Sengoku 6 Results and Thoughts

Quick Results:

Jorge Santiago def. Kazuhiro Nakamura via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 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 (strikes) — Round 3, 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 (punches) — Round 3, 4:13

Satoru Kitaoka def. Eiji Mitsuoka via submission (heel hook) — Round 1, 1:16

Kazunori Yokota def. Mizuto Hirota via unanimous decision+

Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Yuki Sasaki via unanimous decision^

Jorge Santiago def. Siyar Bahadurzada via submission (heel hook) — Round 1, 1:10

• The big winners of the night: Jorge Santiago and Satoru Kitaoka.  They were the grand prix winners
• The big news may be that Gomi lost a split decision to the Russian, Golyaev. 
• Kitaoka commented on fighting Gomi or Golyaev:

I have no need to fight that Russian fighter. If it was me in there tonight, I would have crushed that Russian in seconds. I had a tougher time than Gomi — my two fights tonight and my training for them — so that’s why I said what I said [when I challenged Gomi in the ring]. Anyone have a problem with that?  I do believe that this weight class is comfortable for me. I don’t typically like to show just how hard I train, but from August to October, I had the hardest training of my life. Mitsuoka was tough he was able to sprawl on my takedown initially, and I felt that it gave him confidence, but I was able to feel out the rest of his abilities and end the fight. If I were to fight him 10 times, I would probably win two or three times, because I think he’s that strong. Still, those two or three times would be impressive showings for me.

• WVR says they still plan to match up Takanori Gomi and Satoru Kitaoka on January 4th for the lightweight title
• Also, Kazuo Misaki will take on Jorge Santiago for the middleweight title on January 4th. Santiago said:

I’ve been waiting for Misaki a long time. I fought here against [Yuki]Sasaki the first time and made my way up. I fought twice today and thought I was gonna have a belt, but I didn’t get it — I have to fight again. How long do I have to fight to get the belt? I beat everybody. Come on. Where’s Misaki

• Muhammed Lawal continued to impress with his win over Fabio Silva
• Takanori Gomi ought to be out of any discussion about being  a top 3 lightweight in the world.  Overrated!

Sengoku 6 Preview and Predictions

Sengoku 6 will be held November 1st and will feature the conclusions of the middleweight and lightweight grand prixs as well as several additional fights…

Non-Tournament Bouts:

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Rimbon Moisa

I am a big Nogueira fan (both Nogueiras).  The littler of the Nogueiras is a star in Japan.  He is also widely consdiered one of the best non-UFC light heavyweight fighters.  I would love to see him against consistently tougher competition.  The only place he will find that at 205 lbs is in the UFC.  I do not look for this to be much of a fight as Nogueira is a world class fighter and grappler.  Nogueira has solid wins in his career over guys like Sakuraba, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Alistair Overeem, Guy Mezger, and Dan Henderson.  Most recently, he is coming off of a win at Affliction’s first card over Edwin DeWees.  I predict that Nogueira will land a few hard blows to Moisa and then take him down and win by rear naked choke in round 1. 

Takanori Gomi vs. Sergey Golyaev

Takanori Gomi has for a long time been considered the best or at least a top 3 lightweight in the world.  However, he has been inactive lately and certainly has not fought tough competition.  Golyaev is not a bad fighter, but he is not in Gomi’s league skill wise.  He has not beaten many top level guys, in fact, he has lsot to the elite guys he has fought such as Joachim Hansen, Rich Clementi and Kurt Pellegrino.  Gomi on the other hand has been in there and won with some of the best in the world.  Gomi dominated in PRIDE boasting wins over guys like Marcus Aurelio, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Hayato Sakurai, Jens Pulver and Tatsuya Kawajiri.  I do not see Gomi losing this fight.  Gomi is rumored to be facing the winner of the lightweight grand prix for the Sengoku lightweight title.  I honestly cannot see Gomi losing to any of the lightweight in this tournament either.  Gomi beat Seung Hwan Bang in his last outing, but looked really unimpressive.  Therefore, I pick Gomi to win by unanimous decision, even though the KO or TKO is likely. 

Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal vs. Fabio Silva

Might Mo looked very, very impressive in his MMA debut against a very tough fighter in Travis Wiuff.  Lawal is a solid wrestler who looks to have great ground and pound skills.  He should have no problem in this fight.  He is a star in the making, especially in Japan.  I think that Lawal will be impressive again and will win this fight by way of TKO in round 1.

Lightweight Semi-Finals

Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka

Mitsuoka is coming off of a win over highly touted Rodrigo Damm.  He also has an impressive resume with wins over guys like Joachim Hansen, Samy Schiavo, and Gleison Tibau.  His opponent Satoru Kitaoka has an impressive win list also, boasting wins over guys like Cage Rage Welterweight Champ Paul Daley, WEC welterweight champ Carlos Condit, and UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino.  This is a tough fight to pick.  I am very tempted to pick Kitaoka because of the wins he has over Condit and Daley, but I am going to pick Mitsuoka by unaimous decision.

 Mizuto Hirota vs. Kazunori Yokota

Hirota has a big win over Ryan Schultz in his first fight in the tournament.  I expect Hirota to make it to the finals, but I expect him to win by a decision.

Seung Hwan Bang vs. Jorge Masvidal (Lightweight Reserve Bout)

Bang lost his last fight to Takanori Gomi.  Masvidal beat Ryan Schultz.  I think in the end Masvidal is too good and will win this one by TKO in round 1.  Keep an eye on Masvidal he could be a replacement and win the tournament though I won’t pick that. 

Lightweight Finals:

Hirota/Yokota vs. Mitsuoka/Kitaoka

If my picks are correct the finals will be Mitsuoka vs. Hirota.  I would pick Mitsuoka to win that fight by decision.

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals:

Yuki Sasaki vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

Sasaki is a verteran of MMA who has fought nearly everywehre including the UFC.  However, I think Sasaki is the underdog in this fight.  Nakamura who is a top 25 light heavyweight who has amde a smart drop down to 185.  Following a unsuccessful stint in the UFC Nakamura will try his hand at Sasaki.  I pick Nakamura to win this fight by decision. 

Jorge Santiago vs. Siyar Bahadurzada

Santiago is the clear favorite to win this tournament because he is clearly the most talented of the guys in the competition.  He has a solid resume with good wins over good fighters.  He also is a UFC veteran who struggled inside the octagon, but has won his last 5 fights (Logan Clark, Yuki Sasaki, Sean Salmon, Trevor Prangley, and Jeremy Horn).  We have yet to really see what Siyar the Afghan Killer can do.  By the way, his nickname, “The Afghan Killer”, I have to wonder about the meaning of it.  I know he is from Afghanistan, but does the “Afghan Killer” mean that he is a killer of Afghans or that he is an Afghan who is a killer.  That is my deep thought of the day.  Nevertheless, I pick Santiago to win this fight by a submission in round 1.

Joe Doerksen vs. Izuru Takeuchi (Middleweight Reserve Bout)

I know that Takeuchi will have home ring advantage, but in the end Doerksen will prove to be too good, especially on the ground.  I pick Doerksen to win by first round submission. 

Middleweight Finals:

Sasaki/Nakamura vs. Santiago/Bahaduzada

My prediction is that Nakamura and Santiago will square off in the finals.  If both come into the fight injury free then I think Santiago will have an advantage stepping in.  I would say he will have better cardio and that he will win his fight before it gets to a decision.  Therefore I think that the final will consist of Santiago trying to take down the judoka and then submitting him.  Santiago will win the middlweight grand prix and in doing so will earn a shot at Kazuo Misaki for the middleweight title. 

MMABlog’s Middleweight MMA Rankings

The middleweights were hard to rank down towards the last 10.  Sorry if I left some good guys out.

Rank	Name	Organization	Next Fight
1	Anderson Silva	UFC	Cote (#12), 9/25
2	Paulo Filho	UFC	Sonnen (#16) 11/3
3	Rich Franklin	UFC	Next Fight at LHW
4	Dan Henderson	UFC	Next Fight at LHW
5	Robbie Lawler	EliteXC?
6	Kazuo Misaki	Strikeforce	1/4
7	Nate Marquardt	UFC
8	Matt Lindland	Affliction	Sobral (LHW) ) 1/24
9	Yushin Okami	UFC	Lister (NR), 12/27
10	Gegard Mousasi	DREAM	Belfort (#25,) 1/24
11	Thales Leites	UFC	McFedries (NR), 9/25
12	Patrick Cote	UFC	A. Silva (#1), 9/25
13	Michael Bisping	UFC
14	Yoshihiro Akiyama
15	Ronaldo “Jacare” de Sousa	DREAM
16	Chael Sonnen	UFC	Filho (#2) 11/3
17	Demian Maia	UFC	Quarry (#18), 11/15
18	Nate Quarry	UFC	Maia (#17), 11/15
19	Joey Villasenor	EliteXC?
20	Cung Le	Strikeforce
21	Jorge Santiago
22	Chris Leben	UFC
23	Jason Macdonald	UFC
24	Martin Kampman	UFC
25	Vitor Belfort	Affliction	Mousasi (#10) 1/24

 

Others Considered: Ricardo Almeida, Rousimar Palhares, Dean Lister, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Frank Trigg

Sengoku 5 Results

Non Tournament Bouts:

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal def. Travis Wiuff via TKO (strikes) – Round 1

Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro def. Takashi Sugiura via TKO (strikes) – Round 3

Jorge Masvidal def. Ryan Schultz via TKO (strikes) – Round 1

Kiuma Kunioku def. A Sol Kwon via unanimous decision

Middleweight Tournament Results:

Siyar Bahadurzada def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos via TKO (elbow injury) – Round 1 – 22 Seconds!

Jorge Santiago def. Logan Clark via arm triangle submission in Round 2

Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Paul Cahoon via unanimous decision

Yuki Sasaki def. Yuki Kondo via rear naked choke submission  in round 2