Kitaoka asks Gomi for rematch, new tournament

It's usually the loser who wants the rematch, but Sengoku lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka is the one asking for a rematch against Takanori Gomi.

Kitaoaka submitted Gomi with an achilles lock at "Sengoku No Ran 2009" on Sunday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

"I want to fight Gomi again," Kitaoka said. "I'll fight him again, defend my belt and show that it wasn't accident that I won today."

Kitaoka, along with newly crowned middleweight champ Jorge Santiago, both said they'd like to see tournaments determine challengers for the belt. Kitaoka proposed a lightweight tournament called "Road to Kitaoka" to find another possible opponent.

For Gomi, he's not interested in a rematch right now, as he wants to take time off to get in shape.

"I'll probably take half a year or a year to come back," Gomi said. "I opened my gym 2 years ago, and have been training with them.  I definitely need to change my training, and train with professional fighters." 

Although he doesn't think he should be considered a top ten lightweight, Kitaoka said he's ready to handle the new responsibility of representing Sengoku. 

"I have the confidence to defeat anybody," Kitaoka said.