Video of the Day - Yamamoto v. Mitchell

Here is Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto fighting Craig Mitchell in Shooto - Korakuen Hall which took place on 9/5/03 in Tokyo, Japan.

Kid will fight Demetrious Johnson at UFC 126. The fight will stream live on Facebook.

Dream FW Tournament

**I will post results and review once I see the event. Should be broadcast on HDNet shortly!

Dream has announced 15 participants and match-ups in its upcoming 139 pound featherweight tournament. The first round will take place on March 8th on the Dream 7 card. The event will be shown via tape delay on HDNet. The tournament features a couple big names and 4 former WEC fighters.

That field is limited to 15 as veteran Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (17-1) holds a bye into the second round. Kid beat Rani Yahya in his last fight a year and a half ago and has since had ACL surgery. Kid's big wins have come over Genki Sudo, Royler Gracie, Jeff Curran and Cael Uno.

(Kid Yamamoto's famous flying knee KO of Miyata)

Here are the match-ups:

Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1) v. Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1)- Imanari owns wins over WEC champ Mike Thomas Brown, Yoshiro Maeda Robbie Oliver, Jean Silva and Jorge Gurgel. He is a former Cage Rage and DEEP champion. Imanari is known for his prowess in leglocks with 8 leglock, heel hook or toe hold victories. He is one of the favorites in the tournament.

Atsushi Yamamoto's last seven fights have gone to decision, but he has gone 5-2 during that stretch. He won over Hideo Tokoro at Dream 6. Yamamoto holds wins in Shooto and Pancrase.

Chase Beebe (12-3) v. Joe Warren (0-0)- Chase Beebe was the WEC 135 pound champion before being defeated by Miguel Torres. Beebe won the BW title over Eddie Wineland and defended the title against Rani Yahya. Joe Warren is a former Greco-Roman Olympic wrestler.

Micah Miller (10-2) v. Yoshiro Maeda (23-6)- Miller is also a veteran of the WEC with victories over Chance Farrar (7-2) and Jesse Moreng (8-1). Miller is an unorthodox, tall and lanky fighter who should present problems to the Japanese dominated field. Miller fought WEC's 145 pound division but shouldn't have a problem making 139.

Maeda's last two fights were losses in the WEC to Miguel Torres for the 135 pound title and to Rani Yahya. Maeda is a crafty veteran normally fighting at 135. He will be at a size and reach disadvantage to Miller in this fight. In his lone WEC win, Maeda knocked out Charlie Valencia with a kick to the body.

This should be a great fight. If I were ranking the tournament seeds, I would have Miller and Maeda up near the 3-5 mark, so they may have gotten shafted with the match-up.

Wicky Akiyo (9-3-1) v. Abel Cullom (13-2)- Wicky, real name Akiyo Nishiura, is 4-1 in past 5 fights and has fought primarily in Shooto. Cullom is from the United States. In the biggest fight of his career, Cullom lost a unimous decision to BJJ ace Wison Reis in ShoXC. Cullom has a 4-0 King of the Cage record with 8 subs and 4 KO's in his 13 wins.

Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) v. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2)- Otsuka was 4-1 in 2008, fighting primarily in Deep. Fernandes is a BJJ blackbelt with two losses to tough competition, Faber and Kid Yamamoto. Fernandes has 2 victories in a row.

Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) v. Kim Jong Won (0-0)- Kim Jong Won is a 1996 Judo Olympian from Korea. Takaya's last two fights were losses in the WEC. Takaya holds wins over Antonio Carvalho and Stephan Palling.

Hideo Tokoro (21-15-1) v. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata (9-5-3)- Tokoro has the most experience out of the group. He recently lost via armbar to fellow competitor Atsushi Yamamoto. Tokoro's big wins in his career have been against Brad Pickett, Royler Gracie, and Alexandre Franca "Pequeno" Nogueira.

Hata is a Pancrase and Deep veteran with victory over Yoshiro Maeda. Hata suffered an injury pushing this fight to Dream 8.

Non-tournament Bouts:
Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daisuke Nakamura
Ross Ebanez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

Video of the Day - Flying Knee!

Here are Comrad's favorite flying knees.

Kid Yamamoto v. Joe Benavidez

It appears that Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto will be squaring off against Joe Benavidez on July 21st in Dream 5. Benavidez is an undefeated 135 pound fighter who fights out of Ultimate Fitness, Urijah Faber's gym. Urijah has wanted a Yamamoto fight for some time. Here are some old Kid fights.

Kid Yamamoto v. Masashi Kameda


Kid Yamamoto v. Hideki Kadowaki

K-1 2007 Premium Dynamite Recap

Recap by MMA Blaster

Dynamite is probably the way I would describe Kid Yamamoto's (17-1) latest effort against Rani Yahya. Yamamoto overwelmed Yahya from the start and administered punishment from the get go. Here are the quick results:

1 Joachim Hansen defeats Kazuyuki Miyata Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
2 Melvin Manhoef defeats Yosuke Nishijima KO R1 1:49
3 Wagner da Conceicao Martins defeats Ikuhisa Minowa TKO (Corner Stoppage) R3 2:13
4 Kiyoshi Tamura defeats Hideo Tokoro Submission (Armbar) R3 3:08
5 Bob Sapp defeats Bobby Ologun TKO R1 4:10
6 Norifumi Yamamoto defeats Rani Yahya KO R2
7 Kazushi Sakuraba defeats Masakatsu Funaki Submission (Armbar) R1 6:25

I watched the fights on Ultimate MMA Fight Videos - see the link on the right. I can't believe Zulu won (Wagner). Bob Sapp beatdown Ologun, the ground and pound shots were massive. Sakuraba looked good in his win over Funaki, Funaki went for the old Pancrase knee bar, but it just didn't do the trick. Manhoef absolutely worked over Nishijima.


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"KID" Yamamoto vs Rani Yahya

K1 "Dynamite!" announced a blockbuster matchup between Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto vs Rani Yahya. Kid (16-1) is known for his aggressive fighting style featuring vicious strikes. Kid received his education in the United States and wrestled at Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, capturing three state championships. Even though he walks around at 143, wrestles at 132, he typically fights at 155. He has KO wins over Cael Uno, Genki Sudo and Royler Gracie. He also has a decision victory over Jeff Curran. However, his last three fights have been against relatively unknown fighters.

Yahya (11-3) is no slouch himself, and will be Kid's biggest test for some time. Before his loss to Chase Beebe (11-1), Yahya had submitted Mark Hominick (14-7).

Here is a Kid Yamamoto highlight