Brent, who came to Japan from the Rishinjuku Belgium branch for his professional debut, achieved an impressive KO victory. Starting from the 7th bout of the main card, the TATSUJIN rules were applied. Taiga (Moushalen Osaka Branch, STRIKER GYM), the head of the Osaka branch, faced Brent Dupuis (Rishinjuku Belgium), who was making his professional debut. As mentioned, Brent had traveled from Belgium for his debut fight, and from the very beginning it was clear he was determined to bring a victory back home. In Round 1, despite Taiga’s sharp straight punches, Brent remained unfazed. He clinched, took him down, and immediately followed up with a barrage of ground-and-pound strikes. After the restart, Brent quickly clinched again, executed another takedown, and continued with ground-and-pound, showing full adaptation to the rules. Even though Taiga’s corner was shouting “Don’t grapple!”, Brent’s momentum could not be stopped. After a third takedown followed by more ground-and-pound, the referee stepped in to stop the fight. As a result, Brent demonstrated complete mastery of the TATSUJIN rules with his consistent strategy of clinching, takedowns, and ground strikes, securing a TKO victory at 1 minute 12 seconds of Round 1—a brilliant first-round TKO win in his professional debut.

First professional fight in Japan Won by Tko in the first round

After an entire day of waiting.. And waiting.. And getting nervous... And then some warning up... And then some more waiting... And then some more nerves.. They announced a ten minute break 😫 And then the fight began. Professional card. Tatsujin Rules. Clinch, throw, ground and pound. Clinch, throw, ground and pound. Clinch, throw, ground and pound. T-K-O! Brent Dupuis won his pro debut match against an experienced Taiga Striker! And can now call himself a professional fighter. Flawless fight camp. Flawless weight cut. Flawless victory. Now, we feast! And Brent didn't event use the calf kicks we trained on the calf pad. Two weeks after our last pad session my leg still hurts...

So today was probably the hardest day for Brent until now. We borrowed an electric scale from the gym which was 300 - 500grams off. Then we weighed him on it before the weigh in at the gym and took the safety margin. He was at 69,4kgs zo he decided to take two sips of water and some yoghurt. Getting him back to 70kg on the electric scale. Then we waited until the time for the weigh in. Brent made a good impression with his build and passing the weigh-in flawlessly at 69.1kg. But he also got some laughs because he didn't only eat two onigiri 🍙, but also two butaman. And because he tried to tie his belt while walking up to the stage and in the haste didn't check the way his belt was tied. So far he left a mixed impression, very kind text on him in the booklet, where he's being described as someone who already fought opponents 20kg heavier than him and having flown in from Belgium just for this fight. A very professional fighter with good muscles and a strong work ethic regarding the weight. But then also eating fatty pork and tying his belt like a brute. 😅 When we saw Shuta enter, he looked like a corpse. His weigh-in didn't go as smoothly... 100 grams too much, back to running (and almost dying). When he came back during the rules for his second weigh-in he passed and out of relief he clapped his hands really hard, only to then realize that he f*cked up. Jukuchou found it funny and was relieved for him also. We didn't eat together as planned, as Shuta had to rest up a bit before moving. Meanwhile Brent got his servings of shoyu udon, each portion bigger than the last, until he was full. Then he ate some salted potato chips to get his sodium back up. Then we decided on some doughnuts to get some fast sugars and calories in. And he bought four more butaman to be sure. Clocking out today at 73kgs. OSU

Benkei was a legendary warrior monk, often depicted carrying multiple weapons. (And yes, Brent, the character in the For Honor video game is based on this guy). History and folklore aside, there's a challenge at the Kiyomizudera in Kyoto. When entering the main grounds of the temple complex, there are three heavy objects, the heaviest being an iron spear weighing about 200-300lbs. If one manages to lift all three, they will be blessed by Benkei and gain good fortune for all their life. This seemed like a fun sidequest to gain some momentum and burn off some extra calories. We tried. We failed. We tried again. We failed again. So we vowed to get it next time around. (Although Brent almost lifted the entire table at some point)