While Japan has seen better days, with the country having recently been ravaged by tsunamis and earthquakes galore, one thing remains strong, and that is the mixed martial arts community. 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. ...

After years in the fight game, becoming one of the corner stones for Japanese MMA, mixed martial arts promotion Deep will hold its 50th event on October 24, celebrating it's 10 year anniversary at the Tokyo JCB Hall, in Tokyo, Japan. 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. ...

After dropping a two-round decision to "Flash" Bibiano Fernandes (5-1) in the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix last March, Takafumi Otsuka (5-3) didn't let another 145-pound title slip through his fingers Sunday at DEEP 43 Impact in Tokyo. Otsuka won a three-round decision over former UFC lightweight Dokonjonosuke Mishima (18-7-2) to snag Mishima's DEEP featherweight belt. In a battle between former UFC welterweights and all-time DEEP legends, “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (16-10) won a three-round decision over Jutaro Nakao (22-13-4). Chonan broke the two-fight losing streak ending his 1-3 run in the Octagon last April DEEP bantamweight champ “Ashikan Judan” Masakazu Imanari (16-7-1) defended his title from Tomohiko Hori (6-5-2) in another three-round decision. ...

While most of the MMA world tuned-in to Las Vegas for UFC 84 last weekend, three of Japan's noblest promotions put on shows in Osaka, Tokyo, and Sapporo respectively. Pancrase Results Pancrase held its fourth iteration of its 2008 Shining tour in Azelea Taisho Hall in Osaka Sunday. In the main,  event, "13" Daisuke Hanazawa (9-9-5) scored his first "w" of 2008 with a two-round UD over Takefumi Hanai (2-4-2), Hanai's third consecutive loss. Featherweight Soyu Tanabe (4-3-1) knocked out Pancrase regular Kenji Takeshige (4-7-1) at 3:44 of the first round. Middleweight Masahiro Toryu (5-3-3) denied Shuji Morikawa (0-2-1) his first "W" by submitting him in a guillotine choke at 3:36 of round one. In other fights, Kenji Shimada (4-2) knocked out Takashi Hasegawa (3-6-3) at 1:58 of round one. "Strasser" Kiichi Kunimoto (5-2) won a two-round UD over "Yuushi Edaori" Yu Shiori (5-1). Isao Hirose (2-0) also scored a decision unanimously over "Punch" Nobuhiro Yamauchi (4-3). ...