I just came home from this event, and I decided to make this review a bit more personal than I normally do...
Cage Force has always been very good to me! Today, it was just ok... Probably because of some (one) of the results, and some fighter performances.
To be honest, there were 4 fights that made this card. That were the 4 tournament fights. The others were a bonus (and a nice one at that). I think GCM did well this time, the event was pretty much sold out and the atmosphere was much better than what it normally is at events in Japan. It started good, some good pre-liminary fights got the night of to a good start.
I think Hiyoshi can look forward to a bright future, he is 4-0 now and it might be time to get a really good opponent.
The fights went on, and there were some good performances, some mis-matches but all enjoyable. Then it was time for the money fights, the final 4, the tournament fights.
Sorry, for those reading carefully, I had the fight order wrong earlier. It is corrected here.
Faijin Son won an early doctor stoppage in a fight that really looked to have potential.
Then it was time for Tatsu Suzuki vs. Katsuya Toida! An awesome match-up (I thought)! Suzuki came in wearing a mask that got the crowd laughing. Toida clearly tried the same by standing around in his corner when the bell rung. Suzuki knocked him on the head, and Toida went down. Suzuki pounced on it and the ref had to jump in. I am guessing it took about 20 sec. HOW CAN YOU LOSE TO A GRAPPLER LIKE THAT???? Man, I had this picked as one of the best match-ups of the night!
Next was Mizugaki vs. Fujiwara. No real surprise here... Mizugaki was stronger, Fujiwara tried to take him down. Mizugaki KO'd Fujiwara from the clich. A BIG KO! Fujiwara woke up long after Mizugaki had been announced as the winner and tried to continue the fight. He appologized later to Mizugaki. A solid performance from Mizugaki who moves on in the tournament.
The main-event! Carvalho vs. Hoshino! The crowd (me included) was really into this one! Carvalho is one of my favorite fighters and today I am sad... He lost this fight... No discussion... Hoshino took him down and Carvalho had no answers from his back. No doubt these were to of the best fighters on the night, and they both brought everything. I just wish the result was different. Today Hoshino was stronger, and it was an emotional victory for him. I am sure most of you know by now by the Wajyutsu Keisyukai suffered a tragic loss of their coach. And Hoshino was clearly emotional after getting his win (very understandable).
The results:
Yuji Hoshino Def. Antonio Carvalho by decision 3-0
Takeya Mizugaki Def. Daichi Fujiwara by TKO
(how this was not a KO I dont know) Round 1 2:38
Tatsu Suzuki Def. Katsuya Toida by TKO Round 1 0:16
Fanjin Son Def. Tomohiko Hori TKO Round 1 1:28
Non-Tournament:
Motoki Miyazawa Def. Shiko Yamashita by decision 3-0
Rikuhei Fuji Def. Akihiro Murayama by decision 3-0
Daisuke Endo Def. Tomoaki Ueyama Rear-naked choke Round 1 2:13
Ikkei Def. Mako Dragon by arm-bar round 1 2:53
Shinpei Sotoyama Def. Kenta Okuyama by Kimura round 3 0:55
Preliminary Fights:
Daisuke Hoshino Def. Daisuke Yamamoto by TKO Round 1 1:57
Nobutaka Hiyoshi Def. Ryo Saito by TKO Round 1 1:16
Tekaji Def. Wataru Suzuki by decision 3-0
Koji Ando vs. Naoto Miyazaki DRAW
That leaves these as the 2nd round/semi-finals tournament match-ups:
Featherweight:
"Wicky" Akiyo vs. Fajin Son
Yuji Hoshina vs. Takeshi Yamazaki
Bantamweight:
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Taiyo Nakahara
Tatsu Suzuki vs. Masahiro Oishi
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