Battle for the BeltsThe Blasidell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii was the first venue to host Professional Shooto events in the United States. It was at Superbrawl back in 1999 and like this up-coming line-up set for July it also featured Hawaiian superstar Ray "Bradda" Cooper. It has long been Cooper's dream to work his way up the ladder with the Shooto rankings and capture the prestigious Shooto World Championship belt.He has had his high points in that pursuit, such as in January thru April of 2003, where he held the number 1 contender spot... and he has had his lows, like when he dropped 3 Shooto bouts in a row from December of 2000 to July of 2001. But he has been on his game since then going 3-0 within Shooto and 4-1 overall since that period and now he finally at long last gets his shot to take home the title he has been targetting for so long.Cooper's opponent for the title is his antithesis... With nearly a third as many Shooto bouts as Cooper, Jake Shields has followed a more direct but equally as challenging path to the Championship. He made his Shooto debut against Cooper in the very same arena that they are destined to cross paths in again. He lost that bout, but came back strong. He landed a bout against Shooto legend Hayato Sakurai on very short notice in a fight that hasd some polls having him as the 100% loser. He shocked everyone by getting the upset victory and lunching himself well into the Shooto rankings... That bout is a match long sought after by Cooper, but it was Shields who got to taste the spoils... The Californian followed that performance in Japan by defeating the exciting Brazilian, Milton Vieira and the dangerous Japanese submission specialist, Akira Kikuchi. He has positioned himself with those high profile wins as the number contender for the vacant title... Only Cooper stands in his way... on Shields in Cooper's.Also in negotiations:Shooto LHW World Championship - Masanori Suda vs. Dustin DenesRumina Sato vs. Bao QuachStephen Paling vs. Jens PulverVitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro vs. Mitsuhiro IshidaAlexandre Nogueira v. TBAAnd much more...
ttt
*drools*
I can say one thing that this fight won't go the distance COOPER BY REF STOPPAGE!!!
That is a TIGHT card!
People better watch out for Dustin Denes....he has been training hard and will surely be victorious.
-mendelson
Geez, only five fights confirmed so far, and already that card is amazing!!!
Get Shooto on North American PPV already!!!
All killer, no filler.
And I'll just throw one more thing in here...
A Shooto champ is a bonafide MMA champion, someone who earned every ounce of the belt he wears.
Coopers overrated.
Suda is a LHW? i thought he was MW champion?
Awesome Card!!!
LHW in Shooto = ~183lbs
Wow, great card...Shooto USA is really putting together some great cards as of late.
"A Shooto champ is a bonafide MMA champion, someone who earned every ounce of the belt he wears."
I just wanted to repeat the wise words from rude22.
good luck shields!
ttt
"A Shooto champ is a bonafide MMA champion, someone who earned every ounce of the belt he wears."
I am with Johnny... one more time for the Champ...
TTT for Shooto and this card.
Please Rich get this one on DVD!!!
will they ever crown a HW champ?
Fear this man!future Shooto LHW Champion after July 9th!Dustin "Clean" Denes
DVD is the plan... setting things up with the video company now.
I am looking forward to the title bout with Dustin... long time in coming
Carlao, will you be making the trip with Monson and Boca to the Ironheart Crown...
I also want to wish Jake Shields good luck...he is my boy from San Francisco State University....I remember watching the UFC pay per view at my house with him...good memories with a good guy and tough ass fighter....I cant wait to see him be a champion too...
-mendelson