DREAM 18 NYE MMA side of card Discussion

Fight Path: How Hughes-GSP led Will Brooks to DREAM.18

Will Brooks still remembers the friend's house he was visiting, the couch on which he was sitting and the television he was watching when he decided he might have a real chance to be a skilled MMA fighter.

He had started some MMA training earlier, after he ended his football career at Illinois' Harper College because of a knee injury, not wanting football ailments to affect him in the future. But, as he had during other periods in his life, the Chicago native had slipped into a funk of personal issues.

Then a UFC broadcast came on.

"I'm sitting at my friend's house and I'm thinking, 'What am I gonna do with myself? I'm throwing it all away,'" Brooks told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "Then the UFC came on TV, I think it was a replay of Matt Hughes and [Georges St-Pierre], one of their fights.

"I remember one of the commentators talking about how wrestlers can do well transitioning into MMA because as a wrestler you have experience determining where the fight goes. I thought, 'Maybe I can make a mark in this sport.'"

After a successful start, Brooks is hoping to continue making a mark. At 7-0, the 26-year-old will take on Satoru Kitaoka (30-11-9) at Monday's DREAM.18 show in Saitama, Japan. Brooks considers the fight his chance to make a mark against a fighter whose credentials observers can't challenge.

It will be Brooks' first fight farther away than Omaha, Neb., and he has been asking others for advice on fighting in Japan. He gained access to more opinions recently as he traveled to American Top Team's Coconut Creek, Fla. location for some additional training.

Most recently fighting in August, Brooks has stayed undefeated by remaining motivated and using skills that made him a state-level wrestling competitor at his Illinois high school. He's hoping that he and other fighters can help soon give Chicago a better MMA reputation for producing quality fighters.

Now, with a focus nearly unmatched at other times in his life, the former skilled defensive back is hoping to lead that group.

"We're competing against a lot of other pro sports," he said. "I think over time, given opportunities like the UFC coming in January, there will be more attention on the Chicago MMA scene. Right now we're working on it."

Fading in and out

Brooks spent his early life living with his mother, brother and sister in rougher parts of Chicago. Soon, his father came to collect him and his brother and move them to a suburb, which began a rebellious streak for Brooks as he reacted poorly to the move.

"I had a bad couple years," he said. "I got expelled from a couple schools. I was fighting. I was just upset about the way things were going in my life."

That continued into high school years, when a fight between him and his father eventually led to him moving in with a friend's family. He continues to lovingly refer to the friend's mother as "Mamma J."

It was people such as Mamma J, he said, who believed that he could get on the right path. Sports helped him stay interested in school, as he was a very good football player and wrestler. Although, he didn't wrestle during his junior season because of a disagreement with his coach, but he returned to the team as a senior and advanced to the state tournament.

The sting of a loss in that year's tournament has stuck with him. He would eventually move on to a short football career at Harper College, and he then moved into MMA, but the memories of his last wrestling season have continued to motivate him.

"I made it a goal for myself," he said, "to never lose again."

Finding a cause

During his freshman football season at Harper, Brooks sustained a knee injury serious enough to sideline him. He didn't need surgery, but he wondered if the next injury would be worse and if it would affect him later in life. He decided to leave football behind.

But, he needed something to keep him occupied and avoid trouble. A friend who lived in the same apartment complex mentioned he worked out at the Midwest Training Center, and he invited Brooks to come along.

He started in a wrestling workout. One of the coaches then suggested he move into some striking workouts. He eventually landed in classes for muay Thai and jiu-jitsu, as well.

But, as happened to him previously, he slipped into a funk.

"I dug myself deep into a hole," he said, "and even Mamma J and all my friends thought about giving up on me."

Then a UFC broadcast came on, and he was motivated. He returned to the training center and prepared for a set of amateur fights, which ended up being six. The early days of his fighting career were focused almost solely on training.

"Before my first three amateur fights, I slept in my car," he said. "I don't even think they knew."

He moved on to quick success and turned professional in January 2011 and won five times before the end of that year. He received a jolt of enthusiasm when he tried out for a lightweights season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and was chosen as an alternate.

Next, he'll put his undefeated record on the line in Japan, by far his longest travel for a fight. It's one he hopes will gain him more attention.

"I've seen people say, 'Oh, you haven't really fought anyone,'" Brooks said. "This is a real opportunity to show people what I have to offer. This is a high-level guy in a big promotion, and I'm excited about it."

For more "DREAM.18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo: New Year's Special," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2012/12/fight-path-how-hughes-gsp-led-will-brooks-to-dream-18

So i order the ippv off glory's site, is that right? It's the full show?

Guys there is US TV DEAL for it. CBS Network picked it up

Gomi500 wrote:

Gomi500 wrote:Guys there is US TV DEAL for it. CBS Network picked it up

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Marloes-CoenenFiona-Muxlow-Added-to-Dream-18-Event-to-be-Broadcast-on-CBS-Sports-48585

The CBS Sports deal is great but I got to see this event live. I could wait a day for the kickboxing and two days for the DREAM event on delay but I just have to see this event live so I'm buying the PPV stream from the GLORY website.

gotta go for my boy Manhoef 100% of the time

This card is going to restore my soul.

I probably have to skip this one.

I haven't been getting my work done.

I'd need a new thread to get into all of the details, but I don't think I can justify taking the night off to go to this one

Also, it wouldn't be good for me.

Maybe I will still go get drunk in Shibuya in the night time.

I'll think it over. I probably have to buy a ticket tomorrow if I go. I will try to manage to write something. If I manage to do some work, maybe I will buy a ticket. I don't know, I've been in a bad way these past few days.

can you add marloes to the poll?

marloes lookin' smokin' hot

Spoiler:

here's my picks
http://www.asianmma.com/?p=4842

This event starts 2 AM ET Monday 31. Not many hours left.

At the “DREAM.18 & GLORY 4 ~New Years Eve Special 2012~” weigh-ins which took place today officials had to step in as things heated up between Melvin Manhoef and Denis Kang when they faced off after Denis Kang failed to make weight on his first try.

Apart from that everyone made weight besides Satoru Kitaoka’s opponent Will Brooks who also failed to make weight on his first try.

Errol Zimmerman and Jamal Ben Saddik also had a heated face-off at the GLORY 4 portion weigh-ins.

Check out the full card and fight order for this double event below.

DREAM.18 & GLORY 4 ~New Years Eve Special 2012~
Date: December 31st, 2012
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

1st Portion

1. DREAM Lightweight One Match: Satoru Kitaoka vs. Will Brooks
2. DREAM Women’s One Match: Marloes Coenen vs. Fiona Muxlow
3. DREAM Welterweight One Match: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Phil Baroni
4. DREAM Middleweight One Match: Melvin Manhoef vs. Denis Kang
5. DREAM Featherweight One Match: Bibiano Fernandes vs. Yoshiro Maeda
6. DREAM Lightweight One Match: Shinya Aoki vs. Antonio McKee
7. DREAM Featherweight One Match: Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Georgi Karakhanyan
8. DREAM Featherweight One Match: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Michihiro Omigawa

GLORY Heavyweight Super Fight: Jerome Le Banner vs. KOICHI

2nd Portion

1. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #1: Semmy Schilt vs. Brice Guidon
2. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #2: Sergey Kharitonov vs. Rico Verhoeven
3. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #3: Gokhan Saki vs. Raoumaru
4. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #4: Anderson “Braddock” Silva vs. Igor Jurkovic
5. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #5: Remy Bonjasky vs. Filip Verlinden
6. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #6: Errol Zimmerman vs. Jamal Ben Saddik
7. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #7: Peter Aerts vs. Mourad Bouzidi
8. GLORY4 Grand Slam 1st Round #8: Daniel Ghita vs. Jhonata Diniz
9. GLORY4 Grand Slam Quarterfinal #1: Schilt/Guidon vs. Kharitonov/Verhoeven
10. GLORY4 Grand Slam Quarterfinal #2: Saki/Raoumaru vs. Braddock/Jurkovic
11. GLORY4 Grand Slam Quarterfinal #3: Bonjasky/Verlinden vs. Zimmerman/Saddik
12. GLORY4 Grand Slam Quarterfinal #4: Aerts/Bouzidi vs. Ghita/Diniz
13. GLORY4 85kg Super Fight: Toshio Matsumoto vs. Jason Wilnis
14. GLORY4 Grand Slam Semifinal #1: QF #1 Winner vs. QF #2 Winner
15. GLORY4 Grand Slam Semifinal #2: QF #3 Winner vs. QF #4 Winner
16. GLORY4 53kg Super Fight: Mutsuki Ebata vs. San Che Kim
17. GLORY4 70kg Super Fight: Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima vs. Robin Van Roosmalen
18. GLORY4 Grand Slam Final: Semi #1 Winner vs. Semi #2 Winner

http://nightmareofbattle.com/melvin-manhoef-fired-up/

11 1/2 hours away. Have rules been announced yet?

Holy Fuck!...This is gonna be great!!!!!!!

Shit just got real

DREAM PRE FIGHT INTERVIEWS

The DREAM MMA fighters were a mixed lot, with the weight cut noticeably harder on some more than others. Many of the fighters are veterans of the New Years Eve event, and most expressed their pleasure at having the tradition continue under the GLORY organization.

DREAM 18 Fighters

Shinya Aoki was even more hoarse than normal as he explained that he chose to stay in Japan to train for the fight rather than go to Evolve because the fight is in Japan. Aoki said this was his seventh New Years Eve fight, “This is my life now.” When asked if he had any thoughts about meeting Antonio McKee in a match that was originally scrapped for DREAM 17, he said, “No, I don’t go into the ring with any emotion. I don’t feel any different for this fight.”

Tatsuya Kawajiri looked drawn and exhausted. Dropping to a lower class looks difficult for him even though he says its not, “The Featherweight division is really a top class.” However his manner of speaking was forceful and his carefully chosen words very poignant. Kawajiri said that having the opportunity to fight on the New Years card was huge for him, and that he wouldn’t take it for granted. When asked about the importance of his match with Michihiro Omigawa, he stated, “It will make a big difference if I or Omigawa win. It will have a big impact on Japanese MMA in 2013. So I have to work my technique, “katane and kawachan muso”. I’ll fight really hard.”

Bibiano Fernandes looked well-adjusted to the time and the weight cut, as usual. He said that he loves to fight in Japan, and was excited to be selected again. He was very friendly and promised an exciting match.

Hiroyuki Takaya was calm and cool, ever the karateka, and spoke about a year layoff in fights that was punctuated with a summer training trip in the US. When asked about his plans for 2013, he stated that he just wants to fight regularly.

Satoru Kitaoka looked very jovial, in fact even more than his mailing self which belies his weight cut difficulty. The translation wasn’t working for this interview, but whatever he was saying had the Japanese media giggling like schoolgirls.

Hayato Sakurai was very relaxed, and when queried about his layoff and the difficult match ahead of him, responded nonchalantly. “I’m in good condition, now its the gods’ will,” he stated. “I haven’t fought because DREAM hasn’t had fights. I’ve been studying submissions and joints (laughing).” In a more serious tone, he shared, “I’m not really influenced by outside things. I’m not influenced by not having a fight. I want to show a great match that the audience will respect. Phil is one of those fighters who established MMA. I respect him. He’s a fearful fighter and a very good personality. Like Bruce lee said, become water. Water can be air one day and ice the next, like MMA standing or on the ground.”

Melvin Manhoef took the mic with determination. “I’m very happy to be in Japan. I’m on a winning streak now.” When asked how he would handle the fight, he stated gregariously, “I’m going to be Melvin. When he’s in the ring, anybody else in the ring better beware.” Even stronger in his newfound commitment, Melvin went on further to say, “This is what I want, this is what I need, this is what I deserve. I’m going to let people see that my ground game has improved. I’m back!”

Marloes Coenen looked beautiful as ever, and said that she intended to show women are as good as men, and even fiercer. She talked about her recent training in Thailand so that a late notice match wasn’t an issue. ”I hope that DREAM will have more women’s MMA matches. I’m relieved that it women’s MMA has happened, and that we have momentum. I’m ready to show it across the world.” Marloes said her match will end in a first round KO.

who all is gonna be in chat tonight?

i will be as usual

I'll be skipping out on tonight in favor of the television broadcasts, in hope of adding more potential viewers in hopes of getting a long term deal with CBSSN out of this.

Plus, I want to get shitfaced at a reasonable time.

wekka wrote:I'll be skipping out on tonight in favor of the television broadcasts, in hope of adding more potential viewers in hopes of getting a long term deal with CBSSN out of this.

Plus, I want to get shitfaced at a reasonable time.

You know how to stick it to the man and keep good with your support bro. One more for justice!

Leaving for Saitama momentarily.

nodogoshi wrote:Leaving for Saitama momentarily.

Nice. Damn you're lucky you get to see this live.