Inside Sengoku TV Deal, Ishida Storms the Mansion

Yoshida looks to November after nixed Parisyan bout

It's not all bad for Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

After a sterling 56-second submission victory over Jon "War Machine" Koppenhaver at UFC 84 in May, the gritty Japanese welterweight was poised to break into the consciousness of international MMA fans on the main card of Sept. 6's UFC 88 card in Atlanta, where he was scheduled to face Karo Parisyan. Much to the chagrin of fans, the slated Parisyan-Yoshida bout was nixed the day before the event after Parisyan was unable to fight due to a last-minute back injury.

Fortunately for the 34-year-old former judo standout, he was still paid his show money, and got some great cageside seats out of the deal.

"He was to be paid 8K to show, and 8K to win for that fight, so he still got 8K," Yoshida's manager Shu Hirata told Sherdog.com. "And I negotiated with the UFC to make sure to sit him in the front row and get a shot of him in the live PPV so he could get something from the sponsors."

Currently riding a nine-fight win streak and on the cusp of emerging as an elite welterweight, "Zenko" may not need to wait long to get back into the Octagon.

"I am trying for Nov. 15's UFC 91 show," revealed Hirata. "Both Dana [White] and Joe [Silva] told me that they would get him a fight ASAP. Hopefully something can happen this week."

Pancrase to crown 205-pound KOP, co-promote with ZST

Pancrase is coming strong out of the gate with the line-up for its Oct. 1 Shining Tour card at Korakuen Hall, as the promotion will crown a new light heavyweight champion. Surprisingly surging veteran Keiichiro Yamamiya looks to take his second victory over young Pancrase product Ryo Kawamura en route to the 205-pound King of Pancrase title.

The 36-year-old Yamamiya was nowhere on the radar when he ended a year-long layoff last December, breaking a five-fight winless streak by soundly outstriking Pancrase's light heavyweight hope Kawamura to a unanimous decision. Since then, Yamamiya has taken firm victories over Yuki Kondo and Hiromitsu Kanehara to further an improbable late-career resurgence. Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Kawamura has seen action in Sengoku, where he put the first loss on the ledger of BJJ standout Antonio Braga Neto in March before getting outwrestled to a unanimous decision loss by Kevin Randleman in May.

Also announced for the card, in a matchup already noted by the media for the fact its competitors could be twins, Koji Oishi will attempt to defend Pancrase in a cross-promotional battle with ZST torchbearer Naoyuki Kotani.

Oishi was part of the unfortunate unraveling of the promotion's Aug. 27 card, as he was scheduled to take on Shinsuke Shoji for the vacant lightweight King of Pancrase title, before Shoji abruptly announced his retirement. Kotani is looking to rebound from a three-fight winless streak and the specter of lackluster performances in his UFC run last year.

ZST PR director Jo Uehara and Pancrase managing director Yasushi Sakamoto were both on hand for the bout announcements, and confirmed that they planned to stage more cross-promotional ventures in the future. ZST has already began such promotions with Deep in the past few months.

"ZST started six years ago, and from the beginning, P's Lab fighters were able to fight there," Uehara explained. "We've cooperated with Pancrase for six years, and now with it being Pancrase's 15th anniversary, it was time to return the favor."

Minor hiccup for GCM’s next Cage Force

While injury has posed yet another difficulty for Greatest Common Multiple's 2008 Cage Force tournament series, its Sept. 27 card at Differ Ariake in Tokyo shouldn't suffer in the slightest.

The card was expected to feature the semifinals of the promotion's ongoing 135- and 145-pound tournaments. However, due to an undisclosed injury suffered by Taiyo Nakahara in training, his 135-pound semifinal bout with tournament favorite Takeya Mizugaki will be postponed until the following Cage Force card on Nov. 8. Mizugaki, who clobbered Daichi Fujiwara in their June quarterfinal meeting, will now meet Daisuke Endo in a non-tournament affair.

Fortunately, the other three Cage Force tournament semifinals will take place as scheduled.

In the other 135-pound semifinal, oddball ADCC veteran Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki will face former Shooto world champion Masahiro Oishi, while the featherweight tournament semis will see reenergized veteran Yuji Hoshino take on Grabaka grappler Takeshi Yamazaki and free-swinging "Wicky Akiyo" Akiyo Nishiura meet up with fellow heavy hitter Fanjin Son.

In non-tournament action, lightweight powerhouse Yoshihiro Koyama will meet South Korean Bum Chan Kwan, undefeated Daisuke Hoshino takes on Junichi Ota, Wataru Miki squares off with Tomohiko Hori and Masaaki Hasegawa faces Tomoyuki Miyaji.