TOKYO -- Ryuichi Miki took a commanding decision over cagy Shooto veteran Junji Ikoma on Friday with three rounds of superior kickboxing in the main event of Shooto “Shooting Disco 8” at Shinjuku Face.

Between harrying Ikoma with low kicks, the 26-year-old Miki (9-2-3) showed excellent head movement and blocking ability, as he defended most of the elder Ikoma’s punches before lunging forward to firmly plant some of his own. Ikoma, 39, indulged Miki’s attacks early in the fight with wide smiles, but as the match wore on, Ikoma’s grin disappeared under the accumulating damage.

In the third frame, Miki’s attack began to take its toll, as the winded and bloodied Ikoma (12-10-4) stubbornly held on, looking like a weary, bullied old-timer under Miki’s unending barrages. Tripping Ikoma to the canvas in the final minute, Miki ended the round by unleashing big punches from a standing position, straight down onto Ikoma's face.

All three judges scored the bout for Miki, 30-26, 30-26 and 30-25.

In the co-main event, Kiguchi Dojo prospect Ikuo Usuda took a hard-earned majority decision over the always tough Guy Delameau.

Usuda (4-0) briefly captured Delameau’s back in the clinch several times in the first round, but Delameau scored more with big punches and a takedown and appeared to capture the first round. Usuda had his breakthrough midway through the second, however. After getting the takedown into Delameau’s guard, the Japanese fighter dropped several hard punches to the face.

The dizzied Delameau (9-5) fought to his feet but could not stop the forward-pressing Usuda from taking him down again. Discombobulated, Delameau threw up his legs in a triangle, but with his legs reversed from the typical setup, it proved too difficult to finish. While two judges scored the bout for Usuda, 20-19 and 19-18, one dissenting judge called it a draw at 18-18.

Meanwhile, Yoichiro Sato advanced past Naoki Hirayama in the 154-pound rookie tournament after defeating him by unanimous decision.

Charging forward in an effort to push Sato into the corners, Hirayama (1-3) was a sponge for his myriad of punches on the feet. Hirayama scored with takedowns and maintained the top position in guard, but he did little to capitalize. Sato (3-1-1) stayed busy, controlled Hirayama while throwing upward punches and won the decision, 20-19, 20-18 and 20-18.

In another fight that went the distance Yusuke Yachi impressed in his professional Shooto debut against Kenichiro Marui, nearly ending the fight three times in the first round.

After Yachi (1-0) blitzed Marui with a knee and big punches, referee Taro Wakabayashi accidentally stepped in to call the knockdown. Upon remembering that the rule was recently repealed, he attempted to cover his gaffe by insisting that Marui (1-3) grabbed the ropes while falling under Yachi’s attacks. Despite the ridiculous interruption, the debuting Krazy Bee fighter had already set the tone. Marui survived to take the bout to the floor, but Yachi showed off impressive grappling ability, as well, as he controlled and threatened Marui with submissions from the bottom. Two judges scored the bout for Yachi, 19-15 and 18-17; another scored it a draw at 18-18.

Elsewhere, Perennial Shooto B-classer Ayumu Shioda ran a grappling train on Shinichi Hanawa, dominating him with positions and submission attempts.

Shioda (6-6) dragged Hanawa to the floor and slapped on numerous guillotine attempts, one of which was called a catch. Shioda also used the anaconda setup in order to control and reverse Hanawa (4-7-1), allowing him to take side control, full mount and the back mount almost at will. As such, Shioda was awarded with 20-17, 20-17 and 20-16 scores by bout’s end.

Finally, Hisaki Hiraishi defeated Komei Okada by way of a rare technical decision after the referee declared both men unfit to continue due to injury.

With decent counterpunching and head movement, Hiraishi (6-3-2) took the lead in a mostly stand-up affair against Okada (5-9-2). However, two unintentional head butts from Hiraishi caused a large hematoma to develop over Okada’s left eye. That injury, along with a large gash on the left side of Hiraishi’s head, prompted Wakabayashi to call the bout at 2:59 of the second round for the technical decision. All three judges gave the bout to Hiraishi by matching 20-18 scores.

Other Bouts
Tatsuya Nakashima def. Hiroaki Ijima -- Unanimous Decision
Takahiro Suzuki def. Tomohito Tanizaki -- Unanimous Decision
Hidenori Nishino def. Toshiaki Hayasaka -- Unanimous Decision