Sengoku 11 Card Reinforces Effect of Tournament Format

Looking at the card for this week-end's Sengoku 11, there are a multitude of interesting matchups at various weights but some of the more interesting fights reside in the featherweight division:

SENGOKU ELEVENTH: NOVEMBER 7 ON HDNET
location: Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan

-Hatsu Hioki (20-3-2) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (7-8-1)
-Yuji Hoshino (16-7-7) vs. Marlon Sandro (14-1)
-Shigeki Osawa (3-0) vs. Ronnie Mann (16-2-1)

The tournament format to crown a FW champ has given a breadth to the division that lives on past the tournament itself. Take this card for example. Hioki seemed like a lock for tournament gold and looked well on his way until having to withdraw on the precipice of the finals. Hioki entered the tourney a Top 5 FW and his swift subs through the first three rounds of the competition did little to disavow one of that notion.

The tournament also lifted the profile of Marlon Sandro. Sandro made swift work of Matt Jaggers and Nick Denis before losing in the semifinals in a highly controversial split decision to Michihiro Omigawa, a decision seen by most as a bit of home cooking for the Japanese fighter. In spite of the loss, Sandro performance has lifted him into a spot on the door step of the Top 10, with inclusion possible with a few more impressive wins.

In the case of Omigawa, the tournament served as a re-birth for his career. Omigawa had been on a slide, going 0-3 in the the UFC at lighweight and drawing with Ishiwatari upon his return to his homeland. Entering the tourney, Omigawa would have seemed to be little more than cannon fodder, being an underdog at each step of his progression through the FW GP. Wins over LC Davis and Nam Phan gave him an against the odds appeal, and an unlikely (and somewhat undeserved) win over Sandro placed Omigawa in the finals with a shot at gold. He gave a game performance in the loss to Kanehara in the finals, but that didn't dull the resurgence in relevance of Omigawa. Omigawa's gameness in the GP make me want to watch him when he fights, something I would have thought to be impossible going into the GP.

Further still, the tournament gave glimpses of Chan Sung "The Korean Zombie" Jung and Ronnie Mann, spotlighting the two as exciting fighters to keep an eye on for the future. And lest one not forget about the winner of the FW GP, Kanehara. Kanehara sits precariously upon the throne, with fighters like Sandro and Hioki seen as the true players in Sengoku at FW, with Kanehara seen as a caretaker of the title until one or the other ascends. Will Kahehara be able to buck the conventional wisdom and hold on to his belt as he runs the gauntlet of Hioki/Sandro?

While the tourney has concluded, it has provided a back story and context that is unfolding even after the GP has passed. Even those that weren't in the tournament are able to get the rub from it. A fighter like Hoshino, if he is able to pull out a win over Sandro, will take with it a heightened cache and value, on the basis of what Sandro was able to accomplish in the GP. In a sense the FW GP is the gift that keeps on giving.