Dave “Pee Wee” Herman preparing for his New Year’s “Kiss” at “Soul of Fight” Dec. 30 in Tokyo

Heavyweight powerhouse Dave “Pee Wee” Herman (19-2) will help close out 2010 in Japan as he takes on PDA aficionado Yoshihiro “Kiss” Nakao (9-2, 2 NC) at World Victory Road’s “Soul of Fight” Dec. 30 at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo.

It does not get any bigger than New Year’s in Japan and Herman told ProMMAnow.com today that he plans to stay a couple extra days in Tokyo after the fight to celebrate New Year’s.

And everyone knows you are supposed to have someone to kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, so what better opponent for Herman to face at “Soul of Fight” than “Kiss” Nakao, the man most known for getting cold-cocked after giving Heath Herring a big smooch on the lips at the  K-1 Dynamite!! New Year’s Eve show in 2005.

Herman has one of the best records of any fighter in MMA not signed to a major organization. With a 73% knockout percentage, 14 of his 19 wins have come by (T)KO.

But he is not just a heavy puncher. His most recent win was a first round omoplata over Michal Kita at Bellator 31 in September — a fight, by the way, that Bellator has done its best to keep anyone from ever seeing.

One of Herman’s best qualities, aside from his brute strength, is his creativity that allows him to find a way to win and end fights under the worst circumstances. Even though things may not be going his way in a fight, somehow he almost always, without fail, seems to find a way to win. And he is so strong it usually only takes him a couple of good shots to end your night.

It is one of the main reasons why in 21 fights, he has not once gone the distance. He would really be a boon to the heavyweight roster of any major promotion.

For the last year-and-a-half Herman made his home in Nashville, Tenn., training with the guys at Nashville MMA. Recently though, he has decided to mix things up and visit some other camps.

Herman said he just got back from spending a couple weeks training with Dan Henderson and crew. He is currently back in Nashville for a couple days, then plans to head to Wisconsin to spend the final leg of his training camp with Duke Roufus, a trainer known for helping produce some of the best strikers in the sport.

A win over Nakao though is no guarantee for Herman. He is a PRIDE and K-1 veteran, a strong wrestler and has quality wins over such names as Wesley “Cabbage” Correira (2004), Don Frye (2004) and Jim York (2008). Nakao has won his last two fights after suffering a knee injury that cost him a TKO loss against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in January of last year.

Following the injury loss against Silva, Nakao bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Mu Bae Choi (9-4) in Aug. 2009, and a second round TKO over Henry Miller (6-11, 1 NC) in March 2010. Both bouts were with Sengoku.

Here is what the “Soul of Fight” card looks like at this point:

• Heavyweight bout: Dave Herman vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
• SRC Welterweight Grand Prix final: Yasubey Enomoto vs. Keita Nakamura
• SRC Asian Bantamweight Grand Prix semi-final: Akitoshi Tamura vs. Taiyo Nakahara
• SRC Asian Bantamweight Grand Prix semi-final: Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu
• Light Heavyweight kickboxing bout: Fabiano Aoki vs. Ryuta Noji
• Lightweight kickboxing bout: Tetsuharu Ikei vs. Shintaor Matsukura
• Bantamweight kickboxing bout: Kuntap Weerasakreck vs. Genki Yamamoto
• Women’s (105 lbs) kickboxing bout: Erika Kamimura vs. Chiharu Icho

Check out the Sengoku website (www.src-official.com) for more information on the fighters competing at “Soul of Fight”, for future event announcements and Sengoku/World Victory Road-related news.