From their HQ in downtown Tokyo, ASTRAL held a press conference today to officially announce ASTRAL.4 ROMANEX, presented by Grappling Pro Gym & Gear, which takes place on Friday June 4th, 2010 from the Tokyo Korakuen Hall (Hayashi's Lounge).
ASTRAL president Sotora Shinoda was on hand and announced the main event Featherweight bout as Takumi Gunma (9-1) would face Joey The Lion (6-4). When asked about the quality of opponent for Gunma Shinoda responded, "The Lion has a brown belt in BJJ and is dangerous on the ground. All 6 of wins came by way of submission. I'm confident he can put in a worthy challenge". Shinoda also said that the company decided to continue to build up the Featherweight division before setting up a decision match for the vacant title.
There were also questions from the press in regards to Ryuu Matsumoto's quick defeat of Rafael Diias for the ASTRAL Lightweight title at ASTRAL.3. Shinoda stated, "Diias has heart and took a tough match against a very tough fighter. I commend him for his fighting spirit. We are actively building our Lightweight division breeding and building new contenders for the title and we are also looking externally, and possibly signing new Lightweights. But there a few top Lightweights that remain unsigned, so that can be a tough route".
There was also discussion in regards to the Welterweight co-main event at ASTRAL3 which President Shinoda addressed. "Rumina Sato has now won back to back fights in ASTRAL and has established himself as on the top 170lbs in this organization. Shin Ya suffered his first loss but I'm confident he can rebound. Do I see the first ever ASTRAL Welterweight in the near future? I think so. With the likes of Shingo Takeda and our new addition Pawel Nastula this has become on our most competitive divisions".
Shinoda finished off the press conference by saying, "I'm proud of the fighters who have trained and worked so hard and I thank all the managers for their patience and dedication. ASTRAL is a young organizations and together we will all grow stronger together!".
