SHOOTO DISC 11: Shooto Gig 1st 4/10/98

This event comes from Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo and features a number of new faces - Saburo Kawakatsu, Isao Tanimura, Mitsuo Matsumoto, Kazumichi Takada, and Yuki Sasaki are all mentioned in a prefight promo piece. Of these, only really one would go on to anything bordering on stardom.

1) Isao Tanimura vs. Saburo Kawakatsu: Tanimura is already 30 at this point making his debut. Kawakatsu is some guy also debuting.

FIGHT: Kawakatsu Unanimous Decision. This is deserved - Kawakatsu got repeated takedowns and was on top in dominant positions most of the fight. He also came closest to finishing with going from side cotnrol with a straight armbar as well, though Tanimura fought his way out. (0)

2) Mitsuo Matsumoto vs. Masakazu Kuramochi: Matsumoto is a NEW FACE.

FIGHT: Kuramochi Unanimous Decision. This shown is shown as highlights - Matsumoto is taken down over and over, nearly taps due to a RNC on the chin, eats a high kick, and gets generally dominated in what is shown. (0)

3) Satoshi Fujisaki vs. Kazumichi Takada: Who? No idea on weight. Fujisaki with Shootboxing trunks.

FIGHT: Takada Unanimous Decision. Highlights only again. Lots of flying submission attempts in this bout. Takada does more of them, so he wins I guess? He can't strike at all. Fujisaki gets him in the thai plumb and while he lands a knee, he should have gone to town. Instead, we get a flying armbar attempt. (0)

4) Yuki Sasaki vs. Yasushi Warita: Warita is terrible, Sasaki still gets relevant bouts.

FIGHT: Sasaki Submission Rnd 1. Easy fight - he takes down Warita instantly, goes from half guard to taking the far leg and turning a heel hook. Warita rolls and taps. That there is a debut! (1)

5) Yoshiyuki Takayama vs. Katsuhisa Akasaki: 62KG! Little dudes!

FIGHT: Takayama Submission Rnd 1. Rear naked finishes this contest - Akasaki is way smaller and when he drops to try and get down Takayama following a clinch started by a Takayama body kick, he's pancaked and gets his back taken. The choke slowly works its way in and he's flattened out. Standing Takayama almost seemed to be playing with him given the way he was juking and feinting. (0)

6) Takuya Kuwabara vs. Takenori Ito: Kuwabara is Mr. Takedowns. Ito, from what little I know, is chiefly a top control grappler and not an active one, either.

FIGHT: Kuwabara Majority Decision. Atrocious decision. (0)

Kuwabara: Kuwabara shoots IMMEDIATELY. I'm shocked. And he keeps on shooting, too. But he's shooting from too far outside. And he isn't doing anything to set up the shot and get closer. Put all that together with the disadvantage he has in size and he is getting stuffed over and over again. And his left leg is getting red from being kicked so much. Its a bad first. The second is a big improvement though - he pushes hard with his first shot and gets down Ito and handles him on the mat the majority of the round. Then he starts taking the stance of a counter puncher and lands some hard right hands when Ito takes the lead foot. This continues into the third round after Kuwabara is forced to trade with Ito - since Ito throws one thing at a time, he tries to time kicks off the back foot with his right hand. Lead foot kicks he has trouble with - eats them at worst, blocks them partially with his forearms at best. He gets very deep penetration looking for a double off a back leg body kick from Ito and takes him down with 15 seconds remaining. Apparently that was enough for a majority decision? Horrible.

Ito: Ito looks to be as much as 6 inches taller than Kuwabara. If only I had taken notes on that! And he just looks much physically larger. Kinda like watching what would have happened if Florian fought Gamburyan. Ito has a bad second round where he loses his mojo and gets taken down and controlled and even hit a few times standing, but gets back to work in the third - he is apparently convinced he can throw leg kicks and not get taken down, and starts throwing them again. And he actually does stop the takedown this time and forces Kuwabara down face first, cutting him. The fight is restarted standing and Ito again has a huge gap between him and his short opponent. Its so big, Ito starts throwing headkicks because Kuwabara can't close the gap. Ito does eventually get a takedown late in the round off a kick, but the decision is obvious. Ito does have a big flaw standing - never throws combinations. Not even two strikes in a row. Should have won this easily under Unifed Rules scoring. In Shooto? Who the fuck knows.

After the show is over, we get a video promo about Rumina Sato showing the loss to Joel Gerson and what I think is Korakuen Hall along with the message "THE GREATEST COMMON MEASURE RULES IN GRAPPLING EQUALS TO COMBAT WRESTLING" for what seems to be a grappling competition for Shooto, Judo, Sambo, etc. Then we see a package of highlights from said grappling competition held on 3/15 of that year. Among the finals matches shown in highlights unless otherwise noted:

58KG: Shoji Masada vs. Masaru Kokita - Kokita wins

63KG: Hiroyuki Abe vs. Kazuhiro Inoue - Abe wins

69KG: Kazuya Abe vs. Takeshi Yamazaki - Note: Caol Uno was participating but didn't get to the semis. Abe wins a decision.

76KG: Yasushi Miyake vs. Rumina Sato - This is shown in full, actually. Sato loses a decision on points.

85KG: Takeuchi Izuru vs. Sunao Terada: Izuru wins by heelhook or something

85+KG: Sadaaki Sugiura vs. Keizo Sakakibara: Sugiura wins decision on points. And its by a shit load (11-0!). Dude is kinda fat.

Women: Yoko Gokita vs. Michiko Takeda: Takeda wins with a choke. She's like, a lot bigger.

After the highlights are shown, so are medal ceremonies and THAT'S ALL FOLKS.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Ito/Kuwabara

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Sasaki/Warita

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4.5 out of 10. I can't lie. I kinda enjoyed Ito/Kuwabara and Yuki Sasaki's debut. There were only 4 full fights shown, and if you ignore the grappling tourney, its like an hour long episode of NAAFS from back in the day.

D&R Rating: 3% (1/30)

SHOOTO DISC 10: Las Grandes Viajes 2 (3/1/1998)

Back to SHOOTO! Its been awhile, but I'm now planning on watching at least one a week. Maybe more when I'm in a groove. I have two dates on this show - March 10th from the list I have which was created from the master list of Shooto created by Jeff Lynch, and another of March 1st from Sherdog. I went with Sherdog's date. Show opens with Enson Inoue talking about something. We are at Korakuen Hall.

1) Hiroki Kotani vs. Katenori Ito: Don't know either guy.

FIGHT: Ito Unanimous Decision. Only round 2 is seen in full. From what is seen, Ito is a top control grappler and not all that active inside the guard. Kotani keeps his guard closed almost the entire 5 minutes. We see Kotani catch a kick and get a takedown in the first, but it doesn't last long. (0)

2) Hiroyuki Kojima vs. Takaharu Murahama: Kojima is a Shootboxing guy. I think. Well, I don't know. I didn't pay enough attention.

FIGHT: Murahama KO Rnd 1. Huge KO. The fight starts with Murahama leaping with a flying knee that Kojima ducks under and promptly gets on top inside the guard during the resulting scramble. Murahama just sorta powers his way out from under the bottom - it wasn't like a technical sweep or anything. After doing so, they stand up and Kojima trades. Murahama lands a left hook flush to the chin and lays out Kojima hard. The ref starts a count but the doctor intercedes and its obvious he's not moving, much less getting up at the count of 10. Impressive KO. (0)

3) Masahiro Oishi vs. Yoshihiro Fujita: I've seen Oishi previously named Doishi and he threw an awesome suplex.

FIGHT: Oishi Submission Rnd 1. Technical submission, really. Fujita clearly is not well versed at submissions and possibly even grappling, and Oishi gets a judo takedown and passes half guard easily, locking in a kimura and cranking it until the ref is forced to call a halt. (0)

4) Caol Uno vs. Yuji Fujita: This is a good career fight for Uno at this point. Fujita is not any great fighter, but he's a decent grappler who might give Uno some issues.

FIGHT: Uno Unanimous Decision. First is seen only in highlights, and that is a tragedy. It looks positively riveting. Uno is getting some cool takedowns and Fujita is locking the armbar up and Uno escapes and man, it is good stuff. Lots of that. Uno springs off the ropes for a shot at one point. Second is nowhere near as good. (3)

Uno: Lots of good positives about the young Uno. He's got decent hands even here and his wrestling is a strong point. He leaves the arms in, but since its not that dangerous a guy he's fighting, he gets away with it. He times the shot well but you can see that someone who might feint him could throw off that timing.

Fujita: He is such a active bottom player that its a shame he can't finish or wrestle guys down. There's a lot of raw talent to build on but he never progressed in other facets and that's probably this would turn out to be his last fight.

5) Hisao Ikeda vs. Omar Salvosa: Ikeda is a poor grappler and Salvosa is here with Carlos Newton, so he might be better. Salvosa says he is happy to be here to display his skills in an arena where you can show your abilities regardless of where they lie in martial arts. Now MMA is barely about the martial arts. Crazy, huh?

FIGHT: Ikeda Submission Rnd 1. Salvosa takes down Ikeda immediately. There's not even the pretense of takedown defense from Ikeda. Its not clear what his gameplan is until about 3 and a half minutes of Salvosa as blanket has passed. He postures up from the half guard to throw shots and Ikeda starts to try and push for some separation. He gets it with a sort of butterfly guard and then grabs the leg. Ikeda submits Salvosa with an achilles hook and man, it is so beginner to go down like that. Ikeda in his post fight interview looks like a total nerd. (0)

6) Masanori Suda vs. Kenji Kawaguchi: Big time fight. Kawaguchi is a former champion that Paulson chased and defeated. Suda is a future champ.

FIGHT: Suda Submission Rnd 3. The stop actually comes with 28 seconds gone in the round, not 1:08.

Suda: You know, I expected Suda to dominate this fight. Won't lie. I didn't think Kawaguchi would win two round of the 3 that this went. But that is precisely what happened. Suda looked poor on his feet, being knocked down for a ten count in the second round's early parts. Grappling wasn't much better - Kawaguchi threw him a couple times and escaped his submissions in the first two stanzas. Suda learned from this, closed the distance instantly and powered Kawaguchi down out of the body lock, taking his back and transitioning to an armbar that forced the early tap.

Kawaguchi: Got a throw in the early stages of round one and never budged from top position on Suda. In round two, an early exchange ended with Suda on his back getting counted to 8. While Suda took another throw attempt to go for a heel hook, Kawaguchi skillfully maneuvered out of the hold and punched Suda a lot, then got dominant position. Round 3 was different. (3)

7) Carlos Newton vs. Kasuhiro Kusayanagi: Kusayanagi is the much smaller of the two men, and frankly he's not that great a fighter to watch. Newton comes in at 85KG? (187lbs)

FIGHT: Newton Submission Rnd 1. It looked like Newton tried for a belly to belly but Kusayangi ends up on top at the start. Doesn't matter since Newton gets back up. When they clinch again, we see a legtrip takedown from Newton and he's looking to pass guard in a weird way. Kusayangi goes for a straight armbar from the bottom and Newton just uses the bad positioning to pass through the open, pseudobutterfly guard, turn over the top of Kusayanagi, and get an armbar. Cool stuff as expected by Newton. Newton says in the post fight interview that he was able to overcome the newaza of Kusayanagi and that personally, he lacked "the fire" to punch hard. (3)

8) Rumina Sato vs. Joel Gerson: Gerson is another fighter from the camp Newton was then with (Survival Jiu-Jitsu). The Moon Wolf is his opposition for the night in this main event. Gerson claims that "anyone can punch" and that winning by submission is the ultimate. Gerson comes out to O Fortuna.

FIGHT: Gerson Submission Rnd 1. Really surprising result for a lot of reasons. Interesting contest for as long as it lasted with Gerson dodging Sato's wild submission attempts (including a flying armbar) and then being chased around with punches by Sato before taking him down into side control. As Sato flailed, he gave up the arm and Gerson knew exactly what to do. He grabbed it and extended into a straight armbar. The ref gave plenty of time for a tapout and instead was forced to make it a technical submission to keep Sato from being a cripple. Sato is clearly upset and in some level of disbelief. Gerson admits that he is surprised that Sato hit him as hard as he does. (4)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Suda/Kawaguchi

KO OF THE NIGHT: Kojima/Murahama

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Gerson/Sato

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. You see a Sato loss, early wins for Uno and Suda, and some filler. But for the elite stuff that's there, hey, I'm not about to complain. Its a decent sorta stop gap show.

D&R Rating: 32% (13/40)

SHOOTO DISC 9: Las Grandes Viajes 1 (1/17/1998)

Onward to 1998 - We've got Noboru Asahi in the main event here for Shooto as they run Korakuen Hall for the umpteenth time. Nakai and Ishioka are the announce team as usual.

1) Masanori Suda vs. Ray Cooper: Cooper represents the long lost and beloved JESUS IS LORD fight team from Hawaii. Suda is a future Shooto champ.

FIGHT: Suda Submission Rnd 1. Cooper is a smaller man and works fast to get the takedown and prevent standup exchanges he believes he can't win. On the mat Suda proves to be superior in technique as well as in size, going for a triangle and then transitioning into an armbar after several attempts to escape by Cooper, none of which really allowed him to separate. (2)

2) Jutaro Nakao vs. Jay R. Palmer: I can barely express my interest in this. Jay R. Palmer was outrageously dangerous once.

FIGHT: Nakao Submission Rnd 1. Okay, not surprised by this. Nakao closes the distance at the very start, eventually gets a takedown, and Palmer gives his back in this long, boring version of the classic RNC finished standard issue KOTC bout. (0)

At this point, clips of other fights are shown from earlier in the night after an interlude with the studio crew. Included in this? Dokonjonosuke Mishma's bout with Fujisaki that ends in a draw (looks like a good fight via clips), Tetsuji Kato submitting Kohichi Tanaka, and Jin Akimoto dropping a decision to Hikeo Ikeda. (0) for all three combined in spite of Mishma being something later on. 45 seconds of footage isn't enough.

3) Masao Fujiwara vs. Ricky Botelho: First time I can remember seeing Botelho since getting beaten by Rumina.

FIGHT: Botelho Unanimous Decision. Also clipped up for the first two but I give this its own listing because, hey, it got a prefight video package and I do see the full third. God does it suck. Want to see 5 minutes of a brazilian with a ridiculous stance stopping a single leg? This is the fight for you. (0)

4) Noboru Asahi vs. Dennis Hall: Hall represents RAW team and so you imagine that Rico Chiaparelli is around there too. 65KG.

FIGHT: Asahi Submission Rnd 2. This wasn't a title defense. (4)

Asahi: He has a tough time with Dennis Hall's takedowns as you might expect given the pedigree that Hall brings in. But he's active off the bottom and actually the better striker. When he lands a low kick on Hall in round 2, it looks realy clear that Hall's defense for that is "walk through them". Hall goes for a takedown in the second round that Asahi defends and actually ends up taking the back of Hall during. This, after a long period of time, leads to an armbar.

Hall: ProtoWrestleboxer. Provides some pressure on Asahi but his most devastating offensive technique is to lay on his opponent. Really. Its like the only real tip given by Chiparelli ("Put weight on him!") in an offensive fashion. Most anything else is begging him to defend things that the ProtoAoki does.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Asahi/Hall

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Suda/Cooper

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Lots of clipped stuff, a couple full fights that suck, one that's long but not very good. Seeing Asahi act as an early blueprint for nerdy, stringy submission guy who can't stand at all is pretty interesting. I'm surprised some old dudes haven't seen him in Aoki's style?

D&R Rating: 30% (6/20)

SHOOTO DISC 8: JAPAN VALE TUDO 97 (STV Version) 11/29/1997

So there may be two versions of this that exist. There might be a commercial VHS version but I'm not totally sure. This version of the card is 90 minutes and hails from Samurai TV. The introduction is really really slick. The commentators are Kazuhiro Ishioka and Yuki Nakai, who I recognize from prior tapes and who I didn't know who the fuck they were. Now I do. The main event is Frank Shamrock vs. Enson Inoue which is just amazing.

1) Jutaro Nakao vs. Steve Nelson: Nakao is the #2 ranked Shooto middleweight. Hey, that's pretty good for a guy destined for gatekeeper status! Nelson was with USWF, that beloved and short lived pro wrestling style shoot organization that ran out of West Texas in the late 1990s. 80KG limit.

FIGHT: Nakao Submission Rnd 2. Nelson says in advance that he can't stand with Nakao and proves that right by pushing for the clinch and takedown constantly in this fight. In round 2, Nakao locks in a triangle and eventually forces a tapout. Heavily clipped. (0)

2) Marcelo Aguiar vs.Hayato "Mach" Sakurai: Luta Livre dude vs. future legend.

FIGHT: Draw. I guess these are old school rules where no one wins if it goes the distance. Sakurai basically controls what is shown, which could be a lie. But he almost gets an armbar and a heel hook for sure. (.5)

3) Jan Lomulder vs. Kenji Kawaguchi: Lomulder is a kickboxer and listed as being "freelance". Kawaguchi is a former Shooto champ recently deposed by Paulson.

FIGHT: Kawaguchi Submission Rnd 3. People are going WILD for this fight, which of course is clipped to hell. We see Lomulder escape a submission attempt in the first after joining the fight with Kawaguchi in mount, and then there is a pretty noneventful second, and then Kawaguchi gets a RNC in the third. (.5)

4) Joao Roque vs. Uchuu Tatsumi: Remember when Roque was a big deal? Little dude fight.

FIGHT: Draw. Again, why was this ever a thing? To allow for modern newspaper decisions? Roque takes down his opponent repeatedly and clearly controls the contest. Clipped. (.5)

5) Carlos Newton vs. Eric Paulson: I should be so excited for this, and yet I expect it to be cut to shreds. Shooto light heavyweight title up for grabs.

FIGHT: Newton Submission Rnd 1. 41 seconds as Newton gets the fight down, passes to mount, and then goes for an armbar. And gets it. Paulson is in shock and I sorta am too. (5)

6) Ed De Krajif vs. Tom Erikson: De Krajif is a longterm journeyman in the sport who started as a kickboxer. Erikson meanwhile was like the most dangerous dude ever at this point.

FIGHT: Erikson TKO Rnd 1. De Krajif dropped immediately with a right hand as Erikson shoots in and he has to stop and let the ref give a count. He takes down De Krajif again and beats the shit out of him in mount after a huge slam. Holy shit. And now it is totally clear why no one wanted to fuck with this dude. (2)

7) Rumina Sato vs. John Lewis: Lewis has a win over Sato from some time prior but Sato has basically gone on the roll to end all rolls at this point and is the P4P top fighter in the sport at this stage.

FIGHT: Sato Submission Rnd 2. Sato looks fantastic here, beating Lewis standing and on the mat. In this fight (shown in complete and unedited) Sato actually uses the rubber guard. That is UNHEARD OF circa 1997. You could hear the confusion from the announcers as he's doing it. If he were better versed, honestly, he had a gogoplata waiting for him. He eventually finishes with a straight armbar from the bottom. (4)

8) Frank Shamrock vs. Enson Inoue: The main event. Modern day legends of the sport. Pioneers. Is this fight big? Fool, are you serious?

FIGHT: Shamrock DSQ. Really, this is a TKO win. (5)

Shamrock: Frank survives a bullrush early in the fight from Inoue and immediately gets a takedown. He spends pretty much the entire first round on top in the open guard of Inoue, emerging late in the 8 minute period to throw some low kicks. In round two, we have a reversal of fortune - Inoue gets to the top position and even moves to the mount briefly, but can't really get a submission or threaten Shamrock with strikes. Shamrock eventually bridges and escapes, and we then get an all out slugfest of punches and kicks. Inoue eats a couple or punches, Shamrock grabs the thai plumb and drives a knee into Enson's face and he goes down in a heap. Frank looked to follow up with punches but Inoue's corner is in the ring and a near riot breaks out as someone shoves Frank, effectively spiking him on his head and then holding him. Maurice Smith is in there telling the dude that pushed Shamrock to let go of him. Man, I don't miss this aspect of Japanese MMA at all. In the US dudes everywhere would have rumbled over some shit like that instead of some ridiculous yakuza threats stopping guys getting what they deserve.

Enson: Can wrestle a little, got the mount, but wasn't at all active there. Was he looking to draw?

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Inoue/Shamrock

KO OF THE NIGHT: Erikson/De Krajif

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Newton/Paulson

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. Lots of history, lots of clipping ruining our perspective of history. Two hugely important all time fights on this show that also happened to be not infinitely long or really great. But they meant a lot, trust me. Would be off the charts if it hadn't been for the clipped fights.

D&R Rating: 46% (18.5/40)

SHOOTO DISC 7: IV Reconquista 10/25/1997

It is as if I have taken off into a different universe with Disc 7. An ENORMOUS video intro brings us to a studio where some dude is talking to Noboru Asahi. Some big fucking fight is gonna happen with Inoue. That's all I can figure out.

1) Naoto Kojima vs. Takenori Ito: Ito I'm not familiar with, but Kojima I've seen and he's sorta plain.

FIGHT: Ito Majority Decision. Highlights are shown over what sounds to be Dio. Or maybe Loudness. Who knows. Kojuma is shown getting takedowns while Ito, a larger man, seems to be capable of hurting him standing. (0)

2) Caol Uno vs. Takuya Kuwabara: YESSSS

FIGHT: Draw. Again, highlights are shown. Uno is clearly the larger man in this fight. There's like, no footage really shown. Lots of dudes looking at each other and then some failed takedown attempts. Kuwabara is shown going for Uno's back after a shot in the first round but then he's shaken off and Uno is on top. nothing past that. (.5) because of clipping but that it is still sorta valuable footage.

Back to Asahi and some dude in the studio! This goes on for too long.

3) Todd Bjornethun vs. Kazuhiro Kusayanagi: OK. Not as stoked about this. Bjornethun comes in to gospel. The japanese fighter has a bowl cut.

FIGHT: Bjornethun TKO Rnd 2. Again, highlights shown of round 1. Round 2 we see in full. It consists of Kusayanagi shooting in with no setup or defense and getting hit coming in and easily shrugged off (and earning a 10 count early in the round). He's dropped with a right hand, doesn't get a count and Bjornethun punches him while he's on all fours and Kusayanagi is DONE. Nasty KO.

4) Akihiro Gono vs. Larry Papodopoulos: Gono is ridiculously young.

FIGHT: Papdopoulos Unanimous Decision. Highlights of Rounds 1 & 2 again are shown and they're basically meaningless; some trading of shots, Gono goes for a leglock. Round three sees lots of standup, Gono spending 2 minutes with Papodopoulos in the corner pushing him to no avail, and Gono kicking Papodopoulos in the balls. (1) since it is clipped.

5) Uchuu Tatsumi vs. Paul Coonin: I know nothing about Coonin.

FIGHT: Tatsumi Submission Rnd 1. Finally, a full fight! Too bad it is only 1:19. Tatsumi seems hurt by clubbing punches from Coonin early but gets to the clinch. Coonin with a takedown! Coonin postures up and tries to pass! Instead Coonin looks for leg locks and he gets a heel hook. (0)

6) Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Alex Cook: Cook was in Pancrase and hell if I remember him at all. Big size advantage.

FIGHT: Sakurai Submission Rnd 1. No real surprise here. Sakurai takes the back of Cook as he clinches very early and attempts to get the fight down. Sakurai grabs a RNC soon after and plays a lot to the crowd. (2)

7) Rumina Sato vs. Maurice Corty: Video is shown in advance of Sato's win against Alan Freed, which you basically don't see anywhere else otherwise. Corty was on the receiving end after this of the single worst assbeating in MMA history. Really.

FIGHT: Sato Submission Rnd 1. Corty has the worst standup in the history of MMA to this point, which is quite the statement to make. Sato wins by straight armbar after getting Corty down, passing to side control, and then wrenching the arm out straight for the low percentage submission. OK I guess. (2)

Asahi is in the studio again and we listen to him blather for awhile.

8) Joe Estes vs. Enson Inoue: Inoue lost a decision in a terrible fight the first time. Interesting note: You can see Yokohama Sea Paradise in the background of the interview Enson does prior to the video of the fight. He also has a really nice dog. Estes is shown with KIMO.

FIGHT: Enson TKO Rnd 1. Enson gets a takedown immediately and oh man, this is a wild affair. Estes gets on top, he gets swept in amazing fashion with Enson directly to mount punching down until the fight is stopped. And then Enson keeps throwing shots on Estes. What a dickbag. Now I'm glad Vovchanchin rocked his shit. Then they call out Frank Shamrock. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: ??? since I didn't really see anything in full that was worth a shit.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Bjornethun/Kusayanagi

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Sato/Corty

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. The coolest thing was the closing credits with Inoue playing with his dog. Otherwise: Clipped fights, shitty fights, noncompetitive fights, in that order and in combination.

D&R Rating: 19% (7.5/40)

SHOOTO DISC 6B: Vale Tudo Junction 2 (3/5/1996)

THE WAY OF MORDERN PANCRATION sez the title screen on this 7th installment on the infinitely long Shooto series I'll be doing until my 40th birthday.

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)

SHOOTO DISC 6A: Vale Tudo Junction 1/20/1996

Oh, okay, these are out of order and it is even marked so in my spreadsheet. Oh well. Should pay better attention. Here's another show from Samurai TV from Korakuen Hall.

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.

Shooto "I Reconquista" (Disc 5): 1/18/1997

I have no idea what is on this show, but it could be EPIC. This is Shooto, after all. The words "Erik Paulson" are emitted by the dude talking in the control room during the long opening. Then some dude is interviewed - is it Masanori Suda? Can't tell. The show seems to be titled "I Reconquista".

1) Ed Wedding vs. Yoshiyuki Takayama: These dudes were small. Like 61 KGs and change it said? 3 3 minute rounds. Wedding's bio says he did filipino stickfighting. Awesome. He also wears shootboxing pants. And he trained with Fernando Vasconcelos! Oh man. That is a blast from the past.

FIGHT: Takayama Unanimous Decision. Highlights shown of round one and two: mostly Wedding getting caugh in a heel hook and rolling out of it. Round three is shown in complete, and it consists of Takayama basically closing the distance, clinching, getting the fight down, and then operating inside the guard while Wedding is effectively helpless at this primordial stage. (0)

2) Hiroyuki Kojima vs. Yuji Fujita: Slightly bigger dudes - 72.2KG for Jojima, 70.4 for Fujita. Fujita has no idea how to stand. Moarrrrr shootboxing trunks for Kojima. More 3 minute rounds.

FIGHT: Kojima Unanimous Decision. Highlights of one and two again, and its of Kojima with takedowns immediately and control. Round three starts and that happens again, with Kojima going to mount and trying to get a GNP win. Fujita bucks him and ends up on top for awhile, and even attempts a leg lock as the bell rings. Nowhere near enough. (0)

RESTART @ 33:00

3) Hisao Ikeda vs. Jin Akimoto: More little guys. 3x3 min rounds, Maybe a 61KG limit? Both are under it by a decent amount.

FIGHT: Akimoto Unanimous Decision. Pretty simple fight to understand, even being highlights only for 1 & 2 - Ikeda can't stop takedowns (as proven in the Uchuu Tatsumi fight) and Akimoto does that over and over. When Ikeda tries to scramble or improve position, he either gets swept (as in the third round when he somehow ends up on top for about 5 seconds early on) or nearly gets guillotined. (0)

4) Tomoaki "Syohnan" Hayama vs. Ron Balicki: Balicki is the smaller man by about 3 pounds or so and is wearing shootboxing trunks. 3X3.

FIGHT:Balicki Unanimous Decision. Full fight shown. Last MMA fight for Balicki. (0)

Hayama: How do you lose the fight when you're in the dominant grappling position most of the fight? Easy. Shooto scoring. To be honest, it may have been fair here. In round one he has the mount for 2 minutes and accomplishes nothing because he's fending a guillotine off. In round 2, Bailicki actually has to control for a good amount of the round, and in round three, where Hayama is again on top, he also has to contend with another arm in guillotine attempt that limits his actual offense from inside the guard to maybe 20 seconds.

Balicki: Loves the guillotine. Loves it loves it loves it. Seems to almost be a karate based kickboxer the way he stands and throws; research says that's probable given his roots in Inosanto's school. Today, Balicki is a martial arts instructor with a slick website that features a picture of the arm-in guillotine from round 3 prominently on his site.

5) Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Takuya Kuwabara: A young 21 year old Sakurai competes here.

FIGHT: Draw. Highlights are shown as is a full third round, but Sakurai clearly seems to be overwhelming Kuwabara most of the fight with activity and positioning. Sakurai's corner laughs at the call. (3)

6) Kenji Kawaguchi vs. Naoki Sakurada: This is a big deal. That is made certain by the video pieces introing it. Sakurada enters to the Superman theme song. I think this is for the 82KG title? I have no idea.

FIGHT: Uh, no decision. Not really a fight? Looks to be a 3 minutes exhibition with Kawaguchi getting repeated takedowns. Sakurada is apparently retiring and this is some sort of retirement bout with flowers handed to him, and a bell ceremony and a trophy and shit. (NA)

7) Masato Fujiwara vs. Akihiro Gono: Oh man.

FIGHT: Gono Unanimous Decision. Again, only the 3rd if shown in full. In the final round, Gono "knocks down" Fujiwara by catching a kick and then punching him. Should have been called a sweep, but hey, those are the breaks. Fujiwara was looking for nothing but takedowns the whole fight and really didn't seem to have much for Gono other than the rush to clinch/shooting for a double. (3)

8) Uchu Tatsumi vs. Mamoru Okochi: Not the Mamoru.

FIGHT: Tatsumi Unanimous Decision. Rounds 3-5 were shown in full. Tatsumi is still first and foremost a top control wrestler. He shoots for takedowns, generally gets them, and doesn't really work to finish. Its enough to justify a decision though. Okochi has a nice sweep in the 4th as Tatsumi tried to get to mount, but that was basically the most exciting thing seen in the highlights of two rounds and three full ones. (1)

9) Stuart Harrison vs. Erik Paulson: Yay! Erik Paulson! He looks a little soft here

FIGHT: Paulson Submission Rnd 2. Just runs a clinic on Harrison - takedown early in the first, is in side control, tries to show off by getting a triangle choke from side control. Time runs out though. In the second, he gets another takedown, mounts, and then gets the armbar. Purely academic. (3)

10) Rumina Sato vs. Ricky Botelho: YESSSSSS

FIGHT: Sato Submission Rnd 3. Fight is shown in full. Sato actually has some trouble on the mat in the first, which would probably go to Botelho. However, Sato comes out strong in round 2 and lands some strikes that hurt Botelho (punctuated with a headkick). In round three, the fight goes to the mat as Sato rolls for a heel hook. Botelho tries to escape under the ropes away from the hold, but is forced to tap out. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT & SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Sato/Botelho

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Lots of clipped fights unfortunately, only one really good one. Lots of names though.

D&R Rating: 29% (13/45, Kawaguchi/Sakurada not counted)

SHOOTO (Disc 4): Vale Tudo Junction 3 (5/7/1996)

We shoot ahead in the Shooto timeline to 1996 and Professional Shooting 40. This is an interesting card headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Erik Paulson and Kenji Kawaguchi. It should be noted that this is basically "light heavyweight" using the boxing definition, with Paulson being about 175lbs. Keep this in mind.

1) SHINJI ARANO vs. KIMIHITO NONAKA: 65KG bout, 3x3, who are these guys?

Good two round fight. Arano is not all that good - he tries to go for a guillotine while he's mounted. Nonaka, meanwhile, is throwing all sorts of submissions from top control, when he's in buttscoot, etc. Arano is caught in a triangle in the second and tries to stomp his way out; that's not allowed. He instead is swept, and Nonaka is late to let go and lands some extracurricular blows after the bell before yelling at the prone Arano. I'm guessing he wasn't appreciative of that triangle defense. (0)

2) YUJI FUJITA vs. TOMAKI "SYONAN" HAYAMA: Middleweight contest (167), 3X3, who are these guys?

Hayama pulls guard real early and keeps it closed even as Fujita tries to stand out. Okay, we know this guy's deal right away. He goes for a couple submissions in the round as Fujita lands pitter patter shots during the first. In the second, we get dudes trading wildly and Fujita eventually remembers his skill set, trying to drag this down. In round 2 though, the story is Hayama as a ground expert; He takes down Fujita, mounts him, and while he's bucked off, does eventually use an elevator sweep to regain top position and full mount. Fujita gives his back and is choked out. (0)

3) MITSUHIRO SAKAMOTO vs. JIN AKIMOTO: Featherweights. Akimoto is a guy who has been fighting right along up to 2009. I think he finally gave up the ghost though.

Sakamoto is wearing boxing trunks, but nothing shows up on Boxrec. Awww. He uses a muay thai stance for this fight, and Akimoto is not interested in trading with him. He takes down Sakamoto and basically tries to pass guard and throw punches. Not much of a first round. Second isn't that much different, however Sakamoto rolls Akimoto at the end of the round and nearly locks in a kimura. Sakamoto finds himself on his back all through the third round and throws those Bas Rutten heel strikes. Somehow, that is enough to justify a draw. Shooto scoring; how we love you! (2) Sakamoto ends up being a semi-important figure later.

4) MAZAKAZU KURAMOCHI vs. TAKUYA KUWABARA: Welterweight bout with 3x3 minute rounds.

Kuwabara is much smaller; he pulls guard frequently rather than trade in the first and basically pisses away the round to Kuramochi and does much the same in the first half of the second. As the round goes on, he does get a legitimate takedown, albeit to no effect, and tries for a guillotine late in the round when Kuramochi shoots. In the third, Kuwabara's untrained looking punches start to tag his opponent, but he gets taken down before much else happens. After another standup and guard pull, we go to the cards and...Kuwabara by unanimous decision. I have no idea how that happened. (0)

5) HISAO IKEDA vs. UCHUU TATSUMI: Tatsumi fought on disc 1, which is now like 2 years in the past both in terms of when I reviewed it and when these fights took place. At the time, he couldn't finish from top control. Here?

Ikeda is standing straight up and asking to be hit or taken down. Its the former; he's dropped by straight punches three times in the first and its over early. Third knockdown was really harsh. (0)

6) TORU KOGA vs. YASHUSH WARITA: Koga broke out crazy slams the first time I saw him How about in this 5 round fight?

Koga is slamming this dude all over the place: Two backdrop drivers, a single into a big slam, a backbody drop sorta thing; This guy is up there with Rampage and Aaron Witherspoon. Warita has only one escape, and its from mount; think sunset flip, except without the flip part. He does this in the first and second to get out of bad positions, and carry on to the third. Warita looks terrible and like he has no hope until he times Koga shooting at the start of the third with a high kick. Game over. Really cool fight. (2)

7) AKIHIRO GONO vs. TODD BJORNETHUN: Gono is still going hard. Bjornethun; not so much.

Standup fighting for a good portion of the first round, and they're even. Bjornethun is more aggressive, Gono seems technically better. Gono hits a sweet hiptoss and transitions into a leg lock attempt, and the round ends with both guys trying for toeholds and heel hooks. Gono shoots to start the second, and while its defended, he's done enough to get Bjornethun's hands down. A right hand lands and Bjornethun is dropped for a 6 count. The American is forced to shoot desperately to stay in the fight. Gono lands a ton more on him, but eventually Bjorethun is able to get the fight down. He's swept, absorbs more punishment, but gets a standup. When there, he rocks Gono with a desperate shot and takes him down. In the final round, there's slobberknockerin' early. Bjornethun drags down Gono, and Gono is tired. Bjornethun passes to full mount, takes an arm, and gets the submission via armbar. Great fight. (3)

8) ENSON INOUE vs. JOE ESTES: Estes is a footnote at best. Rules are 3 8 minute rounds.

Horrid fight that is clipped for our viewing pleasure. Estes gets takedowns and lays there on top of Inoue. That is the fight. Inoue somehow gets a draw on one of the Japanese cards, but the decision still goes to Estes. Apocalyptically bad. (2)

9) ERIK PAULSON vs. KENJI KAWAGUCHI: A world title fight for Shooto's light heavyweight crown. Before the fight, we get hype videos with Paulson demanding a fight as soon as possible. Interesting note: Paulson's trainer is also a Shooto judge IN THIS FIGHT.

Paulson is throwing a lot of kicks, particularly the front kick. Kawaguchi has a terrible stance to deal with this onslaught of strikes - just straight up in the air. Kawaguchi is dropped late in the round with a right hand and takes the 8 count. In the second, Kawaguchi closes the distance with some wild punches and then hiptosses Paulson to the mat. Didn't see that coming. Paulson goes for an armbar and he then switches to a leg lock as Kawaguchi defends. Paulson is also too good on the mat; he ends up in the mount after this scrambling. He fails to sinch up an armbar after Kawaguchi gives his back, and the champ stands and tries to trade. He's now bleeding from the nose; not going well at all. In the final round, Kawaguchi starts to absorb more and more punishment. He spits out his mouthpiece to breathe from the broken nose and goes for a flying armbar. Paulson defends by slamming out and then punches the hell out of Kawaguchi. He sees the leg available and goes for an ankle lock; fight is over as Kawaguchi taps. He's been savaged. Paulson is at the top of his game. (4)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Gono/Bjornethun

KO OF THE NIGHT: Koga/Warita

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Gono/Bjornethun

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7 out of 10. Some wildly entertaining stuff, even in the meaningless fights. Would be higher if not for the painful Inoue/Estes encounter that was shown.

D&R rating: 28% (14/45)

SHOOTO (Disc 3): Professional Shooting 36 & 37: 9/26/95 & 11/7/95

Onward to disc three of Shooto: This is a pair of shows from 1995 featuring a mix of dudes important and not-so-important. Among them: Kazuo Sakurada (AKA Kendo Nagasaki of pro graz fame), Zane Frazier, Rumina Sato, and Erik Paulson. The english for this show is desperate: "BRUE COURNER" is listed for every fight. Really. This takes place at "Komazawa Arena", which I really think is Komazawa Gymnasium, home of volleyball in the 1964 Olympic games.

1) ISAMU OOSUGI vs. RUMINA SATO: Oosugi has thai shorts with an American Flag motif. Sato is awesome.

Oosugi catches a low kick and Sato goes for the leglock. As Oosugi attempts to defend, Sato goes for an inverted triangle. Oosugi stands and slams down Sato to try and escape, but Sato holds the triangle and sweeps over Oosugi. For the next minute or so he punches a lot to the body, even flexing his biceps, before Oosugi finally taps to the lock. Fantastic. (3)

2) KENDO NAGASAKI vs. ZANE FRAZIER: Oh dear. Old pro wrestler against bad kickboxer/MMA fighter.

Frazier starts throwing punches early and often, and Nagasaki doesn't like it. By "doesn't like it", I mean that he falls down. 6 count by the ref and they start again. It lasts maybe 2 seconds until a straight right pulverizes Nagasaki and he is down hard and not moving. Ref counts to 10 for no good reason; Nagasaki's back of his head hit the mat and bounced. He doesn't get up afterwards, needing to be stretchered out. Ugly. (1) for name value and viciousness.

3) LEONID ZASLAVASKY vs. KAZUHIRO SAKAMOTO: Zaslavasky didn't do that well last time I watched him fight. Here? Probably no better. Sakamoto is now a promoter in Japan, and this was his last bout.

Zaslavsky is shooting for takedowns even though he is landing the left hook. No idea why. The reasoning goes wrong early: Sakamoto sprawls to defend and spins to the back of Zaslavsky, puts in his hooks and a choke. (0)

4) YASUNORI OKUDA vs. ERIK PAULSON: Okuda I've never heard of, but he beat a young Akihiro Gono in 1994. Really!

Paulson slams him down from the clinch, goes to side control, works for a kimura, and Okuda taps. (3)

5) KUNIAKI KOBAYASHI vs. SATORU SAYAMA: Worked shoot time! I think. Well, they trade submissions harmlessly, and give up legs and stuff. Sayama forces a tapout by Kobayashi, and scores a point or something. Then he kicks Kobayashi in the face and he drops. And he's unconscious. And everyone is really surprised and Tiger Mask is almost crying. Yikes. Second stretcher of the night! No score.

6) YUKI NAKAI vs. JEAN JACQUES MACHADO: A BJJ match. Machado wins with an armbar. Who cares? Not me. No score.

7) ANTHONY LANGE vs. NOBORU ASAHI: Asahi is featherweight champ and Lange is the challenger, I think. He's another guy making a pro debut. 8 min rounds and 3 of them.

Asahi shoots for the takedown and its a "positioning battle" of dudes laying on each other. Lange reverses and gets caught in a triangle he has to slam out of. Asahi later goes for a guillotine, transitions to a triangle and then to a straight armbar to force Lange to tap. Impressive. (4) for being another title fight in the weight class.

-Afterwards, a backstage interview with Asahi, who wears dorky glasses and has a leopard print towel around his shoulders.

BUT WAIT! I didn't know this was a two-fer. Onward to Korakuen Hall and the future of November 1995.

8) ISAMU OOSUGI vs. TOMOAKI "SYNONAN" HAYAMA: No idea who they are. 3X3, 75KG limit.

Hayama keeps trying to pull guard and Oosugi won't let him. That is the story of round one and two. Eventually Oosugi can't fend them off anymore by holding up Hayama and has to tap. The end. (0)

9) KIMIHITO NONAKA vs. MASAHIRO "JACKAL" DOISHI: Who? The best part is that I saw Doishi fight in the K-1 Hero's 2007 Lithuania show and remember nothing.

Interesting grappling battle in the first and second, with Nonaka going for inverted triangle and armbars from all sorts of odd places as he's just trying to keep Doishi close to him and on the mat. He's generally open to pulling guard too. A turnbuckle breaks late in the first round. The highlight of the fight is a wild suplex Doishi pulls off from having overhooks in the clinch. I tried scoring it, but forgot Shooto has some insane 30 point system. Fight ends as a draw. (0)

10) TORU KOGA vs. KYUHEI UENO: Another Ueno appearance, this in a five rounder.

Insane head and arm suplex/tazplex by Koga, but like most pro wrestling moves, useless in MMA. Ueno keeps getting kicks caught and Koga is taking advantage. He might have a dorky bowl cut, but that was cool in '95. Maybe. And he's not a bad fighter. By the second round, Ueno has him figured out and should have gotten credit for two knockdowns. However, Koga dropped and looked like he was headed for a leg when he got hurt by the punches, letting him off the hook by the judges. Final round sees Koga and Ueno almost go out of the ring after some wild punching and clinch, but a body shot to Koga drops him. Ref calls it as a shot: Ueno takes the back and proceeds to beat him into giving up the RNC. Not too terrible, but not special either. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT(s): Doishi/Nonaka

KO OF THE NIGHT(s): Nagasaki/Frazier

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT(s): Sato/Oosugi

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT (s): 5 out of 10. Totally down the middle average with a couple great performances by the best names on the show.

D&R Rating: 24% (11/45)

SHOOTO (Disc 2): Professional Shooting 35 (7/29/1995)

Disc One was done like, a year and a half ago. So yes, a long time coming. Can you believe there's like 166 to go? ONE HUNDRED SIXTY SIX.

Anyways, background since we're talking about something old and crusty. This is being held in the Omiya Skate Center, which also ran several joshi cards in the 1990s and a single NJPW card in 1993. This is a very small venue, in case you're wondering. The ring for this event is an octagonal ring featuring 3 ropes, diagonal support ropes, and Vale Tudo netting from the second rope down to the canvas. The video indicates that this is Shooto Complete Vale Tudo Access: Professional Shooting 35. I am very sad to have never seen most of 1-34. So is everyone else not named Tiger Mask, who does a long interview at the start of this DVD.

1) TOSHIYUKI WADO vs. JONATHAN EUSEBIO: A 147lb bout, believe it or not. Wado is hailing from K'z Factory and Eusebio is from the Inosanto camp. Yes. Dan Inosanto protege circa 1995. Don't worry, he's not the last. 3 3 minute rounds.

Tenative standup as is often the case in Shooto, followd by a clinch and a takedown into full mount by Wado. Eusebio gives the back, and gee, this is gonna be short. He gets to the ropes and we have a break and standup. Another Wado takedown, back to full mount, but with no action in 3 or so seconds, we get another standup; Shooto has lots of these back then. Both stare at each other till the bell. Wado continues this in the second round and eventually mounts and gets and armbar out of that. Only pro fight on record for either. (0)

2) RUMINA SATO vs. RON BALICKI: Sato is a legend and Balicki is a footnote. Here is why.

Balicki comes to throw BOMBZ but is 13 years too early; Sato gets a takedown, but nothing comes of it. Another Sato shot, Balicki defends, tries to spin out, and is thrown down. He's let up and we continue. Sato throws a high kick, left straight, clinches, takes down Balicki, and goes to full mount. Balicki isn't totally lousy; he goes out the back and drops for a heel hook! Unfortunately, this is SATO and he ends up having his opponent posture up, defend, break free and then throw himself on top of poor Ron Balicki all in one motion. Sato then grabs and arm and pulls the armbar. Oh so sweet. (3)

3) CARL FRANKS vs. REMCO PARDOEL: Remco was featured in the last class doing a Shooto class in the Netherlands. He is also a very bad man who had built a name in Pancrase and the UFC prior to this. Franks is a no-name who trains at Grappling Unlimited and would be competing as a middleweight today, likely. 3 8 minute rounds.

A strange fight: Pardoel comes forward to maul Franks and Franks, being a wrestler apparently, is able to defend take downs and throws and they trade low kicks most of the fight. Pardoel does get the better of this in general as he's the bigger guy, and it looks more and more like he's gonna wear down Franks by simple pushing him off with his hands (which are nowhere near protecting him for a punch) and then throwing the low kick. He gets lazy and sloppy and throws a right hand after pushing at one point, and that's all Franks needs; he rushes in with the takedown and is in the half guard of Pardoel. At this point, he tees off on Remco and Remco actually taps as the bell rings from the punches. The ref misses this and there is all sorts of confusion as he's unwilling to continue. End result? No contest. Franks got screwed. (1) for the name value and the strange end.

4) KAZUHIRO KUSAYANAGI vs. KYUHEI UENO: Kusayanagi had an unspectacular record in Shooto coming in, and Ueno (then simply tagged "Kyuhei") had gone a hard five rounds with Yuki Nakai, one of the original lower weight heroes of MMA. Well, I think it was hard because at least he made it that far. Not like I have it on video, you know? 5 3 minute rounds, middleweight contest (Kusayanagi comes in at 163, Ueno at 154).

First round is lots of Kusayanagi taking down Ueno and then getting stood up. Standup is wild with no one clearly ahead. Second round is more of the same; Kyuhei's unorthodox striking seems to be taking Kusayanagi offguard and hurting his timing, but the takedowns are still coming, even if Kusayanagi never capitalizes. Ueno does finally defend a shot late in the round. Kyuhei then radically changes gameplans in the third and pulls guard, but the strength of Kusayanagi is such that he holds Ueno up in the air and slams him. Ueno is really pressing now and is actually defending the doubles and singles from Kusayanagi to some degree. Towards the end of the round, Kyuhei Ueno shoots a double of his own to score a late takedown.

The turn in the fight is clear in the 4th: Ueno and Kusayanagi trade wild shots at the start, and Kyuhei throws down Kusayanagi with a belly to belly. He looks for an farside armbar from side control, but Kusayanagi defends and goes for a heel hook, ending that sequence with a rope break. Wow. Ueno again scores the takedown after the restart and Kusayanagi is looking for an armbar from guard; again, another rope break. Kusayanagi shoots a single, Ueno defends and ends up on top, then easily transitioning to mount. Kusayanagi looks to turn, give his back, and then escape as the bell rings. Great, great action in the fourth. Fifth and final opens and Ueno drops Kusayanagi with a right hand virtually at the bell for a 9 count. Kusayanagi shoots, but runs into a pancake sprawl, gives up the back, and takes punches until the fight is stopped. Absolutely fantastic stuff from the early, early days of MMA. It holds up even now, 15 years later. (2)

5) NOBORU ASAHI vs. LEONID ZASLAVSKY: A title fight! I think. Asahi is the Shooto Lightweight champ and Zaslavsky has never fought in MMA before but being Ukrainian via Australia, he is probably a judoka or wrestler who might be game.

Zaslavsky proves me right by shooting immediately, but Asahi tries for the triangle. Actually, that is this fight in a nutshell for both rounds it goes. Zaslavsky gets the takedowns and Asahi is willing to pull guard too. In fact, its really what he's aspiring for: He throws strikes only to get to the clinch and drag down Zaslavsky. In the second round, Asahi throws a spinning back fist that closes the distance, then drops down into a heel hook out of the clinch, forcing a tap out. (4) This is a tough fight to rank and I don't consider it absolutely vital, since neither guy is a legend or anything of the sort. In fact, Zaslavsky is basically a nobody who never won an MMA fight. Regardless, this is an important bout as any Shooto title fight would have been at these weight classes now in retrospect, particularly with WEC having usurped them as the home of the lower weights.

-INTERVIEWS WITH THE FIGHTERS! Nothing learned.

6) ENSON INOUE vs. ED DE KRUIJF: Enson is a big deal. De Kruijf won a Cage Fight title in Holland beating Bob Schrijber. This is back to "freestyle" rules and 3 8 minute rounds.

Inoue clinches, tries to take down De Kruijf, and De Kruijf tries to hold down a headlock. Inoue and De Kruijf get tangled in the nets and are moved to center ring to restart on the mat. Inoue takes the back (as one expects) and flattens out De Kruijf, eventually transitioning to an armbar by the nets. Fight is stopped and De Kruijf is complaining; My guess is he was trying for a rope break and instead the ref called it. Kinda lame, that. (3)

-INOUE INTERVIEW! In japanese.

7) ERIK PAULSON vs. BEN SPIJKERS: Oh, man. This fight. Paulson is a huge name even still, though no longer as a fighter. Spijkers is a Olympic medal winning judoka and Paulson is a future Shooto Champ. They would reappear on another MMA card a few months later on opposite ends of brackets during the World Combat Championship show I reviewed here.

I feel bad even trying to give this a play-by-play, and so from now on, no more PBP for Shooto shows. It takes away from my joy of watching them, honestly. Spijkers wants this on the mat; its what he knows. Early in the match Spijkers is going for a head crank and both men tumble out of the ring. Luckily they're caught by the seconds outside. After the restart, its more of Spijkers shooting the double and Paulson defending it fairly competently and then throwing low kicks. Spijkers is just asking for a guillotine here, leaving his head exposed. He does get a takedown for the first time in round one at the bell, but it looks like a Paulson round. Go to the second: Paulson drops for a kneebar in the second after defending the shot, but it fails and the ref stands 'em. Paulson is feeling better about the clinch game and is throwing knees and dirty boxing; Spijkers answers with a headlock into throw. Paulson maneuvers out and we hit the bell.

Third round is action of the good kind: Spijkers seems to quit due to the strikes momentarily against the ropes, but spins around and continues. He gets caught in the thai clinch of Paulson and in a desperate attempt to escape, manages to throw himself out of the ring head first. After a period where its debated if the fight will continue, we have a restart. Paulson is now feeling really good in close: he's throwing uppercuts inside along with the low kicks and knees. Spijkers proves durable; he shoots, gets a takedown, and moves to knee on belly as the bell rings.

Entering the 4th, this is still very competitive. Spijkers gets tied up in the ropes during a clinch trying to get away from Paulson in the clinch. Clearly, Spijkers wants nothing to do with being vertical and is looking only to shoot. Big right hand by Paulson wakes up the crowd. Spijkers ends up getting taken down and gives up his back to rope break; the ref seems to warn him. He does shoot a single at the end of the round and get it, but its Paulson's round.

Final round is short: Spijkers' laziness regarding protecting his neck when shooting is finally exposed. Paulson locks a guillotine on with the arm in, and then Spijkers moves the shoulder out of the way for him in foolish fashion. He has no choice but to tap. Great fight. (4)

Afterwards, interviews with both men. Paulson thanks Inosanto's camp, Spijkers admits Paulson is better at mixing the two elements of the sport together and promises to Paulson that if they meet again, he will "choke him the hell out". They do not.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Paulson/Spijkers

KO OF THE NIGHT: Kyuhei/Kusayanagi

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Inoue/De Kruijf

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 8 out of 10. Some slow moments here and there, but overall, as such a higher level of competition than the UFC and many modern second tier promotions. When I see Cage Combat MMA on my DVR soon from this fall in Grand Rapids, I don't expect anything this good.

D&R Rating: 48.5% (17/35), making this the highest rated MMA show I've done for the blog yet.

SHOOTO DISC 1: 5/12/1995 & 6/4/1995

Finally, I begin digging into the world of Shooto. Thanks to a certain dude, I now own hundreds of Shooto DVDs encompassing everything ever recorded to tape. We start almost randomly in 1995 with Shooto Vale Tudo Access 4 before shifting to Yokohama for Shooto Yokohama Free Fight. Its all part of the same program, commercials removed.

1) KAZUYOSHI KUDO vs. JIN AKIMOTO: Kudo looks like a bouncer. This is at feather, three 3 minute rounds.

Akimoto shoots in, gets a takedown, takes the back, rear naked choke. At least it was fast. (0)

2) MAGNUM KAWAMURA vs. UCHUU TATSUMI: Kawamura is rocking the grappling pants! Yessssssss. Lightweight bout, Three 3 min rounds.

First round is pretty straight forward. Both men trade takedowns, but Tatsumi is better doing stuff once he gets it to the mat. However, even with his ability to get mount, he's not able to finish. Second round is a repeat of the first outside of a pretty nifty judo throw by Kawamura, and the third...well, you can guess. The lack of striking on the mat is unfortunate when guys who don't know what to do are in the ring. Uchuu Tatsumi wins a decision in this bout. (0)

3) YUJI HASHIGUCHI vs. MASATO SUZUKI: Middleweight bout, three 4 minute rounds.

Suzuki landed a hard left hand early in the round and gets a pretty solid judo throw as well to put in the most offense of the two while alternately controlling position on the mat for the first round. Second round sees Hashiguchi dominate the majority of the round in top position on the ground, but slips up and gets thrown late in the round. Suzuki then applies a sort of kimura/crucifix hybrid that is called a "v cross armlock" and Hashiguchi taps. (1) for the nifty sub.

INTERMISSION! It is time for Shooto Talk with Tiger Mask Sayama, Kenji Kawaguchi, Youki Nakai, and some dude named Enson Inoue that has hair at this point.

4) KYUHEI MIKAGE vs MAURICE ROUMIMPER: There is a segment of broken english where Roumimper talks about what he is going to do. Given that he's from the Netherlands, either he is a stupendous judoka or a kickboxer with no chance. Later, text on the screen tells us it is the former. This is at middleweight, and its three 5 minute rounds.

Both are horrid standing. Somehow, there is not much surprise here. Roumimper gets a takedown with a side headlock, but that's always a bad idea. You know, giving up your neck and stuff. Kyuhei (who is introduced solely as that) takes the back and gets an armbar to win. Judo and mankind are the losers. (0)

5) YASUNORI OKUDA vs. NAOKI SAKURADA: This is held at 80KG, three 5 minute rounds.

Leg lock battle. Oh, the olden days of catch wrestling based MMA. Sakurada gets a heel hook after the bell and Okuda taps. Since the bell went off two minutes early, the ref is okay with that and Sakurada is the winner. (1) for funny finish. Sakurada improves to a record of 13-7-1, which is pretty damn incredible in 1995.

6) YASHUSHI WARITA vs. KAZUHIRO KUSAYANGI: This is at -78KG, three five minute rounds.

Warita gets a headlock early, tries a guillotine with the arm in and Kusayangi in half guard. As expected, this does not work. Kusayangi takes an arm very soon after popping his hear out and passing to secure an armbar victory. (0)

7) RENE STIGER vs. KAZUHIRO SAKAMOTO: Not even sure what weight class this is. Forgot to record that. Sakamoto is claimed to be 11-4, which isn't bad. Stiger? Pro debut.

Sak shoots off a right hand, gets in side control and then knee on belly. Not a lot of action, and the ref breaks them and stands it. Stiger throws a kick and he gets caught and slammed. Sakamoto secures an armbar and the win. (0)

INTERMISSION AGAIN~! There is footage of Narita airport, some random Shooto dudes Ford Escort rental, and an exhibition at the Jujitsu Denmark Open on 5/27/95. Then the Shooto dudes do a seminar at Remco Pardoel's school for two days (5/29 and 30). Then footage of fights from Yokohama Free Fight that were not good enough to show in full. They were all in Japanese and I didn't bother matching them with the results to find out what was what. Oh, wait, there are no results on Sherdog for those fights. Never mind! The fighters also rocked the headgear, so I'm guessing it was ammy rules.

8) JIN AKIMOTO vs. MASATAKA KAWAKAMI: This is Akimoto's second appearance, so he must be a big deal. Featherweights, 3 min X 3 rounds.

Akimoto catches a kick and takes down Kawakami. Inside the guard, he postures up, punches to the head. Pretty serious GnP ensues at a time when it was just being invented. Akimoto passes guard, punches the stomach, and mounts. Kawakami rolls over and basically allows himself to get choked out. (1) Tactically ahead of its time.

9) RUMINA SATO vs. KATSUAKI YANO: Sato was a quantum leap in the right direction for MMA. Its a shame he'll be largely forgotten years from now.

Sato tries to takedown Yano with a headlock, but Yano defends and is on top in side control. Sato is good enough to prevent any offense and force a ref break. Yano misses a punch and Sato pulls guard in order to get it back to the mat, but Yano shakes him off. Sato does go onto his back and Yano has enough of a brain fart to follow him there. Sato is in control from there, going for a triangle and using it instead to sweep Yano. Sato blasts him with strikes to head and body and the ref stops it. Rumina Sato, welcome to the big time. (3)

The show closes with a montage of Sakamoto standing on the ropes and random footage from Europe.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT(S): Sato/Yano

KO OF THE NIGHT(S): Sato/Yano by default

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT(S): Hashiguchi/Suzuki

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Compared to the modern classics, nothing to get excited about. Plus, a distinct lack of top end talent on the shows.

D&R RATING: 13%(6/45)