Video of the Day - Hioki v. Pearson

Here is Hatsu Hioki fighting Joe Pearson in Shooto: Gig Central 7 which took place on 3/27/05.

Hioki next fights at UFC on Fox 6 against Clay Guida.

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.

Video of the Day - Hioki v. Sato

Here is Sengoku FW tourney semi-finalist Hatsu Hioki versus grappling legend Rumina Sato. The fight took place in Shooto on 11/29/08.

Hioki makes his UFC debut against George Roop at UFC 137.

Video of the Day - Herman v. York

Here is Dave "Pee Wee" Herman against Jim York in a crazy bout in Sengoku 11th Battle from 11/7/09. One of the craziest endings I've ever seen.

Herman next makes his UFC debut at UFC 131 on the main card against Jon Olav Einemo.

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

Video of the Day - Chonan v. Okuno

Here is UFC veteran Ryo Chonan fighting Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku - Soul of the Fight which took place 12/30/10 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Fight starts at the 1:27 mark.

Video of the Day - Gono v. Sakurai

Here is Akhiro Gono fighting Hayato Sakurai at K-1 Dynamite which took place on 12/31/09. Gono recently defeated Diego Gonzalez via unanimous decesion at Sengoku - Raiden Championships this past weekend to get his third straight victory.

Video of the Day - Khalidov v. Reinders

Here is Mamed Khalidov fighting Andre Reinders in MMA Sport 3 which took place on 10/15/05 in Warsaw, Poland. Khalidov is fighting Jorge Santiago for the 185 pound title in Sengoku on March 7th.

Video of the Day - Lawal v. Wiuff

Here is Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal v. Travis Wiuff from Sengoku 5th Battle which took place on 9/28/08.

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.

Sengoku 6 Results

I'm still trying to locate all the fights from World Victory Road's Sengoku 6. In a shocking upset, Takanori Gomi lost a somewhat controversial split decision to Sergey Golyaev. Jorge Santiago added a second tournment title as he becomes one of the hottest 185 pound fighters outside the UFC. Satoru Kitaoka won the lightweight tournament title.

Jorge Santiago def Kazuhiro Nakamura via TKO- R3, 0:49
Satoru Kitaoka def Kazunori Yokota via unanimous decision
Sergey Golyaev def Takanori Gomi via split decision
Muhammed Lawal def Fabio Silva via TKO- R3, 0:41
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def Moise Rimbon via unanimous decision
Jorge Masvidal def Seung Hwan Bang via unanimous decision
Joe Doerksen def Izuru Takeuchi via TKO- R3, 4:13
Satoru Kitaoka def Eiji Mitsuoka via sub (heel hook)- R1, 1:16
Kazunori Yokota def Mizuto Hirota via unanimous decision
Kazuhiro Nakamura def Yuki Sasaki via unanimous decision
Jorge Santiago def Siyar Bahadurzada via sub (heel hook)- R1, 1:10

*Pic of MW Champ Jorge Santiago

Kitaoka vs. Mitsuoka

Santiago v. Bahadurzada

Sengoku! Number 6

The Japanese promotion Sengoku is having their 6th event this Saturday. I believe the fights will be shown on HDNet at some point. There are two grand prix's wrapping up for the MW and LW divisions. Josh Barnett still doesn't have an opponent named. One big time up and comer who is fighting is Mo Lawal. He is a D2 wrestling champ, I included his last fight with Travis Wiuff below the card. Mo's entrance for the last Sengoku was pretty awesome, below the fight.

Josh Barnett vs. TBA
Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal vs. Fabio Silva
Sergey Golyaev vs. Takanori Gomi
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Jorge Santiago- MW GP bout
Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Yuki Sasaki- MW GP bout
Joe Doerksen vs. Izuru Takeuchi- MW reserve bout
Mizuto Hirota vs. Kazunori Yokota- LW GP bout
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka- LW GP bout
Bang Seung Hwan vs. Jorge Masvidal- LW reserve bout
Lightweight GP final
Middleweight GP final