Endo, Lucas Retain Shooto Titles
Tony Loiseleur Sep 22, 2009
TOKYO -- Though their first encounter eight months ago ended in a
draw, the rematch between Pacific Rim 154-pound champion Yusuke Endo
and Kotetsu Boku
came with a definitive ending in the Shooto “Revolutionary
Exchanges 2” main event on Tuesday at Korakuen Hall.
After Boku lunged with a right hand and missed, Endo capitalized by taking the Dream and K-1 veteran’s back and dragging him to the canvas, where he boxed his ears with punches from behind. Boku valiantly fought for a reversal, as he freed a leg from Endo’s hooks while trying to turn into his guard. Endo reestablished back mount, however, just as Boku attempted to stand. Endo dragged Boku back to the mat and applied the rear-naked choke.
Boku’s chin was under Endo’s arm, but the force of the squeeze
eventually led him to submit at the 3:17 mark of the first
period.
Endo was not the only defending champion to retain Shooto gold.
Yamazaki circled, threw low kicks and fell to his back whenever Lucas was close enough to throw his hands. Knowing he did not want to go to the ground, Lucas let Yamazaki back up, biding his time until he could counter and drop him with punches whenever he caught Yamazaki’s low kicks. Yamazaki grew more desperate as the fight wore on, falling at almost every glancing blow that Lucas landed. He was unable to take the champion down, let alone maintain balance under fire, as Lucas retained his title with a unanimous decision -- 30-28, 30-28 and 30-27 on the scorecards.
Urushitani Outpoints Miki
In another rematch, Yasuhiro Urushitani took a unanimous decision against Ryuichi Miki. It largely resembled their first encounter in which Miki pressed the action and Urushitani played the role of matador. Behind superb movement and countering, Urishitani came out ahead of Miki after three rounds.
Miki landed a handful of solid punches on his opponent, but Urushitani narrowly evaded many more in between stuffing takedowns, as he dictated the momentum and pace of the fight on the feet. Scores were 30-29, 30-28 and 30-29, all in Urishitani’s favor.
Shojo Edges Kudo
After two and a half tense rounds of clinch work and jockeying for takedowns, Yuki Shojo edged Dream veteran Junya Kudo by majority decision.
Round one saw Shojo look to stifle Kudo in the corners with clinches and short punches; Kudo pursued the takedown in the second. It was not until round three that either man started really firing the punches, with Kudo landing big counter hooks. Shojo, on the other hand, landed single stiff jabs and straights, along with stiff body punches. Judge Hiroyuki Kanno and referee Taro Wakabayashi ruled the bout 30-28 for Shojo; judge Toshiharu Suzuki scored it a 29-29 draw.
Suzuki Stops Matsumoto in First
A harrowing opening minute for Tetsu Suzuki paid off, as he lunged at Teriyuki Matsumoto and hunted for takedowns.
After sweeping Matsumoto to the canvas in the corner, Suzuki worked through positions and looked for the submission. He succeeded 3:32 into the opening frame when he cinched a guillotine choke for the tapout. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Suzuki, who posted his first submission win in nearly a year and a half. The 31-year-old still has never been finished.
Falciroli, Kitahara Victorious
Despite being knocked down early, patience and grappling acumen carried Gustavo Falciroli to a submission victory over Daisuke Ishizawa. After sweeping Ishizawa, Falciroli worked ground-and-pound until he secured mount and locked a triangle from the top. As Ishizawa moved to escape, Falciroli pulled out an arm for the tapout 4:55 into the first period.
Finally, a wooden Masatoshi Abe made an unsuccessful return after nearly two years away from competition, as he dropped a unanimous decision to Fumihiro Kitahara. Though he wields a strong Greco-Roman wrestling background, Abe frequently conceded trip takedowns and dominant positions on the ground. He fared equally as bad on the feet, as ate punches that he might have evaded with some solid footwork.
Though Abe bloodied his opponent’s nose with upkicks and tagged him a few solid counter punches, all three judges scored the bout 20-18 in Kitahara’s favor.
Other Bouts
Nozomi Otsuka def. Yasutaka Ishigami -- Unanimous Decision
Yusuke Yachi def. Atsushi Kobayashi -- TKO (Head Kick and Punches) 1:21 R1
This story was updated at 12:38 a.m. ET on Wednesday to correct the Shojo-Kudo decision.
After Boku lunged with a right hand and missed, Endo capitalized by taking the Dream and K-1 veteran’s back and dragging him to the canvas, where he boxed his ears with punches from behind. Boku valiantly fought for a reversal, as he freed a leg from Endo’s hooks while trying to turn into his guard. Endo reestablished back mount, however, just as Boku attempted to stand. Endo dragged Boku back to the mat and applied the rear-naked choke.
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Endo was not the only defending champion to retain Shooto gold.
A minute into Xavier
Lucas’ Pacific Rim 167-pound title defense, it became clear he
was inside Akihiro
Yamazaki’s head.
Yamazaki circled, threw low kicks and fell to his back whenever Lucas was close enough to throw his hands. Knowing he did not want to go to the ground, Lucas let Yamazaki back up, biding his time until he could counter and drop him with punches whenever he caught Yamazaki’s low kicks. Yamazaki grew more desperate as the fight wore on, falling at almost every glancing blow that Lucas landed. He was unable to take the champion down, let alone maintain balance under fire, as Lucas retained his title with a unanimous decision -- 30-28, 30-28 and 30-27 on the scorecards.
Urushitani Outpoints Miki
In another rematch, Yasuhiro Urushitani took a unanimous decision against Ryuichi Miki. It largely resembled their first encounter in which Miki pressed the action and Urushitani played the role of matador. Behind superb movement and countering, Urishitani came out ahead of Miki after three rounds.
Miki landed a handful of solid punches on his opponent, but Urushitani narrowly evaded many more in between stuffing takedowns, as he dictated the momentum and pace of the fight on the feet. Scores were 30-29, 30-28 and 30-29, all in Urishitani’s favor.
Shojo Edges Kudo
After two and a half tense rounds of clinch work and jockeying for takedowns, Yuki Shojo edged Dream veteran Junya Kudo by majority decision.
Round one saw Shojo look to stifle Kudo in the corners with clinches and short punches; Kudo pursued the takedown in the second. It was not until round three that either man started really firing the punches, with Kudo landing big counter hooks. Shojo, on the other hand, landed single stiff jabs and straights, along with stiff body punches. Judge Hiroyuki Kanno and referee Taro Wakabayashi ruled the bout 30-28 for Shojo; judge Toshiharu Suzuki scored it a 29-29 draw.
Suzuki Stops Matsumoto in First
A harrowing opening minute for Tetsu Suzuki paid off, as he lunged at Teriyuki Matsumoto and hunted for takedowns.
After sweeping Matsumoto to the canvas in the corner, Suzuki worked through positions and looked for the submission. He succeeded 3:32 into the opening frame when he cinched a guillotine choke for the tapout. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Suzuki, who posted his first submission win in nearly a year and a half. The 31-year-old still has never been finished.
Falciroli, Kitahara Victorious
Despite being knocked down early, patience and grappling acumen carried Gustavo Falciroli to a submission victory over Daisuke Ishizawa. After sweeping Ishizawa, Falciroli worked ground-and-pound until he secured mount and locked a triangle from the top. As Ishizawa moved to escape, Falciroli pulled out an arm for the tapout 4:55 into the first period.
Finally, a wooden Masatoshi Abe made an unsuccessful return after nearly two years away from competition, as he dropped a unanimous decision to Fumihiro Kitahara. Though he wields a strong Greco-Roman wrestling background, Abe frequently conceded trip takedowns and dominant positions on the ground. He fared equally as bad on the feet, as ate punches that he might have evaded with some solid footwork.
Though Abe bloodied his opponent’s nose with upkicks and tagged him a few solid counter punches, all three judges scored the bout 20-18 in Kitahara’s favor.
Other Bouts
Nozomi Otsuka def. Yasutaka Ishigami -- Unanimous Decision
Yusuke Yachi def. Atsushi Kobayashi -- TKO (Head Kick and Punches) 1:21 R1
This story was updated at 12:38 a.m. ET on Wednesday to correct the Shojo-Kudo decision.
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