This week it was announced that Pancrase 333 will feature two title defenses and two title unification bouts. While both title defenses are rematches, with Salt set to challenge Karen and Nøri set to challenge Hashi, Kume and Nakajima will face interim champions Akira and Tajima for the first time. With four title bouts announced, Pancrase 333, which takes place on April 30th at Tachikawa Stage Garden, is already poised to be one of Pancrase’s biggest shows in 2023. Outside of the title bouts, it was also announced that Shinsuke Kumei will face Bang Jae Hyuk in a bout made all the more interesting now that divisional champion Isao Kobayashi has signed with Bellator.
Karen looks for revenge, Salt looks for the title
On April 30th, Karen is set to defend her title for the first time against Salt, who hails from Shooto. This is a rematch from December, where Salt used her significant height advantage and striking background to hand Karen her first pro-defeat. Known for her slicing elbows and promises of turning fights into a blood bath, Karen is a popular fighter who’s become the face of the women’s divisions in Pancrase. A win here would essentially erase her last loss and put her back on track to her goal of fighting abroad, while a win for Salt would launch her from journey-women to champion.
Nøri vs Hashi
Former flyweight champion Sidy Rocha, who hasn’t fought in Japan since 2019, has vacated her title after being unable to defend it due to an injury. As a result, interim champion Takayo Hashi is now set to face Nøri in a rematch to determine the new champion. The two actually fought back in 2021 in an interim championship match.
In that fight, Nøri found some initial success with her kicks but once Hashi was able to start grappling, she took over and won a clear cut unanimous decision. Going into this fight, Nøri is coming off of a split-decision win over Nirvana at Deep Jewels and a draw to Aoi Kuriyama. Hashi on the other hand, hasn’t competed since she last faced Nøri. At 45 years old, it will be interesting to see how the interim champ looks.
The card so far
- Takasuke Kume vs Akira (Lightweight Unification Bout)
- Tachi Nakajima vs Ryo Tajima (Bantamweight Unification Bout)
- Karen Pravajra vs Salt (Strawweight Title Match)
- Takayo Hashi vs Nøri Pravjara (Flyweight Title Match)
- Shinsuke Kamei vs Bang Jae Hyuk
- Takashi Matsuoka vs Yuki Okano
How to watch
Like all Pancrase shows, this show can be watched on Youtube by subscribing to the Pancrase channel, which is $13.30 a month. Most of the shows have English commentary as well as Japanese.
English 
Japanese