Photo: Carlos Ozório
Coming off a win at Sengoku, Leonardo Santos will see action again on the coming 22nd when he faces off with Sotaro Yamada in Tokyo. A defender of good Jiu-Jitsu in MMA, the black belt is keen to how submission holds are currently shaking up the world of MMA.
“Werdum put an end to the legend of Fedor in the best way possible. The guy hadn’t lost in such a long time, he was unbeatable, and there’s nothing better than to get him to tap than with a triangle. It was great for Jiu-Jitsu. Anderson’s fight went right along with what I’ve been saying: to do MMA we have to be well-rounded, you can’t just be good standing. I know my strength is Jiu-Jitsu, but I have to improve my standup. That’s how you manage to come up with good results,” he remarks to GRACIEMAG.com.
Now his focus is on Sotaro Yamada, who he found out is to be his opponent with the Sengoku event just around the corner.
“I was concerned because there was only a week and a half till the event and they still hadn’t confirmed my opponent. I don’t know much about him; I even looked him up on the internet. He hasn’t fought in a while. I know he’s good on the ground and that’s my field as well. I hope it favors me, although I do take into account that Japanese fighters are always warriors and have good technique. I’m expecting to fight on the ground and I think he’ll accept that,” he says in analysis.
Léo at Sengoku in photo by Susumo Nagao
A win in Tokyo could put the black belt in line for a shot at the title.
“I’m excited. It sucks to not be fighting. I’m content because I’ve been training hard and I expect another win. My idea is to move up in the ranks at the event and make it to the top. I want to win this fight and return at year’s end. Who knows? Maybe for a title fight or in some matchup that lines me up for one,” he says in finishing.
The event also features a title fight between Jorge Santiago and Kazuo Misaki, as well as the second stage of the bantamweight grand prix.
Check out the card:
Sengoku Raiden Championship 14
Tokyo, Japan
August 22, 2010
Jorge Santiago vs Kazuo Misaki
Akihiro Gono vs Jadamba Narantungalag
Hatsu Hioki vs Jeff Lawson
Taisuke Okuno vs Nick Thompson (welterweight GP first round)
Yasubey Enomoto vs Kenta Takagi (welterweight GP first round)
Leonardo Santos vs Sotaro Yamada
Motoki Miyazawa vs Takuya Sato
Bantamweight GP
Shintaro Ishiwatari vs Kil Woo Lee
Takuya Eizumi vs Shoko Sato
Tatsuya So vs Wataru Takahashi
Hirokazu Nishimura vs Jae Hyun So