The participants for Vale Tudo Japan 2009 gathered at Garden Palace Hotel in Tokyo today for the official weigh-in and pre-fight press conference.
VTJ '09 will take place at JCB Hall in Tokyo, and the main card will kick off at approximately 5AM ET Friday morning.
Aside from Alexandre "Pequeno" Nogueira's lone struggle to shed the pounds, there were no weighty issues at the scale: While Pequeno skipped the official weigh-in and press conference to drop to the 65kg for his non-title bout with current Shooto lightweight champion, "Lion" Takeshi Inoue, all other fighters were on weight.
Former Pride FC lightweight champion, Takanori Gomi will square off with current KOTC champ, Tony Hervey in the main event of the night for his putative farewell bout in Japan. With his streak of insipid performances during the recent years still fresh in the collective memory of the MMA world, Gomi will have all eyes on him scrutinizing the quality of his performance and level of motivation.
"Lion" Takeshi Inoue and "Pequeno" Nogueira meet in a showdown between past and present champions, and longtime Shooto fan favorite, Rumina Sato, faces Cory Grant, a Team Quest prospect and late replacement for the original opponent, Joe Warren.
From Takanori Gomi:
"(Reflecting on the weigh-in and pre-fight press conference) I don't feel enough tension and nerves in the air. Shooto has always been like my hometown and it is a tremendous upside, but the tension needs to be running higher. Since the battle has already begun, everyone needs to be able to feel the visceral, spine-tingling vibe. I have attended pre-fight press conferences that were awash in suspense for events like PRIDE Bushido. I really want to recreate the same vibe in my fight against Hervey. As for my motivation (heading into his last fight in Japan)... there is something that just crossed my mind, but I want to win tomorrow in an exciting fashion and then take the mic because I have something I want to share with everyone."
Here are the official Vale Tudo 2009 weigh-in results:
Main Event - VTJ Rules - 5R x 5 min.
Takanori Gomi (71kg / 156.5 lbs) vs. Tony "Lionheart" Hervey (70.9kg / 156.3 lbs)
VTJ Rules - 5R x 5 min.
"Lion" Takeshi Inoue (65kg / 143.3 lbs) vs. Alexandre "Pequeno" Nogueira (65kg / 143.3 lbs)
VTJ Rules - 3R x 5 min.
Rumina Sato (63kg / 138.9 lbs) vs. Cory Grant (63kg / 138.9 lbs)
VTJ Rules - 3R x 5 min.
Tenkei "Fujimiya" Oda (66.9kg / 147.5 lbs) vs. Tito Jones (65.2kg / 143.7 lbs)
Shooto Welterweight Championship Bout - 3R x 5 min.
Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire (69.8kg / 153.8 lbs) vs. Kenichiro Togashi (69.9kg / 154.1 lbs)
Shooto Rules - 3R x 5 min.
Mamoru Yamaguchi (55.7kg / 122.8 lbs) vs. Jesse Taitano (55.1kg / 121.5 lbs)
Shooto Rules - 2R x 5 min.
Yoichiro Sato (75.8kg / 167.1 lbs) vs. Jung Min Kang (75.4kg / 166.2 lbs)
Shooto Rules - 2R x 5 min.
Kosuke "Jukucho" Eda (62kg / 136.7 lbs) vs. Makoto Sannai (61.8kg / 136.2 lbs)
For all the latest on Vale Tudo Japan 2009 click here.
Get the latest gear
