“Deep: 50″ yields DREAM fighter’s victorious: Aoki, Minowa, and Kikuno

Deep 50, which was a historic event in the promotion’s history, went without a cinch. Largely unknown to the uneducated fan, but Deep has become a staple in the Japanese MMA movement for years.

Made evident by it’s home grown star, Shinya Aoki, the promotion has helped produce some of Japan’s greatest rising stars and has cemented it’s place in the Japanese mixed martial arts industry, especially with Saturday’s night of fights. (or Sunday morning, depending on where you are)

The promotion was in rare form, when it was able to secure some of the biggest names in the sport for one night, and what a night it was.

Here is the fight card in it’s entirety, thanks to Sherdog.com.

1 Kazumasa Sugawara defeats Yoshihiro Sasaki TKO (Punches) 1 2:27
2 Takahiro Ashida defeats Shun Fukazawa TKO (Punches) 2 1:49
3 Yusaku Nakamura defeats Isao Terada KO (Punch) 2 3:48
4 Hiroshi Nakamura defeats Tatsumitsu Wada Decision (Unanimous)
5 Ryuta Noji defeats Hiroshi Nagao TKO (Knees) 1 1:33
6 Hidetaka Monma defeats Yoshihisa Yamamoto Submission 1 1:07
7 Shoji Maruyama defeats Jin Suk Jung TKO (Punches) 1 2:58
8 Yoshiyuki Nakanishi defeats Katsuyori Shibata TKO (Punches) 1 4:06
9 Yoshiro Maeda defeats Takafumi Otsuka Decision (Majority)
10 Ryo Chonan defeats Jun Hee Moon TKO (Punches) 3 2:57
11 Ikuhisa Minowa defeats Chang Hee Kim Submission 1 2:07
12 Sanae Kikuta defeats Lee Sak Kim TKO 1 1:21
13 Shinya Aoki defeats Yokthai Sithoar Submission 1 1:00
14 Masakazu Imanari defeats Daiki Hata Decision (Majority)
15 Yuya Shirai defeats Shigetoshi Iwase Decision (Unanimous)
16 Katsunori Kikuno defeats Nobuhiro Obiya Decision (Split)

The DREAM lightweight champion, Shiny Aoki, extended his winning streak to three in a row when he took on former professional boxer, Yokthai Sithoar (try saying that five times fast). It was an easy going for the “Grabaka Survivor” when he was able to work the fight to the ground (his domain) immediately, with little effort. There, Aoki was able to lock a fight ending Keylock, forcing the tap just 60 seconds inside of the first round.

Also on the card, Deep lightweight champion and DREAM fighter Katsunori Kikuno now made it two in a row when he defeated a spirited Nobuhiro Obiya. Having only been defeated by the likes of Eddie Alvarez and Gesias Cavalcante in his professional career, many pegged Obiya to be an easy win for the dynamic striker in Kikuno, however Obiya hung tough, and lost only by way of points when the bout went to the judges score cards.

Ikuhisa Minowa, or simply “Minowaman” returned to the win column after a disappointing loss to the 2008 Judoka Olympian Gold Medalist, Satoshi Ishii at DREAM 16. The Super Hulk Champion came back in true form, when he defeated the over matched Chang Hee Kim, inside of the first round with an arm bar submission, needing just a little over two minutes. Kim now falls to 0-2 against his 80-plus fight veteran.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the event? Sound off in the comment section below.