After many erroneous reports and much waiting, World Victory Road has made it official that Yuki Kondo will be Roger Gracie’s opponent for the upcoming May 18th Sengoku II card. For one man there is great expectation and much more pressure, while the other has nothing to lose and a world of respect to regain.

Although most people will remember the Gracie legacy in MMA for years to come, perhaps few will remember the one man legend from Japan, the hardest working fighter in Niponese show business whose mantra is mental strength and balance. Yuki Kondo the man who almost unbalanced Josh Barnett for the open weight King of Pancrase title and who thrice defeated Semmy Schilt, the current three time K-1 GP champion, will be taking on the man who is to carry the Gracie MMA torch, Roger Gracie.

Although at face value it seems that this should be an “easy” victory for the BJJ superstar who will hold a thirty pound advantage over Kondo, it is Yuki who has the vast experience of seventy five MMA wars while Roger has only taken on a less than prime Ron Waterman in BodogFight Vancouver.

Kondo is a man who lives to fight as proven by his amazing record and list of top MMA opponents. He will surely be very relaxed for this opportunity to take on a grappling master he has expressed admiration for and has already proven that he can pull off huge wins over much larger and lankier men.

Gracie on the other hand is taking on a dangerous opponent, because he is expected to win and if he does, it will be written off as an obvious result since he is heavier. I suppose on the other hand that it will be a true test of this young fighters mental strength, which is the metaphysical arena in which Yuki Kondo trains hardest. If Kondo pulls off a win here, he will go down in Japanese MMA history as the Gracie Upsetter. If Roger doesn’t pull off a submission in his comfort zone, Kondo’s punches might make a long night short.

'Josh Barnett To Face Monson, Randleman's Opponent Is Kawamura!' - 04/24/2008

In the first Sengoku show promoted by World Victory Road (WVR) they established a new gate record of 15,523 at Yoyogi No. 1 Gymnasium. Now their second show is going to be at Tokyo's most known outdoor tennis stadium, Ariake Coliseum. WVR has chosen this venue - where Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Royler Gracie in PRIDE 8 and began his quest for conquering Gracies - as the place where Roger Gracie, the man who many consider as the future of Gracie Family, to make his much anticipated Japanese debut.

His opponent is still yet to be determined. At the press conference held on April 18th, Takahiro Kokuho, PR of WVR commented, "At first we had one Japanese and one non-Japanese fighter ready to go but because of injuries we are still in the process of deciding the opponent. Roger’s side has been asking us to decide the opponent soon and for sure I would like to meet that request."

So far five cards have been announced for this show and all of them are capturing the attention of hardcore Japanese MMA fans. It’s interesting considering how the first Sengoku show was a Japanese star studded line-up with Takanori Gomi, Hidehiko Yoshida, Kazuo Misaki, and Kazuyuki Fujita, on the other hand this second show seems like its about gathering top fighters from around the world.

Pancrase star Satoru Kitaoka, for the first time in his career, is going down to the lightweight category to take on K-1 star Ian Schaffa. Kitaoka looks and fights like Joe Stevenson - of course his favorite finishing hold is a guillotine choke - and Schaffa is a powerful kick boxer so its a classic match-up between the grappler and the striker. Yuki Sasaki of GRABAKA is taking on Jorge Santiago of American Top Team. This is the fight that should've happen at the Strikeforce tournament but didn't due to Sasaki's medical problem.

IFL and EliteXC veteran Mike Pyle will be facing Dan Hornbuckle, a fifteen and one sensation from Illinois. Pyle has more than twenty fights in various shows while Hornbuckle holds two titles - Total Fight Challenge & Legends of Fighting - and has won his last thirteen fights in a row. Not just the Japanese MMA fans, but also this is the fight every North American MMA fans would be interested in seeing as well. The heavyweight bout between Yoshiro KISS Nakao and Big Jim York could be quite an interesting fight. Nakao is a former national wrestler and York is tall big brawler so this will be a crush of two huge solid men.

PIC: (from left to right) Satoru Kitaoka, Yuki Sasaki, and Yoshihiro KISS Nakao.World Victory Road Presents 'SENGOKU 2'

Sunday, May 18th, 2008
At Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan
Doors Open - 14:30
Fight Starts - 16:00
Confirmed Cards (Subject to Change):

Lightweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Satoru Kitaoka (Japan / Pancrase-ism) vs. Ian Schaffa (Australia / Five Rings Dojo)

Lightweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Eiji Mitsuoka (Japan / Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai RJW) vs. Kwang Hee Lee (Korea / Tuhon Jeongsim Gym)

Middleweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Yuki Sasaki (Japan / GRABAKA) vs. Jorge Santiago (USA / American Top Team)

Heavyweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Yoshiro KISS Nakao (Japan / Freelance) vs. Big Jim York (New Zealand / Five Rings Dojo)

Catchweight Bout 5 min / 3R
Roger Gracie (Brazil / Roger Gracie Jiu-jitsu Academy) vs. Yuki Kondo (Japan / Pancrase)

Also Scheduled to Fight:
Kevin Randleman (USA / Hammer House)

Ticket Prices:
VIP - 50,000 yen
RRS - 25,000 yen
SENGOKU seat - 15,000 yen
S - 15,000 yen
A - 7,000 yen
*All seats are reserved seats