Ryuu Matsumoto (8-0) and Rafael Diias (4-2) who will battle for the vacant ASTRAL Lightweight title on Friday May 28th from the Differ Akirae (the Underground). Ryuu Matsumoto is the current 155lbs Tokyo Cage Combat champion. He made his professional debut back in April 2009 and has since been untouchable winning 8 straight fights including victories in PRIDE, Pit Fighting League and Cage Combat. He's a respectable boxer with superb wrestling skills and has brown belt in BJJ. He will be facing Brazilian Rafael Diias who's on a 2 fight winning streak. He was a mainstay in the now defunct IPPON promotion and is most recently coming off an early submission win over Hidetaka Sato at the ASTRAL debut event. Although considered the underdog, Diias shouldn't be counted out as his ground game has been improving with his striking being respectable.
In the semi main event, we'll see a 'Top Contender' match between Welterweight's Shin Ya (5-0) and Rumina Sato (5-6). Shin Ya won his first 4 QFC fights all by submissions, and is a dangerous fighter on the ground. Rumina Sato fights out of the Beatdown Central gym and appeared in numerous King of Fighting bouts. The BJJ brown belt returned to the win colum his last fight defeating Aoki Matsumoto at ASTRAL.1. With a shot at the Welterweight crown on the line this should be an exciting match!
Middleweight's Mirko Vucinic (3-3) and Kenshiro Yamamoto (9-8) are set to face off. Vucinic hail's from Montenegro and has won back to back fights, defeating Matsushita Yashunori at ASTRAL.1. He's also appeared in the now defunt World Combat Alliance earlier this year. Kenshiro Yamamoto is a veteran with 17 fights under his belt! He had a long career with Courage FC and back on Christmas of last year lost by submission to Yoshida Satoru in a Courge FC Middleweight title fight. He lost 4 in a row before being released from Courge FC but bounced back with a recent QFC win.
In a Lightweight tussle, Takaku Fuke (2-2) will meet Hyun Tsubaki (1-0). Fuke has won 2 in a row, defeating Jongwoo Park by decision at ASTRAL.1. South Korean Tsubaki, won his debut over Eduardo Yamamoto by late 1st round submission at ASTRAL.1.
At Welterweight we'll see a match between Chiba Masaki (2-1) and newcomer Kida Masaomi (0-0). Masaki has decent stand up skills, ending his first two pro matches quickly with punishing head kick KO. In his ASTRAL debut he was beaten by Shin Ya via knebar. Kida Masaomi is a late replacement who will make his pro debut. His brown belt in BJJ and wrestling skill should give him the advantage on the ground.
Croation Light Heavyweight Krunoslav Slabinac (2-0) is a strong boxer with wondeful wrestling skills. He's won his first two fights last beating Tatsuya Kimura at ASTRAL.1 with an early submission. He'll face Ryu Hoshi (1-0) who's normally fights in Middleweight but debut as a Light Heavy. He was impressive in his debut knocking out Asbjorn Jensen with a vicious head kick less then a minute into the 1st round at ASTRAL.1.
Lee Wong (1-1) will make his ASTRAL debut when he meets Raig Si Zhiro (4-7). Wong is coming off a QFC decision loss and will be looking to impress in his first org fight. Si Zhiro once fought for the Legends FC Lightweight title and has also appeared in the World Combat Alliance. He lost against the tough Ryuu Matsumoto at ASTRAL.1, his 3rd defeated in a row and is hungry to turn things around.
Matsushita Yashunori (0-2) returns to an ASTRAL ring after being stunned by Mirko Vucinic. It was just 21 second into the 1st round when Vucinic cracked Yashunori with a big elbow got the mounts and started dropping bombs. Yashunori will be looking to show improvement as been working hard at the Korea Elite MMA gym. Little is known about Zetsu Senju (0-0) except for the fact that he's a proficient boxer but has zero pro experience.
Feathwegiht Jongwoo Park (0-1) returns to ASTRAL after losing a decsion to Takaku Fuke. The South Korean fought hard in his debut and looked pretty good on the ground. His opponent will be Brazilian Eduardo Yamamoto (1-4). Yamamoto, a former Legends FC fighter, has lost 3 in a row. He has to start to turn his fortunes around soon before his career comes into jepordy. Yamamoto has shown he knows how to win and has little to loose which will make him that much more dangerous.
