Two Lightweight Bouts Announced for Next 'Sengoku'

World Victory Road has announced the first two bouts for its second Sengoku card, scheduled for May 18 at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo.

In a pair of 154-pound bouts, Pancrase standout Satoru Kitaoka (Pictures) will take on Australian Ian James Schaffa (Pictures), while Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures) will take on South Korean dynamo "Crazy" Kwang Hee Lee.

Kitaoka has spent nearly his entire career competing as a welterweight in Pancrase, having defeated notables such as Carlos Condit (Pictures), Paul Daley (Pictures) and Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures) among others. After dropping a close decision loss to Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) for the welterweight King of Pancrase title in January, the bout with Schaffa will mark Kitaoka's lightweight debut.

The Australian veteran Schaffa, who has competed regularly in both boxing and kickboxing venues, hasn't seen MMA action since losing an unceremonious cut stoppage to Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures) in October 2006.

The winner of five of his last six bouts, Mitsuoka was bounced from last year's GCM Cage Force lightweight tournament after losing a razor-thin split decision to Kotetsu Boku (Pictures) in September. However, Mitsuoka rebounded two months later, notching the biggest win over his pro career when he upset the highly-regarded Joachim Hansen (Pictures) by majority decision.

The 21-year-old Lee is the reigning 154-pound champion of Spirit MC, South Korea's premiere MMA promotion. The undefeated free-swinger, who has stopped all of his opponents as a pro, added to his umblemished record in January, smashing Kyeong Ho Kang (Pictures) in the first round.

Also scheduled for action on the card are Roger Gracie (Pictures), Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures) and Yuki Sasaki (Pictures). Sherdog.com reported earlier this month that Gracie will be featured in the card's main event.