Reigning DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki will indeed compete at DEEP: 50th Impact on October 24th. The submission specialist will take on former WBA and PABA boxing champion Yokthai Sithoar of Thailand. Sithoar has not competed as a boxer since June 2004 and will make his MMA debut against Aoki.
MMARising.com first reported on Aoki’s participation on the card earlier this month. As expected, he will not be facing one of DEEP’s top contenders. Sithoar holds a 29-6-3 record in boxing, but was 0-3-2 in his final five fights.
A hard-hitting welterweight bout between Paul “Semtex” Daley and Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith has been added to the upcoming Strikeforce: St. Louis event on December 4th. The fight, which was officially announced today, joins a light heavyweight rematch between Dan “Hendo” Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral on the televised main card.
Just two days after Valkyrie 7, Greatest Common Multiple has already announced a pair of title fights for its next all-female card at Valkyrie 8 on November 28th. Valkyrie Featherweight (115-Pound) Champion Mei “V Hajime” Yamaguchi will defend her title in a rematch with top contender Kyoko Takabayashi. Yamaguchi edged Takabayashi last July.
Wand Fight Team prospect Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez will take a step up in competition when she returns to action on December 10th. Gutierrez will face Strikeforce veteran Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman in a featured bout at Crowbar MMA: “Winter Brawl” in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Unbeaten prospect Rin Nakai moved her mixed martial arts record to a perfect 8-0 on Sunday at Greatest Common Multiple’s all-female Valkyrie 7 event in Tokyo, Japan. She submitted Mayumi “Super Benkei” Aoki in the first round of their Valkyrie Open-Weight Grand Prix semi-final bout.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana tonight for UFC 119: “Mir vs Cro Cop.” The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between former champ Frank Mir and 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović.
DREAM came to the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan tonight with a ten-fight card at Dream.16. The event was headlined by the finals of the 2010 DREAM Light Heavyweight Grand Prix when former Strikeforce and DREAM champion Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi faced Tatsuya Mizuno.
Seven days after she faces Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight (135-Pound) Champion Sarah Kaufman in California, Marloes “Rumina” Coenen will battle Lena Buytendijk at Ultimate Glory 12 in Amsterdam. The October 16th fight was officially announced by Golden Glory trainer Martijn de Jong today.