Recently Katsuya Toida, through the media, has been putting forth the argument on how under the official judging criteria of Shooto rules strikers have the advantage but on this day, this grappler engaged in a striking battle against Hatsu Hioki. Toida used his left foot to come forward but Hioki calmly landed a right hook to score a knock down. Hioki who has been emphasizing boxing training described after the fight, "None of his punches hurt me". However Toida insisted on the standing battle but Hioki was one step ahead on every move. In the end of the first Hioki even scored a beautiful take down, and began defeating Toida in his own game. The second round was all Hioki. He used his feet, landed a left jab, right low, left body shot, then scored a second knock down with a right left hook. Still, Toida stood and traded strikes but Hioki was calm. He took Toida to down then got the back, waited for a bit and snapped on an armbar. Hioki exhibited his "Shooto's Son" like skill both standing and on the ground, but when it comes to a title shot, Hioki is cool, "I would do it with the right timing. For now I am only thinking about getting stronger."

Although he is known as a grappler, Katsuya Toida (left) stood against a atriker Hatsu Hioki.

A wrestling match became the turning point of the battle between Masakatsu Ueda and Atsuhi Yamamoto. In the first round, Ueda, with a southpaw stance landed jabs and about little past three minutes into the first round, shot in for a single leg. Yamamoto sprawled out but Ueda quickly went for a leg trip. Yamamoto defended and stepped away. Then about a minute later Ueda again shot in for a single leg and Yamamoto sprawled out then again Ueda went for a leg trip. Yamamoto defends again but this time Ueda pushed it to the corner turned on the back and finally took Yamamoto down. Ueda controlled the second round. Yamamoto first shot in for a take down but Ueda countered with an armbar from the bottom and then successfully reversed the position. From there it was all Ueda. He got the side mount and went for an anaconda choke and dominated till the end of the round. But the third round belonged to Yamamoto. He stood and landed few punches and even though Ueda kept shooting in, Yamamoto sprawled and at the end kept the side mount position even controlling the ground battle.

BJ (bottom) was hoping to establish his place in the 135 lbs division but with two losses in a row at a heavier weight class, he has no choice but to go back to the drawaing board.

The first round was even, the second round was Ueda's and the third round was Yamamoto's. However under Shooto's scoring system the number of takedowns effects the points so Ueda got the win. If this were under Pancrase rules, which Yamamoto is used to, it probably would have been called a draw. With this win, Ueda now has the right to fight for the vacant featherweight (135 lbs) world title against Koetsu Okazaki on the March 28th Shooto show.

This was a second attempt for the bantamweight world champ BJ in the featherweight division but he couldn't overcome the stronghold of So Tazawa. In the first round, Tazawa with a powerful judo throw took BJ to the ground then landed punches from the top. In the second round BJ accidentally kicked Tazawa in the groin, and after the interval, landed a right high kick to the chin and then finally took to the top position but Tazawa rested reversed, landed punches and went for an armbar. At this point it was obvious that Tazawa was way ahead on the judges scoring card. In the third round, BJ landed a solid left straight to the chin but Tazawa closed in, threw BJ to the ground and went for an armbar. BJ didn't tap but when his arm was extended the referee stepped to stop the fight. BJ was complaining to the referee claiming that it wasn't locked in but in that situation a stoppage seemed appropriate.

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Article RE: SHOOTO - 01/26/2008 >>