Veteran journeyman Hideo Tokoro picked up one of the biggest victories of his career tonight at DREAM: “Fight For Japan” at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. Tokoro defeated submission ace Masakazu “Ashikan Judan” Imanari to win the inaugural DREAM Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix.

In other action on the card, Hiroyuki “Streetfight Bancho” Takaya narrowly retained his DREAM Featherweight Championship with a razor-thin Split Decision win over Kazuyuki Miyata. DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi quickly defeated Hiroshi Izumi.

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Shark Fights returned to HDNet tonight for Shark Fights 17 from the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. The card was headlined by a middleweight rematch between Matt “Suave” Horwich and Jake Rosholt. The two first faced off in November, where Horwich picked up a third-round victory.

The co-main event featured another fighter dubbed “Suave,” as former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez squared off with Doug Williams in a 230-pound catchweight fight. Williams took the fight on less than one day’s notice. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s main card.

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The rapidly-expanding UFC 136 card has received a second title fight, as UFC Featherweight Champion José “Scarface” Aldo will defend his belt against Kenny “KenFlo” Florian on the October 8th card in Houston, Texas. The promotion officially announced the championship matchup today.

Aldo, the former WEC Featherweight Champion, made the first defence of his new UFC title at UFC 129 in April, where he earned a largely one-sided Unanimous Decision over Mark “The Machine” Hominick. Florian, a two-time lightweight title challenger, won his featherweight debut last month.

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A women’s bout between strikers Elaina “Beef” Maxwell and Kaitlin Young will have to wait. Originally set to take place under PRIDE rules for Colosseo Championship Fighting in Alberta, Canada, the fight has been cancelled due to a scheduling change that left Maxwell unable to compete on the card.

Maxwell and Young had agreed to face off for the promotion, but Maxwell and her management were not notified when CCF changed the date for its event to September 3rd. With another fight already signed for September 10th, Maxwell is out of the bout with Young, who awaits a new opponent.

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The UFC fight announcements keep on coming. Lightweights Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon and Melvin “The Young Assassin” Guillard have agreed to face off in the latest addition to UFC 136 on October 8th in Houston, Texas. Lauzon announced the fight today and it was later acknowledged by the UFC.

Lauzon dropped two of his three fights in 2010, but he recently scored an impressive first-round submission victory over Curt “The War” Warburton at UFC Live 4 on June 26th. Guillard, meanwhile, is edging closer and closer to title contention with each fight and has won eight of his last nine bouts.

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UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar will indeed face Gray “The Bully” Maynard for a third time. The bout, which was originally planned for UFC 130, will now take place at UFC 136 on October 8th in Houston, Texas. MMAFighting.com first reported on the fight today.

Edgar suffered his first and only loss to date in the first bout with Maynard back at UFC Fight Night 13 in 2008 and looked to be seconds away from defeat in the January 1st rematch this year. However, he battled back and managed to win enough rounds to earn a Draw on the judges’ scorecards.

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Submission specialists Demian Maia and Jorge Santiago will square off in a middleweight matchup at UFC 136 on October 8th in Houston, Texas. The bout was first reported by Brazilian news site iG.com.br today. Both fighters will look to rebound from losses in their most recent fights in the UFC.

Maia challenged unsuccessfully for the UFC Middleweight Championship last April, but earned a pair of decision wins before the end of the year. He was upset by Mark Munoz last month, however, and will now face off with former Sengoku champ Santiago, who lost in his May return to the UFC.

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Canadian welterweight prospect Jordan “Young Gun” Mein is the latest addition to the Strikeforce roster. The promotion announced Mein’s signing late Thursday night on its official Twitter account. At just 21 years of age, Mein has won 14 of his last 16 fights and holds 19 stoppage victories.

Mein, who has maintained a very active fighting schedule since debuting in June 2006, rose to fame over the past year after fights with UFC veterans Jason High, Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman. Mein defeated the latter two fighters and decisioned DREAM champion Marius Zaromskis last month.

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