20 years ago, Deep held their first event. Royler Gracie, Minowa, and Paulo Filho all fought on that card. Some 338 events later and they celebrated their 20th anniversary over the weekend. The event was interesting for several reasons. First, the event showed off some elite talent within the organization, some of which are likely to be Rizin bound. Second, the event also showed off some debuting fighters, one of which had a particularly strong debut. And finally, the event provided a fun snapshot of the current state of MMA in Japan.
In the opening fight, Rei Tsuruya defeated Tatsuki Okano via GNP. This was the 18 year old’s pro-debut and it stood out for several reasons. First off, before the fight even started, I noticed that Rei had sponsors and crowd support. This seemed out of place, until I realized that Rei is the son of Hiroshi Tsuruya, the head coach a Paraestra Matsudo (think Kanna Asakura and Ogikubo). Knowing now that Rei is the son of a respected trainer and based off of the results of his debut, this is definitely an up and comer to keep an eye on.
In a fight between the big boys, Hideki Sekine made quick work of his opponent, hurting him almost immediately and finishing the fight in roughly 16 seconds. While the quick victory was impressive, it was his comments after the match that interested me more. Hideki let it be known that he wants to fight Sudario, the ex-sumo wrestler who is training under Enson Inoue and fights for Rizin. This would be an interesting fight. First off, it fits within the theme of what Rizin has been doing. Rizin has been having Sudario fight pro-wrestlers and Sekine fits that bill. Second, it would be an interesting step up in competition for Sudario and would allow him to showcase his skills against a higher level opponent.
Deep has a long history of women fighting for the promotion, including Miku Matsumoto, Ham Seo Hee, Hisae Watanabe, and Satoko Shinashi. So it was fitting that they had a women’s fight on the card and Sugiyama took advantage of the opportunity given to her. Her gameplan was apparent almost immediately as she looked to take Kuriyama down right away. Once she got her to the ground it became obvious that Kuriyama was not able to get back up and Sugiyama finished her with GNP. Afterwards, Sugiyama appealed directly to Sakakibara, who was in attendance, for another chance to fight for Rizin. With his recent interest in Youtube and Rizin’s need for fighters that will help boost TV ratings, it would seem that Sugiyama is ideal. Her Youtube channel has been steadily growing, with over 9.5 million views, her skill level is higher than her competition in Deep, and her husband already fights for the promotion.
Juri Ohara is 5 inches taller than Kitaoka and it was apparent almost immediately. Ohara looked to strike against Kitaoka who desperately tried to muscle Ohara to the ground. Kitaoka was momentarily successful and managed a couple submission attempts but it did not seem to phase Ohara. Ohara started landing hard strikes to Kitaoka, dropped him, landed one of the most vicious head stomps I have ever seen, then landed a couple of punches before the referee waved off the fight at the end of the 1st. Two things. First, Ohara should have another opportunity to fight for Rizin. He really should have gotten another fight after his victory of Yachi, but this solid performance just strengthens the case. Second, Marrion seems to have invested heavily in him. Before and after the fight he was decked out in a Marrion jump suit. Marrion employees were there to watch his fight and a photographer for the company was also there.
Motoya made quick work of Shoji. After landing some punches and a calf-kick, Motoya wasted little time in taking the fight to the mat, where he was able to quickly secure a RNC to finish the fight. This is a big victory for Motoya who needed to rebound from his 1st Rd loss to Naoki Inoue earlier this year. Like several others, Motoya made an appeal to Sakakibara to fight for Rizin, but unlike the others, Sakakibara responded stating that Motoya can fight in the tournament, while warning him that it isn’t enough to just fight in the tournament, Motoya has to do his best to win.
Fight Videos:
Japanese 
English