Well-traveled veteran Satoshi
Ishii will get a chance to capture the inaugural Elite MMA
Championship heavyweight crown when he faces Stuart
Austin on Sept. 5 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The fledgling promotion announced on Monday that Ishii and Austin
will square off in the EMC 5 main event. Two other bouts were
confirmed for the event: Konrad
Dyrschka vs. Walter
Pugliesi at welterweight and Erko Jun vs.
Damian
Olszewski at heavyweight.
EMC is founded by Ivan and Tomi Dijakovic, who manage and coach
notable MMA fighters such as Roberto
Soldic, Antun Racic,
Thiago
Silva, David
Zawada and Abus Magomedov. According to a release, more former
UFC, PFL and Cage Warriors competitors will be announced for the
card in the coming days.
Ishi, 33, has compiled a 23-11-1 career mark while competing for
organizations such as Bellator MMA, Rizin Fighting Federation and
Professional Fighters League. Most recently, the Osaka, Japan,
native halted a three-bout skid with a first-round submission of
Cleber
Souza at Heat 46 on Jan. 19. Over the course of his career,
Ishi has squared off against the likes of Fedor
Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia,
Mirko
Filipovic, Jiri
Prochazka, Quinton
Jackson, Muhammed
Lawal and Heath
Herring, to name a few.
England’s Austin is a former British Association of Mixed Martial
Arts champion who also enjoyed a brief stint in Bellator in 2014.
The Team Titan representative has won two of his last three fights
and is 14-6 as a professional overall.