RISE/M-1 Infinity Results: Yamamoto, Yoshimoto Victorious; Kamimura, Mizuochi Win WPMF Titles

Earlier today, RISE and M-1 Muay Thai Challenge held their first joint show titled Infinity, with top Japanese fighters Masahiro Yamamoto and Koji Yoshimoto taking on Beverwijk Top Team prospects Mansour Yaqubi and Raz Sarkisjan. Also on the show were RISE mainstays Sun Hyun Lee and Dyki, as well as two WPMF World title fights featuring Yosuke Mizuochi and Erika Kamimura.

In the main event, RISE 65kg champion Koji Yoshimoto handed Raz Sarkisjan a second straight loss with a unanimous decision, with all 3 judges scoring it 29-28. Sarkisjan looked to use his power and seems to have landed on Yoshimoto pretty well, but Yoshimoto seems to have turned in on in the 3rd round, securing a victory. Yoshimoto pushes his win streak to five and could see himself rematching Yasuomi Soda in another title defense. Though he is past his physical prime, Yoshimoto, much like Ryuji Kajiwara, seems to have settled into himself quite well and finds ways to win fights. Sarkisjan drops two straight after a big upset win over Masaaki Noiri in May. While he certainly has good power, Sarkisjan will have to work on other aspects of his game if he wants to make an impact in GLORY, though I believe he is only 20 years old, meaning he has plenty of time to improve.

In the co-main event, It’s Showtime 61kg champion Masahiro Yamamoto scored a 3rd round TKO of Mansour Yaqubi, scoring 3 knockdowns in the final round. Yamamoto rode the momentum of his win against Javier Hernandez, coming out aggressive, but I believe he was dropped at the beginning of the 3rd round. Despite that, Yamamoto stormed back with 3 knockdowns of his own to stop the fight. Yamamoto has now won 6 straight. His international future is sort of in limbo right now with Glory’s purchase of It’s Showtime, but with Glory setting up a Tokyo office, I would imagine Yamamoto will be a huge part in attempting to market kickboxing to a Japanese audience again.

At 55kg, Shooto Flyweight champion Mikihito Yamagami came up short in RISE once again, dropping a majority decision to #1 ranked Dyki on scores of 27-26(x2) and 27-27. Dyki has now won 4 in a row and could see himself in a fight for the vacant RISE 55kg title in the future, possibly rematching Ryuma Tobe. Yamagami gives another top Super Bantamweight a tough test, but ends up on the losing side once again. If he were to focus his efforts entirely on kickboxing, he could be a force in the 55kg division, but for now he looks like he has a long reign as Shooto champion in his future, already holding his title for a year and defending it once.

In the night’s lone RISE vs M-1 fight, Sun Hyun Lee scored a 1st round KO of Buakaw WSR at 2:58. Lee improves to 4-1 in RISE and 5-1 in Japan and has a rematch with RISE 63kg champion and LiverKick #4 ranked Lightweight Yuki at RISE/M-1 Infinity.II on January 6th for the title. Lee defeated Yuki in their first meeting, a non-title affair, but with Yuki’s big win over Javier Hernandez at RISE 90, a win for Lee could vault him into the top 10 of the LiverKick rankings. Buakaw takes his first loss at this weight in Japan and is winless in his last 3, though he has faced good competition, even moving up in weight to face T-98.

In a fight for the vacant WPMF World Lightweight title, WPMF Japan and WBC Japan champion Yosuke Mizouchi defeated Nong’an Sasiprapa by 2nd round KO to claim the title. Since an up and down start to his career, Mizuochi has emerged as one of the top Lightweights in Japan over the last 2 years, going 9-2 with wins over Keiji Ozaki, Ikki, Keijiro Miyakoshi and now Nong’an, claiming the WPMF Japan, WBC Japan and now WPMF World Lightweight titles. This fight could set up a title defense against another top ranked Thai, but the last two fighters to hold this belt had it taken from them before being able to defend it, so who knows if Mizuochi will be able to do anything with it.

In the night’s other WPMF World title fight, Erika Kamimura reclaimed the WPMF Women’s World Mini Flyweight title with a 3rd round KO of Loma Lookboonmee. Kamimura reclaims the belt that she gave up without defending and showed the power she is famous for in doing so. A rematch with RENA set for some time in the future will be crucial for her, as a loss would mean dropping to 0-2 against her rival and possibly fighting in the shadow of RENA until she got another chance at redemption.

Analysis and results of Shimizu vs Sirimongkon, Kaew Fairtex vs Taniguchi, Chang Hyun Lee vs Nagashima and Takahashi vs Itsuka, as well as quick results after the break

In a 58kg fight, Yusuke Shimizu scored the biggest upset of the night, fighting Rajadamnern Stadium Featherweight champion Sirimongkon PK Muaythai to a draw. Shimizu is a good fighter, holding wins over Taisuke Degai and Takayuki Umehara, but he lost to Ryuya Kusakabe and was in only his second fight at this weight, moving up from Super Bantamweight. Though it was just a draw, Shimizu sees a big rise in his stock here and could even see himself breaking into the top 10 of the Rajadamnern or WPMF World Featherweight rankings.

In a Welterweight bout, Kaew Fairtex only needed 12 seconds to stop Satoshi Taniguchi, scoring a head kick that ended Taniguchi’s night. Kaew improves to 3-0 in Japan on the year, scoring stoppages in each fight.

In a 59.5kg bout, Korean prospect Chang Hyun Lee scored another big win, this time stopping top ranked Featherweight Daiki Nagashima in the 2nd round with a right hook. Lee was coming off of his big win over Genji Umeno in K-1 and, like his teammate Sun Hyun, is quickly making a name for himself and could see himself in a RISE title fight in the near future, which is exciting as 60kg champ Kosuke Komiyama seems to have exhausted most of his options in RISE. Nagashima takes only his 4th loss since 2010, with the others coming to Yosuke Morii twice and Yuji Umehara. A third fight with Morii would be a good fight for him as his two losses were close, with the winner getting a shot at Hiroki Akimoto.

Finally, former Shootboxing champion Ai Takahashi bounced back from a second loss to Mizuki Inoue with a 3rd round KO of Itsuka. Takahashi needed a win here as she quickly went from top of the world with a win over RENA to somewhat of an afterthought with two losses to Mizuki Inoue in Shootboxing. She is likely eyeing a chance at redemption with a 3rd fight against Inoue.

Quick Results:

65kg Fight: Koji Yoshimoto def. Raz Sarkisjan by 3rd round Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

61kg Fight: Masahiro Yamamoto def. Mansour Yaqubi by 3rd round TKO (3 knockdowns) at 2:46

55kg Fight: Dyki def. Mikihito Yamagami by 3rd round Majority Decision (27-26, 27-26, 27-27)

63.5kg RISE vs M-1MC Fight: Sun Hyun Lee def. Buakaw WSR by 1st round KO (right cross) at 2:58

Vacant WPMF World Lightweight Title Fight: Yosuke Mizuochi def. Nong’an Sasiprapa by 2nd round KO (punches) at 2:20

Vacant WPMF Women’s World Mini Flyweight Title Fight: Erika Kamimura def. Loma Lookboonmee by 3rd round KO (left cross) at 1:21

58kg Fight: Yusuke Shimizu and Sirimongkon PK Muaythai fought to a 5th round Unanimous Draw (48-48, 48-48, 48-48)

67kg Fight: Kaew Fairtex def. Satoshi Taniguchi by 1st round KO (head kick) at 0:12

48kg Fight: Tenshin Nasukawa def. Kaogam Sor Thantip by 1st round KO (punches) at 0:49

59.5kg Fight: Chang Hyun Lee def. Daiki Nagashima by 2nd round KO (right hook) at 0:47

53.5kg Fight: Ai Takahashi def. Itsuka by 3rd round KO (right cross) at 1:30

58kg Fight: Yuta Sashikubi def. Tomo Arimatsu by 1st round KO (right hook) at 1:28

53kg Fight: Noro Yuki def. Shinichi Takagi by 3rd round Unanimous Decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-29)

67kg Fight: Kouki def. Jarunsak WSR by ext. round Split Decision (10-9, 10-9, 9-10)

66.5kg Fight: Tomoya Kato def. Toshio Mizusawa by 2nd round KO (right cross) at 1:46

64kg Fight: KING MASA def. Keisuke Niwa by Unanimous Decision (28-26, 28-26, 28-26)

57.5kg Fight: Yosuke Komiyama def. Yuji Harashima by 3rd round Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

55kg Fight: Akira Kushima def. Yuta Watanabe by 3rd round Majority Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-29)

63.5kg Fight: Hiroyuki Norose def. Lion Senchaigym by 1st round KO (3 knockdowns) at 2:42

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