Barnett, Gomi, Like They Never Left
Posted by Chad Edward on March 5th, 2008Josh Barnett, judo champion?
“The Babyfaced Assassin” from Seattle tread the path of his catch wrestling forefather Ad Santel Wednesday by submitting Japanese Olympic gold medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida (7-6-1) by heel hook at 3:23 of round three at World Victory Road’s inaugural Sengoku fight card in Tokyo.
A century ago, Santel waged war with judoka and proclaimed himself the world judo champion after defeating fifth-degree black belt Tokugoro Ito.
“I revived this rivalry when I fought Kazuhiro Nakamura,” Barnett (21-5) told Sherdog.com. “And, so I’m keeping it going for this century now.”
The fight was the American’s first in MMA since losing a unanimous decision rematch with current interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) on New Year’s Eve 2006.
His layoff had erased his name from most rankings which require activity in the previous 365-days; but, vanquishing the samurai establishes Barnett’s status as a top five heavyweight.
Also returning to active duty, former PRIDE Lightweight Champion “The Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (28-3) sliced open “Bang” Duane Ludwig (16-8) of Denver to earn a first round stoppage at 2:28.
Gomi had been out of commission since tapping to Nick Diaz (15-7) in a gogoplata at PRIDE’s last American card in February 2007. After Diaz tested positive for smoking a doob’, the outcome was deemed a No Contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (19-8-2) got back to winning Wednesday with a guillotine submission of middleweight Afghan Siyar Bahadurzada (13-2-1) at 2:02 of round two.
Thick-skulled Japanese wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) posted a north-south choke tapout of MMA-debuting Aussie kickboxer Peter Graham (0-1).
“Cyborg” Evangelista Santos (16-11) won the second of his two-month trilogy by wrapping Japanese judoka Makoto Takimoto in a heel hook at 4:51 of round one.
Santos will fight Joey Villasenor on a San Jose Strikeforce card at the end of March.
Middleweight Pancrase vet Ryo Kawamura (8-2-2) of Japan won a unanimous decision over formerly undefeated Brazilian Antonio Braga Neto (5-1).
Bodog Fight welterweight king “The Goat” Nick Thompson (35-9-1) also won a unanimous decision over Gracie Barra “Pitbull” Fabricio Monteiro (16-7).
