I was hoping they would find Overeem a better opponent (Fujita is a bit past it now IMO) but I guess its still a improvement on the level of competition he has been fighting recently (in MMA). Very good card so far. Guys like Aoki, Mousasi, Schilt, Manhoef, Hari and a few others were rumoured to fighting on this card. Hopefully, more big fights should be announced soon. I'm sure I read the plan was to have around 18 fights (I doubt it though), even a few more big fights would do nicely. Can't wait to watch this! MMA Fight: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida DREAM Vs. SRC: Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Masanori Kanehara Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Michihiro Omigawa Hideo Tokoro vs. Marlon Sandro Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Akihiro Gono Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi Alistair Overeem vs. Kazuyuki Fujita Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki K-1 MAX Fight (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.): Masato vs. Andy Souwer K-1 Fight: Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima Super Hulk Tournament Final: Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou http://nightmareofbattle.wordpress.com/
We may actually get around 18 fights afterall. I forgot about the K-1 Koshien fights, which I'm sure is included in the 18. There are still a minimum of 4 slots left and there are a few big names missing as I mentioned in my last post. He has contracts with both Dream/K1 and Strikeforce.
Satoshi Ishii has to perform well. Even if he lost as long as he performs well. Japan needs a new star so I'm hoping Ishii wins!! Also rooting for Shibata v the Olypmic medalist. Shibata reps Pro-wrestling!!
seems like overeem doesn't want to defend his belt... no surprises here... he either has to fight werdum or fedor. and this is what happened the last time he had to fight werdum [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSJ4TW4uRTQ[/ame]
Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida I'm really curious to see Ishii under mma rules..(unless yoshida just wants test his judo against him) , this should be interesting.
I was hoping for more out of this card. Overeem refuses to take on the tough MMA fights, Fujita in his day was a top 10 fighter but he is cleary shot at this point. I am intrigued by the Ishii vs Yoshida fight as you have to Olympic Gold Medal winners in Judo. Ishii I read has trained with ATT and Xtreme Couture so im curious how his MMA skills look. Kid vs Kanehara is a quality bout and Kid really needs a win right now. Gono vs Sakurai should be entertaining.
It's a shame this fight didn't go through. http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/12/17/fight-vs-overeem-nixed-andrei-arlovski-looking-to-return-first/
Was hoping for Aoki vs Kawajiri. These are still good fights though, especially Aoki (Dream LW Champ) vs Hirota (Sengoku LW Champ). Don't count out Hirota in pulling off the upset. Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota 1-2 more fights will be added. One of the fights will most likely be Manhoef vs Misaki.
Manhoef vs Misaki now confirmed. Mousasi will take the last slot in either a K-1 rules or MMA fight. Rumours (which I hope aren't true) going around that Gary Goodridge will be his opponent.
overeem needs to be stripped if he doesn't commit to a fight. he has apparently committed to jan 30th. if he doesn't fight then strip him and make werdum vs fedor for the belt.
Yep, read the same LB. Always great to see Mousasi showcase his tremendous skills. Whether he's fighting Gary Goodridge or Boxingcar, i'll certainly be watching. .. Sorry Boxingcar. :good:good
