Results tagged “Japanese MMA” from MMA Explosion

by Kevin Iole, mmajunkie.com:
COLOGNE, Germany - Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's return to the UFC was a short one.

Not long after stopping Mostapha Al-Turk in the first round of UFC 99 on Saturday at Lanxess Arena in his first fight in the UFC since back-to-back losses in 2007, Filipovic informed UFC president Dana White that he had signed a three-fight contract with the Japanese-based DREAM organization.

White had signed Filipovic less than a month ago to a one-fight deal, the first time in more than nine years that he'd done that. He had worked out terms on two additional fights, but said he'd only put pen to paper for Saturday's bout.

Gegard Mousasi is one of - if not the - most talented fighters in the world not signed by the UFC. He's had great success as a middleweight, winning the DREAM tournament, and just recently, he beat Mark Hunt in the heavyweight Super Hulk tournament. His next fight is against Vitor Belfort at the upcoming Affliction event. Take a look at this highlight.

WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (who was recently mentioned as a possible opponent for Josh Barnett) and top middleweight Gegard Mousasi, who won the DREAM middleweight tournament, and is now entered in the Super Hulk tournament, got together for some sparring. This is pretty interesting because Fedor is regarded by many to be the best fighter in the world, and to me, Mousasi represents the next generation of fighters, someone who can be regarded as one of the best, even if he never signs with the UFC.

This was an exhibition matchheld recently in Japan. Aoki is considered one of, if not the, best grapplers in Japan. Fedor, of course, is Fedor. I'm guessing they made it "exhibition" because of the weight disparity - Aoki, I think, fights at 155 and Fedor usually lists at 233.

Thanks to MMA Fanhouse:
Former WWE heavyweight champion Bobby Lashley will face MMA veteran Bob Sapp on June 27 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss.

FanHouse has learned that MMA rookie officially signed his bout agreement late last night.

Lashley (2-0) recently defeated Jason Guida at the "March Badness" pay-per-view event in Pensacola, Fla. He will now face one of the biggest stars in Japanese MMA history. Sapp (10-3-1) last defeated Akihito Tanaka at the K-1 Dynamite!! New Year's Eve show in December. It was a bizarre sight to see as Tanaka was dressed as the Japanese anime character "Kinniku Mantaro" during the fight.