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National Future Kings Crowned at Club Deep
TOKYO, Jan. 14 -- Monday's Club Deep marked the Deep promotion's
first contribution for the 2008 year, kicking things off at Tokyo's
most popular nightclub for sport fighting, Shinjuku FACE.
The day's event first saw a 16-fight card that pitted last year's Future King regional representatives against each other for the title of national Future King in four different weight classes. Later, a 12-fight card was highlighted by heavyweight bouts and the retirement of Hajime Moriyama.
Although only the seventh fight on the card, Hajime Moriyama's retirement bout was arguably the main event of the evening. His opponent, Tomoyoshi Iwamiya (Pictures), had no plans to give the retiring fighter an easy sendoff. As such, Iwamiya brought a bittersweet end to a nearly six-year career by defeating Moriyama by rear-naked choke midway through the second round.
Despite tagging Iwamiya repeatedly with low kicks in both rounds, Moriyama was unable to keep the fight standing. Iwamiya largely outmatched Moriyama on the ground after taking him to the canvas with several messy but otherwise effective takedowns that Moriyama could not fight off. While on the mat, Iwamiya kept Moriyama backpedaling with foot lock attempts, followed by punches from side mount and north-south position once the leg submissions proved futile.
With the second period seeming to be a repeat of the first, things began to look worse for the soon retired fighter, as he gave up the mount and back mount to a meticulous and smothering Iwamiya. From back mount, Iwamiya worked to slip an arm under his opponent's chin, finishing the fight at the 3:35 mark.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka's pupil Yuki Ito (Pictures) bested Hayato Sakurai (Pictures)'s student Hiroshi Nakano (Pictures) with a blistering knockout early in the first round.
With Nakano opting to wind up and focus on decapitating single shots, Ito opted instead to counter with speed and accuracy, overwhelming his opponent with sheer numbers. An initial exchange that tagged Nakano and had him staggering allowed Ito to continue the barrage. He ran down Nakano while pummeling him into the ropes, causing Nakano's mouth guard to fly into the crowd and the ref to end the bout at 1:01 in the first round.
Tomoya Miyashita (Pictures) didn't even get to break a sweat while quickly putting away onetime IFL vet Masaaki Izena (Pictures), jumping onto his opponent to lock on a tight guillotine at only 41 seconds into the first.
Izena, who held Miyashita high above his head after his foe had jumped onto him, looked to be setting up the big slam, propping him up against the ring post before taking him for a ride. Though it took a few moments, Izena quickly realized that he was in far more trouble than he'd imagined. Soon he tapped to the guillotine that Miyashita had surreptitiously snuck in while up against the ring post.
Seiji Akao pounded out a dominant stoppage over Makoto Akazawa in their 143-pound Future King tournament final.
Mostly even on the feet, the fighters traded punches and low kicks between bouts of clinching before Akao scored with a winging counter hook that connected square on Akazawa's jaw, sending him straight back onto the canvas. From there, Akao lunged in to finish the job, pulverizing his opponent with an extended barrage of punches before the referee stepped in to save Akazawa at 1:32 in the first round.
Before winning the 143-pound tournament, Akao had defeated Tatsu Wada by outworking him for a 2-1 split decision, only to do much the same to Makoto Kamaya for the unanimous decision later that afternoon.
Before making it to the finals, Akazawa had overwhelmed an unready Kota Ishibashi (Pictures) to take the unanimous decision. He followed that win with a devastating TKO in the semifinals over Masaki Yanagisawa (Pictures) by way of strikes after a crushing knee to the face at 1:18 in the second round.
For the 154-pound Future King tournament final, Seigo Inoue emerged victorious after knocking out Kenta Okuyama with a hard body kick that took the wind out of the karate fighter's sails. Okuyama had looked to be off to a good start, scoring with low kicks and punches. Inoue surprised him on the ground, however, with a number of attempted leg submissions that kept Inoue on the defensive.
The fight looked even entering the second round. Okuyama started by scoring with low kicks and combinations, but a hard middle kick counter from Inoue crumpled him to the canvas. With Okuyama writhing in pain and a surprised Inoue standing over him, the referee called the bout 50 seconds into the round.
Inoue, who had a bye to the semifinals, earned his way to the finals by dispatching Luiz -- who had nearly won the fight after beating Inoue senseless in the opening moments of the bout -- with a picture-perfect armbar at 2:49 in the first round.
Okuyama, also a recipient of a semifinal bye, had advanced after Kazumasa Otani was unable to participate in the semifinal bout.
Tetsuya Yoshioka defeated stablemate Hidenobu Koike (Pictures) in the Future King 168-pound final, taking the bout by narrow split decision.
Earlier, Yoshioka had made his way through both Masahiro Ono and Norihiro Iwasaki in nearly identical fashion, pushing a relentless pace for takedowns followed by strikes from top position en route to two unanimous decisions. Koike, on the other hand, received a bye to the semis, where he fought Junzo Tokuda to a competitive split decision -- a win perhaps due largely to Tokuda's yellow card from an errant kick that resulted in a low blow on Koike.
With the promise of being the fresher fighter, it was surprising that Koike was unable to impose his advantage on Yoshioka, conceding just about every single takedown attempt that Yoshioka dove for. Though successful in repeatedly taking the fight to the ground, Yoshioka was otherwise unable to cause any significant damage. He won the bout mainly on control and points from the occasional small punch or two to the body. The one judge that ruled for Koike perhaps did so in light of Koike's hard but few middle kick and stiff left jab combos.
In the 181-pound Future King tournament final, Hiromu Nagado edged out Masaya Dohi for the split decision after two rounds of even competition.
Nagado proved the messier of the two in the standup, seemingly with little to no concept of lateral movement coupled with unruly, swinging punches. Dohi, however, scored consistently with jabs and combinations, keeping Nagado at bay with the occasional push kick when Nagado would bound toward him looking to land a big punch.
The fight on the ground was more competitive. Nagado controlled the top position in the first round, almost executing a pile driver before the bell. The second period saw Dohi come back with a hip throw midway through, then take side mount, where he landed several hard knees to the body before being put back into his opponent's guard.
Dohi had defeated Teruhiko Kubo earlier that afternoon in their semifinal bout after an early exchange opened up a cut on Kubo's head and prompted the doctor's stoppage. Nagado put a stop to Yuichi Kishino with strikes for the TKO at 1:03 in the first round of their semifinal bout.
In perhaps the evening's worst display of sportsmanship, Ippo Watanuki (Pictures) finished the taller Yasuhiro Motomura in vicious fashion, holding a heel hook a moment or two longer than necessary after the tap and ensuring that his opponent limped out of the ring.
After getting grazed by an early Motomura high kick and surviving a flying knee followed by a barrage of quick but sloppy punches, Watanuki shakily shot for the takedown, which allowed Motomura to take his back. A few harrying punches to the side of Watanuki's head from back mount followed, but the still standing Watanuki managed to hula hoop his opponent around to guard. Breaking Motomura's guard, Watanuki then locked up his opponent's right leg to finish him at 1:55 in the first round.
Sadao Kondo took a hard-fought but well-deserved decision over Daigo Ishijima. He winged wild shots at the karateka before shooting in for a string of takedowns, all of which Ishijima succumbed to for lack of takedown defense. On the floor, Kondo's positioning bested Ishijima's raw power reversals on all three of the judges' cards.
Going for the high kick was the last and only mistake that Waka Arashi (Pictures) made in his heavyweight bout against Kintaro Tsurukame. The kick caused him to slip, and soon Arashi found the full bulk of Tsurukame sprawled above him, dropping scores of punches to the body and the side of the head. Tsurukame topped off his barrage with a double-handed axe-handle, collapsing his opponent to his hands and knees and prompting the referee to intervene at 2:18 in the first round.
In an embarrassing display, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (Pictures) crushed an obviously unready Yoshiyuki Kato in the second of the three "megaton" heavyweight bouts.
With Kato adopting the sorely inadequate defensive tactic of walking forward with his left hand extended, it was all Nakanishi could do not to punch and kick his way around the extended appendage. Nakanishi had his choice of punches, kicks and knees, thoroughly shellacking an opponent that quickly became a forward-moving heavy bag. After deciding that Kato had eaten enough punishment, the referee called the bout at 53 seconds into the first.
Yusuke Gondai guillotined his way to victory over Tomoichiro Iwakami in the last heavyweight bout. Though both men showed messy standup, Gondai looked to have slightly more polish and also had the wherewithal to deliver knees in the clinch. Iwakami, who had his eyes closed for most of the bout, couldn't see the guillotine coming and was forced to tap at 1:34 in the first.
The day's event first saw a 16-fight card that pitted last year's Future King regional representatives against each other for the title of national Future King in four different weight classes. Later, a 12-fight card was highlighted by heavyweight bouts and the retirement of Hajime Moriyama.
Although only the seventh fight on the card, Hajime Moriyama's retirement bout was arguably the main event of the evening. His opponent, Tomoyoshi Iwamiya (Pictures), had no plans to give the retiring fighter an easy sendoff. As such, Iwamiya brought a bittersweet end to a nearly six-year career by defeating Moriyama by rear-naked choke midway through the second round.
Despite tagging Iwamiya repeatedly with low kicks in both rounds, Moriyama was unable to keep the fight standing. Iwamiya largely outmatched Moriyama on the ground after taking him to the canvas with several messy but otherwise effective takedowns that Moriyama could not fight off. While on the mat, Iwamiya kept Moriyama backpedaling with foot lock attempts, followed by punches from side mount and north-south position once the leg submissions proved futile.
With the second period seeming to be a repeat of the first, things began to look worse for the soon retired fighter, as he gave up the mount and back mount to a meticulous and smothering Iwamiya. From back mount, Iwamiya worked to slip an arm under his opponent's chin, finishing the fight at the 3:35 mark.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka's pupil Yuki Ito (Pictures) bested Hayato Sakurai (Pictures)'s student Hiroshi Nakano (Pictures) with a blistering knockout early in the first round.
With Nakano opting to wind up and focus on decapitating single shots, Ito opted instead to counter with speed and accuracy, overwhelming his opponent with sheer numbers. An initial exchange that tagged Nakano and had him staggering allowed Ito to continue the barrage. He ran down Nakano while pummeling him into the ropes, causing Nakano's mouth guard to fly into the crowd and the ref to end the bout at 1:01 in the first round.
Tomoya Miyashita (Pictures) didn't even get to break a sweat while quickly putting away onetime IFL vet Masaaki Izena (Pictures), jumping onto his opponent to lock on a tight guillotine at only 41 seconds into the first.
Izena, who held Miyashita high above his head after his foe had jumped onto him, looked to be setting up the big slam, propping him up against the ring post before taking him for a ride. Though it took a few moments, Izena quickly realized that he was in far more trouble than he'd imagined. Soon he tapped to the guillotine that Miyashita had surreptitiously snuck in while up against the ring post.
Seiji Akao pounded out a dominant stoppage over Makoto Akazawa in their 143-pound Future King tournament final.
Mostly even on the feet, the fighters traded punches and low kicks between bouts of clinching before Akao scored with a winging counter hook that connected square on Akazawa's jaw, sending him straight back onto the canvas. From there, Akao lunged in to finish the job, pulverizing his opponent with an extended barrage of punches before the referee stepped in to save Akazawa at 1:32 in the first round.
Before winning the 143-pound tournament, Akao had defeated Tatsu Wada by outworking him for a 2-1 split decision, only to do much the same to Makoto Kamaya for the unanimous decision later that afternoon.
Before making it to the finals, Akazawa had overwhelmed an unready Kota Ishibashi (Pictures) to take the unanimous decision. He followed that win with a devastating TKO in the semifinals over Masaki Yanagisawa (Pictures) by way of strikes after a crushing knee to the face at 1:18 in the second round.
For the 154-pound Future King tournament final, Seigo Inoue emerged victorious after knocking out Kenta Okuyama with a hard body kick that took the wind out of the karate fighter's sails. Okuyama had looked to be off to a good start, scoring with low kicks and punches. Inoue surprised him on the ground, however, with a number of attempted leg submissions that kept Inoue on the defensive.
The fight looked even entering the second round. Okuyama started by scoring with low kicks and combinations, but a hard middle kick counter from Inoue crumpled him to the canvas. With Okuyama writhing in pain and a surprised Inoue standing over him, the referee called the bout 50 seconds into the round.
Inoue, who had a bye to the semifinals, earned his way to the finals by dispatching Luiz -- who had nearly won the fight after beating Inoue senseless in the opening moments of the bout -- with a picture-perfect armbar at 2:49 in the first round.
Okuyama, also a recipient of a semifinal bye, had advanced after Kazumasa Otani was unable to participate in the semifinal bout.
Tetsuya Yoshioka defeated stablemate Hidenobu Koike (Pictures) in the Future King 168-pound final, taking the bout by narrow split decision.
Earlier, Yoshioka had made his way through both Masahiro Ono and Norihiro Iwasaki in nearly identical fashion, pushing a relentless pace for takedowns followed by strikes from top position en route to two unanimous decisions. Koike, on the other hand, received a bye to the semis, where he fought Junzo Tokuda to a competitive split decision -- a win perhaps due largely to Tokuda's yellow card from an errant kick that resulted in a low blow on Koike.
With the promise of being the fresher fighter, it was surprising that Koike was unable to impose his advantage on Yoshioka, conceding just about every single takedown attempt that Yoshioka dove for. Though successful in repeatedly taking the fight to the ground, Yoshioka was otherwise unable to cause any significant damage. He won the bout mainly on control and points from the occasional small punch or two to the body. The one judge that ruled for Koike perhaps did so in light of Koike's hard but few middle kick and stiff left jab combos.
In the 181-pound Future King tournament final, Hiromu Nagado edged out Masaya Dohi for the split decision after two rounds of even competition.
Nagado proved the messier of the two in the standup, seemingly with little to no concept of lateral movement coupled with unruly, swinging punches. Dohi, however, scored consistently with jabs and combinations, keeping Nagado at bay with the occasional push kick when Nagado would bound toward him looking to land a big punch.
The fight on the ground was more competitive. Nagado controlled the top position in the first round, almost executing a pile driver before the bell. The second period saw Dohi come back with a hip throw midway through, then take side mount, where he landed several hard knees to the body before being put back into his opponent's guard.
Dohi had defeated Teruhiko Kubo earlier that afternoon in their semifinal bout after an early exchange opened up a cut on Kubo's head and prompted the doctor's stoppage. Nagado put a stop to Yuichi Kishino with strikes for the TKO at 1:03 in the first round of their semifinal bout.
In perhaps the evening's worst display of sportsmanship, Ippo Watanuki (Pictures) finished the taller Yasuhiro Motomura in vicious fashion, holding a heel hook a moment or two longer than necessary after the tap and ensuring that his opponent limped out of the ring.
After getting grazed by an early Motomura high kick and surviving a flying knee followed by a barrage of quick but sloppy punches, Watanuki shakily shot for the takedown, which allowed Motomura to take his back. A few harrying punches to the side of Watanuki's head from back mount followed, but the still standing Watanuki managed to hula hoop his opponent around to guard. Breaking Motomura's guard, Watanuki then locked up his opponent's right leg to finish him at 1:55 in the first round.
Sadao Kondo took a hard-fought but well-deserved decision over Daigo Ishijima. He winged wild shots at the karateka before shooting in for a string of takedowns, all of which Ishijima succumbed to for lack of takedown defense. On the floor, Kondo's positioning bested Ishijima's raw power reversals on all three of the judges' cards.
Going for the high kick was the last and only mistake that Waka Arashi (Pictures) made in his heavyweight bout against Kintaro Tsurukame. The kick caused him to slip, and soon Arashi found the full bulk of Tsurukame sprawled above him, dropping scores of punches to the body and the side of the head. Tsurukame topped off his barrage with a double-handed axe-handle, collapsing his opponent to his hands and knees and prompting the referee to intervene at 2:18 in the first round.
In an embarrassing display, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (Pictures) crushed an obviously unready Yoshiyuki Kato in the second of the three "megaton" heavyweight bouts.
With Kato adopting the sorely inadequate defensive tactic of walking forward with his left hand extended, it was all Nakanishi could do not to punch and kick his way around the extended appendage. Nakanishi had his choice of punches, kicks and knees, thoroughly shellacking an opponent that quickly became a forward-moving heavy bag. After deciding that Kato had eaten enough punishment, the referee called the bout at 53 seconds into the first.
Yusuke Gondai guillotined his way to victory over Tomoichiro Iwakami in the last heavyweight bout. Though both men showed messy standup, Gondai looked to have slightly more polish and also had the wherewithal to deliver knees in the clinch. Iwakami, who had his eyes closed for most of the bout, couldn't see the guillotine coming and was forced to tap at 1:34 in the first.
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