Fighters on Weight for Sengoku ‘Tenth Battle’

SAITAMA, Japan -- All fighters were reported to have made weight for World Victory Road’s Sengoku “Tenth Battle” this Wednesday at the Saitama Super Arena Community Arena. Though main event and hometown attraction Hiroshi Izumi missed weight by 1.3 pounds on his first attempt at Tuesday’s official weigh-in, the judoka successfully weighed in at 205 pounds on his second attempt after taking a quick trip to the sauna, the promotion said.

“It’s been almost three months since I announced my participation in Sengoku,” said Izumi. “I hope to show what I’ve done since transitioning to MMA these past few months.”

“I respect Hiroshi as a fighter. I believe it’ll be a fair fight tomorrow -- we both got two arms, two legs. I’m glad to hear it’ll stay standing so we can give a good show to all of Japan,” said Izumi’s opponent, Antz Nansen.

Despite what Nansen might have heard about Izumi promising to keep the fight on the feet, the Olympic judo silver medalist did not seem as certain the bout would remain on its feet for the duration.

“I don’t really know about that; I'll have to wait and see,” said Izumi. “I’d like to fight my fight, and build momentum for the next one, so I’m thinking 50–50 I’ll keep the fight standing or go to the ground. Victory is the most important thing.”

Izuma added that he had no fears of getting punched in the face.

While most of the Japanese press’ eyes were centered on the debuting mixed martial artists, former Bodog Fight champion Nick Thompson and Dan Hornbuckle stole the show with their pre-fight banter. Clad in a baby blue, prom-style tuxedo, which he remarked was his “attorney’s uniform,” Thompson complimented Hornbuckle while simultaneously throwing down the gauntlet.

“Konnichiwa, bitches,” began Thompson. “Several opponents turned down fighting me, but Dan said he’d do it with no hesitation, and he did it on short notice. It was because of that attitude he beat Gono and is really the future of the sport. But right now is the present, and presently, I’m the best fighter.”

Hornbuckle had more to say about his opponent’s choice of attire.

“I think it’s cute,” said Hornbuckle. “I like how sheer it is, and it’s gonna look good with blood all over it.”

Heavyweights Jim York and Antonio Silva kept their comments short, with “Bigfoot” promising to finish either by knockout or submission.

York took the fight on four weeks notice.

“If I didn’t want to take it, I wouldn’t have taken it,” he said. “But he’s a guy I’ve wanted to test myself against, so even with the late call, I wanted to fight him.”

Former International Fight League lightweight champion Ryan Schultz had nothing but respect for former Deep lightweight titleholder Kazunori Yokota. Yokota was not as genial.

“I think this fight will be important for both of us to push us toward a title match,” said Yokota. “Although Ryan has already lost two fights in Sengoku, I’ve never underestimated my opponents. He’s tough, and I will do my best against him.”

Sengoku “Tenth Battle”
Wednesday, Sept. 23
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan

Hiroshi Izumi (205) vs. Antz Nansen (204.1)
Antonio Silva (267) vs. Jim York (253.1)
Makoto Takimoto (166) vs. Jae Sun Lee (167.6)
Kazunori Yokota (153.9) vs. Ryan Schultz (153.2)
Ryo Kawamura (203.7) vs. Fabio Silva (201.9)
Nick Thompson (167.3) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (165.1)
Takenori Sato (183) vs. Joe Doerksen (182.3)
Maximo Blanco (154.3) vs. Tetsuya Yamada (154.1)
Ikuo Usuda (153.9) vs. Woo Hyun Baek (153.9)
Shigeki Osawa (143.1) vs. Ki Hyun Kim (142.9)
Ryosuke Komori (132.1) vs. Jae Hyun So (132.3)