6/7 Pancrase Changing Tour - RESULTS (Updated with Noe-Blood Results)

The main card of this event starts with a bang, as Sengoku veteran Ryo Kawamura takes on Yukiya Naito. From what I have heard, it turned into an awesome fight! It was followed by another good fight between Kosei Kobuta and Shingo Suzuki.

The names just keep coming on this card!

The event is taking place right now, and I will update the results as they become available.

Main-Event:
Satoru Kitaoka Def. Yukio Sakaguchi by achilles hold Round 1 1:26
A predictable end to this event. Everone knows what to expect from Kitaoka, but he is too strong and gets an impressive win.

Flyweight King of Pancrase:
Mitsuhisa Sunabe Def. Takuya Eizumi by KO Round 1 4:35

Koji Oishi Def. Kim Hyung Kwang by Decision 2-0
Takenori Sato Def. Kim Hoon by arm-bar Round 1 4:26
Choi Mu Bae Def. Katsuhisa Fujii by Decision 3-0
Seiya Kawahara Def. Tatsuya So by Decision 3-0
Keiichiro Yamamiya Def. Ryuji Ohori by KO Round 1 1:01
(right hook 1 punch KO)
Isao Hirose Def. Takashi Nakamura by Decision 3-0
Tashiro "Akai" Nishiuchi Def. Takumi Murata by Decision 2-0
Kosei Kubota vs. Shingo Suzuki DRAW
Ryo Kawamura Def. Yukiya Naito by Decision 3-0

Neo-Blood Tournament Semi-Finals:
Light: Isao Kobayashi Def. Koji Nakamura by KO Round 2 1:03
Light: Hiro Tomiyama def. Keigo Hirayama by Decision 3-0
Feather: Yo Saito Def. Yasutomo Tanaka by Guillotine Choke Round 1 1:29
Feather: Shigeyuki Uchiyama Def. Hiroshi Tomita by TKO Round 1 1:27
Bantam: Nobuhiro Yoshitake Def. Ranki Kawana by split decision
Bantam: Ryota Sasaki Def. Taro Shimazaki by rear-naked choke Round 1 4:23
Fly: Kiyotaka Shimizu Def. Takuma Ishii by rear-naked choke Round 1 4:00
Fly: Yuki Yashima Def. Daisuke Tsujita by Kimura Round 1 2:24

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6/7 Pancrase Changing Tour - Weigh-In & Fight Order

It is a stacked card that Pancrase is putting on in Differ Ariake tomorrow (Sunday). The fact that Sengoku veteran Ryo Kawamura opens the main card should be an indication of how stacked this card is. The Pancrase Light-Heavyweight title holder is fighting in a non-title fight.

The main event will see Sengoku Lightweight title holder Satoru Kitaoka take on Pancrase and DREAM (Dynamite) veteran Yukio Sakagushi. This fight will probably last around 1 minute. Either a KO to Sakaguchi, or a more likely submission to Kitaoka.

The co-main event is the Flyweight King of Pancrase title fight between Mitsuhisa Sunabe and Yukio Sakaguchi. Also on the card is Isao Hirose, with a win here he should be next in line for a title shot.

Another Sengoku veteran fighting in this event is Korean standout Choi Mu Bae, who defeated Dave Hermann in the last Sengoku event. He is taking on Pride veteran Katsuhisa Fujii.

Differ Ariake should be packed for this event!

Weigh-in results after the fight order.

Fight Order:
19. Light: Satoru Kitaoka 24-8-9 vs. 3-4-0 Yukio Sakaguchi

Flyweight King of Pancrase:
18. Mitsuhisa Sunabe 8-5-3 vs. 5-1-0 Takuya Eizumi

17. Light: Koji Oishi 17-8-6 vs. 2-2-0 Kim Hyung Kwang
16. Middle: Takenori Sato 8-5-4 vs. Kim Hoon
15. Heavy: Choi Mu Bae 8-3-0 vs. 9-16-1 Katsuhisa Fujii
14. Bantam: Seiya Kawahara 6-2-0 vs. 3-2-1 Tatsuya So
13. Middle: Keiichiro Yamamiya 34-24-9 vs. 3-4-0 Ryuji Ohori
12. Fly: Isao Hirose 5-0-0 vs. 0-1-0 Takashi Nakamura
11. Feather: Tashiro "Akai" Nishiuchi 10-5-9 vs. 4-8-6 Takumi Murata
10. Welter: Kosei Kubota 24-30-10 vs. 1-1-0 Shingo Suzuki
9. Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 9-4-2 vs. 15-5-2 Yukiya Naito

Neo-Blood Semi-Finals:
8. Fly: Daisuke Tsujita 3-0-0 vs. 3-4-1 Yuki Yashima
7. Fly: Takuma Ishii 2-3-1 vs. 1-1-1 Kiyotaka Shimizu
6. Bantam: Taro Shimazaki 5-1-1 vs. 2-2-1 Ryota Sasaki
5. Bantam: Nobuhiro Yoshitake 1-4-1 vs. 10-1-6 Ranki Kawana
4. Feather: Shigeyuki Uchiyama 5-0-0 vs. 1-0-1 Hiroshi Tomita
3. Feather: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-2-4 vs. 0-1-0 Akira Saito
2. Light: Keigo Hirayama 7-4-3 vs. Hiro Tomiyama
1. Light: Koji Nakamura vs. 2-0-0 Isao Kobayashi

Weigh-in:
Satoru Kitaoka 70.2 kg
Yukio Sakaguchi 69.0 kg

Mitsuhisa Sunabe 56.9 kg
Takuya Eizumi 56.7 kg

Koji Oishi 70.1 kg
Kim Hyoung Kwang 70.1 kg

Takenori Sato 83.8 kg
Kim Hoon 83.8 kg

Choi Mu Bae 112.6 kg
Katsuhisa Fujii 105.1 kg

Seiya Kawahara 61.2kg → 61.1kg
Tatsuya So

13. Middle: Kei Yamamiya 83.4 kg
Ryuji Ohori 83.5 kg

12. Fly: Isao Hirose 57.8 kg
Takashi Nakamura 57.7 kg

Tashiro Akai 65.3 kg
Takumi Murata 64.9 kg

Kosei Kubota　76.9 kg
Shingo Suzuki 76.6 kg

Ryo Kawamura 92.9 kg
Yukiya Naito 91.5 kg

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2/1 Pancrase Changing Tour 1 - Fights Announced!

Pancrase was IMO one of the most improved promotions last year. They will hold their first event of 2009 February 1 in Differ Ariake and they are looking to continue their momentum.

Pancrase have confirmed an opponent for their veteran Takafumi Ito. Ito has fought every year (except 2000) since his Pancrase debut 14 (!) years ago, and all except 2 of his 71 fights have been in Pancrase. This time he is taking on a new comer in "AB", last year's Neo-Blood tournament finalist. "AB" has had a very hard Pancrase career so far, being fed to some of the best talent around, so don't pay too much attention to his record. I really hope he gets to show something in this fight.

Added:
Feather: Masaya Takita "J-Taro" 9-10-2 vs. 19-4-0 Jameel "The Sargent" Massouh
Fly: Takuya Eizumi 3-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Tokuaki Ninomiya
Welter: Shingo Suzuki 1-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 "Strasser" Kiichi Kunimoto
Light: Takafumi Ito 34-27-10 vs. 0-2-0 Hiroki "AB" Aoki

Previously Announced:
Feather: Kenji Arai 13-12-2 vs. 10-5-5 Masanori Kanehara
Welter: Asaki Honda 4-3-1 vs. 24-28-10 Kousei Kubota
Middle: Ryuji Ohori 3-3-0 vs. 7-5-4 Takenori Sato

Participating:
Katsuya Inoue 17-6-3

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2/1 Pancrase Changing Tour 1 - First Fights Announced!

Pancrase have announced the first 3 fights for their Changing Tour debut. ZST standout, Masanori Kanehara will be making his Pancrase debut against Kenji Arai. Arai had an ok 2008, and will be looking to improve in 2009. He starts the year ranked #3 and his goal would be to get the title.

Also added is the welterweight bout between Asaki Honda and Kousei Kubota. Honda went 0-2 (lost to the finalists in the welterweight tournament) in 2008, he will be looking to start 2009 off with a win! Kubota returns to Pancrase after 5 years fighting mainly in DEEP. He is an experienced competitor that seems to have been around much longer than his 31 years would suggest, he made his Pancrase debut in 1997. Also added is the middleweight fight between Ryuji Ohori and Takenori Sato.

Lets hope Pancrase is able to start 2009 on the same note they left 2008, the last few events have really been good!

Announced:
Feather: Kenji Arai 13-12-2 vs. 10-5-5 Masanori Kanehara
Welter: Asaki Honda 4-3-1 vs. 24-28-10 Kousei Kubota
Middle: Ryuji Ohori 3-3-0 vs. 7-5-4 Takenori Sato

Participating:
Takafumi Ito 34-27-10
Yuichi Ikari 10-5-3

The event will be held in Differ Ariake. This event will have some Neo-Blood Tournament fights, that means an early start, 14:30. The main card will start at 17:00.

Ticket Prices:
SS: 10,000円
A: 8,000円
B: 6,000円
C: 5,000円

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - RESULTS

Pancrase Neo-Blood finals NEVER disappoint! An awesome event again. There were lots on new exciting fighters on the card (Kawahara in addition to the Neo-Blood finals) and add to that established Pancrase names like Yuki Kondo and Kenji Arai and its a good night of fights.

Tonight was all about the Neo-Blood finals though (the main-event got cancelled). Fight of the night IMO went to Isao vs. Eizumi. An awesome fight were Isao dominated round 1 and Eizumi was the better in round 2.

Neo-Blood Tournament MVP went to Lightweight champion Steve Magdaleno! I have already said that I have been impressed by him, and this is someone most organizations should look at now! I hope to have an interview with him in the next couple of weeks (my second!!!!), send me questions if you have something you want to know about him (my e-mail is top right).

Yuki Kondo was undamaged after his fight and will most likely be in the Sengoku Middleweight GP next.

The Sengoku "sponsered" (not sure what it means) Maximo Blanco spoiled his chances to get an easy win by head-butting (accidental), then not breaking, THEN stomping his opponent. IMO he was lucky not to get a DQ in this fight. A very talented guy though.

***UPDATE***
Just on my comment on Maximo Blanco there, the head-butt happened during a takedown, TOTALLY accidental. It was this that lead to a cut, that in turn lead to the no-contest. It does not excuse the rest though, but it needs to be put straight. My original comment on this could be misleading.

There will be pictures shortly.

9. MW: Yuki Kondo Def. Ryuji Ohori by KO Round 2 2:41
8. FW: Kenji Arai Def. Manabu Inoue by Decision 3-0
7. BW: Seiya Kawahara Def. Kentaro Imaizumi by TKO (Cut) Round 1 2:09
6. LW: Yuichi Ikari Def. Eriya Matsuda by TKO (Cut) Round 2 4:09
5. WW: Masahiro Toryu Def. Tomoyoshi Iwamiya by Decision 2-0
4. LW: Maximo Blanco vs. Yuki Yashima No-Contest

Neo-Blood Finals:
3. Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno Def. Hiroki Aoki “AB” by TKO Round 1 4:47
2. Featherweight: Hirotoshi Saito Def. Yasutomo Tanaka by Decision 3-0
1. Bantamweight: Isao Hirose Def. Takuya Eizumi by Decision 3-0

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - Main Event Cancelled!

A shocking developement in front of the Neo-Blood Tournement Finals. The main event is cancelled! Even more surprising is the reason, Shinsuke Shoji is retiring from professional MMA just a week before his title fight! There is no other expaination given in his e-mail than, he is retiring for personal reasons...

Pancrase have tried to find a replacement, but been unable to in the short time.
They are offering ticket refunds: TEL 03-5792-0815（11：00～20：00）
http://www.kamipro.com/news/?id=1219236244

A related rumor, Yuki Kondo might compete in the Sengoku Middleweight Tournament. His participation would depend on him not getting injured in this event.

Cancelled:
10. King of Pancarase LW: Koji Oishi 16-7-5 vs. 6-3-2 Shinsuke Shoji

The remaining card:
9. MW: Yuki Kondo 48-22-6 vs. 3-2-0 Ryuji Ohori
8. FW: Kenji Arai 12-12-2 vs. 6-4-1 Manabu Inoue
7. BW: Seiya Kawahara 5-0-0 vs. 9-6-5 Kentaro Imaizumi
6. LW: Yuichi Ikari 9-4-3 vs. 6-4-0 Eriya Matsuda
5. WW: Masahiro Toryu 5-3-3 vs. 4-6-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya
4. LW: Maximo Blanco vs. 2-4-1 Yuki Yashima

Neo-Blood Finals:
3. Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno 4-0-1 vs. Hiroki Aoki “AB”
2. Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-1-3 vs. 1-0-0 Hirotoshi Saito
1. Bantamweight: Takuya Eizumi 1-0-0 vs. 2-0-0 Isao Hirose

Pancrase Gate 2x5min.:
Middleweight: Shingo Suzuki vs　Kenji Narita
Lightweight: Shigetomo Takahashi vs.　Yuichi Inafuku
Featherweight: Takeshi Egami vs.　Junro Kubota

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - 14th Neo-Blood Finals

Pancrase have added some Pancrase Gate fights to the card since I lost posted the card. I am really looking forward to this event, it was great last year and I am sure this year will be no different.

This is the 14th time Pancrase is holding the Neo-Blood tournament, and you can see the complete list of champions here.

This year's card looks like this:
10. King of Pancarase LW: Koji Oishi 16-7-5 vs. 6-3-2 Shinsuke Shoji
9. MW: Yuki Kondo 48-22-6 vs. 3-2-0 Ryuji Ohori
8. FW: Kenji Arai 12-12-2 vs. 6-4-1 Manabu Inoue
7. BW: Seiya Kawahara 5-0-0 vs. 9-6-5 Kentaro Imaizumi
6. LW: Yuichi Ikari 9-4-3 vs. 6-4-0 Eriya Matsuda
5. WW: Masahiro Toryu 5-3-3 vs. 4-6-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya
4. LW: Maximo Blanco vs. 2-4-1 Yuki Yashima

Neo-Blood Finals:
3. Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno 4-0-1 vs. Hiroki Aoki “AB”
2. Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-1-3 vs. 1-0-0 Hirotoshi Saito
1. Bantamweight: Takuya Eizumi 1-0-0 vs. 2-0-0 Isao Hirose

Pancrase Gate 2x5min.:
Middleweight: Shingo Suzuki vs　Kenji Narita
Lightweight: Shigetomo Takahashi vs.　Yuichi Inafuku
Featherweight: Takeshi Egami vs.　Junro Kubota

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - Fight Order

Pancrase has added a fight to their already very good card. This is also the fight order.

The fight added is #4. I dont know who Maximo Blanco (have a feeling that spelling might be off too) is listed as a Venzuelian wrestler and should be more than a handful for Yashima.

***Update***
NoB has the scoop on who Blanco (I will go with their spelling) is.

Otherwise, if you're going to this event, make sure you get in early so you dont miss the Neo-Blood finals. I will be there for sure!

Fight Order:
10. King of Pancarase LW: Koji Oishi 16-7-5 vs. 6-3-2 Shinsuke Shoji
9. MW: Yuki Kondo 48-22-6 vs. 3-2-0 Ryuji Ohori
8. FW: Kenji Arai 12-12-2 vs. 6-4-1 Manabu Inoue
7. BW: Seiya Kawahara 5-0-0 vs. 9-6-5 Kentaro Imaizumi
6. LW: Yuichi Ikari 9-4-3 vs. 6-4-0 Eriya Matsuda
5. WW: Masahiro Toryu 5-3-3 vs. 4-6-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya
4. LW: Maximo Blanco vs. 2-4-1 Yuki Yashima

Neo-Blood Finals:
3. Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno 4-0-1 vs. Hiroki Aoki “AB”
2. Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-1-3 vs. 1-0-0 Hirotoshi Saito
1. Bantamweight: Takuya Eizumi 1-0-0 vs. 2-0-0 Isao Hirose

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - Kawahara's Opponent Announced

Pancrase have now announced Seiya Kawahara's opponent, it is Kentaro Imaizumi. Imaizumi has not won since his win over Jin Akimoto in 2004, however he has fought quality opponents. Ryota Matsune and Takeya Mizugaki to name a couple. Kawahara is unbeaten at 5-0.

Added:
BW: Seiya Kawahara 5-0-0 vs. 9-6-5 Kentaro Imaizumi

Previously Announced:
King of Pancarase LW: Koji Oishi 16-7-5 vs. 6-3-2 Shinsuke Shoji
FW: Kenji Arai 12-12-2 vs. 6-4-1 Manabu Inoue
MW: Yuki Kondo 48-22-6 vs. 3-2-0 Ryuji Ohori
LW: Yuichi Ikari 9-4-3 vs. 6-4-0 Eriya Matsuda
WW: Masahiro Toryu 5-3-3 vs. 4-6-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya

Neo-Blood Finals:
Bantamweight: Takuya Eizumi 1-0-0 vs. 2-0-0 Isao Hirose
Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-1-3 vs. 1-0-0 Hirotoshi Saito
Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno 4-0-1 vs. Hiroki Aoki “AB”

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - Fights added

Pancrase have added another 2 fights to the Neo-Blood Finals card. Shinsuke Shoji is fighting Koji Oishi in what will be a King of Pancrase title fight (this confuses me, but its what it says).

LW: Koji Oishi 16-7-5 vs. 6-3-2 Shinsuke Shoji
FW: Kenji Arai 12-12-2 vs. 6-4-1 Manabu Inoue
MW: Yuki Kondo 48-22-6 vs. 3-2-0 Ryuji Ohori
LW: Yuichi Ikari 9-4-3 vs. 6-4-0 Eriya Matsuda
WW: Masahiro Toryu 5-3-3 vs. 4-6-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya

Neo-Blood Finals:
Bantamweight: Takuya Eizumi 1-0-0 vs. 2-0-0 Isao Hirose
Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-1-3 vs. 1-0-0 Hirotoshi Saito
Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno 4-0-1 vs. Hiroki Aoki

Participating:
Seiya Kawahara 5-0-0

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8/27 Pancrase Shining Tour - Yuki Kondo Added

Pancrase has added a fight to this card. Yuki Kondo is fighting! Also confirmed as a participant is the very talented Seiya Kawahara, I cant wait to see who they will match him with.

This is the card so far:
MW: Yuki Kondo 48-22-6 vs. 3-2-0 Ryuji Ohori
LW: Yuichi Ikari 9-4-3 vs. 6-4-0 Eriya Matsuda
WW: Masahiro Toryu 5-3-3 vs. 4-6-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya

Neo-Blood Finals:
Bantamweight: Takuya Eizumi 1-0-0 vs. 2-0-0 Isao Hirose
Featherweight: Yasutomo Tanaka 5-1-3 vs. 1-0-0 Hirotoshi Saito
Lightweight: Steve Magdaleno 4-0-1 vs. Hiroki Aoki

Participating:
Koji Oishi 16-7-5
Kenji Arai 12-12-2
Seiya Kawahara 5-0-0

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