Japanese welterweight Shinsho Anzai recently announced that he was ready for the next challenge after leaving the UFC. The 33 year old didn’t have to wait long to find a fight, he is booked for Deep 91 on September 8th.
Anzai (10-3) is a former Middleweight King of Pancrase who went 2-2 during his UFC stint. This will be his first fight in over a year.
Anzai will face off against Yoichiro Sato (21-10-2) who is coming off a decision loss to Yuta Watanabe at Deep 90 last month. He challenged unsuccessfully for the promotion’s 170lbs title last year.
The current Deep welterweight champion is Ryuichiro Sumimura. He was last seen in action at Rizin 12 and it is possible Anzai might make the same journey.
Other Deep champions who have gone on to fight for Rizin include Jaideep Singh, Takafumi Otsuka, Koji Takeda, Mizuto Hirota, Satoru Kitaoka and Yuki Motoya.
Meanwhile reigning Deep strawweight champion Haruo Ochi and bantamweight champion Victor Henry are both booked to make their promotional debuts at Rizin 18 next month.
As previously announced two of the top featherweights on the Deep roster will face off in Tokyo on September 8th. Kyosuke Yokoyama takes on Juntaro Ushiku at the New Pier Hall.
The event also features undefeated flyweight prospect Yuki Ito (5-0). The 22 year old, who also has an unblemished amateur record, will be going up against Rizin veteran Yamato Fujita.
Deep 91, Tokyo, September 8th
Kyosuke Yokoyama vs. Juntaro Ushiku (Featherweight)
Shinsho Anzai vs. Yoichiro Sato (Welterweight)
Tomohiro Adaniya vs. Kaito Sakamaki (Flyweight)
Yamato Fujita vs. Yuki Ito (Flyweight)
Daisuke Endo vs. Kazuhide Shirota (Bantamweight)
Mizuki Furuse vs. Mika Sakamoto (Atomweight)
Nao Yoneda vs. Ibuki Shimada (Welterweight)
Michihito Abe vs. Fuhito Hasegawa (Bantamweight)
Koya Kanda vs. Yukihiro Sasaki (Featherweight)
Yutaka Hayashi vs. Rikito Tago (Strawweight)
