ZST.32 - 09/17/2012: Lightweight Championship Tourney Added!

This is going to be Kuat Khamitov's (right) first fight in Japan while Darius Minkevicius has already fought MMA once and grappling tournament (SWAT!) once in Japan.

ZST added four additional fights for the upcoming September show.

But these were not just ordinarily MMA fights. There is going to be four opening-round bouts of the tournament to decided the very first ZST lightweight champion.

Yes, that's right, suddenly, ZST added championship tournament in this event.

Out of eight fighters confirmed for this tournament, the biggest name has got to be PRIDE / UFC vet Naoyuki Kotani, and he is going to face Darius Minkevicius from Lithuania. According to the release from ZST, "BUSHIDO FC recommended Minkevicius, and also strongly asked for Kotani as the first round opponent." Minkevicius first fought in Japan in September of last year and defeated Maurice Shelton. However that was the only win in all of his six pro MMA fights yet he is the 2011 SWAT! tournament champion. Its difficult to determine Minkevicius' real ability as a MMA fighter. Although Kotani is currently on a six-fight winning streak he should not take this opponent lightly. All these tournament first round bouts are going to be two five-minute round therefore 30-year old from team Rodeo Style must not lose concentration to win this fight.

Another fighter coming from outside of Japan to compete in this tournament is Kuat Khamitov from Kazakhstan, and he is going to face Shinichi Taira. Apparently Khamitov is one of the best greco-roman wrestlers in the country. A former member of national wrestling team, and his current pro MMA record is 2-1. After winning twice he just tasted first defeat as a pro but it was against Sergey Golyaev, who has fought for the various MMA promotions around the world, with more than 30 fights in his resume, therefore, just like Minkevicius, its very difficult to determine how good he really is. According to ZST, in a fight against Golyaev, "Khamitov aggressively used take downs to push the pace against Golyaev".

Obviously Taira's back ground is BJJ however he is known to be "wild" as well. This fight may turn out to be a very intense grappling battle with vicious ground and pound.



ZST.32
Monday, September 17th, 2012
At Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Doors Open - 17:30 / Fight Starts - 18:00

Confirmed Cards (Subject to Change):

ZST Flyweight Title Qualifier 5 min / 2R
Yuichirou Yajima (Japan / Zendokai Shinjuku Dojo) vs. RYOTA (Japan / Kingdom Ehrgeiz)

62kg & Under Bout 5 min / 2R
Tetsuya Fusano (Japan / Reversal Gym Yokohama Grand Slam) vs. Hiro Yamaniwa (Japan / Bonsai Extreme)

Bantamweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Toshihiro Shimizu (Japan / Uruno Dojo) vs. Takumi Murata (Japan / Wajiutsu Keishukai RJW)

Bantamweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Kengo Okubo (Japan / MSD Goshin-do) vs. Masaharu Tsuchihashi (Japan / X-TREME Jiujitsu Academy Yokohama)

Flyweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Shin Takenaka (Japan / P's LAB Tokyo) vs. Yoshinari Shinba (Japan / Master Japan) 

Featherweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Yutaka Shimamura (Japan / Uruno Dojo) vs. Takahiro Baba (Japan / Reversal Gym Yokohama Grand Slam) 

GT-F Rules Featherweight Bout 5 min / 2R
Hitoshi Makino (Japan / Reversal Gym Tokyo Stand Out) vs. Yuto HIrao (X-TREME Jiujitsu Academy Yokohama)

ZST Lightweight Championship Tournament First Round 5 min / 2R
Naoyuki Kotani (Japan / Rodeo Style) vs. Darius Minkevicius (Lithuania / RINGS Lithuania)

ZST Lightweight Championship Tournament First Round 5 min / 2R
Shinichi Taira (Japan / Tsunashima Jiu-jitsu) vs. Kuat Khamitov (Kazakhstan)

ZST Lightweight Championship Tournament First Round 5 min / 2R
Atsushi Ueda (Japan / Ugokai) vs. Koji Mori (Japan / X-ONE GYM Shonan)

ZST Lightweight Championship Tournament First Round 5 min / 2R
Hiroyuki Ota (Japan / ZFC) vs. Makoto Sasaki (Japan / Shinonjuku)


Ticke Prices:
VIP - 12,000 yen / SRS - 8,000 yen / A - 6,000 yen / Standing - 5,000 yen
*500 yen more at the door. **500 yen drink token must be purchased at the door.


Report by Shu Hirata
Photo courtesy of ZST (www.zst.jp)