TOKYO, Nov. 7 -- All fighters made weight for tomorrow's Shooto mega card, Back to Our Roots 6, which takes place in two parts at Tokyo's Yoyogi No. 2 National Gymnasium.
Former world lightweight Shooto champion "Lion Takeshi" Takeshi Inoue (Pictures), who has had a troubled history with making weight -- most notably before the bout in which he conceded his championship to current world lightweight king Akitoshi Tamura (Pictures) -- weighed in exactly at the 75-kg (165-pound) limit.
Stepping into the weigh-ins, Inoue was visibly tired from cutting the last few kilos. The former champion exhaled a sigh of relief upon learning he had just made weight.
Lion will be taking on resident Shooto eccentric Katsuya Toida (Pictures) for the lightweight Pacific Rim championship.
Pac Rim welterweight champion Takashi Nakakura (Pictures), like his opponent, weighed in at an exact 70 kg (154 pounds). Nakakura will have to defend his title against rapidly rising star Yusukue Endo.
Shooto world No. 1 lightweight Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) easily made his catchweight of 67 kg (147 pounds), as the Canadian technician weighed in at a comfortable 66.6 kg. His opponent, HERO'S veteran Hiroyuki Takaya (Pictures), weighed in just under the requested 67 kg at 66.9 kg.
Joachim Hansen (Pictures) also weighed in at 69.8 kg (153.6 pounds) for his Shooto return. Opponent Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures) weighed in on the dot at 70 kg.
Outside of world bantamweight champion "BJ" Shinichi Kojima (Pictures) having a brief bit of trouble making weight on his first attempt, no other fighter came in over the limit. Initially weighing in at a mere 0.1 kilograms over the contracted weight of 60 kg (132 pounds), BJ returned after a 15-minute workout and weighed in at 60 kg.
For the featherweight bout -- a step up in weight for the normally 56-kg (123-pound) champ -- BJ will face Nova Uniao representative Eduardo Dantas.
Female MMA dynamo Megumi Fujii (Pictures) weighed a solid 51.7 kg (113.7 pounds), and her opponent, Kyoko Takabayashi (Pictures), fully clad in T-shirt and jeans, weighed the same.
Weigh-In Results:
Katsuya Toida (Pictures) (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Toikatsu Dojo) vs. Takeshi "Lion" Inoue (Shooting Gym Yokohama):
Toida: 64.9 kg (142.8 pounds)
Inoue: 65 kg (143 pounds)
Takashi Nakakura (Pictures) (Shooting Gym Osaka) vs. Yusuke Endo (Pictures) (GOKITA Gym):
Nakakura: 70 kg (154 pounds)
Endo: 70 kg (154 pounds)
Antonio "Pato" Carvalho (Franco-Behring/AACC) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (Pictures) (WK Takaya Gundan)
Carvalho: 66.6 kg (146.5 pounds)
Takaya: 66.9 kg (147.1 pounds)
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen (Team Frontline) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures) (WK RJW)
Hansen: 69.8 kg (153.6 pounds)
Mitsuoka: 70 kg (154 pounds)
Shinichi "BJ" Kojima (Katsumura Dojo) vs. Eduardo Dantas (Nova Uniao)
Kojima: 60.0 kg (132 pounds)
Dantas: 59.9 kg (131.8 pounds)
Masaaki Sugawara (Pictures) (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Duro) vs. Rambaa "M16" Somdet (M16 Muay Thai Style)
Sugawara: 55.9 kg (123 pounds)
Somdet: 55.8 kg (122.8 pounds)
Masashi Yozen (Pictures) (Shooting Gym Osaka) vs. Leandro "Batata" Silva (Nova Uniao)
Yozen: 82 kg (180.4 pounds)
Silva: 82.5 kg (181.5 pounds)
Megumi Fujii (Pictures) (AACC) vs. Kyoko Takabayashi (Pictures) (ALIVE)
Fujii: 51.7 kg (113.7 pounds)
Takabayashi: 51.7 kg (113.7 pounds)
Hayate Usui (Pictures) (Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW) vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (Pictures) (Gutsman Shooto Dojo)
Usui: 65 kg (143 pounds)
Ishiwatari: 65 kg (143 pounds)
