WVR Sengoku March 5th

Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro 16-6 vs. Nick “The Goat” Thompson 34-9-1 The Goat rides in from the failing BodogFight with their Welterweight title and a 10 fight winning streak. Nick has the size, reach, and momentum to stop the Jiu Jistu warrior. Monty has been KO'd recently and is coming off two straight losses. Look for Thompson to sport a new look and get an early win. And seriously guys, enough "pitbulls" already. How about Shitzu as a nickname?

WINNER-Nick Thompson by KO

Ryo Kawamura 7-2-2 vs. Antonio Braga Neto 4-0 Ryo comes from Pancrase with a stand up philosophy while Neto is the floor wizard. Takedown from the rising star of Braga submits the now directionless Ryo.

WINNER-Braga Neto by submission

Makoto Takimoto 4-3 vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos 15-11 Makoto the young Judo fighter started out bitterly with his transition to MMA being mixed at best (2-3) but now with recent wins over very talented fighters Murilo Bustamante and Zelg Galesic his confidence is on the rise. We all know Cyborg as Chute Boxe's attack 1st ask questions later war machine which opens him up for submissions and his cardio tends to wear out fast. I'm just not sure Takimoto can withstand the initial assault and Cyborg gets back in the win column after some recent bad luck. Makoto can absorb some punishment but enough to stop this madman?

WINNER-Cyborg by TKO

Kazuyuki "Ironhead" Fujita 14-6 vs. Peter "The Chief" Graham This is going to be an interesting one. Graham is straight crazy and makes his MMA debut coming over from K-1 Kickboxing. This nut job loves to throw the "rolling thunder" a somersault kick in every single fight whether it's a available or not! He can and will knock the crap outta people. The question is whether Japanese Pro Wrestler successfully turned MMA warrior trades on the feet or uses his legitimate wrestling skills to pound him out on the floor. I expect fireworks early and often but hopefully the Japanese hero wises up quickly and takes his insane opponent down. I just don't think you should mess around with this guy.

WINNER-Fujita by ???????

Kazuo "The Grabaka Hitman" Misaki 18-8-2 vs. Siyar Bahadurzada 13-1-1 Kazou is coming off his illegal soccer kick to the head of Akiyama who he had out and falling and should've held back. Oh well, the constantly inconsistent 2006 Grand Prix Champ wins and loses though always against great fighters (Dan Henderson, Paulo Filho, Frank Trigg, Ed Herman, Jake Shields) going 3-3-1 in his last, well you can add, bouts. Siyar comes to us from Afghanistan with a 2 year winning streak and pretty much a great all around game though even as Shooto's Light Heavyweight Champion this will be his toughest test to date. I have been critical of Misaki in the past and don't like his sometimes sluggish and sometimes exciting style.

WINNER-

"The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi 27-3 vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig 16-7 About freaking time Gomi! Damn man, what's it been like 10 years since you fought? Ok maybe just 1 year and 1 month but that's far too long for the top Lightweight in the world. Gomi is coming off that loss to Nick Diaz in which he was submitted in an absolute war but then Diaz tested positive for pot and the fight is now a NC. He has to have learned from the lesson of not training and should be good and hungry to get back in the spotlight of MMA. Bang is a striker/kickboxer who can KO anyone but is subject to submissions and though a decent fighter, he usually comes up short against the bigger name fighters. Gomi outstrikes him and then takes him out on the floor punishing the kid for mocking the legendary Genki Sudo 5 years prior.

WINNER-Gomi by TKO

Hidehiko Yoshida 7-5-1 vs. Josh "Babyface Assassin" Barnett 20-5 Yoshida is a legend and I love watching him fight but he is absolutely going to get waxed here. Barnett has him beat on size, striking, wrestling, microphone skills, funny T-shirts, and power. Yoshida likes to slug even though he is bad at it, and his judo won't do a whole lot against the 250 lb. upper echelon game of Barnett. Expect a humorous and humble winner's speech from Josh and no doubt another challenge to Fedor Emelianenko.

WINNER-Barnett by TKO

Nice little opening card for World Victory Road who takes baby steps back into the MMA community. Misaki/Siyar could go either way as well as Takimoto/Cyborg but other than that the card is full of lopsided fights. Thank god Gomi and Barnett are back in the fighting scene and it will be interesting to see just who WVR brings in (or works with M-1?, Dream?) to fight these elite fighters.