Jorge Santiago to Rematch Mamed Khalidov for Sengoku MW Title

Just how good is 185 pound juggernaut Jorge Santiago?  The answer was best spoken by the legendary "Dalton" played by the late Patrick Swayze in Road House:  "Opinions vary." 

It would depend on whether you are familiar with Santiago from the back-to-back KO losses to Alan Belcher and Chris Leben in the UFC, or the exemplary 9-fight run he rattled off after leaving the octagon, which included wins over hefty competition like Kazuhiro Nakamura (to win the Sengoku MW Gran Prix) and Kazuo Misaki (to win the Sengoku MW championship).

Just as Santiago was reestablishing himself as one of the best middleweights in the world after a rough stint in the UFC, he met up with a Chechen-Polish up and comer from the KSW promotion named Mamed Khalidov.  Khalidov was enjoying quite an impressive win streak himself, winning 17 of his last 18 fights, with the remainder being a draw with Daniel Tabera.  Still, few gave him a chance, and it was assumed to be a "gimme" fight for Santiago.

The match was aligned as a non-title fight for no particular reason, which is par for the course in Japan.  To the shock and disbelief of most of the MMA world, Khalidov not only TKO'd Santiago, but did so from his guard with hammerfists while Santiago was jousting for better position (video below).  Reports from KSW via MMAMania indicate that a Santiago/Khalidov rematch is booked, but this time with the belt on the line.  The championship bout will take place on March 7th, and will be shown in the states by HDNet.

Khalidov is a veritable beast, with a 20-3-1 record, and he's finished all of his victorious encounters save one.  Additionally, two of his losses were in his first professional MMA fights, so that means that beginning with his third official pro-MMA fight, Khalidov is 20-1-1.  His methods to win fights are evenly spread with 9 TKO's and 10 submissions, so he's far from a one-trick pony.

I'm anxious to see how the sequel turns out.  We'll report more information on the Sengoku card as it unfolds.

Jorge Santiago vs. Mamed Khalidov 1 at Sengoku 11