Bleacher Report - Articles by Fortun Kimura

Alistair Overeem on a K-1 Fighters Killing Spree

Fortun Kimura — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:17:25 -0400

He submitted Mark Hunt, the fastest fat man in the world. He destroyed Mirko Crocop one of the most celebrated strikers in MMA. He knocked out Bad Hari, the badboy of K-1 (kickboxing). He signlehandedly destroyed a Subway sandwich (ok, so I was hungry when I wrote this).

Now he seems set to invade K-1 with his upcoming duel against Remy Bonjasky (Yes, the guy that got illegally stomped in a kickboxing match against Badr Hari), imagine what Alistair Overeem will do to him.

But it's not that simple. We do have to take into account the fans who believe Remy Bonjasky is a much more skilled kickboxer than the late Badr Hari (late as in he got killed by Overeem). Not to mention Badr is a very careless fighter, even against Remy he was getting pummeled due to his careless streetfighting style.

Badr did not believe an MMA fighter could beat him at his own game, but he was overpowered, outskilled, and knocked out by Overeem, a fighter in MMA circles always regarded as a skilled striker, that is until he gassed.

The question remains, will Remy Bonjasky face the same fate? Of course, he's doomed! It's "OverKill Overeem!" Some will lead you to believe in pure striking size doesnt matter, but when you're as skilled and as fast as Overeem, it takes a little less work to destroy your opponent. All things being equal the bigger, stronger man will win.

I am leaving out the slight possibility that Overeem will gas, Remy will Machida him (yes I said it its a word now) and the whole thing will end with Alistair Overeem cowering in the corner trying to figure out how a skinny dude like Remy defeated him. But what are the chances of that happening, right?

We will find out at the K-1 World GP 2009 in Yokohama, Japan on March 28.

Ken Shamrock to Welcome Kimbo Slice to the World of Pro MMA

Fortun Kimura — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:13:58 -0400

Yes, friends. Once again I side with the experienced, the legendary, and yet the underdog fighter. But those are not the only reasons I pick Ken Shamrock to win. Let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of both fighters:

Ken Shamrock's advantages are his wrestling ability, submission ability, and a great wealth of experience more than his opponent, Kimbo Slice. But, then again, Shamrock has lost by KO or TKO in his last five fights within the first few minutes of the first round. If that's not the sign of a career in decline, I don't know what is.

Slice's advantages include most likely better striking ability, he's younger, and he believes he's "a little squirrel in this big world trying to get a nut." So, you see, Slice has all the key advantages. His disadvantages include any type of ground fighting and conditioning, both of which could have been slightly decreased due to Bas Rutten's tutelage.

It seems like Slice has the upper-hand, doesn't it? But we also have to look at what we're watching. That is to say, this is a fight between a striker and a submission fighter, and any Gracie can tell you ground inexperience is not something to take lightly. Now, with the addition of Slice gassing out (fatiguing), this gives Shamrock a good chance.

I predict Shamrock will wrestle Slice to the ground and win the fight via submission. I also predict a very angry EliteXC, as well as tons of friendly comments about my article. Good day.

MMA Open-Weight Tournament: Why not?

Fortun Kimura — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:55:30 -0400

The human body has its limits and towards each extreme there are advantages and disadvantages. For example take a look at Olympic Weightlifters. The little guys lift much more in comparison to their bodyweight than the big guys. Does this mean the big guys are lazy? No, they’re only human.

To understand why fans will ask for an Open-Weight Tournament you have to look at the cultural meaning of martial arts. A martial art is more than just self-defense. It represents the Bruce Lee-like little guys who have the ability to be victorious over stronger and bigger opponents.

While the early-UFC showed the little guy, Royce Gracie, forcing fighters twice his size to submit, today’s MMA has evolved. The big guys don’t just depend on their strength. They also have skills comparable or even exceeding that of smaller opponents; just take a look at Fedor Emelianenko, who many see as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.

The important aspects of MMA can be argued to be: speed, strength, technique, and conditioning. Which one is the most important? Conditioning followed by technique then speed and lastly strength (Speed and strength can be reversed, but in truth a slow punch or a slow attempt at a submission is not going to get anyone anywhere).

So you see, as the importance of an aspect decreases, its correlation to a large fighter increases. With equal skill a bout between a small fighter and a large fighter could theoretically end up being a long fight. But this is only speculation. Or is it?

C.B. Dollaway, granted he is only one weight class below “Rampage” Jackson, submitted him in a playful (or was it?) grappling match. http://www.spike.com/episode/27334/st/2981044

The question pops up of what would happen if two skilled opponents of different weight-classes really fought?

Lets take a look at the Pride Open-Weight Tournament. A true display of skill was seen when Wanderlei Silva a Light-Heavyweight defeated Kazuyuki Fujita, a heavyweight. Yes, the same Fujita who rocked the great Fedor Emelianenko. But again there was only one weight class difference between the two.

Ah, but I will trump thee with the Penn. B.J. Penn to be exact. BJ Penn has fought in weight classes as low as 155lbs and as high as the light heavyweight 205lbs, putting up an impressive fight against UFC’s future Light-Heavyweight contender in Lyoto Machida.

Now before you start screaming vulgarities at the computer screen, I want you to think about what it means to be in any specific weight class. Is Brock Lesnar really a heavyweight if he cuts 30 lbs to reach the 265lb maximum? Or what about Thiago Alves who reportedly walks around at 205lbs and cuts to 175lbs? Or even the overprotected Anderson Silva?

But what about those guys who really do belong to a very light weight class? Well I’m definitely not proposing Miguel Torres fight the likes of Hong Man Choi. All I want to know is who the best fighter is. Is that too much to ask for?

Brock Lesnar: Just Another Big Wrestler

Fortun Kimura — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:40:16 -0400

Lately everyone, including myself, have thought, “Oh, god, Randy Couture is gonna die.”

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Couture’s less-than-impressive 16 wins, 8 losses record says very little about the champion. For a fighter that has come back at an age when many fighters would end their careers, Couture has only learned from his losses, and has finally begun to shine.

Brock Lesnar on the other hand, has merely had the surprising wins that most over-sized MMA fighters have had early in their career, before succumbing to true martial artists.

Brock Lesnar’s fight with Heath Herring was a fluke in the nicest way of the word. In fact, Heath Herring has recently said he would like a rematch with Lesnar. What happened in that fight was a lucky punch Herring never saw coming, that in turn, hurt Herring for the rest of the “beating.” Herring never attempted anything in that fight other than defending himself.

Now for those of you who still doubt me, I want to point out that Herring, while being a good fighter, never reached the status of the “Elite”; characterized by fighters such as Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, Fedor Emelianenko, and Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic, in the late Pride FC organization.

Herring’s greatest attribute and road to fame comes from his experience fighting these “Elite” fighters.

The commentators were right; we didn’t know what Lesnar was going to do because we hadn’t seen him fight before. But now that we have, it should be a fairly straightforward fight for Randy Couture.

It’s not going be easy, just like Gabriel Gonzaga wasn’t easy or Tim Sylvia wasn’t easy. Those two fighters combined have the physical attributes and much more technical skill than Lesnar, yet they lost to “The Natural.”

So, is Lesnar a different type of monster? No, he’s the same as Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, Kevin Randleman, and any other fighter whose physique would make a mere mortal tremble with fear at the thought of stepping in the ring with them.

The truth is, this is an epic match, rarely seen since Bas Rutten, a very skilled striker, fought Kevin Randleman, a monster of a wrestler. These epic fights are usually what the great Fedor is known for. I equate Bas with Couture because Bas was the veteran champ against Randleman just like Couture is the veteran champ against Lesnar.

If "The Natural" really is a challenger to "The Last Emperor's" throne, he will skillfully dispose of golden boy Lesnar.

Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar for Heavyweight Title

Fortun Kimura — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:21:54 -0400

That's right, folks. The unthinkable has happened. UFC has just announced Randy Couture's return to the organization. He will be defending his UFC Heavyweight Title on Nov. 15 at UFC 91 against none other than Brock Lesnar, the golden boy who impressed everyone with his domination of Heath Herring.

It seems the UFC is doing the same thing as EliteXC in promoting any fight possible as long as their most famous fighter was in it. And he is. Brock Lesnar is one fight away from calling himself the UFC Heavyweight Champion. Lesnar will first have to get past a true Champion and master of game plans in Randy Couture.

As for the fans who are thinking "WTF?! What about Nogueira?" The UFC proposes that fans think of it as a Heavyweight Tournament, where the winner of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir will fight the champion of Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar.

Also in the agreement is a somewhat unclear promise of making the Fedor vs. Couture fight happen. This can only mean a future co-promotion between the UFC and Affliction.

Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Hiromitsu Miura: Masters of Clinch Fighting

Fortun Kimura — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:00:24 -0400

The clinch is an often overlooked aspect of fighting that is just as important as stand-up and ground-fighting. With the widespread use of the sprawl, weak ground fighters with amazing sprawl abilities have been able to distance themselves from wrestlers and dish out punishment in the stand-up. Just take a look at Mirko Cro Cop's career.

But there is one way a skilled wrestler can almost always bring a striker into their world: the clinch. And nobody does it better than Randy Couture.

Randy Couture is a person who will take a punch just so he can get close enough to punish his opponent with his wrestling might and ground and pound. He uses his modified Greco-Roman Wrestling expertise to pin an opponent against the cage and then delivers some dirty boxing damage.

While dirty boxing in the clinch may not be as damaging as, for example, Muay Thai-knees, Randy's style slowly wears an opponent down so that they are likely to make mistakes and lose the fight.

Randy Couture has mastered the clinch so well some believe that this skill, along with his unrivaled fight game plans, gives him a good chance against "The Last Emperor": Fedor Emelianenko.

Wanderlei Silva is another fighter known for his ability to deal carnage in the clinch. There is nobody out there in MMA that epitomizes Muay Thai-knees, in the clinch, more than "The Axe Murderer."

In the late PrideFC organization his knees in the clinch were feared especially after a devastating knockout of Quintin "Rampage" Jackson by repeated knees to the head while solidly trapping him in the clinch, Muay-Thai-style, with his arms around Rampage's neck.

In WEC 35, a somewhat unknown fighter impressed new fans with his Judo skills. His name is Hiromitsu Miura. If you understand any kind of martial art you will know those repeated judo throws executed by Hiromitsu Miura were the stuff of legend.

I am not one to believe Dana White, but he was right about one thing—the lighter weights sure do put on some of the most exciting fights. The first time Hiromitsu Miura used one of his Judo throws was a stunning moment. I wasn't sure I was watching MMA anymore, but I was.

This was the evolution of Mixed Martial Arts, and while some say MMA techniques and styles have reached their peak, I politely disagree.

Unfortunately, Hiromitsu Miura's Judo skills alone were not enough to win him the fight. Carlos Condit was the less tired fighter, and he won the fight that day.

Whether it is Greco-Roman Wrestling, the Muay Thai clinch, or Judo, clinch-fighting skills are an important and often underdeveloped aspect of an MMA fighter. Even the greatest fighters of our time, including Fedor Emelianenko using his Sambo, and Anderson Silva using Muay Thai, all prey on those lacking clinch-fighting abilities.