In a year during which the featherweight division has played a pivotal role, perhaps it is fitting that the division's hottest prospect will close out 2009 as its top-ranked competitor. ... Read More
A month full of MMA is already stirring movement in Sherdog’s rankings. Check out the latest update as we move into the second half of a very busy November. ... Read More
Yet again in 2009, the judges’ call in a five-round main event led to some hot-tempered backlash. Outrage aside, Mauricio Rua’s performance against light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 on Oct.24 proved revelatory ... Read More
While UFC 104 was marked by main event controversy, up-and-comer Cain Velasquez left little doubt about his status as an elite heavyweight prospect. ... Read More
World-ranked bantamweight and one-time World Extreme Cagefighting title challenger Takeya Mizugaki will meet Scott Jorgensen at WEC 45 “Cerrone vs. Ratcliff” on Dec. 19 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. ... Read More
The Ultimate Fighting Championship launched a needed go-home push for UFC 104 “Machida vs. Shogun” this Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles -- its first show in California in more than two years. ... Read More
This update is exclusively on the slighter end of the scale. The marquee matchups of early October have come strictly at lightweight and below. Dream 11 on Oct. 6 saw Shinya Aoki finally capture Dream’s lightweight title, as he won the rubber match in his trilogy against his Norwegian nemesis Joachim Hansen. ... Read More
TOKYO -- In chronicling the UFC’s measured march into the seemingly impervious Japanese market, I find myself getting a chance to write about two subjects I normally keep separate: video games and mixed martial arts.
“UFC 2009 Undisputed” game developer Yukes and publisher THQ officially introduced the Japanese version of the game on Tuesday, ahead of its scheduled Oct. 15 release date. Meanwhile, Japanese premium cable provider WOWOW announced the premiere of the Japanese-dubbed “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9, which featured fighters from the United States and the United Kingdom.
Though I’m used to seeing most of the same faces from the Japanese fight media whenever I cover events or pressers, this double-billed presser brought out a great many people in suits that I’d never seen before. One of my reporter friends here, Shu Inagaki -- who coincidentally does commentary for the Japanese UFC broadcasts and is a script supervisor on the redubbing of TUF for Japanese television -- mentioned to me that the collected suits were people from the local video game industry and press. It was surprising to me, given how they outnumbered the usual suspects in local fight reporting. ... Read More
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