Seeming lost amidst the post-Dream hysteria is the impending return of World Victory with its Sengoku II card on Sunday.
Barnett vs. Monson
Miraculously, Josh Barnett (Pictures) has found the time to pull himself away from his puroresu commitments to take on everyone's favorite anarchist, Jeff Monson (Pictures), in what could be World Victory Road's first step toward establishing a legitimate heavyweight division.
The issue of legitimacy has hounded Barnett (21-5) throughout his career despite being universally acknowledged as one of the most talented competitors the division has ever seen. Once considered the future of the division, Barnett is coming off a mediocre showing against Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures). The once-endless reservoir of patience he earned with the MMA literati is running out faster than the national oil reserve.
Monson might tell you that the rising price of oil is the work of the illuminati who secretly run the world from an underground bunker in the lost city of Atlantis. Interesting political perspectives aside, we're all waiting on "The Snowman" to set the MMA world on fire.
Already one of the world's elite heavyweight submission grapplers and a one-time Pac-10 wrestling champion, Monson (24-7) has always had the pedigree to succeed in MMA. His results, however, have left something to be desired.
Having spent most of his career wandering the barren wasteland of heavyweight MMA, Monson has certainly found his fair share of success. But just like the dream of a socially equitable anarchist state, true MMA stardom has remained just out of reach.
Knocking off the imminently popular Barnett would be a step in the right direction for Monson, and that will mean planting the versatile "Babyface Assassin" on his back and keeping him there. Being a straightforward top-control artist, Monson cannot afford to mix it up with Barnett, who can deliver strikes and submissions with equal aplomb.
The real question is whether Monson's historically suspect conditioning can hold up long enough to bull around Barnett for the duration of the bout or at least long enough to grab hold of a submission.
Don't bank on either scenario, as Barnett continues to shake off the ring rust. He'll keep Monson off balance with strikes and submission attempts that eventually wear out the people's anarchist and net the pride of NJPW a decision win.
Clearly this is the work of the neo-conservative fat cats that control our day-to-day existence.
Gracie vs. Kondo
In a bit of old-school matchmaking, we get to see the next great hope of the legendary Gracie clan take on a Japanese veteran who would love nothing more than to deposit the Gracie poster boy's noggin in the third row.
While dismembered heads have long been the calling card of Pancrase product Yuki Kondo (Pictures), the knockouts have been few and far between of late. In his last six bouts, Kondo has struggled to post a .500 record.
The ravages of time may be catching up to Kondo (48-21-6), but no one doubts that the former King of Pancrase has enough left in the tank to put away a potentially overhyped grappler looking to get froggy on the feet. It would be foolhardy to question Gracie's grappling pedigree considering he may be the best pound-for-pound grappler on the planet, but the sport of MMA cares little for shiny trophies and multi-stripe black belts.
With only one fight under that mythic belt of his, a brief but impressive first-round armbar win over Ron Waterman (Pictures), Gracie (1-0) is stepping up in competition awfully early in his career against an opponent who won't be looking to turn this bout into a grappling seminar. This is your classic case of youth looking to be served at the expense of their forbearers, and Gracie is the kind of terrifying talent that can overcome the obvious difference in experience.
Like any good Gracie, expect Roger to come out in search of the takedown early while Kondo looks to create space and fire off strikes. Unfortunately, those legs are not as limber as they used to be. Gracie should have no problem closing the gap and dragging Kondo down into the abyss.
There aren't many fighters out there who can survive the technical wizardry of Gracie on the ground. Kondo will not prove to be one of them, as Gracie seals the deal with a reference-quality rear-naked choke in the first round.
On that note, I can't wait for the forums to start proclaiming Roger the Michael Jordan of our fair sport. I mean, I'm pretty sure Roger can't even dunk and that is a prerequisite to being the next MJ of anything.
Randleman vs. Kawamura
Only in MMA do we get to see a titanic, former D1 national champion wrestler with the most graphic sports-related ailment of all time take on a paunchy Japanese striker with an affinity for trendy coiffures.
By now, I hope you've all seen the pictures of Kevin Randleman (Pictures)'s unfortunate run-in with the staph "Monster." I saw them and I want to make sure everyone else experiences the same existential horror I went through.
Nietzschean nightmares aside, Randleman (16-12) continues on as one of the sport's most perplexing entities. Blessed with the sort of talent that makes coach and fan alike drool, he has spent his entire 12-year MMA career getting by on his preposterous natural ability and regularly coming up short when that genetic cache alone could not guide him to victory.
Where Ryo Kawamura (Pictures)'s genetic cache comes up short, his heart and will to win take over, which is perhaps more valuable than anything else in the sport of broken bones and extinguished egos. The gamer gene comes in handy, but, like Randleman, Kawamura (8-2-2) has posted a decidedly mediocre mark of late with losses in critical bouts against Keiichiro Yamamiya (Pictures) and Fabio Silva (Pictures).
A much needed renaissance will fail to materialize for Kawamura, who will be hard pressed trying to draw Randleman into an extended slugfest given the obvious advantage "The Monster" holds in the wrestling department.
We've all seen Randleman do some head-scratching work on the ground. The possibility of watching him do something to cost himself a fight, again, is always there, but Kawamura doesn't have much to offer on the ground to begin with.
A Hammer House special is in store for all of us, as Randleman takes a plodding decision. Yay for wrestling.