Koubousen Companion
Jordan Breen Jun 29, 2007
Say what you will about the state of the fight game in Japan, but
even still, a quiet weekend is never really a quiet weekend for MMA
in the Land of the Rising Sun.
And so, a cross section of quick hits this week.
Nobuyuki Sakakibara has resurfaced for a sit-down chat about PRIDE,
while Japanese standout Hatsu
Hioki (Pictures) has resurfaced as well, and is
making to look a mark in his hometown of Nagoya this summer.
Shuichiro Katsumura
(Pictures) wants to make a mark in the
HERO'S 154-pound tournament, however if he wants to do that, the
part-fighter, part-childcare worker may very well have to go
through Alexandre
Franca Nogueira (Pictures) come July 16.
As well, pro Shooto promoters have heard the call of hardcore Hokkaido fans, and are now bringing their gig north with GIG NORTH. Back in Kanto, K'z Factory is wearing the promoter hat this weekend for a showcase of Class B Shooto talents at Kitazawa Town Hall.
Beginning with a bit of curious news, former Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara is scheduled to make his first public appearance in approximately three months.
Sakakibara has been out of the public eye since the now historic March 27 press conference in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, which all but formalized Dream Stage Entertainment's split with the PRIDE Fighting Championships. While his name has stayed in the press, both in Japan and abroad, due to speculation about the ongoing dealings with PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, he has not made any notable public appearances since the March press conference.
Now, Sakakibara is scheduled to appear at a public talk show event on July 7, sponsored by combat sports periodical Kami no Puroresu. The event, exuberantly titled "kamipro BOM-BA-YE Kamikaze," will take place at Tokyo club Daikanyama Air, before an intimate crowd of just over 100.
The discussion will revolve around a single central question: "What is PRIDE?"
Hioki heads home for HEAT
Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) has signed off on a summer return to his home of Nagoya.
The lanky featherweight standout will return to action in front of his hometown Nagoya crowd as part of HEAT 4: Ultimate Heat on August 11 at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. HEAT, a local Nagoya event typically featuring a mixture of MMA, kickboxing and grappling matches, is a sister promotion to the more prominent Japanese promotion DEEP.
Hioki is coming off of a hotly competitive split decision loss to former Shooto world title challenger Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) this past May. His participation in the HEAT event will likely feature a soft touch for an opponent, as the Nagoya native awaits offers from pro Shooto promoters and from TKO, where he figures to defend his 145-pound crown back in Canada this winter.
It is interesting to note that for this event, the HEAT promotion will be utilizing a cage, instead of a ring, as was used for their first three events. This is noteworthy not only due to the cage being seldom utilized in Japan outside of CAGE FORCE, but because it will be the first time that kickboxing rules bouts are contested inside a cage in Japan. This has been used in the past by English promotion Cage Warriors, which has promoted MMA and kickboxing co-features utilizing the cage for kickboxing bouts.
Katsumura-"Pequeno" just about a go for July HERO'S
With their 154-pound tournament opener just about three weeks away, K-1 and HERO'S backer Fight Entertainment Group are reportedly ready to announce another tournament tilt.
In a match-up for former pro Shooto fighters, longtime Shooto world 143-pound king "Pequeno" Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures) will take on veteran Shuichiro Katsumura (Pictures). Neither fighter, each among the smallest competitors in the tournament, have managed to find any success so far under the HERO'S banner: Pequeno was shockingly upset by Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) in his HERO'S debut in July 2005, and was thoroughly out-pointed by Koutetsu Boku (Pictures) last Aug. Katsumura made his HERO'S debut on New Year's Eve, being easily pounded out by former Olympic silver medalist and fellow tournament competitor Katsuhiko Nagata.
Fight Entertainment Group revealed the first of the 154-pound tournament bouts on June 15, announcing a match-up between last year's tournament runner-up Caol Uno (Pictures) and the aforementioned Katsuhiko Nagata. A fight between Katsumura and Nogueira would leave scheduled participants Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures), Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures), Kultar Gill (Pictures), Hideo Tokoro (Pictures), Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures), and Andre Dida without opponents for the July 16 Yokohama Arena card.
It must be noted, as always with HERO'S cards, that FEG is particularly whimsical with its matchmaking, and that the bout may be rearranged in the three weeks before the event takes place. However, both Katsumura and Nogueira have agreed to the match-up, which will likely be announced some time next week, alongside other tournament bouts, as well as non-tournament features including fighters such as Katsuyori Shibata, Melvin Manhoef (Pictures) and "Akebono" Chad Rowan (Pictures), among others.
Pro Shooto finds home in Hokkaido with GIG NORTH
Pro Shooto is getting pretty hot up in the usually cold mountain region of Hokkaido. And with that, on Sept. 2 comes a brand new pro Shooto tour series in Japan's northern prefecture.
While Shooto is certainly nothing foreign to Hokkaido, the creation of the brand new GIG NORTH series does speak to the development of the sport in northern Japan. Previously, Shooto efforts in Hokkaido centered around Battle Mix, a once-annual event featuring a mixture of grappling, gloved karate, amateur and pro Shooto. Now, with the recent explosion of professional Shooto fighters from cities such as Sapporo, Hakodate, and Asahikawa, promoters have recognized the necessity to hold more frequent, and larger scale pro Shooto cards in Hokkaido.
Moreover, there exists a gross inequality in terms of Japan's local MMA distribution, perhaps something that goes undetected by many fans. While Tokyo is the stage for a great deal of high-profile mixed martial arts, other large cities like Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka are forced to settle largely for grassroots level promotions in between infrequent tours of larger promotions. Other large cities, such as Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Hiroshima are almost wholly ignored.
GIG NORTH Vol. 1 will be promoted and sponsored by TT era, and the local Paraestra gym affiliates. The event will also move away from the ultra-chic, but ultra-cramped KING XHMU nightclub in Sapporo, to the larger digs of Zepp Sapporo, which figures to hold just over 800 people for a fight card.
The card, a full length pro Shooto feature, already has two confirmed bouts, with Paraestra Sapporo teammates "Aroi" Michiyuki Ishibashi (Pictures) and "Aniki" Hidekazu Asakura (Pictures) both competing in 154-pound rookie tournament semifinal bouts. Ishibashi will take on prohibitive tournament favorite Yutaka Ueda, while Asakura will meet Hiroshi Shiba, with the two winners advancing to the tournament finals.
K'z brings Class B's up to bat at Kitazawa
One of Shooto's most famous gyms, K'z Factory, returns to Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo this Saturday for its first pro Shooto card of the year.
The Kitazawa card will kick off with four bouts in the 2007 rookie tournament series. Jerking the curtain will be a 123-pound tilt between rookies Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures) of NASCER DO SOL and "UK" Suguru Inoue (Pictures). Inoue and Sakamoto are considered two of the strongest in this year's bantamweight crop, with well-rounded skillsets and dominant physical presences.
The winner will advance to the semifinals to face 123-pound tournament favorite Tatsuro Kamei, dominant in his pro debut against amateur champion Tatsuro Kamei, who was assertive in his pro debut this past May after winning the All Japan amateur Shooto championships last Sept.
In 183-pound action, hard-luck "Kintaro" Tsuneyoshi Kashimura will try to reverse the fortunes of his young career against debuting Hiroki Sato. Sato comes from a strong amateur Shooto background, having rolled to victory last Sept. at the All Japan amateur championships in the 183-pound class. The winner will advance to face Atsushi Matsuki, who was ousted from last year's 183-pound tournament due to injury.
In perhaps the most compelling of the rookie bouts, 115-pounders "Shinpei" Noboru Tahara and Hiroyuki Abe collide. "Shinpei" is coming off of a devastating thwacking of Kenichi Sawada (Pictures) this past Nov., and on that same card Abe translated a pristine, unblemished championship amateur career into pro success in his debut, taking out Hiroyuki Ikeda (Pictures) by submission. An impressive performance by the winner could solidify either man as the favorite to take this year's flyweight rookie crown.
In the fourth and final rookie tournament bout, 2005 All Japan amateur Shooto champion Hiromasa Ougikubo will look to punch his ticket to the semifinals against Satoru Ota. The 20-year-old Ougikubo, considered a bright spot from the tournament's onset, will look to redeem himself after a lackluster draw against 2006 tourney loser Naoki Yahagi (Pictures). Ota, who fought his amateur career at 143 pounds, is coming off a solid and especially entertaining win over Yuuta Nezu in Nagoya this past March. The winner will take on Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pupil Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) in the tournament semifinal.
The meat of the main card is supported by the evening's semifinal bout between 143-pound Class B'ers Daisuke Matsumoto and Sakae Kasuya (Pictures). Matsumoto, who started his career in forgettable fashion, is a heavy-handed fighter coming off two dominant victories. Meanwhile, Kasuya looked to be another solid young fighter on the Shooto roster when he debuted in late 2004, but his inability to advance his skill set beyond his strong wrestling saw him rack up a string of draws, before he was cruelly thrown to now-world champion Akitoshi Tamura (Pictures) in Sept. 2006. A win for either fighter is a huge boost toward their goal of a Class A license.
In the main event, a Class A license may be readily attainable for Ryuichi Miki, as he takes on hapless veteran Shinichi Hanawa (Pictures). Miki notched upset after upset en route to winning last year's 123-pound rookie tournament, but was not one of the rookie champions immediately promoted to Class A Shooto.
Last January, Miki was pitted against Toshimichi Akagi (Pictures), in what figured to be a match-up to advance the winner to Class A Shooto. However, Miki was struck with a bacterial infection known as erysipelas, and was forced to pull out. Now, against Hanawa, who hasn't notched a win in over four years, Miki figures to be able to showcase his skills and get an easier path to his Class A license.
And so, a cross section of quick hits this week.
Advertisement
As well, pro Shooto promoters have heard the call of hardcore Hokkaido fans, and are now bringing their gig north with GIG NORTH. Back in Kanto, K'z Factory is wearing the promoter hat this weekend for a showcase of Class B Shooto talents at Kitazawa Town Hall.
Sakakibara resurfaces for Kamipro
sit-down
Beginning with a bit of curious news, former Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara is scheduled to make his first public appearance in approximately three months.
Sakakibara has been out of the public eye since the now historic March 27 press conference in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, which all but formalized Dream Stage Entertainment's split with the PRIDE Fighting Championships. While his name has stayed in the press, both in Japan and abroad, due to speculation about the ongoing dealings with PRIDE FC Worldwide Holdings, he has not made any notable public appearances since the March press conference.
Now, Sakakibara is scheduled to appear at a public talk show event on July 7, sponsored by combat sports periodical Kami no Puroresu. The event, exuberantly titled "kamipro BOM-BA-YE Kamikaze," will take place at Tokyo club Daikanyama Air, before an intimate crowd of just over 100.
The discussion will revolve around a single central question: "What is PRIDE?"
Hioki heads home for HEAT
Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) has signed off on a summer return to his home of Nagoya.
The lanky featherweight standout will return to action in front of his hometown Nagoya crowd as part of HEAT 4: Ultimate Heat on August 11 at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. HEAT, a local Nagoya event typically featuring a mixture of MMA, kickboxing and grappling matches, is a sister promotion to the more prominent Japanese promotion DEEP.
Hioki is coming off of a hotly competitive split decision loss to former Shooto world title challenger Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) this past May. His participation in the HEAT event will likely feature a soft touch for an opponent, as the Nagoya native awaits offers from pro Shooto promoters and from TKO, where he figures to defend his 145-pound crown back in Canada this winter.
It is interesting to note that for this event, the HEAT promotion will be utilizing a cage, instead of a ring, as was used for their first three events. This is noteworthy not only due to the cage being seldom utilized in Japan outside of CAGE FORCE, but because it will be the first time that kickboxing rules bouts are contested inside a cage in Japan. This has been used in the past by English promotion Cage Warriors, which has promoted MMA and kickboxing co-features utilizing the cage for kickboxing bouts.
Katsumura-"Pequeno" just about a go for July HERO'S
With their 154-pound tournament opener just about three weeks away, K-1 and HERO'S backer Fight Entertainment Group are reportedly ready to announce another tournament tilt.
In a match-up for former pro Shooto fighters, longtime Shooto world 143-pound king "Pequeno" Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures) will take on veteran Shuichiro Katsumura (Pictures). Neither fighter, each among the smallest competitors in the tournament, have managed to find any success so far under the HERO'S banner: Pequeno was shockingly upset by Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) in his HERO'S debut in July 2005, and was thoroughly out-pointed by Koutetsu Boku (Pictures) last Aug. Katsumura made his HERO'S debut on New Year's Eve, being easily pounded out by former Olympic silver medalist and fellow tournament competitor Katsuhiko Nagata.
Fight Entertainment Group revealed the first of the 154-pound tournament bouts on June 15, announcing a match-up between last year's tournament runner-up Caol Uno (Pictures) and the aforementioned Katsuhiko Nagata. A fight between Katsumura and Nogueira would leave scheduled participants Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures), Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures), Kultar Gill (Pictures), Hideo Tokoro (Pictures), Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures), and Andre Dida without opponents for the July 16 Yokohama Arena card.
It must be noted, as always with HERO'S cards, that FEG is particularly whimsical with its matchmaking, and that the bout may be rearranged in the three weeks before the event takes place. However, both Katsumura and Nogueira have agreed to the match-up, which will likely be announced some time next week, alongside other tournament bouts, as well as non-tournament features including fighters such as Katsuyori Shibata, Melvin Manhoef (Pictures) and "Akebono" Chad Rowan (Pictures), among others.
Pro Shooto finds home in Hokkaido with GIG NORTH
Pro Shooto is getting pretty hot up in the usually cold mountain region of Hokkaido. And with that, on Sept. 2 comes a brand new pro Shooto tour series in Japan's northern prefecture.
While Shooto is certainly nothing foreign to Hokkaido, the creation of the brand new GIG NORTH series does speak to the development of the sport in northern Japan. Previously, Shooto efforts in Hokkaido centered around Battle Mix, a once-annual event featuring a mixture of grappling, gloved karate, amateur and pro Shooto. Now, with the recent explosion of professional Shooto fighters from cities such as Sapporo, Hakodate, and Asahikawa, promoters have recognized the necessity to hold more frequent, and larger scale pro Shooto cards in Hokkaido.
Moreover, there exists a gross inequality in terms of Japan's local MMA distribution, perhaps something that goes undetected by many fans. While Tokyo is the stage for a great deal of high-profile mixed martial arts, other large cities like Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka are forced to settle largely for grassroots level promotions in between infrequent tours of larger promotions. Other large cities, such as Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Hiroshima are almost wholly ignored.
GIG NORTH Vol. 1 will be promoted and sponsored by TT era, and the local Paraestra gym affiliates. The event will also move away from the ultra-chic, but ultra-cramped KING XHMU nightclub in Sapporo, to the larger digs of Zepp Sapporo, which figures to hold just over 800 people for a fight card.
The card, a full length pro Shooto feature, already has two confirmed bouts, with Paraestra Sapporo teammates "Aroi" Michiyuki Ishibashi (Pictures) and "Aniki" Hidekazu Asakura (Pictures) both competing in 154-pound rookie tournament semifinal bouts. Ishibashi will take on prohibitive tournament favorite Yutaka Ueda, while Asakura will meet Hiroshi Shiba, with the two winners advancing to the tournament finals.
K'z brings Class B's up to bat at Kitazawa
One of Shooto's most famous gyms, K'z Factory, returns to Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo this Saturday for its first pro Shooto card of the year.
The Kitazawa card will kick off with four bouts in the 2007 rookie tournament series. Jerking the curtain will be a 123-pound tilt between rookies Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures) of NASCER DO SOL and "UK" Suguru Inoue (Pictures). Inoue and Sakamoto are considered two of the strongest in this year's bantamweight crop, with well-rounded skillsets and dominant physical presences.
The winner will advance to the semifinals to face 123-pound tournament favorite Tatsuro Kamei, dominant in his pro debut against amateur champion Tatsuro Kamei, who was assertive in his pro debut this past May after winning the All Japan amateur Shooto championships last Sept.
In 183-pound action, hard-luck "Kintaro" Tsuneyoshi Kashimura will try to reverse the fortunes of his young career against debuting Hiroki Sato. Sato comes from a strong amateur Shooto background, having rolled to victory last Sept. at the All Japan amateur championships in the 183-pound class. The winner will advance to face Atsushi Matsuki, who was ousted from last year's 183-pound tournament due to injury.
In perhaps the most compelling of the rookie bouts, 115-pounders "Shinpei" Noboru Tahara and Hiroyuki Abe collide. "Shinpei" is coming off of a devastating thwacking of Kenichi Sawada (Pictures) this past Nov., and on that same card Abe translated a pristine, unblemished championship amateur career into pro success in his debut, taking out Hiroyuki Ikeda (Pictures) by submission. An impressive performance by the winner could solidify either man as the favorite to take this year's flyweight rookie crown.
In the fourth and final rookie tournament bout, 2005 All Japan amateur Shooto champion Hiromasa Ougikubo will look to punch his ticket to the semifinals against Satoru Ota. The 20-year-old Ougikubo, considered a bright spot from the tournament's onset, will look to redeem himself after a lackluster draw against 2006 tourney loser Naoki Yahagi (Pictures). Ota, who fought his amateur career at 143 pounds, is coming off a solid and especially entertaining win over Yuuta Nezu in Nagoya this past March. The winner will take on Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pupil Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) in the tournament semifinal.
The meat of the main card is supported by the evening's semifinal bout between 143-pound Class B'ers Daisuke Matsumoto and Sakae Kasuya (Pictures). Matsumoto, who started his career in forgettable fashion, is a heavy-handed fighter coming off two dominant victories. Meanwhile, Kasuya looked to be another solid young fighter on the Shooto roster when he debuted in late 2004, but his inability to advance his skill set beyond his strong wrestling saw him rack up a string of draws, before he was cruelly thrown to now-world champion Akitoshi Tamura (Pictures) in Sept. 2006. A win for either fighter is a huge boost toward their goal of a Class A license.
In the main event, a Class A license may be readily attainable for Ryuichi Miki, as he takes on hapless veteran Shinichi Hanawa (Pictures). Miki notched upset after upset en route to winning last year's 123-pound rookie tournament, but was not one of the rookie champions immediately promoted to Class A Shooto.
Last January, Miki was pitted against Toshimichi Akagi (Pictures), in what figured to be a match-up to advance the winner to Class A Shooto. However, Miki was struck with a bacterial infection known as erysipelas, and was forced to pull out. Now, against Hanawa, who hasn't notched a win in over four years, Miki figures to be able to showcase his skills and get an easier path to his Class A license.
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