Interim Inoue Bests Kitaoka…Barely

Interim welterweight King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue successfully defended his title versus Satoru Kitaoka Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

The fight was scored 29-29 by all three judges; but, under the championship rule of “must decision”, the judges were instructed to choose a victor. Two chose Inoue and one chose Kitaoka, giving Inoue a split decision victory.

The meeting was the third between the two Japanese fighters. Inoue won a unanimous decision in 2004 and the two fought to a draw in 2006.

Inoue improves to 16-5-2, 10-2-1 in Pancrase. He holds a decision victory over Kyle Noke, who fights Scott Smith on ExliteXC’s February 16 card in Miami.

Kitaoka falls to 19-8-9, with victories over ProElite’s Paul Daley, WEC’s Carlos Condit, and UFC’s Kurt Pellegrino.

The first lightweight King of Pancrase was also decided on Pancrase’s first iteration of their 2008 “Shining” tour.

Japan’s Shoji knocked out Russia’s Artur Oumakhanov with a high kick 21 seconds into the second round.

Shoji improves to 6-2, five wins by knockout, and picks up some brass. Oumakhanov falls to 7-2, 2-1 in Pancrase.

Shining 1 is the first show since Pancrase adopted new weight classifications based on the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.

On the undercard, Russian middleweight Alavutdin Gadzhiyev knocked out “The Pink Typhoon” Yuji Hisamatsu in 41 seconds to improve to 6-1, four wins by knockout, and 4-0 in Pancrase.

In 155-pound matchups, Shinsuke Shoji versus Yuichi Ikari and Wataru Takahashi versus Daisuke Hanazawa both ended as draws.

Japanese welterweight Sotaro Yamada caught countrymen Kiichi “Strasser” Kunimoto in a rear naked choke at 1:42 of the first round to improve to 5-3, all in Pancrase.

Undefeated bantamweight phenom Seiya Kawahara debuted in Pancrase by knocking out veteran Pancrase punching bag Yuki Yamasawa in 28 seconds with a high kick, improving to 4-0.

Pancrase’s second “Shooting” event occurs in March. No location or fight card has been announced.