Inoue Edges Kitaoka; Shoji Crowned Pancrase Lightweight Champion
TOKYO, Jan. 30 -- Historic Korakuen Hall saw Pancrase's first
effort of the year Wednesday, kicking off the 2008 Shining Tour. It
was an event marked as the first in Pancrase history to employ the
weight structure of North America's unified rule set, as well as
the first time the organization would crown a lightweight
champion.
Be that as it may, the main event left fans and followers of the promotion wanting.
In a bout that was unexciting until the final round, Pancrase fan
favorite Satoru Kitaoka
(Pictures) dropped his second fight to
the organization's current interim welterweight champ, Katsuya Inoue (Pictures).
Inoue, who defeated Fabricio Nascimento (Pictures) last July for the interim title vacated by former champion Daizo Ishige (Pictures), had defeated Kitaoka in November 2004 and drew with him just over a year ago.
Kitaoka slowed in his attack in the second frame, though, as his focus shifted almost entirely toward putting Inoue on his back instead of causing damage. Inoue, who had found refuge leaning against the ropes as a dogged Kitaoka was attached to his legs, contributed to the inaction as he attempted to wait out his single-minded opponent. After the referee had finally broken the two fighters, Inoue popped Kitaoka with a crisp southpaw one-two that had the grappler flustered and swinging messy hooks at the round's end.
The tables turned dramatically in the third period. In typical Kitaoka fashion, the Pancrase-ism rep had quickly reached his gas tank's limits, opening him up to a recklessness that saw him take a hearty beating.
Quickly catching on to his opponent's fatigue, Inoue began to open up. He chased Kitaoka about the ring as Kitaoka swung sloppily for the fences, missing and slipping all over the ring.
With fatigue also affecting the quality of his takedowns, Kitaoka frequently fell to his back upon failed single leg attempts, then attempted to arm-drag Inoue to the canvas. More often than not, however, all Kitaoka received for his troubles were soccer kicks to the face that elicited strong reactions from the audience. Between the soccer kicks and small fits of punishing ground and pound, Inoue took a dominant third round.
After all three judges ruled the bout a 29-29 draw, each declared a winner according to the "must decision" rule, which requires each judge to pick a winner. Two of the judges ruled the bout in favor of Inoue, with one judge giving it to Kitaoka, thus crowning Inoue the third welterweight King of Pancrase by split decision.
"I've had this belt taken from me a number of times before, so I think I've pretty much had it at this weight," said a breathless but thoughtful Inoue after the fight. "Since the cut is pretty easy, I think I'd like to aim for Shoji's lightweight belt as well."
Speaking of Shoji, the young and dynamic Pancrase knockout artist took out Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures) in the semi-main event to capture the organization's first lightweight championship.
With Shoji expected to be outmatched in the grappling department, things looked bleak for him as Oumakhanov caught one of his low kicks for a takedown early in the first round. Off his back, Shoji had little ability to defend other than keeping a tight lock on Oumakhanov's head and thus spent the opening period eating small punches to the side of the head while on bottom.
The second round proved much better for Shoji. The young Japanese fighter narrowly avoided a takedown to scramble back to his feet after Oumakhanov caught another low kick for the trip. Shoji scrambled backward, quickly regaining his feet, and immediately circled to deliver a picturesque right high kick that sent Oumakhanov down. Shoji fired off another four unanswered punches to the face of the downed Russian before the referee jumped in 21 seconds into the second round.
"My heartfelt thanks to everyone for supporting me," an emotional, teary-eyed Shoji said in the ring. "Because Oumakhanov has beaten just about every Japanese fighter he's faced, I've always wanted to fight him and show that Japanese really are strong.
"I left home in Mie prefecture in order to become a fighter, and finally, after six years, I've finally won a belt. The belt was my one true goal, but now I've got a bigger one: to compete on the world stage against world-class opponents to show them the strength of Japanese fighters."
Samboist Alavutdin Gadzhiyev (Pictures) continued his dominant run in Pancrase, this time taking out "The Pink Typhoon" Yuji Hisamatsu (Pictures) by knockout in the first round of their middleweight bout.
As Gadzhiyev came out of his corner with blistering, full-rotation punches, Hisamatsu defended well and closed the distance under fire to clinch with the Russian for a takedown into mount. The fight didn't stay there long, as Gadzhiyev exploded back to his feet, shoving Hisamatsu off in the process.
Back on the feet, Gadzhiyev opened up with punch barrages once more. This time he met his mark and crumpled the Japanese fighter at a short 41 seconds into the first round.
Lightweights Shinsuke Shoji (Pictures) and Yuichi Ikari (Pictures) fought to a unanimous draw after three rounds of battling in the clinch.
Shoji would shoot in to lock Ikari in the clinch, attempting to hit his opponent with the occasional leg trip for the takedown. Ikari, who seemed to be looking to employ the same tactic, was naturally prepared to defend the trip. Both men used dirty boxing hooks and uppercuts as well as knees to the midsection to soften the other up for the inevitable takedown, but it was Ikari who appeared to pull ahead with knees. He landed a large number to the face of Shoji, prompting three breaks for doctor checks.
Though Shoji was the one who brought the fight to the canvas and achieved mount, Ikari defended well and returned to standing in the clinch soon after. Still, with Shoji winning the bout's few exchanges on the ground, it's clear why one judge ruled the fight 30-28 in favor of the Krazy Bee fighter, while the remaining two ruled it 29-29 for the majority draw.
Daisuke Hanazawa (Pictures) and Wataru Takahashi (Pictures) also fought to a majority draw in their lightweight bout. Hanazawa pressed doggedly for takedowns, setting them up with stinging punches before dropping and driving. Takahashi, who ate most of the punches, spent a majority of the first round on his back absorbing small shots.
Takahashi's takedown defense served him better in the second period, however. He backed up during Hanazawa's headlong rushes and lit up his opponent with crushing punches and knees in the Thai plum. With both men arguably taking a round apiece, one judge ruled the bout 19-19, and another scored it 20-20 for the majority draw. The dissenting judge gave Takahashi the 20-19 nod.
Pitching a shutout until the third round when her opponent could not answer the bell, Windy Tomomi (Pictures) defeated Emi Tomimatsu (Pictures) by TKO in the evening's sole women's bout. With it evident from the outset that Tomomi was the superior striker, it was clear to both parties what Tomimatsu would want to do: take her opponent down and work submissions until the striker could be caught.
It would have worked for Tomimatsu should Tomomi not have had decent takedown defense in the face of Tomimatsu's lacking takedown ability. The combination allowed for Tomomi to systematically take her opponent apart with hard punches and crushing middle kicks.
After a round and a half of Tomimatsu's takedowns resulting in her getting beat up in and out of the clinch, she began diving at Tomomi's feet. It was in these dives for the single that Tomimatsu essentially incapacitated herself by smashing her face into the canvas, which, in addition to Tomomi's punishing strikes, ended her night.
Sotaro Yamada (Pictures) defeated Freestyle Academy's Japanese transplant "Kiichi Strasser" Kiichi Kunimoto (Pictures) by rear-naked choke early in the first round of their welterweight bout.
Yamada pulled guard after being tripped up by a hard Kunimoto low kick and immediately locked him in the rubber guard upon hitting the mat. Soon after, Yamada transitioned to the omaplata, eliciting a roll from Kunimoto onto his back in an attempt to stave off the submission. Alas, Yamada immediately switched to the choke instead, cutting off "Strasser's" blood supply for the tap at 1:42 in the first round.
In bantamweight action, it was an outstanding highlight-reel Pancrase debut for Seiya Kawahara, who crushed an out of shape Yuki Yamasawa (Pictures) with a right high kick just moments after the opening bell. The pot-bellied Yamasawa pawed at his opponent for all of 28 seconds before Kawahara unleashed the fight-ending kick.
Be that as it may, the main event left fans and followers of the promotion wanting.
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Inoue, who defeated Fabricio Nascimento (Pictures) last July for the interim title vacated by former champion Daizo Ishige (Pictures), had defeated Kitaoka in November 2004 and drew with him just over a year ago.
In this third meeting, Kitaoka was largely in control of the first
two rounds thanks to superior positioning. He has never shown any
real genius in the striking department, and against Inoue he
punched and low-kicked at air before driving in for takedowns.
Through time and perseverance, Kitaoka got his opponent to the
canvas and accrued points from punching and dropping
hammerfists.
Kitaoka slowed in his attack in the second frame, though, as his focus shifted almost entirely toward putting Inoue on his back instead of causing damage. Inoue, who had found refuge leaning against the ropes as a dogged Kitaoka was attached to his legs, contributed to the inaction as he attempted to wait out his single-minded opponent. After the referee had finally broken the two fighters, Inoue popped Kitaoka with a crisp southpaw one-two that had the grappler flustered and swinging messy hooks at the round's end.
The tables turned dramatically in the third period. In typical Kitaoka fashion, the Pancrase-ism rep had quickly reached his gas tank's limits, opening him up to a recklessness that saw him take a hearty beating.
Quickly catching on to his opponent's fatigue, Inoue began to open up. He chased Kitaoka about the ring as Kitaoka swung sloppily for the fences, missing and slipping all over the ring.
With fatigue also affecting the quality of his takedowns, Kitaoka frequently fell to his back upon failed single leg attempts, then attempted to arm-drag Inoue to the canvas. More often than not, however, all Kitaoka received for his troubles were soccer kicks to the face that elicited strong reactions from the audience. Between the soccer kicks and small fits of punishing ground and pound, Inoue took a dominant third round.
After all three judges ruled the bout a 29-29 draw, each declared a winner according to the "must decision" rule, which requires each judge to pick a winner. Two of the judges ruled the bout in favor of Inoue, with one judge giving it to Kitaoka, thus crowning Inoue the third welterweight King of Pancrase by split decision.
"I've had this belt taken from me a number of times before, so I think I've pretty much had it at this weight," said a breathless but thoughtful Inoue after the fight. "Since the cut is pretty easy, I think I'd like to aim for Shoji's lightweight belt as well."
Speaking of Shoji, the young and dynamic Pancrase knockout artist took out Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures) in the semi-main event to capture the organization's first lightweight championship.
With Shoji expected to be outmatched in the grappling department, things looked bleak for him as Oumakhanov caught one of his low kicks for a takedown early in the first round. Off his back, Shoji had little ability to defend other than keeping a tight lock on Oumakhanov's head and thus spent the opening period eating small punches to the side of the head while on bottom.
The second round proved much better for Shoji. The young Japanese fighter narrowly avoided a takedown to scramble back to his feet after Oumakhanov caught another low kick for the trip. Shoji scrambled backward, quickly regaining his feet, and immediately circled to deliver a picturesque right high kick that sent Oumakhanov down. Shoji fired off another four unanswered punches to the face of the downed Russian before the referee jumped in 21 seconds into the second round.
"My heartfelt thanks to everyone for supporting me," an emotional, teary-eyed Shoji said in the ring. "Because Oumakhanov has beaten just about every Japanese fighter he's faced, I've always wanted to fight him and show that Japanese really are strong.
"I left home in Mie prefecture in order to become a fighter, and finally, after six years, I've finally won a belt. The belt was my one true goal, but now I've got a bigger one: to compete on the world stage against world-class opponents to show them the strength of Japanese fighters."
Samboist Alavutdin Gadzhiyev (Pictures) continued his dominant run in Pancrase, this time taking out "The Pink Typhoon" Yuji Hisamatsu (Pictures) by knockout in the first round of their middleweight bout.
As Gadzhiyev came out of his corner with blistering, full-rotation punches, Hisamatsu defended well and closed the distance under fire to clinch with the Russian for a takedown into mount. The fight didn't stay there long, as Gadzhiyev exploded back to his feet, shoving Hisamatsu off in the process.
Back on the feet, Gadzhiyev opened up with punch barrages once more. This time he met his mark and crumpled the Japanese fighter at a short 41 seconds into the first round.
Lightweights Shinsuke Shoji (Pictures) and Yuichi Ikari (Pictures) fought to a unanimous draw after three rounds of battling in the clinch.
Shoji would shoot in to lock Ikari in the clinch, attempting to hit his opponent with the occasional leg trip for the takedown. Ikari, who seemed to be looking to employ the same tactic, was naturally prepared to defend the trip. Both men used dirty boxing hooks and uppercuts as well as knees to the midsection to soften the other up for the inevitable takedown, but it was Ikari who appeared to pull ahead with knees. He landed a large number to the face of Shoji, prompting three breaks for doctor checks.
Though Shoji was the one who brought the fight to the canvas and achieved mount, Ikari defended well and returned to standing in the clinch soon after. Still, with Shoji winning the bout's few exchanges on the ground, it's clear why one judge ruled the fight 30-28 in favor of the Krazy Bee fighter, while the remaining two ruled it 29-29 for the majority draw.
Daisuke Hanazawa (Pictures) and Wataru Takahashi (Pictures) also fought to a majority draw in their lightweight bout. Hanazawa pressed doggedly for takedowns, setting them up with stinging punches before dropping and driving. Takahashi, who ate most of the punches, spent a majority of the first round on his back absorbing small shots.
Takahashi's takedown defense served him better in the second period, however. He backed up during Hanazawa's headlong rushes and lit up his opponent with crushing punches and knees in the Thai plum. With both men arguably taking a round apiece, one judge ruled the bout 19-19, and another scored it 20-20 for the majority draw. The dissenting judge gave Takahashi the 20-19 nod.
Pitching a shutout until the third round when her opponent could not answer the bell, Windy Tomomi (Pictures) defeated Emi Tomimatsu (Pictures) by TKO in the evening's sole women's bout. With it evident from the outset that Tomomi was the superior striker, it was clear to both parties what Tomimatsu would want to do: take her opponent down and work submissions until the striker could be caught.
It would have worked for Tomimatsu should Tomomi not have had decent takedown defense in the face of Tomimatsu's lacking takedown ability. The combination allowed for Tomomi to systematically take her opponent apart with hard punches and crushing middle kicks.
After a round and a half of Tomimatsu's takedowns resulting in her getting beat up in and out of the clinch, she began diving at Tomomi's feet. It was in these dives for the single that Tomimatsu essentially incapacitated herself by smashing her face into the canvas, which, in addition to Tomomi's punishing strikes, ended her night.
Sotaro Yamada (Pictures) defeated Freestyle Academy's Japanese transplant "Kiichi Strasser" Kiichi Kunimoto (Pictures) by rear-naked choke early in the first round of their welterweight bout.
Yamada pulled guard after being tripped up by a hard Kunimoto low kick and immediately locked him in the rubber guard upon hitting the mat. Soon after, Yamada transitioned to the omaplata, eliciting a roll from Kunimoto onto his back in an attempt to stave off the submission. Alas, Yamada immediately switched to the choke instead, cutting off "Strasser's" blood supply for the tap at 1:42 in the first round.
In bantamweight action, it was an outstanding highlight-reel Pancrase debut for Seiya Kawahara, who crushed an out of shape Yuki Yamasawa (Pictures) with a right high kick just moments after the opening bell. The pot-bellied Yamasawa pawed at his opponent for all of 28 seconds before Kawahara unleashed the fight-ending kick.
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