Hirota Claims Cage Force Lightweight Title
TOKYO, April 5 -- The debacle that developed into Saturday's Cage
Force card turned out to be not as dire as originally anticipated.
The event's loss of star power aside, promoter GCM made the most of
what fighters it could bring together to put on a decent night of
fights in Tokyo's part-time night club, part-time fight venue,
Differ Ariake.
In the main event, Shooto veteran Mizuto Hirota (Pictures) took on Tomonari Kanomata (Pictures) for the recently vacated Cage Force lightweight title.
Kanomata appeared to adopt a very Genki Sudo (Pictures)-esque game plan in the opening
moments. He attempted to get into Hirota's head by dancing about
the cage, spastically waving his arms and head between firing off
kicks and punches.
However, Hirota stayed focused and managed to catch a kick to the body for a trip, landing in Kanomata's guard. From there, Hirota proceeded to lay the punches on thick, eventually separating Kanomata from consciousness and earning the Cage Force title in the process.
In the event's yearlong bantamweight tournament, Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Paul McVeigh (Pictures) took on former Shooto 132-pound champion Masahiro Oishi (Pictures).
McVeigh entered the cage on fire, taking the fight directly to Oishi in the form of heavy overhand hooks and brutal knees. He then dropped Oishi with a right uppercut square to the jaw but failed to capitalize.
On the mat, Oishi rallied and eventually extinguished the Englishman's spark by neutralizing his submission and positional attempts until he gassed. Oishi eventually took a fatigued McVeigh's back and wailed away with punches until the referee stepped in at 3:13 into the second.
In the evening's second bantamweight tourney bout, Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures) and Ryota Uozomi fought a competitive two-round match that ended in bittersweet fashion for both parties.
Although Uozomi appeared to have Nakahara's number on the feet, that didn't stop Nakahara from diving toward his opponent for takedown attempts. From guard Nakahara rained down with brutal elbows to the face.
Thanks to several inexplicable standups by the ref, however, Uozomi had the opportunity to play matador with the oncoming Nakahara. Uozomi would force him to scramble, then rush in to capitalize on the foiled takedown attempts. It was from this position, midway through the second, that Nakahara landed an illegal kick to the face of Uozomi, blinding him with a toe in the left eye. The doctor called the bout after the second round, giving Nakahara the TKO victory.
Yoshihiro Koyama (Pictures) put in a workmanlike performance against Wataru Miki (Pictures) in their lightweight bout. Miki had a few surprises for his opponent early with a flying knee and some stinging kicks, but Koyama barreled through to take Miki to the mat and dominate him on the floor. Getting in sparse fits of ground and pound between controlling Miki in the grappling, Koyama took a hard-earned unanimous decision after three grueling rounds.
By all appearances, James Doolan entered the cage with the intent of chopping down opponent Naoya Uematsu (Pictures) with low kicks. He landed quick, stiff kicks to the inside lead leg in the bout's opening moments. Shortly thereafter, the veteran Uematsu captured the Englishman's back in the clinch before Doolan spun and extricated himself, unleashing a punch that dropped Uematsu to the mat momentarily.
Not closing for the kill, however, Doolan began chopping at the outside of Uematsu's legs, allowing him the space to crawl back up the cage and shoot for a takedown. On the ground, the veteran Uematsu captured a leg for the Achilles lock finish at 2:26 in the first.
Victoriously stepping from the Shooto ring just a week before into the Cage Force cage as a late replacement, Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures) defeated scrappy Pancrase vet Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures) in their bantamweight fight.
Perhaps ill advisedly, Fujiwara flew at Suzuki from the opening horn. Suzuki shored up excellent defense and grappled back to dominant position for a number of submission attempts throughout the remainder of the bout. Though Fujiwara had a few leg lock attempts of his own, it was the savvier Shooto grappler in Suzuki that surprised with a kimura, forcing the verbal submission from Fujiwara at 4:06 into the second.
In an entertaining back-and-forth bantamweight bout, Yuta Nezu (Pictures) defeated Tomoaki Ueyama by TKO.
Though Nezu brought the heat early with blistering punches and hard low kicks, Ueyama weathered the storm to return with surgical counterpunches and takedowns after some of Nezu's missed onslaughts. The competition appeared neck and neck until Ueyama's ear burst open in the third. With no way to stem the flow of blood, the referee called the bout at 1:48 in the third frame.
Keitaro Maeda (Pictures) defeated a walking heavy bag in Nobuhiro Tsurumaki (Pictures) after three rounds of slamming his fists and elbows into his hapless opponent's head. Tsurumaki had almost no offense outside of a lone takedown in the third period, leading the judges to give the bout 3-0 to Maeda.
There was a fair bit of grappling on the feet for Yuta Nakamura (Pictures) and Shuji Morikawa in their middleweight prelim. Both fighters neutralized each other to a majority draw after three rounds, with one judge giving it to Nakamura.
Hiyoshi Nobutaka barely got a chance to warm up in his featherweight prelim. He connected with a vicious hook to the jaw as opponent Tomoyuki Miyaji attempted to pull him into the clinch, finishing the fight in a meager 11 seconds.
Naoto Mizugaki and Junichi Ota's lightweight prelim came to an unsatisfying end when Mizugaki landed some rapid-fire knees to the groin at 1:54 into the second period, bringing the bout to an unfortunate no contest.
Yasutaka Shimizu grounded and pounded early in the first to get the TKO at 1:15 into his welterweight prelim against Kenji Ikeda.
In the main event, Shooto veteran Mizuto Hirota (Pictures) took on Tomonari Kanomata (Pictures) for the recently vacated Cage Force lightweight title.
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However, Hirota stayed focused and managed to catch a kick to the body for a trip, landing in Kanomata's guard. From there, Hirota proceeded to lay the punches on thick, eventually separating Kanomata from consciousness and earning the Cage Force title in the process.
Antics and the subsequent beating altogether, the bout barely
lasted 1:00 into the first.
In the event's yearlong bantamweight tournament, Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Paul McVeigh (Pictures) took on former Shooto 132-pound champion Masahiro Oishi (Pictures).
McVeigh entered the cage on fire, taking the fight directly to Oishi in the form of heavy overhand hooks and brutal knees. He then dropped Oishi with a right uppercut square to the jaw but failed to capitalize.
On the mat, Oishi rallied and eventually extinguished the Englishman's spark by neutralizing his submission and positional attempts until he gassed. Oishi eventually took a fatigued McVeigh's back and wailed away with punches until the referee stepped in at 3:13 into the second.
In the evening's second bantamweight tourney bout, Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures) and Ryota Uozomi fought a competitive two-round match that ended in bittersweet fashion for both parties.
Although Uozomi appeared to have Nakahara's number on the feet, that didn't stop Nakahara from diving toward his opponent for takedown attempts. From guard Nakahara rained down with brutal elbows to the face.
Thanks to several inexplicable standups by the ref, however, Uozomi had the opportunity to play matador with the oncoming Nakahara. Uozomi would force him to scramble, then rush in to capitalize on the foiled takedown attempts. It was from this position, midway through the second, that Nakahara landed an illegal kick to the face of Uozomi, blinding him with a toe in the left eye. The doctor called the bout after the second round, giving Nakahara the TKO victory.
Yoshihiro Koyama (Pictures) put in a workmanlike performance against Wataru Miki (Pictures) in their lightweight bout. Miki had a few surprises for his opponent early with a flying knee and some stinging kicks, but Koyama barreled through to take Miki to the mat and dominate him on the floor. Getting in sparse fits of ground and pound between controlling Miki in the grappling, Koyama took a hard-earned unanimous decision after three grueling rounds.
By all appearances, James Doolan entered the cage with the intent of chopping down opponent Naoya Uematsu (Pictures) with low kicks. He landed quick, stiff kicks to the inside lead leg in the bout's opening moments. Shortly thereafter, the veteran Uematsu captured the Englishman's back in the clinch before Doolan spun and extricated himself, unleashing a punch that dropped Uematsu to the mat momentarily.
Not closing for the kill, however, Doolan began chopping at the outside of Uematsu's legs, allowing him the space to crawl back up the cage and shoot for a takedown. On the ground, the veteran Uematsu captured a leg for the Achilles lock finish at 2:26 in the first.
Victoriously stepping from the Shooto ring just a week before into the Cage Force cage as a late replacement, Tetsu Suzuki (Pictures) defeated scrappy Pancrase vet Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures) in their bantamweight fight.
Perhaps ill advisedly, Fujiwara flew at Suzuki from the opening horn. Suzuki shored up excellent defense and grappled back to dominant position for a number of submission attempts throughout the remainder of the bout. Though Fujiwara had a few leg lock attempts of his own, it was the savvier Shooto grappler in Suzuki that surprised with a kimura, forcing the verbal submission from Fujiwara at 4:06 into the second.
In an entertaining back-and-forth bantamweight bout, Yuta Nezu (Pictures) defeated Tomoaki Ueyama by TKO.
Though Nezu brought the heat early with blistering punches and hard low kicks, Ueyama weathered the storm to return with surgical counterpunches and takedowns after some of Nezu's missed onslaughts. The competition appeared neck and neck until Ueyama's ear burst open in the third. With no way to stem the flow of blood, the referee called the bout at 1:48 in the third frame.
Keitaro Maeda (Pictures) defeated a walking heavy bag in Nobuhiro Tsurumaki (Pictures) after three rounds of slamming his fists and elbows into his hapless opponent's head. Tsurumaki had almost no offense outside of a lone takedown in the third period, leading the judges to give the bout 3-0 to Maeda.
There was a fair bit of grappling on the feet for Yuta Nakamura (Pictures) and Shuji Morikawa in their middleweight prelim. Both fighters neutralized each other to a majority draw after three rounds, with one judge giving it to Nakamura.
Hiyoshi Nobutaka barely got a chance to warm up in his featherweight prelim. He connected with a vicious hook to the jaw as opponent Tomoyuki Miyaji attempted to pull him into the clinch, finishing the fight in a meager 11 seconds.
Naoto Mizugaki and Junichi Ota's lightweight prelim came to an unsatisfying end when Mizugaki landed some rapid-fire knees to the groin at 1:54 into the second period, bringing the bout to an unfortunate no contest.
Yasutaka Shimizu grounded and pounded early in the first to get the TKO at 1:15 into his welterweight prelim against Kenji Ikeda.
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