THE REMATCH – Nakamura vs DiGiulio – This Time It’s For The Belt!

Fight Scheduled for December 17th at Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan

World Series of Fighting – Global Championship (WSOF-GC) will promote their next event, WSOF-GC 4 DEEP vs GLOBAL on December 17, a co-promoted event with their Japanese affiliate organization, DEEP Fighting Championships, to take place in Tokyo at Differ Ariake Arena.  

The highly anticipated main event has been dubbed “THE REMATCH”, which will crown the first-ever WSOF Global Flyweight Champion. The bout features Japan’s Yusaku Nakamura (13-4-1), who previously competed for DEEP in the first twelve of his professional fights, against USA’s Lawrence DiGiulio (18-7-1), who has won 10 of his last 11 bouts. DiGiulio’s only loss during that time span was a controversial split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) to Nakamura at WSOF-GC 2 JAPAN back in February of this year. 

The stunning defeat for DiGiulio ended a 9-fight win streak. He immediately wanted an opportunity to get back in the cage and avenge his loss. Nakamura, who entered their fight on his own 6-fight win streak, was looking ahead to the next challenge. Shortly after their bout, both fighters signed an agreement to compete in a 4-man, 125-lb tournament at WSOF-GC 3 PHILIPPINES in July, with the promise of a world title shot for the opening round winners.

Both DiGiulio and Nakamura faced tough competition in Philippines, and earned hard-fought victories against Brazil’s Marcel Adur (a dangerous fighter with 10 of his 11 wins coming by KO or submission) and Australia’s Tim Moore (the #1 flyweight in Australia and Eternal MMA Champion), respectively. Those wins set up THE REMATCH for these two talented combatants. This won’t be an ordinary rematch though, as this will be an exciting 5-round affair for championship gold.

In a very candid conversation, DiGiulio stated, “Ever since I've started fighting, I wanted to prove that I have what it takes to be one of the best. Fighting for this title gives me the perfect opportunity to prove to not just the world, but also to myself that I am accomplishing this goal. I'm very excited to fight in Japan again. Although I still feel I won the last fight, all my other experiences in Japan were fantastic. I loved the city and the culture. I'm also very excited about fighting Nakamura again, especially in a title fight. If you put me in the cage with anybody, there's going to be fireworks. Both of us throw bombs so I guarantee this fights will have plenty of explosions. This time I guarantee I will leave no doubt in my victory when I leave the arena with the belt around my waist.”

Nakamura, who has won more than half of his victories by KO/TKO, is happy to welcome him back to Japan. “I started my career fighting for DEEP and facing the best that Japan has to offer. I wanted new challenges though and sought out training in the United States and have now competed against and defeated four straight non-Japanese opponents. Larry is one of the toughest competitors I have ever been in the cage with. It will be an honor to fight him once more and to represent DEEP and Japan as the first WSOF Global Flyweight Champion.”

WSOF Global will host WSOF-GC 4 DEEP vs GLOBAL at Differ Ariake Arena on December 17, 2016 at 14:30JST (UTC +9). Tickets start at ¥6500 with VIP seating available for ¥16,000. Tickets are now on sale at http://deep2001.tstar.jp/.  The event will air live in the USA at wsofgc.com on December 16 at 9:30pm PST.

This year WSOF Global has brought together more than 15 MMA promotions on 6 continents for fans under one common banner, including DEEP, which has hosted over 300 events since their inception in 2001. These fights will be making their way into the WSOF Global Fight Library at wsofgc.com, as will future fights available live. There are currently five events online at wsofgc.com, including DEEP 76, DEEP 77, DEEP CAGE IMPACT 2016, DEEP JEWELS 12, and DEEP JEWELS 13. MMA fans can watch all of these fights, as well as those from all other affiliates at WSOFGC.com.