Archive
Final Preparations! Yarennoka!
This will be the final post before the NYE events and all updates will be posted here.
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11. The Yarennoka! fighters all assembled around 24 hours before the event.
Heated staredown between Misaki and Akiyama
Streaming video: Part 1, Part 2
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10. Fedor interview on Inside MMA which aired yesterday on HDNet.
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9. Streaming pre-fight video interviews.
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8. Interviews with Hong Man Choi and Fedor from today here. Thanks to mdhan for the translation.
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7. Streaming training videos. To view them use winamp for example.
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6. Pictures from the photo session at the hotel.
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5. The foreign fighters have started to arrive to Japan.
Fighters training for their fights.
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4. The fight order and Nicholas Pettas vs. Kim Young Hyun have been announced for K-1 Dynamite!! 2007.
FieLDS K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan
K-1 Rules U-18 60 KG Tournament Reserve Fight ( 3 – 3 – 3 ):
1. Ryo Murakoshi (15) vs. Arata Fujimoto (17)
K-1 Rules ( 3 – 3 – 3 ):
2. Takashi Tachikawa vs. Yoshihisa Inoue
K-1 Rules U-18 60 KG Tournament Semifinals ( 3 – 3 – 3 ):
3. HIROYA (15) vs. Kizaemon Saiga (18)
4. Kenji Kubo (18) vs. Yudai (16)
Hero’s Rules ( 5 – 5 – 5 ):
5. Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Joachim Hansen
Hero’s Rules ( 10 – 5 – Ex5 ):
6. Melvin Manhoef vs. Yousuke Nishijima
Hero’s Rules ( 5 – 5 – 5 ):
7. Minowaman vs. Zulu
8. Hideo Tokoro vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
K-1 Rules U-18 60 KG Tournament Final ( 3 – 3 – 3 ):
9. HIROYA/Saiga vs. Kubo/Yudai
K-1 Rules ( 3 – 3 – 3 – Ex3 – Ex3 ):
10. Musashi vs. Bernard Ackah
11. Nicholas Pettas vs. Kim Young Hyun
12. Masato vs. Yong Soo Choi
Hero’s Rules ( 5 – 5 – 5 ):
13. Bob Sapp vs. Bobby Ologun
14. Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Rani Yahya
Hero’s Rules ( 10 – 5 – Ex5 ):
15. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masakatsu Funaki
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3. According to this article on sherdog.com, Jung Bukyung has trained MMA for 2 months at Yoon Dong Sik’s new team, Team Yoon.
Bu-Kyung, 29, made the transition to MMA two months ago and trains with Dong Sik Yoon out of the newly established Team Yoon. According to his representatives, Bu-Kyung has adept grappling skills. Yoon also commented that Jung’s pinning techniques, which will be tested against the dynamic Aoki, are better than his.
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2. Roman Zentsov vs. Mike Russow and the fight order have officially been announced for Yarennoka. The Zentsov vs. Russow fight will only consist of two 5 minute rounds while the other fights will have a 10 minute first round and a 5 minute second round.
Yarennoka!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
1. Roman Zentsov vs. Mike Russow [1]
2. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo
3. Murilo Bustamante vs. Makoto Takimoto
4. Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
5. Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
6. Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa
7. Shinya Aoki vs. Jung Bukyung
8. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Choi Hong Man [2]
[1] Special Rules: The match will consist of only two 5 minute rounds.
[2] Special Rules: No knees to the head of a grounded opponent.
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1. Nicholas Pettas has made a post on his blog saying that he will be fighting at K-1 Dynamite!! 2007, the fight will be announced on Saturday. Expect the opponent to be the new big Korean K-1 fighter, Young Hyun Kim.
Aoki’s Opponent Confirmed! 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Enters MMA
Shinya Aoki’s opponent on NYE has finally been announced. Facing him will be Korean 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist in Judo, Jung Bukyung. I don’t know much about Jung but he lost to Tadahiro Nomura (1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist) in the finals of the Olympics, so a silver medal isn’t bad considering such opposition. He is 173 cm tall and 29 years old.
Some additional information on Jung
Titles:
1999 & 2003 Asian Judo Championships Gold Medalist
2004 A-Tournament (World Cup) Gold Medalist
Grand Prix Austria 2000 (World Cup) Silver Medalist
2001 World Masters (World Cup) 3rd Place
Road to the Finals at the 2000 Olympics:
Jung Bu-Kyung defeated N. Khergiani by Ippon
Jung Bu-Kyung defeated Narmandakh by Ippon
Jung Bu-Kyung defeated Donbay by Ippon
Jung Bu-Kyung defeated Mukhtarov by Yusei-GachiIppon – If an opponent executes a powerful yet fully controlled throw, he can win a match outright (by ippon) on the basis that he has displayed sufficient superiority.
Yusei-Gachi – Win by Superiority (decision).
“Fun” Facts:
UFC fighter Michihiro Omigawa placed 5th in the same weight category as Jung in the 2003 Asian Championships.
Yarennoka!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Fights:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Choi Hong Man
Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shinya Aoki vs. Jung Bukyung
Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo
Murilo Bustamante vs. Makoto Takimoto
Rumored Fights:
Roman Zentsov vs. Michael Russow
Sanake Kikuta vs. Kenichi Yamamoto
Rumored Participants:
Aleksander Emelianenko
Mark Hunt
Don Frye
Kazuyuki Fujita
The Rules Are Set! Soccer Kicks And Stomps Are Illegal
The rules for the Yarennoka! event have been announced. The bout duration will consist of a 10 minute first round and a 5 minute second round. The judges have to choose a winner if the fight goes the full 15 minutes, so there can be no draws. Soccer kicks and stomps to the head of a downed opponent will not be allowed, but knees are legal besides in the Fedor vs. Choi fight where they are illegal (probably because of the weight difference).
That is what I got from the text, for a full translation of the announcement check this post on the Sherdog forums.
Here is a picture of Yoshihiro Akiyama training with the rules of the event in mind.
Rumors! Hidehiko Yoshida Vs. Roger Gracie In 2008?
There is a post at MMAPredictions which says that Hidehiko Yoshida might face Roger Gracie in March, 2008. It doesn’t say where, but as Yoshida is already scheduled to fight at Sengoku’s inaugural event on March 5th, it will probably take place there if it happens.
Gryphon has posted some new entries in his blog writing that according to an article Don Frye might participate at Yarennoka! and Sanake Kikuta vs. Kenichi Yamamoto might be announced for the event.
Shu Hirata at Bout Review USA has written an article on Kazuyuki Fujita which says that he has been released from his old contract and that he might participate at Yarennoka! on NYE.
Update: 18 year old Kizaemon Saiga has replaced Tsukasa Fuji on the K-1 Dynamite!! U-18 tournament, he will face HIROYA in the semifinal fight.
Yarennoka!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Fights:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Choi Hong Man
Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shinya Aoki vs. TBA
Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo
Murilo Bustamante vs. Makoto Takimoto
Rumored Fights:
Roman Zentsov vs. Michael Russow
Sanake Kikuta vs. Kenichi Yamamoto
Rumored Participants:
Aleksander Emelianenko
Mark Hunt
Don Frye
Kazuyuki Fujita
Sad News! Aoki Vs. Calvan Is Off
There was a press conference held today to officially announce that J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki will not take place on NYE due to an injury that Calvan has sustained. Read more about it here. The good news is that Aoki will still be fighting on the card.
In other news, two K-1 rules fights have been added to K-1 Dynamite!! 2007. 15 year old Ryo Murakoshi (his 15th birthday is today, so congratulations) will face 17 year old Arata Fujimoto in the reserve fight of the U-18 tournament. The other fight is an opening fight between former Baseball player Takashi Tachikawa and Yoshihisa Inoue.
Yarennoka!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Fights:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Choi Hong Man
Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shinya Aoki vs. TBA
Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo
Murilo Bustamante vs. Makoto Takimoto
Rumored Fights:
Roman Zentsov vs. Michael Russow
Rumored Participants:
Aleksander Emelianenko
Mark Hunt
Olympic Gold Medalist Vs. Former UFC Middleweight Champion! Takimoto Vs. Bustamante Announced
As was confirmed by Bustamante to a couple of Brazilian sites, it has now been officially announced that he will face Makoto Takimoto at Yarennoka! on NYE. Neither has fought since April when Bustamante KO’d Ryuta Sakurai at DEEP 29 and Takimoto submitted Zelg Galesic at Pride.34.
Ricardo Arona has also been removed as a participant. I’ll guess that this isn’t the final card and that one or two more fights will be announced before the event.
Update: A new rumored fight, Roman Zentsov vs. Michael Russow.
Yarennoka!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Fights:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Choi Hong Man
Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shinya Aoki vs. J.Z. Calvan
Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo
Murilo Bustamante vs. Makoto Takimoto
Rumored Fights:
Roman Zentsov vs. Michael Russow
Rumored Participants:
Aleksander Emelianenko
Mark Hunt
Open Weight! Is Tokoro Creating His Own NYE Tradition?
Two new Dynamite!! fights have been announced. In a Hero’s rules fight Hideo Tokoro will once again face a larger opponent on NYE, 2 years ago it was Royce Gracie in a fight that ended in a draw, this time it’s Kiyoshi Tamura.
Tamura defeated Minowaman on NYE last year in Pride but lost in his Hero’s debut against Kin Taiei in July. Tokoro lost in the first round of this years Hero’s Middleweight Tournament against Black Mamba but got a win between then and now at ZST.15 in late November. After that fight he said that he would like to face Minowaman at Dynamite!!, but it seems that it will be Tamura instead.
The other fight is a K-1 rules fight between Musashi and Hero’s veteran Bernard Ackah. Ackah won his first two fights in Hero’s but has since then lost two in a row as the competition got tougher. Musashi won his last K-1 fight in a superfight at the K-1 finals event with a kick to the body KO.
FieLDS K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan
Hero’s Rules ( 10 – 5 – Ex5 ):
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Melvin Manhoef vs. Yousuke Nishijima
Hero’s Rules ( 5 – 5 – 5 ):
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Rani Yahya
Bob Sapp vs. Bobby Ologun
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Joachim Hansen
Minowaman vs. Zulu
Hideo Tokoro vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
K-1 Rules ( 3 – 3 – 3 – Ex3 – Ex3 ):
Masato vs. Yong Soo Choi
Musashi vs. Bernard Ackah
K-1 Rules U-18 60 KG Tournament:
HIROYA (15) vs. Tsukasa Fuji (15)
Kenji Kubo (18) vs. Yudai (16)
HIROYA/Fuji vs. Kubo/Yudai
Rumored Fights:
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mighty Mo
NYE Hype Episode 2/?: Not Only A Fighter
Hong Man Choi is not only a fighter, but also an entertainer. He is a music artist, has starred in commercials and has participated in Japanese game shows.
Rapping at Dynamite!! 2006
Starring in a candy commercial
Dancing in a class room
Playing human tetris
And a bonus video (which has nothing to do with Choi but is very fun).
Siyar Bahadurzada! Shooto Light Heavyweight Champion Enters Sengoku
Two new participants have been announced for the first ever Sengoku event. They are Evangelista Cyborg and Afghan Shooto Light Heavyweight champion Siyar Bahadurzada.
Here is a great highlight of Siyar from after his Light Heavyweight title victory in Shooto.
Sengoku I
Date: 05/03-2008
Place: National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, Japan
Participants:
Hidehiko Yoshida
Makoto Takimoto
Sanae Kikuta
Ryo Kawamura
Siyar Bahadurzada
Evangelista Cyborg
What Are You Doing FEG?! Sapp Vs. Ologun Announced
At the same press conference where Yarennoka! announced Fedor vs. Choi and Misaki vs. Akiyama, FEG also announced a Dynamite!! fight. Bob Sapp will make his return to take on comedian Bobby Ologun in an MMA rules fight.
Ologun last fought at K-1 Dynamite!! 2006 where he lost to Choi Hong Man early in the first round. Sapp disgraced himself in his last fight against Peter Aerts when he gave up after Aerts had barely hit him. Of course it was because he was still mad at what had happened one year before in the Netherlands K-1 event.
FieLDS K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!
Date: 31/12-2007
Place: Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan
Hero’s Rules ( 10 – 5 – Ex5 ):
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Melvin Manhoef vs. Yousuke Nishijima
Hero’s Rules ( 5 – 5 – 5 ):
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Rani Yahya
Bob Sapp vs. Bobby Ologun
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Joachim Hansen
Minowaman vs. Zulu
K-1 Rules ( 3 – 3 – 3 – Ex3 – Ex3 ):
Masato vs. Yong Soo Choi
K-1 Rules U-18 60 KG Tournament:
HIROYA (15) vs. Tsukasa Fuji (15)
Kenji Kubo (18) vs. Yudai (16)
HIROYA/Fuji vs. Kubo/Yudai
Rumored Fights:
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Mighty Mo
Nightmare Of Battle 
