Japanese indy promotion DEEP will head to China for the first time in its 10 year existence on Jan. 8, 2011. "Mayhem In Macau" will take place at Macau's Cotai Arena, which can hold anywhere from 7,000 to 15,000 patrons, depending on the seating arrangement. The promotion has launched an English-language website for the show and is offering ticket packages which include ferry fare from Hong Kong to Macau.

Macau is an interesting choice of location for DEEP's first international event, considering some recent goings-on. In early October, Macau-based promotion Fury MMA's "Armageddon" event was canceled at the 11th hour, leaving fighters such as Carina Damm and Eiji Ishikawa stranded as local authorities investigated embezzlement claims. Nonetheless, many believe China to be ripe for MMA invasion, and Chinese promotions such as Legend FC and Art of War have found modest success on the mainland in the past few years.

The only fight announced thus far features DEEP megaton champion Yusuke Kawaguchi defending his title for the first time in over a year against Kazuhisa Tazawa. Also announced as participants: welterweight champ Yuya Shirai, former middleweight ace Ryuta Sakurai, JEWELS veteran Saori Ishioka,decorated BJJ player Marcos "Marquinho" Souza (in his MMA debut), "TUF" alum Andy Wang, plus Luiz Andrade, Alex Niu, Yasuki Kitazaki, Yoann Gouaida and Ann Tipsuta Wongkhamma.

Rumors of a rematch between Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and DREAM ace Shinya Aoki have swirled ever since Aoki's post-fight comments were mistranslated following a July submission win over Tatsuya Kawajiri. While the bout was never to materialize at September's DREAM.16, hopes were high amongst fans and Fighting and Entertainment Group officials alike that Melendez could be lured to Japan for a New Year's Eve date.

Unfortunately, according to FEG USA representative Mike Kogan per MMA Fighting, that won't be happening:

One of the major stumbling blocks is that Melendez's contract with Strikeforce is coming to an end, and while he does have a championship clause, which allows the organization to continue booking fights for him as long as he champion, it proved difficult to get him to fight in an another promotion without a finalized long-term deal.

According to Kogan, FEG will look to keep Aoki on the card against another opponent.

. . .

"It's not a problem with anyone," Kogan said. "It's just a deal couldn't happen. Everyone is very upset."

After Melendez thoroughly dominated Aoki for 25 minutes less than eight months ago, it would also be understandable if "El Nino" and Strikeforce simply didn't see the need for a rematch at the present time. While the setting would change from the cage of Strikeforce to the ring of DREAM, the contestants' styles would remain the same, and it's tough to imagine the outcome being much different -- especially since Aoki has stated that the cage played no part in his defeat.

It'll be interesting to see where FEG goes from here, since Aoki has already eliminated so many potential contenders in the Japanese talent pool. One possibility is DEEP lightweight champ Katsunori Kikuno, who has been vocal about his desire to face Aoki and whose hard-hitting Kyokushin karate would provide an interesting stylistic foil to the spindly submission artist. If FEG wants a foreigner, they could bring Gesias Cavalcante back for a third bout against Aoki, since Strikeforce doesn't seem to keep "JZ" as busy as he'd like.

Japan's dual year-end cards got their first official bouts this week as Fighting and Entertainment Group and World Victory Road each announced matches for "Dynamite!! 2010" and "Soul of Fight," respectively.

DREAM parent company FEG added just one bout to its bill for Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena, but it's a heck of a fight. Featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes will defend his title against Hiroyuki Takaya in a rematch of DREAM's 2009 featherweight grand prix final from October 2009, where Fernandes eked out a close split decision over "Evil Fist." Since then, Takaya has left nothing to the judges, knocking out Joachim Hansen and Chase Beebe in consecutive bouts. Meanwhile, Fernandes has competed just once, taking a March split decision over Hansen before running into well-documented non-payment issues with DREAM.

The Fernandes-Takaya match-up had been rumored for a few months, and even predicted by Michihiro Omigawa, who beat Takaya via first-round TKO last New Year's Eve. Omigawa has stated that he feels he's being passed over for the title shot due to his past association with Sengoku. It remains to be seen whether FEG will give Omigawa a spot on the card, or if he'll take his services stateside.

The day before "Dynamite!!," WVR will stage its all-day, 30-bout  "Soul of Fight" at Ariake Coliseum. Officially announced for that show on Friday was a heavyweight tilt between Dave Herman and Yoshihiro Nakao (a.k.a. "Kiss"). The match will mark the American's third time in Japan, and his first time competing for Sengoku since knocking out Jim York last November. Herman most recently submitted touted Polish product Michal Kita under the Bellator banner in September. A veteran of K-1 and PRIDE, Nakao enters the bout on a two-fight win streak. He last saw action in March, when he dispatched of former sumo Henry "Sentoryu" Miller in the second round.

Also made official for "Soul of Fight" was the final of SRC's 2010 welterweight grand prix, which pits Yasubey Enomoto against Keita Nakamura. The semi-finals of the promotion's first Asia bantamweight tournament will also be on the show, as Manabu Inoue takes on Shunichi Shimizu and Akitoshi Tamura meets Taiyo Nakahara.

Shooto promoter Sustain today released the complete fight card and bout order for "The Way of Shooto 6: Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon," which takes place this Friday, Nov. 19, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

The main event features Shooto 143-Pound Pacific Rim champion Taiki Tsuchiya defending his title against BJJ black belt Gustavo Falciroli. Tsuchiya has won four straight, most recently handing Krazy Bee prospect Issei Tamura his first loss in a July decision. The Brazilian -- who resides and trains in Western Australia -- will look to extend a two-fight win streak as he takes part in his first bout in Japan since losing to Tamura one year ago.

Two important 123-pound matches bolster the card, as Shooto world champ Yasuhiro Urushitani takes on Takuya Mori in a non-title affair and former two-division champion Mamoru Yamaguchi meets the streaking Fumihiro Kitahara.

Shooto
The Way of Shooto 6: Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon
Nov. 19, 2009
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan

Shooto Pacific Rim 143-Pound Title Bout
Taiki Tsuchiya vs. Gustavo Falciroli

123 lbs: Mamoru Yamaguchi vs. Fumihiro Kitahara
123 lbs: Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Takuya Mori
143 lbs: Tenkei "Fujimiya" Oda vs. Bae Yong Kwon
154 lbs: Yoshihiro Koyama vs. Adam Lynn
114 lbs: Shinya Murofushi vs. Mikihito Yamagami
123 lbs: Haruo Ochi vs. Hiroaki Ijima
132 lbs: Yuta Nezu vs. Kota Onojima
132 lbs: Toshiaki Hayasaka vs. Kenji Yamamoto

WEC featherweights Rani Yahya and Chan Sung Jung (a.k.a. "The Korean Zombie") will square off in their UFC debuts at "UFC Fight Night 23" on Jan. 22. The event, while not yet announced by the UFC, is expected to be a second "Fight for the Troops" fundraiser, and should take place at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

The news comes courtesy of Yahya's manager, Wallid Ismail, who spoke with Fernando Kallas of Portal do Vale Tudo Radio:

In an interview to Fernando Kallas and Marcelo Alonso with Radio PVT, the weekly MMA radio show of the Portal do Vale Tudo in Portuguese, Wallid Ismail, the manager of Rani Yahya, confirmed that the Brazilian featherweight signed to fight the new WEC fan favorite Chan Sung Jung, also know as "The Korean Zombie".

"Rani is really excited to his first fight in the UFC. It will be on the Fight For the Troops card, on January 22nd, against the Korean Zombie. It’ll be a great fight and everything that Rani needed to bring a new motivation to his career."

With both men coming off back-to-back losses and seeking to secure future employ with Zuffa, this ought to be a hell of a fight. We'll see if Jung holds true to his word about abandoning his trademark "zombie" style.

UFC Fight for the Troops 2 coverage

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DREAM parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group and rival organization Sengoku Raiden Championship are each planning shows for the end of December, and while neither has confirmed any bouts, both began to lay out plans for their events this week.

In Tokyo on Thursday, FEG rep Sadaharu Tanikawa and DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara held a press conference to formally announce FEG's annual New Year's Eve "Dynamite!!" mega-show. It had been rumored that DREAM lightweight ace Shinya Aoki would attend the meeting, possibly to announce a Dec. 31 rematch against Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez, however Sasahara told press that Aoki's fight was not yet finalized, and that he hopes to reveal it in the next few days.

Some bullet points from the presser:

• "Dynamite!! 2010" will start at 4:00 p.m. local time (2:00 a.m. ET) on Dec. 31 and will air on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. No word on when the event will be broadcast on HDNet in North America, though last year's iteration aired live.
• The card will consist of 12 or 13 bouts and will be focused primarily on mixed martial arts. Previous "Dynamite!!" cards have been headlined by K-1 bouts, but it appears that MMA will take the spotlight this year.
• There will likely be no DREAM vs. SRC bouts on this year's show, but if possible, Sasahara said he'd like to cooperate with Sengoku's event.
• The rumored bout between Olympic judokas Satoshi Ishii and Hiroshi Izumi will not take place at "Dynamite!!"

Meanwhile, Nightmare of Battle reports that SRC president Toru Mukai was interviewed on the fight-centric satellite channel Samurai TV, where Mukai confirmed some details for Sengoku's Dec. 30 "Soul of Fight" event.

The all-day show will host up to 30 professional fights, including MMA, kickboxing and submission grappling, the latter two being handled by the Japan Martial Arts Games Association. The event will have a "family" atmosphere, with relatively inexpensive admission which allows attendees to come and go as they please. According to Mukai, there's also a possibility that Sengoku title bouts could appear on the card.

Strikeforce champions and Golden Glory teammates Alistair Overeem and Marloes Coenen say "thanks" to the U.S.A. in their new promo shot. Photo courtesy of GG head coach Martijn de Jong.

If you're skipping the Halloween parties tonight and bracing for tomorrow's inevitable sugar assault, why not settle in and enjoy some quality Brazilian MMA? Jungle Fight's latest iteration airs live on ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, and BloodyElbow.com will have live results of the proceedings. The show features the semifinals and finals of the promotion's welterweight grand prix, where Gil de Freitas meets Erick Silva, and Francisco Ayon takes on Fernando Martinez. Also on the undercard, UFC vet Edilberto "Crocota" de Oliveira faces surging submission specialist Andre Lobato.

Quick results below; full play-by-play in the extended entry.

Welterweight Grand Prix Final
Erick Silva def. Francisco Ayon via submission (arm-triangle choke) R1, 1:07

Edilberto "Crocota" def. Andre Lobato via submission (anaconda choke) R2, 2:49
Ildemar "Marajo" Alcantara def. Jacko Quintana via KO (knee to the body) R1, 1:26

Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals
Francisco Ayon def. Fernando Martinez via split decision
Erick Silva def. Gil de Freitas via submission (guillotine choke) R3, 0:57

Neilson Gomes def. Silmar "Sombra" Nunes via unanimous decision
Paulo Henrique Rodrigues def. Handerson Tarta via submission (armbar) R2, 1:54

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After a flurry of recent activity, there's a relatively slow weekend for MMA ahead -- but fans in need of a fight fix can get it when HDNet broadcasts Sengoku Raiden Championship 15 live from Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan. As always, BloodyElbow.com will have live results for the entire card, from the bantamweight tournament prelims to the light heavyweight main event between judo convert Hiroshi Izumi and England's James Zikic. So, stay up late or set your alarms for early, and join us at 11 p.m. PT / 2 a.m. ET for the start of the show.

Quick results below; full play-by-play in the extended entry.

Hiroshi Izumi def. James Zikic via split decision (30-29, 29-30, 30-29)
Brian Cobb def. Kazunori Yokota via split decision (28-28, 29-30, 28-28)*
Maximo Blanco def. Kiuma Kunioku via KO (punches) R1, 4:26
Kazuo "Yoshiki" Takahashi def. Chang Seob Lee via submission (armbar) R1, 2:28

SRC Welterweight Grand Prix 2010 Semifinals
Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura def. Takuya Wada via submission (punches) R1, 3:30
Yasubey Enomoto def. Taisuke Okuno via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-25)

SRC Asia Bantamweight Tournament 2010 Quarterfinals
Taiyo Nakahara def. Shintaro Ishiwatari via split decision (19-20, 19-19, 20-20)**
Akitoshi Tamura def. Shoko Sato via split decision (19-18, 19-20, 20-19)
Shunichi Shimizu def. Wataru Takahashi via unanimous decision (20-19, 20-18, 20-18)
Manabu Inoue def. Jae Hyun So via unanimous decision (20-19, 20-18, 20-18)

* Two judges scored the bout a draw, with both giving the "must decision" to Cobb, awarding him the win by split decision.
** Two judges scored the bout a draw, with both giving the "must decision" to Nakahara, awarding him the win by split decision.

WVR's Sengoku Raiden Championships 15 coverage

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All fighters but one made weight on Friday for Sengoku Raiden Championship 15, which takes place Saturday and airs live on HDNet. American Brian Cobb missed the weigh-ins entirely "due to poor health," but it appears that his lightweight battle with Kazunori Yokota will proceed as planned. Olympic judoka Hiroshi Izumi will face British veteran James Zikic in the evening's main event, while the undercard features the semifinals and quarterfinals for Sengoku's 2010 welterweight and bantamweight grands prix, respectively.

As always, BloodyElbow.com will have live play-by-play and results of the full show beginning Saturday at 2 a.m. ET / 11 p.m. PT.

Official weigh-in results:

Hiroshi Izumi (92.3 kg / 203.4 lbs) vs. James Zikic (91.8 kg / 202.4 lbs)
Kazunori Yokota (70.2 kg / 154.7 lbs) vs. Brian Cobb (n/a)
Maximo Blanco (70.3 kg / 154.9 lbs) vs. Kiuma Kunioku (69.5 kg / 153.2 lbs)
Yoshiki Takahashi (92.4 kg / 203.7 lbs) vs. Chang Seob Lee (93 kg / 205 lbs)

2010 Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals
Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura (77 kg / 169.7 lbs) vs. Takuya Wada (77 kg / 169.7 lbs)
Yasubey Enomoto (77 kg / 169.7 lbs) vs. Taisuke Okuno (77 kg / 169.7 lbs)

2010 Asia Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinals
Taiyo Nakahara (61.1 kg / 134.7 lbs) vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (61.1 kg / 134.7 lbs)
Akitoshi Tamura (61.2 kg / 134.9 lbs) vs. Shoko Sato (61 kg / 134.4 lbs)
Shunichi Shimizu (61.2 kg / 134.9 lbs) vs. Wataru Takahashi (61.1 kg / 134.7 lbs)
Manabu Inoue (61.1 kg / 134.7 lbs) vs. Jae Hyun So (61.1 kg / 134.7 lbs)

Sengoku Raiden Championship 15 coverage

M-1 Global holds its biggest Challenge event to date in St. Petersburg today, and the entire show will be streamed live online at M-1Global.com. Topping the card are a pair of title bouts -- M-1's first ever -- featuring the lightweight and heavyweight winners of the regional M-1 Challenge seasons. On the undercard, English welterweight vet Che Mills meets unbeaten Russian prospect Magomed "The Eagle" Shikshabekov.

Join us back here at 11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT for the start of the show.

Quick results below; full main card play-by-play after the jump.

M-1 Global Heavyweight Title Fight
Guram Gugenishvili def. Kenny Garner via technical submission (guillotine choke) R2, 0:54

M-1 Global Lightweight Title Fight
Artiom Damkovsky def. Mairbek Taisumov via TKO (retirement) R3, 2:52

Dmitry Samoilov def. Gadzhimurad Omarov via TKO (doctor stoppage) R3, 0:28
Alexei Belyaev def. Alexei Nazarov via submission (guillotine choke) R2, 0:50

Alexander Sarnavsky def. Victor Kuku via KO (punches) R1, 0:13
Che Mills def. Magomed Shikshabekov via unanimous decision (ext. round)
Rashid Magomedov def. Igor Araujo via unanimous decision
Daniel Weichel def. Yuri Ivlev via TKO (doctor soppage) R3
Mikhail Zayats def. Matias Baric via submission (rear-naked choke) R3, 3:12
Denis Goltsov def. Marat Aliaskhabov via submission (straight armbar) R1, 4:56
Vusal Bairamov def. Joakhim Apie via TKO (knees and punches) R1, 2:29

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Weigh-ins for Bellator's third season finale take place today at 6:00 p.m. ET, with the pre-fight press conference set to begin 30 minutes before. You can watch streams of both at Bellator.com, or just check back here for complete results as they happen. As always, BloodyElbow.com will have live coverage of the fights beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Bellator 34 fight card:

Bellator Middleweight Title Fight
Hector Lombard (183.25) vs. Alexander Shlemenko (184.75)

Bellator Women's 115-Pound Title Fight
Megumi Fujii (113.5) vs. Zoila Frausto (114.5)

Televised Undercard
Mike Bernhard (185.75) vs. Dragan Tesanovic (185.5)
Tony Lopez (204.5) vs. Raphael Davis (205.5)

Non-Televised Undercard
William Kuhn (170) vs. John Kelly (172.25)*
Ralph Acosta (135) vs. Tulio Quintanila (135.5)
Frank Carrillo (184.25) vs. Moyses Gabin (184.25)
Bounmy Somchay (161) vs. J.P. Reese (159.25)
Igor Almeida (184.5) vs. Dan Cramer (185.5)

* No mention was made of Kelly apparently missing weight by 1.25 pounds.

Bellator 34: Lombard vs. Shlemenko coverage

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While there were no big surprises, there was plenty of action as DEEP celebrated its 10th anniversary with its biggest card ever, 50 Impact, held before a sold-out JCB Hall in Tokyo on Sunday.

On the undercard, DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki returned to the promotion from whence he originated to take on Yokthai Sithoar, a former muay Thai and boxing champion who was making his MMA debut. Predictably, Japan's top 155-pounder took the outsized striker down, briefly threatening with a triangle choke before opting to submit Sithoar with a keylock just 60 seconds into the bout. Aoki will next compete on FEG's annual Dynamite!! card on New Year's Eve against an opponent to be announced.

In the evening's main event, karateka Katsunori Kikuno defended his DEEP lightweight title for the first time since winning it over 18 months ago in a three-round battle against the gritty Nobuhiro Obiya. After a dominant first round from the champion, Obiya battled back, eventually finishing strong in the third, but it proved to be too little too late. Kikuno won the bout on four of five judges' scorecards, with only Yuji Shimada giving Obiya the nod.

Elsewhere, Yuya Shirai defended his DEEP welterweight title in a rematch with Shigetoshi Iwase; bantamweight champ Masakazu Imanari took a thin, non-title majority decision over "DJ.taiki," Daiki Hata; DREAM Super Hulk tourney winner Minowaman subbed another 300-plus pound opponent in Chang Hee Kim; and WEC vet Yoshiro Maeda took a majority decision over former DEEP featherweight titlist Takafumi Otsuka.

Complete results, courtesy of Tony Loiseleur of Sherdog.com:

Deep Lightweight Title Fight
Katsunori Kikuno def. Nobuhiro Obiya via majority decision

Deep Welterweight Title Fight
Yuya Shirai def. Shigetoshi Iwase via unanimous decision

Masakazu Imanari def. "DJ.taiki" Daiki Hata via majority decision
Shinya Aoki def. Yokthai Sithoar via submission (keylock) R1, 1:00
Sanae Kikuta def. Lee Sak Kim via TKO (corner stoppage) R1, 1:21
Ikuhisa Minowa def. Chang Hee Kim via submission (armbar) R1, 2:07
Ryo Chonan def. Jun Hee Moon via TKO (punches) R3, 2:57
Yoshiro Maeda def. Takafumi Otsuka via majority decision
Yoshiyuki Nakanishi def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO (punches) R1, 4:06
Shoji Maruyama def. Jin Suk Jung via TKO (punches) R1, 2:58
Hidetaka Monma def. Yoshihisa Yamamoto via submission (arm-triangle choke) R1, 1:07
Ryuta Noji def. Hiroshi "Giant Babo" Nagao via TKO (knees) R1, 1:33
Hiroshi "Iron" Nakamura def. Tatsumitsu Wada via unanimous decision
Yusaku Nakamura def. Isao Terada via KO (punch) R2, 3:48

Deep: 50 Impact coverage

Over at Skill MMA, my compadre Shiroobi has inked a fascinating 2,500-word treatise on the history of women's MMA. The piece focuses mostly on the sport's origins in the Japanese pro wrestling scene -- as well as the evolution of fighters like Megumi Fujii, Hisae Watanabe, Miku Matsumoto -- but it also ties into the current state of professional female fighting in America.

A snippet:

Female MMA in Japan began when the promotion Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling (LLPW) started its "shoot fighting" Ultimate L-1 Challenge tournament in 1995. The first L-1 tourney was ruled by Svetlana Goundarenko, a Russian Olympic judoka who tipped the scales at 150kg (330 lbs.).

After a few shows, LLPW discontinued its experiment, but in that era, female pro wrestling orgs couldn’t ignore MMA. Therefore, Neo Women’s Pro Wrestling started an event named ReMix in 2000.

The first ReMix World Cup offered a huge bonus of $100,000 to the tournament winner. That type of money had never before been offered in female MMA, so many foreign fighters came to participate in the events, including current stars like Marloes Coenen and Erin Toughill.

L-1 ruler Goundarenko also took part in the tournament since, like men’s MMA, there were no weight classes in the early stages. One would think that the heavier fighter would have an advantage, but Goundarenko lost in the tournament semifinals to 60kg (132 lbs.) fighter Megumi Yabushita.

How?

ReMix rules prohibited ground-and-pound, and featured a 20 second time limitation for ground fighting. Yabushita was able to avoid Goundarenko’s submission game with the turtle position, and Goundarenko’s stamina proved to be less than impressive, having competed in Olympic judo at 72kg (158 lbs.). So, Yabushita outstruck the Russian with low kicks, and then tried to take down the gassed Goundarenko. After this bout, female MMA began to favor small-but-athletic fighters over heavyweight fighters.

Check out the full article on Skill MMA.

Michihiro Omigawa made some interesting comments today in an interview with MMA Fighting. First, he says that he's fed up with the booking in DREAM; namely, the fact that he isn't been given a match with featherweight champ Bibiano Fernandes:

"Really, (DREAM) aren't treating me right. All the people in (DREAM parent company) FEG are probably afraid of me. I'm not one these guys who were with DREAM from the beginning, I am from Sengoku and now I have been building this good record in DREAM and I suddenly mentioned this fight with Aoki and he is someone that they are really fond of. If the event is called DREAM, I'd like them to consider my dreams too. This is a sport and they have to treat someone with a good record in a good way. There is something wrong with the way I'm being treated. It's kind of difficult for me to stay motivated in DREAM to be honest with you if I can't fight Fernandes."

It's tough to disagree with the man. Outside of Hiroyuki Takaya (whom Omigawa defeated last New Year's Eve) or Kazuyuki Miyata, it's hard to think of another featherweight within DREAM's ranks who's as deserving of a title shot. Of course, the other issue is that Fernandes hasn't fought for DREAM since March due to the non-payment debacle.

Omigawa goes on to renege slightly on his comments from earlier this week -- when he told Nikkan Sports that he was offered a fight at WEC 53 -- but says competing in WEC and fighting Jose Aldo both interest him:

"For me, the WEC is the top promotion in the States so I'm seriously considering fighting there. I'm very determined and willing to fight in the WEC at some point, and I was exchanging emails with them, but we still haven't met in person. It's not an official offer yet, but we are in talks. Jose Aldo is a well-rounded fighter, and an interesting opponent for me, but technique-wise I am better and I'd like to prove that."

With his recent hot streak and the lack of immediate contenders for Aldo beyond Mark Hominick and Josh Grispi, one wonders if WEC wouldn't give Omigawa an immediate title shot.

After Jose Aldo's second-round crushing of Manny Gamburyan on Sept. 30, many people have become fascinated by the idea of seeing the WEC featherweight ace jump up to 155 pounds for a fight in the UFC.

It seems the UFC brass are among that crowd, as Tatame.com's Eduardo Ferreira reported today:

I spoke with WEC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, and he told me he was offered a fight in the UFC in December against Kenny Florian... But he said his manager did not think a good time. "I received the proposal. I want to fight, may be in the UFC or WEC," said Aldo... He confirmed once again that his opponent must be the Mark Hominick, because the Josh Grispi fight now and just leaves the Canadian

That's no Anderson Silva-James Irvin matchmaking, as Florian would be a tall task for the young champion.

For his part, "Ken Flo" says he was never offered the bout, but wouldn't be at all opposed to meeting Aldo:

Neither myself or my mgr @malkikawa have been offered Jose Aldo but that would be a dream fight. I would take that fight with the quickness... Jose Aldo is as good as it gets & is one of the best pnd 4 pnd. Who wouldn't want to take that fight?! I'm here to fight the best.

Ultimately, it's all just fantasy matchmaking at the moment, since the only thing that seems certain right now is that Jose Aldo's next fight will be a WEC title defense against Mark Hominick, tentatively scheduled for January.

South Korea has never seemed like a great place to be an MMA promoter.

With the exception of former EliteXC affiliate Spirit MC, most Korean MMA events have crashed and burned, owing to every reason from shady business dealings to legitimate tragedy. In 2005, loose medical standards at nightclub-slash-fight club Gimme Five were alleged to have contributed to Korea's first recorded death in MMA. In August 2009, after much pre-fight bluster, upstart promotion Fighting Mixed Combative (a.k.a. Fighter Mania Championship) went one-and-done when most scheduled fighters refused to participate in the debut show due to non-payment (among other reasons), causing the last-minute cancellation of its TV deal. Just this spring, Dream backed out of a proposed Korean show, and earlier this month, K-1 reportedly drew dismal attendance figures for its single-weekend twin-bill in Seoul.

Moon Hong Jung is looking to buck the trend.

A former Korean national champion in both hapkido and kickboxing, Jung is the head of Team Force, one of South Korea's most prominent fight teams. He's also the man behind Road Fighting Championship, the country's newest promotion, and one which looks to be charting a significantly different course from its predecessors.

The company has declared that it will pay all fighters prior to their bouts at its first event, "The Resurrection of Champions," on Oct. 23 -- a show which, unlike K-1's recent ventures, has already sold out. The Korean celebrities and comedians taking part in the card aren't there simply for novelty; they're actually training to become skilled mixed martial artists. On the surface, Road FC appears to stand for everything which other Korean promotions did not.

Last week, Mr. Jung took some time to answer a few questions for BloodyElbow.com:

How did Road FC come about? What are your ambitions for the promotion?
I hope this is the next step of Asian MMA. We would like to be the role model of a solid MMA promotion in Korea. I was a fighter myself for a long time. I lived in Japan for a few years with some of the first-generation Korean MMA fighters, like Dae Won Kim and Won Jin Eoh, back then. I saw many ups and downs of the fighters, and I know how hard it is for the fighters who can't get fights because there aren't many solid promotions in Asia these days. I have a few businesses of my own, and I always dreamt about having an MMA promotion which is for the fighters. Now, I have a chance to do that, and I really want to give more chances to the fighters, not only so that they can fight, but so they can make a living as a pro fighter.

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DEEP today released the complete fight card and bout order for its 10th anniversary 50 Impact show, which takes place this Sunday, Oct. 24, at JCB Hall in Tokyo:

DEEP Lightweight Title Bout
Katsunori Kikuno vs. Nobuhiro Obiya

DEEP Welterweight Title Bout
Yuya Shirai vs. Shigetoshi Iwase

135: Masakazu Imanari vs. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata
155: Shinya Aoki vs. Yokthai Sithoar

Japan vs. Korea Bouts (3R x 5 min.)
174: Sanae Kikuta vs. Lee Sak Kim
Open: Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Chang Hee Kim
170: Ryo Chonan vs. Jung Hwan Cha

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