Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, Sengoku, interview, Japan
Yasubey Enomoto promised some “ninja stuff” going into his bout with Kenta Takagi at Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 and he certainly delivered that.
In the second stanza of their Welterweight GP match, Enomoto threw a left straight at the same precise moment that Takagi attempted to deliver a spinning backfist. Seeing an opportunity, Enomoto converted the strike into a bulldog choke to instantly end the trash-talking Takagi’s night.
“Of course, I’ve never practiced anything like that. I wanted to go for a rear-naked but when heard him making choking noises so I just went for the schoolyard choke. I wanted I knock him out. I don’t like when people say stuff like ‘I’m going to send him to hospital’ and this kind of thing. That is not sport. When I got the choke I was thinking, ‘Ah, should I let him go and try to knock him out?’ but I decided not to.”
With his impressive victory, Enomoto advances to the second round of the Welterweight GP where he will face Taisuke Okuno, who upset Nick Thompson with stunning KO.