Seven hours of MMA madness. No introduction is necessary. Let’s get to it.

The opening of the show featured singers congregating in gospel-like fashion singing, “Oh Happy Day”. On the big screen was clips from other Dream shows and also clips of Dream fighters fighting at Strikeforce. And then the fighters were allowed a couple seconds of screen time to show off their dance moves. Satoshi Ishii did a move where he grabbed his crotch and swiveled his hips like he was a modern day Ravishing Rick Rude.

The announcers are Frank Trigg and Michael Schiavello, aka The Voice.

Looks like the Bob Sapp fight is off. The excuse is that he lost his will to fight. Ha! Sounds like it’s a last minute contract renegotiation.

1. Andy Ologun vs. Katsuaki Furuki

Furuki is a former baseball player. This fight is three, five minute rounds.

The fight started in the clinch with Furuki throwing short, inside punches, but taking nasty knees to his midsection from Ologun. Olugun knocked him woozy with a stiff straight right and Furuki didn’t know where he was. He was throwing back, but they were loopy punches that had no chance. Ologun fell backwards with a guillotine while Furuki’s nose was bleeding all over the mat. Furuki got out of the submission and then quickly got into the mount. Furuki is tough, though out of his league here so far.

Furuki got a takedown from the clinch, but Ologun reversed position. Furuki worked on a kimura for a couple of minutes and Ologun fought it the entire way. With just over 30 seconds left, Ologun reversed him, but Furuki locked in a triangle just as the bell rang. Furuki might be winning this fight now.

Furuki was impressive in staying on top of Ologun, but caught a nasty right hand near the end of the round.

Winner: Andy Ologun by decision

Furuki is going to need some stitches over his left eye. You can see the insides of his eye brow.

2. Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Caol Uno

Miyata came out to a blending of Tupac Shakur with the instrumental to Eye Of The Tiger. That’s a win.

Uno won the first five minutes with some great in and out striking. He was landing punches and inside leg kicks. He’s wearing some sort of knee sleeve/pad and some wicked gold shoes.
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I didn’t get to see this in full, but there’s a lot of buzz surrounding this K-1 Max fight as fight of the year. By highlights alone, it looks great.

DREAM and K1 will once again join forces for the big Dynamite New Years Eve show in Saitama, Japan.

This year the card will also include fighters from Japan’s other leading MMA promotion Sengoku, as they compete in a number of DREAM VS. Sengoku themed matches.

As in previous years, the event will feature a mix of both Kick Boxing and MMA bouts.

It’s scheduled to be broadcast on HDNet.

Here’s the card:

Full Card Continue Reading »

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Sam Caplan previews tonight’s IFL postseason semi-final match-ups and has predictions for all the fights.

- Todd Martin writes about the two top matches for Sunday’s WEC show and is excited specifically for the main event.

- Kevin Iole tells how Carlos Condit found the sport.

- More questions with Dana White including his thoughts on Sean Sherk’s steroid test failure.

- Coming to America starring Wanderlei Silva.

- Frank Shamrock looks for the next MMA Superstar.

Talking Points

I’m really excited for Sunday’s WEC event that is going to be shown live on the Versus network. Paulo Filho, who many believe is the top 185 pounder in the world, faces veteran Joe Doerksen. It is Filho’s US debut. Also, Carlos Condit puts his welterweight title on the line against Brock Larson in a match that was scheduled for earlier this year, but didn’t happen because of an injury to Condit. With UFC off until later this month, this gives the WEC a chance to get some eyeballs from thirsty MMA fans.

I wanted to point to one of Dana White’s comments in his interview with Ryan Hockensmith of ESPN The Magazine that I linked above.

White said:

I’ve known Sean Sherk for a long time. He’s a really good man. He trains hard and has worked hard to get where he’s at. You and me probably have six nanograms [of the steroid Nandrolone] in our system; he had 12. Other guys who’ve been busted for the same steroid have had over 50 nanograms in their system. What my experts tell me is, there’s no way that he would only have 12 in his system. I’m not his father. If he did it, he’ll have to face the consequences. People make mistakes. If your life was over every time you make a mistake, that’s pretty f—ing harsh. How many times do I have to tell people not to use steroids? It’s to the point where it’s just stupid.

White was answering a question about his personal feelings on Sean Sherk’s drug test failure. What really stood out to me was White’s explanation about how many nanograms of Nandrolone Sherk had in his system. If I’m not mistaken, White is incorrect that a normal person walks around with six nanograms in their system. I think a normal person walks around with two nanograms in their system. Maybe someone with freak-like genetics would have more. But even if his explanation was correct that a normal person did have six nanograms, didn’t Sherk test for twice as much as what White thought was normal? I’m not an expert in false positive research, but the numbers look a little hard to argue. Sherk will get his chance to argue his test at the California State Athletic Commission hearing on August 6th.

By the way, the person who White was referencing as having over fifty nanograms in his system was none other than Royce Gracie, who tested positive after the K-1 show in Los Angeles this past June.