Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro
The X Factor: Takaya often makes the mistake of over-committing on his strikes and leaving himself vulnerable to takedowns. He also generates a world of power on his power shots, but that will not help him much if he whiffs and fails to recover his guard before Tokoro takes this fight somewhere from which he cannot escape.
* * * The Bottom Line: This fight will be defined by poor decision making on the part of Tokoro, as he repeats the same mistake he has made in the past and tries his luck on the feet against a superior striker. The end game will be predictable for us and painful for Tokoro, who ends up splayed out on the canvas while Takaya takes the second ticket to the final.
Every so often, tournaments work out. Let’s hope this one does. Takaya and Warren in the same ring seems like the only way anyone can justify watching Bob Sapp fight. As for the potential matchup itself, Warren would do well ditching his ambitions as a striker in favor of grounding-and-pounding Takaya for as long as it takes someone to hand him the grand prix title.
While Warren’s hands are exceptionally skilled at this point, he would be smart to play it safe against a more versatile and learned striker -- especially when you consider Takaya’s guard game is not particularly sharp offensively. Plus, he lacks the skill needed to hold down a wrestler of Warren’s caliber.
Warren may lack the good sense to resist trading with Takaya, but he will eventually take him down and do what everyone in his corner hopes -- notch a tidy ground-and-pound TKO. With that win, Warren will have gone from relative unknown to featherweight standard bearer in the time it takes an average person to plan a vacation.