Takanori Gomi def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (47-45, 46-45, 46-44):

• Vale Tudo Japan, which is set to take place on October 30th, in Tokyo, is still taking shape. An opponent for lightweight fighter Takanori Gomi, was recently announced. Gomi will be taking on King of the Cage lightweight champion Tony Hervey, in his alleged final fight in Japan. Other expect bouts for the event are “Lion” Takeshi Inoue vs. Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Willamy Chiquerim vs. Kenichiro Togashi, Mamoru Yamaguchi vs. Jesse Taitano, Tenkei Fujimiya vs. Tito Jones. Also expected to participate are Rumina Sato and Yoichiro Sato, but their opponents are yet to be determined.
• Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago will take on recent promotional acquisition, Polish light heavyweight star Mamed Khalidov in a non title fight at Sengoku 11 on November 7. Also recently added to the card were a heavyweight bout between “Big” Jim York and Dave “Pee-Wee” Herman, a lightweight number one contender match up pitting Eiji Mitsuoka against Kazunori Yokota, and a featherweight contest of Shigeki Osawa vs. Ronnie Ushiwaka Mann.
• Top female fighter Miku Matsumoto extended her winning streak to twelve straight at Deep 44th Impact on October 10, defeating “Windy” Tomomi Sunaba via unanimous decision.
• Dream 12, on October 25, has gained two more middleweight bouts as slugger Melvin Manhoef will take on Zelg Galesic, and ground ace and former WEC champion Paulo Filho will face Korean judoka Dong Sik Yoon inside the White Cage. (Dream 12 Poster included below.)

Teaser video for “Dynamite 2009!!” event, which we reported Wednesday.

Gomi also made the strange announcement that in addition to attempting to move his MMA career to the US he would also be pursuing a second professional career as a surfer.

Gomi was once seen as one of the top Japanese fighters in the lightweight division, after putting together a 32-3 record before 2007. In February of 2007, however, Gomi suffered defeat at the hands of Nick Diaz at Pride 33, a result that the NSAC later overturned due to a positive drug test by Diaz. Since that bout he has gone 3-2 with surprising losses to Sergey Golyaev and Satoru Kitaoka, and a most recent victory over Takashi Nakakura in his last outing.

Gomi had been scheduled to make his first return to the US since the Diaz bout at Affliction: Trilogy, before the event was canceled. Thus far there are no rumors as to what US based organization may look to pick up the Japanese fighter, if any.

The former PRIDE lightweight champ Gomi (30-5) rebounded from back-to-back defeats and a pair of unimpressive wins with a second-round knockout of Takashi Nakakura at a May Shooto event. “The Fireball Kid” has not fought in the US since an early-2007 loss to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas (the result was later changed to a No Contest after Diaz tested positive for marijuana).

Oliveira (8-1) has won three-straight, including a unanimous decision win in his most-recent bout in April, after suffering his only career loss to Lyle Beerbohm at an October ShoXC event.

Affliction: Trilogy is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and also features Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago, and Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel.

For the latest Affliction: Trilogy rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section.

MMA Weekly first reported the matchup this morning, but MMA Fanhouse was quick to debunk the rumor, with Affliction vice president Tom Atencio confirming that the bout had been briefly considered but was scrapped due to Gomi’s unwillingness to move up from 155-pounds. According to Atencio the fight was “never even close” to finalized.

Gomi (30-5), the former PRIDE lightweight champion, was one of the top-ranked lightweights in the world prior to suffering losses to Nick Diaz (later overturned), Sergey Golyaev, and Satoru Kitaoka in three of five bouts before returning to Shooto in May with a second-round knockout of Takashi Nakakura. Cooper (9-4) is currently riding a six-fight win streak, including an IFL victory over Rory Markham as well as recent wins against Patrick Speight at Affliction’s January event and Joe Cronin at Call to Arms 1 in May.

Affliction: Trilogy takes place on August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett.

Click here for more Affliction news.

[Pictured: Takanori Gomi]

Takanori Gomi

Notable lightweight Takanori Gomi and heavyweight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira both earned victories in weekend MMA action.

Gomi (30-5), a loser in his two most-recent fights, defeated Takashi Nakakura via second-round knockout at Shooto: Tradition Final in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday.

Nogueira (17-3) extended his winning streak to five-straight on Saturday with a third-round submission of Dion Staring at Jungle Fight: Ceara in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Keep it locked on MMAFrenzy.com for the latest event results.

Jon Fitch

• Gray Maynard says he’d like to fight Diego Sanchez, Clay Guida, or Sean Sherk next. [MMA Junkie]
• Takanori Gomi will return to Shooto for the first time in almost six years to fight 154-pound champion Takashi Nakakura on May 10th at JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
• Tito Ortiz says he’ll pass on Affliction, instead attempting to sign with Strikeforce. [Youtube]
• Former EliteXC lightweight champion KJ Noons suffered a unanimous decision loss over the weekend in his return to boxing. [MMA Junkie]
• Former EliteXC middleweight title-holder Murilo “Ninja” Rua has signed with DREAM and will make his debut for the promotion at DREAM 8 on April 5th in Japan. [Gracie Mag]
• Former NFL player and heavyweight prospect Rex Richards (8-1) will tryout for the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. [MMA Junkie]
• Andrei Arlovski’s boxing debut has been postponed until May. [Sherdog]
• Gina Carano says her anticipated bout against Cris “Cyborg” Santos is likely to take place before the end of 2009. [MMA Weekly]
• Former WEC fighters Johny Hendricks and Danillo Villefort will be transferred to the UFC’s welterweight division. [Five Ounces of Pain and MMA Junkie]
• Bellator has announced the complete lineup for its April 3rd debut. [MMA Junkie]
• Kendall Grove is likely to fight at UFC 101 on August 8th in Philadelphia. [Five Ounces of Pain]
• Bellator’s third event will take place on April 17th in Norman, Oklahoma and will feature the first round of the promotion’s middleweight tournament, which includes notable Hector Lombard, with Brandon Vera’s wife Kerry Vera also slated to be in action in a non-tournament bout. [MMA Junkie]
• Jon Fitch has signed a five-fight contract extension with the UFC. [MMA Mania]
• Wilson Reis vs. Henry Martinez will headline Bellator’s second event on April 10th at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. [MMA Junkie]
• Ultimate Fighter cast members Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver and Joe Scarola will fight for the welterweight and lightweight titles respectively at MMA Big Show’s June 10th “Conviction” event at the Belterra Casino in Belterra, Indiana.
• Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya and Makoto Takimoto vs. Michael Costa have been added to the official lineup for Sengoku Eighth Battle on May 2nd in Tokyo.
• New Jersey has refused to sanction a planned boxing bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and former boxing champion Ray Mercer, which was to headline Adrenaline MMA’s third show on May 30th in Atlantic City. This bout is now tentatively scheduled to take place in June at a location to-be-announced. [MMA Weekly]
• The Ultimate Fighter 7 teammates Matt Riddle and Dan Cramer are likely to square off at UFC 101. [Five Ounces of Pain]
• Welterweight bouts featuring Josh Koscheck against Chris Wilson at UFC 98 and Paul Taylor versus Peter Sobotta at UFC 99 have been officially announced.

“I have no need to fight that Russian fighter (Golyaev),” Kitaoka said at the post-fight press conference. “If it was me in there tonight, I would have crushed that Russian in seconds. I had a tougher time than Gomi — my two fights tonight and my training for them — so that’s why I said what I said [when I challenged Gomi in the ring]. Anyone have a problem with that?”

Gomi, a top lightweight ranked as high as number two in the 155-pound division prior to his surprising loss, will look to rebound from three-straight lackluster performances when he takes on Kitaoka in January, and should he emerge victorious his first defense of the lightweight title could be a rematch with Golyaev.

Heavyweight Josh Barnett headlines Sengoku 6 against an opponent to-be-announced, with the event also slated to feature the conclusion of the promotion’s lightweight and middleweight tournaments.

Added to the card today were Muhammad Lawal vs. Fabio Silva, Takanori Gomi vs. Sergey Golyaev, and Joe Doerksen vs. Izuru Takeuchi.

Sengoku 6 now features:

• Josh Barnett vs. TBD
• Middleweight GP Final
• Lightweight GP Final
• Muhammad Lawal vs. Fabio Silva
• Takanori Gomi vs. Sergey Golyaev
• Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Jorge Santiago
  Middleweight GP Semifinal
• Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Yuki Sasaki
  Middleweight GP Semifinal
• Joe Doerksen vs. Izuru Takeuchi
  Middleweight GP Reserve Bout
• Mizuto Hirota vs. Kazunori Yokota
  Lightweight GP Semifinal
• Satoru Kitaoka vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
  Lightweight GP Semifinal
• Bang Seung Hwan vs. Jorge Masvidal
  Lightweight GP Reserve Bout