‘The child of Shooto’ now becomes some illegitimate son that annexed from his parents and will now be adopted by bigger, more wealthy parents that will most likely use him to sell a ton of PPV broadcasts in the US. According to NightmareOfBattle, Hatsu Hioki has relinquished his Shooto lightweight belt and will no longer compete in the organization in order to move to the next challenge in the ‘new stage.’ We’re not sure what or where this new stage will be, but if it’s anything like the ‘Challenge Tower’ in the new Mortal Kombat, Hioki will be forced to progress up a seemingly infinite ladder and compete in increasingly insignificant bouts.
Taiki Tsuchiya also relinquished his Shooto Pacific Rim Lightweight title for no apparent reason. Perhaps he didn’t want to feel left out, but there’s no mention of him moving to any other MMA organization. [Source]
