‘Japan’ Articles at Pro MMA Now, Page 10

Chad George’s “Road to Japan” blog day 6 – Typhoon!

October 20, 2009October 20, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Projekt Label fighter Chad “Savage” George (10-4) was recently invited to Japan to train with the camp of Japanese Shooto legend Rumina Sato. Being that Chad has a fight coming up on Nov. 14 against Greg Guzman at “Called Out MMA 2,” he saw this as the perfect opportunity to train with some of the top lighter weight fighters in the world, and as a special treat for us he is keeping a blog of his trip. Be sure to check back each day to see how things are going with Chad during this very unique experience.

Day 6

Today we were supposed to get up early and go running but the weather decided it didn’t want us to do that. Instead, we stayed in doors and listened to the Typhoon tear through Japan.

The major part of the storm was about two hours south and yet we still got hit hard with super crazy winds and heavy rain through the night. During the day we took a rest day. I got to wander the streets on my own for the day and do my own site-seeing. Kinda cool.

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Sengoku 11 fight spotlight: Jorge Santiago vs. Mamed Khalidov

October 18, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Mamed Khalidov vs. Jorge Santiago will fight at Sengoku 11 on Nov. 7. The event will air live on HDNet.

The past couple of weeks have been relatively slow with MMA action; but that was just so you could catch your breath for what is about to take place over the next couple of months. In about three weeks Sengoku 11 takes place at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. The event will air live here in the U.S. on HDNet.

There are a number of great fights on the card including Dave “Pee Wee” Herman vs. “Big” Jim York, Hatsu Hioki vs. Michihiro Omigawa, and more. However, the fight we are focusing on in this spotlight is the middleweight match-up between Jorge Santiago (21-7, #6 MW) vs. Mamed Khalidov (19-3-1).

Jorge Santiago is a top ten ranked middleweight and a veteran of such promotions as the UFC, Bodog, King of the Cage, Strikeforce, and Sengoku. Having won eight of his fights by (T)KO and 12 by submission, he is very well-rounded.

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Chad George’s “Road to Japan” blog day 5 – DREAM

October 17, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Day 5

Today we traveled to Yokohama to train with the Grand Slam Gym (BJ Kojima Shooto Bantamweight Champion) and to watch DREAM.

The day started out with us taking the train to Yokohama. Leaving Odawara wasn’t that bad or crowded. But once we got into the city, holy shit that train got packed. Like Osaka, Yokohama is a big fast-paced city with people cluttering the streets during the end of the work day.

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Chad George’s “Road to Japan” blog day 4 – hard training

October 16, 2009October 17, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Day 4

Today was rough. We woke up real late to recover from the long drive and didn’t get to the gym until around 2 p.m. to open it up. That didn’t stop us from having a hell of a training day. Today’s first session was sparring day. We did a warm up and then eight rounds of kickboxing with takedowns changing partners every round with 30 seconds rest in between.

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Chad George’s “Road to Japan” blog day 3 – Shooto in Osaka

October 15, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Day 3

Today we drove to Osaka for Shooto. Nothing like getting up at 4:30 a.m. for a seven hour drive.

We left the small town of Odawara and headed to the giant city of Osaka. During the drive we stopped off at some really cool rest stops that had really good food and some stuff to look around at and buy. I also got to see a glimpse of Mount Fiji!

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Chad George’s “Road to Japan” blog – day 2

October 13, 2009October 13, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

dscn0112 — Chad got to teach the children's wrestling class at Roots Gym.

Day 2

Today we woke up at 8:30 and met Rumina and a few others to go for the morning run. They do this run every other day. We start from Roots gym and jog three miles out. Then we reached this three-part stairway. We ran sprints from the bottom to the top. Once at the top we had the enjoyment of doing push ups and then right back down to do it again. When the sprints were over, we jogged back to the gym for more push ups and pull ups!

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Chad George’s “Road to Japan” blog – day 1

October 12, 2009October 12, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Photo: Sherdog - Projekt Label fighter Chad George is in Japan preparing for his upcoming fight.

DAY 1

Today is the first installment of my blog for the ROAD TO JAPAN. Today we finish out my last day of hard training here in Los Angeles with my team at the PKG Training Center. Stay tuned for day-to-day updates on my training camp and experience in Japan leading up to my fight November 14th! Thanks to Projekt Label and Inspirit USA we can share this experience with the world!

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Yokota knocks out Schultz, Nansen knocks out Izumi – Sengoku 10 notes and commentary

September 23, 2009September 23, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

“Sengoku: Tenth Battle” took place Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event aired live on HDNet here in the U.S. beginning at 2 a.m. CT / 12 a.m. PT.

The highlight of the night was Kazunori Yokota’s huge overhand right knockout of Team Quest’s Ryan Schultz midway through the first round. Schultz has dropped his last three bouts.

The main event also provided some nice fireworks between Olympic judo silver medalist Hiroshi Izumi and Muay Thai specialist Antz Nansen. It was the MMA debut for both fighters, and Izumi made the terrible mistake of trying to stand and trade strikes with Nansen.

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“Sengoku 11” card coming together for Nov. 7

September 13, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

“Sengoku – Eleventh Battle” is starting to gather a little momentum as more names are being associated with the Nov. 7 card to be held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. A new banner was released last week by the organization which has King Mo front and center. Rumor has it Mo could be fighting Kevin Randleman at the event. That would be a great match-up for the rising star. Randleman, who is also known for his great wrestling ability and athleticism, would arguably be Mo’s toughest test to date.

So far, the Sengoku website only officially lists three names for the event: Jorge Santiago, Michihiro Omigawa, and Kevin Randleman. However, with King Mo and other images on the banner, more names should be released soon.

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Ryo Chonan defeats Jutaro Nakao in “DEEP – 43 Impact” main event – Full Results

August 24, 2009August 24, 2009 by Jack Bratcher

Photo by: Sportsnavi - Ryo Chonan helps up Jutaro Nakao after destroying his leg (notice bruising) at "DEEP - 43 Impact." — Photo: Sportsnavi - Ryo Chonan helps up Jutaro Nakao after destroying his leg (notice bruising) at DEEP - 43 Impact.

On Sun., Aug. 23, 2009, Ryo Chonan made his homecoming to the Japanese DEEP organization by taking on Jutaro Nakao in the main event at “DEEP – 43 Impact” at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. In the first round, Chonan picked Nakao apart with powerful leg kicks. In rounds two and three, Chonan took Nakao to the canvas and used ground and pound attacks to grind out a unanimous decision. It was a sweet victory for Chonan who was released by the UFC following a loss to T.J. Grant back in April.

There were two titles on the line at “DEEP – 43 Impact.” Takafumi Otsuka upset the champ Dokonjonosuke Mishima by unanimous decision to take home the featherweight title, and in his first bantamweight title defense Masakau Imanari defeated Tomohiko Hori also by unanimous decision.

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