TOKYO -- Taiki Tsuchiya shocked one-time Sengoku featherweight grand prix participant Shintaro Ishiwatari in the Shooto “Shooting Disco 9: Superman” main event on Saturday at Shinjuku Face.

Moments after the opening bell, Tsuchiya (4-2) countered an incoming Ishiwatari with a huge right hand that sent him flying into the ropes. Tsuchiya fell on Ishiwatari (6-3-3) and gave the discombobulated Gutsman product an extended shellacking as he tried to sit up. Ishiwatari eventually dropped facedown under the assault.

Before Ishiwatari’s corner could throw in the towel, referee Toshiharu Suzuki stepped in to stop it. The end came just 20 seconds into the first round. Ishiwatari was stretchered out, wearing a neck brace, as an ecstatic Tsuchiya celebrated.

“Fight of the Night” honors went to the 115-pounders, as Noboru Tahara pounded his way to a third-round stoppage against Shinya Murofushi.

Though Murofushi had the longer limbs with which to pick apart Tahara (6-3-1) on the feet, he often opted to pull guard instead. Tahara gladly obliged by punching away from above as he passed to better positions. Tahara attempted armbars and omaplatas in the first round, all of which Murofushi (5-2-1) harrowingly escaped, but settled back into mashing with his fists in the later rounds. The end came after a particularly vicious barrage from the mount late in the third stanza. Referee Taro Wakabayashi stopped the match 4:09 into the round.

Meanwhile, Guy Delameau and Yukinari Tamura fought to a unanimous draw after two rounds.

Between grinding up Tamura from top position in guard, Delameau (9-5-1) impressed in the first round by picking up his opponent for three slams when caught in attempted submissions. Tamura (8-3-5) stole the second period, though, as he took his turn to punch from top in guard, as Delameau attempted to stifle the Japanese fighter with a porous rubber guard. All three judges scored it 19-19.

Other bouts also went the distance.

With no respect for Akihiro Murayama’s stand-up, Yoichiro Sato pressed forward under fire and battered the Gutsman fighter with a steady barrage of one-twos and overhand rights. To stifle him, Murayama (9-4-5) pressed Sato (4-1-1) against the ropes and ring posts, as he delivered takedowns in the second round and controlled the action on the floor. Sato’s damage on the feet impressed the judges more, however, and earned him a 20-19, 20-18 and 20-18 unanimous decision victory on the scorecards.

Elsewhere, southpaw Naohiro Mizuno took the fight to Yuji Inoue, outmaneuvering and outboxing him for 10 minutes en route to a sound decision. Mizuno controlled the bout on the feet, as he stuffed Inoue (4-5-1) against the ropes in the clinch and slipped in one-twos and counter rights that bloodied Inoue’s nose. All three judges scored the bout 20-18 for Mizuno (6-2).

In another stalemate, Hidenori Nishino and Kosuke Kindaichi fought a tense two-rounder for the majority draw. Nishino (2-3-2) knocked down Kindaichi twice in the first round with two right hands. However, the steady and methodical Kindaichi (0-0-1) rebounded to take the second stanza by bringing Nishino to the mat and pounding from side mount. Two judges scored it 19-19. A third favored Nishino by a 19-18 count.

In the sole 123-pound rookie tournament bout, Jun Nagasoe (2-3) surprised Yoshiyuki Takano with the arm-triangle choke from the bottom position in guard. After he reversed and captured top position, Takano (1-1) seemed confident and in control, and he paid little attention to Nagasoe’s arm-triangle setup. The hold only proved problematic a minute later, when Takano tapped out 3:31 into round one.

Finally, Kenta Takagi iced Yoshinori Takahashi with punches on the floor after the Mach Dojo product could not finish a takedown. Takagi (3-1) spun and took Takahashi’s back off the sprawl, punching up toward Takahashi’s chin from behind. Takahashi (0-6) sagged after the first shot landed flush, and the referee promptly jumped in to call the bout 1:56 into round one.

Other Bouts
Tatsuya Nakashima def. Joji Shimada – Majority Decision (20-19, 20-18, 19-19)
Daisuke Hoshino def. Yuhei Ota – Unanimous Decision (19-18, 19-17, 19-17)