» Fighter: Mizuto Hirota

Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight and DREAM champion “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (14-3) has been matched up versus Sengoku champ Mizuto Hirota (9-3) at Fields Dynamite!! 2009 in Tokyo on New Year’s Eve, the promotion announced Tuesday.

Read More About DREAM v Sengoku: Shinya Aoki v Mizuto Hirota, Tatsuya Kawajiri v Kazunori Yokota…

UFC lightweight title contender “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (21-2) debuted at tenth in Fighters.com’s Lightweight Rankings in November due mostly to former top tenner Katsunori Kikuno’s (5-1-1) stoppage loss to third-ranked Eddie Alvarez (16-2) at DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25.

Read More About Fighters.com November Lightweight Rankings – The Rise of Diego Sanchez…

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.

Read More About Akihiro Gono Leaves on Stretcher, Kazuo Misaki Just Leaves at Sengoku…

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.

Read More About Kitaoka, Hirota Make Weight For Sengoku Title Fight…

World Victory Road has officially added their Middleweight Grand Prix to Sengoku 6, taking place 1 November in Saitama, Japan.

The winner of the tournament will face Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked middleweight “Grabaka Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2) for the first-ever middleweight belt 4 January in Saitama at Sengoku 7.

Kazuhiro Nakamura (12-8) will face Yuki Sasaki (22-14-1), and Jorge Santiago (18-7) will face “Afghan Killa” Siyar Bahadurzada (14-3-1).

The event already features a lightweight tournament to determine an opponent for Fighters.com’s second-ranked lightweight “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (29-3) at Sengoku 7 for the title.

The bouts remaining in the lightweight tournament are Satoru Kitaoka (21-8-9) versus sixth-ranked Eiji Mitsuoka (14-5-2), and Kazunori Yokota (7-1-3) versus Mizuto Hirota (10-2).

WVR also announced that Fighters.com’s Fighter of the Month “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal (1-0) will fight, although an opponent has not yet been determined.

“GameBred” Jorge Masvidal (14-3) versus Seung Hwan Bang (5-2) is also official.

Joe Doerksen (40-12) revealed through MySpace Tuesday that he has agreed to fight Izuru Takeuchi (25-9-6).

Read More About Sengoku 6 to Include MW Grand Prix; Lawal, Masvidal, and Doerkson Also on Card…

Fighters.com’s Sixth-ranked lightweight Eiji Mitsuoka (13-5-2) popped Rodrigo Damm (8-2) with an overhand right in the first round Sunday night in Saitama, north of Tokyo, then slid a rear naked choke around the BJJ player’s throat for the tap at 3:13 of the round.

Mitsuoka advanced to the second round of the Sengoku lightweight tournament, the winner of which will fight second-ranked “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (29-3).

Gomi headlined Sengoku’s fourth battle with a narrow decision over DEEP Lightweight Champion Seung Hwan Bang (5-2).

It was Bang who provided the bang in his stand-up exchanges with the notorious big-puncher Gomi.

But, Gomi edged Bang with stinging leg kicks and championship conditioning for the decision.

Read More About Mitsuoka Plugs Damm, Gomi, Trigg Win Decisions…