Quick Results
Alistair Overeem def. James Thompson via submission (guillotine choke) R1
Eddie Alvarez def. Katsunori Kikuno via submission (arm-triangle choke) R2
Marius Zaromskis def. Myeon Ho Bae via KO (head kick) R1
Kazushi Sakuraba def. Zelg Galesic via submission (kneebar) R1
Katsuyori Shibata def. Tokimitsu Ishizawa via TKO (punches) R1
Dong-Sik Yoon def. Tarec Saffiedine via split decision
Yoshiro Maeda def. Chase Beebe via submission (rear-naked choke) R1
Kuniyoshi Hironaka def. Won Sik "Parky" Park via TKO (eye injury) end of R1
Tomoya Miyashita def. Keisuke Fujiwara via unanimous decision
James Thompson vs. Alistair Overeem
Round 1: Both men walk out to the Black Eyed Peas; Thompson dances and sings along to Overeem's music in the cage. Thompson with his usual gong and dash, but wades back out quickly. Overeem lunges at Thompson with a flying knee and nearly goes over the cage, his arm hanging over the top. Just like in his fight with Tony Sylvester in Holland last week, Overeem quickly locks up a standing guillotine and elicits the tap. The fight lasted about 30 seconds.
Alistair Overeem (31-11, 1 NC) def. James Thompson (14-11) via submission (guillotine choke) R1
Katsunori Kikuno vs. Eddie Alvarez
Round 1: Kikuno tops Zelg Galesic's "Ice Ice Baby" entrance with a slow walk out to "We Are the World." Alvarez shoots and pushes Kikuno's back to the fence, but Kikuno gets double underhooks and catches Eddie's head under his left arm. Bad position for Alvarez in the crucifix, but he's giving the ref the thumbs up. Kikuno continues to crank the neck with three minutes left in the round. Alvarez won't tap, and eventually busts out, rolling his neck. Kikuno hits a round, then a crescent kick and Eddie pushes him to the fence. Kikuno continues to stuff the shots of Alvarez. Eddie cracks Kikuno with a nice right hook, but Kikuno doesn't flinch. Alvarez can't get this to the mat and can only press Kikuno against the cage. Another of Kikuno's trademark liver kicks finds its mark as the round ends.
Round 2: Alvarez stumbles Kikuno with another right hook, but the Japanese fighter bounces back up and strings together a flashy series of kicks which miss the mark but look quite nice. Alvarez gets inside, snares a guillotine under the right arm and pulls guard. He's wrenching the hold, but Kikuno doesn't look to be in danger, posturing up with the top of his head on the canvas. Alvarez is expending a lot of energy but Kikuno seems unfazed. And Kikuno escapes. Back to the feet, Alvarez goes to the body with punches and tries for a trip takedown which Kikuno stuffs. Both guys looking a bit worn now. Eddie eats a knee on a shot, but gets his takedown. Kikuno takes a guillotine now, but it's not all that tight either and Alvarez is in half guard. Eddie passes with 90 seconds left and ties up Kikuno on the right side with an arm-triangle. Kikuno taps!
Eddie Alvarez (19-2) def. Katsunori Kikuno (12-2-2) via submission (arm-triangle choke) R1
Myeon Ho Bae vs. Marius Zaromskis
Round 1: Zaromskis comes out guns blazing, but backs out after being tagged by a Bae punch. Seconds later, the DREAM welterweight champ tags the iron-jawed Korean with the trademark head kick that took him through the WWGP finals, putting Bae down for the count. Unreal.
Marius Zaromskis (13-3) def. Myeon Ho Bae (8-5) via KO (head kick) R1
Zelg Galesic vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Round 1: Saku shoots low, picks the ankle of Zelg and takes him down. He grabs a leg, but Zelg quickly goes to his back and opens up with punishing hammerfists. Saku turtles up and Galesic's shots turn even more punishing, but the ref is giving Saku every chance. Saku continues to turtle and twist the leg of Galesic from underneath, transitioning to a toe hold. Finally, Sakuraba extends the kneebar. Galesic grimaces, hesitates a moment and taps!
Kazushi Sakuraba (26-12-1, 2 NC) def. Zelg Galesic (9-5) via submission (kneebar) R1
Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hideo Tokoro and Shinya Aoki are introduced during intermission, after a "Dynamite!! 2009" promo plays. Crusher and Aoki tease their possible lightweight title match some more, and Tokoro says he wants to participate on NYE and isn't done with his hunt for a title (to a smattering of jeers from the crowd).
Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Round 1: Ishizawa (who's not wearing his Kendo Kashin mask) tries to come inside and clinch, but Shibata stuns him with a couple uppercuts and puts him against the cage. Shibata slips a long shot from Ishizawa, then clubs him with an overhand right when Ishizawa shoots in for a single. Ishizawa can't drag him down and Shibata puts him against the netting once more. Ishizawa tags Shibata with a few clean right hands, causing Shibata to clinch and answer with a few hard, high knees. With seconds left in the frame, Shibata catches Ishizawa with a left flush on the jaw. Ishizawa stumbles backward and Shibata pounces, finishing him off with more punches.
Katsuyori Shibata (4-6-1) def. Tokimitsu Ishizawa (1-5-1) via TKO (punches) R1
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Dong-Sik Yoon
Round 1: Saffiedine immediately goes to work on the bandaged left leg of Yoon, and the two exchange for a minute before the judoka shoots in. Tarec reverses but is soon in the butterfly guard of Yoon, who escapes back to his feet. Yoon presses Saffiedine into the cage post, clutching a leg, but can't finish the takedown. The two clinch along the cage for a minute, Saffiedine landing a few knees, before the ref separates them with 30 seconds left and warns both fighters about grabbing the mesh. Saffiedine finishes strong with a clean combination.
Round 2: Yoon no-sells a lovely flying knee from Saffiedine. Yoon shoots and Tarec sprawls nicely, but Dong drags him down. Yoon in side control, tying up the left leg of Saffiedine and sending shots to the body. Saffiedine looks no worse for wear as he spins out and grabs for an armbar. Yoon slips out and takes the back of Saffiedine with 80 seconds left. Yoon works for a rear-naked choke, can't get it, goes for a neck crank but Saffiedine escapes that as well. With five seconds left, Yoon abandons the choke and starts punching away, but Tarec survives.
Round 3: The ref calls for action as the fighters barely exchange any blows through the first 90 seconds. Tarec still working the left leg of Yoon with kicks. Yoon shoots a single but has nothing on it and slides back out. Tarec counters a Yoon kick with a winging overhand right. With 2:35 remaining, the referee issues both fighters yellow cards for inactivity. Saffiedine comes back out more aggressive, throwing front and head kicks at Yoon while avoiding the judoka's combinations. Tarec stringing together body shots and uppercuts as Yoon repeatedly slips on the mat when he shoots. Steady diet of jabs and uppercuts from Tarec now, and another failed shot from Yoon. Saffiedine really poured it on in the final frame, but I've got this for Yoon.
Dong-Sik Yoon (5-7) def. Tarec Saffiedine (7-2) via split decision
Chase Beebe vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Round 1: Maeda catches Beebe with a crisp short left off the hook, and follows up with a barrage of punches and kicks to the head and body. Beebe lands a solid knee from the clinch but Maeda is soon chopping away with hard leg kicks. Beebe tries to tie up, but Maeda shucks him, Now Beebe catches a Maeda kick and muscles him down along the fence. Maeda escapes beautifully back to his feet, but Beebe gives him some knees for his trouble. Beebe snares a guillotine, but Maeda busts out and puts Beebe on his back. Two minutes left. Maeda laying in the open guard of Beebe, who stays more active with punches until Maeda zips around and takes his back. In a flash, the Osaka native cinches up a tight rear-naked choke, turns Beebe into the cage and forces him to tap.
After the fight, Maeda says he wants to fight next on New Year's Eve, and challenge FWGP champ Bibiano Fernandes in 2010.
Yoshiro Maeda (26-7-2) def. Chase Beebe (12-6) via submission (rear-naked choke) R1
Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Won Sik "Parky" Park
Round 1: Hironaka strikes first with a few combos and slapping leg kicks, then ducks in for a half-hearted shot and eats a knee to the gut from Parky. The pair continue to exchange and clash leg kicks. Parky goes to the body with a jab. Hironaka sticking to the inside thigh kick. With about a minute left, the Cage Force champ wades in with a combo that misses and takes a hard counter right. Parky chases him down, backing Kuniyoshi into the cage, and delivers a stiff knee to the gut.
In between rounds, Won Sik Park's corner throws in the towel and Hironaka is announced as the winner. On the HDNet broadcast, Michael Schiavello announces that Parky was unable to see out of his left eye.
Kuniyoshi Hironaka (16-6) def. Won Sik "Parky" Park (7-2-1) via TKO (eye injury) R1 5:00
Tomoya Miyashita vs. Keisuke Fujiwara
Apologies - technical difficulties delayed play-by-play until the third round of the first bout...
Round 3: Miyashita shoots a long single-leg that misses, but scores on a second attempt. He stacks up Fujiwara and passes to side control. Now Fujiwara turtles and Miyashita begins wailing away with knees to the head. Fujiwara survives and pushes Miyashita back to guard, where he locks up a good-looking triangle and starts punching furiously at the head of his man. He's pulling the head down to try and finish, but it's not tight enough. Miyashita's out and back to throwing knees from side control. He lands one last hard right hand at the bell.
Tomoya Miyashita (13-5-6) def. Keisuke Fujiwara (7-2-3) via unanimous decision
