Deep 50, which was a historic event in the promotion's history, went without a cinch. Largely unknown to the uneducated fan, but Deep has become a staple in the Japanese MMA movement for years. Made evident by it's home grown star, Shinya Aoki, the promotion has helped produce some of Japan's greatest rising stars and has cemented it's place in the Japanese mixed martial arts industry, especially with Saturday's night of fights. (or Sunday morning, depending on where you are) The promotion was in rare form, when it was able to secure some of the biggest names in the sport for one night, and what a night it was. ...

Shinya Aoki is probably one of the most reserved fighters in the sport. Although his in-ring antics against Mizuto Hirota at "Dynamite!! 2009" would inidicate otherwise, the grappling ace usually keeps to himself and refrains from doing a lot of outlandish things. Maybe that's why the Japanese have embraced him as their leading man in the world of mixed martial arts. However, most recently, the famed Judoka has stepped out of his shell and lit the MMA world abuzz once again, with his almost brutal honesty, on how he views the Western MMA scene (um...us) and how they can benefit by tuning into DREAM, once in a while. ...

Bellator lightweight champion is a force to reckoned with in his weight class. After an illuminated run in Japan, where Alvarez has picked up some of the biggest wins of his career, which includes victories over the likes of former DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen, former Shooto champion Tatsuya Kawajiri and current DEEP lightweight champion Katsunori Kikuno. Not impressed? En route to Bellator gold, he was able to submit all three of his opponents, including the heralded Toby Imada, a Jiu-Jitsu whiz who became an internet sensation with his inverted triangle choke over lightweight notable Jorge Masvidal, which garnered Imada the "Submission of the Year" on several publications, including a trophy award at the 2009 World MMA Awards, hosted by Fighters Only. So when Alvarez, 26, heard word that Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez has called him out on numerous occasions, the Philly fighter didn't take too kindly to it. ...

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. ...

Japanese MMA promotion DEEP will celebrate Japanese Thanksgiving at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo November 10 with Fan Thanksgiving Festival 2. The card currently features a pair of light heavyweights and a pair of welterweights. ...

DEEP megaton (or, as everyone other than the Japanese would call him, heavyweight) champion Yusuke Kawaguchi (5-1) will defend the title he won in a grand prix tournament in 2008 from bleached blond challenger Seigo Mizuguchi (1-2) at DEEP 44 Impact in Tokyo 10 October, DEEP announced Friday. Welterweights Hidehiko Hasegawa (15-12-3) and Ryuki Ueyama (9-11-4) have also been matched-up for the card. Kawaguchi won a two-round unanimous decision over Cirio Tejera (0-1) at M-1 Challenge 18 in Hilversum 16 August while Mizuguchi comes into his first title challenge off a scarf hold submission of Tokuzo (0-1) at DEEP in Toyama 28 June. ...

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. ...

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). ...

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. ...