Shooto: Victory of the Truth Card

[Lei Tong 0]

Looks like Shooto is planning to bounce back VERY strongly from their relatively lackluster 2005 Year End Show. Info taken mostly from MSIA and BloodyKnux (NOW UPDATED):

 

 

Shooto World Welterweight Title Match:

Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri vs. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

 

Rumina "Moon Wolf" Sato vs. Antonio Carvalho

 

"Lion" Takeshi Inoue vs. Makoto Ishikawa

 

Kenji Osawa vs. Naoya Uemtasu

 

Tenkei Fujimiya vs. Hiroyuki Abe

 

Mizuto Hirota vs. Danilo Cherman

 

Pacific Rim Welterweight Title Match:

Kenichiro Togashi vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

 

Shooto World Middleweight Title Match

Akira Kikuchi vs. Shinya Aoki

 

Megumi Fuji vs. Misaki Takimoto

[AboveAverage484 0]

Unfortunately most of the people here haven't been exposed to the wonders of Shooto. Brainwashed slaves of Dana White, arggggghhhh

[Lord of The Curry 0]

*Washes brain*

 

I definetly need to invest in some SHOOTO tapes in the near future. What I've seen of it, which is minimal has always been good.

[Lei Tong 0]

Sorry, meant to do a more in-depth look of the card when I posted it, but... you know.

 

I'll do it tomorrow.

[Lei Tong 0]

Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri

T-BLOOD

Current Shooto Welterweight Champion (defeated Vitor Ribeiro for the title)

 

Notable wins: Vitor Shaolin Ribeiro (TKO), Yves Edwards (Unanimous JD), Ryan Bow (TKO)

 

Strengths: Good counter puncher with power in his hands; Good wrestler with superb takedown defense; Great top game, with effective G&P and slick guard passing; Has come back from previous losses with renewed ferocity;

 

Weaknesses: Relatively unimpressive bottom game; Can get wild and/or overly aggressive standing; Shots aren't as effective as clinch takedowns;

 

 

Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

Team Scandanavia

Former Shooto Weltwerweight Champion (Defeated Takanori Gomi for the title; Lost it to Vitor Ribeiro)

 

Notable Wins: Takanori Gomi (Majority JD), Caol Uno (KO), Yves Edwards (Split JD)

 

Strengths: Good grappler with effective guard and backmount games; Adept at taking an opponent's back; Strong puncher from most any position; Good knees with KO power standing; Insane cardio allows him to apply pressure throughout a match;

 

Weaknesses: Stand-up is very unrefined; Too willing to go to his back on the ground; Open ground game leaves opprotunities offensively for opponents;

 

 

At stake: Aside from the title, a Top 5 caliber win for either fighter and possibly a quick route to a rematch with Gomi in PRIDE.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I'm rooting for the Hellboy. The guy has the best combination of "great fights/great fighter" in all of MMA.

[Lei Tong 0]

Naoya Uematsu

K'z Factory

Former Shooto World Lightweight Champion (defeated Noboru Asashi for the title; vacated)

 

Notable wins: Caol Uno (submission), Katsuya Toida x2 (submission x2), Hideki Kadowaki (submission)

 

Strengths: Great submission artist, noted especially for his leglocks; Slick guard game; Will not be outmuscled as much as he was at 143lbs.

 

Weaknesses: Ground skills can be stiffled by tight, economic top games; Underwhelming stand-up;

 

 

Kenji Osawa

Wayjutsu Keisyukai Shooters School

 

Notable wins: Seiji Otsuka (Unanimous JD), Jin Akimoto (Majority JD)

 

Strengths: Well-rounded striker; Very good knees; Throws strikes in combination rather than single strikes; Attacks openings with strikes;

 

Weaknesses: Mediocre wrestler; Struggles to disengage from the clinch and attempted takedowns; Can become wild while striking; Weak guard game and susceptible to transitional submissions;

 

 

On the line: An impressive win by either fighter will likely put them in the Top 5 rankings for the recently vacated Featherweight title.

[Lei Tong 0]

BTW- big ups to my boy MSIA for helping me round out these write-ups (or in Osawa's case, doing damn near everything himself).

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

You said Naoya won't be outmuscled by anyone like he was in 143, but isn't FW 143?

 

Also that second guy sounds like he's not good at anything, bad wrestler and bad ground fighter who tends to throw strikes wildly. Sounds like a pretty 1-D fighter to me. Also, there's nothing to be ashamed of in being open to transitional submissions. It appears to me like anyone can get caught by a transitional submission.

[Lei Tong 0]

Shooto's weight classes are named one class lower than their American counterparts.

 

123: Bantamweight

132: Featherweight

143: Lightweight

154: Welterweight

167: Middleweight

183: Light Heavyweight

 

As for Osawa, like was said, he's a good striker with some superb knees, and while his ground game is lackluster, I wouldn't put it amongst the likes of say, Curtis Stout. He's more of a gatekeeper than a contender, but a solid one at that.

[Guest Brian]

This looks great. Hopefully I can get a hold of this within a couple months of it taking place.

[Lei Tong 0]

"Lion" Takeshi Inoue

Shooting Gym Yokohama

 

Notable wins: Jin Kazeta (Submission)

 

Strengths: Versatile; Decent puncher and counter striker; Underrated G&P and top game;

 

Weaknesses: Weak defense in the clinch, esp. against knees; Often falls back on weak arm punches; Not exceptional in any particular area; Often lacks alternative game plan when things get tough;

 

 

Makoto Ishikawa

PUREBRED Omiya

 

Notable Wins: Hiroyuki Abe (TKO), Tetsuo Katsuta (Unanimous JD), Antoine Skinner (Unanimous JD)

 

Strengths: Powerful lightweight; Strong, straight puncher; Capable wrestler; Has shown toughness in the face of adversity;

 

Weaknesses: Combination of poor defense and a shaky chin often leads to knockdowns & 10-8 rounds; Somewhat inconsistent; Mediocre bottom game;

 

 

At stake: A shot at the winner of the Hatsu Hioki/Katsuya Toida match, and that person's Pacific Rim Lightweight Title.

[Lei Tong 0]

Akira Kikuchi

Killer Bee

Current Shooto Middleweight Champion (defeated Jake Shields for the title)

 

Notable wins: Jake Shields (Unanimous JD), Katsuya Inoue (TKO), Jutaro Nakao (Majority JD)

 

Strengths: Very strong top game, combining good control, G&P and submissions; Strong; Good takedowns; Improving stand-up;

 

Weaknesses: Weak bottom game; Unrefined striking;

 

 

Shinya Aoki

Paraestra Tokyo

 

Notable wins: Kuniyoshi Hironaka (TKO), Keith Wisniewski (Technical Submission), Seichi Ikemoto (Submission)

 

Strengths: Crafty grappler, with submissions from many positions; Extremely agile; Improved G&P;

 

Weaknesses: Too willing to go to his back; Undersized for 167lbs; Mediocre stand-up, tehcnique and strength wise; Questionable mental toughness;

 

 

At stake: The Shooto World Middleweight Title, and a reinforced position in the Top 5 of the world.

[AboveAverage484 0]

What do you think about Suda's retirement, Lei?

[Lei Tong 0]

Well, despite being a good fighter, I don't think his retirement hurts the division much. The only true successor to his title flew the coop years ago (Gono), and he's only defended his belt sporadically since, often looking lethargic. Hopefully, now that there's a hole to be filled, some other fighters can step up their games and prove themselves.

[Lei Tong 0]

Hiroyuki Abe

Abe Ani Combat Club

 

Notable wins: Alexandre Franca Noguiera (KO), Kimihito Nonaka (Unanimous JD)

 

Strengths: Capable puncher with good power; Very gutsy; Decent grappler from the top;

 

Weaknesses: Wings punches when overly aggressive; Willingness to take punishment often risky; Succeptable to submissions on the bottom; Possible adverse effects of numerous beatings at 155lbs.; Weak wrestling;

 

 

Tankei Fujimiya

Shooting Gym Yokohama

 

Notable wins: Yutaka Nishioka (Unanimous JD)

 

Strengths: Strong puncher with good fundamentals; Capable wrestler with good takedown defense; Can dirty box in the clinch;

 

Weaknesses: Undeveloped submission game with a questionable guard game; Often inactive in the clinch; Striking power diminishes as fight wears on; Has never been a 15 minute fight;

 

 

At stake: For Abe, a chance to show that he stills what it takes to compete at 143lbs; For Fujimiya, a win over a tough, established veteran.

[Lei Tong 0]

Mitsuhiro Ishida

T-BLOOD

 

Notable Wins: Takashi Nakakura (TKO), Koutetsu Boku (Unanimous JD), Daisuke Sugie (Unanimous JD)

 

Strengths: Great wrestler, with good takedowns and suplexes; Aggresive; Very scrappy, able to tough out submission attempts; Good ground control;

 

Weaknesses: Not an offensive threat on his feet or from his back; Relatively small 154 pounder; Weak striking;

 

 

Kenichiro Togashi

Paraestra Hiroshima

 

Notable wins: Ganjo Tentsuku (Unanimous JD), Koutetsu Boku (Submission), Yoichi Fukumoto (Submission)

 

Strengths: Versatile; Good submissions, especially from guard; Good, technical boxing skills;

 

Weaknessess: Lack aggression standing; Lacks striking versatility; Little KO power; Poor wrestler;

 

 

At stake: The vacant Shooto Pacific Rim Welterweight Title.

[Lei Tong 0]

Rumina "Moon Wolf" Sato

ROOTS

Former Shooto Pacific Rim Lightweight Champion (Defeated Makoto Ishikawa for the title; vacated)

 

Notable Wins: Makoto Ishikawa (Unanimous JD), Katsuya Toida (KO), Yves Edwards (Submission)

 

Strengths: Great submissions from most positions; Decent clinch takedowns; Improved striking with decent power in his punches and lowkicks; Athletic;

 

Weaknesses: Questionable chin; Often lackluster when not allowed to set the pace of a bout; Has fallen in love with his stand-up before with bad results; Poor takedown defense;

 

 

Antonio Carvalho

Shah Franco

 

Notable Wins: Takeshi Inoue (Majority JD), Tommy Lee (Submission)

 

Strengths: Versatile grappler, capable both from the top and bottom; Good knees in the Thai clinch; Decent puncher, standing and on the ground;

 

Weaknesses: Weak wrestling; Tends to leave himself open from G&P; Vulnerable at range standing; Not overpowering in any single area;

 

 

At stake: With both guys coming off losses, both need the confidence boost of a Top 10, and will put themselves within reach of the winner of Melendez/Pequeno,

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Shah Franco? That's in the T-dot.

[Lei Tong 0]

I'm obviously going to have to sellout to gain any interest here...

 

Tequila Driver:

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY!!!

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Well now I care.

[Lei Tong 0]

2 fights left to preview, but I know little about 3 of 4 fighters involved (sans Megumi Fuji).

 

Until then, enjoy a Shooto Promo vid:

 

Shooto highlight video

[Lord of The Curry 0]

So, has this show happened yet or what? You never posted a date.

[Lei Tong 0]

As expected.

 

2/17/06

 

I'll try and finish up the preview by the end of the week.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Well I certainly didn't expect that.

[Lei Tong 0]

"As expected" referred to my own forgetfulness.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I know.

[Lei Tong 0]

Results:

 

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen declared a NC (low blow by Hansen); rematch anounced

 

Shinya Aoki def. Akira Kikuchi via Unanimous JD; wins SHOOTO World Middleweight Title

 

Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Kenichio Togashi via Majority JD; wins SHOOTO Pacific Rim Welterweight Title

 

Antonio Carvalho def. Rumina Sato via TKo, Rd.2

 

Kenji Osawa def. Naoya Uemtasu via Majority JD

 

Lion Takeshi def. Makoto Ishikawa via Unanimous JD

 

Tenkei Fujimiya def. Hiroyuki Abe via Unanimous JD

 

Kazuo Hirota def. Danil Cherman via Unanimous JD

 

Maegumi Fuji def. Misaki Takimoto via submission, Rd.2

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Do you think people will get off Sato's nuts now that he was beat by a guy from Toronto? Probably not.

 

And I'm very disappointed with the main event. ARGH.