Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 3/7/10 Re-Cap

Sengoku Raiden Championship 12
Rygoku Kokugikan
Tokyo, Japan
March 7, 2010
HDNet

Last year Mamed Khalidov beat Sengoku Middleweight Champion Jorge Santiago in a non-title fight. Khalidov will get his re-match at this show. Michael Schiavello is joined by Frank Trigg for commentary at this event. Marlon Sandro and former UFC fighter Akihiro Gono are also on the card tonight.

Shigeki Osawa (4-1) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (4-2)

Kang is a Korean fighter who has won 2 of his last 3 fights. He is making his Sengoku debut tonight. Osawa has won 4 of his 5 fights but his last fight was a loss to Ronnie Mann by decision. Both fighters are very young (22 & 23). Osawa has a background as an amateur wrestler. Osawa is the favorite in this fight.

R1- Osawa got a quick take down and then took Kang's back and hit a back suplex on him. Kang went for a triangle and Osawa picked him up and dropped him on his head with a nasty power bomb type slam. Osawa stayed on top of Kang for the majority of the round and took the round 10-9.

R2- Osawa quickly got the fight to the ground again in this round. Kang was able to take Osawa's back at the half way point of the round but couldn't do anything with the position. Not much damage done so far in this fight as it's been mostly a battle of positioning. This round could have gone either way but I'll give it to Osawa.

R3- Osawa landed a couple of punches and wobbled Kang early in the round. Osawa hit back to back to back suplexes mid-way through the round. Osawa will take this fight 30-27.

Winner: Shigeki Osawa by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Leonardo Santos (6-3) vs. Kiuma Kunioku (34-22-9)

Santos lost his last fight but has won 4 of his last 5 with 3 of those wins coming by way of submission. Kunioku is on a 3 fight win streak. Santos has a 5" height advantage.

R1- Santos scored a take down two minutes into the round and moved to the mount position. Santos transitioned to a Rear Naked Choke and finished the fight. Not flashy, but very effective.

Winner: Leonardo Santos by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Featherweight Fight- Nick Denis (9-1) vs. Yuji Hoshino (16-7-7)

Denis is on a 2-fight win streak and has won 4 of his last 5. He has finished 8 of his 9 fights by TKO/KO. His only loss came at the hands of top contender Marlon Sandro. Hoshino is a former Pancrase fighter who has also lost to Marlon Sandro (in his last fight) but has won 4 of his last 5.

R1- Hoshino got a quick take down but Denis was able to get to his feet without taking any damage. Denis landed some good strikes to the body and some knees to the legs. Hoshino got another take down with about two minutes left in the round but Denis tried a triangle choke and Hoshino countered with an ankle lock and then ended up on top in Denis's guard. Denis grabbed an omaplata attempt but Hoshino slipped out and then took Denis's guard again. Good round, I gave it to Denis 10-9 due to his striking and his submission attempts.

R2- Hoshino pulled guard on a guillotine choke early in the round and Denis tapped.

Winner: Yuji Hoshino by Submission (Guillotine) R2

Heavyweight Fight- Henry "Sentoryu" Miller (6-9) vs. Yoshihiro Nakao (8-2)

Miller is a former Sumo wrestler who has won 2 of his last 5 fights (one was ruled a no contest). Nakao has won 3 of his last 5 fights. Miller has Nakao out weighed by 23 pounds.

R1- Nakao hit a high left head kick but Miller fought it off and Miller threw some wild punches and ended up on his back. Nakao trapped him in a crucifix position and hit him with repeated punches to the head. Nakao went for an arm bar and then turned it into a kimura attempt but he couldn't quite lock it in and Miller escaped. Nakao with a borderline 10-8 round.

R2- Nakao got a take down one minute into the round. Nakao put Miller in the crucifix position again and pelted him with strikes to the head. The ref finally stepped in and stopped the fight.

Winner: Yoshihiro Nakao by TKO (Strikes) R2

Featherweight Fight- Marlon Sandro (15-1) vs. Tomonari Kanomata (15-4-5)

Kanomata is undefeated in his last 5 fights but two of them were draws. All of his last 5 fights have gone the distance. Sandro has won 4 of his last fights including wins over Nick Denis and Yuji Hoshino. His only loss was a controversial split decision loss to Michihiro Omigawa.

R1- Kanomata tried to push the pace early but he ate a left hook that stunned him and then Sandro threw a right uppercut that knocked Kanomata out. Dominant performance from Sandro. This one might have lasted 10 seconds. They took Kanomata out on a stretcher after this fight.

Winner: Marlon Sandro by KO (Punch) R1 0:09

Featherweight Fight- Maximo Blanco (4-2-1) vs. Armbar Kim (15-5)

They didn't say Kim's real name but said he was known as "ArmBar Kim" because he finished 8 of his 10 submission victories with Arm Bars. Kim is 5-0 in his last 5 fights. Blanco is 3-1-1 in his last 5 with the loss being a DQ due to an illegal soccer kick.

R1- Blanco caught Kim in the corner and knocked him out with a kick to the face and then landed a couple of punches on Kim's way down to the mat. Two straight big time knockouts.

Winner: Maximo Blanco by KO (Kick) R1

Welterweight Fight- Akihiro Gono (31-15-7) vs. Diego Gonzalez (13-3)

Gonzalez is on an 8 fight winning streak and went 3-0 in 2009. Gono is 2-3 in his last fights but those fights were against high level competition (1 win against Hayato Sakurai and 2 of the losses in the UFC to Jon Fitch and Dan Hardy). Gonzalez also has a loss to Dan Hardy on his record.

R1- The first round was all stand up. Gono landed more strikes but Gonzalez landed the better combos. This was a really close round.

R2- All stand up this round as well but this one has turned into a bit of a snoozer. Trigg has Gono 19-18 of far.

R3- Gono opened up a cut near Gonzalez's eye. Not a real exciting fight but Gono distanced himself as the fight continued and he will take this one via decision.

Winner: Akihiro Gono by Decision (Unanimous)

Sengoku Middleweight Title Fight- Jorge Santiago (c) (21-8) vs. Mamed Khalidov (20-3-1)

Khalidov is 4-0-1 in his last 5 fights including a TKO win over Jorge Santiago in his last fight on 11/7/2009. Santiago trains at American Top Team and is 4-1 in his last five fights with the only loss being to Khalidov. JZ Calvancante is in Santiago's corner for the fight. Khalidov's last loss was in 2005 and has only won decision victory in his 20 wins.

R1- Santiago clamped on an early guillotine but Mamed got out of the submission. Santiago ended the first round on top of Mamed and he took the first round 10-9. Frank Trigg agreed with me on the scoring.

R2- Santiago attempt a take down two minutes into the round but Mamed ended up in top position. Mamed landed a couple of shots from the top but nothing substantial. Santiago was able to get Mamed in a funky submission and then Mamed rolled out and both guys went back to their feet. Close round, probably went to Mamed due to the take down and his domination of ring position. I've got 19-19 after two rounds. Twinkle Toes has it scored 20-18 Santiago after two.

R3- Mamed got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Not much action until the one minute mark when Mamed started to throw some Ground and Pound strikes. I've got Mamed 29-28, Twinkle Toes has it Santiago 29-28.

R4- Santiago got a take down in the first minute of the round but Mamed reversed a submission into top position for himself but Santiago got back to his feet without taking any damage. Santiago landed a good combination and then landed some knees. Mamed got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Mamed landed some Ground and Pound near the end of the round. Really close round. I've got Mamed 39-37, Twinkle Toes has it 38-38.

R5- Santiago landed a good strike and then avoided a take down. Mamed looks really tired and Santiago is bringing it to him. Mamed goes to the mat looking for some rest and Santiago takes top position. Mamed was able to take top position but then ate an up kick. Mamed got cut open and the ref stopped the fight to look at the cut and they continued the fight. Santiago landed a good right towards the end of the fight and I've got him taking this round. Trigg says he could argue this fight for either fighter. I've got Mamed taking this fight 48-47 but I honestly don't think he did enough to win the title so I'd be satisfied with Santiago winning this one by decision. Not a great fight. All three judges gave the fight to Santiago 48-47.

Winner: Jorge Santiago by Decision (Unanimous)