Tuesday, July 7 7:25 pm PT: Put another Olympic judo medalist on the Sengoku roster.
Hot on the heels of inking Japanese MMA golden child Satoshi Ishii last month, Sengoku parent company World Victory Road formally announced the signing of 2004 Athens Games judo silver medalist Hiroshi Izumi on Tuesday.
A native of Oma, Aomori -- a town that marks the most northern point on the island of Honshu -- the 27-year-old Izumi won gold at the World University Games in 2003 and immediately went on to international success in the 198-pound category.
Tuesday, July 7 5:10 pm PT: Brock Lesnar appears to still be having trouble deciding whether he is the best or worst interview in sports. Attempting to get inside his head for a substantial profile is difficult: He’s guarded, private and completely uninterested in being a media dinner plate.
That apathy doesn’t prevent him from coughing up an unending stream of quotable commentary. Listen to an interview with Larry Pepe and you’ll hear Lesnar A). Accuse Frank Mir of financial jealousy, B). Accuse Frank Mir of being scared of him, and C). Refer to Tim Sylvia as “Swamp Thing.”
Tuesday, July 7 3:00 pm PT: She's been both Smackgirl and Deep 106-pound champion. She's been a world sambo championships bronze medalist and an all-Japan Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion. She's been one of the biggest female stars of MMA. Now, Satoko Shinashi is a mother, too.
The 32-year-old Shinashi gave birth to her first child on Sunday in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The current Deep 99-pound champion's newborn son weighed in at five pounds, eight ounces.
Shinashi, who was married in November 2007, hasn't fought since last October when she armbarred Yukiko Seki in 92 seconds under the Deep banner. She then announced this past January that she was nearly four months pregnant and would naturally be taking time away from the ring. She expects to make a return to the ring later this December.
Tuesday, July 7 2:05 pm PT: Holly Madison, the genetically and surgically blessed star of E! television’s “Girls Next Door” series and one-time cuddle partner of Hugh Hefner, has circulated a press release announcing her peripheral participation during Saturday’s UFC 100 card: Madison will appear briefly as a ring card girl.
If you are the type of person to be excited by this news, you must live a wonderfully uncomplicated life.
While Madison rehearses this crucial task, it’s worth nothing that virtually none of the original eight fighters -- 10 if you count the alternates -- from 1993’s UFC 1 will be in attendance.
"I think Overeem is afraid of Brett,” Reilly told Fanhouse. “He's afraid of a big striker who is going to knock him out. ... I don't think anyone is going to admit that, but I'm not going to shy away from it. … I think Overeem was a good champion for Strikeforce when they were a smaller show…. if you are under 250 pounds right now, just forget about fighting Brett Rogers because all that is going to happen is that you are going to get your head spun around."
If there is anything to be learned after spending over a decade covering the sport, it’s that statements like these come back to haunt people with alarming regularity. Rogers is a tough guy with a great record, but if he continues to fight top competition, he’ll eventually lose -- just like everyone else.
Still, Reilly’s goal was probably to get his client some ink -- which he accomplished. Can’t argue with results.
Tuesday, July 7 11:31 am PT: As the world remembers the life of one of its greatest entertainers today, it seems like a fitting time for the sport to reflect on the loss of one of its own.
Included in the festivities surrounding the celebration of UFC 100 this weekend in Las Vegas, the promotion will induct the late Charles “Mask” Lewis into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Tuesday, July 7 8:55 am PT: In what has to be a first for a major promotion, Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem is set to defend a vaunted heavyweight title Aug. 15 on the undercard -- not the main event -- of the Cristiane Santos/Gina Carano-headlined Showtime telecast. His opponent will be Fabricio Werdum, who defeated Overeem via submission in 2006.
If Overeem feels slighted, he’s in good company: Carano/Santos is also trumping title matches between Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez and a possible belt for the winner of a Nick Diaz/Joe Riggs rematch. (If you’re wondering what Joe Riggs has done to possibly earn title contention of any sort, I’m with you.)
Purists are flinching at the fight order, but it’s fairly obvious that Carano/Santos is of more interest to casual outlets and fans than any of the other bouts. It’s also the only one that’s benefited from free broadcast television hype that started humming nearly a year ago. That means viewers: Undercard fighters should probably be happy they can enjoy the residual attention.
Tuesday, July 7 12:01 am PT: “Best” is subjective. Influential? Not so much. All this week on ESPN.com and Sherdog.com, we’re examining the fights that made a difference in how fans and fighters view the UFC’s Octagon.
Still a year away from finding the attention of a cable-surfing audience, the UFC was brutally short on true superstars: Tito Ortiz, mired in contract disputes, had just been spanked -- literally -- by Randy Couture, and there was no telling when the 40-something champion’s next fight would be his last.
Tuesday, July 7 12:00 am PT: As if three championship bouts weren’t enough, Strikeforce will introduce another title tilt for its Aug. 15 card at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
As reported by MMAWeekly.com on Monday, abrasive Stockton native Nick Diaz will face the equally quarrelsome Joe Riggs for promotion’s newly minted welterweight title. Sources have revealed to Sherdog.com that the promotion will unveil the bout later this week, but it is a done deal.
The rematch will undoubtedly pick right up from the hospital corridors where this oil-and-vinegar couple treated medical personnel to a gratis bonus round following their UFC 57 contest in February 2006 (Riggs persevered in the Octagon with a unanimous decision before going back for seconds).
A storyline this one doesn’t lack, but what worries me is mathematics. I hope Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and crew aren’t counting on quick turnarounds and have discussed logistics with Showtime for what is becoming a particularly lengthy night. With four title bouts touting the possibility of 25-minute durations, can this championship quartet play out on the presumed two-hour telecast? Will the show get an extra hour? Or will someone be booted to the undercard, and if so, who?
