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Text by Yoshiori IHARA
Photography by Yoshiori IHARA

SHOOTO - 09/08/2006: 'Mamoru Looking For A Worthy Opponent? And More!'

Mamoru vs. Erikas Suslovas
Suslovas is only nineteen years old so there is a ten-year difference between him and Shooto's bantamweight world champion Mamoru. But the age was not the only difference in this fight. Experience, power, speed, technique, in every attributes, Mamoru was far better than Suslovas. This fight was like an man toying with a child.
Suslovas closes in but Mamoru calmy pushes him away. Suslovas still comes forward with punches but because of Mamoru's pressure, his punches are not sharp and he is just swinging. Then Mamoru's kick to the mid section catches the target. Suslovas goes down, Mamoru
follows it with punches and it is all over.
Mamoru shares his thoughts after the fight, "I am relieved. Honestly he was not a 'worthy opponent' but this was a good experience. He closed in for a clinch in the beginning, that was unexpected. I didn't want to injure him for nothing so I finished it fast. It was a first time for me fighting a young fighter, so I though he was going to come at me in the beginning but he didn't. I wanted to just take a good look at him and not putting too much power, I wanted to nail the punch. I also wanted to land a knee shot. If I don't get injured or don't sustain too many damages, I want to continue fighting. I want to establish the defending record in Shooto. At the end, I would like to surpass (Yoko) Gushiken in boxing, 13 title defense, so I would like to defend 14 times, see, I am ambitious, I want people to call me, pound for pound best in the world. Yes, I am fighting in the October show, and it is supposed to be a title fight but there is no opponent yet. BJ? Well, I fought him once but it was a draw so there are people out there who would like to see us settling the score."

BJ taught a youngster a lesson with this rear naked choke.

Shikou Yamashita vs. Grazhuydas Smailis
From the beginning, Smailis kept grabbing the ropes avoiding Yamashita's take down attempts. Then Yamashita changes his strategy, jumping guard, pulling Smailis to the ground, then reversing the position. Yamashita gets on top but Samailis quickly escapes standing right back up. In the standing position, Yamashita is target practice. Samailis lands punch after punch, and Yamamoto starts bleed, and by the end of the first round, the doctor has to check Yamashita's cut. In the second round, Yamashita keeps shooting in but Smailis continuously engages in grabbing the ropes refusing to go down, so finally the referee announces a DQ.
Yamashita was apologetic after the fight, "I am sorry, I just want to disappear. My plan was to take him down and finish it quickly but he didn't go down so I was feeling the heat out there. At first I didn't realize (about grabbing the rope) so I was wondering, why he was not going down? So I was feeling really pressed. I never thought that the match would be over because of repeated illegal moves. I think the fans saw the light-heavyweights in Shooto as top level competition, but I couldn't show my strength."

BJ vs, Yusei Shimokawa
Shimokawa was the winner of last year's rookie tournament. Also, in May of this year, he just defeated a world ranked fighter so Shimokawa is definitely on a hot streak. His opponent, BJ, however, sits on the third spot in the world ranking, with substantially more experience. Can Shimokawa cause a revolution in Shooto's bantamweight division? The fans were looking at this match as the important card that would divine the future of the bantamweights.
Shimokawa is red hot from the beginning. He steps in with a sharp left straight, getting the takedown, quickly moving to the mount position, then he gets around the back and goes for a rear naked choke. The crowd is going wild with Shimokawa's quick offense. But BJ stays calm. Standing up, with Shimokawa on his back, walking towards his corner. Shimokawa, with his own corner to his back throws wild punches to the face. But BJ never loses his composure. When Shimokawa's leg eventually loosens, BJ quickly turns around, bringing Shimokawa down and takes the top. In the second round, BJ executes a throw, taking the back mount, slowly but surely tightening his elbow around Shimokawa's neck. Shimokawa, in the end, took a harsh lessons from a world ranked fighter in Shooto, BJ expressed his desire to get the title, "At the beginning, he came in well, so I looked poor. But I wanted to let him take a shot at me, just to prove the difference between a 2004 rookie of the year and a 2005 rookie of the year. In the last fight, I drew against the champion so I had to win here otherwise I can't face Mamoru and the other ranked fighters. I don't think Shimokawa is weak. Its just the matter of a difference in experience and the amount of training. I just want to be champion as soon as possible, I would like to get a chance of fighting first ranked (Masatoshi) Abe and get a right to challenge the champion."

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