Mixed martial arts veteran and PRIDE FC standout, Ryo Chonan (14-7), could make his Octagon debut at UFC 78 on November 17, according to FightNetwork.com.
No potential opponent was mentioned in the report.
Here’s a snip:
“Ryo Chonan is also believed to be in the mix for the UFC 78 card. Chonan, the last man to defeat UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, beat Seo Do Wong at a DEEP event in June.”
That’s right, Chonan is one of four men to topple the current 185-pound titleholder, defeating “The Spider” with the craziest flying scissor heal hook imaginable at PRIDE Shockwave 2004.
The “Piranha” has competed against some of the top names in the sport, including Hayato Sakurai (win), Carlos Newton (win), Dan Henderson (loss), Phil Baroni (loss), Joey Villasenor (win) and Paulo Filho (loss), among others.
He’s an exciting Japanese fighter who would no doubt add instant depth and experience to a division that needs it perhaps more than any other in the organization. It would also mean that Silva would have two opportunities to avenge losses (Yushin Okami being the other).
This is great news for the fans if it turns out to be accurate — yet another high profile fighter coming to the UFC.
UFC 78 is booked for the Prudential Arena in Newark, N.J. For the latest fight card click here.
41 Comments »
Ok, so how many more reasons are they gonna give me to go to this show?
Jesse, you going?
This is GREAT NEWS if it turns out to be true! I have alot of respect for Ryo as a fighter & he definately adds atleast a league worth of depth to the 185 division.
that flying heel hook was one of the craziest things i’ve ever seen in MMA, probably because of who it was executed against! glad to see the MW division get som competition in it (besides silva, franklin & okami of course)
*some*
Sign him up.
Not to question anything Mania, but I read about three weeks ago, that Dana White specifically said “We have not signed nor talked to Ryo.”
I know that was three weeks ago, and things change, so I hope this is true, because watching him defeat Anderson Silva at Shockwave was INCREDIBLE!
That’s awesome. Ryo Chonan has some sick moves, and there’s nothing better the UFC can do to the MW division, besides confirm that Henderson is moving back down, is to bring in the fighters that hold victories over Anderson Silva. This is good for all parties. Since they arlready beat the Spider, they got a good chance at doing it again. Plus, I’m sure that now that Anderson is at the top of his game and a dominant champ, that he would want to start avenging his losses, ala Chuck Liddell.
If you haven’t seen the Chonan submission over Silva, its the first of MANY great submissions in this video below. My absolute favorite non-flying submission is Bas Rutten’s Body Crunch. It’s AWESOME - he just breaks the guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LmD6S-YQp8
i thought i heard he was gunna go welterweight
Sign Dennis Kang jerks
That flying heal hook was some straight Ninja shit.
Where my Ninja’s at ?!?!?
He’s a tough dude with allot of good wins, Sakurai, Silva, Newton. Of course he lost to Phil Baroni– but it was one of those ‘punchers chance’ things.
they’ll push him to go MW just so he can fight Anderson Silva again
chonan. henderson moving down. lindland coming back to UFC
id cry.
but yeah that heel hook was amazing. if you watched the actual PPV you hear bas like what the hell, this is only done in seminars
Hey, I don’t know if any of you watch The Contender on ESPN, but they just had thier first fight this week, on Tuesday. It was Jaidon Codrington vs Brian Vera. Codrington is from Bridgeport, CT which is 10 minutes from where I live, so it got me interested in him. He only has 1 loss so far in his career, and it came to Allan Green who is a great fighter. I don’t watch much boxing anymore, but I have heard of Green. He didn’t just lose to Green, it is one of the worst knockouts I’ve ever seen! There are actually a couple cool videos I found of it too, my favorite of which is the Mike Tyson Punch Out. IT IS GREAT!!!
The first one I watched, was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-K6dvTmqZs
The basic 18 second clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6I_1sr-1wU&mode=related&search=
Mike Tyson Punch Out version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXh5GfdYid4&NR=1
BELIEVE me, they are ALL worth watching.
Boxing in general, and The Contender are pretty lame, but there’s NOTHING on TV, so I watch The Contender, I’ve watched both seasons, and this is now the 3rd. Its a decent show. I just HATE how they present the fights - with the music, the wife/kids faces, and especially because they don’t show the round in sequential order. They show scattered highlights to make it all dramatic. I can’t stand that part of it.
[quote comment=”149769″]chonan. henderson moving down. lindland coming back to UFC
id cry.
but yeah that heel hook was amazing. if you watched the actual PPV you hear bas like what the hell, this is only done in seminars[/quote]
I would cry too if all of those people came to the MW division.
I would also like to see Paulo get moved up to UFC, Jason Miller get moved up to the UFC.
Denis Kang get signed to the UFC, Hendo drop down to MW, Lindland come back to the UFC, The Return of Evan Tanner, Bisping drop down, and with Franklin, Okami, Thales, Nate, Kendall. If you had those people, this division would be more stacked than the LHW and LW.
zZz … Ryo wha … ?! C’mon!!! I’m going to UFC78 and so far I’m not excited about ANY of the rumored cards.
Ryo Chonan vs. Who?
BJ Penn vs. Who?
Rashad vs. Tito?
Worst cards in PPV history, what?
[quote comment=”149797″]zZz … Ryo wha … ?! C’mon!!! I’m going to UFC78 and so far I’m not excited about ANY of the rumored cards.
Ryo Chonan vs. Who?
BJ Penn vs. Who?
Rashad vs. Tito?
Worst cards in PPV history, what?[/quote]
Looks good to me.. BJ is fun to watch no matter who he fights. Karo, Joe Lauzon, Dave Terrell/Ed Herman. All should be good fights. Plus Spencer Fisher always puts on a good show.
Main Event:
BJ Penn (11-4-1) vs. TBA*
Undercard:
205 lbs.: Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) vs. Rashad Evans (10-0-1)*
170 lbs.: Karo Parisyan (17-4) vs. TBA*
155 lbs.: Frank Edgar (7-0) vs. Spencer Fisher (20-3)*
155 lbs.: Joe Lauzon (15-3) vs. Jason Reinhardt (18-0)*
185 lbs.: Dave Terrell (6-2) vs. Ed Herman (13-5)*
185 lbs.: Ryo Chonan (14-7) vs. TBA*
170 lbs.: Tamdan McCrory (8-0) vs. TBA*
[quote comment=”149677″]Ok, so how many more reasons are they gonna give me to go to this show?
Jesse, you going?[/quote]
Me and mine are going too, it’d be cool to meet you guys and maybe grab a beer before the show.
I’m so freakin stoked to go, you have no idea. I’ve never been to a UFC event before. Any clue on when tickets go on sale?
BTW if UFC wants to survive the rise of MMA they need to stack all their divisions!
Noice. They keep this up, I might have to go as well.
maybe ryo will fight travis lutter
[quote comment=”149818″]Looks good to me.. BJ is fun to watch no matter who he fights. Karo, Joe Lauzon, Dave Terrell/Ed Herman. All should be good fights.
Plus Spencer Fisher always puts on a good show.
Main Event:
BJ Penn (11-4-1) vs. TBA*
Undercard:
205 lbs.: Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) vs. Rashad Evans (10-0-1)*
170 lbs.: Karo Parisyan (17-4) vs. TBA*
155 lbs.: Frank Edgar (7-0) vs. Spencer Fisher (20-3)*
155 lbs.: Joe Lauzon (15-3) vs. Jason Reinhardt (18-0)*
185 lbs.: Dave Terrell (6-2) vs. Ed Herman (13-5)*
185 lbs.: Ryo Chonan (14-7) vs. TBA*
170 lbs.: Tamdan McCrory (8-0) vs. TBA*[/quote]
Agreed. You have BJ vs Sherk/Stevenson, Edgar vs Fisher, and Karo vs whocares. Karo could fight a broom and it would be fun to watch. I’m not too pumped about Rashad vs Tito 2, but I’m interested in seeing Terrell mop the floor with Herman.
Overall a pretty solid card imo. I hope they put Chonan up against someone solid. Isn’t Tanner rumored to be coming back soon? That would be a hell of a fight
[quote comment=”149754″]Sign Dennis Kang jerks[/quote]
qft
Hell anytime Ryo chonan is on the prelims, the maincard has to be good.
I guess there are still fans of Karo “The Decision” Parisyan.
[quote comment=”149793″][quote comment=”149769″]Denis Kang get signed to the UFC[/quote]
The rumor is that Denis Kang already signed with K-1 for $100k per fight. That’s sad if it’s true because the man is one of mma’s most dangerous MW fighters. I’d love to see him in the UFC. Kang vs. Henderson or Silva would be epic.
Also, what I find so strange about this rumor (if it’s true) is that K-1 is all striking. Kang is so talented a striker that a lot of people forget his background is in jiu-jitsu.
I’m sorry to say this, but Kang is stupid to sign with anyone other than the UFC. He is so good, the exposure he would receive in the octagon would likely bring him much more than the $2-300k he would make from 2 or 3 fights a year in K-1. I truly believe he could beat Anderson Silva within 3 rounds.
As they say, if you’re a star in Japan, you’re only a star in Japan. If you’re a star in America, you’re a star everywhere. Hmm… I think Wanderlei said that. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Damn it Denis, if you haven’t signed yet, SIGN WITH THE UFC!
Yeah, that should do it.
Middleweight division just took another step up.
Damn good signing there. Has fought a who’s who in mma
SWEET!! Can’t wait.
He looks almost normal without that blonde do that he was sporting.
[quote comment=”149832″]maybe ryo will fight travis lutter[/quote]
Lutter is out till 2008 more than likely. He injured his neck, and there is no timetable for his return.
But I would like to see that. If Kendall Grove did not lose to Patrick Cote, that would also be a nice match-up.
Ryo will more than likely get a stepping stone to get his name out there.
I really wished they would bring up Paulo Filho to fight him again, or heck once again give him Mayhem.
Ryo is good, but he will never be champion good.
This is great news for the MW division!!! He will add greatly needed depth and excitement. This is what I have been trying to say for a while that fighter’s make an organization not vice versa. You don’t neccessarily have to concentrate on one specific fighter (Fedor) if you can spend that time gaining 5 other quality fighters then the UFC will be better for it in the long run!!
boxing and the Contender both suck….
Im happy to welcom ryo “the shark” chonan to the UFC. Hopefully he gets to fight a tough opponent because he can definitly handle it.
[quote comment=”149875″][quote comment=”149793″][quote comment=”149769″]Denis Kang get signed to the UFC[/quote]
The rumor is that Denis Kang already signed with K-1 for $100k per fight. That’s sad if it’s true because the man is one of mma’s most dangerous MW fighters. I’d love to see him in the UFC. Kang vs. Henderson or Silva would be epic.
Also, what I find so strange about this rumor (if it’s true) is that K-1 is all striking. Kang is so talented a striker that a lot of people forget his background is in jiu-jitsu.
I’m sorry to say this, but Kang is stupid to sign with anyone other than the UFC. He is so good, the exposure he would receive in the octagon would likely bring him much more than the $2-300k he would make from 2 or 3 fights a year in K-1. I truly believe he could beat Anderson Silva within 3 rounds.
As they say, if you’re a star in Japan, you’re only a star in Japan. If you’re a star in America, you’re a star everywhere. Hmm… I think Wanderlei said that. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Damn it Denis, if you haven’t signed yet, SIGN WITH THE UFC!
Yeah, that should do it.[/quote]
FYI, K-1 HERO’s is the MMA division of K-1.
[quote comment=”149949″][quote comment=”149832″]maybe ryo will fight travis lutter[/quote]
Lutter is out till 2008 more than likely. He injured his neck, and there is no timetable for his return.
But I would like to see that. If Kendall Grove did not lose to Patrick Cote, that would also be a nice match-up.
Ryo will more than likely get a stepping stone to get his name out there.
I really wished they would bring up Paulo Filho to fight him again, or heck once again give him Mayhem.
Ryo is good, but he will never be champion good.[/quote]
I’m inclined to agree. I will add that any up & comers that would potentially face Ryo while climbing the ranks would legitimize themselves with a win over him.
i knew lutter was injured but you might be right, only reason why i said lutter is cause i heard he might be fighting on the nov card. who do you think ryo would fight?? by the way when the hell is mike swick fighing?? maybe dec card or tuf 6 finale??
Let Chonan fight Marquardt.
[quote comment=”150237″]Let Chonan fight Marquardt.[/quote]
I’ll go with that.
Chonan’s in the UFC?! That’s fuc#in awesome! I’d like to see a rematch against Spider Silva and also a bout against Patrick Cote.
[quote comment=”149852″]I guess there are still fans of Karo “The Decision” Parisyan.[/quote]
You don’t enjoy someone putting on a grappling clinic?