A Blood Called Shooto: Part 2

Kenichiro Togashi and Tetsuji Kato will fight, essentially, to help themselves get in line for a run toward prominence, rather than simply being called upon by promoters to serve as gatekeepers. Kotetsu Boku and Yutaka Ueda will meet with vastly different motives; Boku, a rock-solid and serially underrated veteran, has not been able to stick around in shows like Hero’s and Dream and has battled to become more than a slick one-dimensional striker. If he’s to be considered something greater than criminally overlooked and if he wants to earn more lucrative purses, then he must deal with Ueda, a hard-punching prospect with designs on upward mobility in Shooto. A loss for Boku leaves him to uncomfortably fill a role as the gatekeeper-to-the-stars in the division, while a loss for Ueda makes him just another lightweight, rather than one to keep an eye on.

Ishida and Mizuto Hirota have both been on the rollercoaster. Ishida was the first man to put a blemish on the record of Gilbert Melendez but was shockingly choked out by former Shooto world champion Uno in last year’s Dream lightweight grand prix. Hirota upset streaking International Fight League champion Ryan Schultz in Sengoku’s lightweight tournament before an underwhelming performance in his semi-final loss to Kazunori Yokota. With Dream still possessing a rock-solid contingent of that weight’s elite and Sengoku shrewdly piecing together its own strong 154-pound division, a loss for either fighter leaves him even further behind in an ever-expanding lightweight universe.

Both Ishida and Hirota have been to major shows; Yusuke Endo and Willamy Chiquerim have not. The 26-year-old Endo has teetered on the cusp of a breakout for the past three years, but despite wins over blonde brawler Ganjo Tentsuku and UFC sparkplug Clay Guida, he has not been able to get over the hump and get to his golden ticket. The 21-year old Chiquerim, the Shooto South American 154-pound champion, has struggled to find suitable tests on the Brazilian regional circuit and now has the chance to leap into the consciousness of hardcore fans and Shooto authorities. A loss for either man further consigns him to the regional scenes he’s desperate to escape.

The recent doldrums of former lightweight king Gomi have befuddled and bemused MMA fans. “The Fireball Kid” has looked positively lackluster over the last two and a half years, and with a crop of young and gifted lightweights emerging, a third straight loss would all but banish him to the periphery of the division, despite being perhaps the most accomplished fighter in the division’s history. However, in opposition, he finds current Shooto world champion Takashi Nakakura, who’s one of the sport’s most improved fighters over the last two years. At 32 years old, the time is now for the Osakan, who belongs to the same championship lineage as Uno, Hansen, “Shaolin” Ribeiro, Kawajiri and Gomi himself. If the new-look Nakakura can knock off Gomi, bigger paydays and marquee opposition will not be far behind.

That leaves the main event, a quintessential passing of the torch. While it may not be his last bout ever, this will likely be Sato’s last chance in his 15-year odyssey to become Shooto world champion. Sato’s championship quest has been MMA’s ultimate exercise in repetitious heartbreak, as his career of high-profile failures has made him the sport’s ultimate tragic hero.

It was a decade ago -- at Shooto’s 10th Anniversary show -- that he first challenged a young, unheralded underdog named Caol Uno for the title and was upset in one of MMA’s seminal classics. Now 35 years old, this fight represents the last stand for “Shooto’s Charisma,” as he takes on Shooto’s poster boy nouveau and 143-pound world champion, “Lion Takeshi.” Inoue gave up a potential berth in Sengoku’s featherweight grand prix to defend his title against Sato, showing the kind of unflinching loyalty that typifies Shootors.

The bout is more symbolic than it is relevant. With one win in the last four years, Sato in no way deserves a shot at Lion Takeshi and will likely be knocked out. However, it all seems strangely appropriate for professional Shooto’s 20th Anniversary. And in the off-chance that Sato actually won, well, words would surely fail.

“It’s an all-or-nothing event,” says Wakabayashi. “It’s very life-and-death and very much fitting of a Shooto card.”

Nothing out-of-the-ordinary is going to happen, per se, in that familiar ring at JCB Hall in Tokyo on Sunday. It is, in some ways, just another card, just another nine MMA fights. It probably won’t rewrite MMA’s top 10s and pound-for-pound universe or blaze over blogs with feverish discussion.

However, the blood and magic of professional Shooto exists both within and beyond MMA. To read Shooto’s 20th anniversary as just another excellent nine-fight card misses the point entirely.

“Of course, I think it’s important to make promotions bigger or make more money or foster more famous fighters,” Wakabayashi says. “But I’ve learned it’s not really all about that. What is important is that the fighters grow. It’s really a very precious and rewarding experience, as a human being, to be involved in something like this.”

Something like this. Something that inspires a culture of fighters, not just in their skill but in their conviction. Something like blood. Something called Shooto.

Here’s to another 20 years of that something special.