This past Sunday, on Christmas Eve, Pancrase held their final event of the year. Among the fights, two new champions and an interim champion were crowned, the final match of the Atomweight tournament was decided, and prospects Naoki Hirata and Muhammad Salohidinov continued their winning ways. Crowd favorite and former Outsider Ryo Asami also took part and picked up his 2nd win of the year, driving the crowd into a fervor as he charged out into his fans who had gathered outside the cage before returning to have the results announced. After an emotional speech, he also went and paid his respects to mentor and former Outsider head Akira Maeda.
Sayako upsets V.V Mei, earns Split-Decision
In the 2nd women’s bout of the night, veteran V.V Mei returned to Pancrase for the first time since 2011 in order to compete in the opening round of their Atomweight Tournament. Across the cage from her was Sayako Fujita, a popular fighter and former bodybuilder who’s been competing in Pancrase since 2019.
Making her way to the cage, Sayako reminded me of a pro-wrestler from the 80’s, armed with a fake tan and a crazed smile, she seemed to really be enjoying herself, leaping up the steps and pumping up the crowd as she got ready. This was in stark contrast to Mei, who came out with a serious, unshakeable look on her face as Black Sabbath’s Iron Man filled the Budokan. Once the fight got started, Sayako seemed to really be enjoying herself, grinning and smiling at Mei throughout the bout. Even when Mei would land a good hit, Sayako just grinned and came forward. Mei, for her part, seemed more than willing to exchange with her, smiling herself from time-to-time.
It was a close fight, with Mei getting Sayako to the ground several times and taking her back, while Sayako was the aggressor on the feet. It is worth noting that even when Mei had Sayako on the ground and when she had her back, Sayako was always throwing something. While they may not have been doing the most damage, it likely helped her in the judges’ eyes, which could’ve made the difference in such a close fight. Thanks to Pancrase’s open scoring, everyone could tell how close it was, with each round being scored a split decision. In the end, Sayako eeked out the victory, setting up a fight between her and Satomi in the finals, for the inaugural Atomweight championship. This could be interesting since both Yokohama based fighters seem to be friendly and are likely pretty familiar with the other’s fight style.
It is also worth mentioning that Mei mentioned she would think about retiring if she lost this fight and based off this post, it seems that she is still unsure about what she wants to do. What is clear, is that she thinks she won the fight, tweeting “tell me why I lost.”
Takano out grapples Huang to advance to finals
In the first women’s bout of the night, Satomi Takano took on Taiwan’s Zenny Huang in the opening round of the Atomweight tournament. Despite only being a year older, Takano went into this bout with significantly more experience. This combined with her grappling background led to a rough night for Huang, who proved unable to counter Takano’s takedowns and top control throughout their 3 round affair. Throughout the fight, Takano was able to trip Huang to the ground with relative ease and once she had top control, she didn’t give it up.
Thanks to Pancrase’s opening scoring system, Huang was well aware that she was down on all the judges’ cards going into the final round. Unfortunately for her, Takano was able to get her down again, but to her credit, Huang fought her way back to her feet and came forward aggressively looking to strike with Takano, landing punches in the process. However, it wasn’t enough as she likely needed a finish to get the victory. Satomi is now set to face Sayako in early 2024 for the Atomweight title.
Ito chokes out Arika, crowned interim Flyweight champion
In the co-main event, Rizin veteran Seiichiro Ito took on Naoki Arikawa for the interim Flyweight championship. As you are likely aware, the current champion is Rei Tsuraya, who has been taking part in the Road to UFC tournament and has his next fight scheduled in February. Since he hasn’t been able to compete in Pancrase since December of last year and is potentially going to be joining the UFC in the near future, it only makes sense for Pancrase to set up an interim champion.
In the opening round, Ito and Arikawa circled and decided to strike, with Ito throwing the more diverse strikes, landing some good calf-kicks and ultimately rocking Arikawa with a combo that sent him to the cage. Ito then proceeded to get Arikawa down where he went for an armbar, but with only 3 seconds left in the round, he wasn’t able to get the tap. In the following round, Ito got it to the ground again, where he opened up with some GNP, which helped him take Arikawa’s back, where he was able to choke Arikawa unconscious. With the win, Ito kept Groundslam’s undefeated streak for the night intact, as both Ryo and Sayako won earlier.
Afterwards, he addressed the crowd and wished them a “Merry Pancrase” before being joined by his family and K-1 star Miyuu Sugawara in the cage. The nature of his relationship with Miyuu isn’t clear, but he later said he’d clear that up in the future.
Sumimura pounds out Hayashi, crowned champion
In the main event, Genpei Hatashi, who won the Welterweight title back in 2022, took on Sumimura, who relinquished the Deep Welterweight title at around the same time. With Rizin fighters Kouzi, Igor Tanabe, and Grant Bogdanove supporting from the stands and Shinya Aoki in his corner, Sumimura won every round going into the final round, where he quickly got Hayashi down and finished him with strikes. This is his 2nd finish in a row and puts him on a 4 fight win streak. At 37 years old, age doesn’t seem to have caught up with the new champion yet, as he competed 4 times this year.
Quick Results
- Ryuichiro Sumimura defeats Genpei Hayashi via TKO @ 2:09 of RD 5*
- Seiichiro Ito defeated Naoki Arikawa via RNC @ 0:35 of RD 2**
- Tokitaka Nakanishi defeated Yasuhiro Kawamura via @ 4:45 of RD 1***
- Tatsuya Saika defeated Yusuke Kasuya via UD
- Sayako Fujita defeated V.V. Mei via SD (29-28×2; 28-29)
- Satomi Takano defeated Zenny Huang via UD (30-27×3)
- Naoki Hirata defeated Shinsuke Kamei via UD (30-27×3)
- Ryogo Takahashi and Sang Won Kim fight to DRAW****
- Ryo defeated Yuito Yanagawa via Armbar @ 0:33 of RD 3
- Muhammad Salohidinov defeated Toki Matsui via UD (30-27×3)
- Wataru Miki defeated via Yuki Kondo (30-27×3)
- Ryo Tajima defeated Kunihisa Sasa via UD (29-28×3)
- Shogo Sato defeated Takahiro Kawanaka via TKO @ 1:22 of RD 1
- Genta Shindo defeated Misaki Umehara via RNC @ 1:51 of RD 1
* Crowned new Welterweight champion
** Crowned interim Flyweight champion
*** Crowned new Bantamweight champion
**** Went to judges’ scorecards after it was stopped due to a cut caused by a headbut
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