1) Yuji Fujita vs. Takuya Kuwabara: 74.5 KG, 3X3. Kuwabara has little trunks. Historically Fujita is not a good grappler and Kuwabara is not bad. I sense submissons.
FIGHT: Kuwabara Submission Rnd 2. As expected, Kuwabara ends up dominating action on the mat. He takes down Fujita multiple times and while a first attempt at an armbar at the end of round one ends without a tapout and the bell ringing (and Kuwabara elevated in the air, resting on a rope), he is ultimately successful going for the move again in the second.
2) Hisao Ikeda vs. Yoshiyuki Takayama: Something seems to have happened here in the recording process and I think I have this fight? Not sure? Missed the weight and rounds. I fast forward through to see if I do and yup, I do. Ikeda is in thai shorts, Takayama in shoot boxing apparel.
FIGHT: Ikeda Submission Rnd 3. If you showed this to someone and asked them what year it happened, 1996 might have been the last potential answer. Very modern looking technique in a lot of ways and two concepts on how to win with grappling that are diametrically opposed to one another but the best clash of styles for MMA. (1)
Ikeda: Ikeda is the top control grappler. He has a strong base and looks to dominate position, land punches, pass guard, etc. His standup is pretty lousy and he stands far too vertically, but that's okay because Takayama is no great kickboxer. In round one, he throws Takayama to the mat with a huge suplex and works out of the guard for the remainder. In round two he defends Takayama's attempts to bring the fight down, only allowing it to happen as Takayama pulls guard. In the third, Takayama tries to bring more to the table as far as punching and kicking goes before trying to close the distance, but its never particularly effective and Ikeda still is able to muscle the fight down with him keeping dominant position.
The ref stands them up as Ikeda sorta stands out of the guard, and again they clinch. Ikeda throws knees to the elbows and body before again getting a takedown. He passes his leg over the head of Takayama and locks in a kimura, forcing a tap with 3 seconds left.
Takayama: Good grappler on the bottom who constantly moves and looks to sweep and throw subs. Problem: Ikeda is good enough to dodge these attempts and stronger than Takayama. Takayama never really makes a change in game plan and even though he is losing after two, he chooses not to use what appears to be a clear technical advantage standing. He's just too wild when he comes to press the action and doesn't know how to keep distance and prevent takedowns.
3) Masanori Suda vs. Ganta Haga: Very interesting. Light heavyweight contest (really more like a MMA Middleweight), 3X3 with a future Shooto champ.
FIGHT: Suda Submission Rnd 1. Suda walks right up to Haga at the start of the fight, no strikes thrown, and tries to get a flying armbar. That is how awesome this fight is. Haga defends and strikes at Suda as he tries to get away. Suda keeps him rolling though and eventually pulls an armbar for the win about a minute in. (2)
4) Kimihito Nonaka vs. Ucyuu Tatsumi: Interesting - Nonaka likes wild subs, Tatsumi was sorta well rounded. Fun fact - The UFC had UFC 9 about a month after this event. That featured the David vs. Goliath tourney Don Frye won and Shamrock/Kimo I. Here, a world away, featherweight MMA with basically modern rules as far as action goes and all sorts of wild grappling. And yet younger fans wonder why old timers sometimes have a fondness for Japanese MMA that goes beyond all reason.
FIGHT: Tatsumi Majority Decision. Great fight. Two guys just going for it with sweeps and takedowns and all sorts of weird stuff. Nonaka at one point is basically standing on the thighs of Tatsumi, who is also standing. I don't even know what to call it. (1)
Tatsumi: For the majority of the fight, Tatsumi was on top and doing work - trying to pass, submit, etc. And that's gonna win you a fight, especially when there aren't a whole lot of times the ref would yell CATCH and whatnot. Tatsumi was also more active on the feet too.
Nonaka: Went for some interesting submissions like Suda did (couple wild armbar setups) but overall couldn't really lock anything in and wasn't a match for the perpetual motion of Tatsumi.
4) Jutaro Nakao vs. Yasunori Okuda: This is Nakao's debut; he went on to fight in the UFC, PRIDE, DEEP, Hook N Shoot, Real Rhythm, and Superbrawl, compiling over 40 fights dating up to 2010.
FIGHT: Nakao TKO Rnd 1. He pops Okuda right away with a right hand, clinches, gets a takedown, and then has to stand up again as they're tangled in the ropes. Another body lock, another takedown, mount, and punches come in until Okuda quits.
5) Masato Suzuki vs. Rumina Sato: 3X5. SATO SATO SATO
FIGHT: Sato Submission Rnd 1. Man, this is as wild as it gets in 3 minutes of fighting. They trade head kicks, Sato gets taken down and then it is transition after transition from there on. Sato throws triangle and armbars, sweeps with a triangle, but has to break and stand when they're all in the ropes. Sato again gets the fight down, mounts, and floats over to armbar. Sato is still one of the most exciting fighters of all time. (3)
6) Arnold Sas vs. Kyuhei Ueno: Sas is some dude who Sherdog says is Dutch and from Kamakura Gym. What does that mean? I dunno. Maybe he is a judoka? Probably a kickboxer. Ueno is a great fighter to watch from this time period.
FIGHT: Ueno Submission Rnd 3. Exciting fight again. Sas is game and hurts Ueno, dropping him in round 1 and earning a 8 count when he follows up a left hook with a right hand over the top. (0)
Ueno: He's got submission skills, that's for sure. Its what he relies on pretty much the whole time to win. But you also see that Ueno isn't that much of an athlete. He's like Hideo Tokoro before Tokoro. Its a problem because Sas can basically just power out of everything - he doesn't really know I think to get out of stuff, but he just bullies his way out and punches a lot. Eventually he catches Sas in an armbar from his back in the early part of the third, and Sas rotates himself deep into the submission and even offers a triangle choke doing so.
Sas: Uhh, strong, never fights again, put punches together on his feet.
7) Ruud Alwart vs. Noboru Asahi: Asahi is a nerd but I think is a champ at lightweight or something. Vale Tudo Japan Style rules, 8 min x 3 rounds.
FIGHT: Asahi TKO Rnd 1. Asahi gets the takedown off Alwart's opening leg kick and is immediately in side control. Ruh-roh. He passes to mount and punches Alwart till he quits or something. Its ruled a submission by strikes by Sherdog but its a TKO according to the video here. (4)
8) Erik Paulson vs. Todd Bjornethun: Great fight. This is prior to Paulson winning the light heavyweight title in Shooto as detailed here. Bjornethun beats Akihiro Gono on the same show.
FIGHT: Paulson Submission Rnd 2. Again, UFC had fat guys. Shooto had Paulson trying to get a banana split. Who was the better promotion back then? Right. Bjornethun is in over his head against a guy who was so versatile at this point in MMA history that one has to wonder why the UFC was never able to come to terms with him once weight classes were established a couple years later. Paulson is a better kickboxer and when Bjornethun brings it to the mat to try and make something happen, he instead tries to avoid sub attempt after sub attempt. Paulson breaks Bjornethun's nose with some punches early in the second and then goes for and succeeds with a guillotine, in spite of the arm being in. (4)
Paulson gives a really good interview afterwards. Says that Bjornethun was a strong grappler and surprised him by landing a couple punches when Paulson's hands were down. Paulson says he had trained mostly standup for the fight and only defense on the mat. He then throws down a challenge to Kawaguchi for the title and, yeah. Kawaguchi got beat on.
9) Enson Inoue vs. Andre Mannaart: SOMETHINGYAMATODASHIITHINK. Mannaart gets in the center of the ring and is basically in Inoue's face showing no intimidation.
FIGHT: Inoue TKO Rnd 1. He bashes out Mannaart after taking the mount. He had like the highest mount in history and Mannaart had no idea what to do to escape. The ref jumping in to stop the fight also seems to have hurt Mannaart's shoulder. Classic. Mannaart apologizes afterwards and everyone is cool. And Inoue gets a big trophy. Mannaart states in the postfight backstage interview that as a kickboxer trying this for the first time, hey, he didn't know what the hell he was doing and would like another shot. Inoue is shown backstage with Tiger Mask, in mask. (3)
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Nonaka/Tatsumi
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Sato/Suzuki
KO OF THE NIGHT: Alwart/Asahi
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6.5 out of 10. Some of the scrubby fights were great, yeah, but there were a lot of squashes and beatdowns on the card, even if they were quality beatdowns and squashes. No matter what, no great event is made up of lots of early stops and back and forth battles between randoms.
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