TOKYO – Eleven years after opening its doors, the esteemed Grabaka gym tries its hand at promoting with “Grabaka Live 1st Cage Attack”, a co-promotion with Deep held in front of a packed house at Differ Ariake on Saturday night.
2001 88-kg ADCC champion, former King of Pancrase and Grabaka boss Sanae Kikuta put on a dominating display against UFC 23 tournament champion and one-time UFC title challenger Kenichi Yamamoto in the evening’s main event. Kikuta destroying Yamamoto with punches from mount to bring the finish at only 2 minutes, 18 seconds into the first round.
Two former champs made successful returns from long layoffs as former Shooto 115-pound champion and Grabaka striking coach Rambaa “M16” Somdet made a successful comeback from injury, easily besting Ryota Uozumi while former two-division Deep champ Dokonjonosuke Mishima returned from a two-year absence to best Grabaka grappling ace Takeshi Yamazaki by a comfortable unanimous decision.
Also on the card, Sengoku veteran and Grabaka coach Yuki Sasaki snapped a five-fight losing streak, knocking down Hidetaka Monma once in each of the three rounds and controlling the rest of the bout to take an impressive unanimous decision. Two-time Pancrase title contender Kei Yamamiya had his way with Pride veteran Yoshihisa Yamamoto, battering the pro wrestler with straight punches to take a unanimous decision.
In a grappling rules bout, Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa was overpowered and surprising outgrappled by comedian Bobby Ologun, finally giving up mount just as the bell rang to signify the end of the bout. With no judges, the bout was ruled a draw.
Grabaka Live 1st Cage Attack – October 15, 2011 at Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan
Sanae Kikuta def. Kenichi Yamamoto by TKO (Punches) – Round 1, 2.18
Yuki Sasaki def. Hidetaka Monma by Unanimous Decision
Dokonjonosuke Mishima def. Takeshi Yamazaki by Unanimous Decision
Kei Yamamiya def. Yoshihisa Yamamoto by Unanimous Decision
Rambaa “M16” Somdet def. Ryota Uozumi by Unanimous Decision
Ryuki Ueyama def. Yutaka Ueda by Unanimous Decision
Tomoaki Ueyama def. Shigeyuki Uchiyama by Unanimous Decision