ZST in Finland

The Nordic Fight Sports(NFS) in Finland has presented ZST in Turku 2006 September 23/7 of ZST fights and 6 mma fights mixed. As the first time there where 2 Japanese fighters invited. Hiroki Kotani and Masayuki Okude from ZST Japan. The lineups are the top Scandinavian class with Thomas Hytten, Kristian Lexell, Matti Mäkelä, Thomas Valentin, Jarkko Latomäki, Janne Tulirinta, Mikko Suvanto. On the night many fighters have performed the active and the assembled games in the ring well adjusted in ZST rule and defind the highest rate of Scandinavia.

ZST was born in Japan and the rule is based in Class C+. Bouts consist of 3rounds (5+5+3) with 1.5 minutes interval. The 1.5 minutes interval gives early recovery and gain the fight duration. On the ground, punches, elbows, knees and kicks are only allowed to the body. If the bout gets the full time, there’s no judge but the fight goes draw. There’s no closed guard on the ground, early breaks and no G&P to the face. So the ZST rule requires more grappling skills on the ground. And fighters are demanded the integrations. If you are tired of the same old bang bang G&P or ground&hold, you would love this game. ZST in Japan is making full house in every event supported by Japanese technical freaks to enjoy the beautiful grappling art.

ZST organization cooperates to HERO’S FEG of which Hideo Tokoro is the star fighter. Some of you might remember the hot fight between Tokoro vs Ivan Menjivar in 2006 Aug. K1 Hero’s. Lituanian fighters as Remigijus Morkevicius, Erikas Petraitis, Kestutis Smirnovas are popular always storming in the show.

On this event NFS has PRed the event good in radio and media. The posters have seen everywhere in town even on the public transportations. The event became On-Air in Finland sports TV and more than 20.000 people has watched the show. The tickets has been sold more than 1200 in the night. Against the world mma boom, Finland’s neighbor country Sweden, the government has approved the new law to prohibit MMA from the year of 2007. Due to this new law there comes no mma event in Sweden. Therefore we could expect Finland to be the main stream in the Scandinavian mma. This is the opening event of ZST in Scandinavia and there starts the exciting exchange between Japan soon.

Nordic Fight Sport - Promotions & Management
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Hameentie 153
00560 Helsinki
Finland
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www.nordicfightsport.com

http://www.thecage.fi/sa.php?lid=279&lan=1&sid

ZST “Prestige”

Date: 2006-09-23
Place: Caribia Hall, Spa-Hotel Caribia Turku Finland
Gate Open: 17:00
Show Start: 18:00
Tickets are 25,30,35 and 40 Euro
VIP seats with dinner available
ZST Rule 65kg

Heikki Tiilikka (MMA Rauma) vs Joar Palm (Stockholm Shoot)

Both exchanges takedowns and positions Joar succeeds TD, kneebelly to the full mount easily. 1RD ends in Joar’s body shots. 2RD Heikki cuts Joar’s leg in the sharp lowkick. Joar lose the balance and Heikki attacks stomping. Going to the ground Keikki shifted the position near the rope and knee hits from the side to Joar. Joar soon gets the chance to arm-B but Heikki chages the position returns arm-B. 3RD taking the top

Joar finishes Heikki in Kimura. Both exchanged many good moves and positions. A good ZST game. Winner Joar by Kimura.

MMA rule

Juha Saarinen (Shootfighting Laaperanta Finland) vs Egidijus Valavicius (Drakonas Lithuania)

Juha meets the famous strong attacker Egidijus. No fear Juha from the beginning chases Egidijus hard to finish with strikes, mount and kimura. From the edge riding out angry Egidijus shifted to the top gear starts to revenge Juha hard. In the heavy punches Juha cuts the fore head bleeding much and the towel was thrown in. Egidijus won by TKO.

ZST rule 65kg

Greger Forsell (Alliance Porvoo Finland) vs Erhan Kucukgol (Hilti BJJ Sweden)

Both Greger and Erhan are skilled in BJJ. They show the wonderful grapple techniques, exchanging the positions up and down, using the good leg works and omoplatas in the ring. Seems Erhan got more points but the full rounds game goes to draw in ZST rule. Many complains this is an pleasant rule. But please think not to get draw the competitors are demanded to finish the game in KO or tap. This ZST rule accelerates the hard task.

MMA rule 76kg

Ville Manninen (Riihimaen Heracles Finland) vs Reza Madadi (Hilti BJJ Sweden)

Both are the ex.National Team Wrestling member experienced hundreds of the hard wrestling games. Manninen has won SW Finland in 2003 called Mr.Suplex. Many Finland fans are waiting for his fight. Both starts the tremendous boxing toe to toe strikes to finish each other, heats up the arena in the agressive mode. The local hero Manninen shot a slum, audience gets more excited. 2RD Both burns harder to finish

the opponent. Manninen shot the good 4 low kicks but can’t make Reza slow down. Manninen shots takedowns. Reza hits knee to Manninen’s head in the sprawl gets the yellow card. Reza even hits a row blow. People loves this battle. Two machomen and the heart of mma. Manninen won in judge. The temperature of the arena gets hot.

ZST rule 76kg

Thomas Valentine (Stockholm Shoot Sweden) vs Petras Morkevicius (Audra Lithuania)

Thomas Valentine comes in. Thomas had the devastated standing fight against Matti Makela in EVT Stockholm in May 2006 caught many fans heart. Petras has been in Japan ZST could be more trained in ZST rule than Thomas. Thomas immediately storms to attempt several submissions in the awesome moves to finish Petras from the beggining. He knows how to make mma fans happy. People screams for the hot performance. Hard chased Petras rides out the dengeraous traps one to another made audience thrilled. Soon Petras’s revenge key is turned on shifted the gear to the top. He starts to chase Thomas hard with the powerful strikes making audience excite. Petras wants to finish Thomas. Thomas instead trys takedowns to fight on the ground. Top gear chase makes both tired soon. In the 3rd Petras can’t hit the punches. Thomas sits down to attempt a couple of guillotines. Time over 3 RD. Draw.

MMA rule 76kg

Janne Tullirinta (Riihimaen Heracles Finland) vs Ake Bergvall (Ceaser Shootfighting Sweden)

Finland’s “Shot Gun” Janne Tullirinta came in. Janne has found the boxing talent in mma training and the shots are pin-point accurate and hard, might be the highest rate in Finland. Ake is a talented new fighter from Stockholm actively fighting in Scandinavia with the aggressive style a promising fighter. The game was rather one-sided. Experienced Janne in high speed hits one to another pushing Ake into the corner to give more. Tough Ake sucks up all tries to hit back and eats more. He goes to clinch. Janne hits a couple of shots and Ake goes down. Undaunted Ake comes back to clinch. Janne pushes him away for the distance to wait for the right moment. To Ake’s stepping in, Janne’s right hook and the combo launched Ake. It was over. Tullirinta won by KO in 1RD.

*Janne Tullirinta Inteview comes later.

ZST rule 83kg

Mikko Koivemaki (GB Gym Turku Finland) vs Kristian Lexell (Stockholm Shoot Sweden)

A MMA vetaran fighter Kristian Lexell meets Koivemaki in ZST rule. In the standing fight Kristian’s finger disturbs Mikko’s eye they get referee stop. After standing fight soon Mikko shoots takedown. Kristian catches Mikko’s neck in front. Mikko taps in the standing guillotine. Well rounded Kristian becomes more stable and wins the game without any risk.

MMA rule 83kg

Mikko Suvanto (MMA Imatra Finland) vs Matti Makela (Pancrace Sweden)

These two fighters has met before in The Cage 6 2005 May and Matti won in judge. So naturally Mikko wants to revenge in this fight. The fight starts as Matti wants to fight in stand and Mikko takes down Matti. Mikko holds good Matti on the ground and rain down shots from the top position. Matti tries submissions but Mikko breaks the attempts Matti can’t do much under Mikko’s strong hold. Matti succeeds to stand up

several times but Mikko doesn’t give him chance immediately takes him down one to another and pounds. This went for 3 rds and Mikko no problem got the judge point and won the revenge game.

ZST rule

Pekka Rantala (Riimaen Heracles Finland) vs Thomas Karlsson (Turun JuJutsuseura Finland)

Thomas Karlsson has started mma in 2006 from the good base of bjj purple belt(by Lucio Linhares),a very technical grappler and ZST rule might fit him. He rings in with the Finland mma champion Sauli Heilimo, he is as well as ranked the European top grappler. Pekka is a balanced, aggressive and experienced fighter. Both opens the fire from the beginning to finish each other. The fight goes to the boiling point exchanging the positions, raining down the shots and take downs. Awesome battle! This is a very Finish fight they never wait for another attack. The ring turns into a storm and people gets excited. Well prepared Rantala chase hard Karlson and takes the top position. Thomas counters back to Pekka in the skilled wrestling moves, shooting several submissions to finish Pekka but Pekka rides out all the traps chasing back harder and pound him to finish. What a fight! Thomas returns more to finish Pekka in armbars but can’t finish Rantala. In the second half Pekka’s speed slightly goes down. Thomas doesn’t give up. The game was finished in Pekka’s pounding. Due to ZST rule they go draw. This was a wonderful fight to see many submission attempts, striking and takedowns to prove the high Scandinavian mma quality. Very talented fighters.

MMA rule 76kg

Thomas Hytten (Team Frontline Norway) vs Sergey Golyaev (RusFighters Sport Club Russia)

The veteran Thomas Hytten rings in (15-5-1). He is one of the high rated integrated fighters in Scandinavia. Hytten was a bit away from the ring so people naturally expect him to dominate this Russian fighter. Golyaev(8-5-0) fights often on ground likes to use armlocks or armbars. In 2004 he has lost to Hansen in R-N choke and Rich Clementi in triangle. They starts to trade strikes. Soon we learned this

Russian fighter has uploaded the sharp strikes and the knees. He starts to attack Hytten hard. Hytten takes the top on the ground but Golyaev immediately shoots the triangle from the bottom. The lock looks tight Hytten is in trouble! It felt a long time. Soon the veretan Hytten manages to break the triangle. People screams for Hytten. Back to standing Hytten seems a bit tired? somehow and gradually gets into

Golyaev’s game. Golyaev hits good to Hytten well mixed with knees. In the effective shots Hytten gives the top position to Golyaev. Hytten gives back the strikes but Golyaev moves under the ropes. This negative move has repeated at least 3 times and made fans frustlated. Both goes back to stand. Hytten fights back hard but looks tired in the 3rd round. The judge went to Sergei Golyaev.

Anton Kuivanen (GB Gym Helsinki Finland) vs Hiroki Kotani (K’z Factory Japan)

Young Anton undefeated is an upcoming fighter in GB gym skilled in the fast and the sharp strikes winning in 7 fights straight (included amature). Hiroki Kotani(3-11-4) is a quite experienced fighter has made 1 win in 9 years, draw to Rich Clementi in 2003. His young brother Hiroyuki Kotani is more famous. This could be a test fight for young Anton. Anton opens the fight to hit the devastated jet speed combination of jabs, hooks and low kick. Kotani sits down! People screams for Anton. Anton wants to give more and let Kotani stand. In the second attack Anton flashes a knee and a couple of strikes (too fast I couldn’t see well) Kotani goes down again! People screams more. In this moment many believed Anton’s victory. But veteran Kotani catches Anton’s leg to take down from the bottom. The trap was

waiting for Anton on the ground. Kotani being famous for the leg lock, giving his own leg seductive to Anton but at the same time Anton’s leg was locked tight already on his side. Anton had to tapp and tasted the first loss in his mma career.

*Anton Kuivanen’s interview updated

Jarkko Latomaki (ShootFighting Lappeenranta Finland) vs Tchavdar Pavlov (Hilti BJJ Sweden)

Finland’s favorite fighter Latomaki rings in. He is one of the top pounder in Finland leading Finland’s mma shows with the extensive attacks. Pavlov has been shaped good in Hilti, has a good mma base, talented and aggressive. Pavlov chases hard Latomaki in the hard striking trade. But Latomaki’s pressure is bigger and starts to punish Pavlov. Driving the good grappling Pavlov but Latomaki returnes

the heavy pounds and accelerate the speed. Eating Latomaki’s heavy hits Pavlov had to slow down the speed. Latomaki wins in G&P makes Finland mma fans happy. A hard pound fight.

ZST rule 70kg

Jerry Kvarnstrom (GB Gym Turku Finland) vs Masayuki Okude (Free Japan)

Kvarnstrom has the big logo ADHD on his pants. His handsome face poster is all over the town and he is well known in Turku now. The Finland’s legend Yka Leino is his coach. Jerry has been a wrestling junior champ in Finland. Due to the rich wrestling experience he is certificated for the stamina, takedowns, stregth and the good ground base. A kind of Finland’s Sean Sherk. For this fight he didn’t get any information of Okude nor video clips. The coach Yka worried a bit if Okude could use the unknown tricks for Jerry. The mysterious Okude rings in the gold shiny Kimono and a headband in Japanese national flag! He takes off the kimono and sits in the middle of the ring praying something. He is very skinny compaire to Kvarnstrom. Kvarnstrom is ready to go. The fight starts. Okude begins the performance to show the kind of capoeira style wierd round kicks repeated. Those moves remind us a bit of Genki Sudo. He often puts the hands on the mat kicking the legs high up going round and round in the ring. Okude has no gloves. He may use “shoutei” then. Kvarnstrom starts to chase Okude in the ring but Okude still dancing lookalike capoeira runs away from Kvarnstrom. There are no such fighters in Europe and we have no idea what the game would go. All the audience astonished been concentrated in the ring staring Okude’s amazing performance. 2RD Kvarnstrom cant wait no longer. He attacks Okude and catches in him in a front necklock. Okude once could escape but there was no second time. The lock was very tight and Jerry is strong. Soon Okude passed out in his arms and referee broke in. People loved Okude and his wonderful show.

Tyrone

The first ZST in Finland turned out very successful. Very good card in the highly motivated and aggressive contestants in the good skills and the show was very well organized. People could enjoy both mma techniques and the excitement in the great scrambles. Upon Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Russia to invite 2 Japanese fighters turned the event international and rich. If you have time, please visit Finland mma event. It pays off. Finland is hot.