Notr sure if this has been mentioned, but I'd thought there'd be more fan far about this match-up - Imanari vs Buscape.
Imanari is known as the "10th dan of leg locks" in Japan. He nornally fights in Zst. He fought Mishima at a Deep event last year and ended up losing by decision I believe, but he is an awesome grappler, and can take your leg from any angle. Great match-up !
The full card is -
Namekawa vs Shogun
Sentoryu vs Mal The Twin Tiger
Imanari vs Buscape
Minowa vs Ueyama
Fuji vs Igor
Chonan vs Newton
Sakurai vs Gracie
Gomi vs Bennett
The strange thing is I can't see this listed as a PPV event in Japan ! Not on skyperfect nor on the Pride website. I just hope they are being slow at updating their info. Anyone in Japan know if it is on PPV or not ? Is it to be shown in the US ?
Imanari got beat down by Mishima and lost by 2nd round TKO. Imanari's problem is that he goes into leg lock mode too often. That's what he did against Mishima. He didn't try anything except for one or two weak leg lock attempts. That was his whole strategy.
He has some pretty damn decent all around skills. If he fights using all of his skills, he'll have a much better shot against Buscape than if he only goes for leg locks.
I like watching Imanari and have only seen his ZST stuff, and he does seem like a bit of a one trick pony. He's AMAZING at leglocks (the best I've ever seen) but I can't recall really seeing him do much else.
If Buscape is smart, he'll watch LOTS of footage. If you've never seen Imanari fight, he does some things you won't see anywhere else...and can tap even a BJJ black belt in under a minute.
I think so. I know he fought at Premium Challenge, but the rules were so odd I really don't even remember what the rules were (Ive only watched it once though)
I will be at miami and atlantic city in october my friend.....asck Aaron...about...i'd like to see you and brian......i missing you guys......about Buscape......for sure he will win....he is not my fighter....but he has heart of fighter.....
I never saw the Imanari vs Mishima fight at Deep, just remember seeing the pictures ... that's his only "full" MMA match isn't it ?
His Premium Challenge fight used more lenient rules. It was more or less Pancrase rules, but they added a point system (for throws, knockdowns, and holds). Imanari had his opponent in a triangle, sunk deep, but they broke them up after 30 seconds and issued Imanari 4 points for a hold. Kinda weird. He ended up finishing the fight by getting soccer kicked in the face, grabbing the leg that kicked him, and torquing a disgusting looking reverse heel hook for the tap.
He also fought once in Pancrase, and showed off some decent striking skills. Brutal GnP and wild kicks, both standing (high kicks) and on the ground (soccer kicks). Never seen that Imanari before or since. He's usually a pure grappler, but he was extremely aggressive with his striking in that fight. He'll need to use that mix of striking and grappling to beat Buscape, I think. If he goes for pure grappling (or more specifically, 100% leg locks), he'll probably lose. Imanari also has very good upper body submissions, but he neglects them in favor of leg locks sometimes.
Yeeeeah, Imanari will be outweighed. I don't think he cuts weight (or, cuts very little weight) to make 65 kg. Imanari seemed to have a lot of problems with Mishima's size when they fought. Imanari seems to have some physical strength, but not enough for the 70 kg division (I'm guessing the weight limit will be 70 kg?).
Imanari does have good takedowns, when he uses them, but is way too willing to fall to guard. He barely ever takes anyone down.
YOU ARE RIGHT....I HOPE WHEN BUSCAPE FIGHT AGANIST GOMI....HE WILL BE IN GOOD SHAPE....BECAUSE....WHEN I TRAINED BUSCAPE WITH MY "DUM DUM DUM WORK", MY MAXIMUM OBJECTIVE ALWAYS WAS TO WIN GOMI.....I NEED TO SEE THAT FIGHT.....ALTHOUGH I NOT TO BE MORE THE RESPONSIBLE ABOUT HIS PHYSICAL CONDITIONING.....