The city of Turku, situated on the south-west coast of Finland will experience the Japanese fighting brand’s first event in Scandinavia on the 23rd of September 2006. ZST’s inaugural show is promoted by Nordic Fight Sport – a company that started off with The Cage, an event that introduced the UFC-style octagon to MMA competitions in Finland.
Of the evening’s fourteen scheduled bouts, seven will be contested under official ZST-rules and the remaining seven under the more conventional MMA rules sanctioned by the Finnish Mixed Martial Arts Federation. The Japanese brand’s set of rules differ significantly from conventional rules in two ways. Firstly, there is no judging which implies that the bout is ruled a draw in the case that neither contestant is able to win via KO or submission. Secondly, striking the head of a grounded opponent is forbidden. These measures are designed to discourage lay’n’pray tactics and passive fighting in general. Eliminating strikes to the head on the ground also speeds up action considerably as fighters are forced to go after submissions if they want to have any chance of winning the bout.
Upcomping Finnish fighters Jerry Kvarnström and Anton Kuivanen will face Japanese opponents in their respective ZST-rule debuts. Kvarnström will compete against young Japanese up-and-comer Masayuki Okude and Kuivanen will confront Hiroki Kotani.
In another featured matchup of the evening, Norwegian top lightweight fighter Thomas Hytten faces Russian veteran Sergey Golyaev. Hytten is a training partner of Joachim Hansen at Team Frontline in Oslo. Hytten won last year’s EVT European Grand Prix and has competed against top-level opponents in Europe and Japan. Golyaev is a seasoned professional who has held the title of Mixfight Champion of the northwest region of Russia.
Altogether 14 bouts are scheduled for the event which promises to feature the most exciting lineup this year in Scandinavia. The fight card features names such as Pride-veteran Egidijus Valavicius, Petras Markevicius, Thomas Valentin, Jarkko Latomäki, Tchavdar Pavlov and Janne Tulirinta.
Tickets are available from www.ticketservicefinland.fi
For the full fight card and additional information visit www.nordicfightsport.com