'The Grabaka Hit (and run) Man' Kazuo Misaki apologizes, escapes jail time for traffic incident

Sengoku and Strikeforce middleweight standout Kazuo Misaki recently escaped jail time for a traffic offense that involved him absconding from the police ala Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

On March 19 of this year, Misaki was driving while also talking on his cell phone. A passing police officer noticed this and asked him to stop immediately which prompted Misaki to refuse and attempt to flee from the scene.

In doing so his wing mirror also struck the police officer’s wrist, causing injury.

"The Grabaka Hitman" was not picked up and arrested for the offense until earlier this May. He recently admitted to the charges leveled against him and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

He was handed a three year suspended sentence and in the process escaped a 14 month stint in the slammer.

Misaki held a public apology today as reported by Yahoo Japan, apologizing profusely for his actions and stated that he wishes to gain back everyone’s trust and respect after this recent incident that damaged his character and stature.

Now the fate of his scheduled bout is uncertain, as he was set to do battle with Japanese Judoka and PRIDE veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura at Sengoku 9 from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Aug. 2.

The bout was being billed as a title eliminator bout, with the winner going on to face Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago somewhere down the line for a crack at the gold.

World Victory Road (WVR) officials are now contemplating if it should take place and will hold a meeting soon to discuss the future of the bout. It appears they are leaning towards the fight still going ahead and this deliberation may just be an attempt at damage control.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this situation as it develops.