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phgq · 5 years ago

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5 Team Lakay fighters among top seeds in ONE ratings

#PHnews: 5 Team Lakay fighters among top seeds in ONE ratings

BAGUIO CITY – ONE Fighting Championship strawweight champion Joshua Pacio is the top fighter in his weight division, while four other fighters remain among the top mix martial arts fighters but former champion Eduard Folayang is nowhere in the list.

ONE’s latest ranking released this week show Pacio as the only top player in his weight division from Team Lakay.

Folayang, Geje Eustaquio, Honorio Banario as well as Kevin Belingon as top athletes in lightweight, flyweight, featherweight and bantamweight divisions are no longer on the list.

Belingon, a former bantamweight king, remains to be the top challenger in the weight division ruled by long-time champion and rival Bibiano Fernandes, who defeated him in their last two fights that cost him the crown.

Behind Belingon are Shoko Sato, Yusup Saadulaevm Shuya Kamikubo, and Daichi Takenaka.

Pacio is the top strawweight athlete, thanks to two successful title defense after losing the belt last year.

Behind him are former champions Yosuke Saruta, Yoshitaka Naito, Olympic gold medalist for wushu Rene Catalan, former champion Alex Silva and the fast-rising and fellow Team Lakay member Lito Adiwang.

Catalan and Silva were the last two opponents of Pacio whom he beat to retain the belt which he wrested back from Saruta on April 12 last year.

It was a rematch after losing the belt to the same guy on January 19 last year.

Pacio completed Team Lakay’s four-weight sweep in ONE on September 22, 2018, by beating then-champion Yoshitaka Naito to join Belingon, Eustaquio, and Folayang.

Flyweight king Adriano Moraes leads Grand Prix winner Demetrius Johnson, with Danny Kingad of Team Lakay as the second seed.

Kingad lost to the Mighty Mite Johnson in the Grand Prix semi-finals.

Former champion Kairat Akhmetov is the third seed, followed by Yuya Wakamatsu and Reece McClaren, the Fil-Aussie nicknamed Lightning.

Former champion Eustaquio failed to join the elite six.

Martin Nguyen remains the top featherweight player as the champion, who once carried the lightweight belt after beating Folayang.

The second to third seeds are Koyomi Matsushima, Than Le, Tetsuya Yamada, and Garry Tonon.

Out of the list is inaugural ONE feather champion Banario, who ended his four-game losing streak after beating Shannon Wiratchai in the first closed-door fight last February 28 in Singapore, which was also the last staged ONE event.

While seeded first in the featherweight division, Christian Lee reigns supreme in the lightweight division after wresting the title from legend and former three-time champion Shinya Aoki, who is now the fifth seed.

In between are Iuri Lapicus, Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev, Pieter Buist, and Timofey Nastyukhin.

Folayang is out of the list after falling to Buist in his last outing last January.

Southeast Asian Games kickboxing gold medalist Gina Iniong-Araos is the fifth seed in the women’s atomweight division which is dominated by long-time queen Angela Lee.

Fellow Filipina Denice Zamboanga is the top seed, followed by Meng Bo and Mei Yamaguchi.

The ranking was released for select weight divisions across the MMA, muay Thai, and kickboxing disciplines.

“The rankings will bring more clarity and transparency for our athletes as they chase their dreams for a world championship,” said ONE chairman Chatri Sitdoyodtong in a statement.

The ranking was determined by a panel that included media, industry experts, ONE Championship vice presidents Rich Franklin and former UFC champion Misha Tate.

The rankings were determined after each event, weighing wins and losses, recent performances and quality of opponents.

Team Lakay members are busy training at the Team Lakay gym in Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet even as they joined forces with ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap, also the Benguet caretaker congressman, in distributing relief goods to Benguet residents. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. " 5 Team Lakay fighters among top seeds in ONE ratings." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1101194 (accessed April 28, 2020 at 08:17PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. " 5 Team Lakay fighters among top seeds in ONE ratings." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1101194 (archived).

#Philippines #News #Filipino #Pinoy #Tourism #Politics #Culture #Editorial #Environment #Society #History

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fedoremelianenkodevoted · 5 years ago

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Ten greatest heavyweight fighters in MMA history: Fedor Emelianenko tops the all-time list

'The Last Emperor' was the consensus pick, beating out a crowded field of superstars

by Brent Brookhouse Apr 21, 2020 at 9:59 am ET • 6 min read

Heavyweights occupy a special place in combat sports. Dating back to the oldest days of boxing, where the status of heavyweight champion bestowed the man with a label akin to "the baddest man on the planet." While other divisions can routinely be counted on to bring more action and drama to the cage or ring, nothing compares to the visceral reaction evoked when two behemoths stand toe-to-toe.

There have been plenty of superstars in MMA heavyweight history and the CBS Sports experts sat down to debate a deep division full of legitimate candidates for a top 10 spot. There was only one unanimous decision among the votes cast by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Jack Crosby and Brandon Wise: Fedor Emelianenko is the best big man to ever ply his trade in MMA.

Let's take a look at the CBS Sports all-time rankings for MMA heavyweights. And make sure to check out our previous votes for featherweight, lightweight and light heavyweight.

10. Alistair Overeem: Overeem's decision to jump back to heavyweight after a stint as a dangerous but inconsistent light heavyweight built an incredible mystique. Part living meme, part constant butt of PED jokes, Overeem went on an 11-fight winning streak from November 2007 to February 2013. During that stretch he captured the Strikeforce heavyweight title and eventually made his way to the UFC Octagon where he knocked out Brock Lesnar in the first round of one of the most visually stunning matches in UFC history. He has gone 9-7 since that streak was snapped but remains a constant threat to defeat anyone in the division on any given night. -- Brookhouse

9. Frank Mir: Had a motorcycle accident in 2004 not cost him his UFC heavyweight title and two years of his prime, it's worth considering whether Mir would've ended up ranking higher on this list. That doesn't mean Mir's legacy is lacking much. Not only did the jiu-jitsu specialist go on to add a second reign as interim champion in 2008, he was a perennial championship contender for a full decade. Wins over Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice), Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Roy Nelson (twice) support his placement on this list. -- Campbell

8. Fabricio Werdum: While Werdum was already a known commodity in the heavyweight division, no one expected him to be the man to snap Fedor Emelianenko's legendary 27-fight winning streak. Werdum did just that, however, submitting Emelianenko in the Strikeforce cage in June 2010. Similarly, Werdum shocked the world in the UFC Octagon, first knocking out knockout artist Mark Hunt to win the interim heavyweight championship and then unifying the title when he submitted Cain Velasquez one fight later. Werdum also holds wins over Alistair Overeem and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, giving him wins over four men who made this very list. -- Brookhouse

7. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic: Self-described as "right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery," Filipovic's lethal high kicks could end a fight at any moment. The kickboxing and MMA legend took his talents all over the world, including runs in K-1, RIZIN, Bellator and UFC over a 19-year career. He'll be best remembered, however, for his work in PRIDE. "Cro Cop" took on all comers during his time in Japan and claimed wins over Kazushi Sakuraba, Igor Vovchanchyn, Josh Barnett (three times), Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman and Wanderlei Silva. -- Campbell

6. Randy Couture: Couture already made our list of the greatest light heavyweights of all time, but his true home for the majority of his career was at heavyweight. On his first night as a professional mixed martial artist, Couture won a four-man tournament at UFC 13. At UFC 15, he earned a title shot by beating Vitor Belfort. Two months later, Couture won his first heavyweight title, beating Maurice Smith at UFC Japan. He would vacate the title before returning to the UFC nearly three years later to score a TKO over Kevin Randleman at UFC 28 and become heavyweight champion for a second time. That title reign ended a few fights later with a loss to Josh Barnett -- a loss with a major asterisk as Barnett tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. After spending time at light heavyweight, where he would also become champ, Couture made a shocking return to the UFC to dominate Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 and win the heavyweight title for a third time more than a decade after his first title win. -- Brookhouse

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: A jiu-jitsu master with finishing power in both hands and a dangerous offensive game from his back, "Minotauro" was as complete of a heavyweight as MMA has ever seen. That's not even mentioning his almost inhumane ability to absorb punishment. Nogueira is one of three fighters in MMA history to hold world titles in PRIDE and UFC. "Big Nog" also owns wins over a gluttony of former champions including Dan Henderson, Mark Coleman, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Ricco Rodriguez, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture. -- Campbell

4. Daniel Cormier: Cormier has only suffered one defeat as a heavyweight, that loss coming in his most recent fight where the then-40 year-old Cormier was stopped in a dramatic rematch with Stipe Miocic. The loss cost Cormier the heavyweight belt he had won two fights prior by knocking Miocic out. Cormier, who moved down to light heavyweight at the outset of his UFC career, won the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix with wins over Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett. He also holds notable wins over Frank Mir, Derrick Lewis and Roy Nelson. The final bout -- should it ever happen -- between Cormier and Miocic will determine who is the best heavyweight of their era -- and possibly all time. -- Brookhouse

3. Cain Velasquez: Velasquez's career is a prime example of "What if?" in combat sports. Velasquez is, unquestionably, one of the best heavyweights to ever step into a ring or cage, but his career was severely hampered by injuries, forcing him into inconsistent scheduling, long layoffs and a notable decline in his athleticism. Still, Velasquez is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion, beating Brock Lesnar to win his first title and avenging a loss to Junior Dos Santos for his second run with the belt. Velasquez's resume is shorter than most, but at his healthiest and best, Velasquez was undoubtedly "the man" at heavyweight. -- Brookhouse

2. Stipe Miocic: With two defeats in his first eight UFC fights, Miocic looked like anything but a future contender for heavyweight G.O.A.T. status. Yet the blue-collar slugger, who doubles as a firefighter and paramedic in his off time, began a tour de force in 2015 that has cemented his legacy. Miocic has proven he can be hurt, but opponents have found finishing him another story altogether. His last eight fights have produced a 7-1 record, two reigns as heavyweight champion and victories (all but one via knockout) against Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, Francis Ngannou and Daniel Cormier. That's what you call a resume. -- Campbell

1. Fedor Emelianenko: Although he never did make an appearance inside the Octagon, Emelianenko's legacy is so strong he never needed to. Why? How about a nine-year unbeaten streak at the peak of his prime as "The Last Emperor" won 27 fights without a defeat including 14 wins under the PRIDE banner in Japan. Behind his legendary ground-and-pound game and an almost super-human chin, Fedor reached near mythical status. No win was bigger than his 2005 decision over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic for all of the heavyweight marbles. His 20-year career also included victories over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice), Mark Coleman (twice), Kevin Randleman, Mark Hunt, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir. -- Campbell

#the last emperor #mma fedoremelianenko

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wearemmauk-blog · 6 years ago

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ONE Championship Offers US 1 Million For Winner of ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix

ONE Championship Offers US 1 Million For Winner of ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix - http://mmauk.net/2019/05/14/one-championship-offers-us-1-million-for-winner-of-one-featherweight-kickboxing-world-grand-prix/

ONE Championship Offers US 1 Million For Winner of ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix

This Friday night, 17 May, ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON is set to go down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Aside from a compelling main event contest between reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki and challenger Christian Lee is a bevy of exciting matchups.

On the list of definite must-see action on the card is the first round of the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix, featuring eight of the world’s best strikers currently signed to the organization’s ONE Super Series.

During the official kick-off press conference for ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON on Tuesday, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced that the winner of the tournament will receive a USD $1 million cash prize.

“8 of the world’s best strikers compete for US$1m in the single greatest kickboxing world grand prix in history. Every single fight is World Champion vs World Champion. And it all begins this Friday May 17 in Singapore,” Sityodtong announced on his official Facebook account shortly after the press conference.

Among those competing in the ONE Featherweight World Grand Prix are some of the biggest names in striking martial arts such as Kickboxing and Muay Thai. These athletes include Thailand’s Petchmorrakot Petchyindee Academy, the legendary Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex, and Italian superstar Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan.

There is surely no shortage of talent competing in this ladder based tournament, and all four Quarter-Final matchups are set to take place at ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON.

If emerging the victor in the talent-rich tournament, which will undoubtedly crown the absolute best in the world, then the cash prize should be more than enough motivation for the participants.

In addition to the exciting main event, ONE: ENTER THE DRAGON also features a World Title bout between Nieky “The Natural” Holzken and his countryman Regian “The Immortal” Eersel, which will crown the inaugural ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion.

Also, American mixed martial arts prodigy “Super” Sage Northcutt is set to make his ONE Championship debut against Brazil’s Cosmo “Good Boy” Alexandre.

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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Kid Yamamoto: a Hero's Hero

The bafflingly named Hero’s was launched in 2005 as an offshoot of the great kickboxing promotion, K-1. An ultra successful crossover event with PRIDE FC in 2002 had left the K-1 big wigs thinking that they had better start working their way into this mixed martial arts malarkey and so Hero’s became K-1’s MMA arm.

Revisiting the run of Hero’s events it is strange to realize that the company was only around for a couple of years—from March 2005 until December 2007. DREAM lasted longer, PRIDE had been going for almost a decade when Hero’s started up and ended the same year, and even the youngest Japanese promotion, Rizin, has outlasted Hero’s at this point. Yet in those three years, Hero’s gave us some of the more memorable moments in Japanese MMA.

Kazushi Sakuraba abandoned PRIDE—the house that he had built—in order to join Hero’s, returning from the brink of defeat against Kestutis Smirnovas and losing in one of the sketchiest bouts of all time to a greased up Yoshihiro Akiyama. Genki Sudo found a home in Hero’s and was able to employ more and more theater in his legendary entrances to the point that he eventually abandoned fighting altogether and formed a successful pop group. Theater and narratives are a large part of fighting, but in terms of raw talent there was one man who stood out from the herd in Hero’s and whose highlight reels could be pulled up on YouTube at any point to convince friends that there was a future to this MMA thing: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto.

A Bolt from the Blue

By the time that Hero’s announced its first grand prix, Yamamoto had already established something of a reputation as Japanese MMA’s bad boy—hitting opponents late after having knocked them out and living a dramatic life outside of the ring. He had dabbled in kickboxing in 2004 with a victory over Takehiro Murahama and a surprisingly competitive and dramatic fight with the great Masato on New Year's Eve. But as far as MMA went, there was an awful lot of hype and fans just weren’t sure they had seen enough to justify it yet.

Yamamoto had competed successfully in Shooto but had never won a Shooto title—pretty much a rite of passage for a Japanese MMA prospect. Scouted by K-1, Yamamoto found himself in a similar position to Tenshin Nasukawa’s modern position in Rizin—the company liked him but weren’t finding him suitable opponents or building a division for him to compete in. Yamamoto went from fighting the formidable Jeff Curran (16-5-1) in Icon Sport in May of 2003 to taking three fights against opponents with no MMA record in K-1 through to 2005.

Kid was a potential star, but fighting nobodies wasn’t going to get him anywhere and he knew this. So when Hero’s announced their middleweight grand prix, Yamamoto decided to take a crack at Hero’s’s first belt. Hero’s followed the Japanese tradition of making up its own weightclasses that deliberately didn’t conform with anyone else’s, so middleweight was in fact 75 kilograms or 165 pounds. This meant that Hero’s could enlist the services of the excellent lightweights Genki Sudo and Caol Uno to legitimize their first tournament. The tournament would have been even better had Joachim Hansen not been poached by PRIDE just before it began. Kid Yamamoto, however, was not a respected lightweight—he was a bantamweight at best who floated up to featherweight to get fights.

As far as ballsy moves go, Yamamoto’s decision to enter the Hero’s middleweight grand prix was one of the ballsiest in MMA. Though he was 5'4" on a good day, the tournament quickly stopped being about Yamamoto being undersized and became about the rest of the fighters being underpowered.

The Yamamoto clan are now a wrestling dynasty: the father, Ikuei Yamamoto had competed in the Munich Olympics, the elder sister Miyuu is a three time world champion, and Norifumi’s younger sister, Seiko is a four time world champion who achieved a bronze in the ADCC no gi grappling world championships eleven years after her last world title in wrestling. While Norifumi missed out on a serious wrestling career, he was able to put his talent to use in learning the MMA game and also entered The Contenders, a grappling tournament wherein he bested judo submissions wizard Koji Komuro. Throughout the 2005 grand prix, fans were treated to numerous instances of Yamamoto throwing around larger opponents in styles that didn’t always make sense to the eyes. The sight of Yamamoto holding Royler Gracie’s toes about an inch off the floor in a standing guillotine will always be hilarious.

We can never pretend that Yamamoto was a striking savant—his game was the leaping right hook and some hard kicks and that was about it. But what Yamamoto did have was ridiculous speed. Almost everyone he fought would inevitably try to kick or knee him in the head and he would return with his right hook—often wound up from far behind him—before they could get their foot back to the ground.

On the first night of the Hero’s grand prix, Yamamoto knocked Royler Gracie stiff with a right hook to the jaw, then took on Japanese MMA legend Caol Uno in the second round, forcing a TKO due to cuts over Uno’s left eye from stiff right straights and hooks. Genki Sudo had worked through his half of the bracket, submitting Kazuyuki Miyata and Hiroyuki Takaya and this set up a Yamamoto-Sudo final at K-1 Premium Dynamite 2005. The bout headlined K-1’s year-ending show at the Osaka Dome on a card containing kickboxing legends like Ernesto Hoost and Semmy Schilt. After a very tentative few minutes, Yamamoto finally caught the grappling savant with a right hook as he came in and sent him to the mat. Flurrying for the finish, Yamamoto’s finest moment was somewhat undercut by a premature stoppage. Yet the accomplishment has never been replicated: a fighter going up two weightclasses to run through a tournament with two fights in one night, stopping each opponent.

Yamamoto’s career peaked with his victory in the 2005 grand prix, but injuries and strange matchmaking left us with a great many unanswered questions. There was occasional talk about a possible match up between Yamamoto and PRIDE’s lightweight king, Takanori Gomi. Others wanted to see Yamamoto in with Urijah Faber, a trailblazer in the featherweight class in the United States. But while those match ups were complicated by the fighters being under different promotions, Hero’s did a bad job of finding Yamamoto opponents even under the same banner. The Genki Sudo rematch never happened and Sudo retired in 2007, but perhaps more surprisingly Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante won the two subsequent Hero’s tournaments in Yamamoto’s division and that eagerly anticipated fight never materialized. Yamamoto had proven that he was the star and after starching Kazuyuki Miyata with the finest and quickest flying knee ever to grace MMA, Yamamoto wanted to return to his natural weight class.

Try to take note of where Yamamoto’s right foot last touches the mat before the knee, and then where it lands afterwards. There are some who attest that Yamamoto might have been the greatest raw athlete to ever compete in MMA. Watching Yamamoto hammer the heavy bag is one of the more impressive sights this writer has seen in the gym.

Hero’s best efforts were pretty bad. At featherweight, Yamamoto was matched against the 0-0-0 wrestler, Istvan Majoros in a fight so lopsided that he felt bad about punching the guy.

Another interesting quirk of Yamamoto’s game, he was a murderer with knees to the body out of the double collar tie, even against much taller opponents like Caol Uno.

Then on the same night that JZ Cavalcante won the 2007 grand prix, Yamamoto fought the 1-1 Bibiano Fernandes in the co-main event—his first fight at bantamweight. Fernandes went on to become something very special indeed over the coming years, but it was a truly weird piece of matchmaking at the time.

The last great showing Yamamoto had came against the formidable Rani Yahya on the last night of 2009. Yahya then had a 12-3 MMA record, had won gold at ADCC earlier in the year, and was fresh off a decision loss to Chase Beebe for the WEC bantamweight championship. Yamamoto, looking more polished and thoughtful, set to work with hard kicks and counter punches. He dug body shots with his left hand and dipped out after his right hooks. It was one of Yamamoto’s smoothest performances in the ring, and he handed Yahya his first knockout loss in the second round.

A surprisingly smooth and measured Yamamoto.

Then Yamamoto injured his knee and was out for two years. The Kid of old never came back. He fought Joe Warren in the opening round of the DREAM featherweight grand prix (back up a weight class) on his return in 2009 but lost a split decision to the American wrestler. A decision loss to the unremarkable Masanori Kanehara followed wherein Yamamoto was dropped on his face. His feet were so much slower and it was becoming clear that his chin was not up to it any more. In almost all of his remaining fights Yamamoto’s chin looked shaky and he just didn’t seem to have that electricity that made him impossible to look away from in 2005. In a passing of the torch moment, Yamamoto—MMA’s most notorious little man—met Demetrious Johnson in February 2011 and was handily outworked. The men Yamamoto was struggling against by the very end of his career likely wouldn’t have laid a glove on him at his best, but that is the nature of fighting.

In truth, to many fans Yamamoto remains a case of untested potential similar to the late Kevin Randleman but with a far more successful run in the fights he did have. But even as his abilities waned, Kid Yamamoto impacted the future of Japanese MMA even as it was entering a sleepy, post-PRIDE hibernation. Yamamoto had built his own gym to train on his own terms and as his own career wound down, successful youngsters began to trickle out of the small Yamamoto Sports Academy: the respectable Issei Tamura, the wily Kotetsu Boku, and the hot young prospect Yusuke Yachi to name a few. Kyoji Horiguchi was a quiet gym rat at the YSA through his teens, often found behind the front desk or teaching the kids wrestling classes, and now he is the best fighter Japan has perhaps ever produced. If you have any doubt of Yamamoto’s direct influence on Horiguchi, watch Horiguchi’s Shooto run wherein he looks the spitting image of Kid, leaping in behind lead hooks over and over again. Even years before Horiguchi began competing, Killer Bee gym (as it was in its previous incarnation) was the training grounds of the fearsome Akira Kikuchi—often regarded as one of the big “what ifs” of Japanese MMA. Yamamoto’s elder sister Miyuu and her son—Kid’s nephew, Erson, also fight out of the YSA. Rizin undoubtedly has a lot to thank Norifumi Yamamoto for, even if he never fought under their banner.

As he became more of an occasional competitor, Yamamoto also continued to explore his love of art and tattoos, coming into each bout more beautifully decorated than the last, with stunning shorts to match. In a sport full of atrocious ink with almost half of the fighters you see having their own name tattooed across their back lest they forget, Yamamoto’s ink stood out as genuine art. Strangely enough Yamamoto also began working on a curry restaurant in his semi-retirement, hilariously named Curry Shower, but just as the Kid was starting his second act he was cut down by cancer.

For the past few years, we have all been writing about Kid Yamamoto as an old man because in the fight game he was. One of the guilty pleasures of any fight writer is cracking wise about "old timers" and then being forced to eat crow if they can turn back the clock for one night. That’s the way it is supposed to be: 40-year-old men aren’t supposed to be able to keep up with 25-year-old kids. The heartbreaking thing is that in any other way of looking at it, in any other aspect of life, Kid Yamamoto was not an old man. He wasn’t even middle aged. The name ‘Kid’ had started to seem silly by the time Yamamoto hit 30, but to Miyuu Yamamoto he was still just her little brother, and to Ikuei Yamamoto, I’m sure Norifumi was still his baby boy.

Kid Yamamoto: a Hero's Hero published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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theanticool · 6 years ago

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Giorgio Petrosyan vs Petchmorakot Petchyindee

A combination of bad refereeing, dubious judging, and controversial oversight has led to a rematch between Giorgio Petrosyan and Petchmorakot Petchyindee.

These two faced off in May under what were supposed to be kickboxing rules as a quarter-final bout in the ONE Super Series Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix. Instead, we were greeted to Petchmorakot getting a lot of clinch work in and being awarded the decision at the end of the fight. In a move that shows some amazing potential for abuse, ONE Championship chose to overturn the decision and have Petrosyan and Petchmorakot face off one more time.

The two will run it back this Friday (July 12) as the headliner for ONE Championship: Masters of Destiny.

#ONE Championship #Giorgio Petrosyan #Petchmorakot Petchyindee #Kickboxing #Kickboxing and Muay Thai

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years ago

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Takeru: The Paradoxical Fighting Style of Kickboxing’s Bantamweight King

The name Tenshin Nasukawa is already easy traffic in the MMA world. The Japanese schoolboy knocks out great Thai stylists in between crushing soup cans in Rizin, but Tenshin is simply the latest in a great crop of Japanese-trained kickboxers out there with an array of exciting styles. We have sung the praises of the featherweight knee-master, Masaaki Noiri on several occasions, we have also acknowledged the less flashy but equally successful Yuta Kubo, but today we are going to give some shine to the man sitting atop kickboxing’s bantamweight division at the moment and a K-1 grand prix champion at three different weights, Takeru Segawa.

Parts That Don’t Quite Match

Kickboxing is a pretty simple sport in terms of rules but the entertainment is in the variety of approaches a fighter might use to get his job done. If you were forced to watch a blurry outline of Peter Aerts, Andy Hug, or Jerome Le Banner fight through a translucent surface, you wouldn’t have any trouble identifying them. Takeru is another unique assemblage of seemingly clashing elements and it makes him firstly tremendous fun to watch, and secondly far from defensively perfect. Take a moment to watch this highlight of Takeru in action and you will understand why he is so beloved: fighting from 121 pounds to 132 pounds, he is still a top notch finisher and looks for a knockout at every stage of the fight.

That highlight shows most of Takeru’s best stoppages and flurries, but it skips over a huge chunk of his game. If you saw that highlight and didn’t know Takeru, you would expect a frantic combination puncher. In actuality, around 80-90 percent of Takeru’s output in the ring is simply harassment with his lead leg and this means that he is forced to try to gel the awkward rear-foot-lead stepping of a front kicking game, with the wider stance needed to box well in combination.

Watch the first minute or two of Takeru’s recent fight with Kosuke Komiyama and then know that he doesn’t slow down, he just keeps flicking out kicks. The bout was a peculiar one because Komiyama’s continuous running out to Takeru’s left made it more difficult for Takeru to front kick him onto the ropes. Yet as the push kicks and snap kicks became less effective Takeru was able to threaten Komiyama far more with high round kicks.

Dealing with a dexterous lead leg kicker can be a nightmare and even more so when takedowns are forbidden. As he is a Japanese kickboxer it will not surprise anyone to learn that Takeru was a karateka in his youth, but he has carried a staple of knockdown karate through to his kickboxing career: the lead leg triple attack. The front snap kick, the round kick, and the triangle kick make up this triple threat. As traditionally taught, the variation comes from the angle of the knee; straight up: front kick, turned all the way over: round kick, on a forty-five degree slant: triangle kick. There aren’t a whole heap of examples of men operating this lead leg triple attack in kickboxing and MMA, but Semmy Schilt was able to utilize the same triple attack in both sports, and before Katsunori Kikuno decided to drop his hands to his thighs and fight in the dumbest way humanly possible, he was a fearsome lead leg triple kicker too.

When you compare Takeru to Schilt or Buakaw Banchamek—K-1’s other great lead leg harassers—it becomes apparent that Takeru has a very different purpose. For Buakaw the kick was often the objective, he remained in a shorter stance with a light lead foot and threw stiff jabs from this position, always waiting to switch step and power kick or teep.

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Meanwhile Semmy Schilt wanted to exaggerate his enormous reach. The lead leg front snap kick allowed him to do this, and it set up the occasional high kick. The lead knee was a barrier for Schilt and when opponents pressed in he physically blocked them with it.

Or Schilt would step his lead foot down, throw his right foot back far behind him and jab as he retreated. If you run straight onto the jab of a seven foot tall, 300 pound man you’re going to have a bad time of it even if it’s just an arm punch.

But Takeru isn’t out to keep distance or kick for the sake of kicking. Takeru is a combination puncher, something that seems completely contrary to his kicking style and yet gels with it beautifully. When we examined Francis Ngannou’s footwork ahead of his fight with Stipe Miocic we noted:

When he came into the UFC he didn’t even have the fundamentals of footwork down, shortening his stance and advancing with his rear foot first—a method which is only really useful if you have an excellent lead-leg kicking game you want to show off, which Ngannou Taekwondon’t.

To box well, a fighter should be in position to evade punches and fire back at all times. That is why, in boxing, the stance is the first thing learned and everything a fighter does comes out of it. All of the head movement and level changing that allows fighters to slip and counter, and to get to the body as Takeru loves to, comes from having the feet staggered and passing the weight of the upper body between them. You don’t see good boxers moving the back foot first when they advance. And yet with the lead leg kicking game, finding a way to either switch the feet or draw the rear foot underneath you is a necessity.

The Disadvantages of Lead Leg Kicking

When watching Takeru fight it is enlightening to focus on his rear foot. It is constantly being drawn up underneath his center of gravity to enable the lead leg kicking. There is a misconception in martial arts that lead leg kicks are longer range weapons than rear leg ones. While this is true with straight punches and a fundamental principle of boxing, kicking range is governed by the pivoting leg and not the one which is hitting the target. The closer the pivot leg is to the opponent, the longer the kick. To make any kind of distance with a lead leg kick, a step up of some kind is required. To get power into lead leg kicks it is also necessary to square the body to a degree.

That step up has its hazards. The moment the front foot comes up off the floor, and the rear foot is underneath the fighter, he has no retreat—he is locked in place until he can get his lead foot back to the floor. When kicking with the rear leg the fighter is locked on one leg momentarily, but there is no preliminary step up or extra step to return to distance. Secondly, the lead knee is all that prevents an opponent from stepping straight down the center. If a straight kick is deflected or a round kick blocked, the opponent has a great opportunity to step in and catch the kicker before he can recover distance and his stance.

One high profile example of this point is Badr Hari’s first fight against Semmy Schilt. Hari used his lead leg to cross check Schilt’s lead leg kicks. A high cross check can be a bit of an effort compared to catching kicks on the forearms but when the front snap kick or push kick is at play in a triple attack, it nicely shuts down all three angles. When Schilt kicked, he had to get his left foot back to the mat, and then move his right foot to start retreating. From his check, Hari just had to step as deep as he could with his left foot and he could swarm surge in on Schilt with his right straight. Provided Hari could move inside and stuff Schilt’s kick on the check, he stood a great chance of running Semmy down in the aftermath.

Takeru suffered a very similar issue in his first fight against fellow Japanese star, Taiga. Taiga is a southpaw so Takeru’s lead leg was kicking into the closed side rather than the open one. Simply put, the body of the opponent will always be facing one side more than the other, the side that it is facing is called the open side and rule one of kicking is to aim most of your offense into that. Against orthodox opponents the left leg kicks into the open side, meaning that dexterous lead leg kickers are a nightmare. Against southpaw opponents the lead leg round kick goes into their back—largely pointless compared to a good kick into the front of the body—and lead leg front kicks tend to be easily knocked off line by the opponent’s lead elbow or knee just as the jab is inconvenienced by a southpaw opponent’s lead arm. Against Taiga, Takeru’s straight kick was batted off line and he was brushed with a counter straight which could have been disastrous, then caught hard with a follow up hook.

Takeru won that fight by catching Taiga off exactly the same parry. As Taiga redirected Takeru’s kick and got set to blast the champ with the same counter now that he was off balance, Takeru spun all the way through with a backfist for the knockout. Since that first Taiga bout, however, Takeru has stuck to step up low kicks with his lead leg, and attacked the body with front kicks and stepping knees off his rear leg instead when facing southpaws.

But this is where Takeru’s strange blend of styles works so well. Unlike Schilt, Takeru isn’t using the lead leg kicks to maintain range and sharp shoot. All of Takeru’s best work comes on the inside or along the ropes. The front snap kicks and push kicks facilitate this by actively pushing the opponent backwards. Static, cover-up style kickboxers are easily forced onto the ropes in this way. Once Takeru has his man on the ropes his two money strikes—the right hook to the body and the stepping right knee—come into play.

The right hook to the body is criminally underused in most combat sports because it leaves the fighter feeling vulnerable and fight anatomy 101 tells us that the liver is the switch which puts grizzled veterans into the fetal position and is located on the opposite side. Takeru limits some of his vulnerability with the classic right hook to the body, left hook to the head pairing. Done rapidly, this keeps an opponent honest and in his shell. This in turn plays off flurries of body shots—with the threat of the left hook to the jaw keeping them honest, Takeru can throw a right and a left to the body. The opponent’s defenses are constantly playing catch up. These simple one-two hooking patterns were a staple of the great Roberto Duran, whose right hook to the body landed more frequently and effectively than almost any boxer you care to name.

In addition to placing the right hook to the midriff in his flurries along the ropes, Takeru looks for it on the counter.

And this brings us to the second way in which Takeru’s lead leg kicking game plays into his infighting. Many of his opponents choose to either check or to stand and fight, both of them allowing him to step in and box in flurries. The danger, however, is in being on one leg and too close to an opponent who is wanting to throw hands. The quantity of step up kicks that Takeru throws allows him to get legitimate reactions out of the step up itself, without having to kick. Often Takeru will be able to use this to simply fall straight out of the lead leg chamber and into a boxing stance where he can hit with power.

Just as often, though, you will see Takeru have to perform that difficult action of dropping his foot from the chamber and getting into defensive position to continue hitting. There are several footwork variations to make return to stance and start hitting on the counter from the lead leg chamber, but they mean nothing if the fighter doesn’t have great instincts and anticipation of his opponent. Here, Takeru gets the lead foot down and retreats with the right foot almost simultaneously, dropping down behind a leverage guard with his lead arm as he does so.

This, in a nutshell, is what makes Takeru such a novelty: he consistently forces boxing engagements with his flicking lead leg kicks and gets the better of them anyway.

Don’t let that distract from the lead leg kicks as a weapon in their own right though. They don’t make it into the highlights, but a dozen—even glancing—connections to the body with the shin or the ball of the foot each round quickly pays dividends. Most of the best offensive finishers in the history of the fight game have recognized the value of body work and whether it is in close with his hands and knees or out at range with his kicks, there isn’t a moment of the fight where Takeru isn’t trying to touch his opponent’s midriff.

There is more to Takeru than we have examined here (a love of the counter back kick, the use of the lead leg chamber to jam in on his opponents and so on) but our purpose was mainly to shine a light on a fighter who is seemingly a contradiction of styles. Takeru’s light lead foot and lead leg kicking game should make it more difficult to do the boxing in flurries and body hitting that he loves, and yet he has created a beautiful synergy between the two. His movement isn’t the most economical as a result, and he does get cracked clean as he steps up towards his opponent in almost every fight, but he’s the scourge of K-1’s lighter divisions and the top bantamweight fighter on the planet: he certainly didn’t get there by doing the same thing as everyone else.

Jack wrote the hit biography Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor and podcasts at The Fight Primer .

Takeru: The Paradoxical Fighting Style of Kickboxing’s Bantamweight King syndicated from https://australiahoverboards.wordpress.com

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conanaltatis · 6 years ago

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Vityaz Fight Club’s Dzhabar Askerov beats Enriko Kehl in ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix quarter-finals in Singapore Training out of Vityaz Fight Club in Moscow, Russia, Dzhabar “Genghis Khan” Askerov, 33, of Dagestan, Russia was one of the winners at “ONE: Enter the Dragon.” It marked his debut in ONE Championship's striking-only league ONE Super Series.

#Dzhabar Askerov #Enriko Kehl #ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix #Singapore #Vityaz Fight Club

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astro-onechampionship · 6 years ago

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Top 3 Highlights Of ONE: Masters Of Destiny

The ONE Championship superstars delivered yet another incredible night of performances at ONE: Masters Of Destiny in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, 12 July.

There were exciting knockouts, captivating submissions, and back-and-forth action all throughout the 15-bout spectacle.

As the action unfolded at the packed Axiata Arena, we look back at the top three highlights from the star-studded event in the Malaysian capital.

“The Doctor” Hosts A Kickboxing Clinic

The biggest kickboxing rematch of all time between Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan and Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy was a fitting main event for the night.

Both men were vying to advance into the semifinals of the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix and earn their place among the pantheon of kickboxing greats.

The Italian legend looked to assert control early, delivering a steady rhythm of leg kicks and left hooks to his Thai rival. Having learned from their previous encounter, Petchmorakot returned fire with precise knees and kicks.

Despite the Muay Thai hero’s refined techniques, it was the steady boxing output and powerful kicks from “The Doctor” that earned him the victory in this thrilling three-round battle.

This victory marks Petrosyan’s 100th career win and books him in the tournament semifinal with “Smokin’” Jo Nattawut for a crack at the US$1 million grand prize.

Michelle Nicolini Is A Grappling Goddess

This mixed martial arts strawweight clash between the two World Champions, Michelle Nicolini and “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, was a long time coming.

Nicolini, an eight-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, was on a mission to keep the contest where she preferred – on the mat — and she displayed that aggression right from the opening bell.

While the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion was able to thwart several of Nicolini’s grappling moves, the Sao Paolo native rarely looked troubled and was able to pass guard expertly in the second round to land clean strikes on her opponent.

Even with Lee’s successful reversals, the Brazilian’s relentless and dominant ground performance over the course of three rounds were the keys to her remarkable win.

Along with a submission win in a grappling tournament three years ago, Nicolini now earns the distinction of being the first woman to defeat “Unstoppable” twice.

Janet Todd Delivers A Stinging Defeat To “Killer Bee”

Muay Thai star Janet “JT” Todd and former ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Champion “Killer Bee” Chuang Kai Ting clashed in an epic ONE Super Series women’s atomweight kickboxing bout.

The Japanese-American showcased some of her signature striking ability, as she unloaded jab-cross combinations, chopping leg kicks, and knees at her Chinese rival.

Chuang threw caution to the wind in the second stanza, and launched wild jabs and kicks as the fast and furious action came to a close after the third round.

It was a fierce battle, but Todd’s poise and tactical striking earned her the unanimous decision win.

With this victory, the California resident is now back in the hunt for a title rematch with two-sport ONE World Champion Stamp Fairtex.

#MartialArts #ONEChampionship #Highlights

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frontproofmedia · 7 years ago

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MMA Forethought: UFC 218

By Edward Carbajal; Joel Croichy

Follow @FrontproofMedia

12/1/2017

UFC 218 is probably one of the most stacked pay-per-viewsthis year next to UFC 217 . It occurs the day after the Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale (TUF 26) and features a heavyweight clash that will likely make highlight reels Monday morning and a title fight between two of the promotions best featherweights. The fight some hardcore fans are looking at though is between the two TUF 26 coaches in Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje.

As always, Frontproof Media will take a look at the main card and try to give some forethought on how the fights could go down.

Max Holloway (18-3) vs. Jose Aldo (26-3)

In their first encounter, both Max Holloway and Jose Aldo put on an exciting “Fight of the Night” title unification bout where Holloway reigned victorious. So, it was expected that these two were eventually going to meet again. Current UFC Featherweight Champion Holloway has displayed both incredible striking ability along with an excellent ground game throughout his MMA career. Since 2014, Holloway has remained undefeated compiling 11-straight wins with six of them coming by way of KO/TKO. His upcoming opponent, Aldo is a former two-time UFC Featherweight Champion and is considered as one of the greatest featherweight MMA fighters ever to compete. He is an all-around competitor who has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and gathered 16 stoppages so far in his career. However, Holloway’s confidence is at an all-time high, especially with his impressive winning streak and he should be able to pick up another stoppage win over Aldo. Pick: Max Holloway -Joel Croichy

Francis Ngannou (10-1) VS Alistair Overeem (43–15-1)

The co-main event will be a heavyweight collision between two dangerous power hitters; Francis Ngannou and Alistair Overeem. MMA and kickboxing veteran, Overeem is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, DREAM Interim Heavyweight Champion, and K-1 World Grand Prix Champion. Since making his professional MMA debut in 1999, Overeem has captured 43 wins with 19 coming by way of KO/TKO and another 19 via submission. Across the cage from him will be Ngannou who has made a name for himself lately in the UFC heavyweight division. He is currently enjoying a nine fight-winning streak in which he gathered all five of his UFC wins via stoppage. Ngannou must avoid Overeem's clinch game and select his shots wisely while standing to pick up the win. Pick: Francis Ngannou-Joel Croichy

Eddie Alvarez (28–5-1) vs. Justin Gaethje (18-0)

Former titleholders Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje will collide in a lightweight contest which has all the potential of receiving the “Fight of the Night” award. In this matchup, you have two top lightweight UFC competitors who usually fight at a ridiculous pace and show entirely no fear whenever exchanging strikes with their opponents. Former WSOF Lightweight Champion, Gaethje is impressively riding an 18 fight-winning streak and has never tasted a loss so far in his MMA career. In his last outing, Gaethje had one of the best UFC debut bouts, where he stopped Michael Johnson in the second round at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale. Former two-time Bellator Lightweight Champion and former UFC Lightweight Champion, Alvarez has gathered 28 wins with 15 coming by way of KO/TKO. This fight has the ingredients of being a three-round close, competitive battle with each fighter winning a round. With compiling 18 straight wins and looking to beat a former champion, Gaethje should pick up the win. Pick: Justin Gaethje -Joel Croichy

Henry Cejudo (11-2) vs. Sergio Pettis (16-2)

On paper, this is a pretty even matchup. Both men tote a lot of decision wins and both only have two losses. While Pettis has more wins under his belt the pressure of an Olympic caliber wrestler should not be ignored in Cejudo. However, Pettis' striking game could be the factor that earns another decision win if he plays it safe and tries to "stick and move". Easier said than done against Cejudo who gets a takedown when he wants it. Cautiously leaning towards Cejudo for the win. -Ed Carbajal

Tecia Torres (9-1) vs. Michelle Waterson (14-5)

Torres is riding a two-fight win streak while Waterson is coming off of a loss against the current strawweight champ Rose Namajunas. Torres likes to grind out wins with her wrestling but it could be difficult against former the former Invicta FC champ. Waterson's footwork and takedown defense could put Torres in a position to exhaust herself in trying to earn the win. However, if Torres does get Waterson down that opens up submissions which Waterson has been susceptible to. Still, Waterson will likely be able to score enough from afar to get the win. Picking Waterson for the win. -Ed Carbajal

UFC 218 is one of those rare pay-per-views that have a fight worthy of being a main event on the entire main card. Aldo and Holloway having fought before could produce a completely different fight since anything can happen in the fight game. This is not one you want to pass on and with Alvarez and Gaethje on it, somehow it seems a bit out of order but well worth your coin if you can swing it.

Order UFC 218 on FITE TV: Download the app here

Feature Image: Ed Carbajal/Frontproof Media

#EC #Croichy #UFC 218 #Tecia Torres #Michelle Waterson #Francis Ngannou #Alistair Overeem #Jose Aldo #Max Holloway #Sergio Pettis #Henry Cejudo #Eddie Alvarez #Justin Gaethje

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