Official: Yoshida to meet Barnett at Sengoku

What seemed to be a bit more improbable turns out to be true, Josh Barnett is slated to face Hidehiko Yoshida at the inaugural World Victory Road (WVR) Show in Japan. Originally slated to face Roger Gracie, Yoshida is no stranger to fighting men larger and sometimes more talented than him. He is inevitably one of the largest draws in Japan and will no doubt headline the star studded show this coming March. Personally, I would’ve preferred to see Yoshida take on Takimoto. Both are a bit closer in weight, compared to Barnett, and both are Olympic medalist in Judo. That would’ve meant that Josh Barnett could’ve maybe had the chance to take on Roger Gracie in what would’ve been a grappling dream.

The original set of rules for WVR are basically K-1 HERO’s style, without elbow strikes to the head. They will use 3 X 5 Minute Rounds and title fights will be 5 X 5, identical to the North American style. the weight classes thus far are as follows:

World Victory Road Weight Classes

1. 60 kg (132 lbs) – Bantamweight
2. 65 kg (143 lbs) – Featherweight
3. 70 kg (154 lbs) – Lightweight
4. 76 kg (167 lbs)- Welterweight
5. 83 kg (183 lbs) – Middleweight
6. 93 kg (205 lbs) – Light Heavyweight
7. 93.1 Or More – Heavyweight

Seen these before? Well, these are identical to those used by SHOOTO Assiocation and International SHOOTO Commission.

The Announced fights and participants thus far are:

World Victory Road: Sengoku

Fights:
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett
Phil Baroni vs. Sanae Kikuta
Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista Cyborg
Takanori Gomi vs. TBA
Ryo Kawamura vs. TBA

Rumored Participants:
Fabricio Monteiro

(Thanks to Nightmare of Battle for the weight classes and fight card)