SHOOTO World Welterweight Championship
5 minutes / 3 rounds
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Winner: Kawajiri by TKO (punches on the ground) at 3 minutes 11 seconds into the 2nd round.

The first round begins with Shaolin and Kawajiri locking up. They throw a few knees until the referee breaks them apart. Shaolin quickly shoots in for the takedown. Kawajiri holds on but Shaolin immediately goes around to his back, trying to bring the fight to the ground. Kawajiri still refuses to go down. The incredible balance he showed in his fight against Caol Uno once again allows him to keep himself standing. But it wasn't just his balance; it was also very apparent that he'd studied Shaolin's game quite carefully. Kawajiri keeps the fight in the standing position, and when they return to facing each other he lands a solid knee to Shaolin's face. Afterward, as he looked back on the fight, Kawajiri himself said he felt the shot hit right on the mark. Right after the blow Shaolin winces and falls back for a moment. Kawajiri starts to get his rhythm as the two fighters go into the second round.

Shaolin spent too much energy trying to take Kawajiri to the ground. In this fight Shaolin was uncharacteristically one-dimensional.

Right from the beginning of the second round Kawajiri takes control of the match with his superior striking. Shaolin now seems a little desperate and moves forward carelessly, walking right into a hard straight from Kawajiri's right hand. Shaolin wobbles and falls back to the ropes as Kawajiri chases him with a barrage of strikes, managing to connect with a left hook and successfully scoring a knock down. The crowd erupts from the turnaround in the fight.
Kawajiri continues to pressure his opponent with punches. Shaolin has obviously not fully recovered from the knockdown, and makes a forced attempt at a shoot. But Kawajiri easily defends with a sprawl, taking the top position as he bullies Shaolin to the ground. Shaolin quickly goes to the half-guard and tries to defend, but Kawajiri unleashes a rain of punches. Shaolin turns away, trying desperately to survive. The crowd roars, "Oi! Oi!" (Go!Go!) as Kawajiri continues grinding his opponent with a devastating flurry of strikes. Shaolin, knocked senseless, stops moving and the referee jumps in to stop the fight.
Uno, Gomi, Hansen, Shaolin. Kawajiri succeeds these world-renown fighters by capturing the belt held by each of them at one time. Kawajiri is filled with joy, but also can’t manage to conceal his own surprise at his great achievement.
After the fight he said, "Can I ask you guys, are you sure this isn't a dream? Mach Sakurai-san said 'I won because of all of your support' but, I really believe that in terms of strikes, throws, and submissions, Shooto is the best. We are better than Jiu-jitsu!"

Kawajiri dominated the standing bout. Shaolin never really regrouped after his knock down.

In addition to this, Kawajiri also said back-stage, "If promoters allows me to do it, I would love to be able to fight in a different ring to show how great and tough Shooto is and to bring more fans to places like Korakuen (Hall) or Yoyogi (Gymnasium). I believe my mission is to make the general public recognize Shooto."
While Kawajiri didn't mention specifics, a different ring to make the "general public recognize Shooto" would have to be either PRIDE Bushido or K-1 ROMANEX. On the day of the fight there were bouquets from DSE President Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Executive Director Hiroyuki Kato on display at the entrance. From this I'd assume that PRIDE is one step ahead in the battle to capture Kawajiri.

At this 15th Year Anniversary event, they played footage illustrating the history and evolution of Shooto from its early beginnings up until the present day. The footage included the founder Satoru Sayama, then pictures of Enson Inoue, Caol Uno, Mach, Gomi, and ended with one of KID Yamamoto. The only famous fighter left in Shooto now is Rumina Sato. It was ironic but I was reminded that the history of Shooto is also a history of fighters defecting to other organizations.
But in 2004 there was a new dawn for the Shooto. Uno returned to his original home. Jutaro Nakao and Ryuta Sakurai in DEEP, and Takumi in KOTC all managed to capture championship belts. A fighter like Taiyou Nakahara who had no previous experience in amateur Shooto chose Shooto's lightweight class as his battlefield, with the Shooto commission reorganizing its system to accommodate him.

Kawajiri after the fight expressed his desire to fight outside Shooto to prove Shooto’s superiority in MMA.

In 2005, Kawajiri will take Shooto World Welterweight title with him as he ventures outside the organization to seek new challenges and to prove that it is the world's best, most prestigious title for the 70 kilo weight class. I feel Shooto's countercharge has finally begun.

Kawajiri's Comments:
I knew Shaolin was not the best at striking, so I concentrated on three points in my strategy: the left low kick, right upper cut, and side to side movement. I believe my focus was right on the money. When I fought him before I felt he was very strong. But this time he was rushing to take me down. I just let him try and I felt he ran out of stamina as the fight progressed. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai is my inspiration and I always think about the things he teaches me. Today in the ring I was able to show it.

SHOOTO World Middleweight Championship
5 minutes / 3 rounds
Jake Shields vs. Akira Kikuchi
Winner: Kikuchi by unanimous decision (3-0)

At the end of first round Kikuchi ducks under Shields' punches and successfully takes him to the mat. Kikuchi spins around to take Shields’ back and drops a furious volley of punches. In the second round Kikuchi continued to control the pace by getting Shields’ back, and not allowing him an opportunity to attack. The stadium fans began chanting Kikuchi’s name, with the energy of the crowd pushing Kikuchi even further.

The night belonged to Kikuchi. He was more aggressive and most importantly, he was determined to not loose against the same opponent twice.

Midway through the third round Kikuchi starts to bleed from his nose. But it seems that he bleeds from his nose a lot during his fights. Looking back after the fight, Kikuchi made light of the nosebleed by saying, "I think I was feeling dizzy from the stage lighting." There was no damage from Shield's strikes. On the contrary it seemed the blood revved up Kikuchi for a second wind.
For a few moments Shields manages to get the top position but isn't able to pass Kikuchi's guard. With just about a minute left in the fight, Kikuchi catches Shields with a solid right straight and follows with a devastating blast of punches. When Shield finally hits the ground, Kikuchi unleashes a crazy explosion of punches from the mount position. The crowd went nuts as everyone knew Kikuchi had clinched the victory and had gotten revenge for his last loss to Shields.
Kikuchi has finally completed his quest to avenge the only loss on his otherwise unblemished career. At the interview booth Kikuchi played up his comic character – absolutely opposite from his demeanor in the ring. He even said, "I stopped drinking for ten days so I really want to party tonight." As drinking after a fight is taboo for a competitor in MMA matches with strikes to the head, he made everyone around him a bit nervous.

Kikuchi with other members of the K'z Factory gym. The older member of the club Rumina Sato (front, far right) also celebrated his accomplishment.