Tatsuya Kawajiri defeated Vitor Ribeiro TKO (Punches) 3:11 2R
The match of the night: Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri. Yes, I was stuffed by this time and I didn’t need any dessert after this delicious full course serving of fights. I watched Pequeno’s guillotine; I watched Kikuchi get crowned; I saw Rumina knock his opponent out; I saw Hiroyuki Abe and Makoto Ishikawa’s Bang!; Oh, and I watched a battle of beauties. But ready or not, the next fighters were up in the ring.
When the fight started, Kawajiri looked very relaxed, throwing nice inside low kicks to Shaolin’s left leg. Shaolin struck back, very quick. These quick punches told everybody that he’s not just a Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy from Nova Union, but also a champion of SHOOTO. A few sharp, hand combination connected to Kawajiri. But Kawajiri was very calm, and kept on executing his job.
Before this match -- like how PRIDE or K-1 always show their fighters train, or introduce those fighters in big screen -- Kawajiri’s comment was shown on the screen which is set in the gymnasium. In this interview, Kawajiri said, “I have only the image that Shaolin is laying down on the middle of the mat, spreading his arm and leg out, unconscious!”
I’m sure Shaolin had his own winning image for tonight’s fight. But Kawajiri’s black magic worked better than that of Shaolin’s. Kawajiri spoke out after the fight. “I had no fear against Shaolin’s striking," he said. "So I just went zero-defense, 100-offense for stand up battle. He once took my back standing, but I also had confidence to defend it. Then I just let him hold my back. And waited ‘till he get tired.”
Maybe his strategy worked. In the second round, Kawajiri’s punch connected to Shaolin’s face and this moment is the moment that the SHOOTO champion’s winning plan and undefeated record started crumbling. Kawajiri followed with what seemed like thousands of punches. Then Shaolin went down. He stood back up on his feet in some count before 10. But Kawajiri didn’t miss this chance to complete his mission of the night. Kawajiri just give Shaolin uncountable punches in stand up and ground. And the best Shaolin could do was keep Kawajiri in half guard, eating lots of those brutal punches on his head, over and over again … and it hurt so bad. You know, over and over again. At 3:10 of round two, referee Toshiharu Suzuki stopped the fight and called Kawajiri as a winner.
“Shaolin was very strong as I thought," Kawajiri said after the fight. "But he gets tired in the second round. His attack became slower than in the first round. I think he was impatient about winning this fight, considering his cardio. ... In future, if the promoter lets me, I’d like to fight outside of SHOOTO as SHOOTO champion. I think that is my job, as a champion, to appeal SHOOTO to somebody who doesn’t know about SHOOTO. And of course, I don’t leave SHOOTO. I’ll come back to Korakuen hall, or Yoyogi and entertain the full packed audience. That’s my job!”
Good Job. He just became a champion less than one hour ago. And he sounds like he already knows his mission as a champion. He said “If the promoter let me. …” What does this mean? There was a champion, Caol Uno, who returned the belt to the SHOOTO commission, and left the SHOOTO ring to fight in the UFC. I understand his action. He needed to do that back then to join major league of MMA. And it was his dream. Now if the promoter lets Kawajiri, will he go join fight major league to fight somebody? I want to see Kawajiri fight against that man from the UFC -- Yves Edwards -- even though tons of people say their first fight was a bore. (It’s not my word.)
But I don’t know if Kawajiri wants to fight somebody who he beat once … and even if he won, he won’t get any title, although this man from UFC is well qualified to cover his waist with a shiny gold belt. The money can’t fill up the soul of top-notch fighter. Something else other than money. Oh well, I came way too far from where I should talk about; I was talking about SHOOTO.
Okay, let’s wrap up. It was great show as usual. When I looked around before the final match, 80-90 percent of the seats are covered (yeah, nice side of Masa is writing this moment) in Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium. It’s a pretty big hall. Stephen Martinez sounded like he loved this place. Yes, it has interesting shape of roof, and it’s like amphitheater, while Korakuen hall is full square gym like normal high school gym. Maybe this amphitheater shape reminds Stephen of a local circus show in his country.
That’s all for SHOOTO's Year End event. My next target is New Years Eve Show either PRIDE, or K-1: Dynamite. Oh wait, there’s DEEP this weekend. And there’s also Pancrase before New Years Eve. In Pancrase there’ll be Jason Lee from Mash Fight Team. I’ve never seen him. So I’m Looking forward to see this warrior from Gladiator Challenge. Alrighty, everybody! Happy holidays! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
