Will
01-14-2007, 06:44 PM
Leading Shooto promoter Sustain has managed to turn a negative into a positive in bolstering their line-up for February 17's “Back to our Roots” bill in Yokohama.
On Friday morning inside the head offices of Sustain in Ebisu, Tokyo, Mitsuhiro Ishida handed over the Pacific Rim 154-pound championship title to International Shooto commissioner Noboru Urata. Ishida was due for his mandatory title defense this coming February and had hoped to compete on the February 17 card. However, due to his KO loss to PRIDE 160-pound champion Takanori Gomi on December 31, he will be unable to fulfill his duties as champion, as Shooto rules state that no competitor who has suffered a knockout loss 60 days prior can compete under its sanctioning.
Ishida said that it was his goal to defeat Gomi on New Year's Eve, defend his Pacific Rim title in February afterward, and be able to reign alongside his friend and teammate Tatsuya Kawajiri , who holds the Shooto world championship at 154 pounds.
"I'm sorry, to the Shooto [154-pound] fighters, to the Shooto fans, and to the Shooto commission that I wasn't able to defend, and had to return the title," Ishida lamented.
With the title vacated, Shooto authorities wasted no time in officializing a bout for the vacant title on February 17, exactly one year to the day that Ishida captured it. The third Pacific Rim 154-pound champion will be determined in Yokohama when Takashi Nakakura takes on stand-out prospect and 2005 154-pound rookie champion Mizuto Hirota.
Hirota was previously announced to compete on the February 17 card, and was set to face Kenichiro Togashi. However, with Ishida's vacating of the Pacific Rim title, it gave officials the opportunity to crown a new champion, in a match-up which was previously scheduled to take place; a contest between Hirota and Nakakura was originally set for October 14’s “Champion Carnival” event, but Hirota was forced to withdraw from the bout after breaking a bone in his hand. Now MMA enthusiasts will get to see the bout they had hotly anticipated the last time Shooto hit Pacifico Yokohama.
The match-up between Hirota and Nakakura is not the only once-cancelled duel which has been rescheduled for February 17. In a rematch originally scheduled for November 10's Korakuen Hall card, former 154-pound Pacific Rim champion Koutetsu Boku will make his return against the aforementioned Kenichiro Togashi.
Boku hasn't competed in Shooto since January of 2005, when he defeated Ryan Bow to become the first 154-pound Pacific Rim champion. He was forced to vacate his title in December of 2005 after a knee injury and subsequent rehabilitation sidelined him. Boku is currently riding a win streak spanning six fights over nearly three and a half years, with his last loss coming in June of 2003 to Togashi, where he was submitted via armbar. The initial scheduled date for their rematch was postponed after Boku injured his elbow during training.
"He seems like he is a good striker, but that may only be because he hasn't had an opponent who was a better striker than him, until now," said a smiling Boku. "After this, I want to aim at being world champion, of course. Right now, I just want to win, and rejoice."
Also added to the card was a non-title affair between 143-pound world champion "Lion" Takeshi Inoue, and former world title contender Hiroyuki Abe. "Lion" is coming off of a wholesale destruction of overmatched Swede Navid Yousefi in October, while Abe saw his last Shooto action in May, where he armbarred Hawaii's David Padilla in the first round.
"It isn't important if it's a non-title match or a title match," said the young champion Inoue. "In order to heighten my own abilities, I need to continue to gain the necessary experiences to become an ideal champion."
"He's the current champion, and for that reason, it's an exciting chance I've obtained," said the 36-year-old veteran Abe. "I am looking forward to it."
Credit: Jordan Breen
On Friday morning inside the head offices of Sustain in Ebisu, Tokyo, Mitsuhiro Ishida handed over the Pacific Rim 154-pound championship title to International Shooto commissioner Noboru Urata. Ishida was due for his mandatory title defense this coming February and had hoped to compete on the February 17 card. However, due to his KO loss to PRIDE 160-pound champion Takanori Gomi on December 31, he will be unable to fulfill his duties as champion, as Shooto rules state that no competitor who has suffered a knockout loss 60 days prior can compete under its sanctioning.
Ishida said that it was his goal to defeat Gomi on New Year's Eve, defend his Pacific Rim title in February afterward, and be able to reign alongside his friend and teammate Tatsuya Kawajiri , who holds the Shooto world championship at 154 pounds.
"I'm sorry, to the Shooto [154-pound] fighters, to the Shooto fans, and to the Shooto commission that I wasn't able to defend, and had to return the title," Ishida lamented.
With the title vacated, Shooto authorities wasted no time in officializing a bout for the vacant title on February 17, exactly one year to the day that Ishida captured it. The third Pacific Rim 154-pound champion will be determined in Yokohama when Takashi Nakakura takes on stand-out prospect and 2005 154-pound rookie champion Mizuto Hirota.
Hirota was previously announced to compete on the February 17 card, and was set to face Kenichiro Togashi. However, with Ishida's vacating of the Pacific Rim title, it gave officials the opportunity to crown a new champion, in a match-up which was previously scheduled to take place; a contest between Hirota and Nakakura was originally set for October 14’s “Champion Carnival” event, but Hirota was forced to withdraw from the bout after breaking a bone in his hand. Now MMA enthusiasts will get to see the bout they had hotly anticipated the last time Shooto hit Pacifico Yokohama.
The match-up between Hirota and Nakakura is not the only once-cancelled duel which has been rescheduled for February 17. In a rematch originally scheduled for November 10's Korakuen Hall card, former 154-pound Pacific Rim champion Koutetsu Boku will make his return against the aforementioned Kenichiro Togashi.
Boku hasn't competed in Shooto since January of 2005, when he defeated Ryan Bow to become the first 154-pound Pacific Rim champion. He was forced to vacate his title in December of 2005 after a knee injury and subsequent rehabilitation sidelined him. Boku is currently riding a win streak spanning six fights over nearly three and a half years, with his last loss coming in June of 2003 to Togashi, where he was submitted via armbar. The initial scheduled date for their rematch was postponed after Boku injured his elbow during training.
"He seems like he is a good striker, but that may only be because he hasn't had an opponent who was a better striker than him, until now," said a smiling Boku. "After this, I want to aim at being world champion, of course. Right now, I just want to win, and rejoice."
Also added to the card was a non-title affair between 143-pound world champion "Lion" Takeshi Inoue, and former world title contender Hiroyuki Abe. "Lion" is coming off of a wholesale destruction of overmatched Swede Navid Yousefi in October, while Abe saw his last Shooto action in May, where he armbarred Hawaii's David Padilla in the first round.
"It isn't important if it's a non-title match or a title match," said the young champion Inoue. "In order to heighten my own abilities, I need to continue to gain the necessary experiences to become an ideal champion."
"He's the current champion, and for that reason, it's an exciting chance I've obtained," said the 36-year-old veteran Abe. "I am looking forward to it."
Credit: Jordan Breen