Sengoku 15 results: Izumi gets questionable decision win, Cobb pulls off upset

"Sengoku Raiden Championships 15" was filled with close and contentious decisions, a hint of violence, and potential stars being born.

In the main event, former Olympic judoka, Hiroshi Izumi returned to the ring to take on British veteran, James Zikic. The former Cage Rage champion, Zikic, showed up in this fight and showed his clear stand-up advantage as he used crisp, counter shots to Izumi throughout the fight. Izumi was able to pull out some takedowns towards the end of round 1 and also in round 3, but Zikic defended himself from damage well and eventually, got back up to his feet. This blogger had every round scored for Zikic but the judges disagreed, giving Izumi a split decision victory. Two judges had it 30-29 for the former Olympic silver medalist, with one having it 30-29 for the Brit. Hiroshi Izumi picks up his third pro MMA victory with the win.

In the night's biggest surprise, the overweight UFC veteran, Brian Cobb, upset former #1 lightweight contender, Kazunori Yokota. Due to Cobb coming in several pounds over the contracted fight weight, he was docked a point from the judges automatically. Yokota took the 2nd round after a takedown and landing some nice shots on the feet. Cobb used his takedowns and submission grappling skills to take rounds 1 and 3, so that would make the fight a draw. Two judges scored the fight a 28-28 draw for Cobb and one scored it 30-29 for Yokota.  Due to World Victory Road's rules, the judges award a "must-decision" if they score a fight a draw. They choose Brian Cobb as the "must-decision" winner as he took home a huge split decision win.

The night's dose of brutality came at the hands of former Pan-Am bronze medalist, Maximo Blanco, as he knocked out veteran of over 60 fights, Kiuma Kunioku. Blanco came out with his usual super aggressive style and it pays off in dividends as he gets his fourth straight KO victory in Sengoku Raiden Championships. With this win, Blanco could position himself for a spot in Sengoku's vacant lightweight title fight sometime in the future and looks to be one of the most exciting lightweight prospects in quite some time.

Full results and more after the jump.

In the first welterweight tournament semi-final, Swiss-born, Yasubey Enomoto continues to impress in SRC as he technically dominated the very game, Taisuke Okuno. Enomoto used clean combinations and quality defense to outpoint Okuno to earn a spot in the inaugural Sengoku welterweight title fight.

UFC veteran, Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura, also punched his ticket (literally) to face Enomoto in that title fight. He defeated Takuya Wada with a first round submission due to strikes once he locked in the mounted crucifix and started landing unanswered punch after unanswered punch, forcing Wada to tap out and end the bout. That welterweight title fight will likely go down on Sengoku's December 30th show.

Sengoku's Asian bantamweight tournament continued with mixed results in terms of excitement. One of the tournament favorites, Shintaro Ishiwatari, was defeated  by Taiyo Nakahara via split decision in the night's best fight as both men went after it with strikes and entertaining grappling exchanges.

Manabu Inoue, Shunichi Shimizu, and WEC veteran, Akitoshi Tamura, all picked up wins and advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament.

FULL RESULTS:
-Hiroshi Izumi def. James Zikic via split decision (30-29, 29-30, 30-29).
-Brian Cobb def. Kazunori Yokota via split decision (28-28, 29-30, 28-28)*.
-Maximo Blanco def. Kiuma Kunioku via KO (punches) at 4:26 of round 1.
-Keita Nakamura def. Takuya Wada via submission (punches) at 3:30 of round 1.
-Yasubey Enomoto def. Taisuke Okuno via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-25).
-Taiyo Nakahara def. Shintaro Ishiwatari via split decision (19-20, 19-19, 20-20)*
-Akitoshi Tamura def. Shoko Sato via split decision (19-18, 19-20, 20-19).
-Shunichi Shimizu def. Wataru Takahashi via unanimous decision (20-19, 20-18, 20-18).
-Manabu Inoue def. Jae Hyun So via unanimous decision (20-19, 20-18, 20-18).
-Kazuo Yakahashi def.  Chang Seob Lee via submission (armbar) at 2:28 of round 1.

*= Judges scored a must-decision.