Miki Edges Akimoto at Shooting Disco 6

TOKYO -- Shinjuku Face played host to “Shooting Disco 6” Sunday evening with another enjoyable club-themed event, pitting Ryuichi Miki against Jin Akimoto in a 123-pound clash that saw Miki take a majority decision.

With Akimoto not wanting Miki on the feet, the bout unfolded mostly on the mat, where both fighters frequently traded dominant position. Starting with Miki on top dropping punches, Akimoto baited his opponent into taking the back by rolling to evade punishment. Once Miki was latched on, Akimoto grasped his opponent’s arm for control, using it as leverage to twist into guard for the reversal, where he rained down punches of his own.

With both fighters nullifying and countering each other’s efforts, it was Miki who pulled ahead with his frenetic pace. Landing big shots while standing and using flying-punch guard passes, Miki was able to convince two of the judges to give him the nod with scores of 30-28 and 30-27. A third official saw the contest split at 29-29.

Proving that stubbornness pays, Taisuke Okuno defeated Yoichiro Sato in a crowd-rousing slugfest. Though Sato had no answer for the Gutsman Shooto Dojo fighter’s kicks, Okuno inexplicably started throwing and missing wild punches instead of pursuing body and leg kicks. Sato used this tactical lapse to tag Okuno with a number of solid counterpunches, stuffing his desperate takedowns between fits of swinging and gassing.

Okuno was lucky to score a knockdown midway through the second period however, evening things up before standing toe-to-toe with Sato until the bell. All three judges scored the bout for Okuno (19-17, 20-18 and 19-18).

Daiji Takahashi and Seiji "Oz" Otsuka split a round apiece for a unanimous draw, as all three judges saw the contest 19-19. With Otsuka looking to be the better grappler in the first frame, Takahashi rallied in the second to show that he was no slouch, controlling the takedowns and top position much like Otsuka had in the opening period.

Sakae Kasuya took a safe decision over Hidenori Nishino, wearing him down with takedowns and short punches from on top en route to collecting scores of 20-19 (twice) and 19-19.

Perennial B-classer Ayumu Shioda racked up another win after two rounds of doing what he does best. Tying Kenji Hosoya up in the clinch and taking the mount and back position in both rounds, Shioda took a solid unanimous decision as each judge offered a score of 20-18.

In a striking battle, Taiki Tsuchiya took potshots on Daisuke Matsumoto until a beautiful right hook dropped his opponent. Tsuchiya immediately followed with two more knockdown blows -- a left hook and a hard knee to the face during a scramble – which forced the referee to call the contest at 4:57 of the first.

“Heat” Takeshi Sato used his longer limbs to climb up Nozomi Otsuka’s back and cinch the rear-naked choke. Sato tried to fight the submission for some time, but ultimately tapped after the catch was called at 2:41 of the opening stanza.

Despite a lopsided decision for Guy Delemeau, the 154-pound Hawaiian transplant took as many shots as he delivered in his war with Hisaki Hiraishi. Good body and inside-leg knees in the clinch, along with two winging right hooks for knockdowns put him far ahead of Hiraishi by the bout’s end. The judges’ tally read 20-17 (twice) and 20-16.

In rookie tournament semifinal bouts: Mikiyoshi Yamagami (115 pounds) knocked out Yusuke Sato with a punch at 0:18 of round two; Fumihiro Kitahara (123 pounds) edged Hiroaki Ijima by split decision; and Kosuke Eda (132 pounds) bested Haruo Ochi by unanimous decision.