Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Is Mongolia the Brazil of Asia for MMA?

Tiequan Zhang aka The Mongolian Wolf and Aotegen Bater aka The Eagle of the Grasslands are both ethnic Mongolians and from China Top Team dominating the Chinese MMA scene. The Legend Fighting Championship lightweight champion Jadamba Narantungalag also hails from Mongolia along with great fighter Dorjderem Munkhbayasgalan, who also has a good MMA record. Dorjderem fights as a middleweight and has a bright future in the exciting and developing Asian MMA world.  Jadamba has a notable win over Akihiro Gono.  I looked up Gono's record and the guy has a draw with Chael Sonnen and Murilo "Ninja" Rua and win over Strikeforce fighter Gegard Mousasi and Bellator champion Hector Lombard.

 I, like Jadamba in this interview believe that the strong wrestling base of Mongolian athletes with the great fighting tradition will enable Mongolia to produce some great fighters and maybe even a future UFC champion in one of the weight classes!

Please enjoy the interview below (courtesy of :  http://www.legendfc.com/en/news/107/An-Interview-With-Jadamba-Narantungalag-Legends-New-Lightweight-Champion/)


An Interview With Jadamba Narantungalag, Legend’s New Lightweight Champion

25th November 2011
On October 30, Mongolian K-1 and Sengoku veteran Jadamba Narantungalag earned a hard-fought split decision victory over Australia’s Adrian Pang in what viewers have called one of Asia-Pacific MMA’s best fights of the year. We sat down with Jadamba following his return to Ulaanbaatar to get his thoughts on the fight, his new title, and his hopes for Mongolian MMA.
lfc6_-_jadamba_punch_460
First, congratulations on your victory. How does it feel to be the new Legend Lightweight Champion?
Thank you very much. It was a hard fight, and it felt great to win and take the title. I owe many thanks to my trainer and teammates for helping me to succeed.
Tell us about your fight with Adrian Pang. What were you expecting from him, and what was your game plan? Did the fight go the way that you thought it would?
First, I have to compliment Adrian Pang. He is great fighter, and a very tough opponent. I know that he has well-rounded skills, and I was expecting him to focus on striking and wrestling. My plan was to try to keep the fight standing and use my striking. I wasn’t expecting him to try for so many takedowns and submissions, and I wasn’t able to completely execute my game plan, but overall the fight went how I expected.
lfc6_-_jadamba_gp_460
In addition to earning the victory, you were also awarded Fight of the Night. And in fact, many spectators think that your contest was one of the best fights Asia has ever seen. What are your thoughts on that?
The most important thing was the victory, but I was also very happy to winFight of the Night. Adrian and I are both very determined competitors, and we both wanted to win. When you have a fight like that, it will always win spectators’ hearts.
Some people are already saying that they would like to see a rematch between you and Pang in the future. How would you feel about a second match-up against him?
Now that Adrian and I have fought each other, we know each other much better. A rematch will be even more interesting since we can prepare better strategies and game plans. And our first fight was close, so I have no reason to refuse a rematch.
lfc6_-_jadamba_elbow_460
Legend has some very strong lightweights on its roster. In your opinion, which fighter do you think should be the next challenger for the Legend Lightweight Title?
I have no preference. I will accept any challenger who Legend chooses for me.
Mongolia is a country with a long warrior tradition, but a relatively small population considering its large size. How would you describe the MMA scene in Mongolia? What are your goals for Mongolian MMA, both domestically and internationally?
You are absolutely right that Mongolia is a country with strong warrior traditions, but MMA has only recently started to develop here. I think that our fighting spirit and our skills in disciplines like Mongolian traditional wrestling mean that MMA has a strong future in Mongolia. And our talented new generation of young fighters like Batgerel and Purev will be good representatives for the sport. For myself, I would like to continue to introduce and train people in MMA, and act as a role model for hopeful young Mongolian fighters. And one of the most important things that I can do for Mongolian MMA is to continue to successfully defend my Legend title.
lfc6_-_jadamba_mount_460
What do your wife and children think of your fighting career?
My wife and children are very proud of me. In fact, my wife was one of my earliest K-1 fans! With their support behind me, I feel invincible in the ring.
After a long training camp and a hard-fought victory at Legend 6, you’ve clearly earned some time off. Are you taking a bit of a break? How are you spending your time in the aftermath of your big win?
It was a tough fight, and I was happy to take a few weeks rest after returning to Ulaanbaatar. But I’ve just recently returned to the gym for some light training, and I look forward to my next opportunity to defend my title. I’m very grateful to all of the Legend fans, and I’m excited to be in front of them again, fighting against some of the best competition in Asia!

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Report after UFC 144

SAITAMA, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 26: (L-R) Mark Hunt punches Cheick Kongo during the UFC 144 event at Saitama Super Arena on February 26, 2012 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Al Bello/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Those of you who did not watch UFC 144 in Japan, surely missed a great show!  The one punch of knock-out of Tiequan Zhang by Issei Tamura, Boetch's incredible come back TKO of Yushin Okami, old Gomi finally showed up and finished Eiji Mitsuoka, Hatsui Hioki beat Bart Palaszewski, possibly getting a title shot with the one and only Jose Also.  Riki Fukuda also looked good against Steve Cantwell.  Did I forget to mention Mark Hunt's TKO of Cheik Kongo and Anthony Pettis' knockout of Joe Lauzon!  Also, Jake Shields defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama via decision.  Despite being able to stuff the takedowns of Shields and being the stronger fighter, Akiyama did not do enough to win the fight.

It was a spectacular night with knock-outs and come backs.  I am excited to know who the UFC will pair Mark Hunt with after the amazing performance by the former K-1 fighter.  I would like to see him against top ten candidate like Shane Carwin or Roy Nelson.  Tim Boetch is now on a three fight win streak at middleweight.  Maybe they will pair him up with Mark Munoz and the winner of that fight gets the winner or Silva Sonnen rematch.  It is rumored that Anthony Pettis might get the title shot against Benson Henderson after his "shin to chin" (as Joe Rogan called it several times) knockout of Joe Lauzon!  Pettis looked good in the fight.

Unfortunately, for the only fighter out of China, the Mongolian Chinese Tiequan Zhang was on the receiving end of a very brutal one punch that put him flat on the mat!  Ironically, after getting some training by top trainers in Vegas, Zhang aka the Mongolian wolf did show signs of improvement in his ground game and striking, but it might have been too little too late.  It will be curious to see what the UFC will do with the Wolf.

Watch the UFC 144 highlights here


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

ONE FC: Best thing for MMA in Asia


Eduard Folayang

I have been reading about MMA in Asia and kept seeing the organization called ONE Fighting Championship. They seem to be on the right track to get the Asian MMA scene on the same level as other elite oraganizations around the world.

Check out their event:
 ONE Fighting Championship inaugural event

According to Wikipedia here is the list of notable fighters signed with ONE Fighting Championship:


Notable Fighters

Notable fighters to have either fought for or signed with ONE Fighting Championship include:

They also have most of the good MMA gyms in Asia under their umbrella.  Also, according to Wiki, their network:

One Fighting Championship Network

On 26 October 2011 CEO/owner Victor Cui announced the formation of the One FC network, an alliance of camps and promotions in Asia and Australia including:
DREAM
URCC (Philippines)
Cage Fighting Championship (Australia)
ROAD Fighting Championship (Korea)
DARE Championship (Thailand)
Team Lakay Wushu (Philippines)
Tiger Muay Thai and MMA (Thailand)
Tigers Gym (India)
Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (Singapore)
Legacy Gym (Thailand)
Tough MMA (Taiwan)
Synergy Jiu-Jitsu (Indonesia)
Spider Academy (Indonesia)
Juggernaut FC (Singapore)
Fightworks Asia (Singapore)
PAK MMA (Pakistan)
Team Force (Korea)
MuayFit (Malaysia)
Leverage MMA (Malaysia)
Fairtex Gym Bangkok

Image source:  modernviolentgentlemen.com





Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fighter of the day: Mamoru Yamaguchi, the illest fro in Asia



I know some of you, who know me are thinking I picked him because we share a similar trait-Asian fro.  However, The Illest Fro in Asia is actually considered the B.J. Penn of flyweight.

Hopefully UFC will start a flyweight division so fight fans can start seeing guys like Mamoru.

Mamoru has a good kickboxing record and a very good mma record

Here is if you want to know more on the illest fro in Asia

Man, I just love that name:  illest fro in Asia! 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson and Rampage vs Bader and more


This is an amazing card.  There are seven fights on the main card and instead of three hours there will be four hours of fights.  It will be aired on Feruary 25th in the U.S. due to the time difference.

Main fight is between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.  Henderson is on a three fight winning streak since coming from the WEC defeating Mark Bocek, Jim Miller and Clay Guida.  Edgar beat B. J. Penn twice, had one draw with Gray Maynard and beat him on the next fight, which was their third fight.

Edgar is a fast striker with a lot of heart as shown in the Maynard fights and has incredible conditioning.  Henderson on the other hand is a very well rounded fighter with great striking and a power wrestler.  I think Henderson will win this bout because although Edgar is a good boxer, his defensive boxing is not that great.  He was victim to power shots from Maynard on all the fights and wobbled.  If it was not for his super human ability to recover so quickly from those fight ending punches, Maynard would be the champ now.

On the co-main event fight, as long as Rampage avoids the powerful right hand of Bader, Rampage should win the fight with Bader, but a fight is a fight.  Rampage should be able to avoid the takedowns from Bader considering how well he did against Jon Jones in avoiding them.

If Akiyama can keep it on the feet and avoid the takedowns of Jake Shields, he should also win it.  However, if the fight goes to the ground, the advantage goes to Shields, who is a great grappler, as he showed by defeating Dan Henderson with his takedowns and ground control.

I am also excited to see a fight on the preliminary card on facebook:  Tiequan Zhang aka Mongolian Wolf vs Issei Tamura.  Zhang was originally supposed to fight Leonard Garcia, but he was injured. I am predicting Zhang wins by some form of guillotine choke, which seems to be his favorite weapon so far.  Looks like Kongo vs Hunt should be a great kick boxing battle.  I cant wait to see all these great fights!

UFC 144 fight card:


Main Card:
Frankie Edgar (14-1) vs. Ben Henderson (15-2) [LW Title]
UFC® 144
UFC® 144
Mark Hunt (7-7) vs. Cheick Kongo (17-6-2)
UFC® 144
Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-4, 2 NC) vs. Jake Shields (26-6-1)
UFC® 144

Anthony Pettis (14-2) vs. Joe Lauzon (21-6)
UFC® 144

Yushin Okami (26-6) vs. Tim Boetsch (14-4)
UFC® 144

Hatsu Hioki (25-4-2) vs. Bart Palaszewski (36-14)
UFC® 144

Star-divide
Preliminary Card:
Takeya Mizugaki (15-6-2) vs. Chris Cariaso (12-3)
UFC® 144
Norifumi Yamamoto (18-5, 1 NC) vs. Vaughan Lee (11-7-1)
UFC® 144
Riki Fukuda (17-5) vs. Steve Cantwell (7-5)
UFC® 144
Takanori Gomi (32-8, 1 NC) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (18-7-2)
UFC® 144
Tiequan Zhang (15-2) vs. Issei Tamura (6-2)
UFC® 144




Image source: http://www.mmamania.com/2011/12/14/2634957/ufc-144-poster-for-edgar-vs-henderson-on-feb-26-in-japan

Benson Henderson Retires

After his loss to Usman Nurmagomdeov, Benson "Smooth" Henderson left his gloves in the middle of the Bellator cage after a long MM...