(Jorge Masvidal vs. Ryan Schulz; more videos here.)
From today’s Sengoku show at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan…
Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Yuki Sasaki def. Yuki Kondo via submission (rear-naked choke), round 2
Siyar Bahadurzada def. Evangelista Santos via TKO (injury), round 1
Jorge Santiago def. Logan Clark via submission (arm triangle choke), round 1
Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Paul Cahoon via unanimous decision
Lightweights:
Jorge Masvidal def. Ryan Schultz via TKO, round 1
Kiuma Kunioku def. Sol Kwon via unanimous decision
Heavyweights:
Muhammed Lawal def. Travis Wiuff via TKO, round 1
Light-Heavyweights:
Xande Ribeiro def. Takashi Sugiura via TKO, round 3
Ok I didn’t watch UFC 85 live, because I actually forgot it came on at like 2:00pm where I’m at. Oh well, I did watch it after the fact, and witnessed Matt Hughes catch another beatdown. Anyway, it’s 4:00am now, and I plan to watch Sengoku Live.
Fabio Silva vs. Yoshiki Takahashi
I hope Takahashi pwns. Good [...]
(Melendez - and his hair - in need of an opponent.)
— Strikeforce lightweight title-holder Gilbert “El Niño” Melendez was supposed to fight Jorge Masvidal at the Strikeforce/EliteXC March 29th event - but the fight has been cancelled due to a shin injury Masvidal received during “Strikeforce at the Dome” in Washington. The injury came in a fight against Ryan Healy, which Masvidal won by decision. A replacement could be named soon to battle Melendez since he is one of the top fighters on the card. Middleweight champ Frank Shamrock will put his title on the line against Cung Le in the highly-anticipated main event.
Melendez is 13-1, snapping a 13-fight win streak and picking up his first loss at “Yarennoka!” on New Year’s Eve. He lost via decision to PRIDE vet Mitsuhiro Ishida. The lightweight has seen success almost everywhere he’s fought, including Strikeforce, PRIDE, WEC, and ROTR. El Niño’s ex-opponent, Masvidal, has seen recent success in Strikeforce and BodogFIGHT and boasts wins over dudes like Joe Lauzon and Yves Edwards.
— We reported the surprising retirement of welterweight star Paul “Semtex” Daley earlier this week. The out-of-nowhere announcement was posted on Cage Warriors’ message board. While speculation to Daley’s retirement at age 25 ranged from him being bored with the sport to a ploy to pull in a huge payday from the highest bidder, it’s still unclear to why he would do this or if it was just a hoax. Sherdog was able to reach FX-3 promoter Paul James, who confirmed Daley would be giving up his EliteXC position after he fulfills his contract on March 29th. And in a text message exchange with Daley, they say the fighter refused to talk about the decision because he didn’t want to make a big deal of it. Well, it is a big deal to us when a star athlete who could dominate their division decides to drop it all.
There’s a bunch of MMA-related news stories making the rounds right now. How about a quick review?
- MMAWeekly.com is reporting that IFL commissioner Kurt Otto has informed the site that Shawn Tompkins has been released from his duties as head coach of the LA Anacondas.
- The IFL will be releasing its first DVD next Tuesday. “IFL: Greatest Knockouts and Extreme Action” will be available through Warner Home Video at Best Buy, Netflix.com, Amazon.com, Borders, Wal-Mart and other fine retail outlets.
- The Fight Network is reporting that BodogFIGHT will have a hand in Strikeforce’s card on Sept. 29 at the Playboy Mansion. Bodog has sponsored Strikeforce events before and it looks like they will be lending some fighters to the event. According to the report, Matt Lee will fight Jorge Masvidal. Already scheduled for the show is Gilbert Melendez vs. Tesuji Kato, Joe Riggs vs. Eugene Jackson, and Josh Thomson vs. Adam Lynn. Daniel Puder and Bobby Southworth are scheduled for separate bouts.
- UFCMania.com is reporting that Nathan Marquardt is looking to return to the UFC in January.
- Sean Salmon has a new column available on MMAjunkie.com talking about his recent loss to Travis Wiuff on an IFO show in Vegas and an even more recent win on a smaller show in Ohio. He also talks about his involvement with Mark Cuban’s HD Fights but makes no mention of his current UFC status. Bummer.
BodogFIGHT has announced that it will start airing on The Score in Canada on September 4. Bodog will be airing every Thursday on The Score on every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. There will also be a repeat Thursday.
Tomorrow night at 11 p.m. ET on ION television in the States will be another installment of BodogFIGHT: New Jersey. The main event for the show will be a bout between Jorge Masvidal and Yves Edwards. I saw the match live and it was one of the better fights on the show.
Masvidal really impressed me and he’s someone that you could be hearing more about in the future. If reports are true that Bodog is making cutbacks and Masvidal becomes available, he’d be a great fit for either the UFC, WEC, or EliteXC.
