Video of the Day - Sandro v. Denis

Here is Marlon Sandro fighting Nick Denis in the Sengoku 8 - in a featherweight Dream Grand Prix bout which took place on 5/2/09 in Tokyo, Japan.

Sandro next will fight Daniel Strauss for the Bellator Season 6 featherweight tournament championship against Daniel Strauss.  Denis, now fighting for the UFC, won his UFC debut against Joe Sandoval before falling to Roland Delorme at UFC on Fox 3.

Fight starts at the 6 minute mark.

Bellator 68 takes place tonight, May 11th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  As well as the featherweight final, there is also a bantamweight semi-final pitting Marcos Galvao against Travis Marx.

Bellator Season 6 Status

Bellator Season 6 kicked off on March 9th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The star studded show featured Pat Curran taking the featherweight title from Joe Warren with an epic KO victory.

Tournaments are being held in the 185, 170, 155, 145 and 135 pound men's divisions this season. Each division will also hold title fights for previous tournament winners, except in the 155 pound division, which saw Michael Chandler defeat Eddie Alvarez in an epic battle at Bellator 58.

Middleweight (185)

The middleweight division will find defending champion Hector Lombard (31-2-1) fighting season five champ Alexander Shlemenko (44-7) in a rematch of their Bellator 34 match-up. Lombard, a judo blackbelt, and powerful striker, is on a 24 fight win streak. Shlemenko is a dynamic kickboxer who won the Bellator season 2 and 5 tournaments.

(Pic from Lombard v. Shlemenko I)

Season 6 MW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 61 on March 16:

Brian Rogers (8-3) v Vitor Vianna (12-2-1)
Giva Santana (17-1) v Bruno Santos (12-0)
Victor O'Donnell (11-3) v Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (15-1)
Maiquel Falcão (28-4 1NC) v Norman Paraisy (10-1-1)

Welterweight (170)

The welterweight division will see champion Ben Askren (9-0) fighting season 5 tournament champ Douglas Lima (20-4) at Bellator 64. Askren, an NCAA champion and Olympic level wrestler, narrowly defeated Jay Hieron at Bellator 56 to defend his title which he captured with a win over Lyman Good. Lima won season 5's tournament with a decision over Steve Karl before brutally KO'ing Chris Lozano and UFC veteran Ben Saunders.

(Askren v. Ryan Thomas)

Season 6 WW Final Four:

Karl Amoussou (14-4-2)- Defeats Chris Lozano via RNC.
Ben Saunders (13-4-2)- Defeats Raul Amaya via unanimous decision.
David Rickels (9-0)- Brutally KO's Jordan Smith to advance.
Bryan Baker (17-3)- Defeats Carlos Pereira via decision.

Lightweight (155)

Michael Chandler (9-0), defeated Eddie Alvarez via fourth round rear naked choke at Bellator 58, will likely get a non-title fight during the Season 6. Chandler won the Season 4 lightweight tournament, defeating Marcin Held, Lloyd Woodard and Patricky Freire. Chandler was an All-American at Missouri before making his transition to MMA.

(Michael Chandler v. Eddie Alvarez pictured)

Season 6 LW Quarter-Finals Final Four:

Lloyd Woodard (11-1)- defeats Patricky Friere via kimura.
Rick Hawn (12-1)- defeats Ricardo Tirloni via KO.
Brent Weedman (18-7-1)- defeats JJ Ambrose via submission.
Thiago Michel (9-2)- defeats Rene Nazere via split decision.

Featherweight (145)

The featherweight division will see two title fights this season barring injury due to Joe Warren (7-2) attempting a run at the Season 5 bantamweight tournament. Warren, the season 2 champion, will fight Pat Curran (16-4) at Bellator 60. Curran won the summer series 145 pound championship, where he defeated Marlon Sandro, Ronnie Mann and Luis Palomino.

(Joe Warren v. Pat Curran Bellator promo pic)

Pat Curran (17-4) will next fight Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire (17-1), who won the season 4 featherweight championship. Friere, a BJJ blackbelt and powerful Muay Thai striker, won season 4 by defeating Georgi Karakhanyan, Wilson Reis and Daniel Straus.

The first round of the featherweight tournament saw Marlon Sandro defeat Roberto Vargas via first round rear naked choke in a dominant performance standing. Alexandre Bezerra took a cautious approach at first before catching Kenny Foster in a second round rear naked choke as time was running out.

Mike Corey imposed his will on the favorite, Ronnie Mann, scoring takedowns and ground and pound to win via unanimous decision. Daniel Strauss used a similar gameplan, utilizing a quick power double to win via unanimous decision.

The Season 6 FW Final Four match-ups have been announced:

Marlon Sandro (21-3) v Alexandre Bezerra (13-1)
Mike Corey (12-2) v. Daniel Straus (18-4)

Bantamweight (135)

Season 3 champion Zach Makovsky (14-2) will fight Season 5 champion Eduardo Dantas (13-2) for the bantamweight title. Makovsky has fought in two non-title fights since his season 3 championship, defeating Chad Robichaux via TKO and Ryan Roberts via submission. Dantas captured the season 5 title by defeating Wilson Reis, Ed West and Alexis Vila.

(Makovsky v. Robichaux pictured)

Quarter-Finals Participants, likely to begin at BFC 64:

Marcos Galvao (10-5-1)
Hiroshi Nakamura (14-5-4)
Masakatsu Ueda (14-1-2)
Alexis Vila (11-1)
Luis Nogueira (12-2)
Rodrigo Lima (9-0)
Ed West (17-6)
Travis Marx (18-3)

Bellator Season 6 Preview

Bellator Season 6 will kick off on March 9th at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The star studded show will feature a featherweight title fight between Pat Curran and Joe Warren, with the featherweight tournament kicking off.

Tournaments will be held in the 185, 170, 155, 145 and 135 pound men's divisions this season. Each division will also hold title fights for previous tournament winners, except in the 155 pound division, which saw Michael Chandler defeat Eddie Alvarez in an epic battle at Bellator 58.

The rematch of the season 5 HW title fight between Eric Prindle (7-1) and Thiago Santos (10-1) will happen at BFC 61. At BFC 59, Santos kicked Prindle in the groin at 1:24 of the first round, and Prindle was unable to continue. The fight was ruled a no contest. The winner will fight season 3 champ Cole Konrad.

Middleweight (185)

The middleweight division will find defending champion Hector Lombard (31-2-1) fighting season five champ Alexander Shlemenko (44-7) in a rematch of their Bellator 34 match-up. Lombard, a judo blackbelt, and powerful striker, is on a 24 fight win streak. Shlemenko is a dynamic kickboxer who won the Bellator season 2 and 5 tournaments.

(Pic from Lombard v. Shlemenko I)

Season 6 MW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 61 on March 16:

Brian Rogers (8-3) v Vitor Vianna (12-2-1)
Giva Santana (17-1) v Bruno Santos (12-0)
Victor O'Donnell (11-3) v Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (15-1)
Maiquel Falcão (28-4 1NC) v Norman Paraisy (10-1-1)

Welterweight (170)

The welterweight division will see champion Ben Askren (9-0) fighting season 5 tournament champ Douglas Lima (20-4) at Bellator 64. Askren, an NCAA champion and Olympic level wrestler, narrowly defeated Jay Hieron at Bellator 56 to defend his title which he captured with a win over Lyman Good. Lima won season 5's tournament with a decision over Steve Karl before brutally KO'ing Chris Lozano and UFC veteran Ben Saunders.

(Askren v. Ryan Thomas)

Season 6 WW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 63 on March 30th:

Karl Amoussou (13-4-2) v Chris Lozano (9-2)
Raul Amaya (9-0) v Ben Saunders (12-4-2)
Brian Foster (18-5) v David Rickels (8-0)
Bryan Baker (16-3) v Carlos Alexandre Pereira (33-9-1)

Lightweight (155)

Michael Chandler (9-0), defeated Eddie Alvarez via fourth round rear naked choke at Bellator 58, will likely get a non-title fight during the Season 6. Chandler won the Season 4 lightweight tournament, defeating Marcin Held, Lloyd Woodard and Patricky Freire. Chandler was an All-American at Missouri before making his transition to MMA.

(Michael Chandler v. Eddie Alvarez pictured)

Season 6 LW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 62 on March 23rd:

Patricky Freire (10-2) v Lloyd Woodard (11-1)
Rick Hawn (11-1) v Ricardo Tirloni (14-1)
J.J. Ambrose (17-3) v Brent Weedman (18-7-1)
Rene Nazare (10-1) v Thiago Michel (9-2)

Featherweight (145)

The featherweight division will see two title fights this season barring injury due to Joe Warren (7-2) attempting a run at the Season 5 bantamweight tournament. Warren, the season 2 champion, will fight Pat Curran (16-4) at Bellator 60. Curran won the summer series 145 pound championship, where he defeated Marlon Sandro, Ronnie Mann and Luis Palomino.

(Joe Warren v. Pat Curran Bellator promo pic)

The winner of the Joe Warren (7-2) and Pat Curran (16-4) will then fight Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire (17-1), who won the season 4 featherweight championship. Friere, a BJJ blackbelt and powerful Muay Thai striker, won season 4 by defeating Georgi Karakhanyan, Wilson Reis and Daniel Straus.

The Season 6 FW Quarter-Finals begin at BFC 60 on March 9th:

Marlon Sandro (20-3) v Roberto Vargas (12-1)
Alexandre Bezerra (12-1) v Genair da Silva (11-4)
Wagnney Fabiano (14-3) v Ronnie Mann (20-4-1)
Jeremy Spoon (12-0) v Daniel Straus (17-4)

Bantamweight (135)

Season 3 champion Zach Makovsky (14-2) will fight Season 5 champion Eduardo Dantas (13-2) for the bantamweight title. Makovsky has fought in two non-title fights since his season 3 championship, defeating Chad Robichaux via TKO and Ryan Roberts via submission. Dantas captured the season 5 title by defeating Wilson Reis, Ed West and Alexis Vila.

(Makovsky v. Robichaux pictured)

Quarter-Finals Participants, likely to begin at BFC 64:

Marcos Galvao (10-5-1)
Hiroshi Nakamura (14-5-4)
Masakatsu Ueda (14-1-2)
Alexis Vila (11-1)
Luis Nogueira (12-2)
Rodrigo Lima (9-0)
Ed West (17-6)
Travis Marx (18-3)

Video of the Day - Sandro v. Denis

Here is Marlon Sandro fighting Nick Denis in the Sengoku 8 - in a featherweight Grand Prix bout.

Sandro fights Pat Curran in the finals of the Bellator Featherweight tournament this Saturday at Bellator. Sandro advanced to the finals by defeating Nazareno Malegarie and Genair da Silva via decision.

*Fight starts at 4:45.

Video of the Day - Sandro v. Oliveira

Here is Marlon Sandro fighting Orley de Oliveira in Shooto - Brazil 7, which took place on 3/19/05.

Sandro (18-2) has fought several high profile fights in the Pancrase and Sengoku promotions in Japan, most notably defeating Masanori Kanehara, Nick Denis and Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata. Sandro is known for his heavy hands and quick pace.

Sandro fights in his semi-final match this Saturday in Bellator 47 against Nazareno Malegarie.

Bellator 47 will take place this Saturday at the Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada. The main card will be broadcast on MTV2, featuring the featherweight semi-finals.

MAIN CARD

Nazareno Malegarie v. Marlon Sandro - FW Semi's
Pat Curran v. Ronnie Mann - FW Semi's
Neil Grove v. Zak Jensen
Chris Horodecki v. Chris Saunders

PRELIMINARY CARD

Daniel Langbeen v. Will Romero
Bryan Goldsby v. Bo Harris
Daron Cruickshank v. Sergej Juskevic
Syd Barnier v. Denis Puric

Sengoku's Soul of Fight Preview

World Victory Road will pull out all the stops to present their stacked "Sengoku: Soul of Fight" year end show on Dec 30, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan at the Ariake Coliseum. In addition to MMA, there will be various kickboxing and muay thai bouts on the card.

Michael Schiavello will call the HDNet card that sees a main event of Marlon Sandro (17-1, #7 ranked FW) against Hatsu Hioki (22-4, #8 ranked FW) for the 145 pound title. Sandro, a BJJ blackbelt, has three straight KO wins in Sengoku, his last over Masanori Kanehara for the title.

(Marlon Sandro KO over Kanehara)

Hatsu Hioki, a grappling wiz in his own right, has eleven submission wins in his MMA career. Hioki, the taller fighter, will need to work his kicks standing befor trying for a takedown where he can utilize his dominant top game.

(Hatsu Hioki utilizing his top game)

In addition, the welterweight grand prix finale will take place between the last four competitors in Taiyo Nakahara vs. Akitoshi Tamura and Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu. Exciting fighter Maximo Blanco (7-2) will look for his sixth straight TKO/KO win in a row against Won Sik Park (9-2).

Other notables include 2006 Pride Welterweight GP champ Kazuo Misaki, Women's MMA legend Megumi Fujii, UFC vets Ryo Chonan, Yuki Sasaki and Keita Nakamura, Strikeforce vets Hitomi Akano and Roxanne Modafferi, and exciting Sengoku veterans Masanori Kanehara, Dave Herman and Mamed Khalidov.

MMA fights:

Champ Marlon Sandro v. Hatsu Hioki
Kazuo Misaki v. Mike Seal
Megumi Fujii v. Emi Fujino
Masanori Kanehara v. Yoshiro Maeda
Ryo Chonan v. Taisuke Okuno
Maximo Blanco v. Won Sik Park
Yasubey Enomoto v. Keita Nakamura
Jadamba Narantungalag v. Kazunori Yokota
Mamed Khalidov v. Yuki Sasaki
Dave "Pee Wee" Herman v. Yoshihiro Nakao
Taiyo Nakahara v. Akitoshi Tamura
Manabu Inoue v. Shunichi Shimizu
Hitomi Akano v. Roxanne Modafferi
Mika "Hari" Harigai v. Rin Nakai
Amy Davis v. Misaki Takimoto

Sengoku 9th Battle - Featherweight Final

World Victory Road's Sengoku 9th Battle will take place August 1st in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and air on HDNet. The action will feature the finale of the 16 man Featherweight Tournament. The tournament has been excellent so far, featuring a blend of knockouts, submissions and close decisions.

The best competitor so far has been Hatsu Hioki, showing supreme grappling skill first defeating Chris Manuel with a triangle armbar, then Ronnie Mann with a slick triangle. Equally impressive has been the undefeated Brazilian Marlon Sandro. Sandro defeated Matt Jaggers in the first round with a standing arm triangle, then knocked out the previously undefeated Nick Denis in 19 seconds.

Michihiro Omigawa has pulled off two upsets, defeating American LC Davis via decision, then getting a TKO over Nam Phan. Kanehara has won two decisions over Koreans Chan Sung Jung and Jong Man Kim. Another notable bout on the card is a lightweight title fight between Satoru Kitaoka vs. Mizuto Hirota.

(L to R- Omigawa, Kanehara, Sandro, Hioki)

FW Tournament Finale

Michihiro Omigawa vs. Marlon Sandro*
Hatsu Hioki vs. Masanoru Kanehara*
*Winners fight for the FW Title

Other Bouts

LW Champ Satoru Kitaoka vs. Mizuto Hirota
Kazuo Misaki vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov
Dan Hornbuckle vs. Akihiro Gono
Clay French vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Choi Mu Bae vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Koji Ando vs. Ikuo Usuda
Toru Harai vs. Shigeki Osawa
Ryosuke Komori vs. Takeshi Numajiri
Matt Jaggers vs. Chan Sung Jung- FW Alternate Bout

(Marlon Sandro pictured finishing off Nick Denis)

Sengoku 8 Results!!

The 8th Sengoku show did not disappoint, delivering nasty knockouts and a couple slick submissions. The production values were on point in clear high definition.

Hatsu Hioki def Ronnie Mann via sub (triangle choke) R1, 3:09- Hioki stock continues to rise as he won again via first round submission. Istead of utilizing his reach advantage, Hioki brought the fight to the ground. Once the fight went to the ground, Mann was in serious trouble as Hioki attempted an anaconda then ended up in mount. Hioki transitioned to a triangle, then punched Mann in the head with the triangle in place until he eventually tapped.

(Hatsu Hioki pictured)

Michihiro Omigawa def Nam Phan via TKO (punches) R1, 4:52- Omigawa got his second straight upset win in this high paced fight. After Phan attempted a knee bar, Omigawa laid down a beating, getting clean punches and knees to a grouned Phan. After Phan eventually got to his feet Omigawa threw as many punches as possible until the bout was stopped.

Kazunori Yokota def Leonardo Santos via split dec- Santos was not able to utilize his reach advantage in this fight as Yokota was able to close the distance and inflict damage in the clinch. Much of the fight was spent on the ground, where Santos attempted submissions and Yokota escaped. Near the end, a couple head stomps by Yokota may have earned him the split decision.

Alexandre Ribeiro def Keiichiro Yamamiya via KO (punches) R3, 2:20- Ribeiro almost got an armbar as the round closed in the first round. After a second round may gone to Yamamiya, Ribeiro gained some confidence. Ribiero came out in the third firing, and eventually landed a clean right hand, followed up ly by a couple punches to get the KO.

Masanori Kanehara def Chan Sung Jung via unanimous dec- This has probably been the fight of the year so far as the action never stopped. Submissions, striking combinations, and everthing in between was thrown. I think I saw a kitchen sink fly in.

Marlon Sandro def Nick Denis via knockout (punches) R1, 0:19- Sandro wasted little time landing a nasty uppercut to drop Denis in 19 seconds.

Makoto Takimoto def Michael Costa via sub(heel hook) R1, 3:31- Both fighters ended up going for leglocks after Costa failed at a guillotine. Takimoto got to the right lock first and ended the fight.

Stanislav Nedkov def Travis Wiuff via TKO (punches) R3, 0:42- After eating 4 or 5 knees to the ground and being way up on the scorecards, Wiuff ate a punch in the third and got KO'd.

Akihiko Mori def Maximo Blanco via DQ (Ill. Kick) R1, 4:20- Blanco dominated in this fight, but threw a soccer kick to a downed Mori.

Shigeki Osawa def Kota Ishibashi via unanimous dec
Hirotoshi Saite def Yoshitaka Abe via sub(arm bar) R1, 2:52

Sengoku 8th Battle!

World Victory Road's "Sengoku 8th Battle" will take place this Saturday in Tokyo, Japan's National Yoyogi Stadium. The bouts will feature four second round 143 pound contests in the Sengoku featherweight grand prix. Have your DVR's ready, because the entire card will be shown live on HDNet.

Here are the bouts:

FW Grand Prix Bouts
Hatsu Hioki vs. Ronnie Mann
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Nam Phan
Masanoru Kanehara vs. Chan Sung Jung
Marlon Sandro vs. Nick Denis

Non-Tournament Bouts
Leonardo Santos vs. Kazunori Yokota
Maximo Blanco vs. Akihiko Mouri
Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya
Stanislav Nedkov vs. Travis Wiuff
Michael Costa vs. Makoto Takimoto
Kota Ishibashi vs. Shigeki Osawa


(Travis Wiuff (54-12) in Yamma where he was crowned the champ)

Sengoku 7: Excitement

The last installment of Sengoku 7 delivered on many levels with exciting fights from beginning to end. The action in the featherweight tournament was fast and furious, with Nam Phan and Denis showing knockout power to slick Sandro and Hioki submission victories. Kim Mo again put on a show, busting a pearl white robe out of the closet.

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal def Ryo Kawamura via unanimous dec- King Mo domining the action and defending his kingdom. Much like a repeat of the Lesnar v. Herring fight, King Mo got takedows at will dominating Ryo. In the first, Mo landed some slams, and throughout the fight, got Ryo's back throwing knees and punches. While Kawamura was able to last the entire fight, he took quite a bit of punishment, including devastating knees to the hamstrings.

Jim York def James Thompson via KO(punch) R1, 4:33- Both fighters stood and traded punches, but York got to Thompson first. A few punches rocked Thompson, who tried to get a double leg takedown. However, York would not allow a takedown, and near the end of the first round threw a nasty punch which sent Thompson to the canvas.

FW Tournament:

Hatsu Hioki def Chris Manuel via sub (arm bar) R1, 4:12- Hioki showed superior grappling skills as he outworked Manuel, eventually getting a beautifully executed armbar in the first round.

Nam Phan def Hideki Kadowaki via TKO (punch) R1, 3:09- Phan and Kadowaki threw as many punches as you could fit into 3 minutes in this fight. But Phan had the more accurate strikes, throwing a devastating right hand which leveled Kadowaki.

(Nam Phan pictured)

Michihiro Omigawa def LC Davis via unanimous dec- LC Davis looked like he was fighting without energy throughout the fight. Omigawa got takedowns at will and was able to land punches.

Marlon Sandro def Matt Jaggers via sub (standing head and arm choke) R2, 2:57- Sandro was able to take Jaggers down at will in the first, but Jaggers always managed to get up and out of trouble. However in the second, with Bas Rutten and Jaggers corner thinking Sandro was stalling, the two made it to the feet. However, Jaggers left an arm out and Sandro sunk in a deep, nasty head and arm choke. Jaggers was unconscious very quickly.
*MMA Blaster Submission of the Night.

Masanori Kanehara def Jong Man Kim via unanimous dec- Kanehara won the fight with stining low kicks and controlling the action on the ground.

Chan Sung Jung def Shintaro Ishiwatari via sub (rear-naked choke) R1, 4:29- Jung came out throwing wild punches with Ishiwatari looking more conventional. However a looping punch found its mark and knocked Ishiwatri to the ground. From there, Jung pounced on his wobbled foe and finished the fight with a rear naked choke.

Ronnie Mann def Tetsuya Yamada via unanimous dec- This was an entertaining fight that featured kicks, knee bar attempts, takedowns, and sweeps. It was back and forth, and Yamada almost got an upkick KO. But Ronnie Mann pressed the action more and was closer to finishing the fight. Mann took the decision.
*MMA Blaster Fight of the Night.

Nick Denis def Seiya Kawahara via TKO (strikes) R1, 2:36- Denis may have entered the fight an underdog, but with emotion on his side he brought some serious thunder. He connected on a head kick early, then punches, another kick, and followed Kawahara to the ground throwing hammerfists until Kawahara's corner threw in the towel.
*MMA Blaster KO of the Night.