Barnett Beats Yoshida at World Victory Road: Sengoku

Josh Barnett beat Hidehiko Yoshida in the main event of World Victory Road: Sengoku. (MMAweekly.com Photo)

After more than a year away from mixed martial arts competition, American heavyweight Josh Barnett (21-5-0) is back.

On Wednesday, March 5 in Tokyo, Japan, "The Baby Face Assassin" fought for the first time since December of 2006, taking out Japanese judo champion Hidehiko Yoshida (7-5-1) in the third round by tapout due to a heel hook submission.

The fight was the headline match at World Victory Road: Sengoku, the first event put on by the new fighting organization that some MMA fans are calling "the new Pride Fighting Championships".

In other action, former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi (28-3-0) stopped Duane "Bang" Ludwig (16-8-0) by TKO in the first round. The fight was stopped by the referee due to a cut.

Bodog Fight champion Nick "The Goat" Thompson (35-9-1) was also a winner, taking out Brazilian Fabricio Monteiro (16-7-0) by unanimous decision. With the victory, Thompson extends his winning streak to 11-fights.

Official Results for World Victory Road: Sengoku
Wednesday, March 5 - Tokyo Japan

• Josh Barnett def. Hidehiko Yoshida by Heel Hook at 3:23 in R3
• Takanori Gomi def. Duane Ludwig by TKO at 2:28 in R1
• Kazuo Misaki def. Siyar Bahadurzada by Guillotine Choke at 2:02 in R2
• Kazuyuki Fujita def. Peter Graham by North-South Choke at 1:23 in R1
• Evangelista Santos def. Makoto Takimoto by Heel Hook at 4:51 in R1
• Ryo Kawamura def. Antonio Braga Neto by Unanimous Decision
• Nick Thompson def. Fabricio Monteiro by Unanimous Decision

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