TOKYO, Dec. 12 -- No tears were shed and no long apologies were given Wednesday at Deep 33 Impact when
Ryo Chonan (Pictures) officially returned his 181-pound title to DEEP boss Shigeru Saeki in a brief ceremony ringside.
Chonan, a PRIDE and UFC veteran, won DEEP's 181-pound belt in February 2006 in an anticlimactic win over champion
Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures). The defending titleholder was not allowed to continue due to a cut on his nose.
The two fighters met again a year later, and Chonan took a majority decision over Sakurai in what would be Chonan's sole title defense with DEEP.
Most recently, Chonan went on to become part of the first batch of PRIDE transplants jumping the fence to join the UFC after the American company bought the Japanese organization earlier this year.
With a three-fight exclusive deal with the UFC, Chonan would not have been able to defend his DEEP title. Therefore Saeki and Chonan decided it was the best for both parties to return the belt and leave the spot open for a tournament next year.
Addressing the fans gathered at Korakuen Hall, Chonan was brief in his reasons behind his departure from the promotion.
"I can't defend my belt due to my contract with UFC," he said. "I wanted to conquer the DEEP middleweight division, but now I want to win the UFC welterweight division, so I will concentrate on my fights in the United States."
After the brief ceremony, Saeki announced plans to hold a new middleweight tournament next year using veterans and new talents alike from the promotion. The plan is to crown a new middleweight champion by mid-2008.
Six names were officially announced for the tournament: Chonan's teammate
Yuya Shirai (Pictures), New Grabaka member
Riki Fukuda (Pictures), ex-King of Pancrase middleweight champion
Yuichi Nakanishi (Pictures), PRIDE veteran
Daijiro Matsui (Pictures), ex-DEEP middleweight champion
Ryuta Sakurai (Pictures) and
Eiji Ishikawa (Pictures).
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