Koji Iwamoto vs. Fuminori Abe (Hard Hit, 3/17/18)

The boys from the Sportiva Dojo spar it out in HARD HIT, the last vestige of shoot-style in Japan. This was like 6:00 minutes long and it ruled. Fuminori Abe's slick as cat shit on linoleum against Koji Iwamoto, in his ground defense, his counters, his speed and transitions. Iwamoto's able to snag him with an armbar and when Abe tries to fancy his way out of it, Iwamoto shows good control, keeping him check. Love Abe's arm drag takedown and when Iwamoto takes him down with an STO, Abe turns it into a hammerlock, trapping the arm with his leg in order to flip him over into a guillotine check. It's awesome. The striking doesn't get to heavy and Iwamoto uses a little uranage slam but this is mostly a struggle for submissions, and after Iwamoto hits the judo throw from out of nowhere, he cinches in the scarf hold for the tap out. It'll take this over a bloated 37:14 epic any day.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Takuya Wada vs. Koji Iwamoto & Tadashi Matsumoto (Hard Hit, 7/16/17)

These Hard Hit shows are often more misses than hits but every so often, you get a little gem of a match. I'm not familiar with Takuya Wada or Tadashi Matsumoto but these guys were the highlights of this match. Of course, Fujiwara still showed that he's the wiliest old man around, grabbing limbs and cranking guillotines when and where he can, ultimately picking up the token submission with the haragatame. Iwamoto looked pretty good here in this setting, utilizing some neat takedowns, including his judo throw, but he was sent to the ropes a number of times. When Matsumoto and Wada were in there grappling, it was awesome. Matsumoto rolling around on the mat, trapping body parts while Wada showed his strength with some throws. Just lots of cool takedowns and reversals. Wada was able to get a leglock and then transitioned it into a swank double leglock and later in the match, Matsumoto used a monkey flip on Wada to snag an armbar. This match ain't for everyone -- there's no striking, no big moves -- but it's always a treat to see Fujiwara on the mat and the other three guys brought the energy he may lack at 68-years of age.