Japans top feather weight Hatsu Hioki Officially Signs with the UFC

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Damon Martin from mmaweekly
Hatsu Hioki

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It’s been a long time coming, but Hatsu Hioki has finally signed a multi-fight to compete in the UFC.

UFC officials made the announcement on Saturday.

Hioki (24-4-2) makes his move to the UFC after competing for the last several years between promotions like Sengoku and Shooto in Japan.

Considered one of the top 145lb fighters in the world, Hioki gave up his Shooto title last month, which pre-empted the rumors that he would soon be a UFC fighter.

Hioki traveled to the U.S. in June for UFC 131 and worked at the TriStar gym in Montreal while negotiating with the UFC.

Now he’s officially headed to the Octagon.

No date has been announced regarding his UFC debut, but Hioki will likely jump right into the deep end of the division after winning his last 4 fights in a row.

Im pretty stoked about this. I hope he does well.

I have been seeing him around Tristar lately. One morning I saw him inside Harvey's and grilled him. I was like "am I looking at Hatsu Hioki right now?". I was confused until i remembered hearing about him visiting. looks like he'll be trying to make a push with Zahabi MMA.