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GLORY 12/31 Saitama Super Arena & Inoki 12/31 Ryogoku show notes

By Zach Arnold | December 31, 2012

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GLORY/DREAM NYE event

MMA fights

Kickboxing

$400,000 Grand Slam Heavyweight tournament:

Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012 in Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan

Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 38 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

38 Responses to “GLORY 12/31 Saitama Super Arena & Inoki 12/31 Ryogoku show notes”

  1. Fightlinker says:

    where all da mma fights at?

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    Fernandes really setting the MMA world on fire by not signing with Zuffa.

    • The Gaijin says:

      1. LOL. Perplexing decision to say the least which has been followed up with some less than stellar match-ups. Maybe he wanted to really “Santiago” himself before coming over.

      2. WTF is with this grand slam – that’s more lopsided that the initial SF HWGP brackets. I guess it’s a one-night (is it a one nighter?) tourney so they want some early squashes – but wouldn’t we have been better off with something like:

      Schilt x Sergei
      Saki x Braddock
      Ghita x Zimmerman
      Bonjansky x Aerts

      All the extra match does is ensure someone pulls out with an injury.

      • edub says:

        Ghita’s coming out party, hopefully they have him and Semmy on opposite sides of the bracket (and he doesn’t get screwed early again).

      • Megatherium says:

        At this point Bibiano has thoroughly immersed himself in ‘Santiago’. I think his plan is to avoid UFC as a career choice.

        Can’t wait for that HWGS though!

      • Dave says:

        THe tournament was done by draws, but the top 8 guys that Glory ‘ranked’ were placed early on, spread out evenly among the brackets, so basically it was making sure that the other guys would have to fight against the more elite fighters.

        The first round is pretty much a gimme.

    • Nick says:

      Zuffa made him a nice offer, but OneFC came in and offered triple what Zuffa offered, so it was a no brainer for him financially.

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    Putting the Bantamweight Title fight on FUEL TV.

    I have mixed thoughts on this.

    On one hand they are putting a title fight on “free” TV. And they are probably trying to figure out the best ratings for the highest level FUEL TV fight they can put on.

    On the other hand they are wasting a huge to build up future stars by limiting the audience for a fight. MacDonald could be a star and deserves a better coming out party

    I do think Zuffa finally got the hint that people do not want to pay for the lighter weight classes and are not making people pay. I love this trend of more free title fights.

  4. nottheface says:

    Anyone paying attention to the title fight announcements today? As I said over at BE, man I’m glad the UFC won the promotional wars otherwise we’d be stuck with unworthy fighters getting shots at the belt.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      At least George Lucas sold Star Wars so I have something to look forward to in the future with more movies.

      Looks like MMA is not the place for me as a fan anymore. So disappointing.

      Jones/Sonnen was horrible. GSP/Diaz is just too much…. White has really ruined the sport chasing big money fights.

    • Alan Conceicao says:

      With boxing, usually I can understand some sick, perverse logic behind the machinations of why fights go on in one place, on in another, why some fights don’t happen, why some do. With the UFC of late, I have no idea. I don’t think anyone really gets it.

      • edub says:

        Just short term gain. That’s all I see. Sonnen draws better than Henderson, give him the shot. Diaz draws better than Hendricks, give him the shot. Ronda is in magazines, have her headline an event.

        I just don’t know if their reasoning is accurate anymore.

  5. Megatherium says:

    Ha!! So much for the Zuffa monopoly being the best thing for the mma fan. You know, all the best matchups etc.

  6. Nepal says:

    Honestly, which do I want to see right now. GSP vs. Hendricks or Diaz? I want to see Diaz dammit. Hendricks would be a good fight and if the UFC were a meritocracy, then he gets the shot. It’s not a meritocracy, never has been, never will be… need to get used to that.

    Dana/Zuffa make more money, get to promote a bigger event, expose UFC to a larger audience. It’s a no brainer. Sure the hard cores recognize the “unfairness” but it’s not a league, it’s a promotion business. It will never be a league. Too many fighters pull out of main fights for a true tiered structure of merit to evolve. There will always be fill-ins and they will always get flack for their unworthiness. The top guys fight 1.5 times per year other than Jones, who will start with the “I need some time off” saga soon.

    I think the guys that complain and say “these bullshit matchups are making me lose interest in MMA” are really just long term hard core fans, whose interest is waning because their passion has naturally dimmed over time.

    My interest is still high, but it’s not like it was 5, 6, 7 years ago. I read fewer Sherdog/Junkie/Weekly etc articles, I sometimes even forget their is a UFC on Fuel or FX until the night before. That didn’t happen before. The reason is just because I can’t hold a passion for many many years, still freaking out over every card. It’s just physics, things burn out. It is definitely not because of revenue generating matches like Chael/Jones or GSP/Diaz

  7. Jonathan says:

    this is my first mma show in a long time. I just watched the Penn/McDonald fight. I was sickened by how much McDonald show boated against a legend like Penn. It was pathetic to see. I don’t care how well he actually fights. It was pathetic and he has no right.

    • Steve4192 says:

      Has no right?

      Please.

      1. Penn made this personal by repeatedly calling Rory and his whole camp steroid abusers without a lick of evidence. I can’t blame Rory for wanting to show him up a little bit after all the venom Penn spewed in the pre-fight buildup.

      2. Penn isn’t above showboating himself, what with all the blood licking and kissing of vanquished opponents. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander as far as I am concerned. Penn has made a career out of showing up his opponents. Last night was his karmic payback.

  8. liger05 says:

    How did Inoki get Fuji TV onside for his show?

  9. liger05 says:

    http://mmafrenzy.com/31854/dream-18-to-air-cbs-sports/

    I guess CBS will edit the show and not show the whole thing on delay as that’s one long ass show.

    • Paul Hanlin Jr says:

      Fantastic news; we WILL get BOTH Glory and Dream portions of the NYE show.

      http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/12/26/3804492/dream-18-glory-4-new-years-eve-event-to-air-on-cbs-sports-network

      The money quote: “The event will air on tape delay in two parts, starting at 10PM ET on Dec. 31. That broadcast will air the GLORY card. The next night at 10PM ET, CBSSN will air the DREAM portion of the event. A live broadcast of the show will be available online at GloryWorldSeries.com.”

      I’ll take any Japan-based MMA on US TV I can get. But this is terrific news. 🙂

      • Chuck says:

        Just checked my Comcast guide….and DREAM is on from 10 pm to 1 am. And Glory is on from 1 am to 5 am. Man, that is a lot of fights. Shame on me I don’t have a DVR. Looks like I am hijacking the TV all night baby! I have no work tomorrow so hooray for me!

        • edub says:

          Haha, I’m pissed. CBS network is only on SD for Fios. Still gonna have it all DVR’d baby!

        • Chuck says:

          Only Standard def? That sucks. I’m not a stickler about HD only (I’ll watch it in standard, no bones for me) but I have HD, and it’s available in HD for me….so…..I’ll watch it in HD.

          I know most people who get HD have the mindset of “once you go Hd, you can’t go back”, but I can easily go back to standard. It really doesn’t make that much of a difference to me (yes, I see the differences, trust me on that one) but I will prefer to watch it in HD. Hey, if you are paying for the service, might as well use it, right?

  10. samscaff says:

    The Glory tournament is really a one-night 16 man tournament? That hasnt been done ever in K1…

  11. The Judge says:

    I couldn’t write a better essay on “what’s wrong with Japanese MMA” than Zach’s original post (the listing of the matches for those 2 cards).

  12. Black Dog says:

    The IGF results show us what’s going wrong with at least one portion of MMA. Inoki keeps booking these old-ass fighters who are past their prime; Cro Cop squashing a former sumo wrestler is kind of a foregone conclusion. Ishii is kind of a rehab project, so having Sylvia lumber around the ring against him makes sense, but does not translate well. The Fujita match with Ogawa sounds like it was a work, pretty much. And they sold out that arena?

    IGF has a couple of good prospects; Sawada has wrestled in ZERO-1, and he was trained by Ogawa. He’s also got a heel attitude; why they don’t push him more I’ve no idea. For me, the bookings don’t lead up to anything.

    Another problem…Inoki’s ego. It’s still all about him, and that’s a terrible mistake. His images are all over the promotional posters, kind of like Oprah is always on the cover of her magazine. Not good; if you want to have him on there, fine, but you need the faces of your promotion up there.

    Now rumblings are being heard that one of the bigwigs in New Japan wants to bring on the ex-MMA’ers again, and Inoki’s name was being dropped. They do not want to go down that road again.

  13. liger05 says:

    Yes New Japan have to be very very careful if they want to go down that route again. Not sure what the upside is for them even if they are in control of the whole situation.

    New Japan are doing ok right now and dont need Inoki.

  14. Paul Hanlin Jr says:

    Any word on crowd numbers?

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    Poor Semmy Schilt…. Probably the most accomplished K-1 fighter of all time…. and nobody cares…

    • edub says:

      I said this on Lowkick the other day:

      “Semmy wins again. Can we finally admit he is the best HW kickboxer of all-time?”

      His accomplishments stack up against anybody, and he still gets hated on.

  16. liger05 says:

    The Ogawa v Fujita match was shambolic and the stoppage was disgracful. Do they think the fans are stupid and buy such BS. It doesnt matter if it’s pro-wrestling, MMA or a worked shoot the fans dont want to be treated like idiots.
    Which idiot decided that would be a good way to finish the match?

    Funnily enough this isnt the first time Fujita has been involved in some BS. Remember when he lost the IWGP Title to Kensuke in under 3 mins with a ‘fast’ 3 count @ the sumo hall which did no go down well with the fans and killed New Japan in Tokyo which took them years to recover from.

    • Chuck says:

      Ah, the match when Fujita was giving Sasaki a rear naked choke on his back, and the ref counted him out since he was technically getting pinned, right? I think New japan did that to get the belt off Fujita because they were having difficulties with him and had to get the belt off of him. I’m not sure if Fujita went along with the finish or if it was a Survivor Series ’97 sort of situation. As shitty of a finish it was, they had to get the belt off him one way or another. The Brock Lesnar situation some years later was a lot worse though.

    • Black Dog says:

      If New Japan brings in more guys like Shibata and Sakauraba, UWF style fighters of that stripe–I’d not be so upset. But you can’t flood the promotion with them.

  17. 45 Huddle says:

    Chael Sonnen is claiming that Quinton Jackson is going to pull out of his FOX Fight with Teixeira in order to let his contract run out.

    If this ends up being true…. What a downhill slope Quinton’s career has gone in these last few years.

    I have a feeling it is only going to get worse when he retires from fighting….

  18. RST says:

    This looked like a fun super card.

    I cant find anywhere to watch it.

    • Chuck says:

      Both GLORY and DREAM were showed on CBS Sports late at night. I don’t know if there will be replays. I’m sure there will be.

  19. Chuck says:

    Just watched both shows last night on CBS Sports (first DREAM from 10 pm to 1 am then right into Glory from 1 am to 5 am. Yeah, I was up pretty damn late for a shit ton of fights) and they were both great shows. GLORY especially was awesome. But the officiating for the GLORY show…..truly despicable. Those referees are some of the worst I have ever seen. The older guy disregarded a few knockdowns on the show (I’m not counting times when a fighter would catch a kick then drop his opponent with a punch, that doesn’t count).

    The Middle eastern referee was awful AND clueless. He raised Gokhan Saki’s hand after Semmy was announced the winner, and took about thirty seconds to correct himself. And before that there was some weird happening when he stopped the action, said something, knew nothing happened, then continued the fight. The crowd laughed. It was stupid and I don’t understand what the hell that referee was doing. I think that was Saki/Schilt. Those referees (especially the Middle Eastern one) should be fired ASAP.

    • Chuck says:

      And another thing…..it seemed like the commentators (Mauro Ranallo, Stephen Quadros, and Frank Shamrock) really wanted to criticize the officiating but it seemed like they were told not to. Too bad there can’t be commentators like Teddy Atlas or Wally Mathews or the HBO guys who have NO problem bashing something that they are calling.

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