Chrom
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 |  Subject: "DREAM: Japan GP Final" results: Takaya defends belt, Tokoro wins tourney Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:33 pm | |
| - Quote :
- Hiroyuki Takaya's first successful title defense is in the books.
DREAM's featherweight champion successfully defended his title with a
closely contested split-decision victory over challenger Kazuyuki Miyata
at Saturday's "DREAM: Japan GP Final" event.
The event, which also featured the finale of the yearlong Japan bantamweight grand prix, took place at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum.
The show didn't air live in North America.
Takaya (16-9-1 MMA, 7-2 DREAM), who won the title from Bibiano Fernandes
back in December, and Miyata (11-8 MMA, 4-2 DREAM), who earned the
title shot on the heels of a six-fight win streak, proved evenly matched
standing and on the mat. While the bout could have gone either way,
Takaya, who implemented strong power strikes and solid takedown defense,
ultimately got the judges' nod.
With the main-event victory, Takaya successfully rebounds from a
split-decision defeat to Roberto Peralta in his April debut with
Strikeforce. It's his only defeat in his past five fights.
Meanwhile, in the yearlong Japan bantamweight tournament, Hideo Tokoro
(30-23-1 MMA, 8-6 DREAM) edged fellow finalist Masakazu Imanari (23-9-2
MMA, 2-2 DREAM) to win the eight-man grand prix.
In the closely contested finale, and as part of an action-light first
round, Imanari continually looked to take the fight to the guard after
striking exchanges. Tokoro, though, largely avoided the trouble and won
the exchanges, especially on the mat.
In round two, though, Imanari's attempts to pull guard became more
creative, and he attempted a handful of submissions. But Tokoro survived
and landed a few solid ground shots throughout the round.
All together, it was enough for Tokoro to get the close unanimous-decision victory.
Both fighters now are expected to compete in a worldwide bantamweight
tournament planned to begin in the next six month. In addition to
finalists Imanari and Tokoro, Kenji Osawa (18-10-2 MMA, 3-1 DREAM), a
former WEC fighter, secured his position in the upcoming-tournament
field with a first-round TKO of Keisuke Fujiwara (11-4-4 MMA, 0-3 DREAM)
in a Japan tournament third-place fight.
In a light-heavyweight title fight, champion Gegard Mousasi (31-3-2 MMA,
9-0 DREAM) made quick work of 2004 Olympic judoka Hiroshi Izumi (4-2
MMA, 2-1 DREAM). Mousasi kept the edge in the standup fight and
eventually dropped his opponent with a right hook. A series of follow-up
shots brought about the TKO stoppage in a little more than three
minutes.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Champ Hiroyuki Takaya def. Kazuyuki Miyata via split decision (to retain featherweight title)
- Hideo Tokoro def. Masakazu Imanari via unanimous decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney finale)
- Champ Gegard Mousasi def. Hiroshi Izumi via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 3:28 (to retain light-heavyweight title)
- Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Drew Fickett via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:41
- Kenji Osawa def. Keisuke Fujiwara via unanimous decision (Japan bantamweight-tourney third-place fight)
- Tatsuya Mizuno def. Trevor Prangley via KO (knee strike) - Round 1, 4:41
- Champ Marius Zaromskis def. Eiji Ishikawa via unanimous decision (welterweight non-title fight)
- Eiji Mitsuoka def. Bruno Carvalho via unanimous decision
The rest at: http://mmajunkie.com/news/24424/dream-japan-gp-final-results.mma | |
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