For those of you MMA fans who were die-hard PrideFC followers, the New Years Eve Yarennoka fight card almost feels like one last gasp of breath. This event is a sort of co-promotion between former Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) employees, K-1, and the new M-1 promotion. The show will take place in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena and partially broadcast here in the US on HDNet after the IFL World Grand Prix Finals.
Main Card
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong-Man Choi – Hong-Man Choi is a K-1 fighter who was originally slated to fight Brock Lesnar on the US K-1 Dynamite show last June. The California State Athletic Comission denied Choi a medical license due to a pituitary tumor and Choi had to sit out. Choi has not fought since his debut in K-1 last December where he won in under 20 seconds of the first round.
Fedor Emelianenko, the most sought after fighter after PrideFC’s collapse, landed with the Russian-owned M-1 Global promotion and will be fighting for the first time since last April when he defeated Matt Lindland in BodogFIGHT. Fedor has been widely criticized for his last of opponents recently and this fight with Choi is no exception. Fedor’s skills and talents will easily overmatch anything Choi has to offer and this fight should be pretty boring overall. Winner: Fedor Emelianenko
Shinya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung – Shinya Aoki is a rising star and submission specialist in the lightweight division holding recent victories over Joachim Hansen and Akira Kikuchi. Known for his “colorful” leg tights, Aoki truly is a joy to watch for grappling fans and I expect another slick submission in this fight against Jung. Winner: Shin’ya Aoki
Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa – Hasegawa is a long time veteran of Japan’s Pancrese and DEEP promotions and really is a mid-level fighter at best. Hayato Sakurai is viewed as one of the top ten lightweights in the world and was recently rumored to be coming to the UFC, although that deal never materialized. Sakurai should have no problem taking on Hasegawa and should be able to end this fight in the first round. Winner: Hayato Sakurai
Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama – Yoshihiro Akiyama is a K-1 fighter who most recently KO’d top middleweight Denis Kang at K-1 Hero’s in October. Akiyama is more infamous for his victory of Kazushi Sakuraba in which it is speculated he used some sort of brass knuckles under his glove and greased his legs before the fight. Misaki is an up-and-down fighter who holds key victories over Dan Henderson, Denis Kang and Phil Baroni. I’m not really sure which way this fight is going to go down; Akiyama has power while Misaki has more technical skill. Winner: Kazuo Misaki
Undercard
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Gilbert Melendez – Winner: Gilbert Melendez
Makoto Takimoto vs. Murilo Bustamante – Winner: Makoto Takimoto
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo – Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri
Mike Russow vs. Roman Zentsov – Winner: Roman Zentosov
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hey doc or neone… is hdnet on ***** cable or ppv ****?? just curious.. thatd be bad *** to see that **** on cable….. *** that be bad ***… just curious doc?
[quote comment="12721"]doc
hey doc or neone… is hdnet on ***** cable or ppv ****?? just curious.. thatd be bad *** to see that **** on cable….. *** that be bad ***… just curious doc?[/quote]
Patrick, it’s an HD-only channel that is on cable and satellite. Its not a PPV thing. I know not all cable companies have it because Cox Cable here where I am doesn’t carry it. But I think a decent number of cable companies do and I think both satellite companies do.
sh*t i still didnt get HDNet. damn Christmas putting a hold on me spending money on ME lol. i dont know what to say about this card, its got a lot of big names that i would like to see fight but no fights i wanna see.
Last gasp? more like the first gasps of hopefully fully breathing japanese fight scene. Over all the card kind of sucks, but I must admit it’s really really nice to see some of those names back on the poster again. I think once this event is ruled a success we’ll better cards as the former pride fighters start coming home again.
[quote comment="12724"]Last gasp? more like the first gasps of hopefully fully breathing japanese fight scene. Over all the card kind of sucks, but I must admit it’s really really nice to see some of those names back on the poster again. I think once this event is ruled a success we’ll better cards as the former pride fighters start coming home again.[/quote]
i so hope your right. like i said there is a bunch of names on there now they just need good fights.
Zuffa could have made a huge thing out of PRIDEFC vs. UFC but for some reason they just let it die. all they had to do was keep running PRIDE shows and UFC shows and once in a while do a super show. who cares what promotion does better when you own both. i just dont understand why Zuffa doesnt want to collect Japanese revenue.
woah i just noticed im at 800 comments. maybe in another year or so i will get to that 1306 mark lol. we should all give BV a big hand, last night he joined the over 1306 club lol.
Technically, the Techno Goliath hasn’t fought MMA since last December, but he was tearing up K-1 for a bit.
Perhaps a trivial point, but it’s not like the big man’s sat out for the past year.