French MMA pioneers Jess Liaudin (Pictures) and Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) have started a campaign to finally legalize the sport in their home country. The Nordic countries Sweden and Denmark aside, which have banned and permitted MMA on multiple occasions, France is the only major country in Europe in which the sport remains illegal.
Even though there are occasional amateur MMA ("Pancrase") events, top French fighters like Liaudin, Diabate, Cheick Kongo (Pictures), Moise Rimbon or Samy Schiavo (Pictures) are practically forced to go abroad to pursue their trade. Upcoming fighters also face huge obstacles because law prevents the development and spread of their sport.
Or as Liaudin put it about the fighters: "Their courage is not recognized."
FinnFight returns with Scandinavian standouts
After a three-year hiatus, legendary Scandinavian event FinnFight makes a comeback on Dec. 15 with plenty of stars from Northern Europe. Promoter Marko Leisten has abolished the vale tudo rules that made his shows hugely popular with fans but also notorious in fighter circles. Now the events use the same regulations as Shooto.
For FinnFight 9, which takes place at the Caribia-Halli in Turku, the country's oldest city, Leisten has signed Sweden's David Bielkheden (Pictures) to co-headline. The 28-year-old member of Brazilian Top Team last fought top Japanese lightweight Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) in November 2006.
A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Bielkheden was one of the fighters hit hardest by the sale of PRIDE. The new owners, Zuffa, cancelled the lightweight grand prix he was scheduled to compete in, and as a consequence the man from Stockholm was put on the shelf for almost all of 2007. At FinnFight he will take on Bulgarian grappler Lubomir Roumenow.
In the other main event, Sauli Heilimo, one of Finland's biggest stars, returns to MMA after more than two and a half years away from the game.
The 26 year old is easily one of Europe's best ground fighters, which he proved again this year when he made it to the quarterfinals of the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships. The roadblock in his MMA comeback will be undefeated jiu-jitsu fighter Nick Osei.
Manhoef to fight on ‘Dynamite!!'
Dutch knockout artist Melvin Manhoef (Pictures) returns to Japan for the fifth time this year to fight at K-1's New Year's Eve extravaganza, PREMIUM Dynamite!! 2007. The 31-year-old middleweight sat out the October HERO'S event in Korea after being featured in six straight shows of K-1's MMA brand.
Last year the 5-foot-8 power plug was omitted from Dynamite!! after coming up short against controversial judo player Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) in the final of the HERO'S light heavyweight (183-pound) Grand Prix. That's why Manhoef will be extra motivated to be invited to the show that only the biggest stars get to participate in this year.
While HERO's matchmaker Akira Maeda (Pictures) has not decided on an opponent for the heavy-handed Dutchman, the candidates on the shortlist would all give fans a mouth-watering battle. Among the possible adversaries are former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton (Pictures), Croatian kickboxer Zelg Galesic (Pictures), Bushido Grand Prix finalist Denis Kang (Pictures) and Japanese fan-favorite Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures).
Cro Cop's future uncertain
The fate of PRIDE Grand Prix champion Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic in the UFC continues to be unclear. On Thursday the promotion confirmed another four fights for UFC 80 in Newcastle, England -- the show on which Filipovic had planned to return.
With six of the total nine battles locked and the remaining three -- Marcus Davis (Pictures) vs. Jess Liaudin (Pictures), Colin Robinson vs. Antoni Hardonk (Pictures) and Kendall Grove (Pictures) vs. Jorge Rivera (Pictures) -- rumored, the Croatian superstar appears to be on the outside looking in.
There is a silver lining for fans of the 33-year-old kickboxer, though. At UFC 70 in April, the penultimate show Cro Cop fought on, the promotion made a very rare exception and included a total of 10 bouts on the card instead of the usual nine.
As "Rapid Fire" is just seven weeks away, Filipovic would have to talk straight to matchmaker Joe Silva in order to slip in on the card. Finding a suitable opponent for Zuffa's heavyweight problem child may be difficult, however, on relatively short notice.
With the obvious adversary, Andrei Arlovski (Pictures), sidelined due to a contractual conflict, Filipovic's old PRIDE companion Heath Herring (Pictures) or U.K.-based Brazilian Mario Neto might be pushed to face the Croatian.
Otherwise, the first of the final three fights on Cro Cop's contract will be pushed back even further to UFC 81 in February or UFC 82 in March.
Siver Debuts in U.S.
Dennis Siver (Pictures), Germany's top lightweight, will make his debut on U.S. soil against highly decorated wrestler Gray Maynard (Pictures) in an undercard fight at UFC Fight Night 12 on Jan. 23.
The 28-year-old kickboxer debuted in the Octagon at UFC 70 in April, when Frenchman Jess Liaudin (Pictures) quickly submitted him in a welterweight fight. The stocky striker then made his second UFC appearance in September at UFC 75, knocking out Japanese submission specialist Naoyuki Kotani (Pictures) in a lightweight battle.
An "Ultimate Fighter 5" participant, Maynard will be an extremely tough challenge for the man from Mannheim in southwestern Germany. The member of Xtreme Couture was a three-time All-American wrestler at Michigan State and made the semifinals of TUF 5, coming up short against eventual winner Nathan Diaz (Pictures).
After the "slam fiasco" in his September fight against Robert Emerson (Pictures), in which Maynard joined the elite ranks of fighters like Matt Lindland (Pictures) and Mark Kerr (Pictures) who have knocked themselves out, "The Bully" will look to improve his perfect 3-0 record in a battle of striker against grappler that appears tailor-made for Maynard.
Dutch stars meet at ‘Beast of the East'
Dutch promotion "Beast of the East" has announced an MMA and Muay Thai mixed show with several stars from the Netherlands on Jan. 26. The 20-fight card should lure plenty of interested spectators to the Hanzehal in quiet Zutphen, a city 15 miles in the northeast of Arnhem.
Among the evening's more intriguing bouts is a light heavyweight fight between Rodney Faverus and excellent Polish grappler Robert Jocz. Also on the card is a duel between controversial German pro wrestler Ralf Seeger and luckless Dutchman Evert Fyeet (Pictures) as well as a confrontation between underrated German Cengiz Dana and Shooto veteran Vincent Latoel.
The real tasty tidbits are the Muay Thai fights. Albert Kraus will go toe-to-toe with "Beast of the East" boss Faldir Chahbari, and fellow K-1 MAX veteran Nieky Holzken takes on Super League Middleweight Tournament 2005 champion Alviar "The Machine" Lima in a battle for supremacy in the 160-pound weight class.
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