K-1 Dynamite! - Fight Added!!

Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto will fight Rani Yahaya. Yahaya is the this years ADCC under 70Kg champion and is ranked WEC #1.

"KID" promised in his last fight that he would win the next fight by KO. This remains to be seen.

Confirmed fights:

HEROs Rules
Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto vs. Rani Yahaya
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masakatsu Funaki

K-1 Rules
Masato vs. Yong Soo Choi

K-1 Rules Under 18 tournament
HIROYA vs. Tsukasa Fuji
Kenji Kubo vs. Yudai
Winners of these fights will face off in a final

Read more...

11/28 Pancrase - RESULTS

After yesterday`s fights in Korakuen Hall, we have a new Middleweight King of Pancrase. Takeuchi got his revenge over Nakaishi and reclaimed his title. In the other fight of interest Marlon Sandro remained unbeaten after taking home a victory by decision.


Izuru Takeuchi Def. Yuichi Nakanishi by decision
Marlon Sandro Def. Daiki Hata “DJ.taiki” by decision
Tatsuya Mizuno Def. Masayuki Kono by TKO, Round 1, 3:28
Michihisa Asano Def. Murayama Tomoki by decision
Takuya Wada Def. Seiki Ryo by decision
Shinsuke Shoji Def. Wataru Takahashi by decision
Yo Saito Def. Tomoaki Honda by submission (rear naked choke), round 1, 3:51
Masamitsu Sato Def. Ryota Sasaki by decision
Ono Akihiro Def. Moujun Tarou by TKO, Round 1, 3:13
Suzuki Taketoshi Def. Tsuchia Akimitsu by TKO, Round 1, 0:26
Obata Kimifumi Def. Ogura Kenichi by sumission (Triangle choke), Round 1, 2:23

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12/01 Cage Force 05 - Tournament Finals

After the dissapointement of not being able to use Kitaoka in this event, they have found an opponent for Mizuto Hirota.

This will be a very good event!

The hightlights:
-Urushitani: 3 Career losses, not lost in 3 years.
-Kenji Osawa: Rightfully ranked amoung the best Bantamweight fighters inthe world. BUT is currently on a 2 fight losing streak. Needs to redeemhimself here!

Welterweight final:
-Dan Hardy: A very talented British fighter, on a 5 fight winningstreak. His semi-final win was very impressive.
-Boku: Not lost in more than 4 years, in that period he has 10 fightswith a record of 9 wins and 1 Draw. Beaten fighters like Hermes Francaand DEEP standout Ryan Bow.

Lightweight Final:
-Yoshida: On a 7 fight winning streak (over 2 years), none of them havegone the distance. Very impressive semi-final against Akira Kikuchi.
-Oumakhanov: Has a 6-1 record, only loss to Andre "Dida" Amade. In myopinion had the weakest semi-final, more luck than skill that he won.Was very impressive before his loss to "Dida".

You can watch the Semi-Finals here

Main events:
Welter weight tournament final :
Yoshiyuki Yoshida 8-2-0 vs 16-5-0 Dan Hardy
Light weight tournament final:
Koutetsu Boku* 13-3-1 vs 6-1-0 Artur Oumakhanov
*Boku was ranked #10 on Sherdog’s latest Lightweight ranking.

Yasuhiro Urushitani* 14-3-4 vs 2-1-0 Jesse Taitano
*Urushitani was ranked #2 on Sherdog’s latest Flyweight ranking
Mizuto Hirota 6-2-0 vs Sin Do Gi
Kenji Osawa* 12-7-1 vs 3-1-0 Nobuhiro “Punch” Yamauchi
*Osawa was ranked #7 on Sherdog’s latest Bantamweight ranking
Takeya Mizugaki 7-2-2 vs. 7-7-3 Seiji Ozuka* (Otsuka on Sherdog)
*Only one of his fights has not gone the distance
Toshikazu Iseno “ISE” 5-3-1 vs 10-8-1 Takahito Iida
Yukiya Naito 12-4-2 vs. 2-3-3 Takenori Sato

Preliminary fights
Hiroshi Arakawa 1-1-0 vs 2-0-0 Seiya Kawahara
Junichi Ota 0-1-1 vs 1-0-0 Hiroshi Takita
Taiyoku Endo 1-0-0 vs. 0-1-0 Hiroyuki Kuwabara

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Yarennoka Fights Announced!!

At a press conference in Tokyo today, the first fights have been announced for the Yarennoka event on NYE. This event promises not to disappoint!!

The biggest fight announced today was JZ Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki. The HERO’s Middleweight tournament champion called on Aoki after winning the tournament earlier this year. Now that dream has been realized. This will be fight of the year so far, and something tells me its not even going to be the main event.

Also announced today was Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa. Hasegawa the current DEEP champion will fight the Pride Ledgend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai with a record of 30-7-2.

From the looks of this will be event of the year!!

Also participating:
Emelianenko Fedor
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri
Kazuo Misaki
Joachim Hansen
Luiz Azeredo
Ricardo Arona (?)
Gilbert Melendez

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11/28 Pancrase Rising Tour

Tomorrow, Pancrase will hold their 9th Rising Tour event. The main event is the Middle weight King of Pancrase title fight. The title holder, Nakanishi, will take on veteran Takeuchi. This is a rematch of their fight a year ago, where Nakanichi surpricingly pulled out a victory by split decision.

There has been some changes, so here is the latest card.

Main event: Middle weight King of Pancrase
Yuichi Nakanishi 6-6-3 vs 22-9-6 Izuru Takeuchi　

Daiki Hata “DJ.taiki” 7-4-2 vs 9-0-0 Marlon Sandro
Tatsuya Mizuno 2-2-0 vs 3-2-0 Masayuki Kono
Murayama Tomoki 1-3-0 vs 4-4-2 Michihisa Asano
Takuya Wada 15-8-8 vs 3-7-2 Seiki RyoShinsuke Shoji 3-3-1 vs 5-9-2 Wataru TakahashiYo Saito vs Tomoaki HondaRyota Sasaki vs Masamitsu Sato
Ono Akihiro vs. Moujun Tarou
Suzuki Taketoshi vs. Tsuchia Akimitsu
Ogura Kenichi vs. Obata Kimifumi

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12/01 Cage Force 05 - Kitaoka not fighting

A huge setback for this weekend`s Cage Force event, Satoru Kitaoka will not be fighting. Reason given is that the organisers were unable to find a suitable opponent. Very disappointing given the time they have had.

They are offering refunds is anyone should want that. Needless to say, there are still lots of great fights on the card.

I saw Kitaoka fight Fabricio Monteiro in April, and was really looking forward to this event. But given the fights still on the card, a refund is no option for me.

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11/30 Shoot Boxing

There will be a Shoot Boxing event this Friday in Korakuen Hall. Shoot Boxing markets itself as standing Vale Tudo fighting, which means something like K-1 rules where throws and standing submissions are allowed.

The card for this Friday:

Kanei Kenji vs. Yamaguchi Taiga
Enari Noriyuki vs. Sakimura Akito
Uematsu Tatsuya vs. Masahiro
Nakamori Yasutaka vs. Kawakami Daiki
Umeno Takaaki vs. Miura Shinya
Fukuchi Shouta vs. Ikegami Kouji
Okuwa Hiroaki vs. Minato Masanori
Kubochun Rena M15 (クボチューン･レーナ) vs. TBA
Tsukamoto Takuo vs. Kashiwakura Shinya

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World Victory Road announces first event - SENGOKU!!‏

World Victory Road has today announced the name of their first event. The new organization is called "Sengoku".

The event will be held in the National Yoyogi Gymnasium March 3. This will be a huge event. World Victory Road has stated that their goal is to replace Pride, not an easy task and they will surely not be the only ones trying to do that.

The confirmed fighters so far are:
Hidehiko Yoshida (Pride veteran)
Sanae Kikuta (Former Pancrase and Pride fighter)
Makoto Takimoto (Pride veteran)
Ryo Kawamura (Pancrase fighter)

Sources:
http://www.sengoku-official.com/

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11/25 HEAT 5 - Nagoya - RESULTS

The biggest event this weekend was without a doubt HEAT in Nagoya. The best known fighter here was Hatsu Hioki, ranked as on the of the best featherweights in the world, he came in with a 2 loss losing streak.

Otherwise, the main event held Alex Roberts vs. Tatsufumi Tomihira.

Alex Roberts Def. Tatsufumi Tomihira　by decision 3-0
Hatsu Hioki　Def. Brian Geraghty by decision 3-0
Beck Andrew Def. Ryuta Noji by decision 3-0
Gil Freitas Def. Osami Shibuya by decision 3-0
Hiroshi Umemura　Def. Matheus Foruchi (マテウス・フォルチ) by ankle lock, Round 2, 2:54.
Jyunichi Maruyama Def. Atsuhiro Tsuboi by decision 3-0
Kazuhisa Tazawa Def. Cristiano Kaminishi by split decision 2-0
Danilo Zanolini　Def. Syunsuke Ohishi by decision 3-0
MAX Fernandes Def. Yoshitomo Watanabe by armbar Round 1, 1:12

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Yarennoka - UPDATE Yoshida Fighting??

Sportsnavi (kakutogi) and Fight Opinion has, in an article from 11/23, launched Hidehiko Yoshida as a possible opponent for Fedor. I would not get too "excited" about this news yet. The article merely states that Yoshida would not turn down a fight with Fedor.

There was another article yesterday (11/24) where Yoshida`s management stated that Yoshida would rather fight in Yarennoka than K-1 Dynamite. K-1 has apparently suggested that Yoshida fight Akiyama on NYE. Yoshida`s management has dismissed this suggestion based on the fact that Yoshida (currently 105 kg) is 20 kg heavier than Akiyama.

In my opinion, Yoshida`s career has been on a downward trend since 2005. Since his win against Mark Hunt, he is has a 3-4 record and his wins have not been impressive. From what I have seen on TV, he has also put on a bit of weight (some of which I am sure accounts for him being 20 kg heavier than Akiyama). He is 38 years old, and if he fights on NYE, he has not been in the ring for a year. This is not the kind of fight the fans want to see.

Keep in mind though that, M-1 is lending out Fedor for this event. I very much doubt we will see him fight a top opponent, like Randy Couture, this time.

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20071124-00000014-spnavi_ot-fight.html
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/column/200711/at00015416.html

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Video: MIKU vs. Hisae Watanabe

Two of the top female fighters in Japan, MIKU vs. Hisae Watanabe. This fight was in DEEP 31, August 5 2007. This is Hisae Watanabe`s title defense against the up and comer MIKU Matsumoto.

Both these fighter will be in action in December, Hisae Watanabe in DEEP 33 and MIKU in DEEP Protect Osaka.




Also another video of MIKU, put together by one of her fans in the build up to this fight. MIKU developed her skills a lot during 2006 and in 2007 she has gone 4-0 so far, and is on a 5 fight winning streak. She has 2 fights coming up in December, so that`s a chance to go 6-0 for the year. Very impressive!!

If you have not seen much female MMA, this is a video you should watch. Very well put together.

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11/23 ZST.15 - 5th Anniversary - RESULTS

ZST held their 5 year annaversary event today. The event was headlined by Hideo Tokoro, who was said to gain a place in the NYE K-1 Dynamite if he were to win today.

Hideo Tokoro　Def. Inatsu Wataru by Submission 1 Round, 1:35 (armbar)
Naoyuki Kotani vs. Masanori Kanehara Draw
Masashi Takeda Def. Hiroyuki Ito by submission 1 round, 1:53 Ankle lock
Okude Masayuki Def. Uchimura Yojiro by submission 2 round, 2:24 (armbar)
Kenichi Ito Def. Hiroyuki Ota by KO 2. Round, 3:55
Keisuke Fujiwara Def. Tokuaki Ninomiya by subission, round 1, 1:04 (front choke)
Tetsuya Nishi Def. Shunichi Shimizu by Decision
Tetsuya Yamada Def. Takeaki Miyagawa by KO, Round 1, 0:44
Kenji Nagai Def. Takashi Matsui by submission, Round 1, 3:24 (Rear-naked choke)

Welterweight tournement final:
Tomohiko Yoshida Def. Ichiro Kojima by decision 3-0
Semi-final 1:Tomohiko Yoshida Def. Keigo Hirayama
Semi-final 2:Ichiro Kojima Def. Takaya Asano

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12/8 K-1 GP Finals

December 8 will be be K-1 GP finals. This is one of my highlights every year as long as I`ve been in Japan, however this year is a bit different. Due to all the rumors the last couple of days, a lot of people will be keeping a very close eye on Hong Choi Man. If he gets KO`ed, he will not fight NYE that much is clear.

Anyway, who would be the favorites for this tournament? As always it`s a very close field. It is hard to look past Badr Hari, not my favorite as far as character goes, but an awesome fighter. Also Semmy Schilt would be one of my favorites.

This is the card (All fights 3x3min, 1round extention):
FINAL: Winner of Semi Final 1 Vs. Winner of Semi Final 2

Super Fight: Musashi Vs. Souleimane Konate
Semi Final 2: Winner of Quarter Final 3 Vs. Winner of Quarter Final 4
Semi Final 1: Winner of Quarter Final 1 Vs. Winner of Quarter Final 2

Reserve Fight 2: Ray Sefo Vs. Paul Slowinski
Quarter Final 4: Peter Aerts Vs. Junichi Sawayashiki
Quarter Final 3: Remy Bonjasky Vs. Badr Hari
Quarter Final 2: Semmy Schilt Vs. Glaube Feitosa
Quarter Final 1: Hong Man Choi Vs. Jerome Le Banner
Reserve Fight 1: Chalid "Die Faust" Vs. Mighty Mo

Undercard (3x3min):
Takashi Tachikawa Vs. Ki Min Kim
Jan “The Giant” Nortje Vs. Dong Wook Kim
Mitsugu Noda Vs. Noel Cadet

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11/25 GMC Demolition - Yamaguchi

Finally I am getting around to posting this card. The latest developments are causing me to be a bit behind schedule...

This is a good opportunity for you guys in the Yamaguchi area to see some MMA. The fighters might not be the big-name fighters, but this will undoubtedly be an interesting event.

Sakagami vs. Koutarou Ogawa
Shingo Makita vs. Yoshiki Ueda
M-06 Sakurai vs. Osuka Ayazuka
TAG vs. Motohiro Takenawa
Kenji vs. Yuta Yasunaga
Eiji Saitou vs. Kouji Oda
Tomoyuki Kishida vs. Kenichiro Ashidaka
Nobuhiro Tsurumaki 0-9-0 vs. 1-4-0 Yuta Nakamura
Seiichi Suwaki vs. Seiji (?) Wakasugi
Mitsutaka Etou vs. 1-1-0 Teymur Aliyev
Hisato Nagakura 1-1-0 vs. 5-0-0 Yushi Shiori

I have to admit that I am not familiar with these fighters and Japanese names can be read several ways.

For more information on this event, please check this site.
http://www.g-c-m.net/dlt/fc/

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Mark Hunt returning to the ring!!

That`s right, Mark Hunt is due to step back in the ring!! BUT this might not be what the fans are expecting, the news claims that he will fight for Hustle, a Pro-Wrestling organization. It is also the organisation with DSE is involved in.

This is also the organization that Bob Sapp now fights for.

Source
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20071122-00000047-spnavi-fight.html
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/wrestling/20071123-00000005-spnavi_ot-fight.html
http://www.hustlehustle.com/free/news/?id=1195742384

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12/31 M-1 - Saitama Superarena - Is confirmed

M-1 has held a press conference in Tokyo today. Confirmed at the conference was that Fedor will fight on NYE. The event is supported by M-1, with the help of former Pride staff.

Fighters confirmed for the event:
Fedor Emelianenko
Joachim Hansen
Ricardo Arona (?)
Gilbert Melendez
Luiz Azeredo
Aoki Shinya
Kazuo Misaki
TatsuyaKawajiri
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Hasegawa Hidehiko

The M-1 homepage also mentions Alexander Emelianenko and Roman Zentsov (No mention of Hong Man Choi).

This will without a doubt be the biggest event of the year!!!!

The event will be shown on SkyPerfect PPV.

Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.yarennoka.com/

It seems confirmed now that the opponent will be Hong Man Choi

Arona has in an interview with GracieMag.com denied that he will fight in the NYE event, some personal problems are stopping him from travel to Japan this time. However, he mentions the possiblity of fighitng in February.

Other source
http://www.mixfight.ru/news/2007/11/20/M-1Global-conference-Japan/
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20071121-00000021-spnavi-fight.html
http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3398724/
http://www.fightopinion.com/2007/11/21/nye-mma-event-in-saitama-confirmed/
http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=10062
http://www.signfedor.com/

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12/22 DEEP Protect Osaka - Fights

DEEP has today presented their card for DEEP Protect in Osaka. The card looks very exciting, most exciting is probably the format...

Some highlights:
-The main event is part of a 3 fight team competition between Japan and Korea, needless to say the Japanese fans are expected to get behind this.
-Also on the card we have MIKU who will face Muay Thai champion Wenton Sakkurunruan (?).
-At 17:30 there will be 4 fights which go under K-1 (similar) rules, showcasing new young talent.
-Another exciting format starts at 4:00, with a grappling team tournament.

Needless to say this will be a very good day out for any MMA fan in Osaka!!

Main Card start 18:00
Japan vs. Korea 3 Fights
Fight 13 Yoshiro Maeda 22-4-1　vs　3-2-1 Jong Man Kim
Fight 12 Seichi Ikemoto 15-14-5　vs　0-1-0 Seo Do Wong
Fight 11 Ryuichi Murata 6-2-1　vs　キム・ホジン

Fight 10 Miku Matsumoto 15-4-0 vs. Wenton Sakrungruang
Fight 9Hiroki Nagaoka 10-13-7 vs. Ken Hamamura 12-3-3
Fight 8 Tomoyuki Fukami 5-1-4 vs. Akihiko Mori 6-2-1
Fight 7 Naoki Matsushita 9-8-8 vs. Yukinari Tamura 5-1-3
Fight 6 Motoyuki Takinishi 5-1-2 vs. Toru Harai 2-1-0
Fight 5 Yusuke Sakashita 3-1-0 vs. Taiki Yonashiro 0-1-0
Fight 4 Takahiro Kajita 7-6-3 vs. Hiroshi Shiba 4-2-0
Fight 3 Isao Terada 3-4-2 vs. Nobuhiro Yoshitake 0-2-0
Fight 2Kousuke Eda 3-2-2 vs. Takashi Hasegawa 3-4-2
Fight 1 Yabu 0-2-0 vs. 0-1-0 Junichi Nakahira

Next Level ～ Young Challenge Story 2x3min Kick-rule Start 17:30
Fight 4 Hiroki Koyama vs。Koji Mashita
Fight 3 Kenji vs. Harada将公
Fight 2 Ren Takeno vs. Atsushi為房厚志
Fight 1 Jin Hirayama vs. Takuma Konishi

Protect Award Grappling Tag 1 Day Tournament Start 16:00
3x10min, 8 teams, Total weight under 140 kgParticipating teams:
・MMA Kobra Kai: Soutaro Debana, Masashi Kameda
・Shooting Osaka: Tarou Kusano, Tarou Kobayashi
・Paraestra Osaka: Yoshiaki Masuda, Mizuki Kawamura
・Pancrase Inagakigumi: Kenji Takeshige, Kouji Tomita
・Zendou Kai: Takaaki Aoki, Hideo Matsui
・CMA Makoto Gym & Kyoto 成蹊館: Kimura仁要, Makoto Kamatani
・Purebred Kyoto: Aki [永本泰章]、Ago(Takuya Satou)
・Magical Destroyer: Red Layer Gay, Manabu Mark Kano

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Fedor to fight in Japan on NYE? - Latest Developments

Sherdog has today an article confirming that Fedor will fight in Japan on NYE. The article does not name any promotor. However, the opponent is Hong Man Choi.

I have been reluctant to post much around these rumors for several reasons:

-Choi is fighting in the K-1 GP finals Dec. 8. If he is KO’ed there, any fight on NYE is off.
-All the speculation would not be good for Choi leading up to the K-1 GP, it would also interfere with his preparation for any MMA event on NYE. As well as, of course taking his attention away from the GP tournament.
-K-1 has an Osaka event the same day, Choi is a K-1 fighter... Any new promotion would have to pay a lot to put on this fight.

This would of course be a fight that would draw a crowd, but you would need more than one fight, if it were to be hosted by a new promotion. My guess would be that it will either take place in Osaka, or a part of a Hustle pro-wrestling card.

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12/01 Cage Force 05 - The Finalists

On December 1 Cage Force will hold their welter- and lightweight tournement finals. This will be a very good event, at least if we are to judge by the semi-finals.

I have added them below. The finals are as follows:
Welterweight:
Yoshiyuki Yoshida 8-2-0 vs 16-5-0 Dan Hardy
Lightweight:
Koutetsu Boku 13-3-1 vs 6-1-0 Artur Oumakhanov

Welterweight Semi-final 1
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Akira Kikuchi




Akira Kikuchi vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Cageforce 4)
Uploaded by Cyborgasm


Welterweight Semi-final 2
Dan Hardy vs. Hidetaka Monma



Cageforce 4 Monma Hidetaka vs Dan Hardy
Uploaded by kaelito


Lightweight Semi-final 1
Koutetsu Boku vs. Eiji Mitsuoka - Part 1



Part 2



For Artur Oumakhanov I have been unable to find the semi-final fight... It was pretty boring anyway... But here he is from December 06 against Yuji Miyazaki.



artur oumakhanov
Uploaded by IvanCanello

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Video: Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Antonio Carvalho

From Shooto - Back to Our Roots 6. This was the fight of the night!! It played out almost like a K-1 fight. An awesome fight!



Part 2

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Video: Joachim Hansen vs. Eiji Mitsuoka

Shooto - Back to our Roots 6, this was Joachim Hansen`s return to the ring, unfortunately Mitsuoka spoiled the party. Hansen said after the fight that he felt rusty, I bet he will be stronger in his next fight! Anyway, good to see him back!!

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Video: Megumi Fujii vs. Kyoko Takabayashi

Another Shooto-Back to our Roots 6 video.

Megumi Fujii is without a doubt the best female MMA fighter in the world. She is also Japanese chamption in Sambo and BJJ. In addition she has 2 3rd place finishes in ADCC (05 and 07).

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12/01 Cage Force 05 - Tournament Finals

Cage Force will hold their tournament finals in December, this will be the event of the year for cage fighting fans in Japan. GCM has managed to get together a very good card this event.

Some of the hightlights:
-Urushitani, one of the world’s absolutely best flyweight fighters will return to the cage (he has not fought in a cage since 2005).
-Kenji Osawa, the Shooto standout was ranked #7 on Sherdog’s latest Bantamweight ranking.
-Pancrase veteran, Kitaoka returns to the cage, he has not fought in a cage since 2001. I will be interesting to see how he adjusts.
-Of course the highlight fights in this event are the tournament finals, Yoshida vs. Dan Hardy and Boku vs. Oumakhanov.

Mizuto Hirota 6-2-0 vs Sin Do Gi
Yasuhiro Urushitani* 14-3-4 vs 2-1-0 Jesse Taitano
*Urushitani was ranked #2 on Sherdog’s latest Flyweight ranking
Kenji Osawa* 12-7-1 vs 3-1-0 Nobuhiro “Punch” Yamauchi
*Osawa was ranked #7 on Sherdog’s latest Bantamweight ranking
Yukiya Naito 12-4-2 vs. 2-3-3 Takenori Sato
Hiroshi Arakawa 1-1-0 vs 2-0-0 Seiya Kawahara
Junichi Ota 0-1-1 vs 1-0-0 Hiroshi Takita
Toshikazu Iseno “ISE” 5-3-1 vs 10-8-1 Takahito Iida

Tournament Finals:
Welter weight:
Yoshiyuki Yoshida 8-2-0 vs 16-5-0 Dan Hardy

Light weight:
Koutetsu Boku* 13-3-1 vs 6-1-0 Artur Oumakhanov
*Boku was ranked #10 on Sherdog’s latest Lightweight ranking.

Also participating:
Takeya Mizugaki 7-2-2 vs. TBA
Kitaoka Satoru 19-7-9 vs. TBA

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12/31 M-1 - Saitama Superarena - The confusion is complete

Well, the rumors that were earlier dismissed by the M-1 management were confirmed yesterday. M-1 had on their web-site an official announcement that Fedor was going to fight in Saitama Superarena on NYE. This announcement is no longer on their web-site.

The rumors will continue, and the fans will wait. Japanese press has confirmed these rumors and it seems there will be an MMA event, but it seems there is no final decision yet.

The former Pride staff seems determined to make this happen, and also Aoki seems ready to fight.

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/gryphonjapan/20071114
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20071116-00000028-spnavi-fight.html

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Video: Rambaa Somdet vs. Masaaki Sugawara

Shooto - Back to our roots 6. One of the best fights of the night.

This was in my opinion one of the best shows in Japan this year. I hoped for a Muay Thai victory, and got it. However, Somdet was a much more rounded fighter than I expected. He is one to keep your eyes on for the future!

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Video: Akiyama Yoshihiro vs Denis Kang

This is the HEROs fight between Akiyama and Denis Kang on 10/28. An amazing fight with a surprising result.

These are 2 fighters we will hear from in the future. Akiyama is likely to fight again on NYE this year.

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11/24 HEAT 5 - Nagoya

Hatsu Hioki steps into the ring again in Nagyoa. The last time the home fans expected a victory, but was disappointed. That streached his losing streak to 2. With 2 loses in a row he really needs to redeem himself. This time he faces the experienced Brian Geraghty, who has 1 UFC fight.

Also worth a mention is Chritiano Kaminishi, who holds a record of 4-0-0, I saw him against Sentoryu earlier this year and was very impressed. Osami Shibuya, Pancrase veteran, is also on the card.

The card is full of interesting fighters, so if you`re in Nagoya, this it the place to be on November 24. Check out the HEAT web-site for details (http://heatofficial.com/).

Hiroshi Umemura　10-7-3　vs。Nat Mclntyre
Hatsu Hioki　12-3-1　vs。17-10-1 Brian Geraghty
MAX Fernandes　vs。5-5-0 Yoshitomo Watanabe
Danilo Zanolini　vs。Syunsuke Ohishi
Cristiano Kaminishi 4-0-0　vs。1-0-0 Kazuhisa Tazawa
Atsuhiro Tsuboi 5-10-2　vs。Jyunichi Maruyama
Osami Shibuya 34 - 31 - 15　vs。4-1-0 Gil Freitas
Ryuta Noji 6-3-0 vs。Andrew Peck
Tatsufumi Tomihira　vs。2-2-0 Alex Roberts

Daiki Suzuki 0-1-0 vs。Kazuyosi Hioki
Gaku Sakai vs。Hiroaki Suzuki

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12/8 Shooto - Rookie Finals

The next shooto event, after the super-card is the rookie tournament finals. This will be held in Shinjuku Face arena and, as always for these type of events, there are lots of new and exciting fighters. Notably, Tomonori Kamei (won both his fights by triangle choke). Also Masakatsu Ueda is worth a special notice.

Either way, the fighters who reach the Shooto finals are fighters we are likely to hear from in the future.

1.Light-Heavy Weight Tournament Final:
Hiroki Sato 2-0-0 vs. 1-0-0 Takaaki “C-Boy” Oban
2. Bantam Weight Tournament Final:
Tatsuro Kamei 2-0-0 vs. 1-2-0 Kenji Hasoya
3. Light Weight Tournament Final:
Tomonori Taniguchi 2-3-0 vs. 2-1-0 Kazuhiro Ito
4. Fly Weight Tournament Final:
Hiroyuki Abe 3-0-0 vs. 1-3-1 Hiroyuki Ikeda
5. Feather weight Tournament Final:
Hiromasa Ougikubo 3-0-1 vs. 1-2-3 Yasuhiro Kanayama
6. Middle weight Tournament Final:
Akihiro Yamazaki 8-2-1 vs. 2-1-1 Tomokazu Yuasa
7. Light weight Division:
Hiroshi Nakamura 3-3-3 vs. 5-5-2 Kyotaro Nakao
8. Welter weight Division:
Koumei Okada 5-6-1 vs 4-2-0 Paolo Milano
9. Middle weight semi-final 2 Rounds:
Taisuke Okuno 3-1-0 vs. 2-3-1 Hirosumi “C-Bozu” Sugiura
10. Feather weight 3Rounds:
Masakatsu Ueda 5-0-1 vs. 5-4-3 Tetsu “Hadairo” Suzuki

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11/11 Cage Force EX Eastern Bound - Results

The fights are just getting underway in Differ Ariake. I will post the results here as soon as they become avaliable.

The main event is the semi-final in the Light-weight tournament between Oumakhanov and Kanomata, which determines who will fight Boku in the final 12.1. But there should be other good fights here as well.

The fighters accidentally clash their heads and Oumakhanov goes to the light weight final after the doctor stops the main event at 2:54 in round 2. Kanomata leaves the ring with a broken nose.

Results
Artur Oumakhanov def. Tomonari Kanomata by TKO, Round 2, 2:54
Keita Nakamura “K- Taro" def. Takefumi Hanai by KO, round 1, 1:59
*The formerUFC fighter catches Hanai with a right hook and follows up with a kick that KOs Hanai. A solid performance in his return to Japan.
Yoshihiro Koyama def. Yasuyoshi Kanehara by decision 3-0
Koji Yoshimoto def Fanjin Son by decision 2-0
Keitaro Maeda ｖｓ Masahiro Toryu Draw
Yusaku Tsukkumo def 一慶 by decision 3-0
Wataru Miki Def. Kiyonobu Nishikataby decision 3-0
Naoko Ohmuro vs Misaki Takimoto Draw
Emi Fujino def. Yuko by decision 3-0

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12/12 DEEP Impact 33

DEEP has put up a very tight schedule in December. There are 4 events announced (there might be more). With the main so far being DEEP 33.

To me it seems there is no main event, nor fighter for the main event announced yet.

Here is the card so far:

Hidetada Irie 3-3-1 vs 8-9-0 Yuji Sakuragi
Jutaro Nakao 20-12-4 vs 1-1-0 Pang Sung Hwan
Hirotaka Miyakawa 2-3-0 vs 1-2-0 Min Suk Heo
Muscle Hiranuma 2-2-0 vs 0-3-0 (1NC) Iro Zeki
Isamu Sugiuchi 4-4-2 vs 0-3-0 Toshiaki Kitada
Junpei Hamada 4-9-0 vs 1-0-0 Shunske Inoue
Sen Nakadai 4-8-0 vs 23-26-10 Kosei Kubota
Koji Yoshida 2-4-2 vs 2-1-0 Koichiro Matsumoto
Hisae Watanabe 18-6-0 vs Genkamu Rukchamupokam (?)
Sojiro Orui 5-1-3 vs 1-3-0 Masataka Chinushi
Hirotaka Inoue vs 5-3-1 Yasushi Kitazaki

Also participating will be:
Yasuhito Namekawa, Sojiro Orui, Koichiro Matsumoto

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11/23 ZST.15 - 5th Anniversary

For ZST 15, the main event will include HEROs veteran, Hideo Tokoro against Inatsu Wataru. The card also includes former UFC and ZST veteran Noyuki Kotani.

Hideo Tokoro　18-12-1 vs 1-2-1 Inatsu Wataru
Masashi Takeda 8-3-0 vs 2-7-2 Hiroyuki Ito
Keisuke Fujiwara 3-0-2 vs 1-2-0 Tokuaki Ninomiya
Hiroyuki Ota 6-3-3 vs 2-2-2 Kenichi Ito
Hiroyuki Ota 6-3-3 vs 2-2-2 Kenichi Ito
Kenji Nagai 1-6-1 vs 2-1-0 Takashi Matsui

VT-Rule
Naoyuki Kotani 17-7-5 vs 7-2-4 Masanori Kanehara

Genesis Tournament fights
ＧＴ－Ｆ Final
Tetsuya Nishi 2-3-6 (1NC) vs 5-2-4 Shunichi Shimizu

Welterweight Semi-Finals
Keigo Hirayama 5-3-1 vs 3-0-1 Tomohiko Yoshida
Ichiro Kojima 2-3-2 vs 1-1-0 Takaya Asano
*Ryo Nakajima “Toraji” was injured and Takaya Asano takes his place

Also participating:
Uchimura Yojiro 4-1-0
Tetsuya Yamada 0-0-0

ZST girl, Saki Yoshida

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11/28 Pancrase Rising Tour

I have been falling behind on some of the cards last few weeks, so its time to update some of the cards that have been announced.

Pancrase will hold their last event in Korakuen Hall for this year (then next event for the year is held in Differ Ariake).

Main event: Middle weight King of Pancrase
Yuichi Nakanishi 6-6-3 vs 22-9-6 Izuru Takeuchi　

Daiki Hata “DJ.taiki” 7-4-2 vs 9-0-0 Marlon Sandro
Eriya Matsuda 6-4-0 vs 7-0-0 Hacran Dias
Mitsuhisa Sunabe 8-5-3 vs 4-4-2 Michihisa Asano
Tatsuya Mizuno 2-2-0 vs 3-2-0 Masayuki Kono
Takuya Wada 15-8-8 vs 3-7-2 Seiki Ryo
Shinsuke Shoji 3-3-1 vs 5-9-2 Wataru Takahashi
Yo Saito vs Tomoaki Honda
Ryota Sasaki vs Masamitsu Sato

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Josh Barnett returning to the ring!!

FormerPride fighter Josh Barnett is confirmed on the Pancrase 12.22 card, in Korakuen Hall! He makes his return after, as so many other fighters, being left stranded when Zuffa bought out Pride.

His last fight was a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in December last year. However, 2006 was a very good year for him, a year when he made it to the final in the Pride Grand Prix.

He will fight Pancrase veteran Hikaru Sato in his return. The fight will be Catch Wrestling rules and go for 2x5min.

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11/8 Shooto "Back the Our Roots 6" - Pictures

Yesterday Shooto held their main event for the year, and I for one is not disapointed. There are a couple of fighters that need special mention, some will notice that there are a few additions to my favorite fighters as well.

Anyway, performance of the night, without a doubt went to the Brazilian Eduardo Dantas. The 18 year old made the best of his reach, and showed that he was more than good enough to match "BJ" and deserved the victory.

Fight of the night, Antonio "Pato" Carvalho vs. Hiroyuki Takaya. This was an unbelievable fight where both fighters showed a lot of heart. "Pato" looked to have the upper hand, but Takaya dug deep and pulled out an amazing victory.

For me, the reason I bought the ticket and took the day off work was one guy. Joachim Hansen made his return to the ring. He didnt win this fight, but in all honesty the decision could have gone either way.

Caol Uno was there to take care of his fighters. Here he is helping Mitusoka to victory. His fighters where clearly inspired by his presence and both won their fights.

In the main event, Katsuya Toida attempts a knee against "Lion" Takeshi. In the end Takeshi pulled of a victory by decision.


After an awesome night of fighting, there is not much left to say. Thank you to the fighters who took part!

When the group pictures where done, a few of the fighters stayed back to sign autographes and meet fans. In my eyes it was easy to see why a few of these fighters are so popular. This is also the reason for my additions to my favorite fighters.

Joachim Hansen took time for everyone who wanted to take pictures or get an autograph. They were almost done takeing down the ring and he was still there. He even took time to talk a bit and said he felt rusty during the fight. He will be back!

Antonio "Pato" Carvalho was also one of the fighters staying back. He was disapointed at his loss, but assured me that he will be back.

Megumi Fuji also stayed back long after most people had left the arena.

All these 3 fighters showed why they are such crowd favorites and they made it a special night. They were not all winners yesterday, but they gained a lot of fans. They will be back, and these are fighters I will make sure to see every time they fight.

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11/8 Shooto "Back the Our Roots 6" - RESULTS

An awesome Shooto event has finished. As has been normal this year, there were some major surprises:
-Dantas beat BJ, this was not close... Dantas was much better, expect a lot from him in the future!!!
-Mitusoka defeated Hansen, this was close.. In my eyes, too close to call. But the judges awarded it to Mitsuoka. After the fight Hansen told me he wants to come back to Japan to redeem himself. He felt rusty during the fight.
-Takaya beat "Pato", this was a deserved victory. "Pato" was close when Takaya needed a doctor check early. But the Japanese fighter fought back.
-Then, finally, one of my wishes came true... M16 was awesome!!! He was a far better fighter than Takabayashi. The ref could have stoped this earlier, but the result would have been the same. An great fight by "M16"

“Lion” Takeshi Inoue def. Katsuya Toida by decision 3-0
Takashi Nakakura def. Yusuke Endo by decision 3-0
Hiroyuki Takaya def. Antonio Carvalho by TKO, Round 3 1:58
Eiji Mitsuoka def. Joachim Hansen by decision 2-0
Eduardo Dantas def. Shinichi Kojima “BJ” by decision 3-0

Megumi Fujii “Mega Megu” def. Kyoko Takabayashi by decision 3-0
Rambaa Somdet “M16”def. Masaaki Sugawara by TKO Round 2 5:00
Leandro Batata Silva def. Masashi Yozen by decision 3-0
Shintaro Ishiwatari def. Hayate Usui by decision 3-0

Finally, I want to say thanks to the fighters. This was not a normal event (like the HEROs tournaments I`ve been to), you could see that there was more than money behind this. When everything was finished (they were actually removing the ring), I was standing talking with Joachim Hansen, Anthonio Carvalho and Megumi Fuji. All 3 of them great people and great fighters. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

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11/8 Shooto "Back the Our Roots 6" - Pre-view

Tomorrow is the main event for MMA fans in Japan. Shooto has not disapppinted with their "Super-card".

There are so many good fights on this card that I dont know where to begin. I have tried to find videos of the fighters. Anyway, things to look forward to:
-One of my favorite fighters, Joachim Hansen returns to the ring.
-Antonio Carvalho fights in what I see as the best match-up of the event, against HEROs veteran Hiroyuki Takaya.
-"Mega" Megu, Megumi Fujii faces Kyoko Takabayashi. I have not seen Mega Megu fight live yet, and this is a fight I am really looking forward to.
-Of course 2 Pacific rim title fights.
-18 year old Brazilian sensation, Eduardo Dantas in the biggest fight of his life.

Fight order is set as the Shooto web-site, not sure if this is actual order.

Fight #9 The main-event Shooto Light weight Pacific Championship fight:
Katsuya Toida 10-6-3 VS 13-2-0 “Lion” Takeshi Inoue
My tip: "Lion" Takeshi

Videos
Katsuya Toida:
vs. Baret Yoshida
vs. Rumina Sato
vs. Naoya Uematsu

"Lion" Takeshi
vs. Marc Duncan
vs. Hiroyuki Abe
vs. Hayate Usui


Fight # 8 Shooto Pacific Welter weight championship fight:
Takashi Nakakura 8-2-1 VS 　10-1-1 Yusuke Endo
My tip: Yusuke Endo

Takashi Nakakura
vs. Jani Lax

Yusuke Endo
vs. Seiki Uchimura


Fight #7
Antonio Carvalho 10-2-0 vs 8-4-1 Hiroyuki Takaya
My tip: Antonio Carvalho

Antonio Carvalho
vs. Rumina Sato
vs. "Lion" Takeshi

Hiroyuki Takaya
vs. Remigijus Morkevicius
vs. Andre "Dida" Amade
vs. Jani Lax
vs. Jarrod Card


Fight #6
Joachim Hansen 15-5-1 VS 11-5-2 Eiji Mitsuoka
My tip: Joachim Hansen

Joachim Hansen
vs. Metin Yakut
vs. Luiz Azeredo
vs. Caol Uno
vs. Rumina Sato
vs. Masakazu Imanari

Eiji Mitsuoka
vs. Koutetsu Boku - Part 1
vs. Koutetsu Boku - Part 2


Fight #5
Shinichi Kojima “BJ” 8-1-4 VS 2-1-0 Eduardo Dantas
My tip: "BJ"

Shinichi Kojima “BJ”
vs. Mamoru Yamaguchi - Round 1
vs. Mamoru Yamaguchi - Round 2
vs. Mamoru Yamaguchi - Round 3

Eduardo Dantas
vs. Fabio Oliveira - Round 1
vs. Fabio Oliveira - Round 2
vs. Fabio Oliveira - Round 3


Fight # 4
Masaaki Sugawara 6-1-0 VS 3-2-0 Rambaa Somdet “M16”
My tip: Sugawara (as much as I hope "M16" will take this)

Masaaki Sugawara
vs. Toshimishi Akagi

Rambaa Somdet “M16”
vs. Takumi Yano
vs. Rambong Chuchai Kiatchansing (turn off the sound)
vs. Joe Tsuchiya

Fight #3
Masashi Yozen 5-1-1 VS Leandro Batata Silva
My tip: Masashi Yozen

Masashi Yozen
vs. Kintaro


Fight #2
Megumi Fujii “Mega Megu” 11-0-0 VS 8-1-0 Kyoko Takabayashi
My tip: Megumi Fujii “Mega Megu”

Megumi Fujii “Mega Megu”
vs. Keiko Tamai
vs. Serin Muray
vs. Kyra Gracie (ADCC)

Kyoko Takabayashi
vs. "Kaori" (Grappling)

Fight #1
Hayate Usui 7-5-1 VS 3-1-2 Shintaro Ishiwatari
My tip: Hayate Usui

Hayate Usui
vs. "Lion" Takeshi
vs. Akitoshi Tamura

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Fedor to fight in Japan on NYE?

The last week rumors have been flowing regarding what will happen in Saitama Super Arena on NYE. Former DSE staff members are putting on what seems to be a double event. What is for sure is that Hustle, a Japanese pro-wrestling organization is holding an event in the afternoon. The trigger for the rumor seems to be an option to hold a MMA event the same evening.

As Fedor who has strong connections to Japan and has fought on NYE in Japan for 4 years running, has in an open letter stated that he would like to fight this year as well.Not only that, he has disucssed this option with the M-1 management, and they are supportive. The condition is that there is an event available. Now with Saitama Super Arena available to the former DSE staff, this might be possible. Time is short, but the Pride staff had strong connections with the DEEP staff. Is it possible that Saeki and the former DSE staff can pull this together?? If they can, they have half the main event ready to fight.

Sources:
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/gryphonjapan/20071103
http://www.fightopinion.com/2007/11/04/report-old-dse-staff-wants-to-book-fedor-in-japan/

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12/31 K-1 Dynamite! - Fight announced

FEG has announced a second fight for their NYE card. Masato will face the Korean WBA boxing champion, Yong Soo Choi. This fight will be fought under K-1 rules.

Previously, FEG has annouced that Masakatsu Funaki will return to the ring and face Kazushi Sakuraba. This will of course be under HEROs rules.

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Japan MMA November and December

This weekend has not had any major MMA events in Japan, but there have been a few annoucements of interest:

DEEP

Decemeber will without a doubt be a busy month for the DEEP staff, as 3 events are annouced for that month.

DEEP X 02
DEEP has annouced that they will hold DEEP X 02 on Dec. 3 in Shinjuku Face areana. This is their grappling event, and promises to be very entertaining. The main event (I assume this will be the main event) will have the DEEP chamption Hasegawa facing the BJJ world champion Lucas Lepri.

DEEP 33 Impact
DEEP also announce that they will hold DEEP 33 in Korakuen Hall on Dec, 12. No fights are annouced for this card yet.

DEEP Protect Osaka
For me the most interesting news is the annoucement of Protect Osaka. For this event, DEEP has set up a team format in which Japan and Korea will face off in a 3 fight competition.

Japan is represented by Maeda, Ikemoto and Murata. Korea with Gyon Nam Kim, Do Won So and Kim Ho Jin. MIKU and Yabu will also appear on this card.

SHOOTO

Back to our Roots 6
Shooto will of course have their supercard later this week (Nov. 8). This card features virtually all their stars in addition to a few more.

The card for Novemeber 8:
Takashi Nakakura 8-2-1 VS 　10-1-1 Yusuke Endo
Katsuya Toida 10-6-3 VS 13-2-0 “Lion” Takeshi Inoue
Antonio Carvalho10-2-0 vs 8-4-1 Hiroyuki Takaya
Shinichi Kojima “BJ” 8-1-4 VS 2-1-0 Eduardo Dantas
Joachim Hansen 15-5-1 VS 11-5-2 Eiji Mitsuoka
Masaaki Sugawara 6-1-0 VS 3-2-0 Rambaa Somdet “M16”
Masashi Yozen 5-1-1 VS Leandro Batata Silva
Megumi Fujii “Mega Megu” 11-0-0 VS 8-1-0 Kyoko Takabayashi
Hayate Usui 7-5-1 VS 3-1-2 Shintaro Ishiwatari

December 8
Shooto has also annouced 6 fights for their December 8 event in Shinjuku Face areana. In what looks to be the main event, Ikeda gets a chance to revenge his loss to Abe.

This event is the Rookie tournament finals, and we will undoubtedly find some of the new Japanese MMA stars in this event.

Hiroyuki Abe 7-13-3 vs. 1-3-1 Hiroyuki Ikeda
Tatsuro Kamei 2-0-0 vs 1-2-0 Kenji Hasoya
Hiromasa Ougikubo 3-0-1 vs 0-2-3 Yasuhiro Kanayama
Tomonori Taniguchi 2-3-0 vs 2-1-0 Kazuhiro Ito
Akihiro Yamazaki 8-2-1 vs 2-1-1 Tomokazu Yuasa
Hiroki Sato 2-0-0 vs 1-0-0 Takaaki Oban

Promotions
On that note, last year`s winner of the 115 pound class Shinya Murofushi and the winner of the 123 pound class Ryuichi Miki has been promoted to class A shooto fighters.

Murofushi is in my eyes a very strong fighter and someone we will see a lot from in the future. I have seen him on a couple of occations and been very impressed both times.

Cage Force

Cage Force EX - Eastern bound
Cage force has one event in November, the main event will determine who will meet Boku in the Light weight tournment final. In addtion to this, there are a couple of interesting fights on this card:

Tomonari Kanomata 11-1-3 ｖｓ 5-1-0 Artur Oumakhanov
Naoko Ohmuro　8-5-1　vs 7-8-3 Misaki Takimoto
Emi Fujino 6-0-0　vs　YukoYusaku
Tsukkumo 2-3-0 ｖｓ Nagamura一慶
Nakamura “K” Taro 13-2-2 ｖｓ 0-0-2 Takefumi Hanai
Keitaro Maeda 1-3-0 ｖｓ4-2-1 Masahiro Toryu
Fanjin Son 4-1-0 vs 3-1-2 Koji Yoshimoto　Y
oshihiro Koyama 7-2-1 ｖｓ 0-4-1 Yasuyoshi Kanehara
Daisuke Hoshino 2-0-0 ｖｓ 3-1-3 Yasutomo Tanaka
Naoki Miyamoto 2-1-0　ｖｓ 1-0-0 Takahashi Yoshiaki

Cage Force o5
This is the tournment finals Cage Force, and it promises to be an awesome event.

Welter weight Final
Yoshiyuki Yoshida 8-2-0 vs 16-5-0 Dan Hardy

Light weight Final
Koutetsu Boku 13-3-1 vs Winner Oumakhanov/Kanomata

Also on the card will be:
Toshikazu Iseno 5-3-1 vs 10-8-1 Takahito Iida

Also participating:
Pancrase stand-out Satoru Kitaoka
Shooto rank #1 Yasuhiro Urushitani
Shooto stand-out, now Cage Force fighter Takeya Mizugaki

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