Looming Intensity at Nagoya Heat 5

By: Kris Hartrum

Nagoya, Japan – November 25th, 2007

It was a lively afternoon in Nagoya as the fifth installment of Nagoya Heat went underway. With a large crowd of vivacious fight- fans, it was sure to be a passionate day of victory, blood and overcoming. In the open-weight, headlining fight, the towering Alex Robert managed a win over K-1 veteran, Tatsafumi Tomihira in a fast paced 3 rounder that left the crowd reeling in the excitement.

The first round opened furiously, as Tomihira managed a beautifully executed uppercut, knocking Roberts down for the eight count. Immediately taking the offensive, Robert answered with a flurry of good punch/kick combinations and aggressive footwork.

In the second, Robert continued his barrage of combos and released a spinning sidekick, throwing Tomihira into the cage. Robert followed through with several head punches, and the dazed Tomihira recieved a standing eight count. Things looked dismal for the Japanese fighter, but he managed to hold on, throwing multiple kicks to Robert’s mid-section.

In the exciting, final round, Robert dominated Tomihira by unleashing all the weapons in his arsenal. But, Tomihira aimed to please and followed up, landing kicks to the Robert’s mid-section. Overall, Robert’s size proved to be the deciding factor, and Tomihira was not able to score another knockdown. The crowd was pleased, and Alex Robert pulled off a 3-0 decision.

In the semi final, Nagoya favorite, Hatsu Hioki dominated ex- UFC’s Brian Garethy, best known for his role in American television program, the Ultimate Fighter. This was a keenly anticipated match, because of Hioki’s recent loss to Korean brawler, Kim Jong Man. It was not only needed, but necessary to ensure Hioki’s promising career in Japanese circuits.

The first round was spent on the mat, as Hatsu Hioki utilized his superior ground skills and almost pulled off a rear-naked choke. Geraghty barely survived the attacks, and spent the remainder of the round successfully defending the choke.

The second held more action in the stand up, with Geraghty trying to out-punch Hioki, but it was not long before Hioki decided to take the action to the mat again with a ground and pound. Geraghty was able to turn the tables near the end of the second round, but Hioki’s defense proved to be too much, and Geraghty’s attempts were thwarted.

In the third round, Hioki tried against Garagthy’s boxing skills, but seemed outmatched for a moment, and quickly brought the fight back to the ground where he unleashed a series of ground and pound combinations. Garagthy defended, but never managed anything spectacular, losing to Nagoya’s hometown Hioki in a 3-0, unanimous decision.

In one of the most gruesome fights of the evening, Andrew Peck squared off and against Ryuta Noji, in a full Thai rule match. This was the second time the two have met since K-1 BURNING in Hiroshima 5 and a half years ago. That fight ended in a draw, and Peck seemed anxious to affirm his dominance.

In the first round, Peck threw elbow after elbow, with Noji defending and displaying some impressive footwork, before Peck landed an impressive spinning elbow which rocked Noji into the cage. In the second, it seemed obvious that Noji had a difficult time getting inside because of Peck’s size advantage. Both fighters displayed good circling and effective jabs, but Peck’s relentless elbows were obviously taking their toll on Noji.

With two rounds to Peck, Noji needed a knock-out in the third, but could not get close enough to throw anything effective. Andrew Peck’s aggression doubled in the third with a series of punch/kick combinations that won him a 0-3 decision.

Brazilian fans shook the arena with massive support for Jiu Jitsu fighter, Gil Freitas against the Japanese Osami Shibuya. Freitas displayed an arguably sloppy style of blind “haymaker” throwing on his feet, but displayed superior skills on the ground. In the first, Freitas scored a takedown, followed by an impressive ground and pound. At one point, Shibuya landed a good right hook, and attempted a leg-lock in his own offensive, but failed.
In the second, Shibuya scored a takedown, but Freitas defended, and worked the crowd, managing another volley of punches on the mat. In the third, Shibuya turned the tables and out-maneuvered Freitas on his feet, dodging the Brazilian’s lofty swinging and landed a beautiful roundhouse to the chest. It proved insufficient, as far as the judges were concerned, and Freitas was able to acquire the win, in an arguable unanimous decision.

The first half of the evening held some memorable matches with Hiroshi Umemura submitting Brazilian, Matheus Forte, in the second round with an Ankle hold in 2 minutes, 54 seconds. Jyunichi Maruyama received a yellow card for repeated low-blows against shoot-boxer Atsuhiro Tsuboi, but won a unanimous decision. Maruyama holds much promise for the future, as he has been trained personally by K-1 vet Nicholas Pettas.

Kazuhisa Tazawa defeated Cristiano Kaminishi in a sloppy 2 round MMA slug-fest, for a 2 round unanimous decision. Danilo Zanolini defeated Syunsuke Ohishi in a contested unanimous decision. And, in one of the most explosive fights of the evening of the evening, Max Fernandez submitted Yoshimoto Watanabe in 1 minute, 12 seconds. New to the Japan scene, Fernandez is sure to turn some heads with his explosive and technical performances.