Passing the Guard 07.26.08: Michael Jackson and MMA

Posted by Stephen DeAugustino on 07.26.2008

You thought this past week was good? Make sure you come by this weeks edition of Passing the Guard for dates and details on Fedor vs. Arlovski, Ortiz vs. Sobral, and Penn vs. St. Pierre! Plus, the outcome of the IFL, the Burns-Johnson decision, and Aleksander Emelianenko. You don't want to miss this one!

Hello everyone. Welcome to another edition of Passing the Guard, you're best source for everything and anything MMA. This past week has had some very interesting news flashes flying around the web, but before we get into all of that, lets take a step back and check out what went down over in Japan during the final rounds of the lightweight grand prix and the rest of the DREAM 5 card.



Reviews

DREAM 5


Shinya Aoki defeats Caol Uno by way of Decision

Coming off a big upset victory over Mitsuhiro Ishida, Caol Uno would had to have pulled off an equal, if not greater, performance to defeat tournament favorite Shinya Aoki. It was clear from the beginning this was going to be a grappling dual, as both fighters are very well versed in ground fighting; Aoki being a product of Brazilian jujitsu and judo and Uno a wajutsu practitioner. However, the fight wasn't nearly has even matched as the following description may infer; Aoki dominated in ever aspect of the first round, mounting a submission offensive that looked more like a glorified grappling seminar than an actual fight. From heel hooks to knee bars to arm bars to triangles (and one of the sweetest triangles I have seen in a long time, I might add), Aoki controlled the first round in its entirety. The second round was really no different, if not worse for Uno; Aoki was able to step into Uno's own skill set and shoot in for a solid takedown that put Uno on his back for the majority of the round. Shinya Aoki would go on to win a majority decision, much to the surprise of no one. Shinya's performance was amazing in this fight, and with his other two impressive victories behind him, Aoki was looking like the sure victor of this tournament.



Eddie Alvarez defeats Tatsuya Kawajiri by way of TKO

I was a surprised to see this fight materialize from the fan voting; After DREAM 3 Kawajiri called out Uno, complaining that his victory over teammate Mitsuhiro Ishida was unfair because of the bye round Uno drew, but it seemed the fans thought otherwise, voting for this fight instead. Alavarez basically came out of nowhere and put together two impressive victories before this fight, but Kawajiri, still relatively high in the rankings at the time, had to be the favorite. However what ensued was hardly a cakewalk for Kawajiri, let alone a winning performance. The single round barn burner first saw Alvarez catching a blow to the face that cut him open nicely, however after some time patching the wound up, the fight continued.It would be Alvarez who struck next, on two different occasions; one Kawajiri would recover from, and one he would not. The 1-2-6 combination would be the end of Kawajiri and the fight, as the referrer stoppage soon followed. Sadly, the cut Alvarez sustained during the fight would come back to haunt him; after the fight, doctors ruled Alvarez was unable to compete with such an injury, forcing him out of the tournament. The winner of the reserve match would be heading into the finals in his place.




Joachim Hansen defeats Kultar Gill by way of Submission

A surprise ending in a fight between two renowned strikers; Hansen, a Norwegian kick boxer was able to submit Canadian muay thai specialist Kultar Gill. Gill would make the first move as he locked up a solid clinch, but as the second and third knee came up, Hansen took advantage and acquired a single leg takedown. After standing back up, Hansen again engaged his opponent with grappling skill set in hand as he dug into a rolling kimora. After losing it, Hansen transitioned into a seemingly harmless armbar attempted, which would end up getting the best of "Black Mamba". Hansen takes the fight early in the first.
In retrospect, it may not be that big of a surprise that Hansen got the sub; the guy has shown some pretty impressive grappling in the past, almost submitting Eddie Alvarez in their last outing. The fact the Gill has some pretty sketchy submission defense doesn't help things either. Regardless, Hansen would end up moving into the finals with this victory and with the help of Alvarez's injury.




Yoshihiro Akiyama defeats Katsuyori Shibata by Submission

Shibata has had a rough time with things lately; the pro wrestling superstar has lost five straight, with his most recent loss being yet another poor performance against Korean/Japanese judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama. Most of the fight would be a rather dull leg kick session that left the crowd restless, until Akiyama secured a takedown. Taking the mount, Akiyama leaned in and managed to choke Shibata out with a nice gi choke late in the round. It is really hard to judge Akiyama's performance here as Shibata is hardly challenging competition. In addition, Akiyama took excruciatingly long to launch any kind of offensive, which may put his effectiveness as a fighter in question to some, especially since he is already on bad terms with the Japanese crowd; as he entered the ring, boos echoed throughout the arena. Hopefully we will be able to see more of Akiyama in DREAM very soon.




Alistair Overeem defeats Mark Hunt by way of Submission

Better known as a dangerous striker, Alistair managed to dig deep into his arsenal to find a slick kimura to finish the heavy handed and always dangerous Mark Hunt. While the fight was rather short, most of it was in fact fought on the feet where both fighters exchanged some blows before Hunt charged in and bull rushed the former light heavyweight to the floor, where Overeem would nail the kimura quickly after.
With his second fight in DREAM a success, one has to wonder just how much longer until this Cro Cop-Overeem match up happens, especially since Overeem just defeated Hunt, who once defeated said Croatian back in Pride. Whenever it happens, it is going to be one hell of a stand off.




Joachim Hansen defeats Shinya Aoki by way of TKO

No one really saw this coming. Hansen has always been a great competitor, but if someone were to bet $100 that Hansen would be defeated, then fight back into the substitute position in the finals to defeat Shinya Aoki, a man who demolished Hansen a few years back, they would probably be a millionaire. That is exactly what "Hellboy" Hansen managed to pull off, putting away the grappling wizard and crowd favorite in a flurry of punches later in the first round. At first, it seemed Aoki would have his way with Hansen as he took the fight to the ground several times and controlled Hansen for the majority of the bout. At one point, Aoki managed to even snag rubber guard and was a few inches away from repeating his gogoplata finish of Hansen in their previous conflict. However, Aoki would make one large mistake. After allowing Hansen to his feet, Aoki began to work from his back, trying to tangle Hansen's legs up with his own, when Aoki sat up to grab a leg. Once Aoki's had was in range, Hansen unleashes a flurry of punches onto it that put the grappling wizard out and ended his 12 fight win streak. Hansen would be named the DREAM GP champion.
Hansen has come a long way to get to this point. He has always been "around" but was never really considered a top ten fighter, simply lingering on the outskirts of the division. Yet in one night, he manages to oust arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the organization and claim the title. For now, Hansen's credibility is still in question as he did lose to Alvarez two months ago, and it is a fact at this point the Aoki will get another shot at Hansen in the near future. Hansen is the champion right now, but the results of Tuesday night leave a lot of questions unanswered, and it will be a sheer joy to watch it all unfold in the coming months as DREAM's lightweight division is looking as stacked as any other one on the planet.











News
Zuffa purchases IFL

After weeks of news and rumors about the International Fight League going under, it has finally been confirmed that the organization has took in its last dying breath, as an official statement was made just recently. The Fight Network has the word:

"According to IFL senior vice president of communications Joe Favorito, the team-based MMA promotion will turn out the lights July 31 as its assets are sold to a yet-to-be-named buyer, confirmed today by several anonymous sources as the UFC ownership group Zuffa LLC….The buyout, which will mirror Zuffa's takeover and subsequent closure of the now defunct WFA and PRIDE FC organizations in 2007 will see the UFC and WEC's parent company take control of the rights to current IFL contracts as well as the promotion's video library."

"As of July 31 my role at the IFL will be no more as the company goes into its final stage of being sold and/or closed down," Favorito stated via email.

It's not too hard to imagine this happening; everyone knew the IFL was having big financial troubles for the past year or so, and the giant shark called Zuffa could smell the blood in the water a mile away. Once word of a takeover hit the rumor mill, fingers could only really point to Zuffa, who had already taken apart the WFA and the PrideFC, along with a buyout of WEC. In addition, Zuffa had gotten ahead of themselves a little bit and began playing IFL footage during UFN 14, such as Reese Andy's high lights in the organization. A similar move was scene when the UFC snagged Pride, along with their video library. Whatever the case, it is going to be exciting seeing some of the new talent compete in the Octagon.




Sobral calls out Ortiz, fight may take place in Affliction
After showcasing their heavyweight division last week, Affliction may soon get the chance to feature their light heavyweight division. In a recent post fight interview, Renato "Babalu" Sobral expressed a desire to fight former UFC champion Tito Ortiz:

"I told Tom Atencio who the one guy I want him to sign is," said Sobral, "Tito Ortiz is my dream fight."

A fight with Ortiz would be huge as both fighters are household names from the UFC, drawing casual fans from the UFC over to Affliction. Plus, adding a big name such as Ortiz to their light heavyweight division would be a significant add to the already growing roster, balancing out their already stacked heavyweight division with the 205 weight class.

Currently, Affliction has stated that they have had no contact with Ortiz as of yet due to the fact that the fighter is still having issues with the UFC.





Anthony Johnson's agent to appeal UFN 14 loss

A great sportsman, Johnson has nothing to say about the unfortunate and likely wrong outcome of his July 19th bout against Kevin Burns. Since the fight reached its concussion, Johnson has humbly kept to himself on the matter, declining to criticize the referee, the organization, or the system that was largely responsible for his loss. However, he won't have too; Johnson's agent will be looking to take matters into his own hands and make an appeal for his young fighter.

"I would be remiss if I didn't file a complaint and seek recourse for the outcome of the Anthony Johnson fight results this weekend…. Anthony Johnson has accepted what has happened and has shown nothing but class through the process. This was most evident in the first round when he inadvertently kick Kevin Burns in the groin and backed off and apologized. He didn't not call Kevin Burns out for the six or so eye gouges with and open hand or for pouncing after putting three of his finger print on the back of his eye socket. Rumble told me he thought his eye popped out."

For those of you that missed the fight, Johnson was poked in the eye by an open palm strike from Burns, not once, but several times throughout the bout. After the final one caught Johnson and put him on the floor, referee Steve Mazzagatti called the fight a TKO victory for Burns, which is confusing enough, as the blow was very illegal. Whatever the case, Johnson's management will have their hands full with the NSAC, as there record of over turning fights is fairly slim. Best of luck to Johnson and his management with this endeavor.




Aleksander Emelianenko forced out of Affliction: Banned for Hepatitis B
For weeks it was set that Paul Buentello would face Fedor's younger brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, at Affliction: Banned. However, at the last minute, Emelianenko was pulled from the card and was replaced by Gary Goodridge. Originally being blamed on a contract issue, the real reason has been revealed; Emelianenko has contracted Hepatitis B. MMA News provides the confirmation:

"A source close to the situation spoke to MMANews.com's Michael Moody on a condition of anonymity and explained that the blood tests came back right before Aleks and Buentello were scheduled to weigh in and that is why there was so much confusion around the stage and why the fighters did not weigh in. Gary Goodridge ended up stepping up on extremely short notice and filling in for the Russian heavyweight."

"The tests were positive for Hepatitis B which resulted in the CSAC cancelling the fight. Hep B is the result of transmission from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood."


There are two ways to look at this: one, Aleks has acute Hep, which is the more common form, or chronic Hepatitis, which would spell trouble for the heavyweight standout. With the acute, which almost 80% of patients contract, the virus can be taken out by the immune system alone in a matter of a weeks. Chronic however would most likely end the fighter's career, or possibly his life. It is unknown if Aleks has just recently contracted the virus, or if he has had it for some time. Hopefully this will only be a minor set back for Emelianenko, who we all hope to see back in action very soon.




Fedor vs. Arlovski set for next Affliction show

After Fedor's annihilation of Tim Sylvia at last week's Affliction: Banned event, there was much question as to whom "The Last Emperor" would face next. With names like Randy Couture and Josh Barnett flying around, there were plenty of match ups possible for Fedor's next outing, but it would be another Russian stepping up to the plate to face Emelianenko. After a solid KO victory over Ben Rothwell, Andrei Arlovski will be fighting Fedor on October 11th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV. Daren Libonati, area director of the center, talks about it.

"We're really excited to have Affliction in the building and particularly to have Fedor and all those other great names…That's what we were working toward in those two (PRIDE) shows we did back then, but it never worked out. We always want to bring big events here, and any time you have Fedor in your building you have a big event."




Jesse Taylor in trouble again

After being suspended on The Ultimate Fight, Jesse Taylor is in trouble again. In a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports blogger Steve Cofield, Taylor expressed his feelings on the Quinton Jackson situation by saying "What goes around, comes around, I guess". In In his defense, Taylor may not have known about Jackson's health issues as he corrected his statement by saying "I feel bad for the guy. Being on top of the fighting world and then not being there is going to destroy you. I think it was tough to handle for the guy. I wish he gets better, I didn't know he was in this situation. He's in a lot worse situation than I was in."

Unfortunately for Taylor, that may not be enough. Cofield has also gone on saying that a certain official from the UFC is not too happy with the statements, and may take action against the fighter. In addition to this bad news, Taylor recently lost to CB Dollaway at Ultimate Fight Night 14. In that deep of a whole, one has to wonder what it will take for Jesse Taylor to climb his way out of this one.




BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre on for December 27th

Fiveouncesofpain.com is reporting a very interesting exclusive, one that concerns both the futures of two of the best fighters in the sport today; BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre. According to the site, the much-anticipated bout between the two superstars will take place on a "yet-to-be-numbered" fight card on Dec. 27th in Las Vegas. The only threat to the fight at this point is the Fitch-St. Pierre match-up next month; if GSP loses, the fight may be placed on hold.

Given St. Pierre wins, a special announcement would be made soon after. The card is also reported to be boasting another anticipated match; a heavyweight bout between TUF coaches Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.




Random Pass

Recently several UFC and WEC fighters have been traveling around Afghanistan to help support our troops by personally visiting several different camps throughout the country. Most of these fighters brought along video cameras to document the trip, one of them being Michael Bisping. The following is a group of Afghan children and nasty case of mistaken identity. Enjoy.




Well that about covers it for today guys. Have a good weekend; you've just passed the guard!