Japanese promotion IGF (Inoki Genome Federation) will host arguably their biggest event to date tonight on New Years Eve featuring some of the biggest and most iconic names in MMA. It is quite fitting that the event is actually called IGF-Inoko Bom-Ba-Ye 2013.
Kazuyuki Fujita (15-9) fights Satoshi Ishii (10-2-1) in the main event. The two Japanese heavyweights are at opposite ends of their careers. Fujita is a famous pro-wrestler and a Pride veteran who has fought the who’s who of MMA. The 43-year-old hasn’t fought since a 2009 KO loss to Overeem.
Ishii has been on a tear since this date last year winning all six of his fights including victories over Jeff Monson, Tim Sylvia, Pedro Rizzo and Sean McCorkle. At only 27 years of ago expect to see Ishii become hot property in global MMA very soon.
Speaking of Japanese legends, Ikushisa Minowa aka Minowaman (57-35-8) fights his 101st professional bout as he takes on pro-wrestler Atsushi Sawada who makes his MMA debut. Minowaman made his debut in 1996 and has fought everyone from Phil Baroni to Gilbert Yvel to Evan Tanner to Don Frye and many more. These two have actually faced off against each other on the pro-wrestling scene in Japan a couple of times.
One of the hottest ‘free agents’ in MMA Shinya Aoki (34-6) is also in action. He will be looking to cap-off the year with a win over Toshikatsu Harada (11-9-2). Don’t be fooled by Harada’s record, he has went 8-2-2 since 2010 and will be a tough test for Aoki.
UFC veteran Phil De Fries (9-3) makes his first appearance since being released earlier this year, his opponent is former Strikeforce heavyweight title contender Brett Rogers (14-5-0-1). Both fighters could not be more different, Rogers is known for his KO’s while De Fries is a submission ace.
One of the worlds most renowned and dangerous grapplers Satoru Kitaoka (32-12-9) also makes an appearance on the card and he is up against Russian Sambo fighter Ramazan Esenbaev (5-1). This is a tall ask for Esenbaev but if you can pick any positives for him is that he has yet to be submitted in his pro career.