6/20 SRC 13 - Fight Order

WVR have announced the fight order for SRC 13. The main event will be the title fight between Masanori Kanehara and challenger Marlon Sandro. SRC are using the 5 round title fight rule and this should be a good battle, I would not be surprised if it goes the distance.

This is another card where WVR are giving talented fighters a shot on a higher profile card along side some of the big stars in Japan.

Main Event - Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
10. Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
9. Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
8. Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm

Welterweight Tournament Round 1 (Block A):
7. Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura 18-4-2 vs. 6-2-0 Omar de la Cruz
6. Takuya Wada 19-8-10 vs. 5-5-0 Jae Sun Lee

5. Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
4. Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho
3. Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie

Opening Fight:
2. Light: Kazuki Tokutome 4-1-1 vs. 2-5-0 Yuma Ishizuka
1. Middle: Ikkei Nagamura 3-2-1 vs. 3-1-0 Ye Won Nam

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6/20 SRC 13 - Welterweight GP Announced

WVR have announced the addition of a 8-man tournament to SRC13 and SRC14. The first 2 fights will take place at SRC13 and includes Japanese star "K-Taro" and King of Pancrase Takuya Wada.

The other round 1 fights will take place at SRC14 and will include: the winner of Yamamiya vs. Ura at Pancrase on June 5. Also participating will be Kenta Takagi and Taisuke Okuno.

Matchups announced for SRC13 are:
Welterweight GP Round 1:
Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura 18-4-2 vs. 6-2-0 Omar de la Cruz
Takuya Wada 19-8-10 vs. 5-5-0 Jae Sun Lee

Previously Announced:
Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Non-Title Fights:
Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm
Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho

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6/20 SRC 13 - Fights Announced

WVR is putting on their 13th event in Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 20. And they are continuing the tradition of announcing the fights early (I like that).

Added to the card today was 2 fights, both with some very talented Japanese fighters. Shigeki Osawa will take on the experienced Katsuya Toida. The other fight announced today will see the former Shooto Rookie Tournament champion, Ikuo Usuda take on Kang Kyung Ho (Osawa's opponent on SRC12.

The main event will most likely be the featherweight title fight between Kanehara and Marlon Sandro, who was my personal favorite in the tournament last year. It should be a very good and tactical fight.

Added:
Feather: Shigeki Osawa 5-1-0 vs. 12-9-3 Katsuya Toida
Feather: Ikuo Usuda 6-0-0 vs. 5-3-0 Kang Kyung Ho

Previously Announced:
Sengoku Featherweight Title Fight (5×5min.):
Masanori Kanehara 16-7-5 vs. 16-1-0 Marlon Sandro

Non-Title Fights:
Light: Maximo "Maxi" Blanco 5-2-1 vs. 9-3-0 Rodrigo Damm
Light-Heavy: Hiroshi Izumi 1-1-0 vs. 3-4-0 Chang Seob Lee
Welter: Sanae Kikuta 28-6-3 vs. 3-1-0 Yasubey Enomoto
Light-Heavy: Ryo Kawamura 11-5-2 vs. 7-3-2 Hidetada Irie

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1/4 Sengoku no Ran 2009 - Dave Herman facing Choi Mu Bae

Sengoku have announced the match-up between Dave Herman and Korean Choi Mu Bae. Herman is a very experienced fighter, and a veteran of EliteXC. His debut in Japan will come against Korean Greco-Roman wrestler Choi Mu Bae.

Bae is not an opponent to be taken lightly, but "Pee-Wee" Herman should be favorite in this fight. It is also interesting to note that it looks like Sengoku is attracting more of the EliteXC talent.

Added:
Heavy: Dave "Pee-Wee" Herman 13-0-0 vs. 7-3-0 Choi Mu Bae

Previously announced:
Heavy: Antonio Silva 11-1-0 vs. 7-1-0 (2NC) Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao
Light-Heavy: Hidehiko Yoshida 8-6-1 vs. 27-6-3 Sanae Kikuta
Light: Takanori Gomi 29-4-0 vs. 23-8-9 Satoru Kitaoka
Middle: Jorge Santiago 20-7-0 vs. 21-8-2 Kazuo Misaki
Light: Eiji Mitsuoka 14-6-2 vs. 12-6-0 Sergey Golyaev

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1/4 Sengoku - Mitsuoka vs. Golyaev Announced

Golyaev beat Sengoku star Gomi in the last Sengoku event. It was a contorversial decision, made even more so when you see it in the perspective that Gomi now has a title fight against Kitaoka. But Golyaev gets a fight on the Sengoku January 4 card as well, he will face Japanese star Eiji Mitsuoka.

It should be a very good fight! Mitsuoka lost in the Sengoku GP to Kitaoka, but beat Rodrigo Damm to reach the semi-final in that GP. Maybe the winner of this fight will be the first title defense for the new champion? We will see, this is shaping up to be a very good event!

Also made official were the plans of holding a featherweight tournament next year. Plans are for a 16 tournament with 1st round in March, second round will be in May and finals in July.


Added:
Eiji Mitsuoka 14-6-2 vs. 12-6-0 Sergey Golyaev

Previously announced:
Antonio Silva 11-1-0 vs. 7-1-0 (2NC) Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao
Hidehiko Yoshida 8-6-1 vs. 27-6-3 Sanae Kikuta
Takanori Gomi 29-4-0 vs. 23-8-9 Satoru Kitaoka
Jorge Santiago 20-7-0 vs. 21-8-2 Kazuo Misaki

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1/4 Sengoku - Antonio Silva Debuting!

Sengoku have announced one more fight for their NYE (on January 4) card. The addition of Antonio Silva strengthes their heavy weight division and it is a very good addition for them.

The EliteXC champion is taking on Pride veteran Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao. Nakao's claim to fame is really kissing Heath Herring 3 years ago. Herring preceeded to KO Nakao before the fight had started. Nakao is giving up about 40kg in this fight.

The question now is, how long before we see even more EliteXC fighters coming to Japan? I have a feeling Sengoku is signing up a lot of these fighters lately.

Added:
Antonio Silva 11-1-0 vs. 7-1-0 (2NC) Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao

Previously announced:
Hidehiko Yoshida 8-6-1 vs. 27-6-3 Sanae Kikuta
Takanori Gomi 29-4-0 vs. 23-8-9 Satoru Kitaoka
Jorge Santiago 20-7-0 vs. 21-8-2 Kazuo Misaki

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1/4 Sengoku - Yoshida's Opponent Announced

Sengoku have announced that Hidehiko Yoshida will take on Grabaka fighter Sanae Kikuta. More surprisingly, this will be at Light-heavy weight.

It should be an interesting fight, and a good addition to this "New Years" card. In addition, as we know, Gomi will take on tournament winner Kitaoka. Misaki will take on Santiago.

Added:
Hidehiko Yoshida 8-6-1 vs. 27-6-3 Sanae Kikuta

Previously announced:
Takanori Gomi 29-4-0 vs. 23-8-9 Satoru Kitaoka
Jorge Santiago 20-7-0 vs. 21-8-2 Kazuo Misaki

Participating:
King Mo 2-0-0

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6/8 Sengoku III - Fight Order Announced

Sengoku have announced that the main event for tomorrows big show is Yoshida vs. Smith. It also looks like they were unable to find an opponent for Duane Ludwig... Nothing official on that yet, but he is not on the card presented at SportsNavi and I therefore doubt that he will participate... It is the day before the event, so they should have announced it by now.

Be aware that GBR has a different fight order than this, but they are only mentioning the main event, so in this case I trust that SportsNavi has gotten it correct.

We will have to wait and see if Ludwig appears, but I doubt it at this stage... So that means "only" 8 fights.
***Update*** Duane Ludwig's opponent (who was never named) seems to have suffered an injury and the fight is therefore cancelled.

Again, I will be doing the Play-By-Play for this event.

8. Hidehiko Yoshida 7-6-1 vs. 12-12-0 Maurice Smith
7. Kazuyuki Fujita 15-6-0 vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff
6. Kazuo Misaki 19-8-2 vs. 11-1-0 Logan Clark
5. Nick Thompson 35-9-1 vs. 9-3-0 Michael Costa
4. Sanae Kikuta 26-6-3 vs. 12-5-0 Chris Rice
3. Choi Mu Bae 7-2-0 vs. 3-2-0 Marcio Cruz
2. Rodrigo Damm 7-1-0 vs. 13-2-0 Jorge Masvidal
1. Fabio Silva 9-4-0 vs. 28-22-3 Kazuo Takahashi

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6/8 Sengoku 3 - Can they compete??

Zach Arnold at FightOpinion has called the 3rd Sengoku event "the Mystery Sengoku Event", pointing to the fact that there has been very little publicity surrounding this event. I have to agree with him... Maybe its just too close to Sengoku 2? After Sengoku 1 everyone was singing WVR's praises, but the momentum seems to have shifted towards DREAM.

This weekend Sengoku will hold their first event on a really big stage, filling the Saitama Super Arena is not easy. It will be intersting to see if they are able to compete with the attendences DREAM has put up.

For the record, here are the attendences for the first 3 DREAM events (all were held in Saitama Super Arena):
DREAM 1 - 19,120
DREAM 2 - 21,397
DREAM 3 - 21,789

The card for this Sunday looks interesting and does have some big Japanese stars, but does it draw the crowd the same way the DREAM cards have? We will see on Sunday.

I will be doing a live Play-by-Play from this event.

The card:
Hidehiko Yoshida 7-6-1 vs. 12-12-0 Maurice Smith
Kazuo Misaki 19-8-2 vs. 11-1-0 Logan Clark
Kazuyuki Fujita 15-6-0 vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff
Choi Mu Bae 7-2-0 vs. 3-2-0 Marcio Cruz
Nick Thompson 35-9-1 vs. 9-3-0 Michael Costa
Fabio Silva 9-4-0 vs. 28-22-3 Kazuo Takahashi
Sanae Kikuta 26-6-3 vs. 12-5-0 Chris Rice
Rodrigo Damm 7-1-0 vs. 13-2-0 Jorge Masvidal

Participating:
Duane Ludwig 16-8-0

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6/8 Sengoku III - More Fights Announced

Sengoku have announced 2 more fights for the event next week. This is a very special event for Sengoku, as it will be their first attempt at filling Saitama Superarena.

Today they have announced the opponent for Rodrigo Damm and also Sanae Kikuta will participate in this event. Their opponents will be Jorge Masvidal and Chris Rice, both very good fighters and these fights will be interesting. It also looks like Sengoku will go above the 8 fight barrier that both DREAM and Sengoku have been struggling with (I really think these events should have close to 10 fights, like DREAM 1 had)...

Fights announced:
Rodrigo Damm 7-1-0 vs. 13-2-0 Jorge Masvidal
Sanae Kikuta 26-6-3 vs. 12-5-0 Chris Rice

Previously announced:
Hidehiko Yoshida 7-6-1 vs. 12-12-0 Maurice Smith
Kazuo Misaki 19-8-2 vs. 11-1-0 Logan Clark
Fabio Silva 9-4-0 vs. Kazuo Takahashi
Choi Mu Bae 7-2-0 vs. 3-2-0 Marcio Cruz
Kazuyuki Fujita 15-6-0 vs. 53-11-0 Travis Wiuff
Nick Thompson 35-9-1 vs. 9-3-0 Michael Costa

Participating:
Duane Ludwig 16-8-0

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