Sengoku no ran 2009 results and final thoughts

I woke up at 2AM to watch this event, and I definitely don’t regret it.  I thought it was the best Sengoku event so far, great fights, some shocking upsets, and all around completely enjoyable.  I could have seen Sengoku being a little bit worried considering how awesome K1 Dyanite!! 2008 was, which occured just days prior, but they definitely pulled through and have shown to consistantly get better and better as times goes on.  Now, add to the fact that they’ve now got two champions, a lightweight and middleweight, and are planning for a featherweight grand prix further on in the year which will crown yet another title holder, and I think it’s safe to say that this organization is going to be around for a long time and might even become the premiere Japanese Mixed Martial Arts organization.  After the jump you’ll find quick results as well as my personal thoughts on the event and who I think the winner of each fight should face next.

Dave Herman vs. Mu Bae Choi:

Well, I didn’t think that would happen in a million years, there is this fantasy MMA wagering site I go to, and I put 200k on Herman, not thinking twice about it.  He got beatdown, plain and simple.  Both fighters had solid wrestling, and I think that they respected each others skills, so naturally they ended up having a standup war, which was alright until both guys gassed.  Choi came out in the 2nd round and blasted Herman with overhand punches, which obviously rocked him….and Choi pounced, pushing Dave against the ropes and just eating shots, the only thing left was for the ref to step in and that’s what he did.  Choi gets his biggest win-to-date, Herman suffers his first loss and seriously might want to think about getting a better conditioning coach.

Next fight for Choi: Antonio Silva, I think that the winner of it could possibly set up a heavyweight title fight with the ultra-popular King Mo.

Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Sergey Golyaev:

I wasn’t on the Sergey wagon after he won that close decision over Gomi.  Saying that, I’ll also say that I’ve always been on Eiji’s.  I love the guy, and I was extremely pleased with his performance tonight.  This fight was very interesting because both fighters are extremely solid submission fighters, the only thing that was different was the fact that Sergey has little to no wrestling skills, whereas Eiji does.  Eiji shot immediately, worked the top game for a little bit, passed to mount, saw a double armbar, went for it but Sergey popped an arm out…was in perfect position to snap it, but the ref saved the Russian from an impending injury.  From what I saw, Sergey realized the bad position he was in and didn’t contest the stoppage, which shows some brains on his behalf.  Eiji bounces back from that disapointing loss to Satoru Kitaoka, and moves one step closer to getting a title shot.

Next fight for Eiji: I’d personally like to see Eiji fight Takanori Gomi, but I doubt that’ll happen.

Antonio Silva vs. Yoshihiro Nakao:

I didn’t think that the fight would end the way it did, nobody predicts a fighter will get injured, although it happens quite a bit.  I still think the end result would have been the same, Silva was too big and too fast for Nakao to really do anything productive.  It was a matter of time in all truth.  When Nakao first dropped, I thought he got hit in his nads, although I didn’t see anything prior to really prove that, it took me a while to figure out what the hell happened to him, and then I saw him grab his knee.  Antonio looked good I thought, he’s definitely going to be a crowd pleaser with the Japanese fans, and he’ll probably contend for the first Sengoku heavyweight title if he keeps on winning.

Next fight for Antonio Silva: Mu Be Choi, winner should fight King Mo for the first Sengoku heavyweight title.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Yukiya Naito:

I honestly thought that Mo would have much more hard of a time stopping Naito than he did, I thought Naito was good enough to maybe bring him to a decision…but nope, Mo came out and once again blasted through his opposition. This kids something special, he’s fought veterans of the sport who on paper should be able to do something damaging to him, but they can’t, they just get beat down.  I can’t wait to see what else he’s got in store for Sengoku and the rest of the MMA world, he’s got so much potential and could one day be a top 10 heavyweight.

Next fight for King Mo: Dave Herman, he’s another credible opponent with an impressive record, both great wrestlers with a lot of power, it could be a great fight.

Sanae Kikuta vs. Hidehiko Yoshida:

It was probably the “worst fight” of the event, but I really enjoyed it.  I’ve been a Kikuta supporter since his days in Pancrase, and I wasn’t convinced that Yoshida would be any better dropping a weight class….which I was right about.  To simply put it, Yoshida’s a one-trick pony, a Judoka….Kikuta’s an MMA fighter.  Although Yoshida did get a nice hip throw in there late in the fight, he lost position and ended up getting mounted, which I think sealed the deal for Kikuta’s victory considering the fact that he was setting the pace of the fight prior to it.  It was a good victory over a well known opponent, and further reinforces the fact that if you’re not well-rounded, you won’t amount to shit.

Next fight for Sanae: Another well known but limited skilled fighter, Sanae won’t ever be a title holder in the organization, but he can definitely be one of those guys to put on an “MMA Legends” type of fight.

Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki:

Definitely the best fight of the night.  Jorge was a fighter on the brink of most’s top 10, Misaki was most likely on everyone’s top 10, it was destined to be a great showdown from the beginning due to the fact that these two are ultimate badasses.  I thought Jorge had a hard time getting locked in, Misaki did a great job from the opening bell to set the pace and put the pressure on him.  Misaki’s always been an unorthodox striker, and he was doing an excellent job of coming from all angles to throw Santiago off.  I honestly thought for a few moments that Santiago was going to get KTFO, but it didn’t happen.  Santiago even dropped Misaki in the 2nd, then almost submitted him in both the 1st and 4th rounds via an armbar, but the veteran Misaki worked his way of both.  Going into the fifth round, I definitely had Misaki winning the fight, he was 5 minutes away from victory and then his world got turned upside down.  Santiago shot in, got the takedown, waited for Misaki to give up his back, and when he did Santiago choked him unconscious with a rear-naked choke.  It was a great comeback, not so much an upset, both guys were even according to most betting sites, but definitely a comeback.  There should be no doubt whatsoever that Jorge Santiago is a top 10 middleweight.   I might even put him at the bottom of the p4p rankings, he’s won his last nine fights, done so in dominating fashion, and claimed three belts in the process (Strikeforce middleweight tournament, Sengoku middleweight grand prix, Sengoku middleweight title).  He’s the complete fighter….

Next fight for Jorge Santiago: I really have no idea, I’d love to see Gegard Mousasi, but he’s in DREAM, although it would be awesome to set up a “Champion vs. Champion” bout between the organizations.

Satoru Kitaoka vs. Takanori Gomi:

I know I said that I thought Gomi would win, but I bet on Satoru….something clicked in my head and I said “He’s going to beat Gomi”, and he did…..decisively.  After looking like monkey’s dancing around in the ring for about a minute, Satoru dove in with his trademark slide and mananged to clinch with Gomi.  After Gomi raised him up and dropped him, they scrambled and Satoru grabbed what was rightfully his, Gomi’s leg.  After locking in a heel hook, it only too a matter of seconds before Gomi tapped….not only losing by submission, but also dropping his second fight in a row.  It was a huge victory for Satoru, he’s proven to be one of the most resiliant grappler in all of MMA, and I no doubt think he deserves to slide into Gomi’s spot on the top 10 rankings.  Shitty loss for Gomi, he’s further reinforcing what many people have said since his PRIDE days, and that’s that he is OVERRATED.  I’m in agreeance with those who think he is, he hasn’t done anything to show me otherwise.  I don’t know where he’ll go from here, but I highly doubt we’ll see him with a championship belt around his waist for the rest of his MMA career.

Next fight for Satoru: Bring in “Banana Pants Aoki” and lets see who really is the best fighter sporting tights (even though they’re teammates). Realistically, I think a rematch with Eiji Mitsuoka would be good.

Well that’s that for my thoughts on the event, once again it was a great showing by Sengoku, they’re definitely on the rise and I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for all of us who eagerly wait for their events.  Congrats to all the winners, and good luck to all those who lost. Below you’ll find the quick results:

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Maximo Blanco def. Seigo Inoue via TKO (foot stomps) — Round 1, 0:38
• Hidetada Irie def. Minoru Kato via TKO (punches from mount) — Round 2, 4:21

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Satoru Kitaoka def. Takanori Gomi via submission (heel hook) — Round 1, 1:41
• Jorge Santiago def. Kazuo Misaki via technical submission (rear naked choke) — Round 5, 3:26
• Sanae Kikuta def. Hidehiko Yoshida via split decision
• Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal def. Yukiya Naito via TKO (punches) — Round 1, 3:54
• Antonio Silva def. Yoshihiro Nakao via TKO (knee injury) — Round 1, 1:42
• Eiji Mitsuoka def. Sergey Golyaev via technical submission (arm bar) — Round 1, 4:22
• Mu Bae Choi def. Dave “Pee Wee” Herman via TKO (punches) — Round 2, 2:22
• Maximo Blanco def. Seigo Inoue via TKO (foot stomps) — Round 1, 0:38
• Hidetada Irie def. Minoru Kato via TKO (punches from mount) — Round 2, 4:21