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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Igor Tanabe’s ultimate dream was to win the IBJJF World Championship as a black belt, but that changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based in Japan, “Fat Ninja” realized life wouldn’t be the same for a while during the pandemic as it was nearly impossible to leave the country to compete elsewhere. On top of that, his wife becoming pregnant altered his career perspective.

“It was insane when COVID hit and I had no reason to keep training anymore, there was no [jiu-jitsu] match for me here, so I decided to fight MMA,” Tanabe said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. “My wife was a bit scared, getting pregnant during COVID. The scenario was hard. The first thing that popped my head when she found out she was pregnant was, ‘Relax, I’ll fight MMA.’ [Laughs.]”

Tanabe made his MMA debut in October 2021, tapping Hiroyuki Shimizu in less than a minute at HEAT 49 in Nagoya, Japan. An offer to grapple with Tommy Langaker at Polaris the next month kept his jiu-jitsu dreams alive, as he submitted a man that was very successful in major jiu-jitsu competitions, but MMA ultimately took over as his focus.

“I had an offer to fight MMA already so I knew the conditions were completely different from the ones in jiu-jitsu,” Tanabe said. “That desire to be the best in the world in jiu-jitsu, now I can say I have this desire in MMA.”

“Fat Ninja” kept competing under the Polaris banner and other Japanese grappling promotions before receiving an offer to face veteran striker Melvin Manhoef in a MMA bout at INOKI BOM-BA-YE in December 2022. Tanabe agreed to it before realizing it was a light heavyweight contest, but it was too late to walk back. Tanabe secured a heel hook to force the tap in under two minutes, then used the same technique to finish Daichi Abe in a 185-pound match seven months later in his RIZIN debut.

Tanabe returns to the ring at RIZIN 45, which goes down Dec. 31 in Saitama, taking on Shinsho Anzai in a welterweight showdown. The Brazilian talent choked out Koji Shikuwa this past October to improve to 4-0 in the sport, and wants to double that record in 2024.

“I wanna fight at least four times next year to extend that record to 9-0, then I’ll be able to go anywhere,” Tanabe said. “[Anzai] has this wrestling style, something I haven’t faced yet, so it’s going to be a great test for me so I know what’s like to fight out there, you know? This style is difficult for jiu-jitsu fighters, they take you down and just lay on top of you, so it’s a good test. Even though he has some striking, that’s what I think he’ll bring to this fight.”

RIZIN has yet to crown a champion at welterweight, and Tanabe feels he has a responsibility to make things interesting enough for the promotion to create a belt.

“I think it’s all over my shoulders, you know?” Tanabe said. “I’m the youngest athlete in this division, and I’ll have to make that happen. They won’t create a tournament out of nowhere, because sadly, this division doesn’t bring much attention yet. I’ll have to go for it and make it happen, create the appeal, so we have a 170-pound title fight.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

John Dodson doesn’t hold grudges, but he definitely keeps receipts.

Ahead of his return on New Year’s Eve in Japan, the veteran flyweight found peace with his new fighting home in RIZIN along with becoming champion in BKFC after he was unceremoniously released from the UFC. Of course, Dodson understands that you’re only as good as your last fight when it comes to combat sports, but he felt that his résumé with the UFC should’ve earned him a little bit more consideration.

Sadly, after falling to Merab Dvalisivhili in 2020, Dodson was released from the promotion after spending nearly a decade there, which included two title fights during his tenure. The way that whole situation played out left a bad taste in Dodson’s mouth, which is why he’s not really interested in returning to the UFC even if the promotion came calling.

“They’d have to cut a check for me to come back,” Dodson told MMA Fighting. “If they want me to come back, they’re going to have to come with a higher dollar amount. Not to disrespect anybody that’s in the UFC, I think I’m far better than the champion that’s at 125 [pounds] and 135 right now.

“To me, it doesn’t make sense, but at the same time, it is what it is. At the time I was let go [from the UFC], my last 10 fights before I was let go, I won four fights [and lost six] and that’s the scale they decided to look at. When I lost to Merab Dvalishvili, he was my sixth loss in those 10 fights and I only lost back-to-back fights one time during that time frame. For me, it was very frustrating, heartbreaking, I just came off a Knockout of the Night performance and I lost a boring fight and they’re like, ‘You’ve gotta go.’”

Since splitting with the UFC, Dodson has put together an impressive run, with a 3-1 record in MMA that includes two wins in RIZIN while also amassing a perfect 3-0 résumé in bare-knuckle competition and becoming the BKFC flyweight champion.

Dodson remains thankful to both RIZIN and BKFC for giving him a home after he began feeling discouraged about his future in the sport. It turns out after his UFC release, Dodson received a similar message from the now-defunct Bellator MMA about a possible fight there as well, and it started to feel like he was running out of options.

“Bellator told me I wasn’t good enough,” Dodson revealed. “So I’m going to go dominate everywhere else. Everyone who keeps disrespecting me, they’re going to have to put a lot of money on the table to go ahead and say yes.”

Dodson can’t predict the future so he’s not sure what offers may eventually come his way, but he knows it will take a lot to get him to return to the UFC or leave RIZIN and BKFC.

He credits those two promotions for picking him up when he was stuck on a downward spiral, and he’ll never forget that.

“I was blessed RIZIN decided to pick me up and then BKFC came along and took me under their mantle,” Dodson said. “The people that decided to have my back and pick me up and carry me, I want to take them wherever they want to go and continue to make them the most successful organizations possible.

“So BKFC and RIZIN are my homes until the wheels fall off. I am a human being and my feelings do get hurt. I can forgive somebody but I will never forget.”

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Planned?
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Tyron Woodley attempted to land two very big names to compete in his new mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, but apparently an eight-figure payday wasn’t enough to lock it down.

The former UFC welterweight champion has been trying to stay relevant ever since getting his chin tested by Jake Paul inside of the boxing ring two years ago. Woodley is no longer part of UFC or looking to make another run at a world title. Instead, he’s looking to score some major paydays by using his clout and attracting fellow aging veterans of the sport to compete.

Most recently, Woodley attempted to lock down a fight with Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz in effort to launch his newly-created MMA promotion, The Realest International Promotion (RIP). Unfortunately, the two UFC legends wanted nothing to do with Woodley’s “eight figure” offer.

“I control who fights on the card, and I’m looking to fight guys that are legendary to me.” Woodley recently told TMZ Sports. “That I feel like, maybe didn’t get the respect and the money that they should’ve gotten when they were at the top of the top. Like Georges St-Pierre. I offered him a dumb bag, he said no, ‘I’m not in that world anymore’.”

“I offered Nick Diaz a dumb bag, when I say ‘dumb’, I’m talking about pushing the eight figures,” added Woodley. “A lot of money, to fight me, in the middle east. But, they both said no. Nick didn’t say no, Nick liked the comment, so I don’t know what that means. But you know what I mean, [I want to fight] people that I respect, people that I thought were GOATS. Now that the money is really coming to the sport, I want to go at those people first.”

Woodley, who turns 42 this coming April, hasn’t captured a victory in MMA since submitting Darren Till back in 2018. “Chosen One” ended up losing his final four fights under the UFC banner, including a title fight loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 back in 2019. It’s unknown at this time who Woodley might fight in his return to the cage, but it’s safe to say GSP and Diaz are no longer viable options.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

One-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes on Saturday announced his opponent, Carlos Ulberg, has been ruled out of UFC 297.

Reyes put in quotes that Ulberg was injured and added he is “def frustrated but god has a plan,” he wrote on Instagram.

A UFC official confirmed to MMA Fighting that the bout is likely to be rescheduled for UFC Atlantic City, which takes place March 30 at Boardwalk Hall. A message to Ulberg wasn’t immediately returned.

UFC 297 takes place Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Reyes vs. Ulberg was expected to open the event’s ESPN+ pay-per-view card.

Reyes most recently appeared in the octagon at UFC 281, where he suffered his fourth consecutive setback in a meeting with Ryan Spann. Since losing a controversial split decision against then-champ Jon Jones at UFC 247, his career has taken a nosedive with three straight knockout losses in bouts against Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka and Spann.

For Ulberg, the matchup provides an opportunity to build a growing resume. The City Kickboxing product has won five straight since a debut octagon loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC 259. He most recently submitted Jung Da-un by rear-naked choke at UFC 293.

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