Miku Matsumoto new DEEP Female champion, DEEP 31 results

DEEP 31 full results, winners in bold:

• Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute) / Dong-Hyun Kim (CMA Korea) (TKO, 3R 4:57)
• Hisae Watanabe (Freelance) / Miku Matsumoto (Club Barbarian) (Judges decision, 0-2) [DEEP Female Lightweight Title match, Miku Matsumoto is the new champion]
• Masakazu Imanari (Team-ROKEN) / Jong-Man Kim (CMA Korea) (Armbar, 1R 3:28)
• Kazunori Yokota (Team Grabaka) / Minoru Tavares Tuchiya (Hard Combat) (Armbar, 1R 3:53) [Anthony McDavitt didn't make weight and was replaced by Minoru Tavares Tuchiya]
• Yoshihiro "Barbaro44" Tomioka (Club Barbarian) / Makoto Ishikawa (PUREBRED Omiya) (TKO, 2R 3:12)
• Ryuichi Murata (Yoshida Dojo) / Sojiro Orui (SK Absolute) (Unanimous draw, 1-0)
• Yuya Shirai (Team M.A.D.) / Kozo Urita (Seiken Kaikan) (Armbar, 1R 2:42)
• Keigo Takamori (Samurai Sword) / Dong-Yi Yang (CMA Korea) (TKO, 1R 1:57)
• Takeshi Yamazaki (Team Grabaka) / Yoshisuke Kitada (Paraestra Chiba) (Judges decision, 2-0)
• Yusuke Kawaguchi (Blue Dog Gym) / Iro Zeki (Freelance) (TKO, 1R 1:06)

Future Fights:

• Takafumi Otsuka (AACC) / Seiji Ozuka (Combat Sports Circle OZ) (Draw)
• Tarou Shimazaki (U-File Camp) / Takao Nakajima (Team Barbosa Japan) (Submission, 1R 1:16)

Read more ...

The Road to the Title: Hisae Watanabe vs Miku

For the second time ever the DEEP female lightweight belt (110 lbs) is on the line at DEEP 31 this Sunday. The first time saw Hisae Watanabe become the first female champion in DEEP history after, at DEEP she KO'ed Satoko Shinashi in the first round for the vacant belt. This time Hisae Watanabe is defending the belt against Miku Matsumoto, a classic striker versus grappler matchup. Miku has been on a three fight winning streak in Club DEEP, while Hisae has one loss and one win in non-title matches.

Here's a collection of bouts, chronicling the two fighters journeys leading up to this title fight.

Hisae Watanabe

• vs Sumie Yamada, Smackgirl, 11/9/2002
• vs Jacqueline Roos, Girls Shock V (kickboxing), 6/27/2004
• vs Izumi Jet, IKUSA GP (kickboxing), 9/19/2005
• vs Mariko "Strawberry 15" Fujimoto, Smackgirl, 2/15/2006
• vs Satoko Shinashi II, DEEP 25 IMPACT, Lightweight title fight, 8/4/2006
• vs Su-Hi Ham, DEEP 28 IMPACT, 2/16/2007
• vs Masako Yoshida, DEEP 29 IMPACT, 4/13/2007

Miku Matsumoto

• vs Hikaru Shinohara, Club DEEP: Barbarian Festival 2, 5/15/2005
• vs Yuki Faratade, DEEP 23 IMPACT, 2/5/2006
• vs Carina Damm II, MARS 4, 8/26/2006
• vs Lisa Ward, Smackgirl, 9/15/2006
• vs Yuki Tanaka (kickboxing), 03/xx/2007
• vs Su-Hi Ham, Club DEEP Toyama, 5/13/2007
• vs Misaki Takimoto II, Club DEEP, 6/16/2007

Read more ...

DEEP 31 card on August 5th finalized

With the addition of the Hidehiko Hasegawa / Dong-Hyun Kim bout, the DEEP 31 IMPACT card on August 5th in now final.

DEEP 31 full card:

• Masakazu Imanari (Team-ROKEN) / Jong-Man Kim (CMA Korea)
• Yoshihiro "Barbaro44" Tomioka (Club Barbarian) / Makoto Ishikawa (PUREBRED Omiya)
• Takeshi Yamazaki (Team Grabaka) / Yoshisuke Kitada (Paraestra Chiba)
• Yusuke Kawaguchi (Blue Dog Gym) / Iro Zeki (Freelance)
• Hisae Watanabe (Freelance) / Miku Matsumoto (Club Barbarian) (DEEP Female Lightweight Title match)
• Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute) / Dong-Hyun Kim (CMA Korea)
• Ryuichi Murata (Yoshida Dojo) / Sojiro Orui (SK Absolute)
• Kazunori Yokota (Team Grabaka) / Anthony McDavitt
• Yuya Shirai (Team M.A.D.) / Kozo Urita (Seiken Kaikan)
• Keigo Takamori (Samurai Sword) / Dong-Yi Yang (CMA Korea)

Future Fights:

• Takafumi Otsuka (AACC) / OZ (Combat Sports Circle OZ)
• Minoru Tavares Tuchiya (Hard Combat) / Toshiaki Saiki (Paraestra Tokyo)
• Tarou Shimazaki (U-File Camp) / Takao Nakajima (Team Barbosa Japan)

Read more ...

DEEP Welterweight champ Hasegawa takes on Dong-Hyun Kim at DEEP 31

But not in a fight for the title, DEEP recently has become famous for matching up their champions with Koreans in non-title fights. This has backfired before though, Su-Hi Ham defeated Hisae Watanabe at DEEP 28, and this maybe another one of those times. Dong-Hyun Kim is coming of a 6 fight winning streak, most recently knocking out his opponent in 11 seconds at CMA Festival 2.

Saeki was quoted saying that a future title fight between the two was dependent on the result of this fight. Being Korean in DEEP you have to work twice as hard.

DEEP 31 IMPACT takes place on August 5th in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo.

Read more ...

CMA Festival 2 results, Minowa victorious in return

The second installment of the DEEP co-promoted CMA Festival 2 event took place today in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo. The event, headlined by Ikuhisa Minowa whom also celebrated his 10th year in MMA, saw Japanese fighters pitted against Koreans out of the CMA Korea camp.

Minowa, outweighed by over 20 pounds, defeated Min-Seok Heo in the main event when the Korean's corner threw in the towel after the first round. Other noteworthy results were PRIDE prospect Dong-Hyun Kim's eleven seconds knockout over Maejima from a left straight, and Su-Hi Ham's decision win over Megumi Yabushita, despite being outweighed by 15 pounds (fight was under kickboxing rules).

Full results, winners in bold:

• Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa (Freelance) / Min-Seok Heo (CMA Korea) (TKO, corner threw in the towel, R1)
  
• Kousei Kubota (Sakaguchi Dojo) / Do-Won Seo (CMA Korea) (Judges decision 3-0)
  
• Megumi Yabushita (Tomoegumi) / Su-Hi Ham (CMA Korea) (kickboxing rules) (Judges decision 0-3)
• Takayo Hashi (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo) / Hi-Jin Ei (CMA Korea) (Judges decision 3-0)
  
• Kazue Matake (Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo) / Yeon-Ju Ei (CMA Korea) (Submission, 4:07 R2)
  
• Ken Hamamura (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Dong-Ho Han (CMA Korea) (TKO, 3:37 R1)
  
• Jyunpei Hamada (Makoto Gym) / Yang-Dong Lee (CMA Korea) (TKO, 3:14 R1)
  
• Naoki Matsushita (MB3z) / Su-Han Han (CMA Korea) (Judges decision 0-3)
• Yoshiyume Chodo (CMA Ikusa Gym) / Yoon Ho (CMA Korea) (Judges decision 2-1)
  
• Takanori Onda / Ji-Hun Kim (CMA Korea) (TKO, 3:36 R1)
  
• Yukiharu Maejima (CMA Ikusa Gym) / Dong-Hyun Kim (CMA Korea) (KO, 0:11 R1)
  
• Hisashi Kudo / Yuhan Quoniam (CMA Korea) (Heel hook, 0:30 R1)
  

Read more ...

DEEP 30 IMPACT Osaka results

Results, winners in bold:

• Jutaro Nakao (Freelance) / Kiuma Kunioku (Freelance) (Draw, 1-1)
  
• Seichi Ikemoto (Freelance) / Han Su Fan (CMA Korea) (Judges decision, 3-0)
  
• Tomoyuki Fukami (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Henrik Kakiuchi (HARD COMBAT) (2R 2:21, Submission)
  
• Takeshi Hamamura (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / YABU (Freelance) (2R 0:57, TKO)
  
• Seigo Mizuguchi (Freelance) / Yusuke Sakashita (PUREBRED Kyoto) (Judges decision, 0-3)
• Motoki Takinishi (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Kenta Nakamura (Zendo Kai Hiroshima) (Judges decision, 3-0)
• Isao Terada (ALLIANCE) / Kousuke Eda (PUREBRED Kyoto) (2R 2:40, KO)
  
• Kitazaki Shizu (Zendo Kai Hiroshima) / Hiroshi "Goodman" Tanaka (KSW Hachijyo Pro Wrestling) (1R 3:19, Submission)
  
• Atsuyuki Shimakawa (PUREBRED Kyoto) / Masahiro Toryu (PANCRASEism) (Draw, 0-0)
  
• Yukinari Tamura (Freelance) / VS Animal (PUREBRED Osaka) (1R 4:36, TKO)
  
• Miura Yasuaki (Zendo Kai Hiroshima) / Kazuhiko Wakita (Seidokaikan) (1R 1:37, Submission)
  
• Takuya Sato（PUREBRED Kyoto) / Arai Hira (Zendo Kai) (Draw)
  
• Taro Kusano (STG Osaka) / Rikiya Kawakami (Pancrase Inagakigumi) (Draw)
  
• Makoto Kamaya (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Nobuhiro Yoshitake (Pancrase Inagakigumi) (Draw)
  
• Souyuu Tanabe (Renshi Juku) / Toru Harai (Mori Dojo) (2R 4:50)
  

Read more ...

Fights announced for DEEP 31 IMPACT and CMA Festival 2

The busiest promotion at the moment in Japan, DEEP, is keeping a hectic schedule and announced fights for their CMA Festival 2 and DEEP 31 IMPACT cards.

DEEP 31 IMPACT
Returning to action is resident leglocker Mazukazu Imanari who faces Korean Kim Jon Man out of CMA Korea.

Also on the card, defending her lightweight title (which in this case is somewhere around 110 lbs), is Hisae Watanabe who puts her belt on the line against Miku Matsumoto. In Hisae's last DEEP appearance she was on the losing end against Su Hi Ham in a non-title bout, Miku later defeated Ham which is probably why she is getting the title shot and not Ham.

CMA Festival 2
Speaking of Su Hi Ham, Ham' fighting Yu Tsumiki at CMA Festival 2. The biggest attraction on that card is the return of Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa who is headlining the card with a fight against Ho Min Soo.

Check out all the announced fights for DEEP 31 IMPACT and CMA Festival 2 after the jump.

CMA Festival 2 full card:

• Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa (Freelance) / Ho Min Soo (CMA Korea)
• Kousei Kubota (Sakaguchi Dojo) / Su Do Won (CMA Korea)
• Yu Tsumiki (CMA Center Japan) / Su Hi Ham (CMA Korea)
• Takayo Hashi / I Heui-Jin (CMA Korea)
• Matake Kazue / I Yeon-Ju (CMA Korea)
• Naoki Matsushita (MB3z) / Kom Don Jon (CMA Korea)
• Jyunpei Hamada / Yan Don (CMA Korea)
• Tsuyoshi Onda Toku / Kim Ji-Hun (CMA Korea)
  
• Ken Hamamura (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Han Don Ho (CMA Korea)
• Yoshiyume Chodo (CMA Ikusa Gym) / Ho Yun (CMA Korea)

DEEP 31 IMPACT announced fights:

• Masakazu Imanari (Team-ROKEN) / Kim Jon Man (CMA Korea)
• Yoshihiro "Barbaro44" Tomioka (Club Barbarian) / Makoto Ishikawa (PUREBRED Omiya)
• Takeshi Yamazaki (Team Grabaka) / Yoshisuke Kitada (Paraestra Chiba)
• Yusuke Kawaguchi (Blue Dog Gym) / Irozeki (Freelance)
• Hisae Watanabe (Freelance) / Miku Matsumoto (Club Barbarian)

Also scheduled to participate:

• Hidehiko Hasegawa (SK Absolute)
• Kazunori Yokota (Team Grabaka)
• Sojiro Orui (SK Absolute)
• Keigo Takamori (Samurai Sword)

CMA Festival 2 is taking place on July 23rd in Kourakuen Hall, Tokyo, and DEEP 31 IMPACT on August 5th in Kourakuen Hall, Tokyo.

Read more ...

DEEP 30th Impact Osaka lineup

The 30th installment of DEEP Impact takes place in Osaka this Sunday, July 8th.

The card:

• Jutaro Nakao (Freelance) / Kiuma Kunioku (Freelance)
• Seichi Ikemoto (Freelance) / Han Su Fan (CMA Korea)
• Tomoyuki Fukami (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Henrik Kakiuchi (HARD COMBAT)
• Takeshi Hamamura (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / YABU (Freelance)
• Seigo Mizuguchi (Freelance) / Yusuke Sakashita (PUREBRED Kyoto)
• Motoki Takinishi (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Kenta Nakamura (Zendo Kai Hiroshima)
• Isao Terada (ALLIANCE) / Kousuke Eda (PUREBRED Kyoto)
• Kitazaki Shizu (Zendo Kai Hiroshima) / Hiroshi "Goodman" Tanaka (KSW Hachijyo Pro Wrestling)
• Atsuyuki Shimakawa (PUREBRED Kyoto) / Masahiro Toryu (PANCRASEism)
• Yukinari Tamura (Freelance) / VS Animal (PUREBRED Osaka)
• Miura Yasuaki (Zendo Kai Hiroshima) / Kazuhiko Wakita (Seidokaikan)
• Takuya Sato（PUREBRED Kyoto) / Arai Hira (Zendo Kai)
• Taro Kusano (STG Osaka) / Rikiya Kawakami (Pancrase Inagakigumi)
• Makoto Kamaya (CMA Kyoto Seikeikan) / Nobuhiro Yoshitake (Pancrase Inagakigumi)
• Souyuu Tanabe (Renshi Juku) / Toru Harai (Mori Dojo)

Read more ...

DEEP in YAMAGATA results, Ryo Chonan victorious in hometown

Winners in bold.

• Ryo Chonan (Team MAD) / So Do Wong (CMA KOREA) (1R 2:58, TKO)
  
• Eiji Ishikawa (GRABAKA) / Yuya Shirai (Team MAD) (Majority decision, 0-2)
  
• Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo Dobuita) / Scott Anderson (Freelance) (Majority draw, 0-1)
• Umeda Kosuke (R-BLOOD) / LUIZ (Zendo Kai) (1R 2:31, KO)
  
• Andrei Watanabe (ALLIANCE) / Carlos Toyota (HARD COMBAT) (1R 3:49, TKO)
  
• Sugiuchi Isami (Team-ROKEN) / Wataru Suyama (HARD COMBAT) (1R 1:39, Armbar)
• Hiroki Saito (Freelance) / Ho Yun (CMA KOREA) (Majority draw, 1-0)
  

Read more ...

Ryo Chonan returns to action in hometown

Ryo Chonan will return to DEEP this weekend following his decision win over Ryuta Sakurai on DEEP 28 in February. The card takes place in Ryo Chonan's town of birth Yamagata and is appropriately named DEEP in YAMAGATA.

Chonan will take on South Korea's So Do Wong, fighting out of CMA KOREA.

DEEP in YAMAGATA, 24th of June 2007, card:

• Ryo Chonan (Team MAD) / So Do Wong (CMA KOREA)
• Eiji Ishikawa (GRABAKA) / Yuya Shirai (Team MAD)
• Hiroki Nagaoka (MMA Dojo Dobuita) / Scott Anderson (Freelance)
• Umeda Kosuke (R-BLOOD) / LUIZ (Zendo Kai)
• Andrei Watanabe (ALLIANCE) / Carlos Toyota (HARD COMBAT)
• Sugiuchi Isami (Team-ROKEN) / Wataru Suyama (HARD COMBAT)
• Hiroki Saito (Freelance) / Ho Yun (CMA KOREA)

Read more ...

Shinya Aoki victorious in DEEP X, Imanari tastes defeat

Results from DEEP's grappling show DEEP X:

• Shinya Aoki submitted Pedro Akira with a rear naked choke, 38 seconds into the first round.
• Bruno Frazzato defeated Masakazu Imanari on points (10-0).
• Hidehiko Hasegawa submitted Max Fernandez with a heel hook, 1:10 minutes into the second round.
• Aiko Usizuka defeated SACHI on points (14-2).
• Antonio Carvalho drew with Takeshi Yamazaki (5-5).
• Mauricio Souza submitted Hiroyuki Abe with a triangle choke, 3:54 minutes into the first round.
• Takuya Kitade defeated RYOTA on points (6-4).
• Sotaro Yamada defeated Marcos Souza on points (6-2).

Read more ...

Aoki to grapple in DEEP X

Turns out Shinya Aoki's announcement wasn't what we where hoping for. Instead as speculated the Paraestra Tokyo fighter will participate in DEEP's grappling show DEEP X.

His opponent will be Brazilian Pedro Akira from BON-SAI Japan JIU-JITSU Team, a rematch from Campeonato Japones 2005 where Aoki quite easily choked Akira out.

Curiously enough this was announced on PRIDE's website and not on DEEP's own page.

Source: PRIDE Official Website

Shinya Aoki against Pedro Akira in Campeonato Japones 2005:

Read more ...

Aoki promises big announcement tomorrow

Japanese Shooto Middleweight champion and PRIDE fighter (not to mention a MMA Annotation favorite) Shinya Aoki wrote on his blog today that where will be a big announcement tomorrow, one where we should keep our attention on him.

The speculation is of course if this has anything to to with Zuffa's new PRIDE. Another possibility (which has been rumored before) is Aoki's participation on DEEP's grappling card DEEP X on the 17th of June.

Read more ...