Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-6-2) will face Sergey Golyaev (9-5) at Sengoku Seventh Battle 4 January in Saitama, Japan, World Victory Road announced this week.

Mitsuoka is coming off a submission loss to Satoru Kitaoka (23-9-7) at Sengoku Sixth Battle in November. Mitsuoka was caught with a heel hook at 1:16 of round one.

Golyaev is coming off an upset win via split decision over second-ranked “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (28-5), also at Sengoku Sixth Battle.

Despite being suspended by the California State Athletic Commission, “Big Foot” Antonio Silva (11-1) will fight at Sengoku 7 in Saitama 4 January versus “Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (8-1), World Victory Road announced Friday. Silva was issued a one-year suspension for testing positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone after his TKO win over Justin Eilers (19-7-1) 26 July at EliteXC. By competing in Japan, Silva is apparently ignoring both the suspension and a warning from the CSAC against fighting overseas. Silva’s management argued that other fighters had done it without penalty. Silva’s opponent, Nakao, last fought at Sengoku Second Battle in May, knocking out “Big” Jim York (9-2) in round two. Nakao is infamous for winning a fight versus “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-14) before it even began.  Herring was disqualified for dropping Nakao with a punch when Nakao kissed him during the staredown. ...

“Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) will face off against Moise Rimbon (13-7-3) in a light heavyweight match at Sengoku 6 in Saitama, north of Tokyo, 1 November, World Victory Road announced Monday. Nogueira, a PRIDE veteran, last fought at Affliction: Banned in July, handing “Babyface” Edwin Dewees (35-13) a first-round TKO loss. Nogueira was previously scheduled to fight “Janitor” Vladimir Matyushenko (21-3) at Affliction’s second show in October before it was postponed. Rimbon, of France, submitted Peter Graham (0-2) with a rear naked choke in round two at Sengoku 4 in August. ...

Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (29-3) will face Red Devil Sports Club’s Sergey Golyaev (10-6) at Sengoku 6 in Saitama, 1 November, World Victory Road announced Wednesday. WVR also announced that Fighter of the Month “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (1-0) will face Chute Boxe’s Fabio Silva (11-4). Gomi’s last fight, in August, went the distance but he won the decision over Seung Hwan Bang (5-2).  His next fight was to have been 4 January at Sengoku 7. Golyaev last fought in December 2006, winning via decision over Vladimir Soroka (3-1). Lawal won his MMA debut in September with a first round TKO of “Diesel” Travis Wiuff (53-12). Silva most recently KO’d Yoshiki Takahashi (28-24-3) in the second round at Sengoku 3 in June. ...

World Victory Road has officially added their Middleweight Grand Prix to Sengoku 6, taking place 1 November in Saitama, Japan. The winner of the tournament will face Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked middleweight “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2) for the first-ever middleweight belt 4 January in Saitama at Sengoku 7. Kazuhiro Nakamura (12-8) will face Yuki Sasaki (22-14-1), and Jorge Santiago (18-7) will face “Afghan Killa” Siyar Bahadurzada (14-3-1). The event already features a lightweight tournament to determine an opponent for Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (29-3) at Sengoku 7 for the title. The bouts remaining in the lightweight tournament are Satoru Kitaoka (21-8-9) versus sixth-ranked Eiji Mitsuoka (14-5-2), and Kazunori Yokota (7-1-3) versus Mizuto Hirota (10-2). WVR also announced that Fighters.com’s Fighter of the Month “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (1-0) will fight, although an opponent has not yet been determined. “GameBred” Jorge Masvidal (14-3) versus Seung Hwan Bang (5-2) is also official. Joe Doerksen (40-12) revealed through MySpace Tuesday that he has agreed to fight Izuru Takeuchi (25-9-6). ...

A rib injury has forced Roger Gracie (2-0) to withdraw from his heavyweight match versus “Diesel” Travis Wiuff (53-11) at Sengoku 5 in Tokyo 28 September, his management told Sherdog Wednesday. Gracie tore an intercostal muscle after taking a kick to the ribs in training, and was advised by his physiotherapist not to train for at least four weeks. World Victory Road has not yet officially pulled Gracie from the card, nor announced a new opponent for Wiuff. ...

World Victory Road announced Thursday that YAMMA Pit Fighting Champion “Diesel” Travis Wiuff (53-11) will be Roger Gracie’s (2-0) opponent at Sengoku 5, 28 September in Tokyo. Also announced was a lightweight bout between Kiuma Kunioku (33-22-9) and South Korea’s A Sol Kwon (5-3). Wiuff is riding a ten-fight win streak, most recently knocking out Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7) at 1:24 of his Sengoku debut in June. Gracie, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu star, submitted Yuki Kondo (28-22-6) in May via rear naked choke in the first round. Kunioku, a former Pancrase champion, submitted his last opponent, Jay Ellis (7-23), via toe hold in 1:47 in May. Kwon last fought in June, winning a unanimous decision over Do Hyung Kim (4-2). ...

World Victory Road announced Friday a middleweight tournament for Sengoku 5 at the Yoyogi National First Gymnasium in Tokyo 28 September. The first four competitors named for the tournament are Kazuhiro Nakamura (11-8), “Cyborg” Evangelista Santos (16-11), Jorge Santiago (17-7), and Siyar Bahadurzada (13-3-1). Nakamura, a PRIDE veteran, fought most recently in the UFC.  He was 0-2 in the organization, falling to Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked light heavyweight “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-2) with a leg injury in May. Nakamura will make his debut as a middleweight at the upcoming event. Santos, from the Chute Boxe, Academy, won his last fight by submitting Makoto Takimoto (4-4) with an Achilles lock at Sengoku 1 in March. American Top Team member Santiago won his last five fights, most recently submitting Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) via armbar at Sengoku 2 in May. Shooto Light Heavyweight Champion Bahadurzada lost his Sengoku debut in March, tapping to Fighters.com’s eighth-ranked middleweight “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2)’s guillotine. ...

World Victory Road announced Tuesday that Polish judoka Pawel Nastula (1-3) will come out of retirement to face Korean wrestler Yang Dong Yi (2-0) at Sengoku 4 in Saitama 24 August. Nastula, a 1996 Olympic Gold Medallist, announced his retirement after the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for a positive drug test. The suspension came after a submission loss to Fighters.com’s third-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (23-5) at PRIDE 32 in October 2006. Nastula’s other two losses were also to top-ranked heavyweights, “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) and Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3). Yi won both his professional fights via first-round TKO at DEEP, most recently over Keigo Takamori (6-6) in August last year. ...

Fighters.com’s third-ranked lightweight “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (28-3) will face current DEEP champion Sung Hwan Pang (5-1) at World Victory Road's 24 August Sengoku 4 event in Saitama, the organization announced Thursday. PRIDE vet Gomi TKO’d “Bang” Duane Ludwig (16-8) in 2:28 at the first Sengoku event in March.  It was Gomi's first fight in eleven months. Pang, from South Korea, KO’d Kazunori Yokota (6-1-3) in 3:38 in May for the lightweight title. His only loss came during his professional debut in July 2007. ...

Fighters.com’s seventh-ranked middleweight “Twinkle Toes” Frank Trigg (16-6) will face Makoto Takimoto (4-4) at World Victory Road’s Sengoku 4 on 24 August in Saitama.  Trigg confirmed the match to MMA Junkie Monday. Trigg last fought in December, submitting “Babyface” Edwin Dewees (35-12) with a first-round kimura at an HDNet Fights event. Takimoto, an Olympic gold medalist in judo, most recently faced “Cyborg” Evangelista Santos (16-11) at Sengoku 1 in March and was submitted in the first round via Achilles lock. ...

The March 5th World Victory Road main event of Josh Barnett versus Hidehiko Yoshida is more than a reunion of PRIDE heavyweights. 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." ...

Upstart Japanese MMA promotion World Victory Road announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett will fight Olympic gold medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida. 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. ...