Bellator, PFL, RIZIN, Glory, and LFA Thread (With 100% More Cages Suspended From Above Like Wrestling Edition)

[Guest Edwin]

Also Gabi missed weight by 26 lbs. and the weight limit was 205 lbs...

Kandori stormed the stage screaming.

Yikes...

[Jiji]

26 lbs and they're still going to fight? Ugh, Kandori was going to get severely beaten but this could be worse than the Hotta savaging.

I'm hoping Uncle Creepy wins after all the shit he's endured the past few years. I've seen Dandois a handful of times and not once been impressed, so that's a layup for KING.

Looking at the cards and not really feeling them outside of KING, Horiguchi, and McCall (okay, and the freak show women's fight). Is there much buzz in Japan? I mean... one of the alternates for the men's tournament sports a 9-10 record. Is that the best they could get?

[Guest Edwin]

Gabi vs. Kandori is off.

Saiga vs. Asakura should be great and the kickboxing tournament is just a way to showcase Tenshin, so that should be fun. Plus Sunabe! Even though he’s mostly a strawweight MMA fighter...

Yeah, records don’t mean as much in Japan, so a fighter can be 10-12 and they won’t care as much as long as he puts on an entertaining performance and has a flashy walkout.

Also the main draws are RENA and Tenshin, so the rest are just filler fights, but I’m sure they’re hoping they can create a third star in Kyoji.

The highest ratings RIZIN have drawn were during Sapp vs. Akebono II and with RENA and Tenshin’s last fights.

[bazzil]

Ryan Thomas saying Garcia vs Kandori is still happening

[Guest Edwin]

Its confusing.

Sakakibara said the fight was off and the initial reports were that the fight was off, but they've retracted what they've said... I guess the fight is still a possibility.

[Elsalvajeloco]

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

I think this would be a good move because they can't have a fighters doing color every show. I don't think these dudes want to break camp and fly to a random location for a couple days just to do commentary. Smith isn't like this outstanding commentator, but he gets the job done and already knowledgeable. They jammed him into 3 man booths and made it work somehow when he was the only talented person out of the group. So if the UFC has a shot at a solid, reliable commentator, they should pick him up.

[Jiji]

Always struck me as a poor man's Rogan who is a bigger company shill/more polished than Joe. He's fine but not what I like in a commentator. 

[AxB]

I guess Smith's going on the B-Team, with Anik & Rogan still being the top guys, and Hardy & Gooden still being team international.

[Elsalvajeloco]

17 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

Always struck me as a poor man's Rogan who is a bigger company shill/more polished than Joe. He's fine but not what I like in a commentator. 

I always thought he fit into the Rogan mold moreso than just a clone simply because he's more polished than Rogan. Jimmy Smith has never gone into wild rants or rambled in the middle of the fights like Rogan. Plus, I think a lot of what he did with Bellator seems like he had to tow the company line since that was at least 50% of the job working w/ Spike. He did it with PBC when PBC was on Spike. However, when fights were bad he was a little bit more truthful than your average commentator who has to do that.

If he does get hired, I see him working a lot with Anik. I also see him working with Brendan Fitzgerald as their own team since Fitzgerald just did his first show. Matter of fact, if and when Rogan decides he's done, he will take over for Rogan.

[Elsalvajeloco]

18 hours ago, Edwin said:

Also Gabi missed weight by 26 lbs. and the weight limit was 205 lbs...

Kandori stormed the stage screaming.

Yikes...

Manel Kape with the TMT hat looks like some random TMT fighter who fights on the Sam's Town LV casino cards with like Ishe Smith, Andrew Tabiti, and J'Leon Love.

The winner of this GIF is the person who had to dress as the Cup Noodles mascot.

[Guest Edwin]

Gabi vs. Kandori has been cancelled.

[Guest Edwin]

RIZIN FIGHTING WORLD GRAND PRIX 2017 Bantamweight Tournament 2nd ROUND
December 29, 2017
Saitama, JP (Saitama Super Arena)

RIZIN 61.0 kg GP 2nd Round: Kyoji Horiguchi (60.75 kg) vs. Gabriel Oliveira (61.0 kg) - Horiguchi, TKO (punch), R1 (4:30)
RIZIN 61.0 kg GP 2nd Round: Ian McCall (60.45 kg) vs. Manel Kape (60.4 kg) - Kape, TKO (cut), R1 (1:46)
RIZIN 61.0 kg GP 2nd Round: Shintaro Ishiwatari (60.1 kg) vs. Kevin Petshi (60.8 kg) - Ishiwatari, KO (punch), R1 (4:31)
RIZIN 61.0 kg GP 2nd Round: Takafumi Otsuka (61.0 kg) vs. Khalid Taha (60.85 kg) - Otsuka, SUB (guillotine choke), R3 (2:23)
Jiří Procházka (92.95 kg) vs. Karl Albrektsson (92.4 kg) - Procházka, TKO (punches), R2 (4:59)
KING Reina (70.0 kg) vs. Cindy Dandois (68.6 kg) - Dandois, DEC (Split)
Hiroyuki Takaya (65.95 kg) vs. Baataryn Azjavkhlan (65.75 kg) - Takaya, DEC (Unanimous)
RIZIN 61.0 kg GP Alternate: Anthony Birchak (60.85 kg) vs. Jae Hoon Moon (60.95 kg) - Moon, DEC (Split)
Kizaemon Saiga (62.6 kg) vs. Kai Asakura (62.7 kg) - Asakura, TKO (punches and knee), R2 (2:39)
Shizuka Sugiyama (57.0 kg) vs. Kana Watanabe (56.95 kg) - Watanabe, DEC (Unanimous)
Satoru Kitaoka (75.0 kg) vs. Strasser Kiichi (75.0 kg) - Kiichi, DEC (Unanimous)

Cancelled Bouts:
Seiichiro Ito vs. Kai Asakura - Injury to Ito (Nasal Fracture)
Shinobu Kandori vs. Gabi Garcia - Garcia Removed After Not Weighing In

Attendance: 15,539

[Guest Edwin]

Random thoughts on today's RIZIN event:

Kyoji looked flawless. Just total domination of an opponent who looked 2 weight classes above him. Possibly the best performance of his career.

Watching Ian lose is the first time I've ever been saddened by an MMA outcome. He lost due to a cut he suffered due to getting his face accidentally scrapped against the ropes. It wasn't because Kape caught him with a knee or anything, it was because of the ropes.

Ishiwatari looked fantastic too. He pulled off a brutal one punch KO of Petshi.

Otsuka looked alright as he made some minor errors giving up some positions, but he still managed to pull off a beautiful looking guillotinechoke.

Jiri did not look good agaisnt Albrektsson and he almost lost, but Albrektsson screwed up and stopped ground and pounding Jiri in the second round before Jiri got back up and pummeled him to get the TKO. Jiri really needs to work on his takedown defense and on his ground game.

Reina lost soundly. Dandois didn't look great and her striking is still as bad as ever, but Reina couldn't even take advantage of that. Also Dandois is a skilled judoka, so she was able to handle Reina on the ground. Reina needs to change camps and get herself some proper coaches and some decent corner men who can actually help her put together better game plans.

Takaya didn't look bad, but the fight was boring. Baataryn was afraid to engage.

That entire fiasco with Gabi and Kandori was embarrassing. Takada pretty much came out with both of them and he apologized for the fight being cancelled and pretty much said Gabi was irresponsible for missing weight and what not and she knelled in the ring asking for forgiveness and Kandori forgave her and they're rescheduling the fight for next year.

Birchak losing was a bummer too as he's a really likable dude. However Moon should have won a unanimous decision. He clearly beat Birchak. I'm happy they actually got it right and gave him the dec. this time.

Saiga got destroyed by Asakura. Saiga has a ton of potential and is a skilled kickboxer, but he needs to sort himself out. Taking this fight on short notice was a mistake. Plus Trigg and Ferraro brought up that he was having personal issues at home and that might have played a role in the fight.

Watanabe and Kiichi looked OK. Watanabe didn't particularly dominate Shizuka, yet she was clamoring for RIZIN to give her better comp... Also Kitaoka looked really bad. He should consider retiring as he's been around for many years and has a ton of fights on his record already.

The first half of the show was pretty underwhelming, minus Saiga vs. Asakura. Everything from Jiri until the main event was fantastic however. The bantamweight grand prix fights were all really good.

[lostinube]

Watanabe made her debut earlier this month at DEEP JEWELS 18. As a judoka, it seems like she was just under the elites but she made her impact in Japan by being one of the new faces of the re-booted KUNOICHI (Women of Ninja Warrior) .

[Guest Edwin]

@Elsalvajeloco; @Oyaji

Y'all catch the RIZIN event yet?

If you haven't and don't feel like sitting through 5 hours of it, I'd recommend you just watch Saiga vs. Asakura, Jiří vs. Karl and the four bantamweight grand prix 2nd round fights.

The rest is rather skipable.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Just now, Edwin said:

@Elsalvajeloco; @Oyaji

Y'all catch the RIZIN event yet?

If you haven't and don't feel like sitting through 5 hours of it, I'd recommend you just watch Saiga vs. Asakura, Jiří vs. Karl and the four bantamweight grand prix 2nd round fights.

The rest is rather skipable.

Nope...the first thing I saw this morning before I went to work was your recap. So I will plan accordingly. I'll likely catch up by Saturday afternoon.

[Jiji]

Will watch later today. I had a family get together last night. Thanks for the heads up.

Had the latest ACB show on in the background yesterday and there were some pretty fun fights in the first two hours. The highlight was ex-UFC heavyweight Konstantin Erokhin dropping down to LHW only to be on the receiving end of a perfect head kick and some vicious follow up punches from Cory Hendricks.

Fuckin' guy was just kicked in the head, Hendricks just missing the first one but Erokhin didn't learn.

Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly vs. Muslim Makhmudov was another good fight. Bakhytzhanuly, a Kazakh boxer, was pretty impressive but so raw in the grappling side of things. Didn't matter too much as he's got high end striking. Guy legit powered out of a kimura from the guard position and Makhmudov is no weakling by the looks of it. 

 

[Elsalvajeloco]

Man, Erokhin was set to be Carwin 2.0 and he laid a giant turd in the UFC especially in the Napao fight.  If he came into the UFC ten years ago after beating the dudes he beat prior to going to the UFC, he would have been the biggest bust in UFC history.

I know the UFC doesn't keep on a lot of TUF people now, but I'm surprised they didn't give Hendricks another shot because he was a Syndicate MMA guy. They even had a little video with all the Syndicate fighters on that season training with John Wood. If he keeps winning (especially in the fashion he deposed of Erokhin), he will likely be back there.

[Jiji]

Stupid question: do the fighters in the 61 kg tournament have to make weight for the show on Sunday? I can't imagine they would make them dehydrate their bodies again after dehydrating/rehydrating/fighting just a couple of days earlier.

[Guest Edwin]

1 hour ago, Oyaji said:

Stupid question: do the fighters in the 61 kg tournament have to make weight for the show on Sunday? I can't imagine they would make them dehydrate their bodies again after dehydrating/rehydrating/fighting just a couple of days earlier.

No, I don’t believe so. They will most likely have them weigh in again just for the ceremony and show.

[Jiji]

Holy shit, Ian McCall is the unluckiest man in MMA. Fucking ridiculous. I want that man to succeed so badly.

Reina didn't look as bad as I was expecting when I saw she lost to Cindy fucking Dandois but she definitely needs some work and, yeah, here's hoping she moves to a better camp. I know her weight is part of her charm, for me at least, but it's also putting her at a serious disadvantage. She should probably be fighting at 135/61. I would hate for her to plateau out as somebody who can only beat scrubs. Her judo skills are great, she has great poise for somebody with her experience and at her age, and she's so lovable. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

Dandois is not exactly going to be a world beater, but she is solid enough to beat a lot of women. Rani Yahya is a still not a decent striker but he finds ways to win still.

As for Reina, I know when certain people are going to be at a certain level. Against scrubs, yeah she's going to win because her athleticism is tailor made to do that. Against people who actually know what the fuck they're doing? Chalk that up as an L. She's basically a blown up flyweight who has some good athletic skills and decent intangibles. After just now watching the Dandois fight, her natural fight IQ ain't exactly the best. That's a big disadvantage especially with a lack of experience against decent to good fighters. Even if she was at 125, I don't think she's better than a Jessica Eye and Eye hasn't won a fight in the UFC in years. That's where Reina is. Fighting in a weight class that has zero depth actually gives her a chance to actually look halfway decent. If she had to fight a real fighter between 125-145, it would be not end very well. As much as you can probably shit on some of the lack of improvement Roxanne Modaferri has shown in certain parts of her game, I feel Roxy is now good enough to sub Reina inside a round and a half. I'm sure of that. 

I think the ceiling for someone like Reina if she ever got decent enough to make it on a bigger stage outside of Japan is a better Windy Tomomi or Keiko Tamai. Good enough to stay above .500 record wise, but going to take quite a whooping against the best fighters.

[Guest Edwin]

Watching Ian lose is the first time I've actually been bummed for watching some lose an MMA fight. It just sucked knowing all the dude has been through and it was quite awesome getting that moment to walk down the ramp and give it another go, but then it all ended so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Dandois' striking sucks, but she's a solid judoka which makes up for lack of stand up. The problem is people only see her throw a school fight punch and think she's terrible which isn't the case entirely.

I thought Reina lost the last fight to Crystal Stokes and I kinda figured there she wasn't going to be a top fighter and it was just someone taking advantage of the lack of competition. I'm not sure 125 lbs. is doable with her frame without starving and going through painful weight cuts, but I do know 135 lbs. is doable as she fought there or close to that in one of her earlier fights. If she's ever going to evolve and max her potential, she's going to have to stop training in these horrible Japanese gyms and is going to have to come  stateside. It worked for Horiguchi. Horguchi has turned into a much better overall fighter since he stopped training full time at KRAZY BEE and started full training camps stateside at American Top Team.

Take someone like Rin Nakai, who despite getting signed with the UFC, stayed training in Japan and never developed and eventually she got cut. Had her moved to Jackson/Winkeljohn when they made her the offer, she would have most likely improved as a fighter and may have most likely got a win or two in the UFC against some of the lower ranked fighters. Also the 125 lbs. coming in would have been an ideal platform for her.

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, Edwin said:

Watching Ian lose is the first time I've actually been bummed for watching some lose an MMA fight. It just sucked knowing all the dude has been through and it was quite awesome getting that moment to walk down the ramp and give it another go, but then it all ended so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Dandois' striking sucks, but she's a solid judoka which makes up for lack of stand up. The problem is people only see her throw a school fight punch and think she's terrible which isn't the case entirely.

I thought Reina lost the last fight to Crystal Stokes and I kinda figured there she wasn't going to be a top fighter and it was just someone taking advantage of the lack of competition. I'm not sure 125 lbs. is doable with her frame without starving and going through painful weight cuts, but I do know 135 lbs. is doable as she fought there or close to that in one of her earlier fights. If she's ever going to evolve and max her potential, she's going to have to stop training in these horrible Japanese gyms and is going to have to come  stateside. It worked for Horiguchi. Horguchi has turned into a much better overall fighter since he stopped training full time at KRAZY BEE and started full training camps stateside at American Top Team.

Take someone like Rin Nakai, who despite getting signed with the UFC, stayed training in Japan and never developed and eventually she got cut. Had her moved to Jackson/Winkeljohn when they made her the offer, she would have most likely improved as a fighter and may have most likely got a win or two in the UFC against some of the lower ranked fighters. Also the 125 lbs. coming in would have been an ideal platform for her.

Rin Nakai is only an inch or two smaller than Reina. Let's be honest. Rin without the over the top anime body should be at 105. She's barely 5 feet tall. However, yeah due to her absurd build, maybe flyweight is fine but I don't see her excelling there even if her style was more conducive to fighting legit fighters. Normally, any female in the range of 5'2-5'4" should be at 115-125. Yeah, you can do fine at that height at bantamweight but only if you're a Jessica Andrade. Reina certainly ain't Jessica Andrade and most likely never will be. She doesn't even have the muscular frame like Rin as an excuse to be 154 pounds. She can drop 20-25 pounds comfortably and cut the rest to make flyweight.