The Weekly Wrap: Dec 3 - Dec. 10

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NYE Finally Coming Together

Later than ever, matches are being finalized for the annual Japanese New Year’s Eve MMA television event. Fighting and Entertainment Group, the financially troubled parent company of Dream and K-1, announced Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Marius Zaromskis and Josh Thomson vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri as two top bouts on K-1 “Dynamite! Power of Courage 2010”. Shinya Aoki will also be featured, as he takes on K-1 Max 70-kilogram champion Yuichiro Nagashima. The three-round bout, according to MMAFighting.com, will alternate between MMA and kickboxing rounds.

The event still lacks the spectacle ratings draw that has drawn the casual Japanese public to fight specials over the years. There was a fear FEG would have to pay for a spot on Tokyo Broadcasting System this year, which would indicate the company’s financial underpinning, television rights revenue, has given way. Three weeks out, it remains unclear whether or not “Dynamite” will air in the United States.

Two Japanese standouts that will not be competing on the card are Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and Michihiro Omigawa. Both have signed with the UFC. Omigawa, Sherdog.com’s No. 4-ranked featherweight, has re-signed with the UFC and will face Chad Mendes at an unspecified event next year. UFC President Dana White confirmed signing Yamamoto, one of the few remaining crossover Japanese fighting stars, on Twitter.