GCM Cage Force tournament champion Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Pictures) finally has an opponent.

Sherdog.com reported earlier this year that following his capture of the Cage Force crown in 2007, Yoshida had signed a four-fight deal with the UFC and was likely to debut in April. Now it has been officially announced that "Zenko" will take on TUF 6 alum Jon Koppenhaver (Pictures) on the May 24 Sherk-Penn card in Las Vegas.

Yoshida was one of 2007's breakout fighters and is riding an eight-fight win streak. Initially considered an also-ran in GCM's Cage Force welterweight tournament, Yoshida opened up the bracket in style last March, clobbering current welterweight King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) in less than two minutes. Yoshida opened even more eyes in September, when he upset prohibitive tournament favorite and former Shooto world champion Akira Kikuchi (Pictures), pounding him out with elbows in the first round.

Yoshida's tournament victory was less than satisfying, however. In the finals, he met another streaking welterweight in Britain's Dan Hardy (Pictures) with essentially a UFC contract on the line. Although Yoshida seemingly won the first round in a well-matched bout, an errant low kick by Hardy only four seconds into the second round ended the bout prematurely. Yoshida got the win, albeit by a rather unceremonious disqualification.

A pupil of Shooto icon Noboru Asahi, Yoshida is a decorated judoka who also trains at Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures)'s dojo along with UFC fighters such as Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) and Ryo Chonan (Pictures), who also splits time at the gym.

While his judo skills have played a role in his success, it has been his ground-and-pound game that has garnered Yoshida much attention and differentiated him from many other Japanese fighters. While many Japanese fighters have struggled to acclimate to the unified rules and the cage, Yoshida has thrived under a more American style of MMA and has worked diligently on developing an elbow-based attack on the ground that has paid rich dividends in his recent outings.

Koppenhaver last saw action in December, when he took a thrilling come-from-behind victory in a gory bout with Jared Rollins (Pictures) at the "Ultimate Fighter 6" finale.

More recently, Koppenhaver has been embattled with legal troubles. He was sentenced to 30 days of community service and three years probation following an incident in which he choked and punched a man outside his gym in December. Koppenhaver had pleaded guilty to felony assault, but the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor last month.

Sakuraba Set for April, Uncertain for GP

Despite some reports that have listed MMA icon Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) as an official participant in Dream's forthcoming 185-pound grand prix, it is necessary to note that while "The Gracie Hunter" will fight on the April 29 card, he is not yet official for the tournament.

Sakuraba appeared in the ring at the inaugural March 15 Dream card alongside Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures), Shungo Oyama (Pictures), Taiei Kin (Pictures), Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures), Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures) and Masakatsu Funaki (Pictures), who all announced their participation in the Dream middleweight tournament. However, Sakuraba did not commit to the field.

Sakuraba told the crowd in attendance that although he would fight on the April 29 card, he had suffered a scab that wouldn't stop bleeding and thus he could not participate in the tournament. Although his statement was largely interpreted as a joke in true Sakuraba fashion, Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara later confirmed that "The IQ Wrestler" was not yet part of the tournament.

"Sakuraba is the flagship fighter of our middleweight tournament, so we will continue talking to him," Sasahara said after the first Dream event. "Sakuraba has shown disinterest in competing in the tournament, but we will continue negotiating with him to try and encourage him to compete."

Ishiwatari Enters Class A Shooto

The Japanese Shooto Commission has sent another young talent to Class A Shooto with the promotion of 143-pounder Shintaro Ishiwatari (Pictures).

The 23-year-old Ishiwatari owns a 5-1-2 record in MMA and hasn't lost since his pro debut in March 2006. A product of Naoki Sakurada's Gutsman Shooto Dojo, Ishiwatari has found a home on the Gutsman-promoted Shooting Disco series in the last year, where he's emerged as arguably the most entertaining fighter in all of Class B Shooto.

Ishiwatari's promotion comes as a result of his crushing, highlight-reel knockout of 2007's 143-pound rookie champion, Kazuhiro Ito (Pictures), last month. Fending off a kimura attempt and neck scissors, Ishiwatari lifted Ito up to shoulder height and slammed him down face first on the mat, bending his entire body at the neck and knocking him unconscious.

The outrageous finish also turned Ishiwatari into an Internet celebrity of sorts. Video of the fight has become a hot item on sites like youtube.com and break.com, much in the way that Heath Herring (Pictures)'s infamous kiss incident with Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures) did two and a half years ago.

The promotion figures to serve as a shot in the arm for a Shooto 143-pound class that has promoted very few 143 pounders to Class A Shooto recently. In the last two and a half years, the only other 143-pounders the Japanese Shooto Commission has promoted are former Shooto rookie champions and Shooting Gym Yokohama teammates Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures) and Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures).