3/8 DREAM 7 - Fight Order

FEG have announced the fight order for Sunday's Featherweight GP Round 1. The main event is the fight between Masakazu Imanari and Atsushi Yamamoto, and I cant see it going the distance.

The night will be kicking off with a fight that I think might be fight of the night, Otsuka vs. Bibiano. It should be a close fight and I think it will be very entertaining.

This event is all about the featherweights, but there will be other big names on the card as well, including Tatsuya Kawajiri, Shinya Aoki and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

Main-Event - Featherweight Round 1:
9. Masakazu Imanari 15-6-1 vs. 12-5-1 Atsushi Yamamoto

8. Feather GP: Hiroyuki Takaya 9-6-1 vs. Kim Jong Won
7. Feather GP: Yoshiro Maeda 23-6-2 vs. 10-2-0 Micah Miller
6. Light: Ross Ebanez 19-6-0 vs. 22-5-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri

Break

5. Welter: Shinya Aoki 19-3-0 vs. 16-10-0 David Gardner
4. Light: Mitsuhiro Ishida 17-4-1 vs. 19-9-0 Daisuke Nakamura
3. Feather GP: "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura 9-3-1 vs. 13-2-0 Abel Cullum
2. Feather GP: Chase Beebe 12-3-0 vs. Joe Warren
1. Feather GP: Takafumi Otsuka 8-3-1 vs. 3-2-0 Bibiano Fernandes

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3/8 DREAM 7 - Betting Odds

Here are the betting lines from Sportsbook.com. I have never used any betting company, so if you have experience, good or bad, it would be good to hear about it.

Anyway, the odds seem ok. Kawajiri and Aoki are going in as huge favorites, but thats probably to be expected. If I were looking for value, I would go for Otsuka.

Tatsuya Kawajiri -575
Ross Ebanez +375

Shinya Aoki -1100
David Gardner +600

Mitsuhiro Ishida -185
Daisuke Nakamura +155

Masakazu Imanari -185
Atsushi Yamamoto +155

Hiroyuki Takaya -175
Jong Won Kim +145

Yoshiro Maeda -155
Micah Miller +125

Chase Beebe -140
Joe Warren +110

Takafumi Otsuka +165
Bibiano Fernandes -205

Akiyo Nishiura +105
Abel Cullum -135

Some additional odds from MMA Underdogs/Bodog.

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Presenting the Featherweights

Samurai Fighting TV had a 2 hour special they called "Featherweight Best Fighters". Of course it was mainly the Japanese fighters, or showing fights they had the rights for. It was a great 2 hour show, and I have tried to "recreate" it here.

I think there are lots of fans out there that dont know what to expect from the Japanese fighters in these GPs. This might be a good way to introduce them, fighters like Shintaro Ishiwatari, Atsushi Yamamoto and Takafumi Otsuka are just some examples of fighters you should look out for.

I wasnt able to find all the fights shown in the Samurai TV program, but there should be a lot to watch here anyway. Unfortunately, it just covered fighters that have fought in Japan so there will be some new fighters for me too in these GPs. Also worth noting that this is NOT specific to any of the GPs, fighters from both Sengoku and DREAM are included and it is a LONG post.

Masakazu Imanari

vs. Mike Brown (DEEP 22)


vs. Yoshiro Maeda (DEEP 22)

Part 1


Part 2


vs. Hiroshi Uemura (DEEP 37)


Atsushi Yamamoto

vs. Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki (Shooto Back to our roots 5)


vs. Jong Man Kim (K-1 Hero's Seoul 2005)


Hiroyuki Takaya

vs. Hatsu Hioki (Shooto)


vs. Jani Lax (K-1 Hero's 2)


Yoshiro Maeda

vs. Taisho (DEEP 21)


vs. Muangfahlek Kiatwichkien (DEEP 22)


Takafumi Otsuka

vs. Masanori Kanehara Part 1. (DEEP 38)


vs. Masanori Kanehara Part 2


"Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura

vs. Hiroshi Nakamura (Shooto 5/29-2005)


Highlight by Rip Dorey


vs. Matteus Lahdesmaki (Shooto Tradition 2)
part 1


Part 2


Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata

vs. Shoji (DEEP & CMA)
Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Jung Chan Sung

vs. Fanjin Son (DEEP 39)


vs. Michiro Omigawa (DEEP-Gladiator)


Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto

vs. Caleb Mitchell (Shooto 9/5-2003)


Hatsu Hioki

vs. Rumina Sato (Shooto Tradition 4)


Masanori Kanehara

vs. Shunichi Shimizu (ZST 16)


Shintaro Ishiwatari

vs. Kazuhiro Ito (must see) (Shooto Shooting Disco 4)

Shooto Disco 4 Shintaro Ishiwatari vs Kazuhiro Ito
Uploaded by KebabHunter

vs. Tenkei Fujimiya (Shooto Tradition 3)


Seiya Kawahara

vs. Yuki Yamasawa (Pancrase Shining Tour 1)


vs. Masaki Yanagisawa (Pancrase Shining Tour 5)


Hideki Kadowaki

vs. Rumina Sato

Rumina Sato vs Hideki Kadowaki
Uploaded by torihada

Marlon Sandro

vs. Miki Shida (Pancrase Shining Tour 2)


Highlight video

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4/5 Pancrase Changing Tour 2 - Eizumi's Opponent Announced

Takuya Eizumi is one of the more entertaining fighters out there, he has gone the distance only once and that was in the Neo-Blood final in 2008. He suppered his only loss on that occation, but since then has been stopping all opponents in their tracks.

This time he is taking on a very experienced opponent in "Yukito", but Eizumi is raked #2 in the Pancrase Flyweight division, and I cant see him losing this one.

Pancrase have also announced that they will be selling a new T-shirt at this event.



Added:
Fly: Takuya Eizumi 4-1-0 vs. 4-5-4 Yuichiro "Yukito" Shirai

Previously Announced:
Welterweight King of Pancrase title fight:
Takuya Wada 18-8-9 vs. 6-7-0 Tomoyoshi Iwamiya

Welter: Masahiro Toryu 6-4-4 vs. 3-8-2 Seiki Ryo
Light: Koji Oishi 17-8-5 vs. 2-1-0 (1NC) Maximo "Makishi" Blanco
Fly: Isao Hirose 4-0-0 vs. Takeyasu Hirono
Middle: Ichiro Kanai 9-9-3 (Ranked #2) vs. 7-5-4 Takenori Sato
Light: Yuichi Ikari 10-5-3 (Ranked #3) vs. 1-2-0 Hiroki "AB" Aoki
Feather: Hirotoshi Saito 2-0-1 vs. 9-5-9 Tashiro Akai (Nishiuchi)

Also on the card, starting from 14:45 are Neo-Blood Tournament fights. There are some very talented fighters in here, and I really enjoyed the Neo-Blood fights that were on the card last time.

Neo-Blood Fights:
15th Neo-Blood Eliminator Finals (1x5min.):
Fly: Daisuke Tsujita vs. Gou Yamanaka
Bantam:Daisuke Sugishima vs. Taro Shimmasaki
Feather: Shigeyuki Uchiyama vs. Takehito Noguchi
Light: Koshi Obata vs. Keigo Hirayama

1st Round Fights:
Flyweight 58.0kg
Kiyotaka Shimizu 0-1-1 vs. 1-0-0 Toshihiro Shimizu
Takuma Ishii 1-3-1 vs. 3-5-0 Tokuaki Ninomiya
Keiji Nakamura vs. 6-6-1 Yuichiro Yajima

Bantamweight 61.2kg
Ranki Kawana 9-1-6 vs. 3-2-0 Daisuke Endo
Hayato Shimizu 4-2-1 vs. Nobuhiro Yoshitake
Ryota Sasaki 1-2-1 vs. 3-0-0 Shoko Sato

Featherweight 65.8kg
Yasutomo Tanaka 5-2-4 vs. 6-3-2 Motonobu Tezuka
You Saito vs. 2-4-1 Yuki Yashima
Koji Tomita 1-0-0 vs. Masaru Ueda

Lightweight 70.3kg Participants
Hirotaka/Koji Tomiyama 0-5-1 (Think its the same guy twice on Sherdog)
Koji Tamura
ISAO

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4/3 Shoot Boxing - Mamoru Continues

The Shooto fighters, Rumina Sato and Mamoru Yamaguchi both made the headlines when they made their Shoot Boxing debuts in February. It is announced today that Mamoru is returning to take on the #1 ranked super-bantamweight at the April event. Does this mean that Mamoru is trying to add a Shoot Boxing belt to his collection? I would think so.

Either way, this card is looking very intersting.

Added:
Mamoru Yamaguchi vs. Akito Sakimura

Previously Announced:
Heavy: Masahiro Iwashita vs. Bernard Ackah
Luiz Azeredo vs. Hiroki Shishido

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3/20 Sengoku 7 - Featherweight GP Fights Announced

Sengoku have announced the matchups for round 1 in their featherweight GP. A couple of fights stand out to me. Hatsu Hioki vs. Chris Manuel should be a very good fight, as will Omigawa vs. L. C. Davis and Kadowaki vs. Nam Phan.

My pick for most exciting fight here is Seiya Kawahara vs. Nick Denis, this wont go the distance.

As for a fighter that can expect a bit of a "culture" shock, Tetsuya Yamada will really have to step it up against Ronnie Mann. But you never know how that turns out and it will be exciting to see.

Personally, I think Marlon Sandro will be hard to beat here, but there are so many good fighters.

Also announced today was the addition of Leonardo Santos, he is a BJJ expert and will compete at Sengoku 8, which will take place on May 2.

Featherweight GP Round 1:
Hatsu Hioki 17-3-2 vs. 6-0-2 Chris Manuel
Michihiro Omigawa 4-7-1 vs. 13-1-0 L.C. Davis
Hideki Kadowaki 13-8-2 vs. 14-5-0 Nam Phan
Masanori Kanehara 11-5-5 vs. 3-5-3 Jong Man Kim
Shintaro Ishiwatari 6-1-3 vs. 2-0-0 Jung Chan Sung
Seiya Kawahara 6-1-0 vs. 6-0-0 Nick Denis
Tetsuya Yamada 3-0-0 vs. 16-1-1 Ronnie Mann Ushiwaka
Marlon Sandro 12-0-0 vs. 9-4-0 Matt Jaggers

Non-GP Fights:
Ryo Kawamura 9-3-2 vs. 3-0-0 Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal
James Thompson 14-9-0 vs. 9-2-0 "Big" Jim York

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3/13 GCM Demolition 090313 - Fights Announced

In addition to Cage Force and Valkyrie (which I think was killed after 1 event), GCM has Demolition. This is a lower level than Cage Force, there will be lots of talent and good matchups on this card.

Today GCM Announced 5 fights.

This event will take place in Shinkiba 1st Ring, and just so there is no confusion Demolition takes place in a ring.

Feather: Tomoyuki Miyaji 3-2-0 vs. 正木徳栄
Bantam: Ryo Saito 0-2-0 vs. 0-2-0 Atsushi Masakura
Light: Toru Yoshikawa 0-1-1 vs. 1-3-0 Masayoshi "Randleman" Ichikawa
Light: Tekaji vs. Arata Fujimoto
Valkyrie Feather: Yasuko Mogi 4-3-0 vs. Sakura

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3/20 Sengoku 7 - James Thompson Returns to Japan/Featherweight GP Full

Sengoku have announced the return of James Thompson to Japan, it is almost 2 years since he last fought here and I am sure it will be a popular addition. His last 2 fights have been very noticable for other reasons, his fight with "Kimbo Slice" got a lot of attention after his ear exploded. In Strike Box he caused a riot after ignoring the gentlemans agreement of not taking fights to the ground.

This time he is taking on "Big" Jim Yorke. "Big" Jim had his 9 fight winning streak broken in his Sengoku debut against Yoshihiro Nakao, and I am sure both these fighters want to find back to their winning ways.

The Sengoku featherweight GP is also complete with the last addition today. Kim Jong Man is the last fighter. His record is somewhat average, but he has fought some of the best. A noticable win over Hatsu Hioki stands out.

Added:
Non-GP Fight:
James Thompson 14-9-0 vs. 9-2-0 "Big" Jim York

Featherweight GP:
Jong Man Kim 3-5-3

Previously Announced:
Non-GP Fight:
Ryo Kawamura 9-3-2 vs. 3-0-0 Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal

Featherweight GP:
Nam Phan 14-5-0
Matt Jaggers 9-4-0
L.C. Davis 13-1-0
Hideki Kadowaki 13-8-2
Masanori Kanehara 11-5-5
Tetsuya Yamada 3-0-0
Jung Chan Sung 2-0-0
Hatsu Hioki 17-3-2
Marlon Sandro 12-0-0
Ronnie Mann Ushiwaka 16-1-1
Chris Manuel 6-0-2
Nick Denis 6-0-0
Shintaro Ishiwatari 6-1-3
Seiya Kawahara 6-1-0
Michihiro Omigawa 4-7-1

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2/28 Shooto GIG Tokyo Vol. 1 - RESULTS

The first ever Shooto Gig Tokyo event took place yesterday in Shinjuku Face. It was an intersting card with some good talent and fights that, even though there were no title fights, they will have an impact on the Shooto rankings.

An upset, in my opion, in the co-main event. Shinya Murofushi, ranked #2 flyweight, went down to "Heat" Takeshi. I thought it would be a close fight, Takeshi submitting Murofushi is just over a minute is very impressive and will have an impact on the rankings.

The main event saw 2 very experienced competitors in Kenichiro Togashi and Ganjo Tentsuku face off. This was always going to be a close encounter, and Togashi came out on top again. This is the second time they have met, both times the fight has gone the distance and both times Togashi has gotten the decision.

Welter: Kenichiro Togashi Def. Ganjo Tentsuku by Decision 2-0
Fly: "Heat" Takeshi Sato Def. Shinya Murofushi by rear-naked choke Round 1 1:14
Welter: Komei Okada vs. vs. Shinobu Miura Draw
Welter: Hisaki Hiraishi Def. Koichi Taguchi by Decision 3-0

Rookie Tournament Fights:
Welter: Junpei Konno Def. Yohei Ota by Decision 3-0
Welter: Yoshio Tokuhisa vs. Koji Nishioka Draw
Welter: Patrick Doty Def. Fumihiko Kawamura by KO Round 1 1:43
Feather: Yoshihiko Matsumoto Def. Yuki Yasunaga by arm-bar Round 1 1:11
Bantam: Yasutaka Ishigami Def. Yuya Kaneuchi by Decision 3-0

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2/28 Cage Force-EX - RESULTS

Cage Force held an event in Tokorozawa in Saitama yesterday. It was a big card for them, lots of interesting matchups.

The main event saw Pancrase champion Katsuya Inoue take on Cage Force champion Mizuto Hirota. Hirota had a good 2008 and had his Sengoku debut, this was the first time for him to defend his title. Katsuya Inoue is no easy opponent, he was the last man to defeat Satoru Kitaoka. Hirota is a very different fighter though, and the fight went the distance, ending in a draw. That means that Hirota retains his title.

Lots of fights went the distance, it is worth noting that in the co-main event, Koyama fought his way to a decision win over the veteran Kanomata.

Ligtweight Title Fight: Mizuto Hirota vs. Katsuya Inoue Draw
Light: Yoshihiro Koyama Def. Tomonari Kanomata by Decision 3-0
Light: Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Yasunori Kanehara Draw
Middle: Rikuhei Fuji Def. Sojiro Orui by Decision 3-0
Welter (3x3): Yusaku Tsukumo Def. Kenta Takagi by Decision 2-0
Bantam (3x3): Yuta Nezu Def. Seiji Otsuka by KO (high-kick) Round 1 2:39
Light (3x3): Yoshiaki "Bancho" Takahashi vs. Koji Ando Draw
Light (3x3): Naoto Miyazaki vs. Shin Kochiwa Draw

Opening Fights - Valkyrie:
Light (female) (3x3): Kinuka Sasaki Def. Kazue Matake by Decision 2-0
Light (female) (3x3): Kayo Nagayasu vs. Maho Muranami Draw

Preliminary Fight:
Bantam: Hirokazu Nishimura Def. Ryo Taguchi by TKO Round 2 2:15Yoshihiro Koyama

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