Top Shootors Go Back Their Roots
Inoue vs. Toida
Jordan Breen Nov 7, 2007
Shooto Pacific Rim 143-Pound Championship
"Lion Takeshi" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) (13-2-0) vs. Katsuya Toida (Pictures) (10-6-3)
The bout between Lion Takeshi and Katsuya Toida (Pictures) is the evening's main event, at least ostensibly, because it is a "title" match. Yes, this match is also for a piece of Pacific Rim hardware at 143 pounds. However, that material is immaterial to the larger focus of the fight; the stakes are high with or without a meaningless belt.
It was only six months ago that Lion Takeshi was Shooto world
champion and seemingly poised to have a solid reign. In his first
title defense, he stepped into the ring with Akitoshi Tamura (Pictures), a fighter he'd already bested
once before and was likely to do so again. However, between Lion's
intense struggle to make weight for the bout and Tamura's rapid
improvement as a fighter, the 27-year-old Shooto poster boy saw
himself thoroughly dominated in the ring, and Tamura left Korakuen
Hall with the Shooto world title.
Lion attempted to rebuild quickly, and he climbed into the ring two months later for a quick tune-up win over Dutch import Marc Duncan (Pictures). Why his bout against Toida is slated to crown a Pacific Rim champion is beyond me. For Lion Takeshi, there should be but one set of objectives: kill Katsuya Toida (Pictures), get a rubber match with Tamura, regain the Shooto world title.
The implication is that Shooto promoters realize that a tough and always tricky veteran like Toida makes an ideal acid test for their young up-and-coming fighters. The 30-year-old "Toikatsu" has faced a steady stream of solid competitors in the division over his nine-year career, and his unorthodox submission style makes him a respectable wildcard against any opposition. However, now he is not faced with testing another up-and-comer, as he was in a proposed bout with Hioki or against the likes of Fujimiya, Pang, or Yamamoto. In Lion Takeshi, he faces a top competitor in the weight class, and he has a chance to boost himself into world title contention by pulling the upset.
The bout can definitely be read as a classic style clash, if only because Toida is a limited fighter. He has virtually nothing to offer in the striking department. Toida's strength is in his grappling, where he has a well-rounded and active attack from all positions. While he doesn't have great takedown defense himself, Toida has a solid single-leg takedown, but he is just as comfortable pulling guard to bring fights to the mat. From there, he typically uses open guard and often butterfly guard to threaten with sweeps and submissions. While he's yet to finish a fight with one, Toida has adopted the slogan of "I want your leg!" and frequently attempts leglocks.
As he showed in his bout with Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures), Toida also has added some depth to his offense with some decent ground-and-pound. Though Toida typically didn't offer much in the way of top-position pounding in the past, the greatest sustained offense in the bout with Fujimiya was the damage Toida inflicted from top control.
In stark contrast, Lion Takeshi's strong suit is on the feet. Very large for the weight class, Lion is tall and has fantastic reach. He puts his long limbs to good use both in controlling pace and distance with low kicks and as a 1-2 fighter, setting up his powerful right hand -- his primary KO weapon. While Lion has defensive liabilities on the inside, highlighted both in his terrifying moments against Hiroyuki Abe and his repeatedly poor defense of the Thai plum, he has a solid set of whiskers and good recovery.
Like most if not all of Kenji Kawaguchi (Pictures)'s students, Lion is mostly defensive on his back, but the lethargic Tamura rematch aside, he is generally a good enough wrestler to dictate where the fight goes. Lion has solid trips and takedowns from the body clinch and has a strong top game. Because of his tall torso and long arms, he is a potent ground-and-pounder. While he does have solid submission fundamentals, they'll likely play no real offensive role in this bout as the submission grappling game will be a question of attempting to negate Toida's active attempts at submissions.
Stylistically, the ball would very much appear to be in Lion's court. If he is able to work a prototypical sprawl-and-brawl game plan, he should have no problem handling Toida. Toida is very hittable, and he has no striking to offer in return on the feet. Against Lion's teammate Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures), Toida found success because Fujimiya was too timid to engage for fear of being put on his back. While Lion's takedown defense is not impenetrable, it is solid enough that he should have no fear picking Toida apart and closing the distance when necessary.
Lion is also generally solid at thwarting submission attempts while maintaining a good pace with his ground-and-pound. This also makes top control a decent option, though less ideal than on the feet. As was shown in the second bout with Carvalho, Lion is capable of capitalizing on holes in a fighter's defense due to their activity off their back. With a slightly higher risk factor, he could attempt a similar strategy against Toida.
Quite simply, Toida must try to bring the fight to the mat at all costs. He has nothing to offer on the feet, so he might as well take his best shot at securing a single leg, and if he's stuffed, pull guard and immediately begin working for submissions and sweeps. While Toida has the ability to push for submissions constantly, if he's unable to get top position at some point, it is hard to imagine how he'll score with the judges, as being on his back will see Lion thumping him in the face while he looks for submissions.
Toida is facing a steep, steep uphill battle. If Lion fights with any kind of aggression and really attacks Toida, it may be a very, very short night for "Toikatsu." However, even if Lion is passive, and is relegated to potshotting on the feet and chipping away from top control while negating Toida's guardwork, it should still be enough to take a decision.
Lion's aggression will determine the method of victory, but he should take the win regardless. Toida remains the division's gatekeeper, and Lion's poised for an anticipated rubber match with Tamura. I can dig that.
"Lion Takeshi" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) (13-2-0) vs. Katsuya Toida (Pictures) (10-6-3)
The bout between Lion Takeshi and Katsuya Toida (Pictures) is the evening's main event, at least ostensibly, because it is a "title" match. Yes, this match is also for a piece of Pacific Rim hardware at 143 pounds. However, that material is immaterial to the larger focus of the fight; the stakes are high with or without a meaningless belt.
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Lion attempted to rebuild quickly, and he climbed into the ring two months later for a quick tune-up win over Dutch import Marc Duncan (Pictures). Why his bout against Toida is slated to crown a Pacific Rim champion is beyond me. For Lion Takeshi, there should be but one set of objectives: kill Katsuya Toida (Pictures), get a rubber match with Tamura, regain the Shooto world title.
Toida can't seem to escape the Pacific Rim programming. He has
seemingly been cast into the same role repeatedly over the last two
years as Shooto promoters attempted to crown a new Pacific Rim
champion. First, he was to face an up-and-coming Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) for the vacant title in February
2006 before he was injured in training and forced to pull out.
Then, after Hioki had gone about establishing himself as a
top-flight competitor, Shooto authorities lined up a Pacific Rim
title fight between Toida and up-and-coming Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures) for last November, which ended in
an unfulfilling draw.
The implication is that Shooto promoters realize that a tough and always tricky veteran like Toida makes an ideal acid test for their young up-and-coming fighters. The 30-year-old "Toikatsu" has faced a steady stream of solid competitors in the division over his nine-year career, and his unorthodox submission style makes him a respectable wildcard against any opposition. However, now he is not faced with testing another up-and-comer, as he was in a proposed bout with Hioki or against the likes of Fujimiya, Pang, or Yamamoto. In Lion Takeshi, he faces a top competitor in the weight class, and he has a chance to boost himself into world title contention by pulling the upset.
The bout can definitely be read as a classic style clash, if only because Toida is a limited fighter. He has virtually nothing to offer in the striking department. Toida's strength is in his grappling, where he has a well-rounded and active attack from all positions. While he doesn't have great takedown defense himself, Toida has a solid single-leg takedown, but he is just as comfortable pulling guard to bring fights to the mat. From there, he typically uses open guard and often butterfly guard to threaten with sweeps and submissions. While he's yet to finish a fight with one, Toida has adopted the slogan of "I want your leg!" and frequently attempts leglocks.
As he showed in his bout with Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures), Toida also has added some depth to his offense with some decent ground-and-pound. Though Toida typically didn't offer much in the way of top-position pounding in the past, the greatest sustained offense in the bout with Fujimiya was the damage Toida inflicted from top control.
In stark contrast, Lion Takeshi's strong suit is on the feet. Very large for the weight class, Lion is tall and has fantastic reach. He puts his long limbs to good use both in controlling pace and distance with low kicks and as a 1-2 fighter, setting up his powerful right hand -- his primary KO weapon. While Lion has defensive liabilities on the inside, highlighted both in his terrifying moments against Hiroyuki Abe and his repeatedly poor defense of the Thai plum, he has a solid set of whiskers and good recovery.
Like most if not all of Kenji Kawaguchi (Pictures)'s students, Lion is mostly defensive on his back, but the lethargic Tamura rematch aside, he is generally a good enough wrestler to dictate where the fight goes. Lion has solid trips and takedowns from the body clinch and has a strong top game. Because of his tall torso and long arms, he is a potent ground-and-pounder. While he does have solid submission fundamentals, they'll likely play no real offensive role in this bout as the submission grappling game will be a question of attempting to negate Toida's active attempts at submissions.
Stylistically, the ball would very much appear to be in Lion's court. If he is able to work a prototypical sprawl-and-brawl game plan, he should have no problem handling Toida. Toida is very hittable, and he has no striking to offer in return on the feet. Against Lion's teammate Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures), Toida found success because Fujimiya was too timid to engage for fear of being put on his back. While Lion's takedown defense is not impenetrable, it is solid enough that he should have no fear picking Toida apart and closing the distance when necessary.
Lion is also generally solid at thwarting submission attempts while maintaining a good pace with his ground-and-pound. This also makes top control a decent option, though less ideal than on the feet. As was shown in the second bout with Carvalho, Lion is capable of capitalizing on holes in a fighter's defense due to their activity off their back. With a slightly higher risk factor, he could attempt a similar strategy against Toida.
Quite simply, Toida must try to bring the fight to the mat at all costs. He has nothing to offer on the feet, so he might as well take his best shot at securing a single leg, and if he's stuffed, pull guard and immediately begin working for submissions and sweeps. While Toida has the ability to push for submissions constantly, if he's unable to get top position at some point, it is hard to imagine how he'll score with the judges, as being on his back will see Lion thumping him in the face while he looks for submissions.
Toida is facing a steep, steep uphill battle. If Lion fights with any kind of aggression and really attacks Toida, it may be a very, very short night for "Toikatsu." However, even if Lion is passive, and is relegated to potshotting on the feet and chipping away from top control while negating Toida's guardwork, it should still be enough to take a decision.
Lion's aggression will determine the method of victory, but he should take the win regardless. Toida remains the division's gatekeeper, and Lion's poised for an anticipated rubber match with Tamura. I can dig that.
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