TOKYO -- With the recent failure of Dream 6 to capture a desired television audience still fresh in the minds of many, attention now turns to Sengoku V. The event features the opening round of the promotion’s middleweight grand prix and the mixed martial arts debut of one of the world’s premier submission grapplers this Sunday at the Yoyogi National First Gymnasium.
The Shinjuku Sunroute Plaza Hotel played host to weigh-ins and the pre-fight press conference for Sengoku 5 on Saturday. All 16 competitors made weight successfully, though Jorge Masvidal and South Korean lightweight A Sol Kwon needed multiple attempts to do so.
Five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro will collide with professional wrestler Takashi Sugiura in the main event.
“It’s an honor for me to have my first MMA fight here in Japan, where all the greatest fighters of all time fought,” Ribeiro said. “I’m going to go [in] tomorrow and showcase everything that I’ve trained for and represent jiu-jitsu and Brazil.”
Sugiura (1-2) has not fought since he succumbed to stomps against Ryuta Noji at a Pancrase show in April 2006. He remained respectful throughout the press conference and revealed he would take part in a professional wrestling match on the eve of his bout with Ribeiro.
“My condition is OK as of now, but I [won’t] know until the end of the match tonight,” he said. “There are some people saying that I’m underestimating my opponent. However, that’s not true. My job is a pro wrestler. I have to work. I can’t miss my fight. I have a kid and family, and I have a mortgage. I have to take care of my family. Please forgive me for fighting a pro wrestling match tonight.”
With another BJJ all-star, Roger Gracie, having bowed out of Sengoku V with a reported rib injury, Muhammed “Mo” Lawal will step in to face Pride Fighting Championships and UFC veteran Travis Wiuff in a bout featuring one of the widest experience gaps in history. Lawal, a Pan Am gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, has never competed in a professional MMA contest; Wiuff (53-11), by contrast, has fought 64 times.
“I’m fighting another great athlete,” Wiuff said. “I don’t think the experience difference is really that big of a deal. He’s been competing but just in a little bit different form. Mo’s a great wrestler, outstanding athlete and trains with a great team.”
What Lawal lacks in experience he makes up for with confidence. He arrived at the press conference with a scantily clad, umbrella-toting assistant who turned heads.
“This is how I am,” he said. “I’m like this 24/7. I’m actually like that 25/8 -- 25 hours a day, eight days a week. I feel good, I look good, smell good, and I’ll probably be the same way after the fight, so let’s bang. I’m ready.”
The eight middleweight tournament participants were also on hand. They will vie for a shot at 2006 Pride welterweight grand prix champion Kazuo Misaki.
Looking to rebound from an unsuccessful tour in the UFC, Kazuhiro Nakamura will drop down from light heavyweight to face Golden Glory striker Paul Cahoon. The 29-year-old Nakamura (11-8) has not competed since he lost to Team Quest juggernaut Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at UFC 84 in May.
“I’ve been fighting in the 93-kilogram division, and most of those fighters in that division were bigger than me,” Nakamura said. “Meeting today with Paul Cahoon, I didn’t feel any physical pressure. I really don’t know why, but I’m really passionate about this fight. I have a lot of fire in me right now. I would like to show my heart and physical ability in the ring.”
A tournament favorite, American Top Team’s Jorge Santiago seemed more focused on his protein shakes than his opponent, World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Logan Clark. Having battled Misaki in a unanimous decision loss in June, Clark (11-2) had a bit of fun at Santiago’s expense.
“Mr. Santiago has a very nice tan,” Clark said. “It makes me feel sorry for being a pale-skinned Canadian. Look for us to kick the crap out of each other and have a good time doing it.”
The well-traveled Yuki Kondo earned his spot in the tournament with a fairly unimpressive TKO victory against journeyman Ryuji Ohori at a Pancrase show in August. Still, his opponent, Misaki teammate Yuki Sasaki, remains impressed and respects what Kondo (49-22-6) has accomplished in the sport.
“Watching his eyes at the weigh-in,” Sasaki said, “I felt his mental and physical strength and that he has been at the top of Pancrase for a long time.”
The Chute Boxe Academy’s Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos -- paired in the tournament with Shooto 183-pound champion Siyar Bahadurzada -- was already pointed towards the future.
“I will fight anybody; I will be the champion,” Santos said. “I really don’t have a special impression towards my opponent. I’m trying to get myself ready for tomorrow night.”
Bahadurzada (13-3-1) has won seven of his last eight fights and expects fireworks in his bout with Santos. He has not competed since he submitted to a Misaki guillotine choke at the Sengoku premiere in March.
“Two strikers, Cyborg and I … it’s going to be a vicious, vicious fight tomorrow night,” Bahadurzada said. “He is ready to fight, and I’m ready to fight. I think he saw the fire in my eyes. I'm here to fight, and he saw that.”
Sengoku V Weigh-In Results
Xande Ribeiro (204) vs. Takashi Sugiura (204)
Travis Wiuff (247) vs. Muhammed Lawal (221)
Yuki Kondo (183) vs. Yuki Sasaki (183)
Kazuhiro Nakamura (183) vs. Paul Cahoon (181)
Jorge Santiago (181) vs. Logan Clark (182)
Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (180) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (182)
Kiuma Kunioku (154) vs. A Sol Kwon (154)
Jorge Masvidal (154) vs. Ryan Schultz (154)
