Description of Japanese local MMA entrance 1

Kei Yamamiya's pro wrestling entrance.

Kei Yamamiya is Japanese MMA veteran who have win over Chris Lytle, Yuki Kondo, Ikuhisa Minowa and Chael Sonnen when they fought local level.He brought pro wrestling style for his entrance.I'm not good pro wrestling knowledge, so forgive me if I'm wrong at caption.


Super Tiger Mask


Razor Ramon HG aka Hard Gay


Great Muta


Mil Mascaras


Tiger Mask


Jushin Thunder Liger


Big Van Vader

Is age nothing but a number?

I recently looked at Sherdog's top 10 MMA rankings list and updated the names here with ages. I expected that the lighter weight classes would have a younger average age because, at lighter weights, speed is a more important factor. Speed and reflexes become reduced at an earlier age than the reduction of power.

For a result, we find that heavyweight has the highest average age. Also, we find that lightweight has the lowest average age. Of course, speed isn't the only factor to consider when looking at the average age of each division. The talent pool that is available to each weight class also has a large effect on the numbers.

I have some thoughts about fighters who have changed divisions by either moving up or down in weight.

Some have succeeded when moving up from light heavyweight to heavyweight. For example, Randy Couture and Alistair Overeem. Other fighters have dropped down from light heavyweight to find success at middleweight (Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann).

However, we must also look at fighters who have not had success when moving down a division, such as Kenny Florian and Tyson Griffin (lightweight to featherweight).

I can predict many things from these numbers. Age isn't the only factor to take into account here, but I'm sure that you can follow the same line of thought as me.


Oldest: Dan Henderson (age 41)
Second Oldest: Shane Carwin (37)
Third Oldest: Anderson Silva (36)

Youngest: Dustin Poirier (22)
Second Youngest: Jon Jones, Anthony Pettis, Pat Curran, Renan Barao and Darrell Montague (all 24)


Heavyweight

Junior Dos Santos - 27
Cain Velasquez - 29
Alistair Overeem - 31
Fabricio Werdum - 34
Brock Lesnar - 34
Shane Carwin - 37
Frank Mir - 32
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - 35
Josh Barnett - 34
Daniel Cormier - 32

Oldest: Shane Carwin (37)
Youngest: Junior Dos Santos (27)

Average Age: 32.5


Light Heavyweight

Jon Jones - 24
Dan Henderson - 41
Mauricio Rua - 30
Rashad Evans - 32
Quinton Jackson - 33
Lyoto Machida - 33
Phil Davis - 27
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira - 35
Forrest Griffin - 32
Rafael Cavalcante - 31

Oldest: Dan Henderson (41)
Youngest: Jon Jones (24)

Average Age: 31.8


Middleweight

Anderson Silva - 36
Chael Sonnen - 34
Yushin Okami - 30
Mark Munoz - 33
Nate Marquardt - 32
Demian Maia - 32
Brian Stann - 31
Michael Bisping - 32
Vitor Belfort - 34
Luke Rockhold - 27

Oldest: Anderson Silva (36)
Youngest: Luke Rockhold (27)

Average Age: 32.1


Welterweight

Georges St. Pierre - 30
Jon Fitch - 33
Nick Diaz - 28
Josh Koscheck - 34
Jake Ellenberger - 26
Jake Shields - 33
Carlos Condit - 27
Johny Hendricks - 28
Martin Kampmann - 29
B.J. Penn - 33

Oldest: Josh Koscheck (34)
Youngest: Jake Ellenberger (26)

Average Age: 30.1


Lightweight

Frankie Edgar - 30
Gilbert Melendez - 29
Gray Maynard - 32
Ben Henderson - 28
Shinya Aoki - 28
Jim Miller - 28
Clay Guida - 30
Anthony Pettis - 24
Donald Cerrone - 30
Michael Chandler - 25

Oldest: Gray Maynard (32)
Youngest: Anthony Pettis (24)

Average Age: 28.4


Featherweight

Jose Aldo - 25
Hatsu Hioki - 28
Chad Mendes - 26
Pat Curran - 24
Kenny Florian - 35
Marlon Sandro - 34
Diego Nunes - 29
Dustin Poirier - 22
Bart Palaszewski - 28
Joe Warren - 35

Oldest: Kenny Florian (35)
Youngest: Dustin Poirier (22)

Average Age: 28.6


Bantamweight

Dominick Cruz - 26
Urijah Faber - 32
Joseph Benavidez - 27
Brian Bowles - 31
Scott Jorgensen - 29
Demetrious Johnson - 25
Renan Barao - 24
Miguel Torres - 30
Brad Pickett - 33
Masakatsu Ueda - 34

Oldest: Masakatsu Ueda (34)
Youngest: Renan Barao (24)

Average Age: 29.1


Flyweight

Ian McCall - 27
Jussier da Silva - 26
Yasuhiro Urushitani - 35
Mamoru Yamaguchi - 34
Darrell Montague - 24
Shinichi Kojima - 32
Yuki Shojo - 31
Kiyotaka Shimizu - 27
Louis Gaudinot - 27
Jose Maria Tome - 30

Oldest: Yasuhiro Urushitani (35)
Youngest: Darrell Montague (24)

Average Age: 29.3

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Japanese MMA scene Fighter to watch out 2012

I write about up and coming Japanese MMA fighters to stay on the look out for.  Specifically I focus on those outside of the major MMA organizations.  Most likely, only die-hard MMA fans will know about the following fighters.

Kyoji Horiguchi

Horiguchi is on a three fight KO streak in 2011 after winning the Shooto Rookie tournament.  Horiguchi will next face world-ranked fighter and upcoming Bellator tournament contestant Masakatsu Ueda.  With his tremendous speed, karate skills, and knockout power, Horiguchi definitely has a chance to pull off the upset over Ueda.



Doo Ho Choi

After gaining attention from his decision victory over Ikuo Usuda in 2010, Choi seeks to improve on a breakout 2011.  He showcased vicious knees and an impressive sprawl during his wins over Mitsuhiro Ishida and Nobuhiro Obiya.  He will next face Kazunori Yokota for the vacant DEEP featherweight title and should be a strong favorite.  I’m curious to see how he will fare against a strong and powerful striker.



Jon Shores

From very early in his career, Shores has been known for his submission finishing skills.  This year, he seeks to bring his striking up to a similar level.  He defeated Tomonari Kanomata by maintaining a steady striking pace and will likely now square off against Takumi Nakayama for the Pancrase interim featherweight title.



Yasuaki Kishimoto

You might recognize this name after his victory over Un Sik Song, who currently trying to rediscover his prior form from before his military stint, Kishimoto is now in the mix for the DEEP lightweight title. After beating veteran Jutaro Nakao, I’m guessing that he will likely get a title shot soon.


Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki

Uruka’s 2011 campaign was hard fought.  He got a pair of close decision nods over Yoshifumi Nakamura and Kosuke Kindaichi.   His lack of finishing skills needs to be improved upon, which could be seen in his loss to Guy Delumeau’s wrestling/BJJ style.  Fortunately he is young enough that there should be plenty of time for improvement.



Michinori Tanaka

Tanaka is the MVP of this year’s Shooto Rookie tournament, which was actually one of the more stacked rookie tournaments in recent history.  By consistently attacking with chain grappling, Tanaka completely dominated runner-up Teruto Ishihara, who was clearly the second best rookie in Shooto this year.



Hideto Tatsumi

Although the dearth of talent in the Japanese heavier weight classes makes for some difficult comparisons, Hideto Tatsumi’s impressive judo background warrants a closer look.  After losing his debut to Christian M’Pumbu, Tatsumi upset veteran Hiromitsu Kanegara in just his third fight.  While still too early to judge, his performance is definitely promising.  Currently training with Japanese star Yushin Okami, his next test will be against Yang Hae Jun at Legend FC.


Also DEEP will crown flyweight champ with tournament.If Tatsumitsu Wada drop flyweight,it guarantee tounrament's winner quality.

SKILL MMA : Japanese MMA scene Fighter to watch out 2011

Big thanks to Dean Ryuta Adachi  (Deanadachi.com) for English editing.

Who Can Solve the Ultimate Challenge?

Jon Jones has put together an absolutely fantastic record as a fighter. Through 15 fights, he has lost only once, via disqualification, and has finished his last five fights in vicious fashion while sustaining hardly any damage.

Lyoto Machida has been tabbed as Jones’ most interesting and, potentially, most dangerous opponent to date, but why? Is it because of Machida’s exotic crane kick? Here, we’ll break down the most interesting facet of this Saturday’s UFC light heavyweight title fight.

Perhaps the best aspect of Jones’ striking game is the variety which he uses to keep opponents guessing. It’s a merit which shines even more given Jones’ long-distance attack. Basically, Jones’ opponents can’t hit him because his reach is simply too long and his strikes are too unpredictable.

On the other hand, Machida is known for out-striking opponents from long range. His hand strikes aren’t exactly like boxing punches; his “tsuki” (thrust) comes with less shoulder motion, which benefits speed but causes less damage than punches thrown with more shoulder rotation.

Because of his karate-influenced technique, Machida isn’t as effective when fighting at short range. His losses to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson came when he was out-struck in close quarters. Both Shogun and Rampage pressured Machida in the pocket and struck from varying angles.

Jones’ extremely long frame his one of his greatest assets as a fighter, but we’ve never seen Machida lose when striking a long range. I’m most interested in whether the fight will play out from a distance.

At short range, we’ve seen less flattering sides of both fighters. As he did with Machida, Rampage got inside on Jones and found some success, but Jones’ long frame isn’t easy to control at short length either. With his wrestling base, Jones can shoot for strong takedowns when opponents get close enough. Machida will have had a tough time finding someone with Jones’ frame and grappling acumen to train with, so I will favor Jones at close range.

Machida has other strengths, such as the wicked front kick he used to knock out Randy Couture and other unpredictable karate tricks. Like Jones, he has a variety of strikes to keep opponents on their toes, which could lead to both fighters trying to trick one another with feints and fakes.

Of course, there is a chance the fighters won’t choose to trade from a far range. They may go for a takedown, choose to fight in the clinch, or utilize some other unexpected strategy. If it turns out like that, well, that’s the fun of this kind of fight.


Big thanks to Chris Nelson (from Sherdog) for English and editing.

Breakdown of Junior Dos Santos vs Cain Velasquez at UFC on FOX

The heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos ended so quickly that it disapponted some people. I, like many, think the UFC and Fox should have shown Guida-Henderson instead of 30 minutes of of hype. But, I don't understand why people think it's a total failure. If you look at the details of the fight, I think any MMA fan can still enjoy it, even if it was short.
 
Immediately, Dos Santos was superior in terms of speed to Velasquez, so, he didn't need to attack first. Dos Santos was able to react to Velasquez's attack and counter, instead. Moreover, dos Santos is great at using his back step to create an angle for his dominant right hand. He goes to the right side to set up that right hook, making it much harder to see.
 
Dos Santos throws a left hook with 4:22 remaining, and Velasquez answers with a left hook of his own. I think that movement made dos Santos try it again. At 4:18 remaining, dos Santos shows a left hook feint, then throws a right hook to the body, bringing the attention to Velasquez's torso.
 
Then, with 4:05 remaining, dos Santos throws a left jab, which I don't think he had any intention of landing. If you watch the replay at the end of the fight, it looks like he uses the jab to gauge Velasquez's movement. He expected Cain to answer with the left hook, and he was able to counter with his right hand. Look at the post-fight replay and watch the mechanics.
 
Short fights can still have plenty of rich MMA content if you really look.


Big thanks to Jordan Breen (Sherdog) for English editing.

Jessica Penne interview

I interview Jessica Penne who is Bellator veteran.I interview about how she think about female MMA's new division 106 pounds and her division at Bellator, 115 pounds.She talk about how she interest potential fight against Jewels 106 pounds tourny fighter.

- Please talk a bit about what first made you interested in MMA. Was there any particular moment that motivated you to start training? Before you began training in MMA, did you have any other martial arts or sports background?

Before I began training in MMA, I was involved in a few different sports. I played soccer, softball and competed in swimming. I was interested in wrestling and tried to join the high school team, but they didn't allow me to join. I was very curious about grappling and kickboxing for some time, but I was not sure how to go about training and competing in it. I started training in grappling and kickboxing in 2005 and had my first MMA fight in November 2006.


- With your recent win against Rena Kubota in Shoot Boxing, many people realized your talents. Do you think that your fighting style fit well with the Shoot Boxing rules? You seemed to have a lot of success with throws.

I took that fight on about a week’s notice, and before that I didn’t know what Shoot Boxing was, but I thought it sounded like a great challenge. I’m more comfortable grappling than with my throws and striking, so this was a good opportunity to test all of the work I’ve put in. I really enjoyed fighting under the Shoot Boxing rules and I think that it was a natural transition from my MMA fighting style. I hope to have the opportunity to fight there again.

- Please talk about your experience of fighting at a Japanese event and spending time in Japan. Did you have time to train at any gyms or go sightseeing before you returned home?

Fighting in Japan was by far the best fighting experience that I have had. I had always wanted to go there, and to have the opportunity to fight there was a dream come true for me. Everyone was very welcoming and treated us very well. It was nice to see fighting so well-received there. It was a very short trip, so I didn’t get to sightsee as much as I had hoped, but I did have a little time to do some tourist type stuff. I can’t wait to go back.

- The female 48kg./106lbs. division in MMA isn’t very deep yet and you used to compete at a higher weight. Jewels recently began a 106lbs. tournament and a champion will be crowned in December. Would you be interested in fighting in Japan against any of the tournament fighters? Any fighters in particular?

I competed at a higher weight because there really weren’t many opportunities at a lighter weight in the States. Japan has a lot of good fighters at 106lbs. I had heard about that tournament and wanted to be a part of it. I hope in the future I will have that opportunity to go back to Japan and fight MMA and/or Shoot Boxing soon.

- When you faced Zoila Frausto in 2010, she was much bigger and you seemed to struggle with her power when trying to take her down. Would you like to continue fighting for Bellator at a higher weight (115lbs.) or do you hope that they will make a new division for you at 105lbs.? Please talk about your view of the 105lbs. division in the United States and its future.

I was small for that tournament. I usually walk at 115, and was actually below weight the week before that fight. I had hoped that by not having to cut any weight, I might have an advantage over people who had a big weight cut. After the Bellator tournament, it had been mentioned to me that they would want to do a lighter weight tournament, but I haven’t heard anything since then about it.

It would be great if they did, or if there were more opportunities at 105lbs in the States. I like fighting at 105lbs and my first preference would be fighting at that weight, but I have not ruled out competing at 115lbs, either, and there are opponents at that weight that interest me.


- Please discuss your training at Reign MMA. Who are your main trainers for striking, grappling and wrestling, and what is your opinion of them? Also, please talk about how Mark Munoz contributes to your fighting style. Has he helped you a lot with your wrestling and takedowns?

I currently train at Kings and Reign for MMA. Those gyms cross-train with each other. For striking, I have been learning from Rafael Cordeiro and Andre Dida. I have learned a lot from them and really enjoy their striking style. For wrestling, I have been training with Mark Munoz and Jacob Harman. And for jiu-jitsu, I have been training with Lucas Leite at Checkmat.

I work with Gavin MacMillan at Sport Science Lab for strength and conditioning and have never felt more athletic. I feel really lucky to be around such great teams and trainers. They have so much knowledge and are so supportive of everyone there.


- Do you currently have any fights coming up? If so, please talk about them. If not, what are your plans for next year?

I don’t have any fights booked yet, but I am looking and hope to fight in Brazil early next year. I competed at the No-Gi Worlds this past weekend to stay busy until then.


- Please give a message to the fans, both the English-speaking and in Japan, about your fighting career and your future.

I would like to say thank you to everyone for their support. My family, friends, coaches and teammates are amazing. I am very lucky to be involved in this sport, and it has brought me a lot of happiness. Training and fighting have brought a lot of wonderful people into my life and I hope to make them proud.

Jessica Penne Official Twitter

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for interview arrangement and English editing.

Wajyutsu Keisyukai restarted

After financial trouble on running own cage event Cage Force and Valkyrie, biggest Japanese MMA Gym Franchise Wajyutsu Keisyukai keep silence.Cage Force and Valkyrie didn't hold event.

Because of financial trouble, Wajyutsu Keisyukai lose Tokyo head quarter gym and A-3 gym closed by financial trouble.GODS gym have trouble too.But fighters decide take own control.Because of that, they can continue GODS gym.Toyoki Kubo is basically missing after financial troble of GCM.But fighters still claim they don't arbitrarily decide this decision.

Wajyutsu fighters get rid of under control by GCM (Greatest common multiple) and organization head Toyoki Kubo.Fighters directly get permit to use bland "Wajyutsu Keisyukai)" from Yoshinori Nishi.Who is founder and ValeTudo Japan veteran.

For the conclusion,fighters withdraw from old "Wajyutsu Keisyukai" under GCM control and start running new "Wajyutsu Keisyukai (same name)" by fighters.

Wajyutsu Keisyukai known for produce Yushin Okami ,Caol Uno.