K-1 Dynamite 12/31/09 Re-Cap

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)

DREAM 11 10/5/09 Re-Cap

HEIWA DREAM.11 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round (10/5/09) – Yokohama Arena

Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for the show. Tonight we will see the Semi-Finals and Finals of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Joachim Hansen will defend against Shinya Aoki and the Super Hulk Tournament continues!

Featherweight Grand Prix Reserve Fight- Daiki Hata (5-3) vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (7-7)

Miyata comes out to Bon Jovi. Hata beat semi-finalist Hideo Tokoro by Unanimous Decision in the first round of the Featherweight Grand Prix but could not continue to the next round due to injury. Now he is better so he gets a spot in the reserve match. Michael Schiavello is in lust with Miyata’s body and has dubbed him “Sexy Miyata”.

R1- Miyata quickly takes Hata’s back and controlled him for a couple of minutes but couldn’t deliver any damage and the ref calls for a stand up with 6:30 left in the first round and delivers a yellow card to Hata. Miyata got a double leg take down with about 4 minutes left in the round. Miyata is able to take mount position with about 45 seconds left in the round and lands some Ground and Pound. Miyata is really controlling this fight so far but in DREAM the fight is judged on an overall basis and not by round.

R2- Miyata got a quick take down in the first half minute of the final round. Hata got up but Miyata slammed him back down with 3 minutes left in the round. Hata got back up and hit a couple of leg kicks and then Miyata went to take him down and Hata grabbed a guillotine choke and tried hard for the submission but Miyata hung in there and slipped out. Miyata got another take down in the final minute of the fight. Miyata controlled this fight for almost all of the fight but Hata came closer to finishing the fight. I’ve got Miyata taking this one.

Winner: Kazuyuki Miyata by Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Hideo Tokoro (22-16-1) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1)

Tokoro has reached the semi-finals by beating Abel Cullum via Rear Naked Choke in the second round. In the first round Tokoro actually lost to Daiki Hata by Unanimous Decision but Hata was injured so Tokoro took his place in the 2nd round. Takaya has advanced to the semi-finals by beating Jong Won-Kim by 2nd round TKO and by defeating Yoshiro Maeda by TKO in the second round. Takaya likes to “smack people in the face.”

R1- Takaya landed a couple of strikes at the two and a half minute mark of the fight. Tokoro tried a jumping high kick but missed and Takaya gave him a nice strike for his troubles but let him back up. Tokoro went for a take down but got stuffed and ate some kicks to his legs. Takaya is really controlling this fight and caught Tokoro with a combo but Tokoro clinched and pulled guard. Tokoro tried a knee and then hit a good right hand that buckled Takaya’s legs. Tokoro hit another strike and tried to pull guard on a triangle but Tokoro took his guard. Takaya wakes up and delivers some great Ground and Pound shots and it looked like the ref stopped the fight right after the bell but I think he was just calling for the end of the round. Takaya was dangerously close to finishing the fight. Really good first round.

R2- Takaya got Tokoro down and quickly finished him with some Ground and Pound. Looks like Takaya really hurt Tokoro at the end of the last round and just finished it here at the beginning of this round. Really good fight.

Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Punches) R2

Featherweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight- Bibiano Fernandes (5-3) vs. Joe Warren (2-0)

Fernandes is a 5-time world jiu jitsu champion. Fernandes advance to this point by defeating Masakazu Imanari and Takafumi Otsuka by decision. Joe Warren is a decorated wrestler who has defeated tournament favorite Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe in this tournament (these were his first two MMA fights).

R1- They clinched early and Warren almost got a take down but couldn’t hold it and then got a slam and landed in Bibiano’s guard. Bibiano locked in an arm bar and Joe Warren tapped Bibiano’s leg and submitted.

Post-fight Warren looks confused like he didn’t tap and the Bibiano comes at Warren and points at him (possibly flipping him the bird) and then takes off out of the ring and on the ramp again points at him. Really strange happenings after this fight finished. Looks like Bibiano has to be the favorite for the finals due to the time of this fight versus the time of the other semi-final.

Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Submission (Arm Bar) R1

Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Hong-Man Choi

Minowa beat Bob Sapp in the first round to advance and Hong-Man Choi defeated Jose Canseco. Yes, that Jose Canseco. Choi is 7’2” and 355 lbs. Minowa is 5’9” and 201 lbs.

R1- Minowa looks like he’s half the size of Choi. Minowa tried for a take down and got stuffed and Choi was briefly on top but then stood up. Minowa landed an over hand right but Choi answered with a knee. Minowa went for a take down and fought and got it with about 6 minutes left in the round. Minowa is landing some knees to Choi’s side but really isn’t doing much and the ref stands them up at 3 minutes left in the round and gives Choi a yellow card. Choi got top position on Minowa and landed some strikes but then stood back up. Not a real exciting round. Both guys look pretty tired.

R2-Minowa went for a take down and didn’t initially get it but he twisted around and got on top and tried for a leg lock and he got it and tapped out Choi. Good showing by Minowa just because of the huge size dis-advantage that he had.

Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (leg lock) R2

Super Hulk Tournament Semi-Final- Bob Sapp vs. Sokoudjou

Bob Sapp lost in the first round to Minowa but is filling in for Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi was pretty vocal in saying that he didn’t want to fight Sokoudjou because he thought he was on the gas. Sokoudjou beat Jan Nortje in the first round to advance.

R1- Sapp missed a wild right hand and got taken down. Sokoudjou put his knee on Sapp’s stomach and landed some Ground and Pound and eventually the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Sokoudjou by TKO (Punches) R1

Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2) vs. Melchor Barracuda (2-3)

Kawajiri last fought at DREAM 9 where he beat JZ Calvacante by Unanimous Decision.

R1- Barracuda swung wildly to start but was clinched by Kawajiri. Kawajiri got him to the ground and took his guard. Kawajiri was able to move to the mount position. Kawajiri landed some good Ground and Pound and Barracuda’s corner stepped in and the ref stopped the fight. Very one-sided fight as was expected in this one. Kawajiri should be in line to face the winner of Hansen/Aoki.

Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO (Punches) R1

Middleweight Fight- Kazushi Sakuraba (24-12-1) vs. Rubin Williams

Is a pro boxer who is 29-8-1 as a boxer with 16 knockouts but has lost his last 6 fights as a boxer. He’s been training in MMA for one year. This fight was added to the show late to spur attendance due to the drawing power of Sakuraba. Sakuraba was last seen losing to Kiyoshi Tamura and Melvin Manhoef so he’s on a 2 fight losing streak coming into this fight.

R1- Sakuraba starts out with some leg kicks and you can tell Williams doesn’t like them. Sakuraba shoots in and Williams tries to clinch him on the ground to minimize damage. Sakuraba lands some strikes and tries to set up for an arm bar or a kimura. Williams taps out to a kimura. Sakuraba made quick work of Williams.

Winner: Kazushi Sakuraba by Submission (Kimura) R1

DREAM Lightweight Title Fight- Joachim Hansen © (19-7-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (21-4)

Joachim Hansen actually lost to Eddie Alvarez in the 2nd round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix but came back as a replacement for Alvarez when Alvarez won his semi-final fight but then could not continue to the finals due to an injury. Hansen won his reserve fight so he moved on to the finals and defeated Shinya Aoki by TKO (Strikes) in the first round in a pretty short fight. Since then Hansen has not fought but Aoki has gone on to fight a bunch of fights. At DREAM 6 Aoki beat Todd Moore by Rear Naked Choke in the first round, at the DREAM/K-1 Show he beat Eddie Alvarez for the WAMMA Lightweight Championship by Heel Hook Submission, at DREAM 7 he beat David Gardner by Rear Naked Choke Submission, at DREAM 8 he lost a Welterweight fight to Hayato Sakari by first round TKO (punches) in 27 seconds and at DREAM 10 he defeated Vitor Ribeiro by Unanimous Decision. Aoki is a consensus Top 5 Lightweight. He’s ranked by most as the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world behind BJ Penn.

R1- Hansen went for a big uppercut but missed and Aoki clinched him and got him to the ground. Hansen got back to his feet momentarily but Aoki wrestled him back down. Hansen kicked Aoki with two upkicks. One while he was standing and one while he had one knee on the ground. The ref calls for time. The announcers are saying that this is legal but that Aoki may have been hit with a shot to the groin. All the attention in the corner is being paid to Aoki’s eye and his vision and not his groin. Hansen’s corner is wondering what is going on. If this is for a groin kick then Aoki is milking this for everything it’s worth because he was about to get finished after those upkicks that badly damaged him. They re-start the fight with Aoki on top of Hansen. Hansen has an active guard and is landing some strikes on Aoki but nothing damaging. Hansen went for an arm bar and almost had it but Aoki countered nicely with some kicks and then a leg lock. Hansen countered back with some good elbows to the thigh area of Aoki. Aoki tried to lock on a reverse body triangle but Hansen escaped and got to his feet and briefly took Aoki’s back and then landed some strikes. Aoki got a double leg take down with about a minute forty left. Aoki is really not doing much while on top in this fight. This was a close round. Aoki spent most of the round on top but Hansen has come closer to finishing the fight. I’m not sure how they will score the upkicks that caused the stoppage.

R2- Hansen hit a couple strikes but then got clinched and taken down. Aoki is not doing anything on top so the fight is being stood up and the ref gives both fighters a yellow card. Hansen came close to hitting a kick or knee to the head but Aoki got a take down. The ref moved the fighters to the center of the ring and Aoki quickly took mount position. Aoki goes for an arm bar with 45 seconds left as Hansen is blocking the move and checking with his corner to see how much time is left. Hansen rolled the wrong way and got caught with about 3 seconds left in the round and he tapped out. Wow, talk about a huge mistake by Hansen. All he had to do was hold on for about 3 seconds in the position that he was in instead of rolling over.

Winner and new champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Arm Bar) R2

Featherweight Grand Prix Finals: Bibiano Fernandes (6-3)vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (12-6-1)

R1- Takaya landed an early strike and then went for a knee and got taken down. Fernandes went for a quick arm bar but came up empty and Takaya got on top. Fernandes quickly went for a leg lock but Takaya got out and quickly got back to his feet. Fernandes got a take down after he landed a strike. Fernandes stood them back up and jumped on Takaya’s back to try and get a Rear Naked Choke. The ref breaks the fighters and they re-start. Takaya landed a good right hand. Both guys are standing and landing some strikes as Fernandes continues to look for the take down. Fernandes got a take down with about two and a half minutes left in the round. Takaya put his back against the ropes and used the ropes to get back to his feet and then freed himself from Fernandes. Takaya swung with some good punches but Fernandes was able to push him off but he did sustain a cut near his eye during that exchange. Really good first round. Takaya looked like he hurt Fernandes at the end of the round.

R2- Fernandes countered a Takaya strike and knocked Takaya down. Takaya quickly got back up but Fernandez quickly got a take down. Fernandes quickly landed some punches and took Takaya’s back and Takaya stood up and moved Fernandes back to the corner and the referee broke the hold. Both guys throw some leather but neither is able to land anything solid. Takaya has some blood coming from his mouth and his left eye is swelling. Takaya landed some nice punches but Fernandes hung in there. Both guys are just swinging for the fences to try to win this fight. Awesome fight. This one is a toss up. I would probably have to give the fight to Fernandes because he came closer to finishing the fight and also scored a knock down in the second round. Really close round and one of the fights of the year.

Judges score the fight: Fernandes, Takaya and Fernandes

Winner and new champion: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Split)

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

DREAM 7 3/8/09 Re-Cap

DREAM 7 Featherweight Grand Prix 1st Round
March 8th, 2009
Saitama Super Arena - Saitama, Japan

Both DREAM and Sengoku are starting their Featherweight Tournaments this month so it will be a good chance to see how their divisions stack up against WEC. This show features the first round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix and also features fights with Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the commentators. In DREAM the first round is 10 minutes and the second is 5 minutes. Fights are judged not round by round but as an entire fight.

Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Takafumi Otsuka (8-3-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (3-2)

Fernandes’s losses are against Urijah Faber and Kid Yamamoto, two of the top Featherweight fighters in the world. Fernandes is a jiu jitsu fighter. Otsuka is a free style fighter.

R1- Fernandes gets the dominant position very early. Fernandes draws some blood from Otsuka’s nose with some strikes on the ground. The ref gives a yellow card to Fernandes (not sure why as he was dominating the fight and Otsuka was basically curled up in a little ball in the corner for the first 4 minutes of the fight). Otsuka seems to be more style than substance so far as he’s losing the fight but is being kind of cocky. Otsuka got in a combo and then got hit with a low blow. Fernandes is ahead after the first round but Otsuka is starting to come on.

R2- Fernandes took Otsuka’s back about a minute into the round. Otsuka gets away and celebrates like he won the fight. Fernandes basically had to release the hold as Otsuka did a good job of defending. Fernandez got in a couple of shots and floored Otsuka but Otsuka held on. Fernades got another take down and lands some strikes but Otusuka gets back to his feet. Fernades gets yet another take down. Fernandes wins this fight and will advance to the second round.

Winner: Bibiano Fernandes by Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Chase Beebe (12-3) vs. Joe Warren (0-0)

This is Joe Warren’s pro debut at the age of 32. Beebe is a 23 year old veteran of 15 fights and has fought for WEC. Warren is a wrestler and Beebe is also a wrestler and freestyle fighter.

R1- Lots of clinching early with Warren pushing the action trying for a take down and Beebe hitting some strikes. Good even fight after the first five minutes of the round. Warren got a take down with three and a half minutes left in the round but Beebe gets out after about a minute on the bottom. Warren rushed in and bounces Beebe off the rounds and then slams him. Beebe goes for an arm bar but Warren gets free. Good first round that was pretty even. Warren has three take downs and Beebe got cut near the end of the round. Beebe has won the striking battle but the take downs and the damage have Warren ahead right now.

They stop the fight between rounds due to the cut that was caused by a knee.

Winner: Joe Warren by TKO (cut)


Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Akiyo Nishiura (9-3-1) vs. Abel Cullum (13-2)

Abel Cullum comes out to a Heath Herring esque entrance and to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy”. Cullum is the King of the Cage Featherweight Champion and has brought his belt with him. The last time I saw Cullum fight was on the Sho XC 9/26/08 show when he lost a bantamweight fight to Wilson Reis by Unanimous Decision (it was a 5 round title fight). Cullum is a Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Nishiura has pink hair, is nicknamed “Wicky Akiyo” and is a freestyle fighter.

R1- Cullum got an arm bar a couple minutes into the fight but couldn’t get the finish with it. Good first round that was pretty even. Cullum had 4 or so submission attempts in the first round and closed out the round strongly.

R2- Cullum controlled the first part of round two. They swung at each other and Cullum pulled guard and tried a triangle but was unsuccessful. Close fight but I’ve got Cullum winning.

Winner: Abel Cullum by Decision (Unanimous)

Lightweight Fight- Daisuke Nakamura (19-9) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1)

Daisuke is from the U-File Camp and his nickname is “The Arm Bar Genius”. Ishida recently fought for Strikeforce and destroyed an overmatched Justin Wilcox in that fight. He also fought and lost to Caol Uno during the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix. Ishida’s nickname is “The Endless Warrior.” I thought Ishida deserved a shot at Josh Thomson in Strikeforce but I guess he’s back in DREAM instead.

R1- Ishida got a take down about a minute and a half into the fight. Ishida catches Nakamura with a couple of knees. Ishida really controlled the first half of this round. Ishida opens up a cut over the eye of Nakamura. Ishida is definitely up so far in this fight.

R2- Ishida grabbed a leg and Nakamura tried to pull guard into an arm bar or triangle but couldn’t and Ishida ended up on top. Ishida is going to take this fight. Not a dominate win but a convincing one. The announcers seem convinced that Nakamura would have won if the fight went on ten more seconds.

Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Shinya Aoki (19-3) vs. David Gardner (16-10)

Aoki is the #2 Lightweight fighter in the world but is going to be fighting some at Welterweight this year as he tries to win the upcoming DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Aoki is fighting at 163 and Gardner at 162.5 tonight. Aoki definitely has the worst tights in MMA.

R1- Aoki went for a take down but got stuffed by Gardner and then Aoki flipped him over to take the dominate position. Really boring fight through 5 minutes but Aoki is dominating position. Aoki went for a sub and Gardner slipped out but then Aoki wrapped Gardner back up in his Spider Web and dragged him back to the ground. Aoki grabs a Rear Naked Choke. Gardner moved his arm and yelled out “I Love You Japan” and Aoki seized the moment and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke immediately. What a bone head move by Gardner. Aoki dominated a lesser opponent in this fight.

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

Lightweight Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-5-2) vs. Ross Ebanez (19-6)

Kawajiri is coming off a dominating K-1 victory against Kozo Takeda on New Year’s Eve. Prior to that Kawajiri lost in a FOTYC to Eddie Alvarez in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix Tournament but Kawajiri took enough out of Alvarez that he could not continue to the finals of the Grand Prix. Ebanez if fighting out of BJ Penn’s camp and Kawajiri says he wants to use this fight to send a message to BJ Penn. Ebanez comes in at 158 lbs and Kawajiri at 154 lbs. Ebanez gets a yellow card before the fight because he did not make weight.

R1- Ibanez went for a flying knee and Kawajiri took him down but didn’t do any damage. Kawajiri got him back to the ground for the second time in the first two minutes. Kawajiri mounts and gets some Ground and Pound and Ebanez gives up his back. Kawajiri gets a body triangle and goes for a Rear Naked Choke but can’t clamp it in. Kawajiri loosens him up and gets the Rear Naked successfully this time. Good showing by Kawajiri.

Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Micah Miller (10-2) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (23-6-2)

Micah is a former WEC fighter and his brother Cole fights for UFC. Maeda fought for the WEC Bantamweight title last year in a FOTYC against Miguel Torres. The light time I saw Miller he got destroyed on the WEC Condit/Miura under card when he lost to Josh Grispi in 50 seconds by TKO. Miller has a 5 inch height advantage, he just dwarfs Maeda when they meet in the center of the ring. This should be a good fight, I really liked what Maeda did in his fight against Torres so I’m going to have to say that he’s going to be one of the fighters to beat in this tournament.

R1- They clinched and went through the ropes to the ring apron early in the fight. They clinched and Miller pulled guard at the two minute mark. Maeda controls the fight on the ground for the next stanza of the fight. Miller uses a rubber guard and Maeda pelts him with knees to the rear end. Miller looks like he’s working towards an arm triangle but the ref stands them up and appears to give them both a yellow card. The quickly clinch and Maeda gets a take down or Miller could have pulled guard. Miller definitely seems to want to be on his back in this fight. Miller goes after Maeda’s arm but can’t do anything. Not a real exciting fight at all. I’ve got Maeda up so far as he’s been on top for the majority of the fight and is the one that is trying to strike.

R2- Maeda looks really fresh coming out of his corner. Miller has such a great reach advantage it’s almost puzzling why he doesn’t have better stand up and is constantly trying to get the fight on the ground despite his huge advantage in reach. The ref stands them up and they exchange strikes with Miller actually trying to fight on his feet and Maeda gets a take down. I’m going to give this fight to Maeda as he seemed to control the fight and Miller seemed to be fighting a more defensive fight. Not a fight to go out of your way to see. The announcers give the fight to Miller due to submission attempts.

Winner: Yoshiro Maeda by Decision (Unanimous)

Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Hiroyuki Takaya (9-6-1) vs. Jong Won-Kim

This is Kim’s pro debut. He represented South Korea in Judo at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Takaya is dropping all the way from Middleweight to Featherweight for this tournament! That’s a HUGE drop! Won has his shoulder tapped up.

R1- Takaya is the aggressor early as they are staying on their feet at the beginning of the fight. They gave Kim a warning for stalling around the 3 minute mark. I must have missed that because about 30 to 45 seconds earlier he landed a strike right to the face of Takaya. Kim caught a kick thrown by Takaya and took him down to the mat but couldn’t do anything and they stood the fight back up with 3 and a half minutes to go in the round. Kim grabbed another kick and got another take down but Takaya clung to the ropes and got up quickly and the ref re-started on their feet. Pretty even first round with Takaya coming on strong at the end of the round.

R2- Takaya lands a big right hand and then gets some Ground and Pound and the fight is stopped.

Winner: Hiroyuki Takaya by TKO (Strikes) R2

Featherweight Grand Prix First Round Fight- Atsushi Yamamoto (12-5-1) vs. Masakazu Imanari (15-6-1)

Yamamoto is no relation to Kid Yamamoto but they both train together. Yamamoto was a collegiate wrestler and is known for his ground game. Yamamoto won a decision victory over Hideo Tokoro at DREAM 6 back in September. Yamamoto flips over the ropes and then does a back flip upon entering the ring. Imanari is coming into the fight as a big favorite. He is a leg lock specialist and has a background in wrestling and BJJ.

R1- Yamamoto got a strike in early that floored Imanari. Yamamoto jumped on top but Imanari wrapped him up but Yamamoto remained on top. The ref stands them up about half way through the round. Yamamoto got in another shot but Imanari popped back up. Imanari pulled guard and got a funky arm bar on Yamamoto with his legs but Yamamoto spun out and Imanari landed in side control. Imanari went hard after a traditional arm bar but Yamamoto fought through the attempt. Pretty decent first round with Imanari really going after submission in the second half of the round.

R2- Imanari is given a yellow card shortly into the round for stalling (Yamamoto got one in the first round). Imanari is really clowning around in this round and looks a little bored even though he is nowhere near dominating this fight. It’s going to be interesting to see how this fight is scored. Imanari had a bunch of submission attempts but Yamamoto landed the best strikes and landed more of them. Imanari has more talent but just seemed bored and uninspired to be in the ring tonight. Not a good way to end the night.

Winner: Masakazu Imanari by Decision (Split)


This was a decent show. The first half of the show was actually better than the second half. I really enjoyed the first 3 Featherweight fights but the card was kind of flat after that. The second round of the Featherweight Tournament should be pretty interesting as we have:

Kid Yamamoto (got a bye in the first round of the tournament)
Masakazu Imanari
Yoshiro Maeda
Abel Cullum
Joe Warren
Bibiano Fernandes
Hiroyuki Takaya
First Round Fight on DREAM 8: Hideo Tokoro vs. Daiki Hata

K-1/DREAM Dynamite 12/31/08 Show Re-Cap

K-1/DREAM Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008
December 31, 2008
Saitama Super Arena,
Saitama, Japan


DREAM Open-Weight Fight- Ikuhisa Minowa (40-19-8) vs. Errol Zimmerman 0-0)

R1- Minowa pretty much immediately got a take down and submission due to a leg hold.

Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by Submission (Toe Hold) R1 1:01

K-1 (156.5 pounds) Fight- Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko

This was fought under K-1 rules.

R1- Artur took a slight advantage in this round with a brief knockdown and hit a really nice spinning back fist.

R2- Artur got a kick for a knockdown and then basically got a trip for a second one. Good round.

R3- Artur basically controlled this round and got a take down. This was a good and competitive fight.

Winner: Artur Kyshenko by Majority Decision

DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Bob Sapp (9-3-1) vs. Akihito Tanaka (0-0)

Tanaka wore a fish mask to the ring and fought in it. I think this was supposed to be a "comedy" fight but man it was bad.

R1- The first 4 minutes were controlled by the guy in the fish mask. He got Sapp down and Sapp was like a turtle on his back. Sapp finally got back to his feet and finished the guy off. Embarrassing fight.

Winner: Bob Sapp by TKO (punches) R1 5:22

DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Semmy Schilt (25-14-1) vs. Siala Siliga (3-0)

R1- Siliga controlled most of the fight keeping Schilt on his back but Schilt was able to get a triangle from his back to get the win.

Winner: Semmy Schilt by Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 5:31

DREAM (176.4 pounds) Fight- Hayato Sakurai (33-8-2) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-5-1)

Shibata is a former New Japan Pro Wrestler who has more heart than brains. Coming into this fight he is 2-5-1 and regularly takes on fights that he is almost no chance of winning (he has already fought Ralek Gracie, Kazushi Sakuraba, Jason Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama in his young career). Sakurai is highly favored to win this fight. Shibata has a height advantage going for him.

R1- Shibata runs straight for him at the beginning and it almost looks like Sakurai tries to hit him with a leg lariot as they collide in mid-air. They go toe to toe right after each other from the opening bell. Hayato gets on top with some Ground and Pound but also gets bloodied up around his eyes. Hayato finally finished off the tough Shibata with a TKO at the 7 minute mark. Decent fight- a lot better than the first 3 DREAM fights.

Winner: Hayato Sakurai by TKO (Punches) R1 7:01

K-1 (154.3 pounds) Fight- Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kozo Takeda

This was fought under K-1 rules.

R1- Kawajiri quickly got a knock down and Takeda got a standing 10 count. Kawajiri was just all over him hitting huge uppercuts. Takeda's nose was busted open really badly. Kawajiri got a jumping knee knockdown and Takeda again took a standing 10 count but Kawajiri quickly finished him off. Kawajiri looked AWSOME in this fight.

Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO R1


K-1 Heavyweight Fight- Alistair Overeem vs. Badr Hari

R1- Overeem hit a giant knee early in round 1 and then got a left handed KO. Domination.

Winner: Alistair Overeen by TKO R1

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (23-6-2) vs. Hong Man Choi (1-1)

Cro Cop got destroyed in his last fight against Alistair Overeem but was able to get a "no decision" out of it when he took a low blow and could not continue. Overeem wanted a re-match on this show but Cro Cop wanted no part of that. Instead Cro Cop takes on a 7'2" 352 lb giant who has little to no mobility. All Cro Cop needs to do here is stay out of his reach for the first couple of minutes until he tires out.This guy lost to Fedor last year in under two minutes.

R1- Hong Man is winning the fight early. Cro Cop nails Hong Man with a low blow. Hong Man gets up from the low blow and then Cro Cop destroys his leg with one kick to the knee. Cro Cop looked bored.

Winner: Cro Cop TKO (Low Kick) R1 6:32

K-1 Gegard Mousasi vs. Musashi

Mousasi is a Top 10 (maybe Top 5) Middleweight MMA fighter with superior submissions. He's had a great year.

R1- Mousasi shows great stand up in this fight and gets a quick knock down. He gets another knock down by basically pushing Musashi down. He gets a third knock down of the fight and gets a standing 10 count. Mousasi finally finishes him off. He just basically ate his lunch in this fight. Fantastic showing by Mousasi.

Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO R1

DREAM Heavyweight Fight- Melvin Manhoef (22-5-1) vs. Mark Hunt (5-4)

Manhoef destroyed Sakuraba (who is in the Main Event tonight) last year before losing to Gegard Mousasi in the Dream Middleweight Grand Prix. Hunt has lost his last 3 matches. He has lost to Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, and Josh Barnett (all Top 10 Heavyweights). Manhoef has a weight disadvantage in this fight. Hunt holds victories over Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop in a past life.

R1- Hunt charged right in and ate a big right hook and then Manhoef reigned down shots on him until the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Melvin Manhoef by KO (punches) R1 0:18

WAMMA Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Eddie Alvarez (15-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (18-3)

Both of these guys are legit Top 5 Lightweights. Alvarez is a Fighter of the Year Candidate and has had two of the most exciting fights in all of MMA this year (Hansen and Kawajiri). Aoki is a jiu jitsu beast who has beaten JZ Cavalcante (had a very controversial no contest and then just rode JZ to a lay and pray victory in the re-match), Katsuhiko Nagata, Todd Moore and Caol Uno in 2008. His only loss in 2008 was to Joachim Hansen in the finals of the Dream Lightweight tournament in which both guys fought twice that night and Hansen was filling in for an injured Alvarez.

This is defnitely the most anticipated fight of the show. Alvarez comes out to "The Champ is Here." Aoki is wearing his trade mark HIDEOUSLY UGLY tights. For this fight they are pink and yellow.

R1- Aoki grabbed an Alvarez kick shortly into the fight and took him down. Aoki grabbed a heel hook. Alvarez tried to counter but Aoki just had to good of a grip and Alvarez tapped. Very impressive showing for Aoki. He's one of the top jiu jitsu guys going in MMA and his jiu jitsu trumped Alvarez's stand up before Alvarez could even get going tonight.

Winner and new WAMMA Lightweight Champion: Shinya Aoki by Submission (Heel Hook) R1 1:32

DREAM Fight- Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-3) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1)

I'm not going to lie. This fight put me to sleep. From what I can remember Tamura controlled and got some good Ground and Pound in during the first round. Sakuraba basically just fought to stay in the fight and tried to grab submissions where possible.

Winner: Kiyoshi Tamura by Decision (Unanimous)


This was not a good show. Aoki, Kawajiri and Mousasi were really impressive in their victories. Joachim Hansen vs JZ was unfortunately cancelled but I don't think that could have saved this wreck.

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.

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

DREAM.3 5.11.08

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

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

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

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

Winner: Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision (Unanimous)

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

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

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

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

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

Winner: Jason Miller by TKO (punches)

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

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

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

Winner: Melvin Manhoef by TKO R1 4:08

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

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

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

Winner: Daisuke Nakamura by KO R2

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

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

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

Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Corner Submission) R1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)

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

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

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

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

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

Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Decision (Unanimous)

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

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

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

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

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

DREAM.1 3/15/08 Fight Re-Caps/Thoughts

DREAM. 1
March 15, 2008

DREAM is promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group (owners of K-1). DREAM should be similar to FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight group HERO'S. First round is 10 minutes and second round is 5 minutes in these fights. There is no point system in place as fights are not judged round to round but will be judged based on their entirety and there will be no draws.

Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Joachim Hansen (16-6-1) vs Koutetsu Boku (13-4-1)

Hansen is a former Shooto lightweight champion who holds victories over Yves Edwards, Takanori Gomi and Caol Uno. Took me a while to figure out who everybody is since this is in Japanese. Joachim, nicknamed "Hellboy", got the early advantage with a nice punch that floored Boku and Hellboy is on top in full guard. First Round is 10 minutes. They stand up and Hellboy hits what is basically a side suplex and takes down Boku and then rolls him over and has his back. Hellboy is dominating so far. and goes for a rear naked choke but Boku fights it. Hollboy now goes for an armbar. They stand up and they trade pretty good. Hellboy corners him and hits another slam and then has side control. Hellboy went for full mount but Boku slipped out and Hellboy again slammed Boku down. Hellboy takes his back and is just dominating this fight when it's on the ground. They stand back up and Hellboy again gets a takedown with about 30 seconds left in round 1. Round 1 comes to an end and it easily is in favor of Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen as he dominated the fight when it was on the ground and easily took down Boku whenever he wanted. He just didn't show any finishing power or submissions yet.

R2- Hansen backs him into the corner and they exchange knees. Boku is doing well in the stand-up game in this round as he's showing some life. Hellboy grabs a clinch and hits some knees and takes him down as a response to Boku's offense. Hansen is in full guard and trying to throw some punches but Boku is doing a decent job defending himself. Hellboy moves to side control but then is quickly back into full mount. Hellboy trying to lay in some punches but not getting any real damaging shots yet. Only a minute and a half left in the fight. They stand up. Boku is on the offensive but Hansen hits a punch and Boku goes down and Hansen pounces on him.

Hansen dominated this fight on the mat just couldn't put Boku away. Boku had the advantage when they stood up but Hansen quickly took Boku down whenever he sustained any type of advantage. If Hansen wants to advance in this tournament he's gonna need to do a better job trying to finish as he never really went after a submission after the first 5 minutes of the fight and Boku was rarely in danger of being finished.

Winner: Joachim Hansen by unanimous decision

Heavyweight Fight- Ikuhisa Minowa (38-27-8) vs Bum Chan Kang (1-1)

Minowa does a roll to start the match and then another. Bum Chan Kang is very large and out of shape and Minowa is very small comparatively but has a nice physique. Minowa takes him down and is in half guard. Minowa quickly taps Kang with a leg hold.

Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa by submission (knee bar) R1 1:25

Welterweight Fight- Hayato Sakurai (31-7-2) vs Hidetaka Monma (14-7-3)

Hayato has wins against Mac Danzig, Jens Pulver, Joachim Hansen, Caol Uno and Frank Trigg on his record. He has also lost to Gomi, Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, They trade some light leg kicks to start. Hayato attacks with a combo. Monma misses with a spinning back kick and almost gets caught in the ropes. Hayato with another combo and grabs a clinch and hits some knees and then Monma pulls him down into his guard and tries to go for the rubber guard but is unsuccessful. Hayato is on top but no one with a clear advantage yet as Monma works from the bottom and then Hayato gets out of there and they stand up. Monma slips and Hayato lets him back up. Hayato attacks with a punch combo again. Hayato definitely seems to be the better stand-up fighter at this point. Monma gets a punch in but gets nailed by a counter punch and then Hayato is all over him and throwing punches on a fallen Monma and trying to finish. Monma is just curling up into the fetal position and Hayato is reigning down punches and the ref jumps in to end it. Hayato definitely finished impressively and seems to have a strong stand-up game as he had the clear advantage throughout the fight.

Winner: Hayato Sakurai by TKO (strikes) R1 4:12


Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri (20-4-2)vs "Black Mamba" Kultar Gill (9-6)

Kawajiri has wins over Yves Edwards and Joachim Hansen and losses to Gilbert Melendez and Gomi. He is a veteran of Pride and Shooto. Gill has been most prevalently in K-1. He has losses to Yves Edwards and Caol Uno on his record (Kawajiri drew Caol Uno). Mamba is dancing around and gets his leg caught and he gets taken down by Kawajiri. Kawajiri is nicknamed "Crusher" so that's what we'll call him here. Crusher has Black Mamba down and looks to be going for a submission. He's in full guard and trying to get a better advantage. Mamba trying to fight him off. They stand up and Crusher has him in a clinch and now has his leg against the ropes. Mamba working into a guillotine type move and is trying to clamp down on it but loses it as Crusher still has his leg. Mamba with some short punches to the side of the head but Crusher takes him down and is in full guard again. Crusher trying to pass. Mamba defending by throwing punches. Crusher has side control and looks to be going for a submission. Crusher is halfway outside the ring and is now back in. Crusher gives up his position but then gets Mamba's back and Mamba is standing up with Crusher on his back attempting to choke him out. Mamba throws him off and Mamba is now in full guard but Crusher is going for the rubber guard and the ref stops it and moves them to the middle of the ring and puts them in the same position as they were in previously. Crusher has what looks like a half rubber guard. They sprawl and Crusher has Mamba against the ropes and is going after that leg again. Crusher takes him down and the ref moves them to the middle again. Crusher works into half guard and then into side control but isn't doing much with it. Now he's in North/South and then switches to the other side and now he has Mamba's back.He's trying to clamp his legs in and it looks like he nearly has a rear naked choke and now it's in but he can't hold it. Now he's got what looks to be an arm triangle but again he can't hold it. Crusher takes him down again and is now in full guard basically just laying on Mamba. Both guys look to be pretty tired as the round is coming to and end. The match so far is definitely Crusher's as he's just imposing his will on Mamba. Mamba is doing a good job of protecting himself on the bottom but hasn't shown much offense besides defensive short punches/jabs.

R2- This one is Crusher's to lose. Mamba definitely has a reach advantage but hasn't been able to use it yet. Mamba lands a couple of strikes to start the round. Goes for a kick but Crusher ducks and impressively takes him down. He's in full guard. Mambo kicks him off and Crusher chases him down and grabs his leg again like a pit bull that just won't give up on getting that leg. Crusher grounds him yet again. He is just a superior wrestler than Mamba but hasn't been able to finish. Mambo squirts out and has the advantage but isn't doing anything with it. Crusher picks him up and grounds him again and once again is in full guard. The ref re-positions them again. Crusher's mouth is bleeding just a bit. Mamba landing some punches from the bottom and Crusher trying to get into better position. Crusher trying to throw some punches from full guard. Moves into half guard. Mambo is watching the clock. Side Control for Crusher and looks to be going for a submission. Mambo grabs a headlock on Crusher but loses it. The fight ends with Mamba defending himself.

This one should easily go to Crusher as he was just the superior wrestler in this one. But much like Hellboy earlier he couldn't finish. So advancing in the lightweight Grand Prix so far we have 2 really good wrestlers.

Winner: Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri by Decision (Unanimous)


Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Andre "Dida" Amade (6-2-1) vs Eddie Alvarez (12-1)

They go at it right from the bell and Alvarez takes him down and is punching Dida and is now on top in full guard. They have a heated exchange but no one comes out with a clear advantage. Dida gets in a shot and puts Alvarez down but he pops back up. This is a real exciting fight so far compared to the other ones on the card. Alvarez again is on top and is landing punches. Dida is swinging for the fences. Alvarez is in control as his punches are much more compact and Dida is throwing punches mostly to keep Alvarez away from him. Alvarez dumps him on his back and gets on top in half guard. Alvarez hitting some punches from the top as Dida tries to protect himself. Alvarez looking very impressive so far. Alvarez throwing some hammer punches and has side control. Dida continues to try and roll out but Alvarez ins controlling and has full mount now and is laying the punches in. This one should be over soon. Alvarez almost punching himself out. Ref calls for the bell as Dida just went into the fetal position. Alvarez does a back flip off the top rope to celebrate. Really good win for Alvarez and he looked real impressive.

Winner: Eddie Alvarez by TKO (strikes) 6:41 R1

Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Bu Kyung Jung

Only brief highlights are shown of this one.

Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Decision (unanimous)

Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Kazuyuki Miyata vs Luiz "Buscape" Firmino

Only brief highlights are shown of this one.

Winner: Luis Firmino via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 7:37 R1

Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Katsuhiko Nagata vs Artur Umakhanov

Only brief highlights are shown of this one.

Winner: Katushiko Nagata by Decision (unanimous)

Lightweight Grand Prix First Round Fight: Gesias "J.Z.Calvan" Calvancante (14-1) vs Shinya Aoki (14-2)

Aoki has wins over Joachim Hansen and George Sotiropoulos and is a veteran of Shooto and Pride. JZ is from the K-1 Hero's promotion. They start by feeling each other out for a while. Aoki goes for a kick and then lays down and basically wants JZ to come to the mat with him. The ref stands them up. Aoki has on some hideous looking tights. Aoki throwing a lot of kicks but not really hitting with anything. Aoki again on his back wanting to fight on the ground. JZ comes down with a punch and then the ref re-starts the fight. JZ with a punch to the gut. Aoki tries a flying submission but eats the mat and again lays and waits for his opponent. The ref re-starts again. JZ misses with a huge roundhouse kick and Aoki dives at his leg and is holding on. Ref calls for a timeout as I think JZ hit him with a shot to the back of the head with his elbow. Aoki is really selling it like death but it looked like the elbow landed on the top of his spine below his neck. The ref calls this a no contest. Aoki's style was really annoying. I would definitely like to see more of JZ though.

Result: No Contest R1 3:46

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (22-6-2) vs Tatsuya Mizuno (3-2)

Cro Cop comes to the ring to Duran Duran. How bizarre. Mizuno's background is Pancrease. Cro Cop starts out with some leg kicks. Cro Cop with a knee and some punches as his opponent wilts and then Cro Cop lays in some punches on the ground and this one is over. Mizuno was definitely a sacrifical lamb here. Cro Cop looked a little tentative at first but then opened up in short order on Mizuno.

Winner: Cro Cop via TKO (punches) R1 0:56

Overall a decent show and I got introduced to a bunch of new fighters. I was most impressed with Eddie Alvarez.

Here is what Round 2 of the Lightweight Grand Prix will look like (scheduled for May 11th on the DREAM. 3 Card):
Katsuhiko Nagata vs JZ/Aoki winner
Mitushiro Ishida vs Caol Uno (got a first round bye)
Eddie Alvarez vs Joachim Hansen
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Luiz Firmino

The next DREAM show "DREAM. 2" (April 29th) shapes up like this:

Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias "JZ" Calvancante