The Main Event of Cage Force February 11th show is going to be a featherweight tournament first round bout between Wicky Akiyo and Jong Man Kim from Korea. One of top fighters from Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai Hidetaka Monma will take on Lee Yonghung from Korea. Also, two fighters from BTT France Johnny Frachey and Norman Paraisy are also added to the card. Frachey will face Mizuto Hirota in the lightweight bout and Paraisy is fighting Hiroki Ozaki from Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai.

Featherweight Tournament Begins! - Jan. 18th, 2008

At the press conference held on January 16th in Tokyo, Cage Force announced, in 2008, the promotion is hosting two more eight-man tournaments this time in the featherweight (145) and the bantamweight (135) categories. The featherweight tournament would begin at the February 11th show and the bantamweight would start in the April 5th show. Semi-finals of both tournaments would take place in the June 22nd show and the final is planned for September. Last year, Cage Force held lightweight and welterweight tournaments, and the winner of the welterweight Yoshiyuki "Zenko" Yoshida nailed a multi-fight deal with the UFC so maybe this year, Cage Force is looking to recommend the winner of this tournament perhaps to the WEC? Well, GCM Communications never mentioned WEC at the press conference but the main purpose of these tournaments remains the same, to produce a Japanese fighter who can win against the world-class fighters, in the Octagon.

GRABAKA veteran Takeshi Yamazaki (left) will take on a winner of Power Gate Kaiser GP Daikai Ozaki in the first round of the Cage Force featherweight tournament.

A veteran from GRABAKA, Takeshi Yamazaki, is taking on an up and coming youngster Daikai Ozaki of Shooto Jam Water in the first round of the featherweight tournament. For Yamazaki, this is the first cage fight since he fought in the very first D.O.G. show the previous incarnation of Cage Force, and that was back in March 2005. At the time Yamazaki thought, "The cage is suitable for my style" but after the show it was changed to Cage Force, elbow strikes to the head were added, and after watching many fighters end up on the bottom ultimately losing the fight, Yamazaki felt, "It may be a disadvantage to my style" which is to execute the submission moves from the bottom. However, his GRABAKA senpai Akihiro Gono, before making his UFC debut, told Yamazaki to "Just think about utilizing your skill don't think anything special about it". Then Gono went on to score a win in the UFC, and Yamazaki decided to stick with his same style even in the cage.

His opponent, Daikai Ozaki, is a product from Power Gate; a local show which is taking place in the Kansai area of Japan. He was the winner of the Kaiser Grand Prix at 65 kg. (145 lbs) Under the Power Gate rules fighters are not allowed to strike to the head on the ground, and also, closed guard is prohibited therefore this is going to be Ozaki's first full MMA rules bout since Power Gate uses a hexagonal shaped ring, he maybe able to adjust well to the Octagon.

The other first round bout is going to be between Wicky Akiyo and Kim Jong Man from Korea. Wicky won a rookie award in Shooto back in 2006 and this is going to be his first Cage Force appearance and he is going to face a very tough fighter form Korea. Jong Man may not be known at this point but last year, he defeated Hatsu Hioki, the TKO champion, and took the King of Pancrase and a fighter making WEC debut next month Yoshiro Maeda to a draw.

Two other first round bouts - Adrian Pang vs. Armando Sanchez and Yuji Hoshino vs. Antonio Carvalho - will be held in the Cage Force April 15th show.

'EX Show to Kick Off the Year 2008!'- January 11th, 2008

Cage Force announced its schedule for the first half of the year 2008. Their first show is going to be on February 11th, followed by April 5th, and June 22nd. All of these shows will be held at Differ Ariake.

GCM Communication 'CAGE FORCE EX - eastern bound-'
Monday, February 11, 2008
At Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan
Doors Open - 16:00
Fight Starts - 17:00

Confirmed Cards (Subject to Change):

Cage Force Featherweight Tournament First Round 5 min / 3R
Wicky Akiyo (Japan / Shooting Gym Yokohama) vs. Kim Jong Man (Korea / CMA Korea KTT)

Cage Force Featherweight Tournament First Round 5 min / 3R
Takeshi Yamazaki (Japan / GRABAKA) vs. Daikai Ozaki (Japan / SHOOTO JAM WATER)

Welterweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Hidetaka Monma (Japan / Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai A-3) vs. Lee Yonghung (Korea / CMA Korea KTT)

Lightweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Mizuto Hirota (Japan / Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai GODS) vs. Johnny Frachey (Japan / BTT France)

Lightweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Yoshihiro Kojima (Japan / Paraestra Matsudo) vs. Isamu Sugiuchi (Japan / Team ROKEN)

Welterweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Tetsuo Seto (Japan / Kyokushin Kaikan) vs. Toshinari Takashima (Japan / Kakutou Group BRAVE)

Middleweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Hiroki Ozaki (Japan / Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai) vs. Norman Paraisy (France / BTT France)

Bantamweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Taiyo Nakahara (Japan / Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai GODS) vs. Motonobu Tezuka (Japan / MMA Dojo Cobra-kai)

Ticket Prices:
SRS - 10,000 yen
RS - 8,000 yen
S - 6,000 yen
A - 4,000 yen
*500 yen more at the door.

For more info. - please call GCM office at (03) 3538-5801