TOKYO, Dec. 20 — Despite having to sit ringside with a shaved head after losing a bet to Akihiro Gono (Pictures) and Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) as to whether or not a Japanese fighter could win the PRIDE Bushido Grand Prix title, charismatic DEEP president and Bushido matchmaker Shigeru Saeki no doubt couldn’t be happier with the success of his fight organization.
Tonight’s event from Korakuen Hall was no different, with the main event pitting up-and-coming lightweight prospects Kazunori Yokota (Pictures) and “Barbaro44” Yoshihiro Tomioka (Pictures) in a battle for the right to challenge for Nobuhiro Obiya (Pictures)’s DEEP lightweight crown.
Yokota drew first blood in the opening round, tagging Tomioka with a hard right hand before scoring a takedown in the ensuing melee. The Grabaka fighter nearly had the fight in the bag with a huge armbar off a failed Tomioka takedown attempt, but with the technique fully extended and a referee intervention seemingly only seconds away, Tomioka somehow managed to dig deep and throw his legs over the top to escape the pressure.
The momentum during the rest of the bout went back-and-forth. Tomioka used his impressive boxing skills to string together some good combos, but Yokota answered back by landing better quality shots, especially his right cross.
Toward the end of the match it was Tomioka who was pushing the pace, forcing Yokota to backpedal and look for counters. The last 10 seconds saw the fighters trade punches feverishly to the final bell.
The bout went to the judges and it was Yokota who walked away with the majority decision.
After the bout, Yokota told the crowd that he was inspired when his Grabaka teammate, Kazuo Misaki (Pictures), won the Bushido Grand Prix belt, and now he wants one too. The new No. 1 DEEP lightweight contender will likely have the chance to challenge Obiya for the title next February.
Former DEEP middleweight champion Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures) lost his title in a very unconvincing manner last Feb. to Bushido veteran Ryo Chonan (Pictures) thanks to a bad nosebleed early on in the match. The fight was stopped and Chonan declared the winner.
Since then, Sakurai had only one fight under his belt. Tonight’s bout against Hard Combat’s Geovani Pereira was another step closer to his anticipated rematch with Chonan.
Pereira, with only one previous fight on his record, really didn’t have much of a chance to get into this one. Sakurai scored an early takedown and connected with some quality punches from the guard, before eventually passing his opponent’s legs and working for a Kimura from the top. From here he stretched out the technique and submitted Pereira with an armlock at the 57-second mark of the first.
After the bout, Sakurai addressed Chonan, who was sitting ringside doing the commentary. He told the middleweight champion that he wanted to fight for the title. Chonan came to the ring apron and simply stated, “I’ll destroy you.”
Gracie Barra Combat Team’s Fabricio Monteiro (Pictures) scored a decision victory over DEEP welterweight champion Jutaro Nakao (Pictures) last October in a non-title bout. This time around, the tough Brazilian faced off against former welterweight and middleweight King of Pancrase Kiuma Kunioku (Pictures) to decide who would be the next to challenger for Nakao’s title.
Monteiro really took control of this one as soon as it hit the ground. After escaping the mount once, Kunioku found himself in a world of trouble as Monteiro applied a deep Kimura from the side. The Brazilian really had this thing wrenched on and Kunioku had to follow the force of the technique to avoid having his shoulder broken, finally ending up with Monteiro once again back in the mount.
From here Monteiro began to rain down punches. Kunioku twisted to avoid the blows, giving his back to his opponent in the process. “The Pitbull” made no mistakes at this point and sunk in a rear-naked choke for the victory at 4:41 of the first.
It had been one day short of two years since Eiji Ishikawa (Pictures) had last stepped into the ring. For his return back to action, the Grabaka fighter faced off against mundial grappling champion Delson Heleno (Pictures). This was the Brazilian’s debut appearance in Japan.
“Pe de Chumbo” landed a big slam early on and really had Ishikawa reeling on the ground for a while, taking his back and going for an armbar from the bottom. But the tough Grabaka fighter weathered the storm and eventually escaped to the guard. From here Ishikawa connected with some solid punches, causing the back of Heleno’s head to bounce off the mat.
The second saw Heleno come rushing in for a clinch before scoring a hip toss. However, Ishikawa bounced back up and scored a single-leg takedown only seconds after. The Brazilian continued to be very active off his back, constantly moving his legs up for triangle attempts.
Heleno took his opponent’s back after a failed Ishikawa throw attempt, and despite working back up to his feet, Ishikawa once again found the Brazilian riding his back in the last 30 seconds before the final bell. The fight went the distance and Heleno took the decision victory.
Along with the many No. 1-contender match-ups, the other theme of the night was a four-bout Japan versus Korea series. CMA Korea has put out some decent fighters in the past, and tonight those talents were certainly on display against their Japanese counterparts.
In his bout against Team M.A.D. fighter Yuya Shirai (Pictures), Dae Won Kim (Pictures) put together some good hand combinations, and despite taking a hard right hand in the corner, the tough Korean fighter was able to tie up his opponent and stop the momentum of the fight from turning against him.
After trading more shots, Kim tagged Shirai with a perfectly timed right-hand uppercut just as the Japanese fighter was charging in. Shirai instantly fell to his knees upon impact and Kim followed up with several more punches until the referee called an end to the bout at the 3:31 mark of the first.
CMA Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim (Pictures) really put on a dominant performance in his bout against Jun Ando. The Korean fighter spent almost the entire first round on his opponent’s back, peppering away with punches from behind while searching for a rear-naked choke.
The second saw Kim change strategy and open-up against Ando with punches and knees until finally connecting with a hard left cross to the head that put Ando to the ground for good 44 seconds into the round.
KPW Chanwon Fight Factory’s In Seok Kim (Pictures) was certainly given no favors last year when for his debut he was matched up against Shooto welterweight champion Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) in PRIDE Bushido 7. After that crushing defeat he was matched up against another seasoned veteran in Pancrase’s Koji Oishi (Pictures) and was swiftly knocked out. This time around he was finally matched up against someone at his experience level in Hirokazu Konno (Pictures).
This one turned out to be a real slobberknocker, with both fighters connecting and receiving hard punches. By the end of the second both guys were gassed, but they kept pouring it on right to the final bell. This time it was Kim who walked away with his first victory as a pro.
Japan’s only shining star in this mini-series was Satoko Shinashi (Pictures). The female Sambo stylist amassed a record of 22-0-2 before finally tasting her first defeat at the hands of Hisae Watanabe (Pictures) last August. Tonight she faced MMA rookie Tae Kyung Kim.
Shinashi was all over her badly outclassed opponent on the ground, scoring mount several times and going for armbars, Kimuras and ankle-locks. But, to her credit, Kim hung in the fight and managed to escape a lot of what Shinashi threw at her.
However, Shinashi’s experience proved too great in the end, as she finally locked on an armbar to force a referee stoppage at 4:16 of the first.
Hiroshi Nakano (Pictures)’s match against Takuhiro Kamikozono (Pictures) original started as the second fight on the card, but had to be restarted later on in the event when halfway through the first round the Mach dojo fighter broke his mouth guard and didn’t have another to replace it. Apparently Nakano’s trainer, Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), actually had to leave Korakuen Hall and buy another one.
Nakano put up a good fight once the match was restarted, but Kamikozono was just too strong for him. The Kikuchi dojo fighter pounded Nakano from the guard and rained down punches from the mount during the final 30 seconds. The fight went to the judges and Kamikozono took a unanimous victory.
Makoto Kato stopped Seigo Mizuguchi (Pictures) by high kick 120 seconds into the first round.
Katsunori Kikuno out-pointed Hiroki Nagaoka (Pictures) after two rounds.
Motoki Takinishi submitted Hirotaka Miyakawa (Pictures) with an armbar 4:46 of the second round.