This is the annual prospect list series for 2023. This edition has six prospects from Shooto, Pancrase, DEEP and Fighting Nexus.
Current
Japanese MMA organizations can offer direct communication to fans with
fight videos. This has especially been true with Mikuru Asakura's
YouTube popularity, so this is the best time to enjoy a Japanese MMA
rookie’s videos.
Rei Tsuruya (6-0-0)
Rei
was included in last year’s list, but he has not yet been picked up by a
major organization. He chose Pancrase to build his career because he
wanted stronger opponents, and he beat Satoru Enomoto to win the
flyweight King of Pancrase title. Rei has become one of the faces of
Pancrase, but he will surely land himself a spot in a major organization
soon. His hope is to sign with the UFC, but he also has an interest in
facing John Dodson, who fought at Rizin's NYE event.
Wataru Yamauchi (5-0-0)
Wataru's
2022 ended with a TKO win against Kiyotaka Shimizu. That fight
impressed me. Kiyotaka is a veteran who has had many fights against big
name flyweights. Wataru's TKO of him was only Kiyotaka’s second KO/TKO
loss in his long career. Defeating Kiyotaka at such a young age
automatically placed Wataru on my rookie list.
Takeji Yokoyama (4-0-0)
Takeji
was known from the grappling scene where he was a rival of Kleber Koike
(Kleber was the winner of this rivalry, though). This year, he beat
Sora Yamamoto, who is one of the young up-and-comers in Rizin. The win
earned Takeji the Fighting Nexus featherweight title. Takeji’s main
focus is on jiu-jitsu, and I am curious whether he may have better
jiu-jitsu than Rizin’s featherweight roster (except Kleber).
Hiroto Gomyo (3-0-0)
Hiroto
has a Shotokan Karate background. He was the 2019 All-Japan Karatedo
Champion. Hiroto is a gym mate of Japanese MMA star Mikuru Asakura, and
he has adapted takedowns well. He can choose to strike or take opponents
down, and has clever distance making and counterattacks. Hiroto will
next fight Kouya Kanda for the DEEP interim featherweight title.
Ayaka Watanabe (2-1-0)
Ayaka
is from the Japanese MMA gym AACC, which has a reputation for training
and developing female fighters. She surprised many audience members at
Shooto’s first event in 2023 when she KOed durable former champion Mina
Kurobe, who had only been stopped by strikes once before this during her
25-fight career. Ayaka has taken on the hardest route for her career.
Her second fight was against Emi Fujino, which is Ayaka’s only loss, and
then she got her biggest win in only her third pro fight. I think she
will have more big fights soon in her career.
Yannick Yuji Ephoeviga (3-0-0)
Yuji
scored a TKO win against Tatsuya Tanaka in just 80 seconds at Shooto’s
first event of this year. He won the 2022 Shooto Rookie tournament at
welterweight with that victory. Yuji declared that he will drop to
lightweight, He already showed TKO power at 170, but dropping down a
division will create more of a power advantage and more violence for
sure.
