Tatsuya Kawajiri returns at UFC Fight Night 39, faces Clay Guida in Abu Dhabi

http://fightsportasia.com/2014/02/14...-in-abu-dhabi/

A Featherweight contest has now been booked for the UFC’s return visit to Abu Dhabi, where the event is scheduled to take place April 11th at the Yas Island venue.

Fan favorite Tatsuya Kawajiri steps back into the Octagon for a second time following a successful debut, while UFC veteran Clay Guida looks to get back in the win column.

Sources close to the Kawajiri camp confirmed the match-up with FSA earlier today.

Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-7-2) who began his journey into Mixed Martial Arts back in 2000, finally signed with the UFC late last year. Having been in the sport for over a decade, Kawajiri fought for some of the sports biggest promotions – Shooto, DREAM, Pride, ONE FC and Strikeforce.

Now the 35-year-old fights under the UFC lights, where he made his promotional debut at the turn of the year defeating late replacement Sean Soriano in the UFC’s first trip to Singapore.

Currently on a 6-fight win streak with five of those coming at 145-lbs, the fighter known as “Crusher” isn’t slowing down anytime soon, eager to test his skills against the best in the world and challenge for the Featherweight gold.

Clay Guida (30-14) of Jackson’s MMA has been around the Octagon since 2006, that’s saw him fight a who’s who of the sport. Having fought his entire career in the Lightweight division, Guida decided to drop down a weight class following back-to-back losses against Gray Maynard & Benson Henderson.

The 32-year-old made his debut at 145-lbs against top Japanese fighter Hatsu Hioki. Guida went on to get his hand raised in a somewhat questionable decision in many peoples eyes.

However, having defeated Hioki, the high-energy Guida would then square off with top contender Chad Mendes. After a fairly one-sided fight, Mendes went onto finish Guida via TKO becoming the first man to ever do so.

Coming off a loss, Guida now turns his attention to 2014 and start things off the right way when he meets fellow wrestler Tatsuya Kawajiri.

*Headlining the card sees the Heavyweights collide, as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-8-1-1) faces Roy Nelson (19-9) in a fight both men are looking to bounce back in having lost their previous outings.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship, 4/11/14
“UFC Fight Night 39″
Yas Island
Abu Dhabi, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Heavyweight Bout
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Roy Nelson

Welterweight Bout
Ryan LaFlare vs. John Howard

Featherweight Bout
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Clay Guida

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?82426-Tatsuya-Kawajiri-returns-at-UFC-Fight-Night-39-faces-Clay-Guida-in-Abu-Dhabi&goto=newpost

Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia

Freemasons Revealed

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?82493-Freemasons-Revealed&goto=newpost

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama

Denis Smoldarev vs. Ante Delija headlines M-1 Challenge 45 on Feb. 28

M-1 Global Heavyweight contender Denis Smoldarev headlines M-1 Challenge 45 on Friday night, February 28 against Ante “Walking Trouble” Delija at Atmosphere Show Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The main event is an intriguing heavyweight showdown between Estonia’s undefeated Smoldarev (5-0-0, 2 KO/TKO, 1 SUB) and Delila (9-1-0, 3 KO/TKO, 1 SUB), who has been billed as the next great Croatian MMA star.

The 6′ 5″, 250-pound Smoldarev, who has a judo and sambo background, was the heavyweight winner of the M-1 Selection Grand Prix. The 24-year-old advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 M-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix but was forced to pull out only two days prior to the fight due to a knee injury. Delila, who stands 6′ 4 ¾” and weighs 230-pounds, is best known for his killer instinct having stopped within the distance all nine of the opponents he has defeated.

M-1 Challenge 45 will air live on Russia 2, the terrestrial channel, throughout Russia and the Commonwealth of Individual States (CIS), as well as across the Middle East on Abu Dhabi Sports Channels.

“This first event of 2014 for M-1 Global kicks off with some great rivalries and important fights to determine who is going to fight for the title,” M1 Global president Vadim Finkelchtein said. “This fight is for the No. 1 Heavyweight contender between two very talented and enormous young prospects. Smoldarev is unbeaten in seven bouts while Delija has only one loss and is considered to be the next big thing in Croatian MMA. Whoever wins is likely to challenge the M-1 Global Heavyweight Champion (champion Damian Grabowski will defend next vs. Marcin Tybura) in the summer.”

M-1 Global is the No. 1 European MMA organization, as well as one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 1998. Superstar Fedor Emelianenko, considered by many to be the greatest fighter in MMA history, has been the face of M-1 Global around the combat sports world for the past decade.

The M-1 Challenge series has traditionally introduced a new wave of potential MMA stars, showcasing elite athletes from Russia and across Europe. Many fighters who fall into the aforementioned category will be showcased on M-1 Challenge 45.

The M-1 Challenge 45 event is stacked from top-to-bottom, featuring five Super Fights to go along with the main event.

M-1 Global lightweight title challenger Nikko Puhakka (28-14-0, 5 KO/TKO, 8 SUB) meets undefeated Russian prospect Maxim Divnich (7-0-0, 4 KO/TKO). Puhakka’s a skilled submission artist with tremendous stamina. He was one of the best Team Finland fighters in the 2009 M-1 Challenge Team Championships. Divnich is a high-regarded kick-boxer who, of course, prefers to fight on his feet.

Tough Spanish welterweight Daniel “The Gladiator” Tabera (17-5-3, 4 KO/TKO, 7 SUB) faces unbeaten Russian sensation Ilya Doderkin (3-0, 3 SUB). Tabera will be making his welterweight debut having previously fought in all weight divisions between middleweight and heavyweight, while Doderkin has achieved status of Master of Sports in Sambo (Russian Federation).

Battle-tested Polish light heavyweight Marcin Zontek (12-8-0, 6 KO/TKO, 5 SUB) will battle 20-year-old Russian striker Rashid Yusupov (2-2-0, 1 KO/TKO, 1 SUB). A past M-1 Global light heavyweight title challenger, Zontek has never been knocked out and he returns to action after a lengthy lay-off due to multiple injuries following his “Best Fight of 2013″ effort against Sergey Korneev. Yusupov graduated to professional MMA after winning top honors in Russian and World Amateur MMA tournaments last year, in which he stopped all of his opponents in the latter competition.

Hot Bulgarian prospect Sotir Kichukov (12-1, 2 KOs, 7 SUB) rides a seven-fight win streak into his match-up with veteran Russian featherweight Yunus Evloev (12-6-0, 4 KO/TKO, 6 SUB). The 23-year-old Kichukov is an outstanding grappler and Maxfight Bantamweight Champion back in his country. The winner of multiple international grappling tournaments, Evloev started his MMA career in 2005 as a lightweight.

A pair of 23-year-old Russian lightweights, Rakhman Makhadzhiev (1-0-0, 1 SUB) and Sergey Andreev (5-2-0, 2 SUB), round-out the M-1 Challenge 45 event. Another standout grappler, Makhadzhiev is dropping down from the welterweight division. He was a 2012 Russian National and European Amateur MMA Champion. Andreev is an aggressive fighter with a solid wrestling base. He won a four-man amateur tournament at M-1 Challenge 41.

All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Go Facebook for more information about M-1 Global and M-1 Challenge 45 at https://www.facebook.com/pages/M-1-Global/145250878842244.

ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL:
Founded in 1998, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Gobal and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and matchups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fuelled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global’s Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global’s greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.

Denis Smoldarev vs. Ante Delija headlines M-1 Challenge 45 on Feb. 28 is a post from: MMA Interplay

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/mma/denis-smoldarev-vs-ante-delija-headlines-m-1-challenge-45-on-feb-28-68087/

Rich No Love Clementi Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs Ray Cooper

The Raid 2 :Trailer

Def a watch for me

Source: http://www.mmaforum.com/entertainment/162417-raid-2-trailer.html

Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo Kyle Bradley

ONE FC Returns to Manila on May 2; New Signing Yusuke Kawanago Set to Debut

http://www.mmaweekly.com/one-fc-retu...o-set-to-debut

ONE FC recently signed a partnership deal with the SM Mall of Asia Arena, which will see Asia’s biggest MMA promotion hold two events per year at the 20,000-capacity venue in Manila, with the first 2014 event confirmed for May 2.

It will be the fourth time ONE FC has put on an event in the Philippines and the third time the promotion has headed to the brand new SM Mall of Asia Arena. The most recent card there was headlined by a featherweight title fight between Koji Oishi and Honorio Banario, which took place last December.

In a busy news day for ONE FC, it also emerged that 13-3-2 Japanese fighter Yusuke Kawanago was the latest in a spate of recent signings. He is the reigning Legend FC featherweight champion and won the title by beating Rob Lisita by unanimous decision in 2012.

Kawanago is likely to be making his promotional debut in Manila this May and joins a 145-pound division that is currently home to the likes of Eric Kelly, Bruno Pucci, Herbert Burns, Edward Kelly, Lisita and Banario, as well as the reigning champion Oishi.

Also likely to be seeing action at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in May is Filipino flyweight Rey Docyogen, who has finally finished his architectural exams and will be looking to show that he can be a contender in the 125-pound division after suffering a controversial split decision loss to Yasuhiro Urushitani in his most recent fight.

With Ben Askren’s ONE FC debut reportedly booked for Singapore on May 30, it is going to be a busy few weeks for the rapidly expanding promotion, which is set to put on two shows in the space of a single calendar month for the first time in its history

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?82473-ONE-FC-Returns-to-Manila-on-May-2-New-Signing-Yusuke-Kawanago-Set-to-Debut&goto=newpost

Murilo Bustamante Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante Luiz Cane

Former UFC heavyweight champ Mark Coleman selling Pride GP 2000 trophy on Ebay for $24.5K

Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/2/24/5444352/ufc-heavyweight-champ-mark-coleman-selling-pride-gp-trophy-ebay-245k-mma-news

Masakatsu Funaki Zelg Benkei Galesić Mauro Galvao Arman Gambaryan

Junior dos Santos thinks he and Cain Velasquez will meet in a fourth UFC Title fight, ready to return by May or June

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos is still awaiting an opponent for a return late this spring, but he's still thinking about working back to yet another fight with Cain Velasquez.

"I think I will meet Velasquez again in a title fight," dos Santos said in an interview with Tatame.com (translated by Fernando Arbex at BloodyElbow.com). "He says I won't but I [think I will], I'm still the number 1=one guy from the [heavyweight rankings]. Of course I won't fight for the belt so soon, but if Cain establishes himself as the champion and I obtain two or three wins, I believe we will meet again."

"He is a guy that I admire a lot. He was knocked out, learned with his mistakes, blocked my game and beat me. Now it's me who is trying to evolve."

First up is getting back in the win column, and dos Santos says he's still targeting May or June to get back in the cage.

"They can book my fight right now," dos Santos said. "In the end of May or beginning of June I would be ready to fight. I need three months to prepare myself and have a nice camp."

Penick's Analysis: Given how thin the ranks are at heavyweight, I wouldn't be surprised to see dos Santos get a fourth fight with Velasquez. It's at least a year and a half and probably more away from being a reality, but it certainly could happen. Dos Santos needs to win a number of fights in a row, and do so convincingly and impressively, to hold his spot as the No. 2 guy in the division and earn one more crack at Velasquez.

[Junior dos Santos art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_20436.shtml

Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes