TOKYO, April 11 — While winter is still fighting its way out of Tokyo with a cold and annoying rainy night, the Nagoya-based DEEP promotion held another action packed show at Korakuen Hall, the Mecca of mixed martial arts.
With the vacant title on the line, DEEP brought SHOOTO veteran Ryan Bow (Pictures) to take on hot Kiguchi Dojo prospect Nobuhiro Obiya (Pictures).
Both fighters started very cautiously and circled. With the referee calling for action Obiya decided to start first by scoring thunderous low kicks over Bow’s legs. The American fighter seemed to absorb the punishment and decided to stay in the outside while counter-punching Obiya as he walked in.
The majority of the first and second rounds unfolded like a kickboxing match: Obiya followed the pattern of stepping in with low kicks while mixing left and right hooks to Bow’s mid-section. Surprisingly, Bow looked comfortable absorbing kicks and hooks while limiting his game to counter-punching with left hooks and sporadic kicks.
The third and final period saw Bow offer a different plan: instead of trying to counter he shot for a takedown. But Obiya’s sprawl blocked the attempt before fighting his way out with punches over Bow’s face.
After the referee separated the fighters, Obiya pushed forward and scored a straight left followed by a right hook that put Bow against the ropes. He defended with his guard up while Obiya continued to attack with hooks to the body and jumping knees.
Bow shot again but Obiya scrambled and scored a stomp on the American’s face. Bow escaped and returned to his feet just to push Obiya over the ropes and try again for the takedown. With Obiya still trying to escape, Bow managed to take Obiya’s back and look for a choke.
With a minute left to finish the match, Obiya switched to survival mode and tried to block Bow from taking the full mount while he spent the last seconds scoring punches and looking for better position.
In the end the three judges awarded the match 3-0 to Nobuhiro Obiya (Pictures), who became the second DEEP lightweight champion.
During his post-fight interview, Obiya asked fans to continue supporting him. The new champion also stated that he is looking forward to becoming a good DEEP champion. Also, he gave thanks to his main sparring partner and current PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi (Pictures) for all the help in preparation for this title match.
On a side note, expect Obiya to make a debut sometime this year in the PRIDE Bushido series since DEEP president Shigeru Saeki holds a good relation with the DSE office and he also functions like a Bushido official.
The co-main event pitted French fighter Cyrille Diabete against RINGS and PRIDE Bushido veteran Yasuhito Namekawa (Pictures) in a “Twilight Zone” kind of fight that left me wondering if I was watching two fights in one.
The first round saw Namekawa rushing Diabete with a jab that quickly changed into a bodylock takedown. Once on the ground Namekawa tried to improve position with short punches while gaining the side-mount. As Namekawa looked to secure an armlock, his French opponent connected with a knee from the bottom that quickly saw Namekawa stop and complain to the referee.
Under DEEP rules, knee strikes to the head, either from the top or bottom, are illegal. So the referee gave Diabete a yellow card for the foul.
The match restarted with both fighters standing and Namekawa moved once again for the takedown. Diabete didn’t show any defense and was comfortable fighting from his back while Namekawa finished the round in half-guard.
The second period offered a completely different result from the French fighter. With Namekawa rushing again for a takedown, Diabete kept the distance with straight lefts and rights. Namekawa shot for a second time, but the Frenchman meet his challenger with a knee to the face that sent the Japanese fighter bouncing back and down against the ropes.
Diabete followed with more ground strikes from inside Namekawa’s guard, but it was clear the Japanese fighter was out from the knee. The referee quickly stopped action and awarded Diabete the TKO victory at 2:22 into the second round for the comeback of the night.