Will Chope interview

After the Tohoku earthquake happened in 2011, there were many people who stood together in a charity effort and that included the MMA community. Many Japanese and international efforts helped Japan. I assisted with Tony Loiseleur’s report on how Shuichiro Katsumura stood for Tohoku earthquake charities.

On November 8, typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines and more than 5000 people became victims. The city's many structures were crushed by the storm. I know that Shuichiro Katsumura already donated to the Philippines and many fighters including Shinya Aoki and Ryo Chonan have talked about donations for the Philippines on Twitter. Mark Munoz and Brandon Vera have also tried to help their fellow countrymen.

I thought about who is the best fit to encourage people to support the Philippines and I realized that one person stood out from the rest: Will Chope, who recently got picked up by the UFC. He is the first UFC fighter ever who has a primary gym based in the Philippines. He is not Kababayan (Filipino), but he is based in South East Asia and has matured his skillset. He talked with me about his career in South East Asia and about how the people of the Philippines need help. Will has taken a new step in his career with the UFC and Filipino people need new steps for their lives as well, but they need help in order to do so.

(note: After We know Will Chope had incident when he was young, we decide close link to donate for red cross.I say there is nothing wrong with donation. But I don't want people misunderstand what we intent. We really thankful about what people did when link exist and hopefully continue to support natural disaster's damage for future. )

You are the first UFC fighter whose training is based in the Philippines. As an American, what motivated you to train in the Philippines or elsewhere in Asia when the United States has larger MMA events and bigger gyms?

I have been living in South East Asia for the last 3 1/2 years. I first came to Thailand to learn Muay Thai, then ended up traveling around and have based my camps out of Malaysia, Taiwan, as well as the Philippines also. I consider Baguio City, Philippines, my home in Asia, but I am constantly traveling around. The Muay Thai in Thailand and Boxing in the Philippines is the best in the world, so I have always enjoyed living and training in these parts. I prefer living in South East Asia because the people are just more warm, and the cost of living is low enough to where I can live off of my fight purses.

What is your life like when you are not training and fighting? Do you enjoy other sports or sightseeing when flying to other countries for training? Please talk a bit about your life outside of MMA.

Outside of training, of course I enjoy traveling and seeing the sights and experiencing the cultures in the different places I live. Also, I enjoy spending time with my family. My wife is Thai and we have a son, so it is good to travel to new places with them. She has taught me a lot about Thai culture and the language, so I feel every day I learn something new about life in Asia.

Please tell us about your team and your coaches who teach you striking and grappling, as well as your teammates whom you spar with. You, Mark Striegl, A.J. Lias Mansor and Yuji Hoshino all come from different countries. How did you meet them and form your current team?

I am originally from the United States but have spent the last 4 years living in different parts of Asia. My training camps vary, but I spend most of my time at Phuket Top Team in Thailand or training with Mark in Baguio. Here in Phuket, I have Andrew Leone who coaches my wrestling and BJJ, and I have two striking coaches. Piotr Leib, I work my boxing with. I am lucky also to do a lot of Muay Thai work with Thai trainers here, and I have Boyd Clarke who works with me to put everything together.

As far as Team Buffet, we are like family. Mark Striegl started the team and I joined when I went to live with him in Baguio City for 9 months. Then when we went to Malaysia we met AJ Pyro, and Yuji Hoshino was Mark's long-time coach from when he grew up in Tokyo. We are four very different fighters, each with unique skillsets, and we’re all based at different camps/countries. Every couple of months, two or three of us will meet up and train together and we always have at least one member helping to coach or corner us in a fight.

Who is the best prospect in South East Asia besides you, and which part of his or her game impresses you the most? 

Mark Striegl and Andrew Leone. Both guys have phenomenal wrestling and ground games. I expect them both to be signed by the UFC very soon.

You had six fights in 2011, ten in 2012, five in 2013, and you’ll have your 25th career fight when you make your UFC debut on January 4th. That is quite a large number of fights for someone still early in his career. How has that affected your skill improvement? Experience is obviously beneficial, but what about other factors such as damage taken? Also, do you need to fight that often in order to make a living in MMA in South East Asia?

When I first started training Muay Thai and MMA, it was back in 2010, and after a couple months of training I had my first fight and went pro. Looking back, I was very naïve and overeager to fight and was not ready at that time, but at the same time I believe my experience fighting has definitely made up for the time I have spent training compared to other fighters. I have had 52 pro fights total in MMA, Muay Thai, K1, Sanda, and Boxing combined. I love to fight and wanted to fight, but also living out here young and on my own with no college education, it was the only way I could earn money. I fight for mine and my family’s income. I am lucky to make my passion a career, but in doing that it also adds extra pressure. For when I lose, my whole family fills the impact. And as far as injuries, I would be lying to say that 52 fights in 3 1/2 years hasn't taken a toll on my body, but at the same time I am lucky to not have suffered any severe injuries.

In your last fight against Pancrase champion Takumi Nakayama, you showed that you could adapt well by using your frame and strength when grappling offensively and defensively, but Nakayama managed to get inside of your range and he landed some solid shots on the feet. What do you feel are your primary strengths as a fighter and which areas do you feel that you need to improve upon now that you are fighting in the UFC?

I need to improve everything, to be honest. I have won a lot of fights just by fighting awkwardly and by being the tallest fighter in the world in my weight class. I am blessed with a decent chin and a willingness to engage and always walk forward, but I do need to improve my boxing, wrestling and BJJ a lot.

Your upcoming opponent, Max Holloway, is a striker who likes to throw combinations and flying knees. What is your opinion of Max and how do you see this fight going? Without giving away your game plan, what would be an ideal scenario for you in victory?

Max is an interesting fighter. He is super tall and lanky like me and has crazy standup. Ideally, I'd like to choke him out fast and make a statement and show everyone I am ready for the UFC.

The Philippines was recently devastated by Typhoon Haiyan and the country still requires a large amount of support for citizens who were affected. As the first fighter based in the Philippines to fight in the UFC, could you please talk about what the Philippines means to you and what the MMA industry and audience can do to aid in the relief and reconstruction efforts?

I have Filipino family in Baguio City and many close friends in different parts of the country. I am grateful that none of them were affected by the Typhoon, but there were so many people who were affected and many who lost their lives. Filipino people are some of the nicest, warmest and most welcoming people you could ever meet. The Philippines to me is my home in Asia. So I ask that if anyone is interested in helping the Philippines and the affected families of the Typhoon, please donate to the Red Cross so that they can continue their ongoing support in rebuilding.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Japanese MMA had rough monthes from September to October

This year, September and October had many large local MMA shows in Japan such as Pancrase 252, VTJ 3rd and Tribe Tokyo Fight, but I have found many recent faults in JMMA.

First, we saw ridiculous decisions with Shinji Sasaki vs Bogdan Cristea and Marlon Sandro vs Yojiro Uchimura. If you see the fights, there seems to be no way to justify those decisions, but honestly I can find logic behind them.

Damage is always favored in the judging criteria in Japanese MMA. That started with Pride. When compared to the United States, Japanese fighters generally have a tendency to take and land more damage because it is essential for the judging criteria.

I won't go into balancing damage versus point-scoring here because it is apples and oranges and everyone has a different opinion. Also, it is true that sometimes judges don't judge by damage.

Pride era fighters went forward to brawl or take opponents down after suffering damage from strikes because it erased the impression of receiving damage in the judges' minds. Each attack has a degree of damage, but how can we compare different kinds of damage or completely different things like positioning?

In the one example, Sasaki jabbed Cristea for the entire fight, while Cristea knocked Sasaki down once and otherwise landed no major attacks at all. Sasaki's jab was effective and he bloodied up Cristea, but I think the judges gave the fight to Cristea based solely on damage during the one brief time period.


Shinji Sasaki

With Sandro and Uchimura, it was a nearly even fight in the striking, but I gave a slight edge to Uchimura because of his middle kicks. However, Sandro took Uchimura down for scoring purposes, and while he did not mount much offense from the top, it was enough to win him the round. The judges totally ignored the takedown and gave the round to Uchimura.

The extreme focus on damage in Japanese judging criteria does not work for MMA, and that was confirmed after watching those two decisions. I even thought that Sasaki's jabs did more damage than Cristea's one knockdown did, so if damage was so important, Sasaki still should have won.

Also, at Pancrase 252, Jordan Currie choked out Shungo Oyama by arm-triangle. Referee Ryogaku Wada did not hear the bell ring for whatever reason and he did not separate the fighters until after extra seconds had elapsed. When Wada finally separated them, Oyama was out cold. The officials realized that extra time had passed, so they discussed the situation.

Check out Dean Marchand's report for more details about this problem.

After time had passed, Pancrase officials announced the result of their discussion and declared that Jordan Currie had won by TKO at 5:00 of the first round. They confirmed that Oyama appeared to be unconscious at 4 minutes and 58 seconds

As well, many fighters missed weight during September and October. At Pancrase 252, it was Dom O'Grady and Daniel Swain.

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai realized that he could not make weight before his fight at "Mach" festival and tried to make a catchweight contract with Shamar Bailey two weeks beforehand. After his flight and the rule meeting, Bailey demanded that Sakurai cut weight and that resulted in the immediate cancellation of the fight.

In Shooto, Brian Choi missed weight against Akitoshi Tamura. Akitoshi got angry about this and pointed out that, unlike other organizations, Shooto does not have any rules in place to punish overweight fighters besides warning them that they will be suspended if they do it again.


Akitoshi Tamura

At Deep Jewels 1, Sadae Numata defeated Celine Haga. The problem was that Numata came in overweight for that fight and still got a title shot against Seo Hee Ham. Fighters who miss weight should not get that.

From my standpoint, I blame the fighter who missed weight when it leads to controversy and arguments with others because it is the source of the problem.

Lastly, at VTJ 3rd, Megumi Fujii fought Jessica Aguilar in a rematch. Aguilar thumbed Fujii in the eye twice in the first round and that was enough for Megumi to lose sight in her eye for the rest of the fight.

After more than 15 minutes of rest, Megumi strongly appeared to want to fight on and the fight did eventually continue. She said she knew that if the doctor said the fight should stop then there was no other way, and she understood that, but I was against it that day.

I think the fight should be a no contest since there was no fault by Megumi. Audiences are supportive about whatever injury conditions there are, and organizations shouldn't go against the laws of sports for any reason because that defines part of the value of sports as a whole.

I don't think that all Western MMA sports perspectives are better than Japanese MMA perspectives, but the past several months have been too tough for Japanese MMA lovers. I have never witnessed this many rough months from a sports perspective during all of the years that I have followed JMMA.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

DEEP Cage Impact 2013 get international IPPV

DEEP Cage Impact 2013 IPPV official purchase web

Finaly Japanese MMA organization DEEP which have one of most enthusiastic JMMA fans for organization made international ippv debut.UFC veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida will fight Won Sik Park. Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura who is only Japanese fighter contract with Bellator will fight Yusaku Nakamura."Iron" Nakamura is stull on Bellator contract but he get accept for this DEEP appearance.Toshiaki Kitada who is most known for submit former Bellator champ Zach Makovsky face Takafumi Otsuka.Also we get UFC and Pride veteran Akihiro Gono and Kazuhiro Nakamura for this card.Price is 1500yen (approx 15 USD) If you want get it continue, enjoy live event and chat with other JMMA fans, no chnace to miss it.


Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura

Details of the deal between WSOF and Pancrase

Pancrase just announced a new business deal with World Series Of Fighting, the third-largest MMA promotion in the United States, which means that Pancrase CEO Masakazu Sakai will start up WSOF Japan with the new license agreement. WSOF Japan will hold WSOF events in Japan, and they can also run events like "Road to WSOF."


Pancrase Fighters

Also with this deal, Pancrase has changed itself. The promotion will use a WSOF-style cage and Unified Rules for its numbered series events. Kings of Pancrase (champions) automatically have the right to fight for WSOF. Upper-tier ranked fighters can also fight for WSOF with permission from Pancrase.

Japanese fighters must go through Pancrase in order to fight for WSOF, but Pancrase fighters will still have the freedom to choose to fight for another major organization (UFC or Bellator) in the United States if there is an offer.



Explain deal at video (Japanese)

I examine this type of decision because, in Japan, most organization leaders aren't willing to risk trying to expand their promotions' notoriety to fans and other promoters outside of the country.

Sakai is working hard in that regard both inside and outside of Japan. That should earn him praise because most Japanese MMA promoters normally don't even try to do so. They just continue to shrink their organizations.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Tribe Tokyo Fight get international IPPV

Tribe Tokyo Fight IPPV official purchase web

Suddenly Ryo Chonan's retirement event decide do international iPPV.I hope if Japanese organization do such a thing, announce it earlier and send press release to major MMA web.Price is 1500yen (approx 15 USD) But that Ustream channel name as DEEP's official channel.So if you want increase chance to watch DEEP at real time,I think its not bad investment.Also It have one of later year's flyweight battle. You know Mamoru Yamaguchi vs Yoshiro Maeda will be fun.



Ryo Chonan

VTJ 3rd get international IPPV

Vale Tudo Japan 3rd IPPV official purchase web

For a long time, I have hoped that Japanese MMA promotions would provide an opportunity for international audiences to directly watch JMMA events in real time. I know that the fans are passionate about JMMA even if they can't always show their support for it.

I do think that better competition makes for more fun, but I also like the history that details the evolution of a fight. Megumi Fujii, who has had a long fighting career, is a representative of that theme. She struggled to get recognition for Japanese fighters among the international MMA world, and that situation made her more determined to make her own career even stronger.


Megumi Fujii

Fujii had a winning streak (22 fights) that no other WMMA fighter has ever had. She is also known for her extraordinary submission skills. Fujii continued to develop herself by adopting States-side MMA techniques and styles. She improved her striking skills dramatically and began using her jab to properly pressure her opponents, which is something that is sometimes not even seen among male fighters.

VTJ and Shooto promoter Sustain has finally decided to do an international iPPV for Megumi Fujii’s retirement fight against Jessica Aguilar on October 5. This will hopefully lead to regular iPPVs for future events. Watch and tweet during the event to show support and enjoy yourself.

VTJ Fight Card (Include Aguilar Uno, Campuzano, Tokoro, Sasaki)


SKILL MMA's Jessica Aguilar interview (2011)

SKILL MMA's article about Female MMA History

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Japanese MMA fighters' title history in the international scene

Japanese local MMA's history well achieved compared to other countries.But what they done at other countries.Unfortunately, Japanese MMA fighter never achieve major MMA title outside of Japan.But they did get belt at local organization.If you're hardcore long time MMA fans.You can feel nostalgia and discover at this list.

Masanori Suda Super Brawl MW champ against Egan Inoue

Takumi Nakayama King Of The Cage LW champ against Charlie Kohler


Takumi Nakayama

Hatsu Hioki TKO FW champ against Mark Hominick


Hatsu Hioki

Masakazu Imanari Cage rage FW champ against Robbie Olivier

Mamoru Yamaguchi King Of The Cage Junior Flyweight champ against Frank Baca

Shinya Irei Fury MMA LW champ against Ryan Dunstan


Shinya Irei

Shungo Oyama Road FC MW champ against Hae Suk Son

Yusuke Kawanago Legend FC FW champ against Xian Ji



Yusuke Kawanago

Kotetsu Boku One FC LW champ against Zorobabel Moreira


Kotetsu Boku

Shinya Aoki One FC LW champ against Kotetsu Boku

Koji Ando Legend FC LW champ against Jadamba Narantungalag

Michinori Tanaka PXC BW champ against Crisanto Pitpitunge

Koji Oishi One FC FW champ against Honorio Banario


Koji Oishi

Kengo Ura MMA World Series WW champ against Brad Terry

Shunichi Shimizu Bushido FC FW champ against Yerzhan Estanov

Hirotaka Yokoi HOOKnSHOOT AFC Absolute Fighting Championships LHW champ against Wilson Gouveia

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.