DEEP NAGOYA - 07/22/2012: DEEP Flyweight Tourney Finals

A black belt in BJJ, Akira Kibe, is the favorite to win DEEP flyweight tournament. He is a veteran with 26 fights under his belt and if he wins this tournament then its going to be his first title in his 11-year pro MMA career.An eight-man tournament began back in March will conclude next month in Nagoya, and DEEP is going to crown its inaugural flyweight champion.

On Tuesday, DEEP revealed fight cards for the Nagoya show in July.

There is going to be tourney semi-final bouts and final bout in one night, and the match-ups of the semi-finals will be decided by a blind draw on the day of the fight. Therefore, all four fighters left in the tourney - Akira Kibe, Takeshi Kasaugai, Naoyki Kato, and Tomoki Motoya - must be prepared to face any of the other three fighters on July 22nd.

Both semi and final will be two five-minute rounds bout and judges must call the winner on these fights.

A heavy favorite to win this tournament is Akira Kibe from team Splash. He is a black belt in BJJ and currently on a six-fight winning streak. However other three fighters can be dangerous. Kasugai is young, currently on a four-fight winning streak, and both Motoya and Kato are experienced strikers. So any of these four could win the belt.

DEEP also announced two other MMA bouts and one kick boxing bout for this show.

In a lightweight bout, a hometown boy, Naoki Matsuhita from Nagoya, will take on Yusuke Kakuta from Gifu, which is a prefecture next to Nagoya. Two local fighters will collide in a bantamweight bout and its going to be Katsuya Ishida from team NEX against Hiroyuki Tsuzuki from Grappling Shoot Boxers. A kick boxing rules bout is a match between two big men, at under 100 kg contract, and this is between two local fighters as well - Toshihiro Furusawa vs Koji Takano.

Nex Sports Presents
DEEP NAGOYA IMPACT 2012 Koubudo Fight
Sunday, July 22nd, 2012 at Zepp Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Doors Open - 14:00 / Fight Starts - 15:00

Confirmed Cards (Subject to Change):

DEEP Inaugural Flyweight Championship Tournament - Semi Final Bout 5 min / 2R
Akira Kibe (Japan / Splash) 
Takeshi Kasugai (Japan / Grappling Shoot Boxers) 
Naoyuki Kato (Japan / Splash) 
Tomoki Motoya (CB Impact) 
*match-ups will be decided by a blind draw on day of the fight.

DEEP Inaugural Flyweight Championship Tournament - Final Bout 5 min / 2R
Winner of Semi Final 1 vs Winner of Semi Final 2

DEEP Inaugural Flyweight Championship Tournament - Reserve Bout 5 min / 2R
TBA

DEEP Rules Lightweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Naoki Matsushita (Japan / MB3'z) vs Yusuke Kakuta (Japan / Paraestra Gifu)

DEEP Rules Bantamweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Katsuya Ishida (Japan / NEX) vs Hiroyuki Tsuzuki (Japan / Grappling Shoot Boxers)

DEEP Kick Boxing Rules Under 100 Kg Bout 2 min / 2R
Toshihiro Furusawa (Japan / Grappling Shoot Boxers) vs Koji Takano (Japan / NEX)

Also Scheduled to Fight:
Takahiro Kajita (Japan / Grappling Shoot Boxers) 
Yudai Ishida (Japan / Grappling Shoot Boxers) 
Akito Sakimura (Japan / Grappling Shoot Boxers) 
Takeshi Matsuhita (MB3z) 
Shinichiro Tanaka (Japan Grappling Shoot Boxers) 
Naoki Kawai (Japan / Paraestra Gifu)
Masked CoCo Ichi (Japan / DOBUITA) 
Kazuhiro Shiraki (Japan / NOS)


Ticket Prices:
VIP - 12,000 yen  SRS - 9,000 yen / RS - 7,000 yen / Second Floor - 6,000 Yen
*500 yen more at the door.


Report by Shu Hirata
Photo by courtesy of DEEP blog: The Wild Side of the DEEP
http://www.deep2001.com/blog2/