With 6 whole months now officially and completely behind us, I thought I’d take time to note all the positive and negative things that have happened in these quick 6 months. I’ll give a category and my quick thoughts of why that person or persons deserved their respective “award”. This is strictly DREAM and WVR considering they are the 2 major players on the Japanese scene and maybe I’ll throw a SHOOTO name in there.
Fighter of the Mid-Year: Eddie Alvarez (DREAM)
While you can make a strong case for Aoki, I feel that Eddie Alvarez definitely worked a lot harder and was most deserved of the title. Coming off a decent at Welterweight career, lots of people ,including myself, were dubious about the how he would stack up to top tier competition at 170. He may have destined for obscurity at 70 but by signing with Elite XC and agreeing to drop to 160 (Elite XC Lightweight) he definitely opened doors of possibility. He not only looked great against the 2007 HERO’S Middleweight GP Runner-Up Andre Dida, he looked like a new fighter, who was willing to rely on his great wrestling and also comfortable on the feet as always. To make the selection a bit easier on my part, he had one of the most memorable bouts against Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen in the 2nd Round of the DREAM Lightweight GP. Alvarez has definitely caught the attention of many and now hopes to claim the 1st DREAM title later this month.
Submission of the Mid-Year: Shinya Aoki’s Mounted Gogoplata on Katsuhiko Nagata (DREAM)
This was pretty much a no-brainer. The degree of difficulty is insane to say the least and the odds of it actually happening were slim to none but I guess with Aoki we can always expect the unexpected and it was definitely unexpected.
Knockout of the Mid-Year: Alistair Overeem’s knockout of Tae Hyun Lee (DREAM)
I think it’s safe to say that Alistair at heavyweight, minus the Kharitonov fight, looks better than ever. In his last 2 wins against Buentello and Tae Hyun Lee we’ve seen a dramatic turn around from the Alistair we saw in late 06, who kept dropping fights and looked half interested in the process. This maybe a re-birth of sorts for the Demolition Man, at least I’m hoping it is. His huge left followed by that right that smacked the face of his Korean counterpart definitely give him a much needed boost of confidence if he wants to pursue his current interest, Mirko Cro Cop.
Upset of the Mid-Year: Caol Uno’s win over Mitsuhiro Ishida (DREAM)
I know you’re thinking that this wasn’t necessarily the “biggest” upset when you thoroughly compare the 2 fighters but coming into the fight it was a completely different story. Ishida was poised as a front-runner for the title, along with fellow T-Blood partner Kawajiri, and had the tide in his favor with wins over Gilbert Melendez and Jung Bu-Kyung. Uno on the other hand was out for almost 8 months healing injuries he received from Andre Amade and to be honest had looked very lackluster in previous attempts at the HERO’S Middleweight Title on 3 consecutive occasions. Uno was all business in the fight and left home with a much needed submission victory to his name and dispelled any thoughts of him being completely past his prime.
Dissapointment of the Mid-Year: Mirko Cro Cop’s Return, “Lion” Takeshi Inoue’s Road to Redemption and World Victory Road (tie)
How many people remember that 2 of these 3 are still around? If anyone would’ve told me that Cro Cop, 1 year after signing with the UFC Cro Cop would be dropped, would end up fighting a can (no offense to Mr. Tatsuya Mizuno) and I would not be interested, I probably would’ve thought they were insane. 1 year, 1 can, and 1 disinterested feeling later, we’ve arrived to this point where Mirko is just a former shadow of himself and might be destined to be referred to in a similar as Vitor Belfort. Maybe Old Vitor and Old Mirko regain that lost spark but at this moment it’s very unclear. WVR.. Who knew it’d be THAT bad? I was definitely on the love wagon trying to become a fan of this but it’s very hard to do so with lackluster cards and overall bad matchmaking. Not even Gomi, Yoshida and J. Barnett could help them sell 10,000 tickets. Well, actually, maybe they can and thats why these 3 have to be on all the cards from now on to garner any attention or buzz. Finally, “Lion” Takeshi Inoue. This one is a bit closer to home considering Takeshi is my favorite 143 pounder but his last showing at SHOOTO: Tradition left a sour taste in my mouth. This coupled with the fact that he actually previously lost to A. Tamura, who in turn lost his belt as soon as he got it. The road to the belt starts over and hopefully, Takeshi doesn’t get Antonio Carvalho treatment from SHOOTO.
Fight of the Mid-Year: Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen (DREAM)
Truly a stand-out bout in one of the best MMA shows in the last 2 years, this bout had everything. Awesome displays of Heart, Knockdowns, Sportsmanship, and yes, an insane Helicopter Armbar attempt. This fight I think surpasses some of the other great bouts including the Featherweight bouts like Tokoro vs. Uyenoyama and Shoji vs. Yamazaki simply for the fact that it was a Grand Prix bout and the winner would obviously have a birth in the next round. Stellar bout from both men and unfortunately for 1 man, Hansen, there had to be a loser afterward. This fight definitely is a throwback to the BUSHIDO 9: 2005 PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix fights, which also featured some of the best Lightweight and Welterweight (PRIDE Welterweight) bouts in recent memory and also featured “Hellboy” doing his thing.
Organization of the Mid-Year: DREAM
Overall, it’s definitely been the start of some great things in Japanese MMA (DREAM), while it also has been the start of not so great things (WVR). Starting this year on January 1st, I remember thinking to myself that PRIDE’s void will never be filled and while it will NEVER EVER truly be filled, DREAM has converted itself to a fine organization and should definitely use PRIDE’s blueprint for success but also, they should look more closely at their mistakes and try to correct them. DREAM is definitely the De Facto champion now that PRIDE is no more. WVR has definitely got to step up their game in these next 6 months or they could find themselves becoming forgotten or even out of business if they don’t do something and do it quick. So far, It’s the easiest one of my picks. Also, another reason why this is SOO simple is availability. All you need is HDNet and you can watch the events live and you don’t have to pay for view.
6 more months to go and hopefully we’re treated to some great bouts and some great MMA moments.
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July 3rd, 2008 at 12:41pm
Daisuke Nakamura’s knock out of Bu Kyung Jung was very impressive too. Though not as crisp as Overeem’s, I think the full ten minutes of action that preceded it attribute to a more satisfying knock out.
Fighter of the year is interesting. I could make a case for Joachim Hansen, even though lost to the obvious FOTY in Eddie Alverez. Hansen out boxed Kotetsu Boku, and put on a very competitive bout of the year with Eddie Alverez, nearly catching multiple submissions on Eddie.
Also, Melvin Manhoef is a consideration at the mid-year mark. Two devastating knock outs within a month, even after being roughed up by Remy Bonjasky in K-1, is quite the accomplishment.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:19pm
You definitely make very valid points. I think that it could’ve definitely been either Hellboy or Alvarez but since Alvarez did win the bout between them I felt more compelled to give it to him. Also his destruction of Amade was definitely impressive.
Also, I was considering listing Manhoef but I thought Alistair was more “destructive” I guess. Even though I personally wouldn’t of wanted to receive that huge knee to the face like Dae Won Kim did, I still think that Alistair’s was just insane.
Thanks and Peace.
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:53pm
Anonymoussss already made the points I was going to make.
I was thinking Manhoef was a shoe in for fighter of the Mid-year. I mean, he killed Sakuraba, and he beat Dae Won Kim in what was, in my mind, an impressive fight. I thought that the Alvarez/Hansen fight was awesome, but I wasn’t so enamored with Alvarez that I would call him the biggest name of the midyear.
I agree with you on everything else, though, and I was glad to see you give the nod to Uno.