Snapshot of the Day: Sengoku Raiden Championship

2008 Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii stands in the Sengoku ring during intermission last night. (Photo via Kamipro.) It was announced that Ishii's bout with fellow gold medal judoka Hidehiko Yoshida will take place on New Year's Eve at the 10,000-seat Ariake Coliseum, putting World Victory Road in head-to-head competition with DREAM parent company FEG for the first time.
Beginning with the December 31st show, Sengoku will be known as Sengoku Raiden Championship. "Raiden" means "thunder and lightning" and refers to a legendary 18th century sumo. WVR exec Kokuho said they hope that the initials "SRC" will be more palatable to international audiences.
Some more thoughts on last night's show and news from the post-fight presser after the jump.
- Dan Hornbuckle will apparently fight for the vacant welterweight championship on New Year's Eve after handing Nick Thompson his first loss in Sengoku. After his performance tonight, don't expect to see Makoto Takimoto standing across from Hornbuckle for the title bout.
- Former LWGP participants Kazunori Yokota and Eiji Mitsuoka will likely face off at Sengoku 11, with the winner (should he emerge unscathed) challenging Mizuto Hirota for the title on December 31st.
- Maximo Blanco could be looking at a title shot himself with one or two more wins like that.
- Sengoku Gold Cup lightweight winner Ikuo Usuda improved to 6-0 with his TKO stoppage of Woo Hyon Baek in the opening bouts. Kokuho said they have Ian Schaffa in mind as an opponent for Sengoku 11. As for Shigeki Osawa, he couldn't finish Ki Hyun Kim and will probably head back to Pancrase for some more seasoning.
- Emerging victorious from the Battle of Dudes Upon Whom King Mo Has Tooled, Fabio Silva could be looking at a rematch with Mr. Lawal in the future. Of course, before that, Mo will have his hands full with Kevin Randleman at Sengoku 11.
- It's undecided whether Joe Doerksen will challenge Jorge Santiago for the middleweight title at Sengoku 11, but WVR wants to make an announcement soon.
- Kokuho thinks Takenori Sato showed good Japanese fighting spirit in defeat, and says he could return to Sengoku with a "clean" win in another organization - probably Pancrase, where he recently challenged for the middleweight crown.
- Apparently nothing is official yet with regards to Silva vs. Barnett for the Sengoku heavyweight title. Silva wants the fight, but Sengoku seems slightly more reticent now that he's openly fielding offers from the UFC.
- Hiroshi Izumi could get back in the ring on New Year's Eve. Sengoku has an internal policy wherein fighters who are knocked out receive 60-day suspensions. The suspension can be reduced to 30 days if cleared by a doctor.
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I can’t help but love ‘src’… just wish they had more talent
by cagefightonacid on Sep 23, 2009 3:32 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs
Awsome
We named our son Raiden, he is 7 months old. We will definately have to check this show out!
by AceHogg on Sep 23, 2009 4:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Thanks for the summary Chris. Nice summary.
SRC sounds very “techy” = source.
I wonder how that will be received.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Sep 23, 2009 4:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Herschel Walker talks Strikeforce:
“My proceeds are going to charity, I’m not doing it for the money, I love the sport, I love to compete …We’re talking about a fight in December or January”
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/9/23/1051799/herschel-walker-talks-strikeforce#comments
by MMASuPreMaCy on Sep 23, 2009 4:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Shoot...
Posted in the wrong post, my bad.
=(
by MMASuPreMaCy on Sep 23, 2009 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Rumor has it that Schiavello namedropped me during the broadcast. Can anyone be a pal and point out where it took place during the broadcast?
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
by Mike Fagan on Sep 23, 2009 5:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I most definately remember hearing it. Before the 5th bout most likely or right after intermission. Since all the fight videos online right now have no inbetween, just the fights, its hard to search for it.
by MSEMCEE on Sep 24, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Was it Yamada’s ribs that were the problem? Both times I watched the finish it kinda looked like Blanco kneed him straight in the balls from behind.
Tough break for Ryan Schultz in the Yokota fight. The ref warned Yokota about grabbing the rope to stop the takedown, then stood them back up without letting Shultz work with the takedown he rightfully got. Moments later, Yokota knocked him out. Sucks.
Doerksen/Sato was a fun fight, as was Hornbuckle/Thompson, though I was sorry to see Thompson lose (anybody else catch his custom “the Goat” shirt based off the classic “Fedor: Nobody beats me” design?).
I really don’t see how it was bad matchmaking to match Izumi up with a fellow MMA debutante whose weakness is Izumi’s strength. Izumi blew it, that’s all.
by JRN on Sep 23, 2009 5:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Heh, whoops, meant to post this in the other Sengoku thread. Feel free to delete.
by JRN on Sep 23, 2009 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
From the post-fight interviews on Sengoku's site...
- Antz Nansen injured his right hand during his win over Hiroshi Izumi. Nansen hopes Ishii defeats Yoshida so the two can square off.
- Ryan Schultz had to cancel his interview session following his KO loss to Yokota.
- Maxi wants to fight again on NYE. That’d make six fights in 2009 – the guy’s a beast. Yamada says he’s "absurdly strong."
- Doerksen would like to continue to fight in Japan, and is working on learning Japanese.
- Hornbuckle could potentially fight in both November and December, and says he’ll knock out whoever Sengoku puts in front of him.
by Chris Nelson on Sep 23, 2009 6:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Doerksen just took care of the Middleweight KOP and the number one contender. Not bad , even though the MW div in pancrase is not the best.
by meyer1244 on Sep 23, 2009 7:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Also important to note that Doerksen is awesome.
by JRN on Sep 23, 2009 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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