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Sengoku 1/4 Saitama Super Arena results

By Zach Arnold | January 4, 2009

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Event reports: Japan MMA | Sherdog | AOL Fanhouse | USA Today | MMA Junkie | Steve Cofield

What a disastrous showing again from this promotion. Hidehiko Yoshida loses to Sanae Kikuta, Takanori Gomi loses again, Kazuo Misaki loses… the only positive in terms of native business (once again) is King Mo winning.

Ever since Gomi opened up his own gym…

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Sengoku, Zach Arnold | 29 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

29 Responses to “Sengoku 1/4 Saitama Super Arena results”

  1. pete67 says:

    Any word of the attendance at this event Zach?
    Not good for Sengoku that Gomi,Misaki and Yoshida lost,that is probably the worst thing that could have happened for them.
    With this being a poor week for the 2 big promotions in Japan,results wise for Sengoku and ratings wise for FEG,do you think that a continuation of this will eventually bring these promotions together?

  2. d says:

    He’s obviously more popular than Kitaoka, but I was under the impression that Gomi wasn’t as popular as western press liked to intimate.

    I know that obviously Santiago winning does nothing for business, but would Misaki winning have done much more?

    Gotta be a nail-biter when you’re running an org and positioning Gomi, Misaki, and Yoshida as your aces.

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    Gomi looked horrible again. Yes he had back control for a few seconds, but he kind of looked lost in the world of submissions.

    Kitaoka’s pants definitely bring up a MAJOR debate with how different the sport is in America vs. Japan. Those pants are basically the same we see Shinya Aoki wear. I know when I use to wrestle, a few guys use to wear them under their singlet. I always use to think it should have been illegal, because it is nearly impossible to grip their legs in any way.

    I really question if all these leg lock submissions are possible if those pants were outlawed.

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7x986_sengoku-2009-takanori-gomi-vs-sator

  4. white ninja says:

    gomi has never been a big hit in japan

    he was chosen to be the pretty boy of bushido in a bid to try to get the K1Max female market. but a lack of charisma held him back and bushido died from lack of interest

    a terrible night for WVR which will test Donki\’s taste to keep on funding this loss maker – especially with the shitty economic outlook in 2009

  5. Jeremy (not that Jeremy) says:

    Wow, “motion” is really overstating things. I’ve seen more frames in a flipbook.

  6. Dave says:

    Remember when a lot of people thought Gomi was invincible? He has done a complete 180 and looks awful. This was embarrassing as a whole.

  7. Croatian Strength says:

    Misaki Vs Santiago was excellent.
    No shame in Misaki losing that fight and Santigo continues his form of 2008.

    Gomi and Yoshida looked bad, but they have looked that way since before Pride went under. At least Yoshida was fighting someone around his level and not some monster gaijin, so it wasn’t too painful to watch.
    I’d like to see Mo against some higher ranked opponents to see how good he really is.

  8. ukiro says:

    I have seen people (elsewhere) say that Santiago looked great, which boggles my mind. There’s no way he wasn’t losing on the scorecards up until the last 30 seconds or so, even though he floored Misaki once. His offence was lackluster and desparately needs more combos, and his standing defence was sloppy too (see all the flailing arms and how many body shots Misaki got in). On the ground he didn’t look comfortable at all and his only real achievement was the RNC. I know Misaki is a relentless machine of a fighter and very difficult to dominate, which may have tainted my impression. But Santiago has a long way to go still, and I don’t see him doing very well in the UFC if he’d return.

    Then I’ve also seen claims that Dave Herman looked good. Those people must be on weapons grade LSD, because he had NO cardio, his chin straight out, no trace of game plan, and almost Paulo Filho-esque confusion as to what he should do.

  9. Chuck says:

    “Kitaoka’s pants definitely bring up a MAJOR debate with how different the sport is in America vs. Japan. Those pants are basically the same we see Shinya Aoki wear. I know when I use to wrestle, a few guys use to wear them under their singlet. I always use to think it should have been illegal, because it is nearly impossible to grip their legs in any way.”

    I think those are Shootboxer pants he was wearing. And no, it is easier to grab legs that are in pants than no pants. In Judo, I have had field days because Gi pants are so much easier to grab than sweaty bare legs. But Kitaoka’s pants? I am willing to bet they are easier to grab than sweaty bare legs, but they aren’t baggy or loose, so who knows? But pants in general are easier to grab than sweaty bare legs.

  10. Bullock says:

    Pants definitely help them lock in submissions that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Pretty unfair IMO, but they are allowed in the rules so unless they change them fighters are going to have to start finding better ways to escape.

  11. 45 Huddle says:

    http://fightindex.tv/videos/mma-full-fights/wvr-sengoku-7-2008-01-04-all-fights.php

    1) 12:45 for Dave Herman Fight
    2) 45:00 for Kikuta vs. Yoshida
    3) 1:06:00 for Santiago vs. Misaki

    The video contains all the fights back to back. My thoughts.

    Dave Herman was really exposed in this fight. He no longer is a young prospect until proven otherwise. It was a pitiful performance in so many ways. No way he should have lost that fight.

    Kikuta vs. Yoshida was a boring fight.

    I guess Santiago would not have to be ranked in the Top 10. I’m still not sold on this guy. He lost multiple rounds to Misaki, and couldn’t even outstrike him. I think he might still lose to Leben in a rematch. He likely lose to Franklin, Marquardt, Henderson, Okami, and a few other of the UFC Middleweights.

  12. samscaff says:

    Agreed, Herman really should have won that fight.

    He showed himself to be really really green in that fight, completely punching himself out in the first half of the first round. If he had paced himself he wouldve won the fight. He will learn alot from this fight, and if he drastically improves his cardio and ring intelligence, he can still be a real prospect.

  13. David says:

    Two comments:

    1) Avoid all leg lock lamers (I like leg locks but they seem lame in today’s age), Kitaoka, Aoki, and Imanari will ALL eventually mess their opponents legs up when given a chance. Therefore, don’t “exchange” technique because they know what they are doing. Panic, push, get out… the opposite of what Brock Lesnar, Gomi, Jean Silva (vs Imanari), Alvarez, did to their opponents.

    2) King Mo, from Japanese announcer(s), sounds like Kimbo!

  14. Big Bill Bob says:

    King Mo vs Kimbo. Satoshii Ishii vs Asash?ry? Akinori (or atleast I think that’s who it was beign guided through the audience during intermission).

    Make it happen Japan.

  15. 45 Huddle says:

    Fraom Dave Meltzer:

    “–The California State Athletic Commission will be putting the issue of revoking Antonio Silva’s license for fighting earlier today at the Sengoku show while on suspension for failing a steroid test on its 2/10 agenda. There will also be disciplinary action coming on Monday for those who worked his corner. Bill Douglas of the commission will be notifying all commissions tomorrow morning regarding Silva and those in his corner who aided and abetted Silva”

    This can’t be a smart move. Silva is basically banking on the Japanese MMA Scene staying okay for him to pay the bills. From the money he made from EliteXC, he should have banked it, and waited out the suspension until he could sign with the UFC or another organization.

  16. Zach Arnold says:

    This can’t be a smart move. Silva is basically banking on the Japanese MMA Scene staying okay for him to pay the bills. From the money he made from EliteXC, he should have banked it, and waited out the suspension until he could sign with the UFC or another organization.

    Don’t you remember? Silva said that making $100k/fight iN EXC was not enough to ‘support his lifestyle.’ 🙂

  17. David says:

    How will the Japanese announcers say King Mo and Kimbo.. they sound the same when the announcers say King Mo lol it sounds like Kimbo

  18. JThue says:

    Ironic then that this was their best show and by far most enthusiastic crowd so far. And I agree with others in that Gomi and Misaki losing won’t hurt WVR much at all. Yoshida – who knows, perhaps in the ratings if he was even still a draw there going in. Crowd hasn’t popped for him since a few fights back.

    I would gladly pay to see babyfaces try to take that belt off of Kitanoyance throughout 2009 BTW.

  19. d says:

    Oh, I think it hurts them, but Gomi and Misaki could buzzsaw through their opponents with ruthless abandon and the bottom line would still be that Sengoku have a product that’s hard to care about that’s losing money hand over fist in a shrinking market

  20. rainrider says:

    Wearing tights help lock a submission.
    Wearing long sleeve rashguards also help lock a submission and better control opponents.

    So why not everyone wear that spandex shit before it gets banned? Why complains about things that give you equall benefits? It don’t make sense to me.

    I think everybody except Aoki and Kitaoka (who were inspired by Shootboxers) refuses to wear longer elastic costumes mainly because 1) they don’t wanna look they’ve just auditioned for Star Trek new generation cast and 2) they want to slip out of bad positions and submission holds with minimum body coverings.

    I don’t think those 2 can be the legit reasons for them to ask promoter to ban the use of tights.

  21. rainrider says:

    Before you ask Aoki/Nitaoka to take off tights,and before you ask Marcelo Garcia not to wear long sleeve shirt, what needs to be banned the most in this sport is obviously Gloves.

    Gloves only help strikers to hit better and stronger. They do a grappler almost no favor, unless he’s fighting another Jiu-Jitsu guy with less boxing skill.

  22. JThue says:

    And why the hell are big time sites STILL referring to this show as “The 7th Battle”, when it was never billed under that name and 7th Battle has now even been officially announced for March?

  23. 45 Huddle says:

    The pants are an issue because they are not alllowed in America. So it is like comparing Apples to Oranges when looking at Lightweight fighters cmopeting in each country.

    And I hope you are joking about the gloves. Less broken hands and many less cuts are two of the main benefits.

    And gloves actually aide fighters. While it is illegal to hold onto the gloves, it often times can give a grappler more area to hold onto with their body, making an armbar much more possible.

  24. dave2 says:

    Rankings become a big issue when there is a lack of standardization in the rules obviously. Aoki with pants deserves to be #2 in the world in his weight class but without pants, how good would he be? Though I don’t see why Japan should be obligated to follow the rules set out by America’s boxing commissions. Japan already has their own sanctioning body (Shooto). The problem is that DREAM (like PRIDE and HERO’S) and Sengoku are renegade promotions who don’t wish to follow guidelines set by a sanctioning body like Shooto. Yes to sanctioning in Japan. No to uniform international standards. What gives America the right to decide the rules for the rest of the world? One set of uniform rules would be great but America shouldn’t be the only country setting them.

  25. Chuck says:

    “And I hope you are joking about the gloves. Less broken hands and many less cuts are two of the main benefits.”

    Which goes back to hitting better and stronger. It’s a double-edged sword.

  26. ilostmydog says:

    “One set of uniform rules would be great but America shouldn’t be the only country setting them.”

    So there should be multiple countries each setting up one set of uniform rules? That doesn’t make much sense.

  27. rainrider says:

    > The pants are an issue because they are not alllowed in America.

    I heard K-1 was working on the proposal to ban tights too. But my point is, if you go to Japan, why don’t you just wear that gay pants and try your leglocks? He wears his and you wear yours and it’s 50/50. What’s so hard about doing it?

    > And I hope you are joking about the gloves. Less broken hands and many less cuts are two of the main benefits.

    I also used to think that gloves were worn to protect hands. The truth is otherwise. MMA gloves are made to increase punching power like boxing gloves, that’s the No.1 purpose. It’s very hard to KO someone with your bare knuckle (proved enough in the early UFCs/IVCs/AFCs) and promoters had to come up with the solution so there would be more clean KO/TKOs in the event.

    > And gloves actually aide fighters. While it is illegal to hold onto the gloves, it often times can give a grappler more area to hold onto with their body, making an armbar much more possible.

    And making a RNC much less possible.

    That is why I think Grapplers should have the option to not wear gloves and use slap hand.

  28. sved says:

    the pants aren’t Gay…just ask
    multiple Kickboxing Title winners
    from Holland

    and as for the event I thought it was ok

    the Kitaoka match was excellent
    Kitaoka if you watch his pre=WVR career is like a mini Fedor he hammers people w/ his strikes*he’s very powerful*
    and has excellent quick strike subs like a flying Guillotine Drop(check pancrase Rising 2) and other uncommon flashy and effective high risk moves.

    He and guys like Nakamura(*took on Hideo Tokoro in dynamite) are why I like to watch MMA in the 1st place…After all anybody can see high level striking in K-1 certainly much higher than UFC.

    The Sengoku show needed more HW action from guys like Fujita and Barnett but I guess w/ Affliction Barnett couldn’t make it….whats up w/ Fujita?

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