There is a great highlight video of the ZST GT-F tournament at http://www.zst.jp/. Just click on the link that says "movie."
First round of the tournament was...
Jiro Wakabayashi vs. Masakazu Imanari
Jeff Curran vs. Bunevicius (can't remember his first name)
Hidehiko Matsumoto vs. Noboru Asahi
Hideo Tokoro vs. Masahiro Oishi
I can't believe how much Tokoro has improved. He's always been aggressive and exciting, but now he actually looks to be a top grappler.
Also check out Imanari's flying triangle.
This deserves to be seen.
ttt
Link for those who'd rather save:
http://www.zst.jp/movie/data/gt-f_digest.wmv
Imanari was pretty pissed at the decision (it was a split decision). He said he was going to leave ZST. Takumi Yano (who is a good friend of Imanari) said "If he leaves, no one can blame him."
I hope he still fights for ZST and that he only said that because his emotions were still running high. He looked stunned when the decision was announced...
Tokoro used to train at Power of Dream, which is Kenichi Yamamoto's school. YamaKen won the UFC 23 tourney, fought for the title at UFC 29 (lost to Miletich), and lost to Randleman in Pride.
I think between ZST 1 and ZST 2, Tokoro switched schools and began training at Stand. The only other semi-noticeable fighter, that I can think of, who trains at Stand is Seiki Ryo, who has fought in Pancrase and ZST. But Tokoro's game has been improving at an incredible rate ever since he joined that team. Like I said, he's always been aggressive and exciting (and one of my favorites because of that), but he was never that good. Always had a lot of heart, tough to finish, but it seemed like he would never be a top shelf guy. But he's proving me wrong now. He's unbelievable.
BTW, Tokoro is a guy that will never ever submit. He's insane, like Enson. That dude with the blue gi (Hidehiko Matsumoto) he fought in ZST GT-F, he also fought him (under ZST rules) in ZST 2. Matsumoto had Tokoro in some weird ass hiplock that had Tokoro wincing in pain, but Tokoro gutted it out. He was caught in it for about 90 seconds. He just waited until the round ended, then crawled back to his corner. Then fought two more rounds and won a decision. He was also stuck in a fully extended armbar, flat on his back, and he just flailed around for about 10 seconds and somehow wriggled free. Amazing.
This highlight video is awesome. I hope more people DL it. If ADCC put more emphasis on submissions and aggression rather than position and points, this is what it could be like.
I can't wait to get this on video. This looks like one of the most exciting grappling tournaments ever.
Holy agressive grappling!
WHo's the guy in the Gi?
Thanks Ryan! That was SICK.
"WHo's the guy in the Gi?"
Hidehiko Matsumoto. Sambo fighter.
He got knocked through the ropes and onto the floor by a spinning back bitch slap (open hand, no gloves) by Takumi Yano, the worst striker in MMA. I thought he was a total joke after that, but he's turned out to be a pretty damn good grappler.
Thanks for the link, Matt and Kai.
That was sweet!!!
cant let a thread like this drop...TTT
ttt
I don't know how the whole match went, but they were 2 round fights (5 minute rounds). So I'm sure there was more to the match that we didn't see. I remember reading that the match was back and forth, but Imanari had the slight edge.
ttt for "grapring"
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Great !
Great vid. Tokoro does some amazing shit.
That fucking rules, ZST is the best
ZST is easily becoming my new favorite promotion.
TTT
thanks for the link- I also thought Jeff Curran looked great.
It would suck if Imanari leaves ZST, that's for sure.
But, if he does leave, I would love to see him go to Pancrase and become a regular there. It would add a lot to their 141 lb division....They could build up a Yoshida-Imanari match by having them face others, and continuously talk about a prospective match-up between the two, and eventually have them fight for the vacant KOP title at that weight.