World Victory Road: Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 Review and Thoughts
Published by Staff on March 14th, 2010 in Current Events

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By Ernest Johann Helwig

World Victory Road can breathe a collective sigh of relief since Sengoku Raiden Championships 12 is now in the books and delivered a fairly good show when all was said and done. Personally, when I read the lineup for this show I had predicted a very lackluster show with no real incentive to watch other than the highly anticipated rematch between Jorge Santiago and Mamed Khalidov but I will admit I was wrong and this show definitely far exceeded my expectations. SRC 12 took a huge blow after J-Rock president Kokuho announced that ASTRA would be hosting Yoshida’s retirement, which meant that most of the Yoshida Dojo names would not be able to participate in this show. Without those major names it would logically affect the attendance which, according to Michael Schiavello, was 8,000 but don’t hold your breath for any confirmation on that figure. This show kicks off the Japanese MMA “season” in a very entertaining and hopefully can set the tone for things to come.

One thing that undeniably came out looking great for the foreseeable future was SRC’s Featherweight division. This division has been the heart and soul of SRC along with the Lightweights. For the most part the guys in the division rarely ever have a dull fight and ever since the GP have been stealing the show in almost all the cards. One such Featherweight with an incredibly bright future is Shigeki Osawa who dominated Korean Kyung Ho Kang. Osawa at this pace seems poised to be an elite fighter. The Yoshida Dojo wrestler just exudes a sort of cocky confidence on his face and his demeanor. Similar to what Norifumi KID Yamamoto was like in his prime but with a fighting style more similar to Tatsuya CRUSHER Kawajiri. Incredible submission defense, improved ground and pound, decent striking and obvious impressive takedown ability make Osawa a huge prospect to follow for the near future.

My only doubt is that SRC for lack of matchmaking savvy might rush him into a fight with someone who might impede his growth. Osawa is still a green fighter with only 6 fights and less than 2 years fighting MMA. Osawa has been brought along well by WVR thus far. He won the Sengoku Gold Rush Project for his weight class and did stumble against Ronnie Mann but he kept up with the crafty veteran in a decision loss, which will definitely help make him into a better fighter. Needless to say, SRC is sitting on a potential superstar and they will be solely responsible for his rise or demise.

It was apparent from the beginning of the fight that Osawa would have the strength advantage and he made complete use of this tool. Incredibly in the 3rd round he showed everyone this gift. After going 10 minutes strong with Kang he managed take his back and preceded to German Suplex him a whopping 3 times! A mind blowing feat of strength to say the very least and definitely deserves a spot in the MMA Suplex Hall of Fame. Osawa’s biggest weakness is in his hands though. He should’ve bulldozed through Kang fairly easily but just couldn’t find a way to put him away. His ground and pound is overwhelming but underachieving and on the feet he seems incredibly susceptible. Also, his aforementioned submission defense helped him out a lot especially midway in the fight when Kang had a back body triangle and almost pulled off the rear naked choke and also in the 1st round when he got caught in a triangle. He always seems to find a way to muscle his way out of trouble though. Impressive showing by Osawa but also expected. Osawa’s wrestling prowess clinched him a Unanimous decision win over Kang.

Yuji Hoshino, another great Featherweight, is already primed and tested against top competition and could sooner or later find himself fighting tougher competition. He actually got on the microphone and challenged Hatsu Hioki to a bout. Hoshino has had a great journey to Sengoku as he actually won the Cage Force Featherweight GP taking out fighters like Antonio” Pato” Carvalho and WICKY Akiyo Nishiura in the process. He had a decent performance against Nick “The Ninja of Love” Denis winning by Guillotine choke in the 2nd round. It was one of the more competitive bouts on the card but I think kind of exposed Hoshino as more of a pretender than a contender. He looked unable to impose his will on Denis and other than an early takedown, got tenderized on the feet by body blows and knees to the thighs. Even though he did manage to submit Denis, I do not see a way Hoshino could handle someone like Hioki. Hioki is more durable and well rounded than Hoshino and just isn’t at the level of Denis. Also, this would be a step down in competition for Hioki, who I believe is the de facto Featherweight champ.

Finally, the last impressive Featherweight of the night was Marlon Sandro. He dished out his 3rd brutal KO in his Sengoku career. This one only lasting: 09 seconds actually cutting his old record by half! He had previously demolished Nick Denis in :19 seconds but this time Tomonari Kanomata suffered a brutal uppercut knockout in :09 seconds that actually saw him taken out of the ring in a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for emergency examination. Sandro is a monster to say the very least and is looking more and more like his Nova Uniao teammate Jose Aldo in every fight. You look at his KOs in Sengoku and just the speed and brute strength in which he knocks his opponents out is just incomparable. We see knockout artists all the time in MMA but the way Sandro leaves his knocked out opponents is borderline savage. It’s just impressive to see how much potential he has and just how much of a juggernaut he is in his weight class. Sandro is finally going to get his shot at the champion Masanori Kanehara after he publicly accepted Kanehara’s challenge during the intermission.

The most anticipated fight on the show definitely didn’t disappoint as Jorge Santiago wins by the most razor thin margin against Mamed Khalidov. Santiago dictated the pace early on scoring on the feet but more importantly scoring key takedowns to take close rounds while Khalidov chose to be flashier with his strikes but didn’t do much damage. Watching the match it seemed like Santiago would breeze into a decision win but Khalidov seemed poised to strike back taking the next 2 rounds and leaving the 5th and final round. Khalidov poured it on and picked up the pace in the 3rd but by doing so completely drained himself in the process. In the 4th he was miraculously able to sweep and score some points of his own and squeaked out the round. Going into the 5th it was very apparent that both men weren’t necessarily worried about their opponent as much as they were of their own bodies as the grueling 4 rounds strangely hindered both men equally. Santiago since the 2nd was almost a non factor and Khalidov after the 3rd was taking breaks during the fight. Both men’s cardio, or lack thereof, really mired what I thought could’ve been one of the early contenders for fight of the year. The 5 round was really hard to watch since both men were mostly competing against their own bodies and while Santiago did slightly more, Khalidov’s inability to attempt anything was more apparent. It felt like it wasn’t really Santiago who won that round as much as Khalidov let it slip through his fingers. Jorge Santiago becomes the 1st fighter in Sengoku to retain his title by Unanimous Decision.

In the other bouts of the night Akihiro Gono completely underachieves and gets a Unanimous Decision win over Diego Gonzalez in a dreadfully boring contest. Remember that Gono we saw at Dynamite!! against Sakurai? Well he was nowhere to be found. Maybe it was because he didn’t have a flashy entrance as we’ve become accustomed with him. The lunatic styling of Maximo Blanco earned him a brutal head kick knockout over Chang Hyun “Armbar” Kim. Kim had to be taken out on a stretcher but during the telecast an update on his health was given and everything ended up being alright with him. Yoshihiro KISS Nakao bested SENTORYU Henry Miller after Nakao managed to just brutalize him from the crucifix earning a TKO victory. Nova Uniao’s Leonard Santos submitted Kiuma Kunioku via rear naked choke in the 2nd to get back on the winning track.

Full Results:

Featherweight: Shigeki Osawa def. Kyung Ho Kang via Unanimous Decision

Lightweight: Leonardo Santos def. Kiuma Kunioku via Rear Naked Choke (Round 2)

Featherweight: Yuji Hoshino def. Nick Denis via Guillotine Choke (Round 2)

Heavyweight: Yoshihiro Nakao def. Henry Miller via TKO (Round 2)

Featherweight: Marlon Sandro def. Tomonari Kanomata via KO (Round 1)

Lightweight: Maximo Blanco def. Chang Hyun Kim via KO (Round 1)

Welterweight: Akihiro Gono def. Diego Gonzaliez via Unanimous Decision

Middleweight Title Fight: Jorge Santiago def. Mamed Khalidov via Unanimous Decision

A couple of things to quickly note are that Mizuto Hirota vacated his Lightweight title and plans to make his return in September. FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa was in attendance at the event. Could this mean a possible co-promotion again? Hopefully, since Dynamite!! was an incredible show with the DREAM vs. SRC match-ups. Also, Referee/Judge Ryogoku Wada is Keiji Mutoh aka the Great Muta’s long lost brother. Sengoku goes on quick hiatus until June 20th when the 13th show takes place with Kanehara vs Sandro leading as potential main event but DREAM 12 & 13 and ASTRA will fill the void for the time being.