DREAM 10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round 7/20/09 Re-Cap

DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09) – Saitama, Japan (Saitama Super Arena)

Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai (35-8-2) vs. Marius Zaromskis (9-2)

Sakurai won his first round fight against Top Lightweight Shinya Aoki by TKO. Zaromskis won by decision against Seichi Ikemoto. Sakurai comes in as the favorite to win this tournament but he had a really tough time cutting weight and had to be weighed like three times before he finally made weight so it will be interesting to see how ready he is for this fight.

R1- Both guys are really throwing leather early. Zaromskis hit some good punches and then tried a flying knee but didn’t fully connect. The first minute and a half of this fight has been a slugfest. Sakurai got a take down at the two minute mark. Sakurai has a cut under his eye. They are back on their feet and throwing leather but the ref stops the fight to look at the eye. Zaromskis landed a big left round kick and Sakurai leaned in and then Zaromskis jumped on top and the ref dove in to stop the fight. This was a fun brawl. Big upset for Zaromskis!

Winner: Marius Zaromskis by TKO (Strikes) R1 4:03

Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão (3-0) vs. Jason High (7-1)

Galvao won his first round fight against John Alessio by Arm Bar Submission in the first round. High won his first round fight against Yuya Shirai by Rear Naked Choke in less than a minute. Galvao seems to be the favorite going into this fight.

R1- Unfortunately did not get a chance to see this fight.

Winner: Jason High by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Fight- Katsunori Kikuno (11-1-1) vs. André Amade (6-3-1)

Kikuno is on a 10 fight win streak dating back to 2006. Amade is on a two fight losing streak with those losses coming to Eddie Alvarez and JZ Cavalcante. Amade does hold a win over Caol Uno.

R1- Amade went for some haymakers early and then landed a right hand that floored Kikuno but he got back to his feet. Not a lot of action in the first part of this round and the ref warns them to be more active. Kikuno got a take down and mounted Amade. Amade gave up his back and Kikuno pelted his ears with strikes and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Once Kikuno got the take down he was all over Amade.

Winner: Katsunori Kikuno by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:47

Middleweight Fight- Jesse Taylor (12-3) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-6)

Taylor is on a 6 fight win streak with his last loss being to CB Dollaway at UFC Fight Night 14. Yoon is on a two fight losing streak with one of those losses coming to Gegard Mousasi. Yoon does hold a career win over Melvin Manhoef.

R1- Taylor went for a quick take down and was able to eventually get Yoon down to the ground. Taylor kept a dominant position and the fight ended awkwardly with Yoon giving up as it looked like he hurt himself.

Winner: Jesse Taylor by Submission (Injury) R1 1:02

Middleweight Fight- Paulo Filho (16-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (23-5-1)

Manhoef has won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss coming to Gegard Mousasi. Filho is a former WEC Middleweight Champion who was once considered one of the Top Middleweights in the world before having a meltdown in the ring in a loss against Chael Sonnen in his last fight back in November of 2008. Apparently Filho came into the fight thinking it was at a different weight and had to quickly drop 9 pounds to get to the right weight for the fight.

R1- Filho tried to work a take down early but Manhoef fought him off and then threw some bombs but they didn’t land. Manhoef avoided another take down and then landed some shots. Manhoef nailed Filho and Filho went down. Manhoef jumped on top but couldn’t finish. Filho did a good job of weathering the storm. Back to their feet and Manhoef threw bombs again but Filho got a take down and went for an arm bar and won the fight. Good fight, great job by Filho in absorbing punishment and coming back for the win.

Winner: Paulo Filho by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 2:36

Lightweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (20-4) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (20-2)

R1- Aoki is landing some good kicks to Vitor’s elbow. Surprisingly they have kept the fight standing for the maority of the round. Not a real exciting first round but Aoki is controlling the fight so far but it’s still anybody’s fight going into the 2nd and final round.

R2- About half way through the round Vitor got a take down. Aoki used the rubber guard at times to control Vitor but it was pretty much a stale mate on the ground. I think Aoki will get the decision based on his control of the first round. Not a real good fight.

Winner: Shinya Aoki by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: Marius Zaromskis (10-2) vs. Jason High (8-1)

If you asked most MMA fans who they thought would be in the finals of this tournament it would have been Sakurai and Galvao so these two guys being here is a big upset. The winner of this will definitely rise up the ladder much like Gegard Mousasi did when he won the Middleweight Tournament.

R1- Zaromskis went for a flying knee immediately but High clinched him and eventually got him down on the mat. Zaromskis was able to take High’s guard after High failed ot lock in a guillotine but the fight went quickly back to the feet. Out of nowhere Zaromskis threw a couple punches and then a quick high right kick and knocked High out. Fantastic knockout finish and big time tournament win by Zaromskis. On the re-play Zaromskis actually got in a right hand after hitting the leg kick as High just kind of stiffened up before he fell.

Winner and new DREAM Welterweight Champion: Marius Zaromskis by KO (High Kick) R1

DREAM 8 4/5/09 Show Re-Cap

DREAM 8 Welterweight Grand Prix 1st Round
(4/5/09) – Nagoya, Japan (Nippon Gaishi Hall)

Top lightweight Shinya Aoki is moving up in weight tonight to take part in the Welterweight Grand Prix. He will try to avenge a previous loss tonight against Hayato Sakurai. The Featherweight tournament will also be continued tonight. We will also see 5 non-tournament fights featuring the likes of Jeff Monson, Ninja Rua, and Ikuhisa Minowa. There will be 11 fights tonight. The announcers are Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten.

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.

Katsuyori Shibata (2-6-1) vs. Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa (41-29-8)

Shibata is a former New Japan Professional Wrestler. His won/loss record is a little deceiving because he has fought way above his level of talent and experience in several recent fights as he has lost to Hayato Sakurai, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Mayhem Miller in recent DREAM fights. He is winless in his last 7 fights after starting his MMA career 2-0. Minowa defeated Errol Zimmerman in his last fight on New Years Eve. Minowa has career losses to the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Rampage Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Paulo Filho and Evan Tanner.

R1- Minowa got two take downs in the first round and he leg lock submission attempt but Shibata reversed the submission attempt for one of his own. Minowa controlled the majority of this round and is in firm control of this fight.

R2- Both fighters received a yellow card at the two minute mark of this fight as Minowa was in Shibata’s guard after a take down but neither guy was doing much. Shibata landed some good knees and strikes in the middle of this round. Shibata took Minowa’s back and peppered him with strikes but Minowa rolled over and took Minowa’s guard. Shibata hit a nice belly to back suplex in the closing seconds and took Minowa down again. Shibata might have stole this fight as he dominated the last 3 minutes after Minowa hit the cardio wall.

And all the judges score the fight in favor of Shibata. Huge win for him as it breaks his losing streak and gives him a taste of victory.

Winner: Katsuyori Shibata by Decision (Unanimous)

Middleweight Fight- Shungo Oyama (7-11) vs. Andrews Nakahara (1-1)

Oyama is a judo fighter that holds victories over Carlos Newton, Renzo Gracie and Rodrigo Gracie. He has lost to the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Mirko Cro Cop and Melvin Manhoef (twice). Oyama has lost 8 times by submission. Nakahara comes out to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Nakahara lost his pro debut against Kazushi Sakuraba but won his second fight.

R1- Nakahara looked good early with leg kicks. Oyama went after some leg locks but couldn’t get any and got caught by TKO a couple of minutes into the fight. Good showing by Nakahara. Nakahara hit Oyama with a good punch as he was getting up from an attempted take down and then jumped on top to finish him off.

Winner: Andrews Nakahara by TKO (Strikes) R1

Lightweight Fight- Katsuhiko Nagata (4-4-1) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (19-2)

Nagata is on a 3 fight losing streak and has tough losses to Caol Uno, Shinya Aoki and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Nagata was also in the Lightweight Grand Prix and won his first round fight against Artur Umakhanov by Unanimous Decision but got matched up against Aoki in the 2nd round and got submitted. Ribeiro has not fought since Sept 2007 due to a detached retina he got in a loss to JZ Calvacante. Ribeiro has career victories over Joachim Hansen (current DREAM Lightweight Champ), Mitsuhiro Ishida and Tatsuya Kawajiri. His only losses are to JZ and Kawajiri. Nagata is a wrestler and Ribeiro is a BJJ fighter.

R1- This fight was all Ribeiro as he slowly moved into position with his BJJ and then opened up a large cut on the head of Nagata for the ref stoppage.

Ribeiro looks like a good addition to the already stacked DREAM Lightweight division.

Winner: Vitor Ribeiro by TKO (Ref Stoppage ) R1

Murilo “Ninja” Rua (16-9-1) vs. Riki Fukuda (13-4)

Looks like they are fighting at a catchweight of 195. Rua most recently has competed in Elite XC but was not offered a contract by Strikeforce after losing to Benji Radach in his last Elite XC fight. Fukuda is a Muay Thai fighter and a wrestler. Ninja is a BJJ/Muay Thai fighter.

R1- Ninja gets a take down reversed about 3 minutes in and Fukuda gets some good shots in before they get back to their feet. Fukuda hits some nice shots on their feet and Ninja is visibly hurt but is holding on. Ninja went for a triangle and then a leg lock but couldn’t lock in either submission. Ninja gets Fukuda’s back briefly and gets enough shots in to bloody Fukuda. Ninja came on strong in the second half of the first round and has the advantage going into the second round.

R2- Not a great second round as both guys are really tried. Fukuda comes on strong in the last minute and hits some nice strikes. This is going to be a toss-up for the judges.

Fukuda wins a unanimous decision.

Winner: Riki Fukuda by Decision (Unanimous)

Heavyweight Fight- Jeff Monson (19-8) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (16-3)

Monson has won his last 5 fights and this is his 3rd fight in 3 weeks. Kharitonov has finished 15 of his 16 wins by KO or submission. He has wins over Alistair Overeem, Pedro Rizzo and Fabricio Werdum. Kharitonov has been training with Overeem lately. He has also has a 5” height and 14 pound weight advantage in this fight.

R1- Monson got Kharitonov down and was able to get a guillotine type move from the north/south position and made quick work of Kharitonov. Really good showing by Monson.

Winner: Jeff Monson by Submission (North-South Choke) R1 1:42

Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Daiki Hata (10-5-3) vs. Hideo Tokoro (21-15-1)

Daiki is 3-0-1 in his last 4 fights. He has split two fights with Yoshiro Maeda. Tokoro won on the DREAM 4 show by decision over Darren Uyenoyama and also beat Takeshi Yamazaki by decision on the DREAM 5 show.

R1- These guys took a while to get going but really went at each other during the middle of this round with both guys getting in some decent shots. Daiki came on strong at the end of the round and got some good punches in that floored Tokoro but he couldn’t finish him off.

R2- This was a close fight but I think Daiki is going to take this as I think he took the first round and stayed in a dominant position for the majority of the second round.

Winner: Daiki Hata by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- John Alessio (24-12) vs. Andre Galvao (2-0)

Alessio trains at Xtreme Couture and Mac Danzig is in his corner for the fight. Alessio has wins over Thomas Denny and Pete Spratt and has tough losses to Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves and Carlos Condit. He lost his last fight to Paul Daley by TKO in the 2nd round back in December of 2008. Galvo is a BJJ World Champion and trains Wanderlei Silva in jiu jitsu but this is only his third fight.

R1- Galvao took Alessio’s back and got in some knees to the back of his thighs and then took the fight to the ground. Galvao lands some good hammer punches to the side of Alessio’s head as he has him clamped in with a body triangle. Galvao went for an arm bar and Alessio did a good job stopping it for a while but then Alessio flipped over and Galvao clamped it in. Really impressive showing for Galvao.

Winner: Andre Galvao by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 7:34

Welterweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Marius Zaromskis (8-2) vs. Seichi Ikemoto (18-14-5)

Marius comes out dressed in a pink wig and is dressed like the video game character Akuma. Both of Maruis’s losses are against Che Mills (who lost in the first round of this current season’s TUF to James Wilks). Ikemoto is undefeated in his last 5 fights and is the DEEP Welterweight Champion. Ikemoto has losses in his career to Yves Edwards, Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki. Marius is a kick boxer and Ikemoto is a freestyle fighter.

R1- This was a competitive back and forth first round. Marius started to land some good shots towards the end of the round.

R2- Marius tried a back flip to land on top of Ikemoto and was denied but got a good pop from the crowd. This was another close round but Marius closed the fight very strong and I think that will put him over the top.

Winner: Marius Zaromskis by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Jason High (6-1) vs. Yuya Shirai (15-7)

High is coming off of his first career loss, which came to Jay Hieron by first round KO at the January Affliction show. Shirai is a Judo Fighter and High is a wrestler from the University of Nebraska.

R1- High immediately comes out and floors Shirai with a punch and then jumps on top and gets a Rear Naked Choke and the ref has to step in as Shirai will not tap but does pass out. Very impressive performance by High.

Winner: Jason High by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 0:59

Welterweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Shinya Aoki (20-3) vs. Hayato Sakurai (34-8-2)

Shinya Aoki moves up in weight from Lightweight for this fight. Aoki is one of the top Lightweight fighters in the world and is the current WAMMA Lightweight champion having defeated Eddie Alvarez for the vacant title. Aoki was 5-1 with 1 No Contest in 2008 and holds wins over Alvarez, Joachim Hansen, JZ Cavalcante and Caol Uno. Aoki’s losses have come to Hansen, Jutaro Nakao and Hayato Sakurai. Sakurai is a former Shooto Middleweight Champion who started his career 18-0-2. He has career wins over Caol Uno, Frank Trigg, Dave Menne, Aoki, Jens Pulver and Joachim Hansen. He has lost to Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, Jake Shields, Ryo Chonan and Takanori Gomi. Aoki has a 4” height advantage but Sakurai has a 5 pound weight advantage so Sakurai is the much more solid Welterweight in this fight. Aoki is a jiu jitsu and judo fighter who likes to clamp onto his opponent like a leach. Sakurai is a Judo and Shooto fighter.

R1- Sakurai came out and went for the home run knockout but missed and Aoki clamped onto him. Sakurai powers him over and destroys Aoki with some knees and then punches. Aoki just got punked. Kawajiri is in the crowd and gives two thumbs up.

Winner: Hayato Sakurai by TKO (Knees and Punches) R1 0:27

I thought the Welterweight fights were fun. Sakurai and High just destroyed their opponents. Galvao looked very strong and Zaromskis had a good fight. Vitor Ribeiro was also very impressive in non-tournament action. Overall, this was a good show.

Here is a look at what is coming up for DREAM:

OLYMPIA DREAM.9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round (5/26/09)
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren
Gesias Cavalcante vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
DREAM Middleweight Championship: Ronaldo Souza vs. Jason Miller
Gegard Mousasi vs. Paulo Filho
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Masakazu Imanari vs. Bibiano Fernandes
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Featherweight Grand Prix 2nd Round: Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro
Mirko Filipović vs. TBA

OLYMPIA DREAM.10 Welterweight Grand Prix Final Round (7/20/09)
Welterweight Grand Prix Finals: André Galvão/Jason High vs. Hayato Sakurai/Marius Zaromskis
DREAM Lightweight Championship: Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. TBA
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: Hayato Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals: André Galvão vs. Jason High