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.

On his road to claim the Sengoku 145-pound title, knocked out two opponents in a row inside of the first round, with a combined time of 2:42. In his championship bout with then champion Masanori Kanehara, who at the time was coming off of a decision victory over the popular “Kid” Yamamoto, Sandro made quick work of the Japanese star, making him another highlight reel when he knocked him out of consciousness in just 38 seconds, and with the win claimed the promotion’s title.

Now, Sandro will look to defend his title against perennial top-10 featherweight star, Hatsu Hioki. In a strange turn of events, it looks like he will defend his title under the DREAM banner for the year-end spectacular, Dynamite!! 2010, instead of the Sengoku banner. The Japanese have a weird way in going about business.

Hioki was supposed to challenge for Sengoku’s vacant title originally, having earned his spot in the finals during the promotion’s featherweight grand prix in 2009. However, he was later replaced by Kanehara was it was deemed during the tournament that Hioki was unable to continue due to injury.

Since then, Hioki has won two fights in a row since a highly controversial decision loss to featherweight star Michihiro Omigawa in November of last year. Virtually everyone believed the bout should have gone in favor of Hatsu, and Omigawa even agreed with the same sentiments following the fights conclusion. He has since defeated “Lion” Takeshi Inoue by decision claiming the Shooto lightweight (143 lbs.) title, and then submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” veteran Jeff Lawson last August.

Dynamite!! 2010 takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31. Sandro recently broke the news with TATAME.com, plans are tentative but look promising.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the match up? It’s a clash in styles, really. While both are more than adept in all areas, even Hioki holding a technical advantage on the feet, Sandro’s crushing power is always the equalizer, with 4 his most recent wins all coming by way of knockout, all inside of the first round. Sound off in the comment section below.

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.

Even after all the pressure amounting on the world champion wrestler–who earned a gold medal in the Pan American Championship 60 kg class and was well on his way to Olympic infamy before testing positive for Marijuana in 2007–Warren will still follow through with his DREAM commitments when he meets contender and UFC veteran Michihiro Omigawa at DREAM 16 on September 25.

Omigawa made a Cinderella man like run through Sengoku’s featherweight tournament before losing to former champion Masanori Kanehara. Since his leave from the UFC’s lightweight class in 2008, Omigawa has picked many impressive victories, while some controversial, over standouts Marlon Sandro, Hatsu Hioki, Nam Phan, and Hiroyuki Takaya, making a case for himself as a top-10 featherweight.

The bout will likely determine the next number one contender to DREAM champion Bibiano Fernandes‘ 139-pound title (DREAM is currently in the process of adopting some, not all, of the Unified Rules and Regulations used here in the United States governing mixed martial arts–beginning with effective weight class regimes).

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).

Sandro lost a controversial split decision to Michihiro Omigawa  (3-7) at Ninth Battle in Tokyo August 2, Sandro’s first career  loss.

Omigawa will also fight on the card versus Hatsu Hioki (15-3-2) who won a three-round UD over Masanori Kanehara (4-1-1) at Ninth Battle.

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.

Former UFC welterweight Akihiro Gono (30-15-7) returned to Japan after a 1-2 stint in the big show, but his opponent “The Handler” Dan Hornbuckle (16-2) made it a bitter homecoming with a head kick that left Gono unconcious for several minutes. Gono was carried out of the ring by stretcher and suffered a concussion and neck injury.

Heavyweight Samboist Blagoi Ivanov (1-0) won his MMA debut over Kazuyuki Fujita (13-8), scoring a draw on the cards but taking the split decision victory in Sengoku’s must decision system.

Lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (15-6-2) tapped Clay French (15-6) in a guillotine choke at 1:51 of round one.

“Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (9-2) won a unanimous decision over Korean heavyweight Mu Bae Choi (2-2).

In the Featherweight Grand Prix reserve bout, “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung (2-0) tapped “Jagger Bomb” Matt Jaggers (12-6) in a triangle choke at 1:25 of round two.

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.

Michihiro Omigawa (3-7) weighed 64.9 kg and his undefeated opponent Marlon Sandro (13-0) weighed 64.7 kg. Hatsu Hioki (15-3-2) and his opponent Masanori Kanehara (4-1-) both weighed 65 kg. In the tournament’s reserve fight, “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung (1-0) weighed 64.8 kg and his opponent “Jagger Bomb” Matt Jaggers (12-5) weighed 64.6 kg.

In a face-off of middleweight title contenders, “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (22-9-2) and Kazuhiro Nakamura (13-9) both weighed 83 kg.

In the anticipated MMA debut of Samboist Blagoi Ivanov (0-0) versus Kazuyuki Fujita (13-7), the rookie weighed 110 kg and the vet outdid him at 112.5 kg.

Welterweight Akihiro Gono (30-14-7) weighed 76 kg and his opponent “The Handler” Dan Hornbuckle (15-2) weighed 75.3 kg.

Lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (14-6-2) weighed 70 kg while his opponent Clay French (15-5) weighed 69.9 kg.

“Kiss” Yoshihiro Nakao (8-2) weighed 103 kg and his fellow heavyweight opponent Mu Bae Choi (2-1) weighed 109.4 kg.

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).