DREAM.6 9/23/08 Re-Cap

DREAM 6 9/23/08 Re-Cap

Once again Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice are the announcers. This show will focus around the Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals and Finals. We have Souza vs. Galesic and Mousasi vs. Manhoef. Plus, we have Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem.

Middleweight Reseve Fight- Andrews Nakahara (0-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-5)

This is just in case someone gets injured in the Middleweight Grand Prix. Joachim Hansen fought in the Lightweight Reserve Fight and ended up fighting for the title and winning it at the last show. Yoon holds a win over both Galesic and Manhoef. Nakahara's only fight was against Sakuraba. Nakahara comes out to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Not a bad choice.

R1- Nakahara hits an early kick but then they clinch. Yoon pulled guard but then they separated with little action. They stand up and then Yoon gets a take down. Nakahura goes for a submission but he's in the ropes and Yoon escapes. Yoon has a mount on Nakahara but doesn't really seem to be doing much with it, looks like he's waiting for a submission. Nakahara eventually escapes. Nakahara got Yoon down and hit some knees at the end of the round. Not a real thrilling round, fairly close, round probably goes to Yoon due to ring control (in DREAM rounds are not judged, the fights are judged as a whole).

R2- They swing pretty wildly to start the round and Nakahara connects with some shots and takes Yoon down and then works him over via Ground and Pound and the ref stops the fight. Impressive round for Nakahara.

Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (strikes) R2 0:30

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)

This is going to be striker (Manhoef) versus submission wrestler (Mousasi). Should be interesting. Mousasi has won his last 9 fights and beat Denis Kang in the opener of this tournament. Manhoef has 21 finishes by TKO or KO out of his 22 wins. Mousasi is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.

R1- Mousasi shoots in early and Manhoef sprawls but Mousasi eventually takes him down and almost immediately has his back. Manhoef flips him over but Mousasi gets a triangle. Manhoef picks him up and slams him down and the move gets clamped in harder and it's over as Manhoef taps. Very impressive and short victory for Mousasi. Getting a quick victory in this fight really sets up Mousasi as the probable favorite for the finals later.

Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Triangle) R1 1:28

Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (9-1) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-3)

This is very similar to the last fight as it pits a striker (Galesic) versus the submission guy (Jacare). Galesic comes out to Linkin Park. Jacare lost his debut MMA fight and has not lost since.

R1- Jacare shoots in and gets a quick take down. Jacare gets some shots and then easily passes guard. Jacare takes the mount but Galesic flips him over and Jacare grabs an arm bar and wins. Wow, great performance by Jacare. That was one of the quickest arm bars and arm bar submissions that you will see.

Jacare and Mousasi both put their opponents away quickly in the first round with submissions. Should be a good final.

Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Submission (Arm Bar) R1

Featherweight Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1) vs. Hideo Tokoro (22-13-1)

Tokoro has won fights on both DREAM.4 and DREAM.5. He's looking to make it three wins in three straight DREAM shows. His fight against Darren Uyenoyama was one of the better fights on that show. Kid Yamamoto is in Atsushi's corner for the fight. Yamamoto's last 6 fights have all gone to a submission (he is 4-2 in those fights).

R1- Tokoro gets a couple of good strikes in early. Yamamoto got in a big strike that knocked down Tokoro about 1 minute in and then pounced on him but Tokoro grabbed guard to protect himself. Back on their feet and Yamamoto continues to hit some jabs and lands a flying knee. Tokoro getting in a couple of kicks. Tokoro pulls guard as he went after Yamamoto's arm. Back to their feet and it's pretty even right now. Yamamoto bloodies Tokoro's nose. Tokoro pulls guard again after a missed somersault kick. Yamamoto has the advantage after the first round.

R2- Shortly after the round starts they stop the action to check Tokoro's bloody nose. Tokoro grabs an arm and gets a near submission but Yamamoto turns back into him. Tokoro really trying for the submission as this might be his only way to win. 30 seconds left in the fight and Tokoro is trying to straighten out the arm but Yamamoto is stopping him and then landing some strikes. Good effort at the end by Tokoro but it looks to me like Yamamoto is going to win by decision. Yamamoto does some post match push ups.

Winner: Atsushi Yamamoto by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5) vs. Hayato Sakurai (32-8-2)

R1- Hironaka got a take down about a minute into the fight. Not much happened and they went back to their feet. Sakurai starts to find the range in the stand up game. Sakurai lost his balance and Hironaka took his guard and then tried to pass and ended back up in the guard. Hironaka hits an illegal kick as he kicked Sakurai in the chin when he was on the mat (in DREAM you can only kick a downed opponent- or knee- if both guys are on the mat). They re-start with 1:30 left in the round. Sakurai hit a good body shot. Sakurai is finishing the round strong.

R2- Hironaka works early to take this to the mat and Sakurai tries to keep it on the feet. No one really seems to be winning this round. Kind of a boring fight so far. Sakurai lands two knees towards the end and then a big punch that floors Hironaka and then gets some Ground and Pound to finish off the fight as the bell rings. Sakurai closed very well and should win this fight.

Winner: Hayato Sakurai by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Fight- Masanori Tonooka (1-1) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1)

R1- Akiyama got a take down after about 2 minutes of stand up. Akiyama ties him up and gets some good Ground and Pound. Akiyama just kind of toying with his inexperienced opponent. Akiyama takes his back but then losses it. Akiyama takes him down again and lands in side control. Akiyama moves to a mount position and goes for an arm. He gets the arm bar and this one is over.

Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 6:26

Lightweight Fight- Todd Moore (9-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-3)

Moore fought most recently in WEC. He has lost his last 2 fights. This should be interesting as Aoki will try to jump on Moore and ride him to a submission victory or a decision and Moore is going to have to try and knock off the gnat that is the favored Aoki. JZ and Yves Edwards are in Moore's corner. Aoki has a height and reach advantage.

R1- Aoki jumps on Moore's back about a minute in and Moor backs into the corner. Aoki clamps in the Rear Naked Choke and this one is over before it started.

Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Heavyweight Fight- Mirko Cro Cop (23-6-2) vs. Alistair Overeem (28-11)

Overeem has a height and weight advantage. Overeem's strenghts are his strength and his striking and that's also Cro Cops strengths. Fedor is ringside at the fight tonight. Cro Cop is coming out to Duran Duran. Fedor enters the ring with a bouquet of flowers and shakes Overeem's hand and the Cro Cop and presents flowers to the corner of each fighter.

R1- Overem throws Cro Cop down for the first take down about one minute into the fight and takes Cro Cops guard. Cro Cop is busted open above the eye as Alistair is getting in some shots but nothing too damaging. The ref stops the fight a little under 3 minutes into the fight to check the cut. They re-start in the same position with Overeem in Cro Cops guard. Overeem gets pushed away and they stand back up. Cro Cop hits a kick and follows with a high kick but Overeem catches it and dumps Cro Cop onto the mat and takes his guard and starts to deliver some Ground and Pound. Overeem started to hit some better shots and he really lays into Cro Cop on a shot of two. The ref stops the fight at 5:30 to again check the cut above Cro Cops eye. They are back on their feet and Overeem hits some knees. Overeem hits a low blow. Cro Cop takes more than enough time to recover and now he will try to get back into this fight. Overeem clinches and goes back to the knees and Overeem hits him low again. Overeem gets a yellow card. Cro Cop is bleeding pretty good. Cro Cop is laying down like he's been shot. I think he knows he's overmatched and he's going to take this way out so that he gets a no decision. Overeem hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Ten minutes later and Cro Cop is still down. Cro Cop can't continue due to the shots to the family jewels but he was getting owned in this fight. Alistair won this fight easily in my mind. Once the fight was over Cro Cop got to his feet and left pretty quickly although still limping a bit but nothing like he looked like he was dying in the ring for the last 15 minutes.

Decision: No Contest

Alistair takes the microphone. He apologizes for the fight ending the way that it did. Says he's the number 1 heavyweight in DREAM.

Middleweight Grand Prix Finals Championship Fight- Gegard Mousasi (23-2-1) vs. Ronaldo Souza (10-1)

R1- Jacare gets a slam about a minute in. Mousasi tried to grab the ropes to hold on but the ref warned him. Jacare postures up and comes down with a punch but instead eats a kick and he is out! Mousasi with the up kick for the championship. Wow.

Winner and new Middleweight Champion: Gegard Mousasi by KO R1 2:15