I think this marks the real beginning for Japanese MMA in 2011. You know what that means, another year of bouts that a lot of people will miss, a lot of depending on catching videos after the fact online, and the chance to drop knowledge of the Japanese scene when people start talking about how awesome so-and-so's submission was.

Speaking of submissions, Masakatsu Ueda basically had Ralph Acosta in a brabo choke for half their fight. The first round was fairly entertaining, then Ueda put it away in the second. When a brabo is just kind of your thing, that's pretty cool. Lot of respect for Acosta, as he came in as a late replacement and then shot in on Ueda in the first.

Yoshihiro Koyama became the 154lb. Shooto Pacific Rim champion by changing levels, catching Shinji Sasaki, getting a pretty quick stoppage, then jumping out of the ring and into the arms of another grown man. After going 1-2 in 2010, this is definitely a good start for Koyama. This bout snapped a three fight win streak for Sasaki.

143lb. Shooto Pacific Rim champion and Roots gym product Taiki Tsuchiya threw some big right hands, Tony Hervey got fancy and got beat. Between Tsuchiya's striking and Tony Hervey's offensive and defensive exploits, this was pretty interesting. Starting with his 2009 loss to Takanori Gomi, Tony Hervey has now dropped six of his last seven bouts.

Yusuke Endo survived getting dropped by Daisuke Sugie to take a majority decision, while Kotetsu Boku used superior striking to take a decision over Yukinari Tamura.

Full results after the jump.

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In the main event at Shooto's big show on Sunday, Hatsu Hioki was crowned the new Shooto world 143-pound champion! He defeated "Lion" Takeshi by 2-1 split decision in what some are calling a Fight of the Year type calibre match. Hioki took the first two rounds with Takeshi coming on strong in the third but unfortunetly for him it was too little too late.

In an interesting post-fight twist, Willamy Freire returned the Shooto Welterweight title to the International Shooto Commission after defeating Yusuke Endo by split decision. It seems that Freire has signed an exclusive contract with the UFC and can no longer defend the title.

Top ranked Bantamweight Yasuhiro Urushitani picked up a unanimous decision victory over Ryuichi Miki to become the third Shooto Bantamweight champion.

Shooto 143-Pound World Title Fight
Hatsu Hioki (21-4-2) def. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (18-4) via split decision (30-27, 29-30, 30-27)

Shooto 154-Pound World Title Fight
Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire (16-2) def. Yusuke Endo (13-4-2) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-27)

Shooto 123-Pound World Title Fight
Yasuhiro Urushitani (17-4-6) def. Ryuichi Miki (10-4-3) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-28, 30-28)

Rumina Sato (26-14-2) def. Ryota Matsune (15-2-1) via TKO (knee and punches) R2 0:21
Masakatsu Ueda (11-1-2) def. Akitoshi Tamura (14-9-2) via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-28)
Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas (9-2) def. Hiromasa Ogikubo (6-2-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) R3 1:21
Kotetsu Boku (17-6-2) def. Yoshihiro Koyama (14-4-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Shintaro Ishiwatari (7-3-3) def. Wataru Miki (16-10-3) via majority decision (19-19, 20-18, 20-18)

DEEP 47th Impact took place today in Japan from Korakuen Hall.

Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (8-1) won the Light-Heavyweight GP tournament finals over Ryuta Noji (10-6) by unanimous decision and with that Nakanishi is crowned Deep's 205 pound champion and is headed for Dream's light-heavyweight grand prix which takes place in about a month and a half.  

Yoshiyuki Nakanishi defeated Christian "Tonton" M'Pumbu (15-3-1) by 4-1 judges decision in his semifinal match and Noji's road to the final saw him beat Shunsuke Inoue (8-5-2) by unanimous decision. 

The exhibition match between the retiring Miku Matsumoto and top female fighter Megumi Fujii was more for show then anything and wasn't actually a 'real' fight. It resembled more of a pro-wrestling match. Akira Shoji was the special referee. As the fight ended Fujii pushed forward with her arm extended, inviting Miku to flying armbar her before the round was up giving Miku the win. After the match, various Japanese MMA magazine editors and personalities came into the ring presenting Miku with gifts. There was an address from Shinya Aoki: "Congrats Miku on your retirement. I'm in America at the moment for Strikeforce. I will win and return to Toyama to congratulate you in person." In her tear-filled address to the audience she thanked everyone for their support, saying this is the best day of her life, and that despite today's bout with Fujii being an exhibition, they entered into it seriously such that people could see how serious they take MMA.

DEEP Bantamweight champion Masakazu Imanari (19-7-2) got the victory over Isao Terada (8-10-4) after landing an upkick and locking up a tight triangle that he turned into an armbar for the tap just 27 seconds into the 3rd round. 

Bantamweight Tomoya Miyashita (17-7-8) defeated Darren Uyenoyam (5-3) by submission. Uyenoyama showed some real improvement early but it wasn't much of a surprise he went down to Miyashita's guillotine. That's 17 career wins for Tomoya Miyashita, seven via guillotine. Miyashita got on the mic and appealed to the powers that be that he wants to fight in DREAM again.

Some announcements came from the show, DEEP's second annual cage event will be going down at Zepp Osaka on June 6. There was also talk of K-1/kickboxer Haruaki Otsuki making the move to MMA. 

Check here for the full results. 

Paraestra ran their Shooto SPIRIT 2010 event this past Sunday March 7th from the Accel Hall in Sendai.

In the main event, Sou Tazawa (8-5-4) and Daisuke Ishizawa (5-6-1) ended their match in a draw. The Featherweight semi-main also ended in a draw between Toshiaki Hayasaka (0-5-1) and Daiki Takashima (0-0-1).

Takeshi Wagatsuma and Hitoshi Watanabe both had decision wins in the KuDo (Karate Rules) fights. Hitoshi Watanabe and Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki were both victorious in their Shooto Grappling rule matches.

In the 2010 Rookie Tournament bouts, Yo Saito (Lightweight), Jin Takano (Featherweight) and Yoshikazu Fujiishi (Welterweight) all picked up wins.

Shooto Brazil 15 is the next scheduled event from the Faculdade Bennett, Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro on Friday March 19th. Geovani Diniz (9-4) will meet Paulo Bananada (12-7) for the vacant South-Americas Welterweight Championship title.

Full results from Shooto SPIRIT 2010 after the jump.

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DEEP 46 took place on Sunday from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with a card highlighted by two main events and the opening round of the DEEP Light-Heavyweight Tournament. Some interesting announcement made at the show. The big announcement was that one of the best woman at 106 pounds, Miku Matsumoto is retiring. She leaves the ring as the DEEP Women's Lightweight (106-Pound) Champion with an impressive 23-4-0 record. Ryo Chonan addressed the crowd and talked about his upcoming fight with Andrews Nakahara in DREAM. Katsunori Kikuno announced his intent to protect Deep's house when he faces Cage Force champ Kuniyoshi Hironaka next month. Yuya Shirai announced himself that he'll be participating in Hidehiko Yoshida's farewell event, Astra. And finally, Bernard Ackah said that he broke his hands as he was suppose to participate in the tournament. Although he asked Saeki to let him fight on April's Deep card (perhaps as a reserve).

DEEP Featherweight Champion and one of Japan's most underrated talents, Takafumi Otsuka (10-4-1) took a 3-0 decision over Takeshi Yamazaki (14-11-3) in the first of two main events. After the match Otsuka said that he was hunting for the KO, but as it didn't come, he apologizes to the fans. He promises to start hunting for the ever elusive knockout victory this year, however.

DEEP Middleweight Champion Riki Fukuda (16-4-0) won his tune-up fight over Hiromitsu Kanehara (18-23-2) by 3-0 decision. Fukuda played a conservative game on the feet (but was still getting hit), catching kicks from a tired Kanehara to take him down and grind him up on the mat.

In the opening round of the DEEP Light-Heavyweight Tournament Ryuta Noji (9-5-0) defeated Katsuhisa Fujii (9-18-1) after dropping down punches forcing the ref to jump in. After congratulating Noji on his win, Fujii got on the mic and announced his retirement. Noji followed him on the mic and pays his respect to his Kyokushin peers and his "teacher," in particular. Yoshida Dojo's Shunsuke Inoue (8-4-2) won a 5-0 deicision over Minoru Kato (3-8-3). As Inoue was leaving he made his way to the VIP seats where none other than J-Rock president and former World Victory Road PR director Takahiro Kokuho is sitting. Inoue gets to his knees and bows deeply to Kokuho, who smiles paternally, pats him on the back, and shakes his hand. Christian “Tonton” M’Pumbu (15-2-1) defeated Yuji Sakuragi (11-16-1) with a TKO stop at 2:29 of the first round after a flurry of knees. Interestingly, Sengoku FW champ Masanori Kanehara was in Sakuragi's corner. In the opener of the tournament, Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (6-1-0) faced Outsider veteran Tomoaki Hata (3-1-1). In the last minute, Nakanishi passes to side, threatening with the keylock and locks it in. Hata taps at 4:30 of the first.

Deep 47 Impact will be held at Korakuen Hall on April 17, and is being billed as "DEEP LHW GP SEMI FINALS & FINALS, AND MATSUMOTO'S RETIREMENT COMMEMORATION EVENT. The winner of the tournament might just secure a birth in the DREAM tournament later this year. 

Full Results posted after the jump. 

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DEEP X 05 took place on Saturday at Shinjuku Face in Japan with a theme of "3 vs. 3 - Japan versus the U.S.A". After it was all said and done, Japan came out on top winning two out of the three featured bouts.  

In the main event, 2009 ADCC World Championship semi finalist K-taro Nakamura defeated American Paul Schreiner in the 2nd round using an arm lock submission. Baret Yoshida got the only win for the U.S when he defeated Kouhei Yasumi via triangle choke. Takashi Yamada beat last years ADCC 3rd place Ryan Hall.

The Women's 2007 ADCC World Champion Sayaka Shioda was victorious in her bout and K-1 fighter Singh Jaideep lost his match in a decision to Hideki Sekine. 

BULL TERRIER presents DEEP X 05
Place: Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
Date: Saturday, February 6th, 2010

[ ★ 81.5kg ★ 1R 4 minutes, 2R 4 minutes, 3R 2 minutes ]
K-taro Nakamura (18-4-2) beat Paul “El Technico” Schreiner (R2 1:44) via Arm Lock

[ ★ 68kg ★ 1R 4 minutes, 2R 4 minutes, 3R 2 minutes ]
Baret Yoshida (5-6-1) beat Kouhei Yasumi (6-7-2) (R1 3:38) via Triangle Choke 

[ ★ 73kg ★ 1R 4 minutes, 2R 4 minutes, 3R 2 minutes ]
Takashi Yamada beat Ryan Hall (R2 1:30) via Front Choke

[ ★ 56kg ★ 2R +2 mins ]
Sayaka Shioda (3-1-0) beat Rikako Yuasa (R1 0:22) 

[ ★Openweight ★ 1R 4 minutes, 2R 4 minutes, 3R 2 minutes ]
Marquinhos Souza vs. KOTETSU - Cancelled (Due to injury)

[ ★ 85kg ★ 1R 4 minutes, 2R 4 minutes, 3R 2 minutes ]
Motoki Miyazawa (6-1-0) beat Yuji Arai (0-1-0) (R1 2:13) via Rear Naked Choke

[ ★ Openweight ★ 2R - 1.2 R4 minutes ]
Taijiro Ui beat Yuichi Ozono via Decision (scored 8-2)

[ ★ Openweight ★ 2R - 1.2 R4 minutes ]
Hideki Sekine (1-0-0)  beat Singh “Heart” Jaideep via Decision (scored 27-1)