Having proved to be a force to be reckoned with in the mixed martial arts world since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2007, Alistair Overeem has been brilliant both in the cage and in the ring. Making his run towards the Strikeforce heavyweight title in 2007 over UFC veteran Paul Buentello, "The Demolition Man" has shined in performances against Mirko Filipovic, Kazuyuki Fujita, and most recently Brett Rogers, which came via TKO in the first round last May under the Strikeforce banner, in defense of his title. While he has come into his own in the MMA world, Overeem may be finding that his success in MMA can account for his devastating rampage through the K-1 circuit, as a part-time professional kick boxer. ...

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. ...

Fighters.com's eighth-ranked middleweight “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2) shot it out on his feet with "Pink Pounder" Logan Clark (11-2) for a unanimous decision at Sengoku Third Battle in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Sunday night. Misaki successfully countered Clark's aggressive stand-up for the "W". Ninth-ranked welterweight “The Goat” Nick Thompson (36-9-1) survived a "Maicon" Michael Costa (9-4) hook that detonated in the second round, leaving "The Goat" on the mat, to tap Costa at 4:13 of the round in a Kimura. YAMMA Pit Fighting Heayweight Champion "Diesel" Travis Wiuff (53-11) cemented his return to being taken seriously with a first-round knockout of "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita (15-7) at 1:24, a feet never previously achieved. In the night's main event, heavyweight Hidehiko Yoshida (8-6-1) ended a three-loss streak by tapping 46-year old kickboxer "Mo" Maurice Smith (12-13) in a neck crank at 2:23 of round one. Sanae Kikuta (27-6-3) finished off Englishman Chris Rice (12-6), who entered the ring costumed as the Grim Reaper, in a first-round armbar at 3:54. "Pe de Pano" Marcio Cruz (4-2) also tapped Korean heavyweight Mu Bae Choi (7-3) in a rear naked choke at 4:37 of round one. Brazilian lightweight Rodrigo Damm (8-1) called out second-ranked lightweight "Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi (28-3) after the referee ended "Gamebred" Jorge Masvidal's (13-3) night, controversially calling the fight at 4:38 of round two while Masvidal was recovering from a punch that dropped the brawler. Middleweight Fabio Silva (10-4) knocked out Yoshiki Takahashi (28-23-3) with a knee at :24 of round two. ...

YAMMA Pit Fighting Heavyweight Champion "Diesel" Travis Wiuff (52-11) will fight on the undercard of Affliction: Banned 19 July in Anaheim, outside of Los Angeles, according to the Rochester Post-Bulletin. No opponent was named. Though there is no official indication, Wiuff may be Plan B for heavyweight prospect Ben Rothwell (29-5), who is also opponent-less as fight day draws near. Negotiations for Rothwell to fight Fighters.com's fifth-ranked heavyweight "Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski (12-5) remain mysterious. Fighters.com reported Arlovski has always been Rothwell's intended opponent, despite Rothwell's denials. However, recently both Rothwell and his agent, Adrenaline MMA President Monte Cox, have admitted Arlovski is on the table. "Of course [Affliction] talked about Andrei, but I don’t know what his contract status is," Cox told Cage Potato on 12 May.  "[Arlovski] was supposed to be free from his UFC contract on May 1, but I honestly don’t know if it will be Ben and Andrei fighting in that show." Rothwell corrected his denial, "I was trying to clear up that I was not fighting [Arlovski] in September on another [organization] as the original rumor stated.  I tried to never say if I was/was not fighting [Arlvoski]." Arlovski has remained mum on the issue. Wiuff comes off his YAMMA tournament victory in which he won UDs over "Pato" Marcelo Donald Pereira (1-1), "Suave" Ricco Rodriguez (28-9), and Chris Tuchscherer (13-1) on the same night in April. Wiuff is also scheduled for the biggest pay day of his career in Japan, fighting "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) at Sengoku III on 8 June. ...

Sunday in Tokyo at Sengoku II, Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett (22-5) ground out a unanimous decision over "Snowman" Jeff Monson (24-8) in a match battled mostly on the mat. Heavyweight "Monster" Kevin Randleman (17-12) also pulled out a UD over Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura (8-3-2).  The decision was considered controversial. Monson and Randleman are scheduled to fight on a 24 June card in Charlotte. Highly-touted Roger Gracie (2-0) remained undefeated after tapping MMA vet Yuki Kondo (48-22-6) in a rear naked choke at 2:40 of round one. "Kiss" Yoshihiro Nakao (7-1) called out "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) after knocking out Kiwi "Big" Jim York (9-2) 46-seconds into round two. American Top Team welterweight Jorge Santiago (17-7) fought off near-submissions before finding his own submission of Grabaka's Yuki Sasaki (21-14-1) in a third-round armbar at 2:10. Lighweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) took only 4:15 to sink a rear naked choke submission in on "Crazy" Kwang Hee Lee (5-1). Xtreme Couture welterweight "Quicksand" Mike Pyle (16-5-1) locked in a triangle choke to tap "Handler" Dan Hornbuckle (15-2) at 4:52 of round one. Welterweight Pancrase vet Satoru Kitaoka (20-8-9) submitted Aussie Ian James Schaffa (7-5-1) in a guillotine choke in just 50 seconds to begin the night. ...

Fighters.com's ninth-ranked welterweight "The Goat" Nick Thompson (35-9-1) has been matched versus unheralded Michael Costa (5-2) at Sengoku III on 8 June according to the promotion's official website. Costa has won four fights by stoppage and one by decision and comes in on a two-knockout streak. "The Goat" hasn't lost in two years, piling up ten stoppages and, most recently, a unanimous decision over "Pitbull" Fabricio Monteiro (16-7) at Sengoku I in March. Other fighters who may get ring time at the event include former PRIDE heavyweights Hidehiko Yoshida (7-6-1) and "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6), former UFC heavyweight "Pe De Pano" Marcio Cruz (3-2), Chute Box middleweight Fabio Silva (9-4), and Brazilian lightweight Rodrigo Damm (7-1). ...

World Victory Road announced that "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) will fight on their 8 June Sengoku card. Fujita returned from an eleven-month layoff at Sengoku's debut event in March. "Ironhead" submitted Aussie kickboxer Peter Graham (0-1) in a north/south choke in the first round. Fujita's June opponent hasn't been named. ...

Josh Barnett, judo champion? "The Babyfaced Assassin" from Seattle tread the path of his catch wrestling forefather Ad Santel Wednesday by submitting Japanese Olympic gold medalist judoka Hidehiko Yoshida (7-6-1) by heel hook at 3:23 of round three at World Victory Road's inaugural Sengoku fight card in Tokyo. A century ago, Santel waged war with judoka and proclaimed himself the world judo champion after defeating fifth-degree black belt Tokugoro Ito. "I revived this rivalry when I fought Kazuhiro Nakamura," Barnett (21-5) told Sherdog.com. "And, so I'm keeping it going for this century now." The fight was the American's first in MMA since losing a unanimous decision rematch with current interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1) on New Year's Eve 2006. His layoff had erased his name from most rankings which require activity in the previous 365-days; but, vanquishing the samurai establishes Barnett's status as a top five heavyweight. Also returning to active duty, former PRIDE Lightweight Champion "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi (28-3) sliced open "Bang" Duane Ludwig (16-8) of Denver to earn a first round stoppage at 2:28. Gomi had been out of commission  since tapping to Nick Diaz (15-7) in a gogoplata at PRIDE's last American card in February 2007.  After Diaz tested positive for smoking a doob', the outcome was deemed a No Contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. "Grabaka Hitman" Kazuo Misaki (19-8-2) got back to winning Wednesday with a guillotine submission of middleweight Afghan Siyar Bahadurzada (13-2-1) at 2:02 of round two. Thick-skulled Japanese wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita (15-6) posted a north-south choke tapout of MMA-debuting Aussie kickboxer Peter Graham (0-1). "Cyborg" Evangelista Santos (16-11) won the second of his two-month trilogy by wrapping Japanese judoka Makoto Takimoto in a heel hook at 4:51 of round one. Santos will fight Joey Villasenor on a San Jose Strikeforce card at the end of March. Middleweight Pancrase vet Ryo Kawamura (8-2-2) of Japan won a unanimous decision over formerly undefeated Brazilian Antonio Braga Neto (5-1). Bodog Fight welterweight king "The Goat" Nick Thompson (35-9-1) also won a unanimous decision over Gracie Barra "Pitbull" Fabricio Monteiro (16-7). ...