MMA Fighting - Coffee Talk: Bellator Japan and RIZIN 20 Edition

Episode Date: January 4, 2020

As 2019 comes to a close, the MMA Fighting crew in Japan breaks down two of the final cards of the year including Bellator 237 and RIZIN 20. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do we do? What do we do? This isn't... It's a pourover so it's been ready. It's been ready. What mean it's been ready? Yeah. As soon as you pour the water, it's ready. So wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait. Why not doing it? Oh. So cute. So Japanese. Even like a little... There's a little container for the used bags.

So you don't make a mess. It's a creamy powder. I just put sugar in mine and I drink my coffee black. Oh. Ice is poured cream every. Oh crap. That's all. Okay, it got more.

Ah, it's getting worse. Ah, look you. Ah, sloppy Americans. Oh, embarrassing. Oh, my God. What are we drinking? What are we drinking right now? We are drinking pour over coffee.

Now we're in Tokyo. We are in Tokyo, Japan. There are 5,000 great coffee houses around here. here but we don't speak Japanese or no new one here so we're drinking coffee in our room well here we are it is January 1st happy new year happy new year and we are in Tokyo Japan and this is coffee talk I'm E Casey Leiden and I'm Esther Lynn and yeah so on Sunday here local time around noon we're we travel to Saitama to watch Bella Chor's first event in Japan, but let's go back a little bit. And when was the first time

that we came for an MMA event in Japan? Our first time here was December of 2008. We came for the K-1 Dynamite New Year's Eve special. So at the time was K-1 and Dream were co-promoting for their New Year's Eve show as was December 31st, 2008. Well, the only thing I really remember from that was the Aoki versus Eddie Alvarez and Overeign versus Baderhari and Musassi versus Musashi. Yeah, I'm sure there were a bunch of other ones on there. We just, we have to give them much. I remember that was the first time I had watched. They had, you know, the under 18 kickboxing matches.

Oh, I remember like families and I just like, like, like, like, dojos of like nine-year-olds and their little karate geese. Yeah. All chairing. And that was like part of the show. They had them all cheering and everything. People would come to cheer their teachers on. There was like a 16 or 17-year-old fighter named Hiroya on the card.

And he's like, you know, just he was kickboxing. It was crazy. There was a lot of like 16-year-old kickboxing. Yeah. And it was just super, super good. Yeah. So that was probably, was that a New Year's Eve? Yeah, New Year's Eve.

So New Year's Eve. Then like maybe like two days later, Singoku, right? Four days later. Four days later. Sogoku had their New Year's event. and that was just a bonus because just by chance we happened to be at the same hotel with Maham Miller who we knew at the time we met his manager and his manager also managed King Mo Lawa who at that time I think was only 1 and 0 2 and 0 but he was already being built as a

big star in Japan at that time and so we met Mo and then they were like yeah come with us and basically they just kind of threw us on the fighter bus and all of a sudden we're backstage at at another MMA event, and I remember that just being equally incredible. That was over a decade ago, and now we're back again. 11 years later. 11 years later, and Bellator in the cage, Benetatima, what was your experience? My experience was, you know, the show itself was still very much a Bellator show, but it was really nice.

The crowd obviously was very different. The entrance ramp they used the same one as they were going to use two days later in Risen. And just generally there was like kind of a nicer feel to it. I don't know, like it's just a little more pleasant. There was a lot less hecklers or people just booing. There were no booing. A lot less. It was zero.

There was no booing. And there was not really like there was like one or two people that like you could hear some random Americans dealing. No, okay. No, no, no. You're hearing Americans. Yeah. But other than that, like, um, it was, it was really magical.

And I could, in like a really good way that I could tell just by looking at all the faces of the people who worked at Bellator, like, I looked over at Scott Coker and he was just like, beaming. He was so happy to be there. Um, this was like a dream for him, I think, to, to promote an event here in Japan. It really didn't kick in. And I didn't really, for me, like, sitting cage that. I didn't go, I didn't really go, oh man, this is really awesome.

It wasn't until the first fight. It was actually go. Guchi Amouchi versus Darren Cookshank. And as soon as they got in there, you could hear every step. Every step. I could hear both those guys breathing. I could hear everything the corner was saying. Yeah.

And like, it was just, it was, you're never going to be that quiet. Like even if you watch guys, you spar to gym, there's other people talking. radio playing, there's phones going off, there's beep, beep, beep, you know, ring bells going off. Like, it was just these guys and the mat and every loose bolt you hear, every, everything. It was just, it's, it's really, actually, I, I get a much, I had much great appreciation for everything. Because every block, every, you hear. Yeah, you hear everything.

Yeah, it was just, yeah, so I was like, oh, this is, this is awesome. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool because I feel like in a sense that people get to watch the fight. The crowd gets to watch the fight say how someone like me gets to see it. Because normally I'm the closest person besides the ref and the judges. And so I hear a lot of that stuff, but I hear things that most people don't get to hear. And that's the benefit of doing it this way, you know, in terms of like it's quiet and you get to hear the corners and you get to hear the steps and the breath and the blocks and everything. And you know whether something you landed or not.

Fador Rampage. Rampage. It just skipped to the main event. You know, there were fun, there were fun fights up to the end,

but let's go, let's go what people came to see. Yeah, it was, yeah, it was actually a really solid main card. Actually,

the, yeah, how did MVP come over? How did, Oh, MVP, I thought he, translated well to the crowd.

People really liked him. Um, he didn't celebrate this time, uh, the same way he would normally celebrate. He showed him during the fight, but once he won, he was very like,

right, because that's what you do here. You don't rub it in people's faces when you beat someone. And the crowd was appreciative of that. And they actually really appreciated his flair and style and his Naruto walkout. So yeah, no, it was he definitely came off while in the crowd and people liked him. Yeah, I think they'd love to have him back. Fader Rampage.

How many Fador fights have you shot now? Right. Rogers. At least 10, I feel. Yeah, probably 10. Yeah. I feel like, I think every American fight he's had except with Dan Henderson fight. Yeah.

Yeah, every fight he's had North America or, yeah, the States. Except for Dan Henderson. So this is your first time shooting Fador in actually Japan. Mm-hmm. To me, I wish it was, I wish it was on the rising card. I want, yeah, but I, but I enjoyed the walkout. I enjoyed just seeing it. I thought rampage, I enjoyed the, how the camera director, like,

looks like they basically kind of shot it the same way. Like, you know, the cameraman runs up the ramp, you know, and meets them. And I enjoyed all that and everything. It felt good. I was kind of, I was kind of bummer. It was in a cage. It felt like if I should have been in a ring. But I don't know.

What did you feel? Yeah, I mean, well. I mean, personally, I just kind of hate the round cage in general. That's just my... There's too many posts. It's hard to do through, blah, blah, blah. Rings are just aesthetically more pleasing. That's just a fact.

Obviously, people have complaints about them. People fall out, blah, blah, blah, that kind of stuff. Action has to get restarted every once in a while. But there's no argument. Aesthetically, obviously, a ring is more pleasing. However, they use the same lighting rig as Risen. And so I thought that looked really great. it actually made the pictures look, I think, a little different.

They were just softer. The lighting grid was really soft and very white. Like the, it's like exactly 3200 Kelvin. Yeah, I noticed that. Just the colors were not, I felt even just in my naked eye watching it. I don't know how I looked on TV, but watching it's just something seemed brighter. Yeah. Than a normal bellatory.

It was. It was a little brighter. Okay, literally a little bit brighter. I was able to shoot at a higher shutter speed. Okay. This is my first time I got to see Rampay. I mean, sorry, see Fador fight in a Japanese crowd. So, like, all those shots that Rampage were was blocking at the beginning,

I'm like, like, where that camera is, you know, he's, that's, that's where, that's where the fight's happening. And I can hear everything. I can hear, oh, ugh, from. Yeah. You hear him groaning. Yeah. It's, and like, I don't know. It's like, I was just like, man, Fador still swings hard.

He still swings fast. and it's I don't know it's still he's it's still kind of magic watching I get he's not the same Pador but of course he's 40 whatever now but it's I just still love watching it

and just getting a chance to see him in that environment even though it was still in a cage was awesome and in the shot that dropped Rampage you know it's funny I watch the video it didn't look that I was like oh it kind of just raised his temple but when I saw my eyes I was like boom I just like

Wow. And then as rampage is going down, I don't see, I didn't see people talking about this, but like, as he's going down, I can hear, I mean, right with the fight, right when the fight ends, I can hear a rampage tell the ref. He didn't hit me. I wasn't even hit. Like, obviously, concussed, you know, it's like, I just like. They face planted. Yeah, he face planted. And clearly, once he saw the replay, he was like, oh, okay. But it was wild. Like, as soon as that shot hit him before he hit the ground, he was already going, nope, nope, you know. I was like, man, man, that guy hits hard then. And like, I don't care how. how fat rampage is,

you don't knock rampage out of one shot to the head. You just don't do that. And it happened. And I actually, I didn't think, I honestly didn't think that was possible. I thought it would be some kind of weird

ground and pound thing eventually. Or like maybe, yeah, something like that. I didn't think, I didn't think Fader was going to be able to one shot kill rampage. The Bell's Remain card

started at noon here, which is 10 p.m. Eastern in the United States. started at noon and they had their six-fight card and then rise in post limbs. How did the how did the

Risen portion of the Bellator card end? Oh yeah, so this is great so it was Risen Rules in a Bellator cage so that means there are soccer kicks and these on the ground. And lo and behold, the very last fight of the nine

the main event for the rising portion of the card ends with a soccer kick. Yusikachi just soccer kicks him in the face. It was, it was violent. Like, it was like, it was crazy. And then he came to the post fight afterwards. Both of them.

Both of them. But yeah, it was crazy. It was just a wild fight. They were just swinging the whole time, running around the cage and just falling all over the place. And then, yeah, that end sequence. He was actually falling right when he got soccer kicked in the face. So it wasn't quite quite all the way down yet.

But it was crazy because it was like right across from me like at the perfect angle. Like I never happened. And I was just like, whoa. All right. So we're done. Jump on the train home. Very next day we go to the fighter hotel and the very nice western Tokyo. And we have we go for the ceremonial way ends for Red.

Risen. Ryzen. Yeah, so Risen only has ceremonial wands. They don't, it's not open to the public. You know how they have like official wanes that you have seen in the morning and Belator does as well. And media and public are allowed to watch. Media and public are not allowed into these way for for Risen's actual wanes. Doesn't matter though. Whatever. Yeah. That's another thing. That's another thing. They have their show and they have a ceremony in like a ballroom at the Weston. And the way they do this is actually, it's open to the public, but not to everyone. It's just to ticket it, VIP ticket holders. Yeah. Because it's a small room. And what I really enjoyed about this, and they did this actually at the Bellator Wayans as well, because the rise and ticket holders, I think, got to go to both shows. They, at the very end, they make all the fighters stand on the stage. And then the fans come in in rows and get to take pictures with the fighters.

It's the cutest thing ever. So like all these fighters, they, you know, they just weigh in. They get their main base off. They go, oh, I'm going to beat you up. You know, I'm going to beat you up. And then they sit down. Then they bring it back up. And then they go, okay.

And they stand up for about 10 minutes and just rows of fans come in. And they just like pose. And then another row comes in. Yep. It's just so adorable. It is pretty adorable. It was just a fun experience. It was just neat to be in that kind of an environment.

and just see someone, you know, another promotion doing things differently. Obviously, they've actually been doing things the same in their system for many years, but it's just kind of refreshing. You know, it's been a really long time since I've shot a Japanese fight. All right, so that was on, what day was that? That was Monday. That was Monday. So yesterday was Tuesday.

We jump on the train to head to Tsaitama around noon. Yeah, we left around noon again. Yeah. So actually for Bellator, we left at like 10 in the morning or whatever because we had to be there before noon. No, we left out at 9. No, we left up much earlier. No, no, no, sorry. We left it like before 9, I forgot because we had to be there like by 10.30 in the morning.

It takes a little over an hour. For the Verizon card, we left at noon to get there at 1. For 3 o'clock, opening ceremonies are at 3 o'clock. Opening ceremonies. Yeah. Oh. That the pyro all always gets me. That big boom, that every time, everyone's always like.

Well, just, I mean, just the lie, just, but just, we've seen this on TV and everything. It's just so cool. It is always cool. It's just, like, because you don't know what that's, that's always, you know, you can go, just how boring or repetitive UFC events get. You know exactly where they're going to show on the big screen, you know, you know exactly. But this is like, you have no idea what, with this open, what, what, this. the theme's going to be and everything. And they do the entire card, top to bottom.

They bring all the fighters out, you know, just. The opening VTR package, did you get to see that? Yeah. Yeah, I thought that was really good. The spray paint art. Yeah. I thought that was really cool. So they did stencil art for the opening graphics, and that was really neat.

And then they introduced everybody on a card on it. Everyone got equal. Yeah. So you were watching, you were probably by the ring. I'm right by the stage. and you know they come out and everything and like actually Johnny Case is only I don't know maybe 20 feet away from me

and we're like hey Johnny you know and they're coming out, everyone just comes out and everything and then right before the big boom happens a rising person comes to us and goes like what? Oh shit! So everyone goes like that

and as soon as you go boom and it was like oh my God it was so loud and all the fight because they weren't all the fighters so all the fighters are like this. Like, I don't know how loud it comes off on TV, but like in the arena, it's super loud. It's, it's shaking. Yeah. If you miss opening ceremonies, that would have just sucked. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, why come all this way? Yeah, opening ceremony was just great. And getting the hearing, Lenny Hart, just say out, scream the names. Oh. That's great. That's just, like,

like, MMA heaven. You know, just. And then the love the crowd gave her. So this is interesting how Risen does, in the beginning of the show, they introduced all the officials. I love that. So they hear all the referees for the night, hear all the judges, and then... They get up and bow, yeah. And then they had Lenny Hart get up, and then the crowd cheered for her, and they love her. Yeah, it's just, it's very formal, but in a way that I enjoy. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's why the fights, though. Yeah, fights. Because it was a really solid card. Top bottom was so amazing. So it started with the lightweight tournament. Johnny Case versus Tofik Mousai. and then at Pitbull versus Luis Costallo.

Both those fights at the end under 90 seconds. Yeah, I think both were under 90 seconds. Yeah, it was just boom, straight up. I felt like since both guys who, well, every all four of those fighters knew, I think all four of them, you know what, win or lose isn't going to pass the first round because we have to fight again.

So those, both guys just came out swinging and just like just two big knockouts and a soccer kick knockout. yes and then I don't know just it was just fun and it was really nice the crowd was into it and you know what I really my favorite one of my favorite things is that when the fighters come out the battle tour fighters especially when they come out through the big screens and then the pyro and stuff they all turn around and look at it and they're like oh wow kind of just like check out where they are yeah it's just like oh my god my name has never been that big my face is like gigantic yeah yeah this where the screens opened up and

they come back and it was like I know I just I was like you just like you just look at those guys like man I hope they I mean I was actually I'm almost nervous like man how do you soak it all in but the same time oh my god I got getting a freaking fist fight in like two minutes you know so either you soak it in it works to your advantage or not I don't know yeah and then after the oh so after the lightweight fights was miu yamamoto versus amp the rocket and that was we were talking about this earlier in the sense that that That was like the most Japanese fight on the card. In terms of me, Yamamoto is not a world beater.

We all know this. She's not like the top. She's not a top strawweight or Adam weight or whatever weight class. She was fighting at. But that doesn't matter because she's on the card for storylines. She's on the card because the Amamoto family. Yeah, the very famous martial arts family. She's of her brother.

And so it was really, but that doesn't, it's not a bad thing. She's also a very good wrestler. And it was just really, um, they sometimes. made it, um, I don't know, it was a good competitive, uh,

they found, you know, um, AMP has actually fought in Risen a couple times. Um, and I, and I thought it was really nice to see. It's just,

um, it's an emotional side of the, of the fight game. And the, oh yeah, the opening package was like all people crying. Yeah, I was,

we were, um, I, we were, um, we were watching the opening package, just Japanese in my, MMA, how they,

how they promote things. I was, I was watching it with, um, the manager, Danny Rubinstein, and they were showing all these fighters lose. They were showing tension getting knocked out, you know, by Mayweather and things like that. And I was like, man, I love how they sell losses because it's all about how you come back. That's what it's about.

It's like, ah, anyone can win and I won. They show a little bit that, but the real storyline is coming back and persevering. And it was just, it's just so different. It's just really, yeah. It's just so different. It's a totally different. environment and things, what they find important to a fighter. But yeah, I just really enjoyed it.

It was after me was Patrick Mix. Yeah. And he looked super impressive. How good is patchy mix? Pretty damn good. And we haven't even seen his striking yet because people always grapple with him. And he's an extremely good grappler. So actually, Yuki Mutoya is a very good grappler.

So that was, I was surprised. I was actually really surprised at how quickly that was finished. Yeah, like, like, I've heard stories about how good he is, coaches talk. But, like, man, like, he seemed ready for him, wants it. Like, like, like, he think he said, do what, he went, 12 and O as a pro and 11. 11 and no as an amateur. So he's on like a 20-something fight, one streak. Yeah.

In his mind, you know, that's what I'm a 25-summing win streak. and like he's like he wants that belt he wants he wants if he can get the rising belt he'll take it he wants that belt of your belt obviously because he's part he's part of the organization man i think um i think i i i think he's going to be one of the top two or three breakout stars next year yeah i think he's that good and um he's he's an exciting finisher and and we have we haven't even had to use his hands yet. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what was after that? So many. God, there were so many good fights. Um, is it? Is it after that? Um, is it? I don't know. I feel like there were, there were so many fights. Jake Hume's walkout was amazing. His Freddie Mercury walkout. Um, killer uppercut. The killer

uppercut. I mean, just the action, all of it was good. It's actually so good that it's like my brain is actually overflowing and there's just too much going on. Because we were, at the arena until like two to two, two, a little past two a.m. last night, we didn't get back to our hotel room until four. Yeah. Because it takes an hour. Yes. So, so, um, yeah, I was just weird. By the time we got back, we're like, uh, I think fights happened. I mean, it was amazing and it was great. And I had like this, um, this, uh, kind of joy. Um, and it, I want to say, this is something that I, I feel like I should say later, but I'm thinking of it now. Um, we, um, we're, um, we're, One of the things that happens to me after I watch a night of fights is you've noticed this in me, I'm really sad the next day.

Like I'm happy if it's a kind of exciting event or whatever, but for the most part, I watch a lot of people get beat up and it weighs on my emotions. And it actually makes me sad the next day. But this wasn't like that. I woke up this morning, even after only four hours of sleep and I was ready to go. Yeah. Because I was excited. And I wanted to share everything that I saw last night. And just overall, like the lightweight tournament with the ending with Tofique and Pitbull,

Patricke was such a good fight. It was so crazy. And then when Patrici fell through the ropes, he hurt his shoulder, but he didn't want to stop fighting. So they kept going. Just everything. Just like every element of it was awesome. And the belts are so cool looking. And the very odd formality of the flower bouquet for people to chat.

pedal challenging, all of that stuff. I mean, every part was good. When they hit the main card after the big intermission, okay, let's talk about intermissions real quick.

Yeah. Everyone loves a complaint of intermissions, and I get it. Man, we were those people. We watched, we had to suffer those 45-minute intermissions. Man, but when you're there live,

you understand it. Because basically, you go to UFC pay-per-view. Essentially, they put intermissions, little 10-minute intermissions there, every fight. In Japan, if it's a 30-second knockout or a full three-round fight, as soon as that fight ends, boom, next video package comes on.

So it just keeps going and going and going. So you're there. So at the opening ceremonies, you watch seven fights. That's three and a half hours or so. Yeah, you want to get up because actually it's kind of considered, not rude, but unless you have to get up, you kind of, you sit there and watch, you know? Yeah, well, also, most people just sit and watch and then it gives them time. You get up, go eat, go back and rain, you do all that stuff.

Like, you can leave the, you can actually leave the arena. You can actually leave the arena because there's a bunch of restaurants right around there. Because it's about a 45 minute break. Yeah, people leave. Like, they take their time. It's not like, you know. And then you come back in. And it's a totally different.

Plus, they know it's an all day event. So the breaks are built in on purpose. Yeah. And obviously, it sucks for us because when we're home, it's like 4 a.m. Or 5 a.m. and you're like, oh, my God, I can't. I can't say it before watch 45 minutes of replays. But you get it when you're here and that's fine.

But yeah, that actually reminds me of the thing we were talking about, though, is that if you're a true MMA fan, you know, people always like, probably never die, blah, blah, blah. People should make the pilgrimage out here to watch a big Japanese event. Because I think it's just different. If you're a, no, if you're an MMA fan, save up couple thousand bucks and seriously come out here

there's like you just you just have to I don't I don't if you're a big MMA fan at some point once every five years or so save your money

go to Vegas go to a UFC pay-per-view in Vegas you're an MMA fan save up your money come here for New Year's see a big event at Saitama you need both experiences

because they're two when they're punching each other, everything's the same. But it's about everything around it before or after, which are completely different. And yeah, and like I, yeah, I'm sure whatever, if you dig the UFC experience, you dig it, you know, but I think you just need to fill it all. Yeah.

Yeah, it's always good to have just kind of a broader palette. Yeah, and I think you can appreciate how both promotions sell their fights better. Absolutely. You know, then so Japanese Omei has intermissions, all that kind of stuff, but when you're here live, it totally makes sense. We come back into the main card, right? And after Tofique Musayev wins the lightweight tournament. Then Reina rematches with Lindsay Van Zand, who Lindsay Van Zandt beat Reina in New York at Beltaire, New York. Reina's walkout? Randis walkout was crazy. She had rappers with her. And she was dancing the whole time and singing along. And that's got to be a ton of pressure. We talked about this list. Not must be a ton of pressure. But we also spoke with Mo about this because people used to criticize on her doing big walkouts and mayhem too. He said, no, this is like a welcome distraction. Planning this helps get my mind off of the minutia of the fight. Right. So she has this huge walkout and it's such a dramatic fight. There's ebb and flow and Lindsay. Are you saying it's dramatic MMA? What a dramatic anime.

Yes. And that's what I felt like all the fights had. All the fights had that kind of ebb and just kind of this amazing, like, just your heart was pounding. And I don't know. It was just cool. And then we actually, so then there was later on the main card, Ayaka Hamasaki fought Soiham. And that was, oh, high level, animal weight MMA is. Freaking amazing.

High level, the two best 105 pound women are fighting inside Tama in front of, what's it, almost, what how many people? 30,000, 29,000 people. 29,000 people. These 2005 pound women are fighting. And the whole place was just totally engrossed in it. You know, their Hamasaki chants everywhere. And it was just like, it was just, it was awesome. It was like, wow.

And there were some, there was some Hamachan. Yeah, Hamajan. And like, like, like, like, what I keep saying, like, why I want these fans to come over and experience it, like, you can hear some girl from the, the, the nosebleeds. Yeah. How much. You'll hear it. You look at, oh, there she is. And like, it's just, there's no heck.

And I don't understand. That many people, not one person decided to go, woo. No one. No one. No one. The whole night for two straight. night. Not a single woo. No, not a single woo. Not a single boo. Not a single put him in a body bag.

Not a single fuck him up. Not a single. I hired a fuck him. From who? From an American. From an American. From an American. You know, but. Let's go back to the fight though. Sorry, I'm going to interrupt you. Yeah, I know. We've already talked about this so much. It was just so great, but this sounds. We're talking about people coming over and stuff. Like, yeah, I know. But I just wanted to talk about how good the fight was. and just everything about it and also oh shit we gotta go back we gotta rewind i forgot to talk about the end of rena and lindsay van zan because i saw online everyone was like oh early stop it early

stoppage early stop and actually the ref jason hirzog didn't want to stop the fight at that moment that's why it looked a little confused they looked a little hesitant right but actually uh van zan's corner threw in um it's an equivalent of the towel they give them a little colored baton So it's like a little red foam baton for the red corner blue one for the little corner and they just they threw it in So that's so the corner actually stopped the fight because they felt their fighter was taking too much damage Right that's actually what happens so that that if that clears anything up for anyone yeah wow Which I didn't at first I was like oh why it's something to fight but then I looked down and I saw he was step the the phone baton on the thing I was like oh okay Wow that's really interesting yeah um I think yeah that's really

that's that's really if they if their corner knows they know they know how much lindsay had in her and they knew she was probably pretty tired and they even though there was only 20 seconds 15 seconds left they felt it it doesn't take very long to take some serious damage so i also wonder um my my guess is that risin uh pays flat rates not a show and win um so and the reason why is because i feel like a lot of fighters fight with abandon there's a lot less of the like the like a conservative grind out fight because you get rewarded for exciting fights here by being brought back. Yeah.

So I actually think that that's probably why the corner was like, oh, she's just taking a lot of punishment. Let's just tossing the baton and not worry about when we still got paid. Yeah. Yeah. They're just there again. So the money doesn't, they're not making more or less money. Yeah.

It doesn't change. Yeah. So that fight was awesome The Adam Waite Championship fight was awesome This is a super good fight Tension Oh shit Watching Tensions

So wait so now we're gonna throw a kickboxing match in there Yeah yeah which is like we just you know Characteristic of the New Year shows Or just in general there's always like one or two kickboxing matches So Tensions is that little guy that threw that fight against Mayweather right No yeah because that makes total sense you know Yeah Okay

Yeah. If you're one of those people. Anyway, tension is an amazing. I would say flyweight. Yeah, flyweight kickboxer. And he was facing Rui Abada, who is king of knockout. Knockout's a promotion here. Very good kickboxing promotion.

And, you know, you saw, they showed all the highlights beforehand. He just knocked out a lot of people. Both with punches and with leg kicks, which just looks so painful. A couple people, you'd see people like falling over after getting kicks in the And tension made him look amateur. Yeah. It was crazy. I remember hearing up because I followed cakeboxing, but I'm not super hardcore about it.

And like the hardcore cakebox people were like, okay, finally, Ryzen's giving a good, a good, a good fight for tension. Like, this guy is tough. And they're like, oh, wow, he made that, like, he made that guy look worse than some of the MMA fighters that face tension and kickboxing. It was like, you know, you know. I was doing interviews in the back. So I made sure to come out to the arena to see the opening ceremonies. I saw, I think, patchy mix. I wanted to see his walkout.

I think I saw a couple of walkouts. But the only fight I wanted to see beginning to end was tension. So I came out during, I think, because right before it was Hamasaki Ham. So I came out, like, maybe the third round. I was watching it in the crowd. I hear the crowd. So I'm watching it. Backstakes, the place is so quiet.

But they're paying attention. Backstage, I could hear attention. and like whack, whack, whack, it admits. I'm like, and I saw fans going, what is that? Like, it's just like, so, like, that's how quiet, because you can hear them. Like, it was just, it was actually a bit of an echo in the, like, so. And then I kind of look over and I saw attention, like, kind of pacing, walking around. And like, I felt like, oh, like, I was like, I shouldn't be looking at this.

Like, I'm like, I didn't want to get eye contact of him and everything. It's like, wasn't like he was all mean mugging, but he was like, then like, there's just no walk lap. Yeah. I was like, oh my goodness. Yeah, that was really thrilling for me. It's high-level kickboxing. It was so fun to watch and so fun to shoot.

And I got some crazy pictures of that fight. And it was just so thrilling to watch. So skilled and so interesting. And what people, I don't know if people saw this part because I don't know what the broadcast looks like or whatever. But one of the interesting things is like you may look at tension and think, look at that little. punk because you know he's really young and he's got his cool hair and whatever in his very fancy robe and he sell you know when he he knocked this guy and he celebrates but then at the very end after that he walked straight over to the guy ruya bada made sure he was okay um abada has a twin

brother who also fights you know made uh made sure he was okay and then he hasn't they have another brother so it was just like him going to each family and i remember bowing talking it was just extremely, extremely respectful. Like they immediately turn off bite mode and go straight to like respectful martial arts mode. Yes. It's, yeah. And I understand that's, that's just kind of a weird like clash of cultures. I'm not saying one is better than the other. Maybe it's just

for me, because, I don't know, because I'm Asian or whatever. I don't know. But for me, I like, I prefer this because this is why you got into it. Right, because this is why I got into it. We talked about this instance. We came here, for the first time, 11 years ago, to watch a fight. And that's what really sold me on continuing to work in MMA. So we had just lost our jobs at Elite X-C, and I was like, that was kind of a fun experiment.

I think I'm going to go back to working in production in Los Angeles. But when I came out here and I got to experience what MMA is here, that's actually when we started the All of Us site. Yeah. And doing the videos and stuff like that, because it was so beautiful and the aesthetics were so pleased. and the storylines were so deep that that's what made us want to continue in this field. Yeah.

Yeah. It was Japanese M.A. Yeah. That made us want us like, oh, I want to, what they do here, I want to present my work, you know, your photos, my videos, in the same vein as what they do out here. Yeah. That's pretty much it. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah. And I think that that pretty. that pretty much um you know but this i was just giving the main event by doing this but uh manal cape look awesome against kai sakura big upset that was crazy big upset that was crazy uh why and i and i know for sure this is going to end up in their next highlight package poor kaiasakara was like bawling sitting there bawling manel cape comes over and like thanks him and kisses him on the forehead and he's like serious for a second and then as soon as cape walks away he just starts bawling again

and i was like um but overall just like this is the that that was a Rise in 20 and a battle Georgia, Japan too. It reminded me of, and also going back to the USC 243, 2019 was a year of events that reminded me of why I was an MMA fan. Issy? Mm-hmm. Is he? Is he's breakout year?

Yeah. You know, but I want to also point out to, because people are going to be like, oh, you just love Japanese of M.A. It's like, actually, it's not that I love this. Like, I just love, I love variety. Mm-hmm. And like, I don't want everyone to be like, I don't want everyone to be like this. I like, I won't actually like, that's why I love, actually as a fan, I love Shiniaoki.

Yeah. Even though he's a Japanese fighter, he was an asshole. Yeah. He'll break a guy's arm and then give him the finger. It's like, whoa, you don't do that in Japan, you know, you don't do that anywhere. You know, you don't do that anywhere. You don't do that over here, especially. But like, what a dick move?

Yeah. What a dick move. But you know what? I was like, eh, that's kind of cool. You know, because it creates drama. It makes, it makes, what a dramatic MMA, you know? And that's kind of, and that's what the storylines are. Because I don't want everyone to be bound and respectful.

If that's not you, that's not you. But you're still a good fighter. You can still be, you can still bow and be respectful, but suck at fighting. You know? But like, yeah, because it's the fighting that really matters, you know? It's more the variety. Yeah. I wouldn't say that I want to do this all the time.

If I was shooting only risons, maybe I would get tired of the way that they work. I don't know. But for me, it's a welcome change. Yeah. You know, it's nice to see how other people do things. And this is why competition is fun. Yes. So.

Yeah. You need variety. Was this the card of the year? Ooh. I 100% think, Rising 20 with only 45 minutes to spare before it hit midnight here. Yeah. Was absolutely the card of the, the card of 2019. Ooh.

15 fights, not one stinker on a card. 10 of those fights were just balls of the wall fucking like wow this was the first rising card um nearest card without any kind of like quote unquote freak show fight or whatever yeah and they sold out they sold out

just on good MMA that's a big deal actually actually is a very undersold story here that I think and this is good for Japanese promoters too because I think they are always very okay we got to put this random sumo guy out there we got to put some random celebrity

comedian out there otherwise the casual visuals won't watch it or whatever you want to call it um but no this was every every fight was actually put together for sporting competitive reasons yeah every fight yeah and it was very fun um and the fan that when the fans showed up and they enjoyed it that yeah that's very yeah they didn't need the the random sumo guy or whatever um but so yeah overall i would say this is pretty close to car the year. I'm hesitant to say that only because I know I have recency bias. Like, that's the last thing I remember, you know. I can't, I have hard, I'm having a really hard time remembering the rest of the

year because it was a year full of fight, full of ends. We went to Australia twice. There were, there were better, there were better, it wasn't, there was no fight of the year on it. There was some great fights. There weren't the fight of the year, but solid. From the first fight till the end, you just can't, I, I think everyone's like, oh, what was the 236? 236 with the two title fights. Yeah, clearly those two title fights are freaking awesome. But go look at, you forget a lot about the early fights.

I don't know the easy fight too. Yeah, which was fight at the year, but that's nothing. I just, I love the card. I hope everyone at home, sit down, watch, begin and enjoy the whole eight-hour experience. Don't just watch the gifts and try to watch their whole experience. Yeah, yeah. And save up your money, fly out to Japan and come out. visit here and don't be an asshole and enjoy the culture out here yeah i think um and uh and if

you can't make it all the way out here yeah well you know one paper view watch it or do 20 bucks 20 bucks is pretty inexpensive for uh for an eight hour pay per view yeah um it's totally worth it yeah wow this has been a fun coffee talk it has oh and a son went down all all while we were in here Yeah, I'm so glad, actually, that we got to make it out to Japan this year since UFC isn't having their New Year's show. It really opened up, opened up this year for travel and to have new experiences. And we're entering a new decade. So it's really nice to have this kind of like, I don't know, palate cleanser, I guess, for a new decade. This is great for a Japanese MMA.

Yeah. It was a giant success. Good forecast, yeah. good forecast and I'm hoping for good things. Hoping for good things, yeah. All right, well. This has been Coffee Talk. This has been coffee.

With E. Casey Leiden, that's Esther Lynn. Thanks for watching. Subscribe here, click like, join our Instagram, follow us on TikTok. Beepa, boobo.