Sengoku 8 (3/20): King Mo vs. Kawamura, FW GP Opening Round!

[ilostmydog]

When: March 20, 2009
Where: I dunno.

Fight Card:

King Mo vs. Ryo Kawamura

Confirmed FW GP (143 lbs) Participants:

Hatsu Hioki
Marlon Sandro - Pancrase FW Champ
Ronnie Mann
Chris Manuel
Nick Denis - KOTC FW Champ (WAR CANADA!)

Rumoured Participants:

Hiroyuki Takaya
Alexandre Franca 'Pequeno' Nogueira
Nam Phan
Yuji Hoshino

[wgrapple]

Interesting...I imagine the Dream GP will feature more "name" fighters.

This should be Hioki's GP to win.

I believe Manuel is a solid ATT guy...

[ilostmydog]

This should be Hioki's GP to win.


You have never heard of Marlon Sandro then. :lol:

[Gomi]

King Mo is the future. He is still not very polished, but the guy has a ****ton of potential.

[LuckyD]

F'n awesome.

Hioki-Sandro could very well be epic.

[wgrapple]

You have never heard of Marlon Sandro then. :lol:

I've seen a couple of his fights...he looks like a badass Brazilian but he hasn't fought anyone as experienced as Hioki and Hioki has fought tougher competition imo.

Not that I wouldn't want to see that fight ;)

[BulldogWrestler]

LMFAO I guess this means we can all start ranking 'Lil 'Lil Nog at FW again?

[Ash]

Wait a sec, isn't Kawamura a MW?

[BulldogWrestler]

Details, details.

[ilostmydog]

Wait a sec, isn't Kawamura a MW?

Yeah, so is King Mo.

[Porfirio]

Where is Benavidez?

[ilostmydog]

Joe Benavidez was never in Sengoku. He's now signed to the WEC.

[BruceLee]

King . . .

[sportsgenius86]

Having both orgs holding FW GPs in the same year is going to detract from both tournaments.

[ilostmydog]

Having both orgs holding FW GPs in the same year is going to detract from both tournaments.

Not really. Dream's weight limit is low enough that it's more of a BW tournament anyways. A lot of FWs aren't going to want to cut down to 138 lbs.

[Ash]

Yeah, so is King Mo.

I had a total brain fart there..... for some reason, I was thinking King Mo was a HW.

[sportsgenius86]

Not really. Dream's weight limit is low enough that it's more of a BW tournament anyways. A lot of FWs aren't going to want to cut down to 138 lbs.

very true..

[Lord Strongo]

king mo's the next v silva. can after can after can!!!:lol:

[ilostmydog]

king mo's the next v silva. can after can after can!!!:lol:

It's called developing a prospect. Dude's been fighting pro for barely five months. It's not the time to be throwing great fighters at him, it's a time to be giving him fighters that will provide a test that he can handle and further develop his skills. To his credit, Mo is a smart enough guy to realize that he shouldn't be fighting worldbeaters at this stage and needs to develop his skills.

[Gomi]

King . . .

MO

King . . .

[Ash]

This'll be 3 tough fights in a row for Mo. Nothing wrong with that.

[LuckyD]

It looks like Snoopy Mishima was going to participate in the GP, but had to pull out due to injury. What also sucks is that Lion was rumored to be there, but Shooto ain't letting him go fight for Sengoku's GP.

[ilostmydog]

What also sucks is that Lion was rumored to be there, but Shooto ain't letting him go fight for Sengoku's GP.

Misleading. He could have fought in the GP if he wanted to, but he instead decided to fight in Shooto in May, which is when the second leg of the tourney is. It's not a case of Shooto not letting him go (which would be impossible anyways because Shooto isn't an org, it's a sanctioning body).

[LuckyD]

Misleading. He could have fought in the GP if he wanted to, but he instead decided to fight in Shooto in May, which is when the second leg of the tourney is. It's not a case of Shooto not letting him go (which would be impossible anyways because Shooto isn't an org, it's a sanctioning body).

Well, whatever the case it would have been nice to see him in the GP. I must have misread the info.

[ilostmydog]

More fighters.

Masanori Kanehara
Chang Jon Son
Tetsuya Yamada - 2-1 record, 18 yrs old...still in high school :eek:

[ilostmydog]

More fighters:

Michihiro Omigawa (aka OMGwa) - most of you probably know who he is

Shintaro Ishiwitari - very exciting young FW out of Gutsman. Here are his last two fights:

- vs. Kazuhiro Ito (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1ZXqAH3vn4)
- vs. Tenkei Fujimiya (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYf7aBHBdQk)

Seiya Kawahara - ridiculously awesome BW coming out of Pancrase. I don't think moving up in weight is a great move for him though. Here are two of his fights, both with pretty nice KOs:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpH1s1UjPOI
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW7Bo-bKTmo

[LuckyD]

Fcukin' right!
This is shaping up very nicely, i'm impressed. I am looking forward to this card more than DREAM's GP honestly. Although I am excited about both, and will certainally watch both.

I have ran across the name of Kawahara before, but didn't really know anything about him. Until now... What a beautiful RHK on the first fight vs Yamasawa. And on the second fight, that was absolutely BRUTAL GnP! Kawahara looks like a beast in the making. He has excellent movement on his feet, is extremely quick, and I like how he changes his stance up frequently. Tons of power for such a small guy, his legs literally look like toothpicks, so you are definitely correct in being concerned about him moving up in weight. Thanks for the links, I'm excited to see more of him.

[ilostmydog]

Last Participant announced:

- Jong Man Kim

Some matchups announced:

Non-tourney fights:

King Mo vs. Ryo Kawamura - previously announced
James Thompson vs. Big Jim York

GP Bouts:

Marlon Sandro vs. Matt Jaggers - rumoured, unconfirmed
Nam Phan vs. Hideki Kadowaki - confirmed by Phan on his website
LC Davis vs. Michihiro Omigawa (aka OMGwa) - confirmed by Davis

Remaining participants:

- Hatsu Hioki
- Jong Man Kim
- Nick Denis
- Ronnie 'Mann' Ushiwaka
- Shintaro Ishiwatari
- Chan Jung Sung
- Seiya Kawahara
- Masanori Kanehara
- Chris Manuel
- Tetsuya Yamada