Preview: Sengoku ‘Sixth Battle’

Sengoku Lightweight Tournament Series Semifinal
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka

Fans and pundits alike bemoan the fact that the UFC and Dream both have fantastic lightweight classes that are kept an ocean apart, without the ability to fight one another and give us the matchups we crave in arguably MMA's most exciting division. However, Sengoku's lightweight division is certainly much larger than just Takanori Gomi.

Both Kitaoka and Mitsuoka opened up their tournament bids in sizzling fashion in August. Kitaoka needed just 31 seconds to leg lock Matt Hughes’ homeboy Clay French. Mitsuoka, faced with arguably the toughest quarterfinal matchup against Brazilian stud Rodrigo Damm, exploded out of nowhere with an overhand right and a rear-naked choke to take an emphatic berth in the semifinals.

Because of his lights-out guillotine-and-leglock arsenal and positively puerile striking, Kitaoka is very much a boom-or-bust fighter who can destroy the likes of Carlos Condit and Kurt Pellegrino while looking putrid against the likes of Jason Palacios and Daizo Ishige. As for Mitsuoka, while many perhaps remember him for his raging embarrassment at the hands of Chris Brennan, the Wajyutsu product has improved massively over the last five years. He now owns some quality standup, a quick-and-deadly single-leg takedown, good top control and great ground-and-pound.

While Kitaoka's physical strength and crushing submission game are good enough to catch anyone, it's more likely that Mitsuoka will land early and often with punches from the outside, will be able to dirty box effectively in the clinch and will avoid Kitaoka's submission arsenal en route to a crafty, impressive decision, entrenching him as the finals favorite. Not bad at all for a guy who got tapped twice in less than five minutes.

Sengoku Lightweight Tournament Series Semifinal
Kazunori Yokota vs. Mizuto Hirota

Although the Kitaoka-Mitsuoka semifinal will produce the lightweight tournament's finale favorite, Kazunori Yokota and Mizuto Hirota would both make apropos dark horses.

Hirota, the 2005 Shooto 154-pound rookie champion, figured to be a tough but not too tough opponent for streaking IFL champ Ryan Schultz in August's lightweight tournament opening round. Instead, Hirota brutally dispatched the favored "Lion," racking up his fourth straight KO victory, which oddly enough coincides with Hirota's decision to begin actually taping his hands four fights ago (no, I'm not kidding). Unfortunately, Yokota, a former owner of Deep's lightweight crown, didn't exactly get to flex his game in an awkward, foul-filled fight against Slovenian Bojan Kosednar in August, although he did more than enough to pick up the unanimous decision.

Because both fighters have fairly similar fundamental styles, the second finalist will be determined by which of the two can impose on the other. Both excel with quick, short combinations on the feet and are fantastic with takedowns from the clinch. While Hirota is the power hitter at range, Yokota's judo background makes him the more dynamic thrower inside.

Hirota's new-found power since realizing hand wraps is generally a positive that cannot be ignored, and it's unlikely he'll be thrown by Yokota. His punching power and aggression should force Yokota onto the defensive repeatedly, which should earn him the golden ticket to the finals.

Sengoku Lightweight Tournament Series Reserve
Seung Hwan Bang vs. Jorge Masvidal

While some of the matchmaking on this card is worthy of critique, this fight is most certainly not.

Bang, Deep's former lightweight champ, is an underrated, relatively anonymous talent who is one of the better positive examples of WVR's inviting foreign policy. While he didn't thrill in his big-fight debut against Takanori Gomi in August, the South Korean slugger showed off his grit and gameness against one of the sport's most talented fighters in a close, competitive fight.

The hyper-rugged Masvidal, looking to atone from the incompetent stoppage that gave him a loss to Rodrigo Damm in June, ran roughshod over former IFL lightweight champ Ryan Schultz in September, impressively punching the corn-fed Team Quester out in just under two minutes.

Both Masvidal and Bang are great punchers with knockout power, and while Bang does prefer to fight on the counter, "Gamebred" should have no qualms about chasing him down to produce an entertaining scrap. The bout figures to come down to whether Masvidal can stay mistake-free, as his length, jab and developing kicking ability should allow him to accumulate volume, control distance and wear down Bang, so long as he can avoid a big counterpunch from the South Korean. Look for Masvidal to earn a fun, well-appointed decision. With this being Gamebred's third trip to Japan, hopefully the ardent strip club aficionado can navigate his way to one of Saitama's seedier establishments to celebrate.