The Weekly Wrap: March 6 - March 12

Santiago Wins at Sengoku 12

Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago lost to Mamed Khalidov in 2:45 when they first met last year. In a rematch on March 7, he took Khalidov 25 minutes and retained his championship.

The bout headlined the first event from the fledgling Japanese promotion to bear the newfangled Sengoku Raiden Championship banner. The event aired March 11 on tape delay on HDNet. It was the first Sengoku card after a period of uncertainty following the exit of top name Hidehiko Yoshida, along with fighters and officials from his camp and management company. The promotion is struggling, as the 13,000-seat Sumo Hall venue in Tokyo looked about empty.

In the main event, the Polish star, Khalidov, had trouble landing effective strikes in the guard or achieving much from top control, while Santiago was active with submission attempts. Santiago proved more effective down the stretch in the stand-up, and Khalidov tired in the fifth. It was first time Khalidov had gone past the 15-minute mark in his 25-fight career. Scores were 48-47, 48-47 and 49-47 for Santiago.

Brazilians Marlon Sandro and Maximo Blanco picked up nasty knockout wins on the card. Sandro finished Tomonari Kanomata in nine seconds by rushing him with a right uppercut, while Blanco landed a damaging left kick to the head of Chang Hyun Kim to earn the win. With the victory, Sandro earned a shot at Sengoku featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara on June 20. Kanehara tended to Kanomata as he lay prone on the canvas for several minutes following his knockout. He was taken out of the ring on a stretcher.

Also picking up wins on the card were Akihiro Gono (decision over Diego Gonzalez), Yoshihiro Nakao (second-round TKO over Henry Miller), Yuji Hoshino (second-round guillotine submission over Nick Denis) and Leonardo Santos (first-round rear-naked choke submission over Kiuma Kunioku). In addition, Shigeki Osawa defeated Kyung Ho Kang by unanimous decision.