Rizin President Nobuyuki Sakakibara talks about next HW plans
(mmaplus.co.uk)This week the most important promotion in Japanese MMA Rizin Fighting Federation is back for their first event of 2018 which takes place in Fukuoka City, at Marine Messe.
With a total of 5 events are planned for this year, the promotion continues to look for opportunities to add new talent to their ranks.
After seeing Bellator signed with big names like Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Crocop, Frank Mir, Roy Nelson and others, the man in charge Nobuyuki Sakakibara has revealed his new strategy for fighter recruitment moving forward.
Diego Nunes booked to face Yusuke Yachi at RIZIN 10
(mma-in-asia.com)RIZIN has made announced two additional fights for its RIZIN 10 event, set for Sunday 6 May at the Marine Messe in Fukuoka, Japan.
Headlining the event is former UFC contenders Kyoji Horiguchi and Ian McCall, who will fight under special RIZIN MMA rules at 61kg. Super atomweight queen Kanna Asakarura is set to face Canada’s Melissa Karagianis.
Full card for ROAD FC 46 includes openweight title bout
(mma-in-asia.com)The full lineup for ROAD FC 46 is out, with 13 fights set to take place on 10 March at the Jangchung Arena in Seoul.
The previously announced title bout between openweight champion Mighty Mo and challenger Myung Hyun-Man will top the card, alongside the semifinals for ROAD’s $1 Million Lightweight Tournament.
Angela Lee out of ONE Championship title defense after car accident
(https:)ONE Championship atomweight star Angela Lee star has been removed from an upcoming title defense after being involved in a car accident.
Lee was scheduled to rematch Mei Yamaguchi in the main event of a ONE show on Nov. 24 in Kallang, Singapore, but CEO Chatri Sityodtong broke the news of the accident and Lee’s subsequent withdrawal on Facebook:
Grappling standout Gary Tonon signs with One Championship
Standout American grappler Garry Tonon will make his pro MMA debut with ONE Championship.
Company officials today announced the 26-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion had signed a multi-fight exclusive contract with the Asian-based promotion.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. A debut date and opponent for “Lion Killer” also haven’t been set.
Ex-UFC fighter Ian McCall joins Rizin's batamweight grand prix, debuts DEC. 29
(mmajunkie.com)Due to an infamous run of bad luck, Ian McCall has fought just once since July 2014. But that could soon change – in a big way.
Officials today announced McCall (13-5-1), a former UFC flyweight contender who’s No. 13 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, has joined the organization’s world bantamweight grand prix as a wild card and is set for a promotional debut at Rizin FF 8.
“Rizin FF 8: World Grand Prix 2nd Round” takes place Dec. 29 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it streams in North America on FITE TV.
McCall, who could now fight three times in just three days, meets 23-year-old Portuguese fighter Manel Kape (7-1), who scored a knockout win over Erson Yamamoto this past weekend at Rizin FF 7 in an opening-round matchup. McCall vs. Kape is one of four quarterfinal-round matchups slated for Rizin FF 8.
Daichi Abe signs with UFC and is looking for fame and money on his quest for a world championship
(mmaplus.co.uk)This week, the UFC signed two Japanese talents who will make their debuts at UFC Fight Night, inside the legendary Saitama Super Arena on September 23.
After Syuri Kondo, Daichi Abe signed a deal with the promotion and will face South Korean fighter, Hyun Gyu Lim.
With no fears, Abe spoke with MMA Plus and revealed his goals, motivation and his big dream of fighting in the UFC.
“I started Judo at eight-years-old and competed until high school, I became National Judo Champion when I was in third grade of high school. Then I started to compete in kickboxing and become J-Network Champ.”
Richie Vaculik to make MMA return in Augus
(fightnewsaustralia.com)
After a 21 month hiatus from the sport, Richie Vaculik will begin his MMA comeback at Pancrase 289.
The former UFC flyweight will take on Japanese standout Nobuki Fujii at the event, which takes place August 20 in Tokyo, Japan.
“Vas” has been on the MMA sidelines since dropping a unanimous decision to Danny Martinez at UFC 193 in Melbourne. The loss moved his UFC record to 1-3 and he was subsequently released from the promotion.
The 34 year-old TUF Smashes veteran has stayed busy outside the cage since that landmark event and is better known in recent times for his co-anchor role alongside Elvis Sinosic on Fox’s UFC Fight Week show. Vaculik (10-4) will now move to the bantamweight division where he’ll look to get the ball rolling against Pancrase stalwart Fujii (15-8-3).
Road FC 40: $1 million lightweight tournament - Weigh in results and photos
(https:)Road FC’s 40th major event on Saturday is going to be one of their deepest cards ever. The South Korea-based promotion will begin their $1 million lightweight tournament on the card, and will also have an open-weight championship headlining the event. Even UFC vet and former Road FC champion Riki Fukuda has been relegated to the prelims because of this.
Iranian giant Amir Aliakbari returns for RIZIN Yokohama
(mma-in-asia.com)RIZIN Fighting Federation has announced that World Grand Prix 2016 runner-up Amir Aliakbari will return in April to face Geronimo Dos Santos in an open weight contest at a RIZIN event in Yokohama.
Aliakbari started off his career with 5 straight wins with three knockout finishes. 2016 was a very good year for the Iranian until the last day at the World Grand Prix Finals when he faced the legend Mirko “Cro Cop”. The Croatian defended well against the power of Aliakbari and pummelled him with two left hooks that floored his opponent.
Shinya Aoki to face Gary Tonon in grappling super-match
(mma-in-asia.com)Six months after losing his ONE Championship lightweight title, Japanese MMA veteran Shinya Aoki is making a return.
Aoki is heading back to Singapore’s Indoor Stadium for a grappling super-match between former against IBJJF World and Pan American Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Garry Tonon.
The match-up will take place at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes, a card that will be headlined by women’s atomweight world champion Angela Lee and challenger Istela Nunes.
Aoki (39-7) is one of the most decorated mixed martial artists around the world. He is the DREAM lightweight champion, former Shooto welterweight champion and the former ONE Championship lightweight champion.
ONE: Kings of Destiny Full Fight Card Released
(mmaweekly.com)Eduard Folayang has been slated to make the first defense of his lightweight belt at ONE: Kings of Destiny for several weeks now. The Filipino will be fighting Ev Ting. The promotion released on Monday the rest of the nine-fight card, which is set for April 21 in Manila.
In the co-main event at the MOA Arena, Kevin Belingon (14-5) faces Toni Tauru (11-4-1). Both men have challenged unsuccessfully for the bantamweight belt, but got their careers back on track with wins toward the tail end of 2016.
Rizin FF adds many UFC veterans to April 16 card
(bloodyelbow.com)Rizin will stage their next card in April, and it will feature a few familiar names if you’re a UFC fan.
One of the best flyweights in the world will make his Rizin debut on April 16th. Kyoji Horiguchi, a former UFC flyweight title challenger, was let go by the promotion and quickly scooped up by the company that operates out of his own country to headline their show against Yuki Motoya. Now, they’ve added a bunch more familiar names to the event.
Tatsuya Kawajiri, who lost his Rizin debut on New Year’s Eve to Kron Gracie, will take on fellow UFC vet Anthony Birchak. Birchak, who is coming up a weight class for the bout, went 2-2 in four 135-pound bouts in the UFC and won his last one, but wasn’t re-signed.
Tilek Batyrov in for injured Andrew Leone in ONE Championship 45 interim flyweight title bout
(mmajunkie.com)ONE Championship 45 has undergone a big late-notice shift with a change to the card’s main event less than a week out.
Andrew Leone (8-2) was set to meet Adriano Moraes (14-2) for the interim flyweight title. However, an injury to Leone forced him from the event. He will be replaced by Tilek Batyrov (10-1).
With the change, the current ONE Championship 45 lineup includes:
Tilek Batyrov vs. Adriano Moraes – for interim flyweight title
Eduard Folayang vs. Adrian Pang
Honorio Banario vs. Eddie Ng
Christian Lee vs. Martin Nguyen
Alexandre Machado vs. Alain Ngalani
Ma Jia Wen vs. Jimmy Yabo
Ma Hao Bin vs. Chan Rothana
Kritsada Kongsrichai vs. Joshua Pacio
Luis Santos meets ex-champ Igor Svirid in ONE Championship 46 main event in Indonesia
(mmajunkie.com)ONE Championship will return to Indonesia later this month with a former champion in the main event.
Ex-middleweight titleholder Igor Svirid (10-2) will take on Brazil’s Luis Santos (62-9-1) in the headlining bout of “ONE Championship 46: Titles and Titans.” The promotion recently announced the main event, as well as five other bouts for the card.
ONE Championship 46 takes place Aug. 27 at Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia. The card will stream as an online pay-per-view.
Also booked for the card: Jake Butler (7-1) vs. Marcin Prachnio (11-2) at light heavyweight; Edward Kelly (7-3) vs. Vincent Latoel (16-17-2) at featherweight; Sami Amin (5-3-1) vs. Anthony Engelen (4-2) at featherweight; Yohan Mulia Legowo (8-4) vs. Sunoto Peringkat (4-2) at featherweight; and Bernard Soriano (2-2) vs. Mario Wirawan (5-3) at bantamweight.
BJJ world champion signs with ONE
(bloodyelbow.com)The transition between pure Brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts has proven to be difficult in recent years. As mixed martial artists have become more well-rounded, elite jiu jitsu fighters have began to struggle when they make the switch to MMA. This hasn't put off Michelle Nicolini, who has decided to focus solely on MMA after signing with ONE Championship.
Michelle Nicolini is one of the greatest grapplers alive. Nicolini is an 10-time world champion, an ADCC silver and gold medalist, who has continuously beaten the best over the past decade. After retiring from BJJ after the 2016 World Championships, many believed Nicolini would look to build upon her 2 -1 MMA record, but few expected the grappler to sign with ONE.
ONE Championship Confirms Two More 2016 Cards in Macau and Bangkok
(mmaweekly.com)ONE Championship officials on Wednesday confirmed two more cards that for 2016. On Aug. 13, the promotion heads to Macau for the first time. The other new addition to the schedule is a show in Bangkok on Dec. 17.
Venetian MacauNext month’s event will be at the 15,000 capacity Cotai Arena. The venue is situated in the bowls of the Venetian Resort & Casino and has played host to a couple of Manny Pacquiao fights in recent years.
The UFC also held three events at the Cotai Arena between 2012 and 2014, but has not returned in nearly two years. Boxing promoter Top Rank has also held multiple shows in the venue, featuring the likes of Zou Shiming and Rex Tso, as well as Manny Pacquiao.
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