Minowaman Returns at FEG FiELDS Dynamite!! 2008 .................. against Zimmerman ( what kinda match up is this
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Yet another fight was announced today for the absolutely monster FiELDS Dynamite!! 2008 year end event. According to Nightmare of Battle it was made official today that Minowaman, real name Ikuhisa Minowa, would be facing off against K-1 fighter Errol Zimmerman in an MMA rules fight. Minowaman is looking to bounce back from a quick heel hook submission loss at Dream.6 against Masakatsu Funaki. Meanwhile Zimmerman is coming off a pretty good showing at the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals 2008. In the tournament the Dutch-Surinamese kick boxer was able to make it to the second round of the tournament before being KOed by former K-1 World Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari.This will be Zimmerman's first MMA fight and I believe he may be at a disadvantage here.
This fight may seem like an odd match up, but it is far from the oddest match up scheduled for the Dynamite!! 2008 card. Minowa regularly fights in the Welterweight range yet he loves taking on physically bigger opponents. He's taken on Zulu, Butterbean, Cro Cop, Wanderlei Silva, Giant Silva and a slew of larger fighters. Zimmerman will be no different than his previous opponents seeing as Zimmerman was is listed at 238lbs. Minowa will definitely be at an advantage here. He has a wealth of submission experience while Zimmerman has almost no time to train for take down defense, let alone submission defense. If the fight goes to the ground Zimmerman will be like a fish out of water and Minowa will definitely try to capitalize on a submission. Minowa is very well versed in submissions and he has been able to submit much larger opponents.
This fight is another attempt in a long line of fight that are meant as ratings grab by FEG. Minowa is a pretty popular fighter in Japan due to his crazy in ring antics and his overall crazy attitude (Any guy who trains for a fight by dodging baseballs thrown from pitching machines and racing planes is pretty crazy to me). His fighting style also caters to the Japanese fans. A lot of what Minowa does is risky, but entertaining to see. From the flying double leg kick to the front roll take down and various other wrestling moves the guy is as much a showman as he is a fighter. Minowa holds a record of 40-29-8 and while he is not the best of fighters he does hold some pretty impressive wins over such opponents as Don Frye, Phil Baroni, Kimp Leopoldo and Gilbert Yvel. Not bad for a guy who started out his MMA career going 1-8-1. The most telling match from Minowa's fight history is his fight against another K-1 fighter Stephen Leko. In 2003 Leko was on a 6 fight win streak in K-1 and when he fought Minowa in the Pride Shockwave 2004 card he was easily submitted via heel hook by the smaller Japanese fighter. I really wouldn't be surprised if Minowa pulls it off again against Zimmerman.
Because of this odd match making the fight will be taken in the previously unheard of (at least to me) Dream Open Weight division.
