DREAM.3 5/11/08 Re-Cap/Thoughts

DREAM.3 5.11.08

We are about 35 minutes in and awaiting the first match.

Featherweight Fight- Takeshi Yamazaki (13-7-2) vs. Shoji Maruyama (6-2-1)

R1- Shoji goes after Takeshi to start off with but Takeshi wraps him up. Takeshi's got him in full mount and is hitting him with some strikes. They briefly get back to their feet and then Takeshi takes him down again. Shoji gets some good punches from the back but Takeshi is overall controlling this fight. Back to their feet but this time Shoji gets the take down but it's quickly reversed. Takeshi has full mount. They stand up but quickly tie up again. Takeshi looking for another take down. Takeshi again gets the take down.They do some sprawling. Takeshi grabs an arm bar but Shoji some how twists and gets out and then delivers some punches as the round ends. REALLY boring first nine minutes. The last minute picked up and actually had some action. I almost thought that my least favorite fighter in the world, Shinya Aoki, was involved but he wasn't. He must have trained Takeshi Yamazaki.

R2- Shoji starts the second round (in DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes) with a take down but quickly losses his position. They stand back up and Takeshi quickly takes him back down but Shoji then reverses and lands a couple of nice punches but then they tie up again. Takeshi has pretty much done no damage in this fight but has controlled the majority of it. And the fight limps to an end. Just a really, really boring fight. Takeshi just hugged his way to a Shinya Aoki like victory in this one. Man, DREAM has some really really boring fights sometimes. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Winner: Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision (Unanimous)

They are really pushing Jason "Mayhem" Miller. They had a 10 minute video package of him before the show started and are now cutting to another hype video for him. I'm almost expecting a "Blood Runs Cold" promo and him to come out in Glacier like attire for the fight. That being said, i'd rather watch his promos than that first fight again. Man, that was just brutal. 60 minutes in and only one fight down. One really, really boring fight.

Middleweight Tournament Round 1:
Jason Miller (20-5) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-3)

Shibata is formerly of New Japan Pro Wrestling but I thought he was a lot heavier as he's fighting here at 185. Shibata runs down to the ring eager to fight. Shibata has lost his last three fights. Mayhem comes in looking like a member of the Beastie Boys or 3rd Bass.

R1- Right off the bat they are throwing and in the first 15 seconds we have more excitement than in almost all of the previous fight. Miller goes to slam Shibata and does but then gets caught with a couple of kicks. Miller really showboats early, basically not taking Shibata seriously and really outright disrespecting him. After he ate a couple of the kicks he straightened up though. Miller is in full mount now and Miller looks up at the camera like a jackass and then hits some punches. Man, this Miller guy really rubs me the wrong way. Seems like he has all the skills. He's just a jackass. Miller trying to get an armbar but Shibata survives and Miller is back to the mount. Miller gets some freedom and hits Shibata with a couple of hard punches to the face. Miller nails Shibata with a knee to the face. Miller now getting in some short punches to the face. Miller is dominating this fight so far. Miller with a lot of punches to the face and the fight is called.

Miller's actual fighting was impressive. I wasn't too impressed with his sportsmanship though. I'm all for someone who wants to showboat (see: Frank Shamrock) but a guy who is a HUGE favorite in the match just showboating to disrespect his opponent just shows that the guy is a pure jackass. Post-Match Jason Miller gets on the mic and thanks Shibata- yeah whatever. Actions speak louder than words. Miller is a douche.

Winner: Jason Miller by TKO (punches)

Middleweight Tournament Reserve Fight:
Melvin Manhoef 20-4-1 vs. Dae Won Kim (4-3)

Manhoef has 19 of his 20 wins by KO or TKO so this should be interesting. Looks like this is for the right to be in the Middleweight tournament IF someone is not able to continue on after winning.

R1- A couple of minutes in they start exchanging really good and Kim actually looks like he's getting the better of the exchanges and then he takes Melvin down and gets side control. Melvin reverses and is on top and drills Kim with a couple of punches and a knee to the back/side of the head and wins the fight.

Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO R1 4:08

Non-Tournament Lightweight Fight:
Bu Kyung Jung (0-2) vs. Daisuke Nakamura (13-9)

Nakamura controls the fight early by being on top and then getting another take down and getting on top again. This is a real ground oriented fight with Nakamura controlling. Kind of boring )I think the word "sterile" might be better. A lot of DREAM fights just feel "sterile") first round. Nakamura in control so far.

R2- In round 2 Nakamura drops Jung with a punch and it's over.

Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by KO R2

Welterweight Champion Eliminator:
Nick Diaz (15-7) vs. 16-5-3 Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3)

They play the Beck song "Loser" as they show these guys stats on the screen and talk about the upcoming fight.

R1- Diaz takes it to Inoue early. Diaz kind of stalking Inoue down throughout the ring and controlling the pace early on. Diaz is looking really good early in this fight. He's pushing the pace more than in some of the previous fights i've seen him in. Diaz gets a take down and Inoue is busted open as he has blood in his nose/mouth area. They get back to their feet quickly and the ref stops the fight to check the cut. They stop the fight again when Diaz is called for an illegal kick with Inoue in the ropes but he doesn't appear to be penalized. Back to the action and they are both throwing pretty good at one another. Diaz is landing some nice shots and looked to be out on his feet and Inoue's corner throws in the towel. Nice showing by Diaz.

Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Corner Submission) R1

They review the Final 8 Middleweights left in the tournament:
Gegard Mousasi
Ronald Souza
Kazushi Sakuraba
Kiyoshi Tamura
Taiei Kin
Dong Sik Yoon
Zelg Galesic
Jason Miller

They review the Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal match-ups:
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Firmino

Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2) vs. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino (12-3)

R1- Kawajiri takes him down and is getting some shots and and the crowd is behind him. He's controlling the ground game early. Kawajiri is starting to open up about half way through the first round and is landing some good shots. They exchange on their feet and Kawajiri knocks him down and hits him with a knee. First round goes to Kawajiri as he's controlling the fight so far and looked like he had the opportunity to finish Buscape around the middle of the round but then they went to the mat and Buscape recovered.

R2- Kawjiri takes him down early in R2. Kawajiri landing some ground and pound on Buscape. Kawajiri just dominating this round. Somehow Buscape gets Kawajiri's back with about a minute and half left.

One thing that I really dislike about DREAM is that they aren't showing the time left in the round anywhere on the screen. I don't remember them doing this on the previous shows. Kawajiri turns it back over and gets some shots in at the bell. Kawajiri rolled in this one and definitely will be advancing.

I've liked what i've seen of Kawajiri in the two fights i've seen him in with DREAM but he hasn't shown finishing power as he hasn't finished either of his two fights in this tournament.

Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Tournament Round 2: Joachim Hansen (17-6-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (13-1)

This is the fight that I'm most looking forward to seeing on the show as I was impressed with both guys on DREAM.1. Hansen was real solid in his fight although he didn't finish and Alvarez looked very impressive in his win.

R1- Alvarez pops Hansen early and Hansen hits the floor. Alvarez jumps on top and Hansen defends really well and recovers. Back to their feet and Alvarez hitting some jabs and shots. Alvarez just dominating Hansen on their feet and Hansen grabs Alvarez and pulls him into his guard. They stand back up and both guys are mixing now, Hansen hits a knee to the body. Both guys mixing it up. Hansen goes for a knee and Alvarez grabs it and floors him but then stands back up as he'd rather fight standing up right now. Alvarez nails Hansen and he crumples again but Alvarez lets him recover. Alvarez takes Hansen down again. Alvarez with some light Ground and Pound. Alvarez looks like his nose is busted, Hansen is cut as well. Alvarez muscles Hansen down with another take down and lands a couple of shots and then stands back up. They mix it up on their feet and Alvarez grabs and slams Hansen. Alvarez is looking really good so far. Hansen tries a take down but is denied. They mix it up really well in the last 30 seconds of the round. Alvarez definitely took R1 and is ahead by a good bit in my book. Hansen really needs to come out and dominate R2 if he wants to win.

R2- Hansen takes Alvarez down early but he gets back to his feet. Hansen has him in a guillotine type move but doesn't have it tight. Alvarez pops his head out and is on top in Hansen's guard. Hansen rolls over and is now on top and getting some Ground and Pound in. Hansen has Alvarez in a triangle type move but Alvarez again slips out and gets a couple of punches in. Back to their feet and Alvarez lands a couple of punches. Both guys mixing it up. Alvarez takes Hansen's back but doesn't do anything with it. Hansen going for a lot of submission in this round and almost gets an armbar but Alvarez slips out again. Hansen with a couple of knees and then lays down on his back. Alvarez with a couple of leg kicks. Alvarez lands some punches against the ropes. Alvarez lands a kick at the end.

This was a really good fight. Definitely the best DREAM fight to this point. Alvarez wins this by clearly winning the first 10 minute round and then they were very even in Round 2 and Alvarez finished strong.

Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Tournament Round 2:
Caol Uno (24-10-4) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1)

R1- Lots of stand up and little action early. And their is a low blow and Caol Uno gets 5 minutes to recover from Ishida kicking him right where it counts. They start to mix it up when they come back and have some really nice sprawling. Ishida's face is all busted up (looks like his nose) and they stop to take a look at it. They show a replay and Uno nailed him with a nice punch on the side of the temple and then later right on the side of the nose. Both guys really throwing at one another. They are in the corner and really throwing at one other. Ishida finally takes down Uno. Ishida gets another take down but doesn't seem to be doing much with them. Ishida gets in position for a Rear Naked Choke but isn't able to get it clamped on. Both announcers say Uno took this first round. It was really close, Ishida started to control later in the round and seems to have the momentum going into R2.

R2- Ishida takes Uno's back fairly early in R2 and Uno taps out.

Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:39

Overall, this was a ho-hum show. I really enjoyed the last two fights (Uno/Ishida and Alvarez/Hansen). The mid-card was decent (with Nick Diaz being the highlight) and there were a couple of what seems to be a DREAM trademark of just stale fights where one guy just latches onto the other guy for 15 minutes and rides his opponent to victory without trying for damage or a submission. I like some of the fighters in DREAM and they put on some good fights but their overall shows come off as very sterile.