Before going to Brazil, I had a call from one of my friends who told me that Denis Kang won his fight against Marvin Eastman by TKO in the first minute of the fight. It made me a feel good because it brings a good vibe to the team, and like Tseng Tsu says in the Art of War, battles are won by momentum. I’m also very happy because I also learned he’ll soon be fighting in the UFC, so for the first time since we started training together, we’ll be able to fight in the same organization.
I flew to Brazil Sunday night, and after a long flight I got into Rio de Janeiro. But after the flight I was very tired because I cannot sleep on the plane, so I had to take the morning off from training to take a nap of a couple of hours. I started my training Monday night after my nap, and I quickly found out that even though I just earned my black belt in BJJ, there are still a lot of guys better than me in this sport at Gracie Barra Academy. I got tapped so many times during my training there and I learned so many new tools that just for that alone, this trip was worth it. I met a bunch of new training partners and good friends as well in Brazil. My friend Cleo from Montreal went with me and was teaching a wrestling class during the day where were training a lot of takedowns and takedown defense, plus MMA sparring as well. At night I was also doing BJJ with the gi to improve my ground skill and knowledge.
During the week, one of the valets at the hotel was very nice with me it was nice to meet someone who spoke French very well. Every time a pretty woman was passing by him, he was making a comment in French about how beautiful and sexy she was…
I think there’s also a section in The Art of War about casually mentioning that you got “tapped so many times” in training in order to bait your enemy into going to the ground with you. Don’t fall for it, BJ! To read the rest of GSP’s post, click here. Unfortunately, Rush never mentions if the valet’s obscene French catcalls successfully got him laid.
Bless his heart, Denis Kang does his best in this MMA Rated interview not to bash Dream for dropping him from the Dream.5 fight card on July 21. It seems like they didn’t have a great reason for taking him off the event, nor did they have an explanation for why he only recently found out about it, but Kang’s trying to stay positive, which we like.
Where it starts to seem like he’s struggling, though, is where he justifies the problems Dream is experiencing by pointing out that all organizations have problems, even The Vatican. Comparing an MMA organization to the Vatican in an attempt to make yourself feel better about how they’re jerking you around is the last refuge of a very frustrated fighter. I think Samuel Johnson said that.
Mike Russell of The Fight Network is reporting that middleweight Denis Kang has been scheduled to return to the ring at DREAM.5 in Osaka, Japan on July 21.
An opponent has not yet been named.
The bout will be a pivotal one for Kang, who has lost three out of his last four bouts. A highly-skilled fighter [...]
(Crazy Anderson Silva wallpaper courtesy of Olieng.net)
Over the last couple weeks, Matt Serra came crashing back down to Earth, Rich Franklin got his balls back, Shinya Aoki smothered JZ, and Denis Kang went out like a bitch. So if you haven’t swung by our Power Rankings section lately, please do so. In particular, the lightweight, middleweight, and pound-for-pound lists were freshly updated today. And you may be surprised at how high I ranked Travis Wiuff in the heavyweight division for going all the way at YAMMA 1…
Anyway, give ‘em a look and let us know if you see things differently.
We’ll kick things off with Kiyoshi Tamura’s quick demolition of Masakatsu Funaki, which turned out to be the night’s only stoppage-by-strikes (action starts at the 1:17 mark). More vids after the jump; for a recap of the event, click here.
UPDATE: All the broken vids have been replaced…hopefully this batch will last a bit longer.
While us Westerners were hitting the snooze button over and over again this morning, DREAM’s second event was going down in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena. In a night full of surprises, the biggest one was how easily Shinya Aoki handled Gesias Calvancante. The “Master of Jumping Locks” played it true to his nickname, spending a large chunk of the first round hanging off of Calvancante’s back and working for a choke, and nailing a flying guard-pull in the second round. JZ landed shots where he could, but Aoki’s ground control and multiple submission attempts convinced the judges to give him the match unanimously. With the win, Aoki advances to the second round of DREAM’s lightweight tournament, which goes down May 11th. Now that he’s made it through Calvancante, he’s a strong favorite to go all the way.
The rest of DREAM.2 was devoted to the first round of their middleweight grand prix. Kazushi Sakuraba’s match with Kyokushin karate practitioner Andrews Nakahara (0-0 in MMA competition before the fight) was as lopsided as expected, with Sak schooling Nakahara on the ground en route to a neck crank submission. But there were two major upsets on the card, as crowd favorites Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa and Denis Kang were eliminated from the GP. Minowa put in a lethargic performance against Taiei Kin — who owned a 2-2 record coming into the tournament — and was mostly unsuccessful in his repeated takedown attempts, absorbing a ton of leg kicks and knees to the head in the process. During the times when Minowa did have Kin on the ground, he failed to inflict any damage, and was eventually handed a loss by the judges.
Denis Kang’s submission loss to Gegard Mousasi was just as disappointing. After an energetic striking exchange to open the match, Kang took Mousasi to the ground and worked for a kimura while dodging Mousasi’s rabbit-punches and knees to the head on the ground (both of which seemed to be quite legal at this event, for some reason). But Kang was eventually kicked off, and when he went in to throw a punch at the downed Mousasi he literally fell into a triangle choke; it was the kind of a loss that only an amateur would experience, and it would be hard to argue for Kang as a top-ten middleweight at this point.
Full results are after the jump. Come back later for videos from the event, and if you get HDNet, set your DVRs now: DREAM.2 will be broadcast this Saturday, May 3rd, at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Just as the UFC couldn’t come to terms with Fedor Emelianenko partly because they wouldn’t allow him to compete in the Sambo tournaments that he periodically steamrolls through, a deal with top 10 middleweight and ATT member Denis Kang was also nixed over an equally minor request for competitive freedom. As MMAJunkie reports:
“Yes, we were (negotiating with the UFC),” Kang said. “I would have loved to fight in the UFC. I would love to fight in North America and not have to travel 12 hours for a change. At the end of the day, it came down to where I want to be represented at the moment and who was offering the best contract.”
The best contract, it seems, was one that would allow the half-Korean fighter to compete in South Korea’s SpiritMC organization on an annual basis. Kang has fought 10 times in the organization since 2004, winning all 10 fights, and is still the SpiritMC heavyweight champion.
However, the UFC requires exclusive contracts, which prohibit fighters from competing in other organizations. Such a limitation would have alienated many of Kang’s fans.
“SpiritMC was only asking that I fight for them once a year,” Kang said. “That’s one of the things that I really, really wanted to do — to keep my SpiritMC title and keep my fan base in Korea, which is really important to me.”
We’ve said it before: Now is not the time for the UFC to be stonewalling in regards to exclusivity, when their fighters are beginning to smell the money elsewhere (and specifically when there are virtually no contenders left in the UFC’s middleweight division). We understand the need for exclusive contracts — you wouldn’t want one of your stars building value for another brand, or getting injured while fighting elsewhere, or taking an image-harming loss against lesser competition. But there are exceptions where the benefits would far outweigh the costs. Even if Fedor Emelianenko were to lose in a Sambo tournament halfway around the world (an unlikely scenario to begin with), there are few American UFC fans who would see it, or care all that much, and the same goes for Denis Kang crushing cans in Korea. SpiritMC is not a competitor to the UFC; technically, Sambo isn’t even the same sport. Wouldn’t the UFC’s wisest move be to start handling these things on a case-by-case basis?
Remember when Kazushi Sakuraba said “a small scab” on his leg was the reason he would not be participating in DREAM 2’s Middleweight Grand Prix? Well, the scab has been touched by an angel — or maybe he just decided to cowboy up — because Nightmare of Battle is listing three match-ups that have been announced for the GP, including one between Sakuraba and newbie Andrews Nakahara. The other two fights will see Kiyoshi Tamura versus Masakatsu Funaki and Denis Kang versus Gegard Mousasi.
Here’s the scoop on Andrews Nakahara: he’s a 24-year-old Kyokushin Karate fighter, but there is no MMA record for him yet. He was born in Brazil, is six feet tall, and likes intimate dinner conversation. He has done well for himself in Karate tournaments, according to Kyokushin4Life:
– All American Open Karate Championships 2007 (IKO-1) - 2nd Place
– All American Open Karate Championships 2006 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
– All American Open Karate Championships 2005 (IKO-1) - 2nd Place
– All American Open Karate Championships 2004 (IKO-1) - 7th Place
– 3rd World Weight Category Championships 2005 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
– 6th South American Karate Tournament 2004 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
– Brazilian Open 2004 (IKO-1) - 2nd Place
– South American Open 2005 (IKO-1) - 1st Place
How well all this may translate to a fight with an MMA vet like Sakuraba remains to be seen. Little else is known about Nak, so who knows how extensive his wrestling and ground work has been. Oh, and if you’re the sort that likes cruising around the websites of various dojos, go here to visit Nakahara’s dojo.
Yoshihiro Akiyama dropped Denis Kang — a top middleweight mixed martial artist — with a crushing uppercut at “HERO’S Korea 2007” over the weekend.
Kang is often discussed here at UFCmania.com and elsewhere as being a mandatory addition to the not-so-stacked UFC 185-pound division. In fact, the American Top Team standout recently opted to fight in HERO’s rather than inside the Octagon.
Not saying this recent loss changes anything — he’s still a fantastic fighter. Just want to pass along some sweet footage of the stoppage.
Sherdog.com is reporting that Yoshihiro Akiyama and Denis Kang have been scheduled for K-1 HERO’s next card on Oct. 28. The card is slated to take place in Seoul, South Korea at the Jang Chung Gymnasium.
This will be Akiyama’s first fight since a 10-month suspension after being accused of applying an excessive amount of moisturizer to his body prior to his match against Kazushi Sakuraba last Dec. 31.
For Kang, who is half-Korean, it will mark his first match under the K-1 HERO’s banner.
Opponents for both Kang and Akiyama have yet to be named.
