While our British authors were all up late watching the excellent DREAM 3, I snuck away to have a look at 41 year-old Ian Freeman making his triumphant MMA return. Freeman’s in-cage performance was every bit the equal of his new and improved physique. Freeman outclassed Paul Cahoon in a fight he dominated in all phases.

Add Freeman to the list of competitors for best in Britain (along with Bisping, Hardy, and Daley). He looks ready for world competition. I look forward to seeing what Cage Rage has in store for us.

The show has just got underway which means the first fight should be starting in about half an hour knowing Japan and their elaborate opening ceremonies.

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There is an official Total MMA DREAM chat on AIM if anyone wishes to join. The room is called ‘ countingsheep’.

Enjoy!

Takeshi Yamazaki vs. Shoji Maruyama

Good first round that really picked up towards the end. Yamazaki looked like he had finished it with an armbar, and Shoji even looked like he had rolled further into it but somehow escaped. Bas commented that he won’t be drinking with his left hand tonight. Definitely Yamazaki’s round as he largely controlled top poisition although Shoji was active and landed a particularly good knee to the body when standing.

Enjotyable second round but a little frustrating if you’re a Shoji fan. It looked like he winded Yamazaki with the knee in the first and it seemed as though he may be able to take advantage as the fight went on. However he was just too reckless and missed his opportunities to capitalise and ended up on bottom too often. Good action from both guys though. This show is one for one so far.

Yamazaki gets the unanimous decision and the dubious honour of being the lamb to be slaughtered by KID.

Middleweight GP: Jason Miller vs. Katsuyori Shibata

This type of fight is a perfect argument for an international sanctioning body to prevent such horrible mismatches. Miller knew immedaitely that he was in a different league to Shibata and proceeded to emabarass him and advertise his own unique brand of ‘Mayhem’ for around seven minutes or however long it lasted. Shibata should not be fighting and was basically paid to take a beating here.

Miller landed several dangerous knees to the face of Shibata and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a broken cheekbone or somesuch. Yuji Shamada is an embarassment to refereeing. Miller starts rambling in Japanese afterwards and the Japanese crowd don’t seem very impressed. Also - Bas is being typically excellent on commentary.

I’d be surprised if Mayhem-Sakuraba isn’t made before the end of the year.

Middleweight GP: Melvin Manhoef vs. Kim Dae Won

Talking of fights that look like an argument for international regulation. This could also be nasty but I have a soft spot for Melvin so will tolerate it.

Can I just re-iterate my love for Manhoef. He comes out to the battle cry from the film 300 which is cool, if a little cliche. Then you have the motivational speech where the Golden Glory coach screams at him which is always a touching moment. Finally he walks to the ring on a LEASH just ot prove he is a bad apple and would gladly kill you despite the engaging smile on his face.

Wow, this was actually surprisingly competitive. Dae Won stunned him standing and took the fight to the ground early on. I thought we were on for a huge upset as Manhoef was audibly breathing very heavily and just holding for dear life. Somehow he got to top position though and landed a brutal knee to the back of Dae Won’s head that effectively knocked him out in an instant. He landed the obligatory hammerfists and as Dae Won is Korean and not Japanese the refereee doesn’t stand there and watch him die for ten minutes and mercifully ends it straight away.

Melvin excuses his performance by explaining that he only fought Bonjasky TWO WEEKS ago, which is a pretty incredible experience to recover from in such a short period. Apparently Tamura is likely out of the tournament due to finger injuries / money issues so expect to see Manhoef back soon.

Daisuke Nakamura vs. Jung Bu-Kyung

I can totally see Jung turning into an internet fan cult hero. Going into this fight he’s easily the best guy in MMA who doesn’t have a win to his name and he’s just so eager to throw on submission attempts that it’s impossible not to like him.

Entertaining first round that Nakamura gradually asserted his control over as it progressed. Jung is too keen and goes for the back at every opportunity and it cost him position a few times. Nakamura throws a really good straight left hand and it is connecting quite often.

Talking of a left hand, he feints with it in the second and immediately follows with a straight right that KOs Jung. That followed a great armbar exchange with the Korean showing exemplary defence. Really good fight though and this is an incredibly enjoyable card so far apart from the murder of Shibata. Jung remains without a win but he’s a winner in all out hearts. Or something.

DREAM Welterweight contender’s match: Nick Diaz vs. Katsuya Inoue

The reason we’re all here… DIAZ! Bas is rocking out the Inoue’s entrance music (R.A.T.M.).

Diaz is the strongest! Forget Judo.

He dominated the entire fight and late in the round Inoue’s corner threwthe towel in despute him not being dropped. Classic display of boxing from Diaz with him throwing body shots let and right, although they were all thrown with him typical lack of power. Where has the force that KOed Robbie Lawler gone? He also got caught a few too many times himself (like in the Mike Aina fight) but he has too good a chin to be worried by Inoue’s shots and it appeared as though it was only his lack of respect for his opponent that meant he wasn’t defending.

I can’t wait for Diaz-Sakurai later in the year for the DREAM title. It will be good to see Nick get some gold round his waist.

INTERMISSION

Lightweight GP: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Buscape

We’re back and that was a very dominant first round from Kawajiri. More exciting than his last fight but still not thrilling. A good exhibition of ground and pound skills though. My bet is looking good so far.

Sama again in the second. Easy victory for Kawajiri and I finally in a bet! Assuming the judges don’t rub us both. If they do I will forever boycott DREAM from now on.

Hooray! It was unanimous!

Lightweight GP: Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez won a decision. Everyone go and watch this fight.

Marc: Another FOTYC from the Norwegian warrior

Lightweight GP: Kaoru Uno vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

Uno nails Ishida with big right hook, then busts his nose open with an uppercut. Very solid takedown defense showed by Uno thus far. Ishida finally hits a takedown….doesn’t last long on the mat though.

R2 CRAZY EXCHANGE, UNO CHOKES OUT ISHIDA!!UNO CHOKES OUT ISHIDA!!!!

GOOD NIGHT!

I don’t watch many movies. I like to think it’s not because it’s ten bucks that I don’t want to spend, plus a three dollar cup of coffee that isn’t even good. Nah. It’s not because I don’t respect the medium, either. In fact, I’d like to think it’s more because I do respect the medium. I go to a theater with the same full and undivided attention I offer to a jiu-jitsu class where I’ll be choked and armlocked. I don’t mean I actually go in thinking of choking out the pretentious idiots who laugh extra loud and respond audibly to in-jokes, in a vain attempt to impress me and everyone else unfortunate enough to share a theater with them. (But, maybe next time…)

I mean, I give my full focus, and in return I step into a different world, experience some ups and downs, and maybe someone sheds a little light on a piece of life I hadn’t experienced.

I’ve been disappointed more often than not. But you give honor to the art, and maybe you’ll find a little honor for yourself. That’s what I felt tonight when I watched RedBelt, and seeing it was definitely worth the ten bucks.

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This will be part of an ongoing attempt to watch the watchdog. The MMA internet is filled with what are almost entirely uninformed opinions and bad journalism. We will shine a bright light of shame on the worst offenders here. Do better MMA web. Do better. Don’t make Eddie Goldman cry.

One of many pro wrestling websites to make the perilous leap to MMA coverage is 411mania.com. Recently John Curry, a man who will soon take the novel step of removing his carcass from the couch to step on the mat with his heros like Jens Pulver and Jorge Gurgel, said TUF has actually hurt fighters who appeared on the show. This ought to be good.

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We return! After a week off because of the lack of places offering odds on Shooto and neither of us fancying any of the De La Hoya markets, we are back. WILL I ACTUALLY GO BROKE THIS WEEK?

Discussed are DREAM 3 and the weekend’s boxing. No place seems interested in offering Cage Rage odds.

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It is somewhat reluctantly that I turn away from my download of the most recent Shooto show — which, about halfway through, anyway, is awesome — having just remembered my TUF commitments here at Total MMA. A man has only so many hours in a day to devote to this kind of thing, and so difficult decisions sometimes need be made. I am not complaining; I have more time for such things than can reasonably be expected. But know that while I speak to you now of TUF, my heart belongs to Shooto. I guess that’s always true to some extent.

Last week, as I’m sure you’ll recall, Dante Rivera took a close and controversial decision win over Brandon Sene in a match which asked of its judges (and of the viewing audience as a whole, of course), what’s more important in a mixed martial arts contest: modest but ultimately pointless positional control, or pretty much completely negligible damage from a somewhat disadvantageous position? Pointless positional control won the day! The fight itself wasn’t much, really, as Dana White observed, but at least it made you think, and that’s really more than you can ask of a show that begins with this kind of theme music. And it goes BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

Oh right! Also last week, Jeremy May lime-juiced Matt Brown’s dip! Grudge match! Citrus tobacco grudge match! This should be great. This is the best season in forever. Who needs Shooto?

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While the first four months of 2008 haven’t produced tons of fight of the year candidates, there have been some incredible performances from individual fighters thus far.

B.J. Penn(vs. Joe Stevenson, UFC 80)

Hardcore MMA followers know what B.J. Penn is capable of. When he is mentally focused, and in-shape he is arguably the best pound for pound combatant the sport has ever seen. Read the rest of this entry »

Please click here for Part One

Inoue and Sotiropoulos both begin and end their seminar with classic jiu-jitsu escapes. Among the simple and fundamental movements that every black belt masters, escapes are especially valuable to the beginners in attendance who often find themselves in bad positions.

Inoue remembers when he learned how important it is to win the battle for positional dominance, and how it led to one of the most controversial moments of his fighting career.

The first bout between Enson Inoue and Joe Estes took place twelve years ago in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, but Inoue laughs, “I remember it like it was last month.”

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