'JZ' Fights Aoki on Year-End Card

With M-1 Global CEO Monte Cox, Fight Entertainment Group boss Sadaharu Tanigawa, former PRIDE general director Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) and DEEP president Shigeru Saeki all on hand, the first two bouts for Dec. 31's Yarennoka! card were confirmed at a press conference Wednesday in Tokyo.

Working collaboratively with M-1 Global and now HERO'S parent company Fight Entertainment Group, the New Year's Eve card at Saitama Super Arena will see two time HERO'S 154-pound champion Gesias Calvancante (Pictures) take on Shooto world champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures), while current DEEP champion Hidehiko Hasegawa (Pictures) will take on Hayato "Mach" Sakurai.

Aoki hasn't seen MMA action since April, when he submitted Dutchman Brian Lo-a-Njoe in just 93 seconds at the final PRIDE card. Aoki also picked up an easy win under grappling rules, quickly dispatching Pedro Akira (Pictures) in 38 seconds as part of DEEP's inaugural DEEP-X grappling card in June.

Calvancanti has posted a 3-0 mark in 2007, and is coming off his second consecutive HERO'S 154-pound tournament win. The stalwart Brazilian smashed fellow countrymen Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro and Andre "Dida" Amade, each in the first round, en route to his second HERO'S crown.

The 32-year-old Sakurai knocked out Mac Danzig (Pictures) this past February, but has kept busy in recent months by opening a new Mach Dojo gym in Tokyo, and competing in the Shoot Boxing ring, where he took a unanimous decision victory over Scandinavian export Jani Lax (Pictures) in October.

Hasegawa rebounded from his crushing August defeat against Dong Hyun Kim (Pictures), fighting to a hotly competitive draw in his rematch with the South Korean standout to retain his DEEP title. Hasegawa is first scheduled for action on Dec. 2 against BJJ world champion Lucas Lepri in a grappling match at the DEEP-X card in Tokyo.

No contract weights, or rules for the announced bouts have been decided on by promoters.