MMA Rated recently conducted an interview with Scott Coker, the CEO of Strikeforce, regarding what’s ahead for the promotion. Coker had some very interesting things to say in the interview. Here are some highlights:
* There have been preliminary talks between Strikeforce and NBC to air a live event sometime in the future
* The next Strikeforce […]
(Kazuo Misaki cracks Logan Clark a good one. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
Far less publicized or attended than their first two cards, Sengoku held its third event yesterday at a half-full Saitama Super Arena, marked by former PRIDE star Kazuyuki Fujita’s upset by YAMMA heavyweight champ Travis Wiuff (who is now riding a nine-fight win streak), as well as Kazuo Misaki and Nick “The Goat” Thompson coming away with victories, and MMA elder statesman Maurice Smith’s comeback bid hitting a painful speed bump at the hands of Hidehiko Yoshida. Full recap is at Japan MMA; quick results are below.
Hidehiko Yoshida def. Maurice Smith via submission (neck crank), 2:23 of round 1
Travis Wiuff def. Kazuyuki Fujita via KO, 1:24 of round 1
Kazuo Misaki def. Logan Clark via unanimous decision
Nick Thompson def. Michael Costa via submission (kimura), 4:13 of round 2
Sanae Kikuta def. Chris Rice via submission (armbar), 3:54 of round 1
Marcio Cruz def. Choi Mu Bae via submission (triangle choke), 4:37 of round 1
Rodrigo Damm def. Jorge Masvidal via TKO, 4:38 of round 2
Fabio Silva def. Kazuo Takahashi via KO, 0:24 of round 2
At the event, it was announced that Sengoku IV (August 24th) will mark the beginning of a lightweight GP, with the winner to face Takanori Gomi. Satoru Kitaoka, Eiji Mitsuoka, Kazunori Yokota, Duane Ludwig, and Rodrigo Damm have already been booked for the tourney.
— Evan Tanner announced that he’ll be returning to the Octagon this summer, but hasn’t revealed the date or his opponent yet. Tanner was most recently knocked out by Yushin Okami at UFC 82, but then defeated the urge to drink that came immediately afterward.
— Pancrase/PRIDE vet Kazuo “Grabaka Hitman” Misaki signed a two-fight deal with the San Jose-based Strikeforce organization; his first fight is expected to happen this summer. Since he’ll be fighting as a middleweight, Misaki could potentially face Frank Shamrock, Cung Le, or Joe Riggs. Misaki’s last two fights ended in a guillotine choke victory over Shooto champ Siyar Bahadurzada at Sengoku 1 (3/5/08), and a soccer-kick KO victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at Yarennoka! (12/31/07) that was later ruled a no contest.
— Tito Ortiz sent Takanori Gomi a bunch of garbage in honor of his victory at Sengoku 1. Also, Rumina Sato just became a father.
— Dan Severn won his 106th match on March 9th, against Colin Robinson. JarryPark has an audio interview with the living legend about his “Kiss My Ass” retirement tour, YAMMA Pit Fighting, and his MMA legacy.
— Seven participating fighters in DREAM’s upcoming middleweight grand prix were announced on Saturday, including Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Ikuhisa “The Manboob Hunter” Minowa. Kiyoshi Tamura and Denis Kang are on the event poster, so they’ll likely be fighting as well. The first round of the DREAM middleweight tourney goes down April 29th at the Saitama Super Arena.
Kazuo “Grabaka Hitman” Misaki (19-8-2) has reached a two-fight deal with Strikeforce.
Mike Afromowitz — Strikeforce Vice President — confirmed the signing on Saturday and said Misaki’s promotional debut would likely take place sometime this summer.
Misaki has eight career fights under the Pride FC banner. He’s battle tested against the likes of Dan Henderson (win), Denis Kang (win), Nate Marquardt (loss), Ed Herman (win), Phil Baroni (win), Jake Shields (draw), Paulo Filho (loss), Frank Trigg (loss), Ricardo Almeida (loss) and others.
He signs on with Strikeforce and joins a division that has a headlining title fight in two weeks between Frank Shamrock and Cung Le. Misaki is a legitimate threat to whoever wins that title in San Jose, and he’ll be looking for a title shot sooner rather than later.
With his credentials he shouldn’t have to wait long.
After a war last night between Phil Baroni and Kala Kolohe Hose, and the big fight coming up in two weeks, and now this signing, Strikeforce and ProElite combined have some very solid middleweight talent. And that’s a bit strange since the 185-pound class has always been sort of a weak division in the UFC (excluding the champ of course).
Maybe it all makes sense.
If I were a free agent middleweight fighter looking for a place to fight, I’d have to consider other organizations besides the UFC. I mean with Anderson Silva dominating the way he is, it sure seems like it would be a lot easier for some of those guys to try and win a title elsewhere like Strikeforce or EliteXC.
We’ve already seen Scott Smith move over. And with 32 middlweight fighters on the upcoming season of TUF, the UFC is going to put a lot into marketing some of those guys. That could leave some of the vets looking to get their piece of the spotlight elsewhere.
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham — Their pre-fight-beef gets squashed quickly in the ring as Fujita takes Graham down and chokes him out in 83 seconds.
Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos vs. Makoto Takimoto — ‘Borg comes out swinging in his usual style, but is even more dominant on the ground and gets the better of Takimoto in a heel-hook war.
Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada — Bahadurzada dishonors his Shooto belt by succumbing to a guillotine choke in the second round.
The Shooto light-heavyweight champ will be facing off against Kazuo Misaki at tomorrow’s Sengoku event in Tokyo. Bahadurzada has sick knockout power and an interesting personal history, so watch the vid and be informed.
