Jorge Santiago (21-7), the current Sengoku middleweight champion and one of the marquee names on the star-studded Sengoku: "Eleventh Battle" fight card, now has an opponent.
MMAmania.com has been able to confirm a report by the polish MMA website MMA Rocks that Santiago is in talks to face Polish standout Mamed Khalidov (19-3-1) on the Nov. 7 event at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Upon insistence of Santiago's camp, the bout will be contested under a non-title agreement.
Santiago has been on a red-hot streak since his TKO loss to Alan Belcher in UFC in December 2006. He has strung together a nine-fight winning streak over the likes of Jeremy Horn, Trevor Prangley, Sean Salomon, and Kazuo Misaki, finishing all nine opponents.
Earlier this year, he capped off his remarkable run through the Sengoku middleweight tourney by defeating Kazuo Misaki via rear naked choke in the fifth round of the inaugural Sengoku middleweight championship battle.
Khalidov,a Chechen-Polish fighter who has been tearing through the European promotions, most notably KSW, has signed a three-fight contract with Sengoku.
He introduced himself to the American audience when he defeated Jason Guida at the ShoXC - Elite Challenger Series last October. In his last fight, he notched the most significant victory of his career, knocking out the PRIDE veteran and Chute Boxe Academy member, Daniel Acacio at KSW 11.
Like Santiago, Khalidov is a proven finisher, having earned 18 of his 19 victories via stoppage. Also, he is riding a 17-fight undefeated streak, not having lost since September, 2005.
With the addition of Santiago-Khalidov, the Sengoku - "Eleventh Battle" fight card stands as follows:
* Hatsu Hioki vs. Michihiro Omigawa
* Yuji Hoshino vs. Marlon Sandro
* Ronnie "Ushiwaka" Mann vs. Shigeki Osawa
* Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kazunori Yokota
* Satoru Kitaoka vs. Jorge Masvidal
* Dave Herman vs. Jim York
* Stanislav Nedkov vs. Kevin Randleman*
* Mamed Khalidov vs. Jorge Santiago*
* Akihiro Gono vs. TBA
* - not officially announced.
Stay tuned to MMAmania as the line-up for Sengoku: "Eleventh Battle" nears completion.
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