ROAD Fighting Championship is proud to share the official match ups for the Japan Trials in DEEP for the $1 Million Lightweight Tournament “Road to A-Sol”.
DEEP Fighting Championship will host the Japan Trials for the ROAD FC $1 Million Tournament during DEEP Osaka Impact 2017 on March 20. The four fighters who will be vying for seeded entry in the 16-man tournament are four of DEEP’s most competitive fighters. The match ups were drawn on February 12, during the DEEP Future King Tournament. The winners will fight each other later in the same night.
Match A: Okano Yuki vs Shimoishi Kota Okano Yuki (12-8-1, Mach Dojo) was a long time welterweight contender who made his name as a toe-to-toe striking brutalizer. Okano made the drop to lightweight and faced fellow Trials participant Etoh, who was then undefeated. He broke Eto’s streak by KO in the first round. Okano eventually challenged for the DEEP 70kg belt but came up short, finished by submission in only the second time of his career. His strength is definitely his size.
Shimoishi Kota (17-4, BLOWS) is a brawler with ground skills who has proved his ability in Shooto and DEEP. Since 2013, Kota’s only loss was a decision in a title match to DEEP Champion Satoru Kitaoka. His most recent turnout was a decision win to another ROAD FC Trials contender, Mongolian Khuukhenkhuu Amartuvshin. Shimoishi is a much-improved fighter since his 2012 loss to Tournament seed Sasaki Shinji. Aggression and durability are his strengths.
This match between Okano and Shimoishi should be a grueling grinder with heavy shots mixed in.Match B: Luiz Andrade vs Eto Kimihiro Luiz Andrade (19-17-6, Zendokai Dojo) is a lifelong karateka who has grown up in Japan. He has been a staple of DEEP since 2004 and has become the defacto lightweight gatekeeper. Decision draws to Ken Hamamura and Yukinari Tamura prove just how tough he is, and he hasn’t been finished since 2013. That includes a previous match against his next opponent, Eto, which ended in a Draw almost exactly 2 years ago..
Kimihiro Eto (10-2-2, Wayjutsu Keishukai HEARTS) is a collegiate wrestler with a pedigree who set himself into MMA title contention with a 6-0 streak. Japan Trials participant Okano broke that streak with a KO. Eto’s Draw with next opponent Luiz was also during that difficult period of his career. However, with a current 3-fight win streak over DEEP’s rankers Tamura and Shigetoshi Iwase, Eto is on the upswing. Luiz versus Eto is style versus style, and it will settle a long-standing rivalry; neither man will be passive because a chance for $1 Million is at stake.
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