SRC 12, the World Victory Road's inaugural event under the "Sengoku Raiden Championship" banner, will take place at the fabled sumo arena, Ryogoku Kokugikan on Sunday, March 7. The event is set to air on tape delay on HDNet on March 12 in North America.
The fight card is headlined by a middleweight title bout-cum-rematch between the reigning champion, Jorge Santiago and Mamed Khalidov. In their first encounter in November last year, the KSW veteran, Khalidov staged a shocking rout of Santiago in a non-title bout and halted the American Top Team standout's nine-fight winning streak.
The weigh-in/pre-fight press conference was held on Saturday, March 6 and all 16 fighters slated for the fight card reportedly made weight.
Akihiro Gono, who will take on the Swedish prospect, Diego Gonzalez, in the co-main event, radiated confidence as he spoke about his recent training sojourn in San Jose, Calif. at American Kickboxing Academy. The Pride and UFC vet is on a resurgence with a submission victory over Hayato "Mach" Sakurai at Dynamite!! 2009 and decision victory over Yoon Young Kim at Sengoku 11.
In addition to seeking a change of scenery in training with a trip to the US, he has apparently cleaned up his personal life and refrained from "philandering and late-night partying" since last summer.
Elsewhere, former sumo wrestler, Henry "Sentoryu" Miller showed up to the presser sporting sunglasses and flu mask. His opponent, Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao taunted him, making tongue-in-cheek (damn this sounds dirty) statement about his spoiling an opportunity for a kiss by wearing a mask. Will "Kiss" do the unthinkable by reenacting the infamous incident with Heath Herring that gave him his moniker?
Weigh-in results:
Main event: Jorge Santiago (82.9 kg/184.22 lbs) vs. Mamed Khalidov (82.6 kg/183.56 lbs)
Co-main event: Akihiro Gono (76.0 kg/168.89 lbs) vs. Diego Gonzalez (75.9 kg/168.67 lbs)
Maximo Blanco (69.8 kg/155.11 lbs) vs. Armbar Kim (69.9 kg/155.33 lbs)
Marlon Sandro (64.7 kg/143.78 lbs) vs. Tomonari Kanomata (64.9 kg/144.22 lbs)
Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nakao (99.7 kg/221.56 lbs) vs. Henry "Sentoryu" Miller (109.9 kg/244.22 lbs)
Yuji Hoshino (64.9 kg/144.22 lbs) vs. Nick Denis (64.9 kg/144.22 lbs)
Kiuma Kunioku (69.3 kg/154 lbs) vs. Leonardo Santos (69.6 kg/154.67 lbs)
Shigeki Osawa (65.0 kg/144.44 lbs) vs. Kyung Ho Kang (65.0 kg/144.44 lbs)
(Photo courtesy of Sports Navi)