On the heels of Sengoku 4 on August 28, World Victory Road has already begun finalizing its fifth installment that features a middleweight grand prix and a couple of grappling all-stars. Sengoku 5 will take place on September 28 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Confirmed participants include Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-8), Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (16-11), Siyar Bahadurzada (13-3-1), Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) and UFC veteran Jorge Santiago (17-7). Nakamura is making his debut with World Victory Road after a 0-2 run in the UFC.
Long criticized for carrying a few extra passengers in the caboose, Nakamura is finally shedding the freshman 15 in order to participate in September's tournament.
Both Bahadurzada and Sasaki are looking to rebound from their recent Sengoku losses while Santiago and Santos took victories in their Sengoku debuts.
Also scheduled to appear are American Top Team's Jorge "GameBred" Masvidal (13-3) as well as jiu-jitsu all-stars Alexandre Ribeiro (0-0) and Roger Gracie (2-0). A four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, "Xande" rocketed to the top of the grappling food chain after defeating Gracie at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world championships absolute divisions in 2006 and 2008.
While the match-ups have not yet been assembled, one has to wonder if this will this be Gracie's chance to exact revenge. Ribeiro is making his debut in MMA while Gracie has already pocketed two wins over MMA veterans Yuki Kondo and Ron Waterman.
Stay tuned for more updates as the Sengoku 5 card continues to come together.
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