This entry is long overdue, sorry about that.
I left Tokyo for Saitama where the Saitama Super Arena, the area it's in is pretty nice. Very similar to parts of Nagoya. And I loved Nagoya.
There, I saw DREAM, which is a subsidiary of K-1 kickboxing. DREAM arose from the ashes of K-1 Hero's and Pride FC after Pride got eliminated (stupid UFC).
The last one I saw wasn't anything special, it dragged onto long in some areas.
The last time I went to this, the fights weren't anything special, just an exhibition that went til midnight, and I didn't stay for the whole thing.
MMA was a sport created in Ancient Greece, where two unarmed gladiators fought til their opponent was knocked out or submitted. Pankration (as it was called back then) was used by Alexander The Great and his men when they were conquering countries.
I'd go into the entire history but that'll be on your own time.
At an American MMA event, you'll hear fans yelling maniacally, signs, noise makers... basically an all around noisefest.
At Japanese MMA events, you'll hear occasional yell from a fan, but as the fight goes on, most of the arena is dead silent. It's so quiet, I dropped a pen on the ground and I could hear it perfectly. I've been to amateur boxing matches here, I've seen Karate, Sumo, and Pro Wrestling on TV and the fans go nuts! I wonder what it is about Japan and MMA that makes fans go quiet...
Luckily, I wasn't the only American in the crowd, there were some rowdy fans that made the Japan fans yell too. I couldn't help but join in as well. I met up with an American fan who knews his stuff about MMA and he didn't speak much Japanese so I sat with him.
Also in Japanese MMA, before the matches begin, they personally introduce the fighters, similar to Sumo. I suppose this is for the audience wishing luck to the fighters.
Fight for Japan is K-1's promotion for a Tsunami relief fund, I bought a shirt last time I went to DREAM in order to show support.
The fights were great, it was good to see something that's familiar to me with a Japanese twist.
I'd go over the fights one by one but that'd take too long so I'll just show some pics from Sherdog's website. (I tried to take pics of the fights with my Iphone, but the light in the ring was too bright.)
Shinya Aoki Neck Cranked Rob McCullough
Tatsuya Kawajiri put Joachim Hansen in an Arm triangle choke (This was a GREAT fight)
Caol Uno got knocked out by Lion Takeshi (BOOOOOOOOO!)
Satoru Kitaoka won by split decision again Willamy Freire
Gerald Harris knocked out Kazuhiro Nakamura
Bibiano Fernandes choked Takafumi Otsuka in 41 seconds!
Masakazu Imanari pulled off a really impressive armbar on Abel Cullum
(Imanari is a badass, he entered the arena with full combat gear with Sade's "No Ordinary Love" as his entrance theme)
Minowaman defeated Giant Mongol Baru Harn with a scarf-hold armlock.
(Minowaman's 50th win!)
One other fight took place with MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba. I had the distinct pleasure of watching him in action. He was made famous for defeating 4 members of the Gracie clan (the Gracies are infamous for developing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) with his incredible submission wrestling skills in the early 2000's when Pride FC was big.
But, that was then. He is pretty much the Ichiro of MMA nowadays; being a fan favorite and all. His last win was in 2009, where he concentrated on cranking the leg rather than going for a knockout. Sakuraba has nothing but fighting spirit running through him and wishes to retire when he's 70. He's 42 now, and his fight at this event was... well you get the idea.
I cheered for him... LOUDLY. I wanted him to do good, I even bought a shirt of his, but I knew he was going to lose, for age hit him like a ton of bricks. But I heard shortly after that he's going to keep fighting... 26-16's a good record right?
All in all, it was definitely worth the 5000 yen for the ticket. I got to see a legend in action, got to get out of Tokyo, and turn off my concerns and watch one of my favorite combat sports. K-1/FEG says that their company is going out of business due to lack of money, but I refuse to believe that, these events they put on are better than UFC in my opinion.
If there's another event soon, I'm going to have to restrain myself from going to said event, particularly because there's two major MMA events headed this way.
II know I said UFC sucks, but when they came to Japan in 1997, it was unforgettable. One of Sakuraba's first fights was there. To miss out on something historic like this would be a shame. It's supposed to be here in February.
At the end of every year, since 2002, Pro-Wrestling Legend and Hall-of-Famer Antonio Inoki invites the top MMA fighters and Kickboxers for a lollapalooza of fights just before the year ends on 12/31. I've repeatedly watched the last two, and they're a great time.
Regardless of whichever event I go to, I'll report about it on here.
I've also been thinking of stepping in the ring myself, at least once.
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