This Sunday May 30th, SHOOTO will run their big "The Way of SHOOTO 03 - Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon" show from the JCB Hall in Tokyo. On paper, it's one of the best Shooto cards in recent memory highlighted by no less then 3 Shooto World Championship fights.

The main event will see reigning Shooto Lightweight (-65kg) champion "Lion" Takeshi (18-3) facing the top ranked challenger Hatsu Hioki (20-4-2). Takeshi won the Lightweight crown back in November 2008 when he defeated then champ Hideki Kadowaki by uanimous decision. He's since sucessfully defended the title twice plus he beat Alexandre Franca Nogueira at the Vale Tudo Japan 09 show and rides a 4 fight winning streak coming into the match. Hatsu Hioki makes his return to Shooto after 4 fights in Sengoku, where he won 3 in a row but is coming off a loss against Michihiro Omigawa at Sengoku 11. Still,  Hioki will be a worthy challenger who's only been defeated once in his past ten outings.

The Shooto Welterweight (-70kg) title will also be on the line as Brazilian Willamy Chiquerim (16-2) will face off against the #1 ranked challanger and Pacific-Rim champion Yusuke Endo (13-3-2). Chiquerim won the vacant Welterweight title at "Vale Tudo Japan 09" when he finished off Kenichiro Togashi via TKO (broken nose). His record is very impressive as he's fired off 10 wins in a row dating back to September 2007. Endo is coming off a big win over Kotetsu Boku where he defended the Pacific-Rim title. These two met back in May 2009 when Chiquerim used guillotine choke very late in the 1st round for the win. You can bet Endo will be out for revenge.

The vacant Bantamweight (-56kg) title will be up grabs when the #1 ranked Yasuhiro Urushitani (16-4-6) meets the #2 ranked Ryuichi Miki (10-3-3). This fight is also a re-match as Urushitani bettered Miki back in September by uanimous decision. Yasuhiro Urushitani is one of the world's top Bantamweight/Flyweight with only a single loss over 13 fights dating back to November '04. He has notable wins over Mamoru Yamaguchi, Junji Ikoma, Matatoshi Abe and Daniel Lima. Ryuichi Miki loss to Urushitani was his first in four years and the only one through 13 fights. Miki will be out to avenge the loss and in doing so win the Bantamweight crown. 

The card is also filled with other great fights as former Shooto Featherweight (-60kg) champion Masakatsu Ueda (10-1-2) squars off against a former Lightweight champion and WEC fighter Akitoshi Tamura (14-8-2); Rumina Sato (15-14-2) takes on another former Shooto Featherweight champ Ryota Matsune (15-1-1) and Welterweights Kotetsu Boku (16-6-2) and  Yoshihiro Koyama (14-3-1) meet.

Shooto News out of Japan is reporting that Shinya Aoki has relinquished his Shooto World Middleweight (167lbs) title. He's held the title for over three years and has defended it only once (in February 2007, exactly one year after he won it).

1190 days and 15 fights later it seems Aoki won't be making a return to a Shooto ring anytime soon. 

Aoki was the 8th Shooto Middleweight champion, winning the title against Akira Kikuchi back on February 17th 2006. It was at Shooto's "Back to Our Roots" show exactly a year later when he defeated Kikuchi in a re-match --escaping with a split decision win to retain the title. 

A smaller SHOOTO show  takes place this Saturday in Tokyo at the Shinjuku FACE with SHOOTO GIG TOKYO Vol.4. The event will focus heavily on the Bantamweight division as six of the ten scheduled fights will be fought in under that weight class.

Headlining the event will be a 3x5minute Bantamweight match between Fumihiro Kitahara (7-1-1) and Masaaki Sugawara (9-4-1). Kitahara is undefeated in his past four fights dating back to last year. Masaaki Sugawara was also unbeaten in his past four fights up until last November at Revolutionary Exchanges 3 when he lost by decision to top-ranked Ryuichi Miki. Speaking of Miki, he will face Yasuhiro Urushitani for the vacant Bantamweight title on May 30th.

The semi-main event is another 3x5 minute Bantamweight bout. Takuya Mori (6-4-1) will meet K'Z Factory Yusei Shimokawa (5-4). Takuya Mori returns to the ring after only having fought once last year, losing by decision in June. Yusei Shimokawa has been even less active, making his first appearance since losing in October 2008. Interesting side not for this match as these two fighters met once before back in May of 2005 in a 1st round match for the 2005 Rookie Tounrnament. The fight ended with Yusei Shimokawa coming out on top by a unanimous decision.

Fight card is posted after the jump.

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The Way of SHOOTO 02 ~Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon~ was held on Monday at Korakuen Hall. Previsouly undefeated Shooto Featherweight Champion Masakatsu Ueda (10-1-2) was choked out in the second round by Shuichiro Katsumura (11-7-3) and in doing so suffered his first career loss. Katsumura, who was ranked 6th in the Shooto Featherweight division wins the title in what can be considered a bit of an upset.

In a fight for the vacant Pacific-Rim Middleweight title, #1 ranked Yoichiro Sato (7-2-1) beat South Korean Jung-Min Kang (1-1) by guillotine choke midway through the 1st round. In other action, Lightweight Katsuya Toida (12-9-3) defeated unbeaten Yusuke Yachi (3-1) after Yachi was disqualified for an illegal soccer kick.

The 2010 Rookie Tournament continued as Kosuke Suzuki (1-0), Yoshinori Suzuki (1-0) and Tomokazu Sato (1-1) were victorious. Satoshi Inaba (3-3-2) and Kensuke Nakamura 0-0-1) ended their Lightweight Rookie Tournament match in a draw.

Full Results after the jump.

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Shooto Paraestra will hold an event this Sunday March 7th in Miyagi Japan at the Accel Hall, Sendai. SPIRIT 2010 Spring will feature some standard Shooto fights along with a few KuDo and Shooto-Grappling rules matches.

In the main event, Sou Tazawa (8-5-3) will look to rebound after loosing both his matches in 2009 when he meets Daisuke Ishizawa (5-6-0). Ishizawa fought only three weeks ago picking up a majority decision win over Masaki Yanagisawa at the Shooto Gig North in Hokkaido. Winless Featherweight Toshiaki Hayasaka (0-5-0) will take on Daiki Takashima in the semi-main.

In the KuDo rules (Karate Special Fight) matches, Takeshi Wagatsuma faces Tomonori Sugiwara (Openweight) and Hitoshi Watanabe meets Takamaro Watari at 66kg.

Under Shooto-Grappling rules at Lightweight, Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki (MMA: 10-7-3) will take on P's Lab Shin Katayama (MMA: 2-6-0) and Kazuyuki Yoshida (0-4-0) meets Nariyasu Fujita (0-2-0) at 54kg.

Three 2010 Rookie Tournament fights are scheduled when Yo Saito faces Fumiya Sasaki (Lightweight), Jin Takano meets Takuya Ogura (Featherweight) and Yuya Onodera takes on Yoshikazu Fujiishi (Welterweight).

Full line-up after the jump.

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The official signing ceremony took place for the Shooto World Featherweight title (135 lbs) between the undefeated  champion Masakatsu Ueda (10-0-2) and the #6 world Shooto ranked Shuichirou Katsumura (10-7-3). The fight is scheduled to take place on March 22nd at Korakuen Hall and will headline the The Way of SHOOTO 02 ~Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon~ event.

The head of Sustain, Kazuhiro Sakamoto praised the champion, "Ueda defends his title very often, and he has been winning against top strong fighters too" and surprisingly Katsumura was the one who replied first, "I may not be the strongest but I will fight hard."

Then added, "I developed this new move so I want to use that to win."

On the other end, the champion was calm, "My impression (of Katsumura) is that he is very good on the ground."

In regards to this "new move" Katsumura supposedly developed, "Well that psyched me up".

Also on the card in the semi main event slot, #5 ranked Bantamweight Yuki Shojo (9-5-2) meets #9 Jesse Taitano Junior (7-6-2). There are also two Lightweight, a Flyweight and Welterweight opening round matches as the 2010 Rookie Tournament continues. 

Check the fight card after the fold.

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Gustman Promotions returned to Tokyo to hold their Shooting Disco 11 show on Saturday. 

Flyweight Junji Sarumaru (5-2-0) won the main event, his third win in a row, taking down Hiroaki Yoshioka (6-10-2). In the Lightweight semi-main, Kohmei Okada (6-9-2) got the victory over Hidenori Nishino (6-10-2) using a rear naked choke under a minute into the second round. The 2010 Rookie Tournament had five first round fights taking place with Hiroshi Osato (1-0-0), Yusaku Inoue (1-0-0), Keita Ishibashi (3-0-1), Jun Nabeshima (1-0-0) and Yoshifumi Nakamura (1-0-0) all winning in their respected divisions. 

Full Results after the jump. 

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Last year's Shooto Rookie Tournament Runner-up (Bantamweight), Nozomi Otsuka (4-1-2) beat Hideru Inoue (4-3-1) at the main event of Shooto's TRILOGY op:1 this past Sunday at the Southern Pier Hakata. Otsuka wasted little time in his attack finishing Inoue with an armbar in just over minute into the first round.

Norio Tokuhisa (1-1-0) took a 2-1 judges decision over Tadahiro Harada (1-1-1) to advance in the Welterweight 2010 Rookie Tournament and in the Lightweight Rookie Tournament, Hiroaki Nakayama (1-2-0) defeated Hiroshi "Ninja" Nosaka (0-1-0) midway through the second round by rear naked choke.

The next Shooto show, Shooting Disco 11 - TORA,TORA,TORA!, takes place this Saturday February 27th from Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo. Headlining the show will be Hiroaki Yoshioka (6-9-2), who is coming off a win over the 6-2 Hiroyuki Abe. His opponent will be Junji Sarumaru (5-2-0) who has won two in a row.

Shooto TRILOGY op:1
Southern Pier Hakata (Fukuoka,JAPAN)
February 21st, 2010

Main Event ~ 2R x 5Min
7 BW: Hideru Inoue (4-2-1) Def. Nozomi Otsuka (3-1-2) (R1 1:08 Armbar)

2R x 5Min
6 FW: Mike Hayakawa (1-5-3) Def. Katsuhisa Akasaki (2-16-1) (R1 2:51 Rear Naked Choke)
5 WW: Kazuya Satomoto (5-3-0) Def. Takamitsu Oba (2-0-2) (3-0 Decision)

78kg Shooto-Grappling Rules ~ 2R x 5Min
4. Kenichirou Inoue Def. Toshihiko Sugimoto (R1 2:40)

Welterweight (-70kg) 2 × 5min ~ Rookie Tournament 2010 ~ 1st round
3. Norio Tokuhisa (0-1-0) Def. Tadahiro Harada (1-0-1) (2-1 Decision)

Lightweight (-65kg) 2 × 5min ~ Rookie Tournament 2010 ~ 1st round
2. Hiroaki Nakayama (0-2-0) Def. Hiroshi "Ninja" Nosaka (0-0-0) (R2 2:50 Rear Naked Choke)

62kg Shooto-Grappling Rules ~ 2R x 5Min
1. Osamu Kosuzu Def. Takeshi Okada