Bouts Announced for Sengoku ‘Eleventh Battle’

Neither bout was much of a secret, but World Victory Road added two matchups to Sengoku “Eleventh Battle” on Nov. 7 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

Sengoku’s parent company on Friday announced a non-title bout between middleweight champion Jorge Santiago and Chechnyan-Polish prospect Mamed Khalidov, along with a light heavyweight contest between unbeaten Bulgarian Stanislav Nedkov and former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman.

MMAJunkie.com was first to report the Randleman-Nedkov clash, while MMARocks.pl was first to reveal the Santiago-Khalidov showdown.

A consensus top-10 middleweight, Santiago has remained unbeaten for nearly three years, going 9-0 with nine stoppages in that span. However, he has been inactive since capturing the vacant Sengoku middleweight crown in January. He was scheduled to face fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort at Affliction’s ill-fated “Trilogy” card in August, but the event and the promotion’s untimely dissolution left the American Top Team representative in the lurch.

The 29-year-old Khalidov has an impressive unbeaten streak of his own, having not tasted defeat in 17 fights over a four-year span. In that time, he has seen the scorecards just once -- in his September 2008 draw with standout Spaniard Daniel Tabera. The cornerstone of Poland’s burgeoning MMA scene, Khalidov notched his most impressive victory in his last outing in May, when he demolished Pride Fighting Championships veteran Daniel Acacio in just 70 seconds.

The bout will not be for Santiago’s promotional title and thus will be contested over three five-minute rounds. It was originally anticipated the event would see Santiago defend his Sengoku crown for the first time against a Japanese foe. However, the scarcity of potential challengers -- especially given that deserved foe Kazuo Misaki is currently being “punished” for an indefinite period of time by the promotion for his legal indiscretions earlier this year -- led World Victory Road to opt for a non-title matchup instead.

Nedkov won his Sengoku debut in May, punching out sturdy veteran Travis Wiuff in the third frame. However, the foul-filled bout was not without controversy, as the Bulgarian teetered on disqualification for repeatedly kneeing Wiuff in the groin.

Randleman has posted just a 1-2 mark over an injury-plagued four years. “The Monster” is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mike Whitehead under the Strikeforce banner in June.

Sengoku: Eleventh Battle
Saturday, Nov. 7
Ryogoku Kokugikan
Tokyo

Hatsu Hioki vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Kazunori Yokota vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Jorge Santiago vs. Mamed Khalidov
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Jorge Masvidal
Dave Herman vs. Jim York
Kevin Randleman vs. Stanislav Nedkov
Marlon Sandro vs. Yuji Hoshino