Tag: Taiki+Tsuchiya

Shooto Restarts MMA in Tokyo Following Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

Filed under: IFL, JapanTOKYO – It had only half the fights of the originally planned event, was in a smaller venue, was sparsely attended and carried a somber mood, but MMA finally restarted in Tokyo on Friday night with Shooto: Shootor’s Legacy 02 at …

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TOKYO – It had only half the fights of the originally planned event, was in a smaller venue, was sparsely attended and carried a somber mood, but MMA finally restarted in Tokyo on Friday night with Shooto: Shootor’s Legacy 02 at Shinjuku FACE.

Shooto’s second major event for the year was originally scheduled for March 12, the day after the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami battered North East Japan, taking the lives of over 10,000 people with many more still missing and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

With fears of a nuclear meltdown still looming, MMA returning to Tokyo was a welcome distraction and a testament to Japan’s ability to rally and continue on with life despite significant hardship.

Yoshihiro Koyama Claims Shooto Pacific Rim Title

Filed under: Results, JapanIt took less than two minutes for Yoshihiro Koyama to bring an an end to a two fight losing streak and seize the Shooto Pacific Rim 154-pound Belt at Shooto: Shootor’s Legacy 1 at Korakuen Hall on Monday. Shinji Sasaki was br…

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It took less than two minutes for Yoshihiro Koyama to bring an an end to a two fight losing streak and seize the Shooto Pacific Rim 154-pound Belt at Shooto: Shootor’s Legacy 1 at Korakuen Hall on Monday. Shinji Sasaki was bringing all the moment into the title bout but a left hook only one minute in dropped the grappler and from there Koyama pounded to bring the quick referee stoppage TKO. Stakes were high for the Paraestra Matsudo product fighting under the hugely successful Team Kurofune banner as Koyama revealed post fight that if he would have lost the bout, he may have retired.

Current 143-pound Shooto Pacific Rim Champ Taiki Tsuchiya, former 154-pound Pacific Rim Champs Yusuke Endo and Kotetsu Boku and former 132-pound Shooto World Champ Masakatsu Ueda also all picked up impressive victories over Tony Hervey, Daisuke Sugie, Yukinari Tamura and Ralph Acosta respectively.

Somdet, Tsuchiya, Okazaki Retain Titles at The Way of Shooto 4

Filed under: News, JapanShooto World 115-pound champion Rambaa “M-16” Somdet, Pacific Rim 143-pound champion Taiki Tsuchiya and Pacific Rim 132-pound champion Koetsu Okazaki were all successful in their title defenses at The Way of Shooto 4 at Korakuen…

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Shooto World 115-pound champion Rambaa “M-16” Somdet, Pacific Rim 143-pound champion Taiki Tsuchiya and Pacific Rim 132-pound champion Koetsu Okazaki were all successful in their title defenses at The Way of Shooto 4 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Monday.

While Tsuchiya and Okazaki were able put on solid but not dominating performances to secure decisions and defend their belts, Rambaa “M-1” Somdet was actually losing the first round of his bout with Hiroyuki Abe until the challenger caught a shot in the eye which caused it to swell completely shut, ending the bout.

Full results and a breakdown of the fights below.