Delameau Stops Milano; Shooto Crowns 2008 Rookie Champs
Tony Loiseleur Dec 13, 2008
TOKYO -- Shooto’s 2008 rookie tournament culminated Saturday at
Tokyo’s combat sports nightclub of choice, Shinjuku FACE.
In the main event, Guy Delameau pounded out Paolo Milano for the TKO in the evening’s only non-tournament bout. Milano’s grappling prowess gave way to Delameau’s forward momentum, as the Hawaiian transplant relentlessly pressed for takedowns and Delameau dropped as many punches as he could on the grounded Milano.
Milano covered up and attempted to control Delameau’s hands to stem
the tide. He was successful only when he managed to lock him down
with the rubber guard, prompting the ref to break them during the
last 10 seconds. Milano launched forward with a flying knee and a
hook, stunning Delameau before sinking a tight, hook-less
rear-naked choke for the last-minute catch.
With his first-round advantage nullified by the catch point deduction, Delameau stepped up the pace to finish the fight strong. Barreling in for the takedown, he stood up in Milano’s guard and bludgeoned him with punches and hammerfists. After 4:09 of punishing Milano, referee Toshiharu Suzuki stepped in to save the bloodied Italian, awarding Delameau the TKO victory.
Initially, things looked excellent for Ito, who lit Yamagami up on the feet between taking him down with explosive double legs. Apparently unbothered by consistently landing headfirst into guillotine chokes, Ito grew confident in his escaping ability and shot in with reckless abandon to pound on Yamagami from guard.
As such, Ito soundly took the first round, and he was looking to replicate his performance in the second. Yamagami caught the guillotine off another reckless Ito takedown attempt, however, and though Ito could have dumped Yamagami out of the ring in defense, he opted against it, sealing his own fate as Yamagami sunk the choke deeper and forced the tap at 2:15.
Issei Tamura took a solid decision over “Chokugeki Gamon” Naohiro Mizuno to capture the 143-pound rookie tournament championship. Not only did Tamura put Mizuno on his back and threaten with an armbar in the first, he also planted a solid right straight on Mizuno’s nose to get the knockdown in the second period. With nothing left to lose, Mizuno looked for the knockout punch in the final minutes of the fight, but Tamura ducked under most of the strikes to counter with stiff jabs. All three judges ruled for Tamura (20-18, 20-17, 20-17).
In the 132-pound rookie tournament final, Kosuke “Jukucho” Eda and Yoshihiro “Kagero” Oyama fought a tactical standup battle for three minutes before Eda locked up the rear-naked choke finish. After stinging each other with punches and kicks but doing little damage, Eda tauntingly tiptoed around Oyama with his lead hand down. Oyama fell right into Eda’s trap, responding with a big spinning heel kick, which Eda ducked under. Jumping onto Oyama’s back immediately after, Eda deftly sunk the choke for the tap at 3:02 of the first.
The 183-pound tournament final had barely begun before Makoto “Chomolangma 1/2” Maeda’s hand was raised. Sparking Takaaki Oban with a big right hook, Maeda immediately put “C-Boy” down for the knockdown. Attached to Maeda’s leg in survival mode, it was clear that Oban was on autopilot. Oban answered the count, but Maeda was hip to his opponent’s state and immediately planted the finishing punch right on Oban for the TKO victory at 34 seconds in the first period.
Fumihiro Kitahara not only put a grappling clinic on Kentaro Watanabe, he also grinded him out with heavy punches to capture a dominant decision. Watanabe’s recklessness in the standup made it easy for Kitahara to evade and take him to the canvas. Kitahara then steadily made his way to the mount, where he hipped-down and planted hard hooks and hammerfists on Watanabe’s face. The damage piled up such that by the end of the fight, when Kitahara attempted to help Watanabe to his feet, the dazed Watanabe was unable to stand without his corner jumping in to help. Kitahara took a dominant 20-17 decision on all cards.
In the 167-pound tournament final, Takuya Sato bested Takesuke Kume in an extension round after both fighters drew 19-19 scores after two periods. The first round went to the southpaw Sato, who punished Kume on the feet, while Kume stepped up the pace to work a top-heavy grappling game to steal the second. Kume could not keep it up in the third, though, as Sato reversed Kume’s takedowns to drop punches from a dominant position. All three judges ruled 10-9 for Sato in the extra round, awarding him the unanimous decision.
In the 154-pound tournament final, Ikuo Usuda outwrestled Yukinari “Hibiki” Tamura for the decision. Taking dominant positions in guard and mount, Usuda attempted to grind out his opponent with short punches. While Tamura kept Usuda from doing much damage, his position on the bottom throughout the fight didn’t help. Thus, all three judges ruled for Usuda (20-18, 20-18, 20-19).
Closing out the evening, all of the rookie tournament winners were recognized and given trophies in the ring, while individual honors were bestowed upon Ikuo Usuda, Mikitoshi Yamagami and Issei Tamura for technical ability, fighting spirit and the 2008 rookie MVP, respectively.
In the main event, Guy Delameau pounded out Paolo Milano for the TKO in the evening’s only non-tournament bout. Milano’s grappling prowess gave way to Delameau’s forward momentum, as the Hawaiian transplant relentlessly pressed for takedowns and Delameau dropped as many punches as he could on the grounded Milano.
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With his first-round advantage nullified by the catch point deduction, Delameau stepped up the pace to finish the fight strong. Barreling in for the takedown, he stood up in Milano’s guard and bludgeoned him with punches and hammerfists. After 4:09 of punishing Milano, referee Toshiharu Suzuki stepped in to save the bloodied Italian, awarding Delameau the TKO victory.
In the 115-pound rookie final, Mikitoshi
Yamagami submitted Junji Ito to
raucous approval in the fight of the night.
Initially, things looked excellent for Ito, who lit Yamagami up on the feet between taking him down with explosive double legs. Apparently unbothered by consistently landing headfirst into guillotine chokes, Ito grew confident in his escaping ability and shot in with reckless abandon to pound on Yamagami from guard.
As such, Ito soundly took the first round, and he was looking to replicate his performance in the second. Yamagami caught the guillotine off another reckless Ito takedown attempt, however, and though Ito could have dumped Yamagami out of the ring in defense, he opted against it, sealing his own fate as Yamagami sunk the choke deeper and forced the tap at 2:15.
Issei Tamura took a solid decision over “Chokugeki Gamon” Naohiro Mizuno to capture the 143-pound rookie tournament championship. Not only did Tamura put Mizuno on his back and threaten with an armbar in the first, he also planted a solid right straight on Mizuno’s nose to get the knockdown in the second period. With nothing left to lose, Mizuno looked for the knockout punch in the final minutes of the fight, but Tamura ducked under most of the strikes to counter with stiff jabs. All three judges ruled for Tamura (20-18, 20-17, 20-17).
In the 132-pound rookie tournament final, Kosuke “Jukucho” Eda and Yoshihiro “Kagero” Oyama fought a tactical standup battle for three minutes before Eda locked up the rear-naked choke finish. After stinging each other with punches and kicks but doing little damage, Eda tauntingly tiptoed around Oyama with his lead hand down. Oyama fell right into Eda’s trap, responding with a big spinning heel kick, which Eda ducked under. Jumping onto Oyama’s back immediately after, Eda deftly sunk the choke for the tap at 3:02 of the first.
The 183-pound tournament final had barely begun before Makoto “Chomolangma 1/2” Maeda’s hand was raised. Sparking Takaaki Oban with a big right hook, Maeda immediately put “C-Boy” down for the knockdown. Attached to Maeda’s leg in survival mode, it was clear that Oban was on autopilot. Oban answered the count, but Maeda was hip to his opponent’s state and immediately planted the finishing punch right on Oban for the TKO victory at 34 seconds in the first period.
Fumihiro Kitahara not only put a grappling clinic on Kentaro Watanabe, he also grinded him out with heavy punches to capture a dominant decision. Watanabe’s recklessness in the standup made it easy for Kitahara to evade and take him to the canvas. Kitahara then steadily made his way to the mount, where he hipped-down and planted hard hooks and hammerfists on Watanabe’s face. The damage piled up such that by the end of the fight, when Kitahara attempted to help Watanabe to his feet, the dazed Watanabe was unable to stand without his corner jumping in to help. Kitahara took a dominant 20-17 decision on all cards.
In the 167-pound tournament final, Takuya Sato bested Takesuke Kume in an extension round after both fighters drew 19-19 scores after two periods. The first round went to the southpaw Sato, who punished Kume on the feet, while Kume stepped up the pace to work a top-heavy grappling game to steal the second. Kume could not keep it up in the third, though, as Sato reversed Kume’s takedowns to drop punches from a dominant position. All three judges ruled 10-9 for Sato in the extra round, awarding him the unanimous decision.
In the 154-pound tournament final, Ikuo Usuda outwrestled Yukinari “Hibiki” Tamura for the decision. Taking dominant positions in guard and mount, Usuda attempted to grind out his opponent with short punches. While Tamura kept Usuda from doing much damage, his position on the bottom throughout the fight didn’t help. Thus, all three judges ruled for Usuda (20-18, 20-18, 20-19).
Closing out the evening, all of the rookie tournament winners were recognized and given trophies in the ring, while individual honors were bestowed upon Ikuo Usuda, Mikitoshi Yamagami and Issei Tamura for technical ability, fighting spirit and the 2008 rookie MVP, respectively.
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