K-1 - Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2009
December 31, 2009
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan
The announcers for the show are Michael Schiavello, Guy Mezger and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. DREAM and Sengoku will join forces tonight and will pit their fighters against each other in 9 fights! We will also see the long anticipated MMA debut of Judo Olympic Gold Metalist Satoshi Ishii as he takes on Hidehiko Yoshida. Tonight we will see some big MMA names like Shinya Aoki, Alistair Overeem, Kid Yamamoto, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Melvin Manhoef in action. We will also see some K-1 fights tonight on this show!
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Semi-Final: Hiroya vs. Masaaki Noiri
Hiroya won this title last year and this is his last chance to defend the championship as he turns 18 in January. Hiroya has a K-1 record of 14-1. Noiri has a record of 2-0 in K-1.
R1- Noiri landed some good offense and Hiroya dropped to his knee. Noiri took the first round. Metzger says it should be a 10-8 round.
R2- This round is closer but Noiri still looks really good and Metzger gives him this round as well.
R3- Noiri knocked Hiroya down a to a knee at the beginning of the round but the ref let them continue. Hiroya landed a good right hand that hurt Noiri. Hiroya landed some good shots at the end of the round but missed on some haymakers.
Winner: Masaaki Noiri by Decision
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Semi-Final: Shota Shimada vs. Katsuki Ishida
Ishida is 60-0 in Amateur kickboxing and 2-0 in K-1. Shimada has a K-1 record of 5-1.
R1- Good first round with Shimada having the advantage.
R2- Closer round this time as Ishida came out quickly and did a better job this round.
R3- Really close round. Good fight.
Winner: Shota Shimada by Decision
DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Final- Sokoudjou vs. Ikuhisa Minowa
Minowa beat Bob Sapp and Hong Man Choi to advance to the finals. Sokoudjou beat Bob Sapp (he was filling in for Gegard Mousasi) and Jan Nortje to advance to the finals. If this fight is finished in the first round it should go to Sokoudjou but anything beyond that should be Minowa’s advantage.
R1- Both guys really tentative at the beginning. They went to the ropes and Minowa pulled guard and really worked on getting a leg lock. Sokoudjou took Minowa’s back and tried to get a Rear Naked on a couple of different occasions. Sokoudjou 10-9 in the first round (this fight is 5-minute rounds on a 10-must scoring system which is different then a lot of DREAM’s fights).
R2- Minowa went for a take down and then Sokoudjou took top position and hit some Ground and Pound. Very little action in the second part of this round as both guys seem exhausted. Sokoudjou just lays on Minowa. Minowa grabbed a knee bar in the last 15 seconds of the round and almost got a stoppage. Sokoudjou 20-18 after two rounds but Minowa looks like he did some damage to Sokoudjou’s leg at the end of the round.
R3- No action in the first minute of the round. The ref gives both fighters a yellow card (which reduces their pay by 10%) as there has been no action in the first minute and a half of the round. Two minutes gone and neither guy is doing anything. The round is half way over and no action and the ref gives them another yellow card so their pay has now been reduced by 20%. Sokoudjou hit a spinning back kick to the mid-section for the only shot of the round so far. Minowa connected with a punch to Sokoudjou and he drops and the ref steps in and stops the fight. Wow, no action at all in the round and then all of a sudden it’s over. Sokoudjou continues his streak of not being able to compete/win after the first round of a fight. Looked like it might have been an early stoppage as Sokoudjou looked like he was still very aware when he went down.
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO (Strikes) R3
K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
This is a K-1 contest with “special rules”. Nishijima is not allowed to kick in this fight.
R1- Sefo lands some good shots early. Sefo hit a big left half way through the land that gave Nishijima the “rubber legs”. Sefo took this round.
R2- Sefo landed a spinning back kick to the gut and then landed some punches. Sefo is going to take this round.
R3- They exchanged some strikes and Sefo downed Nishijima with a right hand and Nishijima got a standing 8-count.
Winner: Ray Sefo by Decision
Under 18 K-1 High School Championship Final- Masaaki Noiri vs. Shota Shimada
R1- Good first round that could have gone either way. Noiri was more aggressive but Shimada landed more shots.
R2- Noiri landed some good shots toward the end of the round and the ref gave Shimada a standing 8-count.
R3- Noiri again landed some good shots towards the end of the round and Shimada’s nose started bleeding. Good fight.
Winner and K-1 High School Champion: Masaaki Noiri by Decision
Dynamite Team Fights #1- Katsuyori Shibata (Dream) vs. Hiroshi Izumi (Sengoku) (0-1)
R1- Not a lot of action in the first couple of minutes as Shibata is jabbing but not connecting on anything. Shibata landed some good shots and then a couple of knees. Shibata won this round 10-9.
R2- Izumi hit a good shot early but got caught in a clinch and Izumi brawled his way out of the hold. Izumi got a take down about half way through the round. Izumi took this round to even it up 19-19.
R3- Shibata landed some good shots in the first minute of the round. Izumi landed some big shots half way through the round and then got Shibata down on the mat. I’ve got Izumi 29-28 but I could definitely see Shibata taking the second round so I’m expecting a split decision.
Winner: Hiroshi Izumi by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 1 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #2- Featherweight Fight- Michihiro Omigawa (Sengoku) (8-8) vs. Hiroyoki Takaya (DREAM)
Omigawa lost in the Featherweight Grand Prix final and is coming off a controversial split decision over top ranked Featherweight fighter Hatsu Hioki. Takaya was a finalist of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix. So we have a match-up of the runners-up of each company’s Featherweight Grand Prix tournaments.
R1- Omigawa landed some good shots about half way through the first round and dropped Takaya and finished him on the ground. Good showing by Omigawa.
Winner: Michihiro Omigawa by TKO (Strikes) R1
Sengoku 2 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #3- Welterweight Fight- Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (DREAM) (35-9-2) vs. Akihiro Gono (Sengoku)
R1- Sakurai caught Gono coming in about half way through the round and landed some good strikes. Gono got a strong take down with about one minute left in the round. Close round probably went to Sakurai because the Japanese judges don’t count take downs as much as US judges.
R2- Pretty even first half of the round. Gono caught a kick of Sakurai’s and took him down. Gono grabbed an arm bar and got the submission. Big win for Gono.
Winner: Akihiro Gono by Submission (Arm Bar) R2
Sengoku 3 DREAM 0
Dynamite Team Fights #4- Middleweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (DREAM) (23-6-1) vs. Kazuo Misaki (Sengoku) (22-9-1)
Miaski has won 4 of his last 5 fights. 22 of Manhoef’s 23 wins have come by TKO/KO.
R1- Manhoef charged in about two minutes into the round and moved forward throwing strikes. Melvin knocked Misaki down and the ref quickly stopped the fight. Melvin landed 4 good strikes on the feet but the ref definitely stopped the fight early.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes) R1
Sengoku 3 DREAM 1
Dynamite Team Fights #5- Featherweight Fight- Hideo Tokoro (DREAM) (22-15-1) vs. Jong Man Kim (Sengoku) (21-10-3)
Kim is a last minute replacement for Marlon Sandro and has taken this fight on only a few days notice. Kim is 1-6-3 in his last 10 fights.
R1- Tokoro hit a good knee during an exchange in the first minute of the fight. Tokoro hit another good knee with two minutes left in the round. Tokoro pulled guard into a flying triangle and then moved into an arm bar submission. Kim put his legs around Tokoro’s neck so he could not straighten out and get the maximum effect of the submission. Tokoro finally got free and tried to straighten out the arm bar again but couldn’t. Kim’s nose got bloodied up during the exchange. Really good end to the first round. Tokoro 10-9.
R2- Not as much action this round but I’ve got Tokoro taking it to lead 20-18 after two rounds.
R3- Tokoro hit a nice jumping knee in the first minute of the final round. Kim landed a good combo and floored Tokoro. Kim jumped on top and went for a Rear Naked Choke but Tokoro fought him off. Tikoro comes back at the end of the round and nails some good strikes including two knees. Tokoro is really swinging for the fences at the end of the fight going for the knockout and Kim ends up getting taken down. Good round and I’ve got Tokoro taking this one. Kim showed a lot of heart in taking this fight on short notice and never giving up.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 3 DREAM 2
Dynamite Team Fights #6- Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM) (25-5-2) vs. Kazunori Yokota (Sengoku)
Kawajiri has won 8 of his last 10 and 4 of his last 5. Kawajiri is sporting a sweet mullet for this fight.
R1- Kawajiri got a quick take down in the first 20 seconds of the fight. Kawajiri got another take down about half way through the round. Kawajiri got the mount with two minutes left in the round. Kawajiri easily took this round.
R2- Yokota landed some strikes at the beginning of the round but Kawajiri got a take down. Kawajiri clamped in an arm triangle with about a minute and a half left in the round. but Yokota slipped out. Kawajiri took the mount position and landed some Ground and Pound. Kawajiri has taken the first two rounds so far in this fight.
R3- Kawajiri got an early take down despite Yokota doing his best to hold onto the ropes. Kawajiri mounted Yokota with three minutes left in the round. Kawajiri grabbed an arm bar near the end of the round and his arm bent in a weird way but he survived until the bell rang to end the round. Kawajiri takes this fight via unanimous decision.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 3 DREAM 3
Dynamite Team Fights #7- Kid Yamamoto (DREAM) vs. Masanori Kanehara (Sengoku)
Kanehara is the Sengoku Featherweight Champion. He lost to Hatsu Hioki in the semi-finals but Hioki could not continue so Kanehara took his place in the finals and won the fight.
R1- Both guys came out quickly. Kid hit a good shot that briefly brought Kanehara to his knees but it could have been a slip as he bounced right back up. Kid hit another jab that sent Kanehara back against the ropes. Kanehara has a large height advantage. Kanehara hit a left hand and Kid briefly went down. Kanehara got a take down with about a minute and a half left in the round. Pretty good first round and close to call. Metzger calls it an even round and says that they can score even rounds in Japan.
R2- Kid ducked down and got tagged by a right hand and went down. Kanehara jumped on top but Kid wrapped him up to try and give himself time to recover. Kanehara didn’t really do anything after that punch but he’s going to take this round.
R3- Close round and Kid hit a left hand that took Kanehara down and then he clinched him and kneed him in the head a few times until they fell through the ropes. Kid hit another good left hand. Kid took this round. This one is a toss up with each guy taking one round a piece and the first round up for grabs.
Winner: Masanori Kanehara by Decision (Unanimous)
Sengoku 4 DREAM 3
Dynamite Team Fights #8- Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem (DREAM) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (Sengoku) (15-8)
Fujita has only fought once this year and he lost by split decision. Alistair has a huge size advantage.
Mayhem Miller on Alistair Overeem: “He looks like a freakin’ super hero”
R1- Alistair hit a knee in the clinch to start things off. Alistair hit a big left knee and this one is over before it started. Wow. Alistair really needs to come over to Strikeforce.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by TKO (Knee) R1
Sengoku 4 DREAM 4
Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge (23-19-1)
Goodridge comes out to “We Will Rock You”. He hasn’t won a fight since 2007 and is 0-4 since then so I’m not sure why he picked that music.
R1- Mousasi hit some quick light strikes and then got a take down in the first twenty seconds of the round. Mousasi lands some Ground and Pound. Mousasi with some hammer fists and the ref stops the fight. Goodridge protests the stoppage but he was taking hard shots and not improving his position.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R1
Dynamite Team Fights #9- Shinya Aoki (DREAM) (22-4) vs. Mizuto Hirota (Sengoku) (12-3-1)
Hirota is the Sengoku Lightweight Champion. Aoki is the DREAM Lightweight Champion having defeated Joachim Hansen at DREAM 11. This is the final fight of the Dynamite Team Fights.
R1- Aoki shot in quickly and got a take down in the first minute of the fight. Aoki stuck Hirota’s arm behind his back and mounted him and landed some punches to the face. Aoki got on top of Hirota and got him in a body triangle and cranked back on the hammer lock and broke Hirota’s arm. Aoki then got in Hirota’s face and shot him with bird after he won the fight.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Kimura)
DREAM defeated Sengoku 5 fights to 4
Heavyweight Fight- Hidehiko Yoshida (8-7-1) vs. Satoshi Ishii (0-0)
This is Ishii’s much awaited MMA debut. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo. Yoshida was also an Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo back in the 90s. All of Yoshida’s victories have come by submission.
R1- Ishii looks a little uncomfortable in the first couple of minutes as they stand up and feel each other out. Yoshida landed a big time right hand that almost sent Ishii to the mat. Yoshida then landed several shots in the clinch but Ishii stays on his feet. Yoshida is just having his way with Ishii and Ishii has a bloody nose. Yoshida landed another good right hand. Ishii is really going for the fakes. Yoshida definitely took this round.
R2- Ishii starts off the round by landing some strikes in the clinch. Ishii was trying to get a take down but Yoshida just grabbed the ropes and avoided it and got admonished by the ref. Ishii landed some more good strikes. Ishii hit a low blow and got a point deducted. Ishii got a take down and took side control right at the bell. Ishii took this round but with the point deduction it’s a 9-9 round so we are looking at 19-18 or 19-17 in favor of Yoshida going into the final round.
R3- Not a ton of action in this round as both guys are pretty worn out but Ishii is landing more strikes. Yoshida went for a take down in the last minute and Ishii sprawl to avoid it. Ishii took this round so he will take two rounds but will lose the fight. Guy Metzger calls this one a draw and so does Mayhem Miller as they are thinking 28-28. I’m thinking there is a judge or two out there that scored the fight 10-8 in the first round and thus making Yoshida the winner 28-27.
Winner: Hidehiko Yoshida by Decision
K-1: Masato vs. Andy Souwer
Souwer is 21-4 in K-1 with 7 KOs but has an overall record 134-8-1 with 84 KOs. Masato is the only Japanese fighter to ever win a K-1 World Grand Prix Title. He was the K-1 Max 2003 and 2008. Masato has lost only 2 fights in the last 4 years and both of those fights were against Andy Souwer (by TKO and 2007 and by Decision in 2006). Masato has a K-1 record of 35-4-1 with 10 KOs and has a career record 54-6-2 with 24 KOs. This is a 5-round fight. Ray Sefo joins the announce team for this fight.
R1- Masato looked really good and took the first round. Two judges gave the first round to Masato and one judge gave the first round a draw.
R2- They start to open things up a bit at the beginning of this round and are throwing strikes more freely. Souwer landed a really good right hand half way through the round. Souwer really started to come on at the end of the round. I’ve got Souwer taking that round even through it looked like Masato hit more strikes. All judges gave this round a draw.
R3- And my DVR cut off during this fight after taping the live HDNet feed for 7 and a half hours.
Winner: Masato by Decision (Unanimous)
Showing posts with label Hideo Tokoro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hideo Tokoro. Show all posts
Sunday, January 10, 2010
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
Thursday, July 24, 2008
DREAM.5 7/21/08 Show Re-Cap
DREAM 5 Lightweight Gran Prix Tournament
Kenny Rice(man he looks jet lagged) and Bas Rutten are once again the announcers for this show. I like Bas more the more I listen to him. I think he's an acquired taste.
Lightweight Semifinals and Finals are fighting tonight to decide the championship. We've got Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno with the winners facing off later tonight. They hype these fighters as "4 of the Top 11 fighters in the world." I'm guessing Kenny is just talking about lightweight fighters. This should be a fun little tournament as I like all of these guys except Shinya Aoki (so he will probably win).
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (14-9) vs. Andy Ologun (1-0)
Apparently Nakamura just fought 4 days ago at a different show and won by decision. So he either owes someone money or just loves to fight. This match is scheduled for 2 five minute rounds. All other DREAM fights have been 1 ten minute round and 1 five minute round. Ologun has a background in K-1.
R1- Olagun gets a good kick and it takes Nakamura down but Nakamura grabs a leg and then they get back up. Olagun swings wildly and misses 2 big shots. Nakamura pulls guard and gets an arm bar finishes the fight quickly. Really quick fight and a great move by Nakamura. Very exciting opener with a great finish by Nakamura. Nakamura has now won 2 fights in 4 days and 7 of his last 8 fights.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Shinya Aoki (16-2) vs. Caol Uno (25-10-4)
Aoki is hyped as #3 in the world. Uno is hyped as the sentimental favorite. They say that Aoki is a 3 to 1 favorite. Uno is 8 years older than Aoki and Aoki has a 4" height advantage.My prediction is that Aoki lays on top of Uno for 15 minutes and wins a decision but I'm hoping for an Uno win. Uno comes out to a re-mix of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This match has a good feel to it, looks like it will be fun. They get a pretty even response from the crowd at introductions. Aoki is once again wearing some hideous looking tights.
R1- Long feeling out process at the beginning as they are both waiting for the other to make a move. I wish DREAM showed the time clock but it was at least a minute before the first shot was landed- Aoki hit a jumping knee on Uno up against the ropes. Aoki takes Uno down to the mat. Uno flips him over and is now in Aoki's guard. The crowd chants for Aoki. Uno hits a punch and the ref moves them to the center of the ring. Uno gets in a shot and Aoki tries to get an arm bar and is now wrapping his legs around Uno's looking for a submission. Aoki has a very active guard. Aoki has him in a heel hook. Uno gets out of it but Aoki takes his back. Aoki is like an octopus in this fight so far. Aoki has him in a body lock but is not doing any damage. Uno turns into Aoki and they take a small break to work on Aoki's gloves. Aoki moves back over and takes Uno's back and goes for a Rear Nake Choke. Aoki doesn't get it but he still has his legs wrapped around Uno's midsection. Uno flips over and Aoki catches him in a triangle but I don't think he's got his arm trapped, it looks like basically a head scissors type move. He does actually have his arm trapped and Uno is trying to hold on. Uno gets to his feet with the move still on and Uno buts his knee on Aoki's face to get out but Aoki holds on and rolls him back over. Aoki grabs his arm and rolls him over and Uno is bucking and trying to kick Aoki's back to get out of the move. Uno somehow escapes the move. Great survival by Uno and he is now in Aoki's guard. Uno postures up and is getting some punches in on Aoki. Aoki gets an up kick. The first round end with Uno landing a punch. Fantastic first round. Great mat work by Aoki and great survival instincts by Uno. The chess match these guys had was just great. Aoki is winning the fight so far as he had Uno in several submissions and it felt like he could have gotten a submission on a few of them.
R2- Uno charges in early and Aoki takes Uno's guard. Uno gives up his back trying to get out of Aoki's clutches. Uno delivering some elbows to the side of Aoki trying to get free. Aoki is just kind of holding onto him at this point. Uno turns over and is now in Aoki's guard. Uno needs a knockout here with about 1 minute left. Aoki grabs him and latches on to try and ride Uno to victory. Second round was nowhere near as exciting as the first round as Aoki knew he was ahead in the fight and simply latched on and rode Uno for the last 5 minutes. Still a top notch fight but I'm a little disappointed with Aoki not really trying to finish the fight. Probably still (mostly based on the 1st round) the second best fight DREAM has had so far (Hansen vs. Alvarez is my #1 for this promotion this year).
Winner and advancing to the Finals: Shinya Aoki by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-4-2) vs. Eddie Alvarez (14-1)
Eddie Alvarez comes out to a song with the "The Champ is Here" line repeating at the beginning. Alvarez does the Pro Wres jump into the ring over the ropes.
R1- Kawajiri landing some kicks early. Alvarez goes in and Kawajiri jumps on top guarding against a take down. They clinch against the ropes and the ref breaks them up. Alvarez misses a punch and Kawajiri gets a good right. Alvarez hits a good combo as he leads with a kick and then hits some quick punches. Alvarez's right eye is really red. Alvarez with some leg kicks. Alvarez with a big combo and Kawajiri is knocked down. They get back up and they are brawling with lots of dirty boxing. Kawajiri lands a nice punch but then slips and they are clinched again. The round is about half way over. Alvarez has a cut on his right eye and the ref stops the fight to look at it.
Kawajiri gets a big punch and knock Alvarez down. Kawajiri is on top and is trying to end the fight and Alvarez has closed his guard. Kawajiri is trying to pass guard but not having much success. Kawajiri passes into the full mount position but Alvarez is still holding his head down. Alvarez muscles to his feet and these guys are swinging wildly with both guys connecting on some shots. Both guys are just laying into each other. Very exciting fight. Kawajiri hitting some knees in the clinch. Alvarez landing some punches and knocks down Kawajiri. Alvarez thinks the fight is over and doesn't pounce on Kawajiri. Alvarez then jumps down and starts to pound on Kawajiri and the ref stops the fight. Alvarez almost makes a huge mistake but ends up winning. Alvarez has a nasty mouse under his eye.
AWESOME fight.
"It's like a Rocky movie"- Bas Rutten
DREAM has just delivered maybe the best 2 consecutive matches this year. It's right up there with Torres/Maeda and then Pulver/Faber from the last WEC show.
Lightweight "Reserve" Fight- Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill (9-7) vs. Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (17-7-1)
Gill lost to Kawajiri in the Lightweight Grand Prix and Hansen lost to Alvarez. The winner of this fight would step into the finals if Alvarez or Aoki could not fight. It's a possibility that Alvarez may not be able to with that big mouse under his eye but Kenny Rice doesn't seem to think that it will come to that as he doesn't even mention it as a possibility.
R1- Hansen immediately moves into Gill and Gill clinches him and hits some good knees but Hansen muscles him down and they sprawl. They ref separates them and they re-start. Gill hitting some leg kicks. Gill tries for a take down but Hansen shows good balance and strength staying on his feet but then eventually goes down. Hansen looks like he is going for an arm bar and he gets it and taps Gill. Shorter fight then it felt like it was going to be but a good fight and exciting while it lasted.
Very strong show so far for DREAM.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
They show Urijah Faber on the big screen to hype up a fighter that he is training that is fighting next, Joseph Benavidez.
Joseph Benavidez (7-0) vs. Junya “Kodo” Kudo
Faber is in Joseph's corner.
R1- Joe gets a quick take down and takes Kudo's guard. Back to their feet. Joe hits a big slam and is in position to take Kudo's back. Joe takes full mount and Kudo taps to the guillotine. Impressive showing for the Faber trainee Joseph Benavidez.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5) vs. Motoki Miyazawa (4-0)
R1- Two minutes in, not much action so far. Motoki pulls guard on Hironka. Hironaka gets in a better position and gets some shots in on Motoki. They stand back up and Hironaka looks to be the better fighter on the feet. Motoki has a cut on his left eye and Motoki's nose is bleeding. Hironaka starts to open up on Motoki and the ref stops the fight to look at Motoki's cut just as Hironaka started to get going. The ref stops the fight.
Winner: Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO (Cut) R1
Urijah Faber joins Kenny Rice doing an intermission for an interview and they talk about Joseph Benavidez, Aoki/Alvarez, the Alistair Overeem fight coming up and Faber's upcoming fight with Mike Brown.
141 lb Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-13-1) vs. Takeshi Yamazaki (14-7-2)
R1- Tokoro hits an early low blow on Yamazaki and they take a break. Yamazaki gets the first take down and Tokoro has a very active guard and goes for some submissions. Tokoro gets a big punch after they stand up and jumps on top and pounds on Yamazaki but Yamazaki recovers. Tokoro hits another low blow and they take another break. Gotta love the slow motion instant replay of the low blows. Ouch. They gave a yellow card to Tokoro. Tokoro hurt Yamazaki with two big punches and then got a nice knee in before they clinched and Yamazaki took Tokoro down. Tokoro tried to grab a knee bar but could not. Tokoro then tried to take Yamazaki's back but couldn't. Tokoro trying to get a triangle on Yamazaki but couldn't get it locked it. Decent fight so far but not quite what they were looking for coming out of intermission. Tokoro is winning the fight so far but did get the yellow card for the low blows.
R2- Not a real exciting second round and they kind of limp to a finish. Yamazaki's face looks really beat up after the fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
THEY ANNOUNCE THAT EDDIE ALVAREZ CANNOT FIGHT TONIGHT IN THE FINALS DUE TO THE CUT UNDER HIS EYE AND HE WILL BE REPLACED BY JOACHIM HANSEN.
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-4)
Shibata runs down to the ring and jumps over the ring ropes. This one should be all Akiyama.
R1- Akiyama is apparently going to fight in his full Gi outfit. Long feeling out process. Early leg kicks by Shibata. Not much action as we are three minutes in and all we've got so far are leg kicks by both guys. Shibata seems to be the aggressor and Akiyama seems content to just wait for Shibata to make a mistake. Akiyama missed a gigantic kick that would have taken Shibata's head off and they clinch but Akiyama ends up with the take down. Akiyama moves into full mount and has a weird choke on Shibata and gets the win in about six and a half minutes.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by TKO (ref stoppage due to choke) R1
Eddie Alvarez is in the ring and his eye is jacked up. They announce that he will not be fighting in the finals tonight against Shinya Aoki. Alvarez breaks up during his in ring promo and his smoking hot girlfriend is sad at ringside. Alvarez says that he's glad that Hansen is his replacement. Alvarez says that he is officially challenging the winner of the fight and that he will be back to fight for the fans here again and that he loves the fans. They show the replay of Kawajiri going for a punch and ending up nailing Alvarez in his eye with an elbow, which caused the huge bruise on Eddie's eye. Alvarez does a back flip off the ropes into the ring to the pop of the crowd before he leaves. Alvarez is a beast, can't wait to see him take on the winner of Aoki/Hansen.
Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Overeem stepped in at the last moment (about 3 days notice) to take this fight. Hunt has not fought since 2006 (against Fedor). Hunt has victories over Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva in his career.
R1- Hunt gets a quick take down. Hunt passes Overeem's guard but Overeem tries to get an arm bar in and he has it and Hunt taps out in about 1:15. Great showing by Alistair on 3 days notice as he got taken down but adjusted and finished the fight quickly.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Eddie Alvarez joins the announce crew for the finals of the Lightweight GP.
Lightweight GP Title Final: Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (18-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-2)
I'm not a huge fan of a guy who lost already in the tournament stepping in and getting a fight for the title but I think Hansen is deserving as he put up a hell of a fight against Eddie Alvarez in the Quarterfinals. Either way Alvarez will get his re-match with the champ in a show or two. Alvarez is at ringside with his busted eye and his hot girlfriend. Aoki has some different but equally hideous tights on for this fight- they compare him to a bumble-bee.
R1- Hansen swings and misses immediately and Aoki takes him down. Hansen gets a low blow on Aoki and Aoki sells it like death (can't tell with this guy the way he sold that one shot from JZ when he was losing the fight if it was something that really hurt or not). Hansen again throws a big punch and misses and Aoki pulls guard. Aoki gets Hansen in the rubber guard. Aoki goes for a submission but misses and Hansen lands some good punches to Aoki. Hansen lands another big punch on Aoki and then hits Aoki with some big punches and the ref stops the fight. Great finish by Hansen. Eddie Alvarez comes in the ring post-fight and congratulates the new champion. Good but surprisingly short fight. Aoki cries after the fight.
Post-fight Hansen says that his first defense will be against Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez comes in the ring and congratulates Hansen again.Caol Uno and Kawajiri also come out and they present the fights with trophies and checks.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by TKO (strikes) R1
In a weekend that was hyped as UFC vs Affliction, DREAM put on the best show and the best fight of the weekend. Alvarez/Kawajiri was just an awesome fight and is definitely the best fight in DREAM so far and a legit FOTY candidate. Aoki/Uno was also very good. Good showings on the fight from Nakamura, Overeem, and Benavidez in under card action. Aoki/Hansen was a solid final and I'm definitely looking forward to Alvarez/Hansen II. This was definitely the best DREAM show so far (even though the first half was better than the second half of the show) and it was the best event this past weekend beating out both Affliction and UFC.
Kenny Rice(man he looks jet lagged) and Bas Rutten are once again the announcers for this show. I like Bas more the more I listen to him. I think he's an acquired taste.
Lightweight Semifinals and Finals are fighting tonight to decide the championship. We've got Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno with the winners facing off later tonight. They hype these fighters as "4 of the Top 11 fighters in the world." I'm guessing Kenny is just talking about lightweight fighters. This should be a fun little tournament as I like all of these guys except Shinya Aoki (so he will probably win).
Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (14-9) vs. Andy Ologun (1-0)
Apparently Nakamura just fought 4 days ago at a different show and won by decision. So he either owes someone money or just loves to fight. This match is scheduled for 2 five minute rounds. All other DREAM fights have been 1 ten minute round and 1 five minute round. Ologun has a background in K-1.
R1- Olagun gets a good kick and it takes Nakamura down but Nakamura grabs a leg and then they get back up. Olagun swings wildly and misses 2 big shots. Nakamura pulls guard and gets an arm bar finishes the fight quickly. Really quick fight and a great move by Nakamura. Very exciting opener with a great finish by Nakamura. Nakamura has now won 2 fights in 4 days and 7 of his last 8 fights.
Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Shinya Aoki (16-2) vs. Caol Uno (25-10-4)
Aoki is hyped as #3 in the world. Uno is hyped as the sentimental favorite. They say that Aoki is a 3 to 1 favorite. Uno is 8 years older than Aoki and Aoki has a 4" height advantage.My prediction is that Aoki lays on top of Uno for 15 minutes and wins a decision but I'm hoping for an Uno win. Uno comes out to a re-mix of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This match has a good feel to it, looks like it will be fun. They get a pretty even response from the crowd at introductions. Aoki is once again wearing some hideous looking tights.
R1- Long feeling out process at the beginning as they are both waiting for the other to make a move. I wish DREAM showed the time clock but it was at least a minute before the first shot was landed- Aoki hit a jumping knee on Uno up against the ropes. Aoki takes Uno down to the mat. Uno flips him over and is now in Aoki's guard. The crowd chants for Aoki. Uno hits a punch and the ref moves them to the center of the ring. Uno gets in a shot and Aoki tries to get an arm bar and is now wrapping his legs around Uno's looking for a submission. Aoki has a very active guard. Aoki has him in a heel hook. Uno gets out of it but Aoki takes his back. Aoki is like an octopus in this fight so far. Aoki has him in a body lock but is not doing any damage. Uno turns into Aoki and they take a small break to work on Aoki's gloves. Aoki moves back over and takes Uno's back and goes for a Rear Nake Choke. Aoki doesn't get it but he still has his legs wrapped around Uno's midsection. Uno flips over and Aoki catches him in a triangle but I don't think he's got his arm trapped, it looks like basically a head scissors type move. He does actually have his arm trapped and Uno is trying to hold on. Uno gets to his feet with the move still on and Uno buts his knee on Aoki's face to get out but Aoki holds on and rolls him back over. Aoki grabs his arm and rolls him over and Uno is bucking and trying to kick Aoki's back to get out of the move. Uno somehow escapes the move. Great survival by Uno and he is now in Aoki's guard. Uno postures up and is getting some punches in on Aoki. Aoki gets an up kick. The first round end with Uno landing a punch. Fantastic first round. Great mat work by Aoki and great survival instincts by Uno. The chess match these guys had was just great. Aoki is winning the fight so far as he had Uno in several submissions and it felt like he could have gotten a submission on a few of them.
R2- Uno charges in early and Aoki takes Uno's guard. Uno gives up his back trying to get out of Aoki's clutches. Uno delivering some elbows to the side of Aoki trying to get free. Aoki is just kind of holding onto him at this point. Uno turns over and is now in Aoki's guard. Uno needs a knockout here with about 1 minute left. Aoki grabs him and latches on to try and ride Uno to victory. Second round was nowhere near as exciting as the first round as Aoki knew he was ahead in the fight and simply latched on and rode Uno for the last 5 minutes. Still a top notch fight but I'm a little disappointed with Aoki not really trying to finish the fight. Probably still (mostly based on the 1st round) the second best fight DREAM has had so far (Hansen vs. Alvarez is my #1 for this promotion this year).
Winner and advancing to the Finals: Shinya Aoki by Decision (Unanimous)
Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-4-2) vs. Eddie Alvarez (14-1)
Eddie Alvarez comes out to a song with the "The Champ is Here" line repeating at the beginning. Alvarez does the Pro Wres jump into the ring over the ropes.
R1- Kawajiri landing some kicks early. Alvarez goes in and Kawajiri jumps on top guarding against a take down. They clinch against the ropes and the ref breaks them up. Alvarez misses a punch and Kawajiri gets a good right. Alvarez hits a good combo as he leads with a kick and then hits some quick punches. Alvarez's right eye is really red. Alvarez with some leg kicks. Alvarez with a big combo and Kawajiri is knocked down. They get back up and they are brawling with lots of dirty boxing. Kawajiri lands a nice punch but then slips and they are clinched again. The round is about half way over. Alvarez has a cut on his right eye and the ref stops the fight to look at it.
Kawajiri gets a big punch and knock Alvarez down. Kawajiri is on top and is trying to end the fight and Alvarez has closed his guard. Kawajiri is trying to pass guard but not having much success. Kawajiri passes into the full mount position but Alvarez is still holding his head down. Alvarez muscles to his feet and these guys are swinging wildly with both guys connecting on some shots. Both guys are just laying into each other. Very exciting fight. Kawajiri hitting some knees in the clinch. Alvarez landing some punches and knocks down Kawajiri. Alvarez thinks the fight is over and doesn't pounce on Kawajiri. Alvarez then jumps down and starts to pound on Kawajiri and the ref stops the fight. Alvarez almost makes a huge mistake but ends up winning. Alvarez has a nasty mouse under his eye.
AWESOME fight.
"It's like a Rocky movie"- Bas Rutten
DREAM has just delivered maybe the best 2 consecutive matches this year. It's right up there with Torres/Maeda and then Pulver/Faber from the last WEC show.
Lightweight "Reserve" Fight- Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill (9-7) vs. Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (17-7-1)
Gill lost to Kawajiri in the Lightweight Grand Prix and Hansen lost to Alvarez. The winner of this fight would step into the finals if Alvarez or Aoki could not fight. It's a possibility that Alvarez may not be able to with that big mouse under his eye but Kenny Rice doesn't seem to think that it will come to that as he doesn't even mention it as a possibility.
R1- Hansen immediately moves into Gill and Gill clinches him and hits some good knees but Hansen muscles him down and they sprawl. They ref separates them and they re-start. Gill hitting some leg kicks. Gill tries for a take down but Hansen shows good balance and strength staying on his feet but then eventually goes down. Hansen looks like he is going for an arm bar and he gets it and taps Gill. Shorter fight then it felt like it was going to be but a good fight and exciting while it lasted.
Very strong show so far for DREAM.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
They show Urijah Faber on the big screen to hype up a fighter that he is training that is fighting next, Joseph Benavidez.
Joseph Benavidez (7-0) vs. Junya “Kodo” Kudo
Faber is in Joseph's corner.
R1- Joe gets a quick take down and takes Kudo's guard. Back to their feet. Joe hits a big slam and is in position to take Kudo's back. Joe takes full mount and Kudo taps to the guillotine. Impressive showing for the Faber trainee Joseph Benavidez.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1
Middleweight Fight- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-5) vs. Motoki Miyazawa (4-0)
R1- Two minutes in, not much action so far. Motoki pulls guard on Hironka. Hironaka gets in a better position and gets some shots in on Motoki. They stand back up and Hironaka looks to be the better fighter on the feet. Motoki has a cut on his left eye and Motoki's nose is bleeding. Hironaka starts to open up on Motoki and the ref stops the fight to look at Motoki's cut just as Hironaka started to get going. The ref stops the fight.
Winner: Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO (Cut) R1
Urijah Faber joins Kenny Rice doing an intermission for an interview and they talk about Joseph Benavidez, Aoki/Alvarez, the Alistair Overeem fight coming up and Faber's upcoming fight with Mike Brown.
141 lb Fight- Hideo Tokoro (21-13-1) vs. Takeshi Yamazaki (14-7-2)
R1- Tokoro hits an early low blow on Yamazaki and they take a break. Yamazaki gets the first take down and Tokoro has a very active guard and goes for some submissions. Tokoro gets a big punch after they stand up and jumps on top and pounds on Yamazaki but Yamazaki recovers. Tokoro hits another low blow and they take another break. Gotta love the slow motion instant replay of the low blows. Ouch. They gave a yellow card to Tokoro. Tokoro hurt Yamazaki with two big punches and then got a nice knee in before they clinched and Yamazaki took Tokoro down. Tokoro tried to grab a knee bar but could not. Tokoro then tried to take Yamazaki's back but couldn't. Tokoro trying to get a triangle on Yamazaki but couldn't get it locked it. Decent fight so far but not quite what they were looking for coming out of intermission. Tokoro is winning the fight so far but did get the yellow card for the low blows.
R2- Not a real exciting second round and they kind of limp to a finish. Yamazaki's face looks really beat up after the fight.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision (Unanimous)
THEY ANNOUNCE THAT EDDIE ALVAREZ CANNOT FIGHT TONIGHT IN THE FINALS DUE TO THE CUT UNDER HIS EYE AND HE WILL BE REPLACED BY JOACHIM HANSEN.
Middleweight Fight- Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-4)
Shibata runs down to the ring and jumps over the ring ropes. This one should be all Akiyama.
R1- Akiyama is apparently going to fight in his full Gi outfit. Long feeling out process. Early leg kicks by Shibata. Not much action as we are three minutes in and all we've got so far are leg kicks by both guys. Shibata seems to be the aggressor and Akiyama seems content to just wait for Shibata to make a mistake. Akiyama missed a gigantic kick that would have taken Shibata's head off and they clinch but Akiyama ends up with the take down. Akiyama moves into full mount and has a weird choke on Shibata and gets the win in about six and a half minutes.
Winner: Yoshihiro Akiyama by TKO (ref stoppage due to choke) R1
Eddie Alvarez is in the ring and his eye is jacked up. They announce that he will not be fighting in the finals tonight against Shinya Aoki. Alvarez breaks up during his in ring promo and his smoking hot girlfriend is sad at ringside. Alvarez says that he's glad that Hansen is his replacement. Alvarez says that he is officially challenging the winner of the fight and that he will be back to fight for the fans here again and that he loves the fans. They show the replay of Kawajiri going for a punch and ending up nailing Alvarez in his eye with an elbow, which caused the huge bruise on Eddie's eye. Alvarez does a back flip off the ropes into the ring to the pop of the crowd before he leaves. Alvarez is a beast, can't wait to see him take on the winner of Aoki/Hansen.
Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
Overeem stepped in at the last moment (about 3 days notice) to take this fight. Hunt has not fought since 2006 (against Fedor). Hunt has victories over Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva in his career.
R1- Hunt gets a quick take down. Hunt passes Overeem's guard but Overeem tries to get an arm bar in and he has it and Hunt taps out in about 1:15. Great showing by Alistair on 3 days notice as he got taken down but adjusted and finished the fight quickly.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Eddie Alvarez joins the announce crew for the finals of the Lightweight GP.
Lightweight GP Title Final: Joachim "Hell Boy" Hansen (18-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (17-2)
I'm not a huge fan of a guy who lost already in the tournament stepping in and getting a fight for the title but I think Hansen is deserving as he put up a hell of a fight against Eddie Alvarez in the Quarterfinals. Either way Alvarez will get his re-match with the champ in a show or two. Alvarez is at ringside with his busted eye and his hot girlfriend. Aoki has some different but equally hideous tights on for this fight- they compare him to a bumble-bee.
R1- Hansen swings and misses immediately and Aoki takes him down. Hansen gets a low blow on Aoki and Aoki sells it like death (can't tell with this guy the way he sold that one shot from JZ when he was losing the fight if it was something that really hurt or not). Hansen again throws a big punch and misses and Aoki pulls guard. Aoki gets Hansen in the rubber guard. Aoki goes for a submission but misses and Hansen lands some good punches to Aoki. Hansen lands another big punch on Aoki and then hits Aoki with some big punches and the ref stops the fight. Great finish by Hansen. Eddie Alvarez comes in the ring post-fight and congratulates the new champion. Good but surprisingly short fight. Aoki cries after the fight.
Post-fight Hansen says that his first defense will be against Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez comes in the ring and congratulates Hansen again.Caol Uno and Kawajiri also come out and they present the fights with trophies and checks.
Winner: Joachim Hansen by TKO (strikes) R1
In a weekend that was hyped as UFC vs Affliction, DREAM put on the best show and the best fight of the weekend. Alvarez/Kawajiri was just an awesome fight and is definitely the best fight in DREAM so far and a legit FOTY candidate. Aoki/Uno was also very good. Good showings on the fight from Nakamura, Overeem, and Benavidez in under card action. Aoki/Hansen was a solid final and I'm definitely looking forward to Alvarez/Hansen II. This was definitely the best DREAM show so far (even though the first half was better than the second half of the show) and it was the best event this past weekend beating out both Affliction and UFC.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
DREAM.4 Middleweight Grand Pix 2nd Round 6/15/08 Re-Cap
DREAM 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 2nd Round
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
They have Nate Marquardt and Ron Kruck break down the Middleweight Second Round match-ups.
Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2)
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki is probably my least favorite MMA fighter in the world. His style is to latch onto his opponent and take him down and then lay on him until the end of the match. He's awesome at it but it's one of the most boring things to watch in professional sports today. The announcers note that he is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight. Aoki also sports some of the most hideous tights in all of MMA.Wake me up when this one is over.
Just as a reminder, in DREAM they have 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes.
R1- Aoki gets two take downs in the first two minutes but doesn't do anything with them. He just clinches the guy and lays on top of him. Aoki shockingly moves to full mount and lays in some really weak looking punches. Aoki submits Nagata about 5 minutes in with a nice submission. This was much less painful than the other 2 Aoki fights that I've seen. He dominated this and finished it pretty quickly. Aoki advances to the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission R1
Heavyweight bout: Lee Tae-Hyun (1-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (26-11)
Lee has a huge size advantage as he's 295 lbs and Alistair is 225 but Alistair has the experience factor. They note that Alistair is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Alistair just destroys Lee very quickly after the opening sequence. About a minute in Alistair hits a great combo and Lee just crumples to the mat. Left hook, overhand right, left hand and a knee and then he hits the mat. Alistair looked phenomenal here but we have to wonder how good his opponent was. I'm looking forward to seeing Alistair take on some more competitive fights.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO R1
Light heavyweight bout: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0)
R1- Gadzhiev looks good early but then gets caught in a take down and gets tapped out by arm bar a little after the 3 minute mark.
Winner: Ralek Gracie by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Bout
Hideo Tokoro (19-13-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-1)
R1- Tokoro hits a big knee about a minute in and takes Darren down. Then they do some really nifty sprawling with Tokoro with the advantage and nearly getting a couple of submissions. Darren comes back with some nice strikes and looks like he has a chance to finish Tokoro but Tokoro takes him down and nearly misses another submission. This is a really entertaining fight and it was very back and forth in the first round.
R2- Good solid second round but not as exciting as the first round.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision
Next up they have the girls hold up signs in the ring to a New Kids on the Block classic smash hit. Wow.
They show a promo for the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce show.
They are in the ring and doing some sort of draw for the lightweight tournament semi-finals to see who will fight each other.
Here are the match-ups:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Both are very intriguing fights. I'm hoping for a Alvarez/Uno finals.
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) vs. Dong-Sik Yoon (4-4)
Yoon comes out to "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Not exactly the song I think of when I want to get pumped for a fight but what do I know. Mousasi upset Denis Kang in the first round, he is 22 years old and is fighting his 25th fight tonight. Mousasi is a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight.
R1- Mousasi controlls the first half of the round. Yoon got an early take down but after that it was mostly Mousasi controlling by taking Yoon's back twice and controlling the fight with leg kicks when they stood up. Mousasi drills Yoon with a knee at about the 4 minute mark and just crumples Yoon and then get goes after him with some Ground and Pound. Yoon fights back by getting Mousasi in a near arm bar. With 30 seconds left Yoon stretches the arm bar out but Mousasi slips out. Mousasi really controlled the fight but Yoon almost got a submission near the end of the round. Mousasi is clearly in control but he's got to be careful not to get submitted.
R2- Mousasi quickly takes Yoons back to start the round. This kind of moved to what I see as a typical DREAM style where one guy in the fight is either just laying there in the fetal position or laying on his opponent to try and ride him to victory. This was Yoon basically being fetal for the first 4 and a half minutes of Round 2. Mousasi wins this one by a landslide in a fight that was very bland and uneventful. Hopefully the other fights are more exciting than this and I think that Miller/Souza and Sakuraba/Manhoef definitely should be.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Zelg Gelasic (8-3) vs. Taiei Kin (3-2)
Kin was also 25-5-1 in K1.
R1- This match had just started and we were about two minutes in when Gelasic got a take down and then the fight was over due to ref stoppage. Upon replay Kin hurt his arm on the take down and he tapped out.The injury was pretty sick as Kin went to brace himself and his arm bend the wrong way, pretty sick looking replay.
Winner: Zelg Gelasic by Submission (Injury)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-5) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (8-1)
I'm looking forward to this fight more than any other fight in the Middleweight Quarterfinals as Souza really impressed me in his last fight and Miller, while talented, really pissed me off the way he disrespected his opponent. Both guys seem really talented and honestly I think this is a bad draw as both of these guys are probably better than the first four guys that we've seen tonight. Miller enters in a Halloween type mask and is throwing money or fake money into the crowd. Then he dances like a white guy trying not to be. Miller's best wins are against Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang. He has losses to Georges St. Pierre and Frank Trig. He's won 9 of his last 10 fights. All of Jacare's wins have been by submission.
R1- Good back and forth action early on with Jacare taking it at Miller and then both guys sprawling for position. Jacare gets the first take down of the fight. Miller reversed and then got caught in a leg lock. They got back to their feet and Miller hit a couple of knees. Jacare returns the favor with a knee in the corner. Jacare gets another take down. Miller does a good job reversing but gets his leg caught again and Jacare reverses. Jacare takes his back at the six minute mark of the round. Jacare control for a few minutes and then Miller escapes and gets a nice punch and takes the top. Miller tried to grab a guillotine but instead whiffed. This was a good round, probably the best fight of the night with the possible exception of the Featherweight Fight. Souza takes the first round as he really controlled the fight. Miller did a good job of minimizing damage and escaping Jacare's submissions but spend most of the round on defense.
R2- Jacare once again is the aggressor coming out to start the fight and gets a glancing high kick on Miller. Some nice sprawling and Miller basically avoids a take down but leaving the ring (didn't look intentional but Jacare definitely would have had a take down here) and then the ref re-starts the fight in the center of the ring. Miller starts to try some combos. Miller seems to be starting to gain some momentum on his feet with about 2 minutes left. Miller tries a guillotine but Jacare slams him down and escapes after the take down. Miller gives up his back and gets to his feet but Jacare takes him down again. Jacare gets full mount and Miller gives up his back and reverses and he is in Jacare's guard. Pretty close fight but Jacare wins this one based on controlling the fight and getting a ton of take downs. Miller started to push the pace towards the end of the fight but he just didn't inflict much (or enough) damage on his opponent. Nice to see Miller get a loss on his record, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
[b]Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1)
Manhoef has 20 wins by TKO or KO. He also has a kick boxing record of 34-4 with 25 T(KOs). Sakuraba has 24 wins with 17 by submission and holds victories over Rampage, Renzo Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
R1- Both guys being very cautious in the early going. Manhoef finally opens things up and just goes all after Skauraba and is just destroying him. The ref stops it at one and a half minutes of round one after Manhoef just ate him up for about 30 seconds non-stop. Great showing by Manhoef.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes)
So the Middleweight Semi-Finals will consist of:
Melvin Manhoef
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Zelg Gelasic
Gegard Mousasi
Hopefully we get a Manhoef/Souza finals.
Kind of a lackluster show from DREAM. The best fights were the featherweight fight and Jacare/Miller but neither of them is really worth going out of your way to see. Alistair Overeem looked really good in his fight and I look forward to seeing him fight more. Manhoef also had a great showing in a Elite XC style beatdown in the Main Event.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
They have Nate Marquardt and Ron Kruck break down the Middleweight Second Round match-ups.
Lightweight Grand Prix
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki (15-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2)
Shinya "Yawn" Aoki is probably my least favorite MMA fighter in the world. His style is to latch onto his opponent and take him down and then lay on him until the end of the match. He's awesome at it but it's one of the most boring things to watch in professional sports today. The announcers note that he is an 8 to 1 favorite to win this fight. Aoki also sports some of the most hideous tights in all of MMA.Wake me up when this one is over.
Just as a reminder, in DREAM they have 2 rounds. The first round is 10 minutes and the second round is 5 minutes.
R1- Aoki gets two take downs in the first two minutes but doesn't do anything with them. He just clinches the guy and lays on top of him. Aoki shockingly moves to full mount and lays in some really weak looking punches. Aoki submits Nagata about 5 minutes in with a nice submission. This was much less painful than the other 2 Aoki fights that I've seen. He dominated this and finished it pretty quickly. Aoki advances to the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament.
Winner: Shinya Aoki by Submission R1
Heavyweight bout: Lee Tae-Hyun (1-1) vs. Alistair Overeem (26-11)
Lee has a huge size advantage as he's 295 lbs and Alistair is 225 but Alistair has the experience factor. They note that Alistair is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
R1- Alistair just destroys Lee very quickly after the opening sequence. About a minute in Alistair hits a great combo and Lee just crumples to the mat. Left hook, overhand right, left hand and a knee and then he hits the mat. Alistair looked phenomenal here but we have to wonder how good his opponent was. I'm looking forward to seeing Alistair take on some more competitive fights.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by KO R1
Light heavyweight bout: Gadzhiev Alavutdin (7-1) vs. Ralek Gracie (1-0)
R1- Gadzhiev looks good early but then gets caught in a take down and gets tapped out by arm bar a little after the 3 minute mark.
Winner: Ralek Gracie by Submission (Arm Bar) R1
Featherweight Bout
Hideo Tokoro (19-13-1) vs. Darren Uyenoyama (4-1)
R1- Tokoro hits a big knee about a minute in and takes Darren down. Then they do some really nifty sprawling with Tokoro with the advantage and nearly getting a couple of submissions. Darren comes back with some nice strikes and looks like he has a chance to finish Tokoro but Tokoro takes him down and nearly misses another submission. This is a really entertaining fight and it was very back and forth in the first round.
R2- Good solid second round but not as exciting as the first round.
Winner: Hideo Tokoro by Decision
Next up they have the girls hold up signs in the ring to a New Kids on the Block classic smash hit. Wow.
They show a promo for the Josh Thomson/Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce show.
They are in the ring and doing some sort of draw for the lightweight tournament semi-finals to see who will fight each other.
Here are the match-ups:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Both are very intriguing fights. I'm hoping for a Alvarez/Uno finals.
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) vs. Dong-Sik Yoon (4-4)
Yoon comes out to "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Not exactly the song I think of when I want to get pumped for a fight but what do I know. Mousasi upset Denis Kang in the first round, he is 22 years old and is fighting his 25th fight tonight. Mousasi is a 3 to 1 favorite to win the fight.
R1- Mousasi controlls the first half of the round. Yoon got an early take down but after that it was mostly Mousasi controlling by taking Yoon's back twice and controlling the fight with leg kicks when they stood up. Mousasi drills Yoon with a knee at about the 4 minute mark and just crumples Yoon and then get goes after him with some Ground and Pound. Yoon fights back by getting Mousasi in a near arm bar. With 30 seconds left Yoon stretches the arm bar out but Mousasi slips out. Mousasi really controlled the fight but Yoon almost got a submission near the end of the round. Mousasi is clearly in control but he's got to be careful not to get submitted.
R2- Mousasi quickly takes Yoons back to start the round. This kind of moved to what I see as a typical DREAM style where one guy in the fight is either just laying there in the fetal position or laying on his opponent to try and ride him to victory. This was Yoon basically being fetal for the first 4 and a half minutes of Round 2. Mousasi wins this one by a landslide in a fight that was very bland and uneventful. Hopefully the other fights are more exciting than this and I think that Miller/Souza and Sakuraba/Manhoef definitely should be.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by Decision (Unanimous)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Zelg Gelasic (8-3) vs. Taiei Kin (3-2)
Kin was also 25-5-1 in K1.
R1- This match had just started and we were about two minutes in when Gelasic got a take down and then the fight was over due to ref stoppage. Upon replay Kin hurt his arm on the take down and he tapped out.The injury was pretty sick as Kin went to brace himself and his arm bend the wrong way, pretty sick looking replay.
Winner: Zelg Gelasic by Submission (Injury)
Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (21-5) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (8-1)
I'm looking forward to this fight more than any other fight in the Middleweight Quarterfinals as Souza really impressed me in his last fight and Miller, while talented, really pissed me off the way he disrespected his opponent. Both guys seem really talented and honestly I think this is a bad draw as both of these guys are probably better than the first four guys that we've seen tonight. Miller enters in a Halloween type mask and is throwing money or fake money into the crowd. Then he dances like a white guy trying not to be. Miller's best wins are against Robbie Lawler and Denis Kang. He has losses to Georges St. Pierre and Frank Trig. He's won 9 of his last 10 fights. All of Jacare's wins have been by submission.
R1- Good back and forth action early on with Jacare taking it at Miller and then both guys sprawling for position. Jacare gets the first take down of the fight. Miller reversed and then got caught in a leg lock. They got back to their feet and Miller hit a couple of knees. Jacare returns the favor with a knee in the corner. Jacare gets another take down. Miller does a good job reversing but gets his leg caught again and Jacare reverses. Jacare takes his back at the six minute mark of the round. Jacare control for a few minutes and then Miller escapes and gets a nice punch and takes the top. Miller tried to grab a guillotine but instead whiffed. This was a good round, probably the best fight of the night with the possible exception of the Featherweight Fight. Souza takes the first round as he really controlled the fight. Miller did a good job of minimizing damage and escaping Jacare's submissions but spend most of the round on defense.
R2- Jacare once again is the aggressor coming out to start the fight and gets a glancing high kick on Miller. Some nice sprawling and Miller basically avoids a take down but leaving the ring (didn't look intentional but Jacare definitely would have had a take down here) and then the ref re-starts the fight in the center of the ring. Miller starts to try some combos. Miller seems to be starting to gain some momentum on his feet with about 2 minutes left. Miller tries a guillotine but Jacare slams him down and escapes after the take down. Miller gives up his back and gets to his feet but Jacare takes him down again. Jacare gets full mount and Miller gives up his back and reverses and he is in Jacare's guard. Pretty close fight but Jacare wins this one based on controlling the fight and getting a ton of take downs. Miller started to push the pace towards the end of the fight but he just didn't inflict much (or enough) damage on his opponent. Nice to see Miller get a loss on his record, couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
[b]Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1)
Manhoef has 20 wins by TKO or KO. He also has a kick boxing record of 34-4 with 25 T(KOs). Sakuraba has 24 wins with 17 by submission and holds victories over Rampage, Renzo Gracie and Ken Shamrock.
R1- Both guys being very cautious in the early going. Manhoef finally opens things up and just goes all after Skauraba and is just destroying him. The ref stops it at one and a half minutes of round one after Manhoef just ate him up for about 30 seconds non-stop. Great showing by Manhoef.
Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO (Strikes)
So the Middleweight Semi-Finals will consist of:
Melvin Manhoef
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Zelg Gelasic
Gegard Mousasi
Hopefully we get a Manhoef/Souza finals.
Kind of a lackluster show from DREAM. The best fights were the featherweight fight and Jacare/Miller but neither of them is really worth going out of your way to see. Alistair Overeem looked really good in his fight and I look forward to seeing him fight more. Manhoef also had a great showing in a Elite XC style beatdown in the Main Event.
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