Former UFC heavyweight champion and PRIDE superstar Josh “The Babyface Assassin” Barnett (22-5) defeated fellow UFC veteran Jeff “The Snowman” Monson (24-8) via unanimous decision earlier this morning at Sengoku II: Second Battle at Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.
In an event filled with slick first-round submissions, Barnett needed a decision to overcome the wily Monson. Barnett however was dominant in his performance, controlling Monson on the ground and using his size to stifle his much smaller opponent.
In the night’s only other decision, former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin “The Monster” Randleman (17-12) returned to the win column with a controversial decision over Pancrase veteran Ryo Kawamura (8-3-2).
Randleman hadn’t competed since October of 2006 when he was submitted by Shogun Rua at PRIDE 32. The former NCAA national champion was in trouble with the law in August of 2007 and even more trouble with a gruesome staph infection last October.
It’s great to see him back and hopefully his win over Kawamura is a sign of things to come.
Also on the card, former UFC middleweight Jorge Santiago (17-7) continued his hot streak by submitting Grabaka’s Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1). Santiago was just 1-2 in the UFC, having been knocked out by Chris Leben at Fight Night 6 and Alan Belcher at Fight Night 7.
Since then he’s an impressive 5-0, dominating the competition with a variety of submissions and knockouts.
Three-time King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo (48-22-6) was submitted by grappling deity Roger Gracie (2-0). Kondo had the thankless role of late fill-in for Gracie, who was flying solo until May 5th, when Kondo was finally announced.
Here are the Sengoku II: Second Battle complete results:
-Satoru Kitaoka defeats Ian James Schaffa via submission (Guillotine Choke - R1)
-Mike Pyle defeats Dan Hornbuckle via submission (Triangle Choke - R1)
-Eiji Mitsuoka defeats Kwang Hee Lee submission (Rear Naked Choke - R1)
-Jorge Santiago defeats Yuki Sasaki via submission (Armbar - R3)
-Kiss Nakao defeats Jim York via KO (R2)
-Kevin Randleman defeats Ryo Kawamura via unanimous decision
-Roger Gracie defeats Yuki Kondo via sumbission (Rear Naked Choke - R1)
-Josh Barnett defeats Jeff Monson via unanimous decision
14 Comments »
Anyone got a link to any of these fights?
They have the Barnett vs monson at
http://www.mmatko.com/
negative
gracies fights on youtube. he had a huge weight advantage over his opponent. i think roger is about 220 and kondo looked about 190 or less. What was up with that?
I was thinking the same thing, the guy had no chance
All the fights are online in fair to high quality. Pretty easy to find.
Randleman looked awful — not sure how he won that decision. All he did was push into the clinch and… do nothing. He maybe threw 3 knees. He couldn’t even take the guy down.
Awful fight for Randleman, and even worse decision. Definitely a lot of ring rust.
Roger Gracie looked great. Absolutely smothered the guy, who looked at least one weight class smaller. I’d like to see Roger in a bigger org eventually.
Barnett is awesome. He is great fighter. I love watching him fight. He threw two spinning back kicks in that fight. lol
He didn’t seem to gas either, unlike Monson who was gassed by the end of the first round. Josh just casually talked it up with his corner men, smiling and laughing and stuff. Overall though, none of the fights really stood out that much for me.
Agreed, Randleman look awful. How many times do you see a wrestler get two arms around an opponent in a dominant position like that and fial to take them down? Twice he had to back off to avoid the kumoroa, and once he almost got knee barred!
yo it was october of ‘06 when rua submitted the monster.
Good looks
Barnett/Monson was a great fight. Barnett is a monster and a great sportsman. I would love to see Barnett/Fedor or Barnett/Couture in the future and I have no doubt that he could tear through almost any of the UFC’s current heavyweights.
I love how you have the guy listed as “Kiss Nakao”
What a horrible thing to be remembered by, haha.
Wait I don’t get it. When is Barnett fighting Pedro Rizzo? Were they already booking a fight before this one was even over?
july 19. yes they did book it before this fight was even started. monson is also booked to to fight in chicago for adreneline in just a few weeks as well.