Bang (5-2) fought outside of DEEP for the first time on August 24 at Sengoku 4, taking on Takanori Gomi, widely considered to be the second best lightweight in the world, after BJ Penn.
That fight apparently also marked Bang's exit from the promotion, according to DEEP president Shigeru Saeki.
"He's allowed to fight in other events," Saeki said, in a report on livedoor. "However, he didn't notify us before he participated in Sengoku. We didn't hear anything from him and didn't even know he was still willing to fight for DEEP."
Entering the fight on a five-fight winning streak, Bang lost a unanimous decision to the former PRIDE lightweight champion.
"He fought Gomi as a DEEP champion and lost," Saeki said. "The value of the DEEP title is lower that the value of a Sengoku championship now. I would like him to realize that he represented DEEP. I was wondering what we should do since he lost, and then his manager delivered the belt yesterday. I think he probably won't fight in DEEP again."
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