World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 15 is pretty weak. Sengoku, like so many other MMA promotions that focused on doing the sport properly and appealing to hardcore fans, is headed downhill. Rather than nurturing and developing exciting asian talents, for the most part the promotion has become a dumping ground for has-beens and never-weres, with the occasional sprinkling of real thrilling talents mixed in to keep things somewhat interesting. The curious part is that it seems that there would still be plenty of available talent, since western promotions still don’t do a great job of picking up young Japanese prospects, who can’t all fight in the infrequent Dream shows. Where are the next great fighters from the far east?
Hiroshi Izumi (-110) vs. James Zikic (-115)
Hiroshi Izumi is an Olympic judo silver medalist who hasn’t really shown any real potential to be a standout MMA fighter. James Zikic is not a standout MMA fighter, but he has a wealth of experience and veteranship. He will probably beat up Izumi, but he’s flawed enough that Izumi still has a decent shot of putting something together. Both men are just here for the paycheck, but this is Zikic’s profession of choice, and MMA is just something Izumi went into after his judo career. James Zikic by decision.
Brian Cobb (+375) vs. Kazunori Yokota (-400)
Cobb simply isn’t a good enough wrestler to take this. Yokota loses to elite fighters that can take him down and get rough, but against opponents like Cobb he’s able to dance around on the outside and rack up points with his quick hands. Yokota isn’t a big hitter, and Cobb can take a punch, so this one will probably go the distance, which will give Cobb more opportunities to try to drag the fight down and find a submission. Yokota should cruise without too many moments of danger. Kazunori Yokota by decision.
Maximo Blanco (-400) vs. Kiuma Kunioku (+375)
There’s only one way this fight can end. Eventually Maximo Blanco will totally lose his mind, hulk out, and smash Kiuma Kunioku into an insensate state. That’s just how he operates. This is irresponsible matchmaking. Maximo Blanco by KO round 1.
Chang Seob Lee (+120) vs. Kazuo “Yoshiki” Takahashi (-130)
Well, here are some horrible fighters. Kazuo Takahashi should have retired long ago, as he’s the very embodiment of the stereotype of the broken down old Japanese fighter that is dragged to the ring to take a beatdown. His knees are shot, his chin is gone, and he’s probably risking his health here. Chang Seob Lee is no world-beater either. He hits hard enough to knock out Takahashi, but he’s not shown anything like a high-level MMA game. This is a pointless fight between two fighters that aren’t going anywhere, one of whom is very broken-down and hasn’t won a fight since 2005. Expect a real gong show of bad MMA, probably ending with Takahashi getting starched for the 16th time in his career. Chang Seob Lee by KO round 1.
Keita Nakamura (-220) vs. Takuya Wada (+210) (welterweight grand-prix semifinal) 
Fun Trivia: three of Nakamura’s four losses came under the UFC banner, where he is winless. Nakamura is not a UFC-level fighter, but he is a solid international-level competitor with a good toolset and no huge holes in his game. Wada is not a terrible fighter, but he simply doesn’t have much in the way of sparkling offense. He has trouble seriously threatening opponents with anything, which lets a fighter like Nakamura get comfortable and take control of the fight. Nakamura will have a decisive striking advantage, and if he can crack Wada hard enough to take his back, he’ll choke him. Keita Nakamura by submission, round 2.
Yasubey Enomoto (-220) vs. Taisuke Okuno (+200) (welterweight grand-prix semifinal) 
This fight should have some brawling in it. Both men are pretty aggressive strikers, Enomoto with a nice body attack and Okuno with a traditional headhunting brawling style. Both men have some power, with Okuno’s utter burial of Nick Thompson standing as testament to what he’s got in the fists. The question is whether Okuno’s chin can stand up to Enomoto’s attack long enough to land a finishing punch. Okuno has never been stopped, but he’s been wobbled badly several times. With Enomoto’s smooth style, he’ll probably be able to put his stamp on the brawler before he gets clocked. Yasubey Enomoto by TKO round 1.
Shintaro Ishiwatari (-240) vs. Taiyo Nakahara (+210) (Asian bantamweight grand prix quarterfinals) 
MMA Youtube fans might remember Ishiwatari as “the guy who spiked an opponent on his face for the knockout to escape an armbar” for his epic finish of a hapless Kazuhiro Ito. He probably won’t be able to do the same thing to Nakahara, but he’ll manage a more pedestrian beatdown. Nakahara is a pretty good, but not great, submission fighter, and Ishiwatari will be hard to catch in a sub if Nakahara can’t beat him up first the way Chang Sung Jung did. Shintaro Ishiwatari by decision.
Akitoshi Tamura (-365) vs. Shoko Sato (+350) (Asian bantamweight grand prix quarterfinals) 
This bout takes the Shooto vs. Pancrase rivalry to a (semi) international stage. Tamura is a consummate veteran of the fight game and won’t be surprised by anything Sato can throw at him, so he should cruise to victory without too much drama (or much crushing offense from either man). Akitoshi Tamura by decision.
Shunichi Shimizu (-225) vs. Wataru Takahashi (+210) (Asian bantamweight grand prix quarterfinals) 
This fight could turn into a really exciting grappling bout. Shimizu comes from the ZST promotion, which has featured several interesting innovations of dubious merit to the sport of MMA; techno music played during bouts, the banning of the closed guard (to encourage grappling action), and most famously the MMA tag-team match. ZST has produced some really wild grapplers and weirdos due to its unique rules (notably Takumi Yano and Shigeyuki Umeki) and hopefully Shimizu will bring a similarly loose and cut-throat grappling style to this bout. Wataru Takahashi comes from the much more meat-and-potatoes Cage Force promotion, but trains out of Kazushi Sakuraba’s Laughter7 school, which hasn’t produced anyone on the level of Sakuraba himself, but does lead to an entertaining grappling style in fighters like Takahashi. Shimizu should be too much for him, but the bout will be a lot of fun. Shunichi Shimizu by submission round 2.
Manabu Inoue (-185) vs. Jae Hyun So (+170) (Asian bantamweight grand prix quarterfinals) 
Jae Hyun So’s career has been one of failing upwards. After amassing a shameful 2-5 record in the Sprint MC promotion in his native Korea, he was given his first shot in a Sengoku feeder show, going 1-1 in a one-day tournament. He went on to lose two more times in Deep, which was apparently enough to merit him a shot in Sengoku proper, which he made the most of, going 3-0 against middling opposition since then. Manabu Inoue’s more traditional path to this fight has also given him the skills he’ll need to take a very traditionally pedestrian decision win over So in a bout that isn’t likely to thrill. Manabu Inoue by decision.
Great
Great