News of the fights was first reported by MMAJunkie.com

One of the top lightweights in the world for many years, Aoki is currently on a five fight win streak. “The Baka Survivor” is known for his excellent grappling game, with 18 of his career 28 victories coming by way of submission. During his five fight win streak, Aoki has submitted four of his opponents including wrestler Lyle Beerbohm, striker Tatsuya Kawajiri, and grappler Rich Clementi. Although the man with the rainbow pants is the current DREAM lightweight champion, his title will not be on the line in this fight.

“Razor” Rob is a muay thai veteran who has been competing in MMA since 2001. A former WEC lightweight champion, McCullough is looking for one last big run in his career. 4-4 in his last eight fights, he’s coming off a devastating TKO loss to Patricky Freire in the first round of Bellator‘s most recent lightweight tournament. This fight will be McCullough’s first pro MMA fight outside of the US in his career.

At the age of 31, Kitaoka has already competed in 46 professional bouts and holds victories over the likes of Takanori Gomi, Paul Daley, and Carlos Condit. His opponent, Freire, had won 11 straight fights before losing a unanimous decision to Waylon Lowe at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 this past January.

DREAM.17 is scheduled for September 24 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Along with these two lightweight bouts, a featherweight bout between Takeshi Inoue and Caol Uno is on the card. No word yet if the event will be broadcasted live in the United States.

The first name mentioned by the promotion as participating in the Season 4 tournament is former WEC title-holder “Razor” Rob McCullough. The 19-6 Californian went 2-0 in 2010 after parting ways with WEC and holds past wins over Rich Crunkilton, Marcus Hicks, Ryan Healy, and Nam Phan. Eleven of his wins have come by way of TKO.

UPDATE: According to friend/manager Ken Pavia by way of Twitter it appears McCullough will make his Bellator debut on March 12.

“You’re definitely going to see a new and improved version of ‘Razor’ Rob in Bellator,” explained McCullough. “I have a family now so I’m not out running around like I was before. I’m more conditioned and focused than ever. I’ve completely rededicated myself to this sport. This is my career. I’m supporting a little boy and a wife now. It’s become bigger than just me.”

McCullough became a father in March with wife, and former Penthouse Pet, Lexxi Tyler.

“I’ve been training for the last six months straight, twice a day, every day,” he continued on his bid in the tournament. “I’ve been adding new elements to my game, tweaking things and working on old techniques. I’ve got nothing but positive people surrounding me and I’m ready to get back to the top.”

Though no other lightweights have been officially attached to Season 4 other 155-pound fighters on the Bellator roster with the credentials for a tournament run include Toby Imada, Patricky Freire, and Pat Curran.

Bellator will kick things off with the first event of 2011 on March 5 in Lemoore, California with the Season 4 debut on MTV2.

“Razor Rob is a dangerous lightweight with championship experience who has consistently displayed an ability to end fights throughout his career,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “If you are a fan of the Lightweight division in MMA, you’ve got to be a fan of Razor’s. I’m looking forward to watching him compete in our Season 4 Lightweight Tournament.”

There is no question that it was McCullough’s life outside of the cage that made him the fighter he is today. Leaving home at age 14, he spent a large part of his adolescence on the streets of Huntington Beach, bouncing from friend’s couches and getting involved with gangs.

“I grew up with a pretty crazy family life as a kid. I separated from my family at a fairly young age,” said McCullough. “I ended up telling my Mom that I was going to the beach, and I packed my bags, knowing that I wasn’t coming back. I ended up getting mixed up in a lot of gang stuff after I left home.”

However, “Razor” eventually found security and guidance in a local kickboxing gym where he started training in 1995.

“I started thinking to myself, ‘Dude, this is not the road I pictured my life going down.’ I was packing knives and fighting all the time, and I was just like, ‘Man, this sucks.’ That’s when I started training kickboxing. Shortly after that I hooked up with Tito Ortiz, who was fighting for the UFC in its early stages, and just totally dedicated myself to training,” said McCullough. “I absolutely feel like martial arts saved my life.”

McCullough went 35-2 in his amateur kickboxing career, eventually transitioning to training MMA fulltime and going pro in 2001. McCullough rose quickly in the sport. By 2007 he amassed an eight fight win streak, eventually capturing the WEC Lightweight title. However, after winning the belt the dangerous striker admittedly lost focus and motivation, going 2-3 in his next five fights.

“I never grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth, and then all of a sudden I started making some money after becoming successful in my fighting career,” said McCullough. “I was going to clubs all the time…flying to Tokyo…hanging out at the Playboy Mansion and next thing I knew, I was completely and totally distracted from my career as a professional mixed martial artist.”

A year and a half ago McCullough felt himself losing grip on his life again and decided it was time to make a change, he has been clean and sober since that time. Getting married and having a little boy all within the last year, McCullough has found himself with a new dedication and drive for the sport.

“Before I was fighting just because I loved to do it and I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do what I love, but now it’s a lot more serious,” said McCullough. “The guy that I’m fighting is trying to take food off my kid’s table. It’s entirely different now. I’ve found a new focus and a new motivation, so I’m ready to get in there and get buck wild in Bellator.”

“I’m really glad to be part of a promotion as great as Bellator. I’m ready to get back to work, and finish fights. Getting in the cage and being able to mix it up with the best of the best is what I’m in this sport for. I’ve been doing this for 15 years for a reason, and it’s to test myself against the best competition in the world. I’ll be able to do that at Bellator,” said McCullough.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com was the first to report earlier this month that the reported WEC 38 bout between the two had been postponed due to wear and tear sustained by McCullough during a heated fight against Donald Cerrone at WEC 36 in November.

However, McCullough revealed during a Tuesday conference call to promote the upcoming airing of his bout against Cerrone on VERSUS that the fight vs. Hicks appears to be a go for WEC 39 in March.

McCullough’s unanimous decision loss to Cerrone at WEC 36 reportedly was a “Match of the Year” candidate and the fight will be shown in its entirety for the first time during VERSUS’ Dec. 28 premiere of “WEC Best of 2008.”

According to MMAjunkie.com, the unnanounced March event could take place in Florida and be headlined by WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown defending his title vs. Leonard Garcia.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed with news early Thursday morning with McCullough’s agent, Ken Pavia of MMA Agents.

Pavia indicated that the turn around time following McCullough’s last fight at WEC 36 on Nov. 5 and WEC 38 on Jan. 25 is too short. McCullough had to extend what originally was a rigorous eight week training camp to 16 weeks after WEC 36 was moved from September to November in light of Hurricane Ike. Then, he was involved in a physically grueling unanimous decision loss against Donald Cerrone last month that earned “Fight of the Night” honors.

McCullough had been hoping to earn a rematch vs. Jamie Varner following a title loss to him earlier this year at WEC 32 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Hicks, 8-1, suffered the first loss of his career while challenging Varner during Varner’s first defense of the title at WEC 35 this past August. Prior to challenging for the title, Hicks had gone 3-0 while competing under the WEC banner.