Official Shooto Rankings: June 2010

Here are June's official Shooto rankings, as released by the International Shooto Commission.
I didn't include anything above welterweight, as the heavier divisions are mostly inactive of late.
Photos by Shooto, GBRing, Dan Herbertson for Sherdog.

Flyweight (-52kg / 115 lbs.)

Champion: Rambaa "M-16" Somdet (7-2 / Thailand / M-16 Muay Thai)

1. Noboru "Shinpei" Tahara (8-4-1 / Japan / Hajimail STF)
2. Junji "Sarumaru" Ito (6-2 / Japan / Shooting Gym Yokohama)
3. Hiroyuki Abe (6-2 / Japan / K'z Factory)
4. Atsushi "ATCH Anarchy" Takeuchi (7-5-2 / Japan / Paraestra Tokyo)
5. Katsuya Murofushi (5-4 / Japan / roots)
6. ↑ Shinya Murofushi (6-2-1 / Japan / Submit Shizuoka)
7. ↓ "Heat" Takeshi Sato (8-9-1 / Japan / Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW)
8. ↓ Junji Ikoma (12-12-4 / Japan / Chokushinkai)
9. Takehiro Harusaki (5-6-1 / Japan / Chokushinkai)
10. Jesse Taitano (7-7-2 / USA / Spike 22)

- Rambaa Somdet makes his first title defense against Hiroyuki Abe (#3) at on July 19th.
- Shinya Murofushi (#6) moves up two spots with his May 9th submission win over Takehiro Harusaki (#9).

Bantamweight (-56kg / 123 lbs.)

Champion: ↑ Yasuhiro Urushitani (17-4-6 / Japan / Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW)

1. ↑ Mamoru Yamaguchi (23-5-3 / Japan / Shooting Gym Yokohama)
2. ↑ Jussier "Formiga" da Silva (4-0 / Brazil / Nova Uniao)
3. ↑ Fumihiro Kitahara (8-1-1 / Japan / Paraestra Sapporo)
4. ↓ Ryuichi Miki (10-4-3 / Japan / Gutsman Shooto Dojo)
5. ↑ Yuki Shojo (10-5-2 / Japan / X-One Gym Shonan)
6. ↑ Shinichi "BJ" Kojima (10-4-5 / Japan / Reversal Gym Yokohama)
7. ↑ Takuya Mori (7-4-1 / Japan / Paraestra Sapporo)
8. ↑ Ayumu "GoZo" Shioda (7-7 / Japan / Paraestra Hachioji)
9. ↑ Masaaki Sugawara (9-5-1 / Japan / Wajyutsu Keisyukai Duro)
10. ↑ Daiji Takahashi (7-10-4 / Japan / Akimoto Dojo Jungle Junction)

- Yasuhiro Urushitani claimed the title vacated by "BJ" Kojima in February with a three-round unanimous decision victory over Ryuichi Miki (who slides to #4) on May 30th (video).
- Mamoru moves up to the top slot despite not having competed in Shooto since last November. His most recent win came over Frank Baca at King of the Cage's January show in Okinawa (video).
- South American 123-pound champ Jussier "Formiga" (#2) moves up two spots. He faces Alexandre Pantoja (7-1) this weekend in Shooto Brazil.
- Fumihiro Kitahara (#3) moves up from #5 with his April 24th decision win over Masaaki Sugawara (#9).
- Daiji Takahashi (#10) enters the rankings. He took a June 7th majority decision win over Takuya Mori (#7).

Featherweight (-60kg / 132 lbs.)

Champion: Shuichiro Katsumura (11-7-3 / Japan / Reversal Gym Yokohama)

1. ↑ Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas (9-2 / Brazil / Nova Uniao)
2. ↑ Masakatsu Ueda (11-1-2 / Japan / Paraestra Tokyo)
3. ↓ Koetsu Okazaki (6-1-1 / Japan / freelance)
4. Hiromasa Ogikubo (6-2-2 / Japan / Paraestra Matsudo)
5. Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki (10-7-3 / Japan / Wajyutsu Keisyukai Nakedman)
6. So Tazawa (8-6-4 / Japan / Gutsman Shooto Dojo)
7. Luiz Alberto "Betao" Nogueira (8-1 / Brazil / Renovacao Fight Team)
8. Teriyuki Matsumoto (7-3 / Japan / Shooting Gym Osaka)
9. Akitoshi Tamura (14-9-2 / Japan / Tsudanuma Dojo)
10. Marcos "Louro" Galvao (7-3-1 / Brazil / Nova Uniao)

- Nova Uniao's "Dudu" Dantas takes the #1 spot after submitting Hiromasa Ogikubo (#4) in the third round of their bout at "The Way of Shooto 3" on May 30th.
- Tetsu "Hadairo" (#5) will challenge Koetsu Okazaki (#3) for the Pacific Rim 132-pound title on July 19th.
- Teriyuki Matsumoto (#8) submitted So Tazawa (#6) with a first-round armbar on June 6th, though it's not reflected in the rankings.

Lightweight (-65kg / 143 lbs.)

Champion: ↑ Hatsu Hioki (21-4-2 / Japan / Alive)

1. ↑ Renan Barao (21-1, 1 NC / Brazil / Nova Uniao)
2. ↑ Taiki Tsuchiya (6-2 / Japan / roots)
3. ↑ Hideki Kadowaki (13-10-2 / Japan / Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
4. ↓ "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (18-4 / Japan / Shooting Gym Yokohama)
5. Issei Tamura (5-0 / Japan / Krazy Bee)
6. Gustavo Falciroli (9-2-2 / Australia / Mach 1)
7. Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura (9-4-5 / Japan / Tokyo Yellow Mans)
8. Matteus Lahdesmaki (9-4-3 / Finland / Shooto Lahti)
9. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura (11-5-1 / Japan / STGY)
10. Paulo "Guerreiro" Dantas (19-5 / Brazil / Sport Fight)

- "Son of Shooto" Hatsu Hioki took "Lion" Takeshi Inoue's title with a split decision win on May 30th (video). Inoue drops down to #4 with the loss.
- Renan Barao inexplicably moves up a spot to #1, despite being scheduled to debut in the WEC against Anthony Leone (8-0) on June 20th.
- Gustavo Falciroli (#6) meets Hideki Kadowaki (#3) at the Shooto-affiliated SuperFight Australia on June 11th.
- In his first bout in ten months, "Wicky" Akiyo (#9) TKO'd Hideo Tokoro at Dream 14 on May 29th.

Welterweight (-70kg / 154 lbs.)

Champion: vacant

1. ↑ Takashi Nakakura (11-3-1 / Japan / Shooting Gym Osaka)
2. ↑ Takanori Gomi (31-6, 1 NC / Japan / Rascal Gym)
3. ↑ Kotetsu Boku (17-6-2 / Japan / Krazy Bee)
4. ↓ Yusuke Endo (13-4-2 / Japan / Gokita Gym)
5. ↓ Bendy Casimir (19-6-2 / France / Haute Tension)
6. ↓ Paulo "Bananada" Goncalves (13-7 / Brazil / Tata Fight Team)
7. ↓ Kenichiro Togashi (10-7-5 / Japan / Paraestra Hiroshima)
8. ↓ Mizuto Hirota (12-4-1 / Japan / freelance)
9. Ganjo Tentsuku (9-5-2 / Japan / Purebred Omiya)
10. Yoshihiro Koyama (14-4-1 / Japan / Paraestra Matsudo)

- After defeating Yusuke Endo (#4) at "The Way of Shooto 3" (video), an emotional Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire (17-3) returned his title. The following week, manager Andre Pederneiras announced that the lightweight had signed with the UFC and will debut against Thiago Tavares on August 1st.