Sengoku 14 Parting Shots

Lest you be inclined to believe that all of the action in a packed month of August is confined to North America, there was a great Sengoku event last weekend, as well. With everything else going on, it has been sadly overshadowed, even though there were plenty of quality fights, including a fight of the year contender featuring an unforgettable ending.

Misaki gives Santiago a run for his money

With all the great comebacks we’ve seen this summer in MMA- Brock Lesnar against Shane Carwin, Anderson Silva against Chael Sonnen, and now Jorge Santiago against Kazuo Misaki, it can be easy to forget that these types of momentum changes are pretty rare, even in an explosive sport like MMA.

Misaki was ahead 39-36 on my card, thanks to a largely complacent Santiago in the first two rounds and a red card that turned a 10-9 fourth round into a 10-8 (or 10-7, given that Misaki was dominant) round. Commentators Michael Schiavello and Frank Trigg agreed, though the math was a little complex for them. Anyway, all of that became meaningless in an instant as Santiago, who I had ranked as the tenth best middleweight in the world, stormed back.

A knockdown and several submission attempts for Santiago led to Misaki being mounted and pounded as time slowly ticked away in the round. Misaki only had to survive the round for what would probably be a clear decision victory, and the referee was obviously giving him a little more leeway than usual for that reason. Then, as Santiago was teeing off and Misaki was just barely defending, a towel was thrown in by Misaki’s corner with 24 seconds left.

Truly and unforgettable ending, even if not the earth-shattering event that Schiavello would have you believe. There are three things I would like to discuss about the bout:

1) It was refreshing to see a fighter who is down on points and can’t possibly win without a stoppage actually show a sense of urgency for once. So many times, we have seen fighters who are down two rounds or more in a fight simply go out and fight as they normally would. You wouldn’t think that seeing someone swing for the fences like Santiago did would be rare in such a situation, but it is, and that’s a shame. Santiago gets props for letting it all hang out in pursuit of the fifth-round finish.

2) At the same time, he deserves admonishment for coasting through the first two rounds. Misaki flat-out took the fourth round from him, tagging him and then aggressively putting him in trouble for the rest of the round, but the first two rounds displayed what appeared to be a disinterested and overly calm Santiago, especially considering how close their first bout was.

3) Frank Trigg wasn’t a fan (“That makes no sense. That is the worst thing ever.”) of Misaki’s corner throwing in the towel, and I agree. I know that 24 seconds of getting pounded on is a long time, but Misaki had earned a win and deserved the chance to do so. To have the fight stopped by the referee would have been one thing, but Misaki will surely not be happy with having his own corner stop the bout.

In the early days of the sport, cornermen throwing in the towel was a regular thing, but it is just not necessary now. Referees, even those in Japan that have historically let fights go on a little too long, are more than well-equipped to do their jobs. Trigg has fought many times and thought from a fighter’s perspective that it was an awful decision, so I feel more than comfortable echoing that statement from the comfort of my couch.

At the same time, in an interview with Sherdog.com, Santiago said he agreed with the decision to throw in the towel, and a look at the judges’ scorecards reveal that Santiago was actually down just 38-36 on two cards, and 39-36 on a third. With a 10-8 round, which would have been obvious with the way things went, it would have been a majority draw, which then would have resulted in the judges picking a victor. So, perhaps Misaki’s corner saved him some unnecessary damage that wouldn’t have changed the end result, anyway.

Gono upset by a guy whose name I can’t spell

If you saw the show, you already know that Akihiro Gono was defeated by decision at the hands of Jadamba Narantungalag, who will be testing the copy/paste functionality of my computer on a regular basis now. If you didn’t see the show, you are wondering what the hell a “Jadamba Narantungalag” is. Well, it’s a little-known Mongolian fighter who brought just a 2-2 record amassed over the last six years into the bout. Then, he simply did everything better than Gono en route to victory.

There’s really not much more to see here, though. Gono will always be Gono, and who knows if the 34-year old Narantungalag actually has plans to become a more active MMA participant for the next few years.

Quick Shots

–How bout those groin shots? If you have bad memories of being targeted in the twig and berries, you would be advised to stay away from Sengoku events, as this one was full of them. One bout, between Leonardo Santos and Sotaro Yamada, ended because of excessive low blows from Yamada (Santos’ quote afterward: “This guy is crazy.”). It was nearly Andrew Golota-esque, but not nearly as epic as the three punch combination to the balls that ruined Golota’s hopes in his second meeting with Riddick Bowe.

–Hatsu Hioki looked great in absolutely dominating American Jeff Lawson en route to a first round win by submission. Actually, it is almost impossible to determine whether Hioki just looked great or Lawson just looked awful. I’ll go for a combination of both. Lawson is a good enough fighter but was not up to the task, as he had not much more to offer other than ridiculous looping bar-brawl punches and poor submission defense.

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Tags: Hatsu Hiroki, Jorge Santiago, Kazuo Misaki, Sengoku, Sengoku 14