Fighters Only

Issue 120

October 2014

The sport’s strangest stories from around the globe.

TAKE A CURRY SHOWER WITH MMA LEGEND ‘KID’ YAMAMOTO

TOKYO, JAPAN

What Japanese-to-English dictionary did UFC bantamweight ‘Kid’ Yamamoto use to help him name his new restaurant? We want to know, because it’s broken.

In early July he opened the doors to customers at Curry Shower. Yes, Curry Shower. It’s either intentional in a hipster sense, or an error in translation, or both.

Why curry? It sells curry. Why shower? Who really bloody knows? We’re clearly blaming the dictionary, but maybe it’s some snazzy metaphor for life, or flavor, or the world’s over reliance on food utensils or something.

What we do know is that it’s a real thing, with a typically odd Japanese-English name, locatable in the greater Tokyo area – and the 18-6 (1 NC) K-1 Hero’s veteran is the proprietor. And of course Billy DeCola, one of the ex apprentices on tattoo reality series NY Ink, was at the grand opening. Eat there.

DONG HYUN KIM WILL NOT EAT YOUR WORM, WEIRD MAN

THE PAST, SOUTH KOREA

Apparently, putting celebrities in gross, insect-eating situations and making it into a TV show isn’t just a Western thing.

While the US might have Celebrity Fear Factor, and there’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here in the UK, South Korea has Let’s Go. For entertainment, it places famous Koreans in situations that were routine for people during Korea’s Choson dynasty, which ran from 1392 to 1910.

In the case of UFC welterweight Dong Hyun Kim he was pushed to eat a massive grub-caterpillar thing off a rock while wearing a tatty robe by a tubby fellow also wearing a tatty robe. As you may imagine, Kim wasn’t keen, despite much hollering from his sadistic pal.

But after trying to psych himself up for ages to get the thing in his mouth, between bouts of dry heaving, he eventually had said hanger-on drop it in his trap. Although, he couldn’t bring himself to chomp on it and tossed it right back out again.

The bottom line? Dong Hyun Kim is so famous in Korea he gets to be pressured into eating some guy’s grub. So you wanna be a fighter?

UFC PARTNERS WITH VALE TUDO JAPAN FOR EIGHT-MONTH REALITY SERIES

The UFC has partnered with the Shooto-run Vale Tudo Japan organization to create an eight-month reality series where the winners of bantamweight and featherweight round-robin tournaments will win UFC contracts.

Each of the eight fighters in the two weight classes will fight one another in bouts held during real Vale Tudo Japan events. Unlike The Ultimate Fighter, the show will follow the competitors as they train at their home gyms and go about their normal lives. Set to broadcast on Japanese TV, there will be 30 episodes shown over eight months, with three fights broadcast on each show.

The winners of the series, designed to turn young Japanese talent into national stars, will be decided via the best win-loss record.

At the official announcement in Japan, UFC president Dana White told the press: “The round-robin tournament concept is going to make for amazing fights, with a lot at stake. Every fight will matter, every performance will count.”

White, who said the show could be screened on UFC Fight Pass outside Japan, said the show will not resemble TUF. “This show will be very Japanese. It will be shot here in Japan by a big, reputable company, for the Japanese market, to build Japanese stars.”