Video of the Day - Oyama v. Gassaway

Here is Shungo Oyama fighting Brian Gassaway in the main event of Martial Combat 10 which took place 9/16/10 at Compass Ballroom at Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre,Sentosa, Singapore.

Oyama, a 9 year veteran of Pride, K-1 Hero's and Dream, has wins over Renzo Gracie, UFC champ Carlos Newton, kickboxing legend Peter Aerts and Valentijn Overeem.

Gassaway, a 14 year veteran of Pancrase, Shooto, UFC, WEC and Bellator, has wins over Jose Landi-Jons, Joe Slick and Travis Fulton. Fight starts at the 8 minute mark.

Sengoku's Soul of Fight Preview

World Victory Road will pull out all the stops to present their stacked "Sengoku: Soul of Fight" year end show on Dec 30, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan at the Ariake Coliseum. In addition to MMA, there will be various kickboxing and muay thai bouts on the card.

Michael Schiavello will call the HDNet card that sees a main event of Marlon Sandro (17-1, #7 ranked FW) against Hatsu Hioki (22-4, #8 ranked FW) for the 145 pound title. Sandro, a BJJ blackbelt, has three straight KO wins in Sengoku, his last over Masanori Kanehara for the title.

(Marlon Sandro KO over Kanehara)

Hatsu Hioki, a grappling wiz in his own right, has eleven submission wins in his MMA career. Hioki, the taller fighter, will need to work his kicks standing befor trying for a takedown where he can utilize his dominant top game.

(Hatsu Hioki utilizing his top game)

In addition, the welterweight grand prix finale will take place between the last four competitors in Taiyo Nakahara vs. Akitoshi Tamura and Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu. Exciting fighter Maximo Blanco (7-2) will look for his sixth straight TKO/KO win in a row against Won Sik Park (9-2).

Other notables include 2006 Pride Welterweight GP champ Kazuo Misaki, Women's MMA legend Megumi Fujii, UFC vets Ryo Chonan, Yuki Sasaki and Keita Nakamura, Strikeforce vets Hitomi Akano and Roxanne Modafferi, and exciting Sengoku veterans Masanori Kanehara, Dave Herman and Mamed Khalidov.

MMA fights:

Champ Marlon Sandro v. Hatsu Hioki
Kazuo Misaki v. Mike Seal
Megumi Fujii v. Emi Fujino
Masanori Kanehara v. Yoshiro Maeda
Ryo Chonan v. Taisuke Okuno
Maximo Blanco v. Won Sik Park
Yasubey Enomoto v. Keita Nakamura
Jadamba Narantungalag v. Kazunori Yokota
Mamed Khalidov v. Yuki Sasaki
Dave "Pee Wee" Herman v. Yoshihiro Nakao
Taiyo Nakahara v. Akitoshi Tamura
Manabu Inoue v. Shunichi Shimizu
Hitomi Akano v. Roxanne Modafferi
Mika "Hari" Harigai v. Rin Nakai
Amy Davis v. Misaki Takimoto

Video of the Day - Manhoef v. Misaki

Here is Melvin Manhoef versus Kazou Misaki from K-1 Dynamite which took place on 12/31/09. Manhoef next faces Robbie Lawler in Strikeforce.

Video of the Day - Condit v. Gonzalez

Here is Carlos Condit fighting Isidro Gonzalez at Ring of Fire 19 - Showdown which took place on 9/10/05 in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Condit, who notched a devastating KO victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 120, will fight Chris Lytle at UFC 127.

WEC 53 Finale

The WEC ended its 9 year run with a bang this Thursday night with an instant classic between Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis. In a bout featuring upper level striking, wrestling and submission attempts. The capper was a fifth round Pettis ninja wall kick while using the cage. With the win, WEC champ Pettis will fight the winner of Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar for the UFC title.

MAIN CARD RESULTS

Anthony Pettis def Benson Henderson via unanimous dec
Dominick Cruz def Scott Jorgensen via unanimous dec
Donald Cerrone def Chris Horodecki via sub (triangle) R2, 2:43
Kamal Shalorus def Bart Palaszewski via split dec

PRELIMS

Danny Downes def Tiequan Zhang via unanimous dec
Shane Roller def Jamie Varner via sub (RNC) R1, 3:55
Brad Pickett def Ivan Menjivar via unanimous dec
Eddie Wineland def Ken Stone via KO (slam) R1, 2:11
Danny Castillo def Will Kerr via KO (punches) R1, 1:25
Yuri Alcantara def Ricardo Lamas via KO (punches) R1, 3:26
Renan Barao def Chris Cariaso via sub (RNC) R1, 3:47

Fedor Ready to Fight Anyone

Here is a recent interview Fedor Emelianenko had with friend of MMA Blaster, Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV. The MMA world is anxiously awaiting an announcement on who Fedor will fight next. An interesting opponent is Strikeforce champ and recent K-1 champ Alistair Overeem.

In the interview, Fedor states that he made a small mistake in his fight with Werdum, one that will not happen again. Werdum infamously scored one of the biggest upsets in MMA history with a slick triangle/armbar submission of Fedor at Strikeforce: Werdum v. Fedor on 6/29/10.

While Fedor does not care who he fights next, he states that the UFC will be sorry if he never fights for them. That is true, as I'd really like to see what he can do in the UFC. Unfortunately, it seems like M-1 and Fedor's management group has clashed greatly with UFC brass.


Here is the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Lindland from Bodog Fight which took place 4/14/07.

MMA Judges Must Be Held Accountable

The two judges who gave Garcia the decision over Phan deserve an immediate suspension or firing from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Anyone with a functioning set of eyes clearly saw that Nam Phan defeated Leonard Garcia at the TUF 12 Finale, winning all three rounds.

There have been plenty of controversial decisions throughout the history of MMA. Bisping's decision win over Hamill at UFC 75 was robbery. I had Shogun beating Machida in their first bout at UFC 104. Going back further, most people had Ricco Rodriguez beating Antonio Nogueira at Pride Elimination 2003 and Kevin Randleman defeating Bas Rutten at UFC 20.

However, the decision in Phan versus Garcia trumps them all as every round clearly belonged to Phan. The easiest round to score was the second, where Phan landed cleaner strikes, knocked down Garcia, and got the back. The third round seemed clear, as Phan landed cleaner strikes doing far more damage. Throughout all three rounds, Garcia never seemed to land clean strikes.

In addition, Garcia didn't do much in the last two minutes of the final two rounds. It just seems impossible that a person with the power of sight could score that bout for Garcia. Throwing a punch and it not landing should not score points. Running out of gas should not score points.

Quite simply, NSAC and other athletic commissions need to clean house and get rid of incompetent judges. Decisions that seem outrageous need to be reviewed and the judge making the decision needs to be held accountable. People with actual MMA training and/or fight experience who know what they are watching should be the ones judging fights.

K-1 2010 World Grand Prix Recap

The K-1 Grand Prix played out over two events featuring 16 of the worlds best heavyweight kickboxers. There were some big time KO's during the tournament, especially from the 2010 champ, Alistair Overeem.

1st Round K-1 World GP Tournament Results:

Semmy Schilt def Hesdy Gerges- Split Dec
Mighty Mo def Raul Catinas- Unanimous Dec
Peter Aerts def Ewerton Teixeira- Split Dec
Kyotaro def Jerome LeBanner- DQ (Abandonment)
Daniel Ghita def Errol Zimmerman- KO, 0:18 R2
Gokhan Saki def Freddy Kemayo- TKO, 1:30 R1
Tyrone Spong def Ray Sefo- Unanimous Decision
Alistair Overeem def Ben Edwards- KO, R1

K-1 Results Round of 8:

Peter Aerts def Mighty Mo via KO, R1
Semmy Schilt def Kyotaro via Dec
Gokhan Saki def Daniel Ghita via Dec
Alistair Overeem def Tyrone Spong via Dec

Final 4:

Peter Aerts def Semmy Schilt via Dec
Alistair Overeem def Gokhan Saki via TKO, R1

Final:

Alistair Overeem def Peter Aerts via KO, R1

(Overeem v. Aerts)

2010 MMA Blaster Awards

What a great year of MMA in 2010, which featured numerous titles changing hands, insane submissions, big time KO's and several epic battles. The annual MMA Blaster awards post will be released on January 1st. 

Please email your nominations for the 2010 MMA Blaster Awards to mmablaster@gmail.com or message through facebook/mmablaster. Keep in mind that the timeframe is January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, the full calender year.  You can send in your nominees in any of the following categories:

1. Male Fighter of the Year Zuffa (UFC/WEC)
2. Male Fighter of the Year Outside Zuffa
3. Female Fighter of the Year
4. Fight of the Year
5. Submission of the Year
6. KO of the Year - Kick/Knee
7. KO of the Year - Hands/Elbow
8. Top Up and Coming Prospect Zuffa
9. Top Up and Coming Prospect Outside Zuffa
10. Comeback Fighter of the Year

Past Awards:

2009 Awards - 2009 MMA Blaster Awards
2008 Awards - 2008 MMA Blaster Awards

2010 Highlight Video from Neon Bar Fights

Video of the Day - MMA Backflip Fail

This is the funniest MMA video I've seen in a long, long time. Unfortunately, I don't know who this fighter is, although it took place in the Grachan promotion. Grachan gained some publicity when a fighter knocked out a ref last November.

Video of the Day - Baczynski v. McKenzie

Here is TUF 11's Seth Baczynski fighting WEC/UFC vet Tim McKenzie in Tachi Palace Fights 7 - Deck the Halls, which took place on 12/2/10 at Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California. This fight has an insane comeback finish that certainly isn't for the faint of heart.

Video of the Day - Miller v. DeJesus

Here is Micah Miller fighting Isaac DeJesus at Tachi Palace Fights 7 - Deck the Halls which took place on 12/2/10 at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lenmoore, California.

Dream's Dynamite!! 2010 Preview

Dream's year end Dynamite show will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on December 31st, with a broadcast in North America on HDNet. Main event bouts include title fights between Bibiano Fernandes versus Hiroyuki Takaya and Marius Zaromskis versus Kazushi Sakuraba.

Rising Brazilian star Bibiano Fernandes (8-2, #6 ranked FW) will look to use his quickness and slick takedowns to defeat Hiroyuki "Streetfight Bancho" Takaya (14-8). Takaya has two straight KO's over Chase Beebe and Joachim Hansen in Dream. Expect Takaya to try to keep the fight standing to use his heavy hands.

(Bibiano Fernandes pictured)

The stacked card features four top ten fighters and several legends of MMA. As per usual, the card has it odd fights. Bob Sapp will fight sumo fighter Shinichi Suzukawa in an MMA bout without gloves, thus no closed fist strikes. Shinya Aoki(#4 ranked LW) fights Yuichiro Nagashim in a bout featuring a 3 minute kickboxing round then a 5 minute MMA round. Gegard Mousasi(#10 ranked LHW) and "Wicky" Nishiura will take part in kickboxing bouts.

(Aoki fighting JZ Calvancante)

Satoshi Ishii v. Jerome Le Banner
Sergei Kharitonov s. Tatsuya Mizuno
Alistair Overeem v. Todd Duffee
Bob Sapp v. Shinichi Suzukawa
Champ Bibiano Fernandes v. Hiroyuki Takaya
Champ Marius Zaromskis v. Kazushi Sakuraba
Shinya Aoki v. Yuichiro Nagashim
Tatsuya Kawajiri v. Josh Thomson
Kazuyuki Miyata v. Caol Uno
Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura v. Tetsuya Yamato
Kyotaro Fujimoto v. Gegard Mousasi
Hideo Tokoro v. Kazuhisa Watanabe
Jason High v. Hayato Sakurai
Hiroshi Izumi v. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa
Katsuaki Furuki v. Andy Ologun

UFC 124 - Montreal Madness

UFC 124 will take place on December 11, 2010 featuring a main card bout between UFC 170 pound champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Josh Koscheck. St. Pierre will have the hometown advantage as the event will take place in Montreal, Canada.

Back at UFC 74, St. Pierre (20-2) won a unanimous decision over Koscheck following his upset loss to Matt Serra. St. Pierre used a steady diet of takedowns and ground and pound to win every round. That win catapaulted St. Pierre to his current seven fight win streak. That streak has featured wins against Dan Hardy, Jon Fitch, BJ Penn and Thiago Alves.

(St. Pierre punching Matt Hughes)

Josh Koscheck (15-4) burst onto the MMA scene through the TUF 1 reality series, where he again played the villian, eventually losing to Diego Sanchez. The NCAA wrestling champion is currently riding a three fight win streak, with wins over Paul Daley, Anthony Johnson and Frank Trigg.

(Josh Koscheck pictured)

I expect St. Pierre to stand and trade with Koscheck before looking for the takedown. From the first match-up, Koscheck is definitely aware of St. Pierre's wrestling prowess and no doubt has been concentrating on his takedowns and takedown defense. I wouldn't be surprised to see this fight boil down to a kickboxing match.

In the co-main event, two massive fighters will look to take a step closer to relevence in the heavyweight division. The 6'11" Stefan Struve (20-4) will look to build on his 2nd round comeback KO over Christian Morecraft at UFC 117. The tall Dutch fighter has a decent stand-up game, and long limbs that have helped him secure 14 submission wins.

(Struve's UFC Topps Card)

Sean McCorkle (10-0) has used his internet persona to start a trash talking campaign against Struve. This hype largely has parlayed him into his current fight. The 6'7" fighter has fought mainly in the midwest, sometimes against 300+ pounders in the super heavyweight division. His only UFC appearance resulted in a straight armbar submission of Pride vet Mark Hunt.

MAIN CARD

Georges St-Pierre v Josh Koscheck
Sean McCorkle v Stefan Struve
Jim Miller v Charles Oliveira
Mac Danzig v Joe Stevenson
Thiago Alves v John Howard

PRELIM CARD

Mark Bocek v Dustin Hazelett
Jesse Bongfeldt v Rafael Natal
Sean Pierson v Matthew Riddle
Joe Doerksen v Dan Miller
Ricardo Almeida v T.J. Grant
Pat Audinwood v John Makdessi

TUF 12 Finale Preview

The 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter has delivered some very entertaining fights, nasty submissions and a couple big time KO's. The 28 contestants have been whittled down to the final two fighters, both from Team Georges St. Pierre.

The two hour final episode wrapped Wednesday night with two hard fought fights that ended in decisions. In the first fight, WEC veteran and the ever humble Jonathan Brookins used his dominant wrestling and ground and pound to get a victory over Kyle Watson.

Brookins has shown a quick power double leg and amazing lateral throw over course of season 12. Jonathan Brookins earned his way with a dominant decision over Ran Weathers, then two rear naked choke wins over Sako Chivitchyan and Sevak Magakian.

(Jonathan Brookins Pictured)

In the second bout, Michael Johnson barely squeezed out a split decision win over Team Koscheck's Nam Phan. The fight featured Phan getting the better of the stand-up exchanges, but Johnson getting the better of the grappling. Johnson showed tremendous heart, powering through devastating body shots in the second round.

To get to the final four, Michael Johnson relied heavily on his wrestling to win decisions over Pablo Garza and Bruce Leeroy while getting a rear naked choke win over Aaron Wilkinson.

(Michael Johnson Pictured)

TUF 12 Finale Line-up:

MAIN CARD

Stephan Bonnar v Igor Pokrajac
Jonathan Brookins v Michael Johnson (For TUF 12 Champ)
Kendall Grove v Demian Maia
Rick Story v Johny Hendricks
Leonard Garcia v Nam Phan (Phan from TUF 12)

PRELIM CARD (Select bouts air)

Rich Attonito v Dave Branch
Pablo Garza v Fredson Paixao
Will Campuzano v Nick Pace
Kyle Watson v Sako Chivitchian (TUF 12)
Ian Loveland v Tyler Toner
Cody McKenzie v Aaron Wilkinson (TUF 12)

(TUF 12: Team GSP v. Team Koscheck Cast)

Video of the Day - Chonan v. Okuno

Here is UFC veteran Ryo Chonan fighting Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku - Soul of the Fight which took place 12/30/10 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Fight starts at the 1:27 mark.

Top UFC 100 Fights Snubs

The UFC counted down the supposed list of the 100 top UFC fights of the promotion's illustrious 16 year existence on Spike TV. However, this list is basically a device to publicize and push its video game and current fighters.

Any fighter on the outs with the UFC was not listed unless it is a fight they lost. The best high kick in UFC history, Yves Edwards ridiculous high kick of Josh Thomson, is mysteriously left out. My guess is that it had something to do with Thomson winning the Strikeforce LW Championship.

Regardless, these ten fights are absolute gems in the history of the UFC. Each fight was a war, epitomizing the energy and excitement that is illuminates the top fight promotion in the world.

Top 10 Snubs:

1. Frank Shamrock v. Tito Ortiz at UFC 22- An epic battle for a championship belt that has been the finest fight in the history of the UFC. In the beginning, the brash, young and explosive Ortiz was able to get takedowns and ground and pound. Shamrock worked shots from the bottom position, and eventually wore Ortiz down. During a missed shot in the fourth round, Shamrock pounded Ortiz with punches. An incredible bout that was a comeback and a triumph.

(Frank with 4 UFC belts)

2. Marco Ruas v. Paul Varelens at UFC 7- The brawl in Buffalo featured an epic battle not seen since Royce Gracie v. Kimo. After Marco submitted Larry Cureton and Remco Pardoel, he had to face a giant smashing machine in Paul Varelens. Marco came out in the finale throwing the first effective leg kicks in MMA competiton, reddening the thigh of Varelens. Ruas also threw the first footstomps that looked absolutely nasty. Combine with bare-knuckle punches and after 13 minutes, Varelens was chopped down like a big redwood.

(Ruas throwing a nasty leg kick on Varelans)

3. Bas Rutten vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at UFC 18- An epic battle between two of the elite strikers of the day. The ending of this fight was one of the best technical flurries of all time, as Bas landed all his big punches to get the KO around 14 minutes in.

(Bas Rutten with UFC and Pancrase belts)

4. Yves Edwards v. Josh Thomson at UFC 49- One of the best rounds ever fought, as these two lightweights laid everything on the line. Near the end of the first, a scramble occured and as Thomson threw a spinning backfist, Edwards came out with a jumping/flying kick that landed flush to Thomson's face. By far the best head kick in the history of the UFC.

(Edwards head kick)

5. Dan Severn v. Anthony Macias at UFC 4- While this bout ended in quick fashion, it was the first demonstration of how wrestling could be utilized in mixed martial arts. Severn landed two perfect belly to back suplexes which had the crowd in a hysteria. To finish, Severn used his trademark Severn rear naked choke, torquing Macias' chin towards him. Despite being his debut mixed martial arts fight, Severn dominated.

(Severn with UFC belts)

6. Oleg Taktarov v. Tank Abbott at UFC 6- The finale at UFC 6 was an outstanding battle of striker versus sambo. Both men fought hard in the high altitude of the Rocky Mountains, throwing everything they had. After 17 minutes of straight fighting, Oleg was able to slap a rear naked choke on the Tank. After the victory, Oleg and Tank laid on the canvas unable to get up. Oxygen was needed.

7. Andre "Big Chief" Roberts v. Ron Waterman at UFC 21- These two super-heavyweights threw big leather, with muscle bound Waterman having Roberts all but put away. However, the Native American Roberts was able to pull off a huge upset and comeback, knocking out Waterman after a big right, left, right combo and punches to the stunned Waterman.

8. Goran Reljic v. Wilson Gouveia at UFC 84- This fight featured outstanding kickboxing, as Reljic landed head and body kicks at will with good snap. Near the end of the first, Gouveia came back with flurries of punches. In the second, Gouveia got the most of the stand-up and a takedown. After it was stood back up, Reljic landed a power left, then a barrage of hammerfists for the win.

9. Royce Gracie v. Dan Severn at UFC 4- Severn took Gracie down at will, landing ground and pound shots repeatedly. What happened at the 15 minute mark was a tight triangle choke, the first time it had been seen in UFC competition.

10. Tito Ortiz v. Guy Mezger II at UFC 19- The rematch was fast and furious combination of grappling, striking and submission attempts. Tito came out on top.