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 Welcome, HERO faithful. This is truly an historic night. For the first time ever, HERO will be coming to you live from an international location. Tonight, we are in the Land of the Rising Sun, where Eddie Torrez defends his title against Mark Murphy, who makes his camp right here in Tokyo. We also have a tremendous superfight for you, as HERO Hall of Famer Jarkko Vaaku takes on Eternal Rivals Middleweight champion Ricardo Martinez.
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HERO Tokyo
Prelims
Middleweight Division: Liam Handfast vs Gerry Van Berry
This fight was contested entirely on the ground. Neither fighter attempted standing strikes. While on the ground, Van Berry showed his class. He unleashed a lot of ground and pound and controlled well. Handfast managed a few submission attempts, but it wasn't enough to sway the judges. Result: Van Berry by unanimous decision
Welterweight Division: Alexander Mankiev vs Arttu Attila
Mankiev got a takedown early and ensured that the fight stayed on the mat. He waited patiently for openings and landed punishing strikes when he had the chance. Attila couldn't manage to get back to his feet, which lead to his night ending early. Result: Mankiev by 1st round TKO (Strikes)
Bantamweight Division: Hans Olson vs Artie Lange
Olson was all-around dominant in this one. He outperformed in the striking game and on the ground. He was very aggressive with his punches and kicks, and Lange couldn't seem to stop any of them. Lange did a great job surviving the first round, but with only seconds remaining in the second, Olson landed a big shot that ended the fight. Result: Olson by 2nd round KO (Punch)
Light Heavyweight Division: Atte Peltola vs Walter Sullivan
When Peltola got this fight to the ground, he managed to have a fair amount of success. Unfortunately, he only attempted three takedowns the whole fight, which allowed Sullivan to keep the majority of the fight in his forte: standup. Sullivan's boxing was more impressive to the judges than Peltola's was and the decision went to him. Result: Sullivan by unanimous decision
Main Card
Lightweight Division: Gomi Bakanori vs BJ Penn
Penn wanted this fight on the ground, and got it there on two occasions. Both times, Bakanori showed skillful BJJ defense and avoid being tapped. When he got back to his feet, he was extremely accurate with his striking, eventually knocking Penn out with a beautiful combo. Result: Bakanori by 1st round KO (Punches)
Featherweight Division: Tex Morgan vs Pekka Pikkarainen
Pikkarainen got the takedown that he needed early, but couldn't do much with it. The ref stood the fighters back up and Morgan took advantage by going to work with some artful boxing. Midway through the round, he rocked Pikkarainen with a big shot and followed it up with a straight left that put Pekka on the mat. A few follow ups had the ref jumping in. Result: Morgan by 1st round TKO (Strikes)
Heavyweight Division: Jestem Trzezwy vs Anthony Griffin
The undefeated Trzezwy showed why nobody has been able to beat him yet. He got a takedown and showed some devastating ground and pound. Shot after shot turned Griffin's face into ground beef. We were barely more than a minute into the fight when the doctor deemed the cut to be too bad to continue. Result: Trzezwy by 1st round TKO (Cut)
Co-Main Event
HERO Middleweight Championship: Eddie Torrez vs Mark Murphy
The majority of this fight was spent in the standup, where both fighters were extremely active. The main difference was that most of Torrez's shots were landing, while Murphy's weren't. Murphy showed a tremendous ability to absorb shots, but a spinning back fist that landed right on the button was too much for anyone. Result: Torrez by 2nd round KO (Strikes)
Main Event
HERO vs Eternal Rivals Special Attraction: Jarkko Vaakku vs Ricardo Martinez
HERO Hall of Famer Jarkko Vaakku was in against the toughest competition of his career in this battle with Eternal Rivals champ Ricardo Martinez. He tried valiantly to get the fight to the mat where he could work for a submission, but Martinez was able to avoid all takedowns. On the feet, he busted up Vaakku and eventually put him away with a nice combination of strikes. Result: Martinez by 1st round KO (Strikes)
Post Fight Press Conference
AJ Nex was beaming with glee after this one. The first venture into international waters couldn't have gone any better, as this event set HERO records for paid attendance and event rating. He congratulated Eddie Torrez on his title defense and thanked Jarkko Vaakku for representing the org against such a tough opponent.
He also thanked all the fighters who fought on the card for making this the best event in HERO history.
The night's bonuses were announced at the end of the press conference:
KO of the Night: Eddie Torrez
Sub of the Night: none
Fight of the Night: Walter Sullivan vs Atte Peltola
Next up in HERO, former featherweight champ Tyson Pearson tries to regain his title this Saturday against current champ Georgi Todorov at HERO 27. Then, on August 29th at HERO 28, Maarten Van Der Moot defends against Wai Man Li.
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