Recap From the Far East, A Look At The 2010 Japanese MMA Scene

Promoted To Front Page From Fanposts

A lot has gone on since the Dynamite NYE show. I figured I would catch everyone up on what has been going on in the Northeast Hemisphere.

via www.cdn.sherdog.com

The Japanese promotion HEAT announced a Welterweight title fight between Yoshitaro Niimi and Yoon "Snake Eater" Young Kim. (I refused to call him by his new nickname) HEAT had a Welterweight tournament last year to crown a champion. Max Fernandez won the tournament but has for some reason (Things like this happen in Japan) the belt is vacant and now on the line. The event will take place on March 14th.

via www.mmaweekly.com

Mamed Khalidov is set to face Jorge Santiago again. The belt was not on the line when the two fought on the Dynamite show. Why this happened, I don’t know. I can only assume if it was a title fight and it went 5 rounds, the show could have run over its TV time? Check it out if you missed the first fight. More Sengoku news is that Yuji Hoshino was set to face Wilson Reis, but Reis declined to fight due to personal reasons. Instead Hoshino will be facing Shigeki Osawa who lost his first fight on the Dynamite card. Other match-ups include: Akihiro Gono vs. Diego Gonzalez, Kiuma Kunioku vs. Leonardo Santos, Yoshihiro "Kiss" Nako vs. Henry Miller, and Maximo Blanco vs Chang Hyun "Armbar" Kim.

In Shooto’s first event of the year "Lion" Takeshi was victorious, while Hideki Kadowaki extended his losing streak to 3. Kadowaki lost to Featherweight prospect Taiki Tsuchiya. Shooto has announced "The way of Shooto 2" participants; Masakastu Ueda is set for a tune up bout against ZST fighter Shuichiro Katsumura. Katsumura’s chin is so weak "Pequeno" Nogueira knocked him out. Another fight on this card is Flyweight standout Noboru "Shipei" Tahara in a re-match against Katsuya Murofushi. Also good Flyweight prospect Jesse Taitano is on the card! I am really looking forward to watching this card.

via www.budochallenge.com

Bibiano Fernandes will be making his first title defense against former Dream Lightweight champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen, on Dream’s 13th card. Ryo Chonan has been confirmed to be on the card as well.

King of the Cage held their first card in Japan. The show was relatively successful and notable fighters that won were: Mamoru Yamaguchi, Kotetsu Boku, Toby Imada, and Roxanne Modafferi.

via www.cdn.sherdog.com

In Pancrase news, Yuki Kondo defeated Takenori Sato for the King of Pancrase Interem Middleweight belt. On the same card Kiyotaka Shimizu defeated Mitsuhisa Sunabe for the King of Pancrase Flyweight title.

On April 25th Hidehiko Yoshida will fight for the last time. J-Rock has started the new promotion "Astra" and Yoshida will be the main event for the first card.

via www.mmasportcenter.net

The Female promotion Valkyrie shook up the women’s rankings as Mei "V Hajime" Yamaguchi defeated top 5 pound for pound fighter Yuka Tsuji. Major upset here, nice to see Valkyrie putting on meaningful female fights. Jewels step your game up.