Of course, ends are often simply new beginnings, and such is certainly the case with the Shooto rookie tournament series. While December brings us the crowning of the rookie tournament champions, it also gives us a glimpse of the future as we look ahead to the rookie tournaments of next year. This year, that glimpse is a striking one, as there is much potential for the sixth annual Shooto rookie tournaments may be the best yet.
Shooto authorities have released the list of competitors officially eligible to partake in the 2007 Shooto rookie tournaments. Eligibility requires that a fighter have a Class B Shooto license and resides in Japan as of Jan. 1, 2007. Fighters cannot have made their professional Shooto debuts prior to the calendar year of 2005. Eligible competitors must have no more than three professional fights under Shooto sanctioning, with no more than two professional wins. Furthermore, participants who competed in the 2005 rookie tournament series, despite making the other stated qualifications, are excluded.
In 2006 the eligibility list for the Shooto rookie tournaments had 66 eligible competitors in seven divisions. For 2007 there are 84 eligible competitors across 12 divisions. However, due to the fact that any division must have no fewer than four competitors to hold a rookie tournament, the 200- and 220-pound male divisions, as well as the female 132- and 154-pound divisions will not have rookie tournaments. This nullifies the eligibility of six of the 84 competitors, leaving 78 fighters who may compete in a total of eight weight classes in the 2007 rookie tournament series.
In recent years, one aspect of eligibility that has come under fire has been the stipulating around a competitor's fight career. The rules of eligibility for rookie tournaments state that a fighter must have no more than three professional bouts, and no more than two wins, however the only bouts taken into consideration for this purpose are those under Shooto sanctioning. This can, and does, create situations in which vastly more experienced fighters who have a much greater number of professional MMA bouts end up facing a truer "rookie," who may only have two or three pro bouts.
For instance, many critics were quick to discredit "K-Taro"
Keita Nakamura (Pictures)'s 167-pound rookie tournament win in 2005. While Nakamura met eligibility rules for the 2005 tournaments, he had a total of 10 professional mixed martial arts bouts when he began in the 167-lb. tournament, including his experience in Greatest Common Multiple events. However, due to GCM events not being Shooto-affiliated events, Shooto authorities ignored Nakamura's experience in the promotion and allowed him to fight as a "rookie" against then 1-0
Katsuaki Niioka (Pictures) and 1-1
Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Pictures).
Similarly in 2006, 167-pound rookie tournament competitor
Akihiro Yamazaki had nine professional mixed martial arts bouts in his career, but only one of them had fallen under Shooto sanctioning, with the rest being in the rings of Greatest Common Multiple and DEEP. As a result, he met then 1-0
Takuya Sato and 2-0
Yoshitaro Niimi (Pictures) in the tournament. Moreover, because his record under Shooto sanctioning presently stands at 1-1-1, he is again eligible for this year's 167-pound rookie tournament, where eight of a possible 13 eligible entrants have one fight or fewer.
Surprisingly, this much-maligned loophole may create a unique, and exciting opportunity within the Shooto rookie tournament spectrum in 2007.
For the first time in the history of the Shooto rookie tournament series, there was enough eligible participants in a female weight category to entertain a female rookie tournament. There is somewhat of a lack of truly "professional" G-Shooto competitors due to the fact that the females in G-Shooto compete largely under Class C+ rules, an awkward grey area between Class C amateur and Class B professional which was put in place to facilitate the learning curve of female MMA competitors in Shooto's female system. While Class C+ bouts, for all intents and purposes, amount to professional contests, the ongoing labeling of G-Shooto fighters as Class C+ has prevented the development of a Class B talent pool in the G-Shooto program.
This year however, there are four females of Class B Shooto status who meet all the Shooto rookie tournament eligibility criteria, and as previously stated, there is now a reason to perhaps smile upon the critically disparaged clause allowing more experienced competitors to slip into rookie tournaments.
The four females eligible for the G-Shooto 106-pound rookie tournament?
Masako Yoshida.
Miku Matsumoto (Pictures).
Misaki Takimoto (Pictures).
Satoko Shinashi (Pictures).
For those who follow mixed martial arts, the significance of such a tournament is apparent. Yoshida, Matsumoto, Takimoto and Shinashi are not "rookies" by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, they're four of the strongest standouts in perhaps female MMA's deepest weight class, with nearly 75 MMA contests between them.
While none are "rookies" by any stretch of even the most flexible imaginations, Shooto authorities' non-recognition of professional bouts outside of Shooto may lead to a four-woman tournament that one would expect out of Smackgirl, which could offer a profound impact on the division as a whole.
However, it should be noted that the chance of the tournament coming to fruition is particularly fragile. All four women are active in Smackgirl, DEEP and other venues, thus it likely that one or more of them may decline to participate in the tournament. And due to the fact eligibility stands at the bare minimum of four competitors, no tournament would be possible if even one of the women chose not to participate.
Generally speaking, the eligibility lists are stronger than they have been in years prior. There is not only increased numbers in eligibility, but also a greater number in quality amateur competitors, with the 132-, 143-, 156-, 167- and 183-pound eligibility rosters all boasting multiple All Japan amateur Shooto champions.
The 154-lb. division has potential to be particularly strong in 2007; though the division has long been Shooto's hallmark, Class B development in the weight class has been somewhat slow lately. Last year, only six competitors filled out the 154-rookie tournament bracket, however this year, there are 13 eligible participants, including strong prospects such as All Japan amateur champions
Koichi Taguchi and
Kazuya Satomoto. DEEP regulars
Hiroshi Nakano (Pictures) and "Barbaro44"
Yoshihiro Tomioka (Pictures) are on the eligibility list. While it would seem that both fighters would decline participation, especially Tomioka, who is presently in the thick of DEEP's 154-pound class, the chance of Nakano choosing to enter the tournament is a bit greater, and would provide another touted prospected to the tournament bracket.
The eligibility list may yet expand a bit, as Shooto officials cannot finalize the rookie tournament competitors of 2007 until at least December 23. A Shooto amateur event, Omiya Free Fight, is scheduled for the 23rd, and it is possible, though perhaps unlikely, that some amateur competitors may be promoted to Class B Shooto as a result of their performances at the event, and would then be eligible to compete in the rookie tournaments in 2007.
The present eligibility lists for Shooto's 2007 rookie tournament series, including those in weight divisions which are ineligible to host tournament due to a lack of competitors, are as follows:
Miku Matsumoto (Pictures) (Club Barbarian)
Satoko Shinashi (Pictures) (Freelance)
Misaki Takimoto (Pictures) (Zendokai Headquarters)
Masako Yoshida (Freelance)
Tama Chan (Pictures) (Tomoegumi)
Megumi Yabushita (Pictures) (Tomoegumi)
Yoko Takahashi (Pictures) (Tomoegumi)
Hiroyuki Abe (Hiroyuki Abe' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) (SHOOTO GYM K'z FACTORY)
Hiroyuki Ikeda (Paraestra Tokyo)
Junji Ito (Shooting Gym Yokohama)
Katsuya Murofushi (roots)
Masashi Nishizaki (Paraestra Hiroshima)
Hiroaki Takezawa (Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW G2)
Noboru Tahara (STF MMA Dojo)
Takeshi Yamada (PUREBRED Omiya)
Tatsuya Yamamoto (North Kings Gym)
Tomohiko Yoshida (G-FREE)
Yosuke Ebihara (Pictures) (Paraestra Matsudo)
Kenji Hosoya (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Headquarters)
Suguru Inoue (Pictures) (Paraestra Hakata)
Tatsuro Kamei (Paraestra Hiroshima)
Kenya Kato (Pictures) (ALIVE)
Takayuki Kobe (Pictures) (ALIVE)
Teppei Masuda (Cobra Kai MMA Dojo)
Nozomi Otsuka (Team Bullshit)
Hiroshi Sakamoto (Pictures) (NASER DO SOL)
Yuichiro Takase (Mach Dojo)
Kousuke Eda (PUREBRED Kyoto)
Nobuhiro Hayakawa (Shooting Gym Osaka)
Fumihiro Kitahara (Paraestra Sapporo)
Junya Kudo (Shooting Gym Kobe)
Yasuaki Nagamoto (PUREBRED Kyoto)
Yuuta Nezu (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Headquarters)
Yoshihiko Oyama (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Headquarters)
Hiromasa Ougikubo (Paraestra Matsudo)
Kazuya Tamura (Pictures) (Mach Dojo)
Naoki Yahagi (PUREBRED Omiya)
Satoshi Yamashita (SUBMIT Shizuoka)
Shintaro Ishiwatari (Pictures) (GUTSMAN Shooto Dojo)
Kazuhiro Ito (TK Esperanza)
Yasuhiro Kanayama (PUREBRED Kyoto)
Naohiro Mizuno (PUREBRED Omiya)
Hidenori Nishino (GUTSMAN Shooto Dojo)
Satoru Ota (K.O. SHOOTO GYM)
Takumi Ota (SHOOTO JAM WATER)
Tomonori Taniguchi (Mach Dojo)
Hirotaka Tomiyama (P's LAB Tokyo)
Tomohiko Yokoyama (Philoctetes Niigata)
Hidekazu Asakura (Paraestra Sapporo)
Guy Delameau (Freelance)
Michiyuki Ishibashi (Pictures) (Paraestra Sapporo)
Shinobu Miura (Wajyutsu Keisyukai TIGER PLACE)
Kunio Nakajima (Mach Dojo)
Hiroshi Nakano (Pictures) (Mach Dojo)
Yoshiki Noguchi (Pictures) (Paraestra Sapporo)
Kazuya Satomoto (Paraestra Hiroshima)
Hiroshi Shiba (PUREBRED Kyoto)
Koichi Taguchi (PUREBRED Omiya)
Norio Tokuhisa (Mach Dojo)
Yoshihiro Tomioka (Pictures) (Club Barbarian)
Yutaka Ueda (PUREBRED K, yoto)
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