Friday, 24 May 2013 05:13

Over the past few years since we've been running LiverKick we've seen the highs and lows that come in the world of combat sports, Kickboxing and Muay Thai in particular. Something about 2013 just feels like a big year for both Muay Thai and Kickboxing, with there being no major scandals, a lot of great fights, great promoters, better fighters and an overall positive atmosphere. What better way to talk about the 2013 resurgence than to highlight what the fine folks at Yokkao have been doing over the past few years?

We aren't the only ones who have noticed, though, as your views and support of the Yokkao brand have absolutely been noted, most recently on their YouTube channel. Yokkao's YouTube channel is really a testament to how many muay thai fans there are across the world as it has recently surpassed the point of FIVE MILLION views. Five million. Don't believe me? Check out their YouTube channel and note that it's not up to 5,051,795 and counting. A cursory look at their videos shows that almost everything they post gets passed around and watched, it should also be noted that their stuff garners so much attention that when it's posted, it tends to lock up at around 300 views because of the flood of viewers for them. That is pretty damned impressive.

What better way to celebrate than to watch their latest video, which follows #5 70kg fighter in the world Dzhabar Askerov around for a day?

Friday, 24 May 2013 05:13

K-1 continues with their regional qualifying events this weekend as the K-1 WGP in Vilnius is set to go down on April 27th in Vilnius, Lithuania. The event features a number of Heavyweight and MAX qualifying fights, which will lead into a Qualifying tournament at some point in the near future. The event is headlined by a Superfight featuring Artur Kyshenko against Marcus Powell of the UK and features a pretty decent card, top-to-bottom.

For those that are interested in watching the show, it will be streamed on MMABushido.tv for 7.99 euros -- or about $10.40 USD -- Saturday afternoon. We'll have more on this event as it comes closer as well as results after the fights have gone down.

Friday, 24 May 2013 05:13

After announcing a lineup of planned participants for RISE 93 on June 9th, RISE has announced one of their biggest matchups to date, pitting their current 60kg champion Kosuke Komiyama against recently dethroned 63kg champ Yuki. Both men have flourished in RISE over the last couple of years, beating top foreign and domestic competition. Komiyama is currently one of the hottest fighters in Japan, riding a 9-fight win streak that includes winning and defending his RISE title and 3 straight wins in Shootboxing, two of which came over Shootboxing champions. His biggest win came in an albeit abbreviated fight over Sergio Wielzen, with Komiyama opening a cut over Wielzen's eye that forced the referee to stop the bout in the 1st. Until recently, he was LiverKick's 10th ranked Lightweight, but dropped out of the top 10 after the emergence of Yuki and Sun Hyun Lee. Despite just an 8-5 record since 2010, Yuki is LiverKick's 5th ranked Lightweight due to fighting one of the toughest schedules at the weight. He was RISE's first 60kg and 63kg champion and holds notable wins over Javier Hernandez, Koji Yoshimoto, Yuji Takeuchi and Yuto Watanabe, among others. He most recently competed in the Road to GLORY Japan 65kg Slam, defeating Mohan Dragon and Zen Fujita before falling to Masaaki Noiri in the finals. He also has a pair of losses to 4th ranked Lightweight Sun Hyun Lee, losing his RISE title in their most recent encounter.

I would peg Komiyama as the favorite here due to his hot streak and it being a very good style matchup for him. Yuki has struggled with more technical fighters, especially recently, falling to Masaaki Noiri and Sun Hyun Lee while needing a dramatic comeback to beat Yuto Watanabe. That being said, Komiyama has never faced anyone with Yuki's power, nor has he faced anyone with such ferocious leg kicks. The fight is only 3 rounds which favors Komiyama, as I doubt he'll be able to put away Yuki, who has tremendous heart. A win for either man is big and will probably determine if Yuki stays in the LiverKick top 10 or if Komiyama reenters. 

RISE also announced four other matchups, showcasing some of their 2012 RISING ROOKIES CUP winners. At 63kg, Lightweight winner Yuya Fujita will move up to 63kg to battle 4th ranked Shohei Asahara. Some may be quick to point out Asahara's 5-fight losing streak, but those losses have come in extension rounds to Koji Yoshimoto and Yuto Watanabe, close, one point losses to Yusuke Sugawara and Sun Hyun Lee, and most recently, a split decision loss to Sho Ogawa. Although he has not been able to win any of these fights, he has stayed competitive with top competition, so he is no pushover for Fujita, who has won 5 in a row, including a stoppage win over Motochika Hanada. At 60kg, Super Featherweight winner Masanobu Goshu, who has headlined back to back RISE ZERO cards, puts his undefeated record on the line against KING, who was stopped by Sho Ogawa in his last outing. At 55kg, Bantamweight winner Yuta Murakoshi looks to rebound from a loss to Seiya Rokukawa against Hikaru Fujikashi. Finally at 63kg, Super Lightweight winner Keisuke Niwa faces All Japan Karate champion Shunji Miyata. 

Friday, 24 May 2013 05:13

More information was revealed today about GLORY 9 New York, which takes place on June 22 in New York City at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Three super fights were added to the card and a few more light heavyweight (95kg/209lbs) tournament participants were revealed.

Starting off with the super fights, Daniel Ghita will be back in action, taking on Brice Guidon in a heavyweight fight. This is a fight between two fighters coming off losses to the elite, with Ghita losing to Gokhan Saki at GLORY 6, as well as losing to Semmy Schilt at GLORY 4, while Guidon also lost to Semmy Schilt at GLORY 4.

Joseph Valtellini, coming off his big win over Murat Direkci at GLORY 6, will be taking on Road to GLORY USA 77kg winner Francois Ambang in a welterweight (77kg/170lb) fight. Also in 77kg action, Road to GLORY USA 77kg finalist Brett Hlavacek will fight fellow American Paul Marfort.

The 95kg eight man, one night tournament taking place on the card added two new participants, with Koichi Pettas and Steve McKinnon joining the tournament field. They join Danyo Ilunga, Filip Verlinden, Mourad Bouzidi and Brian Collette, leaving two more spots left in the tournament.

Full details including how to buy tickets can be found here on GLORY's website.

Friday, 24 May 2013 05:13

A full poster of GLORY 9 New York, which takes place on June 22 in New York City at the Hammerstein Ballroom, appeared today. Previously we just had a small promo banner to work with. The full poster reveals even more American participants on the card:

Dustin Jacoby

Eddie Walker

Randy Blake

Brian Collette

Casey Greene

Brett Hlavacek

Paul Marfort

Francois Ambang