Daiju Takase, who holds a submission win over UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, won a hard fought decision over Brandon “BK” Kesler in the main event of DARE Championship's DARE 1/12 event at the Club Insomnia Bangkok.
The Japanese MMA legend was returning to action after an absence of almost two years. He was up against a local favorite in Kesler, an American who is based in Bangkok and is a very familiar face to MMA fans in Thailand.
In the end it was the much more experienced Takase who prevailed and advanced to the quarter finals of the DARE Championship's Middleweight Tournament, bringing him one step closer to claiming his part of the $1,000,000 Dollar Grand Bonus for the first group of Champions in DARE.
It was the biggest fight of BK’s life but he did not let the occasion get to him, starting slowly before exploding into action with a superman punch. Takase was equally patient and an uneventful first round probably went the Americans way courtesy of an eye catching takedown.
Kesler was also able to get the Japanese veteran to the floor in the second round but this time Takase showed off his submission skills, using a Kimura attempt to sweep and move into mount. It was a maneuver he also used to good effect in the third round which along with a solid hook landed at the start of the round, probably propelled him to a closely contested decision win.
Given the gulf in experience BK can be proud of himself for having gone the distance and after the fight Takase paid tribute to his opponent, “He was tough, I wanted to submit him but he was very strong. I have been out of action for a long time so it is good to get back in the cage and to win a fight. I am looking forward to fighting again for DARE and also want the people who have been flooded in Thailand to know that Japanese people are thinking of you and that we are all together.”
All the profits from DARE Championship 1/12, the third event to be put on by Thailand’s only MMA promotion, will be donated to helping victims of the flooding which struck large areas of Thailand towards the end of 2011.
All the DARE 1/12 fights are available online at www.darelive.tv and www.gfl.tv.
