Kitaoka upsets Gomi to become first Sengoku lightweight champion

Sengoku awarded the promotion’s first light heavyweight championship belt at their New Years’ Event held on Saturday night at Tokyo’s Saitama Super Arena, with Satoru Kitaoka shocking Takanori Gomi to take the lightweight crown.  Kitaoka had emerged victorious at last year’s lightweight GP and now wears the championship belt of the promotion.

Takanori Gomi was matched against Kitaoka despite his split decision upset loss to Sergey Golyaev in a “top contenders” match at Sengoku 6 in November.  The promotion basically decided to ignore the result of that bout and slot Gomi for the lightweight title against Kitaoka anyway.  Kitaoka rendered that decision irrelevant as he stunned the Saitama Super Arena crowd by forcing Gomi to submit to a heel hook just 1:41 into the first round.

From the opening bell it was evident that Gomi was having difficulty getting a handle on Kitaoka’s unorthodox stance and movement, but “The Fireball Kid” reacted well to the first punch he faced by slipping it and taking his opponent’s back in the process.  Gomi attempted a rear naked choke but didn’t have it cinched in deeply, allowing Kitaoka to escape and grab a free leg for a heel hook attempt.  Initially, Gomi reacted calmly to the submission attempt by altering his position to alleviate the pressure from the hold, but Kitaoka maintained his grip.  Eventually Gomi moved himself in the wrong direction allowing Kitaoka to cinch the hold in deeper and forcing him to tap out.

After the bout, Gomi looked more stunned and shocked than anything else.  To his credit, he quickly regained his composure and demonstrated great class by enthusiastically congratulating the new champion and raising his arm in victory.  The two men had a very friendly and genuine exchange after the result was announced before Gomi left the ring to allow Kitaoka the spotlight he’d earned with the victory.

The always happy and grinning Kitaoka is poised on the cusp of superstar status.  He’s 28 years old, but looks much younger and may be entering his prime as a fighter since the move to Sengoku following a lengthy career in Pancrase.  Simultaneously, there’s now a great deal of uncertainty about Gomi’s future in the sport.  He’s only two years older than Kitaoka, but hasn’t really looked “right” since his loss to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33 (which was later changed to a “no contest” result following Diaz’s positive postfight drug test).   He won his Sengoku debut against Duane “Bang” Ludwig on a cut, looked listless in a unanimous decision victory over Seung Hwan Bang, and has since lost back-to-back fights to Golyaev and Kitaoka.