GCM fixes up featherweight tourney for 6/22 Cage Force

Greatest Common Multiple has finally got their featherweight tournament back on track.

GCM has announced that its June 22 Cage Force bill at Differ Ariake in Tokyo will feature the remaining two featherweight quarterfinals of their 145-pound tournament, pitting Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) against Yuji Hoshino (Pictures), and Fanjin Son (Pictures) against Tomohiko Hori (Pictures).

After great success with last year's lightweight and welterweight tournaments, that have seen many of their standouts go on to high-profile contracts in the UFC, Dream and Sengoku, both GCM's bantamweight and featherweight tournaments have experienced considerable difficulties in getting off the ground. GCM already announced the remaining two 135-pound quarterfinals for the June 22 card, putting favorite Takeya Mizugaki (Pictures) against Pancrase rep Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures), and quirky grapplers Katsuya Toida (Pictures) and Tetsu "Hadairo"

Suzuki against one another, after injuries, money disputes and pullouts delayed the completion of the first round. These bouts will get the bantamweight bracket on track, with the winners advancing to meet Masahiro Oishi (Pictures) and Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures), who advanced in April.

In the case of the 145-pound tournament, "Wicky Akiyo" Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) and Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures) already advanced in February, but the other half of the tournament has been plagued. The Carvalho-Hoshino bout was expected to take place on the June 22 card after a rib injury nixed it from the April 5 card.

The fourth quarterfinal was originally scheduled to be contested between Australian standout Adrian Pang (Pictures) and American import Armando Sanchez (Pictures). The bout was pulled off the April 5 card due to non-specific logistic reasons, with rumors ranging from visa issues to GCM looking to cut costs on an otherwise expensive card.

Initially, it was thought that the winner of the Carvalho-Hoshino fight would receive a bye without a fourth scheduled quarterfinal. However, the addition of the Hori-Son fight should serve to rectify the 145-pound bracket.

Carvalho, the consensus favorite in the Cage Force featherweight tournament, hasn't seen MMA action since last November, when he was stopped in his thrilling pitched battle with Hiroyuki Takaya (Pictures). However, Carvalho did take Shoot Boxing star and K-1 MAX veteran Hiroki Shishido to a hard-fought extension-round decision last month in the Shoot Boxing ring. Hoshino, undefeated in the last three years, last saw action in September when he took a 28-second submission victory over banger Eriya Matsuda (Pictures).

The underrated but largely unknown Hori has plied his trade in Mars and smaller Deep event. Hori is fresh off the biggest win of his career over Korean brawler Jong Man Kim in Seoul in March. The heavy-slugging Son hasn't fought since last November, when he dropped a hard-fought majority decision to fellow savvy striker Koji Yoshimoto (Pictures).

Also set for the June 22 Cage Force bill in non-tournament action, former Shooto world 183-pound champion Shiko Yamashita (Pictures) will drop to 170 pounds to face undefeated Motoki Miyazawa, while tough Shooto vet Akihiro Murayama (Pictures) meets Rikuhei Fujii (Pictures) in a middleweight bout.

Three fights, art exhibit added to July Shooto

Leading Shooto promoter Sustain's "Shooto Tradition 2" line-up just got a bit more colorful for July 18.

Sustain announced that featherweight wild child "Wicky Akiyo" Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) will compete on the card. Although an opponent has not yet been named, the 24-year-old Shooting Gym Yokohama product still has preparation of a different kind to look forward to. Before the event commences, Nishiura will hold an exhibition of his art for the public in the lobby of Korakuen Hall.

The former Shooto rookie champion, in addition to being a talented prospect, is a considerably artistic talent. Nishiura's highly distinctive and intricate tattoos were self-drawn, and the featherweight firebrand designs his own fight shorts and t-shirts.

Sustain has also added two Class A bouts to the July 18 line-up. In a 115-pound tilt, undefeated Shinya Murofushi (Pictures) will put his submission savvy up against scrappy veteran Takehiro Harusaki (Pictures). In a 154-pound contest, Hiroshiman grappling star Shinji Sasaki (Pictures) will look to rebound from his May loss to Frenchman Bendy Casimir (Pictures) against clinch-inclined veteran Jin Kazeta (Pictures).

Sherdog.com has reported in previous weeks that the July 18 Shooto line-up will be headlined by Shinichi "BJ" Kojima defending his Shooto world 123-pound title likely against longtime nemesis Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures), who Kojima won the title from in October 2006.

Saeki teams up with M-1

Maybe the busiest man in all of Japanese MMA, Deep boss Shigeru Saeki has unveiled yet another project.

Saeki has announced that alongside M-1 Mixfight, the promotion headed by Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) and Red Devil Sport Club handlers Vadim Finkelchtein and Apy Echteld, he will co-promote the M-1 Challenge series events in Japan. The first of these events will take place on July 17 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Saeki will also now act as the superintendent of Japan's M-1 Challenge team.

The M-1 Challenge series began earlier this year, pitting teams of five fighters from various international countries against one another. Japan's M-1 Challenge team, which was put together by former Pride vice president Sotaro Shinoda, were successful in their opening action this past February in St. Petersburg, Russia, where they took a victory over the Russian Legion Team 3-2. While heavyweight vet Katsuhisa Fujii (Pictures) and light heavyweight karateka Yuji Sakuragi (Pictures) were defeated, chronically underrated lightweight Daisuke Nakamura (Pictures), welterweight brawler Ken Hamamura (Pictures) and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) middleweight product Yuta Watanabe (Pictures) all walked away with impressive victories to give Japan the edge.

The Japanese team's next action will take place on the aforementioned July 17 card at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo against a quintet from the Netherlands. Also a French contingent will meet the United States team.

Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara has also pledged his support to the M-1 Challenge program, saying that he hoped to cooperate with the organization in the future. Sasahara's promise could pay interesting dividends, as M-1 boss Vadim Finkelchtein has said that he would love to hold the finals of the M-1 Challenge series on New Year's Eve in Japan, especially if the Japanese team should be one of the two final squads.

Tokyo gym founder killed

Condolences are in order for the friends, family and pupils of Ryusuke Moriyama, the founder of the Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo gym, who was killed in an unlikely auto accident late last week.

According to Japanese news reports, Moriyama met with an acquaintance in an apartment parking garage on Friday evening around 8 p.m. in order to sell a car. Also in the garage, a local office worker had parked a truck on the sloped car park entrance without putting on the emergency break. The truck then rolled backward and struck Moriyama in the stomach.

Early in the hospital on Saturday morning, Moriyama passed away. He was 46.

Although Moriyama did not create the Wajyutsu Keisyukai network, he did found its biggest and most prestigious gym: Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo, where he served as the gym's chief technical instructor. Responsible for the likes of Caol Uno (Pictures), Yushin Okami (Pictures), Hideki Kadowaki (Pictures) and Takayo Hashi (Pictures) among others, Moriyama was trained as a judoka under the legendary Masahiko Kimura, famous for his battles with Helio Gracie in the 1950s.

Perhaps the result of Moriyama's days spent under Kimura, one of the distinguishing features of Wajyutsu Keiyukai Tokyo is its strict and extensive physical conditioning regime, which has earned the gym the nickname "Jigoku no Hokyo" or, roughly translated, "Conditioning Hell."

Moriyama's funeral was held in Uki, Kumamoto on Tuesday, June 10.