TOKYO, Oct. 10 — When thinking about mid-level mixed martial arts events here in the land of the rising sun, Shooto and Pancrase are usually the first that come to mind. But relative newcomer DEEP has continually grown, putting on better and better shows every time out.
Tonight saw the 26th incarnation of the series take place at MMA Mecca Korakuen Hall, pitting DEEP featherweight champion Masakazu Imanari (Pictures) against Grabaka jiu-jitsu ace Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures) in the main event.
After having won the title in December 2005, the Japanese “10th Dan of Leglocks” competed in a grappling-only bout against Jeff Glover (Pictures) before making his return to full MMA rules in an unsuccessful non-title affair against Gracie Barra Combat Team fighter Fredson Paixao (Pictures).
Tonight marked the first time Imanari put the title on the line.
Having been knocked out of the featherweight tournament last year by Mike Thomas Brown (Pictures), Yamazaki finally got his shot at the title after beating each of his last three opponents in the promotion.
Yamazaki fought smart, largely negating the over-the-top theatrics and unorthodox maneuvers of the champion. The Grabaka fighter used his reach advantage to tag the lightning quick Imanari with punches from the outside, and on the ground he used his refined jiu-jitsu skills to control Imanari’s legs, preventing the champion from going for his famous leglocks.
The second round saw Imanari go for his first solid ankle lock attempt of the fight, which Yamazaki had to quickly defend. The third round opened with Yamazaki pulling a page out of his opponent’s book, throwing an unexpected flying knee that grazed Imanari’s head and precipitated a scramble on the ground.
One of the things that makes Imanari such a dangerous fighter is that you never know what he’s going to do next. The guy is perhaps the most unconventional fighter on the planet; he’s extremely flexible and just seems to be able to pull tricks out of nowhere. As a result, he can change the momentum of a fight in the blink of an eye, as Yamazaki found out halfway through the third.
After jamming Imanari’s first and only baseball slide takedown, Yamazaki worked to scoop a leg and get to side. Imanari brought his one free leg up to his chest and, lying on his back, performed a bicycle kick stomp that cleanly hit Yamazaki in the chin, knocking him unconscious.
Yamazaki was winning up to this point, largely nullifying the champion, but with one bizarre technique the fight was totally changed. Imanari quickly got to his feet and threw a few more soccer kicks until the referee came in and stopped the fight at the 1:49 mark of the third.
In his non-title bout against Gracie Barra Combat Team fighter Fabricio Monteiro (Pictures), DEEP welterweight champion Jutaro Nakao (Pictures) played his usual game of standing patiently at the ready, waiting for his opponent to commit before launching forward with counters. This game plan seemed to throw Monteiro off for a little while, but eventually the Brazilian found his rhythm and began to tag Nakao with punches.
After being knocked to the mat by a hard Nakao left cross in the second, Monteiro quickly turned the tables, getting to his feet and throwing two good stomps to his downed opponent in the corner. Monteiro, however, grabbed the ropes to balance himself, prompting the ref to stop the action and admonish him with a yellow card before the Brazilian could capitalize.
The third round saw Monteiro pound Nakao’s legs with low kicks, tattooing the champion’s left thigh with purple welts. From this point Nakao couldn’t really seem to defend takedowns, no doubt thanks to the damage he received to his legs.
Rather than try to sprawl, the welterweight champion merely pulled guard as Monteiro came in. The Brazilian continued to pound from both inside and outside of the guard right to the final bell and the judges awarded Monteiro a unanimous decision victory.
With this victory, two Gracie Barra Combat Club fighters — Monteiro and Paixao — have defeated DEEP champions Nakao and Imanari in non-title fights.
Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures)’s Grabaka teammate Kazunori Yokota (Pictures) squared off against Yoshida Dojo fighter Michihiro Omigawa (Pictures) in an exciting back-and-forth battle.
Despite the fact that both fighters came from a judo background, no big hip tosses or leg sweeps materialized in this fight. While Omigawa had more submission attempts, especially in the first, it was Yokota who pushed the action on the ground, pounding from the top and attempting to pass the guard. Both fighters scored the mount in the second, and the third saw Yokota continue to throw down bombs on the ground.
Overall Yokota was busier than his opponent he took the majority decision.
PRIDE veteran Daijiro Matsui (Pictures) made his second appearance in a DEEP ring, facing off against Monteiro’s Gracie Barra teammate Flavio Luiz Moura (Pictures).
Whatever Matsui is lacking in skill, he sure makes up for in heart and guts. In one of this fight’s many toe-to-toe slugfests, Matsui showed that he wouldn’t stand down, even when getting tagged with shots.
Moura used his knees from the clinch really well and laid down some good punches from within the guard after scoring takedowns. Matsui had a guillotine and Kimura attempt in the second, but it was Moura who finished the round strong by taking the Japanese fighter’s back and figure-fouring his legs to prevent an escape. The fight went the distance and Moura took the unanimous victory.
SK Absolute fighter Hidehiko Hasegawa (Pictures) defeated Ken Hamamura (Pictures) by heelhook at the 3:22 mark of the first round.
Lion’s Den Dallas and Kikuchi Wrestling School fighter Takuhiro Kamikozono made short work of Kousuke Umeda, catching him in a heelhook at 0:43 mark of the first round.
PRB fighter Sen Nakadai (Pictures) knocked out Noboru Onishi at 1:57 of the first.
Kim Dong Hyun (Pictures) defeated Sakaguchi Dojo fighter Kousei Kubota (Pictures) by knockout at 2:46 of the first round.
Hiroshi Nakano stopped Hirokazu Konno at 1:55 of the first round.
Tsuyoshi Kurihara (Pictures) submitted Min Soo Kim (Pictures) via armbar at 1:14 of the second round.
Seigo Mizukuchi finished Taka Kuno at the 0:57 mark of the first round.