Amir Aliakbari went 5-1 with Rizin before signing a deal with ACB. Heavyweight fighter and AKA Thailand team member Amir Aliakbari is a serious threat to heavyweights. He’s 7-1 as a professional and his wrestling pedigree is elite. He also gets the best standup training in the world at AKA Thailand. It’s made him a … Read moreAKA Thailand standout heavyweight Amir Aliakbari signs with ACB
AKA Thailand’s Mike Swick was on hand to capture the madness
Tomorrow night’s RIZIN Fighting event is co-featured by a heavyweight clash between Amir Aliakbari facing off with Tyler King. Today they met on the scale, and things didn’t go as planned. The two have been firing trash talk back and forth, and it boiled over when the two were finally face to face.
The AKA Thailand prospect will be looking to run his record to 7-1 at RIZIN. Amir Aliakbari is a very talented heavyweight fighter. He’s been training with Mike Swick and company at AKA Thailand and his growth has been very noticeable from fight to fight. He’s competed in five Rizin fights, having suffered only one … Read moreAmir Aliakbari in the co-main event of RIZIN Fighting this weekend
The RIZIN Grand Prix Tournament was set up in a way that, whoever won 4 fights in a row, would be crowned 2016 RIZIN GP Champion. We saw some familiar names and some names we didn’t know even competed any more in the open weight tournament. A few social media sparring matches, late replacements, and … Read morePost RIZIN thoughts. Both Mirko Cro Cop and Amir Aliakbari shine.
There is never a dull moment in Japanese MMA. Ever. Sometimes, even weigh-ins can be a spectacle. That’s exactly what the 2016 Rizin GP weigh-ins were. There was one noticeable absence, however. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović was a no-show.
Big lovable Baruto was left all by himself on the weigh-in stage, as his opponent Mirko Cro Cop did not make an appearance. Fear not, there were still many things to talk about.
The part that has the internet buzzing is the matchup between Gabi Garcia and Yumiko Hotta. Hotta weighed in at about 171 pounds and she’s 5’6. Gabi Garcia is 6’2 and weighed in at 208. Sure it could be considered an uneven affair, with Garcia having a 40 pound weight advantage. However, Hotta is 49 years old and has ‘grown woman strength’. If not, she can always hit Garcia with her hand chains and lightning strikes.
Yumiko Hotta vs Gabi Garcia
Like we stated before, Cro Cop was absent from the weigh-ins. MikeSwick.com has since received confirmation from a source close to RIZIN that Cro Cop is still fighting. Just unknown circumstances that caused him to miss the weigh-ins.
Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett also made news by not being at the weigh-ins and MikeSwick.com was told it was over visa issues. His fight with Minoru Kimura has now been cancelled as a result. MikeSwick.com will be speaking with Bennett to find out exactly what his visa issues were, very soon.
Andy Nguyen came out dressed as the Pokemon character, Pikachu. Not exactly breaking news, but… when you add in the man sized Cup-O-Noodles, wearing a Speedo and Genki Sudo mask, it gets people talking.
Andy Nguyen in full Pikachu
Japanese MMA is the best!
Kron Gracie vs Tatsuya Kawajiri
Tune in to MikeSwick.com tonight at 1 am ET/ 10 pm PST for the FREE live stream to the 2016 RIZIN World Grand Prix NYE Finals event.
The 2nd round of the RIZIN Open Weight Grand Prix took place last night from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. It was a night fight fans had long been waiting for since the opening round concluded back in September. Two of the most talked about matches going into the 2nd round were veterans … Read moreRizin Grand Prix: Cro Cop, Amir, Baruto, Valentin advance to Semis
The 2016 RIZIN Grand Prix Round 2 weigh-ins are now over and it was interesting. Weigh-ins took place and as is often the case when fighters step on the scale, we were treated to some tense and also some fun moments. This is Japan, after all, and if there’s one thing they’re known for it is their creativity and at times a very fun quirkiness. Proof of that was on display as a jacked Cup of Noodles stood watch on the stage the entire time.
So many names graced the stage; King Mo, Mirko Cro Cop, Heath Herring, Valentin Moldavsky, Szymon Bajor, Baruto, Tsuyoshi Kosaka, and Amir Aliakbari were just a few of the fighters to step on the scale for this massive event. Check out the full highlight video below as well as the official results:
Weigh-in Results:
Mirko Cro Cop(106kg) vs. King Mo(97kg)
Baruto(180kg) vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka(101.1kg)
Amir Aliakbari(116.1kg) vs. Heath Herring(124.5kg)
Valentin Moldavsky(102.2kg) vs. Szymon Bajor(105.6kg)
Rin Nakai(56.95kg) vs. Kanako Murata(57.15kg)
Tenshin Nasukawa(56.65kg) vs. Nikita Sapun(55.4kg)
Kazuyuki Miyata(69.55kg) vs. Andy Souwer(70.1kg)
Yuki Motoya(60.0kg) vs. Allan Nascimento(60.0kg)
Tatsumitsu Wada(56.7kg) vs. Kai Kara-France(58.1kg)*
*Kai Kara-France Over Weight.
Yusuke Yachi(68.0kg) vs. Mario Sismundo(67.9kg)
Kanna Asakura(47.7kg) vs. Alyssa Garcia(48.0kg)
Vadim Nemkov(104.8kg) vs. Alison Vicente(106.3kg)
Satoru Kitaoka(70.3kg) vs. Daron Cruickshank(69.8kg)
RIZIN Fighting Federation (RIZIN FF) is a Japanese regional mixed martial arts organization. It was created in 2015 by the former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
RIZIN FF will broadcast on Spike TV in. The same network that houses Bellator MMA. Other official partnering broadcasters will be SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Fuji Television, Fox Sports Brazil, Kix and Match TV.
MikeSwick.com is on location in Tokyo for the RIZIN Open Weight Grand Prix. We spoke with Amir Aliakbari the night before his match against Heath Herring at the RIZIN 2016 Open Weight Grand Prix Second Round event, in Tokyo Japan. The AKA Thailand standout also touches on the possibility of a final round match with King Mo.
RIZIN Fighting Federation (RIZIN FF) is a Japanese regional mixed martial arts organization. It was created in 2015 by the former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
RIZIN FF will broadcast on Spike TV in. The same network that houses Bellator MMA. Other official partnering broadcasters will be SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Fuji Television, Fox Sports Brazil, Kix and Match TV.
MikeSwick.com is on location in Tokyo for the RIZIN Open Weight Grand Prix. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović sat down and spoke with us about all things Rizin. He touches on King Mo, Wanderlei Silva, and the Rizin Grand Prix.
Mirko was business as usual. Cro Cop showed his expected distaste for Wanderlei Silva. After Silva backed out of their quarterfinal fight, the 2 have been verbally sparring through social media. Mirko continued the jabs and called Silva “a mouse”.
Other fighters in the open weight Grand Prix tournament include:
King Mo Lawal, Amir Aliakbari, Heath Herring, Valentin Moldavsky, Szymon Bajor, Baruto and Tsuyoshi Kosaka.
We expect the fights to be a fantastic way to end 2016. Look out for behind the scenes activities as well. The MMA hate triangle between Crop Cop, Silva, and Krazy Horse will be must see tv!
Video By: Doug Rothwell
We have full access and will continue posting videos pertaining to everything Rizin! Keep checking back on mikeswick.com for all the latest news.
RIZIN Fighting Federation (RIZIN FF) is a Japanese regional mixed martial arts organization. It was created in 2015 by the former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
RIZIN FF will broadcast on Spike TV in. The same network that houses Bellator MMA. Other official partnering broadcasters will be SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Fuji Television, Fox Sports Brazil, Kix and Match TV.
MikeSwick.com is on location in Tokyo for the 2016 RIZIN Open Weight Grand Prix. Heath Herring sat down with us and discussed his upcoming fight with Amir Aliakbari.
Other fighters in the open weight Grand Prix tournament include:
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović, King Mo Lawal, Amir Aliakbari, Valentin Moldavsky, Szymon Bajor, Baruto and Tsuyoshi Kosaka.
Video By: Doug Rothwell
We have full access and will continue posting videos pertaining to everything Rizin! Keep checking back on mikeswick.com for all the latest news.
RIZIN Fighting Federation (RIZIN FF) is a Japanese regional mixed martial arts organization. It was created in 2015 by the former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
RIZIN FF will broadcast on Spike TV in. The same network that houses Bellator MMA. Other official partnering broadcasters will be SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Fuji Television, Fox Sports Brazil, Kix and Match TV.
MikeSwick.com is on location in Tokyo for the RIZIN Open Weight Grand Prix. King Mo Lawal sat down with us and discussed his upcoming quarterfinal fight with Mirko CroCop. Mo also touched on other subjects, specifically his last fight in Bellator with Satoshi Ishii.
Other fighters in the RIZIN open weight tournament quarterfinals include:
Mirko CroCop, Amir Aliakbari, Heath Herring, Valentin Moldavsky, Szymon Bajor, Baruto and Tsuyoshi Kosaka.
Video By: Doug Rothwell
We have full access and will continue posting videos pertaining to everything Rizin! Keep checking back on mikeswick.com for all the latest news.
RIZIN Fighting Federation (RIZIN FF) is a Japanese regional mixed martial arts organization. It was created in 2015 by the former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
RIZIN FF will broadcast on Spike TV in. The same network that houses Bellator MMA. Other official partnering broadcasters will be SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Fuji Television, Fox Sports Brazil, Kix and Match TV.
News was leaked today to the general public that undefeated prospect Amir Aliakbari is now facing Heath Herring in the Rizin GP quarterfinal round. Aliakbari knew for about a week that Shane Carwin was pulled from their fight. Rizin has been scrambling to find a replacement opponent for Aliakbari, who has been training for “TBD”. … Read moreExclusive: Carwin out. Herring in to face Amir Aliakbari in The Rizin GP
Behind The Lens: KING LORD AMIR ALIAKBARI – 12/12/16
This is a day VLOG created by AKA Thailand’s Visual Arts Manager, Mitch Viquez, to show the possibilities for a good time on your training holiday at AKA Thailand.
AKA Thailand is AKA’s first global gym. Owned by original AKA team member Mike “Quick” Swick, Internet magnate Blair Speers, and AKA founder, Javier Mendez, AKA Thailand is continuing to build, train and promote another formidable team of fighters in Asia and expand on the success they have already achieved internationally. AKA Thailand is a global super gym that not only caters to fighters, athletes and training enthusiasts, but also to the “average Joe” looking to lose weight, get fit, or make a lifestyle change while training alongside a diverse and motivated group of students.
Behind The Lens: Amir Aliakbari is a Beast 12/9/16
This is a day VLOG created by AKA Thailand’s Visual Arts Manager, Mitch Viquez, to show the possibilities for a good time on your training holiday at AKA Thailand.
AKA Thailand is AKA’s first global gym. Owned by original AKA team member Mike “Quick” Swick, Internet magnate Blair Speers, and AKA founder, Javier Mendez, AKA Thailand is continuing to build, train and promote another formidable team of fighters in Asia and expand on the success they have already achieved internationally. AKA Thailand is a global super gym that not only caters to fighters, athletes and training enthusiasts, but also to the “average Joe” looking to lose weight, get fit, or make a lifestyle change while training alongside a diverse and motivated group of students.