In the biggest mixed martial arts event of the year, DREAM and Sengoku Raiden Championships collided tonight at K-1 Dynamite!! “Power of Courage 2009” and DREAM narrowly edged SRC in an explosive night of fights. The main event featured Japanese K-1 legend Masato, who competed in his final K-1 bout when he met Andy Souwer for the third time.
For the first time ever, the annual New Year’s Eve Dynamite!! extravaganza aired live on HDNet in North America. MMARising.com has live play-by-play from all 18 MMA and kickboxing bouts on the stacked card.
Mere hours after Josh Koscheck was forced to withdraw from his UFC 109 rematch with Paulo Thiago due to injury, Koscheck’s American Kickboxing Academy teammate Mike “Quick” Swick has stepped in to face Thiago. The welterweight bout will be part of the event’s televised main card.
Injury woes continue to create chaos for upcoming UFC cards and welterweight contender Josh Koscheck is the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of casualties. Koscheck suffered an undisclosed injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled rematch with Paulo Thiago at UFC 109.
From the historic headlining bout between Gina “Conviction” Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos in Strikeforce to the crowning of tournament champions in Japan, 2009 has been a groundbreaking year for women’s MMA. We honour the past year with the inaugural edition of the MMARising.com Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Awards.
Representing her adopted home of Japan, Roxanne Modafferi will look to get back on the winning track when she faces Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel at King of the Cage: “Toryumon” on January 30, 2010 in Okinawa, Japan. The fight will be one of many “Japan vs USA” bouts on the impressive card and is expected to be contested at 135 pounds.
Originally thought to be facing fellow Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba, former Grabaka ace Kazuo Misaki will instead battle knockout king “Marvellous” Melvin Manhoef at K-1 Dynamite!! “Power of Courage 2009” on New Year’s Eve. The event airs live on HDNet.
After original opponent Yves Jabouin was forced to withdraw due to an injury, Canadian striker Mark “The Machine” Hominick will face another tough test in his WEC return at WEC 46 on January 10th. Hominick is tentatively set to square off with EliteXC and Strikeforce veteran Bryan “Kid” Caraway in a featured featherweight bout on the card.
With Korean star Dong Hyun Kim sidelined due to injury, welterweight prospect Brian Foster will look to pick up his second straight UFC victory when he takes on battle-tested veteran Chris “Lights Out” Lytle at UFC 110 on February 21, 2010 in Sydney, Australia.