Urushitani Outpoints Yamaguchi in Rematch
TOKYO, Sept. 22 -- Yasuhiro Urushitani
(Pictures) won a unanimous decision
Saturday over former Shooto bantamweight champion Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) in a competitive and technical
bout.
Promoter Sustain summoned diehard Shooto fans en force to the event, selling out Korakuen Hall for a showdown between two of the organization's finest bantamweights.
After losing a point due to two unintentional kicks to the groin,
Yamaguchi was faced with hitting an opponent who was, for the most
part, not there. He pressed forward in the first round, maneuvering
his prey into corners, where he could have conceivably unleashed
once the trap was closed.
Well aware of the tactic, however, Urushitani would reply with short bursts of punches that typically ended in a hard body kick. Then he would escape like Houdini, frustrating Yamaguchi and nullifying most of his offense.
Although Yamaguchi quickly became accustomed to Urushitani's frustrating style, he was still caught off guard on several occasions in which the Wajyutsu fighter charged in with flurries that often tagged Yamaguchi squarely.
After three rounds of constant frustration for Yamaguchi, and with Urushitani still pretty after playing his counter game, all three judges scored the bout unanimously in favor of Urushitani: 30-28, 30-28, 30-27.
In what was hands-down the fight of the night, Daniel Lima (Pictures) fought tooth and nail for a split decision over fan-favorite Kenji Osawa (Pictures).
With their first bout resulting in a draw after an impressive slugfest, part two of the Lima-Osawa series had the Brazilian swinging for the fences against the brash Japanese fighter throughout all three rounds.
Arguably better in terms of technical acumen, Osawa tagged his opponent with myriad well-placed jabs, hooks and uppercuts followed by vicious knees inside the clinch. The clinch, in fact, was where Osawa often took the fight after Lima scored with wild punches.
Lima, in response, came forward with unruly but devastating hooks and Belfort-style machine-gun punches, the power of which Osawa felt throughout the bout.
With Osawa largely out-styling Lima on the feet but still feeling his power on the chin, the bout came down to the ground battle at the end of the third round. A tired Lima eventually wrestled an equally tired Osawa onto the canvas. Then, from side mount and back mount, Lima laid the punches on thick to send a message to the judges.
He convinced two of them for the 29-28 split decision while one judge sided with Osawa, 29-28.
Hideki Kadowaki (Pictures) catapulted himself into the lightweight title picture by dominating highly regarded Shooto stalwart Rumina Sato (Pictures). After firing three low kicks, Sato fell as Kadowaki charged in.
On the ground Kadowaki maintained top position and pounded down with punishing blows. Sato scrambled fruitlessly for submission after submission. The end came when Sato hooked a leg from under Kadowaki, attempting to sweep him.
Kadowaki used the opening to slip onto Sato's back, quickly snake in his arms and apply a rear-naked choke 4:09 in the first round.
"I strayed from my usual game plan in this fight," Sato said afterward. "I wanted to start slow and easy, to take him apart, but it backfired. Next time I step into the ring, I'll return to my old pace and style."
Atsushi Yamamoto (Pictures) defeated resident oddball Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures) by unanimous decision in one of the evening's more technical and exciting matches. From the outset Suzuki tried to engage Yamamoto on the feet, coming in with crisp, sound left jabs, hooks and the occasional grazing right for good measure.
However, Yamamoto controlled the center of the ring and fired off a steady stream of hard low kicks and counter left hooks, arguably controlling the standup portions of the bout. On the ground, however, was where he pulled ahead during the third round.
Suzuki caught him in submission attempts, but Yamamoto escaped by slugging his way out. Overall, Suzuki appeared to have done little to no damage in the match, and Yamamoto edged him out in almost every regard.
The unanimous decision reflected Yamamoto's advantage: 30-28, 29-28, 30-27.
Setsu Iguchi (Pictures) earned his first victory in Shooto, defeating the veteran Jin Akimoto (Pictures) by way of majority decision. Iguchi controlled the center of the ring and then surprised Akimoto with armbar and leglock attempts on the ground.
Akimoto responded with strikes and leglock attempts of his own, but his striking hardly fazed the Japanese MMA villain. Throughout the bout Iguchi constantly showboated and taunted his opponent, even though he was barely pulling ahead.
Iguchi convinced two judges of his victory, however: 30-29, 30-28, 29-29.
Last year's 115-pound rookie tournament champion, Shinya Murofushi (Pictures), took a heated split decision over Atsushi Takeuchi (Pictures) after two competitive rounds.
Though Takeuchi controlled the ring against his taller opponent, stunning Murofushi with his jarringly powerful punch combinations, Murofushi also employed excellent counters. Using his reach, Murofushi tagged Takeuchi with stiff jabs, straights and resounding low kicks from just outside the shorter fighter's range.
The counters, combined with constant albeit foiled takedown attempts, won Murofushi the decision on two judges' cards: 20-19, 20-19, 19-20.
Takumi Ota walked over Sakae Kasuya (Pictures), stopping him only 59 seconds into the first round. Coming in with flurries apparently aimed to distract, Ota looked to engage his opponent in the clinch.
A tight, sharp hook on the inside dropped Kasuya. He answered the count, but Ota smelled blood and charged forward with a stiff left.
Kasuya, perhaps still dazed, then shot for a double leg at the same moment, eating the punch while careening into Ota. The force of the impact rebounded both fighters off the ropes and landed Ota in the mount. From there he mercilessly punched until the bout was stopped.
Hiromasa Ougikubo shattered Kazuya Tamura (Pictures)'s featherweight tournament dreams by dominating him on the ground. Coming out with a double leg, Ougikubo put Tamura on the mat, where he applied pressure with powerful shots that forced Tamura to relinquish position.
A scramble later, Ougikubo had the back mount. He then worked in a rear-naked choke 3:43 into the first round, earning a spot in the tourney finals.
In the Shooto middleweight division, Akihiro Yamazaki also advanced to the rookie tournament finals with a unanimous decision over Daisuke Okumiya. Okumiya's fate was nearly sealed when Yamazaki locked on an armbar for a catch midway through the second round.
As Okumiya quickly tired, Yamazaki pulled ahead with grappling control for the remainder of the fight, garnering final scores of 20-19, 20-17, 20-17.
Also at the show, two Pacific Rim title matches were confirmed for the Nov. 8 Back to Our Roots 6 event at the Yoyogi Number 2 Gymnasium. Yusuke Endo (Pictures) will take on current champion Takashi Nakakura (Pictures) for the Pacific Rim welterweight belt, and Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) will fight Katsuya Toida (Pictures) for the vacant Pacific Rim lightweight title.
World bantamweight champion "BJ" Shinichi Kojima (Pictures) also issued an open challenge to WEC fighter Miguel Torres (Pictures).
Promoter Sustain summoned diehard Shooto fans en force to the event, selling out Korakuen Hall for a showdown between two of the organization's finest bantamweights.
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Well aware of the tactic, however, Urushitani would reply with short bursts of punches that typically ended in a hard body kick. Then he would escape like Houdini, frustrating Yamaguchi and nullifying most of his offense.
In the middle of the second round, though, Yamaguchi's punches and
kicks began to find their mark a little more regularly. Urushitani
slowed during his escapes, but he also scored, tattooing his
opponent with short combinations and heavy body kicks. He would
then disappear and repeat the formula, drawing Yamaguchi into
fighting on his terms.
Although Yamaguchi quickly became accustomed to Urushitani's frustrating style, he was still caught off guard on several occasions in which the Wajyutsu fighter charged in with flurries that often tagged Yamaguchi squarely.
After three rounds of constant frustration for Yamaguchi, and with Urushitani still pretty after playing his counter game, all three judges scored the bout unanimously in favor of Urushitani: 30-28, 30-28, 30-27.
In what was hands-down the fight of the night, Daniel Lima (Pictures) fought tooth and nail for a split decision over fan-favorite Kenji Osawa (Pictures).
With their first bout resulting in a draw after an impressive slugfest, part two of the Lima-Osawa series had the Brazilian swinging for the fences against the brash Japanese fighter throughout all three rounds.
Arguably better in terms of technical acumen, Osawa tagged his opponent with myriad well-placed jabs, hooks and uppercuts followed by vicious knees inside the clinch. The clinch, in fact, was where Osawa often took the fight after Lima scored with wild punches.
Lima, in response, came forward with unruly but devastating hooks and Belfort-style machine-gun punches, the power of which Osawa felt throughout the bout.
With Osawa largely out-styling Lima on the feet but still feeling his power on the chin, the bout came down to the ground battle at the end of the third round. A tired Lima eventually wrestled an equally tired Osawa onto the canvas. Then, from side mount and back mount, Lima laid the punches on thick to send a message to the judges.
He convinced two of them for the 29-28 split decision while one judge sided with Osawa, 29-28.
Hideki Kadowaki (Pictures) catapulted himself into the lightweight title picture by dominating highly regarded Shooto stalwart Rumina Sato (Pictures). After firing three low kicks, Sato fell as Kadowaki charged in.
On the ground Kadowaki maintained top position and pounded down with punishing blows. Sato scrambled fruitlessly for submission after submission. The end came when Sato hooked a leg from under Kadowaki, attempting to sweep him.
Kadowaki used the opening to slip onto Sato's back, quickly snake in his arms and apply a rear-naked choke 4:09 in the first round.
"I strayed from my usual game plan in this fight," Sato said afterward. "I wanted to start slow and easy, to take him apart, but it backfired. Next time I step into the ring, I'll return to my old pace and style."
Atsushi Yamamoto (Pictures) defeated resident oddball Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures) by unanimous decision in one of the evening's more technical and exciting matches. From the outset Suzuki tried to engage Yamamoto on the feet, coming in with crisp, sound left jabs, hooks and the occasional grazing right for good measure.
However, Yamamoto controlled the center of the ring and fired off a steady stream of hard low kicks and counter left hooks, arguably controlling the standup portions of the bout. On the ground, however, was where he pulled ahead during the third round.
Suzuki caught him in submission attempts, but Yamamoto escaped by slugging his way out. Overall, Suzuki appeared to have done little to no damage in the match, and Yamamoto edged him out in almost every regard.
The unanimous decision reflected Yamamoto's advantage: 30-28, 29-28, 30-27.
Setsu Iguchi (Pictures) earned his first victory in Shooto, defeating the veteran Jin Akimoto (Pictures) by way of majority decision. Iguchi controlled the center of the ring and then surprised Akimoto with armbar and leglock attempts on the ground.
Akimoto responded with strikes and leglock attempts of his own, but his striking hardly fazed the Japanese MMA villain. Throughout the bout Iguchi constantly showboated and taunted his opponent, even though he was barely pulling ahead.
Iguchi convinced two judges of his victory, however: 30-29, 30-28, 29-29.
Last year's 115-pound rookie tournament champion, Shinya Murofushi (Pictures), took a heated split decision over Atsushi Takeuchi (Pictures) after two competitive rounds.
Though Takeuchi controlled the ring against his taller opponent, stunning Murofushi with his jarringly powerful punch combinations, Murofushi also employed excellent counters. Using his reach, Murofushi tagged Takeuchi with stiff jabs, straights and resounding low kicks from just outside the shorter fighter's range.
The counters, combined with constant albeit foiled takedown attempts, won Murofushi the decision on two judges' cards: 20-19, 20-19, 19-20.
Takumi Ota walked over Sakae Kasuya (Pictures), stopping him only 59 seconds into the first round. Coming in with flurries apparently aimed to distract, Ota looked to engage his opponent in the clinch.
A tight, sharp hook on the inside dropped Kasuya. He answered the count, but Ota smelled blood and charged forward with a stiff left.
Kasuya, perhaps still dazed, then shot for a double leg at the same moment, eating the punch while careening into Ota. The force of the impact rebounded both fighters off the ropes and landed Ota in the mount. From there he mercilessly punched until the bout was stopped.
Hiromasa Ougikubo shattered Kazuya Tamura (Pictures)'s featherweight tournament dreams by dominating him on the ground. Coming out with a double leg, Ougikubo put Tamura on the mat, where he applied pressure with powerful shots that forced Tamura to relinquish position.
A scramble later, Ougikubo had the back mount. He then worked in a rear-naked choke 3:43 into the first round, earning a spot in the tourney finals.
In the Shooto middleweight division, Akihiro Yamazaki also advanced to the rookie tournament finals with a unanimous decision over Daisuke Okumiya. Okumiya's fate was nearly sealed when Yamazaki locked on an armbar for a catch midway through the second round.
As Okumiya quickly tired, Yamazaki pulled ahead with grappling control for the remainder of the fight, garnering final scores of 20-19, 20-17, 20-17.
Also at the show, two Pacific Rim title matches were confirmed for the Nov. 8 Back to Our Roots 6 event at the Yoyogi Number 2 Gymnasium. Yusuke Endo (Pictures) will take on current champion Takashi Nakakura (Pictures) for the Pacific Rim welterweight belt, and Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) will fight Katsuya Toida (Pictures) for the vacant Pacific Rim lightweight title.
World bantamweight champion "BJ" Shinichi Kojima (Pictures) also issued an open challenge to WEC fighter Miguel Torres (Pictures).
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