bit of potential; getting to the finals on TUF isn't a fluke (unless you are, say, Josh Haynes).
It's that buy-low sell high mentality.
Captain_Cunney
Registered User
I couldn't disagree with this more, Filho is @ the top of the food chain in Dream, I don't think it is even questionable. What he proved is he has a solid chin and can hang in there with the best striker they have to offer.
Was it pretty? No. But he took it like a champ and then capitalized as soon as he got an opportunity. If Filho's head is on straight he is one of the best MWs in the world, not just dream. He'll get a crack at the winner of Miller/Jacre and he should.
Ensane
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Filho's already got a pretty big name in Japan, considering how he dominated the division before jumping to the WEC. So he wouldn't need to be built up like he would if he were in the UFC.
He'll likely get another fight before being considered for Miller/Jacare, who I assume need to rematch. The 185 division in Dream is also pretty thin, so I can't see too many compelling match-ups outside of the winner of Miller/Jacare.
il rewatch it tonight, but subing Manhoof aint much to write home about.. hims taking the bombs was impressive.. but putting a sub on a guy that has no sub defense and being able to take a shoot are only part of what you need to make some noise...
Captain_Cunney
Registered User
Are you familiar with Filho? I'm not trying to be a *****, it just seems like you are a bit uneducated about him. Filho has already "made some noise", he is an established top of the heap MW who went through a tough stretch, mentally, not some guy who is "trying to make some noise". He is one of the best 185ers Dream has at the moment and I don't think it is even debatable.
No I am not very familiar with him, the Sonnen fight last year was the only one I have seen of his. So maybe thats why I come in with a bitter tast in my mouth
colonel_korn
Luuuuuuuuuu....lay?
Prior to his stint in the WEC he had a seven-fight winning streak in PRIDE, and probably would have won their 2006 welterweight grand prix; he injured himself in his semifinal win over Misaki though so he couldn't fight in the final (Misaki replaced him and ended up beating Denis Kang for the win). For a while people were talking about him as the #2 ranked 185'er in the world after Anderson Silva. But yeah, the dude has some drug problems, apparently he was addicted to roofies (!) during the WEC run and says he's still not entirely cured, so I'm not sure if I'm all aboard the Filho bandwagon just yet.
colonel_korn
Luuuuuuuuuu....lay?
Sengoku 9 primer! (with lots of linky goodness)
Just because Affliction folded doesn't mean this weekend is a total loss.
On paper I think this is the best card that Sengoku has put on. Unfortunately HDNet won't air it until Friday, August 7. So it might be nice to spoiler any discussion of it here until then.
- The tournament finals are interesting. Hioki I think should make it through Kanehara without too much difficulty. I like Sandro to come out of the other semi, but Omigawa's performance so far has been a real eye-opener, given how mediocre he looked in the UFC and PRIDE, so there is some upset potential there. The final is also tough to call, but I'd have to give the edge to Hioki over either guy because I think his semifinal fight will be much easier. Kenny Florian trained with Hioki recently and spoke very highly of him, he's the real deal for sure. If he doesn't win then I think it'll be Sandro grinding out a decision.
- Sherdog posted a video today of Kitaoka training with Caol Uno among others that's pretty fun to watch. The guy is a beast on the ground. I don't remember much about Hirota except that he made the LW semifinal last year and recently TKO'd Mitsuhiro Ishida in Shooto, though I think the stoppage was a bit controversial. Apparently he only started wrapping his hands for fights in the last couple of years, and since then he's been racking up KO's and TKO's. However I have to think the smart money is on Kitaoka bullrushing him to the ground and grabbing an ankle or his neck.
-Misaki vs Nakamura is a nice matchup - it could be a bit of a chess match but there's potential for fireworks. Not sure how motivated Misaki will be since he's not getting paid for the fight due to getting arrested earlier this year. Instead he will be fighting for... HIS HONOUR! Only in Japan...
- Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov became famous recently for defeating Fedor in a combat sambo match, Fedor's first loss in ages. He's supposed to fight Aleks in a month or two on an M-1 card, I think. Fujita on the other hand has handed out some nasty beatings to guys making their MMA debuts before (eg Karam Ibrahim, Eldari Kurtanidze), but I have to think Ivanov is a bit more well-rounded than your average guy making his debut. Still, I have a soft spot for Fujita so I hope he delivers another beatdown.
-Gono's back in Japan after getting cut from the UFC (somewhat unjustifiably I think, he had a controversial split decision loss to Hardy then got laid on by Fitch like pretty much everyone does). Don't know anything about his opponent but I'm looking forward to another great Gono entrance
)
-Choi Mu Bae and Yoshihiro Nakao (of the infamous Herring kiss incident) both blow and that fight will be bad, though with the possibility of hilarity.
Just because Affliction folded doesn't mean this weekend is a total loss.
On paper I think this is the best card that Sengoku has put on. Unfortunately HDNet won't air it until Friday, August 7. So it might be nice to spoiler any discussion of it here until then.- The tournament finals are interesting. Hioki I think should make it through Kanehara without too much difficulty. I like Sandro to come out of the other semi, but Omigawa's performance so far has been a real eye-opener, given how mediocre he looked in the UFC and PRIDE, so there is some upset potential there. The final is also tough to call, but I'd have to give the edge to Hioki over either guy because I think his semifinal fight will be much easier. Kenny Florian trained with Hioki recently and spoke very highly of him, he's the real deal for sure. If he doesn't win then I think it'll be Sandro grinding out a decision.
- Sherdog posted a video today of Kitaoka training with Caol Uno among others that's pretty fun to watch. The guy is a beast on the ground. I don't remember much about Hirota except that he made the LW semifinal last year and recently TKO'd Mitsuhiro Ishida in Shooto, though I think the stoppage was a bit controversial. Apparently he only started wrapping his hands for fights in the last couple of years, and since then he's been racking up KO's and TKO's
. However I have to think the smart money is on Kitaoka bullrushing him to the ground and grabbing an ankle or his neck.-Misaki vs Nakamura is a nice matchup - it could be a bit of a chess match but there's potential for fireworks. Not sure how motivated Misaki will be since he's not getting paid for the fight due to getting arrested earlier this year. Instead he will be fighting for... HIS HONOUR! Only in Japan...
- Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov became famous recently for defeating Fedor in a combat sambo match, Fedor's first loss in ages. He's supposed to fight Aleks in a month or two on an M-1 card, I think. Fujita on the other hand has handed out some nasty beatings to guys making their MMA debuts before (eg Karam Ibrahim, Eldari Kurtanidze), but I have to think Ivanov is a bit more well-rounded than your average guy making his debut. Still, I have a soft spot for Fujita so I hope he delivers another beatdown.
-Gono's back in Japan after getting cut from the UFC (somewhat unjustifiably I think, he had a controversial split decision loss to Hardy then got laid on by Fitch like pretty much everyone does). Don't know anything about his opponent but I'm looking forward to another great Gono entrance
)-Choi Mu Bae and Yoshihiro Nakao (of the infamous Herring kiss incident) both blow and that fight will be bad, though with the possibility of hilarity.
Ensane
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I was kicking around starting a thread for Sengoku, but I don't think a lot of people here will be watching with a ton of interest. There just aren't too many known names on the card.
Admittedly, Kitaoka was completely off my radar--and probably a lot of other radars. Sherdog has him as the SIXTH ranked lightweight in the world. Misaki is fun, but Nakamura has never lived up to half of his hype. So we'll see how that one goes. Ivanov, I think, is destined for failure. Fujita is a big powerful man with a great wrestling base and KO power. I would have rather seen him fight Aleks for the dramatic aspect, and because Aleks is more of an impact fighter, but I suppose this will do. Lastly, I was very surprised when perusing the card earlier this week at how inexperienced the 6 guys on the first 3 fights are. I think I may skip those, and if there are any "must see" bouts, I'll hear about them and view them later.
There are some interesting matchups indeed. I always like the Japanese production and since this is now covered on HDNet, I'll definitely be checking it out.
Admittedly, Kitaoka was completely off my radar--and probably a lot of other radars. Sherdog has him as the SIXTH ranked lightweight in the world. Misaki is fun, but Nakamura has never lived up to half of his hype. So we'll see how that one goes. Ivanov, I think, is destined for failure. Fujita is a big powerful man with a great wrestling base and KO power. I would have rather seen him fight Aleks for the dramatic aspect, and because Aleks is more of an impact fighter, but I suppose this will do. Lastly, I was very surprised when perusing the card earlier this week at how inexperienced the 6 guys on the first 3 fights are. I think I may skip those, and if there are any "must see" bouts, I'll hear about them and view them later.
There are some interesting matchups indeed. I always like the Japanese production and since this is now covered on HDNet, I'll definitely be checking it out.
colonel_korn
Luuuuuuuuuu....lay?
Yeah, with these usually happening in the middle of the night or on tape delay, it seems that this thread is sufficient as kind of a catch-all. Even Dream 9 with all its freakshow appeal got maybe a dozen posts.
Also the first three Sengoku fights are from TV show called Gold Rush that's kind of like the Japanese equivalent to TUF, so the guys are all pretty green. I don't know anything about them myself, I don't even know if they'll be on the HDNet broadcast.
Ensane
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Also similar to the Challengers series used to be under EliteXC, when the first few fights were guys with minimal experience and were shown exclusively online.
colonel_korn
Luuuuuuuuuu....lay?
Well I've seen bits and pieces of most of the card but didn't watch the whole thing... overall I'd say it didn't really live up to its potential. Still worth watching on Friday but don't expect to be blown away.
Best fights were probably Hioki/Kanehara, Kitaoka/Hirota, Misaki/Nakamura and Gono/Hornbuckle.
Comments:
[spoil]-Pretty disappointing how the tournament ended up going, though that's always the risk you have with GPs. I give Kanehara credit because he showed a ton of heart in his fight against Hioki, but at the same time it's tough to take him seriously as champion when he got schooled so badly (for the first couple rounds at any rate, he did ok in the third). It's also disappointing because I thought Hioki could have finished in the first round, he had a couple of triangles that looked tight but transitioned to armbars right away as soon as Kanehara tried to escape... I think he would have been better off sticking with the triangles, they're harder to get out of. If he'd finished then he wouldn't have taken those punches in the third round that probably led to him having to drop out.
At any rate I imagine they'll do an immediate rematch between him and Kanehara, and maybe a Sandro/Jung eliminator to determine the next challenger. Sandro kind of got jobbed by the judges, and Jung got knocked out on a bit of an iffy decision last round as well.
- Damn, Kitaoka got really exposed... I knew he was one-dimensional but Hirota really came out with a perfect gameplan, survive the early onslaught and wait til he gasses out a bit before putting a hurting on him. Kitaoka's shots just got worse and worse as the fight went on. It's too bad because Sengoku's LW division is really in shambles now.. there's like 3 or 4 guys who basically all fought each other in the GP and no real challengers short of rematches that no one really wants to see. It might be nice if they could co-promote with DREAM since they have a pretty great stable of lightweights.
- That flying knee by Misaki that set up the finish was awesome. Hopefully he gets his legal **** sorted and can fight again reasonably soon.
- Good call on Ivanov, Ensane, he's awful and Aleks is going to kill him.
-Choi/Nakao was one of the worst fights I've seen, I hope neither ever graces my TV or monitor again[/spoil]
Best fights were probably Hioki/Kanehara, Kitaoka/Hirota, Misaki/Nakamura and Gono/Hornbuckle.
Comments:
[spoil]-Pretty disappointing how the tournament ended up going, though that's always the risk you have with GPs. I give Kanehara credit because he showed a ton of heart in his fight against Hioki, but at the same time it's tough to take him seriously as champion when he got schooled so badly (for the first couple rounds at any rate, he did ok in the third). It's also disappointing because I thought Hioki could have finished in the first round, he had a couple of triangles that looked tight but transitioned to armbars right away as soon as Kanehara tried to escape... I think he would have been better off sticking with the triangles, they're harder to get out of. If he'd finished then he wouldn't have taken those punches in the third round that probably led to him having to drop out.
At any rate I imagine they'll do an immediate rematch between him and Kanehara, and maybe a Sandro/Jung eliminator to determine the next challenger. Sandro kind of got jobbed by the judges, and Jung got knocked out on a bit of an iffy decision last round as well.
- Damn, Kitaoka got really exposed... I knew he was one-dimensional but Hirota really came out with a perfect gameplan, survive the early onslaught and wait til he gasses out a bit before putting a hurting on him. Kitaoka's shots just got worse and worse as the fight went on. It's too bad because Sengoku's LW division is really in shambles now.. there's like 3 or 4 guys who basically all fought each other in the GP and no real challengers short of rematches that no one really wants to see. It might be nice if they could co-promote with DREAM since they have a pretty great stable of lightweights.
- That flying knee by Misaki that set up the finish was awesome. Hopefully he gets his legal **** sorted and can fight again reasonably soon.
- Good call on Ivanov, Ensane, he's awful and Aleks is going to kill him.
-Choi/Nakao was one of the worst fights I've seen, I hope neither ever graces my TV or monitor again[/spoil]
Ensane
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Ok, it's been a week. So I won't use spoil tags. I took the day off from work to "prep" for my vacation to Mexico, and found myself watching Sengoku on my DVR instead.
Boy oh boy, was this card just filled with awful gameplans or what?
Agree that Hioki/Kanehawa, Misaki/Nakamura, and Hornbuckle/Gono were great. Also thought Omigawa/Kanehara was a solid tilt as well, despite the circumstances. Didn't care for the main event since it always leaves a sour taste in my mouth when one guy loses basically because he gasses himself so easily. Then again, I think we all knew that the lightweight division in Sengoku wasn't anywhere near that of Dream.
Good god was Fujita/Ivanov terrible to watch. You could have just plopped that one in one of the early UFC's the way those two looked in the standup. Amazed that both thought they were boxers and abandoned their pedigrees. Even more amazed that one judge gave Fujita two rounds!
Gono's knockout is definitely in the discussion for KO of the year. I haven't seen a guy out that badly since Sylvia ended Telligman's career.
And Misaki as always, put on a good show against the overrated Nakamura.
For a free card in HD, one can't complain, but I am glad that I didn't stay up late to watch it live.
Boy oh boy, was this card just filled with awful gameplans or what?
Agree that Hioki/Kanehawa, Misaki/Nakamura, and Hornbuckle/Gono were great. Also thought Omigawa/Kanehara was a solid tilt as well, despite the circumstances. Didn't care for the main event since it always leaves a sour taste in my mouth when one guy loses basically because he gasses himself so easily. Then again, I think we all knew that the lightweight division in Sengoku wasn't anywhere near that of Dream.
Good god was Fujita/Ivanov terrible to watch. You could have just plopped that one in one of the early UFC's the way those two looked in the standup. Amazed that both thought they were boxers and abandoned their pedigrees. Even more amazed that one judge gave Fujita two rounds!
Gono's knockout is definitely in the discussion for KO of the year. I haven't seen a guy out that badly since Sylvia ended Telligman's career.
And Misaki as always, put on a good show against the overrated Nakamura.
For a free card in HD, one can't complain, but I am glad that I didn't stay up late to watch it live.
