With its debut card now in the books, Sengoku parent company World Victory Road has announced the early designs for its second show, scheduled for May 18 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo.
The card will include grappling superstar
Roger Gracie (Pictures),
Satoru Kitaoka (Pictures),
Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures) and
Yuki Sasaki (Pictures).
The participation of Gracie, one of the top BJJ and no-gi grapplers in the world, was officially announced earlier this month. Sherdog.com has also confirmed that Gracie's bout will be the main event of the May 18 show and that WVR is looking for a well-known Japanese star to face him.
Early consideration has been given to
Naoya Ogawa (Pictures) as Gracie's potential opponent. However, the source indicated that Ogawa has stated he would like more time to prepare for a return to MMA.
Kitaoka has spent nearly his entire career competing as a welterweight in Pancrase, where he has defeated the likes of
Carlos Condit (Pictures),
Paul Daley (Pictures) and
Kurt Pellegrino (Pictures). Coming off a razor-thin decision loss to
Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) for the welterweight King of Pancrase title in January, Kitaoka will make his debut in the lightweight division at Sengoku.
Sherdog.com has also learned that WVR is negotiating to sign lightweight prospect
Kazunori Yokota (Pictures) to compete at the May 18 event. However, Yokota's ties to Deep, where he reigns as lightweight champion, as well as interest from Fight Entertainment Group and Dream have complicated negotiations.