Sengoku Raiden Championship 12: Preview

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Since SRC and Dream banded together for the Dynamite show, both organizations have not put on a card until now. After the Dynamite show, Yoshida Dojo fighters have left Sengoku and will be fighting for the new promotion Astra. With Yoshida Dojo fighters leaving, it hurts Sengoku's pockets greatly. Japanese promotions relay on ticket sales for their main source of income. With Yoshida Dojo fighters leaving it creates less interest for Japanese fans to watch foreign fighters that SRC will fill the gap left by Yoshida Dojo members. So this card is going to be par for the course until SRC dies or somehow casual fans in Japan will be interested in Santiago vs Khalidov. I expect SRC to go under this year. Let me give you an idea of how bad this card is, they didn't even make a poster for the event. Let that soak in for a few seconds. Since I did my first review my picks have been a slightly awful 23-14 (Not counting the worked fight between Sokoudjou and Minowaman).

 Jorge Santiago vs. Mamed Khalidov

Why wasn't this a title fight 4 months ago? Who knows, what I do know is that Santiago has a jaw constructed of glass and Khalidov has hands made of stone. This is a quote from my preview of the fight:

Khalidov is a really good wrestler that likes to take people down and bash their skulls in. Khalidov also has power in his hands, unfortunately he throws his arms around like a helicopter. Even though most of Santiago's wins have come by submission, he has a very versatile striking game. Santiago's kryptonite? His glass chin. If Khlidov lands one of his helicopter punches on Santiago's chin, goodnight Santiago.

I still believe Santiago is overall the better fighter than Khalidov. Santiago's chin has held him back from being a truly elite fighter. Nothing has changed since then, except for my pick. Khalidov KO R2

Akihiro Gono vs. Diego Gonzalez

Well Gono's corpse is riding a 2 fight wining streak and he should keep the ball rolling against Diego Gonzalez.  Admittedly I haven't had the time to check out Gonzalez but what little I can take away from his fight finder is he has faced a lot of bad European competition. European grappling is simply awful and that is the only strength Gonzales has. Gono will use his reach and awkward strikes to pepper Gonzales and pick up another win. Gono R3 TKO

Maximo Blanco vs. Chang Hyun "Armbar" Kim

Maximo Blanco is a compete psycho in the ring. Blanco has crazy power, strong wrestling, and viscous soccer kicks. The guy has unlimited potential and if he keeps winning fights the WEC will be looking to snatch him up. This is a good fight for Blanco in terms of progression. I would like to see him string together some combos and fight with some semblance of a gameplan, instead of just going completely ape shit. Kim is a good grappler and if Blanco isn't careful he could get caught. I don't see it happening though. Blanco KO R1

Marlon Sandro vs. Tomonari Kanomata

I hope Sandro comes out with his Pancrase Belt. Do it for me Marlon. Why is Marlon Sandro fighting a pointless fight that does nothing for him? Why isn't he fighting Hoki for the belt? *faceplam* If you can't tell by now Marlon Japan hates you, finish your contract and leave. Just pick up your bags and go. Sandro has quick, accurate, and explosive strikes that melt faces. Just ask his victims: Nick Denis, Yuji Hoshino, Miki Shida. With good top position wrestling Sandro is a nightmare for all 145er's out their. Kanomata has a weak chin that makes him a liability and his best weapon (his wrestling) is not as good as Sandro's. Kanomata gets beat up bad in this one. Sandro KO R1

Yoshihiro “KISS” Nakao vs. Henry "Sentoryu" Miller

Fat will be flying in this Heavyweight bout as two large below-average fighters lock horns. Apparently Miller career is on the rise as in his last bout he beat Min Soo Kim. Miller has no skill he just is a big old dude. He has awful striking and just windmills punches. While Nakao is also a big dude he does have some skill beneath all of that fat. Nakao has a much better grappling game then Miller so I am pretty confident Nakao will get it to the floor and submit Miller. I hope this won't be an awful decision. Nakao sub R1

Yuji Hoshino vs. Nick Denis

Quick what do these two opponents have in common? If you said they both got there face melted by Marlon Sandro you are correct. Hoshino has a good grappling game that allows him to get inside on opponents and take them down. That is Hoshino's bread and better, but like in the Sandro fight if he doesn't close the distance he will get his face shredded. Nick Denis is a good young prospect that has good kickboxing with even better power. Denis kryptonite is lack of defensive wrestling. Tough fight to call in this one. I favor Hoshino's ability to get it to the floor and work a submission on Denis. Hoshino Sub R3

Kiuma Kunioku vs. Leonardo Santos

Kunioku hasn't fought in almost two years. This is kind of disappointing because he was stringing together wins, but doing so in boring and uninspired fights. This is a complete mis-match. Santos can do whatever he wants to end the fight. Santos is WEC veteran Wagnney Fabiano's brother, who presents decent kickboxing coupled with a solid submission game. Like I said this is Santos' fight to lose. Santos Sub R1

Shigeki Osawa vs Kyung Ho Kang

Last time we saw Osawa he was getting completely out classed on the feet by Ronnie Mann. That was a major step up in competition for Osawa, Kang is not. Osawa has some of the best wrestling in the 145 pound division (I'm pretty sure he can make 135 too). With his great wrestling Osawa also has a lot of power in his frame, only no technique. Which is unfortunate, but he is a young fighter and can improve on that aspect of his game. Kang is not a very good fighter, in his last fight he took a major step up in competition and soundly got beat. This is another major step up for him that he will fail. Back to Art of War you go Kang. Osawa TKO R2

And that's it. A very disappointing card for Sengoku. They have guys in completely meaningless fights, but if you like mis-matches this is defiantly the card for you. You will not be able to enjoy this fight card live because HD Net is putting this on a 5 day tape delay. Stay locked to MMAforreal.com I will have quick results from the fight card posted after the event.