Next into the ring, Masahito Kakehara and Tatsuo Nakano.
I'm here
I'm in the water of desire
I'm about to lose you
The meaningless answer
Has made me pray
My heart is in the water
Burning, burning, burning
My heart
Is covered in sweat
In a white blanket
My youth
Is the path of battle
In the dazzling light
I'll decide the reason
I've been crying
I'll believe in tomorrow
Masahito Kakehara only 21.
This is the third time Masahito has faced Nakano
and he has yet to defeat his opponent.
Having lost to Dennis Kozlowski last time up,
this is a tough fight for him to get back on winning ways.
Tatsuo Nakano from Ibaraki.
After suffering horrific injuries in their first fight despite winning,
Nakano then beat Kakehara comfortably again.
But he has lost his last two bouts so it could go either way.
Well here we go with the long-awaited second rematch
between Masahito Kakehara and Tatsuo Nakano.
Both of their previous fights ending up with a Nakano victory.
Let's see what happens tonight.
This will be an interesting one.
Kakehara as we know, full of speed, full of technique and ability.
Nakano, an overall favorite.
One of the hard men of UWFI, but also showing recently
signs of improved technique and ability.
Definitely and it's almost as though he's changed a little bit in his style.
Well, Nakano fighting out of the red corner,
Kakehara out of the blue corner.
There's no shaking of hands, so I think the scene has been set.
And you notice something in his previous bouts,
Masahito Kakehara would throw a lot of hand strikes,
but he hasn't thrown any yet, but he's thrown some pretty devastating low kicks
and he's sticking to that strategy so far.
Nakano stalking, ooh, Kakehara just missing there.
And it's now, it seems to have woken up Nakano,
he's a bit more sprightly in his step.
And he shouldn't be blocking those low kicks with his hand
because he'll leave his head open.
As we go down to the canvas for the first exchange of wrestling.
I don't know, Kakehara looks pretty confident on the ground tonight, doesn't he?
He's trying to set up that double wrist lock right now.
Yeah, he looks purposeful.
Kakehara in the light blue trunks.
Nakano, self-explanatory I think.
Ooh, trying to go for the cross lock, but Nakano quick on reversing that.
Nakano trying to set up his own exchange.
He countered that move pretty well and he's trying to go for an arm lock.
He's on top and that's going to burn out energy for Kakehara.
And Kakehara should be standing up, I think that's his main chance.
And that he does.
But still a little bit of trouble.
Nakano doesn't look like he wants to let go of him.
These fighters beginning to show signs of injury.
All of them have their hands very heavily strapped.
Could that be due to the very extensive submission holds they're going for?
Submission holds is one thing that a lot of the wrestlers get hurt in.
Even though they don't break their arm, they can snap a tendon, they can stretch things.
Those are very dangerous.
And as for Kakehara, he has his wrist taped up.
You notice that he likes open hand blows a lot.
And he could have incurred an injury from actually throwing his own punches.
Well, no injuries apparent here in this bout tonight.
Nakano momentarily having a dominant period of Kakehara.
Last time we saw Nakano go up against Yoji Anjo.
Yoji Anjo put him away with a sleeper hold.
Picture perfect right in the middle of the ring.
I'm sure Nakano wants to get...
I'm sure he's out there to prove something tonight.
He wants to show that he's still up there and he's still ready for big time.
I'm sure he doesn't want to incur his first loss against Kakehara,
especially since he's beaten him twice in the past.
Yes, a second loss could well start heralding chinks in Nakano's very durable armor.
Face lock and Kakehara in trouble.
Very much in trouble.
Kicked his way to those ropes.
And the first point in the bout is lost.
Nakano in a standing up position.
This is Kakehara's game.
He's going to probably start throwing low kicks,
but just as I say that, Nakano comes with his own low kick.
And his own takedown.
Kakehara trying to take the upper hand.
Trying to go for the cross lock on the knee,
but it was surprising in that standing exchange and look though.
So Nakano wanted to throw the kicks and Kakehara wanted to take him down.
Very ironic, isn't it? He'll hold.
Yes, Kakehara makes it to the ropes.
Shakes off the effects of that.
Onslaught by Nakano.
15 to 13, the lead.
If you want to be successful in this sport, you have to be good at it all.
You have to know how to punch, knee, kick, wrestle, submission wrestling, suplexes.
You have to know all aspects of fighting, and both of these fighters do.
And this is really turning out to be an exciting fight.
Yes, the crowd thinks so too as we hear that response to Nakano.
Low kick to Kakehara's thigh.
Boy, Nakano's kicks are really getting sharper and quicker each time
and Kakehara's in trouble.
That kick nearly spread him flat on his face.
Look at this. Look at this.
Nakano beating Kakehara at his own game.
Well, this is surprising.
You would expect Kakehara to have the speed, but he takes the count.
15-10 now. Five point gap.
Nakano leads. As we see here in slow motion replay.
Well, it was just a matter of time right now.
Those hits to the head weren't connecting.
It was those low kicks that were putting him down.
And the crowd are getting into this.
Kakehara's kicks just don't seem to be finding their target tonight.
They lack a little bit of crispness.
Well, they're kind of finding their target.
The only trouble is they've lost a lot of zip,
and I think that's Nakano's earlier low kicks have taken a lot out of Kakehara.
And Kakehara's starting to slowly lose his footwork.
I mean, look at the difference.
When Nakano throws them in, Kakehara's body shakes.
Nakano really putting that weight in those low kicks, and Kakehara's feeling it.
Well, we saw Billy Scott.
He's beaten Yoji Anjou three times in a row,
and I'm sure Nakano wants to do the same against Kakehara in the second rematch.
But anything can happen.
And the photographer sensing anything can happen.
Look at the close attention they're giving to these two fighters, and deservedly so.
With the shooting shoes or the pads on their feet, that really shakes you inside the body.
And a lot of kickboxing.
You notice those kicks there.
In a lot of kickboxing, they fight barefoot, but that only scars like the outside.
These are scarring to the inside,
and Nakano's smothering Kakehara right now to prevent those kicks,
and I think he's going to try to take him down.
Good knee by Nakano, dumping Kakehara on the canvas.
Nice neck throw.
He's trying to set up for that headlock and arm submission.
But Nakano, he doesn't look too excited.
He's calm enough to be able to think,
and I'm pretty sure he's thinking two or three moves ahead.
We hear somebody from the Kakehara fan club,
one of the females, trying to cheer him on.
Yes, and he might need all the help and support he can get.
I mean, these fighters really enjoy a cult following in Japan now.
I don't know when they're fighting.
I don't think they're really listening in too much,
but I guess cheers can't hurt.
Kakehara makes the adrenaline flow as Kakehara goes for that Achilles tendon hold.
Yes, this is hotting up nicely.
He's trying to make the opening, but Nakano's not giving it to him.
Nakano's saying, come on, come on.
Inviting him to let loose.
Hey, and these kicks are strong kicks.
Believe me, there's some hip going in there.
Now Nakano's up.
Now we can expect something back.
Look at this.
That's how quick it is.
I think that might have been illegal.
He kicked him in the head while both arms were down,
but they're scoring that and knocked out,
and he loses three points for that,
and Nakano looks like he's ready.
Look at this.
That knee really found its mark.
It looked as though he blocked it,
but the power probably just drove right through that block.
He's saying, come on.
Hey, good evasion work by Nakano.
Doesn't seem too perturbed by his last loss.
Seems ready to get back in there and do the business.
Here we go.
Maybe he's going to take him for a ride with a belly-to-back suplex.
Kakyaura sees the German suplex coming,
and he's trying to prevent it.
Yes, and he does.
But Nakano quickly reversing it with a reversed Achilles tendon hold right now.
He doesn't exactly have the pressure that he needs to make him submit,
and I think Kakyaura will be able to escape with ropes.
No, he's switching it around and working on the ankle.
That looks painful.
Face lock.
It almost looks like a modified STF right now.
Overput hold.
Not quite working, but this looks interesting.
Front headlock.
Kakyaura in trouble, but he moves.
Great stuff.
But it's not bothering Nakano.
Luckily he missed with that kick.
You hear a little bit booing from the crowd.
That was another judgment call.
It looked as though Nakano had kicked him in the head when both hands were down.
But once again, they're scoring in a knockdown, and Kakyaura's in serious trouble.
And Nakano has some lead now.
Only four points left for Kakyaura.
He's got to hang in there.
He doesn't know where he is right now.
He's just escaping the action.
He's just surviving in there.
Here we go with a full Nelson.
Full Nelson suplex.
Kakyaura's in trouble.
He won't survive this.
I can't see him surviving this.
15-3, Nakano leads.
One more knockdown on Kakyaura's part, and they're going to stop it.
He only has two points left, and Nakano's way in the lead now.
I can't see Kakyaura coming back from this.
Will it take a miracle?
Ooh!
He's got him in a sleeper hold.
Middle of the ring.
Referee Wada with a shoot sign.
He's looking at him.
This would be sensational on the part of Kakyaura if he can come back from this.
It doesn't look like he's giving up, but Referee Wada's checking.
It's a pretty good sleeper hold.
But we know Nakano doesn't give up.
We know he was blacked out last time.
Look at this!
Referee Wada looks like he stopped it.
It didn't look like Nakano gave up.
It's kind of hard to tell from this angle.
This could be highly controversial.
I'm not actually sure.
Oh, Nakano definitely wasn't happy.
He actually slaps Referee Wada on the back, and he's not happy with this decision.
He's saying he didn't give up.
Well, he looks okay to me.
But the winner, and controversially, Ashihito Kakyaura.
Well, I don't know what to say about a bout like that.
Let's take a look at the earlier action.
This was just a formality when he was going down.
But as we saw here, Nakano inviting those kicks.
And those kicks were actually penetrating.
But Nakano gets back up on his feet and unleashes his own arsenal and flurry.
And look at that.
Kakyaura blocked those knees perfectly, and yet the power of Nakano just drove through that block.
And look at this one.
This was, hey, Nakano was so lucky at that stage of the fight.
Although he was up on points, he could have been knocked out very easily.
Looked a bit illegal to me, but that's a judgment call.
And so was this, which made the controversy.
It didn't look as though Nakano was giving up, but Referee Wada stops it.
Well, in my judgment, I think Nakano can feel a little hard done by Kakyaura.
Definitely feeling the worst for wear.
And as we see here, Nakano leaves the ring an unhappy man.
Well, let's give all the credit to Kakyaura.
He did manage to pull it off, controversy or not.
And I'm looking forward to seeing both of these fighters next fight.
They put on a dynamite fight.
Yes, they did.
And although Kakyaura is in pain, he still has energy to thrust his hand in the air and to reward some of his fans.
Thank you.