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 Kon'nichiwa! For the first time ever, SPFT invades Japan. Last week we promised you 'March Madness' would be the hot phrase in these parts over the course of the next few weeks, and while SPFT 98 did not disappoint, SPFT 99 ratchets up the intensity to a whole new level. In front of a likely sold out Tokyo Bowl crowd of 42,000 spectators, twenty men will introduce a whole new level competition to the Japanese culture. When names like Gor Keyman, Willy Stoppers, Leonard Washington, and Peter Parts headline a card, you know SPFT has brought their A game.
To kick off the night, we have a bit of an old school striker vs grappler match up. The aging veteran, Gustavo Ribeiro, will be making his third appearance on the big stage against the younger Finn striker, Arvo Pentti. Ribeiro, with 35 career fights, 16 of which have been won by submission, has undoubtedly gained a lot of experience in the cage as a journeyman fighter, even winning two titles in lesser organizations. Ribeiro has struggled since joining SPFT, some pundits argue he may just have put too many miles under his feet before finding his way to the top tier of competition, and should just hang up his hat. I'm not one to write off a skilled grappler this early, but unless he wins his next fight, he may have some serious questions to ask himself. Pentti would love for Ribeiro to have serious questions about his future. The 26 year old has split his fights since joining SPFT, both fights having ended in brutal knockouts. The gameplans will be clear going in to the fight, we shall see if age or beauty will be the winner.
Mahandry Andriamboavonjy and his opponent, Gabriel Kiptanui, are no strangers to each other. They have fought twice to split decision endings, spliting the first two fights. In the long awaited rubber match between these two, after their fight of the night performance in Andriamboavonjy's victory back at SPFT 89 in December, both fighters will look to bring back their winning ways. Expect a continuation of the previous two tight battles in this fight. Maybe, for the first time, one of these two men can definitively win a fight in this saga.
The 29 year old Pit Bull will be making his first SPFT appearance in Tokyo. The native Australian is known for his high level striking and knockout power. Despite having 20 professional bouts already, and coming in on a win streak, expect Bull to be a bit nervous fighting for the first time under the SPFT banner in front of the 35000 crazy screaming Japanese fans. His opponent, Riley McCollins, on the other hand will not likely have that problem. Veteran of 16 SPFT fights, 4 of which have earned him fight of the night honors, and two knockout of the night honors, McCollins is one of the most exciting 185 pounders in the world. McCollins will enter this fight looking to capitalize on the momentum he gained by knocking out Arvo Pentti back at SPFT 96, and try to make a run up the corporate rankings ladder to hopefully someday fight Nero Aurelius for the championship title. Expect a dogfight.
Kenshiro Kasumi hopes a return to fight in his native Japan will change the recent run of luck he has been having. Having been knocked out in his last two bouts, Kasumi needs to make a statement that his 32 year old chin is not softening with age. SPFT 99 seems like it will the perfect opportunity to prove he is still the highly dangerous fighter he as always been, except for one, small issue, his opponent, the ever dangerous, and reportedly very religious, Jensen Saint. Saint, the aggressive ground fighter, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, has split his first two fights in the SPFT cage, nevertheless, he is a very dangerous and experienced fighter. Only one man has sucessfully submitted Kasumi in his 19 fight career, can Saint make it two?
Ever watched The Discovery Channel for anything other than watching two monkeys have sex? Me neither, but I've been told that one of the common acts in the wild is a fight for dominance between a young buck and and old alpha-male. That gives you a very good idea of what you will be watching when the two heavyweights, Jaakko Parantainen, 25, and Silver Boo, 34, lock horns on March 9th. Parantainen, known for his top level grappling skills, will look to move up towards the top of the herd having recently moved back down to fight at Heavyweight. The massive young man stands a good chance to eventually rise up and fight pound for pound great Elroy Kleinschmidt, but Boo is not exactly looking to lie down and die. Boo, the crafty old Dane, undoubtedly has already noted that Parantainen's only losses have come via knockout. An elite level boxer himself, with 19 knockout victories under his belt, underlining his ferocious power will likely do everything in his power to prove that old man strength is not a myth, and that he still deserves the right to be king of the jungle.
Since joining SPFT, Kenji Okabe has been nothing but impressive. He came in with that fight of the night performance against Jose Aldo, and has so far won three of his four fights. Since the legendary Eric Cartman just recently lost his title, there is the belief that the Welterweight division is now wide open, and a white hot prospect like Okabe no doubt has his sights on fighting his way to the top. Vladimir Zenin has not had the same warm welcome since joining SPFT, as concerns had been raised about the strength of his chin as he dropped his first two fights via knockout. The tenacious Russian did not allow this to derail his career completely, however, as he came back with an impressive decision victory at SPFT 96. Maybe the first two fights were just the jitters of moving up to the highest level of competition, as this highly dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt is known to be an excellent fighter. We shall see if he is capable of building off of the last fight an making his own attempt to scrape to the top.
Personally, I feel the lighter weight divisions do not get their due credit, the exceptional level of athleticism and technical ability does not get better than with the smaller guys. As proof, I present you with the fight between Jamie Rolland and Justina Vanovcan, fights do not get much better than these two 135 pound fighters throwing down. Rolland, a member of the Hall of Fame in our sister organization, has earned all 15 of his victories via knockout, including the one that introduced us to him at SPFT 96. With the departure of the curent champion, many believe Rolland to be the front runner to take over the division. His next test will come in the form of submission artist, Vanovcan. Vanovcan is new to SPFT, but is no stranger to serious fans in the know. With 14 submission victories under his belt, this creates an interesting challenge to Rolland's well known ground and pound style. One would expect the winner of this fight to stand pretty well in the eyes of the SPFT owners when they determine who deserves the Bantamweight title.
When you talk about longevity within the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, few names resonate like Belin Billet. As one of the early founders of our beloved sport, few fighters who were around at the start of Billet's career are still fighting today. You won't see me talking about how Billet's best years are behind him, though. Since joining SPFT, he has won two fights, and fought the highly competitive fight of the night against number one contender, Peter Parts. The 34 year old does not seem to have slown down a single step. Which is good, because he will need all of his skills to beat the younger 29 year old Dantavious McJuckett. McJuckett, the former Light Heavyweight champion, is no stranger to the cage either, with 18 career bouts, 15 of which, at the highest level of competition, SPFT. Since joining SPFT, McJuckett has only lost three times, two of them to champions, and the other to the afformentioned Parts. Considering how competitive the top level of the 205 division is, both fighters really need a win at SPFT 99 to keep hopes alive of having a title fight in the near future. This is especially important in Billet's case, as, while he is definitely not anywhere near retirement at this point, one has to question how much longer he will be able to fight at this level.
Speaking of the powerhouse Light Heavyweight division, in the Co-Main Event (yes, Co-Main Event, take note of that), Leonard Washington will defend his title for the first time against Peter Parts. Washington has won 17 of his 18 career victories via knockout. There is no reason to doubt he will seek to win the same way again at SPFT 99. Considering how dominant Washington has been since joining SPFT, there's been some talk that he may be the first champion to have a long reign at the top of the division. Parts does not want that. We're all pretty familiar with Parts, 15 career fights in SPFT, started off strong with a three fight win streak, then fell off for a bit dropping three in a row where he suddenly righted his career and fought his way into title contention only to lose to McJuckett. The biggest question in this fight will be whether Parts learned from his previous title attempt, and will be able to earn himself a championship for the first time in his impressive career, or is Washington the elite champion who will maintain a long reign atop the division?
Remember when I told you to take note of the fact that the Light Heavyweight championship fight is only the Co-Main Event? I seriously hope so, it was only a paragraph ago. There was a reason for that. It's not often a title fight takes a back seat to any other fight when it comes to the Main Event billing, but this is one of those situations, and deservedly so. They do not get much bigger than Gor Keyman, both literally and figuratively. Standing at 194 centimeters, and weighing a massive 300 pounds, Keyman is a freak. Fresh off of losing his Super Heavyweight championship to now two division champion, Elroy Kleinschmidt, the Japanese powerhouse is undoubtedly on a rampage to win his title back.
So far, only four men have earned the honor of entering the SPFT Hall of Fame. Willy Stoppers is one of them. Having recently moved up to the Super Heavyweight division, Stoppers also lost his title to Kleinschmidt. Who can possibly forget his epic series of fights against Leroy Brown? I only have one fear, which has been a bit of a problem throughout Stopper's career, his chin. Will it be able to stand up to a bigger knockout artist like Keyman? I can't lie, I'm a bit nervous about how this may affect the legacy of one of the most famed fighters in the history of SPFT. Tune in on March 9th to find out the outcome, and as always, remember to check out our partner, STEEL PENN'S 160 OF STEEL $50 Rio.
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