The co-main event lasted much shorter than the title fight. Maia Bee (2-1) started off by throwing leg kicks at Rumina Sato (7-6). Sato gets hit by one, and had enough, taking Bee to the ground. After working into position with some strikes, Sato put on a tight guillotine and makes Bee tap just 1:33 into the first round. With that, Sato looks to have topped about all contenders in the 170 division. It looks like this will set up a rematch of Ya and Sato, as Sato had given Ya his only loss in his career. Sato’s dominance of the head kick wonder Bee lands him the “Submission of the Night” award.
The light-heavyweight match-up between Peter Martin (6-8) and Tatsuya Kimura (2-2) featured cuts, head kicks, clinching, and ground game. Peter Martin took the first round with ease, working the ground game to his liking while Kimura won the 2nd with his own ground game and clinchwork. The fight came down to the final round, where Martin used his experience to pick up the win.
Mirko Vucinic (5-3) took on rookie Yuki Tamura (0-1) and put on a show. Tamura tried to go in with takedowns and clinches at the start of the fight but Vucinic would have none of it. Vucinic knocked Tamura down and rocked him on the ground before Tamura slipped away from Vucinic. Tamura gave him back a stiff uppercut but Vucinic put him to sleep not long after that. Vucinic is given the “Knockout of the Night” award.
Rafael Diias (4-4) faced off against Thomas Dvargledare (6-1) in what was a stand-up war. Dvargledare took the first round with ease, knocking down and rocking Diias. Things looked good for Dvargledare in the second round but Diias took the fight to him hard in the last minute to take round 2. The final round had Diias being clinched up by Dvargledare which eventually gave Dvargledare the decision. Great fight put on by these two!
A very unfortunate finish of Akira Kambei (1-2) by Don Quixote (4-2) at ASTRAL 5. Kambei controlled when the fight was taken to the ground, stuffing all of Quixote’s takedown attempts. It was unfortunate for Kambei when he took it to the ground early in the 3rd round, as he gave Quixote a good opportunity to make him tap, and he did. With that, Kambei should look into his game plan before his next bout.
As expected, the fight between Kazuki Ito (1-3) and Daisuke Shiga (1-0) did go to a decision. And also as expected, Shiga took the fight to the ground for a decision victory. Shiga looks to be a solid force at the 265+ division after his stunning performance at ASTRAL 5. Shiga landed 100% of his shots from the clinch as well as taking down Ito almost at will, going 10/11 in the fight. Beware, strikers, Shiga will take you down… literally.
The fight between John Reaper (2-0) and Kwan Lee Hong (0-1) was very one sided. Reaper took the fight to the ground early, working on submissions and ground strikes before putting on a vicious kimura that left Hong popping his shoulder back in.’
Jongwoo Park (1-2) takes his second professional loss against Jigaro Kano (3-1). The fight moved slowly, with the main highlight being Kano’s rocking of Park late into the second round, many thought it would have been over. Kano took the decision comfortably, but the fight was not as lop-sided as it may have seemed.
Lee Wong (2-2) started the night off with a loss to Jong Man Kim (2-0). The fight was mostly a ground battle with Kim taking Wong down 6 out of 10 times. Kim landed 10 strikes on the ground on his way to a decision victory.
