WSOF: NAKAMURA, OTSUKA, IMINARI WIN CROWNS

By JASON LILLY 

TOKYO, JAPAN  December 17, 2016  World Series of Fighting – Global Championship (WSOF-GC) concluded WSOF-GC 4 DEEP VS GLOBAL, a co-promoted event with their Japanese affiliate, DEEP Fighting Championships. WSOF-GC and DEEP certainly did not disappoint the crowd and online viewers, by presenting a thrilling night which contained 18 bouts and three new champions were crowned.

WSOF-GC’s main event ended was THE REMATCH between former competitors, United States’ Lawrence DiGiulio (18-8-1) and Japan’s Yusaku Nakamura (14-4-1). Neither fighter disappointed onlookers as they both delivered another Fight of the Night performance. They both fought to a split decision victory back in February, and Nakamura walked away with another split decision win tonight. The major differences were that this one came after five rounds and also awarded him his first world title, becoming the inaugural WSOF Global Flyweight Champion.  

WSOF-GC’s co-main event was scheduled to be for their Global Bantamweight Championship, but Brazil’s Fernando Vieira failed to make weight, and further failed to weigh back in to give his opponent, Japan’s Takafumi Otsuka, the opportunity to win the title. Coming to the rescue was UFC fighter, Yuta “Ulka” Sasaki. Knowing that Otsuka had a capacity audience on hand to witness his first world title fight, Sasaki wanted him to still be able to compete for his fans. They engaged in a very entertaining one-round, five-minute exhibition match that had its share of highlights. Upon conclusion of their match, WSOF-GC Vice President of Operations, Jason Lilly, awarded Otsuka an interim title. Lilly told the crowd, “Otsuka came prepared to fight for a world title. He deserved that opportunity and his opponent failed him. We will find him a legitimate contender so he can defend the belt and have the opportunity to win it in the ring.”

DEEP’s main event was for the vacant DEEP Featherweight Championship. The match pitted legendary submission fighter, Masakazu Imanari (35-16-2) against rising star, Tatsunao Nagakura (12-6). It was a back-and-forth contest which had the judges perplexed. DEEP uses five judges for the championship bouts. The crowd oohed and aahed as the scores came in 29-28/28-29/29-28/28-29/29-28 for “Ashikan Judan” Imanari.

In other main card action, former UFC standout Yoshiyuki Yoshida (18-9) was eliminated from contention in the first round of DEEP’s Welterweight Grand Prix, dropping a split decision to Yoshiyuki Katahira (10-4-2). Recently released UFC veteran Masanori Kanehara (26-13-5) landed a deep cut on Australia’s Charlie Alaniz (8-2), who took the fight on just three-day notice, giving Kanehara a TKO victory via doctor stoppage early in the first round.

Brazil’s Luiz Andrade (19-17-6) opened the night’s international action on the undercard, winning a convincing unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Shintaro Agatsuma (2-1). Two South Korean fighters split the win column, with Jin Soo Sun (6-2) defeating Daisuke Endo (14-11-2) via TKO when he landed a nasty cut on the side of Endo’s forehead, causing a cease to the match by the doctor. While Sung Jae Kim (5-6) lost via guillotine choke to Makoto Kamaya (28-15-4).

Official Results

Yusaku Nakamura (14-4-1) defeats Lawrence DiGiulio (18-8-1) via SD 48-47/47-48/48-47 – Referee Kenichi Serizawa

Takafumi Otsuka competed against Yuta Sasaki in a one-round, five-minute, exhibition match – no decision was given – Referee Yoshinori Umeki

Masakazi Imanari (34-16-2) defeats Tatsunao Nagakura (12-5) via SD 29-28/28-29/29-28/28-29/29-28 (5 judges score card) – Referee Masatoku Fukuda

Masanori Kanehara (26-13-5) defeats Charlie Alaniz (8-2) via TKO due to doctor’s stoppage R1 – Referee Umeki

Koichi Ishizuka (12-1-1) defeats Toshiaki Kitada (21-9-4) via MD 29-28/29-28/28-28 – Referee Fukuda

Yoshiyuki Katahira (10-4-2) defeats Yoshiyuki Yoshida (18-9) via SD 30-27/29-28/28-29 – Referee Referee Umeki

Kosuke Suzuki (12-7-3) defeats Tetsuo Nakanishi (4-3-3) via UD 30-27/30-27/30-27 – Referee Umeki

Haruo Ochi (14-7-2) defeats Yutaro Muramoto (4-3) via guillotine choke R2 – Referee Fukuda

Makoto Kamaya (28-15-4) defeats Sung Jae Kim (5-6) via guillotine choke R1 – Referee Fukuda

Shoma Shibisai (4-1) defeats Ryo Sakai (5-7) via TKO R1 – Referee Fukuda

Kimihiro Eto (10-2-2) defeats Shigetoshi Iwase (15-19-4) via UD 30-27/30-27/30-27 – Referee Serizawa

Jin Soo Sun (6-2) defeats Daisuke Endo (14-11-2) via TKO due to doctor’s stoppage R2 – Referee Serizawa

Luiz Andrade (19-17-6) defeats Shintaro Agatsuma (2-1) via UD 20-18/20-18/20-18 – Referee Akira Yamazaki

Makoto Takahashi (3-0) defeats Takuya Maruoka (1-5-1) via UD 20-18/20-18/20-18 – Referee Kousuke Umeda

Hiroyuki Kobayashi (8-7-2) Fujito Hasegawa (11-9-4) via MD 20-18/20-18/19-19 – Referee Umeda

Takanori Takahashi (5-8-3) defeats Seita Katsuki (7-4-1) via MD 20-18/20-18/19-19 – Referee Serizawa

Taito Kubota (8-0) defeats Kazuhide Shirota (6-5-4) via UD 20-18/20-18/20-18 – Referee Yamazaki

Yasutaka Ishigami (5-5-4) defeats Naoto Ayuta (4-7-1) via DQ R1 – Referee Serizawa

Fight fans from around the world can watch a replay of the entire 18-fight card at WSOFGC.COM for less than $10.

This year WSOF Global has brought together more than 15 MMA promotions on 6 continents for fans under one common banner, including DEEP, which has hosted over 300 events since their inception in 2001. These fights will be making their way into the WSOF Global Fight Library at wsofgc.com, as will future fights available live. There are currently five events online atwsofgc.com, including DEEP 76, DEEP 77, DEEP CAGE IMPACT 2016, DEEP JEWELS 12, and DEEP JEWELS 13. MMA fans can watch all of these fights, as well as those from all other affiliates at WSOFGC.com.

                World Series of Fighting Global’s ultimate mission is to bring together the best athletes from countries and organizations across the world to compete for a true, globally-recognized world champion. Media inquiries should be sent to Jason Lilly, Vice President of Operations of World Series of Fighting Global, at jlilly@wsof.asia. Follow them on Twitter @WSOFGlobal

About DEEP Fighting Championships:

Founded in 2001 by the promoter Shigeru Saeki, DEEP Fighting Championships (DEEP FC) is a championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) series dedicated to not just showcasing the top MMA athletes in Asia but also promote the sport with many interesting and experimental approaches – promote both ring and cage events, resurrect the careers of big-name stars, provide athletes from other sports such as kick boxers, sumo wrestlers, pro-wrestlers, and ex-pro baseball players, the opportunity to test their skills in MMA. Also, DEEP implement various rules from North American unified rules, PRIDE rules to Kick Boxing and Shoot Boxing rules.

The operation is based in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan, DEEP FC is one of the longest running premier MMA promotions in the world.

In addition to MMA series, DEEP FC also promotes grappling series named DEEP X, kick boxing series named DEEP KICK, and senior fighters’ series named DEEP HERO and “Oyaji” DEEP.

DEEP FC is currently broadcasted by Sky Perfect TV / Fighting Network Samurai in Japan, Fight Network in Canada and UK, and recently, inked the deal with Abema TV, an internet TV station created by TV Asahi and Cyber Agent.

—

About Author