The always exciting Hiroto Uesako (16-9) will return to Pancrase in April, and he faces a fellow ten-year veteran in the form of Yusuke Kasuya (10-6-2) of Kanagawa, Japan.
Joining the RIZIN ranks in late 2019, Uesako holds a 1-2 record in the organization. Debuting against a relative unknown in Yves Landu, Uesako was able to ground and pound the Frenchman in round two to secure a technical knockout win. This bout was confirmed to be a qualifier for the upcoming RIZIN Lightweight Grand-Prix, so in Uesako’s follow-up bout, he faced Brazil’s Luiz Gustavo in the quarter-finals two months later.
In under five minutes, Uesako was blasted with a right-hand by Gustavo, this busted his face open below his left eye. Unfortunately for Hiroto Uesako, the doctor did not think it would be safe to allow him to continue following the damage done, as massive swelling was also beginning to form. Following this defeat, Hiroto Uesako took nearly three months off before returning against Yusuke Yachi at Bellator Japan to headline the RIZIN postlim portion of the card. It was a wild back-and-forth affair that saw both fighters have incredible moments, but it ended in the third round when Yachi landed a vicious soccerkick to the face of a downed Uesako to secure a knockout win.
Prior to the three-fight RIZIN run, Uesako has won two-straight under the Pancrase banner by way of finish. This after a ridiculously entertaining run in DEEP that saw him eventually win featherweight gold.
Despite being forgotten by many, Yusuke Kasuya is a veteran of the UFC, having fought in the promotion two time in 2015, 2016. He faced current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in his final UFC fight before signing with Pancrase in 2017 for his most recent four-fight run. Despite beginning his promotional run with a two-fight losing streak, all it took was one knockout win over Masayuki Kikuiri to earn Kasuya a shot at interim lightweight gold in 2019. In September, Salimkhan Sadulloev finished Kasuya to claim the interim gold.
Pancrase 314 goes down on April 12, live from the Shinkiba Studio Coast in Tokyo, Japan.
