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Shin’ya Aoki, Hayato Sakurai booked for DREAM Welterweight GP
By Zach Arnold | February 12, 2009
The tournament starts on 4/5 at Nagoya Rainbow Hall (10,000-seater), and then a big show on July 20th at Saitama Super Arena.
Shin’ya Aoki will be stepping up in weight class here, from 70kg to 76 kg.
Minowaman will also fight on the 4/5 Nagoya show in a non-tournament match.
(On a completely, random bizarre note here — I had 4 searches yesterday for this site based on someone typing in “shinya aoki hot pants.” I have no clue why.)
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 26 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I guess WAMMA is not happy.
I get the feeling that the tournament will be a slight joke. It won’t stop some MMA websites from putting the winner in the Top 10. Heck, Mousasi won a tournament with basically no Top 10 fighters, and now somehow he is a Top 5 fighter.
Zach, do you have a secret corner of the site dedicated to Aoki’s hot pants?
Who else is in the welterweight tournament besides Aoki and Sakurai? Aoki may have last fought at 70 kg but he is the Shooto 76 kg champ so I don’t think fighting at this weight is going to hurt him much. Does DREAM have any big welterweights on their roster? Mach Sakurai and Nick Diaz aren’t considered big at 76 kg. Nick Thompson is at Sengoku.
We all know your viewpoint 45: everything is a big stupid freakshow joke if it happens outside of Zuffa’s Octagon.
You’ve hammered that point home a million times, and I’m sure we’ve all received your message loud and clear.
Like some people on this website (at least a few, anyway), I’m a MMA fan, and not exclusively an ‘Ultimate Fighting’ fan.
I believe that it’s possible for a promotion like Strikeforce, DREAM or K-1 to have a thoroughly entertaining fight card – and ENJOY IT simply based on the in-ring action – without the preconceived notion that the event is worthless based on your highly subjective, Dana White endorsed top 10 list.
So some of the DREAM tournament participants are not worthy of UFCs top 10…so what? Should they call off the event based on that criteria? Did DREAM not manage to stage some incredibly entertaining fights in 2008, even though *GASP* the fighters weren’t in 45’s TOP TEN?!
“Heck, Mousasi won a tournament with basically no Top 10 fighters, and now somehow he is a Top 5 fighter.”
Wow…what a scandal! Sounds like Sherk getting ranked in the top 5 @ LW for only beating an unranked Florian…and speaking of Florian, has he ever beaten a top 10 guy? But somehow he’s the #1 contender and in universally everyone’s top 10 now.
MMA rankings are a joke. Don’t act all flabbergasted just because a non UFC guy gets ranked.
45Huddle, why dont you just stop reading non-UFC related posts.
No one wants to hear your “opinion”. Period.
What does this have to do with Zuffa?
Check the UFC 96 post out. My comment about the card is not overly positive either.
As for the WW Top 10…. I think everybody who has any clue about MMA would agree that it contains 9 Zuffa fighters and Jake Shields. And Jake is looking to get into the UFC because of that.
“Wow…what a scandal! Sounds like Sherk getting ranked in the top 5 @ LW for only beating an unranked Florian…”
Sherk was a Top 10 ranked Welterweight, dropped down, and was the best UFC Lightweight until BJ Penn beat him. completely different then Mousasi who wasn’t ranked in any division, and then magically gets inserted into the Top 5 after beating relatively nobody.
DREAM is the biggest show in Japan. This is the second tournament in a row that completely lacks of credible fighters competing in their own weight classes.
I have not bashed their Lightweight or rumored Featherweight Tournaments. Those are legit. But for the largest show in Japan, the Middleweight & Welterweight Tournaments are a very big joke. I expect more from K-1.
BJJ world champ, Andre Galvao is rumored to be competing in the GP. Aoki and him will make a perfect match-up. I’d like to see how Aoki will handle someone with significantly better ground game.
I don’t have anything against GP, but multiple fights a night is just a crazy idea. There should be at least one month interval between fights.
Multiple fights in 1 night is an AWESOME idea. You can prove that much more by doing it.
Making reference to earlier statements- Mousasi beat a true master striker and a true master grappler (Manhoef and Jacare) in one night. I’m not necessarily saying he should go way up in the rankings, but thats an awesome achievement.
No one is forcing these guys to be professional fighters or compete in tournament style events, so if they feel thats its too dangerous or difficult, they can choose not to fight.
“Multiple fights in 1 night is an AWESOME idea. You can prove that much more by doing it.”
Meh.
I’m a huge fan of tournaments, but not multiple fights in one night. That’s how you get ‘champions’ who were alternates (Steve Jennum) or who had already lost earlier in tournament (Kazuo Misaki, Joachim Hansen).
I’d much rather see the finalists get a full training camp to prepare for one another and fight each other on a full tank of gas.
“Sherk was a Top 10 ranked Welterweight”
Really? Who did he beat to be ranked as a top 10 welterweight prior to dropping to 155?
Based on his performance against Hughes who was considered nearly unstoppable. Also with wins over Karo Parisyan, Nick Diaz (who was lower Top 10 at the time), and a few other wins.
I can’t think of one credible person who didn’t have him Top 10 at the time.
45Huddle Says:
“As for the WW Top 10…. I think everybody who has any clue about MMA would agree that it contains 9 Zuffa fighters and Jake Shields.”
and
“I have not bashed their Lightweight or rumored Featherweight Tournaments. Those are legit. But for the largest show in Japan, the Middleweight & Welterweight Tournaments are a very big joke. I expect more from K-1.”
PROOF THAT 45Huddle IS A SHAMELESS TROLL!!!
If all of the top-10 Welters are in the USA (mostly UFC), how could Dream possibly put on a WW tournament that is not a “joke”?? and that would satisfy you??
Just because they cant get any of the top 10 welters should they just fold, admit that UFC is superior, and just not have a welter GP?? Would that satisfy you? If all non-UFC promotions just stopped having fights?
Basically youre saying that any promotion that cannot present the very best fighters in a particular weightclass should just not hold fights?? Because it is clear from your posts quoted above that that is exactly what youre saying, in effect.
This is your whole shtick- point out (either directly or indirectly) the various promotions that lack top fighters (that are, of course, inevitably in the UFC)and then flagrantly slam them for not putting on high enough quality fights (using words such as “joke” and “freakshow”).
If only top-10 fighters were allowed to fight, the sport of MMA would not really exist. Accept the reality of the top-10 – NOT ALL PROMOTIONS CAN HAVE ALL THE TOP FIGHTERS AT THE SAME TIME!!! Stop being a TROLL.
You need to chill. I don’t have some hidden agenda or evil plot to bash everything non Zuffa. With the MW Tourny, it’s as if they didn’t even try to get top talent. For the Welter Tournament, guys like Monma having a chance to get in is a joke. There has to be better prospects then guys like him. He hasn’t been relevent to MMA since he started his career with moderate hype in Pancrase
You count Sherk’s victory over a 16 y/o Karo as a big win? Just admit you’re browsing the fight finder. Other than that, you’re counting a razor close decision win over Nick Diaz (who was coming off 2 losses) and a loss as a reason to rank him.
I don’t care if you rank him or not, but the fact is you’re ranking him based on skill, not top 10 wins, the same reason why many are ranking Mousasi.
As welterweights both Aoki and Sakurai are in my top ten. Jake Shields is in contract hell, Fickett is bumming around in the lower promotions. Seems like as legit an event as they could put together as the other seven of my top eleven are under Zuffa contract right now.
Are you joking? Sakurai & Aoki are in your Top 10 for Welterweights? And I’m the one who gets bashed here?
As for Sherk. I’m not browsing the fight finder. I made that post without checking out his record. I was at Sherk’s first UFC fight. I have followed his career since that time. I’m not just some Johnny Come Lately who is spewing facts off a website to make himself sound smart.
I think you seem to forget that fighters rankings were extremely different even 3 years ago. That is how much the sport has progressed. A guy like Marcus Davis, 3 or 4 years ago, would have been ranked in the Top 10 just from his streak of wins in the UFC. The sport wasn’t as stacked as it is now. One or two big exposure wins made a guy “elite”. With that said, Sherk was the only guy to take Hughes 5 rounds in a title fight. And he won 2 of those rounds. That alone showed he was of the top level.
And at the time Sherk moved weight classes, he was still ranked in the Top 10 on all credible rankings in the Welterweight Division. And when he dropped weight classes, it made it very legit for him to be ranked after one fight.
You didnt really respond to my question 45.
The vast majority of ALL welterweights are in the UFC. How do you propose that Dream put together a WW GP that will make it not a “joke”? Please, explain…
Since youre always tearing promotions down, lets year about how you propose that it could be better…
I’m listening…..
The sad thing is, there is a “45 Huddle” on every MMA site nowadays.
When considered among the welterweights, they are in the top 10, yes. Sherk is also among the best fighters of all weights ever, suggesting otherwise is pretty ridiculous, IMHO.
So in the last 3 years…. Hayato Sakurai’s best win against a Welterweight is Kuniyoshi Hironaka. Shinya Aoki’s best win against a Welterweight is Akira Kikuchi. That does not put them in the Top 15, nevermind the Top 10.
“The sad thing is, there is a “45 Huddle” on every MMA site nowadays.”
I likely know more about MMA then most of the people on this board. It’s funny that I am supportive of the only MMA Organization that has put on national shows in the last 5 years, who continue to increase viewership. I am still critical of Zuffa when I see them do something wrong. I still give other organizations their due when they do something right. I just don’t see them doing many right things.
I was bashed the same way for saying the same type of things about the various other companies that went out of business. I was bashed at first, and by the end, everybody was agreeing with me.
Just because some of you guys try to find anything that isn’t Zuffa and try and support is blindly…. Doesn’t mean my point of view is bad. If anything, it is more sickening to see people continue to bash the one organization that is good for this sport, and then turn around and support these organizations that not only won’t be around in 2 or 3 years, but aren’t doing good things for the sport.
The hardcore MMA culture is just insane. People bash the best organization. They support the worst ones. It is just amazing. No wonder Zuffa doesn’t even try to please these fans. It’s not worth it.
With that said… I still stand by my statements. DREAM is following in PRIDE’s footsteps with a smoke and mirrors approach to MMA. These tournaments are more examples of it.
Who in here is bashing the UFC? Where has anyone in this thread said anything that is bashing the UFC at all? Just because I consistently call you out on your pro-UFC, anti-everything else comments does not mean whatsoever that I am anti UFC. Thats what you still dont get.
You are like one of those paranoid people always with a chip on their shoulder who thinks that everyone is against them.
Here’s what else you dont get. The fact that a promotion that you talk shit about fails does not mean that your comments were somehow remotely reasonable. I dont think people (at least myself) are criticizing you for pointing out the flaws in promotions…as that is what this site is based on.. its the exact point I made above which you have repeatedly ignored. And this point is really illustrative of what is wrong with you:
Criticizing K1/Dream for the welterweight tournament is not really a constructive criticism of K1/Dream as a fight promotion/event, as you seem to be insisting. It is really a thinly veiled excuse for you to point out that the UFC is vastly superior to Dream (and all other promotions), at least as far the welterweight division is concerned. As I’ve asked you repeatedly, what fighters would you put in the tournament so that it wasnt a “joke”? considering that UFC has virtually all of the known welterweights in the world…what could the K1/Dream promotion do, business wise or matchmaking wise that would make you not criticize it??
I still wait for this answer, and the lack of an answer (which I’m sure will never come) proves my point entirely. All you are doing here (and ever really do) is bashing over everyones heads that the UFC is the best, and all other promotions suck. Just because you have made these same types of fanboy-nuthugging under the guise of legitimate criticism in the past and those promotions have failed does not change the fact that all youre doing is good ole fashioned nuthuggery (to use the parlance). I’m sure you take my calling you out on this as a sign of my hatred of the UFC, but as I said before, you couldnt be more wrong. I dont hate the UFC, I think they have great fights, I just hate its pathetic diehard fanboys like you.
One more time: 45Huddle…Answer this question:
What could K1/Dream do with their welterweight division that you would not consider “smoke and mirrors”?
Are you saying that they should not have a tournament? They arent claiming that their champion with be #1 p4p! Youre basically criticizing the promotion because someone ELSE might consider the winner a top-10 ranked fighter. Again, how is this not just you talking shit about the promotion because it does not have the fighters that UFC has?
What would you do if you ran K1/Dream to make the welterweight division not a “joke”?? Seriously, I want an answer! Would you just quit the whole fight promotion thing and admit that UFC is the best??
Sherks wins over Karo do nothing to make him top 10 in any weight class.
He is top 10 at LW imo but noone else is in UFC by your criteria 45 Huddle. All the top 10 wer ein Japan when UFC started the division and they never signed any of them
samscaff,
Read this article:
http://sherdog.com/pictures/event/sherdog-prospect-watch-takeya-mizugaki-16202
This along with Ishii already signing with Zuffa, and Kid thinking about it…. Shows the difference between the sport in America and the “show” put on in Japan. Even the fighters are saying as much.
Obviously Zuffa has the best Welterweights in the world. But DREAM has done nothing to build up talent for this division. They haven’t tried to get good international guys signed like Shields or Hierson or others.
This is a pure smoke and mirrors.