Shooto Rookies Fight for Finals
Sep 29, 2007
OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 29 -- The Shooto Gig went west Saturday for a
card stacked with rookie tournament action.
Unfortunately for promoter Sustain, the previously advertised main event, Shinji Sasaki (Pictures) versus Paolo Milano (Pictures), fell through. As a result the rookies stepped up to entertain the full house.
In the main event undefeated Junya Kudou (Pictures) took on Yasuhiro Kanayama with the
winner advancing to the 132-pound rookie tournament final.
After receiving an early low blow, Kudou took control of the first round with superior striking and sprawling on Kanayama's takedown attempts. At one stage Kudou even transitioned to the coveted cartwheel anaconda choke, although to no avail.
Kanayama turned the tables in the second stanza, coming out strong with two cracking slams that seemed to temporarily wind Kudou.
On the mat Kanayama dominated positions and scored with some solid strikes. He then locked in a body triangle, which allowed him to try to choke and pound his way to victory.
Ultimately the bout went to the judges, though, and they ruled it a majority draw.
A letter draw was held to determine which fighter would advance in the 132-pound tournament. Kanayama scored in the lucky dip and will meet Hiromasa Ougikubo (Pictures) in the finals later this year.
Tatsuro Kamei, the 2006 Shooto All Japan amateur champion at 123 pounds, took on Suguru Inoue (Pictures) for a shot in the 123-pound rookie tournament final.
Almost immediately the two clinched, and Kamei attempted to lock in a guillotine while standing. Inoue must have fallen asleep during "Rampage's Whoop dat Ass 101," however, because his attempt to slam his way out of the submission consisted of him jumping directly backwards -- effectively pulling his opponent into the mount.
Inoue quickly reversed, though, only to be caught in a triangle choke.
It turns out that Inoue was awake for at least some of "Rampage 101." To defend the choke this time, he lifted his opponent to heights not seen since Quinton Jackson (Pictures) slammed the living bejesus out of Ricardo Arona (Pictures) in Pride.
However, the devastating slam, missing perhaps the follow-up head-butt from the Jackson-Arona fight, was not enough to break Kamei's legs apart.
After recovering from the slam, Kamei cinched the triangle choke tighter and forced the tap. The win improved his record to 2-0, with both victories coming by triangle.
Rookies Toshihiko Yokoyama (Pictures) and Kazuhiro Ito fought for a place in the lightweight finals. Yokoyama was the 143-pound All Japan champ for 2006. After suffering an early TKO loss in February, he fell quickly again on Saturday.
Yokoyama opened with some sharp low kicks, but then Ito delivered a devastating knee that echoed through the hall and ended the bout in 32 seconds.
In a non-tournament bout, Kousuke Eda (Pictures), coming off a knockout loss to Isao Terada (Pictures) at DEEP 30th Impact, looked to rebound against Teruyuki Matsumoto.
Eda is trying to become the next Heath Herring (Pictures) with his haircuts. In his last bout, he sported a reverse Mohawk. On Saturday he came in with this shaved into the back of his head: (^o^)/.
In the first round, Matsumoto locked on a high single to get the takedown after a brief exchange. On the ground he pounded from all positions while Eda looked fruitlessly for a submission.
Much of the same followed in the second round. Matsumoto continued his ground-and-pound assault and nearly stopped Eda from the mount. Eda survived the round, though, and a triangle attempt from Matsumoto only to lose a unanimous decision.
Toru Ishinaka, 0-2-1, and Hirosumi Sugiura (Pictures) squared off in a back-and-forth affair.
Sugiura looked to have the fight tied up early with a head-arm choke. Ishinaka fought off the submission and forced a stand-up war that saw both fighters taking it in turns for extended flurries, though no one connected with a fight-ending blow.
In the end the judges gave a unanimous nod to Sugiura.
Unfortunately for promoter Sustain, the previously advertised main event, Shinji Sasaki (Pictures) versus Paolo Milano (Pictures), fell through. As a result the rookies stepped up to entertain the full house.
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After receiving an early low blow, Kudou took control of the first round with superior striking and sprawling on Kanayama's takedown attempts. At one stage Kudou even transitioned to the coveted cartwheel anaconda choke, although to no avail.
Kanayama's offense included a high kick and a big knee, but Kudou
changed levels and got a takedown to finish the round.
Kanayama turned the tables in the second stanza, coming out strong with two cracking slams that seemed to temporarily wind Kudou.
On the mat Kanayama dominated positions and scored with some solid strikes. He then locked in a body triangle, which allowed him to try to choke and pound his way to victory.
Ultimately the bout went to the judges, though, and they ruled it a majority draw.
A letter draw was held to determine which fighter would advance in the 132-pound tournament. Kanayama scored in the lucky dip and will meet Hiromasa Ougikubo (Pictures) in the finals later this year.
Tatsuro Kamei, the 2006 Shooto All Japan amateur champion at 123 pounds, took on Suguru Inoue (Pictures) for a shot in the 123-pound rookie tournament final.
Almost immediately the two clinched, and Kamei attempted to lock in a guillotine while standing. Inoue must have fallen asleep during "Rampage's Whoop dat Ass 101," however, because his attempt to slam his way out of the submission consisted of him jumping directly backwards -- effectively pulling his opponent into the mount.
Inoue quickly reversed, though, only to be caught in a triangle choke.
It turns out that Inoue was awake for at least some of "Rampage 101." To defend the choke this time, he lifted his opponent to heights not seen since Quinton Jackson (Pictures) slammed the living bejesus out of Ricardo Arona (Pictures) in Pride.
However, the devastating slam, missing perhaps the follow-up head-butt from the Jackson-Arona fight, was not enough to break Kamei's legs apart.
After recovering from the slam, Kamei cinched the triangle choke tighter and forced the tap. The win improved his record to 2-0, with both victories coming by triangle.
Rookies Toshihiko Yokoyama (Pictures) and Kazuhiro Ito fought for a place in the lightweight finals. Yokoyama was the 143-pound All Japan champ for 2006. After suffering an early TKO loss in February, he fell quickly again on Saturday.
Yokoyama opened with some sharp low kicks, but then Ito delivered a devastating knee that echoed through the hall and ended the bout in 32 seconds.
In a non-tournament bout, Kousuke Eda (Pictures), coming off a knockout loss to Isao Terada (Pictures) at DEEP 30th Impact, looked to rebound against Teruyuki Matsumoto.
Eda is trying to become the next Heath Herring (Pictures) with his haircuts. In his last bout, he sported a reverse Mohawk. On Saturday he came in with this shaved into the back of his head: (^o^)/.
In the first round, Matsumoto locked on a high single to get the takedown after a brief exchange. On the ground he pounded from all positions while Eda looked fruitlessly for a submission.
Much of the same followed in the second round. Matsumoto continued his ground-and-pound assault and nearly stopped Eda from the mount. Eda survived the round, though, and a triangle attempt from Matsumoto only to lose a unanimous decision.
Toru Ishinaka, 0-2-1, and Hirosumi Sugiura (Pictures) squared off in a back-and-forth affair.
Sugiura looked to have the fight tied up early with a head-arm choke. Ishinaka fought off the submission and forced a stand-up war that saw both fighters taking it in turns for extended flurries, though no one connected with a fight-ending blow.
In the end the judges gave a unanimous nod to Sugiura.
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