Pancrase Announce Full Line Up For July’s PANCRASE 316

Pancrase

Japanese MMA promotion Pancrase returns to action on Fri. July 24, after a five-month absence due to Covid-19. PANCRASE 316 will take place in Studio Coast, Tokyo, followed a month later by PANCRASE 317 on Sun. August 23.

The full line-up for PANCRASE 316 was announced this past Friday. The event will consist of an eight-bout main card preceded by three preliminary bouts with twelve bouts from the 2020 Neo Blood Tournaments opening up the show.

Headlining the event will be a non-title featherweight clash between the promotions featherweight champion Isao Kobayashi and Akira Okada⁠—who will be dropping down from lightweight for this bout.  

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Kobayashi comes into this fight riding a four-fight winning streak, and it will be interesting to see how he fares up against Okada, who is strong, a powerful fighter but is coming off three straight defeats. The 33-year-old Okada will be hoping the switch from lightweight to featherweight will help him return to the winner’s circle.

The evening’s co-main event is a women’s flyweight clash featuring two veterans of the Japanese scene in Emiko Raika and Takayo Hashi, who are ranked two and three in the Pancrase women’s flyweight division respectively. A victory could be enough for the winner to book themselves a shot at the title.

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Main Card:

  • Featherweight: Isao Kobayashi vs. Akira Okada 
  • Women’s Flyweight: Miko Raika vs. Takayo Hashi
  • Welterweight: Yuta Nakamura vs. Masayuki Kikuiri
  • Flyweight: Kohei Sugiyama vs. Naoki Arikawa
  • Bantamweight: Masahide Hiraoka vs.Yuki Kosaka
  • Bantamweight: Jun Do vs. Sho Sekihara
  • Featherweight: Mayo Komori vs. Tokitaka Nakanishi
  • Lightweight: Shinichi Taira vs. Kazuki Kasai 

Prelims:

  • Flyweight: Yuki Yasunaga vs. Satoshi “Tiger” Date
  • Featherweight: Hiroyasu Sakurai vs. Toshiomi Kazama
  • Bantamweight: Rikiya Matsuzawa vs. Taiki “Seio Date” Suzuki