With Nick Diaz sidelined from fighting California for the immediate future after recently declining to take a mandatory drug test, the Strikeforce welterweight could fight in Japan for DREAM in October, with Hayato Sakurai being discussed as a potential opponent.

Fedor Emelianenko’s recently-announced deal with Strikeforce is an exclusive contract for three fights over one year, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who discussed a variety of Strikeforce topics yesterday on TapouT Radio and the Carmichael Dave Show.

Coker said Strikeforce is planing a Thursday press conference to announce details on Fedor’s debut, and also announced that Jake Shields will be fighting for an interim middleweight title in October and that Strikeforce had formed a “alliance” with DREAM.

A plea deal by Jeff Monson on charges of painting graffiti on the Washington Capital could force him to withdraw from several scheduled fight abroad, while a trio of bouts has been added to the lineup for the September 2 WEC 43 event in Youngstown, Ohio.

Details on these stories and the latest MMA news and notes in MMAFrenzy.com’s latest quick hits…

DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen will meet top lightweight Shinya Aoki for the third time on October 6 at DREAM 11 in Kanagawa, Japan, the promotion has announced.

Aoki submitted Hansen with a gogoplata in late-2006 in their first meeting in PRIDE, but Hansen evened the series last July with a TKO of Aoki to win the DREAM belt.

The matchups for DREAM’s featherweight and Super Hulk tournaments were announced on Monday by the promotion during the HDNet-broadcast of its DREAM 10 event.

Joe Warren vs. Bibiano Fernandes and Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro have been booked for the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix, while Hong Man Choi vs. Ikuhisa Minowa and Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou are set for the open weight Super Hulk tournament.

Marius Zaromskis won the DREAM welterweight grand prix and became the promotion’s first-ever 76kg champion on Sunday by upsetting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Jason High with back-to-back knockouts at DREAM 10 in Saitama, Japan.

In other DREAM 10 action, Shinya Aoki topped Vitor Ribeiro by unanimous decision in a lightweight bout that filled to live up to expectations TUF 7 cast member Jesse Taylor defeated Dong Sik Yoon, who was unable to continue due to a left ankle injury, and former WEC champ Paulo Filho submitted kickboxer Melvin Manhoef in the opening round of their middleweight matchup.

DREAM today announced thats its DREAM 11 event, previously expected to take place in late-September, will instead take place on October 6 at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan.

The HDNet-televised event will feature the semifinals and finals of the promotion’s featherweight grand prix, as well as the semifinals of the “Super Hulk” open weight tournament.

Though it wasn’t without a notable struggle, all 14 fighters successfully made weight on Sunday for DREAM 10, which takes place overnight in Saitama, Japan and airs live on HDNet.

Welterweight grand prix participant Hayato “Mach” Sakurai struggled to reach the 76kg limit for his semifinals bout against Marius Zaromskis, but eventually dropped the necessary weight for his third weigh-in attempt.

DREAM has released the finalized fight card and bout order for Monday’s DREAM 10 event, which takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and airs live on HDNet.

The official fight card, which includes Shinya Aoki, Jesse Taylor, Paulo Filho, and Melvin Manhoef, is after the jump.

Former “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ cast member Jesse Taylor, perhaps most famous for getting kicked out of the UFC twice, recently announced he be fighting at the July 20th DREAM 10 event in Japan. He announced the bout via his website, as well as his expected opponent Korean Judoka Dong Sik Yoon.
Taylor is comes [...]

According to index.hr, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta recently traveled to Croatia to personally offer heavyweight Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic a contract the report says “can’t be refused”.

“We understand that Cro Cop has been offered an incredible deal that should see him fight with the UFC once again . Although Filipovic was unavailable for comment, its clear that this is a major development in the ongoing negotiations. We will almost certainly, see CroCop in the world’s strongest organization once again despite the Cro Cop close ties with Dream.”

After snubbing the UFC and bolting for DREAM following his UFC 99 win on Saturday, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will attempt to keep his promise of fighting three more times before the end of the year, agreeing to fight Siala “Mighty Mo” Siliga at DREAM 10 on July 20 in Saitama, Japan, according to SI.com.

In an appearance on Inside MMA, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou discussed the controversial ending to his DREAM 9 victory over Jan Nortje. "I was pounding and I didn't want to stop. But I should have stopped. I feel like a douchebag doing it. I'm really sorry for it."

Lightweights Shinya Aoki and Vitor Ribeiro and middleweights Paulo Filho and Melvin Manhoef will square off at DREAM 10 on July 20th in Saitama, Japan, the promotion announced on Tuesday. DREAM also added a lightweight bout between Katsunori Kikuno and Andre Amade to the card.

A new DREAM middleweight champion failed to be crowned on Tuesday at DREAM 9, as Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza fought to a no contest in their headliner for the vacant title at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan.