12/13 Shooto Rookie Tournament Finals - RESULTS

Earlier today Shooto held their traditional Rookie Tournament finals. There were lots of close fights on the card, and 3 of the rookie tournament finals had to go an extra (3rd) round before the judges could pick the winner.

Krazy Bee's Yusuke Yachi won the lightweight final, and got the MVP award.

9. Welter: Guy Delameau Def. Mateus Irie Nechio by decision 3-0
8. Fly: Junji "Sarumaru" Ito Def. "Heat" Takeshi Sato by Decision 3-0
7. Feather: Naohiro "Chokugeki Gamon" Mizuno Def. Yuta Nezu by decision 3-0

Rookie Tournament Finals:
6. Light: Yusuke Yachi Def. Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura by chickenwing Round 2 2:21
5. Fly: Hiroyuki "Ron" Kondo Def. Yusuke Sato by Decision 3-0 (after ext.)
4. Feather: Keita Yoshida Def. Haruo Ochi by Decision 3-0 (after ext.)
3. Welter: Koji Matsumoto Def. "Gypsy" Taro Kusano by Decision 3-0
2. Bantam: Yosuke "Flying Monkey No.2" Saruta Def. Nozomi Otsuka by Decision 3-0 (after ext.)
1. Heavy: Takahiro "Jaian" Suzuki Def. Takashi Goto by rear-naked choke Round 1 3:52

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12/13 Shooto Rookie Tournament Finals

The traditional Rookie tournament finals take place in Shinjuku Face on December 13.

As usual there are some talented fighters. The welterweight final should be very interesting, Matsumoto has won all his fights within the distance and is coming in with a lot of comfidence. As usual the best fights should be in the featherweight and lightweight divisions, it looks that way this year as well.

This year they have added a heavyweight tournament as well.

In non-tournament fights, Yuta Nezu will be looking to build on his impressive Shooto record, but he is facing a very tough opponent in Naohiro Mizuno, the loser in last years rookie tournament final.

Non-Tournament Fights:
Welter: Guy Delameau 11-5-1 vs. 5-3-0 Mateus Irie Nechio
Fly: "Heat" Takeshi Sato 8-8-1 vs. 4-2-0 Junji "Sarumaru" Ito
Feather: Yuta Nezu 8-3-1 vs. 6-2-1 Naohiro "Chokugeki Gamon" Mizuno

Rookie Tournament Finals:
Heavy: Takashi Goto 1-0-1 vs. 2-1-0 Takahiro "Jaian" Suzuki
Welter: Koji Matsumoto 3-0-0 vs. 3-3-2 "Gypsy" Taro Kusano
Light: Yusuke Yachi 2-0-0 vs. vs. 5-1-0 Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura
Feather: Keita Yoshida 4-0-2 vs. vs. 4-1-0 Haruo Ochi
Bantam: Nozomi Otsuka 3-1-1 vs. 2-2-0 Yosuke "Flying Monkey No.2" Saruta
Fly: Yusuke Sato 3-1 vs. 3-2- Hiroyuki "Ron" Kondo

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3/8 Shooto BORDER- Season 1 - RESULTS

The "other" event last night took place in Osaka. This one was sold out, and I am sure the crowd enjoyed it. Most of the fights went the distance, and that shows that there were some competitive fight here.

The main event saw veteran Junji Ikoma come out on top against last years rookie tournament champion and the previously undefeated Fumihiro Kitahara.

The co-main event saw another rookie tournament champion, Kosuke Eda draw his fight with Hiroyuki Tanaka.

Junji Ikoma Def. Fumihiro Kitahara by Decision 2-0
Kosuke Eda vs. Hiroyuki Tanaka Draw
Kazuya Satomoto Def. Yukinari "Hibiki" Tamura by TKO (doctor stop) Round 2 1:10

Rookie Tournament Fights:
Light: Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura Def. Takayoshi Ono by Decision 3-0
Welter: "Gypsy" Taro Kusano Def. Hiroshi Sugimoto by Decision 2-0
Feather: Keita Yoshida vs. Joji Kawamata "Joestar" Draw
Fly: Teppei Masuda Def. Hiroyuki "Ron" Kondo by Decision 3-0

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3/8 Shooto -BORDER- Season 1 - The complete card *Reminder*

***REMINDER***
Thought it would be useful just to remind you that its not only DREAM taking place tomorrow. This Shooto event is also taking place in Osaka, and is nearly sold out. There is still standing room available, those tickets are JPY4,000.
**************************************

TK Promotion and Shooto Japan is putting on what should be a very interesting card in Hirano City center on March 8. Already the card is finalized, so they cant be blamed for not being properly prepared.

There are 7 fights on the card, and the last 2 should be very interesting. In addition to that, there is of course some Rookie Tournament fights on as well.

The main event is Shooto veteran Junji Ikoma against 2008 rookie tournament winner, the unbeaten Fumihiro Kitahara. Ikoma finished 2008 ranked #4, but he didnt have the best of years. Though he didnt lose any fights, he only managed to win 1 of 4 (2 draws against Jin Akimoto).

The co-main event sees the Pacific ranked #10 Hiroyuki Tanaka take on another 2008 Rookie Tournament champion in Kosuke Eda. So, 2 of last years Rookie Tournament champions get a chance to improve their rankings early in 2009. I am sure that will give the fighters who are in this year's tournament some extra inspiration when they have their first round fight in this card.

7. Main-Event: Bantam: Junji Ikoma 11-9-4 vs. 4-0-0 Fumihiro Kitahara
6. Feather: Kosuke Eda 7-2-2 vs. 6-5-1 Hiroyuki Tanaka
5. Welter: Yukinari "Hibiki" Tamura 8-2-4 vs. 4-2-0 Kazuya Satomoto

Rookie Tournament Fights:
4. Light: Takayoshi Ono 4-4-1 vs. 2-1-0 Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura
3. Welter: "Gypsy" Taro Kusano 1-2-1 vs. 1-1-1 Hiroshi Sugimoto
2. Feather: Keita Yoshida 2-0-1 vs. 3-2-2 Joji Kawamata "Joestar"
1. Fly: Teppei Masuda 1-2-1 vs. 1-1-0 Hiroyuki "Ron" Kondo

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11/22 Shooto GIG North Vol. 3 - RESULTS

Shooto kicked off a busy few weeks in Japanese MMA yesterday. A good event in Sapporo which saw home town favorite Mori face the veteran Ikoma.

There was a lot of talent on this card, in addition to a great exhibition fight. The results are below the jump.

Takuya Mori vs. Junji Ikoma DRAW
Tatsuya Yamamoto Def. Kazuyuki Yoshida by Rear-naked Choke Round 2 2:09
Exhibition: Fumihiro Kitahara vs. Yusuke Honma
Taro Kusano Def. Hidekazu "Aniki" Asakura by Decision 3-0
Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura Def. Michiyuki "Aroi" Ishibashi by decision 3-0
Junpei Chikano Def. Yoshiki Noguchi by Decision 3-0
Atsushi Mochiduki Def. Takeshi Sato by decision 3-0
Takashi Nikuni Def. Toshiaki Hayasaka by arm-bar Round 2 4:03

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11/22 Shooto GIG North Vol. 3 - ***REMINDER***

***Reminder*** This event is being held today in ZEPP Sapporo. I will update the results as soon as they become available.

Shooto have announced Takuya Mori's opponent for Shooto Gig North on November 22. With that the card is complete.

There is no surprise that Mori is in the main event, this time he will face the veteran Junji Ikoma who is currently ranked #6. If Mori was to win this, it would mean a boost to his ranking, and he would have to be considered an outsider against the 9 years older Ikoma.

It should be a good night of fights, and some of these fighters will get their first taste of victory.

Main Event:
7. Bantam: Takuya Mori 5-3-0 vs. 11-9-3 Junji Ikoma

6. Fly: Tatsuya Yamamoto 1-2-0 vs. 0-1-0 Kazuyuki Yoshida
5. Welter: Hidekazu "Aniki" Asakura 1-4-0 vs. 0-2-1 Taro Kusano
4. Welter: Michiyuki "Aroi" Ishibashi 1-4-1 vs. Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura
3. Welter: Yoshiki Noguchi 0-3-0 vs. 0-3-0 Junpei Chikano
2. Fly: Takeshi Sato 0-1-0 vs. Atsushi Mochiduki
1. Light: Takashi Nikuni vs. Toshiaki Hayasaka

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11/22 Shooto Gig North Vol. 3

Shooto have announced the first fights for their GIG North event in Sapporo. The event will be held in Zepp Sapporo and the fighters are mostly pretty inexperienced. There are a couple of debutants and a few fighters that is trying to get their first win.

As usual on these cards, Takuya Mori is set to participate.

Welter: Michiyuki "Aroi" Ishibashi 1-4-1 vs. Tsuneo "Jackknife" Kimura
Welter: Hidekazu "Aniki" Asakura 1-4-0 vs. 0-2-1 Taro Kusano
Light: Takashi Nikuni vs. Toshiaki Hayasaka
Fly: Takeshi Sato 0-1-0 vs. Atsushi Mochiduki
Welter: Yoshiki Noguchi 0-3-0 vs. 0-3-0 Junpei Chikano
Welter: Tatsuya Yamamoto 1-2-0 vs. 0-1-0 Kazuyuki Yoshida

Participating:
Takuya Mori 5-3-0

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