Japanese MMA

DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki has revealed his upcoming fight plans while speaking with MMAWeekly.

The submission stalwart defeated striking specialist Rob McCullough at DREAM 17 on Sept. 24 and is now planning to return to action on New Year's Eve.  No opponent has been announced for the end of year event.

Aoki also acknowledged his extensive training at Evolve MMA in Singapore, where he has been working on his Muay Thai skills.  The fighter described his preparation for the McCullough fight, "For the first time, I was unafraid to stand and strike because of my Muay Thai training.”

The fighter also released the news that he will rematch current Bellator lightweight title holder Eddie Alvarez in 2012.  Aoki defeated Alvarez by heel hook in late 2008.

The Japanese fighter also discussed the uphill battle that MMA faces in the country.  Since the demise of Pride in 2007, other promotions have struggled to stay afloat.  However, Aoki is confident that the sport will recover in the country.  "MMA in Japan is a complicated situation," Aoki declared.  "(But) It’s not in my control.” 

Despite a pair of appearances inside Strikeforce, Aoki has yet to make the jump to US competition full time.  Aoki recently welcomed a newborn baby at home and the fighter made it known that his family is his priority.  “If I did not have a family, then I would go to the UFC right now,” said Aoki. 

With the current state of MMA in Japan looking bleak, Aoki remains the country's biggest draw.  Wins on New Year's Eve and against Alvarez could help revive the sport's popularity or even force Aoki to reconsider making the jump to the UFC.

Since 1997, "The War Master" Josh Barnett has been one of the most dominant fighters in all of MMA. He has posted a record of 31-5, with 19 of his victories coming by way of submission. He has a who's who list of victories, but once Pride FC folded, it almost appears that a large part of the MMA world forgot about "The War Master."

"Catch as catch can." That phrase is the motto of the style Barnett uses inside the cage, which is "catch" wrestling.

Catch wrestling, which is similar to jiu-jitsu, is a much more brutal art. In catch wrestling, when you see a submission opportunity, you go for it. Not only does Barnett show off his catch wrestling skills in mixed martial arts, but he also enters grappling tournaments. He has won multiple grappling tournaments, and for that, along with his knowledge, he was awarded a BJJ black belt in December of 2009.

Josh also uses his catch wrestling in Japan, where he is a professional wrestler and has competed for organizations like New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation wrestling promotion. He is a very dominant pro wrestler and is very well liked and accepted in Japan.

Josh has zero "bad losses" on his record in MMA and has only been defeated by three different men, and two of those he holds a victory over. Since his final fight in Pride against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, he has posted an 8-0 record and has now set himself up to become the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix champion—that is, if he defeats two-time Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier.

If he defeats Cormier, then he will be able to add the Grand Prix championship to his collection, which includes the UFC heavyweight championship and the King of Pancrase openweight championship. He is only one of four men to have held a UFC championship and a Pancrase championship (Bas Rutten, Ken Shamrock and Frank Shamrock).

The problem that Barnett presents to every heavyweight is his size and strength. Add excellent catch wrestling and improved boxing, and, well, those are the makings of a force to be reckoned with.

Josh has all the potential to be No. 1. He has the résumé and has now aligned himself with an opportunity to show the world what he is truly made of. At this point in his career, he is at the age in which many fighters come into their primes, which realistically is a scary thing. The only person that is going to stop Josh Barnett right now is Josh Barnett himself.

As Barnett said as he pointed to the crowd after submitting Sergei Kharitonov, "You will all die by my hand!" Heavyweight division watch out—"The War Master" is coming for you!

I was reading through the upcoming events in MMA when I read that the UFC was going to Japan in 2012.

Since DREAM is still around, I wondered if the Japanese organization had any plans for that year, and to see if they planned on trying to compete with Zuffa juggernaut.

Instead, I saw a card for DREAM 17 and a name on there that immediately filled me with dread.

The Gracie Hunter, Kazushi Sakuraba.

Before I go on, I have to say that I'm a fan of Sakuraba. He has beaten some of the best names in MMA and fought plenty more of them. Win or lose he has always given his all. The problem is he still is fighting and giving 100 percent.

He shouldn't be fighting at all.

No doubt the last image in most of your minds of Sakuraba is the picture of the partially ripped off ear that was taken in his 2010 fight with Marius Zaromskis. He was 41 then.

Now he is a year older and has taken close to the same amount of time off since that fight. However, sometimes in Japanese MMA, the fighters are given easy comeback fights.

Not this time though. Instead of a soft touch, Sakuraba gets undefeated 9-0 Yan Cabral.

Cabral is 28.

It's true that Cabral hasn't faced murder's row, but at this point, Sakuraba has been worn threadbare. His body is literally falling off of him. Sakuraba has lost his last three, and five of his last seven. He is worn out. He has nothing left, but he keeps coming back to fight again.

The worst part is that Sakuraba wants to die in the ring. His pride as a fighter keeps him coming back and his samurai spirit has him longing to die.

When he does, though, there will be no glory. No one will say that the man died like he wanted.  

There will just be more bad press for MMA, and one more fallen hero.

To go in the ring when you know you might die takes courage. To walk in hoping that you will takes something else. Somebody to tell you that you need help.

Let's hope Sakuraba gets it.

When you think of Japanese mixed martial arts, what’s the first image that comes to your mind?

Is it the image of Kazushi Sakuraba and his legendary rivalry with the Gracie Family, or more specifically, his 90-minute fight with the legendary Royce Gracie?

Is it the highlight reel knockouts of Mirko Filipovic or the epic battles between Antonio Rodrigo  Nogueira and Fedor Emelianenko?

Perhaps it was the horror film classic that was the PRIDE run of Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” or maybe it was the early days of Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki, the latter of whom had scored his famous victory by “Aokiplata” on Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen.

Whatever it is that comes to mind when you think of Japanese MMA, we can’t deny that the JMMA Boom of the early 2000s had as much to do with the current state of MMA as Zuffa’s acquisition of the UFC.

Some legends of the Japanese MMA circuit found success while others were less successful, but they did manage to carry on in the sport and create memorable careers for themselves and a great majority of these fighters either made or are currently making their own respective marks in the UFC.

This year, however, Japanese MMA has hit what some would consider its greater-than-greatest depression yet and the earthquakes in Japan have done nothing to help but everything to hurt the situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-qy3v_OB0w

World Victory Road, the promotion responsible for the Sengoku Raiden Championships, lost a major sponsor when the Don Quijote discount store chain ceased all funding to WVR and until the promotion found itself another major sponsor, the promotion would be effectively finished.

Not helping matters was the migration of such talent as Jorge Santiago, Hatsu Hioki and Dave Herman to the UFC, the signing of Maximo Blanco and Kazuo Misaki to Strikeforce and the participation of Marlon Sandro and Ronnie Mann in Bellator Fighting Championships’ Featherweight Summer Series.

DREAM has suffered money woes that are well documented also, and although they have not faltered as a promotion, they have been unsuccessful in landing a time slot on HDNet for their past two events.

K-1 has only hosted one event, their 63Kg tournament, on YouTube after being unable to secure a TV deal and fighters such as Jerome Le Banner have been vocal in their displeasure with K-1’s inability to pay their fighters on more occasions than some care to count.

As for organizations like DEEP and Cage Force, they’ve been successful in their own respects, without a major TV deal, but Cage Force hasn’t put on a show this year and DEEP canceled their first international show just days before the event.

So far, Pancrase has been having the most foreseeable long-term success, but that can be attributed only to the downfall of Sengoku.

So when MMA Fighting’s Daniel Herbertson talks about Hioki’s debut against George Roop at UFC 134, Anderson Silva’s shot to erase the last loss of his career against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 or things from DREAM hosting another Bantamweight Grand Prix to prominent kickboxing promotion It’s Showtime putting on shows in Japan, is it realistic to believe that we have anything to look forward to in the Japanese MMA scene?

Well, the UFC isn’t the Japanese MMA scene, so yes, it is very realistic.

See, even if DREAM or K-1 isn’t responsible for the next big Japanese fighter, DEEP and newborn Singaporean MMA promotion One Fighting Championship, possibly the Bellator of the Asian circuit, could be responsible for the next big MMA star out of the Asian circuit.

Riki Fukuda  and his now famous bout with Ryuta Sakurai has already put DEEP on the map as an organization to watch, former UFC Welterweight mainstay Yoshiyuki Yoshida has tested the waters in One FC so far and the heavily underrated RINGS promotion is looking to return with a show slated for March 2012.

Really speaking, the only other reason why Japanese MMA might see a more depressing future, other than the current woes previously stated, concerns the DREAM/Strikeforce alliance.

If you will recall, DREAM had a deal with Strikeforce to allow some of their fighters to fight on Strikeforce cards with Strikeforce fighters being also allowed to be fight on DREAM cards, provided they were not booked for a Strikeforce event or provided that they were cleared to go through with a proper training camp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUgorKprcxQ

As the UFC incorporated the lightweights into their organization, the time finally came when DREAM featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya finally fought for Strikeforce, but now that Zuffa, LLC.  has purchased Strikeforce, the smart money is that the co-promotional deal will be over once Strikeforce’s contractual agreement with Showtime is over.

That may be the only other problem, though, because as time goes on, a new generation of Japanese fighters will emerge and as long as the most revered market in the sport keeps producing top-card talent, Japanese MMA has nothing to worry about.

As a matter of fact, one should not be surprised if Japanese MMA starts to go through a rebirth starting in 2012.

It’s a long shot, but for Japanese MMA as it exists in 2011, a long shot is better than no shot at all.

Undefeated bantamweight fighter Alex Soto is a fighter to watch.

This Friday, June 24th, Soto will be making his Japanese debut against 13-4 veteran Japanese fighter Seiji Akao on a stacked DEEP 54 card.

I had to chance to catch up with Soto as he talks about the struggle of coming up in the sport of MMA, fighting in Japan, training with Trevor Witman and Greg Jackson, and Mexican MMA.....

I have seen your height listed at 5'6'' and 5'9''.  What is accurate? 

I'm 5'8''.

You have fought at featherweight and at bantamweight. Now at bantamweight, do you have to cut much weight? 

I usually train around 150 lbs., so my natural weight class is 135 lbs.

I'm too small for featherweight and a little bit big for bantamweight. It's something you have to get used to.

What are you doing to prepare for fighting in Japan?

Nothing different. We're expecting a good fight from this guy, I'm fighting Seiji Akao. He's a tough opponent man. There's no difference from getting punched in the face in Mexico or in the US, it's the same punch that happens in Japan too.

Are you comfortable with hostile crowds, have you fought in front of a hostile crowd before? 

I have experienced hostile crowds before. When I fought in Mexico I fought against one of the guys that is famous down there and there was a bit of a hostile crowd. But that fight ended up going the distance and it was a really good fight and the crowd ended up liking the both of us, so I got a lot of respect for that crowd. 

But I keep hearing that in Japan it's a lot different. 

I've heard that Japanese crowds are more respectful. 

It's just that it's a different culture. It's a different view; a different type of audience. That's my understanding so far, but I haven't fought there yet.

But that's what I expect, I keep hearing that from fighters that have fought down there, that it's very quiet, you know, and you can hear the breathing and hear the coaches talking and you can really hear the punches. It's going to be interesting. 

I know you train out of San Diego but I also heard that Trevor Wittman out of Colorado has had some complimentary things to say about you.

 I went up to Denver. I've gone there twice and I've spent a couple weeks up there and it's just been great. I got to train with Grudge Training Center in Denver and we actually took a road trip and headed down to New Mexico and also got to train with Greg Jackson's team. Also great bunch of guys. But the majority of my training has been down here in San Diego training under Manolo Hernandez who also trains Liz Carmouche from Strikeforce.

Some of biggest names in the sport are up there in Colorado. Did they inspire you or do you look up to any of them in particular? 

Those guys have been awesome. I look up to every single one of those fighters. They have Nate Marquardt over there. Brenand Schaub. I got to meet those guys and a lot of the lighter weight classes too. It was just great, everyone in the sport is very professional and all those guys are really cool man. 

You have an interesting story. Can you tell us a little bit about immigrating from Mexico and joining the armed forces?

We're an immigrant family. I grew up in Tijuana which is not that far, obviously, from San Diego. It was , you know, tough times in Mexico so my family had to pack up their stuff and come to the US with their pocket full of hopes and a handful of dreams.

I've got to give it all to my parents- they worked really hard to make sure we had a good education and to provide for us to be able to succeed. I come from a big family. Five of us kids and my two parents, but we made it through and now we're all professionals in our own way. My oldest brother is a writer, my other brother is a violinist, my [other] brother is extreme and does professional BMX for a living. So we have done what we need to do to succeed and acclimate in the US.

How about joining the army? I know many MMA fighters have said that the armed forces has molded their character and prepared them for more than anything they could ever experience in the cage.

Well the reason I joined is because I was 18 years old and 9/11 had just happened. I felt not only a sense of duty for living here in this country but also to stand up for what I believe was right and do my part and represent my family and do it for my family. Everybody has [somebody] that served this country so everybody does their part and I did it for my family and I did my part. 

I see that you are also a dolphin trainer for the Navy?

 I have a great job too. After serving in the Army I became a SeaWorld diver, scrubing the pens and taking care of the facilities at SeaWorld. I ended up going into the training department and ended up being able to be a dolphin trainer at SeaWorld. With my military background and my diving experience and being able to train dolphins, it ended up being a perfect fit for the Navy and their Marine Animal Program. 

How do you navigate two careers? Could we see you leave MMA?

 The reason I got into MMA is because you only get one chance in a lifetime to do something like this. I always believed I could be good at this. I believed I could go very far in this sport. I made a choice to get into MMA and really pursue this career. But I also do my work you know. I gotta pay my bills and stuff. Obviously starting off in MMA it doesn't pay very much but it's something that you have a passion for and you really have to go for it and chase your dreams.

Animals—I've always loved animals that's why I'm in the industry of training animals. I've always been taking care of them. A lot of people have a very special connection with animals—so it's also a very special job. It's definitely a tough choice. If my career in MMA continues to go, I'll have to make a choice. Right now it's a lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work, and you know things don't come easy unless you work very hard at them. 

As an undefeated fighter, you have yet to experience your first loss. How are you psychologically prepared for potentially getting that first loss eventually?

It'll come. I never think of it in the way that I'm undefeated. I'm always thinking one fight at a time.

Whatever happened in the past is in the past. Right now it's Seiji Akao. That's all I think about. The losses or a perfect record, it really doesn't have a lot of meaning behind it because I just take one fight at a time. Even if the performance wasn't good, I learn from every single one of my fights. 

As your career keeps blossoming and you get opportunities, how do you see yourself stack up with some of the higher ranked bantamweights in the world?

I consider myself a fighter. Those are the things that will come. Which ever promotion is put in front of me I would go and fight.

That aside, I strongly believe in my coaching staff and my team and we believe that we can hang in their with those guys and be just as competitive as any one of those guys. 

How would you describe your fighting style?

It really has evolved now where a lot of different fighters that are coming up are learning the arts of the martial arts, the mixed aspect of it. I think I'm one of those guys that has to be well rounded- good on the ground, good on the stand-up, and good wrestling skills. Those are the ones that are succeeding, at least right now. That's what you see right now. I like to say that I am a well rounded fighter. I don't really have particular a spot where I could classify myself as a wrestler or anything like that. 

Lastly, what is your perception of Mexican fighters and how the culture in Mexican MMA is coming along?

I've competed down in Mexico so I have a good idea of what's out there in Mexico, and tough guys are coming out, but haven't had the opportunity to showcase it. But the league that I was fighting for, they're doing a lot of promotions now and they're starting to air across the country all the fights, and you know, it's finally picking up steam. A lot of guys that are down in Mexico training are really good guys. It's definitely happening where you're going to see a lot of tough Mexican fighters soon.

Thank you very much for your time. Any shout-outs?

I have to thank my wife for dealing with this—this is a family affair where everyone puts their sacrifices in it.

Also San Diego Combat Academy, my management company Alchemist, everybody from Grudge that's been believing in me as well. And also my sponsor Ranger Up and thanks to everyone that supports me.

-Best of luck to Alex in his Japanese debut on the 24th. Check out his highlight video on YouTube here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmJ7M0KhLQw

In the semifinals of the Dream 5 lightweight tournament, Eddie Alvarez met Japanese sensation, Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Alvarez had beaten his two previous opponents, Andre Amade, and a tough Joachim Hansen to get to this fight.

The bout began off with both fighters trading blows, Alvarez with cool combinations and Kawajiri with a mixture of leg kicks, knees and punches.

Three minutes in, Alvarez had Kawajiri rocked and was teeing off. But somehow Kawajiri was able to recover and got back up and continued to press on.

Then the bout was quickly stopped for a tiny cut under the eye of Alvarez and then quickly started again.

Then after they began the fight again, Kawajiri knocked down Alvarez and began to turn the tables. Kawajiri then controlled Alvarez for a long amount of time on the ground and began to wear down Alvarez.

Alvarez then got up and both fighters began teeing off. Ironically, commentator Bas Rutten said “It’s like a Rocky movie!” Alvarez is from Philadelphia and is a great boxer. Then again, both fighters started trading blows and got up against the ropes. With both fighters getting hurt over and over, it was Alvarez who began to go off on Kawajiri, knocks him down, thinks the bout is over, and then goes on to to beat him senseless on the ground.

Alvarez was unable to compete in the finals of this tournament due to that cut under his eye, and was replaced by Joachim Hansen, who would go on and beat Shinya Aoki in the finals.

Since this card, Alvarez has gone 7-1 with his only loss coming against Aoki in his next fight at Dynamite!! 2008. Alvarez is currently the Bellator lightweight champion and is set to face Michael Chandler sometime soon.

Kawajiri is 5-2 since this fight with losses to both Aoki and Gilbert Melendez. His most recent bout was against Melendez where he was dominated in the first round and lost by TKO. Kawajiri is set to face Willamy Freire at Dream 17.

You can follow Sal on Twitter: @SalDeRoseMMA

On November 12, 1993 in front of an audience of 2,800, Royce Gracie slipped his arm around Gerard Gordau’s neck and applied a textbook rear naked choke to win the first Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Rorion Gracie’s vision of showing the world the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu had been realized, and the event did a shocking 86,000 PPV buys.

Royce would return to the Octagon nine more times in the next two years, compiling an 8-0-1 record, and both Royce and his family’s art became legendary.

The UFC was a smashing success, almost too successful, as it inspired many young athletes to take up the newly emerging sport of mixed martial arts rather than Rorion’s intention of purely spreading Jiu-Jitsu.

That said, all across the United States, demand for the Gracie’s family art poured out, and now there was a challenge to meet that demand.  

Carlson Gracie moved to Chicago, IL and opened an academy, Renzo Gracie set up shop in New York, Jorge Gurgel came to West Chester, OH in a high school exchange program and Jeff Hudson, a white belt under Relson Gracie, established a school in Columbus, OH, to just name a few.

Rorion Gracie continued to help run the UFC but, by UFC 5, he was in constant fights with the television producers about making the events more TV-friendly and lawmakers on making events safer. These problems came to a head at UFC 4 in December of 1994.

Senator John McCain was making a serious push to kill MMA in its infancy and made a concerted effort to get PPV providers to drop the show. The UFC staved off his assault this time but that was just the beginning of their problems.

Royce Gracie faced Dan Severn, a highly decorated wrestler, in the final of that tournament and the match lasted 15 minutes and 49 seconds; three minutes and 49 seconds over the allotted time for the PPV. Many viewers didn’t get to see Royce’s amazing triangle victory, rather their screen went black at exactly 11 p.m. EST. The TV producers used this catastrophe to force the UFC to adopt rounds and time limits.

Rorion believed that this addition of time limits took what was a pure expression of martial arts fighting and turned it into a game. He saw the spirit and purpose of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was in fighting and self-defense and not in a sporting capacity.

The Gracie family took part in UFC 5 and then withdrew from the promotion all together, selling their stake in the company.

While the UFC had done wonders for Jiu-Jitsu, and student numbers at every academy were growing by leaps and bounds, the Gracies were not done fighting.

Meanwhile in Japan, a perfect venue for the Gracies to continue fighting had developed.

The two true forerunners of Mixed Martial Arts were the Vale Tudo matches that took place in Brazil over the course of the 20th century and the rise of Shoot Fighting in Japan.

Karl Istaz, also known as Karl Gotch, was a very accomplished amateur wrestler, competing in the 1948 Olympics in both the freestyle and Greco-Roman events. But it was when he became a professional wrestler that he achieved true fame.

Istaz traveled to Japan and taught his wrestling skills to a number of Japanese pro wrestlers, including Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Satoru Sayama, Masami Soranaka and Akira Maeda. Many of these pro-wrestlers had backgrounds in either karate or judo.

Together these wrestlers, along with others, began to move Japanese pro-wrestling away from pre-scripted fights, "works," and towards real matches called "shoots."

Rules varied from match to match, and the grappling tended to be submission focused. The promotion Pancrase was creating featured nothing but these live matches between pro-wrestlers and became one of the very first havens of Mixed Martial Arts.

This was a perfect venue for the type of fighting the Gracies preferred to showcase, their Jiu-Jitsu, with minimal rules so it was as close as possible to actual fighting.

It was also not lost on the Gracies that fighting in Japan would mean returning to the home of Mitsuyo Maeda, the man who had taught Carlos Gracie the ways of Kodokan Judo.

The first Gracie to make the long trip to the home of Jiu-Jitsu was Rickson, who had been forced to watch Royce fight in the UFC because he had been judged "too physically imposing" to be considered an underdog.

Rickson fought in several Vale Tudo Japan events during 1994 and 1995, but in 1997 he got a chance to become as big of a legend as his cousin in the young sport of MMA.

Rickson was becoming a star of the now rapidly growing Japanese MMA scene. In 1997, the Gracies were approached by the entertainment company Kakutougi Revolution Spirits to create a new promotion in Japan that would pit Rickson against popular pro-wrestler, Nobuhiko Takada.

The Gracies agreed, seeing an excellent chance to again show the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To that end, they would again help to create one of the most successful MMA promotions in history.

On October 11, 1997, four years after Royce fought in UFC 1, Rickson Gracie defeated Takada in the Tokyo Dome at Pride 1.

Pride was an instant success in Japan, taking the action and sport of MMA and giving the flair of Japanese pro-wrestling and giving the Gracies the proper amount of latitude with rules for them to be happy to participate.

Rickson would fight two more times in Japan and cement himself as a legend in that nation. Renzo, Rolyer and Ryan Gracie would all fight in Japan, but it was Royce’s match against a rival of the Gracie family using an old technique that would prove to be the bane of the Gracie family.

Kazushi Sakuraba was a Japanese pro wrestler who faced his first Gracie on November 21, 1999, when he was matched against the very decorated Royler at Pride 8.

Sakuraba shocked many in the MMA world when he submitted Royler in the second round with a Kimura; a shoulder lock named after a Judoka who had defeated Helio Gracie in a legendary match in 1955.

The Gracies wished to avenge their loss and sent Royce, the hero of the UFC, to defeat this upstart pro-wrestler. Sakuraba again shocked the world when he forced Royce’s corner to stop the match after an hour and half of fighting.

Renzo Gracie was Sakuraba’s next victim, whom he caught again with the dreaded Kimura lock. When Renzo refused to tap like his famous ancestor, Sakuraba left his arm mangled. Sakuraba was soon dubbed "The Gracie Hunter" and it would take until Ralek Gracie’s win over him in 2010 for the Gracies to reclaim their honor.

In a brief aside, while the original Jui-Jitsu had been transformed into Judo, which at this point had become an Olympic sport, some of Japanese Jui-Jitsu survived the tremendous cultural change Japan went through during the Meiji era and then World War II.

Some of the Ryus, or styles, of the original Jui-Jitsu persisted, some preserved almost perfectly, while others were molded into new martial arts, like Aikido.

Most of these styles focused purely on standing self-defense grappling. Many of the techniques are complicated joint locks, that when done correctly, are fluid and beautiful to behold, and many can still be effectively applied in the real world.

Some of these arts now come under criticism, particularly Aikido, because of their lack of resistance training or sparring. While some of these criticisms are fair and justified, these are still fully formed martial arts that had benefited students all over the world.

By the early 2000s, just as the sport of mixed martial arts was entering the mainstream, the Gracies were mostly done with fighting. They had left a deep impact on the sport and mixed martial arts world, but the goal had always been to spread the awareness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

That goal was undoubtedly reached as schools all over the world swelled with eager students to learn from these champions of fighting and test their skills against one another.

Sources

Gracie, Rorion. Interview with T.J. De Santis on Sherdog Radio Network. 16 Jan 2011

Kid Nate. "MMA History Part III: Proto MMA Evolves Out of Worked Pro Wrestling in Japan - Bloody Elbow." Bloody Elbow - Pound-for-Pound the Best in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Commentary, News and Community.

Kid Nate. "MMA History Part IV: Rickson Brings Jiu Jitsu Back to Japan - Bloody Elbow." Bloody Elbow - Pound-for-Pound the Best in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Commentary, News and Community

Meltzer, Dave. "UFC 4: Trouble on the horizon - UFC - Yahoo! Sports." Yahoo! Sports - Sports News, Scores, Rumors, Fantasy Games, and more.

"Rickson Gracie - Generations." Gracie Academy ®.

Alistair Overeem, 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion and Strikeforce heavyweight champion, apparently has an opponent for the vacant Dream Heavyweight Championship at the K-1 Dynamite New Year's Eve event.

UFC refugee Todd Duffee has said that he will be the man facing Overeem at Dynamite.

After dominating Mike Russow for two-and-a-half rounds, Duffee was caught with a thunderous right cross, sending him to the canvas and rendering him useless. Duffee’s boxing was stellar until his gas tank started running out. He left his hands down too far, and, like any MMA veteran would do, Russow capitalized and caught the young prospect.

Duffee subsequently had to pull out of his next bout due to a knee injury (Duffee claims he never agreed to the fight, his manager did) and was soon after released by the UFC. Dana White went on to say the release was mainly due to a “bad attitude” shown on Duffee’s part.

Whatever the case may be, Duffee surely wants back into the big show. What better way then, by beating one of the best heavyweights in the world in Alistair Overeem?

Overeem’s last mixed martial arts contest was in May against Brett Rogers. Rogers was made to look like a rookie by the horse meat-eating “Demolition Man.”

One would wonder if Todd Duffee is biting off a bit more than he can chew. Overeem is a consensus top-ten heavyweight. Duffee is really only scratching the surface of his career. However, the Xtreme Couture prospect has the size and strength to match up with a man like Overeem. His boxing can be a nice test for Overeem’s striking skills, especially when you consider Overeem’s lack of a ground game. Duffee can utilize the boxing to make Overeem forget about the floor, where Duffee can control the Grand Prix winner.

Duffee has nothing to lose going into this fight. It is a fight he is not supposed to win. He has the ability, I just do not believe he is ready to take on a fighter of Overeem’s caliber.

Sengoku officials announced earlier today, that WEC and DREAM veteran Yoshiro Maeda will make his debut in the Sengoku promotion when he takes on former Sengoku featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara at "Sengoku: Soul of Fight".

"Sengoku: Soul of Fight" will take place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan and will be live on HDNet on December 30th. In the featured fight of the night, Sengoku featherweight champion Marlon Sandro will defend his title against current Shooto lightweight champion Hatsu Hioki.

HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon stated that the event would not air in its entirety due to the fact it's an all day event.

Maeda most recently snapped a two-fight losing streak after picking up a win over Takafumi Otsuka at DEEP 50. Since Maeda's departure from the now defunct WEC, he has gone 3-3 and will look to develop some consistency as he takes on Kanehara.

Kanehara will look to erase the devastating knock out loss he suffered at the hands of Marlon Sandro earlier this year and try to get back on track as one of the top featherweights in the world.

Sengoku officials also announced was the always exciting Maximo Blanco vs. Won Sik Park, UFC veteran Yuki Sasaki vs. Mamed Khalidov, Strikeforce veteran Roxanne Modafferi vs. Hitomi Akano, and Amy Davis vs. Misaki Takimoto. 

Also, according to a tweet from MMA Fighting's Dan Herbertson, former no.1 ranked female fighter Megumi Fujii is also expected to be on the card.  

"Sengoku: Soul of Fight" MMA portion of the card thus far:

SRC MMA rules:

• Marlon Sandro vs. Hatsu Hioki (for Sengoku featherweight title)
• Maximo Blanco vs. Won Sik Park
• Mamed Khalidov vs. Yuki Sasaki
• Kazuo Misaki vs. Mike Seal
• Yoshiro Maeda vs. Masanori Kanehara
• Kazunori Yokota vs. Jadamba Narantungalag 
• Dave Herman vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
• Roxanne Modafferi vs. Hitomi Akano
• Amy Davis vs. Misaki Takimoto
• Rin Nakai vs. Hari

SRC welterweight grand prix final (3x5 minute rounds):

• Keita Nakamura vs. Yasubey Enomoto

SRC bantamweight grand prix semifinals (2x5 minute rounds):

• Akitoshi Tamura vs. Taiyo Nakahara
• Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu