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.

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.

“Gracie Hunter” takes the short-notice fight coming off two losses, most recently a unanimous decision to Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-2) at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve last year. Fighters.com anticipates DREAM will throw Saku’ some red meat at DREAM.11 to tune him up for another New Year’s Eve cameo.

Added to DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25, former WEC bantamweight title challenger “Rage” Chase Beebe (11-4) will fight fellow former WEC challenger Yoshiro Maeda (24-7-2).

Beebe lost his Japanese debut when the doctor stopped his fight versus Joe Warren (2-0) at DREAM.7 in Tokyo March 8.

Maeda won on disqualification when Kleber Koike (0-1) kicked him in the groin at DEEP in Osaka August 30.

Lightweight Daisuke Nakamura (18-9) has been rescheduled to fight at DREAM.12 after his opponent, “JZ” Gesias Cavalcante (12-2-1), withdrew from their DREAM.11 contest with an injury.

Both DREAM.11 and DREAM.12 will be broadcast on HDNet in North America.

Brown took the title decisively following a right hand that laid the former champ out. 

Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) won a surprisingly boring unanimous decision over Fighters.com’s third-ranked middleweight and WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho (15-1) in a non-title fight that was heckled by fans throughout.  Official scores were 10-9 twice for Sonnen, 10-8 for Sonnen.

 ”Bad Boy” Leonard Garcia (11-3) dismantled “Little Evil” Jens Pulver (22-9-1) in a 1:12 TKO shocker to move up the ranks in the WEC’s stacked 145-pound division.

Jake Rosholt (5-0) powered to victory over Nissen Osterneck (4-1) in the second round via TKO stoppage.

Rani Yahya (12-2), Danny Castillo (4-1), “The Fury” Carmelo Marrero (9-2), Jose Aldo (11-1), “The A-Train” Aaron Simpson (2-0) and “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-1) were all winners within the cage as well. 

Brown Shocks Faber To Take the WEC Featherweight Title

The arena was pumped for the title bout of the night as Mike Thomas Brown entered to a favorable home crowd.  The fight started quick as expected, but soon tied up into the clinch.  Both fighters threw leather, but Brown’s right hand set the tone for the surprise to follow. 

“I train with the best team in the world.  All I have to do is perfrom like I do in training each day.  I don’t have a lot of knockouts on my record, but I hit fucking hard, man,” announced the new WEC Featherweight Champion, Brown. 

Faber rushed in with a careless elbow attempt only to get tagged with a hard and heavy right hand from the challenger.  Faber went down to the mat and covered up as Brown plastered the champ with punches.  Referee Troy Waugh stopped the fight at 2:23 of the first round. 

Sonnen Glides To A Boring Victory Over An Overweight and Passive Filho

Filho’s entrance into the cage proved to be a metaphor for his performance to come as fans heckled loudly in disapproval in what most assume was a reaction to the veteran’s failure in making weight for the bout. 

The fight between Filho and Sonnen was an absolute deflation to an evening of otherwise exciting and fast-paced bouts.  Filho preferred to lay on his back for the majority of the fight resulting in continuous stand-ups by the referee.  During the fight, Sonnen definitely scored in the stand-up game, but showed hesitation at moments in answering Filho’s lackluster performance. 

Sonnen seemed satisfied to pepper his opponent with jabs and the occasional straight shot resulting in what appeared more as an exhausted round of western boxing set to a chorus of moans and vocal disappointment by the fans on hand. 

Sonnen took a unanimous decision win in this unfortunately boring mixed martial arts sequel. 

Garcia Stuns Pulver With Heavy Hands

Going into the fight,  Garcia hoped for a stand-up war with veteran “Little Evil”.  Although temporarily wobbled by a flurry of punches early from Pulver, Garcia weathered the storm to eventually land a strong right hand.

Pulver was immediately rocked falling to his knees and visibly hurt.  Garcia went in for the kill and unleashed a storm of punches resulting in a quick and surprising stoppage.  It was all over but the shouting at 1:12 of round one.

Rosholt Overpowers Osterneck

This middleweight challenge started out with the lightning fast pace of a typical featherweight affair.  Both fighters came out swinging with Nissen Osterneck (4-1) swarming Rosholt with a sloppy but continuous barrage of fists.  But, it wasn’t long before the superior wrestling skill of Rosholt took root and found Osterneck on the receiving end of pounding following numerous takedowns. 

Osterneck attempted a few submissions only to find himself mounted again and again by the feisty Rosholt. Momentarily in the second round Osterneck caught Rosholt with another flurry of punches, but the wrestler survived the clash only to get his hooks in again and score another strong mount.  The second round came to an official end via TKO stoppage at 3:48 with Rosholt pounding his way to victory.

The A-Train Railroads Avellan 

Pardon all the clichés here, but if ever there was an train wreck in the cage, this was certainly one for the ages.  “The A-Train” Simpson landed a devastating overhand right at 0:18 of the first round sending David Avellan (5-1) into the realms of unconsciousness.  It was a strong KO victory for Simpson augmenting his undefeated record in stunning fashion.

Yahya Chokes Maeda

Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2) secured an early guillotine in what appeared to be a potentially tight and winning submission only to have Yahya escape and come back with a guillotine of his own.  Yahya hung on strongly to the choke, making Maeda tap at 3:30 of the first round. 

Castillo Stops Dias

Rafael Dias (12-5) was winning on the cards in round one with more technique all around against more wild shots coming from Castillo.  The fight was up and down with Dias looking the better of the two.

Round two found the two fighters in familiar exchange. Dias scored a takedown while Castillo attempted a guillotine. Castillo then tried for an armbar that proved too loose. Dias took Castillo’s back for a moment, but then wound up on the bottom.

But, it was a missed shoot by Dias that finally delivered the ending.  After missing the shoot, Castillo got on top and rained down punches until the fight was stopped at the 2:54 mark.

Marrero Wins The Split Over Steinbeiss 

Marrero’s wrestling skills came in handy for the UFC veteran in the bout against “The Hooligan” Steve Steinbeiss (4-2).

Taking Steinbeiss down often, Marrero avoided submission attempts.  The fighters utilized all weapons, exchanging body kicks in the second round before Marrero appeared gassed in the closing minutes.

Steinbeiss appeared fresh in round three, delivering shots to Marrero and temporarily stunning him.  Winning the round, Steinbeiss nearly got caught in a late guillotine attempt and took an elbow.  The final round ended with Steibeiss in the guard.

Marrero won a split decision with a 29-28 score twice against Steibeiss’ 29-28 third round score. 

Aldo Defeats Brookins In Late Round Stoppage

Aldo scored much better than Jonathan Brookins (8-2) through the first two rounds and winning on the cards.

Aldo came into the second round with a knot over his eye even though he handed out the worse of the stand-up punishment.  Brookins looked surprisingly crisp in the second, but eventually took a lot of damage via leg kicks.

In the third round, Aldo dropped Brookins with a left hook and laid down the leather.  Taking a lot of punches but also hanging in, referee Troy Waugh stepped in and stopped the fight at 0:45 of the final round. 

The Cowboy Disposes The Razor

“Razor” Rob McCullough (16-5) came out with strong low kicks against Cerrone, only to have them answered by the middle of the first round.  Cerrone dropped McCullough with a right and mounted the injured fighter.  An elbow cut McCullough and eventually resulted in a stop to inspect the cut.  The first round started back up; and, Cerrone dropped McCullough again, but was saved by the bell.

In the second, a right uppercut dropped McCullough yet again, but ended up with Cerrone on the bottom.  Cerrone then grabbed an armbar; but, McCullough escaped.

The third round found McCullough landing an overhand right; but, Cerrone soon answered with leg kicks.  There were equal exchanges, but Cerrone turned on the heat and scored a strong takedown.  Cerrone landed a combination of punches late in the final round that hurt McCullough yet again.

Cerrone won a very clear unanimous decision.

After submitting Cub Swanson (12-2) with a guillotine choke in 35 seconds at his WEC debut in December, Pulver lost the unanimous decision in his five-round battle with current Featherweight Champion “California Kid” Urijah Faber (21-1) in June.

Garcia, who has been battling drug charges, most of which have been dropped, last fought at his WEC debut in February when he TKO’d “Streetfight Bancho” Hiroyuki Takaya (9-5-1) in the first round.

Also official on the WEC 36 card are:

“Indio” Danillo Villefort (8-2) v Jake Rosholt (4-0)
“Razor” Rob McCullough (16-4) v “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-0)
Rani Yahya (11-4) v Yoshiro Maeda (23-5-2)
Johny Hendricks (3-0) v “Russian Crusher” Alex Serdyukov (8-4)
“9mm” Ed Ratcliff (6-1) v Danny Castillo (5-1)

Headlining the event are Faber and Mike Thomas Brown (19-4) in a featherweight title fight, and a middleweight title rematch between Fighters.com’s third-ranked “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-0) and Chael Sonnen (20-9-1).

The “California Kid” packed a big right hook counter to Pulver’s southpaw boxing in the first session.  Faber landed the punch just enough to make Pulver think twice.

The fight only went to the mat once in round one, when Faber fell mid-kick and Pulver pounced; but, Faber locked up Pulver and stood out of “Li’l Evil’s” mount.

In round two, Faber felt Pulver respected his stand-up enough to shoot to the mat with single-leg takedowns.  Faber scored most attempts; but, Pulver’s guard smothered Faber’s offense.

Faber decided to throw with the noted striker, Pulver, in round three and beat “Li’l Evil” by popping in and out with jolting shots and mixing in a high kick to keep Pulver guessing.

In the fourth, Faber took Pulver back to the mat and hammered elbows into his skull until the bell.

By the final round, Pulver was gassed and Faber closed the UD with jabs and right hooks to Pulver’s head.

Torres Shuts Maeda Down

WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres (34-1) boxed Yoshiro Maeda‘s (23-5-2) right eye shut, convincing the cageside doctor to stop the fight after the third round.

Maeda drew first blood in round one, splitting Torres’s forehead with a knee in the clinch.

The cut didn’t slow Torres’s forward onslaught.  In round two, Torres landed kicks at all levels before clsoing distance with a jab/right hook/knee combo into the clinch where Torres hammered knees to Maeda’s body.

Maeda was game!  He brawled the champ to the mat and slipped on a nifty toe lock.  Torres reciprocated before they both released and scrambled.  Maeda reached again for the toe lock; but, Torres swung his legs into a near triangle choke.  Maeda slipped free and the fighters returned to their feet.

By round three, Torres’s jab had ballooned Maeda’s right eye.  A straight punch direct hit proved how little Maeda could see from his lead side and the cageside docter ended the fight.

Munoz Mauls Grigsby

Mark Munoz (4-0) solved Chuck Grigsby‘s (13-4) reach advantage to pound him out at 4:15 of round one.

Grigsby exploited his advantage early, landing an uppercut that drove Munoz to the cage.  But, Munoz was persistent with the takedown, scoring it beneath Grigsby’s combos.

Once Grigsby was back to the mat, Munoz postured out of Grigsby’s guard and landed several looping, lunging overhands.  Grigsby reached for Munoz’s ankle and Munoz kneeled and landed three right hooks, the second of which knocked Grigsby cold for the Munoz victory.

“Razor” Dull in Return

Former WEC Lightweight Champion “Razor” Rob McCullough (16-4) and “The Machine” Kenneth Alexander (5-3) wanted nothing to do with each other in a three-round McCullough split decision.

The kickboxer and wrestler circled each other most of the fifteen-minute affair.

McCullough scored consistently with a sharp leg kick, frequently countering an Alexander straight; but, Alexander took the kickboxer McCullough to the mat just as often.

Alexander couldn’t score on the mat, nor keep “Razor” pinned; and, McCullough’s strikes added up on the cards in the meantime.

Fighters.com scored the fight 29-28 for McCullough.

Cerrone Taps Castillo

“Cowboy” Donald Cerrone (8-0) tapped WEC debuting Danny Castillo (5-1) in an armbar in the first round.

Castillo took lanky Cerrone to the mat; but, Cerrone wrapped up the armbar from rubber guard.