Although Ryo Chonan (Pictures) lost his UFC debut last weekend against Karo Parisyan (Pictures), that's not exactly all the "Piranha" has lost.

In addition to Chonan's disappointing Octagon debut, DEEP boss Shigeru Saeki also announced that he has been stripped of DEEP's 181-pound title. Saeki stated earlier this month that he was considering stripping Chonan of his title because the fighter's three-bout deal with the UFC is exclusive, which would make it incredibly cumbersome to get the 31 year old into the ring to defend his title.

Chonan won the title in February 2006, when he scored an unceremonious cut stoppage over then-champ Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures). After the win, Chonan stated he was displeased with the method of victory and offered Sakurai a rematch. The two met again in February, and Chonan took a competitive majority decision win over the R-BLOOD gym leader in what would be his only title defense.

Saeki had already revealed he was planning on a contender tournament for the division early next year, but now the tournament will be used to determine a new champion. The bracket will play out over two events in February and April, likely being an eight-man field with the semifinals and finals both taking place on the April card. Also, Saeki has stated he plans on moving DEEP's weight classes to align with the unified rules of MMA used in North America, and thus the tournament and championship will likely be contested at 185 pounds.

No participants have been formerly named for the tournament, but a matchup between Sojiro Orui (Pictures) and Masataka Chinushi (Pictures) has been announced for DEEP 33 Impact on Dec. 12 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, with the winner earning a tournament berth. Other likely candidates include Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures), Ryuhei Sato (Pictures), Ryuichi Murata (Pictures) and Yuya Shirai (Pictures).

Okami Opts for New UFC Deal

Ending some weeks of speculation to the contrary, Zuffa has retained the services of its top Japanese import in middleweight Yushin Okami (Pictures).

Multiple MMA outlets reported earlier this week that Zuffa had re-signed Okami, a story that a strong source confirmed to Sherdog.com. Okami's management declined to comment on the specifics of the 26 year old's new UFC deal.

The highly regarded Wajyutsu product has gone 5-1 since his UFC debut in August 2006, and he appeared to be an emerging contender for the divisional crown held by Anderson Silva, whom Okami was the last man to defeat in January 2006. However, Okami's final fight on his last contract was an untelevised preliminary bout against Canadian Jason MacDonald (Pictures) in October, leading to speculation that he would not be re-signed by Zuffa.

Despite uncertainty over his future prospects and rumors that he may take part in K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! on New Year's Eve, Okami and his management remained confident that he would re-sign with the UFC. Okami appeared in the cage at GCM's Nov. 11 Cage Force event, telling the Tokyo crowd he planned on returning to the Octagon in 2008 and hoped to soon challenge for the UFC title.

Omigawa, ‘K-Taro' Eye '08 Octagon Returns

Okami is not the only Japanese fighter set to make his way back to the Octagon in 2008.

As previously reported by Sherdog.com, Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures)'s pupil Michihiro Omigawa (Pictures) will return to the UFC early next year. The standout judoka is set to take on highly regarded Brazilian Thiago Tavares (Pictures) on the UFC's Jan. 23 Fight Night card. Both fighters are coming off tough decision losses.

Omigawa dropped a unanimous decision in a nip-and-tuck battle with Matt Wiman (Pictures) in September. On that same card, Tavares suffered the first loss of his career in a controversial decision loss to Tyson Griffin.

Also slated for an early '08 return is former Shooto Pacific Rim champion Keita "K-Taro" Nakamura. Nakamura brought a 13-0-2 record into the UFC before losing decisions to Brock Larson (Pictures) and Drew Fickett (Pictures) last December and April respectively.

Following the loss to Fickett, Nakamura competed mostly on Japan's grappling circuit, before Zuffa approved him to take a tune-up fight against leglock specialist Takefumi Hanai (Pictures) in GCM's Cage Force earlier this month. K-Taro quickly dismantled the eccentric Hanai, knocking him out with knees from the clinch in just less than two minutes of the first round. Following the win, Nakamura revealed that he planned on finishing out the last fight on his UFC deal in early '08 and hoped to secure his first Octagon win.

MIKU Looks To Make '07 6-0

With a 4-0 record and having captured the DEEP 106-pound women's title this year, female standout Miku Matsumoto (Pictures) is set for another two bouts before the 2007 campaign is over.

Already enjoying perhaps the best year of any female fighter in MMA, punctuated by her DEEP title captured over female star Hisae Watanabe (Pictures), Matsumoto is scheduled to compete twice in two weeks for DEEP this December.

On the Dec. 9 clubDEEP Kanazawa card at the Ishikawa Industrial Hall, Matsumoto will take on veteran Yukiko Seki (Pictures). The bout will be a considerable step down in competition for Matsumoto, as Seki sports a flimsy 4-12 record and is coming off of a lackluster loss to American novice Brandy Nerney (Pictures) in her stateside debut earlier this month.

Matsumoto will be in action again on Dec. 22 as part of DEEP's stellar DEEP Protect Impact card at Umeda Stella Hall in Osaka. On the undercard, Matsumoto will meet Thai nak muay Wenton Sakrungruang. The 25-year-old Sakrungruang sports a 29-7-2 Muay Thai record, but she has no documented mixed martial arts experience.

Class B Talent Go Down Under for Shooto Australia

Another crop of Japanese fighters are heading to the Outback.

Three Class B competitors are set for action in Western Australia as part of Friday's Shooto Australia card in Perth, promoted by Mach1 and International Platinum Promotions. Making the trek across the equator will be Paraestra Sapporo's Michiyuki "Aroi" Ishibashi and Paraestra Hakata teammates Suguru "UK" Inoue and Daisuke "Hunt" Okumiya.

This May, outside the confines of Shooto, promoter Greatest Common Multiple facilitated the trek of four Japanese competitors -- Katsuya Toida (Pictures), Ayumu "Gozo" Shioda, Tomohiko Hori (Pictures) and Yusaku Tsukkumo (Pictures) -- to compete in preeminent Australian MMA promotion Warriors Realm, a sister promotion under GCM's Worldwide Cage Network banner.

Meanwhile, pro Shooto's foundation in Oceania has recently been strengthened both by the success of Australian export Daniel Lima (Pictures) in Shooto Japan and the success of grassroots Shooto promotion Inspirit Challenge, headed by Lima and Roy Luxton.

Ishibashi, who is coming off a loss in the Shooto 154-pound rookie tournament semifinal to Yutaka Ueda in September, will meet Brazilian-born BJJ black belt Gustavo Falciroli, who has spent this year teaching BJJ at the Mach1 gym in Perth.

Like Ishibashi, the Para Hakata teammates Inoue and Okumiya are also coming off of rookie tournament losses in September. Inoue was submitted by 123-pound tournament favorite Tatsuro Kamei (Pictures), and Okumiya dropped a decision to 168-pound tournament finalist Akihiro Yamazaki. Also like Ishibashi, they will meet Mach1 Gym teammates in their respective fights, as Inoue will face Shooto Japan veteran Alexandre Shevtsov, and Okumiya takes on Xavier Lucas.

The card's only Class A bout will take the top billing when 183-pounders Brian Ebersole (Pictures) and Brandon Bell square off in the main event.

ZST's Stars Return to Celebrate Fifth Anniversary

The weekend of MMA action in Japan gets started Friday. Foremost RINGS offshoot ZST heads to its familiar digs of Differ Ariake in Tokyo for a fifth anniversary offering. Fitting for the fifth anniversary card, two of ZST's premier products will headline.

Japanese superstar Hideo Tokoro (Pictures), who is seen as ZST's foremost torchbearer, will be one main event fighter. Tokoro has not competed since his July loss to Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill in the HERO'S ring. He has said that his participation in K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! is contingent on whether he wins his next fight. The odds are on the side of Japan's "Cinderella Boy," who is taking on relative novice Wataru Inatsu (Pictures). Inatsu was quickly disposed of by former Shooto world champion Masahiro Oishi (Pictures) in June via armbar in the first round.

In the event's other feature bout, ZST standout Naoyuki Kotani (Pictures) will return to the promotion where he built his career to take on one of ZST's best young lightweights in Masanori Kanehara (Pictures).

Kotani has lost his last two bouts, both in the Octagon, the most recent being his knockout loss to German-based Russian Dennis Siver (Pictures) in September. Likewise, Kanehara was knocked out in his last bout at the hands of journeyman Tashiro Nishiuchi (Pictures). Unlike the other bouts on the card, Kotani-Kanehara will be contested under ZST Vale Tudo rules, which allows for ground-and-pound on the mat.

Also, the undercard will feature the semifinals and finals of the 2007 165-pound Genesis Tournament. Tomohiko Yoshida (Pictures) (Tomohiko Yoshida (Pictures)' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) will take on Ikki Tokutome, and Ichiro Kojima (Pictures) will meet Takaya Asano in the semifinals, with the winners fighting later that night. Furthermore, the quarterfinals of the 154-pound Genesis Tournament will begin, with the semifinalists advancing to compete on the Dec. 23 SWAT! card.

The entire card, including GT-F grappling rules bouts, is set for a whopping 25 fights.

Double Feature Set for Kingdom of Grapple's First Anniversary

Keeping in theme with anniversaries and starting off a trio of Sunday MMA cards in Japan, MMA mobile site Kingdom of Grapple will celebrate its one-year anniversary at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo.

Kingdom of Grapple Live 2007 will commemorate the first anniversary of Broad Media Casting Co. Ltd.'s popular MMA site with a double bill. The afternoon portion of the card will host two four-man, one-day tournaments for rookie fighters. One bracket will be contested at 143 pounds and the other at 154 pounds, with Pancrase, DEEP, GCM and Zendokai each sending a representative to both tournaments.

In the 143-pound New Wave tournament, S-KEEP's Naoki Tajima will represent Zendokai, AACC's Mitsuhisa Nishimura will represent Pancrase, HARD COMBAT's Ryota Matsui will represent DEEP and Wajyutsu Keisyukai TLIVE's Tomoyuki Miyaji will represent GCM. In the 154-pound New Wave tournament, Zendokai Matsumoto's Kenta Okuyama will carry the flag for Zendokai, P's LAB Yokohama's Conchita Hashimoto for Pancrase, DOBUITA's Shingo Matsuda (Pictures) for DEEP and P's LAB Tokyo's Yuki Yashima for GCM.

The evening card will feature fighters from all the aforementioned organizations as well as several female fights with competitors courtesy of Smack Girl.

The main event of the night card will pit current provisional 165-pound King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) against the well-traveled Shigetoshi Iwase (Pictures). After current welterweight KOP Daizo Ishige (Pictures) was unable to defend his title in July, Inoue crushed Italian-based Brazilian Fabricio Nascimento (Pictures) to win provisional champion status and secure his shot at Ishige in 2008.

Iwase, a longtime stablemate of Tastuya Kawajiri and Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures), has won both of his bouts this year, albeit against limited competition and the most recent being a unanimous decision win over Hiroaki Nagaoka last month.

Also on the card, Pancrase's resident cosplay fanatic Hikaru Sato (Pictures) will take on pro-wrestler Toshiyuki Sato of El Dorado under full MMA rules, and the equally quirky Masaya "J-Taro" Takita will take on DEEP Future King Tournament runner-up Tomoya Miyashita (Pictures).

GCM Goes Grassroots with Demolition West

And while Tokyo is MMA's center stage in Japan, Greatest Common Multiple will head to the west on Sunday to serve up a Demolition card in the port city of Yamaguchi.

The "Demolition West" bill at the Hotel Matsubaraya will feature a large contingent of new and young pros from Wajyutsu Keisyukai network gyms in Japan's far west. In the main event, former Shooto rookie champion turned peripatetic Yu Shiori (Pictures) will face off with Hisato Nagakura.

The 30-year-old Shiori has looked solid in his two outings this year, including a submission over Satoru Takadaya in the Pancrase ring in September. He figures to be a prohibitive favorite against Nagakura, a converted karateka with limited MMA experience.

On the undercard of the eleven-fight lineup, Azerbaijani wrestler Teymur Aliyev will face debuting Mitsutaka Eto, and Yuta Nakamura (Pictures) will face veteran no-hoper Nobuhiro Tsurumaki (Pictures), who stepped into the fight on short notice.

High Stakes for Hioki at HEAT's Fifth

Perhaps the weekend's most pressing card from across the Pacific comes from the geographic heart of Japan, as HEAT heads to the Nagoya International Conference Hall for its fifth fight card.

Although the scheduled main event for the card is actually a kickboxing bout between Japan-based Wisconsinite Alex Roberts (Pictures) and K-1 veteran Tatsufumi Tomihara, the real marquee bout for MMA fans will feature native Nagoyan Hatsu Hioki (Pictures) returning to action.

The 24-year-old Hioki began 2007 by solidifying himself as one of the world's top 145 pounders, defeating Mark Hominick (Pictures) in their February rematch in Quebec.

However, Hioki has disappointed and drawn criticism from fans and pundits alike in his last two bouts, losing split decisions to Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) in May and, more recently, to largely unknown South Korean Jong Man Kim (Pictures) in front of his hometown crowd in October.

In a pivotal bout in his young career, Hioki will take on TUF 5 alum Brian Geraghty. The Dave Strasser (Pictures)-trained Geraghty hasn't competed since last June, when he was handled in just more than two minutes by fellow TUF castmate Matt Wiman (Pictures) at the TUF 5 Finale.

Cutting back down to his more natural weight of 145 pounds, the typically sturdy Geraghty should be stern and suitable opposition for the rebounding Hioki, who needs desperately to erase the memories of his last two performances to stay relevant in the blossoming featherweight division.

Also on the card, meeting at a 139-pound catchweight, BJJ black belt Hiroshi Umemura (Pictures) will take on another of Dave Strasser (Pictures)'s Freestyle Academy products in Nat McIntyre (Pictures). The 35-year-old Umemura, a regular in Nagoyan MMA events, began his career as an unspectacular performer in Class B Shooto. Yet he is 7-0-1 in his last eight bouts and undefeated in the last three years, including a quick and easy win over South Korean Seo Su In (Pictures) at HEAT's last card in August.

McIntyre had a miserable time in Class B Shooto nearly five years ago, when he was submitted by Class B enhancement talent Katsuhisa Akasaki (Pictures). However, McIntyre has run off four wins in 2007, all of which he has ended with strikes or submission.

In other MMA action, longtime Pancrase mainstay Osami Shibuya (Pictures), coming up on his 13th year in action, will take on Brazilian import Gil Freitas. AXIS Jiu-Jitsu standout Cristiano Kaminishi (Pictures) will take on Kazuhisa Tazawa (Pictures), and BJJ standout Max Fernandez will meet Yoshitomo Watanabe.