TOKYO, Japan, July 20 -- 2007's fourth iteration of the unique Shooto series, Battle Mix Tokyo, has not only been the shortest yet, but arguably the most exciting.
In tonight's main event, fans were treated to the Shooto debut of Muay Thai stylist and DEEP veteran, "M16" Rambaa Somdet when he squared off against the recently promoted A-Class Shootor Takehiro Harusaki (Pictures).
With an arsenal composed almost completely of lead-leg kicks, Somdet systematically began to chop away at a hapless Harusaki. In the first frame, Harusaki apparently had nothing to offer the Thai fighter, as "M16" easily dodged or slipped nearly every punch thrown his way, countering with a punishing kick thereafter.
Within the first two minutes of the round, Harusaki's lead leg was well tenderized as visible evidence of the attack showed in the distinct bruising that appeared. The assault continued into the second stanza but miraculously Harusaki trudged on.
The second frame followed the same script as the first although Somdert shifted his attack upwards. Harusaki's right arm and ribs, now taking the brunt of the barrage of kicks, turned the same bruised, angry shade of red as his leg.
Harusaki made little effort to take the fight to the floor, perhaps in fear of the inevitable knee that Somdet feigned whenever he showed an inclination to change levels for the takedown attempt.
Surprisingly, the only fighter to actually get the fight to the ground and attain dominant position in this round was Somdet. He was able to unleash a few good punches to the head of his opponent once the scuffle hit the floor.
Stunned, but by no means out of the fight, Harusaki did his best to scramble out and back onto his feet -- the exact position that Somdert appeared to want him in the first place.
Somdet dropped all pretenses of fighting an MMA match, continuing to hammer away with kicks and the occasional punch combination as the third round got underway. Harusaki, well into survival mode by now, could only offer feeble combinations, which left him vulnerable to a punishing counter kick.
Somdet showed a bit of ground savvy, managing to capture the bewildered Harusaki's back during the clinch. He briefly fought for the rear naked choke before remembering that he already had his opponent's number on the feet.
Back in his comfort zone, Somdet continued to pound away at the frustrated Harusaki, essentially turning him into a human Thai heavy-bag for their fifteen minute bout. Somdet walked away the victor by way of unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three judges scorecards.
Coming back from behind, Shinji Sasaki (Pictures) subbed Koumei Okada (Pictures) in the second round with a triangle choke at 2:13 of the second round.
Spending the duration of the first round on his back, Sasaki found himself subject to an almost tireless barrage of vicious Okada punches from guard. Through it all however, Sasaki remained calm and did his best to keep the Purebred rep from posting and up and finding purchase for his downward assault, occasionally taking the opportunity to attempt subs from guard.
Taking instruction from Shinya Aoki (Pictures), Sasaki calmly waited for his opening, which finally came in the second frame. The end came when Okada made the mistake of picking Sasaki up while in his guard, and slamming him onto the mat, essentially slamming himself square into position for the fight-ending triangle choke.
A scheduled match between Takuya Mori (Pictures) and Tsuyoshi Okada was cancelled last minute, as Okada reportedly failed to make the 58kg catch-weight.
In the evening's sole welterweight bout, Paulo Milano made extremely quick work of opponent Takayuki Okouchi (Japan's top ambassador to Lithuania, where he has fought numerous times).
Okouchi shot in for a takedown in the opening seconds of the fight but found himself defending a tight guillotine choke. As if he had read Okouchi's mind, Milano seamlessly wrapped an arm around his opponent's head, sinking the choke in tight.
Without the benefit of sweat interfering with the submission -- as can happen in longer fights -- Okouchi could not easily slip out, and subsequently tapped out at a mere 15 seconds into the fight.
Speaking with Sherdog.com after the fight, Milano was able to shed some light on his lightning fast fight-winning strategy.
"Before the fight, in training, everyone was telling me how strong he was, how good a judo player he was," said Milano. "They said he wouldn't try to shoot in on me at all though, so if he was going to take me down."
Milano, despite his shaky advice, was ready for the shot and ended the affair in short order.
There were furious combinations being lobbed early and often in the bout between "OZ" Seiji Otsuka (Pictures) and "KODO" Junya Kudou (Pictures). The match saw both men throw down to the full extent of their abilities, however, despite their valiant efforts, they fought to a majority draw.
Although he was the one that often took the fight to the floor, OZ found himself largely on the defensive when a tenacious Kudou reversed positions and began delivering his battery of heavy punches from the top.
Conversely, Otsuka's moments in top position in the first round proved largely ineffective as "KODO" was able to control his opponent's head, limiting the damage from punches. After two rounds the bout was declared a majority draw, with two judges scoring it 19-19 while one dissenting judge handing down a 20-19 tally for Kudou.
In what was arguably the fight of the night, Yuta Nezu took out Atsushi Asano (Pictures) in a featherweight tilt. Nezu counterd and outworked the Killer Bee en route to a unanimous decision by scores of 19-18, 19-18 and 20-18.
The fighters traded punch for punch, and kick for kick and seemed likely to be deadlocked on the scorecards, with Asano presumably getting a slight nod on the merits of his two takedowns in the first round.
Nezu's breakthrough came in the second however, with a well-timed high kick that deposited Asano to the canvas. After three quick diversionary low kicks brought Asano's attention down to his legs, Nezu landed the fight-altering strike that propelled him to victory.
The card's only women's but saw SACHI defeat Yukiko Seki (Pictures) by unanimous decision. Seki's heavy-handed attack did little to deter the Chokushinkai fighter as she calmly controlled most of the bout with her superior grappling ability despite the fact she was under constant pressure from her flurrying opponent. SACHI convinced all three judges and took home the unanimous decision by scores of 20-19, 20-19 and 20-18.