This can either be taken as me being either super efficient or outrageously lazy. But this site needs an update and there has been a deluge of mma news/fight announcements/fight cancellations and other goings on in the wild and crazy world of mixed martial arts.I was thinking of doing a link post, cuz hey man everyone else is doing it. But I will just stick to my regular weekend picks post along with an in depth look at all silly side incidents around the event.

Dream.15 Weigh in photo from Sherdog.com

Shinya Aoki (70 kg / 154.3 lbs) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (70 kg / 154.3 lbs)
Katsunori Kikuno (70 kg / 154.3 lbs) vs. Gesias Cavalcante (70 kg / 154.3 lbs)
Gegard Mousasi (93 kg / 205 lbs) vs. Jake O’Brien (did not weigh in; reportedly still cutting)
Tatsuya Mizuno (92.5 kg / 203.9 lbs) vs. Melvin Manhoef (90 kg / 198.4 lbs)
Michihiro Omigawa (64.8 kg / 142.9 lbs) vs. Young Sam Jung (64.8 kg / 142.9 lbs)
Mitsuhiro Ishida (65 kg / 143.3 lbs) vs. Daiki Hata (65 kg / 143.3 lbs)
Kazuhiro Nakamura (83.8 kg / 184.7 lbs) vs. Karl Amoussou (83.5 kg / 184 lbs)

Aoki’s comments on his opponents physique has put him on the spot at the moment.

Kawajiri: “I don’t really like to take a look at men’s bodies, so I didn’t really look at him. He said he’ll surprise the fans. I’ll make sure ours will be a shocking fight,”

Aoki: “I like both men and women. His body is a nice body, and if we both fight with men’s spirit, we can have a fight that everyone wants to see.”

A fight that was first seen as a battle that would answer the question of who is Japans best lightweight has turned into an awkward look at a fighters sexual orientation.

If that wasn’t silly enough, poor Ricco Rodriguez who was rumored to fight Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem. What took place resembled a period peice comedy of errors more than matchmaking for a major mma promotion.

“During my training I found out that Andrei Arlovski was not going to be my opponent, and they changed opponents numerous times. I’ve heard names like Tim Sylvia and Minowa. At one point, I received notice that they had found a opponent but that the Dream heavyweight title was not on the line anymore. With all the changes and the title fight no longer a possibility, I simply had to turn down the opportunity.

“The next day, I immediately took a flight to San Jose to hype up my possible fight against the winner of Fedor Emelianenko or Fabricio Werdum. I then heard rumors that Dream had booked me in a fight against Ricco Rodriguez. I want to make it very clear that I never verbally agreed to fight him and I never signed a contract with Dream to fight him. I feel very sorry for Ricco Rodriguez’s camp if they still think the fight is on, and I apologize to my fans that have bought a ticket to see me compete. I hope this statement has shed some light on the unfortunate situation.”

The fun doesn’t end there for Rodriguez, after UFC vet and Dream light heavyweight tournament competitor Jake O’Brian failed to make the 205 pound weight limit. Dream turned to Ricco to take his place against Gegard Mousasi.

Shenanigans squared

And yes, this is the tournament that was actually my first article on theclinch.net evar! The event went from the standard 16 man tournament to 8 and now a paltry 4. Consisting of just Mousasi, Manhoef, O’Brian and some guy named Tatsuya Mizuno. Now that all the known drama has been noted lets get to the picks.

Main Event: Dream Lightweight Title Bout

Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

This will be Aoki’s chance to show if he has improved since his unanimous decision loss to Strikeforce Champ Gilbert Milendez. Granted it was his first fight in a cage and this will be contested in the ring. But Crusher Kawajiri has the same wrestler/boxer style that seemed to give Aoki fits. Since his loss Shinya actually spent some time over at Ceasar Gracies gym to improve his game. It would be awesome to see if he has some new tricks up his sleeve. That being said I still see his static cling grappling game getting nullified by a more athletic fighter and Aoki losing his belt.

Crusher via crushing TKO

Dream Light Heavyweight Tournament: Opening/Semi Final Round

Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O’Brien

Just like the Aoki/Kawajiri title fight, the main question in this fight is whether Mousasi has learned to avoid or get up from takedowns. Lucky for him O’Brien is a huge step down in actual wrestling talent.

Mousasi – via sub

Tatsuya Mizuno vs. Melvin Manhoef

Manhoefs chin issues aside, he should be able to bully and terrorize Mizuno for an exciting first round stoppage.

Manhoef – via Savagery

Gesias Cavalcante vs. Katsunori Kikuno

JZ is a beast shares many similarities with current UFC Light Heavyweight champ Shogun Rua. His muay thai based stand up is nasty, he also possesses underrated ground game and is injury prone like nobody’s business. Surprisingly enough Kikuno is a contemporary of former UFC lhw champ Lyoto Machida with his modified for mma kyokushin karate striking, namely his liver piercing crescent kick. Ring rust aside Cavalcante has this fight in the bag, unless JZ gets hyptonized by Kikuno’s creepy chesire grin and gets owned like Andre Dida.

JZ – via Sub

Michihiro Omigawa vs. Young Sam Jung

Poor Sam Jung, the man is brought in for a good old fashioned Japanese fighter over Korean can crushing. Seeing as its Michihiro “I hold a BS decision win over Marlon Sandro” Omigawa I will hope it blows up in his face. But I am not completely delusional.

Omigawa – via boring decision

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daiki “DJ.taiki” Hata

Kawajiri’s teammate Ishida should be able to take this. Lets hope that Hata at least makes it exciting/gives up his back and gets Ishida-plexed.

Ishida – via UD

Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Karl “Psycho” Amoussou

Nakamura is going to get blitzed by a frenchman.

Amoussou – via living up to his nickname

Maybe the guy in the corner knows something we don't?

Photo from Sherdog.com

I can’t get enough of this KO, not only does it herald Sandro as one of the elite fighters of the featherweight division. It is just one damn beautiful to behold. Marlon Sandro is the new Sengoku featherweight champion.

From Middleeasy.com

Seeing as how his only loss was a very questionable decision from biased Japanese judging, you could argue it as highly dubious.

Bloody Elbow has a write up of this win and Sandro’s stunning metamorphosis from solid featherweight to nightmarish finisher who just may be the best in the world at 145. That being said he needs to come to the WEC to prove it, even though WEC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo is his campmate. Depending on whether one of the two change weight classes, it may be best for them to rule their roost from different orgs.

Some good news has been released in regards to Jared Hess and his freak knee injury from Alex Shlemenko at Bellator 20.

First a brief write up on the nature of the human knee and pic of the injured, disappointed, but still game fighter from Sherdog.com.

The human knee is beautifully designed for the majority of what man has asked of it in the last 500,000 years. The simple structure is near ideal for following the perambulations of migrating antelope or fleeing predation from the alpha predators primitive man evolved among. However, as Jared Hess demonstrated in his bout with Alexander Shlemenko last Thursday at Bellator 20, the dynamics of an MMA fight can far exceed what nature designed the knee to endure.

The knee joint is composed of the long bone of the femur resting on the relatively flat plateau of the tibia (the primary bone of the lower leg). The femoral condyles transmit the weight of the body to the smooth, cartilage-covered menisci of the tibia. The patella, or kneecap, is not truly a component of the joint. The joint is bound tightly together by four ligaments, which are small bands of dense connective tissue. Within the deep notch of the femur, “crossing” from anterior to posterior, and vice versa, run the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments.

To either side of the joint, providing stability against forces applied to the sides of the knee, are the medial and lateral collateral ligaments. It was one of these, the LCL, that Hess felt give way in the first takedown of the first round, well before anyone but the fighter and the referee noticed anything amiss.

While I did suspect that the knee was damaged earlier in the fight, I was incorrect in blaming the 2nd round heel hook. But Hess was trying to avoid Shlemenko’s stand up game for obvious tactical reasons. Here is the view of the fight and current situation from the figthter himself, interview via MMA Junkie.

Hess after tko (knee injury) loss at Bellator 20

“The thing is I really didn’t even feel it at the time,” Hess stated in the announcement. “I don’t know if it was my adrenaline, but all I could think about was trying to finish that guy.”

Hess assures fans that the injury is not as bad as it looks in pictures, though doctors say it will take him four to six months to recover.

“I had a chance to watch it on TV after the fight, and I think it really looked a lot worse than it is,” Hess said. “It’s a bad tear, but the three other ligaments (the ACL, the PCL and the MCL) are all fine.”

…

Hess, who now lives in San Diego, is optimistic that he’ll pick up where he left off when he gets healthy. When he does, he wants a chance to avenge the Shlemenko loss. (The Russian now advances to the season-two finals).

“The thing I’m most upset about is that, in my eyes, I was winning that fight,” Hess stated. “I’d love to get a rematch with [Shlemenko] once I come back.”

Rebney said he’s more than happy to welcome Hess back.

“Jared Hess is really a throwback to the kind of warrior mentality that existed long ago,” Rebney stated. “I can’t say enough about the character that Jared displayed in our cage last week. Immediately after his knee buckled and the referee forced Jared to sit down, he turned to me and started asking me to step in and tell the referee that he should be allowed to finish the fight.

We here at The Clinch wish Hess a speedy and complete recovery.

Last nights Bellator 20 had one of the most gruesome injuries in recent memory. Last season finalist from the middleweight tournament Jared Hess squared off against Elite XC vet Alexander Shlemenko for another shot at 185lb champ Hector Lombard. After dominating the first two rounds with wrestling and sub attempts in efforts to stifle the Russian striker. The 3rd round had Shlemenko desperately looking to finish by trying to time Jared’s takedowns with a knee. The plan worked but not necessarily the way anybody wanted or expected it to.

As Schlemenko connected with the knee Hess buckled awkwardly and crumpled putting his weight on his left knee, dislocating it. Head over to Middle Easy to see a slo motion gif of the horror.

Upon re-watching the fight I think Schlemenko’s 2nd round heelhook may have been the begining of the end of Hess’s knee.

Shoguns Manager and translator Eduardo Alonso breaks down the Machida strategy. By slightly augmenting the pattern from the first fight with the previously established leg kicks. Rua’s camp reviewed tape on the initial bout to look for more openings. By adding a more pervasive boxing offense coupled with low kicks and Shoguns criminally underrated high guard defense, Machida was given no quarter to operate his standard counter striking, the linchpin of his once perfect record.

Goes to show anybody can be defeated, no matter how reportedly invincible they may be.

From Sherdog,

A rematch of last Saturday’s UFC 112 lightweight championship tilt between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn is looking likely for late summer or fall.

Representatives in both fighters’ camps told Sherdog.com on Tuesday that UFC officials have approached both sides to lock down a second bout between the lightweight fighters. No date or venue has been solidified yet. Edgar earned a unanimous decision over Penn at UFC 112 on April 10 in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., to become the promotion’s lightweight champion.

Edgar’s victory, which delivered Penn his first loss in the 155-pound division since 2002, did not come without controversy. Both the media and fans were split on the bout’s outcome, as the 28-year-old New Jersey fighter was awarded 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 scores in a tight contest some thought Penn had won.

Whats good for the Brazilian geese is good for the American gander it seems. I was hoping there were going to let BJ tear up some lightweights and work his way back to the title putting on matches with guys who would never work their way to the belt to face him otherwise, Gomi, Guillard, Tyson Griffin etc. But with a fight so close and controversial a rematch was never that far fetched of a possibility.

I wonder whenever there is a close fight that gets a rematch, but was scored as a unanimous decision by the judges, is there any repercussions for the athletic commissions for getting it wrong. A unanimous decision as far as I’m concerned says that there is no question who won and that was not the case for the fight. With Doug Crosby the judge who scored the fight 50-45 in Edgars favor now trolling internet forums in defense of his decision. You have to start wondering if it was the right decision at all.

But I guess that’s the question the rematch will answer…I hope.