3/28 HEAT 9 - RESULTS Tournament Champions Crowned

Heat held 2 tournament finals and the heavyweight tournaments semi-finals on Saturday. The main event was the welterweight final and title fight between 2 very talented fighters in Justin Holdaas and Max Fernandes. In the middleweight Kick-rule final, Thai Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa took on Kinji.

The heavyweight tournament had some big semi-finals as well. Ryuta Noji was a late replacement for Dong Yi Yang, and was taking on Pride veteran Sentoryu. The other semi-final saw Christiano Kaminishi take on Sang Soo Lee.

Tournament Finals:
Welter MMA Final: Max Fernandes Def. Justin Holdaas by arm-bar Round 1 1:00
Middle Kick Final: Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa Def. Kinji by Decision 3-0

Heavyweight Semi-Finals:
MMA: Sentoryu Def. Ryuta Noji by KO Round 1 1:14
MMA: Christiano Kaminishi Def. Sang Soo Lee by Decision 3-0
Kick: Makoto Uehara Def. Goutoku Onda by KO ext. Round
Kick: Hiromi Amada Def. Moon Bo Ram by Decision 2-0

Non-Tournament Fights:
Middle Kick: Danilo Zanolini Def. Hideto Yamada by KO Round 2 1:45
Middle Kick: Yuzo Matsumoto Def. Masatoshi Hyakutake by Decision 3-0
Welter MMA: Jonathan Visitante Def. Toshinari Takashima by Decision 2-1

New Age:
MMA (70kg): Masaomi Kamino Def. Kosaburo Muramatsu by KO Round 2 3:57

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3/28 HEAT 9 - Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Finals Announced

HEAT 9 in Nagoya is going to be a very good event. They have announced the finals for the welterweight MMA tournament and the Middleweight Kick tournament. Today they have announced the match-ups for the heavyweight MMA and Kick rule tournaments.

There is a good mix of experienced and talented fighters on this card, Pride veteran Sentoryu is fighting in the MMA rules semi-finals, and so is Sengoku veteran Dong Yi Yang. Sentoryu will actually face Yang in the semi-finals, and that should be a very interesting fight.

The other semi-final in the MMA rule tournament sees Christiano Kaminishi face Sang Soo Lee. Lee holds a win over Roman Zentsov, but Kaminishi is a very talented guy his only loss came by a very close decision.

Announced:
MMA Rule - Heavyweight Semi-Finals
Henry "Sentoryu" Miller 4-7-0 vs. 4-0-0 Dong Yi Yang
Christiano Kaminishi 5-1-0 vs. 11-5-0 Sang Soo Lee

Kick-Rule - Heavyweight Semi-Finals
Goutok Onda vs. Makoto Uehara
Hiromi Amada vs. Moon Bo Ram

Previously announced:
Welterweight MMA Rule Tournament Final:
Justin Holdaas 2-1-0 vs. 3-0-0 Max Fernandez

Middleweight Kick Rule Tournament Final:
Fabikat RS Promotion vs. Kinji

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3/28 HEAT 9 - Tournament Finals

HEAT has had a welterweight MMA rules and a middleweight kick-rule tournaments going. They have now reached the finals of these tournaments and they should be very good.

For the MMA rules, 2 relatively unknown fighters will face eachother. Justin Holdaas defeated Yoshitaro Niimi in his semi final. He will face Max Fernandez, who defeated Hyong Yo Im in his semi final. Both these fighters are very talented, and I am sure we will hear from both in the future. As for predicitons, this should be a very close fight. Fernandez being more a BJJ specialist, Holdaas more a wrestling base, personally I think the cage gives a slight advantage to wrestlers. Watch out for Max Fernandez's submissions though, he has finished all his 3 fights in a combined time of 3:45!

This is the MMA-Rule HEAT Welterweight title belt:


In the kick-rule middleweight final, Thai fighter Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa will face Japanese Kinji. This should also be a good and close fight, but I would give a slight advantage to the Thai fighter in this one.

This is the HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight title belt:


Also on the card will be the heavyweight kick- and MMA-rule semi-finals. There are some very good fighters in both of these tournaments as well!

Welterweight MMA-Rule Tournament Final:
Justin Holdaas vs. 3-0-0 Max Fernandez

Middleweight Kick-Rule Tournament Final:
Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?) vs. Kinji

Heavyweight MMA-Rule Semi-Final Participants:
Sentoryu 4-7-0
Dong Yi Yang 4-0-0
Christiano Kaminishi 5-1-0
Sang Soo Lee 11-5-0

Heavyweight Kick-Rule Tournament Semi-Final Participants:
Makoto Uehara
Moon Bo Ram
Hiromi Amada
Goutoku Onda

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12/14 HEAT 8 - Pictures!

A great event in Differ Ariake yesterday! HEAT really dont get the attention it deserves, but it will come. Yesterday's event included some great semi-finals, the finals will be held in March and they should provide some very good fights!

The night started with a kick (K-1) rule fight between Kinji and Yuso Matsumoto.


Kinji forced Matsumoto to take count twice in round 1, Matsumoto tried to work his way back into the fight with kicks.


A very good and action packed fight, Kinji got the decision, but it was a good fight to get the night started.


The next fight was the welterweight tournament semi-final between Max Fernandes and Korean Hyong Yo Im. I was really looking forward to this one cause I have heard very good things about the talented Max Fernandes. He didnt disappoint! The Korean come out strong, and looked like he could cause the Brazilian some problems with an arm-bar attempt.


Fernandes shook off the attempt and when he got his chance he didnt waste time, submitting Hyong by a toe-hold (or achilles hold, not sure from my angle).


The win was very popular with his fans that were celebrating, Fernandes is into the final!


The 3rd fight of the night was another semi-final, in the middleweight kick-rule tournament. Thai Fabiakat "RS Promotion" and Jotaro Usui.


Lots of leg kicks in this one, and both fighters were showing the battle scars. But despite being deducted a point of a low knee, the Thai fighter got the decision in an impressive performance.


Max Fernandes' opponent in the welterweight final would be deceided when Justin Holdaas and Yoshitaro Niimi faced off in the other semi-final. Niimi recently lost the Shooto Pacific Rim title fight against Xavier Lucas, and was out to redeem himself. Holdaas had other plans though, and his tactics worked. He took Niimi to the ground and with one exception (pictured here), Holdaas was never in danger.


Holdaas was able to take Niimi to the ground and inpose his will.


A good win and you will hear more from Justin Holdaas in the future!


Goutoku Onda and Yuuki really put on a show for the fans. A very close fight with both throwing leather, this was exciting to watch.


I was impressed that this fight went the distance, a true testament to the determination by both the fighters. It also gave the ring-girls work.


A very strong win by Goutoku Onda


The other non-tournament fight on the card was between Masataka Chinushi and Daiju Takase. Takase had Caol Uno in his corner, but it didnt help today. Chinushi was able to open up a cut in round 1, and Takase changed his tactics in the 2nd.


Coming out in the 2nd, Takase tried to go for a takedown, but Chinushi was able to sprawl and avoid it. With just seconds left of the fight, Chinushi loads and lands this right to end the fight early.


A good win for Masataka Chinushi.


The last 5 fights were part of the heavyweight kick- and MMA-rule tournaments. First up was the kick-rule fight between Moon Bo Ram and Nobutaka Baba. Moon Bo Ram proved to be much stronger than he looked.


Moon lands this uppercut that ends the night early for Baba.


Moon Bo Ram moves on in the tournament.


Makoto Uehara and Sun Wu had an unexpected ending, there was a scramble along the fence and Wu went down with pain in the groin area. The ref did not see an illegal blow, an Wu were not allocated time to recover. He was unable to continue and Uehara got the win in another good fight.


Dong Yi Yang was facing Ryuta Noji in an MMA-rules fight. Dong took Noji down early, and for large parts of round 1 Noji was fighting his way out of submissions.

First an arm-bar


Then a triangle choke


But Noji survived to round 2.


In the end I think Ryuta Noji got tired and Dong Yi Yang got a good win.


The last kick-rule of the night was "Prince" Ali against K-1 veteran Hiromi Amada. This is my pick for fight of the night, an awesome performance by both fighters.

"Prince" Ali looked in control early and was able to use his reach to knock Amada down.


But the veteran was able to fight back. With just 30 seconds left, "Prince" Ali's corner threw in the towel to save their fighter.


Hiromi Amada moves into the tournament semi-final.


The main event saw the return of Sentoryu facing Junpei Hamada. Sentoryu came out strong and had Hamada on the run early.


Sentoryu took Hamada to the ground and I am not sure if he got injured in the takedown or if it was this punch that finished the fight, either way you look like it, Sentoryu showed how strong he is.



A very good night of fights and I cant wait for the finals!!

The March event should include:
Welterweight MMA-Rule Final: Justin Holdaas vs. Max Fernandes
Middleweight Kick-Rule Final: Kinji vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)

Heavyweight MMA-Rule Semi-Final Participants:
Sentoryu
Dong Yi Yang
Christiano Kaminishi
Sang Soo Lee

Heavyweight Kick-Rule Semi-Final Participants:
Makoto Uehara
Hiromi Amada
Moon Bo Ram
Goutoku Onda

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12/14 HEAT 8 - Differ Ariake - LIVE Results

I am ringside for this event, and it should be a good one. On the card are some very good fighters, among them Pride veteran Sentoryu, Kyokushin champion Ryuta Noji and Korean rising star Dong Yi Yang (the guy that got a controversial win over Pawel Nastula in Sengoku 4).

On the card are also middleweight kick- and welterweight MMA-rule fights. The winners will be crowned in HEAT 9 and will be awarded the HEAT championship belt and JPY1,000,000. There are some very talented fighters and you will hear more about guys like Justin Holdaas and Max Fernandez in the future!

These are the HEAT championship belts:
Kick-Rule Middleweight


MMA-Rule Welterweight


Today's main event will see Sentoryu face Junpei Hamada


It was my first time at a HEAT event, and their debut in Tokyo. Seeing it in that perspective, it was a very good event and I think the organizers should be very happy.

Sentoryu got a good win after almost 2 years out of the ring. He proved that he is still strong and the fight ended early in the 1st when Hamada looked like he was injured in a take down, it could have been a punch on the ground but to me it looked like Hamada was holding his arm. Either way, a strong performance by Sentoryu!

Fight of the night for me was the kick-rule fight between "Prince" Ali and Hiromi Amada. Iranian Ali came out strong and his counters and combinations were constantly landing. Both fighters needed to take count in the round, but Amada definately came out the loser in the 1st. The second round Amada got back into it, and inspite being bloody from the punishment in the 1st started finding his range. In the 3rd, Amada showed his experience. "Prince" Ali's corner was forced to throw in the towel to save him from the onslaught with less than 30 seconds to go.

The welterweight MMA rule fights went as I expected. Justin Holdaas and Max Fernandez both put in very strong performances and that should be a very good final! These are 2 fighters I am sure we will hear from in the future.

Fight Order:
Heavyweight tournaments 1st round:
11. Main-Event: MMA-Rule: Sentoryu Def. Junpei Hamada by KO Round 1 0:50
10. Kick-Rule: Hiromi Amada Def. "Prince" Ali by TKO (towel) Round 3 2:32
9. MMA-Rule: Dong Yi Yang Def. Ryuta Noji by TKO Round 2 3:46

8. Kick-Rule: Makoto Uehara Def. Sun Wu by TKO Round 2 1:10
A good fight that has an unexpected ending, in a scramble along the fence Wu comes out with a low blow of some sort. The ref didnt see any illegal blow and Wu's corner is forced to throw in the towel.

7. Kick-Rule: Moon Bo Ram Def. Nobutaka Baba by KO Round 2 1:07
Moon looked the stronger fighter in round 1, coming out in round 2 he lands a devastating right uppercut that ends the fight.

Non-Tournament Fights:
6. MMA Rule 88kg: Masataka Chinushi Def. Daiju Takase by TKO Round 2 4:57
With just seconds left of the fight Chinushi lands a right that knocks Takase to the ground. Chinushi follows up and the ref is forced to stop the fight.

There is a 10 minute break. There is a pretty goodd crowd in Differ Ariake, probably about 80% full, and good atmosphere.

5. Kick-Rule Open weight: Goutoku Onda Def. Yuuki by Decision 2-0
A very good fight! Both fighters were throwing bombs and the fans really got into it. In the end Onda got the ddecision.

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament Semi-Final:
4. Justin Holdaas Def. Yoshitaro Niimi by Decision 3-0
Holdaas was able to get takedowns and Niimi was not able to utilize his strenght on the groound. A good win, look out for Holdaas in the future!

HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final:
3. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?) Def. Jotaro Usui by Decision 2-0

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament Semi-Final:
2. Max Fernandez Def. Hyong Yo Im by toe-hold Round 1 1:22
Fernandez got out of several submission attempts by the Korean fighter, and once he got the chance he didnt miss it.

HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final:
1. Kinji Def. Yuso Matsumoto by Decision 3-0
Strong performance by Kinji, Matsumoto had to take count several times during the fight, but survived until the end.

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HEAT - Tournaments Breakdown

I know a lot of you are not too familiar with HEAT, or the tournaments they are currently putting on. It actually includes myself, so I deceided to do a bit of research to educate myself and maybe some of you will find this interesting too.

Currently, HEAT is holding 4 tournaments there are 2 MMA-rule and 2 Kick-rule (all 8 man tournaments). The price for the winner of each tournament is JPY1,00,000 or about US$10,000, so there is a lot at stake here.

MMA-Rule Tournaments:
-Heavyweight (open weight) Tournament
Participants: Christiano Kaminishi, Minoru Kato, Sang Soo Lee, Amazon Juninho, Henry Miller "Sentoryu", Junpei Hamada, Dong Yi Yang, Ryuta Noji.
*As always with tournaments, these are subject to change.

Schedule:
Round 1: 2 fights in HEAT 7 (July 13) and 2 fights in HEAT 8 (December 14).
Semi-Finals: Planned for March 2009
Final: Planned for July/August 2009


Results update:
Round 1:
Christiano Kaminishi Def. Minoru Kato by Decision 3-0
Sang Soo Lee Def. Amazon Juninho by Decision 3-0
Henry Miller "Sentoryu" vs. Junpei Hamada fighting December 14 2008
Dong Yi Yang vs. Ryuta Noji fighting December 14 2008


-Welterweight Tournament (77.1kg)
Participants: Hyong Yo Im, Hiroshi "Butch" Masabuchi, Max Fernandez, Naoki Kimura, Yoshitaro "Buffalo" Niimi, Jun Kito, Justin Holdaas, Pedro Akira

Schedule:
Round 1: 2 fights in HEAT 6 (March 30) and 2 fights in HEAT 7 (July 13)
Semi-Finals: December 14
Finals: Plannced for March 2009

Results Update:
Round 1:
Hyong Yo Im Def. Hiroshi "Butch" Masabuchi by TKO Round 1 3:47
Max Fernandez Def. Naoki Kimura by arm-bar Round 1 1:11
Yoshitaro "Buffalo" Niimi Def. Jun Kito by Rear-naked choke Round 1 2:49
Justin Holdaas Def. Pedro Akira by TKO Round 2 4:34

Semi-Finals (December 14):
Yoshitaro Niimi 6-2-2 vs. 1-1-0 Justin Holdaas
Max Fernandez 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Hyong Yo Im


Kick-Rule Tournaments:
-Heavyweight (100kg) Tournament
Participants: Moon Bo Ram, Nobutaka Baba, Makoto Uehara, Sun Wu, "Prince" Ali, Hiromi Amada, Jason Suttie, Goutoku Onda

Schedule:
Round 1: 1 fights in HEAT 7 (July 13) and 3 fights in HEAT 8 (December 14).
Semi-Finals: Planned for March 2009
Final: Planned for July/August 2009

Result update:
Round 1:
Goutoku Onda Def. Jason Suttie by Decision 2-0

Fighting December 14:
Moon Bo Ram vs. Nobutaka Baba
Makoto Uehara vs. Sun Wu
"Prince" Ali vs. Hiromi Amada

-Middleweight (70kg) Tournament
Participants: Danilo Zanolini, Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?), Jotaro Usui, Junichi Maruyama, Park Eun Seok, Kinji, Nathan Willet, Yuso Matsumoto

Round 1: 2 fights in HEAT 6 (March 30) and 2 fights in HEAT 7 (July 13)
Semi-Finals: December 14
Finals: Plannced for March 2009

Result Update:
Round 1:
Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa Def. Danilo Zanolini by TKO
Jotaro Usui Def. Junichi Maruyama by Decision 3-0
Kinji Def. Park Eun Seok by KO Round 1 1:28
Yuso Matsumoto Def. Nathan Willet by Decision

Semi-Finals (December 14, 2008)
Jotaro Usui vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)
Yuso Matsumoto vs. Kinji

Hopefully that should give you some background behind the HEAT Tournament fights coming up on Sunday. The card and fight order is here.

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12/14 HEAT 8 - Fight Order

The fight order for Nagoya based HEAT is announced. This is their Tokyo debut and should be a good event. The event is really built up around the 2 heavyweight tournaments (MMA and kick-rule) 1st rounds.

I am really excited about this event, because it looks like I will be able to get to one of these, I've been wanting to for a long time!

The main-event is Pride veteran Sentoryu face DEEP and Mars veteran Junpei Hamada. There is so much happening on this card though, mix of talent and experienced fighters, 4 different tournaments at different stages. MMA and kick-rules...

There should be something for everyone on this card!

Fight Order:
Heavyweight tournaments 1st round:
11. Main-Event: MMA-Rule: Sentoryu 3-7-0 vs. 5-10-0 Junpei Hamada
10. Kick-Rule: "Prince" Ali vs. Hiromi Amada
9. MMA-Rule: Dong Yi Yang 3-0-0 vs. 7-3-0 Ryuta Noji
8. Kick-Rule: Makoto Uehara vs. Sun Wu
7. Kick-Rule: Moon Bo Ram vs. Nobutaka Baba

Non-Tournament Fights:
6. MMA Rule 88kg: Daiju Takase 7-12-1 vs. 1-4-1 Masataka Chinushi
5. Kick-Rule Open weight: Goutoku Onda vs. Yuuki

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament Semi-Final:
4. Yoshitaro Niimi 6-2-2 vs. 1-1-0 Justin Holdaas

HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final:
3. Jotaro Usui vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament Semi-Final:
2. Max Fernandez 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Hyong Yo Im

HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final:
1. Yuso Matsumoto vs. Kinji

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12/14 HEAT 8 - Differ Ariake - Injury forces change

There has been a change on this card. K-1 veteran Tatsufumi Tomihara has had to pull out due to injury. No doubt a loss, but they have found a worthy replacement.

Taking Tomihara's place in the tournament is another K-1 veteran, Hiromi Amada. Amada will be taking on Iranian "Prince Ali".

This is a very good card for HEAT's Tokyo debut. If you are in Tokyo, this event is being held at Differ Ariake. On the card are fighters like Sentoryu, Yoshitaro Niimi, Ryuta Noji and Dong Yi Yang.

HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Jotaro Usui vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)
Yuso Matsumoto vs. Kinji

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Max Fernandez 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Hyong Yo Im
Yoshitaro Niimi 6-2-2 vs. 1-1-0 Justin Holdaas

HEAT Kick-Rule Heavyweight Tournament 1st Round
Makoto Uehara vs. Sun Wu
"Prince" Ali vs. Hiromi Amada
Moon Bo Ram vs. Nobutaka Baba

HEAT MMA-Rule Heavyweight Tournament
Sentoryu 3-7-0 vs. 5-10-0 Junpei Hamada
Dong Yi Yang 3-0-0 vs. 7-3-0 Ryuta Noji

Non-Tournament Fights
Kick-Rule Open weight: Goutoku Onda vs. Yuuki
MMA Rule 88kg: Daiju Takase 7-12-1 vs. 1-4-1 Masataka Chinushi

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12/14 HEAT 8 - Differ Ariake **UPDATED**

HEAT is a Nagoya based organization, but they normally make 1 trip a year to Tokyo. This year it will happen on December 14. There will be both kick- and MMA rule fights, and it should be a good event.

On the card we will see the return of Sentoryu, something I am looking forward to, win or lose its always exciting. Also on the card is (I think, Korean names are very hard for me to work out...) Dong Yi Yang. If I am not mistaken this is the guy that ruined Pawel Natsula's return to fighting (it was really the ref that runied it, but Dong got the win).

I have posted a couple of fights here.

****UPDATED: Fights in Heavyweight MMA and Kick Rule Announced****
Sentoryu is fighting Junpei Hamada, and Korean talent Dong Yi Yang is fighting Ryuta Noji in what should be a very exciting fight.


Announced:
HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Jotaro Usui vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)
Yuso Matsumoto vs. Kinji

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Max Fernandez 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Hyong Yo Im
Yoshitaro Niimi 6-2-2 vs. 1-1-0 Justin Holdaas

HEAT Kick-Rule Heavyweight Tournament 1st Round
Makoto Uehara vs. Sun Wu
"Prince" Ali vs. Tatsufumi Tomihira
Moon Bo Ram vs. Nobutaka Baba

HEAT MMA-Rule Heavyweight Tournament
Sentoryu 3-7-0 vs. 5-10-0 Junpei Hamada
Dong Yi Yang 3-0-0 vs. 7-3-0 Ryuta Noji

Non-Tournament Fights
Kick-Rule Open weight: Goutoku Onda vs. Yuuki
MMA Rule 88kg: Daiju Takase 7-12-1 vs. 1-4-1 Masataka Chinushi

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12/14 HEAT 8 - In Tokyo!

HEAT is coming to Tokyo! Normally they hold their events in Nagoya, but in December HEAT is taking their show on the road and hitting Differ Ariake! I have never been to a HEAT event (actually never been to Nagoya), but from what I have seen of them they put on a good show. I have put a couple of videos on the bottom so you can see what it looks like. The rules are no elbows (both Kick and MMA rule).

Not sure how to spell his name... Fabiakato Lukafa has 115 pro Muay Thai fight with a W-L record of 90-25 and a pro-boxing record of 14-1.

Announced so far:
HEAT Kick-Rule Middleweight Tournament
Jotaro Usui vs. Fabiakato "RS Promotion" Lukafa (?)
Yuso Matsumoto vs. Kinji

HEAT MMA-Rule Welterweight Tournament
Max Fernandez 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Hyong Yo Im
Yoshitaro Niimi 6-2-2 vs. 1-1-0 Justin Holdaas

There will also be heavyweight fights, both MMA (2 fights) and Kick-rule (3 fights) tournament fights.

This is a fight with Kick-Rule, Tatsufumi Tomihira vs. Big Mo from HEAT 4 August 11 2007.


MMA Fight: Hiroshi Uemura vs. Seo Su In from the same event.

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