Details On Hardy's TNA Contract
Jeff Hardy actually signed a contract with TNA over a week ago. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but TNA officials are asking for roughly...
Fight recap: Fighters trade low kicks to begin the round. Noiri is aggressive with his attack but Hiroya is composed. Noiri clips Hiroya with a right hand and follows up with a big left knee that staggers him. Smelling the blood, Noiri piles on and finishes the round on an emphatic note. Noiri continues his attack in the second round -- while Hiroya is busier than in the first, he stays on the defensive, not being able to piece together combinations. Hiroya starts settling into his groove in the third but Noiri remains relentless.
3. K-1 KOSHIEN 2009 Semi-Finals: Shota Shimada def. Katsuki Ishida via majority decision (draw, 30-29 x 2)
Fight recap: Shimada enjoys a sizable height and reach advantage. He controls the distance well, keeping Ishida at the end of his punches and countering with knees and kicks to the midsection. Ishida begins the second round with a nice punching combination. His hands are starting to find the target. High work rate from both fighters in the third round: They trade combinations in the center and corner of the ring. Shimada clinches a very close fight with a more diverse repertoire of strikes.
4. Super Hulk Tournament finals: Minowaman def. Sokoudjou via TKO, R3
Fight recap: Minowaman breaks a lengthy stalemate with a takedown attempt. Sokoudjou defends well, ends up on top in half guard. He ends up on top again after another botched takedown attempt by Minowaman and starts a ground-and-pound attack. Minowaman goes for a@leg lock but Sokoudjou escapes. Sokoudjou takes Minowaman's back and looks for rear naked choke. Minowaman attempts an inverted heel hook@while Sokoudjou keeps a tight body triangle. A very staid second round with Sokoudjou content to maintain top control and Minowaman looking for his signature leg lock. Minowaman locks in a knee bar at the very end of the round. After two yellow cards were issued for inactivity@in the third round, Minowaman puts on an exclamation with a huge right hand and left hook. A crowd of 37,000 is in rapture.
5. K-1 (Heavyweights): Ray Sefo def. Yosuke Nishijima via unanimous decision
Fight recap: Nishijima is wearing shoes and thus not allowed to kick. Sefo throws a couple of leg kicks and several flurries of wild punches in the first round. He hurts Nishijima with a left hook toward the end of the round. Nishijima comes alive in the second round as he looks more fleet-footed and active with his hands. Sefo lands a spinning back kick and staggers Nishijima with a right hand. Sefo begins the third round with a short, right hook that drops Nishijima. Both fighters trade punches in the center of the ring and Sefo continues to land effective shots.
6. K-1 KOSHIEN 2009 Finals: Masaaki Noiri def. Shota Shimada via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Fight recap: Noiri lands a right straight and continues to move forward with attack. Shimada is in constant motion, returning fire with crisp counters. A very even first round with constant, back-and-forth action. Shimada continues to move laterally and counter. Noiri maintains his momentum and knocks down Shimada with a big combination of right hand and knee toward the end of the second round. Shimada comes alive in the third round but Noiri shows no sign of slowing down.
7. DREAM vs. SRC (Light Heavyweights): Hiroshi Izumi def. Katsuyori Shibata via unanimous decision
Fight recap: A lengthy feeling-out process on the feet with both fighters' pawing with tentative strikes. Shibata opens up with hands and knees with two minutes left but Izumi remains unhurt. Moderately paced action unfolds on the feet in the second round. Izumi lands a nice right hand, Shibata clinches and Izumi tries to brawl out with a flurry of short punches. Izumi shoots for a takedown for the first time and drags the fight to the ground in the corner. Izumi works from the half guard but Shibata scrambles back to feet. More striking exchange in the third round with Shibata's landing the more effective shots. Izumi staggers Shibata with a flurry of punches with less than two minutes left. Shibata goes for a body lock and Izumi takes the dominant position on the ground. The tide has turned, and Izumi hammers away with short punches from the mount position until the end.
8. DREAM vs. SRC (Featherweights): Michihiro Omigawa def. Hiroyuki Takaya via TKO, R1
Fight recap: Two immediately come out with punches. Omigawa clinches and attempts a judo throw in the corner but Takaya defends well. Omigawa is accurate with his punches while Takaya looks unable to pull his trigger. The striking exchange ends as Omigawa dropsTakaya with a right cross. Omigawa swarms in as Takaya turtles up.
9. DREAM vs. SRC (Welterweights): Akihiro Gono def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai via submission (arm bar), R2
Fight recap: Two trades kicks to begin the opening frame. Tentative striking exchange continues and Sakurai periodically leaps forward with one-two punching combos. Sakurai lands a nice right hand as Gono overcommits on his strike. Gono scores a takedown with 70 seconds left in the round. Sakurai contains Gono in half guard. Gono tries to pass to side control but the round runs out. More striking exchange in the second round. Gono catches Sakurai's kick and secures a takedown with ease. Gono works for a crucifix position from the side control. In one fell swoop, he straddles over Sakurai and leaps into a slick arm bar! Sakurai is forced to tap.
10. DREAM vs. SRC (Lightweights): Melvin Manhoef def. Kazuo Misaki via TKO, R1
Fight recap: Both fighters looking for an opportunity to explode. Misaki wings a left hook and flying knee kick. Manhoef takes one home for team DREAM with his signature blitzkrieg of punches. He drops Misaki with a series of hooks and the referee saves the fighter formerly known as "Grabaka hitman" from further lethal damage.
11. DREAM vs. SRC (Featherweights): Hideo Tokoro def. Jong-Man Kim via unanimous decision
Fight recap: Tokoro lands the first effective strike of the match with a jumping knee. Tokoro is in constant motion and mixes up a nice array of strikes high and low. The fighters briefly engages in a high-octane striking exchange. Tokoro jumps into flying triangle from clinch and attempts a transition into arm bar. Kim perseveres but Tokoro persists with another arm bar attempt. Kim again spins out. Kim's eyes and face are swollen and the Korean special forces member is starting to slow down in the second round. Tokoro remains fleet-footed and avoids most of Kim's punches. Kim drops Tokoro with a big right hand in the third round. The tide turns momentarily as Kim takes Tokoro's back. Tokoro spins out, moves to side control and attempts another arm bar but loses position. A valiant striking exchange in the closing frame: Tokoro batters Kim with a series of hooks and knees. Tokoro attempts to secure dominant position and transition into submission in the dying seconds of the fight.
12. DREAM vs. SRC (Lightweights): Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kazunori Yokota via uanimous decision
Fight recap: Yokota goes for a takedown but Kawajiri ends up on top. After a brief scramble Kawajiri again ends up on top and works from Yokota's full guard. Yokota scrambles back to feet after attempting a "wheelbarrow escape technique" and briefly giving up his back. Kawajiri picks Yokota off the ground and Yokota tries to escape via "wheelbarrow technique" yet again. Kawajiri moves into mount but unable to capitalize on the position. Kawajiri drives Yokota into corner and gets a takedown to start off the second round. Yokota scrambles back to feet. Kawajiri gets another takedown and wages a war of attrition, moving back and forth from rear naked choke attempt and mount. He transitions to arm triangle choke attempt. Yokota escapes but Kawajiri's onslaught continues. Kawajiri again moves into mount upon successful takedown attempt in the third round. Yokota tries to wriggle out from the bottom but Kawajiri remains tenacious with top control. Yokota continues to try scrambling out and Kawajiri locks in an arm bar. Kawajiri rolls out and clamps his legs around Yokota's neck to tighten the hold but Yokota refuses to tap. Time finally runs out as Yokota's elbow is hyperextended to breaking point.
13. DREAM vs. SRC (Featherweights): Masanori Kanehara def. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto via unanimous decision
Fight recap: Kid comes guns blazing with punches. He briefly rocks Kanehara with a right hook. Kanehara obliges with counter punch and knee and lands a right hand that momentarily buckles Kid. Both test the water on the feet but nothing solid lands. Kanehara scores a takedown and attempts to pass Kid's guard. Kid ties up Kanehara's arms fromthe bottom. The second round starts with tentative exchanges on the feet. Kanehara briefly attempts an arm bar when the fight hits the mat but the action returns to feet. Kanehara knocks Kid down with a body shot. Kanehara looks to pass to mount on the feet but works from Kid's half guard. Round two ends as the two struggle to advance the action on the mat. Kanehara works his right counter to start the third round. Fans are anxious for the fighters to pull the trigger. Kid drops Kanehara with a left hand and attempts guillotine choke with less than a minute left. The fight ends with vigorous striking exchange from both fighters.
14. SRC (Heavyweights): Hidehiko Yoshida def. Satoshi Ishii via unanimous decision
Fight recap: , Yoshida puts on a MMA clinic against the MMA debutant, Satoshi Ishii in the first round. Landing a big right hand to Ishii's jaw, Yoshida batters the younger judoka with knees and uppercuts from the clinch. A painful lowblow from Ishii forcedsa lengthy pause of action but Ishii starts to loosen up and settle into his groove in the second and third round; however, he fails to pick up the slack from the first round and Yoshida walked away with a unanimous decision. 15. DREAM vs. SRC (Heavyweights): Alistair Overeem def. Kazuyuki Fujita via KO, R1
Fight recap: Fujita circles around. Overeem attempts the same close-quarter knee kick he used to knock out Ewerton Teixeira out cold but noly lands. Then comes a huge left knee that shuts Fujita's light out. Another quick victory for the Ubereem: Time for him to face top tier competition.
16. DREAM vs. SRC (Lightweights): Shinya Aoki def. Mizuto Hirota via technical submission (hammerlock), R1
Fight recap: Aoki goes for a single-leg and puts Hirota down on the mat in the corner. Aoki controls Hirota's arm and peppers Hirota with short punches. Aoki moves to mount while wrenching Hirota's arm behind him. Hirota tries to wriggle free in vain. Aoki then takes Hirota's back and continues to wrench the arm. The ref steps in as Aoki leaves Hirota's arm limp and lifeless. 17. DREAM (Heavyweights): Gegard Mousasi def. Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge via TKO, R1
Fight recap: Mousasi easily secures a double leg takedown. He easily takes a dominant position on Goodridge and starts unloading punches. Mousasi looks comfortable in top position and after another spate of punches, the referee halts the action to save "Big Daddy" from unnecessary punishment.
18. Main event (Masato's farewell match): Masato def. Andy Souwer via unanimous decision
