The Abe Ani Combat Club is a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

gym and training camp located in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The gym is renowned mostly for its female stable of fighters who were regular competitors in the

Smackgirl Smackgirl was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion focused solely on Women's mixed martial arts, female fighters. The promotion also held grappling and amateur events along with its main line of professional MMA cards. After financial difficul ...

promotion. On its roster are prominent MMA stars such as Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii and Hitomi Akano. Owner and head coach Hiroyuki Abe teaches

and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett is a

catch wrestling Catch wrestling (also known as catch-as-catch-can) is an English wrestling style where wrestlers aim to win by Pin (sport wrestling), pinning or Submission (combat sports), submitting their opponent using any legal holds or techniques. It emph ...

coach for the gym.

Notable members

* Hiroyuki Abe * Hitomi Akano * Antonio Carvalho * Megumi Fujii * Shinichi Kojima * Hitomi Sakamoto * Yasuko Tamada *

Ayaka Hamasaki is a Japanese female mixed martial artist, judoka and submission grappler. She is the former Rizin Super Atomweight Champion. She has fought in MMA promotions ''Shooto'', Jewels and Rizin in Japan, and Invicta FC in the United States. Hamasak ...

* Koyomi Matsushima

Strikeforce controversy

The club was involved in a controversy during the

event '' Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz'', the inaugural fight card for San Jose-based fight promoter

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

under their new Showtime broadcast deal on April 11, 2009. Hitomi Akano, former

125-pound fighter, was to meet Chute Boxe fighter Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in the 145 pound weight division. During the initial weigh-ins Cyborg was unable to meet the cutoff, weighing in at 152 pounds. Cyborg reportedly weighed more according to some claims by AACC staff and trainers. Not wanting to risk her health and future against a significantly larger fighter, Akano initially refused to go through with the fight and the California State Athletic Commission wouldn't sanction the fight, giving the Brazilian until 8 pm to reach 149 pounds. After further negotiation and reported concessions from Strikeforce owner and president

Scott Coker Scott Coker (born October 3, 1962) is an American mixed martial artist, Taekwondoin, former movie stuntman, and combat sports promoter. He is the founder and former CEO of MMA promotion Strikeforce, former president of Bellator MMA, and founder o ...

(which are rumored encompass an increased presence of fight team members on the promotion's cards), she finally agreed to the match at a catchweight of 150 pound, the lightest weight Santos ultimately made. Giving up close to 15 pounds to a vastly larger fighter, Akano lost the fight via

TKO A technical knockout (TKO) is a professional fighting term. TKO may also refer to: Sports * TKO, the name of a professional wrestling move referring to either the cutter or stunner variant * TKO Group Holdings, a combat sports company Music Ar ...

in the third round but gained the respect of Showtime commentators for taking the fight despite the disparity. Team members, trainers, and administration rallied around Cyborg following the event. Fellow fighter, and one-time trainer, Megumi Fujii blasted Cyborg as well as the Chute Boxe Academy calling them "shameful" and accused Cyborg of cheating. The team's wrestling coach Josh Barnett relayed similar sentiments on his

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

blog, and manager Shu Hirata also displayed his disgust of the situation in his Sherdog Radio interview with Jordan Breen. All three, however, praised Coker for his professionalism during the negotiations.

References

External links

Official website
{{MMA Team List Mixed martial arts training facilities Sports venues in Tokyo Sports clubs and teams in Tokyo

Notable members

Strikeforce controversy

See also

References

External links