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).

Lawal won his MMA debut in September, TKO’ing the more experienced “Diesel” Travis Wiuff (53-12) in the first round.

Masvidal defeated “Lion” Ryan Schultz (20-11-1) with a first-round TKO at the same event.

Bang lost his last fight via unanimous decision to Gomi in August.

UFC veteran Doerksen won a split decision over John Meyer (5-3) in August.

Shooto and Pancrase veteran Takeuchi won his last fight with a heel hook submission over Junior Santos (0-1) in June.

Lawal staggered Wiuff with a right Superman punch, then rushed in with a double-leg takedown at the ropes.  Lawal leapt on Wiuff and finished him off with ground’n’pound.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion “Xande” Alexandre Ribeiro (1-0) TKO’d Takashi Sugiura (1-3) in the last minute of his anticipated MMA debut.

Showing his fatigue in round three, Ribeiro nevertheless made a final attempt to finish the fight, landing several heavy punches and knees that forced the stoppage at 4:18.

Sengoku’s Middleweight Grand Prix got underway with four quarterfinal fights.

Chute Boxe member “Cyborg” Evangelista Santos’s (16-12) bout against “Afghan Killa” Siyar Bahadurzada (14-3-1) ended in injury after just 22 seconds.

Bahadurzada had double underhooks on Santos as the middleweights battled for position.  Bahadurzada tripped Santos, whose left elbow snapped when he landed, prompting an immediate stoppage.

UFC and WEC veteran “Pink Pounder” Logan Clark had a good first round on his feet, but American Top Team’s Jorge Santiago (18-7) caught him with an arm triangle at 3:35 of round two.

PRIDE veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura (12-8), in his debut as a middleweight, won an easy unanimous decision over Manchester’s Paul Cahoon (10-12).

Grabaka fighter Yuki Sasaki (22-14-1) submitted PRIDE and Pancrase veteran Yuki Kondo (49-23-6) via rear naked choke at 1:08 of round two, after an uneventful first round.

In a non-tournament bout, American Top Team member “GameBred” Jorge Masvidal (14-3) TKO’d former IFL Lightweight Champion “Lion” Ryan Schultz (20-11-1) with ground’n’pound at 1:57 of round one, first dropping him with a flying knee.

Kiuma Kunioku (34-22-9) earned a unanimous decision victory over A Sol Kwon (5-4) in their lightweight match.

Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) will participate in the Middleweight Grand Prix.  A Pancrase veteran and American Top Team member, he tapped in his last match in May to Jorge Santiago (17-7)’s armbar in round three.

“GameBred” Jorge Masvidal (13-3), also from American Top Team, is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Rodrigo Damm (8-1) in June.

Roger Gracie (2-0) won his last match in May over Yuki Kondo (28-22-6) via rear naked choke in the first round.

Xande Ribeiro (0-0), who beat Gracie to become the 2008 BJJ Absolute World Champion, will be making his MMA debut.

Heavyweight “Monster” Kevin Randleman (17-12) also pulled out a UD over Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura (8-3-2).  The decision was considered controversial.

Monson and Randleman are scheduled to fight on a 24 June card in Charlotte.

Highly-touted Roger Gracie (2-0) remained undefeated after tapping MMA vet Yuki Kondo (48-22-6) in a rear naked choke at 2:40 of round one.

“Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (7-1) called out “Ironhead” Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) after knocking out Kiwi “Big” Jim York (9-2) 46-seconds into round two.

American Top Team welterweight Jorge Santiago (17-7) fought off near-submissions before finding his own submission of Grabaka’s Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) in a third-round armbar at 2:10.

Lighweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) took only 4:15 to sink a rear naked choke submission in on “Crazy” Kwang Hee Lee (5-1).

Xtreme Couture welterweight “Quicksand” Mike Pyle (16-5-1) locked in a triangle choke to tap “Handler” Dan Hornbuckle (15-2) at 4:52 of round one.

Welterweight Pancrase vet Satoru Kitaoka (20-8-9) submitted Aussie Ian James Schaffa (7-5-1) in a guillotine choke in just 50 seconds to begin the night.

Grabaka veteran Yuki Sasaki (21-13-1) will face American Top Team’s Jorge Santiago (16-7).

Sasaki, who’s made the international rounds from Shooto through Pancrase, DEEP, and even a unanimous decision loss to “The Boogeyman” Dean Lister (10-5) in the UFC, comes off a first round armbar submission of debuting South Korean Bo Guk So (0-1) in DEEP last July.

Santiago, who also had an unsuccessful stint in the UFC, last TKO’d Trevor Prangley (17-5) at Strikeforce last November.

After Adrenaline MMA announced “The Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-7) would headline its 14 June card in Chicago, the heavyweight has been removed from the 18 May Sengoku appearance list.

The list now includes “The Monster” Kevin Randleman (16-12), Roger Gracie (1-0), “Big” Jim York (9-1), and “Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (6-1), who recently bailed on an announced DREAM match with “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2).

Previously announced fights include:

Eiji Mitsuoka (12-5-1) v “Crazy” Kwang Hee Lee (5-0)
Satoru Kitaoka (19-8-9) v Ian James Schaffa (7-4-1)