Monday Morning Head Kicks: January 24th to 30th

Banner image provided by Anton Tabuena

Another edition of Monday Morning Head Kicks coming at you. In this final last week of January, we finally have some more significant kickboxing to cover. Giorgio Petrosyan and Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee headlined the Thai Boxe Mania 2011 card in Torino, Italy on Saturday. While the event was heavy on decisions, I really enjoyed all the main card bouts and have to recommend the bouts to everybody. We're also going to take a quick look at Giorgio Petrosyan's next opponent, Cosmo Alexandre. In a recent interview, Alexandre talked about a number of interesting topics including his continued desire to transition to MMA. Remember how Alexandre was stripped of his It's Showtime title a while back when he insisted on fighting at the King's Cup? Well, we can tell you who Artem Levin, the man who ultimately replaced him as the promotion's 77kg. champion, will be fighting next.

Strikeforce hosted a successful card with two promotional titles on the line, a bout between Roger Gracie and Trevor Prangley, and (as we noted last week) the appearance of some female Muay Thai specialists on the undercard. While most people interested in Titan Fighting Championships 16 were focused on the bout between Abe Wagner and Tim Sylvia, we also got to see UFC and DREAM veteran Jason High in action. Most of the mixed martial arts action was stateside this week, but the Pacific region was well represented by Legend FC 4. You can check the results here, as always.

There have also been some great Muay Thai bouts in the past week (well, week and a half). There were a few World Professional Muay Thai Federation titles up for grabs on the night of the 22nd in Suphanburi province, while the action shifted to Japan the following night, where Hinata scored a head kick knockout under the REBELS Muay Thai banner. I've only got a picture so far (fanshot), but whenever that video will be posted whenever it shows up. I can also tell you that as of this past Saturday, the first two rounds of the Isuzu Thai Fight 2011: Thailand Qualifier are officially in the book. Furthermore, it seems Omnoi stadium will be hosting another big tournament in the near future, we've got details on competitors below.

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg Results: Well, the headlining bout was a real fun brawl and the main card showcased some high level grapplers, with Roger Gracie and Ronaldo Souza both submitting their opponents. The undercard was rather interesting as well, with a personal highlight coming as Germaine de Randamie was able to rely on her Muay Thai skills to dispatch her opponent. Check out her post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani here. A lot of the themes we've talked about with strikers transitioning to MMA are in the background here, it's interesting stuff to me.

All the talk of the heavyweight tournament really does have me looking forward to it. As for that little "vote for the tournament you want" thing they pulled, hey, middleweights are cool and all that, but uhh this whole lightweight grand prix thing? That's where it's at.

Speaking of Strikeforce and working with our friends in Asia, I can't help but wonder what Scott Coker thinks of the current power dynamics in the kickboxing world.

Thai Boxe Mania 2011 Results: Everything went as expected for the Petrosyan brothers. Giorgio topped Sudsakorn in a good, but not overly close, bout that definitely showed why both men are where they are in the sport. Sudsakorn belongs among the top fighters around the 70kg. mark, and Petrosyan represents the very pinnacle of that group. Petrosyan's upcoming bout against Cosmo Alexandre is a whole other thing to be taking a look at in the near future. Cosmo's been fighting at a slightly higher weight, and his skill set is serious. We'll actually be talking a bit more about the Brazilian in a few moments...

Armen Petrosyan is on the climb, and I would have to say I was most impressed by the moments of real defensive awareness that he showed. Yoshihiro Sato is going to be a huge test for him. If he wins? That's huge. If he doesn't? Well, he's still young.

Abdallah Mabel is a damn good fighter, but we already knew that. There will probably always be a class (or two) of competition that he's going to struggle with, but the man is skilled. As for Vladimir Shulyak, you have to respect somebody coming in against a well-regarded fighter like that. Here's your fights-that-nobody-else-has-ever-seen video of the day: check out Shulyak face off against the man he replaced at Thai Boxe Mania in this video.

Cosmo Alexandre on It's Showtime, a Future in MMA, and More: Cosmo Alexandre talks with Mike LNg over at Scienceof8limbs.com in a pretty informative interview. The former It's Showtime champion discusses his departure from the promotion, as well as the politics of fighting Thai fighters in Thailand. Alexandre also touches on the disconnect between the availability of training Muay Thai in his native Brazil and the country's utter lack of Muay Thai rules competition.

What some folks may be most intrigued by: Alexandre has restated his interest in transitioning to mixed martial arts, and it would seem he is taking that to a new level as he is currently teaching Muay Thai at Link BJJ in Massachusetts. I wish I could find some tape of him on the mat, but I guess you guys can settle for this quick video of Alexandre and Gabriel Gonzaga in training. For what it's worth, I do recall a Graciemag article some time last year stating that Alexandre was a blue belt.

DEEP 52 Update: Click it. Hopefully you understand Japanese or can use an online translator. Masakazu Imanari will meet Hiroshi Nakamura in a non-title affair. Nakamura is riding a two fight win streak, while Imanari is on a fight five win streak and has established himself as the definite promotional kingpin at bantamweight. DEEP light heavyweight champion, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi, will drop to middleweight and meet Ryuta Sakurai.

Hatsu Hioki Talks with MMA-Japan.com: Earlier in the week, Kris Hartrum over at MMA-Japan.com posted this interview with new SRC bantamweight champion Hatsu Hioki. Quick and simple, but there are definitely some interesting thoughts from Hioki.

Strikeforce Heavyweight GP Coming to Japan?: We've seen the story floating around, I ran across some hints here and there on Japanese websites last week, and Josh Gross is reporting that Strikeforce really is considering bringing the grand prix to Japan on April 9th.

Isuzu Thai Fight Thailand Qualifier Update: Two rounds are now complete in the tournament, with Sudsakorn leading Group A and Denchonlek leading Group B and being guaranteed spots in the tournament semifinals.

Meanwhile, Kongjak (Group A) and Thepsuthin (Group B) are effectively out of the tournament at this point. It seems that Kem is nearly guaranteed the second semifinal spot in Group A, while Thanongdet and Prakaisaeng will face off determine the second spot in Group B.

Fuktien Group Tournament: Good news related to an upcoming tournament being hosted at Omnoi Stadium. The tournament will begin on February 5th, and, similar to the current Thai Fight qualifier, there will be two four-man groups. Group A: Samranchai 96 Peenang, Ikuysang KT Gym, Tuantong Pumpanmuang, Saksurint Kafaesai. Group B: Buckjoe Kiatchuthai, Sittichai Sitsongpeenong, Petchsanguan Sitniwat, Longern Tungsongthaksin.

Antuan Siangboxing vs. Bovy Sor. Udomson Fight Video: Great Muay Thai fight, the sort of thing we might be talking about at the end of the year. Watch it.

Yuya Yamamoto vs. Masakazu Watanabe Fight Video: Well, the first of the videos from the Krush January 9th event is finally here. Of course, it's the emphatic knockout of the night that we all heard about. I'm still awaiting videos for Yoshihiro Sato's bout with Shemsi Beqiri and the match between Koya Urabe and Sung Hyun Lee.

Satoshi Ishii Update: We mentioned the rumors last week. Well, now you can click here to see what Ariel Helwani has to say. I just want this situation to finalize. That is all.

Artem Levin vs. Kaoklai Kaennorsing February 23rd: It's Showtime 77kg. champion will meet current WBC light heavyweight champion in this bout. Full Muay Thai rules, word is that Kaennorsing's WBC strap will indeed be on the line. Levin is definitely on the way up these days, both in his career trajectory and on the scales. While Kaoklai may have faded, he's still a solid competitor. Oh, yeah, and this news would be incomplete with this video included.

Mananquil Talks Malaipet Rematch: American Muay Thai standout Michael Mananquil recently talked with Muay Thai Authority ahead of his second bout with Malaipet. As reported earlier, that bout will occur at Lion Fight Promotions' inaugural event, Battle in the Desert on February 12th. You can check out the interview here.

Yuya Yamamoto at Big Bang 4, February 5th: Yamamoto will be competing on the night - even though it's in an exhibition match. The card will also feature 2008 K-1 MAX Japan winner Yasuhiro Kido against Takayoshi Kitayama in a K-1 rules bout. Full card here (in Japanese).

Mike Tyson: He just became a father for like the eighth time a couple days ago. I ain't got anything else to say about that. I just wanted to let you all know, because I personally still like Tyson.

Yoshihiro Akiyama: No, he doesn't have a new child. He just has new hair. Hat tip to Dan Herbertson (@DanHerbertson) on this one.

Jeff Lacy's Brother Dies in Florida Shootout: I guess we can trace the relevance of this unfortunate story through its indirect connection to the boxing community. The elder brother of former IBF super middleweight titleholder Jeff Lacy engaged in a shootout with Florida police early in the week. The violence led to the death of Lacy's brother and two police officers. I heard about the story through a news feed while at work Monday and read later that night that the individual involved may have had some connection to Lacy. Well, indeed, larger websites started to pick up the news and here we are. Here is a piece by Dan Rafael over at ESPN on the matter.

MMA Results

Legend FC 4 - Thursday, January 27th, in Hong Kong

• Adrian Pang SD Nam Yui Chul
• Rod McSwain UD Kim Hoon
• Yao Honggang UD Michael Mortimer
• Other results: Jo Nam Jin SUB-2 Yohan Mulia Legowo, Choi Yeong Gwang UD Aoriegele, Mark Eddiva SUB-1 Alex Lee, Pat Crawley SUB-1 Buhpesh Kamble, Alex Niu UD Sai Wang, Li Jingliang SUB-2 Tony Rossini
  

Titan Fighting Championships 16: Sylvia vs. Wagner - Friday, January 28th, in Kansas City, Missouri

• Abe Wagner TKO-1 Tim Sylvia
• Jason High SUB-1 Rudy Bears
• Aaron Derrow SUB-3 Rich Clementi
• Other results: Drew McFedries TKO-3 Gary Tapusoa, Drew Dober DEC Bobby Cooper, Anthony Guitierrez TKO-1 Jacob Aiken, Alonzo Martinez SUB-2 Deryck Ripley

Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg - Saturday, January 29th, in San Jose, California

• Nick Diaz SUB-2 Evangelista Santos
• Ronaldo Souza SUB-3 Robbie Lawler
• Roger Gracie SUB-1 Trevor Prangley
• Nate Moore KO-2 Nathan Coy
• Herschel Walker TKO-1 Scott Carson
• Other results: Jenna Castillo TKO-2 Charlene Gellner, James Terry TKO-1 Luas Gamaza, Germaine de Randamie TKO-1 Stephanie Webber, Ron Keslar SUB-1 Eric Lawson, Isaiah Hill SUB-1 Bobby Stack

Kickboxing Results

Thai Boxe Mania 2011 - Saturday, January 29th, in Torino, Italy

• Giorgio Petrosyan DEC Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee (K-1 rules)
  
• Armen Petrosyan DEC Miodrag Olar (K-1 rules)
  
• Abdallah Mabel TKO-3 Vladimir Shulyak (K-1 rules)
• Kaopon Lek DEC Andrei Kulebin (Muay Thai rules)
• Other results: Lucian Danilencu DEC Milan Dasic, Federico Pacini DEC Amadou BA, Paolo Fioro DEC Maldin Hamzai, Alessandro Alias DEC Loris Audoui, Lorenzo Mosca DEC Shan Cangelosi
  

Muay Thai Results

World Professional Muay Thai Federation Title Fights - Saturday, January 22nd, in Suphanburi, Thailand

• Antuan Siangboxing DEC Bovy Sor. Udomson: Antuan became the WPMF welterweight champion with the win.
• Wehas Topkingboxing DEC Thor Hoopman: For the WPMF heavyweight title.
• Jos Ingram gym DEC Besas Kiatprapat

REBELS-EX: Hinata's Wave - Sunday, January 23rd, in Tokyo, Japan

• Hinata KO-1 Woo Yong Choi
  

Isuzu Thai Fight 2011: Thailand Qualifier - Saturday, January 29th, in Bangkok, Thailand

• Noparrat Kiatgamthon KO-4 Kongjak Sor. Tuanthong