James Zikic -120 v. Izumi

Poppa Catfish · 10-28-10, 03:15 PM

I actually like this pick, he is a tough guy who has fought really game opponents. In typical fashion JMMA has thrown another olympic medal judoka to the wolves

These jukoka pretty much always end up with something like 1-5 records starting out for this very same reason. Completely nuts! Just betting based on history, I would say fade olympic medal judokas

Although a little part of my judo heart dies saying that

Vitor and Werdum couldn't put Zikic away, but just recently in his last match he was finished rather quickly in the first minute of the first round. Just food for thought.
I would just wait to see weigh ins to see if Zikic is in decent shape, if he trained for this I think this should be good for a win.

Poppa Catfish · 10-28-10, 03:27 PM

Oh I should add I don't know much about Izumi as far as MMA goes (have watched him compete in judo) but he is 2-1 with 2 victories vs total cans 3-5, and 4-9-1. His loss was to a guy who was also having his first professional fight at the time, and is now 1-1. Doubt this current fight would even be allowed in the States.

Lets just ignore that James Toney ever happened

terpkeg · 10-28-10, 05:07 PM

I watched his first fight and he basicaly just stood toe to toe with a stand up fighter and got lit up.

The Shibata fight was pretty ugly. If i remeber correctly, he had a lot of trouble getting the takedowns and then when he did in 2nd and 3rd he was not very active from dominate positions.

I remember being very nervous watching the fight b/c I had a larger than normal bet on Izumi.

Poppa Catfish · 10-28-10, 09:24 PM

Originally posted by terpkeg

I watched his first fight and he basicaly just stood toe to toe with a stand up fighter and got lit up.

The Shibata fight was pretty ugly. If i remeber correctly, he had a lot of trouble getting the takedowns and then when he did in 2nd and 3rd he was not very active from dominate positions.

I remember being very nervous watching the fight b/c I had a larger than normal bet on Izumi.

Good stuff, thanks for sharing

All I read about that first fight was that he promised to stand up with the kick boxer to prove his mma abilities.

Got to say as a a person betting against him, I love hearing that kind of stuff from him. Very much Gurgelesque.

A lot of these fighters are signed last minute, so once again I'm just waiting to see the weigh in before locking in. I'm worried that this might be a Jake O'Brien situation, where the guy has been on the couch eating ho-hos for a couple of months.

sundin4prez · 10-29-10, 04:39 AM

im going to take a flyer on izumi..... fighting in his home country, main event, hopefully in shape, opponents shape is questionable and elite level judo that can hopefully transfer over.....

Poppa Catfish · 10-29-10, 11:32 AM

I think Izumi is going to want to showcase his stand up skills here, and that doesn't look very promising.

GoldenYAK · 10-29-10, 10:32 PM

From: http://www.tapology.com/profiles/gre...ons/sengoku-15

Zikic has enough experience to outlast Izumi. This Japanese style of just throwing their talented Judo stars into main event status to start their careers is just not good for their development as fighters.

This guy picked all favorites... I'm pretty sure he is terrible at mma betting.

Izumi should be able to pull this one out. Olympic silver medal judoka at even money can't be a bad bet.

Poppa Catfish · 10-30-10, 05:10 AM

and another horrible decision against the gaijin

Izumi did have a rather nice Ippon by pin though in the second round

Chipp · 10-30-10, 06:55 AM

Originally posted by Poppa Catfish

and another horrible decision against the gaijin

^This, so sick.

terpkeg · 10-30-10, 06:55 AM

Originally posted by Poppa Catfish

and another horrible decision against the gaijin

Izumi did have a rather nice Ippon by pin though in the second round

Well this is not suprising, I was hoping that Zikic didnt let it come to this, but from what I read he was fairly inactive in Round 2 +3 despite having a clear advantage on the feet where the fight was playing out. Maybe I can catch a video clip.

Poppa Catfish · 10-30-10, 07:25 AM

He was out boxing Izumi, landing his jab and causing damage. He even was active on his back, and went for a triangle and a couple of sweeps. Describing him as inactive isn't fair at all. He took a more measured approach, the one time he wobbled Izumi he did go for the kill. Izumi is just very tough, there were far too few opportunities to put him away.

terpkeg · 10-30-10, 02:36 PM

Originally posted by Poppa Catfish

He was out boxing Izumi, landing his jab and causing damage. He even was active on his back, and went for a triangle and a couple of sweeps. Describing him as inactive isn't fair at all. He took a more measured approach, the one time he wobbled Izumi he did go for the kill. Izumi is just very tough, there were far too few opportunities to put him away.

only read the sherdog play by play. sometimes I wonder what they are watching over there.

GoldenYAK · 10-30-10, 10:42 PM

Just watched the fight. It was a lot closer then the commentators were making it out to be. Definetly should have gone to Zikic under jmma judging criteria, but under unified rules I could have seen it going to Izumi. He got takedowns in the 1st and 3rd round. Zikic wasn't really landing any devastating shots they were very weak jabs as he didn't want to make himself vulnerable to a takedown. Izumi actually landed the more powerfull shots on the feet, but they were few and far between.