Hisaki Kato was previously fighting for HEAT, which is a Japanese promotion based in Nagoya that is recognized as the top promotion in the region. Recently, the talent level in HEAT has increased. HEAT sent Kiichi Kunimoto to the UFC and Kunimoto built up a winning streak in the UFC that people never expected. I named Kato in this year’s list of Japanese MMA fighters to watch, and after that Bellator picked him up. That was a pleasant surprise because HEAT isn’t well-recognized in the Western world. I think that the vicious outcome of Kato vs. Yuki Niimura convinced Bellator to sign him.
Hisaki Kato vs. Yuki Niimura
I felt a bit nervous about Kato’s American debut, thinking about how my list can affect him being signed (I was the first person to give Kato attention in English). I mostly cover Japanese MMA in Tokyo, and therefore had not seen Kato compete outside of three local fight videos from Nagoya.
Kato is a Daidojuku champion. Daidojuku is a martial art separated from Kyokushin Karate that was formed when Takashi Azuma added grappling elements to karate. Daidojuku uses “Super Safe,” which protects the head and face from damage. Therefore, Daidojuku fighters train at close range with barrages of strong strikes to stop opponents.
Super Safe
Kato said that he would not fight at Schilling’s length. Indeed, he did not.
In round one, Kato did not fight in Schilling’s punching range. He avoided trading punches against the kickboxing champion and threw kicks while watching Schilling’s movement. One of Schilling’s most dangerous strikes is his counterpunch, and Kato’s reach is shorter. So Kato moved forward and used barrages of punches (I think that his Daidojuku background benefited him here) and then immediately worked for takedowns. That means that he never gave Schilling any time to throw a counter.
Kato’s gym is known for BJJ. Alive produced Hatsu Hioki. Kato’s BJJ isn't on Hioki’s level, but he improved his position against Schilling who has less ground experience and ground-and-pounded him.
When Schilling succeeded at standing up from mount, Kato threw a flurry of punches at close range until the bell rang. This means that he still never allowed Schilling to strike from his preferred punching length.
The second round began and Schilling slowed down because of damage that he had incurred. He chose to attack with kicks. Schilling may have thought that kicking length was okay for him since he is a kickboxing champion, but Kato had not taken any damage and his faster speed allowed him to score a savage Superman punch KO from a distance.
During the fight, Kato never allowed Schilling to fight at his preferred punching or kicking length. In close, Kato threw volume punches for a short time period and went for takedowns immediately after. At last, he landed the Superman punch from a long distance.
Finish scene
In conclusion, MMA fighters are not obligated to trade strikes like they are in boxing or kickboxing, but they can still can sculpt fights with strikes that lead to savage KO wins like Kato did. Of course, Daidojuku and Kudo benefit Kato, and particularly when he is throwing close-range volume punches. I'm looking forward to seeing what he and his Daidojuku background can do in his next fight.
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.
Sawada
had a breakout performance after his loss against Kurosawa. He outpaced
and outwrestled Yuki Shojo for the entire fight and ground-and-pound
KOed him. That was surprising for me since Ryuto is small for Shooto’s
flyweight division. He displayed big KO power against Shojo, who only
had one prior TKO loss in his career. Sawada is expected to face
champion Yoshitaka Naito next year.
Big thanks to Robert Sargent (MMA Rising) for English editing.
