Alongside the great thread about Nordic MMA by the guys from MMAViking.com (link: http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum_framed.frame&thread=1899586&page=1) I'd like to start a thread concerning news and updates from Germany's growing MMA scene. Maybe there are a few people who are interested in fighters and events from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as we already had four athletes competing in the UFC, one in Bellator FC and several in the various leagues from around the world (f.e. Cage Warriors, ProElite, KSW, OneFC and so on).
If you have any questions about our scene, feel free to ask.
Yesterday there was an event in East Germany called Fight Night Merseburg 5. They had a one night, four men 185 lbs tournament, which underwent quite a few changes since its announcement.
23-year-old Polish shooting star Krzysztof Jotko took home the $3,000 prize money, improving his record to 12-0 in the process. In the finale, Jotko beat German MMA pioneer Martin Zawada by split decision.
In the semi-finals Jotko submitted German newcomer Fabian Loewke with an RNC in R2, while Zawada submitted A Random Georgian in R1 with his first Triangle Choke victory.
Here you can find a couple of pictures of the event: http://bit.ly/U35eFu
Next up is an event by Superior FC, slated for September 15th in West Germany, featuring two superfights, the finals of their HW, WW and LW tournament as well as several semi-finals.
The first superfight is between two of German-speaking Europe's best lightweights, Nordin Asrih from Germany and Philipp Schranz from Vienna, Austria, who regularly trains with Wand Fight Team in Vegas.
Asrih has competed in five (!) different weight classes! After The Ultimate Fighter season 13, where he fought (and lost) for Team Lesnar, he decided to drop down to lightweight. Since then he went 2-0. Schranz is the current champion of Cage Fight Live , a young organization out of Denmark.
In the second superfight, German grappling monster Gregor Herb (BJJ brown belt, Judo black belt) will meet Polish BJJ ace Pawel Zalewski.
In. Thanks from the natives/now 'merican. 
ttt
cool stuff!
Thanks guys, you're welcome.
Today Respect Fighting Championship (Respect.FC), Germany's premier MMA promotion, announced that they signed Poland's Krzysztof Jotko (12-0), who won the 4 men 185 lbs tournament on Saturday, to fight at their upcoming event Respect.8 in Wuppertal on September 22nd. His opponent will be Christian Eckerlin (7-2) from Frankfurt, currently Germany's no. 5 welterweight and also the no. 1 student of former M-1 Global lightweight champion Daniel Weichel.
Eckerlin was supposed to fight at Mix Fight Gala XIII in his home town on September 1st, but his opponent, German MMA pioneer Mario Stapel, canceled the fight because he passed out after the official weigh-ins and had to go to the hospital. Lots of bad blood afterwards between Stapel and Eckerlin's manager.
Speaking of Daniel Weichel (31-8), he was supposed to fight Respect.FC lightweight champion Cengiz Dana for the title at Respect.8, but Dana got injured on September 1st, when his Dutch opponent Victor Kuku went nuts and attacked him with illegal stomps (video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PX4ERlLtv3w). Weichel now faces Italian K-1 MAX veteran Saro Presti, who has an impressive MMA pro record of 1-0.
Yasubey Enomoto (9-4), a Swiss fighter with Japanese and Peruvian roots, is slated to fight at M-1 Challenge 34 in Moscow, Russia on September 30th. His opponent will be unbeaten Russian prospect Khusein Khaliev (5-0.
Enomoto took the M-1 Global welterweight title in December 2011, but lost in his first defense in March 2012. Before fighting for M-1, he competed in the Sengoku welterweight grand prix, where he beat Kenta Takagi and Taisuke Okuno in order to reach the finals, but in the finals he lost to UFC veteran Keita Nakamura.
UFC fighter Pascal Krauss (10-1) severely injured his ribs yesterday when he got hit by a huge knee in sparring. Unfortuantely his fight against Iceland's Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL TV 5 in the UK had to be canceled.
19-year-old flyweight prospect Rany Saadeh (3-1) from Berlin fought Pietro Menga for the Ultimate Cage Championships European flyweight title in the UK on Friday. It was a tough battle which Menga won with an armbar in round three. Great fight by both guys. A borderline top ten guy like Menga might have come too early for the former Karateka.
Yesterday Superior Fighting Championship held their fourth tournament event of 2012. Most of the time the matchmaking is horrible, but when they let the managers put together some superfights for their guys, it's usually quite entertaining.
The Ultimate Fighter 13 veteran Nordin Asrih (18-6-1) beat Austria's no. 1 lightweight Philipp Schranz (12-7) by TKO because of a cut. Good standup battle between two of German-speaking Europe's best lightweights.
Germany's no. 1 middleweight Gregor Herb (13-5) won a close decision over Polish BJJ ace Pawel Zalewski.
Also, several very talendet prospects emerged victorious: Martin Buschkamp (5-0 with 5 RNC wins in R1), Dimitri Goette (3-0), Jessin Ayari (8-2), Azdren Thaqi (4-0) and David Zawada (7-0). Keep an eye on those guys, at least two of them have the potential to be in the UFC within the next few years.
funkjoker - UFC fighter Pascal Krauss (10-1) severely injured his ribs yesterday when he got hit by a huge knee in sparring. Unfortuantely his fight against Iceland's Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL TV 5 in the UK had to be canceled.
Noooooooo!!!!
I was looking for a strong comeback from Strauss with a war with Gunnar.
ttt
BrCutter -funkjoker - UFC fighter Pascal Krauss (10-1) severely injured his ribs yesterday when he got hit by a huge knee in sparring. Unfortuantely his fight against Iceland's Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL TV 5 in the UK had to be canceled.Noooooooo!!!!
Oh fuckshit!
Yay, thank you so much for the blue. :)
Almost forgot, on Saturday 3 German fighters traveled to Denmark in order to fight Danish guys at European MMA's Casino Fight Night II in Copenhagen.
Unbeaten welterweight prospect Abus Magomedov (7-0) took home a unanimous decision victory over veteran fighter David Rosmon. Andre Schell (2-2) submitted Iwo Belak with an RNC in R2 and Max Coga (4-1) submitted Cazim Halimi with a Guillotine Choke in R1.
Watch out for Respect.FC 8 on September 22nd, Germany's premier MMA event featuring a heavyweight title fight and a middleweight title contender fight. Germany's no. 1 welterweight Ruben Crawford is going to make his lightweight debut, I have no idea how this guy's going to make 155 lbs. Plus, US fighter Hayward "Hybrid" Charles is on the card, he is a veteran of Legacy FC and XKO
Oh, and in case you didn't know, The Ultimate Fighter 16 cast member Igor Araujo (22-6), who's billed as from Albuquerque, NM has lived and trained in Geneva, Switzerland for the past six years. He was an integral part of Jon Jones' camp before his UFC title fight against Shogun. Araujo has phenomenal BJJ, but his striking, wrestling and cardio do need a lot of work. I think he'll lose his first fight on TUF, unfortunately.
Respect.8, the eighth event of Germany's premier MMA organization, is history.
In the main event, Respect.FC light heavyweight champion Marcin Naruszczka (who should fight at welterweight!) beat knockout machine Abu Azaitar in a no. 1 contender fight for the middleweight title. Azaitar knocked Naruszczka down four times within the first four minutes, but then Naruszczka came back, mounted him and almost got the RNC. The bell saved Azaitar. Then the doctor stopped the fight during the break because of a deep cut on Azaitar's nose. Great battle while it lasted, Naruszczka has an iron chin, unbelievable.
Respect.FC heavyweight champion Bjorn Schmiedeberg defended his title against Polish can crusher Szymon Bajor. Schmiedeberg looks like Roy Nelson but his nickname is "The Gazelle". Bajor, who should fight at 205 lbs, went for some kind of belly-to-back suplex (stupid!), but put his leg between Schmiedeberg's legs, which resulted in a kneebar. Horrible mistake by Bajor. Schmiedeberg trained in San Francisco for this fight, alongside former UFC fighter Carlos Eduard Rocha, who is a leglock specialist.
Former M-1 Global lightweight champion Daniel Weichel fought in Germany for the first time since 2010. He submitted Russia's Semen Tyrlya, who had no business being in the ring with him, in R1 with an RNC. Squash match.
The US guy Hayward "The Hybrid" Charles submitted his overmatched opponent in 55 seconds with an armbar.
Overall the undercard was pretty good, with only three out of seven fights going the distance.
September 30th is an important date for German MMA. Two of our biggest stars, UFC veteran Peter Sobotta and Andreas Kraniotakes, are going to fight in a new event in Praha, Czech Republic.
Sobotta has gone 2-0-1 since being released from the UFC. Give him 1 or 2 more good wins and he'll be back in the Octagon for sure.
Kraniotakes fought Tim Sylvia in the main event of ProElite 2 in November of 2011 and he is also a former Cage Warriors heavyweight title contender.
what are some of the bigger gyms in Germany? rankings or top guys we should be on the lookout for?!?
I LOVE WORLDWIDE MMA