In his first "W" since coming out of his seven-year retirement, Masakatsu Funaki (39-13-1) tapped “Punk” Ikuhisa Minowa (40-29-8) in a heel hook at 0:32 of round one in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Tuesday night. The two leg-lock specialists hit the mat toot sweet and exchanged techniques. Minowaman rolled free from one heel hook; so, Funaki switched sides and inverted the technique until Minowa yelped in pain and tapped out. ...

DREAM added Fighters.com's fifth-ranked middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1) Thursday to their event in Saitama, north of Tokyo, 23 September. The zainichi judoka has been given a choice between three unnamed opponents, according to Japanese website SportsNav. Akiyama returned from a seven-month layoff 21 July in Osaka to tap puroresu star Katsuyori Shibata (2-5). Also added Thursday, welterweight "Mach" Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2) will fight UFC vet Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5), not Nick Diaz (18-7) as originally planned. Sakurai tapped in a guillotine to Frenchman David Baron (16-2) in Tokyo 3 May, subsequently earning Baron a UFC contract. Hironaka followed his 1-3 stint in the Octagon with a TKO of Motoki Miyazawa (4-1) in his DREAM debut in Osaka. Former UFC welterweight "K-Taro" Keita Nakamura (14-3-2) will face Adriano Martins (9-3). Nakamura ended his three-fight UFC run with a split decision loss to Robert Emerson (8-6) in Las Vegas 2 February, going 0-3 in the Octagon. Brazilian Martins was kayoed by Roni Torres (13-1) in Amazonas in Brazil's Amazon rainforest 7 April. ...

"Tobikan Judan" Shinya Aoki (15-2) won a unanimous decision over "JZ" Gesias Calvancante (14-2-1) in a Lightweight Grand Prix bout. The rest of the card were fights in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) submitted Denis Kang (29-10-1) in a triangle choke at 3:10 of round one. Taiei Kin (3-2) won a unaninmous decision over "The Punk" Ikuhisa Minowa (39-28-8). "Benkei" Zelg Galesic (8-3) submitted Magomed Sultanakhmedov (4-2) by armbar at 1:40 of round one. "The Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) sumbitted Andrews Nakahara (0-1) by neck crank at 8:20 of the first round. "Jacare" Ronaldo Souza (8-1) submitted Ian Murphy (0-1) by rear naked choke at 3:38 of the first round. Kiyoshi Tamura (32-14-1) TKO Masakatsu Funaki (38-13-1) in 57 seconds. Dong Sik Yoon (4-4) won a unanimous decision over Shungo Oyama (7-11). ...

DREAM.2 has announced three match-ups on its 29 April fight card at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo. Korean-Canadian Denis Kang (29-9-1) will take the ring across from Armenian Gegard Mousasi (20-2-1) in a middleweight grand prix bout. Mousasi steps-up on a string of six first-round stoppages.  Kang bounces back from a first-round knockout loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1). A pair of Japanese heroes, "The Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakuraba (23-10-1) and Masakatsu Funaki (38-12-1), will continue their legends in DREAM. Saku' draws Karate champ Andrews Nakahara of Brazil, who makes his MMA debut.  Funaki faces U-File's Kiyoshi Tamura (28-14), a former PRIDE fighter. ...

At 44-years old, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock (26-12-2) is still trying "to see the world" by fighting he confided from an airport terminal awaiting his flight to London. Shamrock is no longer "The World's Most Dangerous Man", as he's billed in his CageRage debut versus "Buzz" Robert Berry (12-7) Saturday. But, there was a time he damn well may have been. "[In 1993] a student of mine brought me a flier [calling for fighters for UFC 1]," Shamrock remembers. At the time, Shamrock was wrestling in Japan's Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, mentored by wrestling legends Masakatsu Funaki, Karl Gotch, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Wrestling in Japan had avoided most of the kitsch of American pro wrestling.  His mentors taught Shamrock shoot wrestling, very real and effective submission techniques. In 1993, Funaki founded a hybrid wrestling promotion called Pancrase. "It wasn't MMA," Shamrock emphasizes.  "We used open-hand strikes and shin guards when kicking." In Pancrase's first event in September 1993, Shamrock submitted Funaki in six minutes.  It was a testament to how far the former Tough Man competitor had come. "What we did at UFC 1 was what you see today," Shamrock traces MMA's lineage.  "That was the beginning. "Every time I had seen a no holds barred tournament, it was just for entertainment, you know?  In wrestling, it meant you could bring chairs in the ring.  It was ridiculous.  So, I was skeptical," Shamrock explains.  "But, reality fighting, that's what attracted me to the tournament." "We didn't know until three days before that it was definitely happening." In the first round of UFC 1, the wrestler easily submitted kickboxer Patrick Smith (14-13) in a heel hook at 1:49. After the fight, Shamrock was asked to compare UFC 1 to what he had been doing every month in Pancrase. "This is easier," he proclaimed brashly.  "This guy doesn't know submissions." His confidence may have been his downfall in his second fight of the tournament. "I didn't know who Royce Gracie was," Shamrock admits.  "When I saw him in his gi, I thought he was some karate guy." The eventual tournament winner, Gracie (14-3-3), submitted Shamrock in a rear naked choke in 57 seconds. "It was setup for him to win," Shamrock complains.  "I wasn't allowed to wear my wrestling shoes, but he was allowed to wear his gi. "You can watch it and see that I slip going for a leg lock and [Royce Gracie] wraps his gi around my neck for the choke." Shamrock went on after UFC 1 to bag wins versus a pantheon of fighters including Matt Hume (5-5), "El Guapo" Bas Rutten (28-4-1), and "Mo" Maurice Smith (12-10). At UFC 5 in 1995, he'd get his revenge versus Gracie in a "Superfight", this time knowing fully what to expect from the BJJ and MMA legend.  After 36:06, the fight was declared a draw. The world's most dangerous man?  Gracie had no answer for the wrestler after twice as long as any other MMA fight Gracie had previously participated in. If Shamrock wasn't the most dangerous man in the world, at that point he was at least as dangerous as Gracie, considered then to be the top reality fighter in the world. Saturday, Shamrock makes his British debut.  A victory over Berry leads Shamrock to another accomplishment: MMA's first American network television main event on CBS versus Kimbo Slice. ...