M-1 Global Announces "Yarennoka!" Card
by Robert Sargent
In conjuction with K-1 HERO's and DEEP, M-1 Global's debut event on New Year's Eve, "Yarennoka!" will feature a lightweight dream match between Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante and Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki, as well as the return of Hayato "Mach" Sakurai.
The collaboration between M-1 Global and K-1 HERO's parent company, Fight Entertainment Group, will see HERO's Middleweight (154 pounds) Champion Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante take on current Shooto Champion and former PRIDE standout, Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki.
In other action, current DEEP Champion Hidehiko Hasegawa will battle legendary Japanese fighter Hayato "Mach" (pronounced Ma-Ha) Sakurai.
The battle between Calvancante and Aoki is a dream matchup in the lightweight division, with Calvancante ranked as the #2 lightweight in the world and Aoki at #6. Calvancante is coming off of two impressive victories in the K-1 HERO's Middleweight Tournament in September. Aoki last fought at PRIDE 34 in April and has been waiting for his next fight ever since. In Calvancante, he definitely found it.
Calvancante is excellent on the ground, but also possesses solid power in his hands. He has numerous victories by (T)KO, with the most shocking coming in the opening round of the HERO's tournament, when he knocked out Vitor "Shaolin" Ribiero in just 35 seconds, giving Ribiero only his second career loss.
Aoki, on the other hand, has decent striking but excels in submission grappling. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest - if not the single greatest - submission fighters in MMA. Very few fighters can compete with him on the ground. He holds victories over Joachim Hansen, Jason Black, Clay French and Akira Kikuchi (twice), among others, with most coming by spectacular submissions.
How the fight goes will likely be determined by whether or not Aoki can take it to the ground quickly. Either way, it promises to be an extremely exciting fight and possibly a show-stealer from UFC 79 on December 29th.
Hasegawa vs Sakurai also promises to be an exciting battle, with Sakurai (#4-ranked lightweight) and Hasegawa (just outside of the top 10) both looking to make an impact. Sakurai last fought at PRIDE 33, where he defeated former King of the Cage - and current TUF 6 contestant - Mac Danzig by KO. Hasegawa has not been as fortunate in his past two fights, both against Dong Hyun Kim, where he has gone 0-1-1.
Sakurai (30-7-2) is 7-1 in his last eight fights, including a victory over Shinya Aoki and the lone defeat to #1-ranked lightweight Takanori Gomi. As such, he has to be the favourite coming into this fight, but 2007 has been a year of upsets and Sakurai could fall victim just before the year is out. Only time will tell.
Rules for the event have not yet been announced, but the card already promises to be one of the best of 2007.
