Shooto this weekend

On Saturday night/Sunday morning, Shooto will cap off a good weekend of action with an outstanding card. The main event is Takeshi Inoue verses Rumino Sato which is honestly one of the weaker fights on the card. I am expecting Inoue to have not to much problem with Sato. Sato has lost his last 3, and 5 of 6. Inoue on the other hand is about 7 years younger and right at the peak of his career where as Sato is on the downside. Inoue to win fairly easily.

Takanori Gomi is making his return to Shooto after a long absence. I believe his last Shooto appearance was back in the summer of 2003 against Joachim Hansen. He's fighting Takashi Nakakura on this card. Nakakura is really starting to make a name for himself and Gomi is on a bit of a slide. Should be a great fight. Really interesting to see how Gomi rebounds from his last couple of outings. I've heard rumors that Gomi will retire if he losses. If true, he has a lot to fight for.

Mitsuhiro Ishida is taking on Mizuto Hirota. Both guys are right around the same stage in their careers', good fighters who are really on the cusp of breaking through to everyone's "A" list at 155. Hirota looked good against Ryan Schultz but his last two fights he has looked a little weaker. I am leaning towards Ishida in this one, but it's also close.

Yutaka Ueda is fighting Koutetsu Boku. This is the case of a young prospect taking on the established fighter. I really think Ueda can take Boku in this one. Ueda has some pretty decent stand-up and looked pretty good in his last couple of fights. I'm liking Ueda.

Megumi Fujii, who is unarguably the best female fighter below 130 and arguably the best women fighter pound for pound, will be picking up an easy opponent against her opponent. Tetsuji Kato will be making his return to the ring after an almost two year layoff. Yusuke Endo and William Chiquerium should be all right and Akiyo Nishiura will be looking to bounce back since losing out of the Dream tournament. I would pay some pretty big money to be able to check out this card live.