DeJesus Suspended; Soto-Yagin for FW Title at TPF 10

DeJesus (Pictured; file photo) tested positive for marijuana following his May 6 knockout victory over Russ Miura at TPF 9. According to the California State Athletic Commission, the Goon Squad fighter has been suspended for six months and fined $500. In an unrelated matter, DeJesus was stripped of his featherweight belt by Tachi Palace Fights after he failed to make weight for his bout with Miura, making the title vacant.

Stepping up to face Yagin for the vacant strap will be Bellator Fighting Championships’ inaugural featherweight king Joe Soto. TPF 10 goes down Aug. 5 from the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif. While verbal agreements are in place for the contest, Soto, who was sidelined last year with a detached retina, has not yet been medically cleared to fight by the athletic commission. MMAJunkie.com first reported that Soto would compete at the event.

Soto returns to Tachi Palace following a successful run with Bellator that saw him win the promotion’s first-ever featherweight tournament. Besting three opponents in the span of two months, the 24-year-old captured the belt by submitting Yahir Reyes in the final at Bellator 10 in 2009. Soto then went on to post back-to-back wins over Mike Christensen at TPF 1 and Diego Saraiva at Bellator 19 in a non-title bout. In his first defense of his Bellator crown, Soto fell victim to a come-from-behind knockout at the hands of Joe Warren. Following the September defeat, Soto learned of his detached retina and has been unable to compete while healing the injury.

Yagin has not fought since 2009, when he had a five-fight winning streak snapped by the aforementioned Saraiva at TPF 2. A 10-year veteran of the sport, Yagin is a former SuperBrawl and Palace Fighting Championship talent. “The Filipino Phenom” has finished eight of his 13 career victims and has faced such notable competition as Rich Clementi and Vitor Ribeiro. The Hawaiian featherweight holds four knockout wins to his credit, and both of his TKO losses have come via doctors' stoppages.