In the weeks leading up to the biggest fight of his career,
Shinsuke Shoji (Pictures) is now a freelancer.
Shoji, who will meet
Koji Oishi (Pictures) for the vacant lightweight King of Pancrase on Aug. 27 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, has announced his departure from Krazy Bee, the team headed by Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, where Shoji has trained for his entire pro career. Shoji said he wanted to test himself as an individual, and a source close to the fighter has told Sherdog.com that his departure from the team came on amicable terms.
Shoji is not the only fighter to recently leave Krazy Bee. Late last year, standout Japanese middleweight
Riki Fukuda (Pictures) left the gym to join Grabaka, alongside
Sanae Kikuta (Pictures),
Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) and
Akihiro Gono (Pictures) among others.
A sterling Greco Roman wrestler at Takushoku University, Shoji began his MMA career with a lackluster 2-3-1 record before going undefeated over his last five bouts, with wins over veterans
Takafumi Ito (Pictures),
Kenji Arai (Pictures) and
Wataru Takahashi (Pictures). Thus far, Shoji's training for his title clash with Oishi has consisted mostly of cardio and roadwork, as he has yet to find mat space or decide upon a group to train with.
While there are title implications in store for Aug. 27's Pancrase Shining Tour card, prospects are perhaps the most compelling theme of the bill.
The undercard of the event will feature the return of Pancrase's supernova bantamweight Seiya Kawahara. The 20-year-old Kawahara debuted in May 2007 and has absolutely destroyed his first five opponents. The hottest Pancrasist prospect since
Yoshiro Maeda (Pictures)'s emergence in 2003, Kawahara will take on the first major test of his pro career against former Shooto world title challenger
Kentaro Imaizumi (Pictures).
Since challenging rival
Ryota Matsune (Pictures) for the Shooto 132-pound world title in November 2004, Imaizumi has fallen on hard times, going winless in his last eight fights with four losses and four draws. After competing largely as a featherweight, Imaizumi returned to the bantamweight division in September, where he was dominated by
Takeya Mizugaki (Pictures) in GCM's Cage Force.
Sengoku adopted prospect Maximo Blanco will also make his MMA debut against Yuki Yashima in a lightweight affair.
The 24-year-old Blanco, a native Venezuelan, took a bronze medal in the 163-pound freestyle category at the Pan American championships in 2007. Blanco, along with college wrestling star Shigeki Osawa, were announced as Sengoku projects last month, with the promotion's parent company World Victory Road funding and facilitating their development as MMA fighters. Blanco has since been training full time at the Yoshida Dojo under
Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) in Tokyo.
Leading Shooto promoter Sustain have added another solid scrap to their Sept. 28 Shooto Tradition 03 card at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, making official a featherweight fight between surging
Shintaro Ishiwatari (Pictures) and comebacking
Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures).
The 23-year-old Ishiwatari became a viral video star earlier this year courtesy of his atomic face-first slam stoppage of
Kazuhiro Ito (Pictures) in February, which earned him his Class A Shooto license. Unbeaten since his March 2006 pro debut, Ishiwatari was arguably Class B Shooto's most exciting and dynamic competitor prior to his promotion.
Tabbed for success after being crowned Shooto 143-pound rookie champion in 2005, Fujimiya has not lived up to the hype as a Class A Shooto competitor. Loser of his last three bouts, Fujimiya dropped a highly questionable decision to
Bao Quach (Pictures) last August in Irvine, Calif., but was very lackluster in a deflating majority decision loss to
Hiroshi Nakamura (Pictures) (Pictures) in March.
Sustain's Sept. 28 card will be headlined by a 132-pound world title clash between champion
Masakatsu Ueda (Pictures) and challenger Marcos "Louro" Galvao, with other scheduled tilts including
Yasuhiro Urushitani (Pictures) taking on
Yuki Shoujou (Pictures) and
Masaaki Sugawara (Pictures) squaring off with
Takuya Mori (Pictures).
This Saturday at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Deep will put a bow on perhaps the finest novelty promotion in Japanese MMA in 2008 with the conclusion of its the Megaton Grand Prix.
Deep's Megaton Grand Prix began in March with a field 16 Japanese competitors all weighing over 220 pounds and kicked off with a noodle-eating contest between the participants and Deep promoter Shigeru Saeki. Following the May quarterfinals, the Megaton final four are Shunji Kosaka,
Shunsuke Inoue (Pictures),
Ken Orihashi (Pictures), and overwhelming tournament favorite
Yusuke Kawaguchi (Pictures), who dealt with his first two Megaton tournament opponents in a combined 56 seconds.
Much in the fashion of Deep's recent middleweight championship tournament, the semifinal pairings will be drawn on the evening of the event by the competitors, with the two winners meeting in the finale later that evening.
In the Megaton GP reserve bout,
Mamoru Nakamura (Pictures) will take on
Waka Arashi (Pictures), and
Sotaro Yamada (Pictures) will take on Ryoji Suzuki in a welterweight affair. The card will also feature a one-night tag team grappling tournament, featuring the likes of
Naoya Uematsu (Pictures),
Kohei Yasumi (Pictures),
Isamu Sugiuchi (Pictures),
Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures),
Takashi Hasegawa (Pictures) and
Hiroki Nagaoka (Pictures).
Not quite so far across the Pacific, a debuting Japanese fighter will face a tall task in his pro debut. Hideto Kondo will make his professional MMA debut against transplanted Brazilian veteran
Sidney Silva (Pictures) on Icon Sport's “Hard Times” card Saturday at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu.
Kondo is a standout pupil of Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, and is only 18 years old. Silva, who now resides in Hawaii, hasn't competed since his brutal knockout loss to “The Ultimate Fighter” alumnus
Tom Speer (Pictures) in May 2007.
The point of interest in the bout is larger than Kondo's debut alone. Traditionally,
Hayato Sakurai (Pictures)'s Mach Dojo pupils have been notoriously mediocre or worse, with many of his students languishing with losing records in Class B Shooto or failing to distinguish themselves in other Japanese promotions.
On Sunday, Nagoya's Alive Academy will present the 15th edition of Shooto Gig Central at their familiar stomping ground of Zepp Nagoya, with hometown headliner
Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) continuing his comeback campaign.
In the evening's marquee bout, Hioki will take on recently promoted Class A competitor
Hiroshi Nakamura (Pictures) (Pictures), who is fresh off his March upset over
Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures). After a disastrous and disappointing 2007, Hioki has rebounded in 2008, stampeding over
Katsuya Toida (Pictures) in January and
Baret Yoshida (Pictures) in March. Should Hioki emerge unscathed against Nakamura, he is slated to return to TKO, where he is still the promotion's featherweight champion, at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Oct. 3 to meet Stephane "Simba" Vigneault.
In undercard attractions,
Komei Okada (Pictures) and
Takahiro Kajita (Pictures) will slug it out in a 154-pound contest,
Takeshi Okada (Pictures) moves up to the 132-pound division to meet
Akira Kibe (Pictures), Hisaki "Kotobukimaru" Hirashi meets
Kenichi Hattori (Pictures) at 154 pounds, Keisuke Kurata returns from hiatus to meet
Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures) at 123 pounds, and
Kenya Kato (Pictures) and Teppei "Bull" Masuda meet in a 115-pound affair.
In 2008 Shooto rookie tournament action, prohibitive tournament favorite
Takesuke Kume (Pictures) faces Yoichiro Sato in a 168-pound semifinal, Yukinari "Hibiki" Tamura meets
Kunio Nakajima (Pictures) in a 154-pound quarterfinal, Yasuaki "Aki" Nagamoto tangles with Keita Yoshida in a 132-pound quarterfinal, and in a 115-pound quarterfinal bout, Hiroyuki "Ron" Kondo squares off with Masatomi Yamagami.
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