UFC Signs Highly Ranked Featherweight Hatsu Hioki

Highly ranked featherweight Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2) has been signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The announcement was made via the promotions Twitter (@UFC) account on Saturday.
The former Sengoku Raiden Championship featherweight champ, and Shooto lightweight champ, has been in negotiations with the UFC for some time now, with Hioki even making the trip out to North America this month to meet officials during the UFC 131 and Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum events.
The 27-year old fighter has won four straight and is 12-1-1 in his last fourteen bouts. His last fight was in April at a Shooto Tradition 2011 event, submitting opponent Donald Sanchez in the second round.
He earned the SRC featherweight title last December by defeating Marlon Sandro by unanimous decision at the Sengoku: Soul of Fight event. While earning the Shooto lightweight (143 lb) title in May of last year at a Shooto event by earning a split decision over Takeshi Inoue.
Hioki owns two wins over Mark Hominick, victories against Jeff Curran, Brian Geraghty, Ronnie Mann, among others.