A decorated grappler will be making his pro MMA debut at Pancrase 316. Having dominated BJJ competitions in Japan for several years Toshiomi Kazama will be competing in the cage for the first time at Shinkiba Studio Coast on July 5th.
The BJJ purple belt will be competing at featherweight. His opponent is Hiroyasu Sakurai (3-1) who is coming off a split decision win over Naoki Shimamura at ONE Warrior Series 8.
Kazama appears to have some amateur MMA experience. But he is best known for winning tournaments like the IBJJF Asian Open and JBJJF All Japan Championship.
The other fight added to the Pancrase 316 card this week pits Rikiya Matsuzawa (1-1) against Seio Date (6-14-13) in the bantamweight division.
As previously announced the event will be headlined by a lightweight bout pitting Yusuke Kasuya against Hiroto Uesako. In the featherweight division reigning champion Isao Kobayashi will take on Akira Okada in a non title fight.
There will be another significant featherweight fight on the card as Issei Tamura has been matched with Shinmare Komori. Both men had originally been booked to fight at the cancelled Pancrase 313 event, albeit not against each other.
Another fight moved from Pancrase 313 pits Jun Doi against Sho Sekihara in the bantamweight division. Meanwhile in the flyweight division multiple time boxing world title challenger Emiko Raika faces former Strikeforce, Deep Jewels and Pancrase title challenger Takayo Hashi.
Pancrase 316, Tokyo, July 5th
Yusuke Kasuya vs. Hiroto Uesako (Lightweight)
Isao Kobayashi vs. Akira Okada (Featherweight)
Emiko Raika vs. Takayo Hashi (Flyweight)
Issei Tamura vs. Shinmare Komori (Featherweight)
Jun Doi vs. Sho Sekihara (Bantamweight)
Toshiomi Kazama vs. Hiroyasu Sakurai (Featherweight)
Kohei Sugiyama vs. Naoki Arikawa (Flyweight)
Masahide Hiraoka vs. Shinsuke Kosaka (Bantamweight)
Kazuki Kasai vs. Shinichi Taira (Lightweight)
Yuki Yasunaga vs Tatsuya Watanabe (Flyweight)
Kaneaki Watanabe vs. Hotaka Nakanishi (Featherweight)
Rikiya Matsuzawa vs. Seio Date (Bantamweight)
