Official Shooto Rankings: July 2010

Here are July's official Shooto rankings, as released by the International Shooto Commission.

I haven't included anything above welterweight, as the heavier divisions are mostly inactive of late, though it's worth noting that Strikeforce signing Siyar Bahadurzada (16-4-1) will defend his 183-pound world title against Carlos "Indio" Pereira (13-8) at Shooto Brazil on 8/7.

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 (9-4-1 / 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 (5-7-1 / Japan / Chokushinkai)
10. Jesse Taitano (7-7-2 / USA / Spike 22)

- Rambaa Somdet makes his first title defense against Hiroyuki Abe (#3) at on 7/19.

- "Shinpei" Tahara (#1) picked up a victory over Toshimichi Akagi on 7/3 in a 123-pound bout.

- Also on the 7/3 Gig Saitama show, Takehiro Harusaki (#9) lost a unanimous decision to the unranked Mikihito Yamagami.

Bantamweight (-56kg / 123 lbs.)

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

1. ↑ Jussier "Formiga" da Silva (7-0 / Brazil / Nova Uniao)
2. ↓ Mamoru Yamaguchi (23-5-3 / Japan / Shooting Gym Yokohama)
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)

- Unbeaten South American 123-pound champ Jussier "Formiga" claims the #1 spot from Mamoru (#2) after defending his title against Alexandre Pantoja at Shooto Brazil on 6/12.

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. ↑ Teriyuki Matsumoto (7-3 / Japan / Shooting Gym Osaka)
7. ↓ So Tazawa (8-6-4 / Japan / Gutsman Shooto Dojo)
8. ↓ Luiz Alberto "Betao" Nogueira (8-1 / Brazil / Renovacao Fight Team)
9. Akitoshi Tamura (14-9-2 / Japan / Tsudanuma Dojo)
10. Marcos "Louro" Galvao (7-3-1 / Brazil / Nova Uniao)

- Tetsu "Hadairo" (#5) will challenge Koetsu Okazaki (#3) for the Pacific Rim 132-pound title on 7/19.

- Teriyuki Matsumoto (#6) jumps two spots after submitting So Tazawa (#7) with a first-round armbar on 6/12.

Lightweight (-65kg / 143 lbs.)

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

1. Renan Barao (23-1, 1 NC / Brazil / Nova Uniao)
2. Taiki Tsuchiya (6-2 / Japan / roots)
3. ↑ Gustavo Falciroli (10-2-2 / Australia / Mach 1)
4. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (18-4 / Japan / Shooting Gym Yokohama)
5. Issei Tamura (5-0 / Japan / Krazy Bee)
6. ↓ Hideki Kadowaki (13-11-2 / Japan / Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo)
7. ↑ Matteus Lahdesmaki (9-4-3 / Finland / Shooto Lahti)
8. ↑ "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura (11-5-1 / Japan / STGY)
9. ↑ Paulo "Guerreiro" Dantas (19-5 / Brazil / Sport Fight)
10. ↓ Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura (10-4-5 / Japan / Tokyo Yellow Mans)

- Gustavo Falciroli (#3) swaps spots with former champ Hideki Kadowaki (#6) after the BJJ expert knocked out Kadowaki in the first round of their SuperFight Australia bout on 6/11.

- "Wicky" Akiyo (#8) moves up a spot after TKO'ing Hideo Tokoro at Dream 14 in May.

- Matteus Lahdesmaki (#7) gets a bump with his first-round submission win over Jean Robert Monert at M-1 Selection on 5/29.

- Hiroshi Nakamura (#10) drops three spots in spite of (or, more likely, because of) his decision win over Tomohiko Hori in Deep on 7/3.

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. ↑ Paulo "Bananada" Goncalves (13-7 / Brazil / Tata Fight Team)
6. ↑ Kenichiro Togashi (10-7-5 / Japan / Paraestra Hiroshima)
7. ↑ Mizuto Hirota (12-4-1 / Japan / freelance)
8. ↑ Ganjo Tentsuku (9-5-2 / Japan / Purebred Omiya)
9. ↑ Yoshihiro Koyama (14-4-1 / Japan / Paraestra Matsudo)
10. ↑ Shinji "Torao Supernova" Sasaki (9-4 / Japan / Burst)

- The upward movement in the 154-pound division this month is due solely to Bendy Casimir being removed from the rankings due to inactivity. He's also lost two straight in the WEC.

- Shinji Sasaki enters the list at #10 with his split decision win over Daisuke "Amazon" Sugie on 6/13.