5/30 The Way of SHOOTO 03 - RESULTS

Sunday 30 May 2010



Shooto is putting on an awesome event in JCB Hall in Tokyo today. This is a new venue, and it looks as though they have built it without internet access creating some difficulties for the Sherdog live PBP. But they are still getting the message out there.

Right now they are in the last 3 fights, which are all title fights.

Read on for spoilers.

The fighters from Paraestra Matsudo have really not had a good day... First Koyama lost a close decision (Sherdog had him winning), then Ogikubo gets choked out on his way to a decision. Then the legend, "The Shooto Junkie", gets KO'ed in his first fight for 4 years. Not a good day.

So far the rest of the fights have gone the distance.

"Chiquerim" has JUST won the title when he returns it!! He informs the crowd that he has signed an exlusive contract with an organization that will stop him from defending it!

Lightweight World Title Fight:
8. Hatsu Hioki Def. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue by Decision 2-1

Welterweight World Title Fight:
7. Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire Def. Yusuke Endo by Decision 2-1

Bantamweight World Title Fight:
6. Yasuhiro Urushitani Def. Ryuichi Miki by Decision 3-0

5. 62kg: Rumina Sato Def. Ryota Matsune by KO Round 2 0:21
4. Feather: Masakatsu Ueda Def. Akitoshi Tamura by Decision 3-0
3. Feather: Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas Def. Hiromasa Ogikubo by Rear-Naked choke Round 3 1:21
2. Welter: Kotetsu Boku Def. Yoshihiro Koyama by Decision 3-0
1. Light: Shintaro Ishiwatari Def. Wataru Miki by Decision 2-0

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5/29 DREAM 14 - RESULTS

Saturday 29 May 2010


Dream has another one in the books. A strong card, but without any heavyweights or light-heavyweights (now that the GP was scratched).

Lots of strong featherweights on the card though. Add to that the legends of "Mach" Sakurai, Sakuraba and Minowa, what more can you ask for?

Spoilers if you read on.

Gracie broke the curse when he won the judges decision, he was simply the better man on the ground. Sakuraba had his chances though, and what the ref was thinking when he in the last round tried to pull up Ralek's pants I have no idea. Still a deserved victory.

Nick Diaz proved too strong on the ground for the legend "Mach" Sakurai, meaning that 2 of the really big Japanese stars lost on this card.

Other Japanese fighters made sure that the home crowd had plenty to cheer for though. "Kid" looks to be back on track with a quick KO win, and Minowa is staying on track with a submission win in the 1st round.

Hiroyuki Takaya has secured his spot at the #1 featherweight contender as he got a strong KO win over Joachim Hansen.

Osawa and Miyata edge out split decision wins

8. Welter: Nick Diaz Def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai by armbar Round 1 3:54
7. 88kg: Ralek Gracie Def. Kazushi Sakuraba by Decision 3-0
6. Feather: Hiroyuki Takaya Def. Joachim Hansen by KO Round 1 4:27
5. Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto Def. Federico "Kiko" Lopez by KO Round 1 1:41
4. Feather: "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura Def. Hideo Tokoro by KO Round 1 2:10
3. Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata Def. Takafumi Otsuka by Decision 2-1
2. Feather: Kenji Osawa Def. Yoshiro Maeda by Decision 2-1
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa Def. Imani Lee by rear-naked choke Round 1 4:16

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5/29 DREAM 14 - Weigh-in

Friday 28 May 2010


FEG held the weigh-in for the 14th DREAM earlier today, broadcast live on their website.

Lots of good fights on the card, and Minowaman is giving up 70kg in this fight! Can he do it again?

If you, like me, are wondering about the difference in weight for the featherweights. Nightmare of Battle has the answer:

"As you can see from the weigh-in results everything isn’t as it should. All Featherweight fights on the card are contracted at different weights.

KID/Lopez is at 60kg
Takaya/Hansen is at 65kg
Tokoro/Wicky is at 63kg
Miyata/Otsuka is at 64.5kg
Maeda/Osawa is at 61kg
Mach/Diaz is at 76.6kg

As you can see, it appears that Kiko Lopez missed weight, I am not sure if he weighed in again though. Also, I am sure the fight would still be on.

Main-event:
8. Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (76.5kg) 35-10-2 vs. 21-7-0 (76.0kg) Nick Diaz

7. 88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba (86.5kg) 26-12-1 vs. 2-0-0 (87.4kg) Ralek Gracie
6. Feather: Joachim Hansen (65.0kg) 19-9-1 vs. 12-8-1 (65.0kg) Hiroyuki Takaya
5. Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (59.8kg) 17-3-0 vs. 4-2-0 (62.0kg?) Federico "Kiko" Lopez
4. Feather: Hideo Tokoro (63.0kg) 26-21-1 vs. 10-5-1 (62.8kg) "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
3. Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata (64.2kg)8-7-0 vs. 10-4-1 (64.4kg) Takafumi Otsuka
2. Feather: Yoshiro Maeda (60.7kg) 26-8-2 vs. 15-9-2 (61.0kg) Kenji Osawa
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa (88.0kg) 45-30-8 vs. 1-2-0 (150.0kg) Imani Lee

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Celine Haga Interview

Thursday 27 May 2010


I've always thought female MMA fighters didn't get the attention and respect they deserve. When Smackgirl went under about 2 years ago, Jewels and Valkyrie both fought to fill space they left.

Jewels seems to have filled that spot the best. At SmackGirl's last event Mika Nagano was one of the new rising stars and Celine Haga was in the crowd.

Now Celine has just gotten her first win, stopping Mika Nagano's winning streak at 5. And I got a chance to ask her a few questions!

Make sure you check out her blog:
http://violentbydesign101.wordpress.com

Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions, and congratulations with the win over Mika Nagano!

-First of, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

55kg of energy in motion, starting to get close to a purple belt in life experience now, love the feeling of being free and independent of others. I am cursed, or blessed? With an intensity that makes me give
101% to reach the goals I set. :D


-How long have you been doing martial arts, and how did you get into
MMA? How did you end up with fights in Japan?

I have been doing martial arts for 3 years now – MMA for a total of 1.5 years. Started MMA because if felt like the ultimate challenge both physically and mentally.

I had no experience earlier, just trained 1 year track and field and a year of strength (that I was forced to because I was so weak my doctor told me I needed to add some muscle).

I won a bit of money playing poker and decided to invest in a Japan trip (the money lasted 2 months). During my stay I got to know Megumi and the rest of AACC. I also fought my first fight (semi-pro) in an
underground event called "Smokers".


-How did you feel during the fight with Mika? What was your tactics
before the fight, and did it go to plan?


The tactics were just to aim and hit her. I knew she was southpaw and good at takedowns, so I wanted to keep to basic boxing. One or two punches and move, to avoid takedowns. If it went to the ground the plan was to work for the best possible position. The plan was to give it everything, fight smart, not stress and have fun.

I knew this was probably the last chance Jewels wanted to give me, they were cool and asked who I wanted to fight, if I could choose. I picked Nagano. I knew I had to win against a good opponent this time
for it to matter.

The plan worked, not a 100%, but good enough. :D


-You had 4 losses before this fight, what had you learnt in the
previous fights that helped you in this one? Did you change something
in your preparation?


I always overestimated my opponents, and underestimated myself and it showed in my performances. I might have been a bit too eager when I went to Japan to have my first pro fight after just 1 year of grappling and 3 months of MMA training. HAHA And tapping breeds tapping, that breeds low confidence
and depressions.

But I continued to prioritize training above everything else. I chose not to give up, continue to train hard but forgot the most important aspect of the sport… The mental aspect.

Before this fight I worked harder, focused more on conditioning and self esteem. I was focusing on what I knew and tried to improve that, I got help from Miyata’s coach Sean, some wrestling tips from Miyata, loads of
good training at AACC and not least from Roxanne and Kunioku.

A person I respect a lot told me that I have the technique and strength, but I lack self confidence and wasn’t fighting with my heart. And the last two things are more important than the former.


-I saw Joachim Hansen in your corner, did he give you some good advice?

I actually had Mohsen (Team Hansen) and Sean Frew in my corner during the fight.

Didn’t want any special advice this time, I just wanted positive energy and support. Joachim has given me loads of good advice over the last 3 years that are like tattooed in my brain forever. :D I have had many sparring partners and coaches, but it is first and foremost his style and advice that will be the fundamentals in my game.



-I know you have been training a bit in Japan, how it is to train
there compared to home in Norway? What are the biggest differences?


In Norway I only train with boys that are 15-20kg heavier. Joachim and the others at Team Hellboy have used a lot of time to help me. Sparring with them has made me stronger and given me better balance, and more tolerant to pain. hahaha

In Japan I train with girls. The biggest differences are that girls are a lot more flexible and agile/quick, that increases the stress factor a lot of times.

There are more training opportunities for me in Japan, since there are a lot of girls my size doing MMA/grapping.


-There is not a lot of non-Japanese fighting in Jewels on a regular
basis, you have had 4 fights there. How is it being the only
non-Japanese, do you get extra attention/support?


I think I mix well?? Don’t look typically Norwegian… hehe

I feel like Japan is my second home! Have lots of good friends here and enjoy it a lot.

I don’t receive more attention than the other fighters here. To fight in Japan is pretty special, the biggest have been jetlag, communication (very few speak English) and the culture. But when you settle in, it’s the martial arts’ Shangri-la in my opinion.

The support I have received is first and foremost from my friends here and from Team Hellboy (that have always supported me) I am so lucky and grateful for having such good teammates.


-What can we expect from you in the future? If you could choose, who
would be your next opponent?


I am going to continue training, and as always never give up!

This is the point of no return for me, I have finally won the battle inside, and I am ready to give my next opponent hell. My next opponent is anyone, hopefully at 52kg. I am ready!


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Fight Order for 5/29 DREAM 14 and 5/30 The way of Shooto 03

This weekend there will be 2 HUGE events in Japan! Shooto have put together an awesome card for Sunday, and of course the DREAM event on Saturday will be huge.

Lots of great fights on both cards, and here are the fight orders:

DREAM is putting on some awesome featherweight matchups, and add to that some true legends in Japan and this should be an interesting event. "Kid" will be desperate for a KO win here, and former lightweight champion Joachim Hansen will be looking to put his mark on the Dream featherweight division. Of course the crowd will be looking for a show and FOTN performance from Tokoro again.

Former olympic wrestler Kazuyuki Miyata will take on another wrestler when he faces DEEP champion Takafumi Otsuka.

Main-event:
8. Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai 35-10-2 vs. 21-7-0 Nick Diaz

7. 88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba 26-12-1 vs. 2-0-0 Ralek Gracie
6. Feather: Joachim Hansen 19-9-1 vs. 12-8-1 Hiroyuki Takaya
5. Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-3-0 vs. 4-2-0 Federico "Kiko" Lopez
4. Feather: Hideo Tokoro 26-21-1 vs. 10-5-1 "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
3. Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata 8-7-0 vs. 10-4-1 Takafumi Otsuka
2. Feather: Yoshiro Maeda 26-8-2 vs. 15-9-2 Kenji Osawa
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa 45-30-8 vs. 1-2-0 Imani Lee

Shooto is putting on no less than 3 title fights! Not only that, but the return of Ryota Matsune. There are good fights from the opening bell on this one too!

Lightweight World Title Fight:
8. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue 18-3-0 vs. 20-4-2 Hatsu Hioki

Welterweight World Title Fight:
7. Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire 15-2-0 vs. 13-3-2 Yusuke Endo

Bantamweight World Title Fight:
6. Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Ryuichi Miki

5. 62kg: Rumina Sato 25-14-2 vs. 15-1-1 Ryota Matsune
4. Feather: Akitoshi Tamura 14-8-2 vs. 10-1-2 Masakatsu Ueda
3. Feather: Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas 8-2-0 vs. 6-1-2 Hiromasa Ogikubo
2. Welter: Kotetsu Boku 16-6-2 vs. 14-3-1 Yoshihiro Koyama
1. Light: Shintaro Ishiwatari 6-3-3 vs. 16-9-3 Wataru Miki

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7/4 Pancrase Passion Tour - 1 Event, 3 Title Fights

Tuesday 25 May 2010


Pancrase have announced another title fight to the July 4th event in Differ Ariake. And it is a rematch when Yuki Kondo faces Yuji Hisamatsu, 2 very experienced fighters and last time it ended in a draw.

Announced earlier are title fights in the Bantam- and Flyweight divisions.

Middleweight King of Pancrase title fight:
Yuki Konto 52-23-7 vs. 15-17-5 Yuji Hisamatsu

Bantamweight King of Pancrase title fight:
Manabu Inoue 9-5-1 vs. 9-2-0 Seiya Kawahara

Flyweight King of Pancrase title fight:
Kiyotaka Shimizu 5-3-1 vs. 8-1-0 Isao Hirose

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7/31 Jewels 9th Ring - Lightweight GP


Jewels have today announced that they are going to hold a 8-woman lightweight (52kg) tournament.

The participants announced so far are:
-Saori Ishioka 9-4-0
-Mika Nagano 6-3-0
-Seo Hee Ham 4-3-0

Saori Ishioka has faced both these fighters before, she won against Mika Nagano, but lost to Seo Hee Ham. I look forward to seeing the rest of the participants.

Round 1 fights will be at Jewels 9th Ring, then the semi-finals and final will be at the BIG year end event in Korakuen Hall 12/17.

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Pancrase Schedule August - December 2010

Monday 24 May 2010



Pancrase have finally released the schedule for the second half of 2010.

The next Passion Tour event will be in Differ Ariake on June 5, and it looks like a good card.

The next event after that will be the Neo-Blood finals and Passion Tour 6 in Differ Ariake on August 8.

The rest of the year looks like this:
9/5 Passion Tour 8 - Differ Ariake, Tokyo
9/19 Pancrase Gate - Golds Gym Omori, Tokyo
10/3 Passion Tour 9 - Differ Ariake, Tokyo
11/3 Passion Tour 10 - Differ Ariake, Tokyo
12/5 Passion Tour 11 - Differ Ariake, Tokyo
12/19 Passion Tour 12 - Azeria Hall, Osaka

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6/6 Shooting Disco 12 "Stand by Me" - Fight Order

Sunday 23 May 2010


The popular Shooting Disco series is set to continue with their 12th event on June 6. As usual the event will take place in Shinjuku Face, and the card will focus around good matchmaking.

The main event will make a difference in the Shooto featherweight rankings as number 6 ranked So Tazawa takes on number 8 Teriyuki Matsumoto.

Main-Event:
10. Feather: So Tazawa 8-5-4 vs. 6-3-0 Teriyuki Matsumoto

9. Light: Komei Okada 6-10-2 vs. 8-8-1 Masaki Yanagisawa
8. Feather: Yuta Nezu 8-4-1 vs. 2-0-0 Keita Kono
7. Welter: Hisaki "Kotobukimaru" Hiraishi 7-4-2 vs. 2-4-5 Shinobu Miura
6. Fly: Takehiro "Tiger" Ishii 6-7-2 vs. 3-1-1 Yusuke "Tenkaze" Sato

Rookie Tournament:
5. Light: Koji Nakamura 4-4-1 vs. 3-3-2 Satoshi Inaba
4. Welter: Shotoku Suzuki 1-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Yoshikazu "Kotetsu" Fujishi

Non-Tournament:
3. Fly: Takafumi Ato 0-1-0 vs. 0-3-0 Takahiro Kobori
2. Bantam: Yuya Kaneuchi 0-4-2 vs. 1-2-0 Keiji Koizumi
1. Bantam: Hiroaki Ijima 3-2-1 vs. 1-0-1 Kosuke "Rambo" Suzuki

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5/23 Jewels 8th Ring - RESULTS


Jewels held their 8th event in Shinkiba 1st Ring earlier today. Saori Ishioka defeats Mai Ichii in the main event by armbar, and HARUMI's loosing streak extends to 14 as she suffers a loss to "Amiba".

Celine Haga upsets the home favorite Mika Nagano by decision, thereby stoping her winning streak at 5.

Main-Event:
7. 52kg: Saori Ishioka Def. Mai Ichii by Armbar Round 2 2:41

6. Open: Hiroko Yamanaka Def. Atsuko Emoto by Decision 3-0
5. SB-Rule 54kg: Ai Takahashi Def. Yukino Oishi by Decision 3-0
4. 52kg: Celine Haga Def. Mika Nagano by Decision 3-0
3. 52kg: Miyo Yoshida Def. Yuko Kagoshima by KO Round 1 3:30
2. SB-Rule 63kg: Cho Benkei Def. Kou Ozeki by TKO Round 2 1:36
1. 57kg: Yuko "Amiba" Oya Def. HARUMI by Armbar Round 1 3:45

Opening Fight - Grappling:
53kg: Megumi Murata vs. Akiko Takami

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5/23 Jewels 8th Ring - Weigh-in & Fight Order

Saturday 22 May 2010


More pics on the Jewels blog.

The weigh-ins are done, and here is what I think will be the fight order (I have seen 2 different fight orders and I am not 100% sure which is correct).

Main-Event:
7. 52kg: Saori Ishioka 8-4-0 (51.9kg) vs. (51.5kg) 3-2-0 Mai Ichii

6. Open: Hiroko Yamanaka 8-1-1 (n/a) vs. (n/a) 2-3-0 Atsuko Emoto
5. SB-Rule 54kg: Ai Takahashi (53.9kg) vs. (53.9kg) Yukino Oishi
4. 52kg: Mika Nagano 6-2-0 (52.0kg) vs. (51.2kg) 0-4-0 Celine Haga
3. 52kg: Yuko Kagoshima 1-3-0 (51.9kg) vs. (51.8kg) 0-1-0 Miyo Yoshida
2. SB-Rule 63kg: Cho Benkei (60.4kg) vs. (62.7kg) Kou Ozeki
1. 57kg: Yuko "Amiba" Oya 3-1-0 (56.0kg) vs. (56.6kg) 0-13-0 HARUMI

Opening Fight - Grappling:
53kg: Megumi Murata vs. Akiko Takami

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Shinya Aoki gives up his Shooto title

I dont believe it until I see it, but Boutreview is reporting that Shinya Aoki is giving up his Shooto Middlweight title.

Aoki has held this belt since February 17 2006, when he won the belt in a fight against Akira Kikuchi. Since then the belt has been in his possesion, only dusted off once, for a title defence a year later (February 17, 2007) also on that occation against Akira Kikuchi.

Even though I havent seen any big article about this, it looks official.

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6/6 ShootBoxing - Hisae Watanabe's Opponent Announced

From GBRing.com

ShootBoxing have announced 2 female fights for their event on June 6 in Korakuen Hall.

The event will include female S-Cup champion Rena vs. ☆MIKA☆.

Also making a return to the ShootBoxing ring will be the former DEEP champion Hisae Watanabe. This time she will take on J-Girls ranked #1 Sumie Yamada.


Added:
Rena vs. ☆MIKA☆
Hisae Watanabe vs. Sumie Yamada

Previously Announed:
Hiroki Shishido vs. Virgil Kalakoda
Hiroaki Suzuki vs. Tenkei Fujimiya
Kenji Kanai vs. Satoru Suzuki

Participating:
Mei "V Hajime" Yamaguchi

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6/20 SRC 13 - Welterweight GP Announced


WVR have announced the addition of a 8-man tournament to SRC13 and SRC14. The first 2 fights will take place at SRC13 and includes Japanese star "K-Taro" and King of Pancrase Takuya Wada.

The other round 1 fights will take place at SRC14 and will include: the winner of Yamamiya vs. Ura at Pancrase on June 5. Also participating will be Kenta Takagi and Taisuke Okuno.

Matchups announced for SRC13 are:
Welterweight GP Round 1:
Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura 18-4-2 vs. 6-2-0 Omar de la Cruz
Takuya Wada 19-8-10 vs. 5-5-0 Jae Sun Lee

Previously Announced:
Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):

Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Non-Title Fights:
Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm
Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho

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6/5 Pancrase Passion Tour 5 - Fight Order

Thursday 20 May 2010


Pancrase have announced the fight order for their upcoming event. Getting the event started will be the always entertaining Neo-Blood tournament semi-finals.

Making his debut is Thai fighter Narongchai (not sure of the spelling), in addition to that there are some other up and coming fighters.

Takuya Eizumi snapped his 3 fight losing streak in April, and the former King of Pancrase contender will be looking to add another win here.

Returning to Pancrase is the former Sengoku Champion, Satoru Kitaoka. And this time he has a very good opponent! He is facing Brazilian Jorge Rodriges in the co-main event.

Main-Event: Welterweight King of Pancrase title fight:
16. Kengo Ura 8-5-1 vs. 37-25-9 Keiichiro Yamamiya

15. Light: Satoru Kitaoka 25-10-9 vs. 20-4-0 Jorge "Jorjao" Rodrigues
14. Light: Eriya Matsuda 8-8-0 vs. 8-3-4 Kota Okazawa
13. Feather: Shigeyuki Uchiyama 9-1-0 vs. 9-12-2 Masaya "J-Taro" Takita
12. Fly: Takuya Eizumi 6-4-0 vs. 4-3-0 Ryosuke Tanuma
11. Bantam: Ryota Sasaki 5-3-1 vs. 8-11-6 Takumi Murata
10. Light-Heavy: Jason "Mutant" Symak 2-1-0 vs. 1-0-0 Yuhei Fukuda
9. Fly: Narongchai vs. 10-11-1 Yuichiro Yajima

Neo-Blood Tournament Semi-Finals:
8. Light: Katsunori Takahashi vs. Junichi Ota
7. Light: Jyuntaro Ami vs. Keigo Hirayama
6. Feather: Kensaku Nakamura vs. Motoshi Miyaji
5. Feahter: Hiroshi Tomitavs. Masakazu Takafuji
4. Bantam: Shoko Sato vs. Yuki Uejima
3. Bantam: Motonobu Tezuka vs. Yuta Numakura
2. Fly: Yoshihiro Matsunaga vs. Go Yamanaka
1. Fly: Daichi Kitakata vs. Hiroyuki "Katsuo" Nakajima

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7/10 DREAM 15 - Press Conference

FEG held a press conference earlier today, the main topic was DREAM 15. Although it was announced that Minowaman will take part in the DREAM 14 card, against TBA.

For DREAM 15, it will take place in Saitama Superarena on July 10. Planned participants are:

-Shinya Aoki
-Tatsuya Kawajiri
-Gegard Mousasi
-Melvin Manhoef
-Alistair Overeem

The fans asked if there would be a fight between Aoki and Kawajiri, that was not confirmed, but it was hinted that it will be a card with fights between rivals.

There will also be 2 Light-Heavyweight fights on the card, the winners of which will be facing eachother on DREAM 16, which will be held in September and air on TBS on a "Golden time", meaning primetime.

The first fights for Dream 15 should be announced at Dream 14.

On that note, Kawajiri is posing as a samurai (Ryoma Sakamoto) on the cover of Kamipro.

HT: tastetherainbow and nelson



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5/30 The Way of SHOOTO 03 - T-Shirt Design

Wednesday 19 May 2010


Of course there would have to be a shirt to go with this awesome event! The shirt will of course be on sale in JCB hall, as well as the Inspirit Japanese webstore.

Bantamweight World Title Fight:
Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Ryuichi Miki

Welterweight World Title Fight:
Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire 15-2-0 vs. 13-3-2 Yusuke Endo

Lightweight World Title Fight:
"Lion" Takeshi Inoue 18-3-0 vs. 20-4-2 Hatsu Hioki

62kg: Rumina Sato 25-14-2 vs. 15-1-1 Ryota Matsune
Welter: Kotetsu Boku 16-6-2 vs. 14-3-1 Yoshihiro Koyama
Feather: Akitoshi Tamura 14-8-2 vs. 10-1-2 Masakatsu Ueda
Feather: Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas 8-2-0 vs. 6-1-2 Hiromasa Ogikubo
Light: Shintaro Ishiwatari 6-3-3 vs. 16-9-3 Wataru Miki

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6/20 SRC 13 - Fights Announced

Tuesday 18 May 2010


WVR is putting on their 13th event in Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 20. And they are continuing the tradition of announcing the fights early (I like that).

Added to the card today was 2 fights, both with some very talented Japanese fighters. Shigeki Osawa will take on the experienced Katsuya Toida. The other fight announced today will see the former Shooto Rookie Tournament champion, Ikuo Usuda take on Kang Kyung Ho (Osawa's opponent on SRC12.

The main event will most likely be the featherweight title fight between Kanehara and Marlon Sandro, who was my personal favorite in the tournament last year. It should be a very good and tactical fight.

Added:
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho

Previously Announced:
Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Non-Title Fights:
Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm
Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie

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5/16 ClubDEEP Toyama - Results

Monday 17 May 2010


DEEP put on a 15 fight card in Toyama's Event Plaza earlier today. The main event saw the home town favorite "Barbaro44" take on one of DEEPs biggest talents in Koichiro Matsumoto.

The card also included 3 kick-rule fights.

Read on for spoilers.

After winning the main-event, Koichiro asked for a title fight, and he could be heading for a title fight against Takafumi Otsuka next.

Main-Event:
15. 65.8kg: Koichiro Matsumoto def. Yoshihiro "Barbaro44" Tomioka by KO Round 1 1:29

14. 70.3kg: Yuichi Ikari def. Yuya Osugi by TKO Round 1 3:58
13. 65.8kg: Satoshi Watanabe vs. Yoshihiro Yamaniha Draw
12. 63kg: Yasuo Munakata def. Hirotaka Himeno by TKO Round 2 4:00
11. 53.5g: Sakura Nomura def. Rina Tomita by Decision 3-0
10. 63kg: Hiroshi Sato vs. Hiroyuki Suzuki Draw
9. 78kg: Yoshinobu Kawamura def. Daisuke Kanehira by Decision 3-0
8. 53kg: Jun Osawa Def. Akihiro Hasegawa by TKO Round 1 2:44
7. 53kg: Gen Ikeda Def. Kaname Mori by Triangle choke 2 3:39
6. 63kg: Harunari Shinogawa def. Daiki Nakahara by TKO Round 1 0:55
5. Kick-Rule - 68kg: Takeshi Sakai def. Yujiro Haraguchi by TKO Round 2 0:30
4. Kick-Rule - 63kg: Kazuhiro Konishi def. Kenichi Satake by Decision 3-0
3. Kick-Rule - 68kg: Carlos Osako def. Leo Mitsuhashi by Decision 3-0
2. 66kg: Ippei Takase def. Mattsun Mattsun by TKO Round 1 2:21
1. 63kg: Daigo Sawada def. Oya Takato by TKO Round 2 1:14

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5/23 Jewels 8th Ring

Sunday 16 May 2010


Next Sunday Jewels will hold their 8th event, and these events have been very popular with the fans. It is usually sold out.

This time it will be held in Shinkiba 1st ring and following this event will be a ClubDEEP event.

Jewles MMA Rule:
52kg: Saori Ishioka 8-4-0 vs. 3-2-0 Mai Ichii
Open: Hiroko Yamanaka 8-1-1 vs. 2-3-0 Atsuko Emoto
52kg: Mika Nagano 6-2-0 vs. 0-4-0 Celine Haga
52kg: Yuko Kagoshima 1-3-0 vs. 0-1-0 Miyo Yoshida
57kg: Yuko "Amiba" Oya 3-1-0 vs. 0-13-0 HARUMI

ShootBoxing Rule (3x2min. 1r ext.):
54kg: Ai Takahashi vs. Yukino Oishi
63kg: Cho Benkei vs. Kou Ozeki

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6/5 Pancrase Passion Tour 5 - Kitaoka facing Rodrigues

Saturday 15 May 2010

Pancrase have announced that one of their star fighters and former Sengoku Lightweight champion, Satoru Kitaoka will take on Brazilian Jorge "Jorjao" Rodrigues.

That should be an awesome fight on an already good card!

Announced:
Satoru Kitaoka vs. 20-4-0 Jorge "Jorjao" Rodrigues

Previously Announced:
Welterweight King of Pancrase title fight qualifier:

Kengo Ura vs. Kei Yamamiya

Fly: Narongchai vs. Yuichiro Yajima
Fly: Takuya Eizumi vs. Ryosuke Tanuma
Bantam: Ryota Sasaki vs. Takumi Murata
Light-Heavy: Jason "Mutant" Symak 2-1-0 vs. Yuhei Fukuda
Light: Eriya Matsuda 8-8-0 vs. Kota Okazawa
Feather: Shigeyuki Uchiyama vs. Masaya "J-Taro" Takita

Neo-Blood Tournament Semi-Finals:
Light: Katsunori Takahashi vs. Junichi Ota
Light: Jyuntaro Ami vs. Keigo Hirayama
Feather: Kensaku Nakamuravs. Motoshi Miyaji
Feahter: Hiroshi Tomitavs. Masakazu Takafuji
Bantam: Shoko Sato vs. Yuki Uejima
Bantam: Motonobu Tezuka vs. Yuta Numakura
Fly: Yoshihiro Matsunaga vs. Go Yamanaka
Fly: Daichi Kitakata vs. Hiroyuki "Katsuo" Nakajima

Participating:
Toryu Masahiro

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7/3 DEEP 48 Impact - Participants Announced

Deep boss, Saeki, has announced 14 fighters for their DEEP 48 Impact card to be held in Differ Ariake on July 3. There are a log of good names on the card, among them DEEP middle weight champion, Riki Fukuda and "Iron" Nakamura. Also announced is Korean Jung Hwan Cha, or the guy that KO'd Ryo Chonan at the Astra event.

Also look out for the young Yoshiki Harada fighting out of the "Mach" Dojo. This is a fighter "Mach" Sakurai himself told me he had high hopes for when I met him and Yoshiki has proven why in the ring. It will be good to see him get another fight under his belt.

For DEEP going forward, these are the plans: Ofcourse, in June there will be the Cage Impact event in Osaka. July there will be an event in Nagoya in addition to 48 Impact. DEEP 49 Impact will be in August, in KOrakuen Hall. The BIG one, celebrating 10 years of DEEP, DEEP 50 Impact will take place in October.

There will also be a cage event in Hamamatsu in September and in Tokyo in December.

Participants:
Riki Fukuda 16-4-0
Jung Hwan Cha 7-5-1
Shigetoshi Iwase 9-12-3
Tomoya Miyashita 17-7-8
Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura 9-4-5
Seigo Mizuguchi 7-6-0
Eiji Ishikawa 19-16-2
Yuki Ito 8-5-9
Sadao Kondo 5-0-1
Kosuke Umeda 8-8-3
Yasuhiro Kawasaki 5-1-1
Tatsunao Nagakura 5-1-0
Yoshiki Harada 3-0-0
Tomoya Kato 8-2-0

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5/29 DREAM 14 - "Kid" Yamamoto Added


FEG have announced the addition of Japanese star "Kid" Yamamoto to Dream 14. His opponent will be Team Quest's Federico "Kiko" Lopez. This fight was supposed to be on the Strikeforce undercard, but has been moved to the Dream 14 event. Both fighters are coming of 2 straight losses, "Kid" losing to "Kiko"'s team-mate, Joe Warren. No doubt that "Kid" will be the crowd favorite here, but both fighters will be eager to start another winning streak. It will be interesting to see what Warren has been able to teach his team-mate.


Picture from GBRing.com


Added:
Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-3-0 vs. 4-2-0 Federico "Kiko" Lopez

Previously Announed:
Feather: Joachim Hansen vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Feather: Hideo Tokoro vs. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Takafumi Otsuka
Feather: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Kenji Osawa
88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ralek Gracie
Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Nick Diaz

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MMA Events in Japan 15-31 May

Thursday 13 May 2010

May is going to be a busy month of MMA in Japan, and there are some very good cards coming up.

Here is a list of what is coming up:

16th May:
-In Tokyo, this will be a day of kickboxing events. In Differ Ariake, Rise will hold their 65th event and in Korakuen Hall will be the New Japan Kickboxing event.


-DEEP is putting on a clubDEEP card in Toyama's Eventplaza. Of course, the Club Barbarian fighters come out in force and there are some good fights on the card. Including Yoshihiro "Barbaro44" Tomioka vs. Koichiro Matsumoto and Yuya Osugi vs. Kleber Koike. Missing from the card is the retired Miku Matsumoto, but I am sure she will be there watching over things.



-Shooto's Grapplingman 11 will be held in Hiroshima Industrial Hall. Headlining the event will be Kazuhiro Ito vs. Bae Yong Kwon. In addition to that there will be some Rookie Tournament fights on the card.

22. May:
-Tribalate vol. 28 will be in Shinjuku Face.

23. May:


-The female fighters of Jewels will be followed by ClubDEEP in Shinkiba 1st Ring. I am expecting a sold out event for JEWELS again, the card includes the popular Saori Ishioka vs. Mai Ichii and another crowd favorite in Mika Nagano will take on Team Hellboy's Celine Haga. Hellboy himself might be ringside for this one, and it should be a fight the crowd gets into. Being Norwegian I know who I am cheering for! I also know that Celine has had very good training leading up to this fight.



The ClubDEEP event will follow Jewels, and is headlined by Hiroki Sato vs. Shuji Morikawa.

27. May:
-Krush 7 in Shinjuku Face. This should be a good kickboxing (K-1 rule) event. On the card will be amoung others, the HEAT veteran Danilo Zanolini.

29. May:


-The month of May really finishes on a high! DREAM 14 is looking like a very very good event! Arguably some of the best featherweights in the world will square off in Saitama Superarena:

Joachim Hansen vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Hideo Tokoro vs. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Takafumi Otsuka
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Kenji Osawa

Add to that the non-featherweight fights:
88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ralek Gracie
Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Nick Diaz

This should be an awesome event!

30. May:



-The DREAM event will be followed by a very awesome Shooto event in JCB Hall.

The card has 3 title fights:
Light: "Lion" Takeshi Inoue vs. Hatsu Hioki
Bantam: Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Ryuichi Miki
Welter: Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire vs. Yusuke Endo

Some very good fighters will return:
62kg: Rumina Sato vs. Ryota Matsune
Feather: Akitoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Ueda

Then there are some other very solid fights:
Welter: Kotetsu Boku vs. Yoshihiro Koyama
Feather: Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo
Light: Shintaro Ishiwatari vs. Wataru Miki

It looks like another very strong Shooto card, maybe the best in years.

-On the same day, MA Japan Kickboxing is holding an event in Differ ariake.
-And the J-Network has a double event in Shinjuku Face

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