Nova União featherweight Marlon Sandro (11-0) leaped into Pancrase’s top spot in that weight class Wednesday night at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo after nailing second-ranked Miki Shida (13-5-2) with a flying knee in the final minute of the second round. The fighters were competing for the 66-kilo King of Pancrase title vacated by Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2), who debuted successfully in the WEC in February. Sandro followed his knee strike with a typhoon of fists that finished dazed Shida at 4:19 of the round.  The stoppage was Sandro’s first since 2005. Earlier in the night, Sandro’s training partner and cousin Hacran Dias (7-0-1) scrapped with Takafumi Ito (33-26-10) to a draw in a 77-kilogram match.  Dias was debuting in Pancrase versus 13-year Pancrase vet Ito. Middleweight King of Pancrase Izuru Takeuchi (24-9-6) unanimously fended off a challenge from veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara (14-19-1).  Takeuchi hasn’t finished an opponent in Pancrase since 2004. Samboist Alavutdin Gadzhiyev (7-1) kept cruising through Pancrase’s middleweight division with a TKO of Hikaru Sato(17-18-4) after just a minute-and-twenty, his third consecutive first round stoppage guaranteeing him a showdown with Takeuchi for the title. Krazy Bee lightweight Shinsuke Shoji took a UD over Kenji Arai (12-12-2) and his bantamweight teammate Michihisa Asano (6-4-2) earned a majority decision over U-File’s “Yukito” Yuichiro Shirai (3-5-3). Middleweights Takanori Sato (5-4-4) and Masahiro Toryu (4-3-3) fought to a draw. Welterweight Tomoyoshi Iwamiya (4-6) won a unanimous decision over Asaki Honda (4-2-1). ...

Interim welterweight King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue successfully defended his title versus Satoru Kitaoka Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The fight was scored 29-29 by all three judges; but, under the championship rule of “must decision”, the judges were instructed to choose a victor. Two chose Inoue and one chose Kitaoka, giving Inoue a split decision victory. The meeting was the third between the two Japanese fighters. Inoue won a unanimous decision in 2004 and the two fought to a draw in 2006. Inoue improves to 16-5-2, 10-2-1 in Pancrase. He holds a decision victory over Kyle Noke, who fights Scott Smith on ExliteXC's February 16 card in Miami. Kitaoka falls to 19-8-9, with victories over ProElite's Paul Daley, WEC's Carlos Condit, and UFC's Kurt Pellegrino. The first lightweight King of Pancrase was also decided on Pancrase's first iteration of their 2008 "Shining" tour. Japan's Shoji knocked out Russia's Artur Oumakhanov with a high kick 21 seconds into the second round. Shoji improves to 6-2, five wins by knockout, and picks up some brass. Oumakhanov falls to 7-2, 2-1 in Pancrase. Shining 1 is the first show since Pancrase adopted new weight classifications based on the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. On the undercard, Russian middleweight Alavutdin Gadzhiyev knocked out "The Pink Typhoon" Yuji Hisamatsu in 41 seconds to improve to 6-1, four wins by knockout, and 4-0 in Pancrase. In 155-pound matchups, Shinsuke Shoji versus Yuichi Ikari and Wataru Takahashi versus Daisuke Hanazawa both ended as draws. Japanese welterweight Sotaro Yamada caught countrymen Kiichi "Strasser" Kunimoto in a rear naked choke at 1:42 of the first round to improve to 5-3, all in Pancrase. Undefeated bantamweight phenom Seiya Kawahara debuted in Pancrase by knocking out veteran Pancrase punching bag Yuki Yamasawa in 28 seconds with a high kick, improving to 4-0. Pancrase’s second “Shooting” event occurs in March. No location or fight card has been announced. ...