Sengoku 11 Live Play-by-Play, Results and Commentary

The international spice in this weekend’s tasty Strikeforce sandwich eminates from Tokyo on Saturday as World Victory Road presents its final “Sengoku” event, before the switch to “Sengoku Raiden Championships” on New Year’s Eve.

It’s also the last big Japanese MMA event of the year until the dueling December 31st mega-shows, so won’t you join us here at BloodyElbow.com for some live play-by-play and discussion? The show starts on HDNet at 2 AM Eastern / 11 PM Pacific, shortly after Strikeforce’s “Challengers” event wraps up on Showtime.

Quick Results
Michihiro Omigawa def. Hatsu Hioki via split decision
Mamed Khalidov def. Jorge Santiago via KO (punches) R1
Jorge Masvidal def. Satoru Kitaoka via KO (punches) R2
Tomoaki Ueyama def. “Bull” Konno via technical submission (rear-naked choke) R1
Kazunori Yokota def. Eiji Mitsuoka via unanimous decision
Stanislav Nedkov def. Kevin Randleman via split decision
Akihiro Gono def. Yoon Young Kim via unanimous decision
Marlon Sandro def. Yuji Hoshino via KO (punches) R1
Dave Herman def. “Big” Jim York via KO (upkicks) R1
Ronnie Mann def. Shigeki Osawa via unanimous decision
Ryota Uozomi def. Yuichiro Yajima via submission (armbar) R2

FW: Hatsu Hioki -660 (64.9kg / 143 lbs) vs. Michihiro Omigawa +400 (64.9kg / 143 lbs)

Round 1: Omigawa dipping in and out with body shots a few times before Hioki figures him out and counters, backing Michi up. Omigawa stuns Hioki with a right hand (think Glass Joe’s open-maw stare when Little Mac jumped up and connected) but simply stands and watches as the Iron Broomstick stumbles backward. Hioki traps Omigawa down against the post and start teeing off from half guard. The ref drags them away from the corner as they stall out and Hioki assumes Omigawa’s back. As Michi escapes, Hioki snares a lightning fast armbar, which Omigawa defends ably until the frame ends. 10-9 Hioki.

Round 2: Hioki landing with jabs and a face-slapping head kick in the opening seconds. The Son of Shooto continues to pepper the much smaller Omigawa with the jab and front kicks, countering every punch the judoka wades in with. The referee warns both fighters to get active as they stall out along the ropes. In the final minute, an Omigawa upkick sparks a flurry, but it’s still Hioki’s round. 10-9 Hioki.

Round 3: Omigawa stuns Hioki early with a left hook and begins dancing around in the pocket directly in front of his lanky opponent, until Hioki backs him out with front kicks. Omigawa comes inside again, scoring with a combination, but he just doesn’t have the power to put Hioki down. Two minutes left in the bout, Hioki on his way to a win unless Omigawa can pull out something drastic. The two play Rock-Em Sock-Em Robots around the ring before Hioki jumps guard and swats away at the face of Omigawa (as he did to Ronnie Mann in the FWGP) until the round ends. Great finish to the bout, but same as the Kanehara fight, Omigawa just turned it on too late. 10-9 Omigawa.

BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 29-28 Hioki.

Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1) def. Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2) via split decision

Oh boy. Another favorable decision for Omigawa. Even Omigawa tells the crowd he doesn’t agree with the judges.

MW: Jorge Santiago -275 (83kg / 182.9 lbs) vs. Mamed Khalidov +215 (82.4kg / 181.6 lbs)

Round 1: After a minute of terse circling, Santiago wraps Mamed up and trips him down, where the ATT fighter works to escape half guard. Santiago mixes up body and head shots from the top, but Khalidov answers from the beneath and stuns Santiago! Khalidov swarms a dazed Jorge Santiago and pounds away until the ref is forced to intervene. Either a punch or an upkick started the barrage.

Mamed Khalidov (20-3-1) def. Jorge Santiago (21-8) via KO (punches)

LW: Satoru Kitaoka -160 (70kg / 154.3 lbs) vs. Jorge Masvidal +130 (70kg / 154.3 lbs)

Round 1: Kitaoka shoots (I had that written out before the fight started) and drags Masvidal down along the ropes. Masvidal grabs a loose guillotine with his right arm as Kitaoka works to free himself from half guard. The Japanese fighter stands now, clutching Masvidal’s right leg. He falls back down and wraps himself around the limb, extending it, but Masvidal is dealing out considerable punishment and eventually twists out. Kitaoka rolls into Masvidal’s open guard, and Masvidal walks himself back up against the ropes but is quickly dragged back down. They stand and Masvidal drills Kitaoka with a right hand, then a head kick that stumbles the grappler. Kitaoka collapses and eats a good 20 unanswered punches from Masvidal on the mat. Masvidal gets a good-looking guillotine before the round ends, but Kitaoka survives…

…or does he? Kitaoka can barely stand. Strike that – he can’t stand. His corner literally drags him to the stool and Kitaoka spits a mouthful of blood into the bucket. I don’t think he’ll be answering the bell, but no towel’s been thrown yet. Wow, he’s actually coming out…

Round 2: Kitaoka powers Masvidal to the ground with a double, but he’s so drained that he can only stand over his opponent. Kitaoka choking himself with the middle rope as he tries to control Masvidal on the ground. Kitaoka rolls for a toe hold, eats more punishing fists, and Masvidal twists free. Masvidal in the loose guard of an absolutely drained Kitaoka with two minutes left. Jorge looking a bit worse for wear now, too. The ref stands them up and they clash leg kicks. Kitaoka falls to his back and Masvidal chases him down, knocking him out with a series of punches which bounce Kitaoka’s head off the canvas.

Jorge Masvidal (19-4) def. Satoru Kitaoka (25-10-9) via KO (punches) R2

“Fight of the Soul” (Intermission) – Featherweight – 2R x 5 min.
Tomoaki Ueyama -260 (64.7kg /42.6 lbs) vs. Hirokazu “Bull” Konno +200 (64.8kg / 142.8 lbs)

Round 1: Ueyama stalks Bull, who fires back thigh kicks in between spats of running around the outside of the ring and tripping himself on the ropes. Ueyama unloads with wide rights and lefts, backing Bull into a corner. Right straight stumbles Bull and Ueyama deposits him on his back with a double leg. Straight to mount goes Ueyama, then onto Bull’s back where he locks up a loose body triangle. Bull turns into the hold and escapes, then scrambles to take the back of Ueyama. They’re in north-south, then back to the feet, where Bull once again trips himself up in the ropes while running. Ueyama pounds him for a moment before lunging in and putting Bull to sleep with a rear-naked choke. I’m still trying to understand what just happened and why.

Tomoaki Ueyama (3-3) def. Hirokazu “Bull” Konno (1-4) via technical submission (rear-naked choke) R1

LW: Kazunori Yokota -150 (69.7kg / 153.6 lbs) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka +120 (70kg / 154.3 lbs)

Round 1: Yokota flicking out jabs, leg kicks and thumping front kicks early on. Eiji ducks inside but Yokota stuffs the trip attempt and they clinch against the ropes. The ref splits them up and pauses for a piece of tape to be removed from Yokota’s foot, and they resume. Mitsuoka elevates Yokota and slams him with authority, then Yokota executes a great sweep into Eiji’s butterfly guard! Yokota thumping Mitsuoka in the side of the head from guard, then Mitsuoka sweeps him against the ropes and takes Yokota’s back! Yokota runs to the corner, but Mitsuoka has a body lock – he lifts Yokota and deposits him on the ground, face first. Nice, close first round. 10-9 Mitsuoka.

Round 2: Yokota lands a few combinations early, but is muscled into the ropes when he tries to clinch with Mitsuoka. Getting off with his right is Yokota, while Eiji throws looping hooks from his hips. They tie up in the corner and Yokota hits some foot stomps before they’re re-started. A speedy Superman punch from Yokota causes Mitsuoka to shoot into a corner, where Yokota grabs an arm. The ref breaks them up and warns Yokota for elbow strikes to the spine of Mitsuoka. When they resume, Yokota flings Mitsuoka with a textbook trip, then cracks a stumbling Eiji with a right hand going away. Hard flying knee to the gut connects for Yokota, as do some crisp right hands. 10-9 Yokota.

Round 3: More hard right hands from Yokota to open the frame, before Eiji clinches up and slows the pace. Yokota clinches up, but retreats when he catches a sharp knee to the gut. Now Mitsuoka ties up, but Yokota shucks the trip attempt and begins punching away from Eiji’s tight guard. They scramble and… wind up clinching in the corner. Yokota slugs away while he can, before Mitsuoka doubles over and throws his arms around his man’s waist again. Yokota deftly reverses and tries to pound on Mitsuoka from half guard and side control for the final 30 seconds. 10-9 Yokota.

BloodyElbow.com scores the bout 29-28 Yokota.

Kazunori Yokota (11-2-3) def. Eiji Mitsuoka (16-7-2) via unanimous decision

LHW: Stanislav Nedkov -200 (92.5kg / 203.9 lbs) vs. Kevin Randleman +160 (92.1kg / 203 lbs)

Round 1: Randleman wearing his wrestling shoes, Nedkov in bare feet. The pair circles for 70 seconds before Randleman clips Nedkov’s left leg from under him with a low kick. Randleman locks up with the Bulgarian and tosses him to the floor, passing to left side. Now back to half guard. No strikes being thrown, just Randleman trying to posture up as Nedkov controls his arms. The Monster gets off a few short punches before the ref stands them up. Randleman ducks a wild, lunging left from Nedkov. Randleman takes underhooks and Nedkov connects with a pair of knees up the gut. Nedkov sprawls and snares a loose guillotine, but Randleman turns him over and pushes him into the ringpost to end the round.

Round 2: Nedkov quickly down and into the half guard of Randleman, trying to pass to the left side while peppering with some hammerfists which clearly bother Randleman. Slick reversal from the American, but he doesn’t do much from half guard. They scramble and Kev winds up in guard again. The ref stands them up and halts the action to re-affix a piece of Nedkov’s shorts, or maybe his jock. When they resume, Randleman executes a lovely takedown, but again struggles trying to pass Nedkov’s guard. Neither man mounts any offense for a solid minute. As Randleman postures up, Nedkov scrambles and plows into guard, landing some knees and punches at the end of the round.

Round 3: Nedkov gets first takedown this time and actually begins to mount some offense from guard. They veer too far into the ropes and the ref drags them back in, and Nedkov resumes pounding. Randleman ties up and the referee cautions, “Action! No holding!” and then “Break!,” before issuing each man a yellow card (10% purse deduction). Both men looking worn now, staring one another down and hardly striking. Randleman nearly sweeps Nedkov’s leg out from under him with a kick. The ref now issues both men red cards (a point deduction and 20% purse penalty, according to HDNet). Nedkov plows Randleman down and connects with a few knees before the bout ends. Schiavello says the crowd is showing it’s appreciation, but I swear I heard booing.

Stanislav Nedkov (8-0) def. Kevin Randleman (17-14) via split decision

WW: Akihiro Gono -500 (76kg / 167.5 lbs) vs. Yoon Young Kim +300 (75.8kg / 167.1 lbs)

Round 1: A stoic Gono makes a notably more subdued entrance than usual. Kim absolutely dwarfing Gono, pressing forward into the ropes with jabs and front kicks. Gono tags him with a counter left and circles out. Gono begins to string together some combinations now, but he still looks a bit gunshy and Kim is still moving him around the ring. Gono chops away with leg kicks and Kim decides to jump guard, locking up a body triangle. Kim looks for Gono’s right arm, but Gono bucks free. Now Kim relents the triangle and closes his guard, controlling Gono’s hands with 30 seconds left. Very much an even round.

Round 2: The pair trades kicks before Gono dives into Kim’s guard. Gono postures up and just misses eating an upkick from the rangy Korean. With a wide open guard, Kim tries to secure the right arm of Gono for a keylock. Again Gono postures up; this tiime, Kim throws his hips up and Gono passes to half guard. Kim stuffs him back to half guard and Gono can’t extract his left leg from the much longer limbs of Kim. In the last minute, Gono connects with a few solid knees to the head of Kim on the ground.

Round 3: Kim backs Gono up with a string of punches, then backs out, trying to time a big right over the top. Gono catches Kim with a straight that buckles his knees, but Kim fends him off from his back and recovers. More left hooks and right uppercuts connecting for Gono. Keeping his distance, Gono repeatedly finds the mark with left hooks and front kicks, before catching Kim with a glancing head kick that stuns “Shin Ramen.” Gono just can’t seem to finish off the very tough Kim. With less than a minute left, Kim accidentally (…) catches Gono square in the groin with a kick that he threw while covering his face. Gono recovers and plows Kim to the ground with a double. 30 seconds remaining. And it’s over.

Akihiro Gono (30-15-7) def. Yoon Young Kim (12-5) via unanimous decision

Gono gives a wonderful, heart-felt speech (in English!) after the bout:

FW: Marlon Sandro -800 (65kg / 143.3 lbs) vs. Yuji Hoshino +500 (65kg / 143.3 lbs)

Round 1: After a bit of feeling out, Sandro comes in winging hooks and ties Hoshino up against the post with an over-under. They stall out momentarily (sort of, not really) and the ref restarts them in center ring. While Hoshino measures the Brazilian up, Sandro rushes in and ties up against the post again. Again the ref breaks them up quickly. This time, Sandro stuns Hoshino with a big right hook and follows up with a combination where another lands and ends Hoshino’s night. Pure clobberation.

After the fight, Sandro implores WVR to give him a title shot.

Marlon Sandro (15-1) def. Yuji Hoshino (16-7-7) via KO (punches) R1

HW: Dave Herman -550 (108.7kg / 239.6 lbs) vs. Jim York +350 (116.3kg / 256.3 lbs)

Round 1: Off the bat, York stuns Herman with a doubled-up jab. Herman ties up with underhooks and York nearly reverses with a trip takedown, but Herman gets him down and gets on top. As Herman passes to mount, York flips him off and escapes nicely! Herman grabs a Thai plum, but York socks him with uppercuts up the pipe. Herman slips on a head kick attempt and York follows him down and grabs a leg for a heel hook. As he lays back, Herman uses his long legs to tag York square in the jaw with upkicks. (More like downkicks.) It takes the ref a moment to realize that York is out cold and dive in. Brutal stuff from Herman, who didn’t look all that impressive to that point.

Dave Herman (16-1) def. “Big” Jim York (11-4) via KO (upkicks) R1

FW: Ronnie Mann -260 (64.6kg / 142.4 lbs) vs. Shigeki Osawa +200 (64.8kg / 142.8 lbs)

Round 1: Mann tags a shooting Osawa with a cracking right cross before getting tied up in the corner. Mann reverses Osawa and takes his back, dragging the wrestler to the floor. He works for a minute to lock in a rear-naked choke, but Shigeki defends ably and thrusts forward, plowing Mann’s face into the ring. Osawa flips over and into Mann’s open guard, and the fighters are repositioned in the center. Two minutes left. Mann is doing well to tie Osawa up and angle his hips for a triangle or armbar. Mann tries for mission control but soon relents and the round expires. Easily Mann’s round.

Round 2: Mann calls time as the round begins – he forgot his mouthpiece. Okay… he’s got it in and we’re underway. The two circle, Mann keeping Osawa at bay with high kicks and body shots, threatening with knees when Osawa feigns a shot. Osawa snares Mann’s right leg after a roundhouse to the body and brings him down with the single. Mann flips over and Osawa grabs a loose guillotine, now almost in north-south position. Mann pops back up and Osawa flicks a big upward soccer kick that just misses. Mann looking very much the fresher man as he bounces on his toes and Osawa’s eyes swell up. Mann takes Osawa down against the ropes and takes his back with a minute left. Osawa stands and falls backwards, then snaps around just after impact into guard. But he’s only made it halfway and Ronnie’s still got one hook in. He punches away at a defensive Osawa until the frame ends.

Round 3: Not much to speak of in the first minute of the final frame. Osawa needs to be trying to finish this and he’s just waving and slapping leg kicks at Mann from three feet away. Mann connecting with some solid kicks to the body now. The ref wants to stop and have Osawa’s swollen right eye checked out. He walks over to a corner and is quickly given the OK. Osawa puts Mann on his back once more, but again Mann’s tight guard is neutering the wrestler’s ground and pound. The ref stands the fighters up and warns them for inactivity. A brief flurry ensues with about 40 seconds on the clock, but Mann ties up against the ropes, scores a final takedown and takes Osawa’s back once more. Osawa reverses, but it’s too late.

Ronnie Mann (17-2-1) def. Shigeki Osawa (4-1) via unanimous decision

Opening Bout – Bantamweight – 2R x 5 min.
Ryota Uozomi (10-2-2, 1 NC) def. Yuichiro Yajima (9-10-1, 2 NC) via submission (armbar) R2