ONE Championship

A judoka who climbed off the canvas to stop a former world champion now returns on home soil. He headlines a trio of all-Japan matchups added to one of the year’s biggest cards.

Shozo Isojima meets Kota Abe in lightweight MMA at ONE SAMURAI 4 on Saturday, October 17. The card unfolds at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, and already features two World Title fights and the ONE SAMURAI Featherweight Kickboxing Tournament semifinals.

The Mie Prefecture native holds a 7-2 record with two stoppages on the global stage. His promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 36 produced a US$50,000 bonus-winning TKO of Nicolas Vigna through crushing wrestling and ground-and-pound.

Losses to Tye Ruotolo and Adrian Lee followed, but they exposed areas for growth rather than derailing him. Moreover, in July at The Inner Circle 21, he survived an early knockdown to stop former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Eduard Folayang.

“Great Teacher” now wants consistency, rematches with the men who beat him, and a serious case for gold. Abe, a 28-year-old from Tribe Tokyo MMA, knocked out Hero Marco Manguray in round three of his ONE debut at The Inner Circle 10 in April to improve to 6-1.

Two more all-Japan bouts join Shozo Isojima

Unbeaten flyweight Yu Takeuchi, a 4-0 wrestler from Toikatsu Dojo, makes his promotional debut against Paraestra Hachioji’s Ryoto Nishiyama. Also, Nishiyama returns on a quick turnaround after a first-round knockout of Geun Ho Son at ONE Friday Fights 168, armed with sharp counters and dangerous submissions.

Debutants Yoshinari Fukushima and Masaki Takeura complete the trio in a 10-minute lightweight submission grappling bout. Additionally, a strong showing would turn heads in a division ruled by Kade Ruotolo.

The three bouts added to ONE SAMURAI 4 are as follows:

• Shozo Isojima vs. Kota Abe (MMA, lightweight)
• Yu Takeuchi vs. Ryoto Nishiyama (MMA, flyweight)
• Yoshinari Fukushima vs. Masaki Takeura (submission grappling, lightweight)

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