Herman for Nakao set for Dec 30th Sengoku: Soul of the Fight

By MMAjunkie.com Staff

World Victory Road's year-end "Soul of Fight" Sengoku event now features a heavyweight bout between American notable Dave "Pee Wee" Herman (19-2 MMA, 1-1 SRC) and Japanese veteran Yoshihiro Nakao (9-2 MMA, 3-1 SRC).

Officials today announced the matchup.

The event takes place Dec. 30 at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo and is expected to air on HDNet in the U.S.

"Soul of Fight" is an all-day sports festival that features MMA fights, kickboxing bouts, grappling matchups and other competitions. The slate of MMA fights, which also includes WVR's welterweight grand prix finale and Asian bantamweight GP semifinals, is the main attraction.

Herman, an Indiana native who never has gone to a decision in 21 career fights, most recently competed at Bellator 31, where he submitted Michal Kita with a rare omoplata submission. Prior to the victory, which was his 18th first-round stoppage in 19 career wins, he suffered a disqualification loss (illegal knees) to UFC vet Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at an event in Abu Dhabi.

Herman now returns to WVR, where he suffered his first career loss in a January 2009 TKO defeat to Choi Mu Bae.

Nakao is perhaps best known to American fans for a 2005 run-in with Heath Herring at "K-1 Premium 2005 Dynamite!!" During referee instructions, Nakao kissed Herring in apparent attempt to get under his skin. It didn't go over well, and Herring tagged him with a right hook to the chin that knocked out Nakao and resulted in a no-contest for the bout.

Nakao, though, quietly has put together a nice run in recent years. He's won four out of his past five fights with WVR wins over Jim York, Choi Mu Bae and Henry Miller. The lone defeat came to notable Antonio Silva in a bout in which Nakao suffered a knee injury.

WVR officials also added some stand-up fights to the Dec. 30 card that feature notables from the region's top kickboxing promotions.

The latest card now includes:
Yasubey Enomoto vs. Keita Nakamura*
Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu+
Taiyo Nakahara vs. Akitoshi Tamura+
Dave "Pee Wee" Herman vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Akihiro Gono vs. TBA
Kazuo Misaki vs. TBA
Maximo Blanco vs. TBA
Hiroshi Izumi vs. TBA
Masanori Kanehara vs. TBA
Kazunori Yokota vs. TBA
* - Welterweight grand-prix finale
+ - Asian bantamweight grand-prix semifinals

For the latest on "World Victory Road Presents: Soul of Fight," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.[i]