Sherdog’s Top 10: Five-Round Fights

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4. Kazuo Misaki vs. Jorge Santiago
Sengoku “No Ran 2009”
Jan. 4, 2009 | Saitama, Japan
Kazuo Misaki vs. Jorge Santiago
Sengoku Raiden Championship 14
Aug. 22, 2010 | Tokyo
Veteran competitors Misaki and Santiago fought twice in the now-defunct Sengoku organization, and both times they put on fantastic scraps worthy of “Fight of the Year” honors. In their first meeting, the less compelling of the two, Misaki controlled most of the bout and was comfortably ahead on the scorecards before Santiago pulled out a miracle move to the back and rear-naked choke that put the Japanese fighter to sleep with less than two minutes left in the fight.

Their rematch 19 months later was highly anticipated. It started much the way their first fight did, with Misaki controlling most of the opening round from top position and landing sharper punches while Santiago threw hard but looping shots and ended up on his back. The second saw a cleaner and more technical Santiago, perhaps over his nerves, going back and forth with Misaki before ending the round on his back once again. Less than a minute into round three, Santiago cracked Misaki with a right high kick and then a straight right hand that put the Japanese fighter down on the canvas; and for a moment it looked as if the Brazilian might finish things then and there.

Misaki survived and rode out the round on the bottom. The fourth opened with clinch work and strong combinations from both fighters, until Santiago overextended on a flying knee and was slow to return to his base. Misaki cracked him with a flush left hook to drop him to the canvas, and the Japanese fighter nearly finished Santiago in turn. The Brazilian recovered and dropped Misaki once again with a straight right at the end of the fourth.

Santiago came out on fire to begin the fifth round, charging forward with a combination and knees from the Thai clinch to send Misaki sprawling through the ropes. The Brazilian controlled most of the round from the top and nearly completed an arm triangle choke, but Misaki escaped and got into Santiago’s guard. The Japanese fighter grew careless, and Santiago scrambled to his back, alternating brutal shots between there and the mount until Misaki’s corner threw in the towel.

It was an incredible back-and-forth war made even more so by the fact that their first fight was excellent in its own right. While neither Santiago nor Misaki would ever reach the sport’s highest levels again, their two bouts stand high among their five-round compatriots.

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