Who will be the first shooto champion to lose his belt? At 123lbs, you have Mamoru. Robson has already defeated Mamoru and has fought to a draw with him. I think there is a good chance Moura could beat him again based on dominant ground positioning similar to the first fight.
Then at 132lbs, you have Matsune. He has already defeated Imaizumi twice after losing his one and only match to him years ago. I don't think he will be facing him anytime soon. I figure they could have Louro fight him, but I think Matsune would lay and pray to a decision there.
At143lbs, there is Pequeno. The winner of Rumina/Melendez is rumored to be fighting for the title next. I don't see Rumina winning a rematch with Pequeno. Nor do I see Melendez being able to beat Pequeno. Pequeno is too crafty to get submitted or out positioned even though Melendez is a huge 143lbers.
As far as Kawajari goes, I don't see anyone being able to take him out. I was very impressed with his takedown defense in his win over Shaolin. I think he would defeat Hansen or Uno.
Personally I think Mamoru will be the first fighter out of this group to lose his title.
Melendez is fighting Uematsu on May 4. If Melendez beats him (which he probably will), then it's rumored he'll fight Rumina for #1 contender status.
Mamoru is fighting a rematch with Urushitani on the same card. Non-title fight this time, I believe.
Pequeno's biggest challengers (Pulver and Kid) have both left Shooto.
Kawajiri and Matsune are safe for now.
Kikuchi looks safe as well.
Mamoru and Suda are the most susceptible. Suda really only has one challenger at the moment, but IMO he would lose the rematch. Denes fought way too cautiously in round 1. He'd take him out in a rematch. I'd also pick Moura to beat Mamoru if they fight again.
I was going to type something up on Akira and Suda, but figured it would make my post too damn long. The Suda/Denes fight was rather boring. Neither fighter wanted to really engage in the beginning. Denes was working a guillotine for about 30 seconds at the end of the fight. I need to rewatch this event. It was great.
Was Moura's loss to Urushitani a legit one? I read a write up on the match in a fcfighter, and the author seemed to disagree with the outcome as I recall.
Melendez is freaking big for a 143 guy. He looked so much bigger than Takaya. Takaya had great takedown defense in that fight. I was impressed. That flash knockdown is what cost him the fight. Gilbert couldn't get him down and keep him there.
Sadly, I think Gilbert will overpower Rumina to a decision. Any word on who Takaya's fighting next?
Suda/Denes round 1 was boring, but round 2 I thought was pretty good. Some nice exchanges on the mat, including the triangle attempt by Denes and the awesome escape by Suda. Round 3 wasn't too exciting, but it was dramatic as Denes kept sinking the guillotine and Suda kept getting juuuuust enough space to breathe. He had the choke longer than 30 seconds, I think; I remember it being more like 2 minutes.
Denes fought so cautiously in round 1. He gave away the round, and judging on how he fought in rounds 2 and 3, he could take down Suda basically whenever he wanted with double legs. He could easily beat Suda with lay and pray, but I know he'd rather finish him. Suda still can knock out anyone if he catches him right, though.
I thought Moura beat Urushitani. Round 1 was clearly Moura's, and round 2 clearly Urushitani's. Round 3 was close. I haven't watched it in a while, but IIRC Urushitani started round 3 like he fought all of round 2. Moura eventually got the takedown, passed, and mounted before the round ended. He didn't do much damage from the top, but I also didn't think Urushitani did much damage standing (unlike round 2, when he punished Moura). I thought Moura won the round... But it was close.
I have been trying to get Jon Fitch into some more Shooto action so he can work into the title picture along with Denes... After cornering Ebersole, Fitch said that he wants a shot at Suda.
I think Fitch could be a player in Shooto at 183 lbs. The problem is... he really wants to focus on 170 lbs overall. Since 167 lbs is too low for him, he was looking at 183 for Shooto (he fought Shonie at 175 lbs - contract agreement). But for big fights, he wants to go with 170 lbs so he will have the size advantage... Thus we have a bit of a road block on how to progress him in Shooto...
The 123 pound weight class only has a few contenders, but it is definitely exciting. If Urushitani wins against Mamoru, it is clear that he will earn a re-match for the title. However, I do not think he can defeat Mamoru twice in a row. Moura is not a finisher, but he is very capable of beating both these guys with proper strategy execution. I do think that Moura fought well against Urushitani, but I still think that Urushitani won the fight.
I see no serious threat to Matsune right now in his division. Louro could be a possible challenge, but he poses no real danger to Matsune.
Pequeno is definitely the king of his weight division. The guy has been champion for a very long time now. I agree that his two toughest challengers (Kid and Pulver) left Shooto. Melendez is very tough, but I don't think he has what it takes to de-throne Pequeno. "Pequeno" translates to small, but he is the monster of his division. Is Pequeno obligated to defend his title again this year?
Kawajiri is the most superior fighter in his class for now. I am curious to see how this division unfolds considering that Hermes Franca will fight Cooper in Hawaii. This division could really heat up in the very near future. Shaolin is still amongst the elite, Hansen is very tough, Franca is getting involved, Boku is on a role, and a young gun such as Cavalcanti could soon be a force.
And Kikuchi? Considering that Nakao is busy fighting in other events, the only real challenge for Akira is Jake Shields. They have already fought twice, but a third match, for the title, is the only threat to Kikuchi.
Finally, Suda is a tough competitor with heavy hands. I was impressed with the fact that Denes took Suda's best shots and managed to stay very composed. Denes basically gave round one to Suda, round two could have gone either way, and the third definitely belonged to Denes because that guillotine was a legitimate catch and very tight. It appears that fighters are more active than usual in this division, but Denes is still the best and most dangerous contender to de-throne Masanori Suda.
We are trying to pop the 167 lbs division right now (it is really weak). Nakao is active in Deep, Hironaka keeps getting injured, Iwase is about .500, Cooper just lost and is testing 154 lbs, Shields just lost to the Champ.
Now, Jhun just defeated Iwase. Iwase is also taking on Aoki (who dislocated Winsniewski's elbow recently)... So a Jhun/Aoki fight can mix up the top 5 spots really well...
Obviously Shields is still a contender, but no one is looking to book a 3rd Kikuchi/Shields fight right now. Thus we need to get him some US fights to make a title fight for him compelling (the champ does not have to defend within 12 months of his last title fight)... Thus Kikuchi can put off Shields until another fighter captures the number 1 spot...
I hope we can find something for Jake state-side to keep him active and honor him as a the guy who was a champion. After he defeated Sakurai, things went cold for awhile and I had to find him a fight in the Midwest to keep him busy in Shooto... Then I was able to convince the Japanese promoters to get with the program and bring him back out to Japan (we may see a similar situation develop for him this time around).
I dunno.I'd say if Setsu Iguchi from B-Club comes to Shooto he could take away Mamoru's title.Urushitani or Moura could also beat Mamoru.
Hermes could beat Kawajiri,but I don't really see that happening.Cooper at 154 is interesting,but I still don't think he has what it takes to beat Kawajiri.I think Kawajiri losing his title will come down to him either leaving Shooto or fighting really shitty.Hansen won't beat Kawajiri.If that happened I would be in disbelief.
The Shooto LHW division is so sparse I don't see anyone beating Suda unless Ryuta Sakurai comes back.
I'd really like to see how Aoki matches up with Kikuchi.I'm buying into the hype on Aoki,he is really good.He lives up to his Golden Rookie nickname.If Nakao comes back he might be able to beat Kikuchi,but I'm not holding my breath for that.
"After he defeated Sakurai, things went cold for awhile and I had to find him a fight in the Midwest to keep him busy in Shooto... Then I was able to convince the Japanese promoters to get with the program and bring him back out to Japan"
I wonder if shooto was reluctant to bring back Shields because of his boring fighting style since shooto is all about exciting fighters.
Kawajiri really impressed me in his win over Shaolin. His takedown defense was awesome. He doesn't look like he hits all that hard, but his hands are stone. He dropped Shaolin and later followed up with a ref stoppage win in the fight and really hammered Bow in their fight.
Bantamweight doesn't have many exciting fighters, but the division has some drama. Mamoru, Urushitani, and Moura are all very close to each other in skill level, which could create frequent title changes. Good call by Gunjin EX about Iguchi. He seems like a smaller Kid Yamamoto in terms of style and attitude. That guy could be another contender in the division if he gets a Shooto license.
What the hell happened to Masatoshi Abe? He was a good fighter, despite his poor performance against Urushitani.
Featherweight was an exciting division a year ago, but it's become kinda stale now that Matsune beat Imaizumi in the rubber match. Shiozawa's retirement added onto that means there are no more challengers for Matsune's title. Looks like Imaizumi will probably retire too, if he hasn't announced it already.
Though he's a pancrase fighter, I'd love to see Maeda in there at 143. How do you guys think he would do against Pequeno? I think the way to take out Pequeno is by avoiding his takedowns and forcing him to strike standing. Something Pulver could have done if he hadn't left shooto as mentioned earlier in the thread. I'm not quite sure on Maeda's takedown defense (haven't seen any of his fights) though I imagine it must be quite good judging by his sucess. I wonder if he could avoid Pequeno's takedowns and score a ko.
Too bad that Maeda belongs to Pancrase. If that was not the case, he would be an incredible addition to 143 in Shooto. However, I do not vision him being able to de-throne Pequeno. Maybe Maeda could get away with a non-title victory, but chances are slim to none that he could pull it off a second time for the belt. King "Pequeno" is truly out of this world.
Maeda has very good takedown defense, but Pequeno has better takedowns than most people think. Maybe they won't be as underestimated now that he dominated the wrestling against Roque.
Maeda definitely has the style to beat Pequeno. It would be a great fight.
I think many people believe Pequeno is only dangerous with the guillotine. But this isn't true. He's a well-rounded grappler. He was able to take down Abe in their rematch and work from the top position and take the back and win via rear naked. And he was also able to dominate Roque in their recent match.
It seems a number of Pequeno's victims don't recognize they are in danger with the guillotine until it is too late. They feel safe because they have an arm in, but it's not a traditional guillotine, so it works with the arm in blocking.
I loved the way Pequeno choked Abe. He faked a soccer kick (illegal in Shooto, of course) and Abe flinched. LOL. Pequeno quickly pounced on him and immediately grabbed the choke.
Abe basically turned onto his side/stomach. He screwed himself on that one. He dropped Pequeno with a left hook in the beginning like he did in the 1st match. Only this time Pequeno wasn't ko'ed. I think those two instances are a big part of why people think someone like Pulver or Maeda would have a good shot at beating Pequeno.
--- "I loved the way Pequeno choked Abe. He faked a soccer kick (illegal in Shooto, of course) and Abe flinched. LOL. Pequeno quickly pounced on him and immediately grabbed the choke."
LOL... I noticed that too... He feinted the kick and Abe ducked to cover up.