Kakutogi Road: The Chronological History of MMA
Chapter 54: RINGS MEGA-BATTLE TOURNAMENT '92 2nd Round 11/13/92 Osaka Furitsu Taiikukaikan 2
By Michael Betz & Mike Lorefice 1/12/22

The dust has settled, the sweat has ceased, and the stream of blood has come to an end. Now it is time for the aftermath of last month's foray into the unknown, as we continue to move forward, this time into the 2nd installment of FIGHTING NETWORK RINGS: 1992 MEGA-BATTLE TOURNAMENT. Akira Maeda has never allowed his practical means to put a damper on his vision, and despite not having any semblance of a seasoned crew, he has forged ahead in what is possible in this new realm of combat sports by creating an inaugural open-weight tournament, the first of its kind. Yes, it would be easy to dismiss this grandiose event as another mere footnote in the thousands of pages of pro-wrestling chicanery if not for the fact that two legitimate shoots made their way into a tournament that presumably has a predetermined winner. Not only is the inclusion of real fights being mingled in with the fake ones a cause of great historical interest, but the verve and spirit of such a high-concept production paved the way for many notable and more high-profile MMA events that preceded it in the years to come. Well before the infamous PRIDE FC Open Weight Grand Prix, or RINGS’ King of Kings Tournament, or even the UFC’s early years where they adhered to an open-tournament format, we see the first attempt at seeing how a group of fighters with mixed skills and weights would fare when bundled together and thrown into a blender. That isn’t to say it has been without its faults. Like anything new and unique, it must go through several iterations and revisions before finding its stride, but this is a fascinating look at early MMA history, nonetheless.

The date is 11-13-92, and in a sudden twist of bizarre fate, it seems that Masaaki Satake broke his leg in the midst of putting a hellacious beating on Matsuya Nagai last month. While this is all rather confusing, it seems that he is going to be subbed out with Nobuaki Kakuda despite Kakuda being on the losing end of a brutal shoot last month. This turn of events is almost as mind-boggling as the time Dan Seven provoked the wrath of the UFC by injuring himself against Kimo Leopoldo, despite doing absolutely nothing in that fight. We would see this sort of thing reoccur a few years later in some of the smaller vale tudo/NHB tournaments. Some of those events didn’t have proper alternate fighters slated to fill in if somebody was injured, thus just throwing in one of the losers to fight again, if needed.

Masayuki Naruse vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto

Right away, we can see how thin Maeda’s roster is when we are getting the 4th encounter in a year of Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Masayuki Naruse. This repeat was necessitated, presumably, because the rest of the roster is tied into the ongoing Mega-Battle, and they are the only free hands available. All three of their conflicts have been middling-to-decent but a little lacking in intensity. Both fighters are wearing elbow pads which Yamamoto takes advantage of in the early feeling out portion of the fight, throwing various elbows while trying to get the rhythm of his opponent. I’m finding this to be a very interesting rules-accommodation, and it makes me wonder how Pancrase fights would have been had they utilized something similar. Yamamoto continued to do a good job of moving in and out, firing off a lot of elbows, whereas Naruse was looking to get some distance to land some rangier bombs, i.e., palm strikes and low kicks. This outing was their best match, by far, due to the fact that this was edging closer into shoot-territory. Their general baseline was around 80-percent intensity, but they would have isolated moments where they really laid into each other. The striking here was closer to hard gym sparring than a typical shoot-style match, but the grappling portions made it clear that this was still a work. Whatever you want to classify this as the increased realism and intensity were most welcome. Naruse proves to be very explosive and can make up for his lack of size in isolated moments, but Yamamoto’s reach advantages were a tough obstacle to overcome. The first half of this was exciting and captivating, but it quickly sputtered out about half-way through. Had this been condensed down to about 12mins then it could have been a firestorm, but by dragging this out to over 20mins they killed a lot of the potential that this had. The first half was probably their best yet, but this was too redundant to be a high recommendation. ** ¾

ML: Their previous matches were kept to 15 minutes, and that was a less unreasonable length for these rookies. This was another decent standup match, but I didn't like it as much as at least most of their others because the extra 6+ minutes just made it drag even more. The strikes could have been stiffer, as overall a big problem with this show is nothing seemed to connect solidly, but at least they made some attempt to defend. The problem was that Yamamoto was a head taller, and they never really contemplated ways of making the match competitive, which was even more frustrating given there's no reason to endlessly run the same squash match. Yamamoto would just close the distance and work clinch knees, with Naruse protecting his head, but not really having much of an answer. Naruse was having trouble with his elbow pads being too loose, and even after he took a time out to have the corner adjust them, one actually flew off when he threw an elbow. The match was becoming more notable for Naruse's wardrobe malfunctions, as he eventually had to discard the right elbow pad that was just slipping down the arm, and then had to take another timeout because the tape on his fist was hanging. The finish was pretty ridiculous, as Yamamoto spent over a minute working a rear naked choke from the side, but because he was never able to flatten Naruse out, they concocted some nonsense where Naruse locked his own legs to use the back of his thigh to supposedly put enough pressure on Yamamoto's ankle that he suddenly submitted to an ashikubigatame. Naruse was then congratulated by the king of the undersized kickboxers, Nobuaki Kakuda. This definitely felt overlong, but the upset somewhat justified the 21+ minutes of domination by Yamamoto, I guess.

Herman Renting vs. Nobuaki Kakuda

It’s amazing to see that Kakuda is even able to stand erect, let alone fight after the ridiculous beating he took only two weeks prior to this. This will be conducted under a round system as opposed to the usual RINGS format. It would seem that the Dutch steroid monster may have beat some sense into Kakuda, as he instantly goes in for a rather explosive double-leg attempt once Renting starts to get feisty with his strikes. It turns out that Kakuda is no match for Renting on the mat, which prompts him to try and keep this standing as much as possible. The following rounds followed much the same pattern as the first, with Kakuda trying to take Renting out on the feet, but unable to control the fight for more than a few fleeting moments before getting manhandled on the canvas. This was a work, and while that was surely good news for Kakuda’s body, it would have been much better as a shoot. Just as each round was starting to build into something interesting, the momentum would get killed as the round ended. This wasn’t bad, but not the best format for this pairing. Renting wins via choke in round 4. ** ¾

ML: Kakuda is one of the most difficult fighters to tell whether they're working or shooting because he approaches every fight as though they were real. He still uses legitimate footwork, and attacks aggressively, it's just that in the works nothing seems to actually connect with any force even though he is still swinging big. I enjoyed the stand up in this contest. Everything was done with intensity and seemed meaningful, although nothing was really landing. The problem was once they got close to each other, Kakuda wouldn't put up much resistance to Renting's clinch, and they fell into the repetitive and predictable pattern of Renting getting him down easily, and Kakuda having no counters once it hit the mat. Renting is a solid hand who he can do a little of everything, and as a result this match was good when they were on their feet, but it was still mediocre on the mat where Kakuda is a novice. Eventually Renting got Kakuda down in the center of the ring, and was able to choke him out. This almost came as a surprise because, as in the previous match, the outcome was so obvious based on the way the match was going that you kind of expected the crazy upset out of nowhere, especially since Kakuda is actually a name, and Renting is a fighter that certainly could lose without much blowback from the Dutch. That being said, it would seem somewhat shabby to have Kakuda make the semifinals after already losing in the first round, so I think this was the right result given the Satake withdrawal. I somewhat enjoyed this match, but it definitely wasn't nearly as good as it could have been, and would have been more interesting as a shoot, which I thought there was a good chance it would be going in if not for Kakuda having just shot.

Willie Williams vs. Yukihiro Takenami

Much to the chagrin of Dave Meltzer’s reputation, it would seem that Willie Williams never retired after losing to Akira Maeda back in July. Here he must face Yukihiro Takenami. Takenami is a bit of an unknown element, as we have only seen him once before when he was soundly beaten in a shoot against Nobuaki Kakuda. Takenami disrespectfully declines the opening handshake, a misguided salvo that only served to anger the mighty beast. Jonathan Swift would have been proud if he had lived long enough to see this bout, as Takenami looks to be a Lilliputian compared to the giant Gulliver that is Williams. Much like Takenami’s last fight, this was a squash, the difference being that fight was real, while this was simply Williams up to his usual nonsense. I suppose that this would have been a good bit of silly fun had Williams bothered to have any of his strikes connect, but he didn't, and we wound up with some of the worst-looking knees yet. At least the crowd was into it. *

ML: Takenami's attempts at acting and telling a story were just making the match corny, perhaps not to the extent of your average pro wrestling match, but it seemed much more out of place here, and he mostly just seemed whiny. Otherwise, he was just ridiculously overmatched by a much larger opponent who was also much better at the striking game than Takenami was. Takenami almost had a moment early in the second round when he had something that resembled a takedown into something that resembled hey standing choke while Williams was getting back to his feet, but Williams just continued to stand up, and then knocked went back to knocking Takenami down a few more times until the ref finally stopped it. Williams was very sloppy here, and Takenami was just generally awful. The only thing that may have saved this from being one of the worst shoot style matches of the year is that it was mercifully short.

Dick Vrij vs. Hans Nijman

These two inseparable partners in crime return to give us a rematch that absolutely no one was asking for. Their first conflict was hampered by their insistence on giving a tepid grappling demo instead of a rousing kickboxing affair. Thankfully, this will be conducted in a round format, which may lead to a more entertaining experience than last time. The opening moments of this bout are that of trepidation. They feel each other out with some light kickboxing before Nijman is able to pull out his patented headlock-of-doom, which is probably a Dutch classic. If the first round is any indication this is definitely has a more footfighting flavor than their previous match, and while it still isn’t as full throttled as I would like, it is on track to be a lot better than last time. Much to my surprise, the rest of this fight wasn’t bad, and while it hardly qualifies as mandatory viewing, it was probably as good a worked outing as you are going to get with these two. It was primarily a striking-based fight with just enough grappling to keep it interesting. Of course, because this was a work and these aren’t exactly the most gifted fakers of their generation, the intensity of the strikes varied, but overall, I thought this was decent. Special credit has to be given to one of the cornermen who kept hilariously yelling useless instructions like, “Face Punch!’ and “More combination! Kick and punch!” ** ¾

ML: From a pro wrestling standpoint, this is not the matchup you want to see because both need a strong opponent to pull good stuff out of them, and work it into a functional match. From a kickboxing standpoint, this should be a reasonable matchup because Vrij likes to attack while Nijman likes to counter, the problem is they both know each other so well that Vrij was hesitant to overcommit. Nijman has problems with opponents who are fast enough to be gone before he gets his counter off, and Vrij knew that wasn't going to be him, so he made this into a grappling match when he could, or tried to outstrike Nijman by extending his own combos so he got 3 or 4 shots in before Nijman could get his counter off. Nijman had his moments, but as usual, the match was largely in the hands of the opponent. This never sucked, but it never really turned into anything you wanted to watch either.

Chris Dolman vs. Andrei Kopilov

Kopilov has proved to be nothing short of a magician in his short tenure so far, and we are going to need a hefty dose of his alchemy to get the “Master of Molasses” Chris Dolman to a passable match. On paper, this seems like it could be a decent paring as both are a treasure trove of all things judo/sambo, but we have seen zombies out of a George Romero flick move with more urgency than Dolman, so I’m not hopeful.

The good news is that Kopilov is quickly moving right at the onset, which forces Dolman to react. The bad news is that it would appear that Dolman is free-fighting royalty because Kopilov only dares to hit him with some pillow-light punches. Submissions are traded, when Kopilov scores with the infamous double heel-hook, whereas Dolman slow-mos his way into a rear choke. Dolman also managed to continually find himself engaging in the dreadful act of unskillfully entering into ne-waza due to his takedowns simply consisting of him grabbing Kopilov and falling on top of him. Complaints aside, Kopilov made this watchable, but only marginally, which is still a notable feat. Dolman eventually wins with what could only be described as a twisted abomination of the Crippler's Crossface, that is if it was done at 1/100th the speed and was a choke instead. **

ML: Kopylov has been the true revelation of early RINGS. Even against Dolman, who was blown up within a minute and would be a more reasonable inclusion in The Amusement Park, George A. Romero's exceptional look at the horrors of aging and how the young are all too willing to take advantage of that than in the semifinals of a martial arts tournament, Kopylov managed to craft a match that felt urgent and believable. They kept the stand up portions brief, with Kopylov being the one on the attack, so he was doing all the moving, leading to Dolman locking him up, and the match hitting the canvas. The struggle was quite good, better than the execution, but they did a good job of working on the ground, and here it was credible that they took a bit of time to counter back and forth. Kopylov was obviously the more athletic and dynamic fighter, but Dolman found good ways to use his size, balance, and generally good technical ground positioning to thwart Kopylov's explosive submission game. Ultimately, the wrong man won, but this was definitely by far the best worked match we've seen from Dolman, and the highlight of this bad RINGS show.

Akira Maeda vs. Dimitar Petkov

An inexorable malaise begins to engulf Osaka when we all acquire the dreaded knowledge that only Petkov can now save us. Rue the day that we all must turn to Bulgaria to find the rivers of blissful entertainment, of which we all seek! Such a longing, however natural, must forever be unrequited as Petkov was easily the worst part of last month's show. Compounding our dire situation is the fact that there is no way that Maeda will be able to help us, not even in the slightest. Now that I have offered up my lamentation, I will accept my doom and take strength from the words that a wise man once uttered, “Come. Let us go, that we may die with him!”

Maeda tests the waters with some high/low kick combos before his portly foe takes matters into his own hands with a belly-to-belly suplex. Maeda continues his frontal foot assault, but is thwarted by a surprisingly decent variation of the Koshi-Guruma (headlock throw.) That was the end of the highlight reel as Petkov seemingly gassed himself out when looking for an ankle to twist, and spent the rest of the match huffing and puffing. Maeda eventually gets the win with an indescribable variation of a kneebar where he cupped the knee with his hands and squeezed with all his might. Honestly, this was better than I expected, but hardly main event material. Petkov is ok for about two mins before turning into sludge. * ¾

ML: Petkov looked better than in the first round, not that this is high praise, managing a few good throws, though he was winded really quickly. His main problem is that his mannerisms are goofy, and he was making Maeda's offense, which was unimpressive to begin with, look that much worse by selling it rather than just been stoic. Maeda wasn't terrible, but at the same time, I can't think of a single thing he did to enhance the match in any way, and this is what makes him a really problematic top star for the company, though it's not as if Takada or Fujiwara or a lot of show style pro wrestlers are any better at carrying the gaijin slugs. There was a funny spot where Maeda did a schoolboy in order to get Petkov down then transitioned into an armbar. Unfortunately, this setup the goofy finish where Petkov blocked it and went for a kneebar, but Maeda held on above the knee, and used his ankle to concoct something of a non-existent kneebar of his own for the win. Definitely one of the worst Maeda matches we have seen in RINGS. There was just nothing to recommend here.

Conclusion: Well, it was inevitable. After a 4-show hot-streak, we crash and burn. I'm not going to be too critical, however. The nature of what Maeda is trying to achieve with this tournament, within his limited roster, forced this series of bad match-ups. Things could have been alleviated had they turned a couple of these into shoots, but with Satake getting injured and Kakuda being decimated during last month's experiments with shooting, it's understandable why Maeda may have backed off on that. I suspect that things will return to normal once this tournament is over.

ML: This tournament was set up to fail to deliver quality, as Russia has carried the promotion, but the promotions best worker & #2 star, Volk Han, was ousted in the 1st round, and now Kopylov, was taken out in the second round, after being given a terrible opponent. I somewhat like Herman Renting, but there is no reason he needs to be in the semifinals. Granted, this most likely would have been Satake had things going as planned, but we certainly don't need even two guys from RINGS Holland in the semifinals, much less the three we have. It doesn't represent the worldwide field that RINGS is going for, not to mention that Renting is by far the best worker of the bunch, and he is hardly amazing. Given how this round was set up, Kopylov really needed to win here to set up a rematch with Maeda that we know would likely actually be good, but having Han lose 1st round was always going to be a tragedy in the making.

John's translations

Opening title with phrase: The Strongest man is decided in Rings!  Fighting Network Rings

Raise the battle cry, change your strategy

November 13 at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

Close up of handwritten announcement of Satake’s withdrawal from the tournament due to injury.

Satake’s interview: “Yes, I had been injured in the previous Seidokaikan event in the match against Peter Aerts, but I kept training, ignoring the injury, and then during training I got hit in the same place and reinjured the area [not clear which part of his body], and I decided it’s better to participate in the tournament only when I’m in my best condition, and so I withdrew this time.  So I’d like to have more time to recover, and then return to Rings when I’m in my best condition.”

Opening ceremony: Maeda’s opening speech: “To the many in the audience, thank you for coming today.  Osaka was the 2nd city where we had a show after opening in Tokyo.  Thanks to you we’ve been able to start this tournament.  The fighters gathered here are the strongest members of Rings.  All the fighters here will try their best to show you matches of high quality.  Thank you.”

Announcer then introduces Masaaki Satake who withdrew due to injury:

Satake: “To all you fans, I’m sorry.  I will return to this ring after regaining the best condition for my body.  Thank you!”

Masayuki Naruse vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto:

Yoshihisa Yamamoto: Rings Japan; born July 4 th 1970 in Yamaguchi prefecture; trained in judo in high school.  Joined Maeda Dojo in May 1991. 

Yamamoto’s prefight comments: “In my previous fights, the time limits were 10 [or 15] minutes so time-out draws were common, but this time the match will be for a 30 minute time limit, so one of us will win.  After 10 minutes when the stamina runs out, it becomes easier to lock in submissions.  I only have to believe in myself and try my best.  That’s it.”

Masayuki Naruse: Rings Japan; Born 1973 in Tokyo.  He took the first test for potential Rings fighter candidates in April 1991, and although his height was lower than the required height, he was exempted from that requirement and passed the test as his fighting sense was recognized.

Naruse’s prefight comments: “Yamamoto and I know each other’s hands pretty well.  He might hook me and I might hook him, but I’ll let him try to hook me and then reverse with my own hook.  No matter what I’ll put in my hooks to submit him.”

Naruse’s post-fight comments: “He got my neck, but I wasn’t going to give up.  At a certain point Yamamoto thought he didn’t have his arms in my neck deep enoug,h so he loosened his grip to dig in deeper.  I took that moment as a chance to hook his ankle.  Otherwise, I might have lost.”

Herman Renting vs. Nobuaki Kakuda

Herman Renting: Rings Holland; 1990 Netherlands kickboxing 82 kilogram weight class tournament winner; known for his left low kick and left straight punch.  He’s been on a losing streak, fighting against big names such as Vrij, Satake, Han, Dollman, but he was invited to participate in the tournament due to his experience fighting under Rings rules.

Nobuaki Kakuda: Seidokaikan Karate; Born in Osaka on April 11 th , 1961; Seidokaikan Kobe branch manager, 2nd dan, with a 13 year career; won the 1988 and 1991 Point & KO All Japan Karatedo Championships; appreciated by the fans for his emotionally expressive style of fighting and given the nickname of “karateka of love and emotion.”

Renting’s post-fight comments in English [his comments were in response to questions about his condition and what are your thoughts on the next fight of Nijman vs Vrij?]

Willie Williams vs Yukihiro Takenami

Yukihiro Takenami: Rings Japan; Born November 26, 1959.  Trained in karate at the Tanaka Dojo [of Maeda’s old karate teacher Tanaka before Maeda joined New Japan ProWrestling]; and has entered karate tournaments in various districts of Japan and was known in Osaka as a street fighter.

Takenami’s prefight comments: “Well, I’ll just fight like I normally do in my street fights.  If I think of this as a match, I’ll get nervous.  I’ll just do what I normally do with the intention of winning.”

Willie Williams: USA Oyama Karate; won the New York Karate Championship heavy wt. division, North American Karate Championship, and took 3rd place in the 2nd World Tournament of Kyokushinkai karate; He was given the nickname “bear killer” after fighting a bear in the film “World’s Strongest Karate.”

Dick Vrij vs. Hans Nijman

Hans Nijman: Rings Holland; Born September 23, 1959; Has a brilliant record as a top fighter in the karate world of Holland [Netherlands]; Won the European Karate Championships twice, took 3rd place in the WUKO World Karate Championships in 1990, and also competes in freestyle wrestling.

Nijman’s prefight comments: [in English, in response to the comment that it looks like Vrij bulked up and how do you feel about tonight’s fight.]

Dick Vrij: Rings Holland; Born May 2nd , 1965; Began bodybuilding at the age of 16 and began kickboxing at the age of 19.  He trains in kickboxing, sambo, and wrestling at the Kops Gym.  It is interesting to see how he will fight in this tournament as one of the top aces of the Netherlands.

Vrij’s prefight comments: [in English mixed with Dutch, in response to a question about his condition… at the end after mentioning in English he was training in sambo with Dolman, he switches to Dutch and the subtitles say he’s going to try armlocks against Nijman]

Chris Dolman vs. Andrei Kopylov

Andrei Kopylov: Rings Russia, born June 10 th , 1965; 1990 Russian Sambo champion in heavy wt. division, 1991 Soviet Union Folks Sambo Tournament champion, 2nd place in 1991 All Soviet Union Sambo Championship Tournament.  He’s considered one of the top candidates for winning this tournament.

Kopylov’s prefight comments: Q: Have you thought about your strategy for tonight’s fight? A: “This match will probably be difficult.  I don’t know what’s going to happen until we start fighting.  Dolman may have a lot of experience in fights, but I have the same amount of experience.  So we’ll just have to see what will happen.”  Q: What do you fear most about Dolman? A: “He was the European champion in judo as well.  I will have to watch out for his judo techniques.”

Chris Dolman: Rings Holland; born in Amsterdam in 1945; After winning the 1966 European Judo Championships, he won the 1971 Netherlands Judo Championship, and the 1984 and 1985 World Sambo Championship.  He has a brilliant record as a judoka and samboist representing the Netherlands [Holland].

Akira Maeda vs. Dimitar Petkov

Dimitar Petkov: Rings Bulgaria; Born June 15, 1962; Took 2nd place in the 1976 and 1st place in the 1977 Bulgarian Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships; he also has won 3rd place three times during 1978~91 in Freestyle wrestling.

Petkov’s prefight comments: Q: What are your thoughts on tonight’s fight? A: “Maeda is very strong.  This will be a hard match for me.  On the other hand, this match is very interesting to me.  I researched by looking at videos the best strategy to use against Maeda.  It will be a very hard match, but I am looking forward to it.  It will be difficult, but it will be worth it.”

Akira Maeda: Rings Japan; Born Jan 24, 1959 in Osaka; Founded Rings in 1991 as a professional martial arts/combat sports network of a global scale.  He declared that as “a participant, I will aim to win the tournament.”  Postponing surgery of his left knee, he is staking his bets on winning the tournament.

Maeda’s prefight comments: “I fought a judo fighter in UWF, it was Wilhelm.  They have power, so if I let him grab me, he could pressure me.  But he does not seem to know too many submissions.  If I let him pressure me with his power, I could get tired.  So I need to make my defense firm and to not tie up with him in a disadvantageous way.”

Maeda’s postfight comments: “He’s heavy so I didn’t want to tie-up with him in a funny way that would lead to my losing balance… He’s very sturdy.  Dolman will be my next opponent..” [it’s hard to understand his Osaka dialect]

*In Other News*

The UWF-I did record business with their last show, which took place at the Budokan Hall. The main event between Nobuhiko Takada vs. Koji Kitao set the all-time attendance record, which was previously held by All Japan Pro Wrestling. An estimated 16,500 fans were present, which was made possible due to the UWF-I obtaining permission to add extra chairs within the ringside area.

More UWF-I drama as we are getting reports that Masa Chono has accepted a challenge to have an inter-championship title match against Nobuhiko Takada on the condition that favorable terms could be reached. During last month's UWF-I event, Lou Thesz expressed a desire to see only one true World Champion. He then laid the gauntlet down by suggesting that the UWF-I champion would take on any/ all other promotions Champions. Takada took it a step further by telling the Japanese press that he would be willing to face Chono for free, at any time/place of New Japan’s choosing. After issuing this challenge, Lou Thesz personally went over to the New Japan offices, along with around a dozen reporters, to formally present a written challenge. All of these actions were likely just a publicity stunt, and Thesz/Takada probably wasn't expecting New Japan to take them seriously. It was likely a shock to everyone within the UWF-I when New Japan President, Seiji Sakaguchi, issued a press conference three days later accepting the challenge. However, Sakaguchi mandated that if the challenge was to be accepted, Takada must personally show up to the New Japan office without Thesz and negotiate the terms. This standstill now leaves both companies in a weird position as neither can afford to have their champion lose, but the potential box-office draw is huge.

It’s rumored that the UWF-I is in talks with Big Van Vader. It's being reported that Vader's relationship with New Japan, where he hasn't appeared since 7/8/92, is on the rocks and he's looking to move on.

The very same evening that 8-men strove against each other in a MEGA-BATTLE, there was an altogether different war raging. Ernesto Hoost had to face his toughest challenge to date as he squared off against Rick “Low-Kicks Ain’t Nothin” Roufus. Roufus's has fought few big names, at least in what is documented (of which only Rob Kaman & Manson Gibson stand out), since we saw him suffer a humiliating defeat against Changpuek Kiatsongrit about 4 years ago. Roufus dominated that fight in the early stages with his varied attacks and strong boxing, but his inability to check a low kick cost him dearly and was his undoing. Thankfully for Roufus, this will be under the American shiny-pants style, where low-kicks will not be a factor. Let's check in with our esteemed reporter, Mike Lorefice for the scoop:

ISKA Full Contact Light Heavyweight World Title: Rick Roufus vs. Ernesto Hoost 12R UD. A very entertaining match, though also a somewhat disappointing one because you would expect a match between two of the all time greats to actually be somewhat competitive. Hoost did win some rounds in the second half of the fight, but Roufus had virtually clinched the decision by the point that it became a back and forth fight. Roufus was giving up 2 or 3 inches in height, but was able to keep Hoost at bay with his long, flashy kicks. The key factor here was the lack of low kicks, which allowed Roufus to much more successfully fight out of the side stance, and sprinkle in his spectacular spinning and jumping kicks. Hoost accidentally forgot the bad rule, and was scolded heavily for a leg kick early in the second round. Roufus' hands were ready when Hoost tried to close the distance, and he would often push forward with a punch combo as soon as he saw Hoost was going to kick. Roufus simply closed and extended the distance much faster, so he was able to stay outside and score with his kicks, or get in fast and score with his hands then get away without taking punishment. Roufus was really relaxed and flowing here, and while not doing a ton of damage, was kind of humiliating Hoost. Even though Hoost hadn't hit his prime yet, you never expect anyone to be able to make him look like a fool. Hoost was really struggling offensively because he just never seemed to be able to get into range, the side stance keeping Roufus so far from Hoost's right hand. Even though Roufus was winning every round easily, he still had to act like he was nearly crippled from taking a kick to the hip, trying to milk a point deduction. That being said, things were getting comical as Roufus kicks so high that seemingly every time Hoost tried to answer with his own kick, it was some kind of foul that had Roufus hunched over on the ropes for 30 seconds. In actuality, I think Roufus was getting pretty tired from throwing so many high dexterity kicks, but he did also appeared to be more than a bit hobbled. In the second half of the fight, he started standing around more, and thus Hoost finally had a target. Hoost may have won the seventh and eighth rounds, and after that Roufus switched to mostly boxing on the inside, which he probably got the better of, but certainly not to the extent he did fighting on the outside. Roufus did a better job of digging in to the body, and his goal was to get Hoost on the ropes, as when Hoost had space to just back away, he now had a pretty easy target, as Roufus was no longer closing distance with any speed. Roufus wasn't kicking much more than he had to in the final rounds, but managed to put an exclamation on the win, posterizing Hoost with a jump spinning heel kick in the 12th. Good match.