Sandro vs Hioki and Misaki vs Seal at Sengoku New Year's Show

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Dec 08, 2010 at 9:40 am ET

Two MMA bouts, including a marquee featherweight title fight, have been added to World Victory Road's year-end show, "Sengoku: Soul of Fight."

They include Sengoku featherweight champ Marlon Sandro (17-1 MMA, 5-1 SRC) vs. Hatsu Hioki (22-4-2 MMA, 4-1 SRC) and former middleweight champ Kazuo Misaki (22-11-2 MMA, 3-3 SRC) vs. Mike Seal (13-13-1 MMA, 0-0 SRC).

"Soul of Fight" takes place Dec. 30 at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, and some portion of the event is expected to air on HDNet in the U.S.

Sandro makes his first title defense since winning the belt from Masanori Kanehara in June with a brutal 38-second knockout. The featherweight King of Pancrase entered the 2009 Sengoku featherweight grand prix, where he suffered a close loss to Michihiro Omigawa in the semifinals. It remains the only defeat of the Brazilian's six-year pro career.

He now fights Hioki, who recently won the Shooto lightweight (143-pound) title. Since a split-decision defeat in 2007, the Japanese fighter and PRIDE veteran is 10-1-1 with a 4-1 Sengoku mark. The lone loss came to Omigawa via split decision.

Misaki, meanwhile, is in a 1-3 skid that included the loss of his Sengoku middleweight belt and a subsequent rematch to Jorge Santiago. The rematch, which took place in August, provided one of the year's best bouts and a second fifth-round, come-from-behind win for Santiago over Misaki.

Misaki, a PRIDE vet, looks to rebound against Seal, a well-traveled eight-year vet who's fought across the world, including stints with KOTC and Strikeforce. Recently, a career-best three-fight win streak came to an end with a submission loss to Timothy Woods at Ultimate Warrior Challenge 8 in May.

Additional non-MMA bouts also are set for the event, which features an all-day martial-arts festival. They include Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Jin Suk Jung in a "jacket rules" (point-based fighting) bout and a Muay Thai fight of Norihiro Miyamoto vs. Hiroki Komata.

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