Updated:
ROAD FC has an 8-man SHW GP going on and semis are up next. The 46-man LW tournament finals are coming up too.
TUF offers HWs and WFWs starting this summer.
PFL bringing six eight-man tournaments in the fall that will conclude with finals on NYE.
Bellator is running a OW GP and a WW GP is about to start.
Rizin- not sure if they are doing a GP this year.
KSW just announced they are doing a 4-man GP for a shot at their MW title vs Khalidov.
Need to be one night tournaments. One night tournaments make the world a better place.
Seriously though, a fighter will make a name for himself much faster if he wins 3 fights in one night than he does if he wins those exact same 3 fights but them spaced out over the course of 6 months.
Some big boys fighting in this thing. You know Minowaman wants to enter. He is 42 but did fight last year and seemed to love fighting HWs and SHWs.
Xiaomi ROAD Fighting Championship 047
May 12, 2018
Cadillac Arena
Beijing, China
2018 Openweight Grand Prix
8 participants:
Aorigele 325 lbs
Alexandru Lungu 350 lbs
Chris Barnett 290 lbs
Wu Lahan 260 lbs
Kim Jae-Hun 260 lbs
Assuming Rizin does two divisions, I thought thirteen tournaments from five of the ten biggest promotions in the world was pretty cool.
Edit: Make that fifteen tournaments from six of the ten biggest promotions.
UFC
Bellator
Rizin
Road
ACB
PFL
Looks like ACB is starting a couple tournaments next Sunday.
16-man FlW and BW tournaments featuring inexperienced fighters with few fights.
Cool concept, like the old Pancrase Neo-Blood tournaments.
Nothing better than the competitive architecture of a tournament to really find out who the best is.
Mighty Mo is entering the GP. 47 years young but on a six fight win streak KOing Koreans. Heaviest tourny in 8-man MMA history. Sure these are not the best athletes to ever step into a cage but this is fucking fun, a fun MMA tournament, gonna enjoy watching this.
Aorigele 325 lbs
Alexandru Lungu 350 lbs
Chris Barnett 290 lbs
Wu Lahan 260 lbs
Kim Jae-Hun 260 lbs
Mighty Mo 265 lbs
Maybe we see a Lungu vs Mighty Mo rematch, sure they are old but lets not pretend they are not still very dangerous fighters
despite their advanced ages. Oh yeah, vegans and USADA, Lungu said go fuck youself.
Nobody cares about the SHW tournament? Come on, its classic JMMA style spectacle, freak show MMA!
Aorigele vs Bob Sapp alone did like 30 million views in China.
I want Mariusz Pudzianowski and Baruto in that SHW tournament but Pudz is too much of a money maker for KSW for him to go fight in another promotion.
Baruto might be done with MMA and if not, ROAD and Rizin don’t share talent.
Would be entertaining freakshow MMA. Just imagine how glorious it could be:
Baruto 400 lbs
Pudzianowski 260 lbs
Aorigele 325 lbs
Alexandru Lungu 350 lbs
Chris Barnett 290 lbs
Wu Lahan 260 lbs
Kim Jae-Hun 260 lbs
Mighty Mo 265 lbs
PRIDE NEVER DIE!
Gilbert Yvel added to the ROAD tournament. Last fight was a TKO of Ricco Rodriguez two years ago. I assume he comes in heavier than his sherdog listed weight.
Gilbert Yvel 225 lbs
Aorigele 325 lbs
Alexandru Lungu 350 lbs
Chris Barnett 290 lbs
Wu Lahan 260 lbs
Kim Jae-Hun 260 lbs
Mighty Mo 265 lbs
Also ACB is not just doing FlW and BW tournaments. They are doing eight tournaments (I assume in the eight standard classes).
The tournament is complete!
Jerome Le Banner 265 lbs
Gilbert Yvel 225 lbs
Aorigele 325 lbs
Alexandru Lungu 350 lbs
Chris Barnett 290 lbs
Wu Lahan 260 lbs
Kim Jae-Hun 260 lbs
Mighty Mo 265 lbs
Are some of them old? Perhaps. Are some of them obese? Perhaps. Would some of them get flagged by USADA? Perhaps. Will it be an entertaining tournament? Absolutely! Is it somehow a breath of fresh air? To me, in the Rebook/USADA/WMMA era, this is a fun tournament.
Fights announced, no idea about brackets.
Xiaomi ROAD Fighting Championship 047
May 12, 2018
Cadillac Arena
Beijing, China
2018 Openweight Grand Prix
Jerome Le Banner vs Wu Lahan
Chris Barnett vs Alexandru Lungu
Aorigele vs Kim Jae-Hun
Mighty Mo vs Gilbert Yvel
Reserve Match
Kong Handong vs Kazuyuki Fujita
The rematch the world has been waiting for!
I thought Kongo vs Ayala was previously announced as the Bellator GP alternate fight but I guess that plan has been cancelled.
Coker said at today’s press conference that Nelson vs Crocop is the alternate fight for the GP tournament.
Never seen a fighter lose in the first round of the tournament and then get alternate fight for that same tournament but then again, most tournaments are not held over such a long timeframe and over so many events.
I have seen a loser go on to the next round if winner is injured but this is not the case.
May 12th is the first round of the ROAD tourny, then the last fight of the quarters of the Bellator tourny. Plus UFC Brazil.
Here is the ROAD card for Sat if anyones interested.
Too bad Le Banner is out but Oli Thompson is a good replacement. This tourny is just fun, bunch of old tough guys and Aorigele. I find it amusing he is the most popular MMA fighter in China, reminds me of Japan’s love affair with Bob Sapp back in the day.
Road FC 47: Openweight Grand Prix – Opening Round
Beijing, China
Main Card – YouTube – 7:00am ET / 4:00am PT
Aorigele vs. Kim Jae-Hun – Quarterfinal
Mighty Mo vs. Gilbert Yvel – Quarterfinal
Gabi Garcia vs. Veronika Futina
Oli Thompson vs. Deng Chaolong – Quarterfinal
Chris Barnett vs. Alexandru Lungu – Quarterfinal
Preliminary Card – YouTube – 4:00am ET / 1:00am PT
Kong Handong vs. Fujita Kazuyuki – Reserve Bout
Alatengheili vs. Kwak Jong-Hyun
Bao Incang vs. Sasaki Shinji
Jing Yingchao vs. Marina Kumagai
Ki Won-Bin vs. Thirayut Khaorat
Baoshe Riguleng vs. Bruno Miranda
Damn, sucks about JLB being out. I’m still looking forward to this tourney either way. I’m surprised Fujita is an alternate. He is a bigger name than most on that card.