The Shooto 30th Anniversary Tour hits Tokyo on May 6th with a show at the Korakuen Hall. It will feature two title fights with the flyweight and lightweight champions both defending their titles.
Reigning 125lbs champion Hiromasa Ogikubo (17-4) will be defending the Shooto title he won in 2017 for the first time. The TUF veteran was last seen taking on Kyoji Horiguchi in a catchweight contest at Rizin 11, which he lost by decision.
Ogikubo goes up against Kiyotaka Shimizu (22-14) who is riding a three fight winning streak that includes victories over two of Shooto’s top flyweights. In his last two fights the 35 year old has stopped seasoned veteran Yoshiro Maeda and touted prospect Hayato Ishii.
The other title fight on the card sees lightweight champion Koshi Matsumoto (19-8) make the first defence of the belt he won last year. Like Ogikubo he is coming off a loss at Rizin 11.
Facing Matsumoto will be Naoyuki Kotani (36-16-7) who had an unsuccessful UFC stint, losing three fights out of three. He’s only won three out of his last three nine fights but recovered some momentum with back to back wins last year.
In future Shooto champions will be heading to ONE Championship, not Rizin. The two promotions announced an exclusive partnership earlier this month.
Shooto 30th Anniversary Tour, Tokyo, May 6th
Hiromasa Ogikubo (c) vs. Kiyotaka Shimizu (For Shooto Flyweight Title)
Koshi Matsumoto (c) vs. Naoyuki Kotani (For Shooto Lightweight Title)
