From today’s Sengoku show at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan…

Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Yuki Sasaki def. Yuki Kondo via submission (rear-naked choke), round 2
Siyar Bahadurzada def. Evangelista Santos via TKO (injury), round 1
Jorge Santiago def. Logan Clark via submission (arm triangle choke), round 1
Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Paul Cahoon via unanimous decision

Lightweights:
Jorge Masvidal def. Ryan Schultz via TKO, round 1
Kiuma Kunioku def. Sol Kwon via unanimous decision

Heavyweights:
Muhammed Lawal def. Travis Wiuff via TKO, round 1

Light-Heavyweights:
Xande Ribeiro def. Takashi Sugiura via TKO, round 3

In other weekend fight news…

– Phil Baroni scored his third-straight win as a welterweight on Friday with his unanimous decision victory over WEC vet Olaf Alfonso at Palace Fighting Championships 10 in Lemoore, California. Baroni later apologized for his performance, saying he couldn’t find his rhythm in the fight.

– Jeff Monson choked out MMA cautionary tale Mark Kerr in the first round of their bout at Don King Productions’ debut Vengeance FC card, held last night in Concord, North Carolina. It was Kerr’s ninth loss in his last 11 fights.

- Rashad Evans can’t even escape Chuck Liddell at the movies. (Yahoo! Sports)

- Talking Shamrock, Kimbo, Noons and more on the radio. (MMA Rated)

- “The Secret” explained, in a manner of speaking. (Fightlinker)

- Ryan Schultz to get another shot at Sengoku 5. (MMA Mania)

- Thiago Alves has a lesson he wants to teach Diego Sanchez. (Tatame)

- Dana White promises UFC will be bigger than NFL and World Cup, then discusses a near-death experience. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

- “Day of Reckoning” official website. (Affliction)

- UFC in talks with CBS to supplant Elite XC? (Fightline)

- Sammy Hagar rocks great moments in history. (Holy Taco)

- Tough beer choices this Labor Day weekend. (Wall Street Fighter)

- Eight awesome movie prisoners. (Screen Junkies)

Sengoku’s “Fourth Battle” went down today in Saitama, Japan, featuring the long-awaited returns of Takanori Gomi and Frank Trigg, and the first round of their lightweight grand prix. In a non-tourney main event bout, Gomi faced 5-1 Korean DEEP vet Seung Hwan Bang — who should have been steamrolled by the legendary “Fireball Kid” — but Bang hung in for all three rounds. Eventually, Gomi’s accurate striking and control of the fight’s pace convinced the judges to unanimously give him the win. Trigg’s opponent was Makoto Takimoto, a judoka and PRIDE vet who came into the fight with a 4-4 MMA record, and as with Gomi, the fight was a little more difficult than it should have been. Trigg dominated the standup and inflicted major damage from top positions on the ground, but Takimoto nearly caught Twinkle Toes in a kimura in the second round, and spent a lot of the third on top; still, it wasn’t enough to prevent the judges from giving Trigg the decision after the fight went the distance.

The first round of Sengoku’s lightweight tournament held some surprises as three big names were unceremoniously bounced out of the competition. The HIT Squad’s Clay French was tapped in 31 seconds via achilles lock by former Pancrase mainstay Satoru Kitaoka, and jiu-jitsu ace Rodrigo Damm also suffered a first-round submission at the hands of Eiji Mitsuoka. Former IFL lightweight champ Ryan Schultz, who was the biggest favorite to win his first GP match, got his lights put out by a superman-punch from Cage Force champ Mizuto Hirota in the second round of their fight. Full results after the jump; videos to come.

Main Event Bouts:
Takanori Gomi def. Seung Hwan Bang via unanimous decision
Frank Trigg def. Makoto Takimoto via unanimous decision

Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round:
Mizuto Hirota def. Ryan Schultz via KO (superman punch), 4:25 of round 2
Kazunori Yokata def. Bojan Kosednar via unanimous decision
Eiji Mitsuoka def. Rodrigo Damm via submission (rear naked choke), 3:13 of round 1
Satoru Kitaoka def. Clay French via submission (achilles lock), 0:31 of round 1

Undercard:
Valentijn Overeem def. Yoshihiki Takahashi via KO (flying knee), 2:42 of round 1
Moise Rimbon def. Peter Graham via submission (rear naked choke), 0:42 of round 2
Yang Dong Yi def. Pawel Nastula via TKO, 2:15 of round 2

Earlier today lightweight prospect Chris Horodecki shot down the rumor that he will soon be fighting Takanori Gomi in Sengoku, though he remarked that he would certainly accept the bout if offered to him.

The internet has been abuzz with the news since MMA Weekly listed the Gomi-Horodecki bout in their rumors section regarding the August 24 Sengoku offering, though it still seems a long way from official at this point.

When reached for comment earlier today, Horodecki told Cage Potato that there have been no real discussions regarding a fight with Gomi. Horodecki said he’s still waiting for a fight, and would welcome the chance to take on a top ten lightweight like Gomi.

“Of course I’d fight him,” said Horodecki. “Why wouldn’t I?”

If the bout is eventually signed, the timing would likely work out well since Horodecki was previously preparing to fight on the IFL’s August event prior to its cancellation.

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.

In other MMA news from the Far East…

(more…)

(Babyface Barnett sticks it to the Snowman.)

World Victory Road’s “Sengoku II: Second Battle” event was held today in Tokyo, with Josh Barnett dominating Jeff Monson to a decision victory, Kevin Randleman winning a decision in his first fight since October 2006, and heavyweight rising star Roger Gracie scoring a first-round submission win in his second pro MMA bout. Props to Sherdog. More vids after the jump.

Josh Barnett def. Jeff Monson via decision
Roger Gracie def. Yuki Kondo via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
Kevin Randleman def. Ryo Kawamura via decision
Yoshihiro “Kiss” Nakao def. Jim York via KO, round 2
Jorge Santiago def. Yuki Sasaki via submission (armbar), round 3
Eiji Mitsuoka def. Kwang Hee Lee via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1
Mike Pyle def. Dan Hornbuckle via submission (triangle choke), round 1
Satoru Kitaoka def. Ian Schaffa via submission (guillotine choke), round 1

(more…)

— A heavyweight superfight between Josh Barnett and Jeff Monson has been announced as the main event of Sengoku II (May 18th, Tokyo); the card will also feature fights between Kevin Randleman and Ryo Kawamura, and Roger Gracie taking on an opponent to be named later. In recent weeks, Monson has also been reportedly booked to face Mike Russow at Adrenaline MMA’s debut event (June 14th, Chicago), as well as Kevin Randleman at a Global Fighting event on June 21st in Charlotte, N.C. With those three fights so close together, expect at least one to fall apart. Monson most recently defeated Hakim Gouram at a Ring of Fire event last December.

— Speaking of Adrenaline MMA, Monte Cox has been scurrying around trying to fill its first card. Besides Monson/Russow, the June 14th show is expected to feature IFL vet Bart Palaszewski taking on King of the Cage/UFC vet Jeff Cox, and ex-UFC fighter/boxer Terry Martin taking on Daiju Takase.

— The UFC officially added three fights to UFC 86 (July 5th, Las Vegas): Josh Koscheck vs. Chris “Lights Out” Lytle, Patrick Cote vs. Ricardo Almeida, and Cole Miller vs. Jorge Gurgel. Lytle and Almeida are coming off of impressive stoppage wins at UFC 81 in February, where Lytle picked up the “Knockout of the Night” bonus. UFC 86 will be headlined by the light-heavyweight title scrap between Quinton Jackson and Forrest Griffin, and is also expected to feature bouts between Joe Stevenson and Gleison Tibau, Frank Mir and Justin McCully, and Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins.

— As for the Ultimate Fighter 7 finale on June 21st, the UFC has confirmed that Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove will be the show’s main event — not Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti, which will get secondary status. Also officially booked are Spencer Fisher vs. Jeremy Stephens, Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett, Marvin Eastman vs. Drew McFedries, and Jeremy Horn vs. Dean Lister. And of course Tim Credeur vs. CB Dollaway (one would assume).

Nightmare of Battle passes along the news that Sengoku II — which is scheduled for May 18th at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum — will feature a bout between Kevin “The Monster” Randleman and “Big” Jim York. You may remember Randleman as the former UFC heavyweight champion who got a suplex-variation named after him in 2004 and went through a nasty bout of staph last year. York is a New Zealand-based vet of the MARS and Spartan Reality Fight clubs, who’s won all nine of his fights since getting choked out in his pro debut. By comparison, Randleman has only won two of his last nine fights (though they’ve been against much, much tougher competition than York’s).

The match joins already-booked bouts between Satoru Kitaoka and Ian Schaffa, as well as Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kwang Hee Lee; Roger Gracie, Yoshihiro Nakao, Yuki Sasaki are still expected to compete, against fighters to be names later.

In other semi-interesting fighter news, Affliction’s nascent MMA promotion has picked up Mark Hominick for its debut card, slated for July in Texas. Hominick most recently competed as a featherweight for WEC, and has also fought for TKO and the UFC; his opponent hasn’t yet been named. Hominick’s manager Shawn Tompkins confirmed that Affliction is no longer doing business with Golden Boy Productions: “I heard there was a conflict between HDNet and HBO wanting the TV rights to the shows.”

Hey man, it’s like John Thor said — everybody wants a piece of the action.

While you were watching Cro Cop beat up a helpless Japanese boy…

— 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.

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.

Earlier: Highlights from Gomi/Ludwig and Barnett/Yoshida.