Mina Kurobe submitted Seo Young Park with a second round rear naked choke in the main event at Shooto 0717 on Sunday. The 45-year-old needed less than two rounds to finish the inexperienced Korean.
This super atomweight headliner at the Korakuen Hall was only the Korean’s third professional fight. By contrast the former Shooto 108lbs champion was making the walk for the 24th time in her career.
Both fighters took their time to gauge the distance in the opening round with the younger fighter circling the outside and searching for openings. She duly found one as she cracked Kurobe with a right cross.
But the local favourite duly returned the favour before locking her opponent up against the cage. Both women exchanged knees in the clinch with Kurobe enjoyed the better of the exchanges and delivered a series of uppercuts.
Keisuke Takazawa
Double leg
The Tokyo-native scored with a stout left-right combination on the break before securing a big double leg. From there she showed her dominance on the ground and ended the round at Park’s back unloading punches.
Another monster takedown followed early in the second stanza. Kurobe battered Park with punches and elbows before taking the back and sinking in a textbook rear naked choke.
The finish came at the 1:39 mark and sees Kurobe extend her record to 18-6. She will be hoping to secure a rematch with current Shooto atomweight champion Satomi Takano who is the only fighter to beat her since 2018.
Park slips to 1-2.
Keisuke Takazawa
Best of the rest
In the co-main event rising flyweight star Wataru Yamauchi (4-0) claimed a credible win over a more experienced opponent. The 23 year old who made his pro debut a year ago, beat Nobutaka Naito (9-7-3) by unanimous decision.
There was also a win for up and coming middleweight Taiga Iwasaki (8-0). His record remains impressive but beating fighters of the calibre of Dong Joo Lim (1-5) will only get him so far, the Korean has lost five in a row now.
Shooto 0717, Tokyo, July 17th
Mina Kurobe def. Seo Young Park by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:39 of R2
Wataru Yamauchi def. Nobutaka Naito by Decision (Unanimous)
Tomoya Hirakawa def. Yuta Nezu by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:40 of R2
Taiga Iwasaki def. Dong Joo Lim by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 5:00 of R1
Shoji Saito def. Hiroki Takaoka by Decision (Unanimous)
Takeaki Kinoshita def. Yoshihiro Koyama by KO (Kick)
Otoha Nagao def. Kyu Kitano by Decision (Unanimous)
Norika Ryu def. Salt by Submission (Armbar)
Otake Yo def. Hayato Sasaki by Submission (Ninja Choke)
