Yarennoka - worked fights?
 

Did anybody watch Yarennoka? I caught the replay on HDnet... i know i'll catch crap for this, but is there any chance some of the fights on that card were worked? I thought i saw some pulled punches and guys giving up positions a little too easily... the two fights in particular i'm wary of are the Takimoto vs. Bustamante fight and the Ishida vs. Melendez fight. Especially in the Bustamante fight... i've never seen a guy get full mount or take a guys back so many times and lose. Then I also remembered some allegations after pride folded saying some DSE promoters offered guys more money if they lost to japanese fighters (weren't there former DSE guys involved with this promotion?).

Anyway, total speculation on my part and i hate to make such a damning accusation but i've re-watched those two fights a few times now and i think i'm on to something.

No...

I watched the matches and I didn't think they were worked. Both matches were close and maybe the Japanse wrestlers got favored a little bit in the decisions.

Nah I had a suspicion because of earlier reports about this happening. Hell I thought the Hong Man/Fedor fight was kinda fixed. Hong Man is known for his kick boxing so he has to have some speed, but he looked like he just ran a 50 mile run after each punch. On top of that, the two arm bars were so easy to get it wasn't even funny. And speaking of those, the 1st one Hong just picked Fedor up basically and the 2nd an immediate tap? Not saying Fedor didn't get hit cause his face was jacked, but come on man. If I was Hong and I saw that I was leaving 5 inch welts on Fedors face with each punch you bet your ass there would be a fury of punches rather than the slow as hell punches that seemed to drain the life out of Hong.

I dont suspect the Fedor fight, just the two i mentioned... in a combined 30 mins of fighting nobody gets hit with a clean or heavy shot, just a lot of position exchange, submission escape, etc.

All the fights looked on the level imo.

There's about as much of a chance as there is that any UFC show is worked.

I would figure there is a higher change of a fight being worked in Japan since there is no athletic commission to worry about.

As opposed to the star quality CSAC?

Well they accused people of working a fight last year and revoked both of their licenses. So if they think fights are being worked they can start pulling fighters licenses and promoters licenses. There is nothing like that in Japan.