Fields Dynamite 2009: Results

I realize that these results may not be particularly meaningful to some readers. B.C. MMA Fan blames the holiday season for the absence of a detailed preview post. However, even with such a post these results would probably be difficult for the majority of North American's to decipher. After all, Japanese MMA remains both mysterious and inaccessible to even most dedicated of casual fans.

When I say inaccessible, to give an idea, I woke up this morning at 4:00 am to watch the main card fights of the Fields Dynamite 2009 broadcast, which began at midnight and ended at 7:30 am. On top of that, it was only available on HDNet. By the way, if you get that channel and you're interested, the fights will be rebroadcast today (December 31st) from 5:00pm until 11:00 pm. All times above are Pacific Standard Time.

With all that being said, I present these annotated results of Japan's biggest annual MMA extravaganza. some of the results include a few words on the significance of the most important fights. This years gimmick was a showdown between the top fighters in Japan's two most popular promotions: Dream and Sengoku Raiden Challenge.

Quick Results

Main Event:

Hidehiko Yoshida def. Satoshi Ishii via unanimous decision R3 5:00

• A match between an old-school Japanese Judoka (judo player) in Yoshida who has had some success in MMA vs. an olympic Judo gold medalist for japan making his debut. This was the main event because the Japanese love Ishii right now, too bad he got beaten by the old-man-strength of Yoshida. Better luck next time, junior.
  

Shinya Aoki (DREAM LW Champ) def. Mizuto Hirota (SRC LW Champ) via technical submission (hammerlock) R1 1:17

• DREAM's lightweight camp Shinya Aoki proved once more why he deserves his ranking as the world's #2 at LW with this dominant victory over Sengoku's champ, Mizuto Hirota. Check out the video below to see the bad-ass hammer lock he used to submit Hirota. All I could hear in my head was the theme song to "COPS."
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• Word is that Aoki will fight in north America in 2010, possibly against Strikeforce's newly crowned LW champ, Gilbert Melendez.

Gegard Mousasi def. Gary Goodridge via TKO (punches) R1 1:34

• This wasn't so much a fight as a predestined beat down that went exactly the way everyone in the audience expected it to. Mousasi is a legit Top 5 LHW, while Goodridge is way beyond washed up at this point.
  
• The funny thing is, the Japanese love "fights" like this. Go figure.
• Look for Mousasi, the Strikeforce LHW champion, to be back fighting in North America this spring.
  

Alistair Overeem def. Kazuyuki Fujita via KO (knee) R1 1:15

• The story here is very similar to the last fight. Except that the current skill discrepancy wasn't quite as high, making Alistair Overeem's performance slightly more impressive.
• Look for Overeem, Strikeforce's HW champion, to be back fighting in North America whenever he finally gets around to it. Fall seems likely.
  

Masanori Kanehara def. "Kid" Yamamoto via unanimous decision R3 5:00

• To some this was a significant upset, but I piled off the "Kid" Yamamato believer wagon a while back. Give it up, people.
  

Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kazunori Yokota via unanimous decision R3 5:00

• No big deal, just Kawajiri being the better fighter that he is. A pretty decent scrap though.
  

Hideo Tokoro def. Jong Man Kim via unanimous decision R3 5:00

Melvin Manhoef def. Kazuo Misaki via TKO (punches) R1 1:49

• Manhoef gets back on the winning track after a rocky year, with an upset no less.
  

Akihiro Gono def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai via submission (armbar) R2 3:56

• UFC vet Gono scores the upset submission over the well-respected Sakurai.
  

Michihiro Omigawa def. Hiroyuki Takaya via TKO (punches) R1 2:54

• Omigawa has a style that's very accessible to North Americans, I like to see him having success.
  

Hiroshi Izumi def. Katsuyori Shibata unanimous decision R3 5:00

Ikuhisa Minowa def. Sokoudjou via TKO (punches) R3 3:29

• So ends the much maligned "Super Hulk" tournament. With a surprise KO victory by "Minowaman" after having been outpointed by Sokoudjou in the first two rounds. I haven't seen it yet, but word is the stoppage was a bit early. Then again, "worked" results are pretty common in Japan. Again, so it goes.