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.
Sengoku X
September 23, 2009
Saitama Community Arena
Saitama, Japan
Main Card
Heavyweight: Hiroshi Izumi (debut) vs. Antz Nansen (debut)
Heavyweight: Antonio Silva (12-1) vs. “Big” Jim York (11-2)
Light Heavyweight: Ryo Kawamura (10-4-2) vs. Fabio Silva (11-5)
Welterweight: Nick Thompson (38-11-1) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (18-2)
Welterweight: Makoto Takimoto (5-5) vs. Jae Sun Lee (5-4)
Middleweight: Takenori Sato (9-6-4) vs. Joe Doerksen (42-12)
Lightweight: Kazunori Yokota (9-2-3) vs. Ryan Schultz (20-11-1)
Lightweight: Maximo Blanco (3-2-1, 1 NC) vs. Tetsuya Yamada (3-1)
Sengoku Gold Cup Opening Fights
Lightweight: Ikuo Usuda (5-0) vs. Woo Hyun Baek (1-0)
Featherweight: Shigeki Osawa (3-0) vs. Ki Hyun Kim (2-0)
Bantamweight: Ryosuke Komori (4-1) vs. Jae Hyun So (2-6)