Author: Daniel Herbertson

Filed under: DREAM, News

Since FEG created DREAM in 2008 they have held six events a year with one additional Dynamite!! event held on New Year’s Eve. In 2010 we will only see four DREAM events. A Korean show was planned and then scrapped and the yearly trip to Osaka never happened.

DREAM Featherweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes is the latest in a long list of fighters (Japanese magazine Kamipro recently revealed that it has been both foreign and Japanese fighters) that have encountered issues being paid. FEG’s response to this situation was, “Please wait for the official statement” but no date for the statement has been given.

HDNet commentator Michael Schiavello revealed via twitter (http://twitter.com/schiavellovoice) that the K-1 Max 70 kg Finals are on October 25 but the 70 kg Final 16 hasn’t even been completed yet. Three of the eight fights needed for the Final 16 took place back in July and the remaining five bouts were to be held on a European event later in the year. No European K-1 MAX Final 16 event has been announced.

FEG is disorganized, under significant financial stress and appears to be running in survival mode.

Filed under: Sengoku, interview, Japan

TOKYO — Jorge Santiago’s second title defense against Kazuo Misaki at Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 was a definite candidate for the fight of the year.

The rematch of their thrilling January 2009 title fight featured technical ground exchanges and back and forth stand-up but as both fighters had predicted, it really came down to a test of heart as both fighters found themselves on the brink of defeat at multiple points throughout the bout.

“I expected to fight this way with him,” Santiago said post fight. “He always fights like this. He is great fighter. He is the best Japanese fighter that I have ever fought. I prepared for this fight so much. He needed to make me stop. If he didn’t make me stop I was going to come back because I have the heart to fight until the end.”

Santiago was not able to force Misaki to stop in the end but the challenger’s corner surrendered for him in the final 30 seconds of the final round.

Filed under: Sengoku, News, Japan

TOKYO – All fighters weighed in Saturday without incident for Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 at East 21 Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.

The event will be broadcast live on HDNetFights from 2 AM ET on Sunday and will be headlined by Jorge Santiago making the second defense of his SRC middleweight strap against challenger Kazuo Misaki.

Full weigh-in results for Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 are below:

Filed under: Sengoku, interview, Japan

In November 2009, “The Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki, left Grabaka and went freelance.

Misaki had been with the gym since he started training MMA in 2000 but his first fight away from the tutelage of Sanae Kikuta was disasterous as Melvin Manhoef TKO’ed him in just under two minutes.

At Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 on Sunday, Kazuo Misaki will face middleweight champion Jorge Santiago where he will get a chance for revenge and a chance to prove that he can make it on his own.

Misaki met with the press to discuss his rematch of the January 2009 title bout and the difficulties of being an independent fighter.

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, Sengoku, interview, Japan

Defending Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago will be making his second title defense against Kazuo Misaki at SRC 14 on Sunday but he doesn’t like to think about that.

He wants to think about the beach back home in Rio de Janeiro and he wants to reminisce.

In an exclusive interview with MMAFighting.com, we talked about the beach, training in secret, losing his father and how he came to join American Top Team and become a champion in Japan.