4/11/24: Sumo, Combat Sports Star Akebono Dead At 54
Also: The fifth chapter in a bantamweight rivalry booked for KSW 95
Welcome to a Thursday edition of the Knockdown Daily. After taking an extra day off than usual, we’re back today with an absolutely packed newsletter. We have a few big stories for you, an opinion piece, plus a super detailed notes section. Here’s a catch-up on all the latest news in MMA.
Sumo Yokozuna Turned Combat Sports Star Akebono Taro Dead At 54
Akebono Taro, an incredibly accomplished sumo wrestler who parlayed his mainstream fame into a brief but popular career in kickboxing and MMA, passed away this week due to heart failure at 54. His death was confirmed Thursday through a statement from his family distributed by the United States Forces in Japan, per the New York Times.
Akebono, born Chadwick Haheo Rowan on May 8, 1969 in Hawaii, competed as a sumo wrestler from the late 80s to 2000. He achieved the prestigious rank of Yokozuna in 1993 and held onto the title for numerous years. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel posted Thursday that Akebono’s success in the sumo world “opened the door for other foreign wrestlers to find success in the sport.”
After retiring from sumo wrestling in 2000 due to injuries, Akebono’s ultra-popular name was utilized to draw big-time fights in MMA and kickboxing. While he was highly unsuccessful in both sports, it’s undeniable that his popularity allowed him to attract large audiences.
Akebono most notably faced fellow notable superheavyweight Bob Sapp on New Year’s Eve in 2003. Their fight drew a crowd of 45,000 to the Nagoya Dome and recorded a whopping 43 percent of Japanese TV viewers on a night that is notoriously competitive for broadcast channels.
Akebono would compete 10 times in kickboxing, winning one of those bouts. He would also fight under MMA rules in four instances, coming up unsuccessful each time. His MMA bouts included fights against Don Frye and Royce Gracie. He returned to combat sports in 2015 for a Shootboxing fight against Sapp, losing a technical decision.
After struggling in combat sports, Akebono would carve out a career in professional wrestling. He competed in numerous top promotions in Japan, having an especially lengthy run in AJPW.
Akebono had battled with illness for years before his death. In 2018, his family confirmed that he had briefly gone into a medically induced coma after suffering acute heart failure.
Jakub Wiklacz, Sebastian Przybysz To Meet For Fifth time At KSW 95
The storied rivalry between Jakub Wiklacz and Sebastian Przybysz will continue in the main event of KSW 95 on June 7th.
KSW Bantamweight Champion Wiklacz will meet Przybysz for the fifth time in his career two months from now, headlining the promotion’s debut in Olsztyn, Poland.
Wiklacz first met Przybysz back in 2017, beating him via decision on an ACB card. Three years later, Przybysz avenged that loss with a third-round finish victory at KSW 53.
Przybysz’s win over Wiklacz was part of the best run in his career thus far. He would go on to earn the KSW bantamweight title in his next appearance, then defended it two times over the next couple of years. Wiklacz wasn’t far behind: He put together a three-fight winning streak during these years, bringing him up the promotion’s 135-pound rankings and forcing a fourth meeting against Przybysz.
Wiklacz dethroned Przybysz in late 2022, going five rounds to win a split decision result. Their next fight was booked immediately after and went down in September 2023. Their fourth matchup had an unexpected result, as an unintentional illegal knee from Wiklacz caused the fight to stop in the fourth round. The bout went to scorecards, with a technical decision forcing a draw outcome.
Wiklacz has since won his first fight as champion, going five rounds against Zuriko Jojua last month to earn a unanimous decision result. He’ll now return to a rivalry that has made up nearly a quarter of his pro career, in hopes of making it his last appearance against the fellow Polish fighter and keeping his title reign alive.
Olsztyn, the host city of KSW 95, has a population of nearly 170,000 and is located in Northern Poland. The venue they will head to, Hala Urania, has a capacity of roughly 4,000.
Luke Fernandez vs. Will Dicke Off CFFC 131 Main Event
This weekend’s CFFC card will now have two title fights, down from their original plan to have four belts on the line from Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
CFFC Light Heavyweight Champion Luke Fernandez posted on social media Monday, saying that opponent Will Dicke has departed the CFFC 131 lineup.
“Due to reasons outside of my control my opponent had to pull out of the fight,” he said on Instagram. “And due to the short time left before the fight a replacement didn’t work out. I trained my a** off this camp but unfortunately here we are.”
Luke was scheduled to take a massive step up in competition, going from facing opponents with few fights to meeting a talent with more than 25 pro appearances.
Earlier this week, it was announced that an interim featherweight bout between Anthony Dilemme and Frank Wells also left the lineup. The promotion seemingly hoped to find Dilemme a new fight, but he is now not listed for the card at all.
Still on CFFC 131 is an interim lightweight bout between undefeated prospects Robert Varricchio and Morques Forest, as well as a heavyweight title bout between defending champ Greg Velasco and Bellator standout Bailey Schoenfelder.
Opinion: Assessing The Marketing Strategy of UFC 300, And What It Could Mean
For weeks, I had been trying to pinpoint what about the UFC 300 lineup makes me so interested in it. It’s a great lineup, but not in the conventional ways that we consider when talking about the top MMA shows.
Most big MMA events had that one big fight at the top of it. The fan-voted Tapology list for “Greatest MMA Events of All Time” paints a picture of what I’m talking about: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir. Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes. McGregor against Eddie Alvarez. These were the bouts that dominated the fight week discussion. The water cooler talk was about who would win in the main event.
UFC 300 has title fights, but it’s hard to find a bout that has that real dominance over the discourse this week. Alex Pereira has star power but has quite honestly had a low-key build-up against Jamahal Hill. Zhang Weili and Yan Xiaonan will have an incredibly high-level strawweight title bout, but they, unfortunately, don’t really have hype at the moment either. And while Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway will likely be a violent clash for the ages, the fact that they’re not really fighting with anything at stake makes it seem like an All-Star Weekend festivity more than a big fight.
Sure, the big fights on UFC 300 aren’t dominating the discussion, but here’s what’s important to remember: It’s still—on paper—one of the greatest UFC cards of all time.
UFC has taken an unconventional approach with this card, at least in comparison to their usual practices. Instead of making the card about one or two big title fights, they’re making it about all fights. They have stacked the card from top to bottom, making it so that even the opening bout is a stellar matchup. It’s something that you rarely see, mostly because the process of moving fighters up through divisions means you need some lower-level matchups on every card’s prelims.
This was interesting, but even after considering this, I still couldn’t figure out what bigger-picture idea there is to take from UFC 300. That was until something dawned on me. I was out and walked by a local bar that had the UFC 300 poster in its window. The poster didn’t have Pereira, or Hill, or Zhang or Yan, or even fan favorites like Holloway and Gaethje. It had nobody. The poster was promoting UFC 300, and it didn’t feel like it needed any names to drag you in further.
UFC 300 isn’t selling you any particular fighter, it’s selling you a brand. It’s an example of the promotion going from trying to use stars to get you interested, to simply just getting viewers to buy based on the recognition that the promotion has with its name.
Now, this isn’t a new concept, of course. MMA, in comparison to other combat sports, has been a more brand-focused product. Top Rank Boxing doesn’t number their events or have a regularly scheduled monthly PPV that a core fanbase is expected to show up for. We know that UFC has already tried to make its product less talent-focused. Sadly, that’s best for business. It’s hard to negotiate better pay when the company can just replace you and do basically the same numbers and ticket sales, for example. That’s the sort of extreme that you can arrive at when you have made your product heavily brand-focused.
Missing from the UFC 300 poster are any fighters. Also missing this week, to be honest, is the mainstream hype that you usually feel for a big card. Any hardcore fan or somewhat close follower of the sport will tell you that this is an incredible can’t-miss show. But for those who just know about the biggest fighters and the top cards, I don’t know if this show is on their radar. The UFC brand—even when celebrating an incredible accomplishment with a well-rounded lineup—doesn’t attract some viewers like a McGregor or Jon Jones fight would.
What does this tell me? We could make the case that, while the UFC brand can bring in a core fanbase that makes most shows successful, those real big-money events will always be talent-driven. If UFC knows they have a headlining fighter that will turn some heads who usually don’t tune in, they’re gonna be front and center. They’ll certainly be on the poster.
However, let’s not jump to conclusions about how UFC 300 will be received and what to make of it. After all, the event hasn’t even happened. There have been many times before when interest has arrived in the 11th hour for a card, causing those who doubted its success to eat crow. But that point is worth storing and maybe looking back upon in a few days.
There will be a lot to watch for this weekend. Will the light heavyweight title be in the hands of the current champ, or a former champ? Will Zhang become the second-ever strawweight titleholder to defend their belt more than once? What undercard bout will steal the show? But among those questions will be a more business-focused wonder: How much attention will UFC 300 get, and what does that tell us about the campaign they tested out?
Notes On: UFC, PFL, Bellator, ONE Championship, RIZIN, KSW & Cage Warriors
UFC
Michel Pereira (30-11) received a new matchup for UFC 301 on May 4th. Original opponent Makhmud Muradov (26-8) withdrew from the middleweight fight due to an infection, per a recent social media post. Replacing him will be Ihor Potieria (21-5), as first reported by Alex Behunin. The booking will presumably take Potieria out of a June 22nd fight against Shara Magomedov (12-0) in Saudi Arabia. Potieria snapped a two-fight skid in his last appearance, beating Robert Bryczek on scorecards. Pereira has won seven consecutive fights, including a 61-second win over Michal Oleksiejczuk last month.
Jailton Almeida (20-3) and Alexandr Romanov (17-2) have verbally agreed to a UFC 301 bout on June 1st, as first reported by AgFight and later confirmed by Nolan King of MMA Junkie. Almeida, who was originally booked to face Alexander Volkov on this card before the Russian talent was moved to another lineup, will be returning after suffering his first UFC loss. He had his six-fight promotional winning streak snapped last month, suddenly getting stopped in the second round of a bout by Curtis Blaydes. Romanov put an end to a two-fight skid last July, beating Blagoy Ivanov on scorecards.
Veteran Andrei Arlovski (34-23) has been booked against Martin Buday (13-2) for UFC’s June 15th card, per Nolan King of MMA Junkie. Arlovski suffered his third consecutive loss in January, taking a unanimous decision defeat against Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Buday had his four-fight UFC winning streak put to an end late last year by then-undefeated promotional newcomer Shamil Gaziev.
Two more fights have been booked for UFC’s June 22nd debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Said Nurmagomedov (18-3) will face Montel Jackson (13-2), per an announcement made by Jackson’s management team. Nurmagomedov has put together a strong run at bantamweight since joining the UFC roster in 2018, earning seven wins and two losses. His last appearance was a 73-second submission victory over Muin Gafurov. Jackson is on his best UFC run yet, having picked up four straight victories since 2021.
Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (8-0) will make his UFC debut against Brendson Riberio (15-6), per social media posts made by both fighters. Gadzhiyasulov earned a UFC contract last year, beating Jose Medina on “Dana White’s Contender Series.” Ribeiro is coming back after losing his UFC debut in February, getting stopped in the first round by Zhang Mingyang.
Veterans Cub Swanson (29-13) and Andre Fili (23-11) will meet at UFC 303 on June 29th, per a post made by Fili’s management. Swanson, coming off a 2023 victory over Hakeem Dawodu, will be trying for his 15th win since joining the UFC roster in 2011. Fili is returning after suffering a first-round finish defeat to Dan Ige in February.
A flyweight bout between Jasmine Jasudavicius (10-3) and Viviane Araujo (12-6) has joined UFC’s July 13th lineup, per Nolan King of MMA Junkie. Araujo has struggled against top flyweights recently, losing three of her past five. Jasudavicius is returning after earning a submission against Priscila Cachoeira in January.
PFL
A last-minute change has hit PFL’s lightweight regular season. Jay Jay Wilson (10-1) has withdrawn from his regular season bout against Adam Piccolotti (14-5). Replacing him will be Elvin Espinoza (9-0), who was previously booked for a lightweight reserve bout on Friday. Espinoza’s original opponent, Anthony Romero (12-2), is now out of the lineup.
Marcelo Nunes (10-2) now has a new opponent for his heavyweight showcase on PFL’s card this Friday. He will now meet Jordan Heiderman (7-1), who is returning after scoring a win and a loss in the promotion last year. Nunes will be trying to build off a June 2023 victory he scored against Danilo Marques.
Bellator
Former UFC talent Aspen Ladd (11-5) will switch over to the Bellator brand on May 17th after previously competing in the PFL. Ladd will face Ekaterina Shakalova (8-1) in a featherweight bout in Paris, France, per a recent announcement by the promotion. Ladd earned two wins and two losses in the PFL, including a victory over Julia Budd and a late 2023 defeat against Kayla Harrison. Shakalova was successful in her Bellator debut last year, beating Dayana Silva in a split decision.
Undefeated Michelle Montague (4-0) will fight Karolina Sobek (4-2) at Bellator’s June 22nd show in Dublin, Ireland. Montague has earned four submission wins since her 2022 pro debut, including an appearance on a PFL card late last year. Sobek will be fighting to get some momentum back after losing a pair of regular season PFL fights last year.
ONE Championship
15-fight ONE Championship vet Reece McLaren (16-9) will return on May 3rd against Hu Yong (12-4) in Bangkok, Thailand. Hu has been on a roll as of late, with his 63-second victory over Eko Roni Saputra last year being his third consecutive win in the promotion. McLaren had a two-fight winning streak broken last year with a decision loss to Kairat Kahmetov.
Decorated grappler Kade Ruotolo (0-0) will make his MMA debut on June 7th against Blake Cooper (2-1). Ruotolo has competed in ONE Championship grappling bouts six times since 2022, winning all appearances. Cooper took his first pro loss on a ONE card last September, getting stopped in the first round by Maurice Abevi.
RIZIN
RIZIN announced a few developments during a recent press conference:
RIZIN has partnered with the bare-knuckle boxing organization BKFC. Tatsuki Shinotsuka will face a yet-to-be-announced opponent in a bare-knuckle bout at RIZIN 46 on April 29th.
YA-MAN (1-1) has suffered an injury that forced him to withdraw from his April 29th fight against Hiroaki Suzuki (4-3).
RIZIN 47 will take place on June 9th from the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo.
KSW
Ahmed Vila (12-4-1) will face Kacper Formela (17-4) at KSW 94 on May 18th, as recently announced by the promotion. Vila has won five fights since 2022, including a successful promotional debut late last year over Lukasz Charzewski. Formela, a former FEN Featherweight Champion, is entering KSW on an impressive eight-fight winning streak.
Cage Warriors
Fresh off his promotional debut, Tom Wright (1-1) will face Joe Fields (1-0) at Cage Warriors 172 on May 25th from Newcastle, England. Wright earned a submission win in his first Cage Warriors match late last year, stopping Jimmy Quinn in the first round. Fields won his pro debut in February, beating Fidel Gramiccia on scorecards.
A great loss to sumo. He was the first non Japanese rikishi to ever be promoted to yokozuna and paved the way for many who have followed.
What's the non UFC event you are most excited about this month?