The Independent Voice of Mixed Martial Arts
World Victory Road’s “Sengoku: Eighth Battle” took place at Yoyogi National Stadium Second Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan on May 2, 2009.
Sengoku’s Featherweight Grand Prix quarterfinals were held with Hatsu Hioki, Michihiro Omigawa, Masanori Kanehara, and Marlon Sandro all advancing to the semi-finals.
In one of the many non-tournament bouts of the night, Akihiko Mori defeated Maximo Blanco after Blanco was disqualified for knocking out Mori with a soccer kick at 4:20 into the first round.
HDNet will broadcast “Sengoku: Eighth Battle” live from Japan at 3:00 AM ET/12:00 AM PT this Saturday morning, May 2nd. The card contains the quarterfinals of their Featherweight Grand Prix, as well as several interesting non-tournament bouts. As always PRO MMA (promma.info) has a full preview for you.
Tournament Bouts
Hatsu Hioki (18-3-2) vs. Ronnie Mann (16-1-1)
The promotion’s poster boy, Hatsu Hioki did his part in the first round of the tournament, by knocking off American Top Team’s Chris Manuel. Unlike in the past, Hioki stuck with his ground game and was able to finish the fight with little trouble. Hioki has the skills to beat anyone in the world, like Jeff Curran, Hideki Kadowaki, and Mark Hominick if he fights with a proper game plan. At the same time, without one, he can find himself on the losing end of a fight against a lower level fight, like say Jong Man Kim.