TOKYO -- In an effort to curb stalemates and promote aggressiveness, World Victory Road employed “must decisions” in the event any of its fights were ruled as draws. The rules change proved controversial at Sengoku “Ninth Battle” on Sunday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Company director Takahiro Kokuho gave a brief explanation of the rule.
“The reason we made this ‘must’ rule system is because if a fighter believes he is winning by one or two points by the third round, he may try to fight a less aggressive fight,” he said. “With the must system, if the fight ends closely in a draw, the fighter deemed more aggressive will win the decision.”
Be that as it may, the system proved to be less than satisfactory for some of the “Ninth Battle” participants, including the previously unbeaten Marlon Sandro, who dropped a contentious split decision, via two “must” cards, to Michihiro Omigawa in the featherweight grand prix semi-finals.
“I don’t believe the decision was right; it was unjust,” Sandro said. “I think anyone who watched the fight knows who really won. I trained hard for this fight, and if I knew the decision would go that way, I’d have never come to Japan. All of my fans, all of Omigawa’s fans and all MMA fans know who the true winner of the fight is.”
When one of the Japanese media intimated that Sandro acknowledged Omigawa’s victory by raising his hand after the fight, the Brazilian disagreed.
“I did that just as a professional fighter,” Sandro said. “I didn’t feel he won, but I wanted to congratulate him for a good fight. This decision isn’t his fault. I think he fought a good fight, but I just can’t bear the judges’ decision.”
Sandro was not the only voice of post-fight dissent. While Kazuyuki Fujita at first remained reticent and reserved regarding his decision loss to Blagoi Ivanov, his anger eventually broke through, leading him to lash out at the promotion.
“Well, the match is over. The results are the results. Nothing can change what has been done. A decision is a decision. It’s out of my hands,” Fujita said. “There’s a lot of things I want to say, but the results won’t change, so there’s nothing I will say. This is the reality. This is Sengoku, right?”
Fujita’s cornerman, the veteran Marco Ruas, also chimed in with his disappointment.
“I don’t understand why [the decision went for] the other guy,” he said. “For me, Fujita won. I think Fujita showed more heart, controlled the fight, took it down to the ground and attacked more. I don’t think he lost, and that’s my opinion.”
Kitaoka Tries to Bury Hatchet
Despite engaging in a fierce war of words before their lightweight title fight at “Ninth Battle,” former Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka looked to bury the hatchet with newly minted titleholder Mizuto Hirota.
“There was some trash talking, but I don’t hold any grudges or anything,” Kitaoka said through swollen lips. “If we’d met under different circumstances, I’d have thought he was cool. I can say this now because I’ve lost.”
Kitaoka, clad in sunglasses, claimed he felt the banter was a natural component to promoting the fight.
“I don’t regret any of what I said,” he said. “I hope people had fun with our exchanging words.”
Kitaoka’s pre-fight barbs seemed to remain with the new champion, however. When asked what he thought of the fight now that it and the banter were finally over, Hirota replied sternly: “Don’t diss a man from Kyushu.”
A humbled Kitaoka listed a number of factors that contributed to his downfall as evidence he did not take the fight seriously enough.
“I think I was disrespecting the fight, thinking that I would take him down and submit him easily when, in reality, it wasn’t easy at all,” Kitaoka said. “I was running out of gas, and anyone watching would’ve noticed that. Going for submissions, you lose stamina, and that’s just part of fighting. After I ran out of gas, I was getting hit a lot. But with the punches I was taking, they weren’t painful or devastating one-shot kills, but they sapped me of strength.”
Though not as forgiving of the pre-fight trash talk, Hirota remained complimentary of Kitaoka’s abilities in the ring.
“He was a lot stronger than expected,” he said. “I figured that if I could hold on, though, he would tire because when he was grappling with me, I could hear him breathing heavy. I was hoping to take him out earlier, but I got tired, too, so the fight lasted longer than expected.”
While Hirota looks forward to bringing his new belt back to his hometown of Nagasaki, Japan, for the Bon Festival in mid August, his future beyond that remains up in the air. Hirota welcomes anyone put in front of him, but Kokuho indicated that Eiji Mitsuoka may indeed be next in line.
“Mitsuoka and I haven’t fought yet, so I’d like to give it a try,” Hirota said. “I’m not the strongest fighter I could be. I think I would like to get a little bigger to become a proper [lightweight] champion.”
An Unlikely Champion
Fans were not the only ones surprised with Masanori Kanehara’s improbable run to the Sengoku featherweight championship. Kanehara himself had trouble coming to grips with the fact that he had gone the distance twice at the event.
“To tell you the truth, it doesn’t even feel like I fought today,” he said. “From my fight with [Hatsu] Hioki, during the break between rounds, I was asking my cornermen if I was really fighting. It all felt like a dream to me. I’m not really sure. Nothing seems real.”
Kanehara lost a decision to Hioki in the semi-finals but was brought back into the competition when the man who defeated him was deemed unfit to continue.
“Early in the Hioki match, I got hit with a right straight, and it sent me flying through the ropes,” Kanehara said. “Since that right, I lost my memory of the fight. I can’t really remember anything after that. I got hit by that right, then I was on the ground and then I was back in my changing room. Apparently, I was really out of it. I fought on basic instinct and what my body remembered from training. My body just fought for me, so that’s why it doesn’t feel like I’ve actually fought.”
The ZST product acknowledged that he was soundly defeated by Hioki and owed his success to a little bit of luck.
“Out of the 16 people that entered this tournament, I don’t feel that I am the strongest,” Kanehara said. “I know that it was mostly luck that allowed me to be champion today. I wasn’t the strongest. I already lost today. While I’m not the strongest now, I can train and become stronger. From now on, I’m going to try and become a true champion.”
Hioki Talks Doctor’s Decision
Though he was not, as previously reported, taken to the hospital after his semi-final victory against Kanehara, Hioki spoke about his removal from the tournament.
“I felt a loss of strength, and my head felt very woozy,” Hioki said. “I didn’t make the decision. I intended to rest as much as I could and recover enough to fight, but the doctor said that I was in no condition to do so.”
The rising featherweight ace admitted he felt better physically but was no less harsh on himself.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I really wanted to win, and I let down the fans who supported me, my teammates and the staff who prepared this tournament. All I can say is that I’m very sorry that I could not fight in the final. I’ve never felt like this after a fight. It’s a tournament, and I feel like I lost to myself.”
Hioki speculated that overexertion might be to blame for his condition after the Kanehara fight.
“I think I just tried too hard during the first time I attempted the triangle,” he said. “I just used more strength than I had and burned up my stamina. I wasn’t patient enough and tried to end the match there and think I wasted too much energy.”
Hioki congratulated Kanehara on winning the tournament. Though there was no timetable for his return, he indicated he planned to come back as soon as possible against anyone Sengoku deemed fit.
“I’m feeling much better than last night, getting better bit by bit,” he said. “I haven’t been to the hospital yet, but the official doctor at the event told me that this condition wasn’t that serious, and that I’ll eventually be fine. I really wanted to fight in the final, but the doctor said that I would not be able to recover in time. That was the reason why I couldn’t fight.”
Hornbuckle ‘The Handler,’ Not ‘The Footler’
When asked by the Japanese press whether or not the high kick he used to knock out Akihiro Gono was his “special finishing move,” Dan Hornbuckle showed off his comedic side.
“I’m ‘The Handler,’ not ‘The Footler,’” he said. “It’s something that I do train in muay Thai, but it’s not something I specialize in.”
Hornbuckle surprised himself when he floored Gono, citing the Pride and UFC veteran’s long history of durability.
“Right after he fell down, I was surprised that [the kick] did knock him out because I’ve seen him take hard shots and fight everybody,” Hornbuckle said. “He’s been fighting for almost 15 years and has fought almost everybody there is that’s a big name. He’s taken shots and has gone to decisions multiple, multiple [times]. So as soon as I finished him, one, I was surprised of my ability, and also, two, that it happened with the head kick in that fashion.”
According to Kokuho, Hornbuckle put himself in line for a welterweight title shot sometime after the New Year’s Eve event, provided he gets through one more fight this year.
Misaki: No Immediate Plans
Still haunted by the shame of his recent guilty plea, Kazuo Misaki refused to comment in the ring and did not answer questions after he choked out Kazuhiro Nakamura in the first round of their middleweight contender bout.
Instead, he read a prepared statement to the press.
“Regarding my pre-fight circumstances, I would like to apologize to Kaz Nakamura for getting him involved and would like to thank him for accepting the fight regardless,” he said. “I would like to offer apologies to the fans, as well. I have been suspended, so I have no immediate plans, and I have no idea what is in store for me. I shall abide by my punishment and will wait and see.”
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