MMA Rules Stipulation Set For Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan

The ever surprising NJPW KOPW division revealed its latest unorthodox stipulation match, with provisional KOPW Champion Shingo Takagi set to put his title on the line against Great-O-Khan in an MMA rules match at The New Beginning in Nagoya.

The MMA rules match was Khan’s choice of stipulation, winning 60.7% of the fan vote as opposed to 39.3% for Shingo’s suggestion of a 30 count fall match.

NJPW announced the match with the following statement:

“This past weekend saw Great-O-Khan and Shingo Takagi go to the Twitter polls in order to determine the stipulations for their meeting Sunday in Nagoya. With Takagi proposing a return of the 30 count fall match he had with Taichi last spring, and O-Khan requesting a mixed martial arts rules match, 29,617 votes were cast worldwide with the following results:

Shingo Takagi: 11,625 (39.3%)

Great-O-Khan: 17,992 (60.7%)

“O-Khan has won the poll, and Sunday the KOPW 2023 will be contested under mixed martial arts rules with gi! Additionally, per Takagi’s own suggestion, O-Khan’s victory in the vote means that Shingo’s number one contendership status to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line as well as the KOPW belt Sunday!”

Shingo is set to challenge IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada at The New Beginning in Osaka, but that could all change if Khan emerges victorious.