Pancrase 302 is set for Studio Coast in Tokyo this Sunday and the card will be headlined by a welterweight battle between Hiroyuki Tetsuka and Akihiro Murayama. Ten years separates the two fighters and the latter will have a significant advantage in terms of experience.
Murayama (20-8-9) made his professional debut in 2003. In 2016 he became the welterweight King of Pancrase but came up short in his first title defence and the 38 year old will be looking to work his way back into contention by scoring a second straight win for the venerable Japanese promotion.
By contrast Tetsuka (5-3) only turned pro in 2015. He did spend several years competing as an amateur in the US before signing with Pancrase so he has more experience than his record suggests but faces the toughest test of his career to date against the highly experienced former welterweight King of Pancrase.
In the co-main event Masatatsu Ueda (11-3-1) will be looking for his fourth straight Pancrase win against Toru Ogawa (10-2) in a matchup that pits two of the promotion’s top flyweights together. Featherweight Yusuke Kawanago (15-6-2) also returns to Pancrase after a two year absence and has been matched with Darani Date (5-5-1) who has already fought four times for the promotion this year.
Female flyweight Emiko Raika (8-2) is still going strong at the age of 42. She’s been matched with a Brazilian opponent 14 years her junior and will be looking to prove that she is still a force to be reckoned with in the division when she takes on Edna Trakinas (7-4-1).
Pancrase 302, Tokyo, December 9th
Hiroyuki Tetsuka vs Akihiro Murayama
Masatatsu Ueda vs Toru Ogawa
Emiko Raika vs Edna Trakinas
Mariya Suzuki vs Sidy Rocha
Koji Nakamura vs Yoshiki Nakahara
Hidekazu Fukushima vs Taiyo Hayashi
Manabu Inoue vs Kohei Sugiyama
Toshiya Takashima vs Ryosuke Noda
Katsushi Sugiyamavs vs Shoichi Tomita
Nobuhisa Kudo vs Tatsuya Watanabe
Yusuke Kawanago vs Darani Date
Kiyoshiro Akasaki vs Kazuho Ikeda
Joji Goto vs Chihaya Yoneyama
Ippei Takase vs Hiroki Otani
Nobuhisa Kudo vs Yuki Tashiro
Tatsuya Watanabe vs Hanbyo Oniyama
Sakura Hiroyasu vs Juenpei Ueno