The Weekly Wrap: May 9 – May 15

Shooto Celebrates 20 Years

Shooto stalwart Rumina Sato came up short perhaps one last time in the main event of a show called “The Final Tradition” on May 10; the event commemorated 20 years of the Shooto fight organization.

Sato lost via first-round TKO to lightweight champion Takeshi Inoue in the featured bout. Sato, 35, has chased a Shooto title for years in the promotion’s longest-running storyline, and the typically-reserved crowd at JCB Hall in Tokyo came unglued when the sentimental favorite dropped the 143-pound champion with a left. Inoue recovered quickly, though, and put away Sato with a left hand and subsequent ground-and-pound. Inoue turned down the chance to compete in Dream’s featherweight grand prix to compete on a card that brought together some of the best fighters the venerable Shooto circuit has produced in recent years. Sato, one of the great submission fighters in MMA history, debuted in the Shooto ring in 1994, and is thought to be on the last leg of his career. He bowed to the crowd and exited briskly after the loss.

Former top-shelf lightweight Takanori Gomi looked reinvigorated coming off several sluggish performances, as he knocked out Shooto 154-pound titlist Takashi Nakakura with a right uppercut and left-right cross combination in the second round. Gomi received a raucous reception in his return to his old stomping grounds and shouted “I’ve come back home!” to the crowd after the win. Mitsuhiro Ishida’s return to Shooto was less auspicious, as the one-time conqueror of Gilbert Melendez dropped his second straight match in a controversial loss to Mizuto Hirota. The 27-year-old Hirota landed a left hook that sent Ishida falling into the corner, then loaded up on punches until the referee stepped in. A seated Ishida was leaning forward and appeared to have recovered when the fight was called.

Several of Japan’s current rising fighters also got the chance to shine on the show. Kotetsu Boku, of Norifumi Yamamoto’s Krazy Bee gym, put away Yutaka Ueda with a left cross in the first round, while “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura defeated Takumi Ota by unanimous decision. Finally, one of the world’s top female fighters, the undefeated Megumi Fuji, ran circles around Won Bun Chu, took the fight to the floor and found a keylock in 52 seconds. It was Chu’s first professional fight.