On Saturday, Deep held their 3rd event in one week’s time, Deep 104, this time at the famed Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The 7-fight card included some rising prospects, some established contenders, and some veterans. In the prospects category, there was Rei Tsuruya, the son of Paraestra’s coach and Seika Izawa, the current Deep Jewels 52kg/115lb champion. In the established contenders category were fighters like Si Woo Park, Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi and Ryuya Fukuda. Finally among the veterans were Satoru Kitaoka and Ryuichiro Sumimura.
Rei Tsuruya continues finishing streak
In the 2nd bout of the night, Rei Tsuruya got his 3rd finish in as many fights since making his debut earlier this year. Hailing from Paraestra Matsudo, home to Ougikubo and Kanna Asakura, he looked very confident during the fight, going for flashing moves like spinning elbows and baiting his opponent forward by keeping his hands low. He was able to get his opponent, the now 4-2 Kenta Kubo, to the ground with throws and from there he finished the bout with some aggressive ground and pound. At just 19 years old, Rei looks to have promise and has already garnered a number of sponsors. Given that he took little damage in the bout, we should expect him back in action relatively soon.
Seiza Izawa wins toughest fight to date
In the 4th bout of the night, Deep Jewels’ 52kg/115lb champion, Seika Izawa moved down in weight to 49kg/108lb in order to face the skilled striker and former training partner of Seo Hee Ham, Si Woo Park. With a solid kickboxing base and a strong physique, Park likely represented her toughest opponent to date, stylistically. In addition to her kickboxing skills, Park has been living in Japan and training at Krazy Bee with the likes of Miyuu Yamamoto. The results of this training were evident in this bout, as Park has developed very good takedown defense and is able to get back up to her feet quite quickly if she is taken down.
In the opening round, Izawa was the aggressor, pumping her jab and using it to get takedowns as well as dropping beneath Park’s strikes to also shoot in. Near the end of the round, she also landed an inside low kick that looked to knock Park off balance. In the 2nd round, things started out similar to the 1st, but Park’s physicality was on display, making it difficult for Izawa to get her down. At this point, Izawa’s right eye started to swell. This is when things took a negative turn, as Park accidentally kicked Izawa in the head while she was on the ground. It looked like Izawa was badly damaged by the kick, who after taking some time to recover, continued. At this point, Park was all over Izawa and momentarily dropped her with a punch. As a result of the illegal kick, Park was given a red card, meaning a 2 point deduction.
In the final round, Park once again took the center and was the aggressor, likely looking for a finish due to the point deduction. She also started switching stance, striking from both orthodox and south paw, throwing big punches in the process. Throughout the round, Izawa went for various takedowns, getting Park down at times, but Park was usually quick to get back up. When the final bell rang, Izawa broke down in tears, clearly disappointed with how the fight had unfolded. She won by UD that would have been a SD, if there hadn’t been a 2 point deduction. Then again, it is hard to determine what would have happened had the illegal kick not landed.
Afterwards, during her post-fight press conference, she mentioned that she dropped to 49kg in order to fight Park and get into Rizin, the biggest promotion in Japan, so that she could then go on to international competition. Depending on how badly her right eye was damaged, we may expect to see her debuting for the promotion in the near future.
Team Bonsai’s Suzuki TKO’s Kitaoka in RD 3
In the 6th bout of the night、the 72 fight veteran, Satoru Kitaoka faced Team Bonsai’s Takumi Suzuki, who provoked him at the weigh-in’s calling this Kitaoka’s retirement bout. Throughout the first 2 rounds, Suzuki looked to circle away from Kitaoka, coming in for quick strikes and getting out before Kitaoka could respond. Kitaoka was able to get him down in both rounds, but never was able to seriously threaten Suzuki with a submission. 27 seconds into 3rd round, Suzuki blasted Kitaoka with a knee as he was coming in for a takedown and got in a couple more punches before the referee quickly waved it off. Suzuki quickly jumped out of the cage where he was hugged by Rizin champion Roberto Satoshi Souza and teammate Shrek. Kitaoka on the other hand, had to be helped backstage and now has lost 9 of his past 12 fights, 6 by TKO.
Shinryu climbs to 12-1-1
In the final bout of the night, 1 time Rizin and Bellator veteran Shinryu defeated Ryuya Fukuda. Interestingly, Fukuda got a lot of crowd support, despite coming from far away Kyoto. In this fight, both fighters were aggressive and they maintained a pretty high-pace throughout, including a lot of scrambles, submission attempts, and occasional brawls while on their feet. However, Shinryu was usually the one getting the better of these exchanges and in the 3rd round, he dropped Fukuda and hurt him badly with a punch. Fukuda managed to tie up Shinryu briefly in his guard but he looked badly hurt for the rest of he round. Having now won 6 fights in a row, it will be interesting to see what is in Shinryu’s future. During his post-fight press conference, he made it clear that the UFC is a goal of his and that he had intended on trying out for the Asian contender’s series before it was postponed in 2020.
Results
- Makato “Shinryu” Takahashi defeated Ryuya Fukuda via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)
- Takumi Suzuki defeated Satoru Kitaoka via TKO 0:27 into RD 3
- Ryuichiro Sumimura defeated Nao Yoneda via SD (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Seika Izawa defeated Si Woo Park via UD (28-27,29-26×2)
- Yuma Ishizuka defeated Ryota Oki via SD (20-18×2, 19-19 must Oki)
- Rei Tsuruya defeated Kenta Kubo via TKO at 3:55 into RD 1
- Shosuke Kinoshita defeated Tatsuya Takahashi via UD (20-18×2, 19-19 must Kinoshita)
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