Lei Tong

That KO ranks right up there with Atajev/Marcum.

A snuff film waiting to happen.

I'm not saying that there needs to be a weight class every 6-8lbs. like in boxing, but to simply write off divisions for smaller fighters is insane. From a boxing perspective, look at the some of the fighters who would be "too" small for MMA in the states: Manny Pacqiao, Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jesus Chavez, In-Jin Chi, Jorge Arce, Vic Darchinyan, Eagle Kyowa, etc. These are all very good fighters, and a number of them have been involved in some of the best fights of the past decade. Besides, if the UFC and MMA in general is really interested in capitalizing of the Latino market, this would be the best way to do so, as most fighters from Latin countries do best at these smaller divisions.

"Bonnar trains in jiu jitsu under the LEGENDARY... *looks at cheat sheet*... CARLSON GRACIE!" Goldberg sucks, but so do 99.9% of MMA anouncers.

Bantamweights, the king of which is this individual here: Also, due to MMA's skewed weight classes, it's easy to forget the seemingly infinite amount of talent at boxing's lower weights. If MMA ever does take off in Meh-hee-koh, there's a good chance such classes could produce a number of very good fighters.

Featherweights. Besides, if I wanted to go overboard with the snobbiness, I'd put together some half assed 132lbs and 123lbs. rankings. Also, you really shouldn't sleep on the lower weight classes. "Kid" Yamamoto, anyone?

God, Quadros is such a fucking tool.

HW: 1) Fedor Emelianenko 2) Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera 3) Andrei Arlovski 4) Sergei Kharitonov 5) Mark Hunt LHW: 1) Chuck Liddell 2) Mauricio Rua 3) Randy Couture 4) Renato Sobral 5) Wanderlei Silva MW: 1) Rich Franklin 2) Dan Henderson 3) Matt Lindland 4) Nathan Marquardt 5) Akihiro Gono WW: 1) Matt Hughes 2) Georges. St. Pierre 3) Akira Kikuchi 4) Frank Trigg 5) Karo Parisyan LW) 1) Takanori Gomi 2) Tatsuya Kawajiri 3) Vitor Ribeiro 4) Hayato Sakurai 5) Joachim Hansen FW: 1) Gilbert Melendez 2) Ivan Menjivar 3) Joao Roque 4) Rumina Sato 5) Masakazu Imanari

"Lion" Takeshi Inoue Shooting Gym Yokohama Notable wins: Jin Kazeta (Submission) Strengths: Versatile; Decent puncher and counter striker; Underrated G&P and top game; Weaknesses: Weak defense in the clinch, esp. against knees; Often falls back on weak arm punches; Not exceptional in any particular area; Often lacks alternative game plan when things get tough; Makoto Ishikawa PUREBRED Omiya Notable Wins: Hiroyuki Abe (TKO), Tetsuo Katsuta (Unanimous JD), Antoine Skinner (Unanimous JD) Strengths: Powerful lightweight; Strong, straight puncher; Capable wrestler; Has shown toughness in the face of adversity; Weaknesses: Combination of poor defense and a shaky chin often leads to knockdowns & 10-8 rounds; Somewhat inconsistent; Mediocre bottom game; At stake: A shot at the winner of the Hatsu Hioki/Katsuya Toida match, and that person's Pacific Rim Lightweight Title.

It looked as sharp as a tack against Sherk, but Sean doesn't set-up his takedowns nearly as well as BJ, and has often relied on brute strength to get past an opponent's takedown D. Also, Tito & Matt have been jawing at each other for years now. Tito calls Matt a gay roider, Matt calls Tito an overrated idiot, wtc. Rinse and repeat.

Shooto's weight classes are named one class lower than their American counterparts. 123: Bantamweight 132: Featherweight 143: Lightweight 154: Welterweight 167: Middleweight 183: Light Heavyweight As for Osawa, like was said, he's a good striker with some superb knees, and while his ground game is lackluster, I wouldn't put it amongst the likes of say, Curtis Stout. He's more of a gatekeeper than a contender, but a solid one at that.

BTW- big ups to my boy MSIA for helping me round out these write-ups (or in Osawa's case, doing damn near everything himself).

Naoya Uematsu K'z Factory Former Shooto World Lightweight Champion (defeated Noboru Asashi for the title; vacated) Notable wins: Caol Uno (submission), Katsuya Toida x2 (submission x2), Hideki Kadowaki (submission) Strengths: Great submission artist, noted especially for his leglocks; Slick guard game; Will not be outmuscled as much as he was at 143lbs. Weaknesses: Ground skills can be stiffled by tight, economic top games; Underwhelming stand-up; Kenji Osawa Wayjutsu Keisyukai Shooters School Notable wins: Seiji Otsuka (Unanimous JD), Jin Akimoto (Majority JD) Strengths: Well-rounded striker; Very good knees; Throws strikes in combination rather than single strikes; Attacks openings with strikes; Weaknesses: Mediocre wrestler; Struggles to disengage from the clinch and attempted takedowns; Can become wild while striking; Weak guard game and susceptible to transitional submissions; On the line: An impressive win by either fighter will likely put them in the Top 5 rankings for the recently vacated Featherweight title.

Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri T-BLOOD Current Shooto Welterweight Champion (defeated Vitor Ribeiro for the title) Notable wins: Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro (TKO), Yves Edwards (Unanimous JD), Ryan Bow (TKO) Strengths: Good counter puncher with power in his hands; Good wrestler with superb takedown defense; Great top game, with effective G&P and slick guard passing; Has come back from previous losses with renewed ferocity; Weaknesses: Relatively unimpressive bottom game; Can get wild and/or overly aggressive standing; Shots aren't as effective as clinch takedowns; Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen Team Scandanavia Former Shooto Weltwerweight Champion (Defeated Takanori Gomi for the title; Lost it to Vitor Ribeiro) Notable Wins: Takanori Gomi (Majority JD), Caol Uno (KO), Yves Edwards (Split JD) Strengths: Good grappler with effective guard and backmount games; Adept at taking an opponent's back; Strong puncher from most any position; Good knees with KO power standing; Insane cardio allows him to apply pressure throughout a match; Weaknesses: Stand-up is very unrefined; Too willing to go to his back on the ground; Open ground game leaves opprotunities offensively for opponents; At stake: Aside from the title, a Top 5 caliber win for either fighter and possibly a quick route to a rematch with Gomi in PRIDE.

I think the NSAC suspended his sentance about a week ago.

Sorry, meant to do a more in-depth look of the card when I posted it, but... you know. I'll do it tomorrow.

Double 'Er = Spencer Fisher

Yes, proving that almost any TUF competitor can get a UFC fight, no matter how undeserving (though Midoux is prettty mediocre even by HW standards, as well).

- Good fighter. A somewhat underrated grappler due to his love of kickboxing; unfortunately, though he had decent pop in his hands, his kicks were usually of the American kickboxing/TKD variety. Also cursed with that shitty Lion's Den stamina. - A favorite of mine (though I understand why many loathe him), was a good-decent fighter his heyday. He had a good guard offensively, but was there to be hit both on the ground and standing. Mixed with his balls-out style, this usually resulted in brutal losses. Did himself no favors by sticking to the HW division, but a loss to Tom Sauer brings questions of how hed' fare at 205 even. - One of the more overrated fighters in recent memory. Brutal, yet heavily flawed striker with a half decent ground game and sprawl. One-sided losses to Telligman, Sperry & Overeem seem to put his career and abilities in better perspective. - Overrated for a long time, Wanderlei finally proved himself with KO wins over Quinton Jackson. Outside of that, however, he's done not much else except formerly destroy, and now mail it in vs. overmatched competition. Makes up for his technical flaws with sheer aggression & athleticism, and has also improved his ground game over the years (more defensively than offensively). I'll do the rest later.

Two upsets, as Bell KO's Mormeck in the 10th, and Carlos Baldomir wins a unanimous decision in Judah's own backyard, outworking a listless Zab while hurting him a few times (and nearly giving a repeat of the Judah/Tszyu baby giraffe dance in the 7th).

I predict Jens vs. Fedor first round, because Lord knows thrashings by Gomi & Mach aren't enough.

Looks like they really are going for the US vs. Canada theme. Stout/Florian is almost a done deal, Sanchez/Goulet looks likely, and Midoux/Tom freakin' Murphy (?!) has been mentioned.

Since there's no thread for it yet and I'm too Mexican to make one, my 2005 awards: Fighter of the Year: Maurico "Shogun" Rua - Runner up: Takanori Gomi Fight of the Year: Hayato Sakurai vs. Joachim Hansen - Runner up: Joachim Hansen vs. Caol Uno KO of the Year: James Irvin's flying knee on Terry Martin - Runner up: Mamoru Yamaguchi's high kick on Stonnie Dennis Submission of the Year: Genki Sudo's triangle choke on Hiroyuki Takaya - Runner up: Un Sik Song's armbar on Michihisa Asano Upset of the Year: Hideo Tokoro def. Alexandre Franca Noguiera via TKO - Runner up: Diego Sanchez def. Nick Diaz via Unanimous Decision ...what am I forgetting?

Both are have good G&P and know how to use the cage well, so I wouldn't say they're the best examples.

No, you're not. Expect at least 1 brutal stomping that could've been avoided otherwise.