Minowa Has Little Trouble in Victory
Aug 11, 2007
NAGOYA, Japan, Aug. 11 -- HEAT, a cage and the ever popular
"Minowaman" made their way to the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium
Saturday evening in a landmark event for Japanese mixed martial
arts and kickboxing in the promotion's fourth installment.
Whilst HEAT's first three cards were held within the square ring, tonight, in cooperation with Cage Force, a switch was made to the octagon cage along with a change of rules to match that of the Unified Rules of MMA, which are used throughout North America.
Clearly it marks a sign of the times in Japan.
With many top fighters appearing to be at risk of developing some ring rust, HEAT is looking to provide its fighters with a different career path outside of Japan.
"Minowaman" had a busy year in 2006, racking up seven fights, five of which came in PRIDE. But since he blocked a kick with his liver and brutally headbutted Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures)'s shin at PRIDE Shockwave 2006 he has been, like much of the PRIDE roster, inactive.
Minowa was originally slated to face Mike Seal (Pictures) but Seal was forced out due to a cut. To the rescue came the relatively unknown South Korean wrestler Choi Seung Hyun.
Minowa looked to get in and out of the ring as quickly as possible, rushing the Korean as soon as the bell sounded with a flurry or rapid-fire punches which then led to a quick takedown into the guard for Minowa.
Quickly passing, Minowa applied a submission rarely seen inside an octagon or ring, the old "schoolyard twist your arm behind your back and gimme your lunch money" shoulder lock. It was highly effective and the overmatched Korean was forced to tap at 1:41 in the first.
This city's own Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) was also scheduled to fight but was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury sustained during training. Hioki was in attendance to deliver a somber apology and to support Alive Gym's latest rising star, Takesuke Kume.
From a gym most renown for its grapplers, Kume became the 2006 All Japan Amateur Champ at 168 pounds via his striking ability. However this momentum was lost in the 2007 Shooto rookie tournament when he first made his pro debut in Shooto's last trip to Nagoya.
Facing the 2005 Amateur champ, Kume could only manage a draw and lost the coin flip to continue in the tournament. Now looking for his first pro win, he faced an interesting character in Brother "Yasshi."
Making his pro MMA debut after "fighting" in the pro wrestling organization Dragon Gate, it was easy to see why Yasshi is considered a heel everyone loves to hate -- he just sneers at everyone, though the girls seem to like him.
It was not to be Yasshi's night. Kume took the upper hand early in the fight with his striking before landing a takedown that put him in mount. Punches to the hapless Yasshi followed, yet Kume was unable to get the stoppage from the mount. He looked to switch to an armbar that was sunk and extended, but Yasshi employed some heel-like tactics in illegally stomping Kume to escape, earning himself a needed breather and a warranted warning via yellow card.
In the second it was more of the same from Kume, who reversed a takedown and achieved back-mount where he rained strikes upon Yasshi and soon after applied a rear-naked choke to put Yasshi to sleep.
It was a dominating performance from Kume but it's unclear how ready Brother "Yasshi" was for MMA, an attempt at a foot-lock while back-mounted would suggest he needs a little more preparation.
The man Hioki was supposed to fight, Brazilian Gustavo Coelho, instead faced off with Katsuya Toida (Pictures), who recently drew with Aussie hope Adrian Pang (Pictures) on a trip south of the equator.
Toida seemed to take a page out of Genki Sudo (Pictures)'s book as the fight started -- getting his groove on and flapping his arms like a bird. The inexperienced Coelho wasn't too impressed but Toida did manage to get a takedown out of it and spent the majority of the round in the guard looking for heel hooks.
In the second, Toida again got the top position but Coelho managed a heel hook attempt of his own, which Toida reversed into what looked like a pro wrestling move, the half Boston Crab. However, he didn't attempt to crank the sub for the tap and instead chose position, riding out the round on top for the unanimous decision.
In the first bout of the night Kazuhisa Tazawa submitted and "judofied" Goutoku Onda at 1:20 in the first with a neck crank from head-arm control off a beautiful throw.
In the main event of the kickboxing bouts Lloyd Van Dams looked solid and powerful, although overweight, on route to an entertaining decision win against Ryuta Noji (Pictures). Tatsufumi Tomihira, Johtaro Usui, Alex Roberts, Masataka Chinushi and Little Mo also got checks in the W column.
Whilst HEAT's first three cards were held within the square ring, tonight, in cooperation with Cage Force, a switch was made to the octagon cage along with a change of rules to match that of the Unified Rules of MMA, which are used throughout North America.
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With many top fighters appearing to be at risk of developing some ring rust, HEAT is looking to provide its fighters with a different career path outside of Japan.
Only Ikuhisa Minowa
(Pictures)'s fight, the main event,
was contested under rules you'd find with UFC-promoted contests,
however the remainder of the MMA bouts disallowed the use of
elbows. HEAT will continue using the cage in the future, the
promotion said.
"Minowaman" had a busy year in 2006, racking up seven fights, five of which came in PRIDE. But since he blocked a kick with his liver and brutally headbutted Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures)'s shin at PRIDE Shockwave 2006 he has been, like much of the PRIDE roster, inactive.
Minowa was originally slated to face Mike Seal (Pictures) but Seal was forced out due to a cut. To the rescue came the relatively unknown South Korean wrestler Choi Seung Hyun.
Minowa looked to get in and out of the ring as quickly as possible, rushing the Korean as soon as the bell sounded with a flurry or rapid-fire punches which then led to a quick takedown into the guard for Minowa.
Quickly passing, Minowa applied a submission rarely seen inside an octagon or ring, the old "schoolyard twist your arm behind your back and gimme your lunch money" shoulder lock. It was highly effective and the overmatched Korean was forced to tap at 1:41 in the first.
This city's own Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) was also scheduled to fight but was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury sustained during training. Hioki was in attendance to deliver a somber apology and to support Alive Gym's latest rising star, Takesuke Kume.
From a gym most renown for its grapplers, Kume became the 2006 All Japan Amateur Champ at 168 pounds via his striking ability. However this momentum was lost in the 2007 Shooto rookie tournament when he first made his pro debut in Shooto's last trip to Nagoya.
Facing the 2005 Amateur champ, Kume could only manage a draw and lost the coin flip to continue in the tournament. Now looking for his first pro win, he faced an interesting character in Brother "Yasshi."
Making his pro MMA debut after "fighting" in the pro wrestling organization Dragon Gate, it was easy to see why Yasshi is considered a heel everyone loves to hate -- he just sneers at everyone, though the girls seem to like him.
It was not to be Yasshi's night. Kume took the upper hand early in the fight with his striking before landing a takedown that put him in mount. Punches to the hapless Yasshi followed, yet Kume was unable to get the stoppage from the mount. He looked to switch to an armbar that was sunk and extended, but Yasshi employed some heel-like tactics in illegally stomping Kume to escape, earning himself a needed breather and a warranted warning via yellow card.
In the second it was more of the same from Kume, who reversed a takedown and achieved back-mount where he rained strikes upon Yasshi and soon after applied a rear-naked choke to put Yasshi to sleep.
It was a dominating performance from Kume but it's unclear how ready Brother "Yasshi" was for MMA, an attempt at a foot-lock while back-mounted would suggest he needs a little more preparation.
The man Hioki was supposed to fight, Brazilian Gustavo Coelho, instead faced off with Katsuya Toida (Pictures), who recently drew with Aussie hope Adrian Pang (Pictures) on a trip south of the equator.
Toida seemed to take a page out of Genki Sudo (Pictures)'s book as the fight started -- getting his groove on and flapping his arms like a bird. The inexperienced Coelho wasn't too impressed but Toida did manage to get a takedown out of it and spent the majority of the round in the guard looking for heel hooks.
In the second, Toida again got the top position but Coelho managed a heel hook attempt of his own, which Toida reversed into what looked like a pro wrestling move, the half Boston Crab. However, he didn't attempt to crank the sub for the tap and instead chose position, riding out the round on top for the unanimous decision.
In the first bout of the night Kazuhisa Tazawa submitted and "judofied" Goutoku Onda at 1:20 in the first with a neck crank from head-arm control off a beautiful throw.
In the main event of the kickboxing bouts Lloyd Van Dams looked solid and powerful, although overweight, on route to an entertaining decision win against Ryuta Noji (Pictures). Tatsufumi Tomihira, Johtaro Usui, Alex Roberts, Masataka Chinushi and Little Mo also got checks in the W column.
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