Jorge Santiago vs Kazuo Misaki 2 Planned For SRC 13A Sengoku Middleweight Championship rematch between Jorge Santiago and Kazuo “The Hitman” Misaki is in the works for Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 on June 20th in Tokyo, Japan. MMAjunkie.com was first to report on the planned bout and at least one fighter has signed on to fight.

Santiago and Misaki first squared off at Sengoku: No Ran 2009 on January 4, 2009 in a bout that saw Santiago come back from the brink of defeat to choke Misaki out in the late stages of the fifth round. Both fighters are 1-1 since then and Santiago recently defeated Mamed “The Cannibal” Khalidov.

Santiago (22-8-0) won the one-night Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament in November of 2007 and carried a four-fight winning streak into his Sengoku debut at Sengoku: “Second Battle” on May 18, 2008. He won four more fights to win the Sengoku Middleweight Grand Prix in 2008, then defeated Misaki in a back-and-forth battle that Santiago appeared to be moments away from losing. Injury sidelined the American Top Team standout for nearly a year and he was upset by Khalidov in non-title action last November, but avenged the loss with a Unanimous Decision in March at SRC 12.

Misaki (22-10-2, 1 NC), a former star in Pride Fighting Championships, won three straight fights leading into the first bout with Santiago, but has experienced ups and downs both inside and outside of the ring since. An altercation with a police officer in Japan led to a lengthy layoff for Misaki last year and he may still face jail time in the future. He returned in August and submitted Kazuhiro Nakamura, but was controversially stopped by Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve. A win over Santiago would avenge the previous loss and award Misaki with the SRC title, as well as get his career back on track.

Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 takes place on June 20th at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. The event will air on HDNet and also features the opening round of the Sengoku Welterweight Grand Prix and a Sengoku Featherweight Championship bout between Masanori “Kin-chan” Kanehara and Marlon Sandro.

 

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)