'Rodrigo Damm TKO'd Jorge Masvidal and Captured a Spot in the SENGOKU Lightweight GP - Postponed His Visit to FCC to Concentrate on Preparing for the First Round on August 28th!'

'Rodrigo Damm TKO'd Jorge Masvidal and Captured a Spot in the SENGOKU Lightweight Tournament - Postponed His Visit to FCC to Concentrate on Preparing for the First Round on August 28th!'

He is a black belt in BJJ and a six-time national wrestling champion but Rodrigo Damm (left) from Alliance BJJ, FCC's affiliate in Brazil, went toe-to-toe against Jorge Masvidal and finished the fight by flooring the striker from American Top Team with one right straight to the chin.

Sengoku Fourth Batttle once again is going to be held at Saitama Super Arena on August 28th, and the lightweight GP first round would begin in this show. The theme of the tournament is nothing but "who would win the right to fight Takanori Gomi." After the intermission on June 8th show World Victory Road (WVR) officially announced five fighters confirmed this lightweight tournament. Duane Ludwig who fought Gomi in the inaugural Sengoku show in March was the first to announce on this day, "I wanted to fight today but couldn't. So, I want to prepare well for this August fight." Rodrigo Damm also got a right to compete by beating Jorge Masividal, "I trained with Mr. Yokota the other day so if possible I would like to fight him in the final." The other three are all Japanese fighters. Satoru Kitaoka from Pancrase-ism who came down to the lightweight told the fans, "This tournament is suitable for deciding Gomi's opponent and I am the who is going to survive at the end." Eiji Mitsuoka from Keishu-kai who defeated Kwang Hee Lee in Sengoku Second Battle is in the tournament as well, "Why not do Japanese vs. non-Japanese in the first round. I think that is going to be good so let's do that." Kazunori Yokota from GRABAKA was modest, "I had a shameless performance in the last fight (lost via KO in a DEEP title fight vs Sung Hwan Pang) so I want to win this tournament and get to the fight I always wanted." The remaining sports will be filled with one more Japanese fighter and two non-Japanese fighters.

Four fighters confirmed for the lightweight tournament. (from left to right) Duane Ludwig, Rodrigo Damm, Kazunori Yokota, Eiji Mitsuoka, Satoru Kitaoka.

In addition, WVR announced the signing of Frank Trigg, and top judo and wrestling fighters from Republic of Georgia in cluding 2004 Olympic judo gold medal winner (90 kg & under) Zurab Zviadauri and 2000 Olympic Bronze medal wrestler (90 kg) Eldari Kurtanidze. These top fighters from the country just south of Russia are scheduled to make Sengoku appearance after Peking Olympic this summer.

*Rodrigo Damm was originally scheduled to visit FCC in June to begin his Jiu-jitsu classes but after discussing with his management team and FCC founder Dave Strasser, Rodrigo has decided to postpone the visit to fall to concentrate on preparing for the first round of this tournament.

SENGOKU - Fourth Battle

Sunday August 24th, 2008

At Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan

Confirmed Fighters (Lightweight Tournament):

Heavyweight Bout 5 min / 3R

Peter Graham (Australia / A.E. Factory) vs. Moise Rimbon (France / European Top Team)

Confirmed Fighters for the Lightweight Tournament:

Duane Ludwig (USA / High Altitude)

Rodrigo Damm (Brazil / Alliance BJJ)

Eiji Mitsuoka (Japan / Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai RJW)

Satoru Kitaoka (Japan / Pancrase-ism)

Kazunori Yokota (Japan / GRABAKA)

Also Scheduled to Fight:

Takanori Gomi (Japan / Kugeyama Rascal Gym)