Monday Morning Head Kicks: January 17th to 23rd

Banner image provided by Anton Tabuena

It's Monday and there's no holiday this week, so we're back to work and back with another edition of Monday Morning Head Kicks. Last week, Shooto began the new year in Japanese MMA with their Shootor's Legacy 1 event. No MMA from Japan this week, but we'll touch on some issues that have been going on at Shooto which are definitely being overshadowed by the troubles of FEG.

UFC Fight for the Troops 2 was definitely the big event of the week. Rising lightweights Melvin Guillard and Evan Dunham were featured in the main event of the evening. The bout didn't last long, but we saw some solid striking from Guillard. Pat Barry took on Joey Beltran in a bout that may have failed to impress a lot of folks, but some decent technique was shown. Former Shooto titleholder Willamy Freire did not have a good night. Others featured on the card that I feel like mentioning: ADCC champion Rani Yahya, Yves Edwards, and former NFL player Matt Mitrione.

In addition to the news that Badr Hari will be making an appearance for the promotion in Lyon, France in May, we can also bring you a bit more news on the IS event scheduled for March 6th. Also in the world of kickboxing, Hinata was victorious at the Rebels-EX event in Japan. Hinata knocked out South Korean Woo Yong Choi in the third round of their bout. The Contender Asia competitor Dzhabar Askerov also fought this week in Rome, winning by first round knockout. Surinamese-Dutch fighter Marco Pique also competed at the event; you may recall Pique was the runner-up at two regional K-1 MAX events back in 2008 and 2009.

Some new information has come out about Isuzu Thai Fight 2011, and it seems we'll be enjoying two tournaments this year instead of one. One of those tournaments will evidently involve a certain Thai fighter that everybody enjoys watching. Also, we heard that John Wayne Parr may be retiring at the end of the year. I'll be posting an interview with him in a couple hours, which is pretty awesome.

We've also got a look at when Sengoku might be returning, there's some recent Muay Thai fight video for you to enjoy, Darren Uyenoyama checks in with Enson Inoue, Elite Boxing checks in with Remy Bonjasky, and Michael Schiavello has a really awesome article involving Kyokushin Karate. A few other items in there for you as well.

Here we go...

Buakaw in Isuzu Thai Fight 2011?: Word is that this year's edition of Thai Fight will feature an eight man tournament at 70kg. in addition to the tournament at 67kg. While we already know that the representative for Thailand is being determined by the ongoing qualifier that I've mentioned a number of times, it seems that Buakaw Por. Pramuk may be named the nation's representative for the 70kg. tournament outright.

Sengoku Back in April?: Nightmare of Battle notes that SRC executive producer Tenshin Matsumoto was on TV recently and said that the plan is to hold the next major SRC event in April. NOB also notes that the rumored date is April 23rd. A smaller event may come in March. Other organizations are going to be putting on events in the meantime, but this is definitely looking to be the next event on that highest tier of Japanese MMA.

Also, the organization will continue to market MMA bouts as falling under the SRC banner while others, such as kickboxing bouts, will be presented as Sengoku bouts. It would seem like a minor detail for the time being, but I guess there's always that chance that we start seeing separate cards.

Shooto Troubles: With all things FEG disaster being very out in the open, the situation with Shooto has gone relatively unnoticed (Dan Herbertson is, of course, holding it down as always). Shooto will have a new board of directors in April. Why, you may ask.... Well, they all resigned. The man at the helm at amateur Shooto, Taro Wakabayashi, resigned himself last month following some questions raised by Noboru Asahi regarding the organization's tax records.

UFC Fight for the Troops 2: As I said, definitely the big event of the week. I hope even the strongest opponents of American MMA coverage will forgive me here, as there was some reasonably good striking to be had. Plus we saw a former Shooto champion in action.

Melvin Guillard showed excellent speed in dismantling Evan Dunham and brought about the beginning of the end with a solid knee. Mark Hominick looked rather crisp in a quick TKO win over George Roop, while ADCC champion Rani Yahya defeated Mike Thomas Brown.

Former K-1 competitor Pat Barry didn't have his most impressive performance, but there were some nasty, nasty leg kicks in his victory against Joey Beltran. While Barry may be frustrating to watch at times, there are moments where he really does show you what a high level striker can do in MMA - particularly against opponents who just can't check those leg kicks. Beltran may have not checked the kicks, but he showed some heart in taking them. Beltran did his best to get Barry against the cage and punish him, and it worked at times. It just didn't work enough.

One-time Shooto welterweight champion Willamy Freire dropped a unanimous decision to Waylon Lowe on the undercard of the event. Lowe was an NCAA Division 2 wrestler in college. You can probably figure out the rest of the story.

Askerov and Pique Victorious in Rome: Dzhabar Askerov knocked out Riccardo Lecca in the first round of their feature bout at the KnocKOut event in Rome on Saturday. The win gives Askerov three in a row since his loss to Australian Greg Foley last September. Meanwhile, Marco Pique secured a decision over Bruno Franchi following an extension round. Pique evidently knocked down his opponent but was unable to put him away late in the bout.

It's Showtime - March 6th Update: A couple more bouts to be included in the event have been mentioned all around the internet recently. It seems Team Aerts product Leroy Kaestner will be taking on Ramzi Tamaditi. Fraser Coffeen over at LiverKick.com recently pointed out this video put together by AFAV on Tamaditi. It's Showtime 77kg. champion Artem Levin may also be meeting Youness el Mhassani on the card. One moment I see something from Fightingstars, co-promoters of the event, saying that Levin and Mhassani is official, and then I see something else saying Mhassani doesn't have an opponent yet. So we'll wait and see.

Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee vs. Kem Sitsongpeenong Fight Video: Remember how excited I was for this? I know you do. Well, the fight finally hit the internet in a form that I can actually share with you, about three days after it became available for download through less than reputable means. Allegedly. Part 1 & Part 2.

Enson Inoue Mat Culture Interview: Enson takes you through his gym, drops some of his wild philosophical musings, and just does things like Enson does things. He explains Yamato Damashii, introduces us to his pets, it's just cool, watch it.

New Blood for Strikeforce Female Divisions: MMAWeekly reports that Germaine de Randamie, who is a pretty damn good female Muay Thai fighter from the Netherlands, will be fighting on the undercard at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg. We'll also see Jenna Castillo, a Muay Thai and Sanshou fighter who fights out of Fairtex Gym, on the undercard of the event.

Satoshi Ishii.. I Don't Know: I don't know what to say other than his name. Word has gotten around through DEEP featherweight champion Koichiro Matsumoto that Ishii is going to be fighting under the Strikeforce banner soon. And by soon I mean February. Oh, plus at light heavyweight. We've seen it on Nightmare of Battle, Bloody Elbow, and elsewhere. I just.... I hope Ishii succeeds. It's been frustrating.

A Look at Sinbi Muay Thai: After mentioning Nopstar's take on Chuwattana last week, I figured I would include this link to a quick review of Sinbi Muay Thai over at Fight Passport. Forgive me, as the link is a couple weeks old, but it is still pretty interesting to me. Sinbi is in Phuket, it was founded by Sinbi Taewoong (obligatory highlight of awesome Muay Thai fighter), Saenchai has been training there, it's kind of a big deal.

Steve Wakeling vs. Jaochalam Chatkranokgym Fight Video: Remember when I told you Steve Wakeling was fighting again and was going to challenge Jaochalam for the WBC MT super middleweight title at The Champions Club 6? Remember when I told you Wakeling won the bout via TKO? Well now I'm telling that I have video of it.

Remy Bonjasky Sighting: Interview with Elite Boxing: Watch it. Enjoy Steve Ludwig saying Thailand. Rewind him saying Thailand ten times if you're like me. Yeah. I don't know why, I just enjoyed it. The interview was cool except for the unreasonably loud music.

Hyaku-Nin Kumite: As Matt recently pointed out, Michael Schiavello posted an excellent article this week in which he recounted his witnessing of Armenian Kyokushin practitioner Artur Hovhannisyan's 2009 effort to complete the 100 man kumite. The piece is a pleasure to read, and it's always interesting to see something that celebrates traditional martial arts when many of us may get use to seeing those styles dismissed in the broader fighting arena.

Something cool and related: you can also begin to watch Sokei Matsui, the man central to the division of Kyokushin Karate, complete the 100 man kumite in 1986 here, see K-1 veteran Francisco Filho do so here, and start watching All-Japan Kyokushin Tournament gold medalist Akira Masuda here.

Faldir Chahbari Working for a Good Cause: The Science of 8 Limbs recently noted that Chahbari, a Moroccan-Dutch standout, has founded a charity aimed at combating the socioeconomic factors that deprive many cancer patients of care. Among Chahbari's goals are providing assistance to pediatric cancer patients in both Morocco and the Netherlands through the Fight Against Cancer Foundation.

Chahbari says he was inspired by learning of fellow kickboxer Khalid Lazaar's battle with cancer and also notes that Melvin Manhoef is on board with the project.

MMA Results

UFC Fight for the Troops 2 - Saturday, January 22nd, in Fort Hood, Texas, USA

• Melvin Guillard TKO-1 Evan Dunham
• Mark Hominick TKO-1 George Roop: Hominick will now be granted a shot a featherweight champion Jose Aldo
• Pat Barry UD Joey Beltran
  
• Matt Mitrione TKO-1 Tim Hague
• Other results: Matt Wiman UD Cole Miller, Yves Edwards SUB-2 Cody McKenzie, DaMarques Johnson SUB-1 Mike Guymon, Rani Yahya UD Mike Thomas Brown, Waylon Lowe UD Willamy Freire, Charlie Brenneman UD Amilcar Alves, Chris Cariaso UD Will Campuzano

Kickboxing Results

KnocKOut - Oktagon K-1 - Saturday, January 22nd, in Rome, Italy

• Dzhabar Askerov KO-1 Ricardo Lecca
• Marco Pique Ext.R.Dec. Bruno Franchi
• Oktagon National Selection: Alessandro Campagna UD Guglielmo Carata, Paolo Angelini UD Ivan Moscatelli, Vanni Fae UD Mattia Fontebasso
• Other results: Giancarlo Motterle UD Kevin Bromet, Didi Druica KO-1 Ismael Miskin, Arianna Salatino UD Denise Kielholtz, Giampaolo Motterle UD Julian Main, Alessandro Patrignani UD Pierluigi Giaccari (Full-Contact rules)

Rebels-EX - Sunday, January 23rd, in Tokyo, Japan

• Hinata KO-3 Woo Yong Choi

**No word on other results at this time**