Every Friday, MMA DieHards will take a look – with video footage when possible – at the previous week’s action at small regional and international shows with a focus on UFC and Pride veterans, consensus-ranked fighters and up-and-coming prospects. Here’s what went down between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2:
Deep 49 Impact (Tokyo, Japan; Aug. 27)
Imanari (left) vs. Miyashita (Photo Courtesy of MMAFighting.com)
Pride and Dream veteran Masakazu Imanari (20-7-2), the No. 13-ranked bantamweight in the world, successfully defended his Deep bantamweight title with a unanimous decision win over Dream veteran Tomoya Miyashita (17-8-8)…Dream and EliteXC veteran Riki Fukuda (17-4) retained his middleweight championship with a second round TKO of Pride veteran Ryuta Sakurai (20-16-6)…Pride veteran Hiromitsu Kanehara (18-23-3) fought to a draw with Young Choi (14-8-2)…Yasuaki Kishimoto (12-3-2) earned a unanimous decision over Yuki Ito (8-6-9)…Seiji Akao (11-3) took the unanimous nod over Sengoku veteran Ryosuke Komori (5-4).
Ring of Fire 39: Summer Brawl 2 (Denver, Colorado; Aug. 27)
Haynes (left) vs. Marshall (Photo Courtesy of MMA Weekly)
UFC veteran and “TUF 8″ alum Eliot Marshall (8-2) made a triumphant return to the Ring of Fire promotion with a unanimous decision victory over UFC veteran and “TUF 3″ finalist Josh Haynes (13-11).
Nitro MMA 1 (Chandler, Queensland, Australia; Aug. 27)
Pride, Strikeforce and Dream veteran Daisuke Nakamura (22-12) locked in an armbar to submit Jai Bradney (9-5-1) in the first round…Michael Mortimer (12-3) secured a rear-naked choke in the first round to submit Edwin Arana (4-3).
Cage Contender 6: Nelson vs. Mitchell (Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England; Aug. 28)
Renzo Gracie black belt Gunnar Nelson (7-0-1) remained undefeated with a first round rear-naked choke submission of Danny Mitchell (8-2)…Norman Parke moved to 12-2 with a second round TKO of Stuart Davies (6-7).
Raging Wolf 9: Mayhem in the Mist 4 (Niagara Falls, New York; Aug. 28)
Strikeforce veteran Elaina Maxwell (4-3) earned the majority decision over No. 9-ranked 135-pounder and current Raging Wolf champion Alexis Davis (8-4). Maxwell missed weight, so the bout was a non-title affair.
Rural Rumble III (Fallon, Nevada; Aug. 28)
Roberts (black gloves) vs. Lacy
Buddy Roberts (9-2) submitted BJ Lacy (11-14-1) via first round rear-naked choke.
Vision Fighting Championship: The Beginning (Karlstad, Varmland, Sweden; Aug. 28)
Hamid Corassani (9-2) submitted Martin Begley (7-13) in the first round via armbar.
Shooto: Gig North 6 (Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan; Aug. 29)
No. 10-ranked flyweight Fumihiro Kitahara (9-1-1) locked in a rear-naked choke in the second round to submit Hiroyuki Tanaka (8-7-3).
Shoot Boxing: Girls S-Cup 2010 (Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan; Aug. 29)
No. 3-ranked 145-pound female fighter Hiroko Yamanaka (10-1-1) needed less than two minutes to submit multiple-time Muay Thai kickboxing champion Sandy Furner (0-1) via forearm choke in the event’s only MMA bout. Yamanaka has actively campaigned for a chance to meet Strikeforce women’s 145-pound champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos….No. 2-ranked 115-pounder Mei Yamaguchi (6-2) competed in the Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup tournament, but lost her semifinal match-up by unanimous decision to Ai Takahashi. Takahashi went on to lose by unanimous decision to teenager RENA in the tourney finals. RENA claimed her second straight S-Cup championship with the win.