The wait is over! Shooto promoter Sustain resurrects its classic “Vale Tudo Japan” series tomorrow at Tokyo’s JCB Hall, and Bloody Elbow has you covered with live results and play-by-play of VTJ ’09 beginning at 5 AM Eastern / 2 AM Pacific on Friday morning.
The main event will see former lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi take on King of the Cage titlist Tony “Lionheart” Hervey in a scheduled five-round affair which could well be Gomi’s final fight in Japan. The co-main event – another five-rounder – features a clash of old and new 143-pound champions, with current ace “Lion” Takeshi Inoue attempting to solidify his own place in the Shooto history books with a win over former champ Alexandre “Pequeno” Nogueira.
The undercard features a Shooto welterweight (154 lbs.) title match between Nova Uniao’s fiery Willamy “Chiquerim” and Kenichiro Togashi, plus the return of Mamoru “The ‘Fro” Yamaguchi against Guam’s Jesse Taitano in a bout that should be a thriller.
Check out full weigh-in results and photos here, then kill time before the show with some classic VTJ moments.
UPDATE: Liveblog plans fell through, but results will still be posted as they come in.
Quick Results
Takanori Gomi def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (47-45, 46-45, 46-44) R5 5:00
“Lion” Takeshi Inoue def. Alexandre Franca Nogueira via TKO (punches) R4 2:58
Rumina Sato def. Cory Grant via TKO (punches) R1 3:20
Tito Jones def. Tenkei “Fujimiya” Oda via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-29) R3 5:00
Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire def. Kenichiro Togashi via TKO (doctor stoppage) R1 2:05
Mamoru Yamaguchi def. Jesse Taitano via TKO (punches) R1 4:41
Jung Ming Kang def. Yoichiro Sato via KO (punches) R1 2:48
Kosuke “Jukucho” Eda vs. Masato Sannai was ruled a majority draw (19-19, 18-19, 19-19) R2 5:00
4. Shooto Welterweight Title Fight (3×5 mins)
Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire vs. Kenichiro Togashi
Round 1: Chiquerim lands a few hard right hands to start, but Togashi tags him right back and the Brazilian drops to a knee! He pops back up and the referee stops the action – looks like the first big overhand right broke Togashi’s nose. The doctor’s having a very close look; the bridge of the nose is already purple and swollen, pushed to the right side of Togashi’s face, but the doc gets the blood to stop flowing and they resume, to the surprise and delight of the crowd. The two stand toe-to-toe, exchanging combinations in center ring. The doctor is called on to check the break again, and this time the fight is stopped.
Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire (14-2) def. Kenichiro Togashi (10-7-5) via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 2:05 of round one
3. Shooto 56kg Fight (3×5 mins)
Mamoru Yamaguchi vs. Jesse Taitano
Round 1: The fighters clash leg kicks and Taitano hits the mat, but bounces right back up. And… technical difficulties. When action resumes, we see the highlight of Mamoru standing above a downed Taitano, stacking the Spike 22 fighter up and pummeling him with shots until the ref steps in for the save. Looked like Taitano was defending, but hard to tell in slow-motion after the fact.
Mamoru Yamaguchi (21-5-3) def. Jesse Taitano (7-6-2) via TKO (punches) at 4:41 of round one
2. Shooto 76kg Fight (2×5 mins)
Jung Ming Kang (1-0) def. Yoichiro Sato (5-2-1) via KO (punches) at 2:48 of round one
1. Shooto 62kg Fight (2×5 mins)
Kosuke “Jukucho” Eda vs. Masato Sannai
majority draw (19-19, 18-19 Sannai, 19-19)
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