Host country Japan set a record for most gold medals in judo this Olympics with nine but couldn't add a tenth as the Tokyo Olympics closed out their judo competition Saturday with an upset in the first ever mixed team competition. France stormed the mats to knock off the favored Japanese 4-1 in the finals.
Clarisse Agbegnenou and Axel Clerget started strong for France defeating Chizuru Arai and Shoichiro Mukai, respectively, in the first two matches. But Japan's +78 kg women's gold medalist Akira Sone came back to beat Romane Dicko. However French judo legend Teddy Riner, after having to settle for a bronze medal in yesterday's +100 kg men's competition, returned to defeat under 100 kg gold medalist Aaron Wolf in overtime to keep France ahead. Sarah Leonie Cysique then sealed the gold for France beating Tsukasa Yoshida in the fifth match. Japan's team silver still gave them a record-tying 12 overall medals for the games.
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ONE Championship has announced its return on Friday, August 13, with ONE: Battleground II. The event, which has been previously recorded, will feature five mixed martial arts bouts.
At the top of the bill will be Eduard "Landslide" Folyang welcoming Zhang Lipeng to the Circle.
The debut match for Zhang offers him a massive opportunity against a former ONE Lightweight World Champion. The pivotal matchup in the lightweight division will position the winner for a possible contender's bout later this year.
Another World Champion will see action in the co-main event.
Former ONE Strawweight World Champion Alex "Little Rock" Silva returns to the Circle against Miao Li Tao, who hopes to knock-off the #5-ranked strawweight contender and jump into the official ONE athlete rankings.
Also in action, heavyweight striker extraordinaire Alain "The Panther" Ngalani meets undefeated Thomas Narmo in a matchup that will surely provide fireworks to be remembered.
In flyweight action, Eko Roni Saputra looks to build on his four-bout winning streak against China's Liu Peng Shuai. The Indonesian grappler has looked sensational as of late and can continue to make his case for flyweight contendership with another stoppage victory.
Opening the card will be a lightweight match between India's Rahul Raju and Mongolia's Otgonbaatar Nergui.
The previously recorded event can be seen on Friday, August 13 on Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report YouTube, and the Bleacher Report app at 8:30 a.m. EST/5:30 a.m. PST.
ONE: Battleground II Card
Eduard Folayang vs. Zhang Lipeng
Alex Silva vs. Miao Li Tao
Thomas Narmo vs. Alain Ngalani
Eko Roni Saputra vs. Liu Peng Shuai
Otgonbaatar Nergui vs. Rahul Raju
Eduard Folayang THROWS DOWN With Amir Khan 😤
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Clifton's Corner: Judging Your Own Students/Teammates
August 03 | 2021
Judging your own students or teammates is probably one of the biggest controversies on the martial arts tournament circuits. But what people really mean by that needs to be defined. I think what people really mean is don't judge your own students or teammates in black belt divisions. I guess my question would be why it would be acceptable to judge your own students in a colored belt division and not in black belt. When you think about it you either have integrity or you don't.
Somehow, we have started to place more importance on black belt divisions than the colored belts which may or may not be correct. Ask any school owner where their money is made and I would guess 90% would tell you it's with their youth colored belts. I was once told by Leon Rogers who was the Senior Vice President for Century Martial arts that 75 percent of all new uniforms sold are size 3 and under (if you didn't already know where the industry was trending) and not adult instructor or black belt type uniforms.
In a perfect world we would all show up to a tournament and you would have a set of officials that had nothing to do with the current competitors or coaches. The hard truth is that instructors are asked to bring 10 to 20 students to a tournament and then sit and judge for the day because without those instructors that brought people the tournament would never run. I know with my tournament in Naska Midwest everything slows tremendously if I have a judge that jumps out of the ring to coach even if its just for a couple of matches. Imagine if you had to replace a judge in every ring for even every other division because they had a student or teammate in it. Tournaments would run for days not hours at that point. So, I guess my question would be if your money as a school owner is made with the newest students that you take to a tournament why are you not concerned with how they are being judged but you are with the black belt divisions. I would like to think that it is because they are the highest level of competition and the best competitors. But my experience has been that both competitors and coaches are usually looking for someone to blame for their loss after the fact. Yes, I know that probably won't sit well with some people, but every loss at a tournament is not because someone cheated you or played favorites with a student or teammate. Sometimes it is that the other competitor is better regardless of who was in the ring judging. Now that is not to say that bias doesn't exist both positively and negatively. My students would probably tell you that I tend to be harder on them than other judges because I know the areas where they usually mess up or don't do something completely correct that other judges don't usually pick up on.
If we are only talking about replacing judges with affiliations in black belt divisions then I would argue that you are arguing out of self interest not for what is best for your school or pocketbook. I think we all know that with where the sport is today there is no way to replace judges in every ring that someone has a student.
I always tell people don't complain about a problem if you don't have a solution. The trouble is that there is no good solution. You will hear people talk about paying judges and training certifications, but it still doesn't solve the issue at hand. If someone wants to make sure I have no affiliations at a tournament that I am invited to then you are also asking me to not show up with any competitors. Imagine any national event where all of the judges were not allowed to bring any competitors because it would eliminate any conflicts of interest. That would be an extremely small event and would also probably not have some of the very best competitors at it. If you really think about it, most of the judges that have the most current experience are also some of the ones that train some of the best competitors.
At the end of the day, I believe that all we can do as a sport is to try to have the integrity that we preach in our schools while we are judging. As an MMA and Kickboxing Referee, I would joke in the fighters meeting that 50% of the fighters would walk out of the ring that night very happy with me, which obviously speaks to the result not necessarily to my performance as the official. People will always see ulterior motives when things don't go their way, but instead of giving excuses and blaming the officials try looking inward. Ask if you really did everything possible to put yourself in a position to win in the first place and if that answer is truly yes then in most cases you will win many more times than you lose.
David Clifton has refereed over 1,500 MMA, Kickboxing, and boxing matches. He has also been the center official and training official for WAKO USA, NBL Super Grands, World Sport Karate Federation, World Karate Commission (WKC), and many Naska national events.
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As the medal results roll in from Tokyo, and the numbers are tallied, it is important to remember that just to participate in the Olympic Games is a goal few athletes ever achieve. As a fan of Judo, high-level human achievement, and elite athletes, I thought it would be helpful to gain some wisdom from a real live Olympian.
Enter Nefeli Papadakis, who at 22, is the youngest member of the USA Judo team. Papadakis is from Gurnee Illinois and started studying Judo at the age of 4. She is coached by her father, Steve Papadakis, and the two have been on the long road to the Olympics together.
Imagine standing at the edge of the stands, seeing her stroll confidently toward the mat, and getting just enough time to ask five questions.
Do you have any pre-match rituals?
Before my matches, I try to stay calm and just tell myself my strategy over and over in my head. Also, I tell myself to be first every exchange.
What is your favorite throw?
My favorite throw is Drop Seoi-Nage. I like it because I tend to fight taller opponents, and it's effective to drop underneath them and use momentum to throw for ippon.
What is your favorite Newaza technique?
My favorite newaza technique is a rolling choke because I find it easiest to transition to! It's the most efficient for me.
To be in the Olympics is a stunning achievement all on its own. What practice or philosophy did you follow that brought you to this point?
I told myself that it was anyone's day, any day, every single competition. Being on the younger side for this sport, the only thing I can't match against the women I fight is their years of experience competing on the Olympic circuit. But that is something that's not in my control, and I used this to fuel a "nothing to lose" attitude. as well, so I would go out there and fight with everything I had.
What advice do you have for future Olympic hopefuls?
My advice is to just keep going. Don't give up because things get hard or you're faced with a lot of obstacles, keep pushing on. Make all of the work you do, to get where you want to be, count for something.
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