Part 2:

Once upon a time in the vast dimensions of MMA, in an island called Shooto, there was a numero uno fighter named Uno, Caol "Ichiban" Uno. In a planet called Japan Shooto was one of the most spectacular MMA events, which included light and middleweight categories. Pride and Pancreas don't have the lighter weight divisions; no "little guys." Royler Gracie is the only lightweight I remember ever seeing in PRIDE. So, it was Shooto legends such as Rumina Sato, Caol Uno, and most recently Takanori Gomi, which have at different times dominated this weight class in this particular Japanese MMA lightweight division. There are also many other contenders who are on the fringe of rising to the top such as Dokonjanosuke Mishima. Besides convincingly loosing to Gomi, and getting TKO'd due to a cut by Din Thomas, Mishima's closest fight was with American Samurai Ryan Bow, whose Japanese and MMA technique are impeccable. Mishima was never in trouble with Bow, but won by a judge's decision, unable to put the other man in any real danger. Bow lost by a unanimous decision to Gomi, and his only other losses are to Brazilians Joao Roque in DEEP, and Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro. At 154 lbs. and with a record of 9-4-0, Bow has lost only by judge's decisions.

Meanwhile, down in South America where men are MEN, and they tell you "not to go there on your honey moon," the only Portuguese speaking colony in SA was breeding fighters like poverty. The talent here is as thick as the jungle, as sexy as the women, as deep as the National Futbol team. There are various outrageously tough Brazilians already stranded on the island of Shooto. One is the current super lightweight champion "Pequeno" Alexandre Franca Nogueira, 9-2-1, who is not of the same "Minotauro Tribe" as Rodrigo and Rogeiro. This 143 lbs. Luta Livre technician simply dominates his realm, and although he has lost to Hiroyuki Abe and Katsuta respectively, he came back to defeat both opponents convincingly in rematches.

Also at this weight class is 145 lbs. Joao Roque, whose only MMA loss was a judge's decision to Jens Pulver in UFC 26. This was his only appearance in the cage, and it was at a time when "Little Evil" was unstoppable. Roque has been fighting in Shooto and with a record of 6-1-3; this Brazilian Jiu-jitsu fighter is a definite threat to the boys in the cage. Perhaps his only real disadvantage is lack of size at 5'4", compared to someone like Ludwig, who is much taller at 5'8'.

Slightly heavier, weighing in at 155lbs. is Marcio Barbosa "Cromado", who is famous for putting his opponents to sleep. Cromado once choked out Caol Uno, with a fast and devastating front choke Guillotine. Although this Luta Livre fighter's MMA record is only 2-3-0, his losses are only to top fighters. This guy jumped into the turbulent deep end, losing to Mishima, Bow, and the legendary Rumina Sato. There is also Joachim Vazquez (7-1-0) a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu machine fighting out of California, whose only loss is to fellow Brazilian Alberto Crane (3-0-0) in KOTC 21. Vazquez also beat "the hardest working man in MMA show biz," Sato, once upon a time.
There is also Brazilian Jiu-jitsu expert Alexandre Carneiro "Soca", who defeated the man who saved Shooto, Nakai, under Jiu-jitsu rules. He also faced Royler Gracie in Abu Dhabi 2000, where he choked out American wrestler Joe Gilbert. He was the 1998 Abu Dhabi World Champion, in which he was voted the "most technical' fighter, and runner up the following two years. He is another agile limb of Gracie/Barra Jiu-jitsu.

Another lightweight we absolutely cannot leave out of the picture, and perhaps the most dangerous, is Royler Gracie. This was the man who "shook up" the world of Shooto in 1996, by devastating their current champion at that time. Royler's only defeat in MMA was against a much heavier Kazushi Sakuraba, in Pride 8. This was a very controversial finish, because he did not tap out, no one threw in the towel, and there wasn't supposed to be a referee's decision. The referee was perhaps afraid that Gracie's arm would be broken. This would be one of a couple controversial loses delivered to the Gracie's by Japanese referees who changed the rules.

When one thinks of colonialism, and ruthless violence, it was not only synonymous with the Portuguese, but with the Dutch as well. After all, those Calvinists did come up with apartheid, and they have also produced some seriously tough MA and MMA fighters. One immediately thinks of Bass Rutten, Gilbert Yvel, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, and the list goes on. In this far away galaxy where you can have a cappuccino with bong hits of Dutch Skunk, or perhaps you prefer the "space cakes", there co-exists the famous Golden Glory fight team which has produced fighters such as Heath Herring and Igor Vovchanchyn, Branco Cikatic, and the "Lumberjack" Peter Aerts. Now there is also a lightweight named Kazeka Muniz who is rumored to be quite a fighter. He joined Golden Glory to learn the stand up, striking game. Holland has a long tradition of MA, such as Muay Thai kick boxing and K-1, and the fans are now getting into MMA.
In a neighboring Nordic ice block, there is a young Viking up and comer named Joachim Hansen. His ship has arrived, he is 5-1-1, and recently defeated the very hard working Sato. Many think that Sato perhaps burned himself out from fighting way too much as Shooto's main attraction. This is comparable to "Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba, who has been injured repeatedly with out recess, and has lost four of his last six fights. But Sato, like Sakuraba, is still a dangerous force in MMA.
Coming back to the North American wasteland, there is a country North of the Puritans, which we think of as peaceful. Indeed the Canadians are much mellower, but they are also starting to produce world-class fighters, after all, they are an extension of the bloody brits. I immediately think of Carlos Newton and Gary "Big Daddy" Goodrich, both naturalized Canadian citizens born in the Caribbean. There is also Mr. K-1's sparring partner Andy Macdonald who was handed a disrespectful loss at the last K-1 North America in Vegas in the first round of the tournament. Now there is also a homegrown Super Lightweight Champion who has twice defended his UCC title. His name is Mark "The Machine" Hominick. Until now, this Muay Thai warrior only has 3 MMA victories, but he is a rising force. The Canadians are coming!
Meanwhile, back in the ranch, a self-proclaimed "gun slinger" veteran cowboy (14-6-1, 155 lbs.) is back on the horse and heading towards town; Yves Edwards was looking for a duel. His victim would be Rich Clementi from the Miletich camp, which this Texan striker choked out in true spaghetti western fashion, with a dramatic tap out. They say he's tougher than ever, he wants revenge, they say he just shot another man down, he's back for good, riding off into the Technicolor sunset of the Land of the Lost.

But, there are distant rumors of a Samurai from the "land of the rising sun" heading his way; they say he gunned down the legendary Sato, who had once choked out our "lone star" hero in Japanese territory. But this cowboy's eyes are sharp, he is focused and ready to strike, in search of sword wielding warriors riding in from over the neon sunset. There is a whole army of them, Masato from K-1 who defeated both Bang and Genki in K-1 rules. There is a Japanese Muay Thai Samurai who barely lost to Masato in the finals of the most recent K-1 Max Japan Tournament. His right shoulder dislocated and then snapped back, but he continued the fight. This was his debut on Japanese television, after conquering the Muay Thai Championship in Thailand and frying tempura for a living. Also from K-1 is the super lightweight Takehiro Murahama, who has already crossed over to MMA. They call him the "Little Giant", at 5'4" 150 lbs/68 kilos, he has an MMA record of 3-3-1. He's lost to Roque twice and then lost to Jens Pulver last year in a split decision. But, he is the only man with the distinction of achieving an MMA draw against Royler Gracie, in DEEP 2001.
Once upon a time, in the "Land of the Lost" they held an incredible MMA event to which they invited the world's best lightweight fighters from every background. Muay Thai fighters from Thailand, Boxers from Mexico and the Caribbean…Surfers from Hawaii…They called it…

"Its gonna be a show down. And it's raining, all over the world!" Jeff Lynne, E.L.O.