Rizin FF World Fighting GP (or something?) 12/29, 31

[CPT]

Watching this after the fact and really enjoying it. Pride rules, great fights so far. Didn't realize there was a second event until like 1-2 hours in, making this probably an 8-12 hour commitment, but I'll spread it out over a few days or something.

There's a BW tournament that looks sweet. Ian McCall is in it, as is Horiguchi.

Anyone else watching?

Use spoiler tags for any fight specific stuff.

[CPT]

Just finished the first event. Pretty good. Some thoughts below.

King Reina vs. Cindy Dandois

Spoiler:

Was bummed that King Reina lost (a somewhat sketchy decision) to Cindy Dandois. I didn't know King Reina existed until today, and she might be my favourite fighter now. Seems like a badass, and I dig the personality/gimmick. Might not actually be that good at fighting though.

Bantamweight Tournament

Spoiler:

The Japanese guys winning the first two fights was kind of a shame, as I thought the other guys might be legit prospects.
Khalid Taha still might be, but that Kevin Petschi character looked pretty bad.

Manel Kape vs. Ian McCall was a big letdown, as they had been hyping it up as this big grudge match and then McCall loses due to a cut in the first minute or two. Worst of all, the cut seemed to have been caused by the ring rope, and then Kape is celebrating like he knocked him clean out. I mainly wanted to see how good Kape is/isn't, and that probably isn't going to happen in the next round unless he surprises against Horiguchi.

Speaking of Horiguchi, that guy is really **** good. It's entirely possible that he's the second best BW in the world. It's too bad he didn't stick around the UFC to find out, but having already had his shot at DJ and I guess not expecting another one, I can't blame him for going back to Japan to be a bigger star.

The alternate fight was solid as well.

The second event apparently has a bunch of kickboxing, which I may or may not watch, so I might get through that faster than expected. I also may or may not be talking to myself here, and that's okay too.

[REDDzone]

I should try to find a way to watch this. I have heard good things.

[CPT]

It was pretty good, but clocks in at a total 12 hours. Unlike UFC events, where I often just skim through and only watch bell to bell, part of the reason I'm watching a Japanese event is for all of the presentation, so I probably watched the whole thing, though it was relegated to background noise at times.

The good thing about the production in Japan on a major event is they do a great job making every fight feel important. In the UFC there seems to just be an acceptance that nobody cares about a random undercard fight, and when it is presented that way, of course they won't. The downside is the aforementioned 12 hour running time, lol.

The Gomi fight is worth a watch for sure. Shinju Nozawa-Auclair is worth watching, because, wow. The mini kickboxing tournament and the semis and finals of the bantamweight tournament were quite good as well.

Spoiler:

That Tenshin kid who won the kickboxing tournament looks sick. Only 19 years old. I don't know much about the kickboxing scene these days in Japan (or anywhere, really), particularly at the lower weight classes, but he should be one to watch for.

Horiguchi looked great again. Kape actually looked pretty good in their fight, albeit a bit wild and sloppy. Horiguchi seems so happy to be fighting in Japan, so when you see him it's a lot more understandable why he went back. Just hope there are enough high level fights for him.