DEEP 155-pound champion Katsunori Kikuno, who has recently made residence with the budding Japanese organization in DREAM, will be returning to action come this May when he will be taking on PRIDE and Strikeforce veteran, Daisuke Nakamura.

The event in question, DREAM 17, will be the organization’s first foray back into the fighting world since their last event in December of last year, “Dynamite!! 2010″. Since then, however, Japan (the organization’s base country) has since been ravaged by several natural disasters which have left the country in ruins with damages totaling in the billions.

The event will coincide with several charities which will help benefit the relief efforts in trying to salvage and rebuild the “land of the rising sun”.

Kikuno, 2-2 in DREAM, will be returning to action following a majority decision win over Nobuhiro Obiya under the DEEP banner. Katsunori was able to make a successful title defense of his lightweight strap–his first title defense since becoming champion in April of 2009. The victory helped the Karate fighter bounce back from a decision loss to current Strikeforce fighter in Gesias Cavalcante, better known as “JZ”.

Nakamura, meanwhile, will be looking for his fourth-straight win in his next outing with Kikuno. Daisuke began the new streak following back-to-back losses against Naoyuki Kotani and Justin Wilcox. The bout with Wilcox took place in Daisuke’s lone appearance under the Strikeforce banner in December of 2009. In his last match, Daisuke, 30, pulled off an impressive second-round submission over fellow countryman, Toshikazu Iseno. The bout took place at “Deep 51: Impact” last December, where Daisuke managed to pull out a flying arm bar out of his bag of tricks—it’s a sort of “go to” move for the dynamic Japanese star.

DREAM 17 takes place at the Super Saitama Hall in Saitama, Japan on May 29th.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the match-up? Do you favor the wily grappler or the dynamic striker in Kikuno, who’s Karate background provides him with a “different” style of strikes. Sound off in the comment section below.

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.

Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), the parent company that owns infamous Japanese organizations such as the aforementioned DREAM and K-1 promotions, announced earlier their intentions to hold the bantamweight tournament, which will include mixed martial artists: Keisuke Fujiwara, Masakazu Imanari, Yoshiro Maeda, Kenji Osawa, Takafumi Otsuka, Hideo Tokoro, Darren Uyenoyama and Atsushi Yamamoto.

First leg of the tournament will take place on May 29 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and the final round will be completed in July where the new bantamweight champion will be crowned.

Interestingly enough, most of the notable fighters on this card were originally featured in the the organizations featherweight tournament. The promotion’s featherweight class is competed at 139-pounds, which will most likely be revised given the confusion that such a weight class would leave most fighters.

Two favorites heading into the tourney would have to be Atsushi Yamamoto (pictured), a protege of Japanese legend and current UFC fighter “Kid” Yamamoto (no relation). The other favorite will be submission ace Masakazu Imanari, where interestingly enough, both fighters met in the past for the featherweight tourney where the grappling whiz edged out Yamamoto via split-decision in March of 2009.

The announcement of said event took place during a press conference in Japan where the head executives of FEG as well as several other prominent figures of other Japanese promotions discussed their intentions to band together in order to raise money for the tragedies that have since victimized Japan.

Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Katsunori Kikuno, Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura and Caol Uno are also expected to be featured on the card.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the news? Who do you favor in the bantamweight GP? Yamamoto has an impressive stand-up arsenal that has most opponents puzzled or face down on the mat, and Imanari has a ground game that rivals Aoki’s. Sound off in the comment section below.

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.

Here is the fight card in it’s entirety, thanks to Sherdog.com.

1 Kazumasa Sugawara defeats Yoshihiro Sasaki TKO (Punches) 1 2:27
2 Takahiro Ashida defeats Shun Fukazawa TKO (Punches) 2 1:49
3 Yusaku Nakamura defeats Isao Terada KO (Punch) 2 3:48
4 Hiroshi Nakamura defeats Tatsumitsu Wada Decision (Unanimous)
5 Ryuta Noji defeats Hiroshi Nagao TKO (Knees) 1 1:33
6 Hidetaka Monma defeats Yoshihisa Yamamoto Submission 1 1:07
7 Shoji Maruyama defeats Jin Suk Jung TKO (Punches) 1 2:58
8 Yoshiyuki Nakanishi defeats Katsuyori Shibata TKO (Punches) 1 4:06
9 Yoshiro Maeda defeats Takafumi Otsuka Decision (Majority)
10 Ryo Chonan defeats Jun Hee Moon TKO (Punches) 3 2:57
11 Ikuhisa Minowa defeats Chang Hee Kim Submission 1 2:07
12 Sanae Kikuta defeats Lee Sak Kim TKO 1 1:21
13 Shinya Aoki defeats Yokthai Sithoar Submission 1 1:00
14 Masakazu Imanari defeats Daiki Hata Decision (Majority)
15 Yuya Shirai defeats Shigetoshi Iwase Decision (Unanimous)
16 Katsunori Kikuno defeats Nobuhiro Obiya Decision (Split)

The DREAM lightweight champion, Shiny Aoki, extended his winning streak to three in a row when he took on former professional boxer, Yokthai Sithoar (try saying that five times fast). It was an easy going for the “Grabaka Survivor” when he was able to work the fight to the ground (his domain) immediately, with little effort. There, Aoki was able to lock a fight ending Keylock, forcing the tap just 60 seconds inside of the first round.

Also on the card, Deep lightweight champion and DREAM fighter Katsunori Kikuno now made it two in a row when he defeated a spirited Nobuhiro Obiya. Having only been defeated by the likes of Eddie Alvarez and Gesias Cavalcante in his professional career, many pegged Obiya to be an easy win for the dynamic striker in Kikuno, however Obiya hung tough, and lost only by way of points when the bout went to the judges score cards.

Ikuhisa Minowa, or simply “Minowaman” returned to the win column after a disappointing loss to the 2008 Judoka Olympian Gold Medalist, Satoshi Ishii at DREAM 16. The Super Hulk Champion came back in true form, when he defeated the over matched Chang Hee Kim, inside of the first round with an arm bar submission, needing just a little over two minutes. Kim now falls to 0-2 against his 80-plus fight veteran.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the event? Sound off in the comment section below.

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.

Eddie made the most of his opportunity when he was guest on “The MMA Hour” with Ariel Helwani, and confronted Scott Coker, the CEO of the San Jose based organization, regarding their champion.

“Scott, It seems as though your lightweight champion keeps on calling me out on every interview and I have no problem with that”, began the enigmatic lightweight.

“I’ve never said anything about the kid and I would never say anything at all. Never even approached anybody about fighting Gilbert Melendez. He just doesn’t shut up, every other interview he’s talking about fighting me ‘Oh I want to fight Eddie Alvarez, I want to fight Eddie Alvarez’ and it really makes me look bad because I see (the interview) the next day later. So Bjorn [Rebney] (Bellator Fighting Championship CEO) says it’s OK, I say it’s OK, Gilbert is telling the world that he wants to fight me. I assume you’re the only one left to agree.”

Gilbert Melendez has been on the mend, taking the rest of the year to help him recuperate from injuries sustained in back-to-back 5 round title fights against Josh Thomson, which helped him avenge his only other loss hanging out there (the first was against Mitsuhiro Ishida, which he later avenged as well), and most recently Shinya Aoki, who holds a victory over Alvarez, in April of this year. Melendez soundly defeated the DREAM lightweight champion in his first title defense, shucking off any take down attempts while raining down the hammer on his Japanese foe. He was able to come away the victor, winning every round on the judges score cards.

While talks had been in place before, a sort of more subtle meeting of the minds with the CEO’s Scott Coker and Bjorn Rebney, both parties appear to be game–the sticking matter, appears to be how co-promotion would work for both parties, considering Strikeforce’s ties with CBS, Showtime, and now M-1 Global.

“First of all, I have tremendous respect for you. I think you’re a great fighter, great champion of Bellator and I followed your career over in Japan when you were fighting over there and these things are sometimes a little complicated”, stated the cautious Coker.

“It’s not just the fight, of course we would love to make the fight, but there’s so many details to be worked out between the promotions to make it happen. Bjorn did call me and I did talk to him and this was probably two months ago. I said look, Gilbert has a broken hand at the time so let’s just table this until the future, but after the KJ Noons/Nick Diaz fight, we can readdress this. We’ve been open to co-promotions with every league so that’s not the issue. The issue is how does it work on a business level between our two leagues and if we can work that out, we would love to have it.”

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of this? Would you like to see Melendez in action against Alvarez? Who do you take in this match up? Sound off in the comment section below.

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.

Among Aoki, Deep 50 will also feature the current DREAM Super Hulk Champion and all around Japanese Icon, Ikuhisa Minowa–whom is affectionately more so recognized as simply “Minowaman”.

Both Aoki and Minowa last competed at DREAM 16 last Saturday, though reached different results. Aoki was featured in a non-title bout against former PRIDE and UFC veteran Marcus Aurelio. A dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Aurelio has recently left American Top Team to train under Team Nogueria out of his native Brazil. Aoki seemed to be the more versed grappler, however, as he was able to easily control Marcus on the ground, mounting him on several occasions and eventually secured the unanimous decision victory towards the bouts end.

Shinya is now riding a two fight win streak since a loss to current Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, which began with a victory over rival Tatsuya Kawajiri in defense of his DREAM title last July.

Minowaman, meanwhile, witness a five-fight win streak snapped when he met the 1-1 and Judo Olympic Gold medalist, Satoshi Ishii. The bout was largely decided by Ishii’s effective ground skills, where he was able to position himself in dominant positions all throughout the bout. Ikuhisa threatened with a leg lock early, however Ishii was in no imminent danger, and the Olympian walked away with his second win in a row, a victory over a legend, and his first in DREAM.

The line up, which will also feature Sengoku and Pride veteran Kazuo Misaki in action, Aoki in a bout against a former Pro Boxer making his MMA debut, and two title fights on the line, is as follows:

Katsunori Kikuno vs Nobuhiro Obiya (LW Title)
Yuya Shirai vs Shigetoshi Iwase (WW Title)
Shinya Aoki vs Yokthai Sithoar (confirmed)
Sanae Kikuta vs TBA
Ikuhisa Minowa vs TBA
Takafumi Otsuka vs Yoshiro Maeda
Ryo Chonan vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Toshikazu “ISE” Iseno vs Won Sik “Parky” Park
Kazuo Misaki vs Akira Shoji
Daiki “DJ Taiki” Hata vs Tomomi “Taisho” Iwama
Shoji Maruyama vs Tatsunao Nagakura
Hidetaka Monma vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto
Isao Terada vs Yoshiki Harada
Ryuta Noji vs Hiroshi Nagao

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of this card? For those who are true fans of Japanese MMA, this is a card that you do not want to miss. Sound off in the comments section below.

Eddie Alvarez, the reigning and defending Bellator lightweight champion and DREAM veteran, will be facing UFC veteran and now-internet-sensation, Roger Huerta at Bellator 33.

The news was first reported during the broadcast of tonight’s Bellator 25 card, which was headlined by 185-pound champion Hector Lombard against former NFL player Herbert Goodman, in a non-title affair.

Pat Curran, the 155-pound season 2 lightweight tournament champion, earned the right to face current champion Eddie Alvarez while beating the aforementioned Huerta and Toby Imada along the way to the finals. However, a shoulder injury will sideline Pat Curran for the unforeseeable future, and in the interim steps in Huerta.

Roger made headlines recently as he was featured in a video popularized my TMZ, vindicating a woman who had been knocked out by a much larger african american male. Huerta approached the man, and one thing lead to another, and the video later showed said assailant on his back, bloodied and unconsciousness.

Eddie Alvarez rose to fame with his run through DREAM’s inaugural lightweight tournament. And with win’s over the likes of Tatsuya Kawajiri, Joachim Hansen, and Katsunori Kikuno anchoring his résumé, Alvarez has made himself a formidable opponent as well here in the states, and is widely recognized as a top-5 lightweight.

So, is this the fight fan’s would more like to see, or we’re we all banking on a title fight between Curran and Alvarez, more so, over this non-title affair?

Sanchez has certainly fought in some of SpikeTV’s most memorable fights, including his most recent split decision victory over perennial gatekeeper “Carpenter” Clay Guida (25-10) at The Ultimate Fighter 9 finale in Las Vegas June 20.

But, UFC lightweights fifth-ranked “Bully” Gray Maynard (8-0) and sixth-ranked “The Answer” Frank Edgar (10-1) are more deserving of a title shot, though admittedly less well-known to casual UFC fans.

Maynard won a split decision over another unranked, but popular UFC lightweight “El Matador” Roger Huerta (20-3-1) at UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma City September 16.

Edgar will follow-up his unanimous decision over former UFC champ ninth-ranked “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (33-4-1) at UFC 98 in Las Vegas May 23 versus “Batman” Kurt Pellegrino (15-4) at The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale in Las Vegas December 5.

Diaz beats unrelenting, but beatable Guida and gets a title shot versus Penn.  Edgar beats the former champ Sherk and is notched down to fight Pellegrino.  Explain that…

Sherk was scheduled to fight Gleison Tibau (16-6) at UFC 104 in Los Angeles October 24, but withdrew with an injury.

Most recent UFC title challenger, seventh-ranked “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (11-4), will swap opponents with Diaz when he fights Guida at UFC 107.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific second-ranked DREAM champ “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) avenged his most recent loss in the division with an armbar submission of fourth-ranked “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (18-7) at DREAM.11 in Yokohama October 6 and is already slated to defend his title from eighth-ranked “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2) at Dynamite!! 2009 north of Tokyo on New Year’s Eve.

Third-ranked Eddie Alvarez (16-2) and tenth-ranked Katsunori Kikuno (5-0-1) will fight at DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25 for the next DREAM title shot versus the winner of Aoki v Kawajiri.

Fighters.com’s October Lightweight Rankings

1. “Prodigy” BJ Penn (14-5-1)

2. “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4)

3. Eddie Alvarez (16-2)

4. “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (18-7)

5. “Bully” Gray Maynard (8-0)

6. “The Answer” Frank Edgar (10-1)

7. “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (11-4)

8. “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2)

9. “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (33-4-1)

10. Katsunori Kikuno (5-0-1)

Also added to the card, Cage Force welterweight champ Kuniyoshi Hironaka (13-6) will matchup versus “Parky” Won Sik Park (2-0).

Alvarez tapped out Toby Imada (23-14) in a rear naked choke at Bellator 10 in Miami June 19.

Kikuno TKO’d Andre Amade (1-2) at DREAM.10 in Tokyo July 20.

Hironaka TKO’d Yoshihiro Koyama (10-2-1) at Cage Force 12 in Tokyo September 12.

Park submitted Yuichi Ikari (7-4-2) by rear naked choke  at DEEP 43 in Tokyo August 23.

DREAM.12 will be broadcast on HDNet in North America.

Fighters.com has not confirmed the story and MMA Weekly reported that Bellator matchmaker Matt Stansell said he’d only heard a rumor about the matchup, but had received nothing official from DREAM. MMA Weekly’s source is anonymous.

According to the report, Alvarez would be “traded” to DREAM for the matchup versus Kikuno in exchange for a fighter contracted to DREAM fighting on a Bellator card.

Lithuanian “Whitemare” Marius Zaromskis (12-2) upset “Mach” Hayato Sakurai (32-9-3) and Jason High (7-2) both with fight-ending head kicks to win the Welterweight Grand Prix.

Returning to Japan after an odd stint in the WEC and returning to MMA after nine months off, Filho was rusty and lucky to exploit the chink that has resulted in three of Manhoef’s six losses: the armbar.

After eating murderous uppercuts and a left hook from the Dutch kickboxing champion, Filho slid into the fetal position in a corner of the ring and Manhoef followed. Filho may have been playing possum as he clammed up on his side and grasped for Manhoef’s wrists as Manhoef tried to sneak punches through Filho’s guard. But, Manhoef wisely stood out of the corner and invited Filho back to his feet.

Manhoef stalked Filho into the ropes, but a nifty hip toss from the clinch put Manhoef on his back with Filho passing from side mount to full mount swiftly. Filho secured Manhoef’s right arm and climbed his mount high on Manhoef’s chest before twisting into the armbar that left Manhoef slapping frantically to end the fight.

Filho won, but it should be noted that he missed weight for the second consecutive fight.

Wearing both trunks and matching leggings in the pattern of the Japanese flag, Aoki fended off Ribeiro, draped in Brazil’s colors, with an incessant left roundhouse kick to the body. Aoki threw little else, most were blocked, and a few were caught and countered with a stiff jab, straight, or single-leg takedown. But, the ones that landed left a red welt on “Shaolin’s” left rib cage, wearing on him and keeping him at bay. Midway into the second round, Riberio planted Aoki with a double-leg takedown, but the “Tobikan Judan” held on in adequate, if dull, defense for the judges’ unanimous decision.

Zaromskis went on a reckless, but effective tear through DREAM’s welterweight contenders, beginning with an almost inconcievable KO of Grand Prix favorite Sakurai. After walking through big punches and returning fire that left Sakurai with cuts over and under his left eye that required a doctor’s opinion, Zaromskis connected his left shin to Sakurai’s skull to move into the final versus High.

After handin Andre Galvao (3-1) his first loss in a split decisino, High crowded Zaromskis early in the final, taking him to the mat twice and controlling the grappling. But, after Zaromskis crawled to his feet, he struck like a scorpion with a right roundhouse kick that put High on his back, limp and unconcious.

Welterweight Katsunori Kikuno (6-0-1) TKO’d “Dida” Andre Amade (1-3) at 3:47 of round one. If Sakurai doesn’t secure a rematch with Zaromskis, Kikuno might step in to challenge the new DREAM champion.

The Ultimate Fighter alum “JT Money” Jesse Taylor (9-2) beat middleweight Dong Sik Yoon (2-7) by submission after Yoon injured his foot one minute into the first round.

Team Quest’s “Sponge” Tarec Saffiedine (2-0) won a two-round UD over Seichi Ikemoto (13-15-4) in the Welterweight Grand Prix reserve fight.