TOKYO -- Sergey Golyaev tried to throw a wrinkle into World Victory Road’s plans to have the winner of its lightweight grand prix face Takanori Gomi for the vacant lightweight championship.

Despite Golyaev’s split decision victory over Gomi at Sengoku “Sixth Battle” on Saturday, the promotion plans to move forward with a Satoru Kitaoka-Gomi title fight on Jan. 4.

Kitaoka (23-8-9) -- who defeated Eiji Mitsuoka and Kazunori Yokota to win the grand prix -- was asked during a post-fight press conference at Hotel East 21 if he had any desire to challenge the man who bested Gomi. The 28-year-old Pancrase mainstay indicated he had no interest in a potential matchup with Golyaev, expressing disdain for both the Russian and Gomi.

“I have no need to fight that Russian fighter,” Kitaoka said. “If it was me in there tonight, I would have crushed that Russian in seconds. I had a tougher time than Gomi -- my two fights tonight and my training for them -- so that’s why I said what I said [when I challenged Gomi in the ring]. Anyone have a problem with that?”

A fighter who never needed to cut weight to fight in Pancrase, Kitaoka revealed that he had to shed more than 30 pounds in order to participate in the grand prix.

“I do believe that this weight class is comfortable for me,” Kitaoka said. “I don’t typically like to show just how hard I train, but from August to October, I had the hardest training of my life.”

Kitaoka’s comments regarding his semi-final opponent, Mitsuoka (14-6-2), were less provocative than those he directed at Gomi.

“Mitsuoka was tough,” Kitaoka said. “He was able to sprawl on my takedown initially, and I felt that it gave him confidence, but I was able to feel out the rest of his abilities and end the fight. If I were to fight him 10 times, I would probably win two or three times, because I think he’s that strong. Still, those two or three times would be impressive showings for me.”

Gomi, WVR officials accept decision

Despite online backlash from Gomi’s split-decision loss to Golyaev, World Victory Road officials accepted the decision, as did Gomi, during the post-fight press conference.

“Some people complained about the result, but Gomi himself did not complain or protest to us about it,” said Public Relations Director Takahiro Kokuho. “I believe that we judge everyone fairly, no matter what country they are from.”

The defeat was Gomi’s first official loss since he was choked out by American Top Team’s Marcus Aurelio at Pride “Bushido 10” in April 2006.

“I clearly took damage, so there’s no way around it,” Gomi said. “There’s nothing that I could have done, was there?”

Kokuho admitted most within the promotion were surprised by the outcome, though he credited Golyaev (11-6) for his efforts against the world’s fourth-ranked lightweight.

“Even though it was assumed that Gomi had the advantage over Golyaev in this fight, he lost,” Kokuho said. “I think Golyaev showed us just how strong Russian fighters are.”

During the match, Gomi (29-4) collapsed awkwardly after eating a Golyaev left hook, prompting a quick inspection of his right knee by the ringside doctor between the second and third rounds. The 30-year-old did not appear to be seriously injured after the fight.

“The doctor says I’m OK, and I feel fine,” Gomi said. “I think it’s alright.”

Though Gomi may not have damaged his knee during the fight, he did suffer a knee injury prior to the match, according to Kokuho. Still, Kokuho does not believe it factored into Gomi’s performance.

“I spoke to Gomi last night, and he said that Golyaev was a hard puncher,” he said. “Gomi had injured his knee before the fight, but it was not a factor in last night’s bout.”

Santiago: ‘Where’s Misaki?’

Tournament titles are nothing new to Jorge Santiago, who defeated Kazuhiro Nakamura and Siyar Bahadurzada to win the Sengoku middleweight grand prix on Saturday. The American Top Team product won a Strikeforce tournament in November 2007.

“It feels like tournaments are my curse,” Santiago said. “I’m doing pretty good, though, so I think I’m going to have to stick to them for now. I like the challenge.”

Santiago (20-7) proved curse-proof at “Sixth Battle,” as his ability to stick to his gameplan netted him a spectacular technical knockout win over Nakamura in the final.

“I’m starting to feel like Japan is my second home,” Santiago said. “I felt so comfortable. I thought I was in my gym just training. Everything was the same way we expected. We had a gameplan, and we stuck with it. After he punched, [I was supposed to hit him with a] one-two, and in the third round, we got it. I saw he got tired, and I thought, ‘Now I have to knock him out,’ so I put all I had into the third round.”

Nakamura (13-9) went to the hospital afterward.

“We found no brain damage,” Kokuho said. “However, Nakamura remains in the hospital with a fractured jaw.”

Up next for Santiago is a championship bout with the highly regarded Kazuo Misaki on Sengoku’s Jan. 4 card. Santiago has anticipated the opportunity for some time now.

“I’ve been waiting for Misaki a long time,” he said. “I fought here against [Yuki]Sasaki the first time and made my way up. I fought twice today and thought I was gonna have a belt, but I didn’t get it -- I have to fight again. How long do I have to fight to get the belt? I beat everybody. Come on. Where’s Misaki?”

Lawal humble after victory

Blue-chip Team Quest prospect Muhammed Lawal was also victorious at the Sengoku event and, despite his in-ring theatrics, was refreshingly humble after his TKO win over Fabio Silva.

“It was a tough fight, and Fabio Silva is a great opponent and can take a great deal of punishment,” Lawal said. “I’m gonna go back to the gym, continue to train, improve and, whenever Sengoku calls, I’ll be ready to fight. Hopefully, it’s New Year’s, but we’ll see.”

When asked if he had a preference for who he might want to face next, the budding mixed martial artist left speculation to the media and fans.

“Right now, I’m not in a position to call out anybody. I’m only 2-0; that’s really nothing,” Lawal said. “You compare me to people like Gomi and [Antonio Rogerio] Nogueira … they’re impressive because they fight a lot more and they have the respect, so they can call out whoever they want. But for me, I’m still trying to become somebody like the rest of the fighters on this card.”