Yusuke Yachi celebrates following his soccer-kick knockout win over Hiroto Uesako.

Bellator Japan Postlim Recap – Yusuke Yachi closes the show with a soccer kick KO

The Bellator Japan main card action was tremendous.

In the main event, Fedor Emelianenko showcased surprising power and speed to take out Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the opening frame with one picture-perfect right-hand to the temple. Post-fight, he announced that this may be his last fight in Japan. The co-main event saw Michael Chandler take out a short-notice replacement in Sidney Outlaw in similar fashion. Michael “Venom” Page returned on the night, as well! He put on a striking masterclass full of flash and pizzazz to take out Japanese wrestler Shinsho Anzai in the second round.

The main card action began with a Bellator vs. RIZIN series consisting of three fights.

Lorenz Larkin battered an unbelievably tough Keita Nakamura on the feet for a well-deserved unanimous decision win. Judo specialist Kana Watanabe continued her winning ways by thwarting the shockingly grind-heavy gameplan of Ilara Joanne for a late third-round stoppage win. And finally, Goiti Yamauchi made quick work of America’s Daron Cruickshank with one of his patented rear naked chokes. Bellator won the mini-series 2-1 thanks to Larkin and Yamauchi, but the promotional warfare continues at RIZIN 20.

Now, what about those unwatchable RIZIN postlim fights that were featured at Bellator Japan? Full-on RIZIN rules, in a cage, with some of RIZIN’s most exciting fighters? We’ve got you covered! If you want these results, but in a bite-sized format, feel free to just view the results. If you want clips, look no further.

A veteran of Ganryujima moat fighting, Shoma Shibisai spoiled the highly-anticipated debut of the other Shemetov Brother; Sergey. He did so by sitting back on a nasty heel-hook in the opening minute of the fight. The 28-year-old Japanese heavyweight improved to 6-2, 1NC and notched his sixth professional finish. This was, however, his first submission victory by way of any type of leglock.

Next up on the docket, UFC veteran “Super Saiyan” Jon Tuck picked up his first win in over two years as he knocked out DEEP welterweight title-holder Ryuichiro Sumimura in the opening round with a ferocious right-hook. Before the fight, Tuck shouted out his Guam fighting spirit, and was incredibly excited to pair that with Sumimura’s Japanese fighting spirit. Well, this morning, Guam proved to be better than Japan in this particular instance.

This was Tuck’s first knockout win since 2014, and the level of opposition is among his steepest to date.

In what was reportedly a somewhat lackluster fight, KRAZY BEE’s queen of violence Ai Shimizu improved to 6-1 and won her fifth-straight against former King of the Cage champion Andy Nguyen by way of split decision. Below I will link a thread featuring four tweets, including highlights of all three rounds, and the official victory announcement.

Shimizu was emotional post-fight, promising a better, more convincing performance and win next time. Here is a link to the aforementioned thread. Also, Andy Nguyen knows how to make an awesome entrance, and Bellator Japan was no different.

DEEP’s 19-year-old interim flyweight king Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi defeated Japanese veteran Yusaku Nakamura in a fun fight that Takahashi eventually took over completely. The fight even featured a very rare standing groin punch.

Round-by-round thread here. Showcases all of Shinryu’s dominance across each and every round as he improves to 10-1-1 and wins his fourth-straight.

In the next fight of the night, young K-1 star Ren Hiramoto did exactly what he was supposed to be do. Returning from nearly two years away, Hiramoto showcased why MMA fighters should stop accepting kickboxing rule fights against kickboxers, starching Takahiro Ashida with three knockdowns in the opening minutes of the fight.

In a rematch of a fight that took place at RIZIN 18, Jarred Brooks and Haruo Ochi looked to prove who the world’s best men’s strawweight fight was.

In their initial meeting, Brooks and Ochi accidentally clashed heads a mere seconds into the fight, creating a fight-ending cut on the head of Haruo Ochi. In the rematch, Brooks used some American wrestling to handle Ochi and win the fight.

Despite the dominate showing, Jarred Brooks (now 16-2, 1NC) expressed interest in moving up in weight afterward, calling for a potential match-up with former RIZIN and Bellator champ Kyoji Horiguchi.

22-year-old grappler Kanna Asakura moved her record to 16-4 and her win streak to two as she grounded and submitted New Mexico’s Jayme Hinshaw with a kimura late in round three. This is exactly what Asakura needed after that heavily disputed split decision win against Alesha Zappitella at RIZIN 18.

In the ‘main event’, if you will, Yusuke Yachi and Hiroto Uesako went to war! In the third-round, KRAZY BEE star Yusuke Yachi recovered from his three-fight losing streak by knocking out Hiroto Uesako with a vicious soccer kick, giving him his first true knockout loss whilst moving his own record to 21-9. The irony in this? Uesako is known for his soccer kick knockouts in DEEP and has since taken out a moniker of sorts that labels him as the “King of the Soccer Kick!” Does that make Yusuke Yachi the new king by default?

That’s all the action that you were unable to see this morning at Bellator Japan.

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