9/7 Pancrase Shining Tour - Results

Pancrase held an event in Osaka last night. The main event was between Fujiwara, who was on a 2 loss streak was the favorite against Yamauchi. He delivered a win by decision against a fighter that is proving very difficult to finish.

Daichi Fujiwara Def. Nobuhiro “Punch” Yamauchi by decision 3-0
Daisuke Hanazawa "13" Def. Leandro Kusano by Arm-triangle choke Round 1 3:52
Kiichi Kunimoto "Strasser" vs. Hirotaka Yoshioka NO CONTEST, Accidental head-butt
Kenji Takeshige vs. Motonobu Tezuka DRAW
Yu Shiori Def. Hiroto Harai by Decision 2-0
Takahiro Goda Def. Takashi Hasegawa by Decision 3-0
Takayuki Hirayasu Def. Shinichiro Ryuno by TKO (punches from back-mount) Round 1 3:44
Toru Harai Def. Hideo Matsui by TKO (GnP) Round 2 2:21

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9/7 Pancrase Shining Tour Osaka - Card Complete

There has been a few additions to the card in Osaka. This event should be very good value, and a good event.

In an exciting addition, Pancrase veteran Daisuke Hanazawa will take on the Gracie trained Leandro Kusano. As far as I know, Leandro is makeing his MMA debut. He is an experienced BJJ fighter and I am looking forward to seeing what he can do in MMA.

Also making their debuts are Hirotaka Yoshioka and Hiroto Harai. Hirotaka Yoshioka is a Japanese Greco-Roman wrestler, he will face the experienced Kiichi Kunimoto. Yoshioka holds a 3rd place from the Japanese wrestling championships in 2007, so he is a very strong wrestler. Hiroto Harai is a karate and judo fighter, but I dont know much about him...

The fight order is like this:

Main event:
13. Bantamweight: Daichi Fujiwara 7-3-1 vs. 4-3-0 Nobuhiro “Punch” Yamauchi

12. Welterweight: Daisuke Hanazawa "13" 9-9-5 vs. Leandro Kusano
11. Welterweight: Kiichi Kunimoto "Strasser" 5-2-0 vs. Hirotaka Yoshioka
10. Featherweight: Kenji Takeshige 6-7-1 vs. 6-3-1 Motonobu Tezuka
9. Welterweight: Yu Shiori 5-1-0 vs. Hiroto Harai
8. Bantamweight: Takashi Hasegawa 4-6-3 vs. 1-1-0 Takahiro Goda
7. Flyweight: Takayuki Hirayasu 0-2-0 vs. Shinichiro Ryuno
6. Featherweight: Toru Harai 4-2-0 vs. 0-4-2 Hideo Matsui

Pancrase Gate: 2x5 min
5. Lightweight: Koji Namamura vs. Yoichi Kosumi
4. Featherweight: Koji Tomita vs. Keiichi Funako
3. Bantamweight: Takamasa Miki vs. Kensei Nishida
2. Bantamweight: Masao Fujii vs. Kojima-man
1. Flyweight: Wataru Nakahara vs. Yuya Ono

The event is being held in Osaka Azeria Hall doors open at 15:00.
Ticket-prices: SS ¥6,000-　A ¥5,000-
As you can see, this should be GREAT value!

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9/7 Pancrase Shining Tour - Osaka

The Pancrase card for September 7 in Osaka looks just about complete. There are 4 Pancrase Gate fights added, and we just have to wait and see if that completes the card.

Main-card
Bantamweight: Daichi Fujiwara 7-3-1 vs. 4-3-0 Nobuhiro “Punch” Yamauchi
Featherweight: Kenji Takeshige 6-7-1 vs. 6-3-1 Motonobu Tezuka
Bantamweight: Takashi Hasegawa 4-6-3 vs. 1-1-0 Takahiro Goda
Flyweight: Takayuki Hirayasu 0-2-0 vs. Shinichiro Ryuno
Featherweight: Soyu Tanabe 4-3-1 vs. 0-4-2 Hideo Matsui

Pancrase Gate: 2x5 min
Bantamweight: Masao Fujii vs. Kojima-man
Bantamweight: Takamasa Miki vs. Kensei Nishida
Featherweight: Koji Tomita vs. Keiichi Funako
Lightweight: Koji Namamura vs. Yoichi Kosumi

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9/7 Pancrase Shining Tour - Osaka

Lots of things happening in Osaka lately, and Pancrase is putting on an event there in September. Looks like it will be interesting too. 5 fights are announced, for me I look forward to seeing Daichi Fujiwara back in the ring. The cage was not kind to him and he will be looking to turn his 2 fight losing streak.


Daichi Fujiwara 7-3-1 vs. 4-3-0 Nobuhiro “Punch” Yamauchi
Kenji Takeshige 6-7-1 vs. 6-3-1 Motonobu Tezuka
Takashi Hasegawa 4-6-3 vs. 1-1-0 Takahiro Goda
Takayuki Hirayasu 0-2-0 vs. Shinichiro Ryuno
Soyu Tanabe 4-3-1 vs. 0-4-2 Hideo Matsui

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6/22 Cage Force 07 - RESULTS

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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6/22 Cage Force 07 - Fight Order

Ok, I know... There has been a lot about this event... But it will be awesome! Cage Force has been one of my favorite promotors the last couple of years. They have a very good show, not sure how sound it is finanicially... As we saw earlier this year. But these shows are fun and they attract some very good talent.

Anyway, the fight order for this Sunday.

13. FWT: Antonio Carvalho 10-3-0 vs. 13-7-7 Yuji Hoshino
12. BWT: Katsuya Toida 10-8-3 vs. 7-5-3 Tatsu Suzuki
11. BWT: Takeya Mizugaki 8-2- vs. 6-2-1 Daichi Fujiwara
10. FWT: Fanjin Son 4-2-0 vs. 7-2-2 Tomohiko Hori

Non-Tournament:9. WW: Shiko Yamashita 10-3-3 vs. 3-0-0 Motoki Miyazawa
8. MW: Akihiro Murayama 9-2-4 vs. 2-2-0 Rikuhei Fuji
7. BW: Tomoaki Ueyama 0-1-0 vs. Taityoko Endo
6. MW: Ikkei 0-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Mako Dragon
5. LW: Shinpei Sotoyama 5-3-2 vs 7-5-0.Kenta Okuyama

Preliminary Fights:
4. LW: Daisuke Hoshino vs. Junichi Ota
3. FW: Saito (?) vs. Nobutaka Hiyoshi
2. LW: Tekaji vs. 1-0-0 Wataru Suzuki
1. LW: Koji Ando vs. 0-1-0 Naoto Miyazaki

FWT= Featherweight Tournament
BWT= Bantamweight Trournament
MW= Middleweight
LW= Lightweight
FW= Featherweight
BW= Bantamweight

Cage Force 07
Originally uploaded by japanmma

This is one of the posters for the event... One of these fighter would probably like a better picture.

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6/22 Cage Force 07 - Card Final

It looks like the Cage Force card for Sunday is final. Today 3 more fights were announced, this is looking like a very good event (I always enjoy these Cage Force cards).

No word on the main-event yet, but I am guessing Antonio Carvalho should have a good chance at getting it.

Added today:
Tomoaki Ueyama 0-1-0 vs. Taityoko Endo
Ikkei 0-1-0 vs. 1-1-0 Mako Dragon
Shinpei Sotoyama 5-3-2 vs 7-5-0.Kenta Okuyama

Previously announced:
Bantamweight Tournament Fights:
Katsuya Toida 10-8-3 vs. 7-5-3 Tatsu Suzuki
Takeya Mizugaki 8-2- vs. 6-2-1 Daichi Fujiwara

Featherweight Tournament Round 1:
Antonio Carvalho 10-3-0 vs. 13-7-7 Yuji Hoshino
Fanjin Son 4-2-0 vs. 7-2-2 Tomohiko Hori

Non-Tournament:
Shiko Yamashita 10-3-3 vs. 3-0-0 Motoki Miyazawa
Akihiro Murayama 9-2-4 vs. 2-2-0 Rikuhei Fuji

Preliminary Fights:
Daisuke Hoshino vs. Junichi Ota
Saito (?) vs. Nobutaka Hiyoshi
Koji Ando vs. Naoto Miyazaki 0-1-0
Tekaji vs. 1-0-0 Wataru Suzuki

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6/22 Cage Force 07 - More Fights Announced

GCM have announced 4 more fights for Cage Force 07. We will finally get to see Antonio Carvalho fight in Cage Force, I am sure I am not the only one that have been looking forward to that. Carvalho is taking on Yuji Hoshino, who he was suppose to fight on April 5, this should be a very good fight. The other fight in the featherweight tournament is completely changed...

If we look back at the Welterweight and Lightweight tournament last year, the finalists from there have done very well:

Welterweight (will the UFC set up a re-match?)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida --> Signed with UFC, won his first fight
Dan Hardy --> Recently signed with UFC

Lightweight:
Koutetsu Boku --> Fought in DREAM
Artur Oumakhanov --> Fought in DREAM

Will this year's tournament be as successful? They got off to a shakie start, but lets hope that is behind them now.

Fights added to June 22 card:
Featherweight Tournament Round 1:
Antonio Carvalho 10-3-0 vs. 13-7-7 Yuji Hoshino
Fanjin Son 4-2-0 vs. 7-2-2 Tomohiko Hori

Preliminary Fights (3x3min):
Koji Ando vs. Naoto Miyazaki 0-1-0
Tekaji vs. 1-0-0 Wataru Suzuki

Previously announced:
Bantamweight Tournament Fights:
Katsuya Toida 10-8-3 vs. 7-5-3 Tatsu Suzuki
Takeya Mizugaki 8-2- vs. 6-2-1 Daichi Fujiwara

Non-Tournament fights
Shiko Yamashita 10-3-3 vs. 3-0-0 Motoki Miyazawa
Akihiro Murayama 9-2-4 vs. 2-2-0 Rikuhei Fuji

Preliminary Fights:
Daisuke Hoshino vs. Junichi Ota
Saito (?) vs. Nobutaka Hiyoshi

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6/22 Cage Force 07 - Fights announced

Cage Force have announced 2 fights on their June 22 card. These are always very entertaining, even though the Cage Force 06 had some problems in the weeks before the event. I hope they dont have the same problems this time and the fights announced are looking really good.

Some interesting things about these fighters... Tatsu Suzuki, a new addition to the tournament, fought and won against Daichi Fujiwara in Cage Force 06. Suzuki has in his turn lost to Mizugaki in the past.

Both these fights are round 1 fights in the Bantamweight tournament.

Katsuya Toida 10-8-3 vs. 7-5-3 Tatsu Suzuki
Takeya Mizugaki 8-2- vs. 6-2-1 Daichi Fujiwara

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