Following his tenure with the IFL and a one-off fight with Texas-based promotion "NoLimit Fighting", Don Frye competed in his inaugural fight with the DEEP organization, fighting Japanese fan favorite Ikuhisa Minowa. Minowa won via kneebar at the 3:56 mark of round one, dropping Frye's record in Japan to 8-6. From there, he signed with Shark Fights stateside the following year. His submitted Ritch Moss at "Shark Fights 4" in May 2009 but suffered a quick TKO loss at the hands of Dave Herman at "Shark Fights 6: Stars & Stripes" four months later.