THE WEEK THAT WAS

Fighters of the Week:

1. Rashad Evans (UFC) - Finally shut Rampage up after surviving a third-round onslaught that would have taken out most men. Some said it was boring, but I, for one, am glad he's finally sticking to his wrestling instead of trying to K-1 everyone.
2. Nick Diaz (Dream) - Continued the embarassing Strikeforce domination of Pride with a first-round armbar of Mach Sakurai in the main event of Dream 14. Diaz has looked unstoppable lately.
3. Bryan Baker (Bellator) - The Beast continued his manaiacal rampage through the Middleweight Tournament in Bellator with a first-round triangle choke of Eric Schambari.
4. Hatsu Hioko (Shooto) - Retained his Featherweight Championship in the main event of Shooto: The Way of Shooto 3's main event by split decision.
5. Michael Bisping (UFC) - Dismantled Dan Miller in the semi-main of UFC 114. Will Bisping settle into a role of gatekeeper, or finally make a push to the top of the division?
6. Chiquerim Freire (Shooto) - In the semi-main of Shooto, Freire defeated Yusuke Endo to retain his Lightweight championship.
7. Alexander Schlemenko (Bellator) - Caused a knee injury of Jared Hess that moves him into the finals against the rolling death wagon known as Bryan Baker.
8. Hiroyuki Takaya (Dream) - Gains the biggest win of his career by TKO'ing the now very beatable Joachim Hansen in the first round.
9. John Hathaway (UFC) - Completely walked through an outclassed Diego Sanchez who didn't look comfortable at all at 170. This win moves him into the upper-mid echelon of welterweights.
10. Kid Yamamoto (Dream) - Kid gets a much-needed win and a much-needed explosive knockout over Federico Lopez.


Quote of the Week:

""A.S., Your run is T- 70 days. I'm not a math teacher from Ohio, I'm a gangster from Oregon. Talk is cheap, it takes money to buy whiskey." - Chael Sonnen

Upset of the Week:

Mike Russow def. Todd Duffee


Event of the Week:

Shooto: The Way of Shooto 3

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June 1-June 8

THE WEEK THAT WILL BE



[:: CFC 14 ::]
June 5
Big Top Stadium
Sydney, Australia
7:00

Notable Fights:
Brandon Cash vs. Jim York (HW #125)



[:: Pancrase: Passion Tour 5 ::]
June 5
Differ Ariake
Tokyo, Japan

Notable Fights:
Welterweight King of Pancrase Championship: Kengo Ura (c) (WW #139) vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya (WW #72)
Jorge Rodrigues vs. Satoru Kitaoka (LW #24)
Masaya Takita (FW #202) vs. Shigeyuki Uchiyama (FW #78)



[:: ROF 38: Ascension ::]
June 5
1st Bank Center
Broomfield, Colorado
7:30

Notable Fights:
Cat Albert (#35) vs. Christina Marks
Chaun Simms vs. Myeon Ho Bae (WW #79)



[:: DEEP: Cage Impact 2010 ::]

Notable Fights:
Un Sik Song (LW #204) vs. Yasuaki Kishimoto (LW #187)
Naoki Matsushita vs. Seichi Ikemoto (WW #167)
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Young Choi (MW #232)
Choi Doo Ho vs. Yusuke Kagiyama (FW #228)



[:: Shooto: Shooting Disco 12 ::]
June 6
Shinjuku Face
Tokyo, Japan

Notable Fights:

So Tazawa (BW #90) vs. Teriyuki Matsumoto
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Fighters I'm Rooting For This Week:

1. Jim York (Been saying he's one of the most underrated heavyweights in the world. So in an extremely weak week for fights, he gets the spotlight on him.)
2. Cat Albert (Fan of any high-ranked woman who can challenge for some titles in Bellator or Strikeforce.)
3. Satoru Kitaoka (As I'll say below, he's underrated and can be a challenger in Sengoku or Dream easily.)
4. Kengo Ura (There's a high amount of pride being a King of Pancrase, and I'm all for champions defending their crown.)
5. Chaun Simms (Hometown boy getting a fantastic opportunity against a ranked Korean opponent. Gotta root for that guy.)


Best Cards:

1. Pancrase: Passion Tour 5
2. DEEP: Cage Impact 2010
3. ROF 38
4. CFC 14
5. Shooto: Shooting Disco 12


Fights I'm Looking Forward To:

1. Brandon Cash vs. Jim York (I've always pulled for Jim York, as I feel he's one of the most underrated heavyweights in the world. Now he finally gets the main stage at CFC, the best Australian promotion there is, against a game opponent in Brandon Cash.)
2. Kengo Ura vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya (Being a King of Pancrase still has a high level of respect to it. These two are gonna fight it out to become one or to stay one.)
3. Jorge Rodrigues vs. Satoru Kitaoka (Kitaoka is pretty damned unheralded and could easily compete at a high level at either Dream and Sengoku easily.)
4. Cat Albert vs. Christina Marks (Always a fan of high-level women's fighting. See: Modaferri vs. LaRosa)
5. Chaun Simms vs. Myeon Ho Bae (Kudos to Ring of Fire for bringing in a high-level international talent like Myeon. I'm a fan of regional promotions having the stones to pony up and actually bring guys in from overseas. Kudos to them.)


In Closing:

Yeesh (tugs collar), what a barren week. I mean, good week for Japanese MMA, but I mean...damn. Maybe this is a good week to get some yardwork done...some renovating...visiting with family and friends...I dunno, SOMETHING?! The Spring of MMA steps off for a smoke break before becoming The Summer of MMA. Hang with me, it'll get better.