At DEEP 57th Impact, Korean shooting star featherweight Doo Ho Choi was a "no show" a week before the event began. Gumi MMA manager Chang Seob Lee took responsibility for his fighter's presumed MIA fiasco and offered a free fight at DEEP Cage Impact. On the day of weigh ins, it was announced that Choi's absence was due to a broken arm that for some reason the camp didn't want to disclose. Then, Lee got on the scales at 1.5 kgs over limit and his match with T-Blood fighter Shigetoshi Iwase was scrapped, prompting a flurry of angry tweets from teammate Tatsuya Kawajiri and a public Facebook apology from Lee himself.
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| Courtesy Brittany Ann Decker |
The main event featured a much anticipated bout between Tatsumitsu Wada of Yoshida Dojo and Takafumi Otsuka of Abe Ani Combat Club. As the fighters from these stellar JMMA camps clashed, it was a battle to see on which side of the seesaw the win would land: Wada's career began with five straight losses which turned onto a recent run of five straight wins, while the iconic green Roman legion-skirted Otsuka has struggled to pull out a couple of wins in his last five - though against stronger opponents in the big leagues of DREAM. Wada proved his star is indeed on the rise, as even though he was carded for an elbow, he was able to earn a decision win. Otsuka, once the Bantamweight Champion of DEEP, sadly announced his retirement at only 25 years of age.
Katsunori Kikuno versus Satoru Kitaoka announced
