Hatsu Hioki has officially joined the UFC, announced this morning via Twitter. The Child of Shooto relinquished his lightweight title in late May, and we all kind of assumed that he was headed stateside. Well, call us Nachodamus.
By now ya’ll know that Hioki has some prime wins under his belt (something you can’t always say about fighters competing on the other side of the Pacific), including Mark Hominick (twice) and an upset over Marlon Sandro for the Sengoku featherweight strap. Hioki hit a rough stretch in 2007, dropping consecutive decisions under the Shooto banner, but he hasn’t really lost since if you don’t count the decision loss to Michihiro Omigawa that the judges hung on him–and we don’t.
No word yet on who Hioki will face off with for his debut, but may we suggest Kenny Florian?
[RX]