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Brad's Friday Fight Bodega - New Year's Edition
Written by Brad Taschuk   
Friday, 01 January 2010 00:00
Last Friday on the Bodega, we brought some Christmas themed brawling with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Dan Henderson's second encounter, which took place right around the festive season.  This week, Friday just happens to fall on New Year's Day, and in the MMA world, we all know what New Years means... epic Japanese fisticuffs.  No matter your feelings on Japanese MMA as a whole, they certainly own the nightcap to every year in terms of the most entertaining MMA cards.  However, compared to previous year-end cards, Dynamite!! 2009 lacked a little bit of the freakshow aspect -- despite the final of the most freakshowy tournament in MMA history -- and as an ardent supporter of everything good and bad about Japanese MMA, I felt something missing.

In that vein, I feel the need to list some of the most memorable -- although not necessarily relevant -- New Year's Eve matches.

K-1 Premium 2003 Dynamite!!

Genki Sudo vs Eric Esch

This was one of the standard bearers in modern MMA freakshow matches.  On New Year's Eve in 2003, one of the greatest showmen in MMA history, 155 pounder Genki Sudo, took on Superheavyweight Boxer Butterbean, who was making his MMA debut.  What ensued was one of the greatest employments of the hit and run strategy we've ever seen, but the ending was even more special.  As with most of these freakshow matches, you would think the crowd had their life depending on a Sudo victory, with how behind him they were.


K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite!!

Bob Sapp vs Jerome Le Banner

This match has been called many things, ranging from fight of the century to the biggest travesty in both MMA and K-1.  I choose to think of it as the former.  If you haven't seen or heard of this fight before, prepare to be amazed, because this is the only fight in history where the combatants switch between K-1 and MMA rules in between rounds.  To fully appreciate this match, you have to understand that at this time, Bob Sapp was still feared as a fighter in both K-1 and MMA, and not the complete joke he is now.  Jerome Le Banner was still one of the top kickboxers in the world, and not the injured plagued shell of himself that we now see on a regular basis.  So this match had two of the top fighters in the world going at it, with each being granted the opportunity to fight in their respective realm.  Watch.  Be mesmerized.



PRIDE Shockwave 2005

Fedor Emelianenko vs Zuluzinho

By now, everyone who watches MMA has seen this fight.  It has even spawned a phrase referring to a special type of beating, that only Fedor can inflict.  Tim Sylvia has been the only other fighter to truly understand what it means to get "Zulu'd".  This fight is a staple of New Year's Eve lore, and no list is complete without it.  It also shows that despite being the most relevant MMA organization in Japan during it's heyday, PRIDE was not immune to these freakshow matches.  They put on just as many as K-1, but there was always something special in the air with K-1's freakshow matches, as they never failed to deliver both hilarity and entertainment.  Often times, PRIDE freakshows left us with something lacking at the end.  This fight however, is one of the exceptions.


K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!

Bob Sapp vs Bobby Ologun

This fight makes the list simply because of the absurdity of it (which might only be equalled by the final match on the list).  At this point, Bob Sapp was exactly who we know him as today, a fighter who just shows up for a paycheck, and nothing else.  However, Bob is still a professional fighter.  Bobby Ologun is a TV personality and comedian in Japan, who entered into MMA on a whim as more of a ratings grab than anything.  In his first two matches, Ologun shockingly picked up wins (although the legitimacy of the first has come into as much question as one of our next list members recent GP win) over Cyril Abidi and Akebono.  In his third match, Ologun was smeared on the canvas by Hong Man Choi, and that led to this epic joke of a match.  It was not pretty, but it shows the truest nature of the Japanese New Year's Eve shows, which is "What ridiculous thing can we do to make as many people as possible watch?"


MINOWAMAN!!! vs Zuluzinho

Zulu, like Bob Sapp, makes multiple appearances on this list.  While he fancies himself as a legitimate fighter, the rest of us know better.  His opponent in this match was "The Punk" turned Superhero, who has developed into one of modern Japanese MMA's biggest draws, MINOWAMAN!!! (for the record, all-caps with three exclaimation points is the correct spelling of MINOWAMAN!!!, as decreed by yours truly).  This fight was an abomination to watch, but that only adds to the hilarity of it all.  Sadly, everyone's favorite MMA superhero could not overcome the massive size difference held by his opponent in this one, and succumbed to what was essentially the most vicious lay and pray ever in MMA.




K-1 Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008

Bob Sapp vs Kinnikuman

This list just wouldn't be complete without Bob Sapp making the most appearances.  Since the New Year's shows were instituted in Japanese MMA, Sapp has appeared on one in every year but 2006 (when he didn't fight at all in K-1 or MMA), and sadly, this year where his presence was greatly missed by anyone who wants to preserve the sanctity and tradition of the NYE cards (like myself).  To put it simply, at the height of his popularity in Japan, Bob Sapp was like the one man Beatles.  In this, which has to be one of the strangest fights to ever take place in Japanese MMA (and that's saying something), Sapp took on an anime character.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Kinnikuman roughly translates to "Muscleman", and he has been a popular character in Japan for roughly 30 years now.  As is the ridiculous nature of the sport in the East, this match was intended to draw more children to MMA.  Underneath the mask and suit worn by Kinnikuman was Akihiko Tanaka, a legitimate amateur wrestler who was considered to be a decent Heavyweight prospect heading in to the fight.  See how the hopes and dreams of Japanese children everywhere fared, below.


So there you have it, some of the most absurd, yet entertaining spectacles that have ever taken place in the world of MMA.  If that doesn't make you a fan of Japanese MMA, and the prospect of future New Year's Eve cards returning to past glory, I don't know what will.  Until next time on the Bodega... keep some water on hand to nurse that New Year's hangover.