Izumi Falls at Sengoku 10

Unlike other judo stars that Japanese promotions have fed to big names in order to maximize interest, 2004 Olympic silver medalist Hiroshi Izumi was handed Antz Nansen -- a New Zealand kickboxer with zero MMA fights -- as his first test. Despite the more careful matchmaking, the results were still pretty disastrous for a promotion that is, to a significant degree, built around promoting judokas in the MMA ring.

Izumi, 27, closed the distance only once with the 14-1-1 kickboxer in the main event of Sengoku “Tenth Battle” on Sept. 23 at the Saitama Community Arena. Izumi paid dearly midway through the first round, as Nansen landed a right hook that dropped him and sent him scrambling for a leg, only to have his bell rung again later with looping shots. The bloodied judoka looked to the referee, seemingly for an out, as Nansen closed in with a left hook-right straight combination to put him away.

Despite the outcome, the promotion, owned in part by 1992 judo medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, remains still very much judo-oriented going into its biggest show to date on New Year’s Eve. The promotion announced the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo as the venue for the Dec. 31 battle of Olympic judo medalists Satoshi Ishii and Yoshida -- the biggest marquee Sengoku fight to date. The fight is so significant that the promotion will use it to unveil a new name for the promotion: Sengoku Raiden Championship, incorporating the name of the mythological Japanese god of Thunder and Lightning. Nansen called out Ishii following his win over Izumi.

Elsewhere at “Tenth Battle,” Makoto Takimoto, a judo gold medalist, took a majority decision over Jae Sun Lee of Korea. Lee’s judo instructor was the man Takimoto defeated to win gold in the 2000 Olympics.

A pair of American-based fighters, Antonio Silva and Dan Hornbuckle, put themselves firmly into title contention with victories.

Silva took down slugger Jim York and submitted him easily with an arm-triangle in the first round. The American Top Team heavyweight told Sherdog.com he has been getting offers to fight stateside since his suspension for a failed steroid test expired in July and that his Sengoku deal allowed him to compete outside Japan. Silva said in post-fight remarks that he was eyeing a fight against Josh Barnett to crown a Sengoku heavyweight champion.

Coming off a “Knockout out of the Year” candidate against Akihiro Gono, Illinois-based Dan Hornbuckle notched an equally impressive victory over grizzled veteran Nick Thompson via second-round TKO. The battle was tagged as “The American Dream in Japan.” Hornbuckle showed no hesitation in going to the ground with the superior submission grappler in the first round and came on strong with strikes in the closing minute of the frame. Hornbuckle opened a cut below Thompson’s right eyebrow in the second and then closed the deal with a straight left-right hook combination that put Thompson against the ropes, opening “The Goat” to a fight-ending flurry of strikes.

In a fight that could position the first challenger for lightweight champion Mizuto Hirota, Kazunori Yokota starched former International Fight League titlist Ryan Schultz, who has been given the nickname “Power Crush” in Japan. Yokota caught the Team Quest veteran with a hard overhand right that sent him sprawling to the canvas in the first round. It was the third straight knockout Schultz has suffered in the Sengoku ring. He was hospitalized afterward but cleared with no serious injuries. Yokota said post-fight he would have to beat Eiji Mitsuoka before he was ready for a title shot.

Also picking up wins at Sengoku 10 were Maximo Blanco (second-round TKO over Tetsuya Yamada), Joe Doerksen (second-round TKO over Takenori Sato) and Fabio Silva (round one TKO over Ryo Kawamura).