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10 April Fights Worth Watching
Written by Matt Bishel   
Friday, 03 April 2009 18:10
April is a great time to be an MMA fan. With seven major events scheduled and almost 40 smaller shows listed there’s bound to be some exciting matchups. It’s a rare thing when there are this many scheduled MMA events in a single month and with how slow MMA has been lately this month should really liven things up a bit. While there are always exciting fights on each card they seem few and far between these days. We haven’t seen this type of quality since the Pride Fighting Championships and UFC mega cards.

Here are 10 events that every MMA fan should try and see.

10. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Hitomi Akano
Strikeforce presents Shamrock vs. Diaz, April 11 – San Jose

EliteXC veteran Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos steps into the cage against one of the top women’s MMA fighters in Japan in Hitomi Akano. Akano is an elite judoka who turned pro in April 2003 after winning the International Cup in Italy. In August of 2005 she won a tournament called the Next Cinderella put on by the Smack Girl organization, the world’s largest women’s MMA organization. In December of the same year she proved her hype by dominating Japan’s top kickboxing/MMA fighter, Ayako Saioka. She then went on to achieve her biggest win to date by beating undefeated American fighter Debi Purcell by utilizing her quickness, judo takedowns, and her variety of submissions causing the biggest upset in the world of women’s MMA in recent years. Hitomi has a 14 – 5 record.

Christaine “Cyborg” Santos is one of the few women, if not the only woman to train at the famed Chute Boxe Academy. Many have likened her to the female version of Wanderlei Silva because of her aggressive style and excellent Muay Thai skills. Since making her debut at Show Fight 2 in May of 2005 she has amassed a 6-1 record with a notable win over Shayna Bayzler. Many people have wanted to see her fight Gina Carano and a win over Akano could give her that shot.

9. Arunas Andriuskevicus vs. Alexander Gustafsson
The Zone Fighting Championship “Dynamite,” April 25 - Gothenburg, Sweden

Two of Europe’s premier light heavyweight strikers are set to do battle on April 25. This fight has a great probability to end in a knockout and should end pretty quickly, most likely in brutal fashion. 6’5” fighter Alexander Gustafsson has been on a tear since he debuted in 2007 going on a 7-0 run with 5 (T)KO’s. He’s so feared in Europe that they have trouble finding guys to fight him.

Arunas is a kickboxer from Luton, England who has a pretty impressive record of 7-2 with 6 (T)KO’s. He thinks he’s the guy to end Alexander’s reign of terror on Europe’s light heavyweight scene. Both guys love to bang so this should be a pretty exciting fight.

8. Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Kala Hose
Kingdom MMA, April 18 – Honolulu

Jason “Mayhem” Miller is making his return to the ring after a 10 month layoff. In his last fight he was outgrappled by Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at Dream 4. Miller is a BJJ and Muay Thai fighter fighting out of Team Quest in Temecula, California. He’ll be fighting in Hawaii, where he has a 9-1 record with wins over top guys like Frank Trigg, Robbie Lawler, Falaniko Vitale, Ronald Jhun, and Egan Inoue. Hopefully the ring rust and hosting the MTV show “Bully Beatdown” hasn’t been too much for Mayhem and he can get back to his winning ways.


Kala Hose started his career at 250 pounds as a heavyweight. He lost his pro debut to IFL star and collegiate Hall of Famer Reese Andy but went on to lose 70 pounds and amass a six fight winning streak including a first round TKO win over Phil Baroni before losing to Robert McDaniel in EliteXC. Kala Hose is looking to get the win over Miller and hopefully make it back to the big shows.

7. Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson
Dream 8, April 5 – Nagoya, Japan

Sergei Kharitonov is coming off of a seven month layoff. Sergei is a Sambo, Boxing, and Muay Thai expert who trains with Golden Glory in Russia. His most recent fight was supposed to be against Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at Dream 6 but King Mo was forced to pull out of the bout due to a back injury. Jimmy Ambriz replaced him and Sergei scored a win in the first round by submission due to strikes. Kharitonov has a 16- 3 record with wins over quality opponents, such as Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Pedro Rizzo, and feared K-1 striker Semmy Schilt.

Jeff Monson is a UFC veteran and world class submission wrestling/BJJ expert fighting out of American Top Team in Cocunut, Creek Florida. Monson is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt and two time ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion. Monson has fought for the UFC Heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia where he lost a five round decision. He asked to be released from his contract following that fight and since then has gone on to amass a 6-2 record with his only losses coming from Pedro Rizzo and Josh Barnett. This should be a great fight with a mix of striking and grappling.

6. David Bielkheden vs. Mark Bocek
UFC 97, April 18 – Montreal, Canada

Buried deep in the undercard of UFC 97 is a matchup between two of the most technical BJJ black belts in the UFC’s Lightweight division. Mark Bocek has been practicing BJJ for the past decade originally under Rickson and Renzo Gracie before transferring to Nova Uniao where he received his black belt from Joao Roque. Bocek is a 5X Canadian BJJ Champion, 3X Pan American Medalist, 2002 World Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Champion, as well as many other BJJ titles.

David Bielkheden started BJJ at the young age of 15. He quickly advanced to the competition team of Hilti BJJ Academy and won the French Open. His coach saw his potential and David went on to train with Brazilian Top Team Academy under Murilo Bustamante and Ze Mario Sperry where he received his black belt in 2006. Both guys are very technical grapplers and this fight should be a great ground war. If you love grappling don’t miss this fight.

5. Wagnney Fabiano vs. Fredson Paixao
WEC 40 “Torres vs. Mizugaki,” April 5 – Chicago

Fredson Paixao was set to make his WEC debut against Jose Aldo but the bout was cancelled due to some talks with Sengoku. Paixao is a BJJ black belt extraordinaire fighting out of the Gracie Barra Combat Team Academy. Fredson is a multiple – time BJJ World Champion and considered by many to be one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners of the decade. He holds notable wins over Thomas Denny and Masakazu Imanari, however he hasn’t fought in two years and ring rust could prove to be a problem for him.

Wagnney Fabiano was the former IFL Featherweight Champion. He mixes his strong striking ability and ground game perfectly and is quickly becoming one of the most feared fighters at 145. He trains with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and has even trained Georges St. Pierre in BJJ. This should be a great BJJ matchup between two excellent fighters. Look for most of the fight to take place on the ground.

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Chuck Liddell
UFC 97, April 18 – Montreal Canada

I know there’s going to be some people who are going to say this won’t be an exciting fight and that both fighters are nearing the end of their careers (I kind of agree on the second part) I still think this will be an exciting fight. Both of them are coming off of less than stellar performance and it’s make or break time. Dana White said he wants to see Chuck do better or it might be the end of the line for him. After that abysmal performance put on by Shogun against Mark Coleman you know he wants to go out there and show he still has it. I’m predicting that this fight doesn’t last very long because both fighters need to finish the fight early to keep their careers going.

3. Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz
Strikeforce “Shamrock vs. Diaz” , April 11 – San Jose

Both of these fighters are either loved or hated by their fans. Frank knows how to cut a promo like no other and can back up what he says inside the cage. No matter what he does in the cage you can’t be unsatisfied after a Frank Shamrock fight. He’s one of the last OG’s who’s still going strong. He’s been in the game for over a decade now and he’s seen everything possible.

Nick Diaz is another fighter who you either love or hate. He’s been in there with some of the best in the world, including Takanori Gomi, Sean Sherk, Diego Sanchez, Robbie Lawler. Like Frank he loves to talk on the microphone and him and his brother, Nate, cause trouble wherever they go. I’ve been looking forward to this fight for awhile now and I doubt it’ll disappoint.

2. Buakaw Por Pramuk vs. Andre Dida
K-1 World MAX 2009 Final 16, April 21 – Fukuoka, Japan

I know this is supposed to be about the 10 must see MMA fights but how can you not be excited for some top notch kickboxing? Buakaw Por Pramuk is an elite Muay Thai fighter and Andre Dida is no slouch either. Both guys go in there looking to finish fights. Of all the MMA fights this month and all the MMA cards this K-1 card will probably trump them all. I highly recommend that you check it out.

1. Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
Dream 8, April 5 – Nagoya, Japan

The last time Shinya Aoki lost to anyone outside of a format tournament was to none other than Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. That was four years ago and Aoki has improved by leaps and bounds since then. Rocking his trademark spandex pants he’s become the face of Japanese MMA. On the other hand Sakurai has been taking on less than stellar opponents. Can Aoki get redemption for his lose four years ago? Both fighters seem to be doing different things with their careers and going in opposite directions. A lot has changed in four years and this fight will prove that.