Krush 70 KG. Tournament: Kenta Scores Surprise Win on Saturday

Reports indicate that little went off as expected when the Krush 70 kg. tournament wrapped up on Saturday in Japan. The tournament, which marks the fourth championship tournament that Krush has completed in 2011, saw one tournament favorite, Yuya Yamamoto, lose in the opening round in May, while fellow K-1 MAX veteran Hiroki Nakajima survived and was a strong favorite entering Saturday.

The tournament semifinal bouts saw Nakajima meet NJKF champion Kenta and Shintaro Matsukura face off with Yutaro Yamauchi.

While Hiroki Nakajima may have entered Saturday's event as a strong favorite, the K-1 World MAX 2010 Japan Tournament runner-up was not able to reach the final bout at all. Kenta reportedly came in and secured a surprise majority decision win against Nakajima, with scorecards reading 30-28, 30-29, 30-30 in favor of the NJKF champion.

Yutaro Yamauchi and former K-1 Koshien champion Shintaro Matsukura fought through an extension round in the other semifinal of the evening. Yamauchi seems to have done just enough to win, securing a split decision victory following that extension round.

The 70 kg. tournament seems to have rounded out with yet another close bout, as Kenta ultimately took a majority decision against Yamauchi in the final.

Kenta becomes the Krush 70 kg. champion with his tournament win on Saturday. His win affirms the trend of 2011 in Krush, as absolutely none of the favorites in their four championship tournaments have won this year. Furthermore, Kenta was not among the initial competitors for an upcoming K-1 MAX tournament in Japan announced last month. Given the current relationship between Krush and K-1, it will be interesting to see what sort of final lineup may materialize for this planned K-1 MAX tournament.

In non-tournament action, Krush 60 kg. champion Hirotaka Urabe was able to secure a third round stoppage win.

HT: Bout Review