World Victory Road’s Sengoku Preview (Part 2)

By Ernest Helwig on Mar 04, 2008

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.

Finally, Kazuo Msaki’s latest showing at Yarennoka!! against Yoshihiro “Satan” Akiyama was not as flashy or necessarily that too different than everyone else’s but the obvious way that he managed to have the whole building in his hands was just incredibly. It seemed almost like electricity was running through his veins and was almost a spectacle itself. It was incredibly hard to argue who the Japanese fans where cheering for and enthralled by. Misaki had an almost destructive demeanor and looked incredibly focused and bloodthirsty throughout the whole ordeal. Definitely a 180 degree difference from his flat and lackluster show at PRIDE 33 against Frank Trigg. To clarify that “Satan” nickname, at the Press Conference announcing DREAM all of the bigger name fighters had promo packages and had weird nicknames through out and it turns out they dubbed Akiyama “Satan” sadly.

It’s not really everyday you hear about a breakout star from the Middle-East but Afghanistan’s Siyar Bahadurzada has defied odds and last year was crowned 83 kg. SHOOTO World Champion. He spent the 1st years of his life surviving the harsh conflicts in the region until his family was able to relocate to Holland. He has managed to align himself with one of the best camps in Europe, Golden Glory and Tatsujin Dojo and blossomed into the machine we know now. Sporting a nearly flawless 13-1-1, Bahadurzada definitely has a platefull as he moves way up in competition to face BUSHIDO Tournament Champion and Grabaka Hitman, Misaki.

When I heard Siyar was fighting Misaki I thought that he would’ve been alot better served to climb the rankings a bit slower. You have to keep in mind that this is only his 2nd fight out of Holland. A perfect event for Bahadurzada to compete in would’ve been the DEEP 83 kg. tournament, which recently started and would’ve helped to get his feet wet while still fighting good competition like Ryuta Sakurai and Riki Fukuda, the 2 biggest names in the tournament. DEEP is obviously currently without a champion due to the fact that their former champ, Ryo Chonan, abdicated his title to fight in the UFC. Chonan himself has had a bit of a tough time securing bouts in the states according a blog post he recently posted. I’m not saying Bahadurzada isn’t good enough to fight Misaki, but making the jump from SHOOTO to an Arena with 10,000+ people against a fan favorite and not to mention one hell of a fighter seems almost insane but my hats off to Bahadurzada, who has incredible odds stacked against him.

This one isn’t necessarily hard to pick. Based off experience, I think Misaki shouldn’t really have too much of a hard time with Bahadurzada. Misaki is incredibly gifted and seems to give lots of strikers hard times. He is also no stranger to standing up and banging as he’s done before especially in one of his best striking displays against Daniel Acacio at BUSHIDO 7, a match he eventually lost by decision. He is also incredibly hard to finish and if Siyar aims to stop it early his best chance remains on the feet. We saw in Misaki’s last fight that he can be dropped, Akiyama violently knocked him down and thankfully didn’t throw a Soccer kick. Bahadurzada’s hands are his biggest assets and would obviously aim to keep this on the feet. Also, one has to factor in that Misaki might take Siyar too lightly which could too spell the end for him, a scenario I don’t really see happening but even the best are susceptible to this. Fight experience and Big Show experience definitely plays a huge factor in my choice. Prediction: Misaki by Unanimous Decision.

6.) Takanori Gomi vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig

Question: What is 373? Answer: The number of days that PRIDE 33 has occupied space on my DVR and also the last time Takanori Gomi last saw action. Yes, It’s been 1 whole year since that epic night on February 24 when Gomi and Nick Diaz duked it out in what I believe was the fight of the year in 2007. I believe Youtube’s MMA Analyst expressed everyone’s feelings correctly in his PRIDE 33 Recap by saying,”What did I just see?” and many other “French” words that perfectly described that night and event. It just seems mindbending to think that the last time we heard the blaring “Scary” by The Mad Capsule Markets announce the presence of one “Fireball Kid” was one year ago. This inactivity is obviously due to the hope and wish that PRIDE would return but alas time has passed and people move on. Many fighters were hurt by this inability to fight and seem to be getting back on their feet and Gomi is no exception. He has received heavy criticism from some stating that he’s ducking the UFC, which is completely absurd. The lifespan of a fighter isn’t always 15 years like Ken Shamrock. He has the chance to make money in the prime of his career and why not do so?

Even with 1 whole year being inactive many people, myself included, that Gomi is the number 1 Lightweight fighter in the world. Gomi, of course began his trajectory towards dominance at 23 when he captured the SHOOTO World Welterweight Title from Rumina Sato. Years would go by and eventually he would crown himself the PRIDE Lightweight GP Champion and PRIDE Lightweight Champion. His rise to the top has also been filled with controversy after dropping bouts to Marcus Aurelio and Nick Diaz, which was later overturned. I wrote about Gomi’s return when it was originally announced that he would be fighting at Sengoku here. I could go on for days waxing poet about Gomi but all I can really say is that I’m really happy to see him fight again. He’ s one of those fighters who sucks you in and keeps your attention. He’s rarely ever in a boring fight and you know what to expect.

“Bang” is an appropriate name for Duane Ludwig and it also sounds a heck of alot better than Lil’ Bas. He’s the 1st ever K-1 MAX US Champion and participated in the inaugural K-1 Middleweight Artistic eXtreme Tournament in 2002, where he lost to Masato by Decision in the 1st round of the GP. He also holds the distinction of being the very 1st individual to knockout Jens Pulver in his prime with Takanori Gomi repeating the dosage a couple years later. Bang’s incredibly historic career has fallen into some tough times lately. Not necessarily due to the fact that he’s been losing fight after fight, because he hasn’t, its due to the fact that he’s looked rather unimpressive in his fights against lackluster opponents.

His last loss came at the hands of Paul “Semtex” Daley, who just recently shocked hardcore MMA fans by announcing his strange surprise retirement. Semtex, a naturally heavier opponent, went out and just put on a clinic on Bang on the swing bout of the Strikeforce-EliteXC: Shamrock vs. Baroni. He looked very outclassed and obviously outweighed. Sadly, his last bout against Mario Stapel looked just wrong. It kind of reminded me of a wrestling match as Stapel just flopped around and would eventually go down. Bang was actually scheduled to fight a couple weeks ago at the Strikeforce- Strikeforce at the Dome show, which was headlined by Bob Sapp and Jan Nortje in a disastrous, almost sad display of MMA. There were actually rumors swirling around that if Bob Sapp would’ve won than he would’ve faced Mirko Cro Cop at DREAM.1. Thankfully for us, Jan Nortje kind of silenced those rumors and not so thankfully for Dong Sik-Yoon, who’s name is now likely to appear.

No real mystery picking this fight. Gomi’s hands are incredible and will of course dictate the fight. His striking is just awesome to say the least, while Bang’s skills seem to dwindle. His take down defense is wonderful. Don’t forget Gomi has one of the best jaws in MMA and can definitely take a punch. I don’t realistically see this turning into a wrestling or grappling match and I see this actually mirroring the Gomi-Pulver fight from PRIDE Shockwave 2004. Another piece of added incentive is that there is a small chance that this bout will serve as the 1st bout of the DREAM Lightweight GP this year. Even though nothing has been confirmed there seems a chance that this can become a reality. Gomi, now the $200,000 man will not disappoint. Prediction: Gomi by 1st Round KO

7.) Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett

I’d really like to be able to see what’s going on in Hidehiko Yoshida’s head right now. Maybe weird feeling of anticipation, mixed with nervousness and a bit of worry. Anticipation, because his last fight was not a very pleasant experience and wants to erase memories of it, as hard as it sounds. It was really sad watching Yoshida’s semi-living body being dragged back to the center for repositioning after DVD Watcher extraordinaire, James Thompson wailed on poor Yoshida. It was almost criminal at times. Obvious feelings of nervousness thinking that you are obviously the reason most people might actually be watching this. Yoshida is obviously one of the bigger draws in Japan. His Gold Medal vs. Gold Medal fight against Rulon Gardner at Shockwave 2004 sparked the interest of 25 Million people, not to mention that his Gold Medal vs. Silver Medal bout against Naoya Ogawa at Shockwave 2005 repeated the 25 million mark.

The obvious feelings of worry are definitely about the man he’ll be facing. Yoshida is no stranger to fighting larger and most of the time more talented fighters. He’s amassed a list of who’s who in PRIDE including a debut against Don Frye, a debuting Mark Hunt, OWGP winner Mirko Cro Cop and his 2 epic battles with Wanderlei Silva. His record, like Takimoto, doesn’t really say much about him and again doesn’t do him justice considering he’s always fought great competition on a consistent basis. I think that one of the reasons why PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 is so beloved was because of the great caliber of fights and I think the Yoshida vs. Silva was definitely the best fight of the night. He seems to be afraid of no one, which can be a virtue or curse.

There are some fighters who like to remain more active than others and than there are some fighters who seem to be taking the Travis Fulton route. In 2006, Josh Barnett managed to fight an almost unheard of 6 times. All against top competition including his incredible OWGP run. After a well deserved break in 2007, Barnett is back and definitely aiming to solidify himself in the upper echelon of Heavyweights in the World. It’s also kind of really hard to see where Barnett’s head is at too. He really loves Catch Wrestling, which is fine, but it kind of sucks for the fans to see him doing that instead of testing himself in a fight.

I remember a couple months back when Yoshida was officially confirmed for this event, I just thought to myself which heavyweight submit him through torture. I actually made note of it in a page I wrote here on MMAOpinion appropriately titled, Yoshida vs. (Insert Big Heavyweight Here). It was kind of a joke title but deep down inside it was the truth. We all knew something like this would happen and it did. I’m not really the biggest fan of this match-up even happening but I guess this does help put the company on the map considering they have no TV deal in Japan. To be honest is kind of random matchmaking and I wish they would’ve allowed both men to ease back into the game especially Yoshida considering he’s moving up in competition and in years.

I think this fight will not necessarily be the most entertaining. I do think Yoshida does always come out to fight and I do commend him for that. I think both men matched together does provide a dull fight. Barnett, like I said is in a category of competition higher than Yoshida and this fight will definitely serve him well as a warm-up fight for a hopefully future match-up with Fedor. I don’t see Yoshida knocking out Barnett or even submitting unless Barnett just has a lapse of judgement and Yoshida is able to quickly capitilize. Realistically there is 2 ways I see this fight going down and both have Barnett coming out on top. Yoshida will obviously be served to try and keep Barnett on his back, which I don’t see happening. Barnett is one of the better grapplers in the Heavyweight and is stronger and naturally larger than Yoshida. Let’s hope Yuji Shimada is no where in sight because Lord knows he’d never let Yoshida off the hook without first almost dying. Prediction: Barnett by 1st Round Ref Stoppage

Keep the Peace and Enjoy World Victory Road’s Sengoku on March 5th. I should also have a review for the show the day after it airs so stay tuned for that too.

World Victory Road presents Sengoku

March 5, 2008