15 Fights Official for ‘Soul of Fight’

Bellator Fighting Championships veteran Dan Hornbuckle (Pictured) will lock horns with Pride Fighting Championships and UFC alum Ryo Chonan in a welterweight matchup at Sengoku Raiden Championship “Soul of Fight” on Dec. 30 at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. Fifteen fights have been booked for the promotion’s year-end event.

Hornbuckle has posted 20 wins in his last 22 appearances. A finalist in the 2010 Bellator welterweight tournament, the 29-year-old American Top Team rep last appeared at Bellator 25 in August, when he defeated UFC exile Brad Blackburn by unanimous decision at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago. Hornbuckle rose to international prominence in 2009 after he knocked out Akihiro Gono and Nick Thompson in consecutive bouts. A potent finisher, he has secured 20 of his 22 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

The well-traveled Chonan has rattled off three wins in four fights. The 34-year-old owns notable victories over Japanese ace Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton, Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts rep Joey Villasenor and reigning UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva. In fact, his flying scissor heel hook submission against Silva at Pride Shockwave 2004 remains a staple of many a highlight reel. Chonan has not fought since he stopped Jun Hee Moon on third-round punches at Deep 50 Impact in October.

Meanwhile, Japanese MMA pioneer Megumi Fujii will square off with Valkyrie alum Emi Fujino in a pivotal women’s matchup.

Fujii has not competed since her 22-fight winning streak was halted in a split decision defeat to Zoila Frausto two months ago in the 2010 Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament final. A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the 36-year-old has trained under Shooto veteran Hiroyuki Abe and one-time UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett. Fujii has delivered 18 of his 22 career victories by submission.

In 13 professional appearances, Fujino has never been finished. The 30-year-old has lost four of her past five fights but needed just 24 seconds to submit Anna Saito with a first-round rear-naked choke at Valkyrie 8 on Nov. 28.

A high-stakes showdown pairing featherweight champion Marlon Sandro with the world-ranked Hatsu Hioki will headline “Soul of Fight,” which will also feature the 2010 SRC welterweight grand prix final between Yasubey Enomoto and Keita Nakamura.

Sengoku Raiden Championship “Soul of Fight”
Friday, Dec. 30
Ariake Coliseum
Tokyo

SRC Featherweight Championship
Marlon Sandro vs. Hatsu Hioki

2010 SRC Welterweight Grand Prix Final
Yasubey Enomoto vs. Keita Nakamura

2010 SRC Asia Bantamweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals
Taiyo Nakahara vs. Akitoshi Tamura
Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu

Kazuo Misaki vs. Mike Seal
Masanori Kanehara vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Maximo Blanco vs. Won Sik Park
Ryo Chonan vs. Dan Hornbuckle
Mamed Khalidov vs. Yuki Sasaki
Jadamba Narantungalag vs. Kazunori Yokota
Dave Herman vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Megumi Fujii vs. Emi Fujino
Mika Harigai vs. Rin Nakai
Hitomi Akano vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Amy Davis vs. Misaki Takimoto