Dream Welcomes Featherweights
Dream Welcomes Featherweights
Jordan Breen May 9, 2008
While much of the last-minute wrangling for Dream's event Sunday at
Saitama Super Arena has involved the on-again, off-again bout
between Nick Diaz
(Pictures) and Katsuya Inoue (Pictures), Fight Entertainment Group has
quietly completed the third card in the Dream series with its first
featherweight bout.
It was certainly no secret that the new Dream product would feature the smaller weight classes, especially given the stature of popular contracted fighters such as Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and Hideo Tokoro (Pictures). Although not all the kinks have been worked out for Dream's smaller weight classes quite yet, the show's first sub-lightweight bout is set with Grabaka veteran Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures) taking on reigning lightweight King of Pancrase Shoji Maruyama (Pictures).
Since the bout was signed on such short notice to round out the
card, it will be contested at a catchweight of 148 pounds. Yamazaki
told the media at his May 8 public workout at the Grabaka gym that
he had only learned of his opponent an hour before their
arrival.
However, the prescribed Dream featherweight division will assuredly be a smaller, more uniform weight in the future.
A true knockout artist, the devastating Maruyama won the vacant Pancrase lightweight crown from former Russian special op Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures) with a crushing knockout in January. He was unable to replicate his performance last month, though, when he fought to a draw with veteran Koji Oishi (Pictures). Considered a tad small to campaign at lightweight by many observers, the bout will be Maruyama's first as a featherweight.
The veteran Yamazaki, winner of his last three, is coming off a tougher-than-expected submission win over Daiki Ozaki (Pictures) in the quarterfinals of GCM's Cage Force featherweight tournament. Currently expected to face wild child "Wicky Akiyo" Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) in the semifinals, Yamazaki does run the risk of jeopardizing his tournament spot if he is injured in the bout with Maruyama.
‘BJ' Tapped for Shooto Tradition; Title in Tow?
With the first installment in the books, and having garnered considerable international attention with the card, leading Shooto promoter Sustain is stepping up the MMA summer with a second installment of Shooto Tradition.
The second edition will be held July 18 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Sustain had opened its Road to 20th Anniversary at the newly opened JCB Hall just around the corner.
Moreover, just as last Saturday's pro Shooto offering put a world title up for grabs, so to will this installment. Sherdog.com has learned that the card will likely be headlined by 123-pound Shooto world champion Shinichi "BJ" Kojima defending his title. A source close to the International Shooto Commission confirmed that BJ will be on the card with his bout "almost absolutely" being a title contest.
Kojima, 29, has drawn considerable criticism over the last year. After snatching the Shooto world title from longtime champion Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) in October 2006, the champion has been woeful in the ring.
In March 2007, Kojima looked awful in his first title defense, a controversial split draw against Yasuhiro Urushitani (Pictures) in a bout that most felt Urushitani dominated. In his last two bouts, he has attempted to campaign at 132 pounds, a move that earned him a pair of losses against Brazilian youngster Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas and So Tazawa (Pictures).
If the bout is a title fight, as anticipated, the leading candidate is currently the aforementioned Mamoru. Although Urushitani seemingly deserves a rematch and even defeated Mamoru by a razor-thin decision last September, the Wajyutsu product actually sits behind Mamoru in the Shooto world rankings because the former afroed ace is coming off two sizzling wins over upstarts Yuki Shoujou (Pictures) and Masaaki Sugwara in the last three months.
Gutsman, K'z Return with June Shooto Offerings
Pro Shooto will set the summer off right, not just with a plethora of cards all over Japan from Hiroshima to Sapporo this month but also as it begins designs on cards for June.
June 21 will see Gutsman Shooto Dojo put on the fifth installment of its popular, quality series Shooting Disco at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo with a bit of a different spin on the main event.
While many of the Shooting Disco cards are marked by young up-and-comers and some of pro Shooto's most dynamic fighters, the June 21 bill will be topped by a rematch between two of pro Shooto's elder statesmen with 123-pounders Junji Ikoma (Pictures) and Jin Akimoto (Pictures) meeting once again. The 37-year-old Akimoto and the 38-year-old Ikoma met in January, fighting to a very close and competitive draw.
The undercard will be more in tune with the usual Shooting Disco sensibilities. In a well-matched 132-pound scrap, So Tazawa (Pictures) will take on newly promoted Class A competitor Junya "Kodo" Kudo. Tazawa broke a bitter winless streak by halting 123-pound king Shinichi "BJ" Kojima this past January in BJ's failed 132-pound bid. Kudo earned his way to the big time with a knockout of the year candidate in March, absolutely waxing veteran Akira Kibe (Pictures).
Also on the bill, 168-pounders Taisuke Okuno and Yoshitaro Niimi (Pictures) will square off with a possibly Class A promotion on the line; Yuji Inoue (Pictures) and Eiji Murayama (Pictures) will meet up in a 143-pound contest; journeyman Seiji "Oz" Otsuka will face Ayumu Shioda (Pictures) in a 123-pound bout; Daisuke Okumiya will battle Shin Ochiwa at 168 pounds; and 143-pounders Hidenori Nishino (Pictures) and Kenichiro Marui (Pictures) will look for a needed win against each other. In the lone rookie tournament bout, Shigeyasu Fujita and Hiroaki Iijima will meet in a 123-pound quarterfinal.
June 26 will mark pro Shooto's return to Kitazawa Town Hall for a local card promoted by K'z Factory.
Thus far the card boasts three bouts. In a 123-pound contest, rebuilding Shinichi Hanawa (Pictures) will search for his Class A license against longtime veteran Homare Kuboyama (Pictures).
After a dismal start to his career, Hanawa has soundly taken his last two fights, knocking off Joji Shimada (Pictures) and Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures). Kuboyama hasn't fought since March last year, when he was absolutely destroyed in lopsided fashion by Yasuhiro Akagi (Pictures) en route to a second-round submission loss.
The June 26 bill will also feature a 154-pound rookie tournament quarterfinal between Junpei Konno and Kiguchi wrestling standout Ikuo Usuda. Kayo Nagayasu (Pictures) will fight Yasuko Tamada (Pictures) in a 106-pound female bout.
It was certainly no secret that the new Dream product would feature the smaller weight classes, especially given the stature of popular contracted fighters such as Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and Hideo Tokoro (Pictures). Although not all the kinks have been worked out for Dream's smaller weight classes quite yet, the show's first sub-lightweight bout is set with Grabaka veteran Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures) taking on reigning lightweight King of Pancrase Shoji Maruyama (Pictures).
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However, the prescribed Dream featherweight division will assuredly be a smaller, more uniform weight in the future.
The focus on the smaller weight classes has slowly become more
prevalent with Japan's big money promoters. Although many promoters
have used an array of smaller weight divisions in the past, FEG's
recent decision to create a deeper featherweight category -- and
possibly other lighter divisions with the slated summer return of
"Kid" Yamamoto -- coincides with World Victory Road's plans to use
featherweight and bantamweight classes for Sengoku.
A true knockout artist, the devastating Maruyama won the vacant Pancrase lightweight crown from former Russian special op Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures) with a crushing knockout in January. He was unable to replicate his performance last month, though, when he fought to a draw with veteran Koji Oishi (Pictures). Considered a tad small to campaign at lightweight by many observers, the bout will be Maruyama's first as a featherweight.
The veteran Yamazaki, winner of his last three, is coming off a tougher-than-expected submission win over Daiki Ozaki (Pictures) in the quarterfinals of GCM's Cage Force featherweight tournament. Currently expected to face wild child "Wicky Akiyo" Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) in the semifinals, Yamazaki does run the risk of jeopardizing his tournament spot if he is injured in the bout with Maruyama.
‘BJ' Tapped for Shooto Tradition; Title in Tow?
With the first installment in the books, and having garnered considerable international attention with the card, leading Shooto promoter Sustain is stepping up the MMA summer with a second installment of Shooto Tradition.
The second edition will be held July 18 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Sustain had opened its Road to 20th Anniversary at the newly opened JCB Hall just around the corner.
Moreover, just as last Saturday's pro Shooto offering put a world title up for grabs, so to will this installment. Sherdog.com has learned that the card will likely be headlined by 123-pound Shooto world champion Shinichi "BJ" Kojima defending his title. A source close to the International Shooto Commission confirmed that BJ will be on the card with his bout "almost absolutely" being a title contest.
Kojima, 29, has drawn considerable criticism over the last year. After snatching the Shooto world title from longtime champion Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) in October 2006, the champion has been woeful in the ring.
In March 2007, Kojima looked awful in his first title defense, a controversial split draw against Yasuhiro Urushitani (Pictures) in a bout that most felt Urushitani dominated. In his last two bouts, he has attempted to campaign at 132 pounds, a move that earned him a pair of losses against Brazilian youngster Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas and So Tazawa (Pictures).
If the bout is a title fight, as anticipated, the leading candidate is currently the aforementioned Mamoru. Although Urushitani seemingly deserves a rematch and even defeated Mamoru by a razor-thin decision last September, the Wajyutsu product actually sits behind Mamoru in the Shooto world rankings because the former afroed ace is coming off two sizzling wins over upstarts Yuki Shoujou (Pictures) and Masaaki Sugwara in the last three months.
Gutsman, K'z Return with June Shooto Offerings
Pro Shooto will set the summer off right, not just with a plethora of cards all over Japan from Hiroshima to Sapporo this month but also as it begins designs on cards for June.
June 21 will see Gutsman Shooto Dojo put on the fifth installment of its popular, quality series Shooting Disco at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo with a bit of a different spin on the main event.
While many of the Shooting Disco cards are marked by young up-and-comers and some of pro Shooto's most dynamic fighters, the June 21 bill will be topped by a rematch between two of pro Shooto's elder statesmen with 123-pounders Junji Ikoma (Pictures) and Jin Akimoto (Pictures) meeting once again. The 37-year-old Akimoto and the 38-year-old Ikoma met in January, fighting to a very close and competitive draw.
The undercard will be more in tune with the usual Shooting Disco sensibilities. In a well-matched 132-pound scrap, So Tazawa (Pictures) will take on newly promoted Class A competitor Junya "Kodo" Kudo. Tazawa broke a bitter winless streak by halting 123-pound king Shinichi "BJ" Kojima this past January in BJ's failed 132-pound bid. Kudo earned his way to the big time with a knockout of the year candidate in March, absolutely waxing veteran Akira Kibe (Pictures).
Also on the bill, 168-pounders Taisuke Okuno and Yoshitaro Niimi (Pictures) will square off with a possibly Class A promotion on the line; Yuji Inoue (Pictures) and Eiji Murayama (Pictures) will meet up in a 143-pound contest; journeyman Seiji "Oz" Otsuka will face Ayumu Shioda (Pictures) in a 123-pound bout; Daisuke Okumiya will battle Shin Ochiwa at 168 pounds; and 143-pounders Hidenori Nishino (Pictures) and Kenichiro Marui (Pictures) will look for a needed win against each other. In the lone rookie tournament bout, Shigeyasu Fujita and Hiroaki Iijima will meet in a 123-pound quarterfinal.
June 26 will mark pro Shooto's return to Kitazawa Town Hall for a local card promoted by K'z Factory.
Thus far the card boasts three bouts. In a 123-pound contest, rebuilding Shinichi Hanawa (Pictures) will search for his Class A license against longtime veteran Homare Kuboyama (Pictures).
After a dismal start to his career, Hanawa has soundly taken his last two fights, knocking off Joji Shimada (Pictures) and Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures). Kuboyama hasn't fought since March last year, when he was absolutely destroyed in lopsided fashion by Yasuhiro Akagi (Pictures) en route to a second-round submission loss.
The June 26 bill will also feature a 154-pound rookie tournament quarterfinal between Junpei Konno and Kiguchi wrestling standout Ikuo Usuda. Kayo Nagayasu (Pictures) will fight Yasuko Tamada (Pictures) in a 106-pound female bout.
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