Lions, Turkeys & Prom Queens

Hatsu Hioki vs. Rumina Sato

With this current pro Shooto series dubbed "Shooto Tradition," it is certainly suitable that Shooto's Shakespearean, their ultimate tragic hero, Rumina Sato, would take the stage. While he's been a historical figure for Shooto, Sato's relevance is largely that: historical. The magnitude and majesty of the "Moon Wolf" is tied to a time now long past, where flying armbars once reigned. Now there's only sorrow. And, to quote Billy the Bard, when sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.

Sato is now the official gateway to the stars for shootors, as he is continuously matched with desirable talent for the purpose of an exciting, entertaining scrap and an inevitably dramatic death. To be less thespian and more curt, Sato is essentially your high school prom queen. She's a decade past her prime and several kilos past bragging rights, but there is still something beckoning, gripping and ultimately validating about her.

Uncomfortably perverse metaphor-making aside, Hatsu Hioki is one of Japan's best talents regardless of weight. While his harebrained ideas of strategy have led to some disappointing losses and draws, Hioki's physical and technical talents are tremendous. At only 25 years old, he is entrenched as one of the best featherweights in the world, and if he can combine even an elementary notion of strategy with his strengthening striking and sensational grappling, he could legitimately vie for the title of the world's best 145-pounder, all hyperbole aside.

One of the ultimate and ever-gripping charms of this sport is near-infinite possibilities, where every perfunctory setup is enriched by the off-chance that a counted-out combatant can piss all over the best-laid plans of promoters. However, this fight is defective in that it lacks a legitimate opportunity for the unexpected.

Given his wildly uneven performances and complete lack of anything resembling strategy, it is strange to imagine a fight in which Hioki couldn't be upset. However, the style clash completely insulates Hioki and should save him from one of his frustrating foul-ups. Sato has neither the striking slickness of Antonio Carvalho or the slugging strength of Jong Man Kim, and he will be outstruck at range by Hioki, who will enjoy a massive reach advantage, complimented by continually improving technical skills.

On the ground is where Sato has traditionally done his business. Unfortunately for him, his positioning and defensive grappling skills have often betrayed him, and he is facing one of the best grapplers in the division, bar none. A cursory glimpse at Sato's May performance against former Shooto world champ Akitoshi Tamura reveals a fighter who is in all respects inferior to Hioki and is prime to get polished off in the first half of the bout.

Hioki should bust Sato up with strikes from the outside early, but he hasn't shown the pop to put his opponents to bed. Consequently, in the late-first or early-second round, Hioki will put Sato on the floor and show him how a grown man grapples. Hioki will successfully get his sloppy sevenths against Shooto's one-time prom queen, and with that notch in the ringpost, he can hopefully move on to trying to land some top-10 hookups.