10/30 Shooto Vale Tudo Japan 09 - Rumina Sato vs. Joe Warren Announced!

Just saw this news, it was announed at Shooto GIG Tokyo vol. 3 today that Rumina Sato's opponent at Vale Tudo Japan 09 will be none other than Joe Warren. The fight will be under Vale Tudo Japan rule at 63kg.

There were also 2 more fights added:
69kg-VTJ: Tenkei "Fujimiya" Oda 7-4-2 vs. 6-3-0 Tito Jones
Middle: Yoichiro Sato 5-1-1 vs. Kan Jon Min (?)

The fights announced so far for this card:
VTJ-Rule 5x5min:
71kg: Takanori Gomi 30-5-0 vs. 11-4-0 Tony Hervey
65kg: Alexandre Franca Nogueira 13-5-2 vs. 16-3-0 "Lion" Takeshi Inoue

VTJ-Rule 3x5min:
63kg: Rumina Sato 24-12-2 vs. 2-1-0 Joe Warren
69kg: Tenkei "Fujimiya" Oda 7-4-2 vs. 6-3-0 Tito Jones

Welterweight Shooto World Title Fight:
Willamy Chiquerim 14-1-0 vs. 10-6-5 Kenichiro Togashi

Bantam: Mamoru Yamaguchi 20-5-3 vs. 6-5-2 Jesse Taitano
Middle: Yoichiro Sato 5-1-1 vs. Kan Jon Min (?)

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12/19 DEEP Cage Impact 2009

One of the big news I have missed is the DEEP Cage Impact participants announced. This event will take place in Differ Ariake, not the usual Korakuen Hall.

Announced as participants are some very big DEEP names: Masakazu Imanari, Nobuhiro Obiya and Koichiro Matsumoto to name 3.

The cage for this event is a gold 8-sided cage and it will be rented out at a resonable price after his.

There are also changes to the rules in the cage: Elbows, stomps and soccerkicks are allowed except the opening fights.

Participants announced:
Nobuhiro Obiya 10-3-1
Masakazu Imanari 17-7-2
Bernard Ackah 3-3-0
Koichiro Matsumoto 8-2-0
Toshikazu Iseno 7-5-2
Takeshi Yamazaki 14-10-2
Eiji Ishikawa 17-15-2
Naoki Matsushita 11-12-9
Yuki Ito 7-4-8
Atsuhiro Tsuboi 6-12-4
Sadao Kondo 4-0-1

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Been a while...

Its been a while since I have been able to post... I have had an infection that has kept me out of anything fun for over a month. I am finally starting to recover and hope to get on top of most of the new things.

I will assume that people know most of the result, and I will just make it a new start. There are a lot of interesting things happening in Japan, with DREAM 12 being in a cage AND DEEP too jumping on the cage wagon with an awesome card!

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10/6 DREAM 11 - Results

A very strong card from DREAM, and with 2 title fights it might be the best they have put on so far.

On the weigh-in yesterday Miyata turned some heads as the muscular former lightweight turned up with close to no bodyfat.



One of the highlights of this card is the return of DREAM champion Joachim Hansen. He is returning to defend his title, and it will be his first title defence and his first fight since winning the title in July last year.



The DREAM featherweight title holder will also be deceided today in a tournament that is looking very interesting.

Results will be updated as they become available.

Main-Event - Featherweight GP Final:
9. Bibiano Fernandes Def. Hiroyuki Takaya by decision 2-1
Very good fight to end the night!!

Lightweight Title Fight:
8. Shinya Aoki (challenger) Def. Joachim Hansen (champion) by armbar Round 2 about 4:40
Aoki gets grounded by an upkick, the ref stops the fight and gives Aoki time to recover. The judge is staying it was a groin kick first...

7. Middle: Kazushi Sakuaba Def. Rubin Williams by Kimura Round 1
*Sakuraba still wearing a bandage on his left underarm, looks like he is still suffering from the broken arm he suffered against Manhoef.

There is a break and some Dream 12 participants are announced and asked to say a few words (quick translation):
Yoshiro Maeda - "I will take Chase Beebe's head off"
Kuniyoshi Hironaka - "I am the Cage Force champion and I have a lot of experinence in a cage. " "If I win in impressing fashion I would like a shot at the title"
Koichi Kikuno - "I am the DEEP champion and it will be an exciting fight".

6. Light: Tatsuya Kawajiri Def. Melchor "Barracuda" Manibusan TKO Round 1

Super-Hulk Semi-Finals:
5. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Def. Bob Sapp by TKO Round 1
4. Ikuhisa Minowa Def. Hong Choi Man by heel-hook Round 2

The winners will meet on NYE at the FEG Dynamite! event

DREAM Featherweight GP Semi-Finals:
3. SF2: Bibiano Fernandes Def. Joe Warren by arm-bar round 1 (very early)
Warren is saying he didnt tap, Bibiano showes him the middle finger and leaves the ring.

2. SF1: Hiroyuki Takaya Def. Hideo Tokoro by TKO Round 2
1. Reserve: Kazuyuki Miyata Def. Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata by Decision 3-0

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10/30 Shooto Vale Tudo Japan 09

Shooto is going to put on one of their biggest events in years with the return of Vale Tudo Japan. Already announced is the fight between Alexandre Franca Nogueira and Shooto champion "Lion" Takeshi. This fight will be undet Vale Tudo Japan rules and 5 rounds of 5 minutes.

Welterweight champion Takashi Nakakura suffered a serious eye injuryu in his loss to Takanori Gomi in May. He has deceided to hand back his title and Williamy Chiquerim will face Kenichiro Togashi for the title.

Also unconfirmed is a fight between Jesse Taitano and Mamoru. Mamoru have been fighting in ShootBoxing lately, and this will be a return that a lot of fans have been looking forward to. But Taitano will not be an easy opponent and it will be a very interesting fight. Thanks to BloodyElbow's Chris Nelson, look for an interview posted tomorrow that will have more news from the Japanese MMA scene!

VTJ-Rule 5x5min.:
65kg: Alexandre Franca Nogueira 13-5-2 vs. 16-3-0 "Lion" Takeshi Inoue

Welterweight Shooto World Title Fight:
Willamy Chiquerim 14-1-0 vs. 10-6-5 Kenichiro Togashi

Bantam: Mamoru Yamaguchi 20-5-3 vs. 6-5-2 Jesse Taitano

Participants:
Takanori Gomi 30-5-0
Rumina Sato 24-14-2

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10/6 DREAM 11 - Sakuraba Added/Fight Order

This video started the speclations around wether Sakuraba will be fighting in DREAM 11. Sakuraba has not fought since Dynamite! on NYE, and even then he didnt look 100% after breaking his arm against Melvin Manhoef in June 2008.



It has now been confirmed that Sakuraba will take on American pro-boxer Rubin Williams.

This video have also been released. To me the most interesting thing here, except from the fact that "Hellboy" is fired up, is that he seems to be working with Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for this fight (and we all remeber what he did to Aoki...).



Fight Order:
Main-Event - Featherweight GP Final:
9. Winner Tokoro/Takaya v. Winner Fernandes/Warren

Lightweight Title Fight:
8. Joachim Hansen (champion) 19-7-1 vs. 21-4-0 Shinya Aoki (challenger)

7. Middle: Kazushi Sakuaba 24-12-1 vs. Rubin Williams
6. Light: Tatsuya Kawajiri 24-5-2 vs. 2-2-0 Melchor "Barracuda" Manibusan

Super-Hulk Semi-Finals:
5. Ikuhisa Minowa 42-30-8 vs. 2-2-0 Hong Choi Man
4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou 6-4-0 vs. 10-5-1 Bob Sapp

DREAM Featherweight GP Semi-Finals:
3. SF2: Joe Warren 2-0-0 vs. 5-2-0 Bibiano Fernandes
2 SF1: Hideo Tokoro 22-16-1 vs. 11-6-1 Hiroyuki Takaya

1. Reserve: Kazuyuki Miyata 7-7-0 vs. 11-5-3 Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata

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10/25 Pancrase Changing Tour - Fights Announced

Pancrase is putting on an awesome card on October 25 in Differ Ariake.

This card has lots of Pancrase stars on it. There will be a flyweight title fight, that should be awesome.

Also added is a very interesting fight between Kenji Arai and Tomonari Kanomata. Also added is fight between Kazuhiro Hamanaka and DEEP megaton competitor Shunsuke Inoue. The card is looking just about finished and this should be a very good event.

Flyweight King of Pancrase title fight:
Mitsuhisa Sunabe 10-5-3 vs. 6-0-0 Isao Hirose

Bantam: Seiya Kawahara 7-2-0 vs. 4-2-1 Ryota Sasaki
Fly: Takuya Eizumi 5-2-0 vs. 3-2-1 Kiyotaka Shimizu
Bantam: Manabu Inoue 7-5-1 vs. 19-11-7 Masahiro Oishi
Middle: Ichiro Kanai 9-10-3 vs. 36-24-9 Keiichiro Yamamiya
Welter: Takuya Wada 18-8-9 vs. 7-4-0 Kengo Ura
Feather: Kenji Arai 15-13-3 vs. 13-5-3 Tomonari Kanomata
Light-Heavy: Kazuhiro Hamanaka 5-6-1 vs. 6-3-2 Shunsuke Inoue
Feather: Tashiro "Akai" Nishiuchi 12-5-9 vs. 3-2-0 Jung Jin Suk　
Light: Hiroki "AB" Aoki 3-2-0 vs. 4-0-0 Isao Kobayashi

Pancrase Gate:
Light: Nobuhito Sakurada vs.Kenta Okuyama
Light: Ryosuke Togashi vs. Daisuke Shimayama
Feather: Chaplin Kiyama vs. Taketo Noguchi
Feather: Kenichi Ogura vs. Masaaki Hasegawa
Bantam: Kazuki Itaya vs. Yuki Kishitaka
Bantam: Yuta Numakura vs. Daisuke Sugishima

Participating:
Yuki Kondo

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11/1 HEAT 12 - Fights Announced

HEAT is returning to their home in Nagoya and ZEPP Nagoya after 2 straight events in Tokyo.

I think Heat always put on a great show, and I am sure this time will be no different. No clear main event is announced yet, but on the card will be K-1 veteran Tatsufumi Tomihira.

Kick Heavy: Tatsufumi Tomihira vs. Yuki "Strike" Tanaka
Kick Heavy: Makoto vs. Scorpion
Kick Middle: Tadamasa Tomihira vs. Marushio Matsumoto
Kick 60kg: Mari Sakai vs. King Kohei
MMA Feather: Jun Kito 7-5-3 vs. Masahiro Iwasaki

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The Mika Nagano Pictures *UPDATED*

At long last I got my hands on these, and for all the fuss I sort of expected more. But I gues thats just my hormones speaking. She is a beautiful girl (all I can say).

For those who needs more of Mika you can click here for the GBR free video of the event.

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10/18 Shooto Gig Tokyo Vol. 3 - Fight Order

Shooto promotor Sustain and Shooto Gym Tokyo have announced the fight order for their event in Shinjuku Face on October 18. It should be a good event and the main event will be a awesome fight for the Shooto featherweight Pacific rim title fight. Both Koetetsu Okazaki and Hiromasa Ogikubo are awesome fighters and the winner of this fight will be a very deserved champion.

But this card has a lot of talented and interesting fighters on it. Some fighters worth mentioning are Guy Delameau and Yuta Nezu, I am picking both of them for a win even though I like cheering for the eternal underdog "Mike" Hayakawa (he is a much better fighter than his record indicates).

Featherweight Pacific Title Fight:
10. Koetsu Okazaki 5-1-1 vs. 6-0-2 Hiromasa Ogikubo

9. Welter: Jin Kazeta 8-9-2 vs. 10-5-1 Guy Delameau
8. Light: Kazuhiro Ito 5-4-0 vs. 7-7-1 Masaki Yanagisawa
7. Feather: Yuta Nezu 7-3-1 vs. 1-4-3 Nobuhiro "Mike" Hayakawa
6. Middle: Mateus Irie Nechio 4-3-0 vs. 0-6-0 Yoshinori Takahashi
5. Feather: Makoto Sannai 1-1-0 vs. 0-1-0 Keita Ishibashi
4. Light: Hiroki Kita 2-5-1 vs. 0-1-0 Yoshitaka Okigi

Rookie Tournament Semi Finals:
3. Welter: Koji Matsumoto vs. 2-1-0 Munehiro "Mike" Kin
2. Bantam: Yosuke Saruta 1-2-0 vs. 2-3-0 Jun Nagasoe
1. Fly: Yusuke Sato 2-1-0 vs. 1-0-0 Tomokazu Sato

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