Weekly Line-Up: November 20 - 26

A bit of K-1 action this weekend, plus one of the most anticipated shows of the winter season later this week:

K-1 Koshien 2010 King of Under 18 Final - Saturday, Nov. 20:  Thanks to the 63kg Grand Prix this year, there's a bit more at stake in this year's Koshien final.  In the past, Koshien fighters didn't have many options in K-1, no matter how well they did at the Koshien stage.  But this year, we saw a number of fighters make the jump from Koshien action up to big fights in both K-1 and Krush.  There's also a bit of a change in the format this year.  In the past, the final 4 competed at Dynamite to crown the year's Koshien champion.  This year, the entire tournament will be decided on Saturday.  It's a huge tournament, with 32 competitors.  Fights are one 2 minute round in the earlier stages, and the semi-finals and finals are three 2 minute rounds.  The big name to watch here is returning Koshien champ Masaaki Noiri.  He's had a huge year, winning a number of increasingly high profile fights in Krush, and is the favorite to repeat here.  With Koshien it's tough to make much in the way of predictions, but it should be a fun event.  View the complete line-up here.

UFC 123: Jackson v. Machida - Saturday, Nov. 20: Over on the MMA side you've got UFC 123, which features the return of one of the most interesting stand-up fighters in MMA.  Lyoto Machida has brought a completely new stand-up style to the UFC, using his high-level karate skills to put on absolutely masterful displays of both evasive defense and sudden bursts of offense.  It's a style that's not for everyone (including Quinton Rampage Jackson, who's been calling Lyoto boring) but fans of kickboxing should really appreciate what Lyoto brings to the table.  The real question on Saturday will be if he has made any changes to his style following his big loss to Shogun.

Shootboxing S-Cup 2010 - Tuesday, Nov. 23:  Thanks to the high-profile signings of Andy Souwer and Buakaw Por. Pramuk, this year's edition of the S-Cup has garnered a lot of attention.  And rightly so, as Shootboxing's weird blend of stand-up and submissions usually yields good results and exciting matches.  I know I am eagerly looking forward to this one.  We'll have more on this tournament in the coming days.