While Japan has seen better days, with the country having recently been ravaged by tsunamis and earthquakes galore, one thing remains strong, and that is the mixed martial arts community. We've seen that first with the recent Strikeforce event, where three of Japan's best participated on the card, with DREAM's featherweight champion Hiroyuki Takaya, lightweight champion Shinya Aoki, and perennial contender Tatsuya Kawajiri all in action. Though the participants left the the event with mixed results, with Shinya Aoki the only one emerging victorious with a first-round submission win over lightweight prospect Lyle Beerbohm, DREAM hopes to give an extra push towards Japan's relief efforts by holding their May event side by side with various charities. And said event will also feature the organization's inaugural bantamweight grand-prix, which will feature many notable fighters. ...

After years in the fight game, becoming one of the corner stones for Japanese MMA, mixed martial arts promotion Deep will hold its 50th event on October 24, celebrating it's 10 year anniversary at the Tokyo JCB Hall, in Tokyo, Japan. A bevy of some of the most notable fighters will grace the card, including DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki, who will be returning to Deep after a 6 year absence from the promotion that gave him his start as a professional mixed martial artist. ...

MMA legend and Japanese hero "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba (21-13-1) has been drafted to sure-up DREAM.11 in Yokohama October 6, DREAM announced Saturday.  No opponent was named for Saku'. ...

Former WEC Featherweight champion "California Kid" Urijah Faber (21-2) got shocked by American Top Team's Mike Thomas Brown (15-4) via TKO stoppage at 2:23 of the first round Wednesday night at WEC 36 in Hollywood, north of Miami. Brown took the title decisively following a right hand that laid the former champ out.  Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) won a surprisingly boring unanimous decision over Fighters.com's third-ranked middleweight and WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho (15-1) in a non-title fight that was heckled by fans throughout.  Official scores were 10-9 twice for Sonnen, 10-8 for Sonnen.  "Bad Boy" Leonard Garcia (11-3) dismantled "Little Evil" Jens Pulver (22-9-1) in a 1:12 TKO shocker to move up the ranks in the WEC's stacked 145-pound division. ...

The WEC has officially added a bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion “Little Evil” Jens Pulver (22-9-1) and “Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia (11-3) to its 10 September card in Hollywood, FL. After submitting Cub Swanson (12-2) with a guillotine choke in 35 seconds at his WEC debut in December, Pulver lost the unanimous decision in his five-round battle with current Featherweight Champion “California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1) in June. Garcia, who has been battling drug charges, most of which have been dropped, last fought at his WEC debut in February when he TKO’d “Streetfight Bancho” Hiroyuki Takaya (9-5-1) in the first round. Also official on the WEC 36 card are: “Indio” Danillo Villefort (8-2) v Jake Rosholt (4-0) “Razor” Rob McCullough (16-4) v “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-0) Rani Yahya (11-4) v Yoshiro Maeda (23-5-2) Johny Hendricks (3-0) v “Russian Crusher” Alex Serdyukov (8-4) “9mm” Ed Ratcliff (6-1) v Danny Castillo (5-1) Headlining the event are Faber and Mike Thomas Brown (19-4) in a featherweight title fight, and a middleweight title rematch between Fighters.com’s third-ranked “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-0) and Chael Sonnen (20-9-1). ...

WEC Featherweight Champion "California Kid" Urijah Faber (21-1) fended off a game, but outclassed "Li'l Evil" Jens Pulver (22-9-1) in a five-round unanimous decision in Sacramento Sunday night. The "California Kid" packed a big right hook counter to Pulver's southpaw boxing in the first session.  Faber landed the punch just enough to make Pulver think twice. The fight only went to the mat once in round one, when Faber fell mid-kick and Pulver pounced; but, Faber locked up Pulver and stood out of "Li'l Evil's" mount. In round two, Faber felt Pulver respected his stand-up enough to shoot to the mat with single-leg takedowns.  Faber scored most attempts; but, Pulver's guard smothered Faber's offense. Faber decided to throw with the noted striker, Pulver, in round three and beat "Li'l Evil" by popping in and out with jolting shots and mixing in a high kick to keep Pulver guessing. In the fourth, Faber took Pulver back to the mat and hammered elbows into his skull until the bell. By the final round, Pulver was gassed and Faber closed the UD with jabs and right hooks to Pulver's head. ...