DREAM

After the curtain fell bringing the Dream 15 event to a close, there were several questions that came to mind.  Dream has many exciting fighters competing in their ranks including Shinya Aoki, JZ Calvancante, Melvin Manhoef and Marius Zaromskis, but do these premier Dream combatants really have what it takes on the world stage?

Strikeforce and Dream have partnered up to bring fans matchups that cross between promotions and give excitement to all who would like to see.  However, the Dream fighters have fallen short in every contest off of Japanese soil.  

Gegard Mousasi is one of the lone fighters who has competed in Dream in the past and found success abroad.  What does this mean for Dream as a promotion and Japanese MMA as a whole?

Dream has given us fantastic upsets, dynamic submissions and crushing knockouts since their inception, but why are their top fighters falling short in the states?  There are several reasons that can be used to explain why this has happened.  

There are several rule differences between Japan and US versions of MMA--most notably the scoring system and allowances of strikes during the fights.  Japanese MMA scores bouts as a whole rather than the US system of round by round scoring.  This can cause a difference in the outcome of a fight. 

Rather than losing a round and having to regroup, Japanese fighters can rally back for an upset win later in the fight if they can muster up the courage to do so.  

Fighters in Dream are also allowed to knee and kick grounded opponents which can make a serious difference in a fight--just as Melvin Manhoef found out, first hand, at Dream 15 when he was kneed on the ground continuously by his opponent, Tatsuya Mizuno.   

There may be further explanation stateside with all major promotions, including Strikeforce, using a cage to contain the combat rather than the more traditional ring in Dream.  Dream has hosted very few events using their white cage to hold the bout.  This may show us that Dream fighters may simply be inexperienced in the cage, having much more experience inside the ring with stand ups and restarts being commonplace.  

Finally, is it simply a matter of a talent difference between Dream fighters and US combatants?  We have seen Melvin Manhoef put on a striking clinic against Robbie Lawler only to get knocked out at the tail end of the fight.  Recently Marius Zaromskis also fell to “Cyborg” Santos via a vicious hook followed up with some vicious ground and pound.  

In another matchup that seemed fantastic on paper, Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez outworked and out-struck Dream’s golden boy, Shinya Aoki, beating him all the way to the final bell.  

Dream has shown itself to be a fine promotion with game fighters who are ready to do battle, but is the competition in the US simply too much for even the best Dream fighters? 

Dream has put on fantastic shows with drama, respect and skill in droves, but their fighters may need to step their games up on an international level to have fans recognizing them as a true force in MMA.  

Without some wins against US opponents fans are more familiar with, the Japanese promotion may only be a “Dream” in the land of the rising sun.

At Dream 15 on Saturday, two of the best lightweights in the world will fight at what is one of the best cards of the summer. Featuring Gegard Mousasi and Melvin Manhoef, along with the aforementioned lightweights, it looks to be a card to remember. With that, I'm going to take you inside the lightweight title fight between Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri, in our latest edition of Creature vs. Creature.

I will be looking to prove to you guys that Shinya Aoki will win. Ken Foss, a colleague of mine and Tatsuya Kawajiri's backer, is picking the wrong end of this matchup, and I intend to show him so, along with my readers.

Now, on to the main event!

Shinya Aoki is one of the most gifted grapplers in MMA today. In an MMA world that features standouts such as Jacaré Souza, Démian Maia, and BJ Penn, that is saying a lot. It is his grappling that has got him this far, and it is his grappling which will propel him even further on Saturday.

Despite coming off a loss in his Strikeforce fight against Gilbert Melendez, Shinya Aoki has a lot that he can be confident about. Despite having a disadvantage in the strength and clinch prowess, Aoki is an absolute master when it comes to submissions.

Of his 23 wins, 14 have come by submission. If he can manage to get Kawajiri to the ground consistently, I can see no reason why he won't win this fight. Although Kawajiri is known as being a lethal ground and pound artist, most of his ability to deliver blows, if not all of it, will be nullified by Aoki's excellent bottom control.

If Aoki can keep out of the clinch while standing and work his submissions while grappling, then I believe he will win this fight.

With that, I'm predicting a second round submission win for Aoki.

I didn't sell you to it? If that's the case, you can view Ken Foss's take here .

Coming off Shinya Aoki's one-sided defeat to Gilbert Melendez, and Yoshihiro Akiyama's shocking loss to Chris Leben, the stock of Japanese MMA has never been lower. This is coupled with FEG's financial worries and presumed future contraction/closing of their MMA brand that hangs over perhaps the last great fight DREAM will put on.

That fight will be DREAM.15's main event, a battle for redemption for two of the sport's most maligned stars, Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri.

For the champion, this stands as another fork in the road for his infamous fragility. For the challenger, it's perhaps his last chance to get over the hump and claim his place among MMA's elite LWs.

When the bell rings to begin this fight, Aoki will need to finally have an answer to the question which plagues all grapple-centric fighters. How can he get this to the ground?

It's a question he could not answer his last time out against Melendez, and he was punished in kind. As Aoki nips at heels, he'll have to maneuver through a minefield of his opposition's best skills.

From the outside, Kawajiri's striking will mean a quick end for the unwilling Aoki. His best bet is to close the distance quickly, forcing a clinch in order to suck him to the floor. What makes even this pursuit a poor one is the fact Kawajiri's clinch is one of his better assets.

Aoki will have to be aggressive, and quickly look to force scrambles. From there, he'll have to keep Kawajiri on the defensive long enough to gain a dominant position to finish.

While no slouch on the floor himself, Kawajiri will have to avoid these moments and prevent himself from being sucked into a ground battle that favors Aoki, as all it could take is one moment of indecision to leave him contorted in a hold of Aoki's choice.

If he can resist this temptation, it's unlikely Aoki will be able to summon something slick enough in the short moments he'll have to catch the aptly named “Crusher.”

In Aoki's desperation he's sure to leave an opening, which I expect  will lead to a veritable blitz of aggression, more than enough to leave the "Baka Survivor" in a heap on the mat.

This moment will ultimately decide the fight, as fists rain down and caution is discarded away. The match will hang on an edge of whirling punches and twisting bodies.

In these moments, fortune will favor the brave, and Aoki will be left limp for the fourth time in his career.

Prediction: Kawajiri via TKO(Punches), R1

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This wouldn't be a CvC piece without dissenting opinion. For the other side of the story(IE the wrong side) peep Colton Whittemore's rebuttal here.

After getting around to watching Nick Diaz beat Hayato Sakurai at Dream 14, it has cemented my growing opinion that he is the best MMA fighter in the world who is not with the UFC.

First off, here is the fight for those that have not seen it. It's not a particularly spectacular performance but it does highlight Diaz's well-rounded ability as a fighter and his growing stature in the P4P debate. Skip to 3:10 to get to the fight.

Diaz took a few early shots from Sakurai and showed that he has a great chin. He then landed a few punches of his own before securing the takedown. The fight eventually ended with Diaz securing the arm bar from his back again highlighting another strength in his Gracie BJJ black belt.

So onto the bigger picture and my stated earlier opinion that Nick Diaz is the best fighter not currently in the UFC. Yes that's right, better then the god-like Fedor, better then the Eastern hope Aoki and even a better fighter then his team mate Jake Shields.

With his win at DREAM 14, Diaz the current Strikeforce Welterweight Champion is now on a seven fight win streak. That streak includes wins over Scott Smith, Marius Zaromskis, Frank Shamrock and now Sakurai.

I'll agree that his competition may not be at the very top of the division and some or not recognizable names to the casual fans but they are credible victories none the less and it is the nature of the wins that is more impressive to me.

Diaz is a complete fighter in my eyes. His ground game is superb with his top level BJJ skills. He has solid takedowns and his boxing is outstandingly technical for an MMA fighter. No one throws better punches in bunches and delivers a more effective jab then Diaz. 

Having watched yet another Diaz win and seeing his improvement as a fighter in the last few years it has only strengthened my belief that it is he that the UFC should be clamoring to sign to shake up their Welterweight Division not Jake Shields. 

Diaz now has to enter the P4P conversation and he is definitely amongst the top Welterweights in the world. Is it out of the question to call him top three in the division?

I don't think so.

One thing is for sure, with his ever improving MMA skills, his outspoken nature and events such as the infamous Strikeforce brawl, Diaz will be at the forefront of MMA conversation.

Diaz fights more regularly then Fedor and has more entertaining fights then Shields, in my mind he is the best fighter not currently in the UFC. His win at DREAM 14 only continues my growing opinion on that.

Do you think differently? 

Let me know.

DREAM 14 is rapidly approaching and yet there has been very little mention of the event, or the upcoming match-up in Japan's Saitama Super-arena against the, as of lately, unbeatable " Stockton  Bad Boy" Nick Diaz, and the former one time world class ...uh cough, respectable fighter Sakurai.

This is a very dangerous match up for the eldest Diaz, for as much as they actually seem to like the Diaz brothers in Japan, unfortunately they like their legends a little better.

Sakurai has the ability to punch hard, and consecutively, leaving the ever present KO potential of the "Stockton bad boy" in its usual spot, danger,..but isn't that always the case in a Diaz fight?

Actually, I see Diaz once again putting his knuckles at the very longest point of attack, and leaving the once powerful wrestler Sakurai—who is now just a shell of the former Sakurai who once gave a prime Matt Hughes all he could handle at UFC 36—in his wake.

Diaz, who is (21-1) in his last twelve fights with a win over Takanori Gomi reversed for having the  fighting enhancing drug THC in his system, looks in my opinion to make "Sak," who is 8-4 over his last 12 fights, win number 22.

Sakurai has a horrific knockout of Shinya Aoki from the side position, but Sak has lost his last two fights, including one to Marius Zaromskis, who just happened to be Diaz's last slaying.

Here is where it could get dangerous for any fighter, except Diaz, Nick is not hated in Japan so there will be no homer treatment for Sakurai, NICK HAS ALSO FOUGHT IN THE PRIDE/DREAM PROMOTIONS before and has no known weaknesses inside of a ring, to be blunt Diaz is one of the few fighters who easily transitions well from cage to ring, so in my opinion this fight will not last eight minutes.

Look for Diaz to weather a wrestling onslaught, gas Sakurai quickly, and then go to town with his "out of range punching, " while leaving "Sak" SWINGING FOR THE FENCES.

Nothing spectacular to look for in this fight, just another Diaz win over a fading fighter, on a side note look for the exciting Nick to make all three recent Nashville fights look absolutely boring in comparison to his, for there is never a dull moment in a Nick Diaz fight!

And believe it or not, I'm also predicting Diaz will be a true gentleman and a showman at the same time for the Japanese, they love a little sideshow action with the fighting, something Diaz relishes.

So even though this seems to be a step down, Nick Diaz will entertain while taking Sakurai to the woodshed.

Nick in DREAM, is just a wonderful fighting "tune up" for the ever evolving elder Diaz!

  Element of surprise, first off find a full fledged boxing instructor, I am sure you have one but know it's time to get a GREAT one, your stand up game is full of holes and the help from a professional could make your fighting chances for a belt that much more interesting.

   Learn a little Brazilian ju jitsu, not too much, you are already are a world class wrestler, if anything, taking on a grecco coach would be of more benefit, but back to the point , learning a little bjj will probably not take away from  your wrestling, it has done that in the past to certain fighters. Learning just enough to acknowledge ju jitsu situations and how to defend against them would raise your shot at taking the belt up a few more points.

   Muscle specific training, as a wrestler cutting weight and adding and losing muscle mass is nothing new to you. I would like to see a little bit of that pudge in the middle turned into bulletproof armour. Somewhere down the road someone will try to soften up the mid section and a tighter tummy will keep the best punchers from getting to you through your mid section, raising your stock a few more points.

  Be more sound when on the ground, yes this may sound stupid for your ground game is why you are a top three heavyweight fighter, but you have to learn to finish more with tight smart holds, chokes, and locks. Punching your opposition into tapping will catch up with you eventually but learning to slap a kimura on a man in  a second without tipping your hand will add more points to your arsenal.

  All in all, what I am trying to say is it is the small things that you should work on, these things are not a big issue and could easily be added into your training , therefore making your path to the gold belt held so tightly by Mr. Brock Lesnar a smoother ride, and I am sure that after a hard fought victory tonight over Mr. Noguera, you will have a better understanding of what it will take for you to become the heavyweight champion of the world.              Good luck on your mission son, the Mexican-American community is counting on you.

  

  Anderson Silva has two light heavyweight fights under his belt. "The  Spider" also is not a full fledged fighter in the 205 weight class. Not yet.

  I have seen many rankings on many websites, including this one that have Silva ranked as high as number 5 in the 205 division. One question, does he deserve this?

  I am not about to argue with anybody that Silva   not only deserves his ranking, but could he    wipe out this division like he has wasted his current division with the effort of  ,well beating the snot out of Rich Franklin.

  Where is the argument? Well here it comes! In my opinion, Anderson Silva has beat a fighter turned can in James Irvin and destroyed a top ten fighter in Forrest Griffen. Does that make the current middleweight champion of the UFC a top 5 fighter in the next highest weight class.

 It could , but my problem with this theory, and I have had issues with this before is I truly believe that in order for a fighter to achieve a ranking in a weight class that he does not officially fight in would be no different than putting the heavyweight champion atop every weight class in the whole UFC.

  Now this is not a Silva hammer party, I have no doubt he is a top 10 fighter in this class, it just seems logical that he should vacate his title and actually  bring hiself to fighting at 205.

  Just if BJ Penn would have beaten GSP do you think that it would be beneficial to the organization for a man to hold titles in two seperate weight classes. I do not believe that A, that would be fair to the champion, or would it be fair to the title contenders who train for the chance to win there titles.

  Not only does ranking fighters in two classes at once make a break for pause that said fighter is the best in his own weight class, it also says that the fighter is a definate challenger for a title in another class.

  I had the same problem with Dan Henderson, who at one time was a title contender in both light heavyweight and middleweight. And I think the pressure of cutting and fighting at different levels caught up to the excellent fighter. 

  Silva needs to split the middleweight division, no doubt about it, but he must be allowed to vacate his title, and Dana needs to let him go.

  As he is already ranked in 205 and there is no threat at his current weight class I think it would only be fitting, and yes I do not care if he has to fight Lyoto Machida to do it.There are things in life you just have to get over and fighting your friend will just have to be one of them.

   Don't hold the UFC back by fighting at 205,complain about needing a challenge, and then spouting off that you would not fight your friend, this is a buisness last time I looked and your buisness is winning, not planning fishing trips with the man you must beat to cement your legacy as maybe the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

  It seems that you want to have your cake and eat it too, well beating Forrest Griffen is a good win, but I do not believe that you have touched the surface of the most talented weight class in the UFC, hell the best class in the world as I see it.

  Anderson Silva, grow a pair, fight at 205 and show everybody that you really want to fight the best, your already ranked there anyway.

   

                          

  BJ Penn is nobody's dog, and damn you Dana White if you don't know that better than anybody.

  So you signed Takanori Gomi, BIG DEAL, that fight wouldn't be relavent now and I don't even think Gomi has what it takes to climb the lightweight ladder for a shot at UFC gold anyway.

   While on the other hand, BJ, who is the prototypical fighters fighter, will go , without hesitation to wherever he thinks that he needs to go for a challenge. God bless him.

  No he won't wait around for years for White to ink Aoki or Alvarez, he will go after them. That's what I admire the most about BJ, he doesn't apolagize to anyone and he won't wait for fights, he can make his own, he has done it in the past and I think he is getting close to doing it again.

   I think anybody who has seen the video with BJ hanging out with Fedor and Mousasi would come to appreciate that he does not do lap dances for the UFC, and while I  don't think it will  be right away, don't be surprised if in a year or so if BJ goes somewhere else, NOW this just my opinion and I don't believe that too many people will agree with me but this is how I feel.

   What does he have to lose , you know that the UFC will always take Penn back with open arms , but will they have some resintements every time they lose him because it was there job to find suitable challenges , not his, see if BJ takes off on a world "globetrotting" expedition to fight the best lightweights  in the world, I am all for it, the same has been expected of FEDOR, why not BJ!

   And do not think money would influence Penn's willingness to find good fights, not only is BJ able to make an American card worth the price when ever he has to, there are lots of willing fans, myself included who would pay to watch a superfight on a different broadcast other than a ZUFFA owned one.

   I guess the short of it is , don't expect BJ to hang around much longer if he can't get a fight worth watching on ZUFFA'S terms, we are on BJ's terms now.

  

  No ,these are not the annual pornography awards handed out in Los Angeles every year, this is my opinion on WEC'S QUANDRY at the top of featherweight division.

   Jose Aldo , the current champ, looked terrific in taking the title from Mike Brown, It was so one sided that Aldo automatically jumped on the P4P list with a bullet.

   Brown, who at the same time did not show the strength and grit that gave him two consecutive victories over WEC wonderkid Uriah Faber.

  Now it is Faber's turn to jump into this "threesome" and take his shot at Aldo, and do not be surprised if the "California Kid" brings the belt back home with him.

  While Brown did execute his sheer brute strength in taking two in a row from Uriah, Faber's style is a better match up for Jose Aldo. Faber is more athletic than Brown and more important, he is more of a unorthadox fighter who can make lightning fast decisions, not always great ones like Faber v Brown 1, with the infamous flying reverse elbow.

 And while I am not the biggest fan of his one shot power pops that he likes to use a lot, I would rather he use his incredible hand speed for combos and also givig him a better chance to transition into other moves such as setting up his brilliant wrestling abilities, a known BJJ killer if worked right.

   Yes Aldo will have his hands full with a hyperecstatic Uriah Faber, and I am predicting the upset right now, Faber is hungry.

   Enter Mike Brown again, this should give him the next shot at Faber , if he does not lose along the way, and by the workman like force displayed in his last fight, I believe that all is well with Mike Thomas Brown.

  But can Brown handle Faber A THIRD TIME ? I am not so sure, Faber closed the gap in the second fight and his hands were rendered useless. A third fight in my opinion would probably swing the way of "The California Kid". Faber just seems to pick up a little more with each fight and looks to be back to his old self again after a period of self doubt.

   Will it be enough to dethrone the juggernaut in the form of fighter of the year in too many polls to count, we will see, but I expect this to be a great fight for WEC! 

  The banana split is a very old free/folk style wrestling move that dates back to the origins of the sport.

   It is a  move that is illegel  in almost every form of high school competition, and with good reason, however it is and could be used effectively in MMA  and other grappling competitions.

  When I first moved to Iowa and decided that I would try my  hand at wrestling, it took all but five minutes for my sparring partner/cousin, hmmmm,to apply this hold on me. Well the trick was on him because at the end of practice i could not do sprints and he was more than willing to pick up mine for the sake of the team.

  The split is a very easy manuver when in a scramble and you find that you have the leverage while on the back side of your oponant.

  To achieve this you must grab the opponents leg and double it up at the kneecaps, then in a sweeping motion, turn your opponent over on his back.

While having the knee doubled up you then curl your leg to the inside of your rival's  leg for leverage, when done the key is to spread the enemies legs as far apart as you can with your hands, you can hope for a submission at best but down the road into the fight is when the benefits start to take it's toll on the opposing fighter ,sloppy leg work, weaker kicks etc etc,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

  While high schools frown upon it, MMA really is the place for this very old and effective move, that when done right , can drive a point right through a person, and they will likely never forget it.

      .