This weekend's mixed martial arts action is shaping up to be much more exciting than last week's lackluster number of events. On our plates will be Strikeforce's co-promotional event with EliteXC that will take place in San Jose, California at the HP Pavillion. The main event will feature two well-known San Jose residents in Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock. The highly anticipated bout between the two combatants has been in the works since Cung Le's last battle against Sam Morgan in which he won by a highlight reel body kick late in the fight. Gilbert Melendez will take on Gabe Lemley while Drew Fickett will replace Nick Diaz and take on Jae Suk Lim. It should be a night of some interesting matchups and hopefully some great outcomes.

Main Event: Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le

This has become an interesting matchup over the last few weeks. The main point that many fans have tried to make for Le is that his striking skills will be much more well-rounded against Shamrock. In the past, both Le and Shamrock have had sparring sessions that have been described as “dominating” in Le's favor. The sessions have become a spotlight for picking Le in this fight in the striking game, but what makes people think that Shamrock may not simply use his submission wrestling to his advantage?

If you've followed Frank's career, you've probably seen him try to fight battles against superior fighters in which he used his own skills to outbattle his opponent's best skillset. We saw that in the Baroni matchup in which he outstruck Baroni's heavy hands for most of the bout. Some fans believe Shamrock may get stuck in a striking war with Cung Le to prove a point. I think it may be all head games.

Shamrock has an impressive amount of wins over his last 14 fights. He's currently 13-1 in those 14 fights, but has been inactive in the last five to seven years. He's recently made the jump back into MMA and has been carrying the Strikeforce promotion. His abilities to come into a fight with a smart gameplan coupled with the fact that he has average striking with some good submission wrestling makes him a dangerous fighter to take on for Cung Le. Cung hasn't shown a great ground game at all, and I think Frank can really take this one to the ground to beat Cung Le.

Leland's Prediction: Frank Shamrock via submission, Round 3

Drew Fickett vs. Jae Suk “The Korean Icepick” Lim

Fickett's superior submission skills will cause some big problems for Jae Suk Lim. He's also one of the toughest fighters in the sport to submit or knockout. With only 3 losses ending by TKO or submission, he's definitely going to be one of the toughest challenges to date for “the Korean Icepick”.

Lim is obviously a Korean prospect, but he's made his fame in Spirit MC and EliteXC recently with some wins. He doesn't have an overly impressive submission game, but he does maintain some good power in his hands. Unfortunately, I can't pick Lim here. He has too many downsides to him, and Fickett is just plain tough to beat regardless of who he's taking on. It's only a matter of time in this battle before Fickett gets the submission victory.

Leland's Prediction: Drew Fickett via submission, Round 2

Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez vs. Gabe Lemley

I won't comment too much on this matchup because Lemley's chances are slim in this one. He's been taking on subpar competition in Extreme Challenge as of late, and his only notable win in his career is against Clay Guida back in 2004 at XFO 4. He has some good power and submission ability, but Melendez is much better in all areas of mixed martial arts over Lemley. He'll have much better wrestling and striking, and he's relentless when it comes to pushing takedowns and pounding his opponents. Look for this one to end quickly.

Leland's Prediction: Gilbert Melendez via TKO, Round 2

Quick Picks

Luke Stewart vs. Tiki Ghosn: I thought Luke Stewart's last three performances had some rays of hope for his future in the sport, and Tiki Ghosn just hasn't been a good fighter at all in his last three or four performances. I have to believe Stewart will continue his move up in the division. He's due to use his jiu-jitsu skills against a susceptible Ghosn. Stewart via submission, Round 1

Joey Villasenor vs. Ryan Jensen:  Villasenor has been very tough to submit in the latter part of his career, and Jensen's win total is stacked with submission wins. Jensen has the potential to be a spoiler in this fight, but I think Joey's overall awareness in the cage and strikes can hold off Jensen. Villasenor via decision

Mike Kyle vs. Wayne Cole: Mike Kyle hasn't fought since his ridiculous disqualification against Brian Olsen at WEC 20. Kyle has some good wins earlier in his career against notable talent, and his power is formidable for anyone. Cole has some power as well, but he also has shown a weak chin in the past. I don't think he can handle Kyle's power that we've seen in the past. Kyle via KO, Round 1

Billy Evangelista vs. Marlon Sims: This is a bit of a toss up for the first round of the matchup. Sims either blasts his opponents early with an onslaught, or falls to the submission. Evangelista really has no knockout power and his submission game hasn't shown up yet in his short 5 fight career. I'll take Billy based on his last few fights, he's definitely a tough fighter, and Marlon's lies on The Ultimate Fighter flat out make me want to see him get crushed. Biased, I know. Evangelista via TKO, Round 2

Anthony Figueroa vs. Darren Uyenoyama: Pick'em fight. Uyenoyama has some submission wrestling skills, but he doesn't seem to have much power in his hands. Fortunately, neither does Figueroa. Figueroa has only had one successful win by TKO, the rest of his 4 wins by decision, two being against the same fighter in David Barrios. I'll take Uyenoyama. Uyenoyama via decision

Jesse Jones vs. Jesse Gillespie: 1-0 prospects, but Jones at least showed some big power in his first battle. Jones via KO, Round 1

In the wee hours of the morning for most American fans, a resurrection of a beloved  mixed martial arts promotion occurred in Japan. Although it may not bear the name of the old promotion, its intention was clear; Bring the fans back to the days of PRIDE. Yarennoka opened up with fantastic introductions, theatrical production, and even brought back Lenni Hardt to announce the fighters for the event. The elevator platform, the runway to the ring, the white canvas, the lighting, it all screamed of PRIDE. The event itself did not disappoint in the quality of the bouts. Let's recap the exciting night of events.

The surprise battles

The most exciting fight of the night was by far Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama. Both fighters had expressed some animosity toward each other leading up to the event at times, but overall seemed to respect each other. The staredown at the pre-Yarennoka press conference was the most heated one out of all the matchups, and it was looking to be a bareburner. It did not disappoint.

Both fighters felt each other out for most of the early few minutes of the fight. Some exchanges occurred, but Akiyama caught Misaki dead on the chin and put him to the floor. Unfortunately for Akiyama, he didn't pounce on the opportunity. Misaki was able to recover and eventually unleash his own strike that put Akiyama to the floor. As Akiyama regained his footing, Misaki landed a knockout kick between the eyes of Akiyama and put him out for good. A fantastic battle that went back and forth and saw Misaki come back from life support to win.

Fedor vs. Hong Man Choi was seen as being an easy win for Fedor by much of the mixed martial arts community. It was a win for Fedor in the fashion we've grown accustomed to seeing from the Russian. His quick transition game sunk in the armbar in the first round, but only after being bruised up significantly by simple hammerfists from the giant Korean. Fedor managed to avoid the onslaught for long enough to transition into the armbar while in full guard. A very exciting fight for the fact that Choi was able to get top control and pound Fedor for a couple of seconds and visibly hurt “The Last Emperor”. Nonetheless, Fedor was still able to come out on top.

Other matchups

Shin'ya Aoki won an uninspiring unanimous decision over silver medalist judoka Bu-Kyung Jung. Jung sunk in two armbars that nearly broke Aoki's arm and had the crowd on its feet. Aoki managed to escape and pound out a decision win that he was lucky to get before being submitted.

“Mach” Sakurai did as expected, but without the fantastic knockout. He put Hasegawa in a lot of trouble for most of the fight, but was unable to land the big blow that could end the fight. In Sakurai's defense, Hasegawa has proved in the past that he can hang around even while being beaten.

Mitsuhiro Ishida put on a wrestling clinic against Gilbert Melendez. Melendez found Ishida on his back for most of the first round, and he was unable to reverse it for most of the round. Ishida worked a strong wrestling takedown game and simply peppered Gilbert while on top and on the back. Melendez came back in the second round with a solid knee to Ishida's head, and then was able to do some top control pounding of his own, but it wasn't to the degree that Ishida had put on him in the first round. Ishida edged out Melendez by decision.

Makoto Takimoto defeated Murilo Bustamante in a controversial split decision. Although Takimoto was closer to actually ending the fight when he caught Bustamante and dropped him, Bustamante controlled most of the fight. It may be a question of judging criteria.

“The Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri did exactly that... crushed Azeredo. For nearly the entire fight, Azeredo was on the bottom being punched and peppered with small shots from Kawajiri. Kawajiri didn't quite wind up the power to put Azeredo out, but it was a dominating performance from the lightweight.

Chicago native Mike Russow surprised many fans. He looked more powerful than Zentsov at the weigh-ins and proved it in this clash. Russow put Zentsov down immediately, and worked a smart submission grappling game on the ground. He eventually sunk in a quick North South choke on an utterly horrible performing Roman Zentsov. Fedor should start teaching him transition techniques.

Production

If you were a loving fan of PRIDE, this production is exactly what you want to see. A large runway, elevator platform for the fighters, the high steps down to the runway, the large panoramic screens, the music, the drums, and Lenni Hardt screaming fighter introductions were all present. From the opening bell, the white canvas on the mat showed the spilt blood of its combatants.

The pre-fight television promos were very good as well. Some of the promos added backstory to some of the rivalries, especially the Misaki vs. Akiyama bout. Overall, an impressive event as far as masking PRIDE and also providing some unbelievable matchups.

Divisional shifts?

Fedor will maintain his #1 ranking regardless of this bout, but it was more interesting of a fight than we may have first thought once they stepped in the ring. Unless Couture fights Fedor and wins, or Couture beats Nog and remains more active, we won't see a shift. Nogueira will most likely never surpass Fedor as far as standing is concerned due to his two decisive defeats by the hands of Fedor.

Other battles will affect world divisional rankings. Akiyama may drop, and Misaki, Ishida, Kawajiri, and Sakurai will most likely move up or sit in the same place. Specifically, Ishida defeated Melendez, arguably a top 3 lightweight. Aoki is definitely the undecided one. Will he drop due to poor performance?

Overall thoughts

Personally, I was impressed with how the production was put together. Almost exactly like the PRIDE events, and I believe was done by the same firm. It was nice to go back and have an event that brought back those memories. The most glaring success from the event was the matchups. After all, we are all here to see fantastic mixed martial arts. Yarennoka didn't disappoint.

Misaki came back from the dead to defeat Akiyama, and Fedor, although heavily favored, looked to be in trouble for a split second before showing why transitional MMA rules the fight game. Kawajiri showed fans everywhere why he is the “Crusher”, Ishida displayed unbelievable pace and wrestling ability, and Mike Russow put his name on the map.

Look forward to possibly another event being organized by the same groups. Monte Cox did hint at this during the event, and I would not doubt that the event will push people to want to see more of the same. PRIDE could be making a comeback under the support of former DSE employees and M-1 Global. Whether that is good or bad is another story due to the always present “Yakuza” factor in Japan, but we'll most likely see this type of event again.

Quick Results

Shinya Aoki over Bu-Kyung Jung by unanimous decision
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai over Hidehiko Hasegawa by unanimous decision
Fedor Emelianenko over Hong Man Choi by armbar at 1:54 of Rd. 1
Kazuo Misaki over Yoshihiro Akiyama by back from the dead knockout at 2:12 of Rd. 1
Mitsuhiro Ishida over Gilbert Melendez by unanimous decision
Makoto Takimoto over Murilo Bustamante via split decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri over Luiz Azeredo by unanimous decision
Mike Russow over Roman Zentsov via surprise North-South Choke at 2:58 of Rd. 1

Main Event: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong Man Choi

I'll be brief with this matchup. Fedor is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world. People have recently criticized his strength of opponents as a reason to demote him to #2 or #3 in the world, but he still has an unbelievable combination of skills that can easily defeat nearly all MMA fighters within his weight class with ease. His transitional game is the most overlooked aspect of his skillset that I believe will continue to put him above even fighters such as Josh Barnett or Randy Couture. With that said, Fedor should easily defeat Choi with in the first round by submission.

Choi exhibits an immense size and weight, towering over 7 foot tall and at around 350 pounds. He is primarily a K-1 striker, and during this bout, the use of knees will be disallowed due to the height discrepancy. This hurts Choi's chances, but had they been used, Choi's slowness would have still been his ultimate weakness. Choi's last performance against Jerome Le Banner was terrible, and if it was any indication as to how he would perform in this bout, Fedor should have no problems.

Shin'ya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung

Originally, this bout was to feature K-1 HERO's Middleweight tourney champion Gesias “JZ” Calvancanti, but he suffered a torn ligament and had to pull out. A huge disappointment. Now, the rubber guard master that is Aoki will take on Bu-Kyung Jung, a 2000 silver medalist Judoka.

Without going in-depth, Aoki should easily defeat the judoka. Although Jung will have some excellent throwing skills and abilities in the clinch, Aoki's submission game is nearly unmatched in the weight class. He went from potential defeat to a win fairly quickly in this matchup.

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa

The first of the matchups that should be interesting is veteran Hayato Sakurai vs. DEEP champion Hidehiko Hasegawa. A battle of opposite styles, Hasegawa will be looking to get Sakurai to the ground for a submission or do enough damage to squeak out a decision win. Sakurai will undoubtedly be seeking the knockout.

Hasegawa has had problems recently. He dropped a battle at DEEP 31 to Dong Hyun Kim, but then rematched him at DEEP 32, which ended in a controversial draw that many people felt Kim won. Either way, Hasegawa hasn't had impressive streaks of greatness. He's dropped a number of decisions to mid-tier competition, and hasn't defeated any opponents that were overly impressive in their careers.

Sakurai, on the other hand, has fought some of the best competition out there. In his last fight, he dominated recent TUF winner Mac Danzig and knocked him out cold in the second round of their PRIDE battle. He defeated Joachim Hansen, Jens Pulver, and won a hard fought decision over Shin'ya Aoki. With 7 wins in his last 8 fights, look for Sakurai to continue his dominance. Sakurai should be able to TKO Hasegawa sometime after the midpoint of this fight.

Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Akiyama has recently been allowed back into the MMA scene in Japan after the “lotion” incident against Sakuraba that landed him on suspension indefinitely. In his comeback fight against a tough Denis Kang, Akiyama showed something that many fans didn't think he could do. He knocked out Kang with a vicious uppercut that completely incapacitated Kang and stunned the crowd. Regardless of the greasing incident, Akiyama does have some great judo skills in the clinch, and obviously has the ability to knock his opponent out. Does he actually have the technical striking skills or was it just a lucky punch? It's not known yet, but this should be another test to see if Akiyama will approach top 5 status.

Misaki has fought some of the best in the business. He defeated Kang in a close split decision, beat Dan Henderson and Phil Baroni, submitted Ed Herman, and has went through much of his career avoiding being knocked out. He's never been defeated by a punch, and has only lost once by TKO due to his arm being broken. Akiyama has stated in the press that Misaki is a much better fighter than him, and he believes it is a honor to battle him, but the fact is, Misaki isn't a finisher and Akiyama is.

Misaki will have range on Akiyama, but Akiyama's clinch skills should be able to work against Misaki. Misaki hasn't had success in defending against the clinch in some of his losses. It will definitely depend on what level Akiyama's takedown game is at. I think Akiyama has more of a skillset that can do a bit more to edge out Misaki via decision.

Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

A matchup that has provided some anticipation to US fans that have seen Melendez fight in Strikeforce. Melendez has an excellent wrestling and takedown skillset that is accompanied by a solid striking game. Melendez's claim to the top 5 ranking has to do with his win over Tatsuya Kawajiri at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. He also recently defeated a tough veteran in Tetsuji Kato while nursing a broken hand. This may all sound impressive, but Ishida will be a tough test for the Cesar Gracie student.

Ishida Is 15-3-1 with 11 of his wins by decision. He doesn't have tremendous knockout power or a dangerous submission game, but he does have great wrestling technique and a solid takedown defense that has frustrated opponents in the past. Melendez still has an edge in the striking, and he has a rock solid chin in case he gets surprised. Even if this fight doesn't go to the floor, Melendez should be able to defeat Ishida in the standup game. Ishida will most likely look for top control, and Melendez has a great training team that is proficient in jiu-jitsu and wrestling to counter anything Ishida can do on top. Melendez via TKO, third round.

Makoto Takimoto vs. Murilo Bustamante

Takimoto shouldn't be a significant problem for Bustamante. Bustamante hasn't beaten upper-echelon competition, but he has fought some of the best in the business and taken them the distance. He did beat Matt Lindland at UFC 37, Minowa at Bushido 9, and recently beat Dong Sik Yoon at Bushido 13, and Ryuta Sakurai for a second time at DEEP 29. He has some significant power in his hands, and a good submission grappling background in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He should make his Brazilian Top Team camp proud in this battle. Bustamante by decision.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo

This fight could be a big problem for Azeredo as he doesn't exhibit enough striking defense or offense to stop Kawajiri's “crushing” power. Although Azeredo has avoided being knocked out by some great standup fighters, he still has a susceptible chin. Kawajiri should have a power advantage, striking advantage, and can nullify the submission attempts with his excellent wrestling. Kawajiri should take this one by pure power and striking ability, first or second round.

Mike Russow vs. Roman Zentsov

Russow is coming out of Chicago, Illinois with a 6-1 record. His only loss was to Kharitonov in his only fight that has been a significant test of his ability. He's primarily a submission fighter who will be looking to hit the floor against Zentsov, a standup fighter.

Zentsov has weaknesses in his game and is far from perfect. He's had some great wins in his career and some horrible losses as well. He has a much better striking game than Russow, but Russow will have more weight, size, and grappling ability. Many of picking Zentsov, but I'll pick the Chicago native from my home state via submission.

Say what you will about the former Dream Stage Entertainment group organizing this event, it simply cannot be denied that the Yarennoka card is shaping up to be one of the better mixed martial arts cards of the year. Although PRIDE was scandalized with ties to the Yakuza crime syndicate, the fight cards didn't lack any luster for many of the fantastic cards they put out for the fans to see. This is no exception to that philosophy. The card is shaping up to look like this:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. TBA
Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti vs. Shinya Aoki
Hidehiko Hasegawa vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

The newly announced Gilbert Melendez fight was confirmed by TAGG Radio as they are a main sponsor of the Strikeforce veteran. Melendez is one of the few fighters who has the ability to go overseas to prove his stance in the Lightweight World Rankings. The advantages of having a non-exclusive contract and being in a Lightweight division that has fighters around the world within its rankings is great for him. He doesn't have to sit outside the UFC fighting no-names, much like any Welterweight fighter outside the UFC experiences, ie. Jake Shields. The UFC doesn't have every single lightweight within the realm of the rankings under contract.

We've analyzed the Calvancanti vs. Aoki and Hasegawa vs. Sakurai matchups in past articles, we'll look at the Melendez vs. Ishida matchup next. Gilbert Melendez is currently undefeated with a 13-0 record. He trains out of the Cesar Gracie Academy with fighters like Shields and the Diaz brothers. Some may say his record shouldn't indicate a top 3 ranking in the world, but he has some great wins over Hiroyuki Takaya, Clay Guida, Rumina Sato, and his more recent big win over top 5 lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri. Melendez has a strong style of striking and explosive takedowns. In his most recent fight against Shooto veteran Tetsuji Kato, he broke his hand in the first round of the fight yet continued to use it to a limited capacity to ward off Kato and get the decision win. He's tough, mobile, quick, and has the transition game to be dangerous on the floor. His striking is probably the more exciting part of his skills because he throws strikes with a good amount of power, and can still set up explosive shoots that will easily make opponents struggle to react.

Mitsuhiro Ishida is another PRIDE lightweight who was put on the waiting block with the Zuffa purchase of PRIDE. He hasn't fought since New Year's Eve of 2006 in which he succumbed to strikes in the first round to Takanori Gomi. Ishida is a fighter that continually wins by decision and cannot finish his opponents. He's currently 14-3-1 with 10 decision victories in his 14 wins, not exactly the finishing type. When he has finished opponents, it has been by TKO strikes on the ground. His most notable win is over Marcus Aurelio in PRIDE and Takashi Nakakura in Shooto. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if Ishida can deal with Melendez's skillset. He's had some wars in his career, specifically with Vitor Ribeiro in which he lost by decision, but nonetheless impressive considering Ribeiro's ju-jitsu skills on the mat. I don't think it will be enough to avoid the strikes from Melendez, but hopefully Gilbert's hand is 100% because Ishida can take a shot. Nonetheless, it should be a great fight to an already decent card for New Year's Eve.

Who's left?

Of the rumored names, Kazuo Misaki, Joachim Hansen, Luiz Azeredo, and Ricardo Arona are left. Arona has pretty much denied being a part of the card as he is taking some time off. Misaki and Azeredo seem like good high probability choices to be appearing on the card and Hansen wouldn't back down from an offer unless he plans on taking some time off as well. There are many other names out there floating, so we could see another good matchup soon.

Final thoughts

Overall, the card is shaping up to be very good. Although some people are throwing the card out the window due to its backing by former DSE employees, a fight card is a fight card and this one looks good, especially in the lightweight world picture. Don't hate, just enjoy the fights. Although the U.S. fan base won't be able to see it, you should at least be aware of it as we loom closer to New Year's Eve.