On the heels of Sengoku 4 on August 24, World Victory Road has already begun finalizing its fifth installment that features a middleweight grand prix and a couple of grappling all-stars. Sengoku 5 will take place on September 28 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Grand prix participants include:
Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) vs Yuki Kondo (49-22-6)
Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (16-11) vs Siyar Bahadurzada (13-3-1)
Jorge Santiago (17-7) vs TBD
Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-8) vs TBD
Kondo and Sasaki will be facing off for the first time, which comes as a surprise considering how many times they’ve battled under the Pancrase banner. In addition to having chewed some of the same dirt, each fighter will be looking to rebound from losses at Sengoku ‘Second Battle’.
On the flip side, Santiago and Santos took victories in their Sengoku debuts while Nakamura is making his first appearance with World Victory Road after a 0-2 run in the UFC. Bahadurzada, “The Afghan Killer” was recently choked out by Kazuo Misaki at Sengoku ‘First Battle’ back in March.
Bahadurzada may want to reconsider his nickname before appearing stateside.
Scheduled to appear on the main card is American Top Team’s Jorge “GameBred” Masvidal (13-3) who will be taking on Ryan “The Lion” Schultz (20-10-1). Schultz was upset at Sengoku 4 last week when he was bounced out of the lightweight grand prix in the first round by underdog Mizuto Hirota.
Also in action are jiu-jitsu all-stars Alexandre Ribeiro (0-0) and Roger Gracie (2-0). A four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, “Xande” rocketed to the top of the grappling food chain after defeating Gracie at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world championships absolute divisions in 2006 and 2008.
While their match-ups have not yet been confirmed, one has to wonder if this will this be Gracie’s chance to exact revenge. Ribeiro is making his debut in MMA while Gracie has already pocketed two wins over MMA veterans Yuki Kondo and Ron Waterman.
Stay tuned for more updates as the Sengoku 5 card continues to come together.
21 Comments »
Wow, I guess no one wants to comment… I guess I will.
Nakamura would be the only one I would watch.
Nokamura is the only one?
You need to watch more MMA.
Call me biased to the American organizations, but I just haven’t gotten excited for Sengoku. I’m sure it’s good but 1) Not worth thr money to pay for it on PPV.
2) Nobody I know watches it.
3) There’s not that many top 10 fighters in this org. besides Gomi (although, I’m sure some would disagree based on preference or opinion).
4) Being familiar with all the fighters before a fight is similar to knowing all the songs of your favorite band when you attend their show; it’s much better. I don’t know, or never heard of most of these fighters, so there’s not that much appeal to watch.
Not watching enough mma has nothing to do with it. I have watched or attended more fights than the average fan. This doesn’t justify me watching more mma than anyone else or knowing more about the sport: but, I haven’t missed one single UFC fight since Silvia vs Arlovski III (boring as hell, by the way). Like I said, that might not be impressive to some, but I don’t personally know anyone who goes further back with that consistancy. To add, I’ve caught the only (pretty sure the only one) Pride fight in America in Vegas, and numerous of UFC/WEC fights in Cali.
Simply put, I haven’t found good reason to watch it yet. Feel free to introduce me to the orgs top fighters to watch out for. Convince me to watch…
dream is well worth watching. they have had some excellent shows/fights. their specialize in the lws and are as good as any in the ufc (to many to name). the mw gpx has been very good as well with jacare,miller, manhoeff and others. as far as sengoku goes, your right, gomi is really only the big star. that doesnt mean it wont be a good card with good fights. you dont have to pay for it unless you want to watch it live. mmasraps.com and myvideofight.com will air it the next day along with u-tube and sometimes mania themselves. i dont think your biased, just realistic. nothing wrong with being a big fan of the ufc,wec,affliction or elite?
I’m a biased American too! UFC is my staple food. I agree boring fights are a waste of time! IMO The best reason to watch Japanese mma is head stomps, kicks and knees to downed opponent if you’re into that kind of stuff like I am. Seeing that always puts a look on my face like I smelled some piss. THAT GOOD! 2nd best reason is for Japanese martial arts. Also, the best fighters don’t ALWAYS necessarily put on the best fights.
Schultz Hirota in Sengoku LW GP - check out the way Schultz got finished. You might be impressed and thus remember the victor’s name forever and it won’t matter if nobody saw it because YOU like it! if jokes are really funny, you’ll still be laughing even when nobody’s around!
I posted on the kampman thread explains why i like Kondo & Shorinji Kempo.
thats my PITCH! hope you like japan mma a little more! lololol. oh and ask john about japan mma. he’ll point you to some action. it sounds like you’re living the good life going to all those events. I wish I could have went to the PRIDE one in vegas too. Can’t wait for the portland show.
Pride was the ish because of the head stomps and kicks to downed opponents, definately a breath of fresh brutality for the American fan, and it was a prime reason to watch and love it.
And, for sure, there’s so many fights scheduled now, it’s hard to decide which one to attend next. Yea, I have been fortunate enough to see some good shows. But, it’s not like I get the $1k floor seats, I’m usually bleeding out of the nose when I go, lol. Thanks, for the reply.
Yuki vs Yuki is definitely the 1 to look out for. I’m looking for Kondo to put his name on the map! i’d go bizerk if he tapped sasaki with a shorinji kempo sub!
that will be a great fight for sure
nakamura should have been fighting at 185 in the UFC. good decision
theres a lot of experienced MWs in PRIDE & WVR. i wonder how they would fair against some of the brazilian boys (spider,filho). at least 1 of them should be able to do some damage.
ya no doubt…he was completely out of shape at LHW
like to watch Roger Gracie progress
Jacob Ortiz is supposedly making a big announcement on “Inside MMA” tonight.
where did you hear that
On another blog. It says “he has some big news to share.” It wouldn’t surprise me if he just repeats that he’s in negotiations with a few companies or some crap like that.
i am guilty of being a fan of Tito’s but I am getting a little tired of this
It’s sad when a fighter gets to be such a lame-wad that his fans feel the need to apologize for being his fans.
its true…i feel i’ve defended him for too long now…i do enjoy his pre/during/post fight antics but please…3 things…
1. Realize that your time to fight is running out and that you can be (will need to be) a business man afterwards
2. Join a camp…any camp…he’s a good trainer himself but its about gameplanning and to be honest Tito doesn’t come across as the brightest bulb on the tree….but he’s lucky
3. Start winning fights
^^^^didn’t mean to change subjects^^^^
You dirty rotten subject changer you!
This is off the topic, but I finally got my copy of the UFC 84 DVD. It is a MUST have DVD to add to your library. It’s a two disc DVD, with in-depth coverage of key fights of BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. It’s by far the best DVD that the UFC has come out with.
To order your copy click here: http://mmamania.com/2008/08/24/ufc-84-dvd-ill-will/