This is the 2nd and final part of the preview of World Victory Road’s Sengoku, which take place on Wednesday the 5th of March. This show should definitely not be confused with the DREAM event that takes place in 2 weeks on the 15th. To help “facilitate” things just think of DREAM being named after Dream Stage (DSE), which I’m pretty sure isn’t what the whole name was intended for but it helps. Remember this is WVR’s 1st MMA show on a solid 1st card for an MMA promotion. The card looks small with only 7 fights but one has to remember that they had originally announced Sinae Kikuta vs. Phil Baroni but that fight was soon after canceled due to the fact that Baroni signed with Elite XC and was offered the fight against Kala “Kolohe” Hose at ICON. This fight was originally supposed to be Robbie Lawler vs. Kala Hose but an injury prevented that from happening. Anyways, back to Sengoku…

5.) Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada

I think it’s safe to say that some of the greatest intro’s around belong to Japanese fighters. 3 of the most memorable one’s in recent memory to me are Akihiro Gono’s BUSHIDO 13 semifinal bout against Denis Kang, in which DJ Gozma was joined by DJ Ozma in the PRIDE style rendition of the once popular J-Pop tune “Age Age Every Night” in what has to epitomize the whole entertainment/fighting style some fighters aim for. (Side Note: There’s a Japanese Pop Star named DJ Ozma, who Gono imitates in his famous Red Afro Dancing Intro’s. Gozma is a play on Gono and Ozma.) Genki Sudo’s tribal retirement intro at Dynamite!! 2006 was just jaw dropping and intricate to say the least.

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The 1^st time one does something it can be very nerve-racking and difficult and the outcome is sometimes what one doesn’t expect. Other times the outcome can be satisfactory and well deserved. The newly formed World Victory Road (WVR) will take center stage in Japan on the 5^th. WVR hopes, along with DREAM, to fill a void that PRIDE Fight Championships left after its implosion. WVR will host its inaugural 1^st show at the very unique looking Yoyogi National Gymnasium. The strangely named Sengoku will feature Mixed Martial Artists with varying skill levels, some elevating this cards status while others seem out of place.

I remember a couple of months back when word out of Japan was that a newly formed organization was about to be formed and would be associated with J-Rock. Obviously, the 1^st thing that popped into my head was Yoshida. I’m not the biggest Yoshida fan, but being one of the biggest draws in Japan it kind of got me thinking that maybe, just maybe this would be the “new” PRIDE. This is way before DREAM and around the time Shigeru Saeki’s name popped up saying that there was a revival movement, which became Yarennoka!, so anything sounded great coming from Japan. Fast forward about 5 months and we’re now in March and DREAM is unveiled and WVR kind of got pushed to the side. I think the fact that they lack about 4 more intriguing bouts actually hurt their cause as DREAM quickly sprinted ahead to try and fill that void. Wednesday will answer lots of questions that I think need to be answer before we can crown anyone the new, almost default premiere Japanese MMA organizations.

Will Sengoku mirror something epic and wonderful? Or was it’s inability to secure a TV deal a sort of foreshadowing of things to come? 2 very different paths all together. Wednesday’s card is very diverse and stands as so:

World Victory Road presents Sengoku

March 5, 2008

1. Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro vs. Nick “The Goat” Thompson
2. Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto
3. Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos
4. Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham
5. Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
6. Takanori Gomi vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig
7. Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett Read the full story

In the followup to my previous article in the same series, here is my breakdown and predictions for the main card for the upcoming UFC 82: PRIDE of a Champion event.The fights covered in this edition are:Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara v/s Chris “The Crippler” Leben
Jon Fitch v/s Chris Wilson
Yushin “Thunder” Okami v/s Evan Tanner

Let’s get it on, then.

1. Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara v/s Chris “The Crippler” Leben

This is Alessio Sakara’s first fight at middleweight and judging by his last performance at Light Heavyweight, this one is going to be a barnburner! Sakara comes in with amazing boxing ability and a newly found confidence on the ground as well, thanks to his new camp - The American Top Team. Sakara, ever a dangerous knockout artist, seems to finally have worked at his achilles heel, the Takedown defence. What one wonders is whether Sakara will be able to translate his power and skill down in the middleweight division.

His acid test - The Crippler, Chris Leben. Although Leben is more known for his antics on the camera on the Ultimate fighter season 1, do not take this team quest and now hawaii based fighter lightly. Many people on the internet make the mistake of judging him by his TV appearance and have been proven wrong a few times. Ever an exciting fighter, Leben brings excellent ground skills and really good striking into this fight. What might be a bad idea for him would be to wait till he gets hit before he exhibits any fire in this match since one punch from Sakara will be all it takes to knock Leben out. Leben does have an advantage on the ground and I think that should be his strategy in this fight - take Sakara down and end the fight with punches from side mount.

An exciting standup battle is what I predict.

Prediction: Chris Leben by TKO round 2.

2. Jon Fitch v/s Chris Wilson

This is one of three match-ups that I am very excited to watch. Jon Fitch goes up against a very dangerous newcomer to the octagon in Chris Wilson.

Fitch, an exciting ground fighter, is well known in the division and is thought of by many as one of the rising stars in the division. Fitch has a phenomenal ground game and is pretty good at strikes also. I forsee Fitch trying to take the match to the mat and use his considerable wrestling skills to dominate Wilson on the ground to take the victory.

Wilson, on the otherhand, is a seasoned muay-thai veteran and has had an excellent record in stand-up matches. Wilson’s knees and strikes and especially his setups for the same are phenomenal and have ever gained the praise of many of the game’s best. His ground game is pretty good as well, training at Team Quest with the likes of Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland have really helped Wilson step up his skills on the ground and his submissions are really good as well. I personally am really excited to finally see Wilson in the UFC and can’t wait to see how he performs.

I think the match will end up on the ground for the latter half of the first round with Fitch dominating after taking a few blows while on the feet. The second round will have Fitch trying to get Wilson to the ground but Wilson will use his considerable reach to keep him at bay and the match ends by either submission or TKO on the ground for Chris Wilson. I know a lot of people are going to disagree with this one - glad to hear your thoughts.

Prediction: Chris Wilson - round 2 - Submission/ TKO

3. Yushin “Thunder” Okami v/s Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner returns!! This is basically what has been hyped a lot during the past few weeks and I have even read articles with Tanner claiming to know how to beat Anderson Silva. Two things here that don’t pertain to the match-up. It may be to generate interest, but I have never seen Tanner given so much media attention and secondly, never has Tanner ever made such statements before a fight either. Now that I have that off my chest…

Yushin “Thunder” Liger ..errr…I mean Okami is back after his decision loss to Rich Franklin and has been given the task of judging whether the 35 year old Tanner is still a force to reckon in the middleweight division or not. Okami is mainly a ground fighter with excellent takedowns and dominant wrestling capabilities. Deceptively strong, Okami possesses strength that will be a challenge for Tanner to fight against. The one big weakness that I see in Okami’s game that might cause him problems is that Okami is not very comfortable with strikes and someone with as dangerous a striking game as Tanner can be a daunting task for Okami. The one thing that Okami always goes to and I believe will this time as well is going to be the takedown and ground and pound strategy (if it works, don’t change it right?) and his strength and skill will definitely be difficult for Tanner to combat.

Tanner on the other hand has every eye on him and has a lot to prove. No one knows how good Tanner’s conditioning is - although I have never seen Tanner gas and he looked better than ever in promo material. Secondly, is the Evan Tanner who steps in to the octagon the same Tanner who stepped out a few years back? Third - Does Evan Tanner have the will and determination to take his game back to and beyond what it was when he lost to Rich Franklin?

This is the first time that Tanner has had a proper training and conditioning camp for a fight. Tanner’s strengths have always been his elite level striking and excellent submission game. Although his will is sometimes questioned, his heart has never been. He has excellent control during most of his defensive manouvers and can easily turn a defensive manouvre into an offensive tipping point. Look for a lot of crazy elbows from the back while maintaining guard and also look for some really crisp striking from Tanner.

Prediction: Evan Tanner by Submission/ Tapout - Round 3 (provided this is a fully prepared, ready Tanner who shows up).

P.S.: I really enjoyed the thoughtful counter-arguments and intelligent discussion that my first article generated and hope that all my future work including this one are the source of similar discussion. Thanks to all for participating in these discussions and all future ones.

First off, a big HELL-O!! to all the great readers of MMAOpinion! My name is Raghu and that is enough about me I also write about MMA on my own site, Knockouts and Neck Cranks so don’t be concerned about finding the same or similar opinion out there.

Over the next week, I will attempt to breakdown the matches from the upcoming UFC event - UFC82. So, let me know what you think of the breakdowns and if your thoughts differ from mine, let me know why.

UFC 82: The Undercard

The undercard of this event looks so good that it might as well have been a Fight Night event! The theme of the card though seems to be “returning warriors” with almost every one of the fighters returning to the octagon either after a loss or a long layoff. Let’s get on to the card now.

Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski v/s Jake O’Brien

Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion returns to the octagon after an almost year long sabbatical following what was one of the most boring fights in the UFC ever (against Fabricio Werdum). That Arlowski is a very dangerous striker is no news to anyone. The question for Arlowski is whether the fighter will come in with a defensive strategy like he did against Werdum or will he come in confident and aggressive like he used to.

His opponent, Jake O’Brien is coming off a surprise dominating win over Heath Herring after which he got injured and has been on the sidelines. O’Brien, a top class wrestler who is constantly getting better at the overall MMA game is a very dangerous fighter and has shown that he can hold his own against top class opponents. His strategy is surely going to be to try and keep Andrei down and use his wrestling skills to control the game.

Prediction: Andrei Arlowski by KO - Round 3

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John Philipavage has his UFC 79 preview over at MMA Predictions. Check it out and see who John has picked to win in the Hughes/St. Pierre fight and the Silva/Liddell main event along with all of the undercard fights. This site is certainly one of the best MMA preview and predictions sites out there right now.