Sengoku completes Featherweight GP match-ups; adds York vs Thompson for March 20 (Updated)

World Victory Road has added a heavyweight bout for its Sengoku 8 event, which takes place on Friday, March 20, airing live in North America on HDNet from the National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.

Former PRIDE and EliteXC competitor (and the man who almost kept UFC 97 out of Canada) James Thompson will do battle with MARS veteran Jim York on the main card of Sengoku 7.

"The Colossus" (14-9) has dropped seven of his last ten, but is probably most famous for his fight against Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson at EliteXC "Primetime" last May.

Thompson exposed the ground game of Fergie with an easy takedown and proceeded to rain down 80-something elbows without drawing a stoppage. He would later get TKO'd on his feet in the third round with a credited assist from referee Dan Miragliotta.

He's a big and muscular brute who loves to charge head on and swing for the fences, which should be a welcome approach for York.

"Big" (9-2) was in cruise control, winning nine straight fights until he was upended by Yoshihiro "I kissed Heath Herring and got dropped for it" Nakao at Sengoku "Second Battle." York carries heavy hands but also has an underrated submission game.

Don't expect a long feeling-out process with these two.

Also on the card, wrestling phenom and breakout star Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (3-0) has been put to the task of facing current light heavyweight King of Pancrase Ryo Kawamura (9-3-2).

The Team Quest standout has been on a ferocious tear since debuting at Sengoku ‘Fifth Battle’ back in September, demolishing veteran of the sport Travis Wiuff (54-12) with relative ease.

In the span of just four months since his debut got underway, Mo has continued to dominate his opponents and boost his record to 3-0, entertaining fans along the way with his fighting style and colorful personality.

Lawal seems right at home in Japan with his theatrics and thankfully he can back them up when it comes fight time.

In his post fight speech after his last win at Sengoku ‘Rebellion’ on January 4 (a TKO victory over Yukiya Naito) "King Mo" stated that he wants to fight on every single Sengoku card of 2009.

No arguments here.

The full line-up for the Sengoku Featherweight Tournament is also complete with the addition of K-1 and DEEP veteran Kim Jong Man (3-5-2). He joins a field of 15 other fighters competing for the Grand Prix title.

The tournament match-ups are as follows:

Kim Jong Man (3-5-3) vs. Masanori Kanehara (11-5-5)
Nam Phan (14-5) vs. Hideki Kadowaki (13-8-2)
Matt Jaggers (9-4) vs. Marlon Sandro (12-0)
L.C. Davis (13-1) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (4-7-1)
Tetsuya Yamada (3-0) vs. Ronnie Mann Ushiwaka (16-1-1)
Jung Chan Sung (2-0) vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (6-1-3)
Hatsu Hioki (17-3-2) vs. Chris Manuel (6-0-2)
Nick Denis (6-0) vs. Seiya Kawahara (6-1)

The Grand Prix quarterfinals will be held at Sengoku "Eighth Battle" on May 2 from the National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The semifinals and finals are expected to take place this summer.

Stay tuned for more event updates for Sengoku as they develop. In the meantime, get up to speed on all things Sengoku by heading over to our archive here.