It's no secret that I've long been openly rooting for World Victory Road's Sengoku to surpass DREAM as Japan's #1 MMA promotion. DREAM came out of the gate faster by putting on some spectacular events, but I'm not a fan of the way they do business.

World Victory Road at least has given lip service to changing the business practices that killed the Japanese MMA boom. Despite their willingness to serve as a "get out of jail free card" for fighters who have run afoul of the drug testing regime of various American states, they do have a regime for testing athletes for PEDs.

Their major corporate sponsors and signing of Olympic gold medal Judoka Satoshi Ishii and a great deal of wishful thinking on my part that they're on the verge of getting a real network TV deal in Japan have had me hoping they were on the verge of getting to the top.

They've had a fair amount of bad luck though and today's Sengoku IX was no exception. Not one, not two, but THREE of Sengoku's divisions got screwed up: lightweight, middleweight and featherweight. Plus welterweight star Akihiro Gono got KTFO'd. Sergio Non sums it up best:

The lightweight champion lost his first title defense. The winner of the Featherweight Grand Prix only reached the finals because the fighter who beat him a few hours earlier was injured, and the other finalist arguably received a gift from the judges in the semiefinals. The middleweight title eliminator didn't, because the victor is being suspended. A star returning from UFC ended up laid out on the canvas.

They originally planned to center their lightweight division around Takanori Gomi, but a pair of back-to-back losses and a series of lackluster wins before that destroyed Gomi's star value.

But Satoru Kitaoka, the man who beat Gomi for the title was showing every sign of emerging as a star, at least among hardcore MMA fans. His go for broke submission style and impressive string of wins at lightweight had begun to get the attention of geeks like me at least. But after Sengoku IX it's back to the drawing board, because Kitaoka got KTFO'd by Mizuto Hirota and they have to start all over in building a lightweight champ.

The middleweight division was supposed to feature either Kazuo Misaki or Kazunari Nakamura as their champ, but Jorge Santiago had other plans. That's a set-back for a Japanese promotion, but not a fatal one. And besides they were going to give the winner of Misaki vs Nakamura a 2nd bite at the apple. But then Misaki had to go and get himself arrested and because Japan has a shame culture, they made him fight for free and denied him the title shot in advance. So predictably, Misaki doesn't just beat Nakamura, he toasts him quickly and definitely. Leaving Sengoku with no opponent for their star-crossed middle weight champ.

And then there was the atrocity that was their featherweight tournament finale. Not only did anointed favorite Hatsu Hioki get a concussion after winning his semi-final bout, but Marlon Sandro got screwed in a terrible decision in the other opening round. So they had to send Masanori Kanehara, the man Hioki beat, in against Michihiro Omigawa, the beneficiary of Sandro's robbery. And naturally Kanehara wins the final.

[UPDATE: I meant to write about this originally, but WTF is the deal with Chan Sung Jung, the winner of the FW reserve bout not going into the finals against Omigawa?]

And I'm not even going to bring up what happened to Gono. It's too painful. But let's just say that there's not a big future in promoting Dan Hornbuckle fights. [Update: I mean Hornbuckle will need to win many more fights before he becomes a marketable commodity in Japan, if ever. Not saying he's not a talented and entertaining fighter.]

But keep plugging away World Victory Road, MMA is an unpredictable game and sometimes the cards aren't going to come up your way. Someday soon Satoshi Ishii will make his MMA debut and I hope you get right with the MMA gods so his career doesn't get screwed up too.

Zach Arnold has more on Ishii:

The main headline coming out of the Sengoku 8/2 Saitama show was… Satoshi Ishii in the ring to announce his MMA debut on 11/7 in Tokyo at Ryogoku Kokugikan. It seems very likely that the 22-year old will make his debut against 39-year old Hidehiko Yoshida. With Barnett likely in the semi-main event slot, his options for opponents seems limited. "Bigfoot" Silva looks to be likely the next opponent for Barnett. It’s a tough fight to take because if Barnett wants to fight Fedor on 12/31 for K-1 on NYE, he would have to hope that he comes out the Silva fight relatively unscathed. Not an easy task.

Photo via sherdog.com

Some good news by way of MMA.Fanhouse:

Japanese MMA fighter Akihiro Gono is expected to make a complete recovery after suffering head and neck injuries when he was knocked out by a brutal head kick from Dan Hornbuckle Sunday.
...

Gono was taken out of the ring on a stretcher, and Tony Loiseleur of Sherdog reports that Gono was diagnosed with a concussion, possible brain hemorrhaging and damage to his neck. But he is reportedly conscious and alert, and he's expected to be released from the hospital within a day and to make a full recovery.

That is a relief. It was bad enough when the judges robbed Gono against Dan Hardy. When Joe Silva booked Gono against Jon Fitch it was clear the UFC had no interest in keeping him on board, despite his knack for delivering action-packed fights. But seeing Gono lose badly to Dan Hornbuckle in his homecoming fight and wondering all day if he was ok was a most unpleasant experience.

Gono is a game, entertaining and very well rounded fighter with an impressive body of work over a long career.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery DJ Gozma and congratulations to Dan Hornbuckle for pulling out a tough fight that no one was giving you much of a chance to win.

Animated gif of the KO is in the full entry.

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The first of the 2009 Japanese Featherweight Grands Prix concludes tonight at Sengoku IX in Saitama, Japan. As always, BloodyElbow.com will have live results and play-by-play, beginning at 3AM Eastern / Midnight Pacific.

Be sure to join myself and the BE Night Crew as Michihiro Omigawa tries to continue his improbable run against undefeated King of Pancrase Marlon Sandro and Masanori Kanehara attempts to unseat tournament favorite Hatsu Hioki, with the winners clashing in the evening's co-headline bout. Lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka will defend against Shooto and Cage Force veteran Mizuto Hirota in the main event. Akihiro Gono also returns to Japan for the first time since 2006, while Sambo champion Blagoi Ivanov will make his major MMA debut.

Full card in the extended entry; results will be hidden after the jump, too, for those waiting on the HDNet replay.

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Make sure you join us here at BloodyElbow.com tonight for live play-by-play, commentary and discussion of Sengoku IX beginning at 3AM EST.

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Are up:

SENGOKU Lightweight Title Fight (5×5):
10. Satoru Kitaoka (24-8-9) -500 vs. Mizuto Hirota (11-3-1) +300

SENGOKU Featherweight GP Final:
9. Hioki/Kanehara vs. Omigawa/Sandro

SENGOKU Middleweight Title Challenger Fight:
8. Kazuo Misaki (21-9-2) -275 vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-9) +215

Heavyweight Fight:
7. Blagoi Alexandre Ivanov (0-0) -140 vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7) +110


Welterweight Fight:
6. Akihiro Gono (29-14-7) -550 vs. Dan Hornbuckle (17-2) +350

Lightweight Fight:
5. Eiji Mitsuoka (15-6-2) -260 vs. Clay French (16-5) +200
 

SENGOKU Featherweight GP Reserve Fight:
4. Chang Sung Jung (6-1) -365 vs. Matt Jaggers (11-5) +285

SENGOKU Featherweight GP Semifinals:
3. Marlon Sandro (14-0) -250 vs. Michihiro Omigawa (6-7-1) +195

2. Hatsu Hioki (19-3-2) -825 vs. Masanori Kanehara (13-5-5) +525


Heavyweight Fight:
1. Yoshihiro "KISS" Nakao (7-2) -295 vs. Choi Mu Bae (9-3) +235

Make sure you join us here at BloodyElbow.com tomorrow night for live play-by-play, commentary and discussion of Sengoku IX beginning at 3AM EST.

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Here is how the Aug. 2nd Sengoku IX card (tape delayed on HDNet Aug. 7th) is looking:

SENGOKU Lightweight Title Fight (5×5):
10. Satoru Kitaoka (24-8-9) vs. Mizuto Hirota (11-3-1)

SENGOKU Featherweight GP Final:
9. Hioki/Kanehara vs. Omigawa/Sandro

SENGOKU Middleweight Title Challenger Fight:
8. Kazuo Misaki (21-9-2) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-9)

Heavyweight Fight:
7. Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7) vs. Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov (0-0)


Welterweight Fight:
6. Akihiro Gono (29-14-7) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (17-2)

Lightweight Fight:
5. Eiji Mitsuoka (15-6-2) vs. Clay French (16-5)
 

SENGOKU Featherweight GP Reserve Fight:
4. Chang Sung Jung (6-1) vs. Matt Jaggers (11-5)
 

SENGOKU Featherweight GP Semifinals:
3. Michihiro Omigawa (6-7-1) vs. Marlon Sandro (14-0)

2. Hatsu Hioki (19-3-2) vs. Masanori Kanehara (13-5-5)


Heavyweight Fight:
1. Yoshihiro "KISS" Nakao (7-2) vs. Choi Mu Bae (9-3)



More preview videos after the jump.

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World Victory Road held a press conference at J-Rock headquarters on Thursday to announce the fate of Kazuo Misaki following last week's guilty plea and probation sentence on a count of interference with a public servant. The short-term good news is that Misaki will still be able to participate in his August 2nd middleweight title eliminator bout with Kaz Nakamura. The bad news, however, is that the Sengoku executive committee has decided that Misaki will be indefinitely suspended beginning August 3rd - meaning Misaki won't get a rematch with Jorge Santiago even if he wins - with his entire purse from the Nakamura fight to be withheld and donated to charity. With this verdict, it seems a fairly safe bet that we'll be seeing the "Grabaka Hitman" back in the Strikeforce cage before long.

From the incomparable Nightmare of Battle:

A new article in Japan says that the contract of SENGOKUG! on TV Tokyo will end in September. It also says that TBS aren’t happy with DREAM’s ratings and that they now have an interest in SENGOKU, after their signing of Satoshi Ishii. It seems that the higher-up division of TBS are already making preparations for it.

The article goes on to say that FEG have presented a written proposal to SENGOKU. The proposal is about cooperation for survival. However, it seems that the SENGOKU side isn’t thinking about a collaboration with DREAM. This because WVR’s Kokuho has several suspicions against FEG representatives.

There’s probably a reason why this article was written, but don’t be surprised if everything isn’t true. The whole channel of TBS is doing bad right now. If possible, getting on TV Asahi or NTV is better. I don’t know if Fuji TV want MMA right now since the whole PRIDE thing wasn’t that long ago.

I've been expecting WVR to gain on and surpass DREAM in the long run for a while now, sometimes prematurely. DREAM has put on some great fights, but I just don't like the way they do business. Looks like Yoshida and his team at World Victory Road's long-term outlook is beginning to pay dividends.

World Victory Road confirmed a couple of widely circulated rumors at their press conference in Tokyo today, first and foremost being that former PRIDE superstar Akihiro Gono (29-14-7) will return to Japan after a nearly three-year absence under the Sengoku banner on August 2nd. Gono - who was released by the UFC in March following consecutive losses to Dan Hardy and Jon Fitch - is set to become the centerpiece of the Sengoku welterweight division, which WVR says will see its first champion crowned on the New Year's "Sengoku No Ran" show. No opponent was announced.

At the presser, Gono joked about statements made by high profile signing Satoshi Ishii last week, telling the assembled reporters: "I decided to participate in Sengoku, though I haven't received a Don Quijote gift certificate from Chairman Yasuda yet." Gono also said he'll have a new entrance routine from his afro'd alter ego "DJ Gozma," who he claims took up sumo wrestling while Gono's been away.

The other major announcement for Sengoku IX was that Blagoi Ivanov (0-0) will indeed make his MMA debut against "Ironhead," Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7). The match, which was first reported in May by Tokyo Sports, could be the beginning of a push to set up a Fedor appearance in Sengoku, since Ivanov notoriously beat the heavyweight kingpin at the 2008 World Combat Sambo Championships. Ivanov is training MMA with SK Absolute, and the Sengoku site lists him at 180cm (5'11"), 112kg (246 lbs).

Also set to return to action on August 2nd is Eiji Mitsuoka (15-6-2), who rebounded from his 2008 Lightweight Grand Prix loss to Satoru Kitaoka by defeating the man who "beat" Gomi, Sergey Golyaev, last New Year's. Mitsuoka is the latest long-time Wajyutsu Keisyukai fighter to leave under hushed circumstances, joining Caol Uno and (presumably) Yushin Okami. He's now training at Yoshida Dojo.

Photo by GBRing.

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