Published on: 25th June, 2009
Former Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii was scheduled to make his Mixed Martial Arts debut at World Victory Road’s Sengoku “Ninth Battle” on August 2 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Now it will not be happening as Ishii had to withdraw due to a hernia-related issue.
According to a report from Sports Navi Ishii underwent a minor surgical procedure, but it was nothing serious.
However due to being unable to train and prepare for his expected August debut the Sengoku officials have decided not to rush Ishii and have rescheduled him to make his debut in November for Sengoku “Eleventh Battle” where the promotion plans on holding a Heavyweight Grand Prix and include him in the tournament, but Sengoku may also plan on adding veterans into the mix such as Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva.
There is also a possibility that they may pair up Ishii to face fellow Judoka Hidehiko Yoshida in the process, but at this time that still remains to be seen. In the meantime we will keep you posted on what the future holds for the Olympic gold medalist as soon as something else breaks.