4/19 Shooto Gig Tokyo Vol. 2 - Results

Earlier today the stars of the UFC entertained the north-American fans, in Japan it was the stars of tomorrow that entered the ring in Shinjuku Face.

2 of last year's rookie tournament champions will enter the ring, in the main event the MVP, Issei Tamura took on Hayate Usui. Also the Bantamweight champion, Fumiko Kitahara was taking on the more experienced Toshimichi Akagi.

The MVP proved that he will be a force at lightweight in Shooto, and he is still undefeated.

Main-Event - Lightweight:
Issei Tamura Def. Hayate Usui by Decision 3-0 (2x20-19 and 20-18)
Light: Daisuke Ishizawa Def. Sakae Kasuya by KO Round 1 1:15
Bantam: Toshimichi Akagi vs. Fumihiro Kitahara DRAW
Fly: Junji Ito Def. Kenichi Sawada by rear-naked choke Round 2 0:47
Feather: Yuta Nezu Def. Makoto Yamauchi by Decision 3-0 (20-17, 20-18, 20-19)
Feather: Haruo Ochi Def. Seiji Akao by TKO (towel thrown) Round 1 2:18

Rookie Tournament:
Fly: Tomokazu Sato Def. Atsushi Mochizuki by Decision 3-0 (3x20-18)

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5/2 Sengoku 8 - Fights Announced

Sengoku have added another 2 fights to the card on May 2. Both the fights will include one of their "training players". This really proves the commitment Sengoku has to these fighters, and we will get to see more of them in the future.

Maximo Blanco had a very good wrestler and is very entertaining to watch. His record so far showes that he wins quick, or not at all. If he is able to overpower his oppoennt, he will. He is lacking submission skills though, but I am sure he is working on that too. In Sengoku 8 he will fight the much more experienced Akihiko Mouri.

The other Sengoku training player is Shigeki Osawa, also a wrestler. He has only had 2 fights, and will be in the opening fight in this event. He is taking on Kota Ishibashi.

Announced:
Non-Tournament:
Light: Maiximo Blanco 2-1-1 vs. 6-6-1 Akihiko Mouri

Opening Fight:
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 2-0-0 vs. 0-3-0 Kota Ishibashi

Previously Announced:
Featherweight GP 2nd Round:
Hatsu Hioki 18-3-2 vs. 17-1-1 Ronnie Mann
Masanori Kanehara 12-5-5 vs. 3-0-0 Jung Chan Sung
Michihiro Omigawa 5-7-1 vs. 15-5-0 Nam Phan
Marlon Sandro 13-0-0 vs. 7-0-0 Nick Denis

Non-Tournament Fights:
Light-Heavy: Stanislav Nedkov 5-0-0 vs. 54-12-0 Travis Wiuff
Welter: Makoto Takimoto vs. Michael Costa
Light: Kazunori Yokota vs. Leonardo Santos
Light-Heavy: Keiichiro Yamamiya vs. Xande Ribeiro

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4/16 DEEP 41 - RESULTS

An action packed event in Korakuen Hall earlier today. The main event was for the DEEP lightweight title between Katsunori Kikuno and Koichiro Matsumoto. Alliance's Kikuno won a decisive victory by KO.

Kazuyuki Miyata returned to the ring and also won got a good win in his fight.

The female fight of the night lasted only 21 seconds, a front kick and knees to the body secured the win for the DEEP female lightweight champion.

Main-Event - Lightweight Title Fight:
11. Katsunori Kikuno Def. Koichiro Matsumoto by KO Round 1 4:32

10. Miku Matsumoto Def. Nicdali "The Nightqueen" Calanic by TKO Round 1 0:21
9. Kazuyuki Miyata Def. Jae Hyun So by Guillotine choke Round 1 2:31
8. Ryuki Ueyama Def. Kousei Kubota by Decision 3-0
7. Hiromitsu Kanehara Def. Kenji Nagai by TKO Round 2 3:02
6. Yuji Sakurai Def. Minoru Kato by KO Round 2 0:59
5. Toshiaki Kitada Def. Joe Taimanglo by Guillotine choke Round 1 1:29
4. Seigo Mizuguchi Def. WakaArashi by necklock Round 1 0:19
3. Tomoya Miyashita Def. Crazy Hiru by Spinning choke Round 1 2:39
2. Baek Won Sik (?) Def. Naoki Matsushita by TKO (doctor stop) Round 1 3:59

Opening Fight:
1. Yasuhiro Kawasaki Def. Shun Yagi (?) by TKO Round 1 3:02

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5/16 JEWELS 3rd Ring - Card Updated

Jewels 3rd event will include some ShootBoxing fights, and this is a testament to how popular this form of fighting is becoming. Of course there will be the usual Jewels/MMA rules fights as well.

The 2nd event was not the best, but this card is looking interesting. Fighting in the ShootBoxing fights will be ShootBoxer Misato Tomita and the popular MMA veteran Saori Ishioka. The opponents are not yet set.

Also fighting in this event will be the SmackGirls veteran "Hiroko", her opponent is not yet named, but it is said to be a foreign fighter.

Harumi has been in both the JEWELS events so far, she is 0-10 in her career, and she is back to have another go at getting the win. This time she is taking on Chihiro Oikawa and one of them will get their 1st win.

ShootBoxing Fights:
Misato Tomita vs. TBA
Saori Ishioka vs. TBA (ShootBoxing fighter)

MMA Rules fights:
Open: Yuko "Hiroko" Yamanaka 6-1-0 vs. TBA (Foreign Fighter)
48kg: Misaki Takimoto 9-10-4 vs. 4-14-0 Yukiko Seki
Open: HARUMI 0-10-0 vs. 0-1-0 Chihiro Oikawa

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4/29 Shooto GIG West 11 - Fight Order

If you are in Tokyo on April 29, the M-1 Challenge is on. On the day Shooto is having their "Gig West 11" in Osaka.

The main event for this Shooto event will see last years rookie tournment champion, Kosuke Eda will take on the last fighter to defeat him, Teiyuki Matsumoto. Matsumoto has not fought since the last fight with Eda, in September 2007. Eda on the other hand has had 5 fights and has a 4-0-1 record.

Main-Event:
Feather: Teriyuki Matsumoto 5-2-0 vs. 7-2-3 Kosuke "Jukucho" Eda

Rookie Tournament:
Middle: Toshihiro "Yoroi" Shimizu 1-0-1 vs. 0-4-0 Keisuke Takahashi
Light-Heavy: Nobuyasu Fujikawa 0-2-0 vs. Yasushi Kato

Non-Tournament:
Welter: Hiroshi Sugimoto 1-2-1 vs. 1-3-0 Tatsunori Tanaka
Feather: Yasuaki "Aki" Nagamoto 4-3-0 vs. 3-2-3 Joji Kawamata
Welter: Kunio Nakajima 1-4-1 vs. Genjin Shimoishi (??)
Bantam: Hidetaka Naka 1-1-0 vs. "Kotetsu"

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4/16 DEEP 41 - Fight Order

It will be a very interesting event in Korakuen Hall on Thursday. For me, I am looking forward to seeing Miyata returning to the ring, but there are other very good fights on the card.

The main event is the DEEP lightweight title fight, fighting for the vacant title are Katsunori Kikuno and Kichiro Matsumoto. It should be a very good fight.

The female fight on the card is between DEEP champion Miku Matsumoto, who is taking on Nicdali Calanic. The Japanese media has had a bit of focus on this fight, and I expect it to be a good fight for the fans of female MMA.

To get you a bit more excited about the event GoForkYouself have put together this preview of this event:



Main-Event - Lightweight Title Fight:
11. Katsunori Kikuno 10-1-1 vs. 7-1-0 Koichiro Matsumoto

10. Miku Matsumoto vs. 5-2-0 Nicdali "The Nightqueen" Calanic
9. Kazuyuki Miyata 5-7-0 vs. 2-5-0 Jae Hyun So
8. Ryuki Ueyama 9-11-4 vs. 24-29-10 Kousei Kubota
7. Hiromitsu Kanehara 16-22-1 vs. 5-7-2 Kenji Nagai
6. Yuji Sakurai 9-14-1 vs. 2-6-1 Minoru Kato
5. Toshiaki Kitada 7-4-2 vs. 5-3-0 Joe Taimanglo
4. Seigo Mizuguchi 4-4-0 vs. 2-3-0 WakaArashi
3. Tomoya Miyashita 9-5-5 vs. Crazy Hiru
2. Naoki Matsushita 9-10-9 vs. Baek Won Sik (?)

Opening Fight:
1. Yasuhiro Kawasaki 1-0-1 vs. Shun Yagi (?)

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4/21 K-1 World Max Tournament - Kohiruimaki Out!

The K-1 Japan Tournament champion, Taishin Kohiruimaki is out of the upcoming World Max tournament in Fukuoka. It also means that he loses the chance to advance in this years tournament. He will be replaced by the runner up in the Japan tournament, Yuya Yamamoto. This is a real shame for the veteran, but Yamamoto was good in the tournament so lets see if he is able to step up to the challenge.

Yasuhiro Kido takes Yamamoto's spot in the reserve fight in this event.

World Max Tournament FINAL16　3min x 3R Ext. 1R:
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Drago
Buakaw Por Pramuk vs. Andre "Dida" Amade
Albert Kraus vs. Yoichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima
Andy Souwer vs. Leroy Kaestner
Nieky "The Natural" Holtzken vs. Chahid
Yuya Yamamoto vs. Chi Bin Lim
Alviar Lima vs. Artur Kyshenko
Giorgo Petrosyan vs. Dzhabar "Chengiskan" Askerov

Tournament Reserve Fight:
Yasuhiro Kido vs. Su Hwan Lee

Opening Fights:
Masahiro Yamamoto vs. Yuki
Kazuki Hamasaki vs. Hareruya

Exhibition Fight:
Masato vs. Hiroya

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4/29 M-1 Challenge - Fights Announced - Some Changes

The M-1 challenge last year was a very good event, but there were lots of last minute changes. I expect that this year too, and there has already been one. Riki Fukuda fought as a late replacement in DREAM earlier this month, and seems to have been taken off the Japanese team now. No replacement is announced yet.

I am not aware of any other changes, but I have a feeling there will be a few.

There has been a superfight and 2 opening fights announced as well, that means that the card will have at least 18 fights!

The super fight added is the experienced Frenchman Karl Amoussou. He will be taking on the Japanese IFL veteran Kazuhiro Hamanaka, who is on a 3 fight winning streak.

The fights announced today are:
Superfight:
84kg: Karl "Psycho" Amoussou 9-2-1 vs. 4-5-1 Kazuhiro Hamanaka

Opening Fights:
65kg: Tomoaki Ueyama 0-3-0 vs. 2-1-0 Yu Hosokawa
Kosuto Umeda 5-7-3 vs. 3-2-0 Muneyuki Sato

Previously Announced:
Japan vs UK
70kg: Luiz Andrada 8-6-3 vs. 6-7-0 Ian "M-16" Butlin
76kg: Hidehiko Hasegawa 16-11-5 vs. 6-2-0 Simon Phillips
84kg: TBA vs. 10-7-0 Matt Thorpe
92kg: Tatsuya Mizuno 5-4-0 vs. 7-6-0 Tom Blackledge
Over 92kg: Yusuke Kawaguchi 8-0-0 vs. 8-4-1 Rob Broughton

USA Team West vs Korea
70kg: David Jansen 9-0-0 vs. 8-1-0 Nam Yuichul
76kg: Fabio Negao 8-4-0 vs. 7-3-0 Myeon Ho Bae
84kg: Giva Santana 11-1-0 vs. 4-7-0 Min Suk Heo
92kg: Raphael Davis 5-1-0 vs 12-6-0 Jae Young Kim
Over 92kg: Shane Del Rosario 5-0-0 vs. 11-6-0 Lee Sang Soo

France vs Spain
70kg: Maktar Gueye 4-3-0 vs. 3-2-0 Jose Luiz Zapater Aguirre
76kg: Farouk Lakebir 2-3-0 vs. 8-1-0 Jose Beltran
84kg: Christophe Daffreville 2-3-0 vs. Rayco Zebenzui Romero Silva
92kg: Christian M'Pumbu 11-2-1 vs. 2-0-0 Enoc Solves
Over 92kg: Soufian Elgarne vs. 5-1-0 Rogent Lloret

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5/2 Sengoku 8 - Fight Announced

Nightmare of Battle is writing that the YAMMA champion and Sengoku and UFC veteran Travis Wiuff will take on Bulgarian Stanislav Nedkov.

I saw Nedov fight in Pancrase in December last year. After the event I thought we might see him in Sengoku, and we will. Nightmare of Battle has a link to the fight in the article I referenced above. For those who are lazy: Stanislav Nedkov vs. Masayuki Kono

Nedkov is still undefeated and he is taking on the very experienced Travis Wiuff, who is coming off a surprise loss to the then unknown "King Mo".

The card is looking very good!

Announced:
Light-Heavy: Stanislav Nedkov 5-0-0 vs. 54-12-0 Travis Wiuff

Previously Announced:
Featherweight GP 2nd Round:
Hatsu Hioki 18-3-2 vs. 17-1-1 Ronnie Mann
Masanori Kanehara 12-5-5 vs. 3-0-0 Jung Chan Sung
Michihiro Omigawa 5-7-1 vs. 15-5-0 Nam Phan
Marlon Sandro 13-0-0 vs. 7-0-0 Nick Denis

Non-Tournament Fights:
Welter: Makoto Takimoto vs. Michael Costa
Light: Kazunori Yokota vs. Leonardo Santos
Light-Heavy: Keiichiro Yamamiya vs. Xande Ribeiro

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4/12 Shooto GIG Central Vol. 17 - RESULTS

Shooto had pulled out some of their Nagoya regulars to fight on this card, and in addition to the 5 fights on the main-card, there were 3 amature fights. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find the results for the amature fights, but here are the results for the other fights.

In the main event, Hiroshi Shiba was able to get Hattori's back and finish the fight with a rear-naked choke. Hattori showed that he was a dangerous fighter though, and Shiba left the fight with a bloody nose, it also meant a stop to Hattori's 3 fight winning streak.

Paolo Milano had gone winless for 3 fights, and finally got back on the winning streak, even if it was a very close decision.

Welter: Hiroshi Shiba Def. Kenichi Hattori by rear-naked choke Round 1 4:53

Welter: Paolo Milano Def. Takahiro Kajita by Decision 2-1
Middle: Takesuke Kume Def. Hirosumi Sugiura by Decision 2-0
Bantam: Joji Shimada Def. Hiroshi Sakamoto by rear-naked choke Round 1 3:49

Rookie Tournament:
Fly: Doraku Mori Def. Daiki Yamaishi by Decision 3-0

Amature Fights:
Light: Yuta Sasaki vs. Masaru Kadowaki
Feather: Naoki Kawai vs. Takeshi Kasugai
Yutaka Umeya vs. Masashi Maeguchi

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