Frankie comemora no UFC 136. Foto: Arquivos GRACIEMAG.

O UFC esta de volta à Terra do Sol Nascente, precisamente no dia 26 de fevereiro de 2012. O palco será a tradicional Saitama Super Arena, onde os fãs vibraram por muitos anos com os combates do Pride.

O card não traz tanta nostalgia aos eternos fãs dos Pride, mas conta com quatro astros da época do quadrilátero nipônico. E não traz nenhum brasileiro.

As feras que lutaram no ringue japonês e estão escalados para a volta do Ultimate ao Japão, 12 anos depois do último evento, são Mark Hunt (da Nova Zelândia), Quinton Jackson (EUA), Takanori Gomi e Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (locais).

Já a luta principal traz a eletrizante disputa do cinturão dos leves, entre o campeão Frankie Edgar e Ben Henderson.

UFC 144

Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japão

26 de fevereiro de 2012

Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson

Quinton Jackson vs Ryan Bader

Cheick Kongo vs Mark Hunt

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Jake Shields

Joe Lauzon vs Anthony Pettis

Yushin Okami vs Tim Boetsch

Riki Fukuda vs Steve Cantwell

Norifumi Yamamoto vs Vaughan Lee

Takanori Gomi vs George Sotiropoulos

Takeya Mizugaki vs Chris Cariaso

Tiequan Zhang vs Leonard Garcia

Hatsu Hioki vs Bart Palaszewski

Minota submits Cro Cop in Saitama, in a Pride classic. Photo: Susumu Nagao.

Since the beginning, UFC president Dana White has been saying the promotion will return to Japan. And now there’s a date for that to happen; it’ll be on February 26 at the traditional Saitama Super Arena. In 1997, the UFC bought Pride FC, which sealed the fate of the Japanese organization that made history early in the century. Since then, despite MMA still having a passionate following in the Land of the Rising Sun, the sport has been on a decline in the country. Could an event from the UFC change that story around?

Whether it happens or not, it’s still too early to know. But the formula UFC parent company Zuffa has come up with for the event seeks to identify with Pride lovers. It should be a nostalgic night.

At the post-UFC Rio press conference, Rodrigo Minotauro, who fought for the first time ever in Brazil, commented on a possible return to Japan, the place where he was catapulted into stardom.

“Now it’s time to rest, and – who knows? – maybe I’ll get to fight February in Japan,” said Mino.

Besides Minotauro, other stars from the late Pride FC event may put in appearances, such as Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop and Quinton Jackson. Of course, there are plenty of Japanese fighters on the UFC roster who could see action, like Yushin Okami, Hatsu Hioki, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Takanori Gomi and Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.

With a wrestling background, Ueda, back in his college days, beat a well-known rival, his compatriot Kid Yamamoto, who now fights in the UFC. Check out a video of Ueda’s only loss ever – by submission – in the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lle0l_JE40

Royler, who arrived in Amazonas state early to get used to the hot and humid climate, said he’s ready for anything, as he gets ready for Amazon Forest Combat, where he will be having his final fight.

“Having my farewell fight in Brazil was a priority to me. Fighting here has a different feeling to it, especially in Manaus, one of the world’s greatest breeding grounds for MMA and, mainly, Jiu-Jitsu fighters,” the Gracie told Terra website reporter Eduardo Cruz. “The card exceeds all expectations. You can tell they’re investing heavily, bringing in a lot of people from abroad. My mind and body are in synch, in perfect working order. I had a good training camp in California and had the chance to train with a bunch of professional MMA fighters, even some from the UFC and Strikeforce.”

Amazon Forest Combat is set to go down at 8pm on September 14 at the Amadeu Teixeira Arena, a venue with a 12,000-spectator capacity. Mario Yamasaki will be head referee for the event.

Professor Royler has already set up shop in Manaus, where he’s staying at the sumptuous Tropical Hotel, which even features a zoo on the premises. The biggest beasts, however, can be found in the lobby. Check out the card released by the event’s promoters:

Amazon Forest Combat
September 14, 2011
Amadeu Teixeira Arena, Manaus, Brazil

Royler Gracie vs Masakatsu Ueda
Josh Burkam vs Roan Jucão
Paulão Filho vs Satoshi Ishii
Antonio Braga Neto vs Maiquel Falcão
Alexandre Capitão vs Shanon Slack
Jordan Smith vs Karo Parisyan
Ronnys Torres vs Drew Ficket
Dileno Lopes vs Danny Martinez
George Clay vs Anthony Birchack
Sergio Junior vs Daniel Acácio
Rivaldo Jr vs André Leocádio

Minota finaliza Cro Cop em Saitama, num dos clássicos do Pride. Foto: Susumu Nagao.

Desde o início do ano, Dana White, presidente do UFC, confirmara a volta da organização ao Japão. E o evento já tem data para acontecer, vai ser no dia 26 de fevereiro, na tradicional Saitama Super Arena.

O Ultimate comprou o Pride no que selou de vez o fim da organização japonesa que fez história no início do século. De lá para cá, apesar de o MMA ainda ser uma paixão na Terra do Sol Nascente, o que se viu foi a decadência da modalidade no país. Poderia uma edição do UFC mudar essa história?

Se isso vai acontecer, ainda é cedo para saber. Mas, a fórmula adotada pelos dirigentes da Zuffa para o evento procura a identificação dos amantes do Pride. Deve ser uma noite nostálgica.

Na coletiva de imprensa do UFC Rio, Rodrigo Minotauro, que lutara pela primeira vez no Brasil, comentou o possível retorno ao Japão, local onde alcançou o estrelato.

“Agora é descansar e, quem sabe, volto em fevereiro, no Japão”, disse Minota.

Além de Minotauro, outros ídolos do extinto Pride devem dar as caras, entre eles Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop e Quinton Jackson. Claro, lutadores japoneses do Ultimate poderão estar em ação, atletas como Yushin Okami, Hatsu Hioki, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Takanori Gomi e Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.

Wrestler de formação, Ueda já venceu nos seus tempos de universidade um conhecido rival, o compatriota Kid Yamamoto, hoje no UFC. (Confira, abaixo, a única derrota de Ueda, por finalização:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lle0l_JE40

Royler, que chegou cedo ao Amazonas para se acostumar ao clima quente e úmido, se disse pronto para tudo, antes do evento Amazon Forest Combat.

“Me despedir no Brasil foi minha prioridade. Lutar aqui é uma sensação diferente, principalmente em Manaus, um dos maiores celeiros de lutadores de MMA e, principalmente, de Jiu-Jitsu no mundo”, disse o Gracie ao repórter Eduardo Cruz, do portal Terra. “O card está acima de qualquer expectativa. Dá para ver que há um investimento pesado, com muita gente de fora. Minha cabeça está em sintonia com meu corpo, funcionando muito bem. Treinei bem na Califórnia, tive a chance de treinar com diversos profissionais do MMA, inclusive do UFC e do Strikeforce”.

O Amazon Forest Combat está marcado para as 20h do dia 14 de setembro, na arena Amadeu Teixeira, com capacidade para quase 12 mil espectadores, arbitragem de Mario Yamasaki e com a estonteante Panicat Juliana Salimeni como ring-girl.

Professor Royler já está instalado em Manaus, no confortável hotel Tropical, que possui até mesmo um zoológico em suas dependências. As maiores feras, no entanto, estão soltas pelo saguão. Confira o card estelar anunciado pelos organizadores:

Amazon Forest Combat

14 de setembro de 2011

Arena Amadeu Teixeira, Manaus, AM

Royler Gracie vs Masakatsu Ueda

Josh Burkam vs Roan Jucão

Paulão Filho vs Satoshi Ishii

Antonio Braga Neto vs Maiquel Falcão

Alexandre Capitão vs Shanon Slack

Jordan Smith vs Karo Parisyan

Ronnys Torres vs Drew Ficket

Dileno Lopes vs Danny Martinez

George Clay vs Anthony Birchack

Sergio Junior vs Daniel Acácio

Rivaldo Jr vs André Leocádio

Essa foi uma das novidades anunciadas por Dana White, ontem, na coletiva do UFC 126. A iniciativa não é exatamente inédita. Começou no UFC Fight Night 23, no dia 22 de janeiro. Devido à grande procura, o Ultimate Fighting Championship irá transmitir agora a primeira luta de um evento PPV através da rede social. O link é o http://www.facebook.com/UFC.

“Entendemos e acreditamos no poder da mídia social. Vários fãs de todo mundo me falam através das redes sociais que querem ver essa luta. E eles conseguiram! Vamos transmiti-la ao vivo pelo Facebook, dando aos fãs de todo mundo acesso a esse aguardado confronto”, explica Dana White, presidente do UFC.

Kid Yamamoto contra Bibiano Fernandes no Japão. O astro agora encara o "Super Mouse". Foto: Susumu Nagao.

Um dos mais condecorados lutadores japoneses e top 10 da categoria pluma no mundo, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto faz a aguardada estreia no UFC contra Demetrius Johnson. Dono de mãos pesadas e de um excelente wrestling, Kid detém um cartel de 18v e 3d, emplacando a impressionante sequencia de 14 vitórias (apenas uma por decisão) entre 2002 e 2007.

Escalado para dar as ‘boas vindas’ ao astro japonês, Demetrious ‘Super Mouse’ Johnson tem bem menos experiência que seu adversário. Entretanto Johnson espera contar com a torcida, e usar o fato de Kid ter lutado apenas duas vezes fora do Japão em dez anos de carreira.

This was one of the pieces of news announced by Dana White yesterday at the UFC 126 press conference. It’s not an entirely unprecedented initiative. It started with UFC Fight Night 23 on January 22. Due to the high demand, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will now broadcast the first fight of PPV events over the social networking site. The link is http://www.facebook.com/UFC.

“We understand and believe in the power of social media. Loads of fans from all around the world tell me over the social networks that they want to see this fight. And they did it! We’re going to broadcast it live over Facebook, giving fans the world over access to the much-awaited fight,” explains UFC president Dana White.

Kid Yamamoto against Bibiano Fernandes in Japan. The star will face off with "Mighty Mouse". Photo: Susumu Nagao.

One of the most decorated Japanese fighters and a world top ten bantamweight, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will be making his heavily-anticipated UFC debut against Demetrius Johnson. Owner of heavy hands and first-rate wrestling, Kind holds a record of 18 wins and 3 losses, having notched an impressive 14-fight win streak (just one went to decision) between 2002 and 2007.

Called up to give the Japanese star the “welcome,” Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has a good deal less experience than his opponent. Nevertheless, Johnson hopes he’ll be able to count on the crowd and use the fact Kid has only fought outside Japan twice in ten years in his favor.

Ivaniel on winners' podium in Manaus. Photo: Arthur Castro.

Another Manaus-produced stalwart black belt, but living in São Paulo teaching at CT Brazil academy, Ivaniel Oliveira capped off a great year winning the Amazon Meeting Black Belt and World Cup tournaments over a two-week span and sees a promising future on the horizon. Now he’s setting his sights higher, on the Worlds, where Bruno Malfacine reigns supreme as the three-time champion of his division.

“Thank God, I had good results this year. Now I want to become world champion in California,” he tells GRACIEMAG.com.

“I’m only going to rest this week and then I’ll back to hard training, since I want to be in all the major events. I’d like to thank everyone who’s helped me, like Gilbert Durinho, Ligeirinho, Dabi Ramos, and Master Cristiano Carioca. He’s in Japan right now training with Kid Yamamoto, but he’s important to me too,” he says in closing.

Ivaniel no pódio em Manaus. Foto: Arthur Castro.

Mais um faixa-preta casca-grossa de Manaus, embora esteja radicado no interior de São Paulo, dando aulas na equipe CT Brasil, Ivaniel Oliveira fechou o ano bem e com boas perspectivas para 2011. Em finais de semana seguidos, o lutador faturou as premiações do Amazon Meeting Black Belt e do World Cup. O foco agora é maior, no Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu, que, na categoria galo, tem o tricampeão Bruno Malfacine como campeão.

“Neste ano, graças a Deus, tive bons resultados. Agora quero ser campeão mundial na Califórnia”, comenta ao GRACIEMAG.com.

“Só irei descansar essa semana e logo treino forte, porque quero entrar em todos os eventos grandes. Gostaria de agradecer a todos que me ajudam, como o Gilbert Durinho, Ligeirinho, Davi Ramos e ao mestre Cristiano Carioca. Ele está no Japão, treina lá o Kid Yamamoto, mas também é muito importante”, encerra.

Warren, Kid Yamamoto's bane, is the new Bellator champion.

American MMA has a new candidate for darling of the public and media, but the guy had it coming. We’re talking about Joe Warren (Team Quest), the new Bellator champion in the USA.

With six wins and one loss (our Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes caught his arm in seconds at the Dream GP in Japan), Warren is a reality in MMA.

First of all, his record is solid, built on victories over Chase Beebe, Kid Yamamoto, Patricio Freire and Joe Soto himself, the Bellator champion up until the knockout he suffered yesterday.

But Warren has further achievements. He beat the frenetic Chase Beebe by doctor’s intervention on his debut, and without any prior amateur MMA fight or anything of the sort. To our always-alert colleagues in the Middle East, Warren holds the post of MMA’s greatest upset for his win over Kid Yamamoto (18w, 3l, and just 3 wins by decision) at Dream 9.

“When Joe Warren pulled the upset over Kid Yamamoto at Dream 9 in only his second MMA bout (dude had no amateur bouts), I stayed up the rest of the morning trying to find a way not to compare it to Mike Tyson vs. James ‘Buster’ Douglass. It’s impossible. I still consider it MMA’s greatest upset and people will continue to throw tomatoes at me,” wrote commentator Zeus, of MiddleEasy.com. “We all knew who Kevin Randleman was when he KOd Cro Cop in Total Elimination. (…). When Joe Warren stepped into the Yokohama Arena, no one knew who he was and he served a guy that technically never lost a fight, his first true loss.”

Check out what Warren got up to this time in the riveting clip from his fight at Bellator. At the same event, black belt from Brazil’s state of Amazonas Rodrigo Pinheiro met defeat for the first time in MMA.

BFC – Bellator Fighting Championships 27
Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, Texas
September 2, 2010

Steven Peterson defeated Ernest de la Cruz via unanimous decision
Jon Kirk defeated Shane Faulkner via TKO at 2:19 min of R3
Ulysses Gomez defeated Travis Reddinger via split decision
Ed West defeated Bryan Goldsby via unanimous decision
Zach Makovsky defeated Nick Mamalis via unanimous decision
Joe Warren knocked out Joe Soto at 0.33 min of R2
Andrew Chappelle defeated Joe Christopher via unanimous decision
Andrew Craig defeated Rodrigo Pinheiro via doctor’s intervention at 2:53 min of R3
Richard Odoms defeated Dale Mitchell via unanimous decision
Gilbert Jimenez defeated Aaron Barringer via unanimous decision

Melvin Manhoef is another addition to the card. Photo: Susumu Nagao

K-1, World Victory Road and Dream have added the final touches to their end-of-the-year event, Dynamite!!, to be held December 31 in the Saitama Arena. And, as Japanese organizations tend to do, some last minute matchups have been announced. Among them is the bout pitting Melvin Manhoef against Kazuo Misaki.

Another challenge to feature on the card, at least according to messages posted on Twitter, is Gegard Mousasi facing Gary Goodridge. Besides matching the current light heavyweight champion of Strikeforce against a heavyweight, the bout is under K-1 rules, making it a non-MMA match. It has not yet been officially confirmed, though.

Beyond that, the event features Olympic-judo gold-medalists Satoshi Ishii and Hidehiko Yoshida, facing each other, and such standouts as Shinya Aoki, Alistair Overeem and Rameau Thierry Sokodjou, among others. Check out the promo video for the event:

Check out the complete card:

Masato vs Andy Souwer (K-1 rules)
Satoshi Ishii vs Hidehiko Yoshida (MMA)
Melvin Manhoef vs Kazuo Misaki (MMA)
Shinya Aoki vs Mizuto Hirota (MMA)
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Kazunori Yokota (MMA)
Masanori Kanehara vs Norofumi “Kid” Yamamoto (MMA)
Akihiro Gono vs Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (MMA)
Hiroshi Izumi vs Katsuyori Shibata (MMA)
Marlon Sandro vs Hideo Tokoro (MMA)
Michihiro Omigawa vs Hiroyuki Takaya (MMA)
Kazuyuki Fujita vs Alistair Overeem (MMA)
Yosuke Nishijima vs Ray Sefo (K-1 rules)
Gegard Mousasi vs Gary Goodridge (K-1 rules)
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (MMA/”Super Hulk” final)
Hiroya vs Masaaki Noiri (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
Katsuki Ishida vs Shota Shimada (K-1 KOSHIEN semifinal)
Tsukasa Fuji vs Ryuya Kusakabe (K-1 KOSHIEN reserve bout)
K-1 KOSHIEN final