DREAM.2 Middleweight Grand Prix 4/29/08 Re-Cap/Thoughts

DREAM.2 Middleweight Grand Prix 4/29/08

Lightweight Tournament Rematch:
Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante

R1- Aoki just kind of latches onto JZ throughout the early parts of this match and just tries not to get hit. Aoki grabs a leg hold about 2 minutes in and JZ responds with lots of stiff strikes and Aoki is in danger but Aoki got to his feet and tied up JZ again. Aoki's strategy seems to be just to be so close to JZ that JZ can't strike and to them try to grab onto a submission. Aoki rides JZ's back and is trying for a headlock/choke type move. Aoki hits his first strikes of the night at around 5 minutes as he's hitting JZ in the back of the head and then again goes for the choke from behind. Aoki is effective but man he's tremendously boring. JZ slumps down to the mat and Aoki still has him hooked and has his back. JZ finally gets out of the move with about a minute and a half left. Aoki just lays on his back and refuses to come to his feet. Man, I hate Aoki. He's just no fun. Unfortunately, he's winning this fight.

R2- Aoki gets JZ in his guard early in this round and just looks like his plan is to hang on and back into a victory here this evening. Aoki goes for an armbar but loses. Aoki lays on his back until the ref makes him come to his feet and fight. Aoki goes for a flying submission but JZ grabs him but once again Aoki gets him in his guard and basically just hugs him so he can't do anything. Great defense by Aoki as he looks like he's going to ride to a decision here. Aoki lays on the ground again until the ref makes him get to his feet and fight. Aoki jumps onto his own back but the ref makes him get to his feet again and fight. Aoki just trying to kill time here as he's on his back again. Practicing his best "look at me I'm a hooker" pose. Aoki ends up grabbing an effective armbar and is going for a submission. JZ rolls through very nicely and gets out.

And the fight ends. Man, Aoki is just so so so so boring. He's going to advance but if I never see him fight again it will be too soon.

Winner: Shinya "yawn" Aoki via Decision

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Taiei Kin

R1- Not much going on early. Minowa has a dominate position but Kin just kind of sits back and defends in full guard. Kin hits a nice kick but Minowa takes him down again. Kin gets a yellow card for stalling (which the announcers say takes away 10% of his purse). This wakes up Kin and he starts to get in some strikes. Minowa takes him down again but isn't doing any damage. Really uneventful first down. Minowa got a bunch of takedowns but did nothing. Kin got a yellow card for stalling but did get some nice kicks.

R2- Minowa takes down Kin early in the round and lays on him. Then the round ends. This just wasn't a very good fight.

Winner: Taiei Kin via Decision (Unanimous)

Two real snoozefest fights to start off this show.

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Yoon Dong Sik vs. Shungo Oyama

R1- Both of these guys have losing records but the announcers are pimping them as "underrated" so it will be interesting to see who can live up to they hype the announcers are giving them. Yoon takes him down pretty quickly and is actually trying to do damage to his opponent (unlike the last fight). Oyama grabs an arm lock but can't hold it. Yoon continues to hold a dominant position over Oyama on the mat throughout the first half of Round One. Decent first round that I would give to Yoon as he dominated ring control throughout the round.

R2- Yoon drops Oyama at the beginning of the round but couldn't follow up. Yoon continues to control this fight with take downs. Yoon nailing Oyama with Ground and Pound punches in the final minute of the fight.

Winner: Yoon Dong Sik by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Zeig Galesic vs. Magomed Sultanakhmedov

R1- Magomed is sporting a "Volk Han" T-Shirt so he is immediately the guy I want to win this fight. Zeig came at Magomed early but Magomed took him down. Zeig quickly reversed and this one looks like it might be a pretty active fight. Zeig grabs an armbar and Magomed has to tap early.

Winner: Zeig Galesic via Submission (Armbar) R1

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Ronaldo Jacare Souza vs. Ian Murphy

R1- This is Ian Murphy's first MMA fight. Souza is 7-1 gaining mostly first round submissions. Souza flies at Murphy at the beginning and Murphy is able to take him down but can't get an advantage. Souza just nailing him with knees. Souza takes him down and is going for an armbar. Souza is dominating since he got taken down that one time. Souza finally grabs a Rear Naked Choke and Murphy taps out. Murphy was just overmatched in this fight.

Winner: Ronald Jacare Souza via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

R1- Both of these guys have over 30 wins under the belt and both are over 30 years of age (38 and 39). Interesting how some relatively inexperienced guys got matched up against each other and then these two got matched up against each other. These guys mix it up pretty good early and Tamura is getting in a lot of shots and then takes down Funaki and is just destroying him and the ref calls for the bell. Impressive win by Tamura.

Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by TKO (punches) R1

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi

R1- Kang takes him down early after hitting a couple of punches. Kang is controlling the fight from the top. Mousasi grabs a triangle armbar from the bottom and taps Kang! Wow, this was a shocking upset in my book. Kang dominated but got caught with a submission and lost the fight.

Winner: Gegard Mousasi via Submission (triangle) R1

Middleweight Gran Prix Tournament Round One Fight: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara

R1- This is Nakahara's MMA debut. Sakuraba and his crew come in wearing pro wrestling masks and keep them on until the introductions. Sakuraba goes for a take down but Nakahara denies him early. Sakuraba gets kicked low and they stop the fight for a while. Nakahura hits a nice kick and then barely misses another after they re-start. This is a surprisingly even fight so far. Sakuraba grabs a rear naked choke and wins this one in a fairly competitive first round.

Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Overall Thoughts: This was a decent show. No great fights but after the first two clunkers it picked up. Surprise of the night was the Denis Kang upset. I'm thinking Souza looks like he might go on to win this one but there are also some real experienced fighters like Sakuraba and Tamura that will definitely have a say in this tournament.