Sengoku: Will it Be Worth Watching?

There's always a question with Japanese shows about whether or not they will translate well to the American audience, but the upcoming Sengoku card may not translate at all, as it seems to be a return to many of the traditional Japanese formula without the high class warriors that used to populate the Pride cards, and even made their way into smaller organizations like DEEP.

While the possibility of Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Roger Gracie has been discussed openly, the reality is that this is highly unlikely, given the Gracies' history of pulling out of fights. Even as a longtime Gracie fan, I regard those fights with the same skepticism: I'll believe it when I see it.

That's not to say I wouldn't be excited if the fight were to happen. Roger Gracie has said he's considering it and he's negotiating, and the potential for a matchup is very interesting.

Roger is a great grappler, and Yoshida is an Olympic gold medalist in judo, obviously there's the potential for a great match once this fight hits the clinch.

Gracie, though, is clearly the superior grappler. Even if we forget the last name, the man is still a world champion who's been on the podium at the Mundial and Abu Dhabi consistently. He's one of the most dominant grapplers to transition into MMA, and the only exception I can think of in the heavyweight division is Jeff Monson, and even that dominance is questionable, as Roger has performed on a higher level both in gi and no-gi grappling, while Monson has only ever done the former with much success.

I'll say that Gracie will take this fight on the ground, but Yoshida's striking skills have improved to a level that I don't think Roger's have, and it will be interesting to see if Yoshida chooses to keep the fight standing or decides to go for a big upset on the ground. We might even see some groundnpound from Yoshida, who may use his background in slam and pin based fighting to beat on Gracie for a little while.

Still, it will be a technical matchup that really draws alot of appreciation in Japan, but the question has to be asked, if we are talking so seriously about a matchup between guys who aren't in contention for a title, and aren't top ten guys, is this card really going to be interesting enough to spend big money on?