International MMA stuff

[convict00187]

Noticed there haven't been any discussions on whats been going on across the globe lately; but some awesome ranked fighters have been in action or are about to be, so I guess here are quick bullets of what's goin on:

1. World Victory Road had their first event recently. The card wasn't anything really spectacular, but it was still an entertaining show overall.

- Josh Barnett subs Yoshida (kinda pointless match, everyone knew Barnett would pretty much dominate. But, there were some pretty exciting moments that make the fight worth watching, namely the huge german suplex and the sub finish. It's nice to see Barnett fighting again -- for those not in the know, before he left for Pride he was the UFC HW champ after tko'ing Couture -- I just hope he's matched up against better competition next time.)

- Gomi tko's Duane "Bang" Ludwig (impressive showing by Gomi. After coming in the Diaz fight looking so sloppy and out of shape he actually came into this fight weighing in under the weight limit (153), and busted up Duane a little bit. The fight was stopped due to a cut, and Bang def. wanted to continue, but his nose did get jacked up pretty bad. Regardless, Gomi looked good, I wish he was fighting for Dream or UFC though.)

- Kazuo Misaki subs Siyar Bahadurzada (Another solid win for Misaki. If you're scratching your head about who the hell Siyar is, he's a pretty badass fighter from Afghanistan, of all places (though he's been living in Holland for most of his life now), and the current 185 lb. Shooto champion. He did pretty well in the first round against Misaki, but got caught pretty early in a guillotine in the second.)

2. another Cage Rage event from England just took place this weekend, and it was even aired on Shotime. This was the first ever card featuring a father and son fighting on the same event (Ken Shamrock and his son Ryan)

- "Buzz" Berry ko's Ken Shamrock (Whelp...hopefully this is the nail in the coffin of Shamrock's career. I'm a fan of his, but it's time he's hung 'em up. Berry isn't really a relevant fighter, and losing to him in this manner should hopefully make Ken walk away without potentially damaging his status any more.)

- Imanari subs Jean Silva (Imanari's a top 5 145'er, and Jean Silva is the featherweight badass from the Chute Boxe camp. If you've never seen Imanari fight go look him up, he's easily one of the most entertaining grapplers out there. His style is basically leglocks; he offers next to nothing standing up, and his wrestling is poor, but he constantly attacks the legs and more often than not snatches something. Dude practically ruined Jorge Gurgel's career. Anywho, he won again with a heelhook and it ruled.)

3. Dream's first event is coming up this weekend

- Cro Cop's fighting some Japanese nobody from Pancrase. Not an important fight at all, but if you like violence I guess it will be cool to see him kick someone's head off again. But hopefully this will serve as the tune-up to help get Mirko's confidence back so he can return to his old self.

- LIGHTWEIGHT GRAND PRIX
- yeah this is what's gonna make this card worth watching. The first round is going down.

- Shinya Aoki vs "JZ" Calvancante (if one of these guys wins the whole tournament they make a serious bid for being the #1 ranked LW fighter in the world.)

- Kawajiri vs Kultar Gill

- Ishida vs Bu Kyung Jung

- Andre "Dida" vs Eddie Alvarez (dudes are gonna throw down)

there's 2-3 other tournament fights, but all the ones listed here have serious high quality lightweights going at it. I'm rooting for The Crusher to take the whole thing.


ok yeah, this turned out longer than I thought, my bad. but...if you dont know, now you know. so go check out some of the stuff that just went down, and don't miss out on what's coming up.

Oh, and Phil Baroni is fighting Kala Kalohe Hose for the vacant Icon middleweight title this weekend too. Someone is gonna get brutally KTFO guaranteed.

[Noise]

lol.

I'm always a fan of Shamrock getting gtfo'd. I say he keeps at it. :D

Any way to watch Dream?

Also: That sig Austin made you is hilarious.

[Austin.]

Shamrock is getting real old.
This international crap is very cool.

And convict LOVES my sig I made him.

[storm4]

Shamrock is getting real old.
This international crap is very cool.

And convict LOVES my sig I made him.
You could've put anything, Austin, and that's all you could think of?

I think they should put Shamrock & Abbott in there. Maybe then one of them could actually win.

[convict00187]

Any way to watch Dream?
it doesn't look like a live stream is gonna be available even on the "top secret" mma sites (but live is like 6 a.m. Eastern Time anyways) but individual videos of each fight should be available within the day.

but if you got the willpower to wait it out, it looks like HDNet will be airing most of the event a week later (and in better news, after this event HDNet will be airing the upcoming Dream cards the day of)

edit: and then again, that's assuming you even have HDNet. Regardless, once the videos are available I'll try to link 'em up for anyone interested via PM or something.

[Austin.]

You could've put anything, Austin, and that's all you could think of?

I think they should put Shamrock & Abbott in there. Maybe then one of them could actually win.
Meh, I didn't wanna be mean to convict. BEcause he knows I DESERVE that mod spot and you know that too storm and so does andy.

Anyway.
Shamrock and Tank
Shamrock would kill him.

[convict00187]

All the videos are up online now from the first Dream card, so if youre interested check 'em out. I won't mention spoilers unless someone's too lazy to watch the fights (for shame) and wants me to talk about what went down.


The event overall wasn't really that good (one huuuuge disappointment), but the Hellboy/Boku and especially Alvarez/Dida fights are definitely worth watching. Given the quality of fighters left, I expect the second round of the Grand Prix to be a lot better.


Also, if you have nothing to do tonight I'd suggest registering on proelite where you can watch a live stream of the ICON card including the title fight between Baroni/Hose which is gonna be a guaranteed slug fest.

[Austin.]

I would have to say convict, be carefull talking about streams and such.
I about got warned once.

Just givin ya a heads up.

I will check em out sometime.
It seemed like a decent card, though I have never heard of most of the fighters.

[convict00187]

it's not an illegal stream. proelite basically = elitexc which owns ICON. If UFC decided to have a stream of one of their events on UFC.com, this would be equivalent to that.

And given that you've never heard of most of the lightweights that fought on the Dream card, I highly suggest familiarizing yourself with them cause at least 4 of them are top 10 lightweights, and 2 are even top 5. Some of the other dudes are former top 10 and/or right on the cusp. So hit up the youtubes and dailymotions and do some searchin'.

I'm actually gonna make a new thread about this right now..

[Austin.]

AHHH.
I havn't ever heard of a legal stream, thats why I was wondering.

I will look into these folks.

[convict00187]

the Baroni/Hose fight for the vacant Icon title was a bit of a let down. It was pretty brutal, but not the kind of fight I was expecting. Phil dominated the opening few minutes, surprisingly using takedowns and knees and stomps (Icon uses the old Pride rules) but gassed out before the first round was even over...then the rest of the fight was just him shooting for sloppy take downs and paying the price for it. I don't know why he didn't try to stand and trade more...he has arguably the heaviest hands in the division and a very solid chin. Oh wellz. Props to Hose for the big win, though I suspect when Robbie Lawler returns he'll win that belt back.