(Amanda Lucas, a daughter of the creator of Star Wars George
Lucas, won women's open-weight title on the same night. Lucas Film certified
Darth Vadar and Storm Troopers joined the celebration after the fight)
Mizuto Hirota successfully defended his DEEP lightweight title against Seichi
Ikemoto and this actually means he is one step closer to crossing the Pacific
Ocean.
Hirota now has only one fight left in the contract and his next fight does not
have to be a title fight.
Well, so what does it mean?
In the world of Japanese MMA things are bit different from what we do here in
North America.
When the promotion wants to use you then that means the promoter is giving you
an "opportunity" therefore if you keep winning then you are going to
be "obligated" to be in the line for a title shot. And this actually
means, you maybe getting a title shot, a big opportunity, so if you win, then
you just can't walk out. In the States we put "championship clause"
in the contract to avoid that but in Japan where most deals are done in handshakes,
these understanding of "fundamental rules" and "intention of
promoter" are very very important.
Basically a fighter must avoid anything that might be resulted in hurting
promotion's reputation. The promoter just can't be shamed. Face is an important
issue in Japan.
However, its inevitable that every fighter wants to step up to bigger and
better opportunities and in the world of MMA, for now, that means going to the
UFC. Then what these medium size promotions in Japan has to do? So the
promoters won't be losing their faces?
The solution is, a graduation.
You became our champion then defend once, twice or maybe three times then we
can tell the fans you are sort of "graduating" from us and stepping
up to the big league.
ADCC News confirmed with multiple sources that Hirota's obligation for the DEEP
lightweight title is done as of this fight.
Now he only have one fight left in the contract and that is an option for
Hirota. Which means, if he wants to fight one more time then he could chose to
do so. But this will be a non-title fight. Nothing on the line.
And this also could mean, in the Japanese MMA, he could do one tune-up fight
against a lesser opponent to get ready for UFC or Bellator or wherever he
decides to go.
DEEP 57 - 12th Year's Reality
Saturday, February 18th, 2012
At TDC Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Doors Open - 15:00
Fight Starts - 16:00
Confirmed Cards (Subject to Change):
The Main Event - DEEP Lightweight Title Bout 5 min / 3R
Mizuto Hirota (Japan / CAVE) vs Seichi Ikemoto (Japan / MMA
Studio STYLE)
Wiinner: 3R Mizuto Hirota by Decision (5-0)
13th Match - DEEP Lightweight Title Bout 5 min / 3R
Levan "Dosukoi" Razmadze (Georgia / Freelance) vs Ryuta
Noji (Japan / TEAM GARO)
Winner: 1R 3'16" Levan
"Dosukoi" Razmadze by Submission (armbar)
12th Match - DEEP Featherweight Title Qualifier Bout 5 min / 3R
Kazunori Yokota (Japan / Freelance) vs Doo Hoo Choi (Korea /
CMA KOREA)
Winner: 3R Kazunori Yokota by
Decison (5-0)
11th Match - DEEP Bantamweight Title Bout 5 min / 3R
Takafumi Otsuka (Japan / AACC) vs Yoshiro Maeda (Japan /
Pancrase Inagaki-gumi)
Winner: 2R 3'13" Yoshiro Maeda
by Submission (rear naked choke)
10th Match - DEEP Women's Open-weight Title Bout 5 min / 3R
Amanda Lucas (USA / The Skrap Pack) vs Yumiko Hotta (Japan /
REINA Women's Pro-wrestling)
Winner: 3R 2'16" Amand Lucas by
Submission (americana)
9th Match - DEEP Lightweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Akihiro Gono (Japan / Freelance) vs Daisuke Nakamura (Japan
/ U-FILE Camp)
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by Decision
(3-0)
8th Match - DEEP Featherweight Bout 5 min / 3R
SHOJI (Japan / KIBA Martial Arts Club) vs Tatsunao Nagakura (Japan
/ Yoshida Dojo)
Winner: 3R SHOJI by Decision (3-0)
7th Match - DEEP Bantamweight Bout 5 min / 2R
DJ taiki (Japan / Freelance) vs Yusaku Nakamura (Japan / MMA
Studio STYLE)
Winner: 2R 3'57" DJ taiki by
TKO (referee stoppage)
6th Match - DEEP Bantamweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Katsuya Toida (Japan / Wajiutsu Toikatsu Dojo) vs Makoto Kamaya (Japan
/ TEAM TOURI)
Winner: 1R 1'13" Makoto Kamaya
by TKO (punches)
5th Match - DEEP Mega-ton weight Bout 5 min / 2R
SEIGO (Japan / TEAM Tokyo CLUTCH) vs Hirohide Fujinuma (Japan
/ SK Absolute)
Winner: 1R 1'20" Hirohide
Fujinuma by KO
4th Match - DEEP Welterweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Yoshitomo Watanabe (Japan / AACC) vs Naoki Samukawa (Japan / Bengling Bay
Spirit)
Winner: 2R Yoshitomo Watanabe by
Decision (2-0)
3rd Match - DEEP Under 87 kg Bout 5 min / 2R
Hiromitsu Kanehara (Japan / U.K.R. Kanehara Dojo) vs Daijiro Matsui (Japan
/ Freelance)
Winner: 2R DRAW (1-0)
2nd Match - DEEP Flyweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Masato Kobayashi (Japan / Tsudanuma Dojo) vs. Tatsuyuki Nakamura (Japan
/ IMPACT)
Winner: 1R 0'09" Masato
Kobayashi by KO (punches)
1st Match - DEEP Light-heavyweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Bernard Ackah (République de Côte d'Ivoire / Freelance) vs YUKI
(Japan / TEAM TACKLER)
Winner: 1R 3'35" YUKI by
Submission (rear naked choke)
Report
and photo by Shu Hirata
Photo courtesy of DEEP blog: The Wild Side of the DEEP
http://www.deep2001.com/blog2/
This was the biggest show of the year for DEEP. Tokyo Dome City Hall is a
theatre by Tokyo Dome and it holds little less than 3,000 but on TV it looks
like 8,000.
