» Fighter: Hiroki Kuga

Former UFC welterweight Kuniyoshi Hironaka (13-6) knocked out Yoshihiro Koyama (10-2-1) at 4:27 of round one to earn the vacant Cage Force lightweight title at Cage Force 12 in Tokyo Saturday.

Featherweight Wataru Miki (14-7-3) submitted Tomonori Taniguchi (2-6) in a rear naked choke at 4:36 of round three.

Lightweight Yasunori Kanehara (1-4-1) TKO’d “KG Shinto” Hiroki Kuga (1-1) in 55 seconds.

Read More About Former UFC’s Hironaka KOs Koyama for Cage Force Lightweight Title…

Former UFC welterweight Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-6) and Yoshihiro Koyama (10-1-1) will contest for the Cage Force lightweight title at Cage Force 12 in Tokyo 12 September, Cage Force announced Sunday.

Cage Force is Japan’s first cage-based MMA promotion and considered a UFC-qualifying promotion for Japanese fighters. Current UFC talents who entered the Octagon after stints in Cage Force include “Thunder” Yushin Okami (23-4), “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (22-6), and “Zenko” Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3). That trio alone holds a 12-2 record in the Octagon.

Hironaka fared less well with a 1-3 UFC record, but is riding a two-fight winning streak into the title fight. He TKO’d puroresu’s Katsuhiko Nagata (4-4) at Cage Force 11 in Tokyo 27 June.

Read More About Kuniyoshi Hironaka Versus Yoshihiro Koyama For LW Title at Cage Force…

While most of the MMA world tuned-in to Las Vegas for UFC 84 last weekend, three of Japan’s noblest promotions put on shows in Osaka, Tokyo, and Sapporo respectively.

Pancrase Results

Pancrase held its fourth iteration of its 2008 Shining tour in Azelea Taisho Hall in Osaka Sunday.

In the main,  event, “13″ Daisuke Hanazawa (9-9-5) scored his first “w” of 2008 with a two-round UD over Takefumi Hanai (2-4-2), Hanai’s third consecutive loss.

Featherweight Soyu Tanabe (4-3-1) knocked out Pancrase regular Kenji Takeshige (4-7-1) at 3:44 of the first round.

Middleweight Masahiro Toryu (5-3-3) denied Shuji Morikawa (0-2-1) his first “W” by submitting him in a guillotine choke at 3:36 of round one.

In other fights, Kenji Shimada (4-2) knocked out Takashi Hasegawa (3-6-3) at 1:58 of round one.

“Strasser” Kiichi Kunimoto (5-2) won a two-round UD over “Yuushi Edaori” Yu Shiori (5-1).

Isao Hirose (2-0) also scored a decision unanimously over “Punch” Nobuhiro Yamauchi (4-3).

Read More About 13 Lucky in Osaka, Kitazaki Squeaks By in Tokyo…

Blink and you may have missed a duo of Shooto fight cards in Tokyo and Hiroshima respectively.

On 21 March Shooto rumbled into Kitazawa Town Hall featuring a pair of 2008 Rookie Tournament middleweight bouts.

Nipponese Naoki Hirayama (1-0) began the night and his pro MMA career with a unanimous decision over Shin Kochiwa(0-1); and, Yoishiro Sato (1-0) tied Hirayama with a UD over pitiful Toru Ishinaka (0-4-2).

In the evening’s main event, 65-kilo Yuji Inoue (4-3-1) broke a two-fight losing streak with a UD over Kyotaro Nakao (5-7-2).

In a 2008 Rookie Tournament welterweight scrap, Kazuya Satomoto improved to 4-1 with a triangle armbar submission of Mach Dojo’s “KG Kokoroto” Hiroki Kuga (0-1).

At 56 kilos, Hiroharu Matsufuji (2-4) submitted pathetic Katsuhisa Akasaki (2-14-1) in a Kimura at 3:04 of round deuce.

In the same weight class, Shinichi Hanawa (4-6-1) outlasted Joji Shimada (1-4) to a unanimous decision victory.

Finally, 52-kilo Katsuya Murofushi (3-2) wrapped Kenichi Sawada (3-8-2) in a triangle choke for the first round finish.

Two moons forward in Hiroshima, 56-kilo Takeshi Okada (4-3-2) and debuting Mike Hayakawa (0-0-1) fought to an even clip for a majority draw scored 19-19 twice and 19-20 for Hayakawa.

In a 2008 Rookie Tournament lightweight bout, Makoto Akazawa (5-1) submitted Katayoshi Ono (0-1) in a rear naked choke.

Finally, Kentaro Watanabe (1-0) won his debut unanimously in a decision over Jun Nagasoe (0-1).