TOKYO, Dec. 2 — The battle for the first DEEP featherweight championship came to a head at the legendary Korakuen Hall tonight as the four fighters who made it through the quarterfinals in October were back in the ring to find out who was number one.
The championship pitted Imanari against Pancrase striker Yoshiro Maeda (Pictures) in an absolute technical battle. The last time these two met back in February at the DEEP 18th Impact show the fight resulted in a draw.
Imanari, perhaps the most unorthodox fighter in the sport today, was all about going for submissions, often linking his attempts together. Right from the start he tried for an armbar from his back, linking it into a leg submission attempt.
Even on his back with his Maeda standing over him, Imanari was still inching forward to hook his opponent’s leg. Once on, the Japanese rubberman held on like a Pitbull, forcing Maeda to turn and pull his foot away, often dragging Imanari behind him.
While doing a superb job of escaping submissions and inflicting damage on the ground, Maeda obviously wanted to keep this standing, often backing away and motioning for Imanari to get up.
The second round saw Imanari standing sideways to his opponent with his hands down, often going for his patented “Imanari corkscrew baseball slide diving shoot”, only to end up on his back. At times this fight was quite hilarious, with Imanari falling to the mat and Maeda taunting him to strike.
Going into the third, Imanari looked tired, breathing heavily through his mouth. After a few exchanges, Imanari timed a punch as he was coming in and went for a leglock. From here Maeda scrambled around and applied a beauty of a triangle. Maeda really had this one locked on tight and for a moment it looked like Imanari would be forced to tap, but the Japanese rubberman fought hard and managed to escape.
Just as Imanari pulled out of the triangle, a scramble ensued which saw both fighters falling back for leg submissions. This may have been a bit cocky on Maeda’s part to want to go this route with a fighter as well versed with the legs as Imanari. This battle of attrition didn’t last long, with Imanari finding the ankle lock, forcing Maeda to tap at the 1:31 mark.
When handed the microphone after his victory, Imanari had few words, simply stating, “I don’t want to fight Maeda anymore.”
Throughout his semifinal match-up with Imanari, American Top Team member Mike Thomas Brown (Pictures) neutralized his unpredictable opponent with strikes from the guard. While Brown capitalized a few times taking side position after his Imanari’s failed shots, he seemed more content to stay on top and pound it out rather than to work for a pass.
Brown continued to avoid takedowns and smother his opponent with shots from the top until late in the second round. Imanari couldn’t really seem to get his game going and it looked like Brown could perhaps walk away with a decision victory, when in an instant the extremely unorthodox Japanese fighter came back with a vengeance.
Imanari threw what could best be called a “Karate Kid” style jumping kick that made a loud smack as it connected with Brown’s glove at the side of his head. As soon as his feet touched the ground Imanari went in with his baseball slide shoot, hooking the inside of Brown’s leg and throwing his hips over to clamp down the ankle lock. Brown tried to twist out of it but was grimacing in pain before falling into the corner, having no option but to tap at the 3:38 mark.
The other semifinal match saw Pancrase veteran Maeda square off against Muay Thai fighter Muangfahlek Kiatwichkien (Pictures). Maeda wasted no time and scored the double-leg takedown right off the bell, working to the side.
From here, Maeda pinned his opponent with knee-on-belly and started to pound. After falling back to side he proceed to do the same thing, only this time he finished up with a vicious soccer kick to the downed Kiatwichkien’s head. Upon impact the Thai fighter turtled on all fours. Maeda continued to pound until the referee quickly came in and stopped the fight at the 2:26 mark.
Grabaka jiu-jitsu ace Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures) faced off against SHOOTO fighter Takeshi Matsushita in the tournament’s reserve bout. Yamazaki was constantly looking for the takedown in this one, while Matsushita did a good job of landing counterpunches after Yamazaki’s kicks.
After several clinches against the ropes in the second, Matsushita managed to trip his opponent, only to slide off of Yamazaki’s back and down to the canvas. From here the Grabaka fighter threw down punches from the guard and passed to the side. Yamazaki continued to circle over his opponent’s head, applying an armbar. Matsushita tried to defend, but after a brief struggle Yamazaki had the technique fully extended, forcing the SHOOTO fighter to tap with only 16 seconds left in the round.