Monday Morning Head Kicks: February 14th to 20th

Banner image provided by Anton Tabuena

Monday Morning Head Kicks back again. This week, we saw a few MMA events go down stateside and of course Shootboxing got in on the action. Maybe a little less in the way of fight announcements, but plenty of rumors, news, etc.

Strikeforce Challengers 14 may be a minor show for the company, but it still represents the biggest MMA event of the week. Matt Roth was in attendance and did an excellent job of covering it, as I'm sure you already know. Elsewhere, we saw David Loiseau pick up some gold and the flyweight division get kind of turned on its head at Tachi Palace Fights 8.

Shootboxing 2011 Act 1 seems to have delivered and the promotion left fans with some good news as a number of its top fighters were announced for the second major event of the year in April. As excited as many of us were for the first big Shootboxing event of the year, it was ultimately overshadowed by the news coming out of Holland as It's Showtime heavyweight champion Hesdy Gerges was arrested in an ongoing drug investigation. With Gerges looking to be out of the picture, the question quickly became who Daniel Ghita would be facing on March 6th. Signs are pointing to Badr Hari or Tyrone Spong at this point. It also looks like Melvin Manhoef might actually end up competing for It's Showtime later this year, more on that below.

It was a fairly quiet week in Muay Thai. We just learned that Sudsakorn really will be fighting in Europe again following his release from the Thai Fight 2011 qualifier at 67kg. We also know that Saenchai is currently injured but it looks like he should make the Liam Harrison fight in April. As far as American Muay Thai goes, Muay Thai Authority reports that there may be a June event pitting the two coasts against one another.

On to the stories...

Shootboxing 2011 Act 1: It looks like the first major Shootboxing event of the year was a solid one. We brought you the results here on Saturday and we'll be sure to post up videos once they become available. The event is set to air on Samurai TV in Japan on the 28th from what I've seen.

Hiroki Shishido avenged his 2009 loss to Bovy Sor. Udomson and did it by taking a wide decision. There's not too much else to say there. Udomson has stated himself he's near the end of his career, and if 2011 really will be it for him, we can at least be confident he should have some good bouts left in him.

To hear Shigeki Osawa tell it, he really wants to refine his skills in the Shootboxing arena as well as in MMA. He's clearly a guy who isn't afraid to aim high and that's great. Even in defeat here, it sounds like he really acquitted himself well. I don't see him ever becoming a champion in Shootboxing, but I do hope that his game can continue to round out because I believe he could find some real success down the line.

Hari or Spong in Against Ghita?: As LiverKick recently reported, the big rumor floating around is that either Badr Hari or Tyrone Spong will face off against Daniel Ghita at the March 6th It's Showtime event. Of course these rumors follow the reports that Ghita's original opponent, It's Showtime heavyweight champion Hesdy Gerges, was arrested in connection to an ongoing drug investigation (side note: Gerges wasn't caught with any damn cocaine, please get that right). It seems that the rumor can be attributed to Ghita himself, who threw the names out there while speaking with Romanian media shortly after Gerges' arrest.

Either of the potential match ups would be quite interesting. We've seen Hari get tagged when throwing wide shots and it's not unreasonable to think Ghita might be able to turn the fight into a bit of a brawl. As for Spong, he has had some success against high level kickboxers from Ray Sefo and Kyotaro to the likes of Zabit Samedov, Attila Karacs, and even Dmitry Shakuta earlier in his career. I'm sure fans would anticipate an exciting bout between him and Ghita - folks are just excited about Spong in general, and with good reason, while Ghita is coming off that insane battle against Gokhan Saki at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final. Spong may possess the kind of speed that excites fans, but Ghita is sound defensively and can counter effectively.

Manhoef: It's Showtime, Strikeforce MW Tournament: While talking with TapouT Radio Thursday night, Manhoef indicated that he might follow up his bout against Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson on March 5th in one of two ways: he might appear on the It's Showtime Lyon card in May to defend his 85kg. promotional title, or he might be involved in a middleweight tournament being put on by Strikeforce.

One thing to get out of the way: It's Showtime is doing really big things in the kickboxing world, but their 85kg. division is effectively non-existent. In fact, since Manhoef won his title against Hungarian fighter Denes Racz at It's Showtime Budapest in August 2009, the promotion has only held three bouts at the 85kg. weight limit.

With this knowledge, my first thought was that the promotion could bring in a French fighter and call it a day. Unfortunately, I know that the first fighter that came to my mind, Frederic Bellonie, is already scheduled for a bout in the middle of April. Granted, I suppose they could pull somebody else out of the woodwork, or surprise us all by bringing in a new name fighter, but uhh... I don't know... I wonder what Ondrej Hutnik is up to?

As for the potential Strikeforce tournament, I don't want to get anybody's hopes up. We were put through this already in 2010. Still, it's something that I wouldn't mind seeing. There have already been a number of interesting fights between the competitors that would probably be included in the tournament, and, even with all the risks that the tournament format has, it might help boost the visibility of the middleweight division. It seems quite possible that Strikeforce's recent success would make such a tournament more tenable than it might have been in the past. I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

Shootboxing Announces April Competitors: At the Shootboxing 2011 Act 1 event on Saturday, it was announced that Andy Souwer, Ryuya Kusakabe, and Rena Kubota would be among the competitors at the promotion's April 23rd card.

Rena has certainly become more familiar to fans since her victory at the Girls S-Cup 2010 in August. It seems quite likely that she may face Ai Takahashi, following Takahashi's victory at Saturday's event.

Ryuya Kusakabe, the Shootboxing 55kg. champion, is also set to compete against Hiroaki Mizuhara in the semifinals of the ongoing Krush 55kg. tournament on March 19th. His Krush quarterfinal bout against R.I.S.E. champion Nobuchiko Terado was one of more exciting bouts of 2010.

Andy Souwer will of course be making his return to Shootboxing after being upset by Toby Imada in the semifinals of S-Cup 2010. Imada, a last minute replacement for Charles Bennett, stole the show with his run in the tournament and spoiled the anticipated final bout between Souwer and Buakaw Por. Pramuk. While Souwer rebounded with a victory over Pajonsuk Por. Pramuk under the It's Showtime banner, he was recently on the wrong side of the biggest kickboxing upset of 2011 thus far, as he lost to Spain's Abraham Roqueni roughly two weeks ago.

Strikeforce Challengers 14: Our own Matt Roth made it to the event and did an awesome job of covering it. I don't have too much to say on this one, mostly just want to give him the respect he's due on that one. Check out the play-by-play. Also read the three interviews he cranked out while there. All very good stuff.

TPF 8 & the Flyweight Division:  Ulysses Gomez loses his Tachi Palace Fights title to Darrell Montague? Okay, well I guess that means we won't see Gomez and Jussier da Silva meet for the title down the line like we thought. Wait, Jussier da Silva loses to Uncle Creepy himself, former bantamweight Ian McCall? Things have hit David After Dentist status - seriously, is this real life? Montague and McCall in a title bout now probably? Okay. Sometimes these things happen in MMA. Or something.

Gomez and da Silva losing certainly highlights the underdeveloped status of the flyweight division. Attention now shifts to the bout between Mamoru Yamaguchi and John Dodson at Tachi Palace Fights 9 in May. Looking around the top of the division, there's also always Alexis Vila. Shooto 123lb. champion Yasuhiro Urushitani had to pull out of his bout at this past weekend's Shootboxing event, and we now know Kiyotaka Shimizu will compete against Shinichi Hanawa in a Pancrase vs. Shooto bout at Shootor's Legacy 2. Between Shooto, Pancrase, and Tachi Palace Fights for the time being, the flyweight division should be enjoyable to watch going forward.

A Look Back at Shogun vs. Lil Nog: Over the weekend, Mike Fagan over at Bloody Elbow wrote an article about this classic from PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005. It's recommended reading, and of course you should watch the bout. If you've seen it before, remind yourself how good it was - if you haven't, catch up with the rest of us already. Of course this is part of the lead-up to Mauricio Rua's bout with Jon Jones, but I was also thinking today how interesting it could be to look back at some of Antonio Rogerio Nogueria's older bouts with the new announcement that he'll be meeting Phil Davis rather than Tito Ortiz at UFC Fight Night 24. But now I'm just drifting off on a tangent... go read Fagan's article.

Takanori Gomi Back to ADCC: Takanori Gomi is set to return to ADCC competition for the first time in a decade when he competes at the ADCC Asia Trials on February 27th. Gomi has effectively run things at the All Japan Combat Wrestling Championships in the interim, but I'm personally rather excited to hear he'll be competing.

Across divisions, some of the other names listed for competition are DEEP X Real King grappling rivals Kohei Yasum and Yuta Sasaki, as well as Tetsu Suzuki. Suzuki, of course, finished fourth at the 2007 ADCC World Championship at 66kg. Nightmare of Battle has a list of the competitors so far announced.

Tetsuya Yamato Returns in March: Although Yamato won the K-1 World MAX 2010 -63kg. Japan Tournament in September, his position in the division was made clear with his decision loss to Koya Urabe at Krush 10. Yamato followed that loss up with a majority draw against Akiyo Nishiura at Dynamite!! 2010.

Via Yamato's blog, it seems that he will be returning to action on March 27th as he takes on Makoto Nishiyama in a 63kg. bout for the New Japan Kickboxing Federation. Nishiyama, a K-1 veteran himself, knocked out Shunsuke Oishi in a 63kg. bout at the K-1 World MAX 2010 -70kg World Championship Tournament Final in November.

Nonito Donaire KO's Fernando Montiel in Two: Yeah, it's boxing. Here's a look at the bout from Bad Left Hook. Here's the video of the second round. Quite the knockout. Oh, and stick around over at Bad Left Hook if you're into boxing, those guys do a real good job over there.

Wear Your Mouthpiece When You Spar: Per his Twitter, it sounds like Muhammed Lawal might have forgotten to and came away a little worse for the wear. He's been training with folks out in Holland and it sounds like he was sparring with Tyrone Spong when said mouthpiece was forgotten. Here's to hoping his time training with some high level strikers helps though.

MMA Results

Tachi Palace Fights 8 - Friday, February 18th, Lemoore, California

• Darrell Montague UD Ulysses Gomez
• Ian McCall UD Jussier da Silva
• David Loiseau TKO-5 Leopoldo Serao
• Fabricio Camoes TKO-1 Steve Lopez
• Other results: Edgar Garcia SUB-1 Mike Moreno, Dominique Robinson TKO-3 John Gunderson, Doug Hunt TKO-1 Andrew Martinez, Andy Miranda SUB-1 Ryan Burton, Collin Hart SUB-1 Mike Arellano, Tyler Freeland UD Diego Melendez, Alan Jouban KO-1 Kyle Griffin

Strikeforce Challengers 14 - Friday, February 18th, in Austin, Texas

• Pat Healy UD Lyle Beerbohm
• Carlo Prater SUB-1 Bryan Travers
• Ryan Larson SUB-2 Erik Apple
• Other results: Ryan Couture SUB-3 Lee Higgins, David Douglas SUB-1 Nick Gonzalez, Aaron Lanfranco KO-1 Ousmane Thomas Diagne, Drew Pendleton SUB-2 Dennis Dombrow

Kickboxing Results:

Shootboxing 2011 Act 1 - Saturday, February 19th, in Tokyo, Japan

• Hiroki Shishido UD Bovy Sor. Udomson
• Satoru Suzuki KO-1 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
• Hiroaki Suuki UD Shigeki Osawa
• Ai Takahashi TKO-2 Zaza Sor. Aree

Fightingclub Van Dams: Bad Boys - Saturday, February 19th, in Utrecht, Netherlands

• Mosab Amrani UD Fatih Ozkan
  

Muay Thai Results:

Super Showdown 11 - Saturday, February 19th, in Glasgow, Scotland

• Petchasawin Sangmorakot DEC Liam Harrison