Sengoku IX will not only feature the Featherweight Grand Prix Finale, but it will also feature a Lightweight title fight between Satoru Kitaoka (24-8-9) vs. Mizuto Hirota (11-3-1), a Middleweight title challenger fight between Kazuo Misaki (21-9-2) and Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-9), and the debut of "The Man Who Beat Fedor" in Blagoi Ivanov (0-0) as he takes on PRIDE veteran Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7). Sengoku has not only created some very good match-ups in the Grand Prix bracket, but these non-tournament bouts could produce some great battles.

The main event match-up at Sengoku IX will be the Lightweight title fight featuring Nippon Top Team member and current Sengoku lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka taking on Cage Force lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota. Kitaoka's rise to the top of the Sengoku ranks stems from an impressive streak of wins to take the Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix crown on November 1st of last year, and defeating former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi in impressive fashion on January 4th of this year.

What separates Kitaoka from most of the Japanese lightweights is his submission grappling ability. He not only has the credentials and awards to back up his outstanding grappling abilities, but he's proven over time that he has been able to adapt those abilities to MMA quite effectively. He's mastered leg lock techniques such as the heel hook and Achilles lock, and he trains with submission experts Shinya Aoki and Masazuki Imanari at Nippon Top Team on a regular basis. The only true knock on Kitaoka's game is that he almost masks what Imanari has had major problems with in the past. He doesn't have a stand-up game to truly complement his grappling, and that can lead to decision losses if his opponents are good enough to avoid those submissions.

Mizuto Hirota is an interesting opponent for Kitaoka because they do have some common opponents on their records. Both men have faced Katsuya Inoue with Hirota drawing Inoue while Kitaoka has went 0-2-1 against him. That may be some MMA math for you, but it's no doubt that Hirota has shown the ability to be effective against an opponent that managed to avoid Kitaoka's submission ability. Inoue is mostly a freestyle wrestler, so Hirota may want to gain some tips from those showdowns. Hirota's knockout power coupled with a game plan to avoid Kitaoka's leg grabs and submissions could spell an upset win for Hirota.

Sengoku IX will air on HDNet via tape delay on August 7th. You can creatively find ways to watch this event live, so be here with the BloodyElbow.com Night Crew for the event that will likely be live-blogged by Chris Nelson.

Photo originals via Sherdog.

 
Kazuo Misaki vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura will determine who takes on Jorge Santiago in a rematch for the Sengoku Middleweight crown. Nakamura and Misaki each battled the Brazilian with Nakamura lasting until the third round and Misaki waging war until the fifth round. Both were ultimately finished.

In this match between defeated contenders, Misaki has the obvious edge. Nakamura has the judo game to put Misaki in danger, but Misaki's overall experience and striking advantage is much more of a problem for Nakamura than anything Nakamura can throw at Misaki. Misaki should be able to punish Nakamura and regain a shot at Santiago.

A heavyweight tilt between Blagoi "The Man Who Beat Fedor" Ivanov and PRIDE veteran Kazuyuki Fujita is also set to take place on this card. Ivanov will be making his MMA debut following a Sambo championship win over Fedor Emelianenko. He'll also be taking on Fedor's brother, Aleksander, in a new Korean MMA promotion on September 29th. First things first, he must prove that he has been able to convert his Sambo skills to the MMA ring against a formidable puncher in Fujita.

This fight could be a surprise for most fans. Fujita's wrestling could be a big problem for Ivanov, although most fans would say Fujita's health in his knees has degraded his takedown defense. Ivanov's main gameplan should revolve around his size and strength to control Fujita on the floor, not his stand-up game. As evident during the Combat Sambo championships, Ivanov would have very likely lost to Fedor in any type of MMA format because of Sambo's standing count rules after a knockdown truly saved him. It was evident throughout the tournament that Ivanov's best skills rely on controlling opponents, not punching. Since Fujita has monster power in his hands, this could go down in a bad way for Ivanov.

Other match-ups include Akihiro Gono (29-14-7)  vs. Dan Hornbuckle (17-2),  Eiji Mitsuoka (15-6-2) vs. Clay French (16-5), and Yoshihiro "KISS" Nakao (7-2)  vs. Choi Mu Bae (9-3). Interestingly enough, Dan Hornbuckle lives roughly 20 minutes away from me, which is a surprise. In any case, he'll have a very tough time taking on the experienced Akihiro Gono. Although Gono's entertainment factor is huge for Sengoku, he's actually a very formidable opponent on the ground and standing. He should take out Hornbuckle.

Eiji Mitsuoka has only lost to Satoru Kitaoka, Kotetsu Boku, and Vitor Ribeiro in the last 3 years. Clay French, another guy fighting out of the Midwest, hasn't exactly had a lot of luck lately, going 1-3 in his last 4 fights. Mitsuoka doesn't lose often, and French will have to pull off an unbelievable upset to defeat him.

Ahh yes... good ol' "KISS" Nakao to the rescue. The butt of our jokes involving Brock Lesnar's kryptonite, Nakao will have to wait for his chance to plant one on Lesnar's cheek as he must first string together some impressive wins in Sengoku, most notably against Choi Mu Bae. Mu Bae has been much more active as he defeated Dave Herman at Sengoku - No Ran 2009 at the beginning of the year. He also downed Katsuhisa Fujii in a Pancrase event in June. Nakao is coming off a loss to Antonio Silva at Sengoku - No Ran 2009, but lost due to a knee injury that he has been healing. I'm going with Choi Mu Bae's Greco-Roman wrestling background and iron chin to defeat "KISS".