Men’s Strawweight MMA Rankings - December 2019
Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images
The fastest, most skilled & most unforgiving division in the sport, Men’s Strawweight has had its biggest year of growth since Shooto gave the division its rite of passage with a championship belt in 2009.
The ONE title changed hands twice, the reigning Shooto & Pancrase champs collided, the Indonesian 115-pound division exploded, and more western fighters than ever have become interested in plying their trade beneath flyweight.
Ending strawweight’s 10th year of maturity, the biggest fight in divisional history is coming up at the major RIZIN co-promoted Bellator Japan card on December 29th, as the greatest American SW ever, Jarred Brooks, is rematching the king of the SW division, DEEP champion Haruo Ochi.
Should Brooks win as impressively as he has his other SW fights, it will shake up the SW division in a way that won’t have been felt since Rambaa Somdet’s one-sided dominations of Noboru Tahara & Hiroyuki Abe.
And if Ochi wins, it will be extremely difficult for the knowledgeable MMA community to continue to deny him his place near- or at the top of the Japanese pound-for-pound mountain.
Of course, the significance of this bout— easily the highest-level & most competitive match on the card ahead of “athletic and explosive” former WW ranker Lorenz Larkin’s heavily-favored fight against Japan’s top WW in K-Taro Nakamura, 260-lb-Rampage’s fight against a 43-year-old Fedor coming off (another) 1st-round KO loss, Michael Chandler’s squash match, or anything WMMA has to offer— has been completely overlooked by the MMA media.
The best fight on the card has been overlooked, much like the 115lb division has always been (as the flyweight division before it and continues to be!) despite there being a loyal & dedicated fanbase desperate for news, information & insight that the average sport’s journalist is supposed to provide. The Fight Site will be those providers if no one else will!
Despite the fact that the treatment of Demetrious Johnson’s accomplishments by both the UFC & the UFC’s fanbase (and, by extension, most of the occidental MMA sphere’s journalism community) shows why the lowest weight-division in men’s MMA’s lack of recognition should come as no surprise, it’s still insulting to the fighters and their accomplishments. Especially as boxing has a long tradition of excellent and highly-respected combatants around the same weight bracket.
In an attempt to help remedy that, here is a complete list of the top-20 SWs competing in MMA, showing where everything stands before Jarred Brooks & Haruo Ochi perform the division’s final act of 2019.
#1 HARUO OCHI - 19-7-2 (1)
Although Ochi's 2019 didn't go as he'd hoped-- nearly getting KO'd in his DEEP title-defense against relative novice Namiki Kawahara (5-1) and his return to RIZIN ending in 10 seconds-- he's getting a chance to close it out in fashion in the biggest SW fight of the year, a rematch against Fightmatrix's former #1-ranked SW & UFC veteran Jarred Brooks.
You can see the entire fight below.
Starting out his career at featherweight, Ochi dropped down to bantamweight soon after and earned victories over Yuta Nezu and others, before dropping down to his more naturally-suited FLW division where he's garnered most of his accolades. Between Yuta Nezu, Ryuichi Miki, Masaaki Sugawara, Kiyotaka Shimizu, and Masakazu Imanari, he defeated three Shooto champions, two Pancrase champions, and one of the first DEEP champions.
Haruo Ochi submitting future Shooto Pacific Rim BW champion Yuta Nezu with a bulldog choke, showcasing Ochi’s power
Since dropping down to SW, Ochi's gone 8-2 (1) with 7 wins in a row and looked like a world-class athlete, gaining revenge against former tormentor and inaugural DEEP SW champion Kanta Sato, defending his DEEP SW title twice and breaking Mitsuhisa Sunabe's 16-fight winning streak via KO to become the #1 SW.
Arguably the strongest fighter in the division (it's either him or #3 Yosuke Saruta), Ochi's wrestling has developed into his strongest weapon, evolving from the hook-based sprawl-'n-brawler he spent so much of his early career as. You can see him using his wrestling to defend his DEEP title against 2011 Shooto rookie FLW champ Yuya Shibata in Yuya's SW debut.
#2 JOSHUA PACIO - 18-3
Pacio, the #1 pound-for-pound Filipino fighter (and best talent out of Team Lakay), continued his career-long tradition of turning in highlight-reel finishes in a weight category known for producing decisions, when he submitted #7 Rene Catalan with a 2nd-round arm-triangle choke.
After Rene attempted an Imanari roll to submit Pacio like he did Adrian Matheis, Joshua was determined to not demean himself to the status of Indonesian submission defense and survived the 1st-round scare.
Spearheading the movement to dispel the notion of the lower weight divisions being filled with decision machines, Pacio has produced highlight-reel moments at a higher rate in his young career than any other SW in history, surpassing Junji Sarumaru in that respect. If he can continue this trend, Pacio could continue to see his star rise far higher than most people would expect from a 5'5 Filipino kid that weighs 130 pounds fully-clothed.
Pacio regaining his title against Yosuke Saruta last April
The two-time champion is looing for the 2nd defense of his title against former ONE world champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Alex Silva, ranked 9th in the world, on the January 31st ONE card. A big question is: although Pacio’s offensive submission skills are great, if a Filipino— a nation not known for its strong submission skills— was nearly able to submit Pacio, how will he fare against a Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Champion?
Pacio submitting then-top-10 Pongsiri Mitsatit
Pacio submitting Thai National Wrestling Champion Kritsada Kongsrichai, who was a top-15 SW in 2018 and is coming off a one-sided win over Jeremy Miado
#3 YOSUKE “Ninja” SARUTA - 20-9-3
In his last act as Shooto world champion, Saruta rebounded from his brutal KO loss to Pacio (wherein he lost the ONE title) in spectacular fashion, as he entered the ONE: Century event as the Shooto world champion and defeated the newly-crowned King of Pancrase Daichi Kitakata via KO. With the victory, Saruta vacated the belt he won- and defended with KOs of Ryuto Sawada and Itchaku Murata (a top-15 SW at the time due to his upset-of-the-year KO of Junji Sarumaru).
Although Kitakata is one of the most dangerous fighters in the SW division, little of that came into play against Saruta, as Yosuke quickly secured clean counter-takedowns at the start of each round and kept Daichi on his back until the 2nd round, where Yosuke sneakily trapped Kitakata's hand from guard to deliver a gigantic left-hook that KO'd the sophomore 115-lb King of Pancrase. Doing enough in my mind to earn his nickname "Ninja".
Pay attention to how Saruta traps Daichi’s hand behind a hammerfist
Saruta recently called out Nobita Naito in a fight between not only the strongest wrestler and the most technical wrestler in the SW division, but the first match in history between two Shooto SW world champions-- they’re also both former ONE champions. Although an intriguing matchup as a ONE representative on a major 2020 Shooto card (ala Shooto BW champion Shoko Sato in July) would be a rematch between Saruta and Junji Sarumaru-- they fought to a draw in 2017. Junji is 2-0-1 in his last 3, with wins over Ryosuke Honda & DEEp contender Mijikai Nagai, and coming off a draw against athletic Hawaiian prospect Michael Nakagawa.
Sarumaru showing his strong shootwrestling skills & TDD
A slightly-leaner Saruta struggling to impose his wrestling against then-top-5 Sarumaru
#4 DAICHI KITAKATA - 20-9-1 (2)
After earning the biggest win of his career in his revenge-shot against Mitsuhisa Sunabe, Daichi's ONE debut didn't go as well as he'd hoped. Despite being game, he fell prey to Yosuke Saruta's powerful wrestling and stonewall top-control and ultimately was KO'd by ground 'n pound.
Kitakata remains one of the most imposing figures in the SW division due to his power and well-rounded fighting style. While his next move is uncertain, between ONE and Pancrase, Kitakata has many options, including former Tachi Palace FLW champion and TUF veteran Adam Antolin, who defeated Hiroaki Ijima and became ranked #1 in Pancrase as a result in November.
Antolin’s out-of-nowhere submission
In addition to Sunabe, Kitakata has defeated notable fighters Isao Hirose (former top-15 FLW), Seiji "Oz" Ozuka, Kanta Sato (DEEP champion), and former- or current SW rankers Heat Takeshi, Shinya Murofushi, Ryo Hatta, Hiroaki Ijima, and Tatsuya So.
Kitakata showing his technical distance-closing abilities in the 1st fight against Sunabe
Kitakata securing a takedown on then-12-5 Daniel Lima
Kitakata gaining revenge against Sunabe
#5 MITSUHISA SUNABE - 29-9-4
The three-divisional King of Pancrase suffered consecutive defeats for the first time since 2004 and lost the Pancrase belt he earned in 2015 and defended twice. Not only that, but both losses were via knockout, which, in addition to his 2017 kickboxing match, means the world's former #1 SW has gone 1-3 since 2017 with 3 knockout losses. However, the victory sandwiched between that was against then-top-10 SW, former #1 SW and Shooto champion Shinya Murofushi.
While it seems like Sunabe's time in the sun may be over-- and he seems to be trying to advance his career as a trainer and instructor right now, based on his instructional Youtube videos-- he's still a top-5 SW and one of the most well-rounded & dangerous Japanese fighters in the world.
Sunabe finishing Kitakata to remain the King of Pancrase
Sunabe showing his idiosyncratic Okinawan Karate-infused kickboxing developed through the brutality of Pancrase’s overshadowed 00-09 period
Depending on what Sunabe wants to do next (and where), in Pancrase, fighters Adam Antolin and ZST prospect Yuta Miyazawa have emerged as extremely interesting opponents that are determined to break into the higher echelons of the sport.
In addition, Tatsuya So may have earned his case for a rematch with a highlight-reel KO of a much-stronger version of Sunabe's former opponent, Ryo Hatta, and Pancrase ranker Takafumi Ato could present an entertaining scrap.
Tatsuya So showing off his own Okinawan karate & wrestling skills reared in Pancrase through the years against Hatta
Ato brawling & grappling with Miyazawa in their rematch
#6 HAYATO SUZUKI - 20-1-2
Although he made a big splash in his SW debut by submitting Joshua Pacio in a single one-sided round, with his inactivity in 2019 and his last fight being in November of 2018, if he doesn't have a fight announced by the end of December, he'll lose his spot in the rankings.
Suzuki currently holds a 4-1 record both in ONE Championship and at SW. Submitting Pacio in a round before being submitted by an Alex Silva armbar in a minute, Suzuki went 1-1 in 2017, but 3-0 in 2018, submitting former Shooto Brazil champ Yago Bryan, tough Filipino Robin Catalan, and former top-10 SW Pongsiri Mitsatit with rear-chokes. Suzuki also holds a FLW win over #3 Yosuke Saruta.
Suzuki taking down then-ranked Pongsiri Mitsatit
Suzuki submitting Robin Catalan in the longest fight of his SW career
Suzuki, a Japanese national wrestling champion in college I believe, uses his wrestling to great effect in all of his fights and went undefeated in Grachan before transitioning to ONE. Training with Kazuyuki Miyata at the BRAVE gym, Suzuki's power and wrestling should come as no surprise, and he's developed an extremely efficient submission-wrestling game as a result.
Suzuki rear-choking the current #2 SW
Here's him getting some takedowns on a larger FLW opponent in Suzuki's last fight in Grachan, showing his athleticism and flexibility (and love of the left-hook).
Although his fights are usually short and tactical-wrestling oriented, one of the most interesting things Suzuki has shown in his longer fights is his commitment to applying his athleticism as efficiently as possible through wild striking. Wide, looping punches & telegraphed flying kicks are usually discouraged because they’re strong and slow, high-risk/high-reward moves that a good counter-fighter will take advantage of.
However, if you’re more-naturally explosive than most people, a wide looping punch will land much faster, so that risk against a counter-fighter lessens with experience. A flying kick goes from becoming a telegraphed counter-beggar to move that lands & leaves you no less safe. It can often be very productive to have athletic fighters focus exclusively on mastering (I.E., “landing consistently”) these kinds of explosive, wild, “sloppy” techniques, rather than painfully sculpt them into a model technician, because of the instantaneous KO power that can result from their natural aptitude with instant-finishing moves. And fighters who can make use of this style beat their natural Kryptonite— the technical counter-striker with athleticism— all the time just because of this. Yoel Romero and WSOF-Gaethje are primal modern examples of this gorilla-like style in MMA, and even Khabib Nurmagomedov a little (were it not for his love of spam, his striking would be a perfect example). Wanderlei Silva & Melvin Manhoef are probably the most archetypal examples of this in MMA history; other, more style-specific examples of this principle in action are Mark Hunt in K-1, Tway Ma Shaung in Lethwei, Pornsanae Sitmonchai in Muay Thai, and Earnie Shavers in Queensbury Rules. You can see clearly how slower/weaker/softer fighters wouldn’t probably be advised to fight like them.
And it’s not too often that you see this kind of spirit embodied in high-level Japanese fighters because of the Japanese’ form-based Karate/Kenjutsu/Judo-inspired martial arts culture. So when Japanese fighters choose to employ this kind of wild-athleticism mentality to their striking, it produces some interesting styles. Enter: Hayato’s love of flying roundhouse kicks & high-kicks from the reverse bear hug.
#7 RENE “D’challenger” CATALAN - 6-3
Although he had a near-finish against Pacio when he forced him to defend his leglocks for over a minute, Catalan's 6-fight winning streak at SW was brought to an end by the Filipino SW prodigy. Catalan's performance further helped dispel the unpleasant notion his name brought with it due to he- and his brother's unfortunate starts to their MMA & ONE careers (I think the Catalans all went something like a collective 1-8 in ONE before Robin and Rene started winning again).
To Catalan's credit, his first losses were to future ONE champs & EVOLVE instructors Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke and Alex Silva, but the years-long inactivity between that and his first pro win didn't help. Both the continued successes of his former tormentors and his own rise has helped give the Wushu world champion's career some perspective.
Catalan exchanging with XueWen Peng before securing a Wushu-styled takedown
Since 2017, D’challenger has shown consistent improvements in his game and the Catalan Fighting Systems has seemed to have found a way to win fights.
Rene suplexing & heel-hooking Adrian Matheis
This has shown in Rene's victories over Indonesin ONE tournament winners Adrian Matheis and Stefer Rahardian (both significant favorites going into the fights), and in his breakout win and front-runner for the SW upset of the year against Nobita Naito. Nobita was ranked 3rd in the world at the time of the fight and is the top training partner of Hiromasa Ogikubo.
#8 YOSHITAKA “Nobita” NAITO - 15-3
After getting upset by Joshua Pacio and Rene Catalan in succession and falling to a disappointing 1-3 in his last four fights, Nobita's 2019 wasn't off to a great start. However, he reversed fortune in May when he won the competitive rubber match with Alex "Little Rock" Silva, using the world-class shootwrestling skills Nobita reared at Paraestra Matsudo under Ryota Matsune and Hiromasa Ogikubo.
Most recently, Naito showed more aggression than ever in going for the finish against Thai kickboxer Pongsiri Mitsatit. Although he wasn't able to secure the submission, Nobita's attitude in the fight garnered him more respect and he's able to close out 2019 on a two-fight winning streak against strong opponents.
While Yosuke Saruta recently called him out, with the ONE-Shooto partnership, Nobita could find himself as a ONE representative on a major Shooto card against many of the elites of the deep Shooto SW division. Another potential fight: a rematch with Rene Catalan.
Nobita scoring an early takedown on Rene
#9 ALEX “Little Rock” SILVA - 9-4
Much like his rival ranked one spot above him, the straw-weight arm-collector had a disappointing start to 2019, losing the rubber match to Nobita Naito and falling to a three-fight losing streak. However, "Little Rock" rebounded 3 months later with an impressive armbar from back control against Stefer Rahardian, and got an armbar from mount another 3 months later against Peng XueWen.
While it may have seemed like an easy night's work for the Brazilian, Peng's intelligence-striking almost led to an upset in the first round when he capitalized on Silva's aggressive Pornsanae Sitmonchai-reared Muay Thai game at EVOLVE and forced Silva to use his creativity to survive.
With these accomplishments, “Little Rock” has been rewarded with a title-shot against #2 Joshua Pacio at the end of January, marking Little Rock’s 4th fight in 8 months and continuing his recent Cerrone-esque fight-every-3-months schedule. In a classic Team Lakay vs. EVOLVE MMA battle for regional gym-supremacy and duel of ONE SW world champions, it’s worth noting that Silva has wins over the 3 men ranked immediately above him, Hayato Suzuki, Nobita Naito & Rene Catalan.
Rene Catalan vs. Alex Silva
Hayato Suzuki vs. Alex Silva
#10 JEREMY “The Jaguar” MIADO - 9-4
Despite bouncing back and forth between wins and losses so frequently, Miado consistently offers some of the most devastating moments in the SW division, and made the biggest statement so far in his career when he ushered in the front-runner for the SW KO of the year against then-10th-ranked Chinese wrestler Miao LiTao.
With Miado's fan-friendly style and Filipino heritage, ONE will most likely be determined to put him in a title-fight before 2020 is over. His hook-based combinations reared through the Filipino amateur boxing circuit has become one of the most frightening weapons in the SW division, as, coupled with Miado's size and speed, a knockout can come out of nowhere.
If his viciousness has shown anything, it's that he's worthy of the nickname "The Jaguar".
Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke vs. Jeremy Miado
Peng XueWen vs. Jeremy Miado
Intriguing fights for Miado could be rematches with former tormentors Robin Catalan & Pongsiri Mitsatit, or a rubber match with Dejdamrong.
Catalan Fighting Systems product Robin Catalan producing a KOOTY contender in (likely) the lone fight of his 5’1 career he’ll have a height-advantage, against Pan-American wrestlng champion Gustavo Balart
Pongsiri Mitsatit vs. Jeremy Miado
CONTENDERS
TATEO IINO - 13-6-1
After having his winning streak snapped by Takamasa Kiuchi in 2016, Iino returned from a 20-month layoff in 2018 and notched a nice 1st-round TKO in a FLW bout, then garnered another TKO in 2019 against Yuya Kodoma. Most impressively, Iino emerged victorious in his June rematch with "The Skinny Zombie", who was a top-20 SW up until last month when he got bumped out. It was also one of the most exciting, back-and-forth SW bouts of the year.
Looking to close out 2019 with a nice 3-0 record on the December Shooto card, Iino is fighting former top-5 FLW (circa 2006-7) Masatoshi Abe in Abe's 2nd fight at SW since retiring in 2012.
Abe outdueling the original explosive FLW brawler Homare Kuboyama in 2006
Here's Iino getting a smooth takedown on Kiuchi in 2016. Iino’s Kenji Osawa-reared technical boxing skills & tactical shoots have been the two-pronged attack he’s built his career around.
Kiuchi, it's worth noting, KO'd 4-0 Pancrase Neo-Blood champion Ryosuke Noda in a classic Shooto-vs.-Pancrase match on the Road to ONE: Century card in September, showing why “The Skinny Zombie” is still one of the most dangerous SWs in the world, and why Iino’s victory over him was so substantial.
RYOSUKE HONDA - 5-1-1
The 2017 Shooto FLW rookie champ, Honda's SW career exploded from the onset as he dropped down to SW in his 3rd fight and defeated Takamasa Kiuchi, the 2017 Shooto SW rookie champ Shuto Aki, and most recently 2013 rookie champ & former Shooto champ "Ken Asuka" Ryohei Kurosawa. The lone loss in Honda’s 5-1 career was against longtime top-5 SW Junji Sarumaru in 2018, a technical decision early in the 2nd round after Honda landed an accidental groin shot.
Here's Honda showing a Formiga-esque back-take after a takedown on Shuto Aki in July, in a pairing of Shooto rookie champions of the same year. I actually can't remember any other time two Shooto rookie champions of the same year fought each other. The Shintaro Ishiwatari & Ryuichi Miki influenced wrestling from the CAVE gym is apparent.
KOHA “Hiroba” MINOWA - 10-2
Minowa's 2019 wasn't as productive as his 2018 was, as he fought once in May in a one-off flyweight bout against 1-2 Team Lakay export Jared Almazan and demolished him in short order, and has had few announcements since. Although he broke his foreign-opponent JMMA cherry in the process, his 2018 was, comparatively, spent competing in the Shooto Infiniti League SW tournament, where he went 3-1 with finishes over Jo Arai, Yohei Komaki and Sho Nishida, and an upset loss to Tomoharu Umezawa in May.
A 43-year-old Umezawa getting an instantaneous counter-takedown on a Yohei Komaki superman-punch in the opening seconds; pay attention to the reaction speed of Umezawa’s drop and backstep, showing the decades of wrestling experience at the Abe Ani Combat Club
One of the most promising young fighters to come out of Shooto, Minowa's career has been marked by his ridiculous core strength that he uses to augment his submission wrestling skill. His core is so muscular it almost looks like a gut-- he would be a small SW if it weren't for his ridiculous core build.
Hiroba securing a double-wristlock on Komaki in 2016
With former tormentor Yosuke Saruta (who handed Hiroba his first loss) having vacated the Shooto belt, Minowa is getting a major chance at the January 2020 Shooto card to become the 7th Shooto SW world champion, in a third fight against Yohei Komaki. Hiroba is currently 2-0 over Yohei, however Komaki is ranked #1 in Shooto thanks to his 30-second KO of former top-5 SW and Shooto Infiniti League champion Tadaaki Yamamoto, and holds a victory over Tomoharu Umezawa, who handed Minowa his 2nd defeat.
In a positive sign, Hiroba trains out of the same gym as former Shooto SW world champion Mikihito “Light” Yamagami.
BOKANG MASUNYANE - 7-0
Bokang, the first black fighter to be a ranked 115lber, made a big statement in his divisional debut as he outwrestled stalwart AACC/Megumi Fujii protege and EVOLVE fighter Ryuto Sawada to a one-sided unanimous decision, immediately a contender in ONE's packed SW division.
In a performance that was eerily similar to Clay Guida's fight against Tatsuya Kawajiri, Masunyane grabbed hold of a bodylock as often as he could and used his athleticism to keep himself there, kneeing his Japanese foe in the posterior chain for the majority of 15 minutes. To Ryuto's credit, he used as many of the grappling tricks he learned training under the legendary Hiroyuki Abe as he could remember to escape from the African's grasp, but was unable to, showcasing Bokang's scarily-strong grip and powerful wrestling skills.
YOHEI KOMAKI - 6-3
The 2018 Shooto Infiniti League champion, Komaki rebounded from his loss to Hiroba in his final fight of 2018 to KO Tadaaki Yamamoto in 30 seconds last June. It's worth noting that "Onibozu" was a former top-10 SW and the 2016 Shooto FLW Infiniti League tournament champion, and was ranked briefly in the top-20 after returning to SW in May with a win over then-4-1 prospect Ken Asahina.
Onibozu using his experience & head-movement to out-brawl Asahina
While there isn't any video of Komaki knocking out Tadaaki I can find, here's Komaki submitting Tomoharu Umezawa in a performance that ultimately won him the 2018 Infiniti League. In the round-robin tournament, Komaki went 3-1 and submitted Umezawa in less than two minutes. Longtime AACC trainer Umezawa spoiled the entire tournament several months later by defeating Hiroba Minowa by decision, showing how impressive Komaki's performance was as Hiroba holds two wins over Komaki.
Komaki, one of the most athletic SWs in Shooto, is looking to avenge his losses to powerful submission wrestler Hiroba Minowa to become the new Shooto world champion in January.
Komaki showing his relentless back-control
THE NEXT 5
RYUTO “Dragon Boy” SAWADA - 12-5-1
"Dragon Boy" unfortunately lost his undefeated ONE record, falling to Bokang Masunyane, the first black opponent of Ryuto's career, via a one-sided unanimous decision. However, Ryuto had his moments-- the striking exchanges were almost as one-sided as the wrestling, showing the continued improvements Ryuto's making with the Muay Thai and Boxing world champions at EVOLVE, though these moments occurred much less often.
Ryuto has been a consistent figure in the SW title-discussion since his debut as the top student of Megumi Fujii being touted as a future champion. Although that he hasn't fulfilled those obligations yet, he holds victories over former or current SW rankers Tateo Iino, Yuki Shojo, Takahiro Kohori, Macho The Butterfly, Anthony Do, and Takamasa Kiuchi.
Ryuto TKO’ing “The Skinny Zombie”
TATSUYA SO - 18-17-4
Although he missed weight by two pounds, Pancrase changed their rules so the Okinawan Karateka was able to earn probably the biggest highlight-reel moment of his career against slick ZST grappler Ryo Hatta, without getting it changed to a no-contest. That used to be JMMA standard if you miss weight by the way-- you miss weight, you can't win the fight; decisions go to the opponent, knockouts/subs are no-contests. Daichi Kitakata's fight with Takafumi Ato is a good example of this. It's a controversial rule, but it motivated Japanese fighters to not kill themselves in the sauna & manage their weight healthfully.
With the win, So remains an elite Pancrase representative and a top-20 SW.
So’s SW debut
So swelling Hiroaki Ijima’s eye shut
GILBERTO “Cangaceiro” DIAS - 25-5-2
The two-divisional #1 in Brazil (FLW & SW) unfortunately wasn't able to make it to his 4th fight of 2019 as he slipped a disc and had to pull out of his November Shooto Brazil 119-lb title-defense against Yan Teixeira. Yan Teixeira was able to defeat Doglas Cunha to become the interim Shooto Brazil 119-lb champion, though, so Dias has a worthy challenger lined up for him upon his return.
Dias went 2-0-1 this year, drawing with Lincoln De Sa before defeating him in the rematch to defend Dias' Shooto Brazil title, then shortly afterwards took a fight at FLW and won via 1st-round submission. Dias is known for his punching power and efficient Brazilian kickboxing, but also has very slick and efficient Jiu-Jitsu, as most strong Brazilians do, and has managed to maintain his place among the elites of the Brazilian SW division for the past 5 years, the current crop of which he stands at the top.
Gilbert scoring a KO in a FLW bout
Here's the Constrictor Team representative outstriking Lincoln De Sa to defend his Shooto belt this year.
Nick Diaz-esque Gilbert Dias’ boxing is there, Joe
Gilberto’s TDD developed through countless training sessions with Rani Yahya, Francisco Trinaldo & Adriano Moraes
LITO ADIWANG - 10-2
While it wasn't the result he'd hoped for, Adiwang nonetheless emerged victorious in the biggest fight of his career at the ONE Century event against the two-timeFLW King of Pancrase Senzo Ikeda in Ikeda's SW debut. After nearly finishing Ikeda with a bulldog choke-- a surprising moment that caught many off-guard watching live, considering Adiwang's a Team Lakay fighter and Ikeda trains in Japan (a place known for outgrappling Filipinos)-- Senzo escaped and dislocated his elbow while standing up, immediately ending the contest.
Although a rematch would be most exciting, Ikeda's injury will keep him out of action for the foreseeable future, so Adiwang must look to other horizons on the January 31st ONE card as he faces Pongsiri Mitsatit.
Pongsiri’s devastating Muay Khao knees
Adiwang also defeated URCC champion & top-5 in Pancrase Anthony Do before fighting Ikeda, and is another inheritor of the explosive Team Lakay Wushu style.
Adiwang lifting then-3-1 Alber Correira off the ground with an uppercut
Adiwang winning Muay Thai bout during a training vacation at AKA Thailand
MIAO LITAO - 6-2
Miao's aggressive brawling style was comendable against Jeremy Miado, but it ultimately led to his demise as Miado timed a counter-knee to LiTao's hooks-to-shoot offensive style and left the Chinese fighter as the recipient to a KO Of The Year contender. LiTao's wrestling and power in the fight showed why he remains a threat to the rest of the division, though, as not many others in the division carry the stopping power of Miado, or have shown they can withstand a SW as big as LiTao.
LiTao using his wrestling to win a 2018 FLW bout that Tapology hasn’t added to his record yet
LiTao's last two wins were over Thai kickboxers Pongsiri Mitsatit & Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke-- the latter a massive favorite going into the fight.
To see the previous edition of the SW rankings & how they’ve been updated, follow @sw_mma