UFC lightweight title contender “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (21-2) debuted at tenth in Fighters.com's Lightweight Rankings in November due mostly to former top tenner Katsunori Kikuno's (5-1-1) stoppage loss to third-ranked Eddie Alvarez (16-2) at DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25. ...

The rise of Japanese lightweight Mizuto Hirota (10-3) left many breathless Sunday after he upset Sengoku lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka (24-9-7) by TKO at 2:50 of round four at Ninth Battle in Tokyo. Masanori Kanehara (5-2) stole the Featherweight Grand Prix Championship in a controversial final that featured Kanehara despite losing his semi-final fight by unanimous decision to Hatsu Hioki (16-3-2) versus Michihiro Omigawa (4-8) who was given a hometown free pass into the finals after majority draw on the cards versus Marlon Sandro (13-1) in the semi-finals. Strikeforce middleweight champ “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (23-9-2) strangled judoka Kazuhiro Nakamura's (13-10) hopes of challenging Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago (21-7) in a guillotine at 3:03 of round one, leaving Kaz' out on the mat. Denied a title challenge himself by Sengoku after pleading guilty to interfering with the duties of a public official following a March traffic stop, Misaki said nothing after playing spoiler, refusing the microphone in the ring. ...

Sengoku lightweight champion Satoru Kitaoka (24-9-7) and challenger Mizuto Hirota (9-3) both made weight for their main event at Ninth Battle in Tokyo Sunday. Kitaoka weighed 69.9 kg while Hirota tipped the scales at 70 kg. The card also features the semi-finals and finals of Sengoku's featherweight grand prix and all competing fighters also made weight. ...

Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-6-2) will face Sergey Golyaev (9-5) at Sengoku Seventh Battle 4 January in Saitama, Japan, World Victory Road announced this week.

Mitsuoka is coming off a submission loss to Satoru Kitaoka (23-9-7) at Sengoku Sixth Battle in November. Mitsuoka was caught with a heel hook at 1:16 of round one.

Golyaev is coming off an upset win via split decision over second-ranked “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (28-5), also at Sengoku Sixth Battle.

Fighters.com's sixth-ranked lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (12-5-2) skyrocketed into the top ten last August, largely on the pale, rippling back of "Hellboy" Joachim Hansen's (18-7) upset of former Lightweight Champion, now ninth-ranked "Tobikan Judan" Shinya Aoki (15-3) in the finals of DREAM's Lightweight Grand Prix in Osaka 21 July. Mitsuoka had ground out a majority decision over Hansen in Shooto last November; and, Hansen ascended up the ranks towing Mitusoka with him. Now, Mitsuoka is a favorite to take Sengoku's Lightweight Grand Prix after tapping SpiritMC Champion "Crazy Lee" Kwang Hee Lee (2-1) in Tokyo 18 May and submission wiz Rodrigo Damm (5-1) in the tournament's first round in Saitama, north of Tokyo, 24 August. Fighters.com spoke with Mitsuoka and asked him about his victory over Hansen and 2007 loss to eighth-ranked Kotetsu Boku (12-5-1), who Hansen beat in a UD in the opening round of DREAM's GP in Saitama 14 March. The focused Japanese fighter out of Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW told Fighters.com that Hansens GP championship and victory over Boku didn't interest him and demanded, "Please, look forward." ...

World Victory Road has officially added their Middleweight Grand Prix to Sengoku 6, taking place 1 November in Saitama, Japan. The winner of the tournament will face Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked middleweight “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2) for the first-ever middleweight belt 4 January in Saitama at Sengoku 7. Kazuhiro Nakamura (12-8) will face Yuki Sasaki (22-14-1), and Jorge Santiago (18-7) will face “Afghan Killa” Siyar Bahadurzada (14-3-1). The event already features a lightweight tournament to determine an opponent for Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (29-3) at Sengoku 7 for the title. The bouts remaining in the lightweight tournament are Satoru Kitaoka (21-8-9) versus sixth-ranked Eiji Mitsuoka (14-5-2), and Kazunori Yokota (7-1-3) versus Mizuto Hirota (10-2). WVR also announced that Fighters.com’s Fighter of the Month “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (1-0) will fight, although an opponent has not yet been determined. “GameBred” Jorge Masvidal (14-3) versus Seung Hwan Bang (5-2) is also official. Joe Doerksen (40-12) revealed through MySpace Tuesday that he has agreed to fight Izuru Takeuchi (25-9-6). ...

Fighters.com's Lightweight Champion "Prodigy" B.J. Penn's (13-4-1) three-fight run at lightweight will end in Las Vegas 31 January when Penn returns to welterweight to fight Fighters.com’s Welterweight Champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre (17-2) for the UFC welterweight title. Why? (Well, besides the obvious jack the UFC stands to profit on the main event.) But, UFC President Dana White himself has claimed Penn's best weight class is 155 pounds; and, Penn made much ballyhoo about getting serious and slimming down to 155 pounds, his natural fighting weight. Penn has never fought above 155 with a physique that could be described as anything but "pudgy". Penn is also 0-2 in his last two 170-pound fights in the Octagon, which must make UFC welterweight contenders wonder if they can get some Vaseline. In Saitama, north of Tokyo, 24 August, top lightweight contender "Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi (29-3) won a unanimous decision versus tough, but relatively unknown Korean champ Seung Hwan Bang (5-2). ...

Fighters.com's Sixth-ranked lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) popped Rodrigo Damm (8-2) with an overhand right in the first round Sunday night in Saitama, north of Tokyo, then slid a rear naked choke around the BJJ player's throat for the tap at 3:13 of the round. Mitsuoka advanced to the second round of the Sengoku lightweight tournament, the winner of which will fight second-ranked "Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi (29-3). Gomi headlined Sengoku's fourth battle with a narrow decision over DEEP Lightweight Champion Seung Hwan Bang (5-2). It was Bang who provided the bang in his stand-up exchanges with the notorious big-puncher Gomi. But, Gomi edged Bang with stinging leg kicks and championship conditioning for the decision. ...

August brought the crowning of Fighters.com's new Lightweight Champion "Prodigy" B.J. Penn (13-4-1) and the top ten debuts of fourth-ranked "Hellboy" Joachim Hansen (19-7-1), sixth-ranked Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2), and eighth-ranked Kotetsu Boku (13-5-1). "Hellboy" shocked Osaka 21 July by TKOing former Fighters.com Lightweight Champion "Tobikan Judan" Shinya Aoki (17-3) in the first round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix final. Aoki spirals down eight wrungs to ninth on the loss, taking vanquished rival tenth-ranked "JZ" Gesias Calvancante (14-2-1) with him. Penn takes the Championship from the second rank, but is torn between moving to welterweight to fight Fighters.com Welterweight Champion "Rush" Georges St. Pierre (17-2) or defending his Fighters.com and UFC titles from seventh-ranked, top UFC contender "KenFlo" Kenny Florian (10-3). In Minneapolis 9 August, Florian cleared-up the UFC's lightweight picture with a dominant UD over "El Matador" Roger Huerta (20-2-1). ...

Sunday in Tokyo at Sengoku II, Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett (22-5) ground out a unanimous decision over "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8) in a match battled mostly on the mat. Heavyweight "Monster" Kevin Randleman (17-12) also pulled out a UD over Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura (8-3-2).  The decision was considered controversial. Monson and Randleman are scheduled to fight on a 24 June card in Charlotte. Highly-touted Roger Gracie (2-0) remained undefeated after tapping MMA vet Yuki Kondo (48-22-6) in a rear naked choke at 2:40 of round one. "Kiss" Yoshihiro Nakao (7-1) called out "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) after knocking out Kiwi "Big" Jim York (9-2) 46-seconds into round two. American Top Team welterweight Jorge Santiago (17-7) fought off near-submissions before finding his own submission of Grabaka's Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) in a third-round armbar at 2:10. Lighweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) took only 4:15 to sink a rear naked choke submission in on "Crazy" Kwang Hee Lee (5-1). Xtreme Couture welterweight "Quicksand" Mike Pyle (16-5-1) locked in a triangle choke to tap "Handler" Dan Hornbuckle (15-2) at 4:52 of round one. Welterweight Pancrase vet Satoru Kitaoka (20-8-9) submitted Aussie Ian James Schaffa (7-5-1) in a guillotine choke in just 50 seconds to begin the night. ...

World Victory Road has added a middleweight match-up to their 18 May Sengoku event at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. Grabaka veteran Yuki Sasaki (21-13-1) will face American Top Team's Jorge Santiago (16-7). Sasaki, who's made the international rounds from Shooto through Pancrase, DEEP, and even a unanimous decision loss to "The Boogeyman" Dean Lister (10-5) in the UFC, comes off a first round armbar submission of debuting South Korean Bo Guk So (0-1) in DEEP last July. Santiago, who also had an unsuccessful stint in the UFC, last TKO'd Trevor Prangley (17-5) at Strikeforce last November. After Adrenaline MMA announced "The Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-7) would headline its 14 June card in Chicago, the heavyweight has been removed from the 18 May Sengoku appearance list. The list now includes "The Monster" Kevin Randleman (16-12), Roger Gracie (1-0), "Big" Jim York (9-1), and "Kiss" Yoshihiro Nakao (6-1), who recently bailed on an announced DREAM match with "Cro Cop" Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2). Previously announced fights include: Eiji Mitsuoka (12-5-1) v "Crazy" Kwang Hee Lee (5-0) Satoru Kitaoka (19-8-9) v Ian James Schaffa (7-4-1) ...