Koubousen Companion: News and Notes from Japan
Jordan Breen Feb 21, 2007
Happenings begat happenings, and we're hot off a happening weekend
in Japanese mixed martial arts. Super-cards have come and gone, but
thankfully, there is no hangover involved, with an intriguing body
of news this week.
On tap for this week, everybody's favorite actor-turned-fighter Ken Kaneko (Pictures) bids fans adieu, while Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) will take a break from MMA of his own, but not before hopping into the pro-wrestling ring for ZERO1-MAX.
"K-Taro" is back in UFC action this April and is looking to bring a
bigger set of guns to his second Octagon appearance. Meanwhile,
veteran Takumi Nakayama
(Pictures) just picked up a
much-needed win this weekend, and is thinking about making another
American appearance himself. Moreover, the Osaka native is now in
negotiations with an American upstart. Will Takumi be prime for
premium cable this May?
As usual, it would be an irregular week if we didn't touch on Shooto's rookie class. Ten more rookie clashes have been scheduled for cards in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima in the coming months, giving us 17 rookie bracket bouts on the calendar. Will these bouts offer us our first look at the next Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures), Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) or Shinichi Kojima (Pictures)?
Speaking of raising questions, Fight Entertainment Group has begun talking about their American ambitions again. FEG says it wants to take the UFC head on on the U.S. promotion’s home turf, with the plan of Royce Gracie (Pictures) and Brock Lesnar (Pictures) lighting up Las Vegas this May. Is this more of FEG's familiar bluster, or is HERO'S set to land stateside?
Finally, Pancrase prepared a choice card for its March 18 Korakuen Hall card offering. While there are potent prospects to be watched on the bill, that alone is not good enough to grab the finale of this week's column. So, what gives? Maybe you weren't hip on the UFC's USA vs. Canada, Bodog's USA vs. Russia, or DEEP's Japan vs. Korea. But, Pancrase has something special for you: get ready for Japan vs. the Russian Special Forces.
Abayo, Kaneko
In perhaps the week's most righteous bit of news, actor-turned-fighter Ken Kaneko (Pictures) has announced that he will be retiring from the combat sport community, and return to his private life and the acting industry.
The 30-year-old Kaneko, who first rose to fame in the "Beat" Takeshi Kitano film Kids Return, made a dubious debut in mixed martial arts competition at PRIDE's New Year's Eve show in 2005, losing via submission to "Krazy Horse" Charles Bennett (Pictures). While many expected Kaneko to be a one-and-done in fightsport, Kaneko returned to the ring 10 months later in HERO'S, where he was quickly submitted by Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) before losing what proved to be his final match, against Andy Ologun, at K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!! this past New Year's Eve.
Kaneko, who has trained with the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) and K-1 MAX star Masato as of late, has stated that he will continue to train, despite having no intentions of stepping into the ring again.
Monma to make wrestling return in ZERO1-MAX
After a dismal and disappointing 2006, Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) is stepping back into the ring, but not the one you might think.
Last year, Monma notched an 0-2-1 record, drawing Rodrigo Gracie (Pictures) in a painfully boring bout, before being stopped in the first round by both Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures) and Luigi Fioravanti (Pictures).
The well-traveled 33-year-old revealed this week that before he gets back into the ring to compete in mixed martial arts again, he will be performing in a pro-wrestling match-up.
Monma has dabbled in pro-wrestling before, competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and most recently, Big Mouth LOUD last March, where he met BML star Katsuyori Shibata in a match-up which was well received from wrestling fans. This time, Monma will step into the ring for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, to participate on their Make the Emotion~Strong Ism event on April. 7 at the Yasukuni Jinja Sumo Hall in Tokyo.
"K-Taro" confirmed for Fickett clash in April
As previously reported in this column, Shooto Pacific Rim 167-pound champ "K-Taro" Keita Nakamura (Pictures) will in fact make his second appearance in the Octagon this coming April. Coming off of a hotly competitive decision loss to Brock Larson in his UFC debut this past December, "K-Taro" will meet Drew Fickett (Pictures) on April 5 when the UFC hits The Pearl in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was speculated some weeks ago that Nakamura would make a return to North America’s largest promoter in the coming months, as he was offered a title match with Shooto world middleweight champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) for Sustain's Feb. 17 Shooto card. However, Nakamura declined the championship offer, saying that he wanted to focus on fighting in the UFC again, leading to the forecasting of his participation on the April 5 card, alongside fellow Japanese competitors Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Pictures), Kuniyoshi Hironaka (Pictures) and Naoyuki Kotani (Pictures), who are also scheduled to compete on the card, against Kenny Florian (Pictures), Jeff Joslin (Pictures) and Thiago Tavares (Pictures), respectively.
Contributing some measure of his loss to being vastly outsized by the hulking Larson, Nakamura has since dedicated himself to getting bigger and stronger in the weight room, in order to more adequately compete in the UFC's hyper-physical 170-pound class.
Nakamura is now hovering in the range of 183 pounds with 14.4 percent bodyfat, and hopes to continue to add more muscle to his lean frame, so that after trimming his fat weight in training (he hopes to step into the cage at around 9 percent body fat), he can be a more physically imposing force than we've seen in the past.
Takumi targets American return; Showtime in store?
The well-traveled Takumi Nakayama (Pictures) is no stranger to crossing the Pacific. Now, with a much-needed win under his belt, he is looking to make another trip stateside.
Coming off a dominant decision win over Yoichi Fukumoto in GCM's CAGE FORCE this past weekend, before a surprisingly large crowd in Tottori, Japan's most rural and least populated prefecture, the Osaka native Nakayama revealed that he wants to once again start fighting avidly both in Japan, and in the United States. Several years ago, Nakayama made trips to the Midwest to compete in American Shooto affiliate HOOKnSHOOT, before returning to the United States to compete in KOTC in 2004, where he would go on to defeat Charlie Kohler (Pictures) to become KOTC's 155-pound champion.
Since losing his KOTC title to Mac Danzig (Pictures) in Oct. 2005, Nakayama hasn't returned to compete in the United States. However, the 33-year-old vet may be afforded the opportunity to do so very soon.
Nakayama is a participant in GCM's CAGE FORCE tournament at 155 pounds, which is scheduled to take place over the course of the year. It is the goal of GCM and their fellow Worldwide Cage Network constituents to ensure that the winners of the 155-pound tournament, as well as the 170-pound tournament that will run alongside it, get an opportunity to compete in the UFC. However, Nakayama may not have to wait that long, as he is reportedly in negotiations with Los Angeles-based Pro-Elite Inc., the backer of upstart EliteXC.
While details of Nakayama's potential participation haven't been revealed, he could be a part of the next EliteXC card on May 5, with the date falling in between the scheduled CAGE FORCE dates in March and June, which Nakayama may also participate in.
Your Obligatory Shooto Rookie Update
With the first major happening for Shooto in 2007 in the books, the new year is in full swing. As readers of this column know, one of the most compelling storylines for the Shooto calendar is the rookie tournament series.
Just over two weeks ago, the first handful of Shooto rookie tournament bouts were released for the March 4 card at Kitazawa Town Hall promoted by GUTSMAN Shooto Dojo, and the ALIVE-backed event at Zepp Nagoya on the 25th of that month. Shooto promoters have now expanded that list considerably, with another batch of rookie tournament bouts scheduled for March 16, April 21 and May 13.
In addition to the combined seven bouts previously scheduled for March 4 and March 25, leading Shooto promoter Sustain has announced a handful of rookie tournament match-ups for their March 14 BACK TO OUR ROOTS II card at Korakuen Hall, many of which are among the most compelling of the opening rounds of the tournaments, including 132-pound two bouts in the featherweight rookie tournament, considered perhaps the most talented rookie bracket of 2007, in which PUREBRED Kyoto 132-pounders Kousuke Eda and Yasuaki Nagamoto will venture east to Tokyo to meet Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) of Mach Dojo and Yoshihiko Oyama of Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo, respectively.
An early tournament favorite, Eda took the 2006 All Japan amateur crown at 132 pounds, and has been quickly picking up in-ring experience, having already competed in grassroots Osaka shows, and recently picking up a win in GCM's CAGE FORCE. He will not get the easy assignment of a debuting opponent, as some rookie tournament competitors do in the opening round, as he will face the Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pupil Tamura, who already has two fights under his belt in the Shooto ring.
In the other featherweight fight, Eda's teammate Yasuaki Nagamoto will look to advance in the tournament against Wajyutsu product Yoshihiko Oyama — who is campaigning under the ring name "Kagerou," meaning "Mayfly.” Oyama was one of the most sensational finishers that amateur Shooto has seen as of late, submitting nearly all of his foes in the ring, en route to a second place finish at the All Japans in September, to none other than Nagamoto's teammate Kousuke Eda.
In other rookie action on March 16, another PUREBRED Kyoto teammate of Eda and Nagamoto, Hiroshi Shiba, will take on another Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pupil, Norio Tokuhisa, in a welterweight tournament contest. And Rumina Sato (Pictures) student Katsuya Murofushi, the 2006 All Japan amateur Shooto flyweight champion, will look to follow in the footsteps of his brother Shinya Murofushi, last year's 114-pound Shooto rookie champion, against North Kings Gym's Tatsuya Yamamoto.
Meanwhile, on Apr. 21 at Azalea Taisho Hall in Osaka, another rookie will be looking to follow in the footsteps of a rookie champion sibling when Shooting Gym Kobe 167-pounder "KING JOH" Hiroshi Konishi, brother of 2006 middleweight rookie champion Masaki Konishi, takes on Paraestra Hakata's Daisuke Okimiya in a 167-pound tournament clash. In another 167-pound rookie tournament contest, Okimiya's teammate Toshihiko Sugimoto will take on PUREBRED Kyoto's Toru Ishinaka.
Also on tap in Osaka, 114 pounders Tomohiko Yoshida of G-FREE will meet Paraestra Hiroshima's Masashi Nishizaki a flyweight tournament quarterfinal, while PUREBRED Kyoto's Yasuhiro Kanayama, an All Japan amateur champion in 2005, makes his Shooto debut against winless "Mike" Nobuhiro Hayakawa of Shooting Gym Osaka.
Staying in the west, more rookie action is scheduled for Hiroshima-based promoter GRAPPLINGMAN's annual Mother's Day weekend card on May 13. In a lightweight tournament contest, 143-pounders Kazuhiro Ito of TK Esperenza and SHOOTO JAM WATER's Takumi Ota will do battle, while at bantamweights Kenya Kato (Pictures) of ALIVE and Tatsuro Kamei of Paraestra Hiroshima will square off in the 123-pound rookie tournament. A slick submission artist, Kamei is considered the prohibitive favorite at 123 this year, having taken the All Japan amateur rookie crown in September.
Tentative 2007 Shooto Rookie Tournament Schedule:
March 4, Kitazawa Town Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament: Yosuke Ebihara (Pictures) (Paraestra Matsudo) vs. Yuichiro Takase (Mach Dojo)
2007 Shooto Welterweight Rookie Tournament: Shinobu Miura (Wajyutsu Keisyukai TIGER PLACE) vs. Kunio Nakajima (Mach Dojo)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Mateus Irie Nechio (Pictures) (PUREBRED Omiya) vs. Akihiro Yamazaki (SUBMIT Shizuoka)
March 16, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Shooto Flyweight Rookie Tournament: Katsuya Murofushi (roots) vs. Tatsuya Yamamoto (North Kings Gym)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Kousuke Eda (PUREBRED Kyoto) vs. Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) (Mach Dojo)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Yasuaki Nagamoto (PUREBRED Kyoto) vs. Yoshihiko Oyama (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
2007 Shooto Welterweight Rookie Tournament: Hiroshi Shiba (PUREBRED Kyoto) vs. Norio Tokuhisa (Mach Dojo)
March 25, Zepp Nagoya, Nagoya, Japan
2007 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament: Teppei Masuda (Cobra Kai MMA Dojo) vs. Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures) (NASCER DO SOL)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Satoru Ota (K.O. Shooto Gym) vs. Yuuta Nezu (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Yousuke Kume (ALIVE) vs. Tomokazu Yuasa (Pictures) (Shooting Gym Osaka)
2007 Shooto Light Heavyweight Rookie Tournament: Takashi Goto (Paraestra Kakogawa) vs. Makoto Maeda (Shooto Sotokai Mimura)
April 21, Azalea Taisho Hall, Osaka, Japan
2007 Shooto Flyweight Rookie Tournament: Tomohiko Yoshida (G-FREE) vs. Masashi Nishizaki (Paraestra Hiroshima)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Nobuhiro Hayakawa (Shooting Gym Osaka) vs. Yasuhiro Kanayama (PUREBRED Kyoto)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Hiroshi Konishi (Shooting Gym Kobe) vs. Daisuke Okimiya (Paraestra Hakata)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Toshihiko Sugimoto (Paraestra Hakata) vs. Toru Ishinaka (PUREBRED Kyoto)
May 13, Hiroshima Industrial Hall, Hiroshima, Japan
2007 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament: Tatsuro Kamei (Paraestra Hiroshima) vs. Kenya Kato (Pictures) (ALIVE)
2007 Shooto Lightweight Rookie Tournament: Kazuhiro Ito (TK Esperenza) vs. Takumi Ota (SHOOTO JAM WATER)
Criminal Case Creates Questions for Gong Kakutougi
Perhaps the week's most stirring news surrounds the arrest of Daisaku Maeda, the president of Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. Included in Nippon Sports' magazine publications is Gong Kakutougi, a monthly magazine which has emerged as the gold standard of print media regarding fightsport in Japan.
Maeda was arrested earlier this week after being implicated in the crimes of yakuza gang leader Yoshio Shimomura, which violated Japan's Civil Rehabilitation Law. Shimomura, who is currently under arrest for fraud, is a former Kodo-kai gang leader, a branch of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime syndicate. In recent years, Shimomura has become more noted for his business endeavors, as he's been involved in the buying and selling of multiple companies.
Maeda, a respected business manager who holds a multitude of high ranking corporate posts, played a role in the latest of Shimomura's criminal exploits, serving as the President and CEO of Advanced Technology and Systems Co., Ltd, or ADTX, a company specializing in the manufacturing and marketing of computer peripherals. Shimomura then purchased a controlling stake in Yubitoma from the ADTX president, before trying to sell the firm to the computer service company in late October.
Shimomura is now under investigation for allegedly concealing the assets of ADTX, who were declared bankrupt by a Tokyo court this past January. Metropolitan Police Department investigators have expressed concern that the concealed assets, as well as any monetary gains made from Shimomura's other buy-and-sell deals with firms may have been channeled into the criminal world.
Following an emergency executive meeting, Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. offered a public apology, in which they announced with little surprise that Daisaku Maeda was dismissed from his position. While Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. was investigated due to its association with Maeda, there were no instances of criminal activity found regarding the company.
No replacement for Maeda has yet been named to the Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. executive, and it is unclear what impact, if any, these events will play in the monthly publishing of Gong Kakutougi, which is coming up on its 180th issue.
HERO'S talk big game for proposed big May PPV
One of the week's hottest topics has been K-1 and HERO'S backer Fight Entertainment Group stating that its mixture of sport and spectacle will be coming to the United States in the coming months, and hope to offer promotional opposition to the UFC.
Japanese sports papers have picked up the comments of both FEG producer Sadaharu Tanigawa and HERO'S executive Akira Maeda (Pictures), whom have indicated that they're serious about promoting HERO'S in America. Maeda said that he's already began planning the card's participants, while Tanigawa has boasted the promotional motto of "Stop the UFC," stating that FEG have a global strategy, and want to run four events in the United States per year, in an effort to slow the momentum of the UFC.
The early plan for their American debut is to run a pay-per-view card in May, or June, from Las Vegas, with former NCAA wrestling champion and pro-wrestling superstar Brock Lesnar (Pictures) and MMA icon Royce Gracie (Pictures) co-headlining the event. Lesnar announced last year that he would begin mixed martial arts training to compete in HERO'S, and has since trained with the aforementioned Gracie, as well as Pat Miletich (Pictures)'s crew in Iowa, and most recently at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy with Greg Nelson, head coach of UFC lightweight king Sean Sherk (Pictures).
FEG is currently interested in matching Lesnar against super-sized ssireum king Hong Man Choi, who has risen to fame (or perhaps notoriety) competing in K-1. Choi made his MMA debut this past New Year's Eve, quickly thrashing variety show entertainer-cum-fighter Bobby Ologun (Pictures) in less than 20 seconds.
Despite the reporting of FEG's intentions, it is important to recognize the role of promotional bluster in the Japanese sports media, especially coming from Fight Entertainment Group. Not terribly unlike how PRIDE parent company Dream Stage Entertainment repeatedly discussed promoting events in America for years before actually landing in the U.S. this past October, this is not the first time that FEG has made comments of this nature.
This past August, Tanigawa stated that it was his hope to have Lesnar debut in February and headline HERO'S first card in the United States. Of course, it is now in the middle of Feb., but rather than a fight card, FEG has produced only more media attention for itself. Nonetheless, the development of this story is worth some attention, but HERO'S fans would be ill advised to book their flights to Vegas quite yet.
Pancrase step up RISING TOUR with Spetsnaz showdown
While many MMA fans, of all nationalities, often resent the tacky and seemingly endless use of country against country gimmicks, Pancrase is looking to put a new spin on things with a March 18 card at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The card, which will be headlined by a match-up between rising Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura (Pictures) and aging veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures), will also feature a three match series promoted as Japan vs. Spetsnaz, pitting Pancrase mainstays against Russian special forces officers-turned-fighters.
The presence of Spetsnaz officers in Japanese promotions has been picking up steam in recent months. Following a trip to Vladivostok in March 2006, Tenshin Matsumoto, the head of Japanese sambo-based fight team SK Absolute, began facilitating their participation in Japanese promotions under the banner of SK Absolute Russia. Perhaps due to the breakout success of Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures), who is scheduled to face Pancrase vet Takafumi Ito (Pictures) at Pancrase's Feb. 28 Korakuen Hall card, more Spetsnaz competitors are now being booked to compete.
In a clash of 141-pounders, former Pancrase featherweight title contender Daiki Hata (Pictures), better known as "DJ.taiki,” will return to MMA action, coming off a win in the New Japan Kickboxing Federation. The young and charismatic Hata will meet Djavathan Salmanov, a former All-Russia military grappling champion. Meanwhile, at 181 pounds, Ichiro Kanai (Pictures) will look to build on a three-fight winning streak against another former All-Russia military grappling champion in Arkadi Otinashvili, who also took a Russian national combat sambo title in 2003.
In the third and final bout of the three fight series, mainstay Koji Oishi (Pictures) will meet Djalili Salmanov (Pictures), who makes his second trip to compete in Japan having already fought under GCM's Demolition of Octagon Gear (now CAGE FORCE) banner. Oishi, who is coming off two impressive first round stoppages of In Seok Kim (Pictures) and Hiroyuki Nozawa (Pictures), will look to solidify himself as a contender in Pancrase's 165-pound class with a win over Salmanov, winner of several combat sambo and military grappling titles over the past seven years.
Also, on the card, while less promotionally provocative than Japan vs. Spetsnaz, is a highly compelling bout between lightweight upstart Shoji and established journeyman Yuji Hoshino (Pictures). The 23-year-old Shoji, a product of K.I.B.A, turned professional this past summer, and has began his pro career with three scintillating knockouts. In his two Pancrase appearances, Shoji has turned in a three-second flying knee knockout of Yuji Miyazaki (Pictures), and a vicious stomp KO of Taku Aramaki (Pictures). Hoshino, who has only one loss in his last nine fights, will be the first real test for Pancrase's newest KO kid, and should provide an answer as to whether or not Shoji is a true prospect to be watched.
On tap for this week, everybody's favorite actor-turned-fighter Ken Kaneko (Pictures) bids fans adieu, while Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) will take a break from MMA of his own, but not before hopping into the pro-wrestling ring for ZERO1-MAX.
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As usual, it would be an irregular week if we didn't touch on Shooto's rookie class. Ten more rookie clashes have been scheduled for cards in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima in the coming months, giving us 17 rookie bracket bouts on the calendar. Will these bouts offer us our first look at the next Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures), Takeshi Inoue (Pictures) or Shinichi Kojima (Pictures)?
In a bit of news with a greater gravity, Japanese business manager
Daisaku Maeda was implicated in conjunction with criminal charges
of a former yakuza gang leader. What's it mean for MMA? Maeda's
publishing position at Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. is
raising questions as to the status of Gong Kakutougi, Japan's gold
standard of combat sports coverage.
Speaking of raising questions, Fight Entertainment Group has begun talking about their American ambitions again. FEG says it wants to take the UFC head on on the U.S. promotion’s home turf, with the plan of Royce Gracie (Pictures) and Brock Lesnar (Pictures) lighting up Las Vegas this May. Is this more of FEG's familiar bluster, or is HERO'S set to land stateside?
Finally, Pancrase prepared a choice card for its March 18 Korakuen Hall card offering. While there are potent prospects to be watched on the bill, that alone is not good enough to grab the finale of this week's column. So, what gives? Maybe you weren't hip on the UFC's USA vs. Canada, Bodog's USA vs. Russia, or DEEP's Japan vs. Korea. But, Pancrase has something special for you: get ready for Japan vs. the Russian Special Forces.
Abayo, Kaneko
In perhaps the week's most righteous bit of news, actor-turned-fighter Ken Kaneko (Pictures) has announced that he will be retiring from the combat sport community, and return to his private life and the acting industry.
The 30-year-old Kaneko, who first rose to fame in the "Beat" Takeshi Kitano film Kids Return, made a dubious debut in mixed martial arts competition at PRIDE's New Year's Eve show in 2005, losing via submission to "Krazy Horse" Charles Bennett (Pictures). While many expected Kaneko to be a one-and-done in fightsport, Kaneko returned to the ring 10 months later in HERO'S, where he was quickly submitted by Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) before losing what proved to be his final match, against Andy Ologun, at K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite!! this past New Year's Eve.
Kaneko, who has trained with the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) and K-1 MAX star Masato as of late, has stated that he will continue to train, despite having no intentions of stepping into the ring again.
Monma to make wrestling return in ZERO1-MAX
After a dismal and disappointing 2006, Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) is stepping back into the ring, but not the one you might think.
Last year, Monma notched an 0-2-1 record, drawing Rodrigo Gracie (Pictures) in a painfully boring bout, before being stopped in the first round by both Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures) and Luigi Fioravanti (Pictures).
The well-traveled 33-year-old revealed this week that before he gets back into the ring to compete in mixed martial arts again, he will be performing in a pro-wrestling match-up.
Monma has dabbled in pro-wrestling before, competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and most recently, Big Mouth LOUD last March, where he met BML star Katsuyori Shibata in a match-up which was well received from wrestling fans. This time, Monma will step into the ring for Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX, to participate on their Make the Emotion~Strong Ism event on April. 7 at the Yasukuni Jinja Sumo Hall in Tokyo.
"K-Taro" confirmed for Fickett clash in April
As previously reported in this column, Shooto Pacific Rim 167-pound champ "K-Taro" Keita Nakamura (Pictures) will in fact make his second appearance in the Octagon this coming April. Coming off of a hotly competitive decision loss to Brock Larson in his UFC debut this past December, "K-Taro" will meet Drew Fickett (Pictures) on April 5 when the UFC hits The Pearl in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was speculated some weeks ago that Nakamura would make a return to North America’s largest promoter in the coming months, as he was offered a title match with Shooto world middleweight champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) for Sustain's Feb. 17 Shooto card. However, Nakamura declined the championship offer, saying that he wanted to focus on fighting in the UFC again, leading to the forecasting of his participation on the April 5 card, alongside fellow Japanese competitors Dokonjonosuke Mishima (Pictures), Kuniyoshi Hironaka (Pictures) and Naoyuki Kotani (Pictures), who are also scheduled to compete on the card, against Kenny Florian (Pictures), Jeff Joslin (Pictures) and Thiago Tavares (Pictures), respectively.
Contributing some measure of his loss to being vastly outsized by the hulking Larson, Nakamura has since dedicated himself to getting bigger and stronger in the weight room, in order to more adequately compete in the UFC's hyper-physical 170-pound class.
Nakamura is now hovering in the range of 183 pounds with 14.4 percent bodyfat, and hopes to continue to add more muscle to his lean frame, so that after trimming his fat weight in training (he hopes to step into the cage at around 9 percent body fat), he can be a more physically imposing force than we've seen in the past.
Takumi targets American return; Showtime in store?
The well-traveled Takumi Nakayama (Pictures) is no stranger to crossing the Pacific. Now, with a much-needed win under his belt, he is looking to make another trip stateside.
Coming off a dominant decision win over Yoichi Fukumoto in GCM's CAGE FORCE this past weekend, before a surprisingly large crowd in Tottori, Japan's most rural and least populated prefecture, the Osaka native Nakayama revealed that he wants to once again start fighting avidly both in Japan, and in the United States. Several years ago, Nakayama made trips to the Midwest to compete in American Shooto affiliate HOOKnSHOOT, before returning to the United States to compete in KOTC in 2004, where he would go on to defeat Charlie Kohler (Pictures) to become KOTC's 155-pound champion.
Since losing his KOTC title to Mac Danzig (Pictures) in Oct. 2005, Nakayama hasn't returned to compete in the United States. However, the 33-year-old vet may be afforded the opportunity to do so very soon.
Nakayama is a participant in GCM's CAGE FORCE tournament at 155 pounds, which is scheduled to take place over the course of the year. It is the goal of GCM and their fellow Worldwide Cage Network constituents to ensure that the winners of the 155-pound tournament, as well as the 170-pound tournament that will run alongside it, get an opportunity to compete in the UFC. However, Nakayama may not have to wait that long, as he is reportedly in negotiations with Los Angeles-based Pro-Elite Inc., the backer of upstart EliteXC.
While details of Nakayama's potential participation haven't been revealed, he could be a part of the next EliteXC card on May 5, with the date falling in between the scheduled CAGE FORCE dates in March and June, which Nakayama may also participate in.
Your Obligatory Shooto Rookie Update
With the first major happening for Shooto in 2007 in the books, the new year is in full swing. As readers of this column know, one of the most compelling storylines for the Shooto calendar is the rookie tournament series.
Just over two weeks ago, the first handful of Shooto rookie tournament bouts were released for the March 4 card at Kitazawa Town Hall promoted by GUTSMAN Shooto Dojo, and the ALIVE-backed event at Zepp Nagoya on the 25th of that month. Shooto promoters have now expanded that list considerably, with another batch of rookie tournament bouts scheduled for March 16, April 21 and May 13.
In addition to the combined seven bouts previously scheduled for March 4 and March 25, leading Shooto promoter Sustain has announced a handful of rookie tournament match-ups for their March 14 BACK TO OUR ROOTS II card at Korakuen Hall, many of which are among the most compelling of the opening rounds of the tournaments, including 132-pound two bouts in the featherweight rookie tournament, considered perhaps the most talented rookie bracket of 2007, in which PUREBRED Kyoto 132-pounders Kousuke Eda and Yasuaki Nagamoto will venture east to Tokyo to meet Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) of Mach Dojo and Yoshihiko Oyama of Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo, respectively.
An early tournament favorite, Eda took the 2006 All Japan amateur crown at 132 pounds, and has been quickly picking up in-ring experience, having already competed in grassroots Osaka shows, and recently picking up a win in GCM's CAGE FORCE. He will not get the easy assignment of a debuting opponent, as some rookie tournament competitors do in the opening round, as he will face the Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pupil Tamura, who already has two fights under his belt in the Shooto ring.
In the other featherweight fight, Eda's teammate Yasuaki Nagamoto will look to advance in the tournament against Wajyutsu product Yoshihiko Oyama — who is campaigning under the ring name "Kagerou," meaning "Mayfly.” Oyama was one of the most sensational finishers that amateur Shooto has seen as of late, submitting nearly all of his foes in the ring, en route to a second place finish at the All Japans in September, to none other than Nagamoto's teammate Kousuke Eda.
In other rookie action on March 16, another PUREBRED Kyoto teammate of Eda and Nagamoto, Hiroshi Shiba, will take on another Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) pupil, Norio Tokuhisa, in a welterweight tournament contest. And Rumina Sato (Pictures) student Katsuya Murofushi, the 2006 All Japan amateur Shooto flyweight champion, will look to follow in the footsteps of his brother Shinya Murofushi, last year's 114-pound Shooto rookie champion, against North Kings Gym's Tatsuya Yamamoto.
Meanwhile, on Apr. 21 at Azalea Taisho Hall in Osaka, another rookie will be looking to follow in the footsteps of a rookie champion sibling when Shooting Gym Kobe 167-pounder "KING JOH" Hiroshi Konishi, brother of 2006 middleweight rookie champion Masaki Konishi, takes on Paraestra Hakata's Daisuke Okimiya in a 167-pound tournament clash. In another 167-pound rookie tournament contest, Okimiya's teammate Toshihiko Sugimoto will take on PUREBRED Kyoto's Toru Ishinaka.
Also on tap in Osaka, 114 pounders Tomohiko Yoshida of G-FREE will meet Paraestra Hiroshima's Masashi Nishizaki a flyweight tournament quarterfinal, while PUREBRED Kyoto's Yasuhiro Kanayama, an All Japan amateur champion in 2005, makes his Shooto debut against winless "Mike" Nobuhiro Hayakawa of Shooting Gym Osaka.
Staying in the west, more rookie action is scheduled for Hiroshima-based promoter GRAPPLINGMAN's annual Mother's Day weekend card on May 13. In a lightweight tournament contest, 143-pounders Kazuhiro Ito of TK Esperenza and SHOOTO JAM WATER's Takumi Ota will do battle, while at bantamweights Kenya Kato (Pictures) of ALIVE and Tatsuro Kamei of Paraestra Hiroshima will square off in the 123-pound rookie tournament. A slick submission artist, Kamei is considered the prohibitive favorite at 123 this year, having taken the All Japan amateur rookie crown in September.
Tentative 2007 Shooto Rookie Tournament Schedule:
March 4, Kitazawa Town Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament: Yosuke Ebihara (Pictures) (Paraestra Matsudo) vs. Yuichiro Takase (Mach Dojo)
2007 Shooto Welterweight Rookie Tournament: Shinobu Miura (Wajyutsu Keisyukai TIGER PLACE) vs. Kunio Nakajima (Mach Dojo)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Mateus Irie Nechio (Pictures) (PUREBRED Omiya) vs. Akihiro Yamazaki (SUBMIT Shizuoka)
March 16, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2007 Shooto Flyweight Rookie Tournament: Katsuya Murofushi (roots) vs. Tatsuya Yamamoto (North Kings Gym)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Kousuke Eda (PUREBRED Kyoto) vs. Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) (Mach Dojo)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Yasuaki Nagamoto (PUREBRED Kyoto) vs. Yoshihiko Oyama (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
2007 Shooto Welterweight Rookie Tournament: Hiroshi Shiba (PUREBRED Kyoto) vs. Norio Tokuhisa (Mach Dojo)
March 25, Zepp Nagoya, Nagoya, Japan
2007 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament: Teppei Masuda (Cobra Kai MMA Dojo) vs. Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures) (NASCER DO SOL)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Satoru Ota (K.O. Shooto Gym) vs. Yuuta Nezu (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Yousuke Kume (ALIVE) vs. Tomokazu Yuasa (Pictures) (Shooting Gym Osaka)
2007 Shooto Light Heavyweight Rookie Tournament: Takashi Goto (Paraestra Kakogawa) vs. Makoto Maeda (Shooto Sotokai Mimura)
April 21, Azalea Taisho Hall, Osaka, Japan
2007 Shooto Flyweight Rookie Tournament: Tomohiko Yoshida (G-FREE) vs. Masashi Nishizaki (Paraestra Hiroshima)
2007 Shooto Featherweight Rookie Tournament: Nobuhiro Hayakawa (Shooting Gym Osaka) vs. Yasuhiro Kanayama (PUREBRED Kyoto)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Hiroshi Konishi (Shooting Gym Kobe) vs. Daisuke Okimiya (Paraestra Hakata)
2007 Shooto Middleweight Rookie Tournament: Toshihiko Sugimoto (Paraestra Hakata) vs. Toru Ishinaka (PUREBRED Kyoto)
May 13, Hiroshima Industrial Hall, Hiroshima, Japan
2007 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament: Tatsuro Kamei (Paraestra Hiroshima) vs. Kenya Kato (Pictures) (ALIVE)
2007 Shooto Lightweight Rookie Tournament: Kazuhiro Ito (TK Esperenza) vs. Takumi Ota (SHOOTO JAM WATER)
Criminal Case Creates Questions for Gong Kakutougi
Perhaps the week's most stirring news surrounds the arrest of Daisaku Maeda, the president of Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. Included in Nippon Sports' magazine publications is Gong Kakutougi, a monthly magazine which has emerged as the gold standard of print media regarding fightsport in Japan.
Maeda was arrested earlier this week after being implicated in the crimes of yakuza gang leader Yoshio Shimomura, which violated Japan's Civil Rehabilitation Law. Shimomura, who is currently under arrest for fraud, is a former Kodo-kai gang leader, a branch of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime syndicate. In recent years, Shimomura has become more noted for his business endeavors, as he's been involved in the buying and selling of multiple companies.
Maeda, a respected business manager who holds a multitude of high ranking corporate posts, played a role in the latest of Shimomura's criminal exploits, serving as the President and CEO of Advanced Technology and Systems Co., Ltd, or ADTX, a company specializing in the manufacturing and marketing of computer peripherals. Shimomura then purchased a controlling stake in Yubitoma from the ADTX president, before trying to sell the firm to the computer service company in late October.
Shimomura is now under investigation for allegedly concealing the assets of ADTX, who were declared bankrupt by a Tokyo court this past January. Metropolitan Police Department investigators have expressed concern that the concealed assets, as well as any monetary gains made from Shimomura's other buy-and-sell deals with firms may have been channeled into the criminal world.
Following an emergency executive meeting, Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. offered a public apology, in which they announced with little surprise that Daisaku Maeda was dismissed from his position. While Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. was investigated due to its association with Maeda, there were no instances of criminal activity found regarding the company.
No replacement for Maeda has yet been named to the Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. executive, and it is unclear what impact, if any, these events will play in the monthly publishing of Gong Kakutougi, which is coming up on its 180th issue.
HERO'S talk big game for proposed big May PPV
One of the week's hottest topics has been K-1 and HERO'S backer Fight Entertainment Group stating that its mixture of sport and spectacle will be coming to the United States in the coming months, and hope to offer promotional opposition to the UFC.
Japanese sports papers have picked up the comments of both FEG producer Sadaharu Tanigawa and HERO'S executive Akira Maeda (Pictures), whom have indicated that they're serious about promoting HERO'S in America. Maeda said that he's already began planning the card's participants, while Tanigawa has boasted the promotional motto of "Stop the UFC," stating that FEG have a global strategy, and want to run four events in the United States per year, in an effort to slow the momentum of the UFC.
The early plan for their American debut is to run a pay-per-view card in May, or June, from Las Vegas, with former NCAA wrestling champion and pro-wrestling superstar Brock Lesnar (Pictures) and MMA icon Royce Gracie (Pictures) co-headlining the event. Lesnar announced last year that he would begin mixed martial arts training to compete in HERO'S, and has since trained with the aforementioned Gracie, as well as Pat Miletich (Pictures)'s crew in Iowa, and most recently at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy with Greg Nelson, head coach of UFC lightweight king Sean Sherk (Pictures).
FEG is currently interested in matching Lesnar against super-sized ssireum king Hong Man Choi, who has risen to fame (or perhaps notoriety) competing in K-1. Choi made his MMA debut this past New Year's Eve, quickly thrashing variety show entertainer-cum-fighter Bobby Ologun (Pictures) in less than 20 seconds.
Despite the reporting of FEG's intentions, it is important to recognize the role of promotional bluster in the Japanese sports media, especially coming from Fight Entertainment Group. Not terribly unlike how PRIDE parent company Dream Stage Entertainment repeatedly discussed promoting events in America for years before actually landing in the U.S. this past October, this is not the first time that FEG has made comments of this nature.
This past August, Tanigawa stated that it was his hope to have Lesnar debut in February and headline HERO'S first card in the United States. Of course, it is now in the middle of Feb., but rather than a fight card, FEG has produced only more media attention for itself. Nonetheless, the development of this story is worth some attention, but HERO'S fans would be ill advised to book their flights to Vegas quite yet.
Pancrase step up RISING TOUR with Spetsnaz showdown
While many MMA fans, of all nationalities, often resent the tacky and seemingly endless use of country against country gimmicks, Pancrase is looking to put a new spin on things with a March 18 card at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The card, which will be headlined by a match-up between rising Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura (Pictures) and aging veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures), will also feature a three match series promoted as Japan vs. Spetsnaz, pitting Pancrase mainstays against Russian special forces officers-turned-fighters.
The presence of Spetsnaz officers in Japanese promotions has been picking up steam in recent months. Following a trip to Vladivostok in March 2006, Tenshin Matsumoto, the head of Japanese sambo-based fight team SK Absolute, began facilitating their participation in Japanese promotions under the banner of SK Absolute Russia. Perhaps due to the breakout success of Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures), who is scheduled to face Pancrase vet Takafumi Ito (Pictures) at Pancrase's Feb. 28 Korakuen Hall card, more Spetsnaz competitors are now being booked to compete.
In a clash of 141-pounders, former Pancrase featherweight title contender Daiki Hata (Pictures), better known as "DJ.taiki,” will return to MMA action, coming off a win in the New Japan Kickboxing Federation. The young and charismatic Hata will meet Djavathan Salmanov, a former All-Russia military grappling champion. Meanwhile, at 181 pounds, Ichiro Kanai (Pictures) will look to build on a three-fight winning streak against another former All-Russia military grappling champion in Arkadi Otinashvili, who also took a Russian national combat sambo title in 2003.
In the third and final bout of the three fight series, mainstay Koji Oishi (Pictures) will meet Djalili Salmanov (Pictures), who makes his second trip to compete in Japan having already fought under GCM's Demolition of Octagon Gear (now CAGE FORCE) banner. Oishi, who is coming off two impressive first round stoppages of In Seok Kim (Pictures) and Hiroyuki Nozawa (Pictures), will look to solidify himself as a contender in Pancrase's 165-pound class with a win over Salmanov, winner of several combat sambo and military grappling titles over the past seven years.
Also, on the card, while less promotionally provocative than Japan vs. Spetsnaz, is a highly compelling bout between lightweight upstart Shoji and established journeyman Yuji Hoshino (Pictures). The 23-year-old Shoji, a product of K.I.B.A, turned professional this past summer, and has began his pro career with three scintillating knockouts. In his two Pancrase appearances, Shoji has turned in a three-second flying knee knockout of Yuji Miyazaki (Pictures), and a vicious stomp KO of Taku Aramaki (Pictures). Hoshino, who has only one loss in his last nine fights, will be the first real test for Pancrase's newest KO kid, and should provide an answer as to whether or not Shoji is a true prospect to be watched.
