This Sunday, in front of a packed house at the Tachikawa Stage Garden in Tokyo, Japan, three new champions were crowned. While both Saika and Takano made quick work of their opponents, Shigeta had to grind out the champion Hashi over five rounds. Elsewhere on the card, Shizuka Sugiyama won her Pancrase debut and Fumika Watanabe picked up her first win as a pro over the always tough Nøri.
Honoka wins title, wants Izawa
In the co-main event, 20 year old Honoka Shigeta challenged the veteran Takayo Hashi for her Flyweight title and after 5 grueling rounds, she was crowned the new champion, with two of the judges scoring every round in her favor. Going into the match, Honoka had momentum on her side, having racked up as many wins in 2023 as Hashi has since 2020, yet one couldn’t count Hashi out. A 28 fight veteran with a career that’s spanned nearly 20 years, Hashi is an incredibly tough fighter who hasn’t been finished in over a decade. This toughness was on full display this weekend and while Honoka wasn’t able to finish the champion, she was able to consistently get her down and keep her there.
After receiving her belt, Honoka addressed the crowd saying, “I was so agitated and Hashi was so strong that I felt like I might give up in the middle, but thanks to Coach Tsuraya and my second Kanna (Asakura) and the support from other people, I was able to get the win. In just 11 months I became a champion, but I’m going back to the gym tomorrow so I can beat the very strong three division champion in Japan (Izawa)”
An emotional Honoka then addressed her teammate Kanna Asakura, putting the belt on her shoulder and saying, “Kanna Asakura is the reason I got into MMA, so first, I’d like to put the belt on her. I’m going to do my best to become a hero to people, like she is.”
Takano drops Sayako early, wins inaugural title
In the first of three title matches, the former Shooto and now Pancrase Atomweight Champion Satomi Takano made sure that those in attendance would remember her fight, sending Sayako crashing to the canvas with a punch before finishing her with a flurry on the ground, all in under a minute. Known primarily as a grappler who comes from a Judo background, the punch seemed to come out of nowhere and now all of a sudden, Takano’s future opponents have to respect her punching power.
With this win, Takano, who spoke about almost retiring after losing the title in Shooto seems to have breathed new life into her career.
Sugiyama wins promotional debut
A week after her husband competed in Rizin, Sugiyama returned to action after two years to make her Pancrase debut. Across the cage from her was Raika Emiko, a tough former boxing champion, who lost to Sugiyama back in 2014. This time around, a cautious Sugiyama used strikes to keep Raika off of her and timed her shots well to get in and take Raika to the ground. While she wasn’t able to get the submission this time, she took almost no damage and controlled Raika throughout the fight.
With this win, Sugiyama was able to shake off the ring rust and should move up the rankings, potentially setting up a match with Honoka in the future.
Fumika picks up first pro-debut win
In the first women’s bout of the night, the 24 year old Fumika Watanabe, who impressed people in her pro-debut, despite it being a loss, returned to action after recovering from an injury and switching to a new gym, Fighter’s Flow, where Kana Watanabe trains. Across the cage from her was the 25 year old Nøri, a staple of Pancrase’s Flyweight division who returned from pro-wrestling to take this fight.
In what was a back-and-forth affair, Watanabe got the better of most of the exchanges, tended to be the aggressor, and appeared to hurt Nøri with an overhand in the final round. Nøri for her part was able to land some good body kicks and even managed to get an armbar attempt in the second, but it wasn’t enough.
With this win, Fumika climbs to 1-1 as a pro and looks to be an excellent addition to Pancrase’s growing Flyweight division.
Quick Results
- Tatsuya Saika defeated Akira Okada via KO (Head Kick) @ 1:42 of Rd 1
- Honoka Shigeta defeated Takayo Hashi via UD after 5
- Satomi Takano defeated Sayako Fujita via TKO @ 0:48 of Rd 1
- Rui Imura defeated Ryo Tajima via UD after 3
- Tenya Yoshimura defeated Koshi Matsumoto via UD after 3
- Daichi Kamiya defeated Shinichi Taira via Sub (RNC) @ 3:08 of Rd 3
- Nishio Shinsuke defeated Yusuke Amari via TKO @ 1:04 of RD 1
- Shizuka Sugiyama defeated Raika Emiko via UD after 3
- Rikuya Ishida defeated Raiki Endo via UD after 3
- Takumi Hamada defeated Seiya Yamazaki via TKO @ 2:25 of Rd 3
- Fumika Watanabe defeated Nøri Pravjara via UD after Rd 3
- Tomoko Otsuka defeated Genta Shindo via UD after Rd 3
- Yoshiki Uematsu defeated Taiga Masuda via SD after Rd 3
- Yuto Suzuki defeated Chris via TKO @ 4:54 of R 1
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