UFC Fight Night 117: Saint Preux vs. Okami [23-09] Results

[K1power]

Main Card (FXX)
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Yushin Okami
Cláudia Gadelha vs. Jéssica Andrade
Takanori Gomi vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Gökhan Saki vs. Henrique da Silva
Teruto Ishihara vs. Rolando Dy
Mizuto Hirota vs. Charles Rosa

Preliminary Card (FXX)
Keita Nakamura vs. Alex Morono
Jussier Formiga vs. Ulka Sasaki
Syuri Kondo vs. Chan-Mi Jeon
Shinsho Anzai vs. Luke Jumeau

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Daichi Abe vs. Hyun Gyu Lim

[K1power]

So as the poster shows this was supposed to be Shogun vs OSP in the main fight - to be honest I wasn't sure if Shogun was still fighting or not - but now it's OSP vs Okami.

What I'm most interested in though, is Gökhan Saki's UFC debut.

If this was kickboxing, I'd probably root against Saki since I really do not like his personality. However, in MMA he's a representative of kickboxing so in a sense I feel obligated to back him. Also, he's a lot of fun to watch when he's in shape.

Either way, happening this Saturday!

[h]

shit I knew Shogun was still fighting. it was Okami I hadn't heard a peep from in forever lol. when the hell did he make his way back? id War Dong but its the wrong Dong.

[K1power]

This is happening in just a few hours btw. Don't think I'll be able to stay up for it, though.

[samurai1]

So my worries kind of came to reality... Saki is kind of shot. It was that clear in the ciobanu fight, but I thought that maybe he was injured or didn't train. In this fight with da silva, he won easily the first 3 minutes and half , but he still didn't have the power to stop him and in the last 1 minute and a half he gassed and was losing the fight, he even got rocked and it was looking like he was about to get finished. Having watched all da silva's ufc fights... he is a pretty bad striker and got dominated standing or ko'd in the last three fights of his before the saki fight against mediocre opponents. Saki being shot coupled with USADA I feel will produce many "roy nelson would have been a k-1 champ" from the ignorant american fans. I start to regret that saki went to the ufc.

[h]

he got a highlight reel ko in his first MMA fight in 13 years vs a dude that had 15 fights coming in. won 12 of them. sure he gassed but its his first fight back in awhile. and it was an mma fight. im sure he had nerves and a nice adrenaline dump n all that other jazz. still got a highlight reel ko win. give the man a chance he won his fight and it was a no doubter.

[h]

what im trying to say is...

[karaevfan]

Sept 22, 2017 23:39:32 GMT 1 K1power said:

1. Saki looked rusty and sloppy, but I think we can attribute that to ring rust for now.
2. Syuri (former Krush women's champ) also debuted on this card and got a win. It was a split though and the Japanese commentary literally GASPED in disbelief when they heard Jeon took a judge then cried "WOO THAT WAS CLOSE" in unison when she took the decision.  
3. This event started at 7AM on a Saturday in Japan. I hoped to catch it on Abema's UFC channel where they broadcast UFC content 24/7. Only they cut out of the stream for the main card and started airing stock footage. Why come to Japan if they don't care about Japan? No wonder only 8K people attended.

[fartsmeller]

Weren't there a lot of whispers that Saki couldn't do enough roadwork without getting injured to take kickboxing matches at 205? I'm sure the money being dogshit was a major part of not fighting but seeing him so tired within 4 minutes got me thinking. I hope it was just beginners nerves or something, even though I hate to see a talented kickboxer leave the sport I wish him every success.

[samurai1]

Sept 23, 2017 7:18:24 GMT 1 h said:

he got a highlight reel ko in his first MMA fight in 13 years vs a dude that had 15 fights coming in. won 12 of them. sure he gassed but its his first fight back in awhile. and it was an mma fight. im sure he had nerves and a nice adrenaline dump n all that other jazz. still got a highlight reel ko win. give the man a chance he won his fight and it was a no doubter.

    I know man, but he fought a can, someone who had no business to strike with him and yet he was on his way losing before the vicious punch. If Da silva didn't went insane there he had saki rocked, gassed and almost finished against the fence. It remained me of Manheof and robbie lawler finish a bit, but the problem is da silva is just a regional fighter who frankly has no business in the ufc.

I'm a big saki fan and a kickboxing and old k-1 fan. But this usada thing is no good for kickboxers who try their hand in mma. Especially saki who looked shot against ciobanu too who was on a  7 loss streak at the time.

What was surprising is how saki actually outwrestled him... Took Silva down once, easily break the clinch when silva pushed him against the cage when he was not tired yet and how well he blocked those takedowns.  

Anyway hope with all my heart that he will find success in mma. Seeing a former k-1 fighter failing will be like seeing a member of my family failing. 

[samurai1]

Sept 23, 2017 11:35:15 GMT 1 fartsmeller said:

Weren't there a lot of whispers that Saki couldn't do enough roadwork without getting injured to take kickboxing matches at 205? I'm sure the money being dogshit was a major part of not fighting but seeing him so tired within 4 minutes got me thinking. I hope it was just beginners nerves or something, even though I hate to see a talented kickboxer leave the sport I wish him every success.

Yeah. There is a interview from last year where Mike explains that saki didn't fight because he was injured all the time. I don't know if it was k1anoop or fightbox though 


This is really sad, because injuries are the biggest enemy and the main reason why fighters get out of their prime.

[K1power]

Saki looked rusty and went out of breath really quick, resulting in him taking unnecessary punishment at the end. However:
- He hasn't fought in 3,5 years - 2 years if you count the Ciobanu fight he showed up fat for.
- This is MMA, not kickboxing. There are different rules; different gloves, longer rounds etc.
- He threw A LOT of shots in a very short amount of time.
- He's coming off a lot of issues involving injuries and cutting weight.
- Despite all his big talk, he was probably very nervous. He's still a human being. Nerves drain you.
- He was dominating 90% of the fight against a more seasoned MMA fighter, albeit a mediocre one.
- He won by KO in Round 1!
- He won by KO in Round 1!

Again; If this was kickboxing, I probably wouldn't be rooting for Saki - depending on his opponent - but he is a representative of kickboxing and he is fun to watch.

Let's see how Saki does in his next fight before we crucify him for him showing a bit of rust.

[K1power]

Not the correct order of things in this thread, but here are the full results lol:

Ovince Saint Preux def. Yushin Okami via technical submission (Von Flue choke) – Round 1, 1:50
Jessica Andrade def. Claudia Gadelha via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-27)
“Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim def. Takanori Gomi via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:30
Gokhan Saki def. Henrique da Silva via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:45
Teruto Ishihara def. Rolando Dy via unanimous decision (28-27, 28-27, 29-27)
Jussier Formiga def. Ulka Sasaki via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:30
Keita Nakamura def. Alex Morono via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Syrui Kondo def. Chan-Mi Jeon via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Shinsho Anzai def. Luke Jumeau via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Daichi Abe def. Hyun Gyu Lim via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

mmajunkie.com/2017/09/ufc-fight-night-117-results-more-like-ovince-saint-flue-yushin-okami-put-out-cold-in-first

[f]

Andrade stole the show! Nice to see Syuri and Saki in MMA.