Naoto Uebayashi Vs Marjohn Yap

One fighter we've tried to follow pretty closely is Naoto Uebayashi, an unbeaten Japanese prospect who was a former amateur standout. Tipped for stardom Uebayashi stumbled somewhat early in his career and was surprisingly dropped in just his second bout, by Thailand's Imron Lookkhlongtan, and held to a draw by the then 22 year old Yasaku Kuga, who also dropped him.

Just 3 months after the Kuga fight Uebayashi took on his most experienced, at least up to that point in time, Filipino Marjohn Yap. Yap, for those who aren't aware, is a sturdy and durable fighter who had shared the ring with some excellent fighters like Ryosuke Iwasa and had scored some notable upsets including a stoppage over Pramuansak Posuwan.

For Uebayashi this was a clear test and, for the first time in his career, he was scheduled to go 8 rounds. As we all know some fighters respond well to being moved up a level and given what they view as a real test as opposed to a bout they go into complacent and feel they can win one handed. For Uebayashi this test seemed to bring out the best in him as he showed off the skills that helped him become such a highly regarded prospect. He combined his skills to a cautious pressure based game plan, he forced Yap against the ropes and forced Yap to lead and made him pay.

From Yap's perspective he wasn't shown up and he'll be back in Japan in late 2014 to fight against Hirofumi Mukai. On this performance he has the ability to make life difficult for Mukai. For us however the performance from Uebayashi saw him winning rounds against a competitive Yap to take the win and build on his reputation as one of Japan's more over-looked prospects.

(Video courtesy of Akkie4410)