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Soljah Fight Night - Shooto Hawaii Review
by Nathan Kim (aka Phoenix-Rebirth)
Greetings from the Aloha State. Soljah fight night was a highly anticipated Shooto show which featured many top 10 fighters, including Jens Pulver, Rumina Sato, Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro and Hawaii favorites Stephen "Bozo" Palling and Ray "Bradda" Cooper. Also, two Shooto World titles were on the line. Masanori Suda was slated to defend his light heavy weight title against American Top Team fighter Dustin Denes. The main event was for the vacant middleweight title which pitted the hard hitting Hawaiian Ray Cooper against rising star Jake Shields. Many well known faces were in the crowd, such as promoter Monte Cox, Din Thomas, Ronald Jhun and BJ was found ringside with Caol Uno. Even my favorite fighter was in attendance, Pride's number one middle weight contender, fresh off an enormous power bomb knockout win over Ricardo Arona, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
(BJ and Uno)
Shooto's first Hawaii event kicked off with some fireworks in the under card. Sydney Silva and Mark Moreno both won by chokes rather quickly in their respective fights. David Yeung nearly ripped Jim Kikuchi's head off with a right high kick about 5 seconds into the first round. Acting off of instincts, Kikuchi rose quickly and punched the nearest person, unfortunately that was the referee. Yeung's high kick got the Blaisedell arena fired up and ready for the main card. In the last under bout match Ed Newalu and Kyle Takao put on a good show in a seesaw fight. Ed Newalu with solid grappling and good ground and pound took the decision.
(Ed Newalu and Kyle Takao square off)
The first fight on the main card placed Team Oyama fighter Bao Quach against a legend of the MMA realm, Rumina Sato. Both fighters wasted no time and began trading strikes quickly. Quach threw a right hook that wobbled Sato, but he recovered quickly and tied up Bao against the ropes. The Shooto Superstar executed a beautiful lateral drop and immediately began working for position. Sato would sit up high, throw punches and adjust his positioning very quickly until he passed Quach's guard and achieved full mount. Rumina threw a few big punches to both daze his opponent and set up an armbar. Nearing the third minute of the first round Rumina Sato sunk in a deep armbar. Bao fought off the armbar for quite some and tried frantically to escape, however Quach was forced to tap out. Sato stood on one of the corner posts to the crowds delight and cirlced the ring in victory, and proved he is still a force in MMA.
(Rumina armbarring Quach)
In another exciting fight, world ranked number one light weight Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro took on Japanese contender Mitsuhiro Ishida. Ishida wanted to show the Hawaiian crowd an exciting fight. Immediately after the opening bell sounded Mitsu dashed across the ring and attempted a flying kick, which received a huge applause from the crowd and prepared everyone for a very technical and clever fight. Shaolin looked very focused and quickly took the fight to the ground. Once there, the Brazilian would try a number of submissions, from Armbars, Kimuras, Keylocks, Rear Naked Choke, even the Minotauro Nogueira popularized Anaconda Choke. Despite Ribeiro throwing everything including the kitchen sink, Ishida always found a way to fend off the sub attempts and return fire with big punches from the guard and inverted slams to the top of Shaolin's head. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro takes a hard earned and well deserved unanimous decision over a very game Mitsuhiro Ishida.
(Shaolin slapping on an Anaconda)
Next up was former Golden Gloves Champion Stephen "Bozo" Palling against the former and only UFC light weight Champion of the world, Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver. This fight had Slugfest written all over it and in no way disappointed. This fight also started off fast, both fighters were throwing down with little self regard, both looking for a knockout. Bozo seemed to be initiating the action, throwing numerous combinations to Jens' head and body. Jens, with a solid defense absorbed and brushed off the barrages to counter punch and throw combos of his own. After a few minutes of intense exchanges, Jens caught Palling and dropped him to the mat. Under Shooto's knockdown rule, Palling was given a standing eight count, he made it and continued to fight. The fight was a back and forth battle with Jens taking the first round with a knockdown and Bozo taking the second by landing punches more often and by controlling the tempo of the fight. The third round was slightly different, as Bozo started to fire inside leg kicks more often and slowed down his movement slightly. Jens still looked sharp with his boxing technique, keeping his hands up, continuous movement and lightning quick punches. Almost two minutes into the third round "Lil Evil" Jens Pulver threw his infamous left hook and floored Palling face first into the canvas. The ref rightfully halted the match and Pulver added another huge KO to his resume. Bozo earned just as much respect in this fight as Jens, he gave the former UFC champ all he could handle and pushed Pulver to his limits. Both fighters left the ring injured, as Bozo had multiple cuts and bruises on his face and Jens barely able to walk due to a knee injury. After their twelve minute war, the two contestants seemed to have grown bonds between each other and with the entire audience.
(Palling with a huge body shot)
(Jens throwing a high kick)
(Bozo and Lil Evil Clinching)
In the first title fight, Masanori Suda took on Dustin Denes. For the first two minutes of this fight, neither fighter wanted to engage and just stalked each other. When the punches started flying, Suda pressed Denes up against the ropes and unloaded a good flurry of about 10 punches. Denes defended well and got out of trouble. The rest of the match was primarily a grappling match, with both fighters have their fair share of takedowns, sub attempts and reversals. Denes came close to ending the fight with a Guillotine in the third round, however Suda escaped and pressed on. The fight was called as a majority draw, Masanori Suda retains his Shooto Light Heavy belt.
(Suda aiming for a KO)
(Denes attempting a Guillotine)
The main event was short and sweet. Cesar Gracie discipline Jake Shields fought Ray Cooper for the Shooto middleweight title. The fight started off with a small exchange, neither fighter with the clear advantage. Cooper took the fight to the ground, where impressive grappling took place on both fighters' parts. Shields was looking for a submission while Cooper was laying down a ground and pound game plan. Three minutes into the first round, Jake Shields took Bradda Cooper's back and secured a Rear Naked Choke, winning the match and the Shooto title.
(Fighting for position)
(Shields going for a leg lock)
This event was simply incredible, props to Shooto for bringing fighters from the mainland United States, Brazil and Japan to put on the best show Hawaii has ever seen. Grapplers got their fill, as almost every fight had masters exhibiting their techniques and abilities. Strikers got as much as they could handle in the hands down, fight of the night, perhaps fight of the year between Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver and Stephen "Bozo" Palling. Hopefully this awesome night was the first of many Shooto events in Hawaii. When/If this event is sold on dvd, buy it. The Pulver Palling fight alone would be worth the cost.
(The warriors, post fight)
(All participants)
* Article by Nathan Kim (aka Phoenix-Rebirth).
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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