Jiji Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Ospanov vs. Polpudnikov from ACB was a wild brawl. Both guys gassed hard in the second round and the fight was almost stopped halfway through but they both kept going. Bad decision though. If you have 5 minutes though, definitely check out the second round of this fight. This show is really long but most of the fights are highly entertaining. I went on another kickboxing binge last night. Le Banner vs. Abidi, Masato vs. Buakaw, and most certainly Zambidis vs. Chahid were the highlights. Chahid doing the Flair flop in the extension round is legendary stuff. How he made it to that point, I do not know. Bonus points for Ray Sefo awkwardly and begrudgingly accepting a high five from Schiavello after the third round, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Holy crap, Takada may be in better visible shape now than in his heyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Vicious clash of heads in the Kape/Horiguchi fight. Kyoji was dropped by it and you could see his eyes roll back into his head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 WOW, Tenshin with a flying knee KO after sprinting across the ring. This kid is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 RIZIN FIGHTING WORLD GRAND PRIX 2017 Bantamweight Tournament & Women's Super Atomweight Semifinal & Final ROUND December 31, 2017 Saitama, JP (Saitama Super Arena) RIZIN 61.0 kg GP Final: Kyoji Horiguchi (60.75 kg) vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (61.0 kg) - Horiguchi, KO (punch), R2 (0:14)RIZIN 49.0 kg Women's GP Final: RENA (48.5 kg) vs. Kanna Asakura (48.75 kg) - Asakura, SUB (rear naked choke), R1 (4:41)RIZIN 57.0 kg Kickboxing GP Final: Tenshin Nasukawa (57.0 kg) vs. Yamato Fujita (57.0 kg) - Nasukawa, TKO (punch and knee), R1 (1:20) Mirko Cro Cop (110.15 kg) vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka (101.7 kg) - Cro Cop, TKO (corner stoppage), R1 (1:02) Shinju Nozawa-Auclair (56.75 kg) vs. Chelsea LaGrasse (52.9 kg) - Nozawa-Auclair, SUB (armbar), R1 (4:47) Takanori Gomi (72.0 kg) vs. Yusuke Yachi (71.8 kg) - Yachi, SUB (triangle choke), R1 (2:36)RIZIN 49.0 kg Women's GP Semifinal: Maria Oliveira (48.7 kg) vs. Kanna Asakura (48.75 kg) - Asakura, SUB (armbar), R2 (3:30)RIZIN 49.0 kg Women's GP Semifinal: RENA (48.5 kg) vs. Irene Rivera (48.9 kg) - RENA, TKO (punches), R1 (4:31)RIZIN 57.0 kg Kickboxing GP Semifinal: Mitsuhisa Sunabe (56.8 kg) vs. Yamato Fujita (57.0 kg) - Fujita, KO (punch), R3 (0:50)RIZIN 57.0 kg Kickboxing GP Semifinal: Tenshin Nasukawa (57.0 kg) vs. Yuta "Cat" Hamamoto (55.3 kg) - Nasukawa, KO (flying knee), R2 (1:58)RIZIN 61.0 kg GP Semifinal: Takafumi Otsuka (61.0 kg) vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (61.0 kg) - Ishiwatari, DEC (Unanimous)RIZIN 61.0 kg GP Semifinal: Manel Kape (60.45 kg) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (60.75 kg) - Horiguchi, SUB (arm-triangle choke), R3 (4:35) Attendance: 18,316Ratings: 4.8%, 6.4%, 6.2%, 4.3% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Gomi/Yachi was a fun sloppy brawl. Otsuka/Ishiwatari didn't have a lot going on but Otsuka dropped Ishiwatari in the first and then Ishiwatari went HAM on Otsuka in the third round to get the decision. Horiguchi looked good again in his fight but received a cut eye (not from the headbutt). The women's tournament wasn't very good, it's just a showcase for Rena. Fun stuff and a much more enjoyable show than the 2nd round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setsuna Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 I don't know who Cro Cop should have fought but definitely not Kohsaka. That was pretty sad. Looking forward to the next three fights though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setsuna Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 3 hours ago, Oyaji said: WOW, Tenshin with a flying knee KO after sprinting across the ring. This kid is awesome. The finals were a blow-out too. I'll forgive the weak Tenshin opponents based on his age and Rizin needing to keep him strong. It sucks though because he started off with such a strong win over Wanchalong before his opposition was dialed way back. I' prefer the Japanese kickboxing scene as a whole (Krush, Knockout, K-1 Japan, Rizin kinda) over pretty much any other non-UFC combat organisation. There are are a number of great fights he could have there - hopefully next year we get to see a bit higher level even if he's not getting matched up with Takeru or the other top guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 That was incredible. One of the greatest MMA events I’ve ever seen. I would talk about each fight individually, but I highly recommend you check out the entire card. Not a single boring fight on the entire card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 I passed out at the end of the intermission and am just catching up on the final bouts. Fuck yeah Asakura choking out Rena. Rena comes off as a manufactured star with fake charisma and catch phrases. I'm glad somebody was able to finally put her down before she gets into the fight. Asakura's wrestling is impressive but I was still pretty surprised she won. Poor, poor TK. That was gross but thankfully short. Tenshin needs better opposition but I get that they're building him up. Kyoji relies too much on his agility and footwork for his defense. His hands are low, his chin high, so ends up getting hit too much for such a great fighter. Superb card all the way around. Shame we couldn't get our annual Gabi vs. quinquagenarian (had to look that one up) joshi star. She better make weight next time. Also finally finished up last week's ACB card and it was probably even more exciting than today's Rizin show. I'm happy to find there are actually entertaining and worthwhile shows outside of UFC & Rizin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 RIZIN’s TV ratings peaked during Juju, Cro Cop, kickboxing grand prix and RENA vs. Kanna’s fights. Juju is the big unexpected potential draw here they’re going to need to build up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Any word on attendance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 15 minutes ago, Oyaji said: Any word on attendance? 18,316 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Interesting that Big Dave said if it wasn't a sell out it was awfully close on today's WOR, yet Saitama holds 35,000+. I can't imagine the entrance ramp taking out almost half of the arena's seating capacity. Pride used to claim 35,000 for their shows there and they'd run with the big stage set-up too. Of course, I'm almost certain they inflated those numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Misc RIZIN bits from an interview with Sakakibara. They plan on running 6 events this year. The first one is expected to take place on May 6 in Fukuoka and then one in July, one in September, one in October and the two during December. The October event maybe overseas in either China or in the US. There's strong interest from some Chinese TV stations in hosting the event there. The biggest benefit of running the event in China is the timezone similarity. They can air the event live from China in Japan and it would be at a time where they can get a reasonable time slot for the local Japanese fans. The other US is the alternative to China with Las Vegas or Los Angeles looking like the top two options with the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas being the ideal venue. The biggest problem they could encounter putting the event on in the US is the time different between the US and Japan and getting clear by the AC to put on the event. However an option to co-promote an event with Bellator is also an option. The most likely weight classes for the next GP would be LW or FW. This depends on Kron Gracie. If they can secure Kron, then it will be at FW. If they can't secure Kron, then it would be at LW. He is not sure if they will be running a WMMA GP this year. It depends on Shinju Nozawa-Auclair's availability. She has to have elbow surgery due to damage she encountered in training for her fight with Chelsea LaGrasse on NYE, but if she's healthy, then the plan is to run a WMMA GP at FLW with her, Kana Watanabe and Shizuka Sugiyama. The plan with Mirko Cro Cop is still the same -- have him once before NYE and then a one retirement fight on NYE. He thought the four man kickboxing tournament was a successful test run and he is interested in running a bigger kickboxing tournament this year. However, this depends on them getting bigger names for the tournament including highly ranked foreigners. He is aware that MMA fans aren't happy about the mixed cards with MMA and kickboxing, but he doesn't see RIZIN as an MMA organization solely and that he sees it more as a mix of combat sports. Also worth noting that RIZIN management is pleased with Khalid Taha's performances and they want to have him back and his manager already expressed interest in having him fight Manel Kape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Instead of running T-Mobile and having a bunch of empty seats, why not run the Cosmopolitan hotel or the Park Theater that actually look cool aesthetically and they can also have a semi-respectable attendance? I don't see the point running these basketball arenas and losing your ass financially.  Even the Microsoft Theater is a way too optimistic for Rizin. Maybe running the Long Beach venue that New Japan is running in March is a better fit. Maybe. I don't see Bellator really working with Rizin like that either. They did something Rizin with one time and no one gave a shit. Bellator should focus on improving their product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 I don't think its a smart idea to run any venue in the US at the moment, honestly. They're not established enough, nor do they have the talent pool to put on a mega event in the US that would realistically sell out a 18K+ arena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 13 minutes ago, Edwin said: I don't think its a smart idea to run any venue in the US at the moment, honestly. They're not established enough, nor do they have the talent pool to put on a mega event in the US that would realistically sell out a 18K+ arena. They can run smaller venues if they had a few recognizable names on top and got some stateside TV traction. But yeah, all this Los Angeles and Las Vegas talk is nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 50 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: They can run smaller venues if they had a few recognizable names on top and got some stateside TV traction. But yeah, all this Los Angeles and Las Vegas talk is nonsense. I think there best bets for a US card would be getting someone like Cro Cop and I don't think that's feasible for obvious reasons... They also have Horiguchi, but he won't be much of a draw. Plus I guess getting some Bellator guys would be helpful, but it won't really be much. This entire US show idea is horrendous and is more than likely not panning out. Sakakibara has said a couple of things he hasn't really been able to do such as the legends category he wanted to do originally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 35 minutes ago, Edwin said: I think there best bets for a US card would be getting someone like Cro Cop and I don't think that's feasible for obvious reasons... They also have Horiguchi, but he won't be much of a draw. Plus I guess getting some Bellator guys would be helpful, but it won't really be much. This entire US show idea is horrendous and is more than likely not panning out. Sakakibara has said a couple of things he hasn't really been able to do such as the legends category he wanted to do originally. I meant to ask this when Tatame ran a story about him being unhappy with Bellator, but is Wanderlei signed with Rizin? Because they can do maybe 2500-3000 with Wanderlei as a headliner and just curiosity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edwin Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 3 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said: I meant to ask this when Tatame ran a story about him being unhappy with Bellator, but is Wanderlei signed with Rizin? Because they can do maybe 2500-3000 with Wanderlei as a headliner and just curiosity. Honestly I don't know, but I think the fighters they sign are usually on a fight to fight basis and if they do have anyone signed, the contracts are very open and they will allow them to fight elsewhere. Also I wish he'd retire for the sake of his own health, but Ian seems to be in a good place mentally (not depressed at least) and he says he's coming for the bantamweight title this year. Also he married the girl who used to be Ryan Shamrock in WWE. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setsuna Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 China seems like a bad idea too given the difficulties in running events there and the lack of Chinese fighters on the current roster. Is there any reason they don't just run Korea as their international show? It would be easier, has an existing mma fan base and they have some people on their roster that would actually draw there. That would seem a logical move but I don't really know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Why haven't they brought in Sexyama? No limit lotion fights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 I like how people from boxing, MMA, and pro wrestling keep throwing currency into the combat sports money pit that is China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hail Sabin Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 30 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: I like how people from boxing, MMA, and pro wrestling keep throwing currency into the combat sports money pit that is China. China is the classic Honey Pot. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts