FanHouse Rumina Sato

If Vale Tudo Japan '09 was indeed Takanori Gomi's send-off event from Japan, and while his performance put forth wasn't ideal, the former PRIDE champion can take solace in the fact that he will leave on back-to-back wins.

Gomi defeated King of the Cage lightweight titleholder Tony Hervey Friday in Tokyo in the main event of the rebirth of the venerable Vale Tudo Japan series, which returned after a 10-year absence.

The Vale Tudo Japan series will return after 10 years on Oct. 30 in Tokyo and the first four participants set for the event are Takanori Gomi, Rumina Sato, Takeshi "Lion" Inoue and Alexandre Franca "Pequeno" Nogueira.

The Vale Tudo Japan series were annual events connected to Shooto from 1994 to 1999 and featured early pro fights from RIckson Gracie, Randy Couture and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai.

Three of the four so far confirmed for Vale Tudo Japan 2009, Sato, Gomi and Nogueira, fought 10 years earlier on the same card at the then-final Vale Tudo event. At Vale Tudo Japan 2009, Shooto champion "Lion" Inoue will take on former champ Nogueira, while Sato and Gomi will face opponents to be announced.

The UFC Fan Expo taking place next weekend in Las Vegas in conjunction with UFC 100 has added some star power, as the UFC has announced a series of grappling matches and appearances by Kimbo Slice and the rest of the cast of The Ultimate Fighter 10.

The grappling matches feature some of the best jiu jitsu players in the world, and I'm personally most excited about seeing Vinny Magalhaes, who appeared on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter. Magalhaes lackst the striking to compete in the UFC, but he's amazing on the ground. He'll be fun to watch, although the UFC hasn't yet said who he's facing.