Here
is the 2015 edition of Fighters to Watch For. Michinori Tanaka and
Uruka Sasaki landed themselves a spot in a major organization (UFC) last
year. There is, of course, a few new faces this time around and we have
more fighters with clean records. How I evaluate is based upon who won
against whom, but if a specific performance convinced me, I’ve done a
more risky pick. I hope that, with this list, hardcore MMA fans will
take note of who are JMMA's up-and-comers.
Motoya's
2014 was an active one and perfect for what he wanted. He avenged a
loss against Tatsumitsu Wada and won his first international fight
against former RFA champ Matt Manzanares. He used a variety of kicks to
make his movements harder to read and his front kicks stopped
Manzanares's pressure. Motoya is the most highly-touted rookie who
remains in local Japanese promotions and he will soon move on to fight
in a major organization.
Wada
lost his DEEP flyweight strap against Motoya this past year, but his
year-end performance against Ryuichi Miki defined him as a top-three
Japanese flyweight. Wada is known for his boxing skills and often
continuously jabs his opponents. Not only that, he avoided Miki's
strike-takedown combinations and finished Miki with a rear-naked choke.
Ogikubo's
year was all about winning the VTJ flyweight tournament. He had a
competitive fight against Takeshi Kasugai, but after that he choked out
Kana Hyatt and showed positional grappling superiority against Czar
Sklavos. Ogikubo asked for a fight against Yuki Motoya, but his injury
prevented the fight.
Ando
signed with One FC and his wins against Rafael Nunes and Zorobabel
Moreira both ended with finishes but in different ways. He choked Nunes
and tapped him out, then fought a striking battle against the
huge-framed Moreira. Ando forced Zoro to fight passively after
pressuring him and, with Zoro’s mind weakened, Ando finished him with a
body shot.
Nakahara's
2014 did not go well because he did not have an opportunity to fight.
He was supposed to face Honggang Yao, but the fight was scrapped because
Yao missed weight. When I think about Nakahara’s record and improvement
curve, he remains here on this list.
Kato
is not yet well-known, but he is the current HEAT middleweight champion
and also a Daidojuku champion. HEAT is a Nagoya-based organization, so I
haven't watched his fights yet, but from his record and quick finishing
times he should be seen as at least a top-three Japanese middleweight.
Another reason why I am interested in him is his Daidojuku skill. The
first Japanese fighter in the UFC was Minoki Ichihara and he had no
solution against Royce Gracie's grappling, but after all of these years
of MMA evolution, perhaps Daidojuku can contribute to major MMA's style
diversity? That's not a pure fighter evaluation, but I am interested in
him for such a reason, too.
Ayaka's
2014 was about testing herself in a new division. She dominated former
Jewels featherweight champ Naho Sugiyama in striking and on the ground,
then fought and defeated Mei Yamaguchi. We can expect that she will soon
fight in the U.S. since she did not participate in the DEEP Jewels
featherweight GP, which is being held in her new division.
Mizuki's
2014 did not go how she had wanted. She missed weight in the finals of
the DEEP Jewels lightweight GP and lost by DQ even though she submitted
Emi Tomimatsu. She avenged her “loss” against Tomimatsu in her next
fight to become Deep Jewels featherweight champion. Mizuki next fought
Karolina Kowalkiewicz at Invicta FC 9, but her precision striking was
not favored against Karolina's volume of strikes. She will begin 2015
against Alexa Grasso at Invicta FC 11. Mizuki is still only 20 years
old, but she needs to develop more physical strength to give her
precision striking more value.
Kanbe
may not be expected to be on this list because he is so early in his
career at 18 years old, but his dominance over opponents with his
grappling made me convinced that he needed to be included here. Kanbe
trains at Alliance Square and is a grappling-based prospect at the
moment. His strong point is obviously his ground game, but we know that
current fighters in major promotions can't rely too much upon grappling.
Alliance Square’s coach, Tsuyoshi Kosaka, knows how to build MMA
talent, so I think that Kanbe will develop considerable striking skills
but I don't know how far he can go. I think we will someday see him
challenge for a Pancrase title.
Kanbe
is Pancrase's lightest weight prospect. I don't know if he will fight
in the upper divisions in the future, but Shooto's lightest prospect is
Ryohei Kurosawa. His nickname, “Ken Asuka,” is from Karate Manga. His
style is karate, which he began training at age six, but what impressed
me most was his sprawl against the takedowns of Ryuto Sawada, who is a
top prospect.
Ando's
career is too short yet, with only three fights so far, but he was a
top-three wrestler in college. In his third bout, he beat Takahiro
Ashida, who has 16 fights on his record and fought to a split decision
against Miguel Torres. It shows Ando’s potential and what kind of
athlete he is.
Ryuto Sawada vs Masayoshi Kato
Ryuto Sawada
Ryuto Sawada vs Masayoshi Kato
Ryuto Sawada
Big thanks to Robert Sargent (MMA Rising) for English editing.
