First Preliminary 170 lbs. Middleweight
Steve Bruno proved to be a superior striker and was able to avoid a Jay Jack who wanted to take it to the ground. The grappler insisted on trying to clinch and forcing the game to the canvass. After an over and under followed by a hip toss, Bruno scrambles and lands a series of knees and punching combinations with an overwhelmed Jack against the corner as referee
Yves Lavigne stops it at 4:02 in round one.

Second Preliminary 235 lbs. Heavyweight
Jason Guida lands an over head right hook and ties up Pat Stano against the ropes then attempting a soupplet after which they scramble to their feet and Stano is backed up against the ropes again taking some knees to the thighs.

After a first attempt, Carlo Prater eventually followed the code of Minotauro by implementing a spinning choke/ Anaconda.

The referee breaks the fighters as Stano throws a right low kick that Guida holds on to. Like a déjà vu Stano is backed into the ropes again. Guida lifts with a high crotch and Stano is forced into his guard. Guida backs up and the referee stands Stano. Then Guida lands a left right hook
combination which sends Stano face down towards the edge of the ropes an it's called at 3:05 in round 1.

Third Preliminary 195 lbs.
This was a high intensity war between ATT's Bristol Marunde and local talent Rich Attonito. Marunde was a bit taller and had a larger frame. He initiated with a right low kick but Attonitto responds with a quick left right combination that forces Marunde to the canvass. Marunde reconsiders getting too close and misses a right high kick to the head by a whisper.
Attonitto looks for a standing frontal guillotine. He then lands one big left hook and another, attempting a take down, but Marunde goes through the ropes. Marunde keeps delivering right low kicks and working the legs as Rich lands more combinations and a mid torso kick which Marunde exploits to get side position with a knee on the chest and the bell. Perhaps Attonitto
had the advantage after round one, landing more cleanly.

In the second Rich still had better hands working hooks and jabs, but Marunde started to land more punches, working the legs and coming forward.
Another high kick is thrown by Rich as Marunde kept if for another take down, stacking him with a knee to the chest, side position and eventually into Antonito's butterfly guard. Marunde gets side position trying to chop down, getting a half mount, and side position again. Attonitto attempts to face off but begins growing weary by the bell. Marunde had now evened up the fight.

In the third round Marunde delivered the right low kicks again, as Attonitto tried to clinch looking to send some knees. Marunde lands more low kicks as both fighters go forward and the shorter man nails Marunde with an accidental head butt. Blood starts rising, but they had both led in as Marunde gets a take down, side mounting and ground n pounding for the TKO at 1:51 of round three.

It was a great match and perhaps Attonitto should be fighting at a lower weight class, both fighters are very talented and had big hearts.

Fourth Preliminary 265 lbs. Super Heavyweights
With Matt Lindland in his corner, Jay White seemed to be making a serious return to the MFC. This was the battle of the really big boys, and Jason Burch was not only larger, but he had a very big left hand. After landing some combinations, White is rocked and hits the canvass. He is the nailed by not only one, after refusing the first invitation, but two hard lefts, the second of which finally persuades him downward and its over at 1:48 of round one by TKO.

Fight Factory's Steven Haigh had no problem getting the rust out of his limbs as he came out pouncing and shaved his opponents chin with a flying knee.

Head Shaver - Haigh vs. Miyazaki
"He's got some nice spikes I can take off."

Q: Have you done much hair styling before?
"Actually, my wife is a hair dresser...so, it's close to me."

Q: When is the last time you did an MMA fight?
"November of oh two? A few years."

Q: Are you nervous?
"I feel like I have some ring rust. Yeah, the nervousness always comes, but hopefully everything will kick in gear."

Q: Do you want to take it to the ground or keep it standing?
"I feel good all around, I don't try to think too about it too much, I just try to let the fight be as it is and happen. Just on the whole I feel pretty comfortable and all my bases are covered so we'll see what happens."

Q: Do you feel that you are stronger in the stand up, or grappling, or are you balanced in both
"I would like to say that I feel pretty balanced in both Jiu jitsu and being on the ground is what I started doing. The stand up always seemed secondary, but now they feel pretty equal."

Q: Any predictions on how your fight is going to turn out?
"I don't know. These things are always difficult for me to talk about. I don't have a crystal ball so, hopefully in my favor."

Good luck.
"Thank You."

Although Stephan Haigh hadn't been in an MMA fight in three years plus, this would turn out to be a fortunate night for the Fight Factory leader, who was called out to the PRIDE Bushido "tryouts" in LA over a year ago.

Yuji Miyazaki making his debut in the US was sporting a pseudo punk do, and emulated a very popular Japanese comic who dresses as Razar Ramone HG, "hard gay".
Well, put it this way, no matter how leather out and 70's his outfit was, after the war he was surrounded by three classy bodacious ring girls who rubbed his locks before they were offered to the gods of MMA.
As Miyazaki initiates with leg strikes, he eventually ties Haigh up against the ropes looking to unbalance him. Eddie Alvarez yells from the corner, "Cro Cop, Cro Cop!" The referee then breaks the clinch. Before you can flinch, Haigh steps off his left foot and flies forward surprising everyone, especially Miyazaki with a flying right knee which lands, forcing the fight to the ground. He begins to g n p and reaches for the arm finishing with an arm bar at 1:46 of round one. It was a perfect finish for Haigh who only felt a bit of pressure from his opponent early on while getting pressed in the standing clinch. It will be interesting to see if this fighter stays off the hiatus he was on and shows us what else he is capable of.

Intermission

Shooto's lightning quick rising star BJ was not only on fire, but he possessed too many skills for his American adversary.

The Force BJ
Watching the rising Shooto bantamweight fighter BJ the day before his encounter with Chris McGrath, I didn't just notice his tremendous speed while striking or his vast submission arsenal while grappling, but I saw a man who loves what he does and is working very hard. You can't help but notice his bright bleached blond hair and his great laugh, and a great attitude in an MMA fighter.

When McGrath started flexing his joint before the match, he looked like a praying mantis ready to strike at his opponent. But the Muay Thai went out the window as BJ took down McGrath into his closed guard. BJ then gained side position, into a full mount and a Saturday night, as we call it in wrestling, spreading his opponent’s legs with his own. Referee Lavigne implemented the stop don't move rule at this point, and BJ began softening his opponents head with handed strikes. Eventually BJ caught McGrath's arm in a very tight triangle, cranking it tighter and tighter as some fool from ringside screamed out, "His arm is out!"

Perhaps that triggered the referee to stop the action, in an awkward moment in which McGrath's corner expressed the fact that he was double jointed.
The referee didn't want to spoil the party and let the fight go on in a fitting manner, as BJ eventually took McGrath’s back like a speedy armadillo rear naked choking a praying mantis at 3:17 in round one.

BJ, the character, overjoyed by his debut U.S. victory, screamed at the Gringo audience with samurai fists upraised for a good couple minutes, even getting some high fives from the local crowd. Over a late evening dinner in lower Manhattan he revealed. "I don't even remember doing that after the fight."

If BJ's ability to inhale food is any sign of his future in MMA, pound per pound, kilo per kilo, this is a force to be reckoned with.

Okubo did not expect such a fast attack from Kurt Pellegrino and had his taken out with a pro wrestling slam.

Canned
"I had sent the commission my eye exam twice before and they said it was fine.. this is the third time” The heavyweight fight between Yusuke Masuda and Mike Patt did not happen due to some mix up with the local athletic commission regarding the American's eye exam. Patt expressed a great deal of disappointment taking out his aggressions on a couple beers after the show.

The Japanese fighter from AACC, trained by Hiroyuki Abe and Megumi Fujii was even more disappointed, having traveled a quantum leap in his first trip abroad. But looking on the bright side, the very large Japanese warrior had the opportunity to be taken shopping for clothes by his teammates in Manhattan, since as Megumi said. "They don't make too many clothes his size in Japan. All the clothes look the same." Masuda smiled and said, "Next time I will fight, and the mentioned that I want to go train with the Red Devil Team and Fedor…I could sleep in the gym floor." Now that's a warrior preparing for war.

Bad Food
Although the fight between Tara Larosa and Amanda Buckner was cancelled due to food poisoning, Tara made an entrance in the ring for the fans and was desperate to express herself with her fighting skills. When matchmaker Miguel Iturrate laid the bad news on her, she was very disappointed. "I trained for two whole months for this fight." It will be interesting to see how an organization such as the MFC promotes women's MMA as well as the lighter weight classes in the U.S.

A Quick Series
Jose Rodriguez vs. Yuichirou Tsuchida was unfortunately over way too fast as the Latino overpowered the Japanese fighter, landing combinations and knees as Tsuchida went looking for the ground and covering. Immediately the referee stepped in a surprisingly short ending.

This patter reoccurred into the next fight at 170 lbs. between ATT’s Kurt Pellegrino and U-File camp veteran Kazuki Okubo. Okubo checked his opponent with a leg kick, but Pellegrino immediately rushed in, picking up Okubo and slamming the heart out of him. Then following with combinations and onto the ground, Okubo turtled up and the referee called it at 38:46 seconds.

In one of the most exciting fights of USA vs. Japan, Chris Ligouri barely edged by new Japanese MMA warrior Toraji.

Dynamic Duel
Perhaps one of my favorite fights and one of the best match ups of the night was between UFC veteran Chris Liguori and the man who calls himself Toraji at 170 lbs. Although this was only Toraji's second pro MMA fight, he showed that he is no amateur in combat sports.

Toraji shoots in low and misses, he shoots again and gets the take down into a full mount. Liguori is looking for an arm from the bottom as Toraji working from the side position. Liguori traps an arm as Toraji spins out into side position. Liguori quickly gets up pushing Toraji into the corner. Liguori tries the take down but winds up underneath with Toraji in his guard. The Japanese fighter backs up standing and chops down with some g n p as Liguori keeps looking for the arm and lands an up kick.

The highlight in the round happened as Toraji locked up Liguori's shoulder and head with a leg figure four. Liguori held on for a while finally getting out into Toraji's closed guard, and his ground defense is impeccable. As they are stood, Liguori goes for a flying knee at the bell.
It was undoubtedly Toraji's fight in the first round. Round two continued with the same intensity as Toraji initiated with a knee attack and Liguori wound up on top, followed by a sweep, a fight for positioning and Liguori Toraji's closed guard again. As Liguori tries to penetrate head first and g n p, Toraji strikes back. The American points at the liver as the samurai looks for an arm lock, they almost stand as Toraji misses a hip toss. Back on their feet Liguori is tied up at the corner and is taken down. Stop don’t move is implemented, from his half to full guard, Toraji works the top for positioning and the bell. Liguori took control in round two via striking efficiency and top control.

Joey "Knockdown" Brown had one leg to stand on after encountering a vicious heel hook by Hiroyuke Abe.

In the final round both fighters let it all hang out. Liguori launched a beautiful left high kick and Toraji replied with combinations and Liguori gets the take down into T's full guard. As Toraji gets up Liguori lands a heavy fist to the face. Toraji attempts another hip toss, but Liguori extends his body and winds up on top., then side mount and chest to back position. Toraji reverses it, gets top position and right in front of a judge by the ropes, circles around Liguori's shoulder and performs a beautiful arm bar attempt.

This was the turning point in the fight, as the Japanese fighter gambled and Liguori got the top position. It was that moment in which the momentum slowed down and Liguori kept top and side position along with some obligatory ground and pound. Toraji’s desperately tried going for an ankle, and the bell. One judge called it 30-26, which was absolutely absurd, this was a very close fight, with the two other judges calling it 29-28 for Liguori. This was a great fight in which both fighters gave up positioning at all moments. At the second intermission it was the U.S. 3 and Japan 1, plus one forfeit victory for the Japanese.

Then, one of the preliminary fights was held to open the third part of the show. Carlo Prater took out Pat Healy with an Nogueira style Anaconda choke as Healy tapped out at 3:57 of round two.

Abe
It was now up to Shooto and K-1 Max veteran Hiroyuki Abe to show why he is the Man. In his last fight in MFC 3 at 155lbs. against a much larger Ryan Schultz, the fight was stopped in the beginning of the second round after Abe blocked a beautiful right round house with his left arm. Abe then instinctively went to the ground to defend, and the referee stopped it.

Although Gouviea struck Hamanaka on the back of the head for the finish, there was no doubt about the awesome power of ATT.

Abe, who fights at 145lbs. had rocked the much larger Team Quest man in the first, and the fight should have not been stopped.
This time around Abe decided to show case his submission skills and pulled off a beautiful ankle lock from the standing position. As Joey "Knockdown" Brown stood in his corner, Abe's corner asked to have Brown's lower body and ankles to be wiped down.
As the larger Brown stood before Abe, the smaller man rolled, spun, reached, cupped the ankle, and applied pressure. "I heard my leg crack four times. Crack." These were Brown's words at Abe's seminar in Manhattan on the Wednesday following the fight. Brown came wearing an ankle and knee brace.

Turning into his opponent, it took 1:40 for Brown to tap but he learned a very important lesson in MMA tactics. Meanwhile Abe added another victory trying to even out his 6-7-2 MMA record, which is against very top competitors. It was now USA 3 Japan 2.

The Crowd In My Head
"USA USA" was suddenly the belligerent chant, which sharply framed the MFC Ring. Kazuhiro Hamanaka was suddenly turtling for cover at 39 seconds into the fight. ATT's Wilson Gouviea, brimming with confidence simply overwhelmed his opponent with an instant flurry of punches, and another furious flurry. This was Hamanaka the man who defeated Nino "Elvis" Schembri in PRIDE, a revenge for then stable mate Kazushi Sakuraba's loss. Hamanaka's stock after this victory went way up. Initially emerging from Takada Dojo, Hamanaka is now part of Team Inoki, so this was a very disappointing debut for the young veteran in the USA. In his corner was the legendary Tsuyoshi "TK" Kosaka, current King of Pancrase. As we walked down a JFK Airport corridor Hamanaka expressed his great disappointment, it was written in his face it was the blues in his movement. I told him that he would be back as we bowed and shook hands. I joked with TK that I would interview him in his office in Ropponggi as everybody grinned.

"I want to fight in America again. USA USA, the fans are crazy, I like it.”" Here were Hamanaka's words as half the Japanese crew headed back to Japan."

Daisuke Hanazawa knew that this was the battle of his life, but no matter how much he insisted, he ran into a concrete wall in Eddie Alvarez.

Main Event
"I fee fast, I feel light…I've never made it to the third rond yet but I'm always prepared for the fight to go to the third."
- Eddie Alvarez

Even after a victory a fighter can feel that sudden low after being so high on the crowd and adrenaline. For Daisuke "13" Hanazawa those blues came immediately after his relentless pursuit and war with rising MMA star Eddie Alvarez, who he pushed right through the ropes trying to take him down.
Hanazawa insisted in the chase and ground, and ate two or three uppercuts. 13 then got a double leg takedown on the your "All American" wrestler, who had never been in this situation before. Inside his closed guard gets a half mount and starts working the body. The action is stopped and the referee stands them as Eddie upper cuts again and Hanazawa ties him up and keeps on coming for the take down. This is when Alvarez hits the back of his head on the ring apron after having flown backwards through the ropes.
During a doctor's check, Hanazawa has the eye of the tiger, he knows he can take him down.
As the fight resumes Alvarez lands a big jab, Hanazawa insists on the ground, but eats a knee to the head. Eddie is then almost pushed back through the ropes twice more. Hanazawa knees the body but is then overtaken by heavy brick laying combinations as he tries covering his head face down and the referee intervenes at 4:00 minutes in round one. It was a disappointing end for Hanazawa, but for Alvarez on the other hand it showed his huge power and ability.

After the fight as Hanazawa was being taken for a precautionary catscan, a cornered Alvarez gave him a hug showing the true caliber of his fight style.
"You're the first one to ever take me down." These were Eddies words as the paramedics took Hanazawa away on a stretcher, and fortunately he was fine and only suffered a broken nose.
At the end of the show it was announced that Alvarez will face Carlo Prater in the next MFC.

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