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.

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It was announced today that Takanori Gomi has finalized a deal with World Victory Road and is signed on to fight on the star studded March 5 show. “The Fireball Kid” is coming off a year long lay-off and looks to regain his winning ways and silence the critics. Gomi is shrouded in controversy especially when it comes to the usually chaotic issue of rankings. Some feel that he is the consensus number 1 Lightweight Fighter in the World, while others seem enraged at the notion of putting a 1 next to his name. It’s very hard to find another fighter in his weight division who has faced as much current World Class competition and come out victorious.Wins over Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri, Mistuhiro Ishida, and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai give Gomi a strong case but recent droughts of inactivity leave it open for discussion, not to mention 1 loss and 1 NC in the last 2 years in which Gomi looked less than spectacular in.

The Fireball Kids start in SHOOTO to his future stint in WVR seem like complete opposites when you reflect on his past and current skill sets. It’s really weird to think of Gomi as a wrestler using takedown to secure positions and also winning decisions seems kind of a thing of the past. He became SHOOTO’s World Welterweight Champion at 20 years old beating Rumina Sato by Decision. His reign as World Champion would last about 2 years until he was derailed by Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen, whom squeezed out a very close decision. Desiring to pursue different ventures he ended up fighting the talented BJ Penn in Hawaii, where he suffered his 1st stoppage loss.

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