Super Brawl 35 Weigh-ins
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Super Brawl 35 Weigh-ins April 15, 2004 Round Table Pizza Waikiki Honolulu, Hawaii By Michael Onzuka Everyone seems to like a homecoming. Enson Inoue, who has been a figurehead of MMA in Japan is finally coming home to fight in front of his home for the first time. In the world of fighters trying to make a name for themselves by fighting in every event known to man to get their name out, Enson took the exact opposite route. Moving to Japan originally to follow his racquetball dreams, he took along his knowledge of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and found out that he could hold his own against everyone he met. Being a competitive guy that just so happens to enjoy beating people to a pulp, Enson tried out Shooto and quickly became the adopted son of Japan with his Yamato Damashii or Samurai fighting spirit.
Enson jumped in to the deep end of the pool by fighting in Pride, the largest show in Japan, and faced the best heavyweights in the world. Although he experienced mixed success with his MMA career in Japan, he is still a huge draw because of his kill-or-be-killed attitude and the fact that he would "rather die in the ring than tap." After a string of losses against the top heavyweights in the world, Enson had a good feeling of where he stood among the top fighters in the world and entered retirement. This would not last long as he is back in action and looking in the best shape since his debut in the UFC. Enson, who was about 230 lbs only a month or two ago, weighed in at a slim, trim 202 lbs as he faces a heavy handed Tom Sauer. Sauer looks to be the spoiler to Enson as Jason Miller was to Enson’s brother Egan. Enson is not taking Sauer lightly and Sauer is saying that he is in the best shape of his life for this fight. Win, lose, or draw, the one thing you can expect from an Enson Inoue fight is somebody’s getting their ass kicked.
Along with Enson, the card is filled with Enson’s Purebred Japan team that includes a scrappy Ryan Bow against local favorite HMC’s Deshaun Johnson and one of the top 170 pound fighters in Shooto that came in at a very light 155 lbs in Tetsuji Kato. Kato who has been Enson’s right-hand fighter along with Kid Yamamoto has been living and training in Hilo as of late with none other than UFC champ BJ Penn. UFC veterans Rich Franklin and Jeff Curran also compliment this star-studded card. Last, but not least, the Super Brawl/Extreme Challenge best unknown 185-pound tournament champion, Joe Doerksen, moves up in weight class to face Purebred’s Riki Fukuda. Hawaii fans have come to love the Japanese fighters because of their great technique and huge heart. Being from Enson’s gym, we can expect that the Purebred team has to have heart or Enson would have ran them out of his gym. Two major television news channels were on hand to cover this weigh-in and we shall soon find out if Enson has the same drawing power that his older brother Egan has with the Hawaii fans.
Super Brawl 35 Fight Card April 16, 2004 Neil Blaisdell Arena Honolulu, Hawaii 205lbs 205lbs 138lbs 160lbs 155lbs 150lbs Heavyweight 155lbs 128lbs 205lbs |
