SHOOTO - 05/18/2012: All Seven Fights Confirmed!

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Sustainannounced one last card for the Shooto show this Friday night at Korakuen Hall.

It’s going to be a catchweight (74 kg) bout between "Gian"Takahiro and Koji Nishioka from team MASTER JAPAN.

Both of them are young but coming off from the loss, and in total, stillstruggling as MMA fighter, and looking to get out of so-called "mediocrerecord".

There is going to be total of seven fights and obviously the two biggest fightsare the two title fights.

Welterweight (155 lbs) title holder, UFC vet, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, is taking ona striker from Nova Uniao Giovani Diniz. Also, featherweight (132 lbs) champKoetsu Okazaki will defend against Hiromasa Ogikubo.

There is also a 170 lbs bout between two veterans. UFC vet K-taro Nakamuraversus another UFC vet Yuki Sasaki. Both fighters experienced "bigstage" in the MMA. Not just UFC but also Sengoku, PRIDE, etc. But now theyare in Shooto fighting for a survival.

This Shooto show has a solid line up but no one is really attracting the fans.Nothing like Rumina Sato in the old days or even Kyoji Horiguchi in the lastKorakuen Hall show. Shooto, as a brand name, still has the power, but the brandname alone is no longer good enough to attract large sales at the gate. Morethan likely this means Shooto need to change but unfortunately we are stillseeing same thing over and over.

Sustain Presents
Professional SHOOTO
Friday, May 18th, 2012
At Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan 
Doors Open - 18:00 / Fight Starts - 19:00

Confirmed Cards (Subject to Change):

The Main Event -SHOOTO World Welterweight Championship Bout 5 min / 3R
KuniyoshiHironaka (Japan/ Master Japan) vs. Giovani Diniz (Japan / Nova Uniao)

6th Match - SHOOTO World Featherweight Championship Bout 5 min / 3R
Koetsu Okazaki (Japan / Nakanoshima MMA Academy) vs. HiromasaOgikubo (Japan / Paraestra Matsudo)

5th Match - Under 77 Kg Bout 5 min / 3R
K-taro Nakamura (Japan / Wajiutsu Keisuh-ka K-taro Dojo) vs. YukiSasaki (Japan / GRABAKA)

4th Match - Lightweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Wataru Miki (Japan / NATURAL 9) vs. Yoshifumi Nakamura (Japan/ Mach Dojo)

3rd Match - Welterweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Koshi Matsumoto (Japan / MASTER JAPAN) vs. Kota Shimoishi (Japan/ MMA Shooto Gym BLOWS)

2nd Match - Under 74 Kg Bout 5 min / 2R
Fumihiko Kawamura (Japan / KRAZY BEE) vs. AKIRA (Japan/ Kugeyama Rascal Gym)

1st Match - Welterweight Bout 5 min / 2R
"Gian"Takahiro (Japan / Paraestra Matsudo) vs. KojiNishioka (Japan / MASTER JAPAN)


Ticket Prices:
SRS - 10,000 yen / SS - 8,000 yen / S - 6,000 yen / A - 5,000 yen 
*500 yen more at the door
**all seats are reserved and anyone over 3-year old must have ticket


Reportby Shu Hirata