Coker said, “Fedor is now scheduled to fight in June towards the end of the month in America against Fabricio Werdum.”

But, Coker left open the possibility that Emelianenko could fight Hidehiko Yoshida (9-7-1) at ASTRA’s inaugural event in Tokyo April 25.

“I’ve heard the rumors as well,” Coker admitted to MMA Weekly. “and as I know more I will let the media know in America, and let the media know here, but I believe that’s just a rumor.”

American Top Team’s Miller went 2-2 in the WEC in 2007 and 2008, but enters ASTRA with a three fight win streak.  Most recently, Miller submitted “Cheesesteak” Anthony Morrison (15-8) at SHINE Fights 2 in Miami last September.

Omigawa went 0-2 in the UFC’s lightweight division 2007 and 2008, but has since gone 5-2-1 after returning to a more suitable 145 pounds.  Most recently he TKO’d “Streetfight Bancho” Hiroyuki Takaya (12-8-1) at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve.

The first ASTRA event will mark the end of Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida‘s (9-7-1) honorable MMA career, though no opponent for his final fight has been announced.

Frank seems to be looking for an exciting stand up war which casual fans seems to thirst for today. I feel  the most exciting fights are ones where we see the actual definition of mixed martial arts. The continued rise of this sport and the very future of it depends upon fighters and promoters working to show what a true mixed martial artist is and not focusing on only one aspect of that,specifically the stand up wars.

I noticed that many times during a pay per view we get to see the knock out of the night even when it is not a main card fight. Seldom to we get to see the submission of the night when it is an under card fight. This is a travesty to the sport. We can’t continue to promote the sport, the fighters and the evolution of it while focusing on the stand up aspect and essentially ignoring the other aspects.

Promoters tout mixed martial arts as the combination of boxing, muay thai, kick boxing,wrestling and jiu jitsu. This is the evolution of the sport. We see fighters working hard to evolve into complete mixed martial artists. Guys like Fighters.com and UFC lightweight champion “The Prodigy” BJ Penn (12-4-1) and UFC welterweight champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (19-2). Yet it is the strikers that are getting the biggest headlines in the national media.

On ESPN’s website today we see former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le. A man highly touted yet has faced not one top tier middleweight. He is known for his striking and this gets him publicity. That and his new found movie career. I would much rather see fighters such as Strikeforce interim lightweight champion “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (14-2) and “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (9-2) get publicity. Both of these men train hard to become well rounded. Cowboy is known as a submission fighter but has worked hard recently to clean up his stand up. This is what the sport is all about.

Spike TV has done a great job of promoting mma but look at one of the shows they like to run, Ultimate Knock Outs. This is run over and over while Ultimate Submissions is a show I have never seen. We seem to be promoting the stand up and ignoring the ground game. It is an injustice to pander to the new fans who tune in to watch someone get knocked out using the four once gloves. I understand that many new fans want to see a knock out but it is our job to make sure we educate them and a show like Ultimate Submissions would do just that. When  watching the reruns of fights on Spike, instead of showing us a fight with great stand up I say show us a fight with great transitions. Maybe then we will see a fight go to the ground and not have to listen to fans boo even while one fighter is passing guard.

This education of fans is also a responsibility fighters must take seriously. Frank is dodging a fight because he feels it would not be exciting. It is the fighters job to work to be the best and in doing so one must take fights that put them against the best. Even if a fight may end up being a fight like we saw when Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields (24-4-1) took on “Mayhem” Jason Miller (22-7). The fight was a five round wrestling match with Jake doing very little striking and Mayhem unable to look for subs due to the great top control of Shields. There will be times when these things happen. Fighters seem to be more worried about how they look in the cage then if they win or lose. How many times do you see a fighter lose and then ask the crowd if they enjoyed the fight? Yes, promote yourself but let’s allow our sport to turn into a Jorge Gurgel (12-4)

Jorge is a black belt in jiu jitsu yet has decided to put all that aside to be an “exciting fighter” who focuses on stand up. This has led to him being cut from the UFC due to loses. Jorge may have the ability to be a top lightwieght fighter but it is his insistence on putting on a show that has been his downfall. Do not abandon one aspect of this amazing sport just to be exciting. Seasoned mma fans know and new fans will find out that the most exciting fights are the ones that transition from stand up, to wrestling , to jiu jitsu and then back to the feet. Fights such as Fighters.com ninth ranked light heavyweight “Axe Murder” Wanderlei Silva (15-1) versus Hidehiko Yoshida (9-6-1) or Fighters.com third ranked light heavyweight “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (18-4) versus fourth ranked heavyweight “Lil Nog” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1).

We can use knock outs to bring people new fans to the sport but without educating them ikn all aspects of the sport fighters like Frnak Shamrock will continue to refuse fights they don’t feel will be exciting and we could miss the next Shogun versus Lil Nog fight. There comes a time when one needs to shut up, step inside the cage and let his skills speak for themselves and the fans will surely be pleased.

Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight Gomi will face Satoru Kitaoka (21-9-7), and ninth-ranked middleweight Misaki will face Jorge Santiago (18-7).  The first-ever WVR titles in both weight classes will be on the line.

Heavyweight Hidehiko Yoshida (8-6-1) is also on the card.

Gomi will fight for the belt despite losing his last fight versus Red Devil Sports Club’s Sergey Golyaev (8-5) 1 November at Sengoku 6 via split decision.

Kitaoka won the lightweight tournament at the same event by submitting sixth-ranked Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) with a first-round heel hook, then defeating Kazunori Yokota (7-1-2) via unanimous decision.

Misaki last fought in September at Strikeforce versus “Diesel” Joe Riggs (28-10).  Riggs was felled via TKO in round two.

Santiago submitted Siyar Bahadurzada (9-3-1) via first-round heel hook and TKO’d  Kazuhiro Nakamura (12-8) in round three to win the middleweight tournament at Sengoku 6.

Yoshida submitted “Mo” Maurice Smith (13-13) by neck crank at Sengoku 3 in June.

Misaki successfully countered Clark’s aggressive stand-up for the “W”.

Ninth-ranked welterweight “The Goat” Nick Thompson (36-9-1) survived a “Maicon” Michael Costa (9-4) hook that detonated in the second round, leaving “The Goat” on the mat, to tap Costa at 4:13 of the round in a Kimura.

YAMMA Pit Fighting Heayweight Champion “Diesel” Travis Wiuff (53-11) cemented his return to being taken seriously with a first-round knockout of “Ironhead” Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7) at 1:24, a feet never previously achieved.

In the night’s main event, heavyweight Hidehiko Yoshida (8-6-1) ended a three-loss streak by tapping 46-year old kickboxer “Mo” Maurice Smith (12-13) in a neck crank at 2:23 of round one.

Sanae Kikuta (27-6-3) finished off Englishman Chris Rice (12-6), who entered the ring costumed as the Grim Reaper, in a first-round armbar at 3:54.

“Pe de Pano” Marcio Cruz (4-2) also tapped Korean heavyweight Mu Bae Choi (7-3) in a rear naked choke at 4:37 of round one.

Brazilian lightweight Rodrigo Damm (8-1) called out second-ranked lightweight “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (28-3) after the referee ended “Gamebred” Jorge Masvidal‘s (13-3) night, controversially calling the fight at 4:38 of round two while Masvidal was recovering from a punch that dropped the brawler.

Middleweight Fabio Silva (10-4) knocked out Yoshiki Takahashi (28-23-3) with a knee at :24 of round two.

Costa has won four fights by stoppage and one by decision and comes in on a two-knockout streak.

“The Goat” hasn’t lost in two years, piling up ten stoppages and, most recently, a unanimous decision over “Pitbull” Fabricio Monteiro (16-7) at Sengoku I in March.

Other fighters who may get ring time at the event include former PRIDE heavyweights Hidehiko Yoshida (7-6-1) and “Ironhead” Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6), former UFC heavyweight “Pe De Pano” Marcio Cruz (3-2), Chute Box middleweight Fabio Silva (9-4), and Brazilian lightweight Rodrigo Damm (7-1).

“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).

According to the “The Babyface Assassin” Barnett, 20-5, there’s 100-years of rivalry leading to the showdown between the catch wrestler and the judoka.

Explains Barnett, “One of the more famous stories involving this rivalry was when catch wrestler Ad Santel defeated 5th degree black belt Tokugoro Itoh with a slam so powerful it fractured [his] skull.”

Santel, a catch wrestling heavyweight titlist, wrestled judoka from the The Kodokan Institute from 1914-1921.

“Since Itoh was considered one of the best judoka in the world,” Barnett tells, “Santel proclaimed himself, ‘The Judo World Champion’.”

“The Kodakan sent many judoka to avenge the loss,” Barnett goes on.

Itoh avenged the brutal TKO with a submission defeat of Santel in their rematch.

However, Barnett claims, “Santel claimed victory over many of the top judoka of the time: Taro Miyake via slam TKO, 4th degree black belt Daisuke Sakai, and 5th degree black belt Reijiro Nagata again by TKO.”

The last chapter in the storied rivalry has a direct connection to Barnett vs. Yoshida.

Barnett asks, “Can the teacher avenge the student?”

In February 2006 Barnett tapped Yoshida prodigy Kazuhiro Nakamura in a rear naked choke at PRIDE 31.

Barnett asks again, “Can Yoshida bring honor back to Judo?”  Then, he answers, “Only way to know is to strap up the boots, check the tape, get in the ring, and lock horns in the center.”

The match-up will be the main event at WVR’s inaugural March 5th card at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 1 in Tokyo.

Neither fighter has competed in mixed martial arts since PRIDE’s final New Year’s Eve event in 2006.

Barnett dropped a rematch with current interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by unanimous decision.

Yoshida suffered a TKO to glass-jawed Brit James Thompson.

WVR announced last week that it had signed former PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi.