Here's a round up of the recent news, bits, and details coming out of the Asian MMA circuit from promotions such as DREAM, URCC, ONE FC, Dare, and Legend FC.
Dream BWGP finalist Mazakazu Imanari has been forced to vacate his DEEP bantamweight belt due to his Dream commitments. The title will be up for grabs at DEEP 54th Impact on June 24th, with Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura taking on Takafumi Otsuka. Nakamura recently defeated Imanari in a non-title bout, while Otsuka was recently eliminated from the Dream BWGP in a close split-decision loss to Kenji Osawa. HT: Sherdog
Japanese indy promotion DEEP will head to China for the first time in its 10 year existence on Jan. 8, 2011, for "Mayhem In Macau." The promotion has launched an English-language website for the show and is offering ticket packages which include ferry passage from Hong Kong to Macau.
Shinya Aoki, Ikuhisa Minowa and Katsunori Kikuno are all part of the final fight card for DEEP's 10th anniversary show.
Katsunori Kikuno will defend his DEEP lightweight title for the first time against Nobuhiro Obiya at "50 Impact" on Oct. 24. The notoriously tough Obiya comes in riding a three-fight win streak, though he's only competed once in each of the past three years. Kikuno will look to bounce back from a split decision loss to "JZ" Cavalcante at DREAM.15 in July. DEEP boss Shigeru Saeki also announced that the 10th anniversary event will air live on SKY PerfecTV pay-per-view in Japan, and that a "big announcement" will be made on Oct. 5 when the full 15-bout fight card is revealed. Photo via GBRing.
Shinya Aoki returns to Japanese indy MMA promotion DEEP on October 24 to meet former boxer Yokthai Sithoar. Will Aoki use Sithoar as a grappling dummy, or will his chin fail him again?
