MMA-URLS

The Diaz brothers are cut from the same cloth. Both are hard-nosed scrappers who are nearly impossible to finish; however, both have also had trouble with larger fighters who were able to keep the fight on the mat. Such was the case with Nate Diaz's move up to welterweight. He did exceptionally well in his first two bouts, earning stoppage wins over Rory Markham and Marcus Davis, but hit brick walls in the form of Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald, the latter of which tossed Diaz around like a ragdoll. Despite his six-foot frame, the younger Diaz didn't have the muscle or wrestling chops to crack the upper echelon of the welterweight division. So, a move back to the more natural 155-pound weight class was in order. His first fight back at lightweight was against an old family foe, Takanori Gomi. "The Fireball Kid" and Nick Diaz clashed at PRIDE Fighting Championships' penultimate event and put on one of the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) displays in history. The Japanese fighter opened a chasm under Diaz's eye and broke his orbital bone only to fall straight into a gogoplata submission, securing the win for Stockton native. Nearly five years later, Nate Diaz looked to pick another win for his family at UFC 135 against the former number lightweight in the world. He steps inside the Octagon this Saturday (May 5, 2012) against Jim Miller in the main event of UFC on Fox 3 with a potential title shot on the line. But, before he does, let's examine his one-round thrashing of the Japanese champion. Let's go: Each fighter begins pawing their jab at each other and while Gomi's fist hangs about half a foot away from his opponent's face, Diaz is nearly tagging the Japanese fighter every time he sticks his arm forward. Gomi, thinking he might have the distance figured out, eats a straight right from the Stockton native and looks to counter with a haymaker of his own. Instead, a quick left jab from Diaz stuns Gomi and "The Fireball Kid" drops to the mat, albeit momentarily, before getting back to his feet. Immediately, Diaz begins to stalk his opponent, backing him up against the cage and using his superior reach to his utmost advantage. A solid body punch lands for Gomi but just about everything else whiffs through the thin Denver air. Pressure is the name of the game for Diaz, who constantly throws punches, forcing Gomi to work tirelessly to avoid getting hit. As the Japanese fighter circles away, the Stockton native moves laterally to cut off the Octagon, keeping "The Fireball Kid" with his back literally against the wall. One of Gomi's patented whirlwind right hands is dodged by Diaz who counters with a solid hook that staggers the former PRIDE champion. Gomi answers back with another body punch but the cardio possessed by the Diaz brothers is legendary in the sport. A few punches to the ribs won't affect them one bit. The two lightweights clinch up after an exchange and Diaz really begins to open up. Midway through the round, Diaz starts dropping his hands and taunting his opponent. He waves his hand in front of his face before popping a jab off and snapping Gomi's head back. Punch after punch land against the Japanese fighter's skull. Nearly every single strike throw connects and "The Fireball Kid" has no answer for it. He attempts to drop to the mat for a takedown but Diaz's Brazilian jiu-jitsu training kicks in and he defends perfectly, quickly transitioning to Gomi's back. Before anything of consequence can occur, they're both back on their feet and the onslaught from the Stockton native continues. Gomi is able to get Diaz onto his back but just like older brother Nick did at PRIDE 33, the American instantly works towards a submission. He nearly locks in a triangle choke but Gomi is able to avoid at least for a moment. As Diaz's legs begin to squeeze against his opponent's head and neck, "The Fireball Kid" shifts to his side so Diaz transitions to a perfectly executed armbar, immediately forcing a tapout. It was a dominating return to lightweight, a performance Diaz replicated against Donald Cerrone a few months later. Now with a possible title shot on the line, can he make it three in a row against Miller? We'll find out on Saturday.

Posted in: diaz, fighter, gomi, punch, fireball kid

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PRIDE never die, clearly, as it continually comes back to life in a series of ZUFFA-produced highlight video packages on FUEL TV. That includes Takanori Gomi (33-8), former PRIDE Lightweight Champion, who at one time was considered the finest 155-pounder in all of mixed martial arts (MMA). From the official website: Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi got back to his winning ways against Chute Boxe fighter Jadyson Costa at Pride: Bushido 2. Gomi unleashed a barrage of fierce ground and pound that stopped Costa in his tracks and put Gomi back on track. "Best of PRIDE" also showcases the mad submission skills of another Japanese lightweight standout, Shinya Aoki (30-5), after the jump. Here's what they said about the DREAM deity: Japanese submission wizard Shinya Aoki tested his skills against American wrestler Clay French at Pride Bushido 13. French spent the majority of the bout valiantly defending against the dazzling jiu-jitsu of Aoki, but ultimately succumbed to an out-of-nowhere flying triangle choke that has to be seen to be believed. Anyone wish "The Tobikan Judan" would have (or still might) find his way inside the Octagon? Props: Bloody Elbow

Posted in: gomi, aoki, pride, takanori, shinya

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Take a look back at one of Pride's top names in its heyday... Takanori Gomi, aka "The Fireball Kid"

Posted in: gomi, name, kid, fireball, pride –

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Fuel TV is releasing some nifty videos from their Best of Pride series. The video above is Shinya Aoki vs Clay French from Pride Bushido 13 on November 5, 2006. Here's Fuel TV's description of the action: Japanese submission wizard Shinya Aoki tested his skills against American wrestler Clay French at Pride Bushido 13. French spent the majority of the bout valiantly defending against the dazzling jiu-jitsu of Aoki, but ultimately succumbed to an out-of-nowhere flying triangle choke that has to be seen to be believed. After the jump is a video of Takanori Gomi in some vintage Fireball Kid action. The above is from Takanori Gomi vs. Jadson Costa at Pride Bushido 2 on February 15, 2004. Here's Fuel TV's description of the action: Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi got back to his winning ways against Chute Boxe fighter Jadyson Costa at Pride: Bushido 2. Gomi unleashed a barrage of fierce ground and pound that stopped Costa in his tracks and put Gomi back on track.

Posted in: video, gomi, aoki, pride, takanori

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Tattoos are permanent, but apparently, so is this fan's love for Nick Diaz. He had the picture of Diaz submitting Takanori Gomi to his chest. For the rest of his life, he will tell people about Diaz beating Gomi with a gogoplata at Pride 33. Do you think he will mention the part about the fight result being changed to a no-contest due to Diaz's positive drug test? Still, you have to be in awe of that kind of commitment. Not just to get Diaz's face or name, but an actual moment from a fight. How did the tattoo artist do?

Posted in: diaz, gomi, tattoo, tattoo artist, fight result

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As a youngster growing up on a healthy diet of Bruce Lee and MMA the PRIDE Fighting Championship, to me, was the greatest show on earth. To my mind the UFC, Strikeforce and DREAM have yet to produce anything close to the quality and spectacle of the best PRIDE shows. Wanderlei Silva's undefeated streak of half a decade, that Fedor guy's emergence from some backwater mining town in Russia to make Nogueira look like an amateur not once but three times, Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson's tear up for a chance at the Middleweight crown. There were so many wonderful moments in PRIDE and the Japanese culture and love of spectacle simply made the show even more beautiful. These weren't "gladiators" going in there to "war" or "bang", these were superstars on the biggest MMA stage in the world. When Cro Cop wept after finally winning a belt in the 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix you'll be hard pressed to find a PRIDE fan who didn't choke up too, and when Hidehiko Yoshida, an ageing Judoka with little striking experience, stood in front of Wanderlei Silva for two matches and made the champion respect his punch not as a technical striker but as a man, we all understood the meaning of "Bushido" - the warrior way. But two men exemplified the ideal of bushido and the golden age of Japanese MMA for me, and both fought at UFC 144 looking like shadows of their former selves. Kid Yamamoto and Takanori Gomi. Kid Yamamoto: The Meaning of Pound for Pound Kid Yamamoto spent his entire career up to 2007 fighting at lightweight despite being able to limbo under the 135lbs bar with ease. He fought at 155lbs because he wanted a belt and respect, and he damn sure got it. Despite giving up 10 - 20lbs to his opponents who cut weight to make 155, Yamamoto stopped Royler Gracie and Caol Uno in one night, then went on to be the first and only MMA fighter to stop Japanese MMA legend, Genki Sudo - whose list of submissions includes Mike Thomas Brown and Nate Marquadt. Kid was my idol, and when I finally got out of school I went to Japan with high hopes of meeting him. Being at his gym through his first legitimate MMA loss and and watching the man the Japanese called 'Son of God' clearly return to action without the abilites that he had carried through 18 MMA fights up to that point was heart-breaking. I was only in my late teens at the time and I truly believed that Kid could return from repeated torn ACLs and two years out of action to beat any man DREAM placed him against. When he drew a match with Joe Warren I remember thinking that Warren would be stretchered out of the arena, but he took Kid down like no-one had in Kid's prime. Kid Yamamoto had stuffed Josh Thompson and out grappled Caol Uno and Jeff Curran but he was being laid on by Joe Warren. I wrote the loss off, like many other fans did, as ring rust. Kid immediately took a K-1 match against a relative nobody, Jae Hee Cheon. The night before the fight Kid, his pad holder "Mr P" and myself were the only ones left in the gym and I hopped up on the ring apron to ask my idol in mangled Japanese "Which hand will you knock him out with?". He said "maybe this one" and raised his right fist. That right hook which had stopped so many men - in my heart I knew Kid would destroy this unknown Korean and get back on track. When Kid was knocked out while repeatedly swinging that right hook, I felt disappointment and confusion, but at eighteen years old I had been blinded from the obvious facts of a two year layoff and repeated knee injuries by my idolization of Yamamoto. Misconceptions Three years on, I can objectively look at Kid's fights and I never expect him to win anymore, his chin is shot, his right hook is still volatile but his stand up isn't as rounded as in his prime, and his knee injuries have taken their toll on his formerly world class wrestling. The one thing that I cannot tolerate though is people not giving him the place in MMA history that he has earned. I occasionally hear "yeah... then he came to the UFC and started losing" as if it were a step up in competition that began his downfall, but this is just flat out stupidity. Kid was 1-2 in his MMA career since his return before the UFC signed him and the win came over an irrelevant fighter brought in to get knocked out. To deny Yamamoto his place in MMA history as arguably the best featherweight who ever lived - having fought as one at lightweight and beating the best - is just ridiculous. While I will always remain a fan and enjoy watching his old fights often, I think it is time for people to seperate the pre-2007 Yamamoto and today's Yamamoto. To pretend that they are the same is to discredit the brilliance of Yamamoto's 18 MMA matches and 3 K-1 performances before his injuries forced a hiatus the length of which few fighters have come back from. Objectively the Kid Yamamoto of 2006 could have beaten many of the top 10 fighters from bantamweight to lightweight in the world today and at least given the toughest challenge to the ones who could beat him. Takanori Gomi: The Most Accomplished Lightweight in MMA History Kid was a great fighter and I dreamed of having the strength which he carried in his prime, but the man I sought to emulate when I sparred was not Yamamoto, but Takanori Gomi. The Fireball Kid burst on to the main stage when Pride founded their Bushido event for lighter weight classes, going undefeated in his first ten fights with the biggest promotion in the world. Gomi had begun in Shooto as a one-dimensional ground and pounder. After destroying Japanese legend Rumina Sato he hit a brick wall when he suffered his first two career defeats against Joachim Hansen and BJ Penn. Despite Gomi's one dimensional nature at this stage, both matches were competitive and he even swept Penn from his back three times in the course of their fight - no small feet. Gomi's real renaissance came after Penn exposed his inaccurate stand up. While Gomi remained pretty much a ground and pounder through his first three fights under the PRIDE banner, his stand up was improving all the time. When he was matched against lightweight striking expert and the only man to beat Penn at lightweight, Jens Pulver, he took him on in a pure striking match and won. A right handed southpaw who could switch stances with ease Gomi threw every punch in the book. Long, smashing jabs hurt Pulver from a distance and twice Gomi threw a doubled up left hook, first to the body then immediately to the head of the wincing Pulver. Gomi's footwork, power and combinations looked incredible as he moved around Pulver with ease and landed the bigger, cleaner shots before putting Pulver away with a three punch combination. From here on in Gomi had confidence in his stand up and began demolishing every man in the division with it. Despite BJ Penn's brilliance he never had the string of victories at lightweight that Gomi achieved during this time. Gomi almost entirely cleared out the lightweight division's top ten from 2004 - 2006, a feat which no-one in any division has replicated. Misconceptions The most common misconception about Gomi is the same as Yamamoto - that a step up in competition saw him begin his decline. This is clearly untrue - coming in fat and unprepared for Nick Diaz, Gomi lost to the Stockton native then went on a 4 - 3 slide against average competition BEFORE coming to the UFC. Just as was the case with Yamamoto - the UFC picked him up not for his accomplishments, but simply to stop a Japanese promotion such as Dream from using him to sell tickets, which is why Gomi and Kid are now on huge contracts but relegated to the undercard. The second misconception about Gomi is that his power somehow "compensated" for a lack of skills in other areas. This is a myth which has been helped along by Joe Rogan basically saying it in the heat of the moment at UFC 144. Rogan did an excellent job that night, even giving props to Fedor which is a ballsy thing to do, but he was flat out wrong about Gomi. Takanori Gomi was recognized for 2 years as having the finest boxing in MMA for a reason - take a look at any of his PRIDE striking performances, he pressures opponents, works the body and utilizes straights even more than the looping bombs that have come to be seen as his style. A look at his fight at UFC 144 will show you how far he has fallen and why. While Gomi always fought out of a crouch, he was one of the most mobile fighters at lightweight - cutting off the ring expertly - but now stands with his weight so far over his front foot that he cannot move freely. By leaning over his front foot his reach is also reduced. Against Griffin and Ishida this style worked because Gomi needed to be quick to sprawl and their striking is inadequate, but against Forian, Nate Diaz and even Guida, his inability to move and having his face well forward of his waist cost Gomi big. What's more - though Gomi threw looping punches in his prime, they were never the laughably wide haymakers of today. He was a clinical boxer who threw power punches into holes. Both Gomi and Yamamoto seem destined to live out their days as also rans in the UFC, but the feats they achieved in their prime should not be overlooked. If we can recognize the rapid improvement of Mark Hunt and the decline of BJ Penn, lets not pretend that Yamamoto and Gomi are the same men they were when they set the world ablaze 6 years ago. Jack Slack breaks down striking strategy and technique at his website www.fightsgoneby.com He can also be found on Twitter @JackSlackMMA

Posted in: ufc, mma, gomi, kid, yamamoto

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In the fifth fight on the UFC 144 undercard, Takanori Gomi faced Eiji Mitsuoka in a clash between two Japanese lightweights. The fight was the last on FX before the pay per view broadcast went live. In what turned out to be a very competitive fight, Takanori Gomi was able to recompose himself after a lackluster opening round to finish Mitsuoka midway through the second. Takanori Gomi stopped Eiji Mitsuoka at 2:21 in the second round with punches. Eiji Mitsuoka was the first fighter to attack as the first round opened up. Landing leg kicks, he was able to keep distance away from Gomi's power hand and avoided danger early on. Gomi looked loose but resorted to trying to counter punch Eiji. The fight came close to ending in the first when Mitsuoka got Gomi to the ground and set up an inverted triangle choke. Gomi survived the round but was close to submitting. Round two saw Mitsuoka stand in the pocket with Gomi and trade power punches with the former PRIDE champion. Gomi's power proved to be too much and Eiji shot a desperation takedown. Gomi sprawled out and several punches was all it took for the referee to step in and stop the fight. What was the high spot of the fight? The knockout of course. Takanori Gomi showed flashes of brilliance in the first round but it was his ability to put Mitsuoka away that really put a stamp on this fight. Where do these guys go from here? Gomi will obviously stick around in the UFC. He still have name recognition with the casuals and there is a pocket of hardcore fans that still believe he can hang with the top fighters in the division. The big question is if he's still motivated to train like an elite fighter. At 2-3 in the UFC, he has an opportunity to turn everything around but he has to dedicate himself to continue developing his skills. Mitsuoka is a completely different story. He was impressive in the first round of his fight with Gomi but gassed out hard in the second. His lack of striking defense is troubling. If he's given another chance in the UFC, he'll need to show that his performance at UFC 144 was due to jitters and nothing more. I don't see much upside though so it is likely to have been a one and done type deal. Watch it now, later, or never? I'm tempted to say later but seeing Gomi knock someone out in Japan makes this a must see fight. UFC 144 was a special event and seeing vintage Gomi was a huge reason the card was so well received. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson More Bloody Elbow coverage after the jump... UFC 144 Results: Winners, Losers, And Other Thoughts - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Frankie Edgar Doesn't 'Need' To Drop To Featherweight - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Results: Rampage Jackson Goes Out Like A Lamb In Loss To Ryan Bader - Nate Wilcox UFC 144 Results: Ben Henderson And Anthony Pettis Ready For Rematch - Nate Wilcox UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Results: Dana White Says Anthony Pettis Will 'Likely' Get Next UFC Lightweight Title Shot - Bloody Elbow UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video UFC Japan Video: Georges St. Pierre Gets Attacked By A Mob Of Kids With Samurai Foam Swords - Bloody Elbow Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio - Episode 139: UFC 144 Results Review UFC 144 Results: Ryan Bader Dominates Rampage Jackson To Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Mark Hunt Knocks Out Cheick Kongo In The First Round - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Jake Shields Wins Hard Fought Decision Over Yoshihiro Akiyama - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Tim Boetsch Upsets Yushin Okami In The Third Round - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Post-Fight Press Conference Video UFC 144 Results: Hatsu Hioki Defeats Bart Palaszewski By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Anthony Pettis Knocks Out Joe Lauzon In The First Round - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Takanori Gomi Stops Eiji Mitsuoka In The Second - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Vaughan Lee Submits Kid Yamamoto With An Armbar - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Riki Fukuda Dominates Steve Cantwell To Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Chris Cariaso Defeats Takeya Mizugaki By Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth UFC 144 Results: Issei Tamura Knocks Out Tiequan Zhang - Matthew Roth

Posted in: ufc, result, gomi, matthew, roth

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A little girl walks up to Takanori Gomi, gently filling her small teacup hands with his own tender tools of destruction. "Fireball Kid', she would ask 'Why don't you wrap your hands? Why are these wounds happening? Do they hurt?' To which Gomi replied with a grunt: '子供を聞く、私の手が火の玉を投げる、あなたはそれで混乱することはできません' Which roughly Google translates to: 'Listen Kid, what can I do when my hands throw fireballs?'. It was sound logic. Here's a picture of Gomi's busted up hands that look like they just got through throwing a Hadouken or some **** on Eliji Mitsuoka's face last night. [Source]

Posted in: takanori gomi, gomi, hand, tender tools, teacup hands

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Former Pride Fighting Championships lightweight titleholder Takanori Gomi still houses some of the competitive fire that made him a global superstar.

Posted in: championship, gomi, takanori, eiji mitsuoka, eiji

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Takanori Gomi and Vaughan Lee led the winners on the UFC 144 preliminary card Sunday morning in Japan.

Posted in: ufc, gomi, lee, vaughan lee, prelim charge

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Issei Tamura KTFO's Tie Quan Zhang @ :32 of the 2nd round with a nuclear blast right hand. There was a wild striking exchange to start the fight off that ended with Tamura on top landing powerful shots from full guard at very odd angles. After a nonsense stand up from Herb Dean they ended up back on the ground where Tamura finished it out on top. The second round kicked off with more heavy punches being throw until Tamura put Zhang to bed with that huge right hand. It was a fantastic debut from Tamura, especially on 2 weeks notice. Takeya Mizugaki defeated Chris Cariaso by Unanimous Decision. In all 3 rounds Takeya was content to play the stand up game with Cariaso until around the halfway point of each round and then he secured takedowns to lock up the victory. Aside from an omoplata attempt in the first and a great sweep in the second, Cariaso didn't have a whole lot to offer which allowed Mizugaki to earn the decision in a grueling but unspectacular contest.. I mean, Chris Cariaso defeated Takeya Mizugaki by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3). I don't even have the words. This is an atrocious decision and I would love an explanation from the judges about what they saw that gave Cariaso 2 rounds. That is shameful. Riki Fukuda defeated Steve Cantwell by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2 and 29-28). After a fairly close first round, Fukuda hit his stride and Cantwell got tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired. This lead to Fukuda really opening up his striking arsenal and punishing Cantwell mercilessly with vicious leg and body kicks as well as blasting him up against the fence in tight with uppercuts especially. Cantwell has just awful cardio and freezes like a deer in headlights while getting pressured. This should likely be the last time we see him in the cage. Great performance from Riki Fukuda. Vaughan Lee submits Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto via armbar @ 4:29 of the first round. WOW! What a fight! Both men had each other badly wobbled from strikes (Kid via punches and Vaughan via knee) then Lee got in close and landed a sick combo that ended with a huge right hand that nearly dropped Kid. Vaughan charged and got taken down. He immediately locked up a triangle that Yamamoto pulled out of but Lee immediately grabbed his left arm and got the tap via armbar. Just a tremendous one round fight and a great finish for Lee. Find this one however you can. Takanori Gomi gets a comeback TKO victory over Eiji Mitsuoka @ 2:21 of the 2nd round. Gomi lost the first round handily as Mituoka clearly won the stand up. He dropped Gomi when The Fireball Kid ran right into his right hand then pounced on Gomi locking up a mounted triangle from the back. Gomi ALMOST tapped but held on to the end of the round. Gomi came out in the second frame and lit a tired Mitsuoka up with strikes and finished him off halfway through the frame on the ground. Eiji was exhausted and just standing in front of Gomi eating shots. Great comeback from Gomi but still not a performance that bodes well for his future prospects, honestly. Great Prelims. Thanks for reading.

Posted in: right, round, decision, gomi, right hand

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Takanori Gomi defeats Eiji Mitsuoka by TKO. The stoppage came at 2:21 in the second round. Eiji Mitsuoka landed a short left hand and was quickly counter by Takanori Gomi's own punch. Mitsuoka came forward and was momentarily dropped by Gomi. Mitsuoka shoots for an ankle pick and Gomi defended well by stepping out. Mitsuoka with a leg kick and Gomi landed a combination. Gomi looked loose but kept his hands at his waist looking for the power punch. Mitsuoka landed and stunned Gomi. He followed up with an uppercut which stood Gomi straight up. Gomi lazily threw a punch and was dropped with a straight right hand. Mitsuoka quickly took Gomi's back and set up a very tight inverted triangle. Gomi survived the round but was moments from being forced to submit. Mitsuoka aggressive as the second round begins. Gomi turned the tables and was able to land several punches on the tired Mitsuoka. Both fighters stood in the pocket taking unnecessary damage but it was Mitsuoka who looked to get the fight to the ground. Gomi sprawled out and took short shots to the head while in the turtle position. Mitsuoka did nothing to defend himself and the referee was forced to stop the fight. Takanori Gomi is now 2-3 in the UFC. Eiji Mitsuoka was making his UFC debut. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson

Posted in: ufc, gomi, takanori, eiji, mitsuoka

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Takanori Gomi's return to Japan was successful: The former Pride lightweight champion beat Eiji Mitsuoka by second-round TKO at UFC 144. But it wasn't easy, as Mitsuoka almost beat Gomi in the first round before Gomi finished him in the second. Gomi landed a couple of big knees to the body in the first round and looked good early on, but Mitsuoka clipped Gomi and knocked him down at the end of the round, then sunk in a mounted triangle choke and nearly forced Gomi to tap. Gomi managed to survive the first round, but just barely. More Coverage: UFC 144 Results | Gomi vs. Mitsuoka Live Blog The second round, however, was all Gomi. When Mitsuoka went for a single-leg takedown, Gomi began pummeling him with punches, and although no individual punch was particularly powerful, Gomi stayed in a dominant position and battered Mitsuoka over and over and over again, and eventually the referee had no choice but to step in and stop the fight. Gomi isn't the same fighter he once was -- he's no longer among the best lightweights in the world -- but he can still hit hard. And he hit Mitsuoka hard enough to earn a victory in his return to his homeland.

Posted in: ufc, round, gomi, eiji mitsuoka, mitsuoka

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The UFC 144 prelims took place tonight on Facebook and FX networks from Saitama, Japan. Fighters Takanori Gomi, Vaughn Lee, Riki Fukuda, Chris Cariaso, Issei Tamura were all victorious on the undercard of tonight’s event. Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy as we start play-by-play for tonight’s main card highlighted by a lightweight title bout between champion Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. Gomi survives early trouble to defeat Mitsuoka Takanori Gomi survived early trouble from late replacement AJ Mitsuoka to win big in the second round. Mitsuoka knocked down Gomi in the first and landed a back-mounted triangle that had Gomi in trouble before the bell rang. In the second, Gomi roared back and rocked Mitsuoka with a knee to the body. Gomi eventually took Mitsuoka’s back and fired strike after strike until the referee was forced to step in. Lee finishes Yamamoto in slugfest Vaughn Lee did something no one had ever done Saturday night by submitting Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. Both fighters rocked each other in the opening round as both fighters looked to crush the other. Lee then rocked Yamamoto on a nice exchange but was taken down by a cross-ankle pick when he rushed in. Lee did not allow Yamamoto to take the advantage as immediately attacked with a triangle. Kid defended the triangle but Lee transitioned beautifully to an armbar that forced the Japanese fighter to tap. The win improved Lee to 1-1 in the UFC, while “Kid” dropped to 0-3 in the UFC and 18-6-1 overall. Cantwell fades badly as a relentless Fukuda hammers out a win Steve Cantwell started strong in the first and briefly looked like he would finish Fukuda in the second round via guillotine choke but Riki Fukuda battled back in impressive fashion to win the fight. The Cantwell choke attempt was the turning point in this one as it as nearly all Fukuda for the remainder of the fight. Fukuda had Cantwell reeling on the cage in both the second and third rounds but Cantwell somehow stayed on his feet. The win brings Fukuda to 1-1 in the UFC after his controversial loss to Nick Ring at UFC 127. Cariaso edges Mizugaki in surprising decision Chris Cariaso won a controversial decision over Takeya Mizugaki that drew a chorus of boos from the Japanese crowd. Despite getting takedowns in all three rounds and spending most of the fight in top control, Mizugaki was dropped to 1-2 in the UFC. While the decision was surprising, Cariaso was very active off his back and attacked the entire time with an omoplata early and a nice sweep in the second. While Cariaso was very active on his feet the majority of his strikes appeared to be checked by Mizugaki. With the win, Cariaso improved to 3-1 in the UFC. Tamura crushes Zhang Both Issei Tamura and Tiequan Zhang came ready to battle in the opening fight with both fighters landing knockdowns but Tamura came away with the huge knockout. Tamura and Zhang battled each other in the first with multiple knockdowns and submission attempts in the first round. In the second round, both fighters looked to stand and bang. Tamura managed to land a massive shot as Zhang loaded up. The strike put Zhang out cold and put Tamura in the driver’s seat for “knockout of the night”

Posted in: ufc, gomi, lee, fukuda, tamura

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Why can't the former Pride lightweight champion catch a break? It seems like the most exciting Japanese fighter you'll ever come across has constantly been matched against grappling guys since he came to the UFC. Tomorrow will be no different, but us Pride Never Die types can dream about fireworks anyway. Takanori Gomi (32-8, 1 NC, 1-3 UFC) meets UFC newcomer Eiji Mitsuoka (18-7-2, 0-0 UFC). Neither fighter is currently ranked in the USA Today/BE Consensus Rankings, and not much is going to change no matter the outcome. Gomi used to be at the very top of the heap in this division, but not any more. Mitsuoka could earn some old-school votes with a dominant victory, but I wouldn't count on it. This lightweight UFC 144 fight is part of the preliminary card, and will are live on FX. The FX broadcast begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. How do these two stack up? Gomi: 33 years old | 5'8" | 70" reachMitsuoka: 36 years old | 5'7" | Unknown reach What have these two done recently? Gomi: L - Nate Diaz (SUB) | L - Clay Guida (SUB) | W - Tyson Griffin (EPIC KO) Mitsuoka: W - Bruno Carvalho (UD) | W - Jung Gyeong Lee (SUB) | L - Kazunori Yokota (UD) How did these two get here? Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi is a legend. But the former Shooto and Pride lightweight champion has fallen on hard times over the last four years, going just 4-5 since Pride folded and only winning one of his four UFC bouts to date. His four All Japan Combat Wrestling championships haven't been enough to deal with the likes of Clay Guida and Kenny Florian so far, and he's not getting any younger. Every Pride fan lost their minds when the old Gomi emerged briefly against Tyson Griffin, but Nate Diaz put the resurgence idea to bed with a dominant victory at UFC 135. Can Gomi give Japanese fans one more moment of glory? I certainly hope so, but I've starting get used to being disappointed. Eiji Mitsuoka has been a staple of the Japanese MMA scene for over 10 years now, and got the late call when scheduled Gomi opponent George Sotiropoulos went down with an injury. Only two people have stopped Gleison Tibau by TKO - one is Nick Diaz, the other is Eiji Mitsuoka. He has also defeated the likes of Joachim Hansen, Brian Cobb, and Rodrigo Damm. He spent a long time in Sengoku, but switched over to Dream last year and defeated Bruno Carvalho by decision. He's a crafty submission fighter with a very good chin, and while you might not know his name, he's a solid opponent for Gomi. Why should you care? If you don't care about Takanori Gomi (even 2012 Gomi), I don't care about you. For the realists out there, this is classic striker vs. grappler. I highly doubt this is going to a decision, so you'll probably enjoy what you're watching either way. You can catch more UFC 144 preview content from Bloody Elbow after the jump. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson UFC 144: Rampage Jackson Misses Weight By Five Pounds, Loses 20% Of Purse While Fight Goes On - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Weigh-In Video And Coverage - Tim Burke UFC 144: Anthony Pettis Vs. Joe Lauzon Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144: The Bloody Elbow Judo Chops Of Frankie Edgar Vs. Ben Henderson - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Staff Predictions - Tim Burke UFC 144: Jake Shields Wants UFC To Make Sure Yoshihiro Akiyama Doesn't Cheat - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: Yushin Okami Vs. Tim Boetsch Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Video: Dana White Video Blog Episode 2 - Kid Nate UFC 144: Rampage Jackson On The Streets Of Tokyo - Kid Nate UFC 144: Dana White Wants You To Know The UFC Didn't Kill PRIDE - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: The Epic Drama Of Yoshihiro Akiyama - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Is Frankie Edgar Being Underrated Against Ben Henderson? - Fraser Coffeen UFC 144: Hatsu Hioki Vs. Bart Palaszewski Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Roundtable: Can The UFC Succeed In Japan? - Tim Burke UFC 144 Predictions: Pros Slightly Favor Frankie Edgar To Beat Ben Henderson - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: Takanori Gomi Vs. Eiji Mitsuoka Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Judo Chop: Benson Henderson And The Miracle of Survival Part 2 of 2 - Ben Thapa UFC 144 Video: Under PRIDE Rules, Rampage Jackson Dominates Fight Against Ryan Bader - Anton Tabuena UFC 144 Video: Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson Fight Simulation And Prediction - Anton Tabuena UFC 144 Pre-Fight Press Conference Video - Tim Burke UFC 144: Yoshihiro Akiyama Leads The UFC Back To Japan - Kid Nate UFC 144: Should The Winner Of Joe Lauzon Vs. Anthony Pettis Get The Next Title Shot? - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144: Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto Vs. Vaughan Lee Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144: Riki Fukuda Vs. Steve Cantwell Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144 Judo Chop: Benson Henderson And The Miracle Of Survival Part 1 of 2 - Ben Thapa UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Countdown Show Full Video - Anton Tabuena UFC 144: Edgar Vs. Henderson Betting Lines - Tim Burke UFC 144: Rampage Jackson Is A Death Sentence For Ryan Bader According To Michael Bisping - Brent Brookhouse UFC 144 Manga-Style Promo Video - Kid Nate UFC 144: Takeya Mizugaki Vs. Chris Cariaso Dissection - Dallas Winston UFC 144: Tiequan Zhang Vs. Issei Tamura Dissection - Dallas Winston

Posted in: ufc, vs, henderson, gomi, dissection

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SAITAMA, February 26 - The UFC’s first event in Japan since 2000 started strong, with a loud fan base soundly in place for the event, which began at 9:30 am local time. But if there’s anything that can wake up a crowd, it’s a massive KO from a hometown hero, and from the first fight on, the Saitama Super Arena was in full-on MMA mode. While they politely applauded every win, the cheers for their countrymen were deafening, as Japan eventually went 3-3 in the first five fights (one being a bout between two Japanese fighters). Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji MitsuokaIn the “headlining” bout of the UFC 144 prelims, two Japanese fighters and PRIDE vets met inside the Octagon, with Takanori Gomi ruining the UFC debut of Eiji Mitsuoka via 2nd round TKO. Though Mitsuoka was heralded as a submission expert, the lightweight appeared to pack power in his hands, too. Gomi started in the center of the cage with his hands down, but one touch from Mitsuoka was all it took to inspire Gomi to keep his hands up. Mitsuoka found a home for his right straight and left hook, then went for a takedown that Gomi avoided. Gomi landed some solid kicks and goaded Mitsuoka forward with some flapping jabs reminiscent of the Diaz brothers, both of whom he has fought. After scoring with a kick, “The Fireball Kid” came in wild, and Mitsuoka caught him flush with a right, dropping  Gomi. Mitsuoka took his opponent’s back high up and locked him in a mounted triangle choke from behind. Though Gomi looked like he was about to tap, he waited out the round and survived. The wounded Gomi came alive in the second, as his counters connected regularly and he became much more aggressive with his striking. A wild slugfest left Mitsuoka backpedaling, and uppercuts and knees from the clinch seemed to overwhelm the UFC newcomer. Mitsuoka desperately dove for a leg and tried to drag Gomi to the ground, but Gomi used the cage to stay in control and chipped away at his opponent with body shots. Finally, the former PRIDE champion spun into top position and hammerfisted away at Mitsuoka, who could do little more than curl up as the ref called the fight at 2:21 of the second round. Gomi’s latest win leaves the legend with a 33-8 (1 NC) record; Mitsuoka departs 18-8-2.Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Vaughan LeeBirmingham, England’s Vaughan “Love” Lee got his first Octagon win against one of his heroes, the hugely popular Dream, K-1 and Shooto vet Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto.Lee staked out the center of the Octagon to begin, as Yamamoto circled. Though each one tested his range, there was no clear advantage between the two bantamweights. But that quiet two-minute feeling-out process paid off for the fans as Yamamoto connected with a punch that rocked Lee. Sensing that his opponent was hurt, Yamamoto swarmed, unleashing lefts, rights and knees as the crowd screamed and Lee covered up against the cage. Having weathered the onslaught, Lee came out more confidently, charging forward with his own combos. A right hand clipped Yamamoto, and as Lee moved forward to capitalize, the wrestler in Yamamoto took over. Despite being jarred, Yamamoto instinctively and easily got the takedown. From the bottom, Lee quickly worked for a triangle choke, delivered elbows to Yamamoto’s head, then locked in an armbar and got the tap 4:29 in. The win – Lee’s seventh by submission – improves the Brit’s record to 12-7-1; Yamamoto slips to 18-6 (1 NC). Riki Fukuda vs. Steve CantwellA US vs. Asia middleweight matchup between a striker and a wrestler sounds like a recipe for three rounds of lay and pray, but when the American in the formula is the striker and the Asian fighter the grappler, things can look mighty different. Such was the case as Riki Fukuda took on Steve “The Robot” Cantwell  in a three-round war that featured the kind of non-stop action usually seen between bantamweights.  Fukuda brought the night to 2-1 for the Japanese fighters by outstriking and grappling the American to a unanimous decision win.In the wild first round, Fukuda immediately caught a Cantwell kick and bulled him to the mat. Fukuda came on hard, relentless with blows to the body, then elbows and finally hammerfists to the face, the crowd reacting happily to each connect. Cantwell alternated between submission attempts and survival mode, and eventually Fukuda let him up and pushed Cantwell against the cage briefly before returning to the center of the cage. From there it was a back-and-forth stand-up match, with Fukuda moving forward but Cantwell connecting with strikes of his own, “The Robot” closing the round with a loud kick. The second round started with an emphasis downstairs, as both men scored with huge leg kicks. Fukuda  got a single-leg that landed him squarely in a guillotine, with one leg caught in Cantwell’s guard. Cantwell rolled to shore up the choke, but apparently decided it wasn’t going to work and stood up. From there, Fukuda took the offensive on the feet, and though both landed throughout the round, Fukuda pushed the action. Twice Fukuda stunned Cantwell into dropping his hands, but the Las Vegan's inhuman chin let him weather the storm despite an increasingly swollen, bloodied face. As Cantwell moved forward despite the punishment, the crowd – nearing 20,000 – cheered loudly mid-round. The combatants' power began to fade in the third, but their pace didn’t, with more of the same from both and an impressive head kick from Cantwell. Fukuda used the fence to drive the exhausted Cantwell to the mat, where again a struggle for an armbar ensued. Fukuda briefly took Cantwell’s back in the scramble, but both men were back on their feet soon after. With about 90 seconds left, Cantwell stood with his arms down, and Fukuda came forward with hooks and uppercuts. For the last 40 seconds, the crowd screamed as Fukuda unloaded punches, body blows and kicks as the former WEC light heavyweight champion struggled to muster up any sort of offense (or, at times, defense) .Judges scored the bout 29-28 and 30-27 twice for Fukuda (one judge gave the first round to Cantwell). The loss was Cantwell’s fifth in a row, sending him to a 7-6 record; Fukuda is lifted to 18-5. Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris CariasoThe television portion of the preliminary card opened with what’s usually a surefire recipe for fireworks – two bantamweight strikers. Kanagawa, Japan’s Takeya Mizugaki faced fellow WEC vet Chris Cariaso, and while Cariaso scored few Japanese fans with the nickname “Kamikaze” and his stifling ground defense, he did enough to please the judges, who gave him a 29-28 unanimous decision win. Mizugaki set the pace to open, as the two tested one another with an assortment of kicks and jabs. Cariaso fired off a few successful strikes from the clinch, countered well when Mizugaki whiffed, and shook off a takedown attempt. More confident with the reach differential, the shorter Cariaso then chased Mizugaki backward until – bulled against the fence – Mizugaki scored from the inside with a huge trip. With Mizugaki positioned low in his guard, Cariaso rolled into a convincing armbar, but Mizuagki stood up and shook him off. For the rest of the round, the two struggled for position, the biggest action coming as Mizugaki postured up on his knees to land one crowd-pleasing blow from the top.In the standup to start the second round, Mizugaki got off a few more combos and kicks, while Cariaso scored more on the exits. Another takedown attempt from Mizugaki landed them back on the cage, but this time it was Cariaso working harder for the takedown until Mizugaki got the trip. Again, Mizugaki was able to land a few big shots from inside guard, but was otherwise smothered by the NorCal fighter’s close guard. Cariaso landed a significant head kick at the beginning of the second, but the next couple of minutes were spent against the cage, mostly with Mizugaki on the outside, both men using kicks and working for takedowns. A second high kick from Cariaso caused him to slip to the mat, and Mizugaki followed into guard for more of the moves we’d seen so far. Mizugaki worked his way into half guard for just a second until going back into guard for essentially the rest of the fight.The decision – resoundingly booed by the Tokyo crowd – lifts Cariaso to 13-3 as a pro, while Mizugaki falls to 15-7-2. Tiequan Zhang vs. Issei TamuraIn the morning’s first bout, Chinese guillotine specialist Tiequan Zhang fought Tokyo’s own Issei Tamura. The Krazy Bee-trained Tamura, a late replacement for the injured Leonard Garcia, turned the one-in-a-million opportunity into a star-making turn, scoring a huge KO win in front of his hometown crowd. The fight opened with both featherweights swinging wildly -- Tamura connected first, Zhang dropped Tamura, and  then Tamura dropped Zhang and followed him to the ground. The Japanese fighter did damage from the top with elbows and hammerfists, but Zhang eventually neutralized him enough that referee Herb Dean called for a standup with two minutes left. Back on the feet, Tamura made an impression with with two counter rights, then worked for a takedown. He succeeded, but landed with his head inside one arm of Zhang’s vicious guillotine. Tamura weathered the risk, popped out and finished the round on top. Zhang opened round two more cautiously, the China Top Team product throwing several low leg kicks. As he began his flurry, however, Tamura landed a perfect right hand that sent Zhang to the mat for several minutes. Herb Dean called the fight 32 seconds in, and the crowd – nearly at capacity by the end of the first bout -- erupted into thunderous cheers. The loss drops Zhang to a record of 18-3, with all of his losses coming inside the Octagon; Tamura now stands at 7-2.

Posted in: round, gomi, mizugaki, cantwell, fukuda

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If asked to rank the ten biggest stars from PRIDE FC there’s no doubt UFC lightweight Takanori Gomi would be towards the top of the list. Gomi went 13-1 while flying the famed promotion’s flag including wins over some of the sport’s best including Jens Pulver, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Hayato Sakurai. However, as great as Gomi looked during his glory days, “The Fireball Kid” has been far from hot as of late, losing three of four since joining the UFC’s roster with the trio of defeats all involving a submission stoppage. Gomi will have a chance at redemption this weekend when he faces newcomer Eiji Mitsuoka at UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson where, he assures fans, he’ll return to form. “I am really happy to have a chance to fight in UFC Japan. I never thought it was going to happen this early, and I’m glad that I continued my career this long,” said Gomi in an interview with the UFC’s website. “It’s been a while, so I am looking forward to fighting in front of the Japanese crowd. I want to be my true self and show them a great fight.” Though Gomi has struggled against mat-based adversaries, as Mitsuoka is, this time around he feels he’s prepared to the point where it won’t be an issue. “I think I lacked stamina and ground techniques. I want to make an improvement on that, so I’ve reviewed the training regimen that I’ve done and trained even harder,” explained Gomi. “I am proud of myself for being one of the Japan-born UFC fighters and I think Japanese fighters have this fighting spirit of not giving up until it’s really over.” “The Fireball Kid is coming back. Please keep an eye on me,” he concluded. Tweet

Posted in: ufc, gomi, i ’ve, kid, fireball

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The spotlight match up on the UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson preliminary broadcast on the FX channel pits lightweights Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka. The undercard features four bouts in all and will air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FX to preface the main card pay-per-view. Takanori Gomi (32-8) is one of many UFC 144 cast members endeavoring to reconstruct his once-resplendent reputation. Since it's still not fully realized or greeted with sour-faced skepticism, let's reiterate a fact: Takanori Gomi was once the undisputed number-one lightweight on the planet. Yes, he was indeed submitted by B.J. Penn immediately after "The Prodigy" drew with Caol Uno and departed from the UFC, but there are two imperative facts to consider: Penn abandoned the lightweight division for four years while traipsing around overseas in higher weight classes and the UFC completely liquidated their 155-pound class from UFC 49 in 2004 until UFC 59 in 2006. These two events triggered a monumental transformation for the global lightweight division, the most prevalent being that all of the 155-pound talent migrated to Japan to compete in Pride FC. Before the doors of the division swung shut in the UFC, the major lightweight players were: Jens Pulver, who was crushed by Gomi and Hayato Sakurai in Pride, Yves Edwards, who lost a tight split decision to Joachim Hansen in Pride's lightweight Grand Prix, Josh Thomson, who submitted one opponent in Pride before signing with Strikeforce (where he lost to Clay Guida for the vacant lightweight title in his debut) and Hermes Franca, who faded out when he dropped three in a row after his UFC tour. While all of this was transpiring, Gomi was ascending to legendary status by beheading a throng of lightweights with his skull-splitting boxing power. Since the former UFC fighters had all lost in Pride and were effectively out of the picture, the frontrunners for the lightweight throne were Tatsuya Kawajiri and "Mach" Sakurai ... both of whom Gomi trounced in the first round, becoming the Pride champion and undisputed alpha-lightweight in the process. That's the good part -- the rest gets ugly. Gomi had starched thirteen of his fourteen opponents in Pride and avenged his only loss before facing Nick Diaz, who latched a stellar gogoplata to end a dramatic brawl. Things went entirely downhill for Gomi from that point on. Halfway through his next six, he would incur back-to-back losses and then find victory in only one of his four Octagon stints. Gifs and analysis in the full entry. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson Initially paired with Aussie George Sotiropoulos, venomous submissionist Eiji Mitsuoka (18-7) has filled the void. No stranger to the Japanese circuit, Mitsuoka's decade long journey has meandered through Pride FC, Dream, Shooto, DEEP, MARS, Greatest Common Multiple (GCM) aka "Cage Force", World Victory Road's Sengoku promotion and King of the Cage. His noteworthy wins include UFC-caliber lightweights Gleison Tibau, Gerald Strebendt (both by TKO stoppage), Samy Schiavo and Brian Cobb (both by submission) along with reputable worldwide talent in Joachim Hansen (split decision), Rodrigo Damm and Clay French (both via submission). Anyone who thinks Gomi is getting a gimme-win here is sorely mistaken. Mitsuoka is a fierce wrestler with elite submission grappling and big punching power. He's definitely a UFC-level lightweight and also has the perfect style to exploit Gomi's known weaknesses on the mat. To be clear on his Achilles Heel -- Gomi is quite a capable wrestler but has always struggled against avid submission fighters. In his heyday, Gomi fit the "wrestle-boxer" mold to a tee: his wrestling complemented his striking perfectly to either stay upright and chuck bombs or score takedowns and shower frightening ground-and-pound from the top. Gomi was a pitcher in baseball throughout his youth and those mechanics can be seen clearly in his scorching left hand. He possesses some of the most fearsome knockout power the sport has seen and hurls his overhand left just like a fastball. Gomi's cement-filled hands give him the potential to end the fight at any time. In the gif above against Tyson Griffin, he proves that he's still a beast in the pocket and a highly inadvisable fighter to trade with. Notice how Griffin's low kick connects solidly and wobbles the lead leg, but Gomi doesn't let it stop the momentum of the massive counter-punch he's wheeling in response. The sequence to the left shows Gomi's take on neutralizing takedowns. While this exemplifies why he was such a devastating and exciting lightweight, his mediocre technique with the more traditional methods of takedown defense is the root-cause of his troubles. Though he has decent power on the feet, Mitsuoka is not a huge threat standing. However, he's an absolute animal with position, passing and submissions on the mat, and also has the wrestling background to implement it. Mitsuoka wrestled in high school and during college in Japan and began his MMA career as basically a one-dimensional takedown artist. Logging years in the gym and in the ring has drastically cultivated his submission grappling prowess, and he now stands as a cunning powerhouse on the mat. The armbar to the right is applied on Sergey Golyaev, the Russian who upset Gomi in Sengoku. On the left, against Bruno Carvalho in his last outing, Mitsuoka nailed a double-leg and doesn't even bother to defend the guillotine choke, but rather just fast-forwards to pinning the right-side knee in order to pass. Mitsuoka is a slick guard-passer with a knack for writhing his way into full mount, where he doubles up his attacks with heavy punches and submission attempts with a boat-anchor base to maintain control. Of his eighteen career wins, eleven are by submission with three TKOs and four decisions. I was (and still am) a sappy Pride fanboy and an unabashed Takanori Gomi mark. I've picked him to win every fight and this won't be an exception. However, there's no question that Mitsuoka typifies a poisonous match up -- perhaps even more so than some of Gomi's past opponents because his wrestling is just as perilous as his submission acumen. The dynamics here are the same as every other Gomi fight: he'll look to avoid takedowns and light off the cannons on the feet. An equally discouraging trend in Gomi's UFC turns is that he's been rather hesitant to pull the trigger. Since his obvious advantage lies in the stand up, complacency absolutely drains the life from his chances. Because he's such a tremendous slugger, Gomi reservations can be attributed to the fear of being countered with a takedown when his feet are planted, and that concern will only be heightened against Mitsuoka. An upset by submission or decision is not out of the question by any means. My Prediction: Takanori Gomi by KO. Gomi vs. Griffin gif via ZombieProphet of IronForgesIron.com All others via MMA-Core.com Poll Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka Gomi Mitsuoka   22 votes | Results

Posted in: ufc, submission, gomi, pride, mitsuoka

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In any given fight, Takanori Gomi has the ability to do this to someone's head. If first-round knockouts were unsuccessful feature-length movies created from videogames, Gomi would be the Uwe Boll of MMA. Granted, Rampage was about a guy that makes a full body suit of kevlar and just kills people for two hours which pretty much makes it the greatest movie ever made. It also makes it a biographical piece if Takanori Gomi made a suit of kevlar and visited Newark, New Jersey. Takanori Gomi tweets in English, yet refuses to speak the language in his pre -fight interviews. He does, however, have a suave translator who even nails down the idioms used by Gomi. I only wonder if he can translate phrases like '[Expletive] your life', 'ZUFFA Zombies', 'Bozo MMA analysts' and a variety of other terms that would somehow have [expletive] in them. Nevertheless, watch Takanori Gomi dress up like a homeless ninja and still be infinitely cooler than you in this MMAWeekly clip from the UFC 144 pre-fight press conference media scrum.

Posted in: takanori gomi, gomi, takanori, body suit, featurelength movies

Read the full article at Middle Easy

It’s no secret that the Japanese mixed martial arts scene has fallen on hard times over the last few years, but with Saturday’s UFC 144 event at Saitama Super Arena, there is optimism from the local heroes on the card that this could be the start of a revival in Japan. One of those hopeful fighters is one who is no stranger to a thriving MMA scene at home, Takanori Gomi.“I think the level of Japanese MMA will rise as many people get to see the world’s top class bouts,” he said through translator Mizuka Koike. “I hope there’s gonna be a lot of Japanese guys who wish to be great fighters.”Gomi, the first and only PRIDE lightweight champion, as well as a Shooto welterweight titleholder, is no stranger to being in the role of flag bearer for the sport in his country. For years, “The Fireball Kid” took on and beat all comers, most notably going 13-1 with 1 NC from 2004 to 2007. Yet by the time Gomi arrived in the UFC in 2010, he was about to hit hard times in the Octagon. Just 1-3 in four UFC starts, with his Knockout of the Night finish of Tyson Griffin sandwiched by losses (all by submission) to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz, the charismatic Kanagawa native has found himself in need of a win this Saturday against countryman Eiji Mitsuoka (a late replacement for the injured George Sotiropoulos). Yet on a positive note, the 33-year old southpaw appears to have pinpointed where he’s gone wrong in the UFC.“I think I lacked stamina and ground techniques,” he said. “I want to make an improvement on that, so I’ve reviewed the training regimen that I’ve done and trained even harder.”Well, if he was looking to see his ground game tested, Sotiropoulos was the perfect man to do it, but Mitusoka’s no slouch either, as the 36-year old has finished 11 of his 18 wins by submission.Said Gomi, “I think a fighter like Mitsuoka starts with boxing and then moves to grappling to end the fight with a submission. And when it comes to reach and body size wise, they (Mitsuoka and Sotiropoulos) are not very different, so it (the change in opponent) was okay.”It’s no secret that Gomi has had his difficulties with groundfighters (six of his eight losses are by submission), but he’s also had success against them over the years, and the one intangible when it comes to this weekend’s bout is that it is coming at home. That’s something that can’t be overlooked, especially when Gomi is so excited about his return.“I am really happy to have a chance to fight in UFC Japan,” he said. “I never thought it was going to happen this early, and I’m glad that I continued my career this long. It’s been a while, so I am looking forward to fighting in front of the Japanese crowd. I want to be my true self and show them a great fight.”Pardon the pun, but this is pride at its most telling and compelling. For a fighter like Gomi, one whose legacy is set no matter what happens against Mitsuoka, it is imperative that if he’s going to lose, it’s not going to be in front of his loyal fans. Not this weekend. Not at Saitama Super Arena. “I am proud of myself for being one of the Japan-born UFC fighters,” he said, “and I think Japanese fighters have this fighting spirit of not giving up until it’s really over.”And as far as Takanori Gomi is concerned, his run in the UFC is far from over.“The Fireball Kid is coming back,” he said. “Please keep an eye on me.”

Posted in: ufc, fighter, japanese, year, gomi

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HeavyMMA's Megan Olivi talks to Japanese legend Takanori Gomi about fighting in his native Japan for the first time as a member of the UFC. He takes on Eiji Mitsuoka at UFC 144.

Posted in: ufc, gomi, takanori, eiji mitsuoka, eiji

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Takanori Gomi told the press at Gold's Gym in Tokyo, Japan, that facing a new opponent on short notice does not affect him.

Posted in: takanori gomi, gomi, takanori, tokyo japan, golds gym

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) could have used a little Lenne Hardt this weekend in Saitama, Japan, but ring announcer Bruce Buffer will do just fine. For the first time since UFC 29, when Pat Miletich and Tito Ortiz defended their respective titles, the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion will return to Japan this weekend (Sat., Feb. 25, 2012) with one impressive fight card. UFC 144, which will take place at the Saitama Super Arena, will featured Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar, defending his 155-pound title for the fourth time in the main event against former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champion Ben Henderson. Another lightweight match up slated for the pay-per-view (PPV) main card -- Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis -- will square off in a bout that may determine the next man to challenge for the belt. Plus, Pride FC legends Quinton Jackson, Takanori Gomi and Mark Hunt, among others, will return to the land that made them famous and the crowds that made them heroes. And that's not even mentioning the "Prelims" card, which will be shown in its entirety on Facebook/FX. We took a deep dive into the first few UFC 144 "Prelims" bouts yesterday right here. Now join us after the jump for breakdowns of the top two fights on FX: 155 lbs.: Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka Few fighters were more feared than Takanori Gomi (32-8) in his heyday. From the beginning of 2004 to the end of 2005, "The Fireball Kid" was arguably the most dominant champion anywhere in mixed martial arts (MMA). He won 10 straight with eight finishes, including knockouts of welterweight great Hayato Sakurai and former UFC champion Jens Pulver. Unfortunately, things just haven’t been the same since his submission loss to Marcus Aurelio -- Gomi has found himself submitted in three of his lst four bouts with only a hellacious knockout of Tyson Griffin to remind fans of the good old days. Gomi absolutely needs a win Saturday to remain relevant. And while Mitsuoka doesn’t have the name value of original opponent George Sotiropoulos, Gomi cannot look past him. A submission specialist with wins over the likes of Gleison Tibau, Brian Cobb and Gomi-conqueror Sergei Golyaev, Eijii Mitsuoka (18-7-2) replaces Sotiropoulos on short notice on the heels of two straight victories. Most recently, he decisioned highly-touted Brazilian striker Bruno Carvalho under the DREAM banner, his second fight after a year-long sabbatical. Should he upset the former Pride FC superstar, his stock would undoubtedly shoot through the roof. I’m man enough to admit that I was horrendously wrong about Gomi’s fight with Diaz and accept that we will probably never again see the inhuman monster that ruled PRIDE with an iron fist again. Even this Gomi, though, should be enough to beat Mitsuoka. The latter has the sort of grappling abilities that have proven Gomi’s downfall in the past, but he doesn’t have the wrestling necessary to bring them to bear against "The Fireball Kid." Further, unlike Clay Guida or Kenny Florian, he doesn’t set up his shots with a solid striking arsenal or wacky head movement, making it even more likely that Gomi shrugs off his inevitable takedown efforts. Eiji is incredibly tough, so I think he’ll make it to a decision, but he just doesn’t have the wrestling chops to take advantage of Gomi’s poor submission defense, and he’ll find himself battered left and right across the Octagon for 15 painful minutes. Prediction: Gomi via unanimous decision 135 lbs.: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee Back before Jose Aldo turned the lower weight classes into his personal feeding grounds, there were exactly two names that defined them: Urijah Faber and "KID" Yamamoto (18-5). After an early cut stoppage loss to Stephen Palling, Yamamoto took the lightweight and featherweight divisions by storm, winning 14 straight fights despite often fighting well above his natural weight. An ill-advised trip to K-1 and an elbow injury suffered in training for a crack at Olympic wrestling later, though, and KID finds himself struggling to remain a factor in the modern MMA scene, having lost four of his last five. Though he entered the UFC as one of the most celebrated signings in recent memory, he is very likely fighting for his job against his British foe. Vaughan Lee (11-7-1), he had tried out for The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) and impressed while doing so, looked on the verge of making an instant jump into the bantamweight division’s upper echelon against Chris Cariaso, dominating the veteran with grappling in the first round. Once Cariaso got his own takedown game going, however, Lee found himself controlled for the bout’s remainder and lost the resultant split decision. The well-rounded Lee has made a habit of ending things quickly and decisively, with nine first-round finishes to his name, and should he become the first man in almost a decade to stop Yamamoto, could find himself one of the new faces of British MMA. I’m also willing to admit that this isn’t the KID Yamamoto who was one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters alive. I don’t know what’s happened to his wrestling, which used to be practically Olympic-caliber, or whether he can deal with people as fast as him. But, once again, there’s enough KID left here. Vaughan has feasted lately on inferior competition, ending overmatched fighters’ nights inside the first round. He’s a pretty good striker with a solid ground game, but Yamamoto still has a right hand that can knockout anyone below 170 pounds. And while Vaughan might have some success taking KID down early, that right hand will find him sooner or later. KID’s is a story of immense talent brought down by poor decision-making (whose bright idea was it to have him fight Mike Zambidis, one of the hardest punchers in K-1 MAX history who also outweighs KID by 20 pounds?) and ill fortune. I’m sad we’ll never see the monstrous KID of yore again, but we’ll catch a little glimpse of him Saturday, just enough to keep optimistic fools like me hopeful. Prediction: Yamamoto via second-round knockout Get your Hokuto Shinken sharpened up, park your EVAs in the appropriate spot, and prepare to get Spirited Away to a solid night of fighting. See you Saturday, Maniacs! Remember, too, that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of UFC 144, beginning with the "Prelims" bout on Facebook scheduled for around 7:30 p.m. ET. In addition, we will also provide LIVE, real-time results of the main card action as it happens throughout the evening this upcoming weekend.

Posted in: ufc, fight, gomi, kid, yamamoto

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So, my Vagner Rocha underdog pick at UFC on Fuel didn't exactly pay off. Actually, it got knocked out. For UFC 144, there's really not a lot going on betting-wise. I won't comment on the main event because I don't really see any value in either side. The same goes for the co-main. Is there value in Mark Hunt at +230? As much as I hate to say this (Go Hunt!), there probably isn't. In fact, the whole main card is somewhat devoid of value to be honest. Things get a little better on the undercard. I like Mizugaki at -200. There could possibly be some value in Steve Cantwell at +195 since Fukuda is coming off some injuries and has been out for a year, but the more I look at it, the more I want to shy away from it. And I refuse to say that Mitsuoka is good value against Gomi at +175 because Gomi is the Fireball Kid and cannot be beaten (I don't want to hear your lies about Diaz/Guida/Florian. It never happened). Anyway, here's a look at the UFC 144 lines (undercard after the jump): Feb 25th, live on pay-per-view from Saitama, Japan: Main Card: Frankie Edgar (14-1) -130 vs. Ben Henderson (15-2) EVEN [LW Title] Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (32-9) -260 vs. Ryan Bader (13-2) +200 Mark Hunt (7-7) +230 vs. Cheick Kongo (17-6-2) -300 Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-4, 2 NC) +230 vs. Jake Shields (26-6-1) -300 Anthony Pettis (14-2) -250 vs. Joe Lauzon (21-6) +195 Yushin Okami (26-6) -450 vs. Tim Boetsch (14-4) +300 Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2) -195 vs. Bart Palaszewski (36-14) +155 More SBN coverage of UFC 144 Preliminary Card: Takeya Mizugaki (15-6-2) -200 vs. Chris Cariaso (12-3) +160 Norifumi Yamamoto (18-5, 1 NC) -400 vs. Vaughan Lee (11-7-1) +300 Riki Fukuda (17-5) -250 vs. Steve Cantwell (7-5) +195 Takanori Gomi (32-8, 1 NC) -225 vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (18-7-2) +175 Tiequan Zhang (15-2) -300 vs. Issei Tamura (6-2) +230

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George Sotiropoulos has been forced out of his UFC 144 fight in Japan against Takanori Gomi (pictured). Eiji Mitsuoka has stepped in for him to make his UFC debut.

Posted in: ufc, takanori gomi, gomi, george sotiropoulos, eiji mitsuoka

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George Sotiropoulos is going to have to wait a little bit longer to try and get back in the win column. The Australian fighter has been forced out of his bout with Takanori Gomi at UFC 144, but the UFC has a found a suitable replacement. MMA Weekly has it: An injury has forced former Ultimate Fighter competitor George Sotiropoulos out of UFC 144 in Japan. Eiji Mitsuoka steps in to take his place to face Takanori Gomi. Like Gomi, Mitsuoka has competed in Pride and Sengoku in the past, and it's actually a bit surprising that they never met in Sengoku. Mitsuoka (18-7-1) is currently on a two-fight winning streak, and holds wins over the likes of Joachim Hansen and Gleison Tibau. Gomi (32-8, 1 NC) has lost three of his four UFC bouts so far, and looked particularly unimpressive in his first round submission loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 135. He desperately needs a win to keep his job with the organization. The bout will take place on the undercard of the event, currently scheduled for February 25th in the Saitama Super Arena. The main event will see UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defending his title against former WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson. SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson

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An injury has forced Georges Sotiropoulos to pull out of a planned match-up with Takanori Gomi at UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson. In place of Sotiropoulos will be Eiji Mitsuoka. Mitsuoka will be making his UFC debut with his precious action primarily occurring in Japan where he racked up a 18-7-2 in his career. Included in those wins are victories over the likes of Rodrigo Damm, Gleison Tibau, and Joachim Hansen. Gomi will be competing in his native country for the first time since 2009, and will be looking to end a two-fight losing skid. Gomi is 32-8 overall but just 1-3 in his four UFC fights. It is unknown at this time what kind of injury Sotiropoulos suffered. MMAWeekly was the first to report the change to the card. UFC 144 features a headlining fight pitting UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar against #1 contender Benson Henderson. The card goes down February 26 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. PHOTO CREDIT – FEG/UFC

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An injury to George Sotiropoulos has produced an all-Japan matchup at UFC 144, as Eiji Mitsuoka has stepped in to face Takanori Gomi in a lightweight bout at the February 26 event in Saitama, Japan, according to MMA Weekly. Mitsuoka (18-7-2) won his lone DREAM fight over Bruno Carvalho in July for his second-straight win following a 4-2 stint in Sengoku, while the former PRIDE champ Gomi (32-8) is just 1-3 in the UFC after following up a 64-second KO of Tyson Griffin with losses to Clay Guida and Nate Diaz. UFC 144, which airs in the U.S. on pay-per-view on Feb. 25, is headlined by lightweight champion Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson and also includes Quitnon “Rampage” Jackson vs. Ryan Bader and Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama. For complete coverage of UFC 144 stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com. Pictured: Takanori Gomi

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An injury has forced former 'Ultimate Fighter' competitor George Sotiropoulos out of UFC 144 in Japan. In his place Eiji Mitsuoka will step in and face Takanori Gomi.

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If success in mixed martial arts (MMA) was measured by the frequency and sternness of scowls, Nate Diaz would be the world's greatest fighter only behind his older brother Nick. Thankfully, in addition to being able to mean mug with the best of them, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 winner is also one hell of a fighter. He steps inside the Octagon with the same ferocity that his brother does and has earned a legion of fans because of it. He has a solid albeit unspectacular UFC record of 9-5 but two of those losses came at welterweight against men -- Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald -- whose only losses came at the hands of Carlos Condit who happens to be facing off against Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 143. What a tangle web we weave, indeed. Fans who cheer Nate Diaz do so not only because of how he wins -- impressively and decisively -- but also how he comes up short. When he loses, he does so to some of the best and only by decision. He fought Clay Guida and Gray Maynard tooth and nail for 15 minutes and nearly pulled off the victory each time, losing to both men by split decision. He, like his brother, comes to fight. He doesn't step inside the cage for a sporting contest, he enters the Octagon much like he would a bar and fights his UFC opponents like he would a drunken patron during a brawl. His next opponent is Donald Cerrone at UFC 141: "Lesnar vs. Overeem", a fight with the potential to be a last minute Fight of the Year candidate. It's also Diaz's second fight at lightweight since returning to the division in September. At UFC 135, he dropped back down to 155 pounds and took on Diaz family foe Takanori Gomi. Let's dive right in. The two meet in the center and begin pawing their jab out in an attempt to gauge the distance and find their range. Diaz snaps forward a quick jab that grazes Gomi who already is having trouble with the reach advantage his opponent has. Gomi has dealt with this before and more often than not, his opponent lay unconscious on the mat following an exchange. A perfectly placed jab connects with Gomi's jaw as the former Pride Fighting Championships champion attempts a wild hook, dropping the Japanese fighter momentarily. He bounces right back up but has to deal with Diaz's newfound aggression. Back against the cage, Gomi is pressured relentlessly by Diaz. The Stockton fighter eats a solid punch to the body but it doesn't even seem to phase him. He continues the assault without pause, peppering Gomi with punch after punch. Another body shot lands for Gomi but it seems to be the only offense he's able to mount. Midway through the round, Diaz has already started taunting the Japanese fighter like only a Diaz knows how. Hands down by his wait, chin sticking out, mouth spouting out who knows what. It's a scene that polarizes the MMA fanbase. With a little over two minutes remaining, Diaz begins to connect with combinations rather than the single strikes he was serving up before. As the crowd begins to sound off, the TUF 5 winner throws a three-punch combo that drops Gomi before the third strike is even thrown. The Japanese fighter is able to get back up but the barrage continues and Gomi is forced to revert to the early days of his career, dropping down for a takedown. Being the owner of a Cesar Gracie jiu-jitsu brown belt and having won six of his eight fights inside the Octagon by submission, Diaz is more than happy to oblige his opponent. Seconds into the groundwork, the American takes Gomi's back and hooks his legs in. He's in there for the long haul. Realizing the danger he's in, the former champ gets back to his feet forcing Diaz to do the same. There, the momentary lapse in the stand-up affair is corrected and Diaz goes immediately back to punishing his opponent with impressive boxing skills. Gomi is then able to shove Diaz down onto the mat and drops down into the American's guard. For a brief moment, it appears as if fans might see some ground and pound from "The Fireball Kid." That thought is dashed when Diaz throws his legs up and cinches up a triangle choke before transitioning into an armbar. It was a fight that many thought Diaz would lose. Gomi gave Nick Diaz all he could handle and most agreed that the elder Diaz was the better of the two brothers. But Nate proved those people wrong by not only beating Gomi but by doing it in a much more dominant fashion than his brother did. While Nick is challenging for welterweight gold, a win for Nate next Saturday would definitely steer him in the right direction in his quest to earn his own division's title. But first he has a "Cowboy" to deal with.

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The UFC has been very patient with former PRIDE lightweight champ Takanori Gomi. Now, with the weight of back-to-back losses on his resume, Gomi will get the chance to compete in the friendly confines of his native Japan when he meets George Sotiropoulos at UFC 144. The pairing was announced at the press conference in Japan for the increasingly epic show, an event going down February 26 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. UFC 155-pound champ Frankie Edgar will defend his belt in the main event against Ben Henderson. Gomi entered the UFC with plenty of hype, having won 31 fights his career over in Japan. However, “The Fireball Kid” has struggled inside the Octagon against some of the elite lightweights in the world, falling by submission to Kenny Florian, Clay Guida, and Nate Diaz. The lone win for Gomi came by knockout over Tyson Griffin in the summer of 2010. Sotiropoulos could also be fighting for his UFC career as well, having dropped two in a row after winning seven consecutive fights on the heels of his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter with defeats to Dennis Siver and Rafael dos Anjos. UFC 144 is also full of match-ups featuring some of Gomi’s fellow Japanese stars including Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski, Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch, and Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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As expected, Takanori Gomi will compete at Japan's UFC 144 and he now has an opponent as the organization announced late Sunday night that George Sotiropoulos will battle the former PRIDE champion on Saturday, February 26th in Saitama. The 33-year-old Gomi (32-8-0-1) made his UFC debut in March 2010 and was submitted by Kenny Florian in the third round. After knocking out Tyson Griffin in 64 seconds later that year, Gomi lost consecutive fights by submission to Clay Guida and Nate Diaz. Gomi is a former PRIDE Lightweight champion and Shooto Welterweight Champion.A UFC fighter since December 2007, Sotiropoulos (14-4) came within striking distance of a lightweight title shot with an eight-fight winning streak. However, a unanimous decision loss to Dennis Siver in February and a 59-second knockout loss to Rafael dos Anjos in July put the 34-year-old back in the middle of the pack. UFC 144 (aka UFC Japan) is headlined by Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Ryan Bader, Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo, Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields and Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis.

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The UFC continued their quest to pay homage to PRIDE and Japanese MMA as a whole late Sunday night with the addition of Takanori Gomi to the organization’s upcoming return to the Land of the Rising Sun after a decade-long absence from one of the sport’s birthplaces. According to an official announcement, Gomi will face 14-4 Aussie George Sotiropoulos on a card already featuring fellow Japanese stars Hatsu Hioki, Yushin Okami, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. UFC 144 Shaping Up to be Something Special “The Fireball Kid” fought under the PRIDE banner fifteen times where he emerged as one of the top lightweights in the world, and became champion, due to wins over the likes of Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hayato Sakurai, and Mitsuhiro Ishida. He has since struggled to find his footing, being submitted in three of his last four fights with the lone victory involving a highlight reel knockout of Tyson Griffin. The 32-8 Gomi’s past struggles against grapplers should be music to Sotiropoulos’ ears with more than half of his overall in-ring success coming by way of submission. The 34-year old had won seven straight, including triumphs over Kurt Pellegrino, Joe Stevenson, and Joe Lauzon, and was on the cusp of a title-shot before falling in his last two bouts. UFC 144 is headlined by Frankie Edgar putting his lightweight championship on the line against Ben Henderson with other match-ups including Akiyama vs. Jake Shields, Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis, and Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader. PHOTO CREDIT – FEG Tweet

Posted in: ufc, japanese, takanori gomi, gomi, pride banner

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Takanori Gomi and George Sotiropoulos will look to rebound from back-to-back losses when the lightweights are scheduled to square off at UFC 144 in Gomi’s home country of Japan on February 26. The matchup was among three announced on Monday to complete the UFC 144 fight card along with bantamweights Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Vaughn Lee and featherweights Tiequan Zhang vs. Leonard Garcia. Gomi (32-8), a former champion in Japan’s PRIDE organization, is just 1-3 since joining the UFC last year and followed a knockout win over Tyson Griffin with back-to-back losses to Clay Guida and Nate Diaz. Sotiropoulos (14-4) had his hopes of a title shot following six-straight wins dashed with a February loss to Dennis Siver, then was knocked out in just 59-seconds by Rafael dos Anjos in July. UFC 144 is headlined by UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson and also features Quinton “Rampage” Jackson returning to Japan against fellow light heavyweight Ryan Bader. The complete UFC 144 fight card features: MAIN CARD Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Ben Henderson UFC Lightweight Championship Quitnon “Rampage” Jackson vs. Ryan Bader Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis PRELIMINARY CARD Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Vaughn Lee Tiequan Zhang vs. Leonard Garcia For complete coverage of UFC 144 stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

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"The Fireball Kid" is headed back home. That's because Takanori Gomi has been booked to get busy against jiu-jitsu ace George Sotiropoulos at UFC 144 on Feb. 26, 2012, from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The promotion brought word of the pending match-up a short time ago. Both fighters are looking to rebound from recent losses, particularly Gomi, who has been submitted in both of his last two outings against Clay Guida and Nate Diaz, respectively. In fact, the Japanese import is just 1-3 inside the Octagon, which means it's time to live up to the hype or he may not be making the trip back to the U.S. early next year. Sotiropoulos has also struggled greatly as of late, as he failed to win a single fight in his 2011 campaign after failing to lose a fight between 2007-2010. In fact, he was knocking on the door to a title shot before running into Dennis Siver's fists back at UFC 127 in February. A follow up knockout loss to Rafael dos Anjos in under one minute at UFC 132 has his Octagon career in doubt. A win over Gomi would certainly stave off the hounds ... for now. UFC 144 will be headlined by a 155-pound title fight featuring Ben Henderson, fresh off his unanimous decision win over Clay Guida, taking on reigning lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. In addition, Jake Shields returns to action against Yoshihiro Akiyama, while Anthony Pettis and Joe Lauzon collide in what promises to be an exciting lightweight attraction. For the latest UFC 144 news and notes be sure to check out our complete archive right here.

Posted in: ufc, fight, gomi, clay guida, sotiropoulo

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Tom Grant supplies us with an excellent Judo Chop on B.J. Penn's ground game - in particular, showing how his back takes and control of his opponents are a fearsome component of a fearsome ground game. At this point, most MMA fans know B.J. Penn's story: starting his training under Ralph Gracie and then moving to Nova Uniao before earning his black belt in just three years of grappling. There was some outcry at the speed and his promotion and B.J. silenced all the doubters by being the first American to win a black belt World Championship in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Because of this rapid ascent to the top, B.J. is often hailed as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizard and many are quick to point out his amazing flexibly as the genesis of his grappling acumen. To attribute his prowess simply to his inhuman flexibility and focus on his guard game is to discredit Penn's game. While his flexibility is impressive, Penn's technical diversity and firm grasp on foundational skills is what makes him so formidable.  Penn's guard is often praised - and for good reason. Penn has an active guard that is extremely difficult to pass. That said, in his fights with Jon Fitch and rematch with Georges St. Pierre they have great success damaging Penn from inside his guard. Penn's guard game has never really heavily featured submission attacks, instead focusing much more on sweeping or taking the back. Below the jump is an examination of the several times we've seen B.J. take the back and how that led to great positions or victory. In the second match of one of the best trilogies in MMA, B.J. managed to magic his way to Matt Hughes's back in the second round. Kid Nate wrote an excellent Judo Chop on how exactly Penn took Hughes' back. It was a wonderful move, but a Pyrrhic victory for Penn. Where Penn's jiu jitsu game truly shines is in his top control and his attack once he is on his opponent's back.  Here is Penn in the third round of his 2003 fight with Takanori Gomi. He is on Gomi's back and beginning to strike. Gomi is defending and attempts to elevate hips and drop his shoulders to shake Penn off his back. The normal response to that tactic is for the fighter on the back to grab over-under grips, going over one shoulder and under the opposite armpit to prevent from sliding off. Penn has the awareness to not just grip under Gomi's armpit, but trap his leg and prevent Gomi from being able to posture up to shake Penn off.  Gripping the leg also breaks Gomi down and allows Penn to make his hips heavy to flatten Gomi out, which sets up the rear naked choke that would finish the fight.  Here in the opening minutes of Penn's fight against Jon Fitch, the Hawaiian fighter shows off his diverse and creative grappling game. First Penn shows some defensive striking awareness, slipping a punch, escaping from off the cage and getting to an excellent angle for counter striking. Penn throws a quick combination causing Fitch to raise his hands in defense and Penn uses that as an opening to shoot a double leg in an excellent display of mixed martial arts instincts.   Once he takes Fitch down, not an easy task, he is able to establish strong over-under grips, slip off to Fitch's left,  roll him over and take his back in a very basic no-gi jiu jitsu attack. The over-under hooks give Penn control of Fitch's upper body and when he slides up the side, Penn's knee blocks Fitch from basing with his arm and forces him to roll. As they roll over, Penn looks to sink his hooks and gets the top hook easily, but Fitch uses his arm to fight off the bottom side hook. Here Penn's flexibility comes into play as he is able to swing his leg over Fitch's arm and temporarily trapping the arm. Once on Fitch's back, B.J. hooks his feet around Fitch's left leg, which prevents him from rolling over into top position in Penn's guard. Fitch establishes strong wrist control to prevent a choke, reaches down and pushes Penn's foot out, but Penn transitions to the body triangle. Fitch attempts to roll and Penn follows him, hooking Fitch's leg to control him.  While Fitch is able to fend off the choke and secure a draw by coming back in the later portion of the fight, Penn's nifty back control won him the first round on every judge's score card.  Going into UFC 137, the betting lines are close and the questions are looming large. Will we see this fight play out on the ground, where both have highly polished skills honed with years of sweat, blood and tears? Does one of these two fighters have the grappling chops submit the other? Or will we see this battle be decided on the feet? What do you readers think?

Posted in: gomi, penn, game, bj, fitch

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  As all fans of mixed martial arts know, sometimes the way to end a fight comes as easy as a tapout. However, achieving that tapout can be very difficult and when at the sport's highest level -- especially within the UFC ranks -- it becomes even more of an arduous task to gain submission victories. Submissions can come from a variety of disciplines stemming from the most feared Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), to the under-appreciated Judo and even the often forgotten arts like Krav Maga and Aikido. Regardless of how you learn them, they are equally difficult in pulling off without proper set up and technique. Submitting people from your back is often considered much more beneficial in the mixed martial arts world since it is a counter to the influx of smothering top game wrestlers. Being well versed from your back makes it uncomfortable for opponents to attempt to fight on the ground. As we get into more detail in the art of submissions we come across a similarity in wrestling. That similarity is "chaining." I am sure we have all heard chain wrestling but how about chain submissions or chain grappling? It works the exact same way: it is basically throwing combinations (like in striking) except on the ground. When you set up the overhand right with a 1-2, jab and cross combo, it is much like using full guard and an arm trap to set up a triangle. Then when you use that triangle to finish with an arm bar, you have just chain submitted your opponent. For more in depth breakdowns, follow me after the jump. At UFC 135, Nate Diaz would look to defeat Japanese MMA legend Takanori Gomi. Diaz would be fighting him years after his brother submitted Gomi with a gogoplata following an all-out war between the two. Despite the bout being overturned, the Diaz rivalry would be rekindled as Nate would look to put Cesar Gracie’s Stockton boys 2-0 against "The Fireball Kid." Before we start, let me first give a thank you to Zombie Prophet for the .gifs. Check out his site (Ironforgesiron.com) -- he has .gifs and videos of fights up faster than anyone else on the 'net.     With under a minute left in a fight that saw Diaz absolutely train wreck Gomi with crisp and powerful boxing, we find ourselves watching Diaz trapping Gomi within a triangle choke. Diaz grabs an under hook on the untrapped arm of Gomi and uses that to swivel his hips to cut the angle causing the choke to be tighter. Gomi is working hard to defend. (For a breakdown on how this triangle works click here) Gomi stacks Diaz and lifts up for a slam, the slam is an attempt to looses the legs of Diaz and even cause them to separate however Diaz has this one way too tight. Diaz has it very deep and the choke causes Gomi to roll over in defeat. As he does he leaves his trapped arm within the wrist control of Diaz, the angle of the submission allows Diaz to fluidly throw the right leg over the head/face of Gomi transitioning into a beautiful arm bar causing the submission to go from choke to joint pain which causes Gomi to tap almost immediately. Chain submission victory from the Cesar Gracie disciple. Just a few weeks earlier relative unknown T.J. Waldburger would also put on his own display of chain grappling. An undercarder who had an average record, would put on a second fight that would feature highlight reel finishes.   Fasten your seatbelts for this one Maniacs. Mike Stumpf was thoroughly in for a ride when Waldburger began chaining his grappling together. With Waldburger in top control almost in a north-south position it appears that he is attacking with a kimura while over Stumpf, however he extends that arm out and immediately transitions into an arm bar. As he sits back on it Stumpf defends and doesn’t allow both legs to be placed in prime position, still Waldburger works for it.   While still pulling back on the arm and fighting to get his leg up and over, Waldbruger gets the arm bar and forces Stumpf who is now attempting to roll to go belly down. As Stumpf rolls he does help his cause, he rolls and pushes the leg over his face and keeps his arm out of danger escaping an arm bar or a triangle.   However, Waldburger remains in control of the trapped arm with his right arm and with his left hand he pushes Stumpf away creating enough distance to thread the leg over the shoulder once more trapping Stumpf in a triangle choke. Remember, in most submission posts, I always remind that distance and spacing is everything and this proves it yet again.   With the choke in place Waldburger pulls the head down and earns the tap out, adding to his already impressive grappling highlight reel.   Two fighters, two different submissions with the exact opposite set ups resulting in the same conclusion. Both Diaz and Waldburger show that the set up to the submission is just as dangerous and important as the execution of the submission itself.

Posted in: diaz, submission, nbsp, gomi, arm

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It became clear, very fast, that Takanori Gomi didn't resemble the Gomi of yesteryear. Gomi has always been flawed. Even during his prime, he was prone to bizarre performances. But he hid those flaws with the type of punching power that could put fingerprints on Wolverine's bones. This weekend we saw a caricature of that man: recognizing his only option was to land a wild punch in an exchange, he resorted to the type of aimless swinging not even a poolhall junkie in a Steven Seagal movie could envy. In other words, Gomi fought like a moron hanging with the wrong crowd.  And yet, I'm not interested in celebrating this fact. Sergio Hernandez over at MMA Mania has an article up entitled "The boys from 209 and their beatings of Takanori Gomi highlight the end of Japanese MMA's relevance". I understand what makes people critical of Japanese MMA. For the diligent followers, you may be disenchanted by their business practices: practices illuminated by Zach Arnold over at Fight Opinion. Maybe you're a casual fan and simply don't care. Or maybe you're an MMA writer, and just enjoy dancing on JMMA's grave with all the cool kids. Those are all valuable reasons, but MMA not Zuffa owned doesn't mean it can't deliver.  There's a strange, dismissive tone in the way MMA writers talk about Japanese MMA. It's as if the sport in that region is a waste of time if prospects over there aren't having success coming stateside. Yet what's so different about what DREAM, and Shooto produce versus, say, Bellator? MMA doesn't need to be owned by Zuffa in order to be wortwhile.  I sometimes wonder if this attitude doesn't contain a self-fulfilling prophecy element. When Hiroyuki Takaya made his WEC debut following his fantastic back and forth war with Antonio Carvalho, his first fight was against Leonard Garcia before he became a punchline (Garcia was making his first drop in weight, and was still fresh off his big fight with Roger Huerta at UFC 69). However, that was child's play compared to Gomi's debut, which came against a two time LW contender in Kenny Florian. Kid Yamamoto debuted against Demetrious Johnson, who is fighting for the title this weekend. And Takeya Mizugaki fought for the title in his first fight stateside against Miguel Torres. While I do think there are real identifiable factors to point to and say "yea, Japanese MMA is inferior here", I don't think it's fair to simply dismiss the entire region simply because some fighters have failed amidst lofty (and sometimes unfair) expectations. To me, this weekend was about the success of MMA on the whole (at least in the ring/cage). UFC 135 may have been a little lackluster despite a few brilliant performances (Mizugaki among them), but Bellator and DREAM picked up whatever slack was left from Zuffa in a big way. I'd add to that, combat sports in general, as boxing delivered with Jorge Arce's 4 round bout with Simphiwe Nogqayi. After the jump I've posted random videos of fights that highlight what's great about combat sports even when celebrity, and spectacle are stripped away, from Alexis Vila's brilliant KO over Joe Warren, to Yasuhiro Urushitani's fantastic head kick knockout of Yuki Shojo at Shooto's Legacy 3 show (and Jorge Arce's fantastic performance). Yasuhiro Urushitani vs Yuki Shojo (via HipHopPhilosopher) Masakatsu Ueda vs Rumina Sato (via HipHopPhilosopher) Takeshi Inoue vs Caol Uno (via fightnext) Jorge Arce vs. Simphiwe Nongqayi - Rounds 1-3 (via SuperBoxingVideos) BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS (via Shanetisdale)      

Posted in: fight, mma, japanese, gomi, japanese mma

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Takanori Gomi was once the most feared lightweight on the planet. That didn't seem to bother Ultimate Fighter season five winner Nate Diaz one bit last night (September 24, 2011) in the opening bout of the UFC 135 main card. Diaz put on a striking clinic against "The Fireball Kid," pounding him with swift straight punches and repeatedly hurting the heavy-handed Japanese lightweight. When Gomi had had enough of the stand-up, Diaz outclassed him on the ground as well, tangling the former Pride champion in his web and finishing the bout via first round armbar. So how did Diaz dominate so handily? And what's next for both fighters? Diaz set the tone for the fight very early, dropping Gomi with the first significant strike he threw. Notice how Gomi puts his entire body into that big right hand which leaves him wide open to big straight left from Diaz. Diaz's reach is also a key factor here. Notice how the Stockton native is able to send Gomi to the canvas while barely having to move out of the way of "The Fireball Kid's" wild right hook. At no point was he even in danger of getting tagged. From this point on, Diaz had tremendous confidence in his strikes. He would continue to pepper his Japanese foe's face with right and left hands, using a style eerily similar to his brother, Nick. The pride of the 209 began to clown Gomi, all-the-while finding a home for repeated 1-2 combinations. As Gomi began to wilt under the repeated blows of his American opponent, he resorted to his wrestling roots, anything to stop getting punched in the face, but this may have been an even worse decision. Once Gomi took Diaz down, the Cesar Gracie fighter immediately began attacking from his guard, eventually locking in a triangle choke. Gomi tried to slam out of it to no avail. Instead, he left his arm isolated, which Diaz immediately straightened out and transitioned for an armbar. Unlike Mark Hunt, he quickly puts his right leg directly over Gomi's face to create the best leverage and then pushes up with his hips to put a ton of pressure on Gomi's exposed arm. Gomi is forced to either tap or have his arm snapped. For Takanori Gomi, this was the perfect example of everything he's done wrong in the last few years of his mixed martial arts career. He used to be much more well-rounded but ever since he discovered that knockout power, he's really lost much of his technique. He throws his whole body into his punches which not only telegraphs them, but leaves him wide open for counters. This is also the third time he's been submitted in his four UFC appearances. With a 1-3 record in the UFC, Gomi is almost certainly a goner. The only reason the promotion would keep him around is to parade him around for the upcoming event in Japan in February of 2012. Even then, Gomi's skills have degraded to the point where there aren't many UFC caliber fighters he could even have a chance of beating.  For Nate Diaz, he's got to be happy after dropping back down to 155. He got manhandled by two of the strongest welterweights in his last two fights but that won't be happening at lightweight. This was the best performance of his career. He dominated every aspect of this fight, even when Gomi took him down he wasn't at a disadvantage because he was immediately in attack mode. About the only opportunity his opponent had to feel comfortable when he was in the Octagon was the pre-fight introduction.  Expect Diaz to immediately be thrown into the mix of top 25 lightweights. It would be interesting to see him against someone like Evan Dunham. Another interesting opponent would be the winner of the upcoming Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig fight. Sean Sherk is apparently looking for an opponent as well and that could be a terrific test to see how he would fare against the top wrestlers of the division. Regardless of who he faces next, Nate Diaz has found a new home in the lightweight division. So what do you think Maniacs? Can a now more experienced Nate Diaz make a big splash in the crowded 155-pound division? Is Takanori Gomi done in the UFC? Sound off! For complete UFC 135 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire pay-per-view (PPV) event, click here and here All gifs by Zombie Prophet via IronForgesIron.com.    

Posted in: ufc, diaz, takanori gomi, gomi, nate diaz

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If there's a third Diaz brother somewhere out there, chances are Takanori Gomi wants no part of him.

Posted in: diaz, takanori gomi, gomi, nate diaz, diaz brother

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Nate Diaz dominated Takanori Gomi from the opening bell to start UFC 135′s pay-per-view main card before finishing the former PRIDE champion with an armbar late in the opening round to highlight his return to the lightweight division. MMAFrenzy.com’s play-by-play of Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi is below: Round 1- Fighters both take time to feel each other out before Diaz catches Gomi but Gomi recovers. Neither fighter is cutting the ring. Gomi lands a tough body shot but Diaz retaliates with a nice right hook. Diaz is getting confident and begins to taunt the more tentative Gomi. Diaz rocks Gomi but Gomi recovers. Gomi shoots but Diaz reverses and takes Gomi’s back. Fighters work back to their feet and Diaz begins to tee off before Gomi takes him down with a body lock. Diaz sinks in a deep triangle and as Gomi is going out he switches to an armbar for a quick tap at 4:27. Best performance of Nate’s career by far. Nate Diaz def. Takanori Gomi via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:27 MORE: UFC 135 Results and Play-by-Play for “Jones vs. Rampage”

Posted in: diaz, takanori gomi, gomi, nate, nate diaz

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Filed under: UFC, News, VideosDENVER -- Nate Diaz spoke to the press following his UFC 135 submission win over Takanori Gomi about how much respect he has for Gomi, returning to lightweight, what's next for him and much more.  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: takanori gomi, gomi, nate diaz, nbsp ;permalink, fight gomi

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Nate came out early pawing his jab to find his range. A jab-cross landed and momentarily dropped Gomi. Big haymaker landed for Gomi to Diaz's ribs that backs the 209 fighter back. Jab-cross again landed for Diaz and Gomi is just looking for the singular knockout punch. Another combination dropped Gomi. Gomi took Nate down but almost immediately fell into a triangle choke and then an armbar. Diaz chained his submissions together and finally forced the Fireball Kid to tap with a straight arm bar. That's BJJ 101. Nate Diaz makes a great return to the lightweight division with a decisive win over one of the greatest 155 pounders of all time. This win reestablishes him in the division and creates some interesting match ups going forward. Nate Diaz is now 9-5 in the UFC and 14-7 overall. For Gomi, this loss will get added to what is quickly becoming a a tarnished legacy. Years ago, Gomi would have run through Nate Diaz. Tonight, he look uninspired and a shell of his former self. Gomi drops to 1-3 in the UFC and his overall record is now 32-7-1. Kid Nate is running his own analysis of the fight over at MMANation, go see what he had to say about the fight.  SBN coverage of UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage

Posted in: ufc, diaz, gomi, nate, nate diaz

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The UFC 135: "Jones vs. Rampage" pay-per-view broadcast kicked off tonight (Sept. 24, 2011) with a grudge match pitting Nate Diaz against the man his brother submitted with a gogoplata four years ago, Takanori Gomi. Lightning hardly ever strikes in the same place twice but the Pepsi Center was a good a candidate as any. Diaz finished what his brother started in Las Vegas by submitting Gomi with an armbar in the very first round. Simply put, this looked and felt like a mismatch from jump street. Joe Rogan called this the best performance of Diaz's young career in his return to the 155-pound division. You'll find no argument here. The fight opened the way one would assume a fight between these two striking specialists would. Both men were winging heavy punches with big power and bad intentions. Diaz peppered Gomi throughout, while "The Fireball Kid" did what he could to find his range against the lanky slugger from Stockton. Diaz's reach was simply too much to overcome. The only other option was to take the fight to the mat and even that didn't work out for the former Pride champion. Once Diaz was taken down, he went to work with the same jiu-jitsu chops his brother used to submit Gomi four years ago. Let's hope this one doesn't get overturned. For more UFC 135 results and instant analysis live from Denver click here. To check out MMAmania.com's LIVE UFC 135 results post, which includes up-to-the-minute, blow-by-blow coverage of EVERY fight click here.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, takanori gomi, gomi, nate diaz

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Diaz bros-2 Gomi-0. Nate Diaz just put on what Joe Rogan called the performance of his career, dominating the former Pride champion Takanori Gomi all over the Octagon and submitting The Fireball Kid in the first round. Now I think MMA-Japan's Michael Hackler has to do some sort of demeaning act for LayzietheSavage, I'm not sure what, but there was a bet floating around out there, that much I do know. From the outset Nate boxed up Gomi in typical 209 fashion: stiff jabs with high volume and devastating accuracy. Gomi couldn't get anything going at all, constantly being forced to the outside with Diaz's sharp and quick strikes. Gomi attempted to do what he does best and land that one big strike but he whiffs on multiple occasions. Diaz continues to pick The Fireball Kid apart and it goes to the ground where Nate attempts a triangle (he totally had the opportunity to sink in the gogo) then he switches over to the armbar and Gomi taps quickly.

Posted in: diaz, gomi, nate, kid, fireball kid

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The Diaz brothers are often criticised for their unwillingness to play the media game and talk to the press, but to be honest, they don’t really...

Posted in: diaz, gomi, media game, diaz brothers, unwillingness

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Filed under: UFCIn a 2007 Pride fight, Nick Diaz established himself as one of the rising stars in mixed martial arts by beating the great lightweight champion Takanori Gomi. On Saturday night in Denver, it was Nick's little brother Nate Diaz who put on a great performance against Gomi, winning a first-round submission at UFC 135. The Gomi of today isn't the same fighter as the Gomi of 2007, and so Nate Diaz's victory on Saturday isn't as significant as Nick Diaz's victory of the Pride days. But Nate Diaz looked as good as he's ever looked on Saturday night. "I'm happy to get the win," Diaz said afterward. "He's dangerous. Takanori Gomi was a Pride champion for years and years -- he was one of my favorite fighters forever, and still is." The victory improved Diaz's record to 14-7, and he showed after struggling in his last couple of fights at welterweight that he's a real force at lightweight. As for Gomi, he was a legend of the Pride days, but he doesn't have a whole lot left. Gomi is 32-8 in his MMA career, but he's just 1-3 since signing with the UFC. His best days are behind him, while Diaz's best days are ahead of him. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: saturday night, diaz, day, takanori gomi, gomi

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In an interesting battle at UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage, Ultimate Fighter winner Nate Diaz (13-7; 8-5 UFC) will take on former Pride champion "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi (32-7, 1 NC; 1-1 UFC). This is a Lightweight bout, and is the second fight on the PPV portion of the card. The USA TODAY / MMA Nation Consensus MMA Rankings currently has Gomi at #19 at Lightweight, and Diaz unranked.  If you're a fan of the stories behind MMA fights, then this one has quite the history. For years, Gomi was viewed as the consensus #1 Lightweight in the world as he dominated the Japanese scene in Pride. In 2007, at one of the final Pride shows, he faced Nick Diaz, who at the time was something of a UFC washout. Gomi was the favorite, but Diaz pulled off the win using a rarely seen gogoplata submission. It was a huge victory, but was short-lived. Post-fight, Diaz tested positive for marijuana, and the bout was ruled a No Contest. Many fans still view it as a Diaz victory, but the official No Contest ruling stands. Here, Nate will look to vindicate his brother's win, while Gomi looks to gain redemption. Add hot-tempered brother Nick in Nate's corner, and you've got an interesting situation. How do these two stack up? Diaz: 26 years old | 6'0" | 76" reachGomi:  32 years old | 5'8" | 70" reach What have these two done recently? Diaz: L - Rory MacDonald (UD) | L - Dong Hyun Kim (UD) | W - Marcus Davis (Sub)Gomi: L - Clay Guida (Sub) | W - Tyson Griffin (KO) | L - Kenny Florian (Sub) How did these two get here? Diaz started his UFC career as a Lightweight after winning the 5th season of The Ultimate Fighter. After a 1-3 run in 2009/2010, Diaz decided to move up to Welterweight. There, he made a quick splash with two impressive wins, only to then drop back to back fights against Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. He's now back at 155 for the first time since January 2010. Like big brother Nick, Nate Diaz uses a combination of Cesar Gracie black belt jiu jitsu and the Diaz trademark style of punches, though he has yet to find the consistent success of Nick. There's no denying that Gomi is an all time great at 155. But you also can't deny that his UFC run has come far past his prime. Really, that Nick Diaz fight and the subsequent closing of Pride was the end of the road for the dominant Gomi. Since then, he's 5-4, with wins over mostly lesser fighters in Japan. He did breath some life into his career with a shock KO of Tyson Griffin at UFC on Versus 2, but even his pedigree may not be enough to save his UFC career if he loses here and drops to 1-3. Why should you care? If you have any question, re-read that 2nd paragraph above. This one has the potential to be all fireworks, and even though Gomi is down, he showed against Griffin that he's still one punch away from victory. And for all my fellow Pride fans, the chances to see these guys dwindle away every card. Enjoy it while we can.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, gomi, pride, nate

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Japanese superstar Takanori Gomi was forced to tap via armbar during the first round of a main card fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 135. “I’m happy to get the win,” Diaz said after his submission win. “He’s dangerous. Takanori Gomi was a Pride champion for years and years — he was one of my favorite fighters forever, and still is.” On the feet — where Gomi once was one of the fiercest competitors — it was the younger Diaz brother able to control the fight and pepper Gomi. Nick Diaz, Nate’s older brother and training partner, submitted Gomi via gogoplata in 2007 during a PRIDE matchup. However, the decision was overturned when the Stockton fighter tested positive for THC during a post-fight drug test in Las Vegas.

Posted in: diaz, gomi, nate, nate diaz, diaz brother

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Sometimes these storylines just write themselves. When Nate Diaz and Takanori Gomi lock up later on this evening (Sept. 24, 2011) at the UFC 135: "Jones vs. Rampage" event at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, it will be the second time Gomi has went head on with a member of the Diaz family. The first time he did so produced explosive results. It was 2007 and the fall of Pride was just around the corner. The promotion held an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, and booked Gomi, who was the lightweight champion, to throw leather with controversial bad boy Nick Diaz. Despite a size advantage, "The Fireball Kid" blasted his counterpart with power shots that rocked and knocked down his foe. But he failed to finish the job and only seemed to fade as Diaz regained his footing and came storming back. This all occurred in the first round, mind you. To buy time and attempt to even things up again, Gomi took Diaz down early in the second frame, a fateful mistake that proved to be his undoing. Indeed, Diaz locked in the rarely seen gogoplata submission and quickly forced a tap. That wasn't the end of the story, however. After the bout, Diaz tested positive for marijuana and the Nevada State Athletic Commission overturned the result of the fight to a no contest. It was an unfortunate ending to an incredible battle waged by two elite fighters at the top of their games. And it left an air of unfinished business, despite the incredible result. The likelihood that Nick would ever get another shot at Takanori was slim to none and they would go their separate ways, leaving their classic battle to the history books. Once Gomi signed with the UFC, though, there was an outside chance that he could meet up with Nick's brother, Nate, at some point down the road. As luck and good timing would have it, both men have dropped two of their last three fights. After a four-fight stint in the welterweight division, where he struggled mightily, it made entirely too much sense for Diaz to come back down to the land of the lightweights to renew an old rivalry with a common family enemy. Let's hope these two wage war with the same fervor as Gomi and Nick did back in 2007. If the staredown at the weigh-ins is any indication, we're in for a doozy.

Posted in: diaz, nick, takanori gomi, gomi, nate

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Nate Diaz made a bold statement for the UFC Lightweight title shot contendership, with an impressive victory over the veteran Takanori Gomi at UFC 135 main card opener. Diaz controlled the action from the very first seconds of the fight, punishing Gomi with razor-sharp jabs. The Fireball Kid tried to respond with a wild overhand right, but got punished by Diaz each and every time. Nate Diaz continued to drop bombs on Takanori Gomi, who I have to admit showed an amazing survival skills in this fight, looked

Posted in: diaz, takanori gomi, gomi, nate diaz, drop bombs

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You've probably heard hundreds of opinions from analysts and bloggers who have wrote about the upcoming UFC card. So to keep it fresh and interesting, here's a different and unique take on things from two famous personalities making their guest picks for Bloody Elbow. On the debut of Bloody Elbow Celebrity Picks, model and former Octagon Girl, Natasha Wicks edged musician and former Saosin front man, Cove Reber by correctly predicting 80% of UFC 134's main card. Today, another musician and fight fan will be testing his wares against a guy who lives and breathes MMA. This edition is going to be musician vs. fighter. Ben Kenney, for those who are unfamiliar with him, is a solo artist, who is more known for being the bassist of the band Incubus. He plays a multitude of instruments and has also been recognized in the music industry during his days playing guitar for the hip hop band, The Roots. He will be taking on BE's favorite commenter, Ben Saunders, who is a UFC veteran, and current a Bellator tournament fighter. Kenney is a huge MMA fan, but will that be enough to overcome Saunders' experience already having 16 pro fights under his belt? Who will win this Tale of Two Ben's (with similar looking facial hair styles)? Ben "Negro BroCop" Kenney Ben "Killa B" Saunders Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson I'm a big fan of both but Jon is on a different level. I've watched Jon closely since the Stephan Bonnar fight and I don't think I've ever seen that much improvement happen over an entire career, let alone a few years. He'll come out with some more of that futuristic shit and Rampage won't find a home for his strikes. Jon Jones by TKO in round 2. This fight depends on Rampage alone. Which Rampage will show up to fight? Did he get into the head of Jon Jones? Can he connect with 1 bomb that tests Jon Jones chin and his heart as a champion? Two things that have yet to be tested... How does he fight in Championship rounds 4 and 5? These are questions me and a lot of fans would love to see answered in this fight, but I honestly think Jon Jones has done his home work, and knows that checking low kicks and eating knee's from the clinch have been Quinton's kryptonite. Has he fixed these holes, and will he land his chin testing strike? Will he make it to rounds 4 and 5 and have more hunger and energy to finish Jones? We Will have to see.Being a HUGE fan of both I have to make a biased opinion and choose Rampage for the upset via Round 3 TKO because I have been a fan of him before Jones started MMA. Gotta keep it old school. lolP.S. or Jon Jones wins via TKO round 2... lol Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck I will put my money on Kos, although Matt Hughes (I like to say his name BJ Penn style, as one word, like "Matthews" only with a strong T) is one of those cats who you can never ever count out. I'll say Kos by decision but this could end 100 ways in either guys favor. Well this is definitely an interesting match up. On paper it would seem Koscheck should be too much for Hughes on the feet and with the wrestling, but Hughes does show improved stand up - minus the BJ quicky - and I give Hughes the Submission advantage. It should be very interesting nonetheless but I say Kos by 2nd round TKO. Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton I think this will be good. I'm not very familiar with Rob Broughton but he seems to be another one of those iron chinned brits. Travis has a lot of momentum though. Seems like he's getting better and better. I got Travis, by decision after a long grinding brawl. Travis Browne seems like a beast and Rob Broughton is a fighter I have yet to get the pleasure to see fight before. So it could be the dark horse for fight of the night or a real quicky... lol  But I will go with Browne by TKO in round 2. Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi I'll probably get dissed for this one. I'm saying Gomi, by TKO, round 3. Unfortunately for Nate, Nate is not Nick, and Gomi probably has to step up and keep his job. He can definitely do it with his stand up and I think Nate is the one who'll pay the bill this time. Takanori Gomi by TKO. This fight is what I believe will be fight of the night. I give the advantage on the ground to Nate but who knows how much Gomi has improved there. Wrestling goes to Gomi, and striking is even if not in Gomi's favor a bit. The rivalry between nick and Takanori seems like it will transfer well into Nate's fight with Gomi. I expect an explosive action packed decision win by Gomi. But look forward to watching Nate pull it off as I am a BIG fan of both.  =) Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt I'll go out on a limb and put my money on Mark Hunt. Ben used to wreck shop but I don't think he brought that over with him to the UFC. Mark is interesting in a "anything could happen"  way. I say Mark Hunt in the 3rd by heel hook or some other unusual sub. I am a Huge Mark Hunt fan so rooting for him, and the fact he is ATT affiliated, I choose Hunt. His stand up is at a higher level and being shorter he should have a better take down advantage if Ben shoots for a takedown he will really have to get low on Mark. But Ben is tough and could win by KO, TKO, Sub, or Dec cause this sport is so amazing when it comes to outcomes. They are both well rounded at this point. But I say Hunt by KO round 1. After the jump, Ben Saunders has a few words for his opponent, and to the BE readers. Ben Saunders: "As for my opposition Mr. Ben Kenney, I've been a fan of The Roots and Incubus for a long time. It's an honor to "battle predict" against you. But I still hope my picks KNEE URS IN THE FACE! Muahaha..." I want to thank American Top Team, all my coaches and teammates for helping me become a better fighter every single day. If you guys are down to represent you can pick up my Official "Killa B' Walk out T. You guys can also buy my official KB Wear Signature shirt at my Official Website. And I am working on getting these "LETS MUTHERFUKERS" T-Shirts made too.... Bloody Elbow will be represented for the world to see and bask in it's glory! Or something like that... lol P.S. I'M BATMAN! Who do you think made the better picks? Let them know in the comments, or follow them on twitter: @vatoben and @bensaundersmma

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UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage play-by-play of Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi on Saturday, Sept. 24, in Denver.

Posted in: ufc, vs, takanori gomi, gomi, takanori

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The UFC hasn’t enjoyed the smoothest of years when it comes to PPV’s thus far. Multiple injuries to some key figures led to fights falling apart at an alarming rate, and the PPV buy-rates have suffered as a result. Despite the successes of UFC 126 – headlined by Anderson Silva against Vitor Belfort – and UFC 129, which marked the company’s first venture to Toronto, fan interest has been on somewhat of a decline. While this hardly means panic is setting inside Zuffa offices, the UFC needs the upcoming PPV’s to deliver big (buy-rate wise). However, with a string of huge match-ups on the horizon, it looks as though the world’s leading MMA promotion will finish the year on a high note. Their late surge for a strong finish begins this weekend, when light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones enters the Octagon for his first title defense to take on a man who is no stranger to title bouts, former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. But before the light heavyweight duo slug it out, the likes of Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Nate Diaz, and Takanori Gomi will take center stage. Note: If you’re wondering about the lack of Taylor Swift or Brittney Palmer mentions, you need to be informed that I am in fact not Jeremy Lambert. Jeremy was kind enough to allow me to take over the event previews. I am Samer Kadi and I hope I will be able to live up to the lofty standards set by my predecessor. Preliminary Predictions * James Te Huna to defeat Ricardo Romero by Decision * Takeya Mizugaki to defeat Cole Escovedo by Decision * Junior Assuncao to defeat Eddie Yagin by Submission in Round One * Tim Boetsch to defeat Nick Ring by Decision * Tony Ferguson to defeat Aaron Riley by TKO in Round Two Heavyweight Fight: Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt Heavyweights are always going to get preferential treatment when it comes to making it to the main card, and this fight is a prime example. While Takeya Mizugaki and Cole Escovedo are stuck on the prelims, Rothwell and Hunt square off in a battle for relevance. Rothwell has been nursing injuries for the better part of a year, and hasn’t competed since taking an uninspiring decision over Gilbert Yvel. And yet, as long as he doesn’t come out too rusty, this is his fight to lose. While Rothwell’s lack of athleticism will always prove a major hindrance against the top tier heavyweights, he should be able to get away with it here. Hunt might be the better technical striker and will certainly hold the edge in power, but Rothwell has historically proven to have a durable chin. Hunt’s striking is limited to his boxing nowadays, but he is still capable of putting together a decent combination, or land a well-timed counter. Rothwell’s lack of speed means exchanging with Hunt will prove risky, and he will be better served to take the safest and clearest path to victory by putting Hunt on his back. Rothwell’s offensive wrestling could be the difference maker, as despite not being an elite wrestler by any means, he is more than capable of taking Hunt down. This will likely spell the beginning of the end for “The Super Samoan”, as he has struggled mightily any time he finds himself on the bottom with a semi decent grappler on top of him. Rothwell is hardly known for his top game, as evidenced by his last fight against Yvel (where Yvel actually managed to sweep him from the bottom), but Hunt’s grappling deficiencies are so severe that the American should be able to capitalize. Hunt has historically shown an inability to hip escape, regain guard if his opponent passes, or scramble up to his feet. Moreover, his submission defense is shaky to say the very least. If Rothwell has watched any tape on his opponent, he would be smart to go for any Keylock variation. Expect Rothwell to take Hunt down, pass to half guard, isolate an arm, and start working on a submission. Whether he gets it or not remains to be seen, but even if he doesn’t, he should be able to repeat the process for three rounds to get the victory. Official Prediction: Ben Rothwell to defeat Mark Hunt by submission in the Second Round Lightweight Fight: Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi In 2007, Gomi and Nick Diaz engaged in one of the greatest battles in MMA history. A little over four years later, and Gomi is squarring off against Nick’s younger brother, Nate Diaz, under much different circumstances. No longer one of the top lightweights in the world, Gomi’s UFC run has been disappointing so far. A vintage knockout of Tyson Griffin was sandwiched between two submission losses to Kenny Florian and Clay Guida. For his part, after an initially promising move up in weight that saw him triumph in his first two bouts in impressive fashion, back-to-back losses have forced Diaz to return to the lightweight division. Despite obvious similarities in their styles, Nate Diaz is not his brother. His striking isn’t as good, and his grappling isn’t as good. Like his brother, Nate’s flat-footed stance and lack of footwork makes him quite hittable. Offensively, Diaz’s boxing is reminiscent of his brother, but he lacks the same kind of accuracy. While he will throw those famous Diaz Brothers “peppering punches”, he lacks his brother’s main weapon: the body shots. The most worrying aspect of Nate’s boxing is that it leaves him quite prone to counter shots, and his lack of head movement makes him even more suspect to a potentially fight-ending strike. Few fighters can afford to taste Gomi’s power, even one with Diaz’s chin. Gomi packs up serious power in both hands, and is in fact more than comfortable in fighting with both the southpaw and orthodox stances. Speaking of chins, Gomi possesses one of MMA’s all-time best chins, and in a potential slugfest, this could prove crucial. His chin and power mean Gomi will have the option of standing in the pocket and throwing, and his trademark body shots could well soften up Diaz and set him up for the big haymaker. If Diaz wants to take the fight to the ground, he will likely try to do so from the clinch, as he doesn’t possess much of a solid shot from the outside. His best bet would be to close distance, clinch up and attempt to use some sort of throw or trip takedown to put the Japanese star on his back. On the other hand, Gomi is a solid wrestler with a good base. He tends to get taken down by fighters who mix things up well and surprise him with sudden level changes; something that Diaz does not have in his arsenal. However, with Gomi’s shaky cardio, Diaz would be smart to attempt a takedown late in the contest should the fight head into deep waters. On the ground, Diaz best excels from the bottom, where his active guard and sneaky submissions are quite tricky to handle. However, he is equally good in the scrambles, and Gomi can often get careless and give up position in an effort to escape. A fatal flaw in Gomi’s game from the bottom is that he tends to rotate the wrong way and plays right into his opponent’s hands. For instance, Gomi’s mistake made Marcus Aurelio’s life much easier, and the arm triangle came in accordingly. Likewise, Gomi gave up his back to Florian and spun right into the choke, Against someone as crafty as Diaz on the ground, Gomi can ill-afford to give up position or leave his neck exposed, as Nate will be quick to capitalize, be it by moving to mount, taking the back, or locking up a guillotine in a scramble. It is a tough fight to pick as Gomi is capable of ending it early the same way as Diaz is capable of overwhelming him late and potentially tap him out. That being said, I believe the former is more likely to happen. Official Prediction: Takanori Gomi to defeat Nate Diaz by TKO in the First Round Heavyweight Fight: Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton Browne returns to the cage following his spectacular knockout of Stefan Struve. Awaiting him is former Cage Rage heavyweight champion, Broughton. Despite an impressive submission over an ostensibly superior grappler, Broughton’s overall performance in his only UFC fight to date against Vinicius Queiroz was somewhat underwhelming. When he was taken down early on, his work off of his back was pretty poor, as he gave up position far too easily and looked quite helpless when attempting to get back to his feet. To his credit, Broughton survived, persevered, and made some nice adjustments on the feet. Most noticeably, he started firing with a nice jab/right hook combo that found its mark over and over throughout the duration of the fight. Furthermore, his offensive grappling looked a few notches above his defensive grappling, as he did a good job of submitting his – admittedly fatigued – opponent. Browne’s striking is more oriented towards landing a power shot than anything else, as his boxing in particular is wild and at times, quite sloppy. However, when he moves forward, he throws with purpose. In fact, after connecting on Cheick Kongo a few times, the Frenchman became quite tentative in engaging with Browne. However, this approach means that Browne will tire rather quickly, where his punches will become slower and much more telegraphed. Browne’s bread and butter is a lopping overhand right. Broughton should be particularly wary of that punch, and needs to make Browne miss in an effort to tire him out. Cheick Kongo was able to further wear Browne out in the clinch before taking him to the mat, and should Broughton notice any signs of fatigue, he should be quick to follow the same approach. For our sake, let’s pray this fight ends early, as watching two heavyweights fighting fatigue makes for some putrid viewing. Official Prediction: Travis Browne to defeat Rob Broughton by TKO in the Second Round Welterweight Fight: Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck In the co-main event of the evening, former longtime welterweight kingpin Hughes returns to the Octagon for the first time since his KO loss to B.J. Penn. Taking the fight on short notice is his opponent, Koscheck, who is operating as a more-than-worthy late replacement for Hughes’ originally scheduled opponent, Diego Sanchez. This is unfortunate for Hughes, as while he would have been the underdog just the same, the Sanchez fight was more winnable on paper. Koscheck simply offers a nightmare match-up for Hughes, especially at this stage of the latter’s career. Hughes has made a career out of using his wrestling and strength to take opponents to the mat, where his underrated top game gave fighters fits. However, there just doesn’t seem to be a realistic way for Hughes to employ that strategy against the better, younger, and more athletically gifted wrestler. While the short notice nature of the fight might affect Koscheck’s preparation, his superior wrestling and punching power should see him through regardless. Koscheck’s double leg is good enough to drive through most fighters in the division. In fact, in his one-sided beat-down at the hands of Georges St-Pierre, Koscheck was still able to take down the best wrestler in the division. More impressively, he was able to immediately regain his feet every time St-Pierre took him down. If Hughes shoots for a single, or closes distance and gets double underhooks, he will have a hard time putting Koscheck on his back, and an ever harder time keeping him on the canvas. Ironically, and as surreal as it is to type, Hughes’ only chance will be to catch Koscheck with something standing. Hughes has improved his boxing, as evidenced by his bout with Ricardo Almeida, and Koscheck has a nasty habit of dropping his guard and getting lazy on the feet while throwing telegraphed overhand rights from halfway across the Octagon. The likelihood of Hughes landing something that significant however, is pretty slim. And as long as Koscheck doesn’t get too trigger happy with his right hand, he’s the one who’s more likely to end things on the feet. Koscheck sets up his overhand right with a jab that he throws with no real conviction, and merely uses it as set-up. What really troubles Hughes on the feet is straight punches, as he doesn’t have great head movement and instead looks to parry with both hands in what can only be described as an odd manner. This allowed St-Pierre to take the title away from him in their rematch back in 2006, the same way it allowed BJ Penn to knock him out in twenty seconds last year. Koscheck doesn’t have the technical boxing that the aforementioned pair possesses, and as mentioned, his punches are loopier, but he would be wise to try to straighten them up. Despite Hughes being the overall superior grappler, if Koscheck decides to take it to the ground, he likely will be able to put Hughes on his back with little trouble. However, the AKA standout’s top game isn’t dynamic enough to really polish Hughes off with a submission. Instead, he will rely on short elbows to cut him up and hope to open up guard-passing opportunities. Whatever approach Koscheck employs, this is a pretty favorable match-up for him. Unfortunately for Hughes, this could fight could mark the end of a legendary career…unless he pulls a Tito Ortiz that is. Official Prediction: Josh Koscheck to defeat Matt Hughes by TKO in Round One PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Similar Posts: The Walk Out – UFC Fight Night 25 Undercard Pick Em Showdown – UFC 135: 5OZ vs. Fightlinker Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi scheduled for September The Walk Out – UFC 134 Undercard UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama Preview and Predictions Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politics

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Another salivating by-product of UFC matchmaker Joe Silva's seething cauldron is the UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage lightweight match up of Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi. Diaz seems happy to cast aside his silky grappling in order to be aligned with a fellow gunslinger willing to stand up with him and empty the six-shooters until someone falls over. His wish is granted with Takanori Gomi. Shattering the Japanese stereotype, Gomi is a thunderous boxer with sound wrestling skills and arguably the heaviest handed lightweight in MMA history. After the UFC shut down their 155-pound division and the talent migrated overseas, "The Fireball Kid" emerged as the sport's elite lightweight after a storybook series of knockouts in Pride Fighting Championships. After a crippling defeat to B.J. Penn in Hawaii, "The Prodigy" proceeded to gallivant around in higher weight classes, abandoning the lightweight throne where Takanori Gomi would eventually take a seat. Setting up shop in the then-soaring Pride organization, Gomi drilled through ten consecutive adversaries with highlight reel panache to assume the mantle. Gomi finished eight of those ten opponents in the first round (six knockouts and two submissions), isolating himself atop the heap by crushing the number two and three world ranked lightweights in Tatsuya Kawajiri (rear-naked choke) and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (KO) along with former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver (KO). His susceptibility to submissions was initially cloaked by his searing wrestle-boxing style, but later came to the forefront in a big way. The first sign was an arm-triangle loss to black belt Marcus Aurelio that snapped his win-streak, but the malady was somewhat salved in his following wins over Aurelio in the rematch, David Baron (eleven career sub-wins including Sakurai and Dan Hardy) and dominant wrestler Mitsuhiro Ishida. Gomi's turbulent downfall was triggered by his upset loss to Nate Diaz's older brother, Nick, in an epic and mutual massacre. Then, Pride was sold, Gomi went two and two in Sengoku and faded into obscurity. Saturday marks the prime opportunity for a reappearance of "the old Gomi" against Nate Diaz. Gifs and analysis in the full entry. Just as we were penciling Gomi in as another incomplete and over-hyped Pride fighter, he brought the apocalypse. Carelessly hanging out in the slugger's wheelhouse, Tyson Griffin was reminded of the one-shot power that put Gomi on the map. Though he's struggled with footwork and distance, Gomi proved his devastating presence inside the pocket was still afire. His overhand left is one of the best in the business, but his favorite follow up -- the right hook -- was what vanquished Griffin. Exhibiting behavior typically associated with uncoordinated teenage dancing at an all night rave, Clay Guida shucked and jived while assaulting Gomi from all angles with strikes and takedown attempts. Hitting a nice sprawl early, Gomi seemed unfazed by the whirling spectacle of curly locks and leather, but couldn't get out of defensive mode and eventually succumbed to a guillotine choke. Gomi's sprawl, (flying) knees and uppercuts have been proven takedown repellants. He uses his short, upward knee to the right when Guida charges in with his head down, but the result shows exactly why that choice is such a high-risk maneuver. This type of knee was, however, the way Gomi earned Pride FC's record for fastest knockout with a six-second snuffing of the aggressively shooting Ralph Gracie. Against the lanky Nate Diaz, Gomi will be tasked with deflecting an absurd amount of unorthodox strikes to assume his preferred range in the pocket. Despite spending most of the fight getting his head bounced back by long, stiff jabs, Gomi had a small assortment of encouraging sequences against Kenny Florian. Again, we see the distance factor here, as Gomi was a stationary target from outside but transferred his massive power well at close range. With his right hook, which is almost like a shovel punch here, Gomi adjusts for the distance by unrolling it from his waist and extending it outward. Gomi had a well earned reputation for going to the body and this was his preferred weapon to do so. Gomi's left hand lands almost immediately after his right connects. Take a second to time how quickly the left makes contact -- with plenty of heft -- after the right connects on Florian. For Nate Diaz, this fight has two divergent angles: the obvious sizzle of replicating his brother's historic clash with Gomi, yet Nate is also coming off the most convincing, one-sided defeat of his UFC career to Rory MacDonald. The sport vs. entertainment debacle rears its ugly head as Diaz's unquestionable advantage lies on the ground, but avoiding a standing brawl is just very un-Diaz. Marcus Davis, a brick-fisted southpaw boxer just like Gomi, is a nice frame of reference. Capitalizing on his condor-like wingspan was critical against Davis just as it will be versus Gomi. In the later rounds, Diaz found his range and pinged telephone-pole punches through Davis' defense. Timing his footwork and head movement to penetrate inside and pepper with strikes was what propelled Diaz to victory. In the animations above and to the left, Diaz is liquid-like in slipping punches while pelting with his high volume boxing. Things get interesting when we recall the trouble that Davis presented with his jabs and overhand left early in the fight. The pivotal change was that Diaz began by marching straight ahead while looping wide hooks -- which Davis neatly countered with tight, on-balance combinations -- but adjusted to setting up his advances with baiting punches. Once Diaz got Davis in motion, he was able to create angles and target openings with a very deliberate in and out strategy. Whenever Diaz took the primitive approach of walking forward and swinging, he was tagged consistently by Davis' textbook boxing. In these last two examples, we see Davis emulating what Takanori Gomi specializes in. He lays back, poised and ready to spring, countering Diaz's first strike with his overhand left and right jabs and hooks. If you were to create the perfect opponent for Gomi, that's what he would do. The downfall of the unusual striking of the Diaz brothers is that they have a tendency to plant their feet and absorb wayward blows in the pocket while volume-punching. Regardless if he's old, decrepit, or even past his prime, Takanori Gomi will still prey on that mentality. It's the same scenario from which he clocked Nick Diaz with the infamous Hadouken Punch in Pride (right). I'm guessing, with his back against the wall and fresh off a humiliating defeat, Nate Diaz will be too smart. In modern day MMA, it's just too hard for a limited fighter to survive at the top level. I didn't even take the time to discuss Nate's highly under-rated Judo in the clinch or his ultra-technical grappling game. Even if a significant portion of Nate Diaz's style plays into Gomi's hands, his chin is as solid as they come and there's an entire universe of alternatives he can exercise beyond trading on the feet. I really don't want to see either of these exciting fighters lose. Normally I would pick either by sheer fanboy default. The hard steer for Diaz on the betting lines is pretty accurate, as Gomi's chances boil down to that of a puncher ... but even in that facet, he hasn't looked the sharpest. Throwing all logic and reason aside, I have to throw out a prayer for Takanori Gomi to overcome the odds and actualize the impossible. I'm not ready to let go. As a highly revered wise man once said: "It's still real to me, dammit!" My Prediction: Takanori Gomi by TKO     Guida vs. Gomi gifs via Zombie Prophet of IronForgesIron.com Davis vs. Diaz gifs via Chris Nelson for BloodyElbow.com Poll Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi Nate Diaz Takanori Gomi   3 votes | Results

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Tough crowd. That's what Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) lightweight division has become -- and in a big way. Possibly the organization's strongest division, the 155 pounders are a hungry pack of wolves, just waiting to pounce on any contender hoping to make the climb to a title shot. At the UFC 135: "Jones vs. Rampage" pay-per-view event on Saturday night (Sept. 24) in Las Vegas, Japanese fighter Takanori Gomi will stare across the cage at Stockton native Nate Diaz, who will be making his return the lightweight division. They both need a win. Diaz will be looking to avoid his third straight loss. Gomi has lost two of his last three fights and lost both of them badly. Is "The Fireball Kid" at risk of facing the firing squad? Gomi was signed to fight for the UFC in early 2010. He was widely heralded as one of the "next big things" to come out of Japan, from a mixed martial arts (MMA) perspective. During that timeframe, he has been submitted by rear-naked choke, courtesy of Kenny Florian in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 25 bout on Mar. 31, 2010 in Charlotte. He was bullied and dominated. It was not a good showing. Gomi was able to rebound with an impressive first round knockout of Tyson Griffin at UFC on Versus 2 on Aug. 1, 2010 in San Diego.  In his next fight, Gomi was, again, severely outmatched and unable to handle the takedowns of Clay Guida in their UFC 125 face-off on Jan. 1, 2011 in Las Vegas. Guida was able to submit Gomi by guillotine choke in the second round. A loss always looks bad. But let's be real. When guys are out there putting on a show and bringing it, Dana White is much more likely to give them extra leeway. It's hard to make the argument that Gomi would fall in that category. Sure, he knocked out Griffin, but that victory looks a little less impressive in light of Griffin's recent fight history. Another loss, especially to an opponent who had previously lost two in a row, may be all Gomi needs to earn himself a pink slip. Would it be merited? Is Gomi overrated or is he just a decent fighter stuck in a ridiculously talented division? Sound off!

Posted in: ufc, fight, division, gomi, las vegas

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is giving Japanese striking sensation Takanori Gomi a chance to exact revenge on Nick Diaz for his weedoplata at PRIDE 33 back in 2007. Well, sort of. Gomi will square off against little brother Nate at the upcoming UFC 135: "Jones vs. Rampage" event this Saturday night (Sept. 24) in Denver, Colorado, exactly four years and seven months to the day that he got inside the ring and went toe-to-toe against the elder Diaz. And the oddsmakers don't like his chances. "The Fireball Kid" is a +190 underdog heading into "Mile High City," while Diaz enjoys a -250 betting line, the first time he's been the odds-on pick to win since UFC 118 back in Auagust 2010. Diaz is making his return to the land of the lightweights after finding moderate success at 170-pounds. The lean and lanky boxer found it difficult to compete with the grappling beats patrolling the welterweight waters. Ironically enough, it was that exact reason he initially made the jump up in weight, as he had lost three of his last four contests at 155-pounds. Clay Guida, Joe Stevenson and Gray Maynard all largely had their way with him. Of course, Diaz is always good for an interesting style match-up and that's exactly what Gomi represents. And with the bad blood between both camps, we may very well be in for a good old-fashioned passionate ass-whooping. But who will be on the receiving end of it? Anyone like Gomi in the upset? Or is he too submission prone? Let's hear your play. For more UFC 135 odds and betting lines check out odds aggregate Odds Shark by clicking here.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, gomi, odd, lines check

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Before Nate Diaz and Takanori Gomi go head-to-head in the Octagon, our writers go toe-to-toe in their analysis of this lightweight fight.

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February 24, 2007.That was the night that Nick Diaz transformed into the underground icon that he is today. He did it by engaging in one of the most entertaining fights of the year with Japanese superstar Takanori Gomi. Diaz won the bout with one of the most improbable submission holds in the sport. A gogoplata is a move where a fighter uses his shin to choke out his foe from the guard. The move itself is a thing of lore, a move often practiced in the gym, particularly at Eddie Bravo’s Tenth Planet Jiu-Jitsu. But it is a move that is exceedingly difficult to pull off in competition. Diaz did it while getting punched in the face by his foe.Despite the fact that the fight result was later switched to a no contest, Diaz officially came into his own as a professional fighter on that night, racking up an 11-1 record in his next 12 fights en route to winning and defending the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship.Nick’s little brother Nate hopes to follow in his footsteps on Saturday night, when he gets his own crack at Gomi. For the younger Diaz, the fight has major career implications. He is riding a two-fight losing streak. Three in a row sometimes results in a trip to the unemployment line, so one could say that Diaz is fighting for his short-term future.Gomi also has something to prove. The former PRIDE Lightweight Champion was once the biggest name in the sport among 155-pounders. But he is only 1-2 in his three-fight UFC career. A win over Diaz on Saturday night instantly reestablishes his relevance in the lightweight division. There is no doubt how Diaz will approach the fight. He is a carbon copy of his brother. He looks to box from a southpaw stance with pawing hands disguising crisp, short punches from unorthodox angles. He drops his hands time and time again, seemingly sticking out his chin in taunting fashion, only to land a jab from his waist or a left hand thrown from the same position. Diaz does not have knockout power. Not at all. He has only a single knockout on his resume over the last five-plus years. Granted, that one knockout was a jaw-dropping display of precision striking against the bigger Rory Markham. But that isn’t his forte. He instead uses his boxing to dare an opponent to take him down, so he can utilize his brown belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.Make no mistake about it: Diaz would be a black belt under just about any other BJJ master. Cesar Gracie gives out black belts like the IRS does tax exemptions. He has sick submission skills. Seriously sick. Very few fighters want to test his guard game. Diaz will pound away at Gomi on the feet, hoping to either get taken down or find an opening for an easy takedown. He knows that on the ground, he will hold a major advantage in this fight.That is not likely the case on while the fight is on the feet. Unlike Diaz, who boxes with “chip away at the mountain until it crumbles” style, Gomi is a home run hitter. He has no interest in the feeling out process. He is all about firing punches with bad intentions. Those who have long been watching the Japanese slugger know that he is the holder of the fastest knockout in PRIDE history—a six-second obliteration of Ralph Gracie in 2004.Gomi mixes his boxing with good, solid wrestling skills. He isn’t a slick submission guy. Instead, his ground game focuses on ground and pound. And he fires his strikes on the ground with the same ferocity that he does on the feet, which is why there are a string of opponents he left lying on the canvas in an unconscious heap during his PRIDE fighting career.Because of that, he won’t have any qualms taking down the younger Diaz brother on Saturday night. Gomi will be in major trouble if he tries to play the jits game with Diaz. He will be just fine if he keeps Diaz busy defending punches, rather than moving through his submission transitions. If Gomi has a weakness on the feet, it is the fact that he tends to drop his head and loop his right hand when he really wants to load up, which is pretty often. Diaz can take advantage of that by identifying the strike, stepping to his left and firing a right uppercut. That sounds counterintuitive, but by stepping to his left, he can avoid the looping right while still keeping himself in good position to effectively counter with his right hand. Diaz shouldn’t expect to score a knockout with his punches. As mentioned, he is not a true power puncher, and Gomi has a very good chin. Sure, he has been hurt several times during fights. But nobody has knocked him out in 40 professional fights, and it is unlikely that Diaz will be the first to do so on Saturday.Instead, if Diaz can land a good right uppercut, he can clean it up with a left hand down the pipe. Those shots in combination should leave Gomi either wobbly and wide open for a takedown or desperate to score a takedown of his own. Either way, Diaz should then be able to take the fight to the ground, where he can utilize his biggest strength against Gomi’s biggest weakness.Despite the fact that Gomi is a good wrestler with solid ground-and-pound game, his submission defense is less than stellar. Six of his eight professional losses (or five of seven, if you exclude Nick’s no contest) occurred by submission. That is a big hole in his game, one that Diaz can exploit.Gomi’s game plan should be to avoid fighting in a phone booth with Diaz. Even though he is the bigger puncher, his foe will be the one who is much more comfortable fighting in close quarters. Diaz trains constantly with one of the best in-fighters in the sport—his brother. Gomi needs space to land his long, looping bombs. Plus, he needs space to avoid getting overwhelmed with Diaz’s swarming, pawing, non-stop punches.Establishing space means using good lateral movement. Since Gomi is fighting a southpaw, he should circle to his own left behind the jab. The key is to position his lead left foot outside of Diaz’s lead right foot. By doing that, he creates a perfect throwing lane for his overhand right. He can lead with the punch, when the opportunity presents itself, since Diaz will have his hands at his sides most of the time.That is the fight in a nutshell. I have no idea who is going to win this one. Gomi will have tremendous motivation to try and avenge his former loss to the Diaz family. Nate will have equal motivation to follow in his brother’s footsteps. Whoever wins, this fight has “Fight of the Night” written all over it.

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Two of the sports most exciting lightweights will wage war this Saturday night (September 24, 2011) on the UFC 125 main card as The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season five winner, Nate Diaz, takes on "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi. After getting tossed around in his last fight, Diaz is dropping back down to 155 pounds, a weight class in which he's balanced great success with frustration against the top wrestlers in the division. He couldn't have asked for a more ideal opponent in Takanori Gomi. Gomi's reputation as the most dangerous lightweight in the world has faded, but he sticks packs a wallop in his fists as evidenced by his incredible knockout of Tyson Griffin last year. Gomi was completely baffled by Clay Guida's funky movement in his last fight bu the shouldn't have any problems finding his opponent's head this time around. This bout also has added significance as Gomi competed against Nate Diaz's older brother Nick at Pride 33 in one of MMA's most entertaining fights of all time. Gomi would lose via gogoplata (although the result would be overturned after Diaz tested positive for marijauna.) Gomi would love an opportunity to take some vengeance out on Diaz's baby brother. Can Nate Diaz douse "The Fireball Kid" with a healthy dose of volume punches and submissions? Will Gomi be able to connect with the sledgehammers he calls fists and stop Diaz via strikes for the first time? Which lightweight will get back on track in the crowded 155 pound division? Nate Diaz Record: 13-7 overall, 8-5 in the UFC Key Wins: Melvin Guillard (UFC Fight Night 19), Marcus Davis (UFC 118), Kurt Pellegrino (UFC Fight Night 13) Key Losses: Rory MacDonald (UFC 129), Dong Hyun Kim (UFC 125), Gray Maynard (UFC Fight Night 20) How he got here: Nate Diaz didn't take the easy road. He made his MMA debut in the WEC and by his seventh professional fight, he was fighting for the promotion's lightweight title against Hermes Franca at the Brazilian's peak, losing via submission in the second round. Undeterred, Diaz tried out for season five of The Ultimate Fighter, the first season to showcase the lightweight division. The self-assured Stockton native was one of the season's stars, constantly arguing with castmates, guest coaches and the like. He defeated Rob Emerson, Corey Hill and most impressively Gray Maynard via submission to compete in the finale where he would be gifted the show's championship after fellow finalist Manny Gamburyan separated his shoulder in the main event. Diaz got off to a hot start, defeating his first five UFC opponents before being derailed by tough wrestlers Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson. After an impressive second round submission of Melvin Guillard, Diaz would lose a split decision to Gray Maynard which would fuel his decision to bump up a weight class. At welterweight, Diaz again was off to a terrific start, stopping both Rory Markham and Marcus Davis in his first two fights. This would put him in a position against some of the toughest young 170 pounders. Diaz had trouble getting outmuscled by Dong Hyun Kim in a tightly contested match and would get tossed around the cage by Rory MacDonald in a bout where he was completely physically dominated. This spurred the decision to return to lightweight, as suggested by his coach Cesar Gracie and Diaz was paired up against Takanori Gomi, a scrappy fighter with some serious history against his brother. How he gets it done: In the stand-up department, expect Diaz to probe with his jabs, pitter-pattering Gomi with volume punches in a style very similar to his brother. Nate Diaz does not have the power of his older sibling, but he possesses similar endurance and can throw just as many strikes. As evidenced by his fights against Rory Markham and Marcus Davis, he can still do some serious damage with his punches. Another key element in Diaz's attack is his use of judo techniques while scrambling in the clinch. The Cesar Gracie fighter has some fantastic trips at his disposal as well as perfectly timed throws if he ever notices that his opponent is off balance. On the ground, the TUF season five winner has some nasty submissions in his arsenal. He's just as capable of finishing a fight from his back as on top, if not moreso. He finished fighters like Kurt Pellegrino and Melvin Guillard after being put on his back and Gomi fell into a similar trap against his brother.  Diaz loves to bang but by keeping the fight standing, he's risking getting "Tyson Griffon'd" by Gomi's power. He'll be the more accurate striker, but there will be a huge risk of that flash knockout. The best plan of action would be to close the distance, work a trip takedown or even pull guard and then go to work with his lethal submission. If Diaz can get this fight to the ground, he's over halfway to victory already. Takanori Gomi Record: 32-7 (1 No Contest) overall, 1-2 in the UFC Key Wins: Tyson Griffin (UFC on Versus 2), Jens Pulver (Pride Shockwave 2004), Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pride Bushido 9) Key Losses: Clay Guida (UFC 125), Kenny Florian (UFC Fight Night 21), B.J. Penn (Rumble on the Rock 4) How he got here: At one point, Takanori Gomi was the most feared lightweight on the planet. He began his career 14-0 and primarily as a freestyle and catch wrestler. Despite his current reputation as an incredibly powerful striker, "The Fireball Kid" only scored two knockouts in his first 14 fights.  He ran into his first roadblock with consecutive losses to Joachim Hansen and B.J. Penn in late 2003 but would bounce back in impressive fashion, famously winning 10 straight in Pride including first round stoppage victories over Jens Pulver, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Hayato Sakurai. He would also win and defend the Pride lightweight championship during this period. The heavy-handed Japanese striker would famously compete in one of MMA's most legendary fights, brawling with Nick Diaz at Pride 33 and nearly knocking out the elder Diaz brother before gassing out and getting caught in a slick gogoplata. His loss to Diaz was overturned, but the memory of that fight is forever burned into the minds of hardcore fans everywhere. Gomi has gone 5-4 since the Diaz fight including a 1-2 stint in the UFC in which he was dominated by both Kenny Florian and Clay Guida but managed a knockout of the year candidate against Tyson Griffin. He could be fighting for his promotional future on Saturday night. How he gets it done: Gomi has become so obsessed with his knockout power that he's allowed his wrestling and grappling skills to deteriorate. He's no longer a threat to take Nate Diaz down and either pound on him or soften him up for submissions, that would only open up opportunities for his opponent to latch on a submission hold. Instead, Gomi needs to probe with his jab, use his footwork to cut off escape attempts and look for that knockout blow with his killer fists. Expect to see Gomi really work on finding his range before exploding with a power strike.  Nate Diaz isn't exactly known for his striking defense. He gets bloodied up or knocked down in a majority of his fights and that's something to be concerned about. Gomi has the power to not only knock Diaz down but put his lights out long enough to score a TKO victory or worse.  "The Fireball Kid" is known for his wild style and his reckless attacks in the stand-up realm. If Diaz wants a stand-up brawl, Gomi should accept the challenge and go for the knockout because at this point in his career, that's what he does best. Fight "X-Factor:" The biggest X-Factor for this fight will be the battle between Takanori Gomi's fists and Nate Diaz's chin. We all know Diaz can take a shot and keep coming, but that doesn't mean he's impossible to knock out. Diaz has a knack for getting cracked early in a fight and that's the big opportunity that Gomi needs to seize. What happens if Gomi connects early could be the deciding factor in this bout. Diaz usually recovers very quickly and not only survives, but bounces back to win the fight. He did so against both Melvin Guillard and Marcus Davis and he's capable of doing it again.  If Gomi does hurt Diaz early, he absolutely needs to rush him and try desperately for the finish because he will lose ground with every second that ticks off the clock while Diaz becomes stronger. Bottom Line: When Gomi fought Nick Diaz, it was one of the greatest fights in MMA history. While expectations are high for this bout, it won't live up to that legendary tilt, nor should we expect it to. What fans should expect is an exciting stand-up brawl with the possibilities of becoming a ground battle if Diaz sees an opportunity or begins to lose the striking exchanges. While standing, this has the potential to be as fun to watch as any fight on the card. This is my pick for "Fight of the Night" so don't miss out. Who will come out on top at UFC 135? Tell us your predictions in the comments below! Poll Which lightweight will prevail on Saturday night in the second bout of the UFC 135 main card? Nate Diaz Takanori Gomi   165 votes | Results

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Filed under: UFCUFC 135 in Denver may feature a title fight at the top of the card, but it also includes its share of fighters who are struggling just to get back in the win column. Some get more second chances than others to turn a losing skid around, but there are at least a couple who could be looking at a win-or-go-home scenario. Who are they, and what are their chances to stay employed after Saturday night? For answers and analysis, we turn to The Cut List. Nate Diaz (13-7, 8-5 UFC) Who he's facing: Takanori Gomi Why he's in danger: Don't look now, but the younger Diaz brother has lost two straight in the UFC after being outgrappled by both Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. There's no shame in losing to either of those beasts, but three in a row is still a dangerous place to be, so he needs this one against Gomi. What complicates matters is Nick Diaz's suddenly shaky footing with the UFC, though I'm not sure if it helps or hurts Nate in the end. With Nick around, you get a real appreciation for how reasonable and easy to work with Nate is. Plus, just how much would the already paranoid, conspiracy theory-prone Nick freak out if the UFC cut his brother so shortly after his own troubles with the Zuffa overlords? I don't know, and I'm not sure I want to find out. The best thing for all non-Gomi parties would be for Nate to win this fight and save his bosses the trouble of making those decisions. Still, you can bet that Gomi still remembers what happened in his infamous Pride bout with Nick and is eager for a little revenge against Stockton's first family of fisticuffs. Odds of getting cut: 4-1. This is a fight Diaz should win, since Gomi will likely be content to keep it on the feet, where Diaz's height and reach should give him problems. Even if he loses, he's still an exciting enough fighter to warrant one more chance. The only thing he really can't do is follow in his brother's footsteps and fail the drug test. Matt Hughes (45-8, 18-6 UFC) Who he's facing: Josh Koscheck Why he's in danger: Okay, so Hughes isn't really looking at a potential cut per se, but rather a contract that might not be renewed once this final fight is in the books. And honestly? That's not such a bad thing. Hughes will be 38 in October, and the welterweight division of today is not the same one he dominated half a decade ago. If he sticks around he's probably looking at an increasingly depressing game of diminishing returns, and for what? He doesn't need the money and he's got nothing left to prove in this sport. In fact, the worst-case scenario might be that he upsets Josh Koscheck and decides that Matt Hughes is back, baby! Then he might actually get a new contract, and before you know it he's the 40-year-old ex-champion getting thumped by Seth Baczynski in a co-co-main event. The best thing might be for him to ride off into the sunset here, which seems a lot more likely to happen if he ends up taking the beating that oddsmakers are forecasting. Koscheck is like a younger, more powerful, and slightly more abrasive version of Hughes. In a bizarre way, it could be the perfect passing of the torch. Odds of getting cut not retained: Even. I think Hughes is in for a rough night against Koscheck, and I expect that will only make it easier for him to decide that he'd rather be at home in Hillsboro. It's the right call and the right time for it. Takanori Gomi (32-7-1 NC, 1-2 UFC) Who he's facing: Nate Diaz Why he's in danger: Gomi managed to sandwich a knockout win over Tyson Griffin in between losses to Kenny Florian and Clay Guida, so it's not as if he's been fighting chumps since coming to the UFC. At the same time, winning more fights than you lose is the best way to ensure job security. A loss to Diaz and Gomi falls to 1-3 in the Octagon, and right after his 33rd birthday. That might make the Japanese lightweight seem like a bad bet to the UFC brass, especially when you look at the uninspired last few years of his career. He can be an exciting slugger when he gets the chance to fight his fight, but he also seems to lack the overall game necessary to ever become a serious contender in a division full of bull-headed wrestlers. Odds of getting cut: 5-1. Unless he loses very, very badly, "The Fireball Kid" is probably sticking around at least until the UFC's Japanese invasion in 2012. Takeya Mizugaki (14-6-2, 1-1 UFC) Who he's facing: Cole Escovedo Why he's in danger: Right off I'll just say it -- Mizugaki should consider himself lucky to have made the cut when the UFC absorbed the WEC. He was up and down for his entire stay in the WEC, winning the easier ones and losing the tough ones. Not that defeats to guys like Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres are signs that you suck, but let's be honest and admit that the current lack of depth in the bantamweight division hasn't hurt Mizugaki any. This prelim bout against Cole Escovedo is a little like the scene in Dark Knight where The Joker drops a broken pool cue in the middle of some faceless henchmen for "tryouts." The loser here faces an uncertain future with the UFC. Odds of getting cut: 2-1. This is a very winnable fight for Mizugaki, who can take a beating with the best of them. If he's smart, he'll approach it as a must-win and behave accordingly. Cole Escovedo (17-7, 0-1 UFC) Who he's facing: Takeya Mizugaki Why he's in danger: Escovedo's career has been a rollercoaster ride in more ways than one. He's been up and down in weight, while also following impressive winning streaks with strings of losses. He's 1-3 in his last four, and that one wasn't against a particularly impressive opponent. In his lone UFC bout to date he lost a unanimous decision to Nova Uniao standout Renan Barao. He and Mizugaki are fairly evenly matched, so there's no better time to show the brass that he can be something other than an opponent. But with the way he's been going lately, he probably won't get too many more chances to do it. Odds of getting cut: 3-1. I give Mizugaki the slight edge in this one. If Escovedo can't pull it out, there won't be many reasons for the UFC to keep him around. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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