After much drama and a revolving door of replacement fighters the first K1 Dynamite USA card has been finalized. I have taken a closer look at each fighter and offered my picks. Please feel to email your picks or flame me for the ones you don’t agree with (mike.squier@gmail.com).
Undercard Bouts
JZ Calvan (11 – 1 – 1) vs. Nam Phan (12 – 3 – 0)
On paper this is a fairly even match up but as most of us know records don’t count for much in MMA. JZ has faced the harder competition and recently won the K1 Hero’s Welterweight Tournament in 2006. The American Top Team fighter took out Rani Yahya and veteran Caol Uno on his way to the tournament win. Calvan is currently on a ten fight unbeaten streak with his last loss coming to PrideFC 160lb contender and Shooto champion Joachim Hansen.
Nam Phan has mainly fought in the smaller organizations across the United States. The K1 Dynamite card will indubitably be the largest stage Phan has fought on at this point in his career. Nam is coming off of a decision loss to Josh Thomson at the December Strike Force event and seems to come up short when he faces upper level opponents. Pham has also picked up losses against “Razor” Rob McCullough and Nick Ertl, with wins coming against nondescript competition.
JZ Calvan by Submission RD 2
Hideo Tokoro (17 – 11 – 1) vs. Brad “One Punch” Pickett (10 – 3 – 0)
Hideo Tokoro is a veteran of Rings, Shooto, ZST and K1, just to name a few. The 31 year old Tokoro is one of those Japanese fighters who has a less then stellar record but is very competitive and always puts on a great show. Hideo is a true test to any fighter with wins over Royler Gracie, Pequeno Nogueira and a draw against Royce Gracie. Tokoro has been defeated by the likes of Ivan Menjivar and Caol Uno among others. Hideo is very tricky on the ground and has a fairly decent stand up game that has given opponents trouble in the past.
Brad Pickett can be described in one word, “explosive”. He can win by KO or by submission and he can do it at any time, although most of his victories have come against lower level opposition. The UK native is a fan favorite in the Cage Rage organization and is looking to come off a disappointing decision loss to Alex Owen at Cage Rage 21. Pickett will be in tough against the Japanese MMA veteran and will have to use a quick pace and bring the fight to Tokoro if he hopes to get back on the winning track.
Tokoro by Unanimous Decision
Jake Shields (17 – 4 – 1) vs. Ido Parientes (4 – 2 – 0)
Jake Shields is ranked 9th in the world out of all 170lb fighters and has victories over Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami and the current number one lightweight in the world Hayato Sakurai. Shields has been very impressive since his last loss in 2004 at the hands of world class fighter Akira Kikuchi. Jake has gone 6 – 0 since that loss and he has not looked back. The only knock on Shields is that he is not a fighter that looks for a chance to finish the fight, most of his wins have come by decision with only two wins coming by the way of the knockout.
Ido Parientes is a Rumble on the Rock veteran with a limited experience when compared to his opponent. If Parientes can survive to take this fight the distance it will be an accomplishment unto itself.
Shields by Submission RD 1
Tim Persey (8 – 1 – 0 – 1 NC) vs. Jonathan Wiezorek (10 – 1 – 0)
Tim “Big Perm” Persey has been quietly building a promising career as a heavyweight in smaller MMA organizations and is coming off of two huge KO wins. Perm has been very active over the past year and will use this to his advantage as he tries to extent his KO win streak, which has reached five in a row. Persey has a ton of power but he could afford to come into his fights in better shape. If this fight goes past the first round look for Tim to gas out and leave himself open for a submission.
Jonathan Wiezorek has an impressive record and holds a win over MMA legend Dan Severn and has fought in the UFC where he viciously stopped Wade Shipp via strikes at UFC 47.His only loss came to IFL heavyweight king Ben Rothwell via TKO in 2004. Since then Jonathan is on a four fight win streak but has not fought in almost a year. I don’t think Persey will give Wiezorek time to shake off the ring rust when they lock horn on June 2nd.
Big Perm by KO RD 1
Johnnie Morton (0 – 0 – 0) vs. Bernard Ackah (1 – 0 – 0)
Johnnie Morton is better known as a star receiver for the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL. Since the end of his football career Morton has periodically trained in boxing and jiu jitsu. For the last ten months Morton has been training full time in anticipation of making his MMA debut and judging from his comments leading up to the fight he feels fit and ready. Being that this is Johnnie’s MMA debut it is hard to say how he will look in this fight and if he is cut out to be a fighter at all. The one intangible when it comes to Morton is his athletic ability. He has competed at a high level of athletics all his life and may be a natural when he steps in the ring.
Bernard Ackah is making his second appearance in the K1 ring on the June 2nd card. Ackah’s debut came on the March 2007 K1 Hero’s show against Shin Hyun Pyo in which he stopped his opponent in the first round via TKO. Ackah is extremely fit and will not likely give Morton much respect or space in their fight. If he has continued his training since his last fight I can see Bernard being successful against the debuting Morton
Ackah by TKO RD 2
Mighty Mo Siliga (1- 0 - 0) vs. Rubin “Warpath” Villareal (11 - 12 - 3)
Mighty Mo Siliga has one of the most powerful right hands in all of K1 and he has showcases this time and time again. Mo’s dynamite over hand right has knocked out Scott Lighty, François Botha and Hong Man-Choi just to name a few, but in his only MMA bout he showed some ground skills a picked up a win via armbar in the first round. Mo has a definite advantage in power which will only be enhanced with the use of 4oz MMA gloves.
Do you need a replacement fighter? Do you need someone to fight on ultra short notice? If sounds like you then you need to call Ruben “Warpath” Villareal. This perennial replacement will once again take up the call as he fills in for Korean Olympic medalist Choi Mu-Bae. Villareal is a tough fighter who has fought the best of the best, mostly on very short notice. Some of his opponents include Bas Rutten, Ricco Rodriguez and Antonio Silva. I really don’t see Warpath being prepared enough to even put up a serious challenge to Mighty Mo in this fight and will, more then likely, be stopped very early into the fight.
Mighty Mo by KO RD 1
Melvin Manhoef (16 – 3 – 1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (0 – 4 – 0)
Melvin Manhoef is one of those guys you really want to see fight top competition but unfortunately he never does. He has racked up wins against Ian Freeman, Crosley Gracie and Cyborg Santos to name some of the more noteworthy. A veteran of Cage Rage and K1 Hero’s, Manhoef will look to make a big impact with the American fans by adding to his 15 KO stoppages. Melvin will have a decided advantage in the striking department and should look to keep this fight off the mat as much as possible.
Dong Sik Yoon is a world class judokas and is a veteran of well over fifty international judo competitions. Unfortunately Yoon has not been very successful in his new found career as an MMA fighter. Since taking up the sport he has had four fights and he has had four losses. Granted all of his losses have come against the likes of Sakuraba, Rampage Jackson and Murilo Bustamante which shows he has only stepped into the ring with the best in the game. Yoon will look to stay out of Manhoef’s line of fire and take this fight to the ground where he can search for a submission.
Manhoef by KO RD 2
Brock Lesnar (0 – 0 – 0) vs. Min Soo Kim (2 – 5 – 0)
What can we say about Brock Lesnar that has not already been said? The man is a former WWE Champion and a NCAA Division One Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. This will be Lesnar’s first appearance in the MMA ring and he is hoping to make it a successful one. Brock began his MMA journey with Pat Miletich, but since then has been training out of Sean Sherk’s gym in Minnesota. Trainer Greg Nelson will have Brock in top shape when he enters the ring and, with this change of opponent, he has to be a favored to emerge with his first MMA victory.
Moo Soo Kim is a veteran on the K1 Hero’s organization have fought all seven of his fights under the FEG banner. Kim has fought some very big names in his short career and, as his record shows, he has lost a majority of those fights. The only strength that Kim brings into this fight is that he has a win over Sean O’Haire who is also a former WWE star. Kim will look to become the “pro wrestler hunter” but will probably emerge with the sixth loss of his career.
Lesnar by Submission RD 1
Kazushi Sakuraba (21 – 9 – 1 – 2 NC) vs. Royce Gracie (13 – 3 – 3)
After a great deal of speculation the Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie bout is on! Earlier in the week Sakuraba received two abnormal EKG tests and was called back for extensive testing this past Wednesday. After receiving a battery of tests the California State Athletic Commission cleared him to fight and gave North American MMA fans a chance to see this Japanese MMA legend fight on US soil.
Sakuraba and Gracie will look to repeat the legendary battle they had in the opening round of the PrideFC 2000 Grand Prix. In that fight this duo did battle for 90 minutes leaving Royce broken, beaten and forced to throw in the towel giving the victory to Sakuraba. Gracie left the sport for three years and Sakuraba went on to face some of the sports best, taking many one-sided beatings and further elevating himself to the status of national hero. Royce returned to the ring in 2003 and has gone 1 – 1 – 2 with his most recent fight being a very embarrassing beating at the hands of former 170lb king Matt Hughes.
These two legends are far past their prime but I have a feeling we will see a little bit of MMA magic in the ring on Saturday night. Both fighters have nothing to prove to the fan and everything to prove to themselves. Sakuraba has to prove that he still has enough left in him to beat the best known of all the Gracie family and Royce has to prove that Gracie Jiu Jitsu is still relevant in the next generation of MMA.
Royce is definitely the fresher of the two men but he has a style that is very one dimensional which made him very vulnerable to strikes in his fight with Matt Hughes. Sakuraba is not know for his striking ability but he could use this strategy to break down the 41 year old Gracie and make him quit once again or catch the BJJ master in a submission of his own. Royce on the other hand has one magic bullet to end this fight and that is by submission. All of Royce’s 13 wins have come by the way of tap out and I am sure we won’t see a spectacular KO win coming from the hands of this submission expert. When all is said and done this shadow of the original Kazushi Sakuraba has far too many tools for the one dimensional Royce Gracie to deal with. Sakuraba will come out of this fight with his 22nd victory and then, I hope and pray, will announce his retirement from MMA. These two proud warriors and true legends and North American fans should feel lucky to see these two men do battle for one final time.
Sakuraba by Split Decision
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