Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki title fight in works for Sengoku 13 in June

A rematch and title fight pitting Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago (22-8 MMA, 6-1 SRC) against Kazuo Misaki (22-10-2 MMA, 3-2 SRC) is in the works and expected to be part of World Victory Road's Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 event.

A source close to the negotiations told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that at least one competitor has signed for the bout, which is expected to be finalized soon.

Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 takes place June 20 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

The star-studded event, which is expected to air in North America on HDNet, also features a title fight between featherweight champ Masanori Kanehara and Marlon Sandro.

Santiago and Misaki first fought in January 2009. The fight materialized after Santiago won the 2008 Sengoku middleweight grand prix. He then pushed his win streak to nine fights by scoring a come-from-behind fifth-round submission victory over Misaki. The Japanese fighter refused to tap from the rear-naked choke and went unconscious before the referee halted the fight.

After that title win, Santiago fought highly regarded Polish competitor Mamed Khalidov in a non-title fight. Khalidov extended his undefeated streak to 18 fights and stopped Santiago via first-round TKO at Sengoku Raiden Championships 11 in November.

However, in an immediate rematch in which the belt was up for grabs, Santiago avenged the defeat and stopped Khalidov via unanimous decision at Sengoku Raiden Championships 12 in Match.

Santiago now meets Misaski, who's 1-1 since the loss to Santiago. Misaki, who was once ranked as one of the world's top-10 middleweight fighters while competing in PRIDE Fighting Championships, rebounded for a technical-submission win over Kazuhiro Nakamura in August but then suffered a dramatic TKO loss to striker Melvin Manhoef in December.

via mmacrypt.com

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