After dropping a two-round decision to "Flash" Bibiano Fernandes (5-1) in the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix last March, Takafumi Otsuka (5-3) didn't let another 145-pound title slip through his fingers Sunday at DEEP 43 Impact in Tokyo. Otsuka won a three-round decision over former UFC lightweight Dokonjonosuke Mishima (18-7-2) to snag Mishima's DEEP featherweight belt. In a battle between former UFC welterweights and all-time DEEP legends, “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (16-10) won a three-round decision over Jutaro Nakao (22-13-4). Chonan broke the two-fight losing streak ending his 1-3 run in the Octagon last April DEEP bantamweight champ “Ashikan Judan” Masakazu Imanari (16-7-1) defended his title from Tomohiko Hori (6-5-2) in another three-round decision. ...

While most of the MMA world tuned-in to Las Vegas for UFC 84 last weekend, three of Japan's noblest promotions put on shows in Osaka, Tokyo, and Sapporo respectively. Pancrase Results Pancrase held its fourth iteration of its 2008 Shining tour in Azelea Taisho Hall in Osaka Sunday. In the main,  event, "13" Daisuke Hanazawa (9-9-5) scored his first "w" of 2008 with a two-round UD over Takefumi Hanai (2-4-2), Hanai's third consecutive loss. Featherweight Soyu Tanabe (4-3-1) knocked out Pancrase regular Kenji Takeshige (4-7-1) at 3:44 of the first round. Middleweight Masahiro Toryu (5-3-3) denied Shuji Morikawa (0-2-1) his first "W" by submitting him in a guillotine choke at 3:36 of round one. In other fights, Kenji Shimada (4-2) knocked out Takashi Hasegawa (3-6-3) at 1:58 of round one. "Strasser" Kiichi Kunimoto (5-2) won a two-round UD over "Yuushi Edaori" Yu Shiori (5-1). Isao Hirose (2-0) also scored a decision unanimously over "Punch" Nobuhiro Yamauchi (4-3). ...

DEEP's middleweight tournament kicked off at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo Friday. The tournament seeks a successor to Ryo Chonan, who vacated the DEEP title for the UFC last year. The first bout featured Akihiro Gono and Kazuo Misaki Grabaka stablemate Riki Fukuda taking a unanimous decision over former title holder Ryuta Sakurai, 15-14-4, to improve to 9-3. Yuichi Nakanishi pulled even to 7-7-3 with a split decision over another Grabaka fighter, Eiji Ishikawa, who dropped his fifth straight. MMA vet Daijiro Matsui, 10-18-4, also eeked out a split decision over 9-4 Young Choi. The final tournament session saw 10-5 Yuya Shirai taking a unanimous decision over 5-2-4 Sojiro Orui. In undercard action, Yasuhito Namekawa submitted Carlos Toyota in an Achilles lock 2:58 into round one to improve to 20-16-3. Toshiaki Kitada and Isao Terada added draws to their records at 143-pounds,  as did "Barbaro44" Yoshihiro Tomioka and Seigo Inoue at 154-pounds and Ken Hamamura and Chigetoshi Iwase at 176-pounds. Yoshiyuki Nakanishi was able to find a definitive finish with a unanimous decision over Shunsuke Inoue, remaining undefeated at 3-0. In the event's only Future Fighting Spirit matchup, Ryoji Suzuki submitted Kenta Okuyama by rear naked choke at 2:08 of the second round to improve to 2-2. ...