Fighting Entertainment Group has determined the match ups for the upcoming Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix. The first-round of the tournament takes place May 29 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The pairings were decided by a drawing at a press conference in Tokyo. The field includes the current Deep bantamweight champion. The top three finishers from the Japan Bantamweight field will earn births into the world tournament, which is scheduled for later this year.
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hideo Tokoro
Darren Uyenoyama vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Kenji Osawa vs. Takafumi Otsuka
Keisuke Fujiwara vs. Masakazu Imanari
Dream announced late last year, that they were moving toward normalizing their bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Hiroyuki Takaya defeated Bibiano Fernandes for the Dream featherweight title on New Year’s Eve. At the time, their featherweight division was set at 63 kg/139 lbs. Now, bantamweight is set at 61 kg/134 lbs, and featherweight is set at 65 kg/143 lbs. Takaya will remain featherweight champion.