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.

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For those of the BloodyElbow.com Night Crew that managed to stay awake into the early morning hours today, they were treated to what has been deemed by much of the MMA blogosphere as a subpar event from the beginning. Fortunately for those of us who are intrigued by Japanese MMA, Sengoku X delivered on all cylinders with a number of meaningful bouts that included potential lightweight contenders matches, a must-see welterweight battle, and the debut of an Olympic judo medalist.

While Antonio Silva vs. Jim York and Hirota Izumi vs. Antz Nansen were dubbed the more important bouts of the evening, the battle that many fans were clamoring to check out was the welterweight battle between UFC, BodogFIGHT and Strikeforce veteran Nick "The Goat" Thompson and Sengoku standout Dan Hornbuckle. In a somewhat unexpected performance, Hornbuckle, much like his fight with Akihiro Gono, absolutely dominated Thompson in nearly every aspect of the fight. Thompson is known for being a fairly competent grappler in his own right, and he has managed to display a quick straight jab that gave problems to current UFC fighter Paul Daley at their MFC 20 showdown. He wasn't able to do either in this match-up.

Hornbuckle used his reach and range to pepper Thompson with lunging jabs, reminiscent of Vladimir Matyushenko's performance at UFC 103 vs. Igor Pokrajac. Jab after jab connected with Thompson's head, and he was sent retreating late in the first round after an initial battle on the ground in which Hornbuckle threatened with a rear naked choke. The second round didn't offer much more hope for Thompson. Hornbuckle showed a much more dynamic striking game during the later round by mixing his jabs with front kicks and body blows. A straight left followed by a right to the temple put Thompson in a daze, and Hornbuckle ended it with a barrage of blows.

Very impressive performance by one of the most improved fighters in the welterweight division worldwide. What's next? Interestingly enough, he's already spoke of potentially fighting on November 7th or possibly New Year's Eve, but he's more than likely going to get a shot at the welterweight title by NYE. With Sengoku going head to head with DREAM on NYE, don't be surprised if there is a mix-up of match-ups. Hornbuckle may end up taking on a very solid opponent, further increasing his stock. I wouldn't be surprised at a title fight for November 7th though, considering the competition doesn't seem to be too difficult for Hornbuckle.

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The first of World Victory Road's world-class judoka converts will take center stage tonight as 27-year-old Hiroshi Izumi makes his MMA debut against Kiwi kickboxer "Notorious" Antz Nansen in the main event of Sengoku 10. As always, BloodyElbow.com will be here to bring you live results and commentary for the event, beginning with the start of the HDNet broadcast at 3 AM ET / 12 AM PT.

Also on the slate is a welterweight bout between Dan Hornbuckle and Nick Thompson which Sherdog called the #3 "Tussle Worth Watching" for September, as well as a pair of lightweight bouts with potential title implications (Yokota-Schultz and Blanco-Yamada) and a heavyweight contest between former EliteXC champion Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and "Big" Jim York, the winner of which will likely face Josh Barnett in November.

UPDATED at 5:20 AM ET - Some big news from intermission: World Victory Road have officially announced that Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida will take place on New Year's Eve, directly competing with FEG's annual Dynamite!! card. It appears the show will also mark the end of Sengoku, and the beginning of the rebranded Sengoku Raiden Championship.

Michihiro Omigawa, Jorge Santiago and Akihiro Gono also appeared in the ring to address the crowd. All three will take part in Sengoku 11 on November 7th; Hatsu Hioki was announced as Omigawa's opponent, the winner likely facing Masanori on 12/31.

Quick Results

Antz Nansen (1-0) def. Hiroshi Izumi (0-1) via TKO (Punches) at 2:56 of R1
Antonio Silva (13-1) def. "Big" Jim York (11-3) via Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 3:51 of R1
Makoto Takimoto (6-5) def. Jae Sun Lee (2-4) via unanimous decision
Kazunori Yokota (10-2-3) def. Ryan Schultz (20-12-1) via KO (Punch) at 2:31 of R1
Fabio Silva (12-5) def. Ryo Kawamura (10-5-2) via TKO (Punches) at 2:28 of R1
Dan Hornbuckle (19-2) def. Nick Thompson (38-12-1) via TKO (Punches) at 1:30 of R2
Joe Doerksen (43-12) def. Takenori Sato (9-7-4) via KO (Punches) at 4:27 of R2
Maximo Blanco (4-2-1, 1 NC) def. Tetsuya Yamada (3-2) via TKO (Punches) at 1:12 of R2
Ikuo Usuda (6-0) vs. Woo Hyun Baek (1-1) via TKO (Punches) at 4:59 of R1
Shigeki Osawa (4-0) def. Ki Hyun Kim (0-1) via unanimous decision
Jae Hyun So (3-6) def. Ryosuke Komori (4-2) via unanimous decision

Full play-by-play after the jump.

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After an explosive week and weekend of MMA with both UFC Fight Night 19 and UFC 103 taking place and Adrenaline MMA IV feeding your fix on Friday, fans won't get much rest come early Wednesday morning as World Victory Road will present Sengoku X from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will feature a main event battle between newcomers Hiroshi Izumi and Antz Nansen at light heavyweight while heavyweights Antonio Silva and Big Jim York will square off in a co-headliner bout. The event will air LIVE on HDNet at 3:00 AM EST.

The card isn't filled with the quality of fights that many fans are looking for, but this is probably the equivalent of a UFN card for World Victory Road. One interesting note, however, is that the card is stacked full of Judo athletes turned MMA fighters. Who said there weren't a lot of Judo fighters in MMA? 

Hiroshi Izumi (0-0) is the 2004 Athens Olympics Judo Silver Medalist, 2005 World Judo Championships gold medalist, and the 2008 Asian Championships gold medalist; all at 90kg. Like many other Japanese judokas, Izumi is hoping his background can transition well to MMA, and he can become a success. Izumi has been training with 39-year-old Yoji Anjoh, a professional wrestler and MMA fighter, in preparation for that bout, and he's also worked with some recognizable names such as Kazuo Misaki and Yushin Okami.

Izumi faces a very stiff test in his first professional bout in New Zealand kickboxer and Muay Thai champion Antz "Notorious" Nansen (0-0). Nansen is a three-time WKBF Muay Thai champion (heavyweight, super heavyweight, and super cruiserweight). He's young and explosive, sporting a 14-1-1 record in Muay Thai with 5 KO's. He trains with K-1 fighters Jason Suitte and Roger Earp,so don't expect too much ground experience from Nansen although he states that he has been training in MMA since the beginning of 2009.

A lot of Izumi's training footage has shown his progression in transitioning to MMA, but his striking will obviously be a tremendous weakness against such a seasoned puncher in Nansen. Izumi will likely have the conditioning to press the action though, and if he can avoid the power punching of Nansen -- he should be able to win on the floor. It's still a very tough call without seeing Izumi in the ring, so it actually makes for a somewhat interesting bout to end the evening. Izumi also stated he wouldn't mind standing with Nansen as he believes he wants to be like Wanderlei Silva in style, which I think is a baiting tactic.

In the co-headliner, Brazilian heavyweight Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (12-1) will take on "Big" Jim York (11-2) in a match-up that really doesn't help Silva's stock. While York has submitted and knocked out a number of heavyweights, he doesn't offer a whole lot of upside for a Silva win with the exception of keeping Silva active. Silva is also likely heading back to the U.S. following this match-up.

Silva comes into this bout riding a five-fight win streak with four wins during his reign in EliteXC and a win over Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao at Sengoku - No Ran 2009. Silva should have the striking and ground game to give York a lot of trouble. York probably has a puncher's chance in this fight with his heavy hands, but Silva is way more dynamic. It's possible he could give Silva problems in the striking game, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

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Make sure to join us at Bloodyelbow.com tomorrow night for Sengoku X live on HDNet - Wed. Sep. 23 at 3:00 AM EST:

Main Card (3×5):
LHW: Hiroshi Izumi (0-0) vs. Antz Nansen (0-0)

HW: Antonio Silva (12-1) vs. Jim York (11-2)

WW: Makoto Takimoto (5-5) vs. Lee Jae Sun (2-3)

LW: Kazunori Yokota (9-2-3) vs. Ryan Schultz (20-11-1)

LHW: Ryo Kawamura (10-4-2) vs. Fabio Silva (11-5)

WW: Nick Thompson (38-11-1) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (18-2)

MW: Joe Doerksen (42-12) vs. Takenori Sato (9-6-4)

LW: Maximo Blanco (3-2-1) vs. Tetsuya Yamada (3-1)


Betting odds coming soon.

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WVR PR director Takahiro Kokuho says Michihiro Omigawa could rematch Marlon Sandro or face Hatsu Hioki in November, with the winner challenging featherweight champ Masanori Kanehara at year's end. Photo via GBring.

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Lots of gossip has emerged in the past few weeks regarding World Victory Road's plans for the remainder of the year, and WVR PR director Takahiro Kokuho fed another bunch of names into the rumor mill at a press conference on Friday at J-ROCK, following an open workout by Sengoku 11 participant Michihiro Omigawa.

Some salient tidbits from Nightmare Of Battle:

[Kokuho] wants to hold [Sengoku's New Years event] either on December 31st (head to head with Dynamite!!) or January 3rd... About Japanese fighters participating in the event, Kokuho plans to include Satoshi Ishii [potential opponents are Hidehiko Yoshida or a foreign fighter], Lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota, Featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara, and former Lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka.

The opponent of Omigawa... will probably be Marlon Sandro or Hatsu Hioki and the winner will probably face Kanehara for the belt on the new years event.

The opponent of Kevin Randleman will most likely by King Mo, Xande Ribeiro, or possibly Hiroshi Izumi if he wins at SENGOKU X.

If Kazunori Yokota defeats Ryan Schultz via submission or KO, they want to hold Yokota vs. Eiji Mitsuoka at SENGOKU XI (tough road to a title fight for Yokota).

It was also confirmed that the winner of the upcoming Joe Doerksen-Takenori Sato scrap will be the most likely challenger for Jorge Santiago's middleweight title at Sengoku 11, and that the winners of the Japan vs. Korea "Gold Cup" opening bouts at Sengoku 10 could see their first "real" Sengoku fights in November.

(My only question would be: where is Chan Sung Jung in Sengoku's featherweight title picture? You know, the guy who 99.9% of hardcore fans felt should've won a decision over Kanehara in the quarterfinals.)

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A pair of Kiwis were added to the cast of Sengoku X today, as World Victory Road held a press conference to reveal the opponents of Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Hiroshi Izumi for its September 23rd event.

In what's rumored to be the first of two matches in a mini heavyweight tournament, former EliteXC champion Silva will take on "Big" Jim York. York is 1-1 in the Sengoku ring and was last seen TKO'ing James Thompson back in March. In a statement read to the press today, York told his Japanese fans to expect a knockout victory.

In Japan, the Silva/York announcement took a backseat to the news that debuting judoka Izumi will face a fellow debutante in kickboxer "Notorious" Antz Nansen. The holder of World Kickboxing Federation titles in both the cruiser- and heavyweight classes, Nansen is the student of famed K-1 fighter Jason Suttie. Despite the stand-up game being his opponent's forte, Izumi told reporters that he's confident in his striking skills and plans to exchange with Nansen.

Take a look at the (now nearly full) card for Sengoku X after the jump.

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Takenori Sato, World Victory Road rep Kokuho and Ryo Kawamura at today's press conference
photo via Sportsnavi

Three more fights have been added to the rapidly growing September 23rd Sengoku card. Most notably, Dan Hornbuckle will make a quick turnaround following his vicious head kick KO of Akihiro Gono earlier this month. He'll face "The Goat," Nick Thompson, whose last fight was a TKO loss to Tim Kennedy in June, but who's also 2-0 in Sengoku. Before that, however, Thompson will have to get through French sensation Karl Amoussou, who he's scheduled to fight at M-1's "Breakthrough" event later this month.

Also on the slate: Light Heavyweight King of Pancrase Ryo Kawamura will attempt to avenge the only knockout loss on his record as he rematches Chute Boxe's Fabio Silva, while Pancrase's #1 ranked middleweight Takenori Sato goes toe-to-toe with veteran journeyman Joe Doerksen to see who takes one step closer to challenging Sengoku MW ace Jorge Santiago.

Updated card and more news (including Megumi Fujii's next opponent) in the extended entry.

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World Victory Road today announced four exciting match-ups for Senogku X on September 23rd. Unfortunately, we'll only get to see one of them on the live broadcast, but that fight is brand new Lightweight King of Pancrase Maximo Blanco (3-2-1, 1 NC) taking on ex-"Super High School Student" Tetsuya Yamada (3-1).

Some had thought that Yamada could go deep into the Sengoku Featherweight Grand Prix, but he was taken out in the first round by the more experienced Ronnie Mann. He hasn't officially fought since then, but has been doing some grappling and tag team MMA matches in ZST. Yamada told reporters at the press conference that he's making the move to lightweight permanently, and also that he's switching gyms for this fight and plans to train harder than ever. He wants to upset Blanco and become a superstar - and he wants to do it with a knockout.

These are both young fighters who WVR seem very eager to push (especially "training player" Blanco), so it wouldn't be surprising to see either one challenging Mizuto Hirota for the lightweight title anytime soon. Blanco said he wants to add more championships to his collection, including the UFC belt.

Also made official were three opening bouts between the winners of Sengoku's "Gold Cups" in Japan and South Korea. I don't know much about the Korean participants except that I haven't really been impressed by Jae Hyun So and Ryosuke Komori should roll straight through him. (You can check out all the South Korean tournament fights here and the finals of the Japanese tournament from Sengoku IX here.) Nonetheless, these should all be great scraps, as WVR representative Kokuho said that the best of the three winners will get a spot on the next Sengoku card. I'll try to dig up some tape and break down on these fights (with GIFs) in the next week.

Kokuho also made some comments regarding the main card at Sengoku IX. He said that Hiroshi Izumi's MMA debut will be the main event at Sengoku X, but that negotiations are not going well with his potential opponent. Also, the plan at the moment is to have Antonio Silva go against a foreign fighter (clearly not Josh Barnett, if it won't be the main event) and for Joe Doerksen to face a Japanese opponent.

Updated Sengoku X card and news from today's DREAM press conference after the jump.

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