DREAM 13
Yokohama Arena
Japan
March 22, 2010
What a busy two weeks for MMA. XFC on HDNet last Friday, UFC on Versus on Sunday night, DREAM on HDNet Monday morning, next Friday HDNet has another King of the Cage show and Showtime counters with a Strikeforce Challengers show and UFC has another PPV next weekend. Wow. That's a huge line-up. This DREAM line-up has Joachim Hansen dropping in weight to challenge Bibiano Fernandes for the Featherweight title in what should be a great fight. We also have the return of KJ Noons and the controversial Josh Barnett on this show. Michael Schiavello and Frank Trigg are the announcers. This is the first DREAM show of 2010.
Open Weight Fight- Minowaman vs. Jimmy Ambriz
Schiavello's man love for Minowaman knows no bounds. I love how enthusiastic Schiavello is when he calls MMA. I had never heard him call anything until last year but he's quickly become my favorite play by play guy. Ambriz comes in at 275 pounds and Minowa is only 196 pounds.
R1- Ambriz controls the first part of the match by smothering Minowa. Ambriz grabs an arm triangle but can't keep it. Ambriz is just controlling Minowa so far. Ambriz gassed and Minowa employed the stick and move for the rest of the round. Not a very compelling fight so far.
R2- Ambriz starts off this round like the last one as he attempts to smother Minowa. Ambriz mounted but Minowa reversed him and then tapped him with a heel hook.
Winner: Minowman by Submission (Heel Hook) R2
We are one hour into the telecast and we are now on Fight #2.
Lightweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (16-6) vs. Katsunori Kikuno (12-2-2)
Kikuno comes out to "We Are the World". Only in Japan. Hironaka is a former UFC fighter who went 1-3 while in the UFC. Kikuno holds a win over Nick Diaz. Both fighters are 4-1 in their last 5 fights. This is being promoted as who is the 3rd strongest Japanese lightweight fighter behind Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri.
R1- Kikuno lands some good strikes at the beginning of the round. Kikuno landed a liver kick and then a big time right hand and Hironaka just folded to the mat and this one is all over. Really impressive victory for Katsunori Kikuno. He hit a kick, missed with a strike, hit a good solid left and a big right. Really good combination. This one lasted only a minute and a half.
Winner: Katsunori Kikuno by TKO (Strikes) R1
Featherweight Fight- Cole Escovedo (15-4) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (26-7-2)
Escovedo is a former WEC Featherweight Champion. He has lost fights to Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver in the past. He had to take 3 and a half years off after a really bad staph infection. He is known for his triangle choke. He comes out to some Metallica. 14 of Maeda's wins have come by TKO/KO. Escovedo is 4-1 in his last 5 fights, Maeda is 3-2 in his last 5.
R1- Maeda is the agressor early and is throwing a lot of strikes. Out of nowhere Escovedo landed a left head kick and this one is over. Two great finishes back to back. Maeda was looking really good until he ate that head kick. Big time KO by Escovedo.
Winner: Cole Escovedo by KO (Head Kick) R1
Welterweight Fight- Andrews Nakahara (2-1) vs. Ryo Chonan (16-10)
Nakahara comes out to Eminem. This is his one shot to seize everything. His palms are sweaty..... Chonan is a former Pride and UFC fighter and this is his debut in DREAM. He is only 1-3 in the UFC. Schiavello tells us that Chonan is the betting underdog in this fight.
R1- They exchanged two minutes into the round and Nakahara went down but I don't think he got hit solidly with anything. Chonan took top position but Nakahara did a good job of locking him up from the bottom. Chonan spends the majority of the round in top position. The referee hands out a yellow card to Nakahara for not working enough from the bottom and stands the fight back up. Chonan is definitely the aggressor on their feet after the stand up. Nakahara hit Chonan with a big kick to the balls which puts a stop to Chonan's control of the round. Chonan is well in control of this fight going into the final five minutes.
R2- Nakahara lands some good shots half way through the round and then both guys throw with Nakahara getting the better of the exchange. Chonan was able to stop Nakahara's onslaught with a take down. Chonan ends the fight on top of Nakahara as they go the distance. I think Chonan is going to win this one. Nakahara had a good onslaught in the 2nd round but it wasn't enough as Chonan controlled the majority of the fight.
Winner: Ryo Chonan by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- KJ Noons (7-2) vs. Andre Dida (6-3-1)
Andre Dida comes out wearing a Tiger Mask mask. Schiavello tells us that if Noons wins this fight that they will look to set him up against Tatsuya Kawajiri. Schiavello also tells us that Strikeforce big wig Scott Coker is in the house tonight. This is KJ's return to MMA after spending a lot of time boxing (he was 4-1 in his last 5 fights and won his last 3 fights). KJ has a 100% KO ratio in MMA. Dida is 2-3 in his last 5 fights. Noons is the favorite in this one.
R1- Dida starts this one out with a low blow. Noons is landing some decent body shots. Both guys landed quality punches at around the four minute mark but both guys absorbed them well. Methodical first round with Noons walking down Dida for the majority of the round and landing more jabs. Noons drew some blood from Dida's nose at the end of the round.
R2- Noons is starting to be more aggressive in this round and going for bigger shots. Dida's nose is really starting to bleed now and Noons looks like he may have a cut on his face as well. Noons is a little frustrated at Dida's continually backing away. Noons is going to take this by decision. Not a great fight by Noons but he was clearly the winner here tonight.
Winner: KJ Noons by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Josh Barnett (24-5) vs. Mighty Mo (3-1)
Barnett is a very controversial figure in the world of MMA. It's no shock that Josh is fighting in Japan after everything that happened to him prior to his Affliction fight with Fedor that never came to be. I would be shocked if Barnett fights in the US again for a major MMA company. Barnett should have an easy time in this fight. Mo took this fight on short notice about 10 days ago. Apparently DREAM had a tough time finding an opponent for Barnett for this fight.
R1- Mo hit a good strike and floored Barnett but he quickly got back to his feet before Mo could capitalize. Barnett landed a kick flush to Mo's "junk" and we are going to be taking a break for a while in this one. This one might be all over as they are taking a look at his package to see if he can continue. Mo is down and in agony and Schiavello and Twinkle Toes are thinking this one might be over. They have spent more than 5 minutes giving Mo time to rest as they really don't want to call this fight. They are giving Mo 3 more minutes. Josh told Mo he can hit him in the balls to even it out if they want. Mo is ready to continue and the ref gives Barnett a yellow card. Barnett got a take down about half way through the round and immediately got a kimura and this one is over.
Winner: Josh Barnett by Submission (Kimura) R1
Featherweight Title Fight- Bibiano Fernandes (c) (7-2) vs. Joachim Hansen (19-8-1)
Hansen was the first DREAM Lightweight Champion as he was a replacement for Eddie Alvarez and defeated Shinya Aoki in the tournament final. Hansen then lost the title to Aoki by submission. Hansen is a former Pride fighter and is the first fighter to defeat Takanori Gomi. Fernandes has only 2 losses in his career and they were to Urijah Faber (2006 by cut) and Kid Yamamoto (2007). This is the first defense of his title by Fernandes. Hansen has gone 3-2 in his last 5 and Fernandes is 5-0 in his last 5. Hansen is the favorite based on what the odds-makers say. Hansen normally fights at Lightweight and this is the first time I've seen him fight at this weight limit. If Hansen had a good cut I definitely can see him taking the title tonight. Even though this is a title fight it's still just a two round fight (the first round 10 minutes and the second round 5 minutes).
R1- Fernandes got a double leg take down 45 seconds into the fight but lets Hansen up. Fernandes hit a good counter right that briefly staggered Hansen but he absorbed it. Hansen really hasn't done much offensively so far after 3 and a half minutes. Fernandes got another take down with four minutes gone from the round but Hansen scrambled back to his feet without taking any damage. Fernandes landed another take down with two and a half minutes left in the first round but Hansen again got up with minimal damage inflicted. After the first round Fernandes is definitely winning the fight but he hasn't inflicted a lot of damage so Hansen could easily come back and win this in the second and final round.
R2- Fernandes got a quick double leg take down right at the beginning of the round and tried to get a leg lock but couldn't. Hansen is starting to find a home for his jab in this round but Fernandes caught a kick and took Hansen down again. Hansen landed some kicks while Fernandes stood above him. Fernandes got a take down in the last minute of the fight but Hansen got back to his feet with half a minute left. Close fight but Fernandes keeps the belt in my book. Two judges gave the fight to Fernandes and one gave it to Hansen so Fernandes keeps the belt. I think Hansen is better served in the Lightweight division as his speed seemed a bit off tonight and it took him a while to find his rhythm.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Split)
Showing posts with label Bibiano Fernandes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bibiano Fernandes. Show all posts
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, October 11, 2009
DREAM 11 10/5/09 Re-Cap
HEIWA DREAM.11 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round (10/5/09) – Yokohama Arena
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for the show. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Joachim Hansen will defend against Shinya Aoki and the Super Hulk Tournament continues!
Featherweight Grand Prix Reserve Fight- Daiki Hata (5-3) vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (7-7)
Miyata comes out to Bon Jovi. Hata beat semi-finalist Hideo Tokoro by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Featherweight Grand Prix but could not continue to the next round due to injury. Now he is better so he gets a spot in the reserve match. Michael Schiavello is in lust with Miyata’s body and has dubbed him “Sexy Miyata”.
R1- Miyata quickly takes Hata’s back and controlled him for a couple of minutes but couldn’t deliver any damage and the ref calls for a stand up with 6:30 left in the first round and delivers a yellow card to Hata. Miyata got a double leg take down with about 4 minutes left in the round. Miyata is able to take mount position with about 45 seconds left in the round and lands some Ground and Pound. Miyata is really controlling this fight so far but in DREAM the fight is judged on an overall basis and not by round.
R2- Miyata got a quick take down in the first half minute of the final round. Hata got up but Miyata slammed him back down with 3 minutes left in the round. Hata got back up and hit a couple of leg kicks and then Miyata went to take him down and Hata grabbed a guillotine choke and tried hard for the submission but Miyata hung in there and slipped out. Miyata got another take down in the final minute of the fight. Miyata controlled this fight for almost all of the fight but Hata came closer to finishing the fight. I’ve got Miyata taking this one.
Winner: Kazuyuki Miyata by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Hideo Tokoro (22-16-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1)
Tokoro has reached the semi-finals by beating Abel Cullum via Rear Naked Choke in the second round. In the first round Tokoro actually lost to Daiki Hata by Unanimous Decision but Hata was injured so Tokoro took his place in the 2nd round. Takaya has advanced to the semi-finals by beating Jong Won-Kim by 2nd round TKO and by defeating Yoshiro Maeda by TKO in the second round. Takaya likes to “smack people in the face.”
R1- Takaya landed a couple of strikes at the two and a half minute mark of the fight. Tokoro tried a jumping high kick but missed and Takaya gave him a nice strike for his troubles but let him back up. Tokoro went for a take down but got stuffed and ate some kicks to his legs. Takaya is really controlling this fight and caught Tokoro with a combo but Tokoro clinched and pulled guard. Tokoro tried a knee and then hit a good right hand that buckled Takaya’s legs. Tokoro hit another strike and tried to pull guard on a triangle but Tokoro took his guard. Takaya wakes up and delivers some great Ground and Pound shots and it looked like the ref stopped the fight right after the bell but I think he was just calling for the end of the round. Takaya was dangerously close to finishing the fight. Really good first round.
R2- Takaya got Tokoro down and quickly finished him with some Ground and Pound. Looks like Takaya really hurt Tokoro at the end of the last round and just finished it here at the beginning of this round. Really good fight.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Bibiano Fernandes (5-3) vs. Joe Warren (2-0)
Fernandes is a 5-time world jiu jitsu champion. Fernandes advance to this point by defeating Masakazu Imanari and Takafumi Otsuka by decision. Joe Warren is a decorated wrestler who has defeated tournament favorite Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe in this tournament (these were his first two MMA fights).
R1- They clinched early and Warren almost got a take down but couldn’t hold it and then got a slam and landed in Bibiano’s guard. Bibiano locked in an arm bar and Joe Warren tapped Bibiano’s leg and submitted.
Post-fight Warren looks confused like he didn’t tap and the Bibiano comes at Warren and points at him (possibly flipping him the bird) and then takes off out of the ring and on the ramp again points at him. Really strange happenings after this fight finished. Looks like Bibiano has to be the favorite for the finals due to the time of this fight versus the time of the other semi-final.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong-Man Choi
Minowa beat Bob Sapp in the first round to advance and Hong-Man Choi defeated Jose Canseco. Yes, that Jose Canseco. Choi is 7’2” and 355 lbs. Minowa is 5’9” and 201 lbs.
R1- Minowa looks like he’s half the size of Choi. Minowa tried for a take down and got stuffed and Choi was briefly on top but then stood up. Minowa landed an over hand right but Choi answered with a knee. Minowa went for a take down and fought and got it with about 6 minutes left in the round. Minowa is landing some knees to Choi’s side but really isn’t doing much and the ref stands them up at 3 minutes left in the round and gives Choi a yellow card. Choi got top position on Minowa and landed some strikes but then stood back up. Not a real exciting round. Both guys look pretty tired.
R2-Minowa went for a take down and didn’t initially get it but he twisted around and got on top and tried for a leg lock and he got it and tapped out Choi. Good showing by Minowa just because of the huge size dis-advantage that he had.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (leg lock) R2
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Bob Sapp vs. Sokoudjou
Bob Sapp lost in the first round to Minowa but is filling in for Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi was pretty vocal in saying that he didn’t want to fight Sokoudjou because he thought he was on the gas. Sokoudjou beat Jan Nortje in the first round to advance.
R1- Sapp missed a wild right hand and got taken down. Sokoudjou put his knee on Sapp’s stomach and landed some Ground and Pound and eventually the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) vs. Melchor Barracuda (2-3)
Kawajiri last fought at DREAM 9 where he beat JZ Calvacante by Unanimous Decision.
R1- Barracuda swung wildly to start but was clinched by Kawajiri. Kawajiri got him to the ground and took his guard. Kawajiri was able to move to the mount position. Kawajiri landed some good Ground and Pound and Barracuda’s corner stepped in and the ref stopped the fight. Very one-sided fight as was expected in this one. Kawajiri should be in line to face the winner of Hansen/Aoki.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO (Punches) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba (24-12-1) vs. Rubin Williams
Is a pro boxer who is 29-8-1 as a boxer with 16 knockouts but has lost his last 6 fights as a boxer. He’s been training in MMA for one year. This fight was added to the show late to spur attendance due to the drawing power of Sakuraba. Sakuraba was last seen losing to Kiyoshi Tamura and Melvin Manhoef so he’s on a 2 fight losing streak coming into this fight.
R1- Sakuraba starts out with some leg kicks and you can tell Williams doesn’t like them. Sakuraba shoots in and Williams tries to clinch him on the ground to minimize damage. Sakuraba lands some strikes and tries to set up for an arm bar or a kimura. Williams taps out to a kimura. Sakuraba made quick work of Williams.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Kimura) R1
DREAM Lightweight Title Fight- Joachim Hansen © (19-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (21-4)
Joachim Hansen actually lost to Eddie Alvarez in the 2nd round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix but came back as a replacement for Alvarez when Alvarez won his semi-final fight but then could not continue to the finals due to an injury. Hansen won his reserve fight so he moved on to the finals and defeated Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) in the first round in a pretty short fight. Since then Hansen has not fought but Aoki has gone on to fight a bunch of fights. At DREAM 6 Aoki beat Todd Moore by Rear Naked Choke in the first round, at the DREAM/K-1 Show he beat Eddie Alvarez for the WAMMA Lightweight Championship by Heel Hook Submission, at DREAM 7 he beat David Gardner by Rear Naked Choke Submission, at DREAM 8 he lost a Welterweight fight to Hayato Sakari by first round TKO (punches) in 27 seconds and at DREAM 10 he defeated Vitor Ribeiro by Unanimous Decision. Aoki is a consensus Top 5 Lightweight. He’s ranked by most as the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world behind BJ Penn.
R1- Hansen went for a big uppercut but missed and Aoki clinched him and got him to the ground. Hansen got back to his feet momentarily but Aoki wrestled him back down. Hansen kicked Aoki with two upkicks. One while he was standing and one while he had one knee on the ground. The ref calls for time. The announcers are saying that this is legal but that Aoki may have been hit with a shot to the groin. All the attention in the corner is being paid to Aoki’s eye and his vision and not his groin. Hansen’s corner is wondering what is going on. If this is for a groin kick then Aoki is milking this for everything it’s worth because he was about to get finished after those upkicks that badly damaged him. They re-start the fight with Aoki on top of Hansen. Hansen has an active guard and is landing some strikes on Aoki but nothing damaging. Hansen went for an arm bar and almost had it but Aoki countered nicely with some kicks and then a leg lock. Hansen countered back with some good elbows to the thigh area of Aoki. Aoki tried to lock on a reverse body triangle but Hansen escaped and got to his feet and briefly took Aoki’s back and then landed some strikes. Aoki got a double leg take down with about a minute forty left. Aoki is really not doing much while on top in this fight. This was a close round. Aoki spent most of the round on top but Hansen has come closer to finishing the fight. I’m not sure how they will score the upkicks that caused the stoppage.
R2- Hansen hit a couple strikes but then got clinched and taken down. Aoki is not doing anything on top so the fight is being stood up and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. Hansen came close to hitting a kick or knee to the head but Aoki got a take down. The ref moved the fighters to the center of the ring and Aoki quickly took mount position. Aoki goes for an arm bar with 45 seconds left as Hansen is blocking the move and checking with his corner to see how much time is left. Hansen rolled the wrong way and got caught with about 3 seconds left in the round and he tapped out. Wow, talk about a huge mistake by Hansen. All he had to do was hold on for about 3 seconds in the position that he was in instead of rolling over.
Winner and new champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Finals: Bibiano Fernandes (6-3)vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-6-1)
R1- Takaya landed an early strike and then went for a knee and got taken down. Fernandes went for a quick arm bar but came up empty and Takaya got on top. Fernandes quickly went for a leg lock but Takaya got out and quickly got back to his feet. Fernandes got a take down after he landed a strike. Fernandes stood them back up and jumped on Takaya’s back to try and get a Rear Naked Choke. The ref breaks the fighters and they re-start. Takaya landed a good right hand. Both guys are standing and landing some strikes as Fernandes continues to look for the take down. Fernandes got a take down with about two and a half minutes left in the round. Takaya put his back against the ropes and used the ropes to get back to his feet and then freed himself from Fernandes. Takaya swung with some good punches but Fernandes was able to push him off but he did sustain a cut near his eye during that exchange. Really good first round. Takaya looked like he hurt Fernandes at the end of the round.
R2- Fernandes countered a Takaya strike and knocked Takaya down. Takaya quickly got back up but Fernandez quickly got a take down. Fernandes quickly landed some punches and took Takaya’s back and Takaya stood up and moved Fernandes back to the corner and the referee broke the hold. Both guys throw some leather but neither is able to land anything solid. Takaya has some blood coming from his mouth and his left eye is swelling. Takaya landed some nice punches but Fernandes hung in there. Both guys are just swinging for the fences to try to win this fight. Awesome fight. This one is a toss up. I would probably have to give the fight to Fernandes because he came closer to finishing the fight and also scored a knock down in the second round. Really close round and one of the fights of the year.
Judges score the fight: Fernandes, Takaya and Fernandes
Winner and new champion: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Split)
Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for the show. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Joachim Hansen will defend against Shinya Aoki and the Super Hulk Tournament continues!
Featherweight Grand Prix Reserve Fight- Daiki Hata (5-3) vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (7-7)
Miyata comes out to Bon Jovi. Hata beat semi-finalist Hideo Tokoro by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Featherweight Grand Prix but could not continue to the next round due to injury. Now he is better so he gets a spot in the reserve match. Michael Schiavello is in lust with Miyata’s body and has dubbed him “Sexy Miyata”.
R1- Miyata quickly takes Hata’s back and controlled him for a couple of minutes but couldn’t deliver any damage and the ref calls for a stand up with 6:30 left in the first round and delivers a yellow card to Hata. Miyata got a double leg take down with about 4 minutes left in the round. Miyata is able to take mount position with about 45 seconds left in the round and lands some Ground and Pound. Miyata is really controlling this fight so far but in DREAM the fight is judged on an overall basis and not by round.
R2- Miyata got a quick take down in the first half minute of the final round. Hata got up but Miyata slammed him back down with 3 minutes left in the round. Hata got back up and hit a couple of leg kicks and then Miyata went to take him down and Hata grabbed a guillotine choke and tried hard for the submission but Miyata hung in there and slipped out. Miyata got another take down in the final minute of the fight. Miyata controlled this fight for almost all of the fight but Hata came closer to finishing the fight. I’ve got Miyata taking this one.
Winner: Kazuyuki Miyata by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Hideo Tokoro (22-16-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1)
Tokoro has reached the semi-finals by beating Abel Cullum via Rear Naked Choke in the second round. In the first round Tokoro actually lost to Daiki Hata by Unanimous Decision but Hata was injured so Tokoro took his place in the 2nd round. Takaya has advanced to the semi-finals by beating Jong Won-Kim by 2nd round TKO and by defeating Yoshiro Maeda by TKO in the second round. Takaya likes to “smack people in the face.”
R1- Takaya landed a couple of strikes at the two and a half minute mark of the fight. Tokoro tried a jumping high kick but missed and Takaya gave him a nice strike for his troubles but let him back up. Tokoro went for a take down but got stuffed and ate some kicks to his legs. Takaya is really controlling this fight and caught Tokoro with a combo but Tokoro clinched and pulled guard. Tokoro tried a knee and then hit a good right hand that buckled Takaya’s legs. Tokoro hit another strike and tried to pull guard on a triangle but Tokoro took his guard. Takaya wakes up and delivers some great Ground and Pound shots and it looked like the ref stopped the fight right after the bell but I think he was just calling for the end of the round. Takaya was dangerously close to finishing the fight. Really good first round.
R2- Takaya got Tokoro down and quickly finished him with some Ground and Pound. Looks like Takaya really hurt Tokoro at the end of the last round and just finished it here at the beginning of this round. Really good fight.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Bibiano Fernandes (5-3) vs. Joe Warren (2-0)
Fernandes is a 5-time world jiu jitsu champion. Fernandes advance to this point by defeating Masakazu Imanari and Takafumi Otsuka by decision. Joe Warren is a decorated wrestler who has defeated tournament favorite Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe in this tournament (these were his first two MMA fights).
R1- They clinched early and Warren almost got a take down but couldn’t hold it and then got a slam and landed in Bibiano’s guard. Bibiano locked in an arm bar and Joe Warren tapped Bibiano’s leg and submitted.
Post-fight Warren looks confused like he didn’t tap and the Bibiano comes at Warren and points at him (possibly flipping him the bird) and then takes off out of the ring and on the ramp again points at him. Really strange happenings after this fight finished. Looks like Bibiano has to be the favorite for the finals due to the time of this fight versus the time of the other semi-final.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong-Man Choi
Minowa beat Bob Sapp in the first round to advance and Hong-Man Choi defeated Jose Canseco. Yes, that Jose Canseco. Choi is 7’2” and 355 lbs. Minowa is 5’9” and 201 lbs.
R1- Minowa looks like he’s half the size of Choi. Minowa tried for a take down and got stuffed and Choi was briefly on top but then stood up. Minowa landed an over hand right but Choi answered with a knee. Minowa went for a take down and fought and got it with about 6 minutes left in the round. Minowa is landing some knees to Choi’s side but really isn’t doing much and the ref stands them up at 3 minutes left in the round and gives Choi a yellow card. Choi got top position on Minowa and landed some strikes but then stood back up. Not a real exciting round. Both guys look pretty tired.
R2-Minowa went for a take down and didn’t initially get it but he twisted around and got on top and tried for a leg lock and he got it and tapped out Choi. Good showing by Minowa just because of the huge size dis-advantage that he had.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (leg lock) R2
Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Bob Sapp vs. Sokoudjou
Bob Sapp lost in the first round to Minowa but is filling in for Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi was pretty vocal in saying that he didn’t want to fight Sokoudjou because he thought he was on the gas. Sokoudjou beat Jan Nortje in the first round to advance.
R1- Sapp missed a wild right hand and got taken down. Sokoudjou put his knee on Sapp’s stomach and landed some Ground and Pound and eventually the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) vs. Melchor Barracuda (2-3)
Kawajiri last fought at DREAM 9 where he beat JZ Calvacante by Unanimous Decision.
R1- Barracuda swung wildly to start but was clinched by Kawajiri. Kawajiri got him to the ground and took his guard. Kawajiri was able to move to the mount position. Kawajiri landed some good Ground and Pound and Barracuda’s corner stepped in and the ref stopped the fight. Very one-sided fight as was expected in this one. Kawajiri should be in line to face the winner of Hansen/Aoki.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO (Punches) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba (24-12-1) vs. Rubin Williams
Is a pro boxer who is 29-8-1 as a boxer with 16 knockouts but has lost his last 6 fights as a boxer. He’s been training in MMA for one year. This fight was added to the show late to spur attendance due to the drawing power of Sakuraba. Sakuraba was last seen losing to Kiyoshi Tamura and Melvin Manhoef so he’s on a 2 fight losing streak coming into this fight.
R1- Sakuraba starts out with some leg kicks and you can tell Williams doesn’t like them. Sakuraba shoots in and Williams tries to clinch him on the ground to minimize damage. Sakuraba lands some strikes and tries to set up for an arm bar or a kimura. Williams taps out to a kimura. Sakuraba made quick work of Williams.
Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Kimura) R1
DREAM Lightweight Title Fight- Joachim Hansen © (19-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (21-4)
Joachim Hansen actually lost to Eddie Alvarez in the 2nd round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix but came back as a replacement for Alvarez when Alvarez won his semi-final fight but then could not continue to the finals due to an injury. Hansen won his reserve fight so he moved on to the finals and defeated Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) in the first round in a pretty short fight. Since then Hansen has not fought but Aoki has gone on to fight a bunch of fights. At DREAM 6 Aoki beat Todd Moore by Rear Naked Choke in the first round, at the DREAM/K-1 Show he beat Eddie Alvarez for the WAMMA Lightweight Championship by Heel Hook Submission, at DREAM 7 he beat David Gardner by Rear Naked Choke Submission, at DREAM 8 he lost a Welterweight fight to Hayato Sakari by first round TKO (punches) in 27 seconds and at DREAM 10 he defeated Vitor Ribeiro by Unanimous Decision. Aoki is a consensus Top 5 Lightweight. He’s ranked by most as the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world behind BJ Penn.
R1- Hansen went for a big uppercut but missed and Aoki clinched him and got him to the ground. Hansen got back to his feet momentarily but Aoki wrestled him back down. Hansen kicked Aoki with two upkicks. One while he was standing and one while he had one knee on the ground. The ref calls for time. The announcers are saying that this is legal but that Aoki may have been hit with a shot to the groin. All the attention in the corner is being paid to Aoki’s eye and his vision and not his groin. Hansen’s corner is wondering what is going on. If this is for a groin kick then Aoki is milking this for everything it’s worth because he was about to get finished after those upkicks that badly damaged him. They re-start the fight with Aoki on top of Hansen. Hansen has an active guard and is landing some strikes on Aoki but nothing damaging. Hansen went for an arm bar and almost had it but Aoki countered nicely with some kicks and then a leg lock. Hansen countered back with some good elbows to the thigh area of Aoki. Aoki tried to lock on a reverse body triangle but Hansen escaped and got to his feet and briefly took Aoki’s back and then landed some strikes. Aoki got a double leg take down with about a minute forty left. Aoki is really not doing much while on top in this fight. This was a close round. Aoki spent most of the round on top but Hansen has come closer to finishing the fight. I’m not sure how they will score the upkicks that caused the stoppage.
R2- Hansen hit a couple strikes but then got clinched and taken down. Aoki is not doing anything on top so the fight is being stood up and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. Hansen came close to hitting a kick or knee to the head but Aoki got a take down. The ref moved the fighters to the center of the ring and Aoki quickly took mount position. Aoki goes for an arm bar with 45 seconds left as Hansen is blocking the move and checking with his corner to see how much time is left. Hansen rolled the wrong way and got caught with about 3 seconds left in the round and he tapped out. Wow, talk about a huge mistake by Hansen. All he had to do was hold on for about 3 seconds in the position that he was in instead of rolling over.
Winner and new champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix Finals: Bibiano Fernandes (6-3)vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-6-1)
R1- Takaya landed an early strike and then went for a knee and got taken down. Fernandes went for a quick arm bar but came up empty and Takaya got on top. Fernandes quickly went for a leg lock but Takaya got out and quickly got back to his feet. Fernandes got a take down after he landed a strike. Fernandes stood them back up and jumped on Takaya’s back to try and get a Rear Naked Choke. The ref breaks the fighters and they re-start. Takaya landed a good right hand. Both guys are standing and landing some strikes as Fernandes continues to look for the take down. Fernandes got a take down with about two and a half minutes left in the round. Takaya put his back against the ropes and used the ropes to get back to his feet and then freed himself from Fernandes. Takaya swung with some good punches but Fernandes was able to push him off but he did sustain a cut near his eye during that exchange. Really good first round. Takaya looked like he hurt Fernandes at the end of the round.
R2- Fernandes countered a Takaya strike and knocked Takaya down. Takaya quickly got back up but Fernandez quickly got a take down. Fernandes quickly landed some punches and took Takaya’s back and Takaya stood up and moved Fernandes back to the corner and the referee broke the hold. Both guys throw some leather but neither is able to land anything solid. Takaya has some blood coming from his mouth and his left eye is swelling. Takaya landed some nice punches but Fernandes hung in there. Both guys are just swinging for the fences to try to win this fight. Awesome fight. This one is a toss up. I would probably have to give the fight to Fernandes because he came closer to finishing the fight and also scored a knock down in the second round. Really close round and one of the fights of the year.
Judges score the fight: Fernandes, Takaya and Fernandes
Winner and new champion: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Split)
Friday, May 29, 2009
DREAM 9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round 5.26.09 Re-Cap
DREAM 9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round
(5/26/09) – Nagoya, Japan (Yokohama Arena)
No Bas Rutten tonight, instead the announcers are the trio of Michael Schiavello (PBP), Guy Mezger and Michael Kegan as they are ringside at the event. Schiavello is hyping this as the “Show of the Year” as we have the second round of the Featherweight Tournament, JZ vs. Kawajiri, Mousasi and Jacare vs. Mayhem II.
Just a reminder that in DREAM they fight 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. The fights are not judged by the round but rather on the entire fight.
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Bob Sapp (10-3-1) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30-8)
Minowa’s last DREAM fight was on DREAM 8 where he fell to former NJPW wrestler Katsoyuri Shibata by Unanimous Decision. Sapp beat Akihito Tanaka at the DREAM/K-1 New Years Eve show by TKO at the 5 minute mark. Sapp has a gigantic weight and size advantage in this fight.
R1- Sapp sat down on Minowa early and Minowa gave up his back and then got in Sapp’s guard and Minowa transitioned to an Achilles Lock and Bob Sapp tapped out. Wow, that was surprising. Great showing by Minowa, very crafty work on his part. Minowa will be fighting the winner of Hong Man Choi/Jose Canseco in the 2nd round (so that means he will be fighting Hong Man Choi).
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Achilles Lock) R1 1:15
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Hong Man Choi (1-2) vs. Jose Canseco (0-0)
Jose comes out with a hot chick (apparently this is his girlfriend) who is throwing baseball into the crowd as he carries a bat to the ring. He’s going to need it to win this fight. He also comes out to “Wild Thing”. It’s rumored that he is receiving Six Figures for this fight. Choi is 7’2” 340 lbs and is not moving well on his way to the ring.
R1- Jose tried to duck and move early. He got caught by a counter punch and then started running away from Hong Man Choi, he must have watched some Khalib Starnes fight videos. Jose looked like he tweaked his knee running and then he got TKO’d via Ground and Pound. It didn’t look like Choi really landed anything too solidly but Jose wasn’t intelligently defending himself so the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Hong Man Choi by TKO (Punches) R1
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Jan Nortje (2-5) vs. Sokoudjou (5-4)
Nortje is 6’11’ and 350 pounds. Nortje won his last MMA fight by knocking out Bob Sapp in under a minute. Sokoudjou is on a two fight losing streak and is a former UFC and Pride fighter. Sokoudjou is pretty much a one round fighter. If he doesn’t win the fight in the first five minutes then he generally gasses out and gets finished (see: Luiz Cane fight). Sokoudjou is currently training with Team Quest. Nortje has a huge size and weight advantage in this fight as Sokoudjou is a Light Heavyweight Fighter.
R1- Sokoudjou clinched him early and spent a while trying to get him to the ground but the ref broke them up. Sokoudjou lands some leg kicks. Sokoudjou gets him down and lands some Ground and Pound and the ref steps in and breaks it up but Sokoudjou keeps on punching and there is a mini melee in the ring after the fight. I don’t blame Sokoudjou though, he was probably just shocked that he actually won a fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1 2:29
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) vs. Mark Hunt
Mousasi has recently moved up in weight from Middleweight to Light Heavyweight. I had Mousasi as one of the Top Middleweight’s in the world prior to his decision to move up. He has an upcoming fight with Affliction against Vitor Belfort on their next show. Hunt lost in 18 seconds to Melvin Manhoef on the K-1/DREAM show on New Years. On this same show Mousasi beat Musashi in a K-1 fight in the first round. Mousasi was the DREAM Middleweight Champion but gave up the belt when he moved up in weight.
R1- Mousasi pushed him down early and took side control. Mousasi went for a kimura and got it and Hunt tapped out. Pure domination by Mousasi.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Kimura) R1 1:19
Middleweight Championship Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) vs. JZ Calvacante (14-2-1)
This is probably the fight that I am looking forward to most on this show. Both guys are legit Top 10 Lightweight Fighters. I don’t have JZ in my Top 10 because he hasn’t won a fight in over a year and a half but his only loss in that time period was to Shinya Aoki. Kawajiri has been very active lately and is coming off of wins against Ross Ebanez and Kozo Takeda. The announcers are picking JZ in this fight. They said that at the Press Conference yesterday that Kawajiri refused to shake hands with JZ. JZ trains at American Top Team.
R1- They stand up early and JZ hits Kawajiri with a couple of decent shots and then stuffs a take down. JZ grabs a guillotine and pulls guard but cannot hold guard. Kawajiri slams him down but JZ still is attempting to lock in the guillotine but Kawajiri pops his head out. Kawajiri got some Ground and Pound but nothing major, JZ got up but Kawajiri wrestled him back down to the mat but the ref stands them up with three minutes left in the round and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. After some brief stand up JZ went for a take down but got stuffed. Kawajiri landed some knees in the clinch but the ref separated them again. Kawajiri hits a good combination and is threatening to pull away in this fight. Kawajiri got a take down towards the end of the round. Kawajiri ends the round with a couple of Ground and Pound shots. Kawajiri has the advantage at the end of the first round. It’s nothing that JZ can’t overcome but JZ needs to be more aggressive in the second round.
R2- Kawajiri landed a big right to start the round but JZ absorbed it although he sustained a cut on his nose from the punch. Kawajiri gets a slam and takes JZ down but JZ escapes with three and a half minutes left in the round. Kawajiri hits another right but then JZ avoids other shots and almost taunts Kawajiri. Kawajiri takes him down again. Kawajiri is two minutes away from winning this fight. This was a good fight but not quite the level I was hoping for. Kawajiri should take this by Unanimous Decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Second Round Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) vs. Abel Cullum (14-2)
In the first round of this tournament Abel Cullum defeated Akiyo Nishiura by Unanimous Decision. Hideo Tokoro lost to Daiki Hata by Decision in the first round and I don’t think they ever said why he is fighting here instead of Hata. Cullum comes out to Kid Rock’s “I want to be a Cowboy”.
R1- Cullum got a double leg about a minute into the fight but Tokoro quickly got up. Tokoro hit a good knee and Cullum held on but Tokoro caught him in an arm triangle but Cullum slipped out after being in the move for a while. Cullum then drilled Tokoro with some knees but Tokoro slipped out and went for another triangle but couldn’t get it locked in. Cullum got a takedown about mid-way through the round. Really good fight so far. Cullum grabbed a knee bar but Tokoro was able to get out by kicking Cullum. Cullum got a slam with about two minutes left in the round. Tokoro got a mount with thirty seconds left but couldn’t get anything before Cullum kicked him off. Really good and close round. The fight was pretty much even with both guys threatening to finish the fight at points and both guys fighting with a lot of spirit.
R2- Tokoro spent the first couple of minutes of the round on top of Cullum. Cullum went to get out and Tokoro caught him in a Rear Naked and finished him. Really good fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:38
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round Fight- Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1)
Maeda advanced to the second round by defeated Micah Miller by Unanimous Decision. Takaya defeated Jong Won-Kim by a TKO stoppage due to strikes in the second round of their fight. Maeda is the favorite to win this fight.
R1- Maeda caught a kick and landed some strikes in on Takaya before he advanced on the ground but he never really does any damage before they stand back up. Tokoro hit a good right hand to Maeda’s eye and the commentators said his eye started to well up. Maeda got another take down. Looks to me like Maeda is the superior ground guy and Takaya is superior when on his feet. Maeda nailed Takaya with a big knee but he got right up after it. Both guys exchange pretty well and Takaya also has some marks on his face. Maeda gets another take down and they almost fall out of the ring but the refs push them back in. They stop the fight to look at Takaya’s cut. The ref gives Takaya a yellow card after he stood up the fight. Maeda got tagged with about half a minute left and Takaya jumped in and threw some hammer punches and the ref stopped the fight. The stoppage looked a little early but Maeda took a while to get up so maybe not. That was an explosive finish by Takaya.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R1 9:40
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (4-2)
Fernandes won his first round fight by Unanimous Decision over Takafumi Otsuka. Fernandes only has a career record of 4-2 but his two losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto. Iminari defeated Atsushi Yamamoto by Split Decision in their first round contest. Both guys have strong BJJ and submission skills.
R1- Fernandes got some Ground and Pound early but Iminari went for a leg lock and Fernandes got out of dodge. Fernandes countered a punch with a take down but couldn’t take Iminari’s guard. Fernandes countered an Iminari kick with another take down but didn’t take his guard again. Fernandes game plan seems to be to counter Iminari’s strikes with take downs and look for Ground and Pound if it’s there but being very careful of Iminari’s submission skills. Iminari seems to want to spend this fight on his back. The ref stops the fight to ask both fighters for more action. The referee issues a yellow card to Iminari since he seems content to spend a good portion of the fight on his back waiting for Fernandes to enter his guard. Iminari went for a knee but Fernandes moved out of the way and hit some Ground and Pound and then took side control but doesn’t seem to be getting much offense in. Fernandes is throwing knees from the side but doesn’t look to be landing anything solidly. Not a real exciting round. Fernandes is up so far because he’s been countering everything Iminari has tried and has gotten numerous take downs (which the Japanese don’t weight heavily) but Iminari just hasn’t really done anything yet in the fight.
R2- Fernandes grabbed an Iminari kick and swept his leg from under him. Iminari sits down in front of Fernandes and tries to get him to enter his guard. Iminari goes for a flying arm bar but gets take down and punched instead. Fernandes lands some leg kicks and Iminari looks like he doesn’t want to be here. Fernandes takes down Iminari and give him a good punch. Iminari grabs a leg but Fernandes escapes. Iminari is lying on the ground and the ref stops the fight to issue a yellow card to Fernandes. Wow. Fernandes got another take down but Iminari got out with no damage.
The fight comes to an end and I don’t see how you could possibly score this fight for Iminari. Fernandes will advance to the next round. This was a little reminiscent of Anderson Silva versus Thales Leites fight although Iminari was more aggressive than Leites was in his fight.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Kid Yamamoto (17-1) vs. Joe Warren (1-0)
Joe Warren won his opening round fight against Chase Beebe by ref stoppage due to cut. This is only Warren’s second professional fight. Kid got a first round bye so this is his first fight of the tournament. Kid comes out to the Star Wars theme music. Kid is the favorite to win this tournament. Warren trains out of Team Quest and has also trained with Urijah Faber.
R1- Warren lands some shots in the clinch early. Kid responds with a good knee. Joe Warren got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Warren stays on top but isn’t really getting much in terms of offense but does land a shot that cuts Kid between his eyes on the bridge of his nose. Yamamoto is issued a yellow card for trying to stall so the ref would stand up the fight. Kid hit a good slapping type punch and is starting to land some kicks and then a good right hook. Kid has hit some good counter hooks in this round. Kid was starting to take over the fight but Warren got another take down. This was a good first round. Warren controlled on the ground at the beginning and end of the round and Kid controlled the middle with his stand up.
R2- Kid hit a big left and then a right and Warren took them and kept coming. Warren was able to get a take down about two minutes into the round. Kid went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it locked in on Warren. They stood back up and Kid hit a good right hand. Warren got another take down at the end of the fight and gets some brief ground and pound. Kid goes for a submission near the bell but couldn’t lock it in.
This was a good fight. I think Joe Warren deserves to win this fight. I think it will be close since Japanese judges don’t judge as much on take downs.
The first judge scores the fight for Warren. The second gives it to Kid. The deciding judge gives the fight to Joe Warren. Big time upset, great showing by Warren in only his second fight!
Winner: Joe Warren by Decision (Split)
DREAM Middleweight Championship Fight: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22-6)
This is a re-match from DREAM 4 where Jacare defeated Mayhem by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix. They are fighting for the belt that was vacated by Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi originally won the belt by defeated Jacare by KO at DREAM 6. I’ve got Jacare as a Top 10 Middleweight (although at the bottom of the Top 10) going into this fight. Jacare is the favorite going into this fight. Mayhem comes out with a red skunk stripe in his hair and with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Jacare comes out by himself. Mousasi is in the ring with belt that he is presenting to the winner and is wearing an Affliction T-Shirt.
R1- Jacare went for a double leg after some brief stand up but couldn’t get the take down. Miller looks like he has a cut on the side of his face but not too close to his eye. Miller cut Jacare with a kick to his head and the ref stops the fight to look at the cut that is on the top of his head. Jason Miller is given a yellow card as Miller kicked him on his head while he was down- which is illegal in DREAM (can’t kick to the head of a downed fighter). Looks like Jacare is ready to fight so the fight is back on. Jacare gets a quick take down. Jacare’s blood is all over Miller and the ref stops the fight again. The referee is calling a time out, Jacare says he wants to continue. The referee stops the fight and it’s ruled a no-contest as the illegal kick (called accidental by referee) caused the stoppage of the fight and at the time the fight was stopped the fight had not gone on long enough to be ruled a definitive decision.
Decision: No Contest
Good show with an unfortunate ending. Tokoro/Cullum was FOTN. Kid/Warren, Kawajiri/JZ, Maeda/Takaya were also worth watching if you are an MMA fan.
So the Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals lines up with these fighters (will probably take place at DREAM 11):
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hideo Tokoro
Hiroyuki Takaya
Here is the information on the new DREAM show:
OLYMPIA DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09) – Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: André Galvão/Jason High vs. Hayato Sakurai/Marius Zaromskis
Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Melvin Manhoef vs. Paulo Filho
Katsunori Kikuno vs. André Amade
Welterweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout: Seichi Ikemoto vs. TBA
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão vs. Jason High
(5/26/09) – Nagoya, Japan (Yokohama Arena)
No Bas Rutten tonight, instead the announcers are the trio of Michael Schiavello (PBP), Guy Mezger and Michael Kegan as they are ringside at the event. Schiavello is hyping this as the “Show of the Year” as we have the second round of the Featherweight Tournament, JZ vs. Kawajiri, Mousasi and Jacare vs. Mayhem II.
Just a reminder that in DREAM they fight 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. The fights are not judged by the round but rather on the entire fight.
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Bob Sapp (10-3-1) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30-8)
Minowa’s last DREAM fight was on DREAM 8 where he fell to former NJPW wrestler Katsoyuri Shibata by Unanimous Decision. Sapp beat Akihito Tanaka at the DREAM/K-1 New Years Eve show by TKO at the 5 minute mark. Sapp has a gigantic weight and size advantage in this fight.
R1- Sapp sat down on Minowa early and Minowa gave up his back and then got in Sapp’s guard and Minowa transitioned to an Achilles Lock and Bob Sapp tapped out. Wow, that was surprising. Great showing by Minowa, very crafty work on his part. Minowa will be fighting the winner of Hong Man Choi/Jose Canseco in the 2nd round (so that means he will be fighting Hong Man Choi).
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Achilles Lock) R1 1:15
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Hong Man Choi (1-2) vs. Jose Canseco (0-0)
Jose comes out with a hot chick (apparently this is his girlfriend) who is throwing baseball into the crowd as he carries a bat to the ring. He’s going to need it to win this fight. He also comes out to “Wild Thing”. It’s rumored that he is receiving Six Figures for this fight. Choi is 7’2” 340 lbs and is not moving well on his way to the ring.
R1- Jose tried to duck and move early. He got caught by a counter punch and then started running away from Hong Man Choi, he must have watched some Khalib Starnes fight videos. Jose looked like he tweaked his knee running and then he got TKO’d via Ground and Pound. It didn’t look like Choi really landed anything too solidly but Jose wasn’t intelligently defending himself so the ref stopped the fight.
Winner: Hong Man Choi by TKO (Punches) R1
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Jan Nortje (2-5) vs. Sokoudjou (5-4)
Nortje is 6’11’ and 350 pounds. Nortje won his last MMA fight by knocking out Bob Sapp in under a minute. Sokoudjou is on a two fight losing streak and is a former UFC and Pride fighter. Sokoudjou is pretty much a one round fighter. If he doesn’t win the fight in the first five minutes then he generally gasses out and gets finished (see: Luiz Cane fight). Sokoudjou is currently training with Team Quest. Nortje has a huge size and weight advantage in this fight as Sokoudjou is a Light Heavyweight Fighter.
R1- Sokoudjou clinched him early and spent a while trying to get him to the ground but the ref broke them up. Sokoudjou lands some leg kicks. Sokoudjou gets him down and lands some Ground and Pound and the ref steps in and breaks it up but Sokoudjou keeps on punching and there is a mini melee in the ring after the fight. I don’t blame Sokoudjou though, he was probably just shocked that he actually won a fight.
Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1 2:29
Super Hulk Tournament First Round Fight- Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1) vs. Mark Hunt
Mousasi has recently moved up in weight from Middleweight to Light Heavyweight. I had Mousasi as one of the Top Middleweight’s in the world prior to his decision to move up. He has an upcoming fight with Affliction against Vitor Belfort on their next show. Hunt lost in 18 seconds to Melvin Manhoef on the K-1/DREAM show on New Years. On this same show Mousasi beat Musashi in a K-1 fight in the first round. Mousasi was the DREAM Middleweight Champion but gave up the belt when he moved up in weight.
R1- Mousasi pushed him down early and took side control. Mousasi went for a kimura and got it and Hunt tapped out. Pure domination by Mousasi.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Submission (Kimura) R1 1:19
Middleweight Championship Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) vs. JZ Calvacante (14-2-1)
This is probably the fight that I am looking forward to most on this show. Both guys are legit Top 10 Lightweight Fighters. I don’t have JZ in my Top 10 because he hasn’t won a fight in over a year and a half but his only loss in that time period was to Shinya Aoki. Kawajiri has been very active lately and is coming off of wins against Ross Ebanez and Kozo Takeda. The announcers are picking JZ in this fight. They said that at the Press Conference yesterday that Kawajiri refused to shake hands with JZ. JZ trains at American Top Team.
R1- They stand up early and JZ hits Kawajiri with a couple of decent shots and then stuffs a take down. JZ grabs a guillotine and pulls guard but cannot hold guard. Kawajiri slams him down but JZ still is attempting to lock in the guillotine but Kawajiri pops his head out. Kawajiri got some Ground and Pound but nothing major, JZ got up but Kawajiri wrestled him back down to the mat but the ref stands them up with three minutes left in the round and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. After some brief stand up JZ went for a take down but got stuffed. Kawajiri landed some knees in the clinch but the ref separated them again. Kawajiri hits a good combination and is threatening to pull away in this fight. Kawajiri got a take down towards the end of the round. Kawajiri ends the round with a couple of Ground and Pound shots. Kawajiri has the advantage at the end of the first round. It’s nothing that JZ can’t overcome but JZ needs to be more aggressive in the second round.
R2- Kawajiri landed a big right to start the round but JZ absorbed it although he sustained a cut on his nose from the punch. Kawajiri gets a slam and takes JZ down but JZ escapes with three and a half minutes left in the round. Kawajiri hits another right but then JZ avoids other shots and almost taunts Kawajiri. Kawajiri takes him down again. Kawajiri is two minutes away from winning this fight. This was a good fight but not quite the level I was hoping for. Kawajiri should take this by Unanimous Decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix Second Round Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) vs. Abel Cullum (14-2)
In the first round of this tournament Abel Cullum defeated Akiyo Nishiura by Unanimous Decision. Hideo Tokoro lost to Daiki Hata by Decision in the first round and I don’t think they ever said why he is fighting here instead of Hata. Cullum comes out to Kid Rock’s “I want to be a Cowboy”.
R1- Cullum got a double leg about a minute into the fight but Tokoro quickly got up. Tokoro hit a good knee and Cullum held on but Tokoro caught him in an arm triangle but Cullum slipped out after being in the move for a while. Cullum then drilled Tokoro with some knees but Tokoro slipped out and went for another triangle but couldn’t get it locked in. Cullum got a takedown about mid-way through the round. Really good fight so far. Cullum grabbed a knee bar but Tokoro was able to get out by kicking Cullum. Cullum got a slam with about two minutes left in the round. Tokoro got a mount with thirty seconds left but couldn’t get anything before Cullum kicked him off. Really good and close round. The fight was pretty much even with both guys threatening to finish the fight at points and both guys fighting with a lot of spirit.
R2- Tokoro spent the first couple of minutes of the round on top of Cullum. Cullum went to get out and Tokoro caught him in a Rear Naked and finished him. Really good fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 1:38
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round Fight- Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1)
Maeda advanced to the second round by defeated Micah Miller by Unanimous Decision. Takaya defeated Jong Won-Kim by a TKO stoppage due to strikes in the second round of their fight. Maeda is the favorite to win this fight.
R1- Maeda caught a kick and landed some strikes in on Takaya before he advanced on the ground but he never really does any damage before they stand back up. Tokoro hit a good right hand to Maeda’s eye and the commentators said his eye started to well up. Maeda got another take down. Looks to me like Maeda is the superior ground guy and Takaya is superior when on his feet. Maeda nailed Takaya with a big knee but he got right up after it. Both guys exchange pretty well and Takaya also has some marks on his face. Maeda gets another take down and they almost fall out of the ring but the refs push them back in. They stop the fight to look at Takaya’s cut. The ref gives Takaya a yellow card after he stood up the fight. Maeda got tagged with about half a minute left and Takaya jumped in and threw some hammer punches and the ref stopped the fight. The stoppage looked a little early but Maeda took a while to get up so maybe not. That was an explosive finish by Takaya.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R1 9:40
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (4-2)
Fernandes won his first round fight by Unanimous Decision over Takafumi Otsuka. Fernandes only has a career record of 4-2 but his two losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto. Iminari defeated Atsushi Yamamoto by Split Decision in their first round contest. Both guys have strong BJJ and submission skills.
R1- Fernandes got some Ground and Pound early but Iminari went for a leg lock and Fernandes got out of dodge. Fernandes countered a punch with a take down but couldn’t take Iminari’s guard. Fernandes countered an Iminari kick with another take down but didn’t take his guard again. Fernandes game plan seems to be to counter Iminari’s strikes with take downs and look for Ground and Pound if it’s there but being very careful of Iminari’s submission skills. Iminari seems to want to spend this fight on his back. The ref stops the fight to ask both fighters for more action. The referee issues a yellow card to Iminari since he seems content to spend a good portion of the fight on his back waiting for Fernandes to enter his guard. Iminari went for a knee but Fernandes moved out of the way and hit some Ground and Pound and then took side control but doesn’t seem to be getting much offense in. Fernandes is throwing knees from the side but doesn’t look to be landing anything solidly. Not a real exciting round. Fernandes is up so far because he’s been countering everything Iminari has tried and has gotten numerous take downs (which the Japanese don’t weight heavily) but Iminari just hasn’t really done anything yet in the fight.
R2- Fernandes grabbed an Iminari kick and swept his leg from under him. Iminari sits down in front of Fernandes and tries to get him to enter his guard. Iminari goes for a flying arm bar but gets take down and punched instead. Fernandes lands some leg kicks and Iminari looks like he doesn’t want to be here. Fernandes takes down Iminari and give him a good punch. Iminari grabs a leg but Fernandes escapes. Iminari is lying on the ground and the ref stops the fight to issue a yellow card to Fernandes. Wow. Fernandes got another take down but Iminari got out with no damage.
The fight comes to an end and I don’t see how you could possibly score this fight for Iminari. Fernandes will advance to the next round. This was a little reminiscent of Anderson Silva versus Thales Leites fight although Iminari was more aggressive than Leites was in his fight.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Kid Yamamoto (17-1) vs. Joe Warren (1-0)
Joe Warren won his opening round fight against Chase Beebe by ref stoppage due to cut. This is only Warren’s second professional fight. Kid got a first round bye so this is his first fight of the tournament. Kid comes out to the Star Wars theme music. Kid is the favorite to win this tournament. Warren trains out of Team Quest and has also trained with Urijah Faber.
R1- Warren lands some shots in the clinch early. Kid responds with a good knee. Joe Warren got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Warren stays on top but isn’t really getting much in terms of offense but does land a shot that cuts Kid between his eyes on the bridge of his nose. Yamamoto is issued a yellow card for trying to stall so the ref would stand up the fight. Kid hit a good slapping type punch and is starting to land some kicks and then a good right hook. Kid has hit some good counter hooks in this round. Kid was starting to take over the fight but Warren got another take down. This was a good first round. Warren controlled on the ground at the beginning and end of the round and Kid controlled the middle with his stand up.
R2- Kid hit a big left and then a right and Warren took them and kept coming. Warren was able to get a take down about two minutes into the round. Kid went for an arm bar but couldn’t get it locked in on Warren. They stood back up and Kid hit a good right hand. Warren got another take down at the end of the fight and gets some brief ground and pound. Kid goes for a submission near the bell but couldn’t lock it in.
This was a good fight. I think Joe Warren deserves to win this fight. I think it will be close since Japanese judges don’t judge as much on take downs.
The first judge scores the fight for Warren. The second gives it to Kid. The deciding judge gives the fight to Joe Warren. Big time upset, great showing by Warren in only his second fight!
Winner: Joe Warren by Decision (Split)
DREAM Middleweight Championship Fight: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22-6)
This is a re-match from DREAM 4 where Jacare defeated Mayhem by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix. They are fighting for the belt that was vacated by Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi originally won the belt by defeated Jacare by KO at DREAM 6. I’ve got Jacare as a Top 10 Middleweight (although at the bottom of the Top 10) going into this fight. Jacare is the favorite going into this fight. Mayhem comes out with a red skunk stripe in his hair and with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Jacare comes out by himself. Mousasi is in the ring with belt that he is presenting to the winner and is wearing an Affliction T-Shirt.
R1- Jacare went for a double leg after some brief stand up but couldn’t get the take down. Miller looks like he has a cut on the side of his face but not too close to his eye. Miller cut Jacare with a kick to his head and the ref stops the fight to look at the cut that is on the top of his head. Jason Miller is given a yellow card as Miller kicked him on his head while he was down- which is illegal in DREAM (can’t kick to the head of a downed fighter). Looks like Jacare is ready to fight so the fight is back on. Jacare gets a quick take down. Jacare’s blood is all over Miller and the ref stops the fight again. The referee is calling a time out, Jacare says he wants to continue. The referee stops the fight and it’s ruled a no-contest as the illegal kick (called accidental by referee) caused the stoppage of the fight and at the time the fight was stopped the fight had not gone on long enough to be ruled a definitive decision.
Decision: No Contest
Good show with an unfortunate ending. Tokoro/Cullum was FOTN. Kid/Warren, Kawajiri/JZ, Maeda/Takaya were also worth watching if you are an MMA fan.
So the Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals lines up with these fighters (will probably take place at DREAM 11):
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hideo Tokoro
Hiroyuki Takaya
Here is the information on the new DREAM show:
OLYMPIA DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09) – Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)
Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: André Galvão/Jason High vs. Hayato Sakurai/Marius Zaromskis
Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Melvin Manhoef vs. Paulo Filho
Katsunori Kikuno vs. André Amade
Welterweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout: Seichi Ikemoto vs. TBA
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão vs. Jason High
Saturday, March 28, 2009
DREAM 7 3/8/09 Re-Cap
DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand Prix 1st Round
March 8th, 2009
Saitama Super Arena - Saitama, Japan
Both DREAM and Sengoku are starting their Featherweight Tournaments this month so it will be a good chance to see how their divisions stack up against WEC. This show features the first round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and also features fights with Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the commentators. In DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. Fights are judged not round by round but as an entire fight.
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2)
Fernandes’s losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto, two of the top Featherweight fighters in the world. Fernandes is a jiu jitsu fighter. Otsuka is a free style fighter.
R1- Fernandes gets the dominant position very early. Fernandes draws some blood from Otsuka’s nose with some strikes on the ground. The ref gives a yellow card to Fernandes (not sure why as he was dominating the fight and Otsuka was basically curled up in a little ball in the corner for the first 4 minutes of the fight). Otsuka seems to be more style than substance so far as he’s losing the fight but is being kind of cocky. Otsuka got in a combo and then got hit with a low blow. Fernandes is ahead after the first round but Otsuka is starting to come on.
R2- Fernandes took Otsuka’s back about a minute into the round. Otsuka gets away and celebrates like he won the fight. Fernandes basically had to release the hold as Otsuka did a good job of defending. Fernandez got in a couple of shots and floored Otsuka but Otsuka held on. Fernades got another take down and lands some strikes but Otusuka gets back to his feet. Fernades gets yet another take down. Fernandes wins this fight and will advance to the second round.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Chase Beebe (12-3) vs. Joe Warren (0-0)
This is Joe Warren’s pro debut at the age of 32. Beebe is a 23 year old veteran of 15 fights and has fought for WEC. Warren is a wrestler and Beebe is also a wrestler and freestyle fighter.
R1- Lots of clinching early with Warren pushing the action trying for a take down and Beebe hitting some strikes. Good even fight after the first five minutes of the round. Warren got a take down with three and a half minutes left in the round but Beebe gets out after about a minute on the bottom. Warren rushed in and bounces Beebe off the rounds and then slams him. Beebe goes for an arm bar but Warren gets free. Good first round that was pretty even. Warren has three take downs and Beebe got cut near the end of the round. Beebe has won the striking battle but the take downs and the damage have Warren ahead right now.
They stop the fight between rounds due to the cut that was caused by a knee.
Winner: Joe Warren by TKO (cut)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1) vs. Abel Cullum (13-2)
Abel Cullum comes out to a Heath Herring esque entrance and to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy”. Cullum is the King of the Cage Featherweight Champion and has brought his belt with him. The last time I saw Cullum fight was on the Sho XC 9/26/08 show when he lost a bantamweight fight to Wilson Reis by Unanimous Decision (it was a 5 round title fight). Cullum is a Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Nishiura has pink hair, is nicknamed “Wicky Akiyo” and is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Cullum got an arm bar a couple minutes into the fight but couldn’t get the finish with it. Good first round that was pretty even. Cullum had 4 or so submission attempts in the first round and closed out the round strongly.
R2- Cullum controlled the first part of round two. They swung at each other and Cullum pulled guard and tried a triangle but was unsuccessful. Close fight but I’ve got Cullum winning.
Winner: Abel Cullum by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (19-9) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1)
Daisuke is from the U-File Camp and his nickname is “The Arm Bar Genius”. Ishida recently fought for Strikeforce and destroyed an overmatched Justin Wilcox in that fight. He also fought and lost to Caol Uno during the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. Ishida’s nickname is “The Endless Warrior.” I thought Ishida deserved a shot at Josh Thomson in Strikeforce but I guess he’s back in DREAM instead.
R1- Ishida got a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Ishida catches Nakamura with a couple of knees. Ishida really controlled the first half of this round. Ishida opens up a cut over the eye of Nakamura. Ishida is definitely up so far in this fight.
R2- Ishida grabbed a leg and Nakamura tried to pull guard into an arm bar or triangle but couldn’t and Ishida ended up on top. Ishida is going to take this fight. Not a dominate win but a convincing one. The announcers seem convinced that Nakamura would have won if the fight went on ten more seconds.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (19-3) vs. David Gardner (16-10)
Aoki is the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world but is going to be fighting some at Welterweight this year as he tries to win the upcoming DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Aoki is fighting at 163 and Gardner at 162.5 tonight. Aoki definitely has the worst tights in MMA.
R1- Aoki went for a take down but got stuffed by Gardner and then Aoki flipped him over to take the dominate position. Really boring fight through 5 minutes but Aoki is dominating position. Aoki went for a sub and Gardner slipped out but then Aoki wrapped Gardner back up in his Spider Web and dragged him back to the ground. Aoki grabs a Rear Naked Choke. Gardner moved his arm and yelled out “I Love You Japan” and Aoki seized the moment and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke immediately. What a bone head move by Gardner. Aoki dominated a lesser opponent in this fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2) vs. Ross Ebanez (19-6)
Kawajiri is coming off a dominating K-1 victory against Kozo Takeda on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that Kawajiri lost in a FOTYC to Eddie Alvarez in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament but Kawajiri took enough out of Alvarez that he could not continue to the finals of the Grand Prix. Ebanez if fighting out of BJ Penn’s camp and Kawajiri says he wants to use this fight to send a message to BJ Penn. Ebanez comes in at 158 lbs and Kawajiri at 154 lbs. Ebanez gets a yellow card before the fight because he did not make weight.
R1- Ibanez went for a flying knee and Kawajiri took him down but didn’t do any damage. Kawajiri got him back to the ground for the second time in the first two minutes. Kawajiri mounts and gets some Ground and Pound and Ebanez gives up his back. Kawajiri gets a body triangle and goes for a Rear Naked Choke but can’t clamp it in. Kawajiri loosens him up and gets the Rear Naked successfully this time. Good showing by Kawajiri.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Micah Miller (10-2) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2)
Micah is a former WEC fighter and his brother Cole fights for UFC. Maeda fought for the WEC Bantamweight title last year in a FOTYC against Miguel Torres. The light time I saw Miller he got destroyed on the WEC Condit/Miura under card when he lost to Josh Grispi in 50 seconds by TKO. Miller has a 5 inch height advantage, he just dwarfs Maeda when they meet in the center of the ring. This should be a good fight, I really liked what Maeda did in his fight against Torres so I’m going to have to say that he’s going to be one of the fighters to beat in this tournament.
R1- They clinched and went through the ropes to the ring apron early in the fight. They clinched and Miller pulled guard at the two minute mark. Maeda controls the fight on the ground for the next stanza of the fight. Miller uses a rubber guard and Maeda pelts him with knees to the rear end. Miller looks like he’s working towards an arm triangle but the ref stands them up and appears to give them both a yellow card. The quickly clinch and Maeda gets a take down or Miller could have pulled guard. Miller definitely seems to want to be on his back in this fight. Miller goes after Maeda’s arm but can’t do anything. Not a real exciting fight at all. I’ve got Maeda up so far as he’s been on top for the majority of the fight and is the one that is trying to strike.
R2- Maeda looks really fresh coming out of his corner. Miller has such a great reach advantage it’s almost puzzling why he doesn’t have better stand up and is constantly trying to get the fight on the ground despite his huge advantage in reach. The ref stands them up and they exchange strikes with Miller actually trying to fight on his feet and Maeda gets a take down. I’m going to give this fight to Maeda as he seemed to control the fight and Miller seemed to be fighting a more defensive fight. Not a fight to go out of your way to see. The announcers give the fight to Miller due to submission attempts.
Winner: Yoshiro Maeda by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) vs. Jong Won-Kim
This is Kim’s pro debut. He represented South Korea in Judo at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Takaya is dropping all the way from Middleweight to Featherweight for this tournament! That’s a HUGE drop! Won has his shoulder tapped up.
R1- Takaya is the aggressor early as they are staying on their feet at the beginning of the fight. They gave Kim a warning for stalling around the 3 minute mark. I must have missed that because about 30 to 45 seconds earlier he landed a strike right to the face of Takaya. Kim caught a kick thrown by Takaya and took him down to the mat but couldn’t do anything and they stood the fight back up with 3 and a half minutes to go in the round. Kim grabbed another kick and got another take down but Takaya clung to the ropes and got up quickly and the ref re-started on their feet. Pretty even first round with Takaya coming on strong at the end of the round.
R2- Takaya lands a big right hand and then gets some Ground and Pound and the fight is stopped.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Strikes) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1) vs. Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1)
Yamamoto is no relation to Kid Yamamoto but they both train together. Yamamoto was a collegiate wrestler and is known for his ground game. Yamamoto won a decision victory over Hideo Tokoro at DREAM 6 back in September. Yamamoto flips over the ropes and then does a back flip upon entering the ring. Imanari is coming into the fight as a big favorite. He is a leg lock specialist and has a background in wrestling and BJJ.
R1- Yamamoto got a strike in early that floored Imanari. Yamamoto jumped on top but Imanari wrapped him up but Yamamoto remained on top. The ref stands them up about half way through the round. Yamamoto got in another shot but Imanari popped back up. Imanari pulled guard and got a funky arm bar on Yamamoto with his legs but Yamamoto spun out and Imanari landed in side control. Imanari went hard after a traditional arm bar but Yamamoto fought through the attempt. Pretty decent first round with Imanari really going after submission in the second half of the round.
R2- Imanari is given a yellow card shortly into the round for stalling (Yamamoto got one in the first round). Imanari is really clowning around in this round and looks a little bored even though he is nowhere near dominating this fight. It’s going to be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Imanari had a bunch of submission attempts but Yamamoto landed the best strikes and landed more of them. Imanari has more talent but just seemed bored and uninspired to be in the ring tonight. Not a good way to end the night.
Winner: Masakazu Imanari by Decision (Split)
This was a decent show. The first half of the show was actually better than the second half. I really enjoyed the first 3 Featherweight fights but the card was kind of flat after that. The second round of the Featherweight Tournament should be pretty interesting as we have:
Kid Yamamoto (got a bye in the first round of the tournament)
Masakazu Imanari
Yoshiro Maeda
Abel Cullum
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hiroyuki Takaya
First Round Fight on DREAM 8: Hideo Tokoro vs. Daiki Hata
March 8th, 2009
Saitama Super Arena - Saitama, Japan
Both DREAM and Sengoku are starting their Featherweight Tournaments this month so it will be a good chance to see how their divisions stack up against WEC. This show features the first round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and also features fights with Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the commentators. In DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. Fights are judged not round by round but as an entire fight.
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2)
Fernandes’s losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto, two of the top Featherweight fighters in the world. Fernandes is a jiu jitsu fighter. Otsuka is a free style fighter.
R1- Fernandes gets the dominant position very early. Fernandes draws some blood from Otsuka’s nose with some strikes on the ground. The ref gives a yellow card to Fernandes (not sure why as he was dominating the fight and Otsuka was basically curled up in a little ball in the corner for the first 4 minutes of the fight). Otsuka seems to be more style than substance so far as he’s losing the fight but is being kind of cocky. Otsuka got in a combo and then got hit with a low blow. Fernandes is ahead after the first round but Otsuka is starting to come on.
R2- Fernandes took Otsuka’s back about a minute into the round. Otsuka gets away and celebrates like he won the fight. Fernandes basically had to release the hold as Otsuka did a good job of defending. Fernandez got in a couple of shots and floored Otsuka but Otsuka held on. Fernades got another take down and lands some strikes but Otusuka gets back to his feet. Fernades gets yet another take down. Fernandes wins this fight and will advance to the second round.
Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Chase Beebe (12-3) vs. Joe Warren (0-0)
This is Joe Warren’s pro debut at the age of 32. Beebe is a 23 year old veteran of 15 fights and has fought for WEC. Warren is a wrestler and Beebe is also a wrestler and freestyle fighter.
R1- Lots of clinching early with Warren pushing the action trying for a take down and Beebe hitting some strikes. Good even fight after the first five minutes of the round. Warren got a take down with three and a half minutes left in the round but Beebe gets out after about a minute on the bottom. Warren rushed in and bounces Beebe off the rounds and then slams him. Beebe goes for an arm bar but Warren gets free. Good first round that was pretty even. Warren has three take downs and Beebe got cut near the end of the round. Beebe has won the striking battle but the take downs and the damage have Warren ahead right now.
They stop the fight between rounds due to the cut that was caused by a knee.
Winner: Joe Warren by TKO (cut)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1) vs. Abel Cullum (13-2)
Abel Cullum comes out to a Heath Herring esque entrance and to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy”. Cullum is the King of the Cage Featherweight Champion and has brought his belt with him. The last time I saw Cullum fight was on the Sho XC 9/26/08 show when he lost a bantamweight fight to Wilson Reis by Unanimous Decision (it was a 5 round title fight). Cullum is a Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Nishiura has pink hair, is nicknamed “Wicky Akiyo” and is a freestyle fighter.
R1- Cullum got an arm bar a couple minutes into the fight but couldn’t get the finish with it. Good first round that was pretty even. Cullum had 4 or so submission attempts in the first round and closed out the round strongly.
R2- Cullum controlled the first part of round two. They swung at each other and Cullum pulled guard and tried a triangle but was unsuccessful. Close fight but I’ve got Cullum winning.
Winner: Abel Cullum by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (19-9) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1)
Daisuke is from the U-File Camp and his nickname is “The Arm Bar Genius”. Ishida recently fought for Strikeforce and destroyed an overmatched Justin Wilcox in that fight. He also fought and lost to Caol Uno during the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. Ishida’s nickname is “The Endless Warrior.” I thought Ishida deserved a shot at Josh Thomson in Strikeforce but I guess he’s back in DREAM instead.
R1- Ishida got a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Ishida catches Nakamura with a couple of knees. Ishida really controlled the first half of this round. Ishida opens up a cut over the eye of Nakamura. Ishida is definitely up so far in this fight.
R2- Ishida grabbed a leg and Nakamura tried to pull guard into an arm bar or triangle but couldn’t and Ishida ended up on top. Ishida is going to take this fight. Not a dominate win but a convincing one. The announcers seem convinced that Nakamura would have won if the fight went on ten more seconds.
Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Decision (Unanimous)
Welterweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (19-3) vs. David Gardner (16-10)
Aoki is the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world but is going to be fighting some at Welterweight this year as he tries to win the upcoming DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Aoki is fighting at 163 and Gardner at 162.5 tonight. Aoki definitely has the worst tights in MMA.
R1- Aoki went for a take down but got stuffed by Gardner and then Aoki flipped him over to take the dominate position. Really boring fight through 5 minutes but Aoki is dominating position. Aoki went for a sub and Gardner slipped out but then Aoki wrapped Gardner back up in his Spider Web and dragged him back to the ground. Aoki grabs a Rear Naked Choke. Gardner moved his arm and yelled out “I Love You Japan” and Aoki seized the moment and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke immediately. What a bone head move by Gardner. Aoki dominated a lesser opponent in this fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2) vs. Ross Ebanez (19-6)
Kawajiri is coming off a dominating K-1 victory against Kozo Takeda on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that Kawajiri lost in a FOTYC to Eddie Alvarez in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament but Kawajiri took enough out of Alvarez that he could not continue to the finals of the Grand Prix. Ebanez if fighting out of BJ Penn’s camp and Kawajiri says he wants to use this fight to send a message to BJ Penn. Ebanez comes in at 158 lbs and Kawajiri at 154 lbs. Ebanez gets a yellow card before the fight because he did not make weight.
R1- Ibanez went for a flying knee and Kawajiri took him down but didn’t do any damage. Kawajiri got him back to the ground for the second time in the first two minutes. Kawajiri mounts and gets some Ground and Pound and Ebanez gives up his back. Kawajiri gets a body triangle and goes for a Rear Naked Choke but can’t clamp it in. Kawajiri loosens him up and gets the Rear Naked successfully this time. Good showing by Kawajiri.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Micah Miller (10-2) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2)
Micah is a former WEC fighter and his brother Cole fights for UFC. Maeda fought for the WEC Bantamweight title last year in a FOTYC against Miguel Torres. The light time I saw Miller he got destroyed on the WEC Condit/Miura under card when he lost to Josh Grispi in 50 seconds by TKO. Miller has a 5 inch height advantage, he just dwarfs Maeda when they meet in the center of the ring. This should be a good fight, I really liked what Maeda did in his fight against Torres so I’m going to have to say that he’s going to be one of the fighters to beat in this tournament.
R1- They clinched and went through the ropes to the ring apron early in the fight. They clinched and Miller pulled guard at the two minute mark. Maeda controls the fight on the ground for the next stanza of the fight. Miller uses a rubber guard and Maeda pelts him with knees to the rear end. Miller looks like he’s working towards an arm triangle but the ref stands them up and appears to give them both a yellow card. The quickly clinch and Maeda gets a take down or Miller could have pulled guard. Miller definitely seems to want to be on his back in this fight. Miller goes after Maeda’s arm but can’t do anything. Not a real exciting fight at all. I’ve got Maeda up so far as he’s been on top for the majority of the fight and is the one that is trying to strike.
R2- Maeda looks really fresh coming out of his corner. Miller has such a great reach advantage it’s almost puzzling why he doesn’t have better stand up and is constantly trying to get the fight on the ground despite his huge advantage in reach. The ref stands them up and they exchange strikes with Miller actually trying to fight on his feet and Maeda gets a take down. I’m going to give this fight to Maeda as he seemed to control the fight and Miller seemed to be fighting a more defensive fight. Not a fight to go out of your way to see. The announcers give the fight to Miller due to submission attempts.
Winner: Yoshiro Maeda by Decision (Unanimous)
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) vs. Jong Won-Kim
This is Kim’s pro debut. He represented South Korea in Judo at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Takaya is dropping all the way from Middleweight to Featherweight for this tournament! That’s a HUGE drop! Won has his shoulder tapped up.
R1- Takaya is the aggressor early as they are staying on their feet at the beginning of the fight. They gave Kim a warning for stalling around the 3 minute mark. I must have missed that because about 30 to 45 seconds earlier he landed a strike right to the face of Takaya. Kim caught a kick thrown by Takaya and took him down to the mat but couldn’t do anything and they stood the fight back up with 3 and a half minutes to go in the round. Kim grabbed another kick and got another take down but Takaya clung to the ropes and got up quickly and the ref re-started on their feet. Pretty even first round with Takaya coming on strong at the end of the round.
R2- Takaya lands a big right hand and then gets some Ground and Pound and the fight is stopped.
Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Strikes) R2
Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1) vs. Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1)
Yamamoto is no relation to Kid Yamamoto but they both train together. Yamamoto was a collegiate wrestler and is known for his ground game. Yamamoto won a decision victory over Hideo Tokoro at DREAM 6 back in September. Yamamoto flips over the ropes and then does a back flip upon entering the ring. Imanari is coming into the fight as a big favorite. He is a leg lock specialist and has a background in wrestling and BJJ.
R1- Yamamoto got a strike in early that floored Imanari. Yamamoto jumped on top but Imanari wrapped him up but Yamamoto remained on top. The ref stands them up about half way through the round. Yamamoto got in another shot but Imanari popped back up. Imanari pulled guard and got a funky arm bar on Yamamoto with his legs but Yamamoto spun out and Imanari landed in side control. Imanari went hard after a traditional arm bar but Yamamoto fought through the attempt. Pretty decent first round with Imanari really going after submission in the second half of the round.
R2- Imanari is given a yellow card shortly into the round for stalling (Yamamoto got one in the first round). Imanari is really clowning around in this round and looks a little bored even though he is nowhere near dominating this fight. It’s going to be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Imanari had a bunch of submission attempts but Yamamoto landed the best strikes and landed more of them. Imanari has more talent but just seemed bored and uninspired to be in the ring tonight. Not a good way to end the night.
Winner: Masakazu Imanari by Decision (Split)
This was a decent show. The first half of the show was actually better than the second half. I really enjoyed the first 3 Featherweight fights but the card was kind of flat after that. The second round of the Featherweight Tournament should be pretty interesting as we have:
Kid Yamamoto (got a bye in the first round of the tournament)
Masakazu Imanari
Yoshiro Maeda
Abel Cullum
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hiroyuki Takaya
First Round Fight on DREAM 8: Hideo Tokoro vs. Daiki Hata
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