Hansen and Sakurai Probable for August SHOOTO

TOKYO, July 22 — Top SHOOTO promoter Sustain is currently working on its final card for the August 20 event at Yokohama Cultural gym. Sherdog.com has learned the SHOOTO commission and Sustain are in talks right now with Joachim Hansen to be part of the August 20 card.

The Norwegian was offered current SHOOTO welterweight Pacific champion Koutetsu Boku, with the winner to fight Tatsuya Kawajiri in December for the SHOOTO World welterweight title.

Since August SHOOTO shows are important in terms of title matches and names, Sustain has thrown around some possible names for this show, which will be headlined by the match between Rumina Sato and Gilbert Melendez.

Sustain also wants Hayato “Mach” Sakurai to face current SHOOTO middleweight champion Akira Kikuchi in a non-title match. Sakurai was officially announced weeks ago by Sustain as part of their August card.

In case both Sakurai and Hansen participate in August, they will have only one month to get ready for the upcoming PRIDE Bushido 160-pound Grand Prix, which is scheduled for Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum on September 25.

This is the possible look for the upcoming SHOOTO card in August:

Gilbert Melendez (Cesar Gracie Academy, USA) vs. Rumina Sato (K'z Factory, Japan)

Mitsuhiro Ishida (Team TOPS, Japan) vs. Takashi Nakakura (SHOOTO Gym Osaka, Japan)

(Lightweight Rookie Tourney Semifinal) Kyotaro Nakao (SHOOTO Gym Yokohama, Japan) vs. Yutaka Nishioka (Paraestra Matsudo, Japan)

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (Mach Dojo, Japan) vs. Akira Kikuchi (Killer Bee, Japan)

Joachim Hansen (Team Scandinavia, Norway) vs. Koutetsu Boku (Killer Bee, Japan)