Monday Morning Head Kicks: January 3rd to January 9th

As the title indicates, I would like to turn this into a weekly recap sort of series. I realize weeks are traditionally thought to end on Saturdays, but splitting the weekend wouldn't seem very intuitive, now would it? Event results and announcements will be primary, as will news related to kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Japanese (and, sometimes, plainly international) MMA organizations, fighters, and industry figures. We'll also look at some under-reported stories, as well as ones that might not necessarily warrant their own post but are still interesting. Throw in a little personal commentary, some recognition of articles posted at other websites, and the emotionally draining experience of returning to work after the weekend, and you have Monday Morning Head Kicks.

Among the top things we'll take a look at this week are the somewhat surprising results from K-1 MAX Madrid, the results from the Krush First Generation Kings event, the disparity between MMA rule sets, and the 2011 Shootboxing schedule. While results will be discussed a lot from the beginning, you'll be able to find a (relatively) complete list of the week's results after the jump. Let's get started...

Expected Winners, Unexpected Results at Krush: Yoshihiro Sato escaped with a split decision over Shemsi Beqiri in the main event of the evening. The guys over at LiverKick.com are calling for Beqiri to get in the mix in K-1 MAX, and I have to echo that sentiment. Koya Urabe took an extra round decision over Sung Hyun Lee in his tournament bout. I already had a lot of respect for Lee after the way he went through Kizaemon Saiga back in October and this result certainly enhances that. Speaking of Saiga, he won his tournament bout as well. Urabe, Saiga, Shirahama, and Kajiwara advanced in the 63kg. tournament, we'll see who ends up the divisional champion on March 19th. P.S. Yuya Yamamoto came through with a big knockout.

Rafi Zouheir tops K-1 MAX Madrid: Warren Stevelmans and Rachid Belaini were the big names here, but Zouheir pulled it out with three decisions. In the semifinals, he topped Dutch fighter Nick Beljaard and defeated Warren Stevelmans in the final, after Stevelmans advanced through the other side of the bracket with wins against Jonay Risco and Rafa del Toro. WBC MT super-welterweight champion Alejandro Asumu Osa was gone after the quarterfinals, as was Rachid Belaini, who was knocked out by Beljaards in the second round of their bout. Others have highlighted Belaini's inconsistency and what have you, but things would have seemed on an upswing  for the Mike's Gym product following his knockout victory over Kem Sitsongpeenong in September.  I hope the event will get Zouheir some more attention, and maybe it will offer a little extra boost to the Isuzu Thai Fight tournament in the eyes of a few.

Shootbox 2011: The Shootboxing schedule for 2011 has been released, as Dave Walsh over at LiverKick.com reports. Five events all at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo: February 19th, April 23rd, June 5th, September 10th, November 11th. Details on the February event are supposed to surface next week, so be waiting for those.

Pride Never Lay-n-Pray: Nick Thomas over at Bloody Elbow highlights a recent interview Nick Diaz did with Sergio Non at USA Today. Diaz talks about his brother's loss to Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 125 and offers fond memories of  the Pride rule set. He sees the yellow card system as an important means of ensuring that fighters will engage and offers his two cents on the matter of "point fighting."

I'm kind of split on the issue. I can definitely say that I see properly implemented penalties as being important.  Meanwhile, I know that I've also had a tendency to defend professional boxers who rarely get finishes and fight to clear decisions. Not that those two facts are diametrically opposed. Perhaps the quality that gets MMA fans most is that defensive grappling and so on can (perhaps superficially) remove the element of danger in such a way that defensive boxing in a boxing match might struggle to replicate. I'd be curious to see what others think.

What Do We Know About 145?: Also coming through Bloody Elbow, I wanted to make note of the article that Jonathan Snowden wrote last week concerning the state of the featherweight division in MMA. The article was written in the wake of UFC 125, as we saw a former featherweight champion lose and a would-be title contender thoroughly beaten. I wanted to write some sort of response to the article this past week but just couldn't seem to find the time.

I encourage that you read the article, and my feelings on the matter are as follows: Snowden is completely correct about the featherweight division. It's a long way from being fully developed and a mere ten pounds from a number of undersized lightweights who are bound to drop down soon or later. What I originally hoped to do, for our purposes here at HKL, was extend Snowden's article out and consider what we have as far as featherweights in the Japanese promotions are concerned.

The fact is, I was as interested by the victories of Hatsu Hioki and Hiroyuki Takaya as I was the losses of Mike Thomas Brown and Josh Grispi. There's definitely going to be some movement in the featherweight rankings, and that is largely a function of the division's underdeveloped state. Regardless, it's worth considering that we might see half of the top ten fighters in the featherweight division competing for Japanese promotions the next time rankings are released. Additionally, I have the same questions that Snowden does regarding Jose Aldo's position in the pound-for-pound discussion, and I also can't help but wonder if we'll ever get to see some of the crucial matches that he could find against those atop the Japanese featherweight scene. Unfortunately, I know that the only way for those matches to occur is probably for a consolidation of talent, which would cause (or perhaps stem from) significant damage to the Japanese promotions themselves, to occur.

Because I Enjoy Boxing: I hope you're familiar with our fellow SB Nation blog Bad Left Hook. The guys over at BLH do a wonderful job covering the professional boxing scene. While I'm posting this mostly because, again, I enjoy boxing, I'm also posting it because their coverage of Japanese boxing just got a little boost. The guys from The Boxing Bulletin have joined the BLH crew and it's something that I am personally very happy to see.

Some more news and the week's results after the jump.

The Last Mr. Perfect: Well, that would have sounded a lot more clever before the Werdum bout. It seems that NikkanSports is reporting Fedor Emelianenko is training with Ernesto Hoost in preparation for his bout against Antonio Silva in the upcoming Strikeforce heavyweight tournament. Clearly Fedor is working on striking, and the article also appears to indicate that he's trying to get exposure to some training partners who can match the size of Silva. Sounds like a reasonable idea. Disclaimer: I can't understand Japanese at all, so my understanding of anything originally reported in that language comes entirely from translation and my ability to gather information from photos.

Sugarfoot Ray & MMA: Speaking of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament, MMAWeekly reported that Ray Sefo is going to be fighting against Valentijn Overeem in one of the two alternate bouts, both of which will be happening at the February 12th event headlined by Emelianenko's bout against Silva.

Inoki's Surgery: Again from NikkanSports, it seems that Antonio Inoki had emergency surgery to remove some gallstones after being rushed to the hospital with severe stomach pain. I haven't really seen it mentioned elsewhere and I figured it might be something that some of you would be interested in knowing about.

Where in the World is Darren Uyenoyama?: Okay, not quite as cool as Carmen San Diego but whatever. I have to give a shout-out to HKL reader mocavious sam on this one. His questions when I posted about, well, what is now today's Shooto event reminded me that Darren Uyenoyama has a Twitter (@d_uyenoyama) and sometimes uses it. The man who knocked out Shuichiro Katsumura back in September isn't sure when he'll be returning to action but has evidently heard of a potential April date from Shooto. He also threw the names Sengoku and UFC out there on Twitter.

Why, He's with Rumina Sato of Course: Darren Uyenoyama is also responsible for the awesome Mat Culture videos that you can find over on BudoVideos.com. In the fifth episode, Uyenoyama heads to Rumina Sato's Roots Gym and then checks out Sato's place and gets some insight on tanning. Heel hook instructional included.

Muay Thai Results

Jomthong vs. Jaroenchai - Thursday, January 6th, in Bangkok, Thailand

• Jomthong Chuwattana Dec. Jaroenchai Audonmuang: Jomthong holds the 130lb. title at Rajadamnern stadium, while Jaroenchai has held the Rajadamnern belt one weight class up. This was a rematch of a 2007 bout, which had the same result.
• Other results: Vigo Sor. Phenprapa TKO-3 Kayasit Chuwatana, Dendanai P.K. Stereo Dec. Sakoontong Tor. Ponchai, Aranchai Kiatpataraphan TKO-4 Kompayak Chuwatan

Isuzu Thai Fight 2011: Thailand Qualifier - Saturday, January 1st & Saturday, January 8th, in Bangkok, Thailand

• Denchonlek Sor. Sor. Niyom Dec. Thanongdet Chengsimiewgym: I know, I'm taking some liberty here in posting a result from over a week ago. There's a good reason though, I promise. I mentioned late in December that this qualifier includes some big names. Well, Denchonlek is performing pretty damn well. And he's 17 from what I've heard. Fight video here.
• Prakaisaeng Sit O TKO-4 Thepsuthin Pumpanmuang: This is the January 8th bout for the tournament. Two losses in a row and Thepsuthin is effectively out of this qualifier. He'll still face the surging Denchonlek though. Prakaisaeng will next take on Thanongdet.

The Champions Club 6: Wakeling vs. Jaochalam - Saturday, January 8th, in Pattaya, Thailand

• Steve Wakeling KO-4 Jaochalam Chatkranokgym: Good victory for Wakeling, as he becomes the WBC MT super-middleweight champion.

Kickboxing Results

K-1 MAX Madrid - Saturday, January 8th, in Madrid, Spain

Well, Warren Stevelmans almost did what was expected. Rachid Belaini was knocked out in the opening round. Rafi Zouheir came away with the tournament win.

• 70kg. tournament quarterfinals: Rafi Zouheir Dec. Tuncay Aydin, Nick Beljaards KO-2 Rachid Belaini, Rafa del Toro Dec. Alejandro Asumu Osa, Warren Stevelmans Dec. Jonay Risco 
• 70kg. tournament semifinals: Rafi Zouheir Ext.R.Dec. Nick Beljaards, Warren Stevelmans Dec. Rafa del Toro 
• 70kg. tournament finals: Rafi Zouheir Dec. Warren Stevelmans 
• Non-tournament bouts: Fran Palenzuela Dec. Dani Montesdeoca, Zebene Diaz Dec. Simon Santana, Orinta var dar Zee Dec. Mar Rodriguez

Krush First Generation Kings Tournament Round 2 - Sunday, January 9th, in Tokyo, Japan

Less surprise in the results here. Sato was victorious in a close bout. Urabe's bout was close too. In all, Urabe, Saiga, Shirahama, and Kajiwara moved on in the 63kg. tournament. We'll find out who the division champion is on March 19th.

• Yoshihiro Sato SD Shemsi Beqiri: That close of a result with that highly ranked an opponent? No doubt this gets at least a few more eyes on Beqiri.
• Koya Urabe Ext.R.Dec. Sung Hyun Lee: Urabe stays where he's at, Lee is definitely seeing his stock raise.
• Kizaemon Saiga UD Naoki Terazaki: At the K-1 MAX Final 16 event back in October, Saiga dropped his bout against the previously mentioned Lee. He'll move on here, Lee won't. This is the nature of tournament seeding.
• Takuya Shirahama Ext.R.Dec. Yuki Yamamoto: Shirahama to the semifinals.
  
• Ryuji Kajiwara UD TaCa: Kajiwara keeps his title hopes alive.
  
• Yuya Yamamoto KO-2 Masahiro Watanabe: Obligatory name fighter scoring a knockout of the night. Video pending.
  
• Other results: Yuji Nashiro UD Daisuke Tsutsumi, Yuzo Suzuki UD Minato Kato, Yu Hirono UD Takuma Konishi, Kenta KO-2 Hidetora, Yoshi KO-2 Asamisaurus