Fighters Only

Issue 108

December 2013

The sports's strangest stories from around the globe.

BOB SAPP GETS KO’D BY EYE DROPS

TELEVISION, JAPAN

American MMA and kickboxing behemoth Bob Sapp, 11-18, suffered his most humiliating defeat yet over the summer: a KO loss to Japanese eye drops.

Sapp, who’s riding the momentum of a 12-fight losing streak (all stoppages), started the bout well, maintaining a firm grip of the Ice Crush box and bottle.

However, the former K-1 star soon found himself defending against a direct drop to the eye when he turned the container upside down and squeezed one of the redness-reducing blobs point blank onto his pupil. The big man, who scored two wins over kickboxing great Ernesto Hoost, immediately recoiled in agony and was thrown to his back, where Ice Crush was declared the victor.

The 15-second loss likely derails Sapp’s chances of contending for the Japanese television commercial circuit’s heavyweight prize. Whether it will hurt the soldier of fortune’s ronin-like journey of endorsing more sex toys than an adult film star remains to be seen.

‘SHOWTIME’ KICK GETS HONG KONG CINEMA TREATMENT

HONG KONG, CHINA

Hong Kong martial arts cinema has turned its hand to MMA, using the sport as its combat backdrop for new flick Unbeatable. And the ‘Showtime’ kick of UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis makes an appearance.

The movie’s plot involves three story lines converging around a young fighter training to compete in a tournament with an eye on securing the prize money to help his father. And although that sounds deeply uninspiring, by most accounts Unbeatable is apparently a pretty decent film. The Hollywood Reporter called it “a warm and engaging drama drenched with redemption, hope and cracking mixed martial arts scenes.”

Its attention to mixed martial arts fighting authenticity is understandably sketchy given the genre’s love for wire-work, but there are plenty of legit training and fighting techniques too.

But had last WEC champ Pettis not landed his stunning jump-off-the-wall foot strike to Benson Henderson at WEC 53 in 2010, you mightn’t have thought that was plausible either. Nonetheless the blow makes its silver-screen debut in the action picture. And where does it happen in the story? Well, you’ll just have to watch to find out.

It seems Pettis’ show-stopping strike really was like something out of a movie.

UFC GOING TO SINGAPORE IN JANUARY

The UFC will continue its expansion into Asia in January when it holds its first event in Singapore. The UFC is set to use a 5,000-seat capacity venue in the five-star Marina Bay Sands resort.

Mark Fischer, the UFC’s managing director of Asian operations, said: “After kicking off the year in Singapore, our fans can expect several other UFC events around the region on the docket next year, including two more fights at the Venetian’s Cotai Arena in Macau.” Large Asian promotion One FC, which has seen success with shows in the region, has its headquarters in Singapore.

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UFC lightweight Edson Barboza and WSOF bantamweight Marlon Moraes have been training together since they were nine years old.

PANCRASE STARTS WESTERN-INSPIRED BAYSIDE FIGHT SERIES

Long-running Japanese promotion Pancrase successfully staged the first in its new Bayside Fight series of events at the start of September. Inspired by Western mixed martial arts, the show uses a cage and the Unified Rules, as opposed to hybrid rules and a roped ring as common in Japan.

Held in Yokohama Bay, the series features a presentation emphasis on MMA lifestyle, music and fashion. Japanese organizations have employed or experimented with Western aspects of mixed martial arts in the past, but a fully fledged side project is unusual.