The rebirth of the Japanese mixed martial arts scene will slowly begin its ascension on Wednesday at National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Many fans are touting the arrival of promotions like World Victory Road, DREAM, and the coalition of K-1 and former DSE staffers as the second coming of the old PRIDE style format to the sport of mixed martial arts. The card certainly shows the seriousness of WVR’s entry into the Japanese market. The main event will feature Takanori Gomi vs. Duane Ludwig with supporting matchups featuring Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshida and Shooto champion Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Kazuo Misaki.  Sengoku has the makings of providing us with a great midweek event to get the ball rolling into the weekend.

Main Event
Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi (27-3) vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig (16-7)

Gomi is coming off a layoff that has seen him “sit the bench” since February 24, 2007 due to his contractual problems that resulted from the PRIDE/Zuffa buyout. The big question in this matchup will be whether or not Gomi will have ring rust, and if he can get inside on Ludwig’s reach and power. Gomi has excellent striking, dynamite in his hands, and is known for having a very solid wrestling game that can neutralize opponents on the ground. He’s still arguably the #1 ranked Lightweight in the world due to his numerous wins over top 10 talent, but he has recently fallen off many rankings due to his inactivity. Although this matchup may not bring him back to the top, it’s a good fight for Gomi to work his way back into the “groove” of things.

Ludwig will have a tough challenge ahead of him. There is no doubt that Ludwig possesses the punching power to put Gomi out, but Gomi’s chin is tough and his technical prowess in the standup game is world class. The x-factor is whether or not Gomi will try to put Ludwig to the mat and use his wrestling to enable a ground and pound game on Ludwig. Ludwig’s biggest weakness is on his back whether it be trying to defend submissions or avoid punches. Gomi’s highest percentage to avoid damage while inflicting massive damage could be by putting Ludwig in that very position.

Gomi trying to stand with Ludwig could create some fireworks, but a sure fire winning strategy could see Gomi putting Ludwig on his back early and trying to pound him out. Either way, I think Gomi has a few more skills that he can pull from in order to win this fight.

Leland’s Prediction: Takanori Gomi via TKO, Round 2

Siyar Bahadurzada (13-1-1) vs. Kazuo Misaki (18-8-2)

Could this be the coming out party for Siyar Bahadurzada? It’s definitely a step up in competition for the native of Afghanistan. Bahadurzada’s skillset consists of some good wrestling skills coupled with some adequate striking that has been known to stun, devastate, and eventually stop opponents on the ground. The only big flaws in Bahadurzada’s credentials revolve around his strength of record. He has only recently taken on some stiffer competition in Shiko Yamashita and Nathan Schouteren, but Misaki is a considerable step up in competition.

Misaki has had mixed results in the last two years. He’s fought some of the best competition out there in Dan Henderson, Paulo Filho, and Frank Trigg. Although Trigg is older nowadays, he implemented an excellent wrestling game against Misaki and cruised to a decision win over him. Misaki has managed to get some big wins over Kang, Henderson, and Baroni during 2006 though, which significantly up his potential to get his name back in the picture.

Misaki isn’t known as a great finisher. He has potential to finish on the floor, but his hands are known as being dangerous in the standup when he is technically precise in his strikes. His record wouldn’t indicate him as being a devastating striker though. This presents an interesting difference in both fighters’ styles. Siyar doesn’t have overwhelming standup, and Misaki has had flashes of brilliance in his standup at times. It could prove to be a breaker for Siyar in this fight. With the big step up in competition for Siyar and Misaki’s inability to finish opponents late in his career, we may see a dominant win by Misaki, but by way of decision.

Leland’s Prediction: Kazuo Misaki via decision

Josh Barnett (20-5) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (7-5-1)

CBS Sportsline writer and FiveOuncesOfPain.com blogger, Sam Caplan, had an interesting article regarding his picks for some of the break out fighters that we may see in 2008. His picks were Ed Ratcliff, Neil Grove, Jon Murphy, Tim Kennedy, Aaron Meisner, Carlo Prater, Demian Maia, and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Those are some pretty decent picks for 2008, but there are a few that have been left out that should be looked at. Also, some of these names look to have some major roadblocks to overcome as well. Let's take a look.

Some thoughts on Caplan's picks

Ed Ratcliff is a great pick, and he brings the Karate background to his skillset that many mixed martial artists rarely have. A fighter who many people may know what has a demoralizing tactical gameplan for nearly every fight which features a karate background is Lyoto Machida. Ratcliff doesn't seem to garner the same type of patient countering as Machida, but he has crisp striking and precision kicks. Picking him over Karalexis recently was a damn good bet on my part, but Karalexis's wrestling was definitely a factor I had weighed. Regardless, Ratcliff pulled out a good win. Check out his Chuck Norris-esque spinning back kick win over Brett Cooper (Just recently beat Rory Markham at the IFL GP Final).

Tim Kennedy is definitely a nice pick. He nearly finished Jason Miller, but was ultimately defeated. Even with the setbacks, he's a warrior with good power, decent striking, and a great wrestling background. He'll be able to improve significantly as well as he has been training with The Pit, Liddell's camp.

Both are fantastic picks, but I'm not sold on the Demian Maia and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza picks for a couple of reasons. First, Maia and Souza could run into the possibility of just being punched into unconsciousness. We all know that, but my main gripe deals with grapplers in general moving to the top of the middleweight division. Both guys could make waves in a weak UFC middleweight division for awhile, but the grapplers near the top and the over talent at the top rely on some decent standup skills as well. A guy like Filho has better chances because he has huge power in his arms and has a possibility of catching his opponent. His raw power is also tough to stop on the ground. His raw power makes him dangerous in the striking even though he isn't that technically sound in it. Maia and Souza don't have that advantage.

Neil Grove didn't impress me in his last fight, and honestly, he's a typical British standup fighter. Robert Berry, who wasn't using really any technique at all in his striking, was able to actually drop him to the ground and win the round. Unbelievably, Berry gave up due to exhaustion. Grove was lucky, and he will probably be exposed in any other organization.