 Then on October 4, he defeated Kitamiya's tag team partner Katsuhiko Nakajima to make his sixth successful title defense.Sugiura then participated in the 2018 Global League, where he finished with a record of four wins and three losses, including one to eventual tournament winner Kaito Kiyomiya.This led to a match on December 16, where Sugiura lost the title to Kiyomiya in his seventh defense.