DeJesus-Miura, Spiritwolf-Collins Inked for TPF 9

---

Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champion Isaac DeJesus will put his title on the line against once-beaten “Submission Magician” Russ Miura at the California promotion’s May 5 event.

Miura’s management, Jason House of Iridium Sports Agency, on Monday confirmed to Sherdog.com that contracts are in place for the matchup, which will take place at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif. Also signed for the event is a welterweight showdown between Strikeforce veteran Waachiim Spiritwolf and Tachi mainstay Phil Collins.

DeJesus seeks to defend his belt for the first time since winning the inaugural title with a first-round technical knockout against Nam Phan in February 2010. Since then, the Goon Squad representative has lost back-to-back bouts: one via TKO to “Razor” Rob McCullough in a 160-pound affair, and one via submission to Micah Miller, who missed weight for their December title bout.

His challenger, Miura, comes in riding a five-fight win streak, with four of those victories coming by way of submission. A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and former junior college wrestling champion in California, Miura has tasted defeat only once in his career, dropping a unanimous decision to former flyweight “King of Pancrase” Mitsuhisa Sunabe in 2006.

Meanwhile, Spiritwolf will look to reverse a run of bad fortune after 2010 saw the Californian go 2-2, with one draw and one no-contest. Following a thrilling decision loss to Billy Evangelista in his October Strikeforce debut, Spiritwolf’s anticipated bout with Dream champion Marius Zaromskis was rendered null after just six seconds, when Spiritwolf was accidentally poked in the eye during the opening salvo.

Collins also comes off a loss, having been knocked out by John Alessio for the vacant TPF welterweight title in December. The American Kickboxing Academy representative opened the year with a pair of first-round submission wins under the Tachi banner, armbarring Mike Arellano and heel-hooking Morris Aldaco in consecutive fights.

Also slated for the May 5 card are a middleweight clash between Gerald Harris and Anthony Ruiz, and a matchup of flyweight prospects in John Dodson and Alexis Vila.