As reported before, DEEP TOKYO IMPACT 2022 5th ROUND will feature four Flyweight Grand Prix first-round matchups. Shimabukuro Power was paired with an “x” – a fighter to be revealed later. Now it was announced that he will face, Yuto Uda who is a Shooto mainstay.
宇田悠斗コメント
「修斗から参戦する宇田悠斗です。
DEEP佐伯代表から熱いラブコールをいただいたので、このGPへの参戦を決意しました。
快く送り出して下さった修斗の坂本代表には本当に感謝しています。 pic.twitter.com/QiCLW6PIdQ— DEEP/DEEP JEWELS OFFICAL (@jewels_deep) August 1, 2022
Uda has a Judo background which he trained back in junior high school and he even won the prefectural championship tournament. He started training MMA at the age of 19 and harnessed his skills on Shoot amateur circuit, where he went on twelve – fights winning streak. He has a 5 – 1 – 1 professional record. He won his three professional fights, then drew against Daichi Nishimura, and next won another two bouts. His first loss came at the hands Tatsuki Saomoto, who’s a ZST champion. at RIZIN 34.
Uda had this to say about participating in the Featherweight Grand Prix:
“This is Yuto Uda, who will be competing in Shooto. I received a passionate call from DEEP representative Shigeru Saeki, so I decided to participate in this GP. Please kindly send me off. I’m really grateful to Kazuhiro Sakamoto, the representative of Shooto.It’s not my nature to keep silent when a big flyweight tournament is being held, and I’ve done it in the last match, so I’m going to make up for it here. I will definitely win the championship, get the title of the strongest in the flyweight division, and make a triumphant return to Shooto, so please support me.”
Shimabukuro has a record of 15 wins, 17 losses, and 6 draws. He began his professional career back in 2009 and fought in various promotions including GRACHAN, DEEP, Pancrase, ZST, and Fighting Nexus. He suffered a four-fight losing streak that he broke by defeating Ibuki Matsumaru at DEEP 96 IMPACT and continued his winning ways by beating Rikiya Matsuzawa at DEEP Tokyo Impact 2021. However, he lost his last fight to Fuga Izawa at DEEP 107 impact.
