Sengoku "Gold Rush Project" Participants Revealed
by Chris Nelson on May 22, 2009 1:05 PM EDT
4 comments
Sengoku released a full list of fighters for its "Gold Rush Project" today, and not only does the roster include more DEEP and Shooto prospects than you might have guessed (as opposed to straight up MMA neophytes) but World Victory Road's top "Sengoku training player," Shigeki Osawa, will be in the mix at featherweight. Osawa had a successful Sengoku debut last month, decisioning DEEP's Kota Ishibashi in one of the evening's unaired prelims.
These fighters will be paired up into four-man mini-tournaments - the Don Quijote-sponsored "Sengoku Gold Cup" - with those taped bouts airing on TV Tokyo's SENGOKU-G beginning in June, and the winners squaring off live at Sengoku IX in August.
In total, there are two fighters each from Wajyutsu Keisyukai, Yoshida Dojo, Team ZST and Kiguchi Dojo, while P's Lab, Gutsman, Mori Dojo and SK Absolute will all send one fighter.
Here's the full list, pictures added where available.
Bantamweight
Daisuke Endo
School: Wajyutsu Keisyukai Suruga
Pro MMA Record: 3-3
Birthdate: 11-13-1982
Height: 171cm (5ft 7in)
Background: MMA
Ryosuke Komori
School: Yoshida Dojo
Pro MMA Record: 3-1
Birthdate: 1-1-1986
Height: 168 cm (5ft 5in)
Background: Judo
Takeshi Numajiri
School: Kiguchi Dojo
Pro MMA Record: 1-1
Birthdate: 4-23-1984
Height: 174 cm (5ft 8in)
Background: Wrestling
Hiroyuki Hara
School: PANCRASE P’s Lab Tokyo
Pro MMA Record: 1-1
Birthdate: 1-12-1981
Height: 169 cm (5ft 6in)
Background: Boxing
Featherweight
Shigeki Osawa
School: Yoshida Dojo
Pro MMA Record: 2-0
Birthdate: 5-2-1985
Height: 166 cm (5ft 5in)
Background: Wrestling
Takayuki Kishi
School: Team ZST
Pro MMA Record: 2-2-4
Birthdate: 2-24-1984
Height: 172 cm (5ft 8in)
Background: MMA
Makoto Sannai
School: Gutsman Shooto Dojo
Pro MMA Record: 1-1
Birthdate: 5-11-1982
Height: 173 cm (5ft 8in)
Background: MMA
Toru Harai
School: Mori Dojo
Pro MMA Record: 5-1-1
Birthdate: 8-10-1986
Height: 170 cm (5ft 7in)
Background: Judo
Lightweight
Koji Ando
School: Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo
Pro MMA Record: 2-0-2
Birthdate: 3-9-1985
Height: 177 cm (5ft 10in)
Background: Judo
Ikuo Usuda
School: Kiguchi Dojo
Pro MMA Record: 4-0
Birthdate: 4-25-1980
Height: 168 cm (5ft 5in)
Background: Wrestling
Kota Okazawa
School: Team ZST
Pro MMA Record: 5-1-2
Birthdate: 11-29-1986
Height: 173 cm (5ft 8in)
Background: Jiu-Jitsu, Judo
Kohei Maruyama
School: SK Absolute
Amateur MMA Record: 2-0
Birthdate: 4-5-1987
Height: 173 cm (5ft 8in)
Background: Sambo
Dap to NOB for some translational help.
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good stuff Chris!
"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"
by Kid Nate on May 22, 2009 6:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Awesome post. Much appreciated.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on May 22, 2009 11:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Rec'd the hell out of this.
Osawa, Harai, Usuda, and Okazawa are all solid prospects, IMO.
Thanks for the info. Any idea if the fights will be available via the internet?
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
by ElliotMatheny on May 23, 2009 5:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I like Komori at BW and Osawa at FW. The LWs are too close to call, but I’m gonna say not the guy from SK Absolute.
Hopefully someone will start ripping SENGOKU-G. If not, there are ways to watch it live. (It airs Sundays around 11:30 AM ET.)
by Chris Nelson on May 23, 2009 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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