This Picture Needs Absolutely No Explanation

(Via DreamOfficial.com)

Above you see the interpretive dance routine choreagraphed and directed by Shigeru Saeki in its debut at the Dream 8 weigh-ins.  A stunned Shinya Aoki watched from just off-stage.  He later described the routine to reporters as "breathtaking."

Then this guy showed up and ruined everybody’s fun.

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DREAM 8 weigh-in results; Riki Fukuda to face Murilo Rua

Japan’s Fighting & Entertainment Group (FEG) held the weigh-ins today for their DREAM 8 event which is set to go down early Sunday morning, April 5, from the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

The event will be broadcast stateside via tape delay courtesy of HDNet on April 10.

In his first trip to Japan since the demise of PRIDE, Murilo “Ninja” Rua will make his debut for DREAM against DEEP veteran and last-minute replacement Riki Fukuda (13-4).

Rua’s participation was almost drawn to a halt when original opponent Dong Sik Yoon (4-6) got injured just days before the event. However, promoters scrambled for an opponent and found one in Fukuda, though he could not make the middleweight limit on such short notice.

As a result, Rua vs. Fukuda will be contested at a catchweight of 196 lbs.

DREAM 8 will feature Shinya Aoki, Hayato Sakurai and six other combatants in the first round of the DREAM 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix which is expected to meet it’s conclusion in July.

Here are the official weigh-in results for DREAM 8 (converted from kilograms):

Main card:
Heavyweight: Sergei Kharitonov (256 lbs) vs. Jeff Monson (242 lbs)
Catchweight 196lbs: Riki Fukuda (195.7 lbs) vs. Murilo Rua (194 lbs)
Catchweight 194lbs: Ikuhisa Minowa (190 lbs) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (191.8 lbs)
Catchweight 189lbs: Andrews Nakahara (187 lbs) vs. Shungo Oyama (188.9 lbs)
Lightweight: Vitor Ribeiro (153 lbs) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (154.3 lbs)

Welterweight Grand Prix (168lbs limit):
Shinya Aoki (162 lbs) vs. Hayato Sakurai (167.3)
Andre Galvao (167.5 lbs) vs. John Alessio (167.5 lbs)
Yuya Shirai (166 lbs) vs. Jason High (167.3 lbs)
Marius Zaromskis (166.4 lbs) vs. Seichi Ikemoto (166.4 lbs)

Featherweight Grand Prix (139lbs limit):
Hideo Tokoro (137.5 lbs) vs. Daiki Hata (138.8 lbs)

Be sure to check back tomorrow morning for our complete recap. In the meantime, get up to speed on all things DREAM by clicking here.

BELLATOR I PREMIERES WITH TKO’S, TAPOUTS AND UPSETS

Hollywood, Fla. – April 4, 2009 – Bellator Fighting Championships, in conjunction with its exclusive television partner, ESPN Deportes, held its premiere event at the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida on April 3, 2009. The event will air at 9 pm EST on April 4, 2009 on ESPN Deportes.

The debut event kicked off the 12-week inaugural season of the promotion before a packed house, featuring Middleweights, Daniel Sarafien and Gary Padilla in non-tournament competition. Padilla defeated Sarafien with a second round technical knockout (TKO) to become the first fighter to win a matchup under the Bellator banner.

Eddie Alvarez was back in top form against game challenger and top Irish Lightweight Greg Loughran. With a hugely vocal Philadelphia contingent behind him, Alvarez picked himself up off the canvas, after being dropped by Loughran to take command of his heavy handed opponent. Alvarez stalked Loughran, luring him into the corner where he performed a seamless transition into a guillotine choke that ended the fast paced back and forth fight. With the crowd in an uproar over Alvarez’s thrilling victory, Alvarez climbed the cage and did a signature back flip that only further energized the crowd. Alvarez will advance on to the semi-final round where he will face a top competitor seeking the Lightweight Championship.

The fight that many fans expected to be the best fight of the night was also the quickest. Jorge Masvidal finished opponent, Nick Agallar with a barrage of powerful strikes both standing and on the ground. Masvidal delivered a pivotal strike to Agallar’s face that left him stunned on his feet. Masvidal then forced him to the ground with a well timed combination that pulled fans to the edge of their seats. After a total of only one minute and nineteen seconds, Masvidal had his opponent helpless on the mat where he unleashed a fury of strikes until the referee ended the match as a TKO. The former street fighter walked away from the bout with a little extra well-earned swagger in his step as he advances to the semi-finals of the Lightweight tournament.

“We are very pleased with this first event. It had great action, upsets and dominant performances. Fans in the U.S. as well as abroad get the chance to see these world-class fighters get one step closer to establishing their position amongst the elite in the game,” said Bellator Fighting Championships’ CEO Bjorn Rebney.

One of the most surprising match-ups in the tournament was the three-round fight between the speedy Luis Palomino and the powerful Estevan Payan. As this match went the distance, there were moments where both fighters had a commanding role. What had originally begun as a defensive lesson in fight protocol, transitioned to moments of all out slugfest as two men struggled for an opportunity to catch the other off guard. At one point Palomino sustained a fairly large setback after he caught a stray strike to the head. At the end of the third round, Payan was declared the winner by split decision.

In the Featherweight match-up between Joe Soto and Ben Greer, Soto began using a heavy arsenal of right handed strikes to flatten Canadian wrestler Greer early on. Despite Greer’s attempts to escape, Soto was able to continuously counter and mount Greer to deliver five haymakers that left Greer without a response, forcing the referee to stop the action and end the bout in a TKO. Soto showed that he may be a force in the 145 pound tournament.

Featherweight Yahir Reyes stunned the crowd with his quick to pounce and highly aggressive style against Nick “the ghost” Gonzalez. Reyes was able to trap and mount Gonzalez where he then applied a rear naked choke, which forced Gonzalez to tap out immediately. Reyes win was one of the biggest upset victories on the fight card.

In the Lightweight tournament division, Toby Imada, widely considered to be the world’s best fighter with the worst record, landed a series of hammerfists to the head of Alonzo Martinez despite several attempts by Martinez at a reverse to catch Imada off balance. Imada responded with a quick spin to regain control and synch a rear naked choke for the win. Toby Imada will advance on and join Masvidal and Alvarez in the semi final-Lightweight competition.

Other notable bouts included a quick non-tournament victory by Moses Gabon in front of his hometown audience in Hollywood, FL. Jonathan Brookins also looked impressive after he finished opponent Stephen Ledbetter with a rear naked choke towards the end of the first round.

The full results of Bellator I, which featured tournament bouts in the Featherweight (145 lbs.) and Lightweight (155 lbs.) divisions, are below:

Tournament Bouts:

155 lbs. – Eddie Alvarez (17-2) vs. Greg Loughran (18-12) – Alvarez 1st Round 2:44 Guillotine Choke

155 lbs. – Jorge Masvidal (17-3) vs. Nick Agallar (21-6) – Masvidal 1st Round 1:19 TKO

145 lbs. – Nick Gonzalez (14-7) vs. Yahir Reyes (13-5) – Reyes 1st Round 2:11 Rear Naked Choke

145 lbs. – Estevan Payan (7-1) vs. Luis Palomino (9-5) – Payan Split Decision

145 lbs. – Joe Soto (5-0) vs. Ben Greer (11-5) – Soto 1st Round 3:40 TKO

155 lbs. – Toby Imada (21-11) vs. Alonzo Martinez (22-13) – Imada 1st Round 3:26 Rear Naked Choke

Non-Tournament Bouts:

145 lbs. – Jonathan Brookins (9-3) vs. Stephen Ledbetter (6-3) – Brookins 1st Round 3:32 Rear Naked Choke

155 lbs. – Daniel Morales (5-2) vs. Lorenzo Borgomeo (5-1) – Borgomeo 3rd Round 3:46 Rear Naked Choke

185 lbs. – Moses Gabon (1-0) vs. Daniel Sarafien (3-2) – Gabon 1st Round 1:33 Triangle Choke

185 lbs. – James Brasco (3-1) vs. Kevin Abrante (3-2) – Brasco 1st Round 2:14 Arm Bar

185 lbs. – Chris Decaro (0-1) vs. Gary Padilla (9-4) – Padilla 2nd Round 3:04 TKO

Bellator Fighting Championships’ premiere season consists of 12 two-hour events to be broadcast weekly in primetime on Saturday nights, beginning April 4, 2009. The nationally televised events will feature a combination of tournament and non-tournament special feature bouts. There are four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season #1 over a three month period: one in each of the Featherweight (145 lb.), Lightweight (155 lb.), Welterweight (170 lb.) and Middleweight (185 lb.) divisions.

The next event is scheduled for April 10, 2009 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT and will be broadcast on April 11, 2009 on ESPN Deportes.

For more information about Bellator Fighting Championships, visit www.bellator.com. The Spanish version of the site, www.espanol.bellator.com, will go live in March 2009. Please contact your local cable provider to learn more about viewing Bellator Fighting Championships on ESPN Deportes.

Joe Silva Is Passionate About His Work

(’Yes, now finish him you fool.  Finish him!  Mwahahahaha!’ Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

The Canadian no-accounts over at Fightlinker went looking through the UFC’s Fight Night photo gallery and found some pretty interesting shots, like this one of matchmaker Joe Silva getting all riled up about Rafael Dos Anjos’ weirdo thigh compression move on Tyson Griffin.  We’ve previously taken note of Silva’s tendency to lose his freaking mind when somebody does something cool, and we love to see a man with this kind of fire in the belly, but what do you think is going on with him here?  Is that the look of a man who is pumped up about the chance for a crazy upset, or a man who just realized that he forgot to close the garage door when he left home.  Oh God, the cats will get out!!!!

UFC 98 video: Matt Hughes on Matt Serra fight on May 23

WEC 40 preview and predictions for ‘Torres vs Mizugaki’

WEC 40: “Torres vs. Mizugaki” is set to go off from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Ill., this Sunday night (April 5), airing live on the Versus network beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Bantamweight champion and Chicago-area native Miguel Torres will defend his title in the main event against Japanese import Takeya Mizugaki — a late replacement for the injured Brian Bowles.

There are several other exciting match-ups featured on the card, too, including a 135-pound number one contender eliminator match between Jeff Curran and Joseph Benavidez, as well as two other high profile lightweight bouts that will be featured on the Versus telecast.

Here’s the full WEC 39 lineup:

Main event:

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (35-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)

Main card (Televised):

135 lbs.: Jeff Curran (29-10-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (9-0)
155 lbs.: Shane Roller (5-1) vs. Ben “Smooth” Henderson (8-1)
155 lbs.: Raphael Assuncao (12-1) vs. Jameel “The Sergeant” Massouh (20-4)

Under card (May not be broadcast):

155 lbs.: Bart “Bartimus” Palaszewski (30-12) vs. Anthony Njokuani (9-2)
135 lbs.: Dominick Cruz (12-1) vs. Ivan Lopez (9-0)
145 lbs.: Cub Swanson (13-2) vs. Diego “The Gun” Nunes (12-0)
145 lbs.: Wagnney Fabiano (11-1) vs. Fredson Paixao (8-2)
135 lbs.: Rani Yahya (12-4) vs. Eddie Wineland (14-5-1)
135 lbs.: Akitoshi “Ironman” Tamura (12-7-2) vs. Manny “The Mangler” Tapia (10-1-1)
145 lbs.: Rafael Dias (11-5-1) vs. Mike Budnik (8-2)

It’s looks like we’re in for another solid night of fights from the WEC. To help get you better prepared for fight night, we took a closer look at each of the five main card bouts and provided our highly unofficial predictions below.

Check it out:

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (35-1) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (11-2-2)

Originally set to defend his title against Brian Bowles, the 135-pound champion Torres will instead face promotional newcomer Takeya Mizugaki in his homecoming.

Mizugaki, a 10-fight Shooto veteran, has won his last five fights under the GCM promotion in Japan. He has some decent power in his hands, and he does well controlling his opponent in his fights. He’s a young 25 years old though, and he’s never fought on U.S. soil or on a stage this big.

This match-up doesn’t appear to bode well for him on paper.

It’s a rather unenviable task for Mizugaki in the first place to have to step up on a big stage in America for the first time against a guy like Torres in front of not only his countrymen, but his hometown fans as well. Basically, a loss here for the champ would go down as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the WEC.

Don’t look for that to happen.

Look for Torres to dominate this fight on his feet in the early going, using his reach and that patented jab to score points and inflict damage. Mizugaki is just going to be outmatched in this fight no matter where it goes, but when he gets into trouble, he’ll probably try to take the champ to the mat.

That, however, is like picking the blue poison over the red poison. Once that happens, look for Torres’ killer instinct to kick in, allowing him to finish off the Japanese import pretty early on.

The only way Torres loses this fight is if he gets too cocky, underestimates Mizugaki, and tries a bunch of off the wall stuff in order to put on a more exciting fight for his hometown fans. Still, even if that happens, which it won’t, Mizugaki will still have to do what at least 39 other fighters have failed to, which is knockout or submit Torres, because it’s almost impossible to think of a scenario where Torres loses on the judges scorecards.

Final Prediction: Miguel Torres via second round submission

Jeff Curran (29-10-1) vs. Joseph Benavidez (9-0)

This is a great match-up that will determine the next number one contender at 135 pounds. Curran’s going to be a beast at 135, and Benavidez is as close to a Urijah Faber clone as we’ve seen in the WEC so far. I’m really excited for this fight.

Benavidez wasn’t overly impressive in his WEC debut in December, scoring a unanimous decision win over Danny Martinez, but his destruction of Junya Kudo at DREAM 5 certainly was. He tacked on the sixth submission win of his career that night in Japan.

A training partner of Faber’s, he gets world class sparring on a daily basis from a man who’s already defeated Curran. He’s lightning quick, has a wide variety of submissions, and he comes at you from weird angles and pulls off crazy, athletic moves all the time in his fights, much like Faber.

However, he doesn’t have the experience on the big stage or against world class competition like Faber does, and that showed in his performance at WEC 37. Still, he’s an extremely dangerous opponent for Curran, whose competing as a bantamweight for the first time in this fight.

In his last fight at 145 pounds, Curran took current featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown the distance, albeit in losing fashion, but given Brown’s last couple of performances, that’s a pretty impressive feat. Brown is one of the stronger 145 pounders in the world. If Curran was able to hang with him for three rounds, he should have a pretty decent advantage in the strength department against guys 10 pounds lighter.

Curran’s great at grabbing his opponent and controlling them with his wrestling base. He’s not going to knock Benavidez out in this fight, but if he can get a hold of the squirmy 24 year old, he could easily use positioning and control to grind out a decision or even power his way into a submission win.

It’s not going to be an easy fight for Curran. Benavidez is ridiculously athletic and he provides some problems for Curran on his feet and in the scramble. But Curran is on a mission to face Miguel Torres. As long as he doesn’t overlook Benavidez in his quest to do that, his experience and size should prevail in this one.

Final Prediction: Curran via unanimous decision

155 lbs.: Shane Roller (5-1) vs. Ben “Smooth” Henderson (8-1)

Both of these guys have been very impressive thus far in the WEC. Roller — a three-time All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University — had back-to-back first round submission wins over Mike Budnik and Todd Moore in his first two fights with the promotion, while Henderson scored a second round submission win over the very difficult to beat Anthony Njokuani in his promotional debut.

Both guys are coming into this fight high on confidence with solid winning streaks as well. Roller is probably a little more versatile with his attack and probably has an advantage on the feet to go along with the clear edge in wrestling, but Henderson is extremely dangerous on the ground with six career submission wins.

This is clearly a match that could go either way. Both guys should be very confident in the grappling department, even though Roller should have a decisive edge in strength and wrestling with his amateur credentials from Oklahoma State.

Look for Roller to use that wrestling base to impose his will on Henderson with takedowns and position control. As long as he can avoid being submitted from the top position, he should be able to pull off his sixth straight win either by decision or some kind of ground and pound stoppage.

Final Prediction: Shane Roller via unanimous decision

155 lbs.: Raphael Assuncao (12-1) vs. Jameel “The Sergeant” Massouh (20-4)

This is a battle of two men making their first appearances in the WEC. Assuncao, brother of UFC veteran Junior, has made his name on the smaller circuit with wins over the likes of Joe Lauzon, Jorge Masvidal, James Birsley and others.

He’s smaller than his brother, but just as athletic and very slick with submissions. Massouh is a little bit more experienced and will have a clear size advantage over Assuncao, but he’s probably not as talented as the Brazilian.

This won’t be an easy fight, but Assuncao is expected to win. Massouh is a tough dude, with a nasty killer instinct and a long list of ways to finish you. He’s definitely a dangerous fighter, but Assuncao was brought into the WEC to be a contender at 155 pounds. A loss to Massouh would be a big disappointment.

Look for a very competitive, high-paced fight early on, but look for Assuncao to steal a submission win sometime in the second or third rounds.

Final Prediction: Raphael Assuncao via second round submission

That’s a wrap, folks. Feel free to share your thoughts and predictions on WEC 40 in the comments section below. And be sure to visit us tomorrow night for all the “Torres vs. Mizugaki” coverage and discussion you can handle … it’s going to be a fun night!

WEC 40 Q&A session today with Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Donald Cerrone and Frank Mir FREE and open to the public

Props: UFCFightClub.com

UFC 96 Pegged At 350k Buys

Jack Encarnacao over at Sherdog relayed the Dave Meltzer scoop on the trending patterns for UFC 96 PPV buys:

The pay-per-view buy rate for UFC 96 on March 7th gives the best indication to date of the singular drawing power of Quinton Jackson, who headlined the event against Keith Jardine. The show drew about 350,000 buys, according to The Wrestling Observer. Unlike most of his other UFC bouts, Jackson’s fight against Jardine positioned him as the main draw on an entire card, which was low on star power.

The 350K number has to be looked on as somewhat of a disappointment. No one would expect Rampage to draw on the level of the company’s top PPV draws, like GSP, Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar, or Chuck Liddell, all of whom have shown the ability to do near or over 500k buys every time out. The other end of that range would be top card guys like Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva, who have drawn in the lower 300K range for most of their UFC tenure. A fair expectation would be for Rampage to fall somewhere in the middle, at about the 400 to lower 400K level, but Rampage as a draw on PPV would look to fall in the latter group, despite his being positioned by the UFC to do better numbers:

Rampage has been uniquely primed to be a stand alone draw for the UFC. He faced off against Chuck Liddell for the belt, a fight that drew over 600k PPV buys. That was followed up by a title defense on Spike TV that drew one of the largest US television audiences for a MMA fight. After a long-ish delay, his next fight, this time against Forrest Griffin, was given the benefit of an entire season of build on TUF and drew over 500k buys. Rampage had his noted indiscretions after his loss to Forrest, but it didn’t seem to affect folk’s appetite for watching him perform. His face-off vs Wanderlei Silva for a third time was part of a tripleheader PPV that as of this writing has came in at approximately a million buys. Few on the roster of the UFC have such a strong mix of high profile PPV match-ups and cable television exposure via Spike. While Rampage hasn’t had to carry the entire weight of the PPV on his shoulders, he has certainly been put in the best possible position to succeed. UFC 96 will let us know if Quinton is up to the task.

While Rampage has had the benefit of all those high profile slots, there looks to be something of a disconnect with the UFC audience that has held him back from being a top PPV draw. Rampage’s defeat of Chuck Liddell gave him the championship at 205, but it didn’t seem to endear him to the UFC audience that until that time had viewed The Iceman as the face of the promotion.

TUF US Vs UK Debut and Fight Night Ratings

Via Spike TV:

The season nine premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter: U.S. vs. U.K.” on Wednesday, April 1 drew its highest rating in Men 18-49 since Season 4 (August, 2006) and its most watched season premiere since Season 5 (April, 2007). The episode also drew more Men 18-34 and 18-49 than anything else on cable in its timeslot (10:15-11:15pm ET/PT), besting all sports competition including the NBA on ESPN.

Overall, the series drew a 1.8 in M18-49, a 2.1 in M18-34, a 2.7 in M25-34, and an average audience of 1.8 million viewers.

Prior to the season premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Spike TV aired the first-ever live UFC fight from Nashville, TN headlined by welterweights Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann. The “UFC Fight Night” delivered 1.9 million viewers and, like “The Ultimate Fighter,” drew more Men 18-34 and 18-49 than anything in its timeslot (8:00-10:15pm ET/PT).

Overall, the “UFC Fight Night” delivered a 1.7 among M18-49, a 2.1 for M18-34, a 2.7 in M25-34, and attracted an average audience of 1.9 million viewers

Overall the debut of TUF: US Vs UK did a 1.3, which is a slight uptick over the previous TUF season which bowed with a 1.2. While not doing monster numbers they did see some bumps in their key demos.The past few seasons of TUF have held in the 1.1 to 1.2 range and based on the debut, this season should slide into that usual ratings sweet spot.

Eddie Alvarez flips out in Hollywood

We both knew it was coming:

He was just too fast for me:

Oh well … next time. I’m a writer, remember.

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