A bantamweight bout pitting between Rui Imura against Masahide Hiraoka has been confirmed for the Pancrase 321 card. The event is set for Shinkiba Studio Coast on May 30th.
As usual the promotion took to Twitter to announced the matchup:
平岡将英＠井村塁の2019.2020ネオブラ優勝者対決！https://t.co/TOi1NnK9oz #パンクラス #ネオブラッドトーナメント #優勝 #5月30日 #pancrase321 #PANCRASE pic.twitter.com/cPIa7Z1vSp
— PANCRASE｜パンクラス (@_PANCRASE_) March 16, 2021
Imura (4-0) was named ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at the 2020 Asian MMA Awards after winning four fights out of four last year. His most recent outing came in December when he submitted Shuhei Noyama with a triangle choke at Pancrase 320.
Hiraoka (7-5) has won three out of his last four and comes into this contest on the back of a stoppage win. He needed just 67 seconds to finish Sho Sekihara at Pancrase 319.
As previously announced the card will be headlined by a featherweight title fight with Isao Kobayashi putting his belt on the line against Taichi Nakajima. The champion is riding a five fight winning streak while the challenger is coming off a win over UFC veteran Yoshinori Horie.
Meanwhile one of the most experienced fighters in the sport will be in welterweight action. UFC and ONE Championship veteran Yuki Kondo has been matched with Yoshinori Suzuki.
Two of the promotion’s top strawweights will go head to head when Ryo Hatta faces Yuta Miyazawa. In the flyweight division multiple time boxing world challenger Raika Emiko meets Nori Date.
Pancrase 321, Tokyo, May 30th
Isao Kobayashi (c) vs. Taichi Nakajima (For featherweight title)
Yuki Kondo vs. Yoshinori Suzuki (Welterweight)
Ryo Hatta vs. Yuta Miyazawa (Strawweight)
Rui Imura vs. Masahide Hiraoka (Bantamweight)
Raika Emiko vs. Nori Date (Flyweight)
