Almost one year after the demise of Pride Fighting Championships, new Japanese promotion World Victory Road held it’s first event on Wednesday in Yoyogi Gymnasium. After a long period of uncertainty, Japanese fans were treated to World Victory Road: Sengoku, the first of two impressive fight cards in a ten-day period. The card was littered with fighters who waited for the void from Pride’s demise to be filled.
The new Dream promotion – a partnership between K-1 parent company FEG and staffers of Pride’s former parent company Dream Stage Entertainment – debuts on March 15 in Japan.
Wednesday’s packed house of more than 15,000 was treated to an intro ceremony reminiscent of Pride’s Bushido events, from the video on the large screen to the fighter introductions. The attendance was impressive considering that the event started at 6:30 p.m., a time when most Japanese people are starting their commute home from a long days work.
In the evening’s main event, Josh Barnett faced Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida, who was sporting a gi. Early in the fight Yoshida connected with a powerful right hand, but in the clinch Barnett applied an impressive suplex, then proceeded working a ground and pound attack until the end of the round.
The second round saw the two trading strikes with Barnett getting the better of the exchanges. Yoshida won an exchange, but slipped after missing with a knee. The fight was stopped for a few minutes due to problems with Yoshida’s gloves, but once the action resumed, Barnett quickly transitioned to Yoshida’s back and then into mount. The round ended with Barnett being inches away from an armbar.
Early into the final round, Barnett once again took Yoshida’s back and moved to full mount. Barnett was dominant on the ground attempting armbars, kneebars and finally ending the fight by heel hook.
In one of the most anticipated fights of the night, Takanori Gomi took on Duane Ludwig in a lightweight bout. Gomi didn’t look like his dominant self in three of his last four outings and entered the ring with a solid year of ring rust.
From the outset, Gomi decided to stand with the former K-1 star. The two had several exchanges before Gomi tagged Ludwig with a left, knocking him down and opening a deep cut on the bridge of his nose causing a waterfall of blood to run down his face. Ludwig got back to his feet, but the referee was forced to stop the fight, awarding Gomi the TKO victory.
Kazuo Misaki, who was coming off a controversial win that was later ruled a no contest this past New Year’s Eve, met Golden Glory fighter Siyar Bahadurzada.
Early into the fight, Misaki took a right hand to the face, opening a cut over his eye, but they quickly clinched and went to the ground. Misaki attempted an arm lock, but was reversed. Bahadurzada worked from Misaki’s guard, delivering punches until the end of the round.
The second round saw some good exchanges with both fighters landing. Bahadurzada went for a single-leg takedown, but was caught in a guillotine and submitted, giving Misaki the win.
Pride veteran Kazuyuki Fujita and K-1 striker Peter Graham met in the ring to continue a fight that started at the Sengoku press conference earlier in the week. The two locked horns before the media and had to be pulled apart. Furious, Fujita stormed out of the presser.
In the ring, Fujita immediately went for a takedown, succeeding after his third attempt. He transitioned from side position to mount to north/south at will, finally making short work of the striker, choking him out from the north/south position.
Santos came out throwing low kicks before the two exchanged punches with Takimoto backing out. Santos connected with a right hand, knocking Takimoto down and went for the finish, but ended up in the Judoka’s guard. With action at a minimum, the fighters were stood up. Takimoto scored another takedown and went for a heel hook, but Cyborg surprisingly locked on his own forcing the Olympic gold medalist to tap.
In the second fight of the night, Ryo Kawamura took on Antonio Braga Neto. Both men immediately went at each other with Neto finally getting the takedown and mount. In an attempt to get out from under the mount, Kawamura ended up giving up his back, and a body triangle for good measure. Kawamura did manage to get to his feet and deliver a few punches just before the round ended.
The second round saw more ground domination by Neto, but the fighters made it to their feet. Neto was rocked by a hard right hand. From there Kawamura sprawled Neto’s takedown attempt and controlled the rest of the round.
Neto scored a takedown early in the third, but Kawamoto got side position until the fight was stood up. Kawamura landed some punches only to get taken down again. The two fought for position on the ground as the clock ran down. Although Neto controlled the action on the ground, Kawamura did more damage throughout the fight and was awarded the decision.
The event kicked off with another typical grappler vs. striker fight between Fabricio Monteiro and Nick Thompson. The fight started with a bit of a feeling out process, but within the first minute Monteiro took Thompson down with a slam only to have his position reversed following a failed arm bar attempt. Back to their feet, Monteiro scored another takedown and ended the round in full mount.
In the second round Thompson came out connecting with some low kicks and body shots, but was taken down and mounted. Thompson managed to get off the ground and deliver a takedown of his own. After resisting several submissions, Thompson finished the round in guard delivering punches.
The third round started much like the first two, but Monteiro had to work harder to take Thompson down and keep him there. He finally succeeded and kept Thompson in side position until the fight ended. Despite ground control and countless submission attempts, Monteiro lost the fight by decision in the judges’ eyes.
