A press conference was held yesterday in Tokyo by World Victory Road to announce the signing of 2008 Olympic gold medalist in Judo Satoshi Ishii for the promotion. Previously signing with the UFC is reported to have no impact on Ishii's negotiations with WVR to appear in their Sengoku events.

The 22-year-old judoka had been sought out by the other major mixed martial arts promotion in Japan, DREAM as well as the UFC.

Ishii accepted an invitation from the UFC last December to meet UFC President Dana White and experience UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 live at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. White said Ishii has the potential to become a great MMA fighter.

Ishii appeared at first willing to put aside his celebrity in Japan to compete in the UFC. But by signing with World Victory Road, Ishii picks the safest and richest choice to begin his MMA career.

It was previously reported on several sources that Ishii was set to appear on the tenth season of the popular Spike television series, The Ultimate Fighter. Ishii's Facebook page appeared to confirm that rumor yet now, this signing may not allow the Japanese fighter to do both. It is important to note that he has a clause in his new 2-year contract allowing him to fight for other promotions outside of Japan and Ishii has previously indicated a desire to fight in the UFC late last year.

"I have finally made up my mind," Ishii told Nikkan Sports in December. "The UFC is where I want to fight."

Time will tell where he really makes his MMA debut. WVR Director Takahiro Kokuho believes Ishii's first fight for the promotion can come as early as August 2 and as late as the New Year's Eve event at the end of the year.

In any case, for WVR and Japanese MMA in general, this signing might mark a significant turning point in their campaign to get back on network television. With WVR and DREAM alike staging strong events, fans may see a resurgence of MMA in the once PRIDE-dominated country.

Since leaving Judo with his eyes set on MMA, Ishii has been traveling around putting in mat time with current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida, the American Top Team and Xtreme Couture.

Shooto is getting ready for the final event of its Tradition series, which celebrates the venerable Japanese MMA promotion's 20-year history. They will look to celebrate with a bang as former top ranked lightweight Takanori Gomi, who returns to Shooto for the first time in nearly six years, will face current Shooto Welterweight Champion Takashi Nakakura on May 10 event at the JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Gomi, former Shooto Welterweight Champion and PRIDE World Lightweight Champion, is currently on a two fight losing streak with his losses coming to Sergey Golyaev at Sengoku 6 and Satoru Kitaoka at Sengoku no Ran 2009. Once considered the top lightweight, Gomi hasn't looked the same ever since he lost to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33: Second Coming, which was later ruled a no-contest due to Diaz testing positive for marijuana.

The opponent, Nakakura is currently riding high on a five-fight winning streak. His most recent win came over Bendy Casimir at Shooto Tradition 4 back on November 29th, 2008.

One of the biggest friends of Gesias Cavalcante in American Top Team, Jorge Santiago is training for his fight at Sengoku, in January, when he takes a shot against Kazuo Misaki for the middleweight title. Set to fight in Japan in January 4th, Jorge Santiago will follow Gesias in his fight at K-1 Dynamite, against Joachim Hansen, champion of the DREAM lightweight GP.

"Gesias is a monster! He's training in a way that sometimes I don't know where he takes so energy (laughs). He's training to don't happen any surprises at the fight, he's with the ground, striking and wrestling well-trained… You can wait that he'll give a great show," guarantees Santiago, that discards the ambience of revenge between the fighters, that faced themselves in Shooto, in 2004, and finished with victory of the Norwegian. "I don't see it like a revenge, but like a new meeting. Gesias in that time was very young, that was his third professional fight and, of that time for now, he has changed a lot, like Hansen did."

If in the first meeting between the fighters Hansen won, Jorge has not doubts in his bets. "I can tell you certainly that the fight will be completely different. If somebody tells me that Hansen is two times better today, I can assert you that Gesias is ten times better than before (laughs)," guarantees Jorge, who continues in Japan after the fight of Gesias, to fight with Misaki in Sengoku and still support the team partner Antônio Bigfoot against Yoshihiro Nakao, in the same night.

Taken from: tatame.com

World Victory Road presented Sengoku 6 last Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Here are the complete results for the show:

Main Card

• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Moises Rimbon by unanimous decision

• Muhammad "Mo" Lawal def. Fabio Silva by TKO (strikes) at 0:41 of Round 3

• Sergey Golyaev def. Takanori Gomi by split decision

Lightweight Grand Prix Semifinals

• Kazunori Yokota def. Mizuto Hirota by unanimous decision

• Satoru Kitaoka def. Eiji Mitsuoka by submission (heel hook) at 1:16 of Round 1

Lightweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout

• Jorge Masvidal def. Seung Hwan Bang by unanimous decision

Lightweight Grand Prix Finals

• Satoru Kitaoka def. Kazunori Yokota by unanimous decision

Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinals

• Kazuhiro Nakamura def. Yuki Sasaki by unanimous decision

• Jorge Santiago def. Siyar Bahadurzada by submission (heel hook) at 1:10 of Round 1

Middleweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout

• Joe Doerksen def. Izuru Takeuchi by TKO (strikes) at 0:41 of Round 3

Middleweight Grand Prix Finals

• Jorge Santiago def. Kazuhiro Nakamura by TKO (strikes) at 0:49 of Round 3

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (picture), the twin brother of the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, will square off against Moise Rimbon at World Victory Road: Sengoku 6 on November 1 in Saitama, Japan.

Nogueira (14-3) last fought at Affliction: Banned, knocking out Edwin Dewees in the first round.

Rimbon (13-7-3) from Paris, France will be making his second Sengoku appearance. He submitted K-1 fighter Peter Graham with a rear naked choke at Sengoku 4 in August.
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World Victory Road: Sengoku 6
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

Middleweight Grand Prix:
Yuki Sasaki vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
Jorge Santiago vs Siyar Bahadurzada
Joe Doerksen vs Izuru Takeuchi (Reserve Match)

Lightweight Grand Prix:
Satoru Kitaoka vs Eiji Mitsuoka
Kazunori Yokota vs Mizuto Hirota
Bang Seung Hwan vs Jorge Masvidal (Reserve Match)

Non-Tournament Bouts:
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs Fabio Silva
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Moise Rimbon

Here are the results for World Victory Road: Sengoku III from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Sunday, June 8, 2008:

• Light heavyweight bout: Fabio Silva def. Yoshiki Takahashi by knock out (knee attack)

• Lightweight bout: Rodrigo Damm def. Jorge Masvidal by technical knock out (punch)

• Heavyweight bout: Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz def. Choi Mu-bae by submission (rear naked choke)

• Middleweight bout: Sanae Kikuta def. Chris Rice by submission (armbar)

• Welterweight bout: Nick Thompson def. Michael Costa by submission (kimura)

• Middleweight bout: Kazuo Misaki def. Logan Clark by unanimous decision

• Heavyweight bout: Travis Wiuff def. Kazuyuki Fujita by KO (punches)

• Heavyweight bout: Hidehiko Yoshida def. Maurice Smith by submission (neck crank)

Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) champion Roger Gracie will take on former King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo at World Victory Road's Sengoku II event on May 18 in Japan, the promotion announced today.

The match will be an open weight bout as Kondo typically fights as a light heavyweight while Gracie fought his one previous MMA bout as a heavyweight.

Gracie was at one point slated to fight Olympic Gold Medalist Hidehiko Yoshida at the first Sengoku card, but ended up getting replaced by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett.

Professionally fighting since 1996, Kondo brings with him a wealth of experience competing for the UFC, PRIDE and Pancrase promotions. Kondo lost a majority decision last week to Kei Yamamiya at the third stop of Pancrase's 2008 Shining Tour.

What Gracie lacks in MMA experience, he makes up for it with a highly decorated grappling background. Gracie was the ADCC 2007 Superfight Champion and won the tournament's 88-98kg and open weight divisions in 2005.

CURRENT CARD:

1. Satoru Kitaoka VS Ian Schaffa
2. Mike Pyle VS Dan Hornbuckle
3. Eiji Mitsuoka VS Lee Kwang-hee
4. Yuki Sasaki VS Jorge Santiago
5. Yoshihiro Nakao VS Big Jim York
6. Ryo Kawamura VS Kevin Randleman
7. Yuki Kondo VS Roger Gracie
8. Josh Barnett VS Jeff Monson