Kadowaki Edges Tamura for Shooto Lightweight Belt
TOKYO, March 28 -- The past nine months has seen interesting and
surprising developments in Shooto's 143-pound division. After the
title switched hands from Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) to underdog Akitoshi Tamura (Pictures) in May 2007, it once again passed
on to the underdog Friday, when Hideki Kadowaki (Pictures) took the belt from Tamura after a
three-round majority decision.
Tamura entered the first round with hard body and leg kicks in an effort to chop down the veteran challenger. Kadowaki would jump backward just far enough to be grazed but not seriously damaged, prompting Tamura to lunge more and more with each kick.
Kadowaki did not appear eager to engage on the feet. He maintained
a set distance without throwing much offense at the champ, and it
soon became clear that this was a deliberate tactic, as Kadowaki
was apparently measuring Tamura's kicks to catch one for the trip
takedown.
Tamura's failure to adapt to the tactic was but one major factor that eventually led to his defeat. Once Kadowaki had established the timing of the kick, takedowns were imminent.
It seemed a good enough plan at first. But Kadowaki, obviously undamaged, retaliated with lunging knees to the tailbone.
With this pattern repeated innumerably throughout three rounds, it was apparent that while neither man caused significant damage to the other, Kadowaki largely controlled the bout. One judge saw the fight a 30-30 draw, while the remaining two called the bout with a razor-thin favor for Kadowaki, 30-29 and 29-28.
Kadowaki hammed it up on the mic shortly after. When asked what his thoughts were on winning the title, he replied, "It's a mystery. I think it's a good thing. Actually, I don't want to think about fighting for a little while. I just want to live as a regular person for a little while."
Masakatsu Ueda (Pictures) is so steeped in wrestling that his reflex reaction to receiving a low-blow Friday was to execute a picture-perfect double-leg takedown. The Paraestra rep outgrappled and pounded on Koetsu Okazaki (Pictures) through three rounds to capture Shooto's 132-pound world championship.
Bringing Okazaki to the canvas with an endless arsenal of single- and double-legs, Ueda spent a majority of the fight sitting in his opponent's guard and raining down punches.
Although the longer Okazaki scored some decent, well-placed shots on the feet, they were few and far between. Ueda was always a moment away from shooting in and bringing the fight back to the floor.
In the final moments, Ueda took side and trapped his opponent's head in a reverse guillotine-like grip. The wrestler then dropped punches to Okazaki's face, finishing out the fight in dominant fashion and earning the unanimous decision, 30-27 all around.
"I was looking to fight defensively to the very end," said the new 132-pound champ. "Okazaki is a fighter that's very good at applying the pressure. I want to become a champion that will always try my hardest to do my best."
It was a bittersweet return to MMA for Baret Yoshida, as the mat technician dropped a difficult TKO loss to Hatsu Hioki (Pictures).
Although speculation had it that Hioki would perhaps opt to best Yoshida on the feet, the deciding action took place on the canvas, where Hioki used his height and forced himself into the mount from an outside trip in the clinch. Hioki dropped heavy bombs for several moments before transitioning to the armbar, looking to have locked up a victory before Yoshida spun out at the last moment.
Immediately switching gears, Hioki moved to the omaplata, forced Yoshida to roll and retook the mount. Hioki then finished the Hawaiian grappler at 4:51 with heavy blows from above.
After breaking down Masaaki Sugawara (Pictures) with hard counterpunches, stiff Thai kicks and crushing knees in the Thai plum, Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) took a dominating decision victory in a three-round war.
Despite Sugawara's spirited effort to bring the fight to Mamoru in the opening moments of round one, his plan to overwhelm the former 123-pound champ crumbled when Mamoru planted a counterpunch on his chin that flattened him for a knockdown. From that point forward, the Afroed fighter continued to systematically break him down with superlative striking en route to a well-deserved unanimous decision: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-27.
Testu Suzuki took a workmanlike decision over Hiroyuki Tanaka (Pictures) in their three-round 132-pound fight, outgrappling Tanaka in each round to rack up the points.
Though Tanaka fired off a few decent hook combos during the bout, Suzuki had Tanaka's number on the ground, which was where the majority of the fight took place. After he had dropped shoulder shots and punches from above for the better part of 15 minutes, the judges ruled a unanimous decision for Suzuki: 30-28, 29-28 and 29-28.
A ferocious Hiroshi Nakamura (Pictures) (Hiroshi Nakamura (Pictures)' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) took no prisoners in his two-round majority decision against Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures). He surprised the former rookie champ from the opening bell with persistent takedown attempts and relentless ground and pound from the guard.
Though Fujimiya shored up some better defense in the second round with hard knees and counter hooks, Nakamura still seemed the aggressor in the fight and racked up points with his persistent takedowns and punches from the top. In the end, two judges gave Nakamura the 20-19 decision, and the final judge deemed it a 19-19 draw.
The latest product of STG Yokohama mad scientist Kenji Kawaguchi (Pictures), Hiroshige Tanaka defeated his lightweight rookie tourney opponent at 3:01 in the first round. After being pushed around in the clinch and stuffing several single-leg attempts, Tanaka came with a low kick, right straight combo that floored Marui for the knockdown. Upon answering the count, Marui stumbled chin-first into the ropes, forcing referee Toshiharu Suzuki to call the bout.
Also at the show, Rumina Sato (Pictures) essentially confirmed rumors by calling out Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) for the May 3 20th anniversary Shooto card to be held at the brand new JCB Hall.
"I'm totally rested up, the injuries are healed, and I believe I'm ready to give a good performance," said the charismatic Shooto veteran. "Because I regrettably gave a performance that was unlike me in my last bout, whether I win or lose, I want to get back to my ways in my next fight.
"I want to fight someone young and green, actually. My first choice would be Hatsu Hioki (Pictures)."
Tamura entered the first round with hard body and leg kicks in an effort to chop down the veteran challenger. Kadowaki would jump backward just far enough to be grazed but not seriously damaged, prompting Tamura to lunge more and more with each kick.
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Tamura's failure to adapt to the tactic was but one major factor that eventually led to his defeat. Once Kadowaki had established the timing of the kick, takedowns were imminent.
Halfway through the first period, Tamura entered into a pattern
that did little to help his case. Upon being taken down, he would
first pull Kadowaki into a guillotine position before transitioning
to the rubber guard to pepper the top of his opponent's head with
small shots.
It seemed a good enough plan at first. But Kadowaki, obviously undamaged, retaliated with lunging knees to the tailbone.
With this pattern repeated innumerably throughout three rounds, it was apparent that while neither man caused significant damage to the other, Kadowaki largely controlled the bout. One judge saw the fight a 30-30 draw, while the remaining two called the bout with a razor-thin favor for Kadowaki, 30-29 and 29-28.
Kadowaki hammed it up on the mic shortly after. When asked what his thoughts were on winning the title, he replied, "It's a mystery. I think it's a good thing. Actually, I don't want to think about fighting for a little while. I just want to live as a regular person for a little while."
Masakatsu Ueda (Pictures) is so steeped in wrestling that his reflex reaction to receiving a low-blow Friday was to execute a picture-perfect double-leg takedown. The Paraestra rep outgrappled and pounded on Koetsu Okazaki (Pictures) through three rounds to capture Shooto's 132-pound world championship.
Bringing Okazaki to the canvas with an endless arsenal of single- and double-legs, Ueda spent a majority of the fight sitting in his opponent's guard and raining down punches.
Although the longer Okazaki scored some decent, well-placed shots on the feet, they were few and far between. Ueda was always a moment away from shooting in and bringing the fight back to the floor.
In the final moments, Ueda took side and trapped his opponent's head in a reverse guillotine-like grip. The wrestler then dropped punches to Okazaki's face, finishing out the fight in dominant fashion and earning the unanimous decision, 30-27 all around.
"I was looking to fight defensively to the very end," said the new 132-pound champ. "Okazaki is a fighter that's very good at applying the pressure. I want to become a champion that will always try my hardest to do my best."
It was a bittersweet return to MMA for Baret Yoshida, as the mat technician dropped a difficult TKO loss to Hatsu Hioki (Pictures).
Although speculation had it that Hioki would perhaps opt to best Yoshida on the feet, the deciding action took place on the canvas, where Hioki used his height and forced himself into the mount from an outside trip in the clinch. Hioki dropped heavy bombs for several moments before transitioning to the armbar, looking to have locked up a victory before Yoshida spun out at the last moment.
Immediately switching gears, Hioki moved to the omaplata, forced Yoshida to roll and retook the mount. Hioki then finished the Hawaiian grappler at 4:51 with heavy blows from above.
After breaking down Masaaki Sugawara (Pictures) with hard counterpunches, stiff Thai kicks and crushing knees in the Thai plum, Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) took a dominating decision victory in a three-round war.
Despite Sugawara's spirited effort to bring the fight to Mamoru in the opening moments of round one, his plan to overwhelm the former 123-pound champ crumbled when Mamoru planted a counterpunch on his chin that flattened him for a knockdown. From that point forward, the Afroed fighter continued to systematically break him down with superlative striking en route to a well-deserved unanimous decision: 29-28, 30-27 and 29-27.
Testu Suzuki took a workmanlike decision over Hiroyuki Tanaka (Pictures) in their three-round 132-pound fight, outgrappling Tanaka in each round to rack up the points.
Though Tanaka fired off a few decent hook combos during the bout, Suzuki had Tanaka's number on the ground, which was where the majority of the fight took place. After he had dropped shoulder shots and punches from above for the better part of 15 minutes, the judges ruled a unanimous decision for Suzuki: 30-28, 29-28 and 29-28.
A ferocious Hiroshi Nakamura (Pictures) (Hiroshi Nakamura (Pictures)' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) took no prisoners in his two-round majority decision against Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures). He surprised the former rookie champ from the opening bell with persistent takedown attempts and relentless ground and pound from the guard.
Though Fujimiya shored up some better defense in the second round with hard knees and counter hooks, Nakamura still seemed the aggressor in the fight and racked up points with his persistent takedowns and punches from the top. In the end, two judges gave Nakamura the 20-19 decision, and the final judge deemed it a 19-19 draw.
The latest product of STG Yokohama mad scientist Kenji Kawaguchi (Pictures), Hiroshige Tanaka defeated his lightweight rookie tourney opponent at 3:01 in the first round. After being pushed around in the clinch and stuffing several single-leg attempts, Tanaka came with a low kick, right straight combo that floored Marui for the knockdown. Upon answering the count, Marui stumbled chin-first into the ropes, forcing referee Toshiharu Suzuki to call the bout.
Also at the show, Rumina Sato (Pictures) essentially confirmed rumors by calling out Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) for the May 3 20th anniversary Shooto card to be held at the brand new JCB Hall.
"I'm totally rested up, the injuries are healed, and I believe I'm ready to give a good performance," said the charismatic Shooto veteran. "Because I regrettably gave a performance that was unlike me in my last bout, whether I win or lose, I want to get back to my ways in my next fight.
"I want to fight someone young and green, actually. My first choice would be Hatsu Hioki (Pictures)."
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