[2009-08-30-BattlARTS] Yujiro Yamamoto vs Munenori Sawa

[GOTNW]

Yujiro Yamamoto is the only guy whom I wish to nominate who doesn't have the three reviews on the internet so I'll try to at least bullshit through them. There is one thing I don't love in this match. A spot where they dare each other to kick each other as hard as possible. And even that I managed to enjoy as I happen to love watching them kick each other really hard. You get the slick matwork you'd want, they shoot slap and kick each other in the face really hard and they even incorporate a really good legwork segment in there. I really don't think of Dragon Screw Legwhips as something that I particularly like or dislike in my wrestling, but here Sawa pulls them off as violently as humanly possible and Yamamoto's sell job is accordingly good. Finish plays off of that as well. Good stuff from our Battlarts boys here.

[superkix]

When it comes to the BattlARTS bati-bati-boys, I've always gravitated toward Yamamoto, whose matwork and transitions were slick as catshit. Sawa can definitely hold his own on the mat and I actually prefer him working the ground as opposed to throwing baseball punches and Shining Wizards. Really good grappling to open with lots of reversals. There's a great moment when Yamamoto starts elbowing Sawa while he's got him by the legs, which allows him to grab the arm submission. Of course, there's plenty of stiff kicks and face slaps as the match progresses. Yamamoto's defense is really good early, especially in blocking the figure-four attempt. Sawa's dragon screw legwhip into the ropes was one of the more gnarly spots of the match, which he follows up with a bunch of pissy kicks. When Sawa lands his baseball punch, Yamamoto doesn't go down but when he tries for a follow up, Yamamoto smacks him and his his own submarine-style baseball slap. In the end, Sawa wins with a neat trapped kneebar but this match had it all, from the struggle on the mat, cool counters, and stiff exchanges in between.