Jose Aldo may be recognized as the best featherweight in the world, but do you know who's nipping at his heels? It's not Mike Brown, Manny Gamuryan, or even Josh Grispi. It's a man named Marlon Sandro, someone who most hardcore fans are well aware of, but the casual mixed martial arts fan who is still wearing those Afflicition t-shirts and don a Ed Hardy water in hand will likely have no idea who he is. A few quick facts: He's a teammate of Aldo's, both originating from the famed Nova Uniao camp in Brazil. And coupled with a true Black Belt level ground game, he has knockout power that would scare most heavyweights. ...

A featherweight title fight in September apparently won't stop the Joe Warren train from booking a second fight, overseas at that, in the same month. The aforementioned featherweight will be facing Bellator 145-pound champion Joe Soto on September 2. in San Antonio, Tex. for the title. Earning his crack at the belt, Warren fought his way through the season two, 8-man featherweight tourney, after claiming victories over Eric Marriott, Georgi Karakhanyan, and finally a split decision over the previously undefeated Patricio Freire for the season's $100,000 check and number one contenders spot. ...

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). ...

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. ...

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. ...

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). ...