PhotoCred: MMA HOF
VIDEO: Deep Founder Shigeru Saeki discusses 20th anniversary show Deep 100 Impact
This weekend we’re celebrating 20 years of Deep with Deep 100 Impact! The stacked event takes place on February 21 in Bunkyo, Tokyo’s TDC Hall.
Unlike all other Deep shows we’ve seen over the years, this one will be more special than the rest as it celebrates 20 years of action. Despite that, the promotion’s founder Shigeru Saeki didn’t want to make it too much of a big deal aside from it being a nice milestone.
The 15-fight lineup will kick off at 1:00 AM EST / 3:00 PM JST on the 21st. Sprinkled throughout are some of Japan’s finest competitors that have fought notably in RIZIN as well as the UFC.
Headlining the historic event will be a bantamweight clash between RIZIN favorite and 26-fight Deep veteran Yuki Motoya (26-9) vs. Shoji Maruyama (18-13-1). Both men are coming off of tough losses in their last RIZIN appearances but look to put on a show and get back in the win column.
The co-main event also features a Deep mainstay in Juri Ohara (27-18-3) who last made an epic debut in RIZIN with a Summer victory over Yusuke Yachi. Standing in his way will be the 20-plus year veteran, Satoru Kitaoka (41-21-9).
Prior to the featured bouts, there will be two interims titles on the line at welterweight and flyweight. At 170-pounds, UFC and ONE Championship vet Daichi Abe (8-4) looks to keep adding to his undefeated Deep winning streak. He’ll be welcoming the newcomer “Let’s” Gota Yamashita (15-10-1).
As for some of the other many notable names competing, flyweight standout Shizuka Sugiyama (19-6-1) returns against Aoi Kuriyama (2-1) in the card’s lone women’s bout.
You can watch the full card live: here. The video conversation with Mr. Saeki can be watched at the top of the article. 佐伯さんとのビデオ会話は記事の冒頭で見ることができます。
- Bantamweight – 135lbs: Yuki Motoya vs. Shoji Maruyama
- Lightweight – 155lbs: Satoru Kitaoka vs. Juri Ohara
- Welterweight – 170lbs (Interim title bout): Daichi Abe vs. Gota Yamashita
- Flyweight – 125lbs (Interim title bout): Yamato Fujita vs. Kazuki Shibuya
- Featherweight – 145lbs: Juntaro Ushiku vs. Daisuke Nakamura
- Featherweight: Daiki Hata vs. Kouya Kanda
- Flyweight: Shizuka Sugiyama vs. Aoi Kuriyama
- Heavyweight – 207-265lbs: Hideki Sekine vs. Seigo Mizuguchi
- Bantamweight: Kosuke Terashima vs. Shuhei Higashi
- Bantamweight: Hiroya Kondo vs. Shunsuke Miyabi
- Flyweight: Tomohiro Adaniya vs. Takashi Matsuba
- Bantamweight: Rikiya Matsuzawa vs. Sho Sekihara
- Featherweight: Ryuji Takashio vs. Ayuma Yamamoto
- Featherweight: Taisei Nishitani vs. Yuto Inoue
- Flyweight: Rei Tsuruya vs. Tatsuki Okano
