» Fighter: Hatsu Hioki

Featherweights Yuji Hoshino (12-7-6) of Japan and Marlon Sandro (13-1) of Brazil will matchup at Sengoku’s Eleventh Battle in Tokyo November 7, World Victory Road announced Thursday.

Pancrase vet Hoshino will come in to the fight off three consecutive victories at CageForce, most recently winning a three-round UD over “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura (6-3-1).

Read More About Yuji Hoshino vs Marlon Sandro Added to Sengoku Eleventh Battle…

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.

Read More About Akihiro Gono Leaves on Stretcher, Kazuo Misaki Just Leaves at Sengoku…

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.

Read More About Kitaoka, Hirota Make Weight For Sengoku Title Fight…

Chapter 8 of Back To Our Roots from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo Thursday night saw a couple of Shooto titles change hands.

At 132-pounds, Masakatsu Ueda (8-0-1) snatched the featherweight title vacated by Akitoshi Hokazono (6-0-2) from Koetsu Okazaki (5-1-1), Hokazono’s training partner, by three-round unanimous decision.

The wrestler Ueda kept the fight on the mat to control Okazaki for the “W” and new jewelry for his waist.

At 143-pounds, Hideki Kadowaki (13-7-2) took “Ironman” Akitoshi Tamura’s (11-6-2) Shooto trinket in an uninteresting majority decision.

Top ten featherweight Hatsu Hioki (15-3-1) finished “The Finisher” Baret Yoshida of Hawaii by TKO at 4:51 of round one.

In a 2008 Lightweight Rookie Tournament match-up, Hiroshige Tanaka (1-0) knocked out Kenichiro Marui (0-1) at 3:01 of round one.

123-pound Shooto veteran Mamoru Yamaguchi (2-4-3) took a unanimous decision over Masaaki Sugawara (6-3).

132-pound “Hadairo” Tetsu Suzuki (6-5-3) also won unanimously on the cards versus Hiroyuki Tanaka (6-4-1).

Finally, 143-pound Hiroshi Nakamura (5-3-3) won a majority decision over Tenkei Fijimiya (7-3-2).