so no-one cares huh? fine.
results:
Unlike how I pointed out before, where many people in the press and on the internet were simply ignoring Yoshida's farewell, the day after in Japan it is front page news. Of course that brings out a whole different range of questions and probabilities. The long short of things is even if the press didn't promote the show, they knew it was a big deal after the fact. Much as the tradition is for a fighter heading into his retirement, Hidehiko Yoshida went out in a tearful manner, being soundly defeated by the much younger Kazuhiro Nakamura. Yoshida actually came into the fight heavier than he had fought before, as throughout most of his career he stuck around the 225 range, but this time came in pushing 250 and looking like he wasn't exactly in the greatest shape.
The fight resembled the Satoshi Ishii bout, meaning that Yoshida chose to stand up most of the fight, with minimal judo grips or even attempts at throws, although Yoshida chose to go out in style with his Judo gi. I'm sure the question will eventually be asked of what this does for Nakamura's career, and the short answer is nothing. Defeating Yoshida does not make careers, as Yoshida retires at a rather unimpressive 9-8, with losses to fighters like James Thompson (whose ear was exploded on CBS by Kimbo) and Sanae Kikuta who hasn't fought since. If anything, this can be a turning point for Nakamura who has not seen a win since Sengoku 6 back in November of 2008, hopefully he can continue to win after this bout.
Micah Miller's second advance on Japan proved to be yet another failure, as probably the man with the biggest future in this whole ASTRA event, Michihiro Omigawa took the fight to him and was able to outwork him for three rounds. The highlight as always, is his colorful post-fight speech, where he once again called himself a bastard for not finishing his opponent and being undeserving of fans. Enson Inoue made his return to the ring after a six year absence to honor Yoshida and easily dispatched New Zealand kickboxer Antz Nansen in the first round with an armbar.
Ryo Chonan's night didn't end as well for him, sadly, as Korean Jung Hwan Cha was able to knock him out in the second rounds. Cha mentioned that he was a big fan of watching Chonan fight in PRIDE and has done some training with the Yoshida Dojo, it was a honor to fight on the card and shocking to be able to fight and defeat Ryo Chonan.
Main Event - Heavyweight
Kazuhiro Nakamura (14-10) def. Hidehiko Yoshida (9-8-1) via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-28)
Bout #10 - Featherweight
Michihiro Omigawa (10-8-1) def. Micah Miller (13-4, 1 NC) via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-29, 30-29)
Bout #9 - Light Heavyweight
Enson Inoue (12-
def. Antz Nansen (1-1) via submission (armbar) R1 2:10
Bout #8 - Welterweight
Jung Hwan Cha (7-5-1) def. Ryo Chonan (17-11) via KO (punches) R2 1:16
Bout #7 - Lightweight
Jorge Masvidal (20-5) def. Naoyuki Kotani (20-10-7) via split decision (30-29, 29-30, 30-30)
Judge Matsumoto scored the bout a 30-30 draw, but gave his "must" decision to Masvidal.
Bout #6 - Lightweight
Daisuke Nakamura (21-12) def. Ganjo Tentsuku (9-5-2) via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-26, 30-25)
Bout #5 - Welterweight
Yuya Shirai (19-
def. Che Mills (8-4, 1 NC) via submission (armbar) R1 3:59
Bout #4 - Featherweight
Akihiko Mori (9-7-1) def. Tatsunao Nagakura (5-1) via TKO (punches) R1 1:04
Bout #3 - Heavyweight
Baru "Seiryu" Harn (1-1) def. Seigo Mizuguchi (7-6) via unanimous decision (20-17, 20-19, 20-18)
Bout #2 - Middleweight
Yusuke Sakashita (7-2) def. Kenji Nagai (6-11-2) via TKO (punches) R1 2:04
Bout #1 - Bantamweight
Takumi Murata (8-11-6) def. Ryosuke Komori (4-3) via unanimous decision (20-18 x 3)
from what i read on the play by play it was a very emotional affair at the nippon budokan (where all the major judo events are held in japan) and Yoshida broke down in tears when his parents came to the ring after the fight.
Guest appearances at the event were from the man himself, Fedor Emelianenko who said:
I always love coming to Japan, so I’m very happy to be back. I heard that Yoshida was retiring so I decided to come here to cheer for him. I love Japan, and hope to come back here and have another fight. Thank you for remembering me and being fans of me.
Wanderlei Silva said that he respected Yoshida for their fights or words to that effect, and that they should hit the casinos together next time he is in vegas.
Sakuraba also made a speech, and a bunch of other japanese fighters were there such as Funkai, Minowaman etc. plus some judo dignitaries.
Yoshida said he will be returning to te Judo community and Nakamura is taking over Yoshida dojo.
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