1) Shinji Arano vs. Takuya Kuwabara: Kuwabara is the larger man in this bout and so I expect lots of him on top. Plus Arano is not all that good. 3X3.
FIGHT: Kuwabara Submission Rnd 2. Fun in the sort of way old RINGS or Pancrase is fun on the mat. Guys kinda know what is going on and just run off instinct more than anything. Here dudes ROLL. (0)
Arano: You know, for as lousy as his offensive grappling is, he rocks at submission defense sometimes. He pulls all sorts of escapes in round 1 on an armbar and various leg locks. Can't avoid the armbar in the second.
Kuwabara: As expected, lots of takedowns, not much trouble passing, but shows competency off his back and seems willing at least here to punch while the fight is on the mat. Could have had tighter stuff when doing stuff out of the mount.
2) Masanori Suda vs. Isamu Oosugi: Oosugi gets put through the ringer. First Sato taps him, now Suda is gonna bash him?
FIGHT: Suda Submission Rnd 2. (2)
Oosugi: Tries to throw Suda and Suda instead rolls through and mounts. This is like 20 seconds in and Oosugi is already screwed. You can smell the submission coming - it takes forever but Oosugi defends the RNC and eventually Suda chooses to take an arm and transition to a straight armbar instead. For some reason, the fight is then restarted, and Oosugi gets a takedown? OK. Round ends and Oosugi is shockingly still in this. He gets another takedown early in the second, but that's it for offense there. He eventually ends up being put on his back and is armbarred.
Suda: Really into judo sweeps. Not sure what the deal is with that, but I am OK with anyone who loves the judo. Better standing than Oosugi too, though it seems at times that there may be a gentleman's agreement to reduce the punching given that they almost immediately agree to clinch in Round 2. When the fight is on the mat, Suda is a million times superior. He gets a takedown, mounts Oosugi, and goes for another straight armbar. This time it forces the tap.
3) Yoshinori Haraigawa vs. Jin Akimoto: Akimoto is like the first bantamweight sorta name the sport saw. Haraigawa has shootboxing pants.
FIGHT: Akimoto Submission Rnd 1. Akimoto drops Haraigawa with a right hand super early and follows up by taking the back and hunting for the rear naked choke. He gets it too, finishing in under two minutes. (0)
4) Masahiro "Jackal" Doishi vs. Hisao Ikeda: Interesting fight. Ikeda is a top control grappler who can't strike or wrestle. Doishi does crazy suplexes. What next?
FIGHT: Draw (0)
Ikeda: Ikeda is what Mo Lawal calls a "positioning wrestler". He's all about wrestling technique, not about athleticism or explosive power. He can't beat you with the shot, just on riding you out and shit. His takedown defense is still abysmal, so if he wants to not be taken down, his best bet is to go on offense - clinch, hold, push. And that is what Ikeda offers us - clinches, hugging, pushing. Standing he lands a couple shots to Doishi but Jackal shrugs them off to get the fight down. He goes for a leglock attempt in the third and drags Doishi on top of him in a bad way.
Doishi: Doishi is wild striking and gets tagged. He also nearly gets caught in a couple submission attempts too. But he does what everyone who fights Ikeda should do: he takes him down. A lot of times its almost brute force with a body lock, but however its done, Ikeda is on his back. Getting pushed around and then getting tagged probably cost Doishi the fight with the judges.
5) Naoto Kojima vs. Jutaro Nakao: Nakao's second bout.
FIGHT: Nakao Submission Rnd 2. (0)
Nakao: Has crisp striking for a grappler in this era and when Kojima tries a throw, defends and takes his back.
Kojima: You gotta give Kojima some credit; he gets a takedown in round 1. Aside from that, he doesn't really do much. and is in fact knocked down twice during the opening round.
6) Mamoru Okochi vs. Anthony Lange: Who said Australian MMA is anything new? Lange is a 135lb fighter hailing from the Poseidon Gym.
FIGHT: Okochi Majority Decision. Holy hell, that was boring. Okochi wins by pulling guard and having wrist control for 2 of the 3 rounds as best I can tell. Miserably bad bout with next to no action and lots of "positional grappling" that involved people being tied up while sitting in closed guard for long periods of time. (0)
7) Toru Koga vs. Kazuhiro Kusayanagi: I liked the last time I saw Kusayanagi, so I have hopes for this after a couple lousy bouts. Koga also breaks out the SLAMS. 5X3 min.
FIGHT: Kusayanagi Submission Rnd 4. Oh god this was terrible to watch too. Glacial grappling and striking. Koga keeps getting his arm caught and slams out of it a couple times. In round 4 he is submitted. Kusayanagi's shootboxing trunks make me believe he can kick, and he does it on average two times per round. (0)
8) Egan Inoue vs. Gorden Dehdman: Dehdman has this insane afro thing. Its fucking ridiculous. Also, he's from Australia. This is the Inoue that isn't as good.
FIGHT: Inoue Submission Rnd 1. He shoots in, gets the double, knee on belly to mount, gets bucked, but immediately transitions into a triangle choke. He never really gets the arch under the back of the knee to truly lock it but Dehdman taps anyhow. (1)
9) Rumina Sato vs. Kyuhei Ueno: SATO TIME. We have prefight flowers.
FIGHT: Sato Submission Rnd 1. Sato drops Ueno with a punch early and lands a soccer kick, which he is not warned for. Legal? I don't remember anymore. After the ten count, he jumps on Ueno and this goes to the mat where Sato tries for an inverted triangle from reverse mount (?). Ueno rolls over and gives his back, and Sato gets the rear naked choke. Nothing too fancy in the end. (2)
10) Noboru Asahi vs. Leandro Lima de Azevedo: Luta Livre REPRESENT. this is a 65KG contracted weight fight with freestyle rules: 3 8 minute rounds and probably headstomps being OK or something.
FIGHT: Asahi Submission Rnd 1. Azebedo pulls guard, and Asahi then ends up just rolling back into a heel hook. Fight over in 1:04. (3) because Asahi is a former featherweight champ for the promotion (ie really little dudes) and this is a nontitle bout.
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Arano/Kuwabara
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Kusayanagi/Koga
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Absolutely sleep inducing crapfest featuring a mildly entertaining set of squashes with future Shooto champs. Some of the fights that should have delivered on paper are beyond saving. Do you really need to see Masanori Suda beating dudes up like this though? Do you?
D&R Rating: 20% (8/40)
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