Category — K-1

Spotted K-1 standout (and Toronto BJJ Muay Thai coach) Andre “Dida” Amado and his brother, Mauricio Veio (TBJJ’s fulltime striking instructor), among Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez’s entourage during tonight’s Ultimate Fighter Finale. Also there were jiu-jitsu legends Saulo and Xande Ribeiro. Sanchez just got his brown belt under Saulo (after giving up his Greg Jackson-awarded black belt to start over as a white belt under the Ribeiros).

But it was his striking that stood out in the fight with Clay Guida, especially that opening round that saw Sanchez go ape-shit on Guida, whom  Joe Rogan called a wild chimpanzee. Within seconds the two went at each other with a barrage of punches, kicks and knees. Sanchez landed the heavier blows driving Guida back and pounding him with what looked like 30 or 40 unanswered strikes. Somehow, Guida survived the onslaught and gave back as good as he got for the full three rounds.

Sanchez won a split decision but it was Guida who had the fans chanting his name during the fight and Guida who was still bouncing like Tigger during the entire post-fight interview. Guida can take a hell of a lot of punishment and he’s got  gas tank that could fuel a jumbo jet. He keeps fighting like that Guida will always have a job in the UFC no matter how often he loses.

Andre “Dida” Amado’s absence around Toronto BJJ the last couple of weeks has nothing to do with the Brazilian knockout specialist’s loss last month to Muay Thai legend Buakaw Por Pramuk at a K-1 World Max kickboxing event in Japan. No, Dida (6-3-1) hasn’t been licking his wounds (if you saw the fight, you probably noticed the beating Dida put on Buakaw in the opening round before gassing in the later going; if you haven’t seen it, check out the first round, embedded below). He’s actually back in Brazil training for return to the ring at Dream 10 against DEEP champion Katsunori Kikuno (according to a report on Tatame.com).

The event is scheduled for July 20 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Dida, as everyone around TBJJ calls him, is the former Chute Boxe prodigy and teammate of brothers Mauricio and Murilo Rua at their Universidade Da Luta camp. He’ll be looking to bounce back from two consecutive MMA losses at the hands of top lightweight fighters Eddie Alvarez and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante. The Brazilian had been undefeated in his past seven contests, including a September 2007 decision win over Caol Uno and a March 2007 TKO win over Hiroyuki Takaya.

Dida will be in San Diego for the next couple of months to train at the University of Jiu-Jitsu under six-time World Jiu-Jitsu Champion and two- time ADCC champion Saulo Ribeiro and his brother Xande, the current open weight wold champ. (If you’re looking for the connection between Dida and the Ribeiros, TBJJ is a member of the Ribeiro jiu-jitsu family and its head instructor, Jorge Britto, is a black belt student under Saulo Ribeiro, who comes to teach at the Toronto club several times each year.)

Here are some of Dida’s thoughts on training at the University of Jiu-Jitsu, according to Tatame: “Kikuno is from wrestling, then I’ll be well advised at Saulo’s academy. I’ll never run away from my game, I’ll always go ahead and look for the knockout, but if the fight goes to the ground I will be well-prepared, because I’ll train with the best.” Check out the Tatame story for Dida’s thoughts on his loss to Buakaw as well as a possible rematch.

As for Dida’s Dream opponent, Kikuno is 11-1-1 in his career and has won his last eight straight bouts. Like Dida, he’s got knockout power, with six of his eleven victories either coming by way of knockout or TKO.

Also on the Dream card are lightweight champ Joachim Hansen vs. grappling phenom Shinya Aoki for the belt and occasional TBJJ drop-in Andre Galvao vs. Jason High.