It was not so long ago that if you wanted to make a name for yourself, Japan was a very great place to do it. They had everything going for them. Great productions, great and charismatic fighters, etc. but all that would be erased quickly with the sudden demise of PRIDE and things shifted stateside. I’m not stating that Japan is at it’s former peak but they’re slowly and surely starting to climb up the latter of relevance. 2007 is a year that will definitely live infamy if you’re a fan of Japanese produced MMA. No top caliber shows other than Yarennoka!! 2007 and the HERO’S Middleweight GP Opening and Final Rounds were really stand out and didn’t really manage to attract a lot of attention. In March, all that will change with the new FEG Show and World Victory Road’s Sengoku.
World Victory Road has recently announced that Kazuyuki “Ironhead” Fujita, Duane “Bang” Ludwig, and Nick “The Goat” Thompson will all participate in their inaugural Sengoku show this March. Kevin Randleman has also inked a deal with WVR but it is unknown if he will participate on March 5th. Randleman and Fujita are coming off very long lay-offs and both men are coming off losses. Fujita lost a strange fight to Jeff Monson at PRIDE 34, while “The Monster” lost by submission at PRIDE 1st show in the states, PRIDE 32. “The Goat” on the other hand is fresh off a title defense at the last Bodog show and “Bang” bounced back from a loss to Paul “Semtex” Daley and managed to secure a win at Ring of Fire 30.
The Card Thus Far:
World Victory Road presents Sengoku
Date: March 5th, 2008
Place: National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, Japan
Fights:
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett
Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista Cyborg
Takanori Gomi vs. Duane Ludwig
Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto
Fabricio Monteiro vs. Nick Thompson
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. TBA
My initial thoughts are that this card will be one of the best in the 1st half of this year and a preview is definitely coming within the next couple days.
(Thanks to Nightmare of Battle for the Sengoku Card)
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I do still love MMA and have...
February 13th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I think it’s important to note that Randleman’s health has been really, really bad the last few months. He’s actually suffered multiple system organ dysfunction as the result of a serious staph infection. So the possibility of him competing on this card seems really low, at least to me, but if he can return to at least some of his old school athletic ability, he’ll be an interesting fighter to watch.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:41 am
The pics of his staph infection are so nasty.
It will be interesting to see if he can make it back.