DREAM

Dream brought a lot of controversy and a major upset to the table as Dream 9 took place early this morning for those of us in North America. Jose Canseco’s MMA debut went as planned with him getting TKO’d early and getting injured. The main event Middleweight title fight ended in a disappointing no contest.

However, the Featherweight tournament lead to what has to be the biggest upset of 2009 so far as “Kid” Yamamoto couldn’t even win his first match. I felt a big upset coming on this card but unfortunately I just didn’t pick it. Let’s recap the fights and see how my predictions went:


Jason Miller v. Ronaldo Souza: Their title match ended in a no contest after Miller accidentally kicked Souza in the head resulting in a cut that caused the doctors to stop the fight. There is no word as to if or when a rematch will be scheduled.

Tatsuya Kawajiri v. Gesias Calvancante: Kawajiri wins by unanimous decision. I picked this one right on the nose.

Norifumi Yamamoto v. Joe Warren: Warren was supposed to be “Kid’s” sacrificial lamb with only one MMA fight under his belt. However, he came out and earned a split decision victory giving MMA the biggest upset of 2009 so far. Yamamoto, once thought to be the best at 145, probably looked past Warren and got caught sleeping here.

It will be interesting to see how Warren does now that he won’t sneak up on anyone. It will also be interesting to see how Yamamoto responds to this loss, his first since 2002 and only his second overall. I got this fight way wrong.

Masakazu Imanari v. Bibiano Fernandes: Well I correctly called that the fight would go to a decision unfortunately Fernandes won. I got this fight wrong too. The young upstart moves on to the second round.

Yoshiro Maeda v. Hiroyuki Takaya: I also correctly called the end of this fight with a TKO in the first round but again I just picked the wrong fighter. Takaya took out Maeda to send my record even lower.

Abel Cullum v. Hideo Tokoro: I was way off on this fight as Tokoro wins by submission (rear naked choke) in the second round. I didn’t pick one fight correctly in the featherweight tournament… ouch!

Gegard Mousasi v. Mark Hunt: Mousasi earns a quick submission (Kimura) victory in the first round. I got the pick right but not the prediction.

Jan Nortje v. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: Sokoudjou wins by TKO in the first round. I picked this one right on the button. Hopefully this win gets the ball rolling again for Sokoudjou.

Hong Man Choi v. Jose Canseco: Choi wins by submission (strikes) in the first round. I refused to pick this fight but it went exactly as I expected. This better be the last time I ever have to mention Jose Canseco’s name in an article of mine ever again.

Bob Sapp v. Ikuhisa Minowa: Minowa won easily by submission (achilles lock) in the first round. I got the pick right and was close on the prediction (submission in the second round) but no cigar.

All in all I’m sure this show brought a ton of ratings to Dream and it seemed as though there was a good mix of exciting finishes and compelling fights. Unfortunately events like this bring so much bad press that it can overshadow the good fighters/fights on the card. Hopefully Dream can focus on more serious cards in the future.

Overall I had an average night going 4-4 plus two bonus points. Until next time,

Soccer kicks and head stomps ...

Emanating from the Yokohama Arena in Japan DREAM returns tomorrow with some massive fights. This card includes the second round of their Featherweight tournament, a Middleweight title fight, and the first round of their now infamous Super Hulk Grand Prix.

Some of these fights are great but some of them are jokes. DREAM is bringing a little something for everyone on this card. Hopefully this short sighted approach to garner ratings doesn't hurt their long term viability. With that said let's start breaking down the fights:

Jason Miller vs. Ronaldo Souza: Miller is 22-6, 1-1 in DREAM, with 17 wins by stoppage. He is a grappler. Souza is 10-2, 3-1 in DREAM, with nine wins by submission. He is a BJJ fighter.

This fight is taking place after Gegard Mousasi vacated his title to move up in weight and he will be competing in the Super Hulk GP also on this card. Miller and Souza are both good grapplers. Souza is stronger in submissions but Miller has better wrestling ability.

Souza owns a win over Miller, but Miller took a long break after that fight to refocus and I feel that mentally he is more ready for this fight. My guess is that Miller will use his wrestling to stay on his feet and use his striking. I'm picking Miller to win by KO in the first round. It will be interesting see how both fighters feel though as Miller fought just last month and Souza hasn't fought in almost nine.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gesias Calvancante: Kawajiri is 23-5-2, 3-1 in DREAM, with 16 wins by stoppage. He is a striker with some BJJ. JZ is 14-2-1, 0-1 in DREAM, with 12 wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter with some kickboxing.

JZ hasn't fought in over a year and he may be a bit rusty and Kawajiri is a tough test to come back to. I think Kawajiri has the advantage striking and can survive on the ground with JZ. I'm picking Kawajiri to earn a decision victory.

Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren: "Kid" Yamamoto is 17-1, making his DREAM debut, with 14 wins by stoppage. He is a Muay Thai fighter with some wrestling. Warren is 1-0 in DREAM and overall with that win coming via KO. He is a wrestler with strong hands.

"Kid" is making his Grand Prix debut due to him getting a by because of an injury. Warren just doesn't have the experience to match up with the caliber of fighter like "Kid". I'm picking "Kid" via TKO in the first round.

Masakazu Imanari v. Bibiano Fernandes: Imanari is 16-6-1, 1-0 in DREAM, with 12 wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter. Fernandes is 4-2, 1-0 in DREAM, with two wins by submission. He is a BJJ fighter.

Both of these guys are good grapplers but Imanari just has more experience against better competition. I'm picking Imanari to win by decision.

Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya: Maeda is 24-6-2, 1-0 in DREAM, with 16 wins by stoppage. He is a striker. Takaya is 9-6-1, 1-0 in DREAM, with six wins by KO. He is also a striker.

This should be a fun war to watch but Maeda is the better fighter. I'm picking Maeda to win by TKO in the first round.

Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro: Cullum is 14-2, 1-0 in DREAM, with 12 wins by stoppage. He is a BJJ fighter. Tokoro is 20-14-1, 2-2 in DREAM, with 15 wins by stoppage. He is a grappler.

Both fighters are talented ground fighters but Cullum is the better fighter overall. I'm picking Cullum to win by decision.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Hunt: Mousasi is 27-2-1, 4-0 in DREAM, with 22 wins by stoppage. He is a kickboxer. Hunt is 5-5, 0-1 in DREAM, with three wins by KO. He is also a kickboxer.

This should be a good stand up war. Mousasi has a severe weight disadvantge to Hunt. While it won't be an issue on the ground as neither of them want to be there Hunt should have the power advantage. I still like Mousasi to win, but he has to be very careful and keep moving. I'm picking Mousasi to win by decision.

Jan Nortje vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: Nortje is 2-5, making his DREAM debut, with both wins by KO. He is a kickboxer. Sokoudjou is 5-4, also making his DREAM debut, with four wins by KO. He is a Joduka with good striking.

Again Sokoudjou will be at a weight disadvantage, but he is the better fighter. As long as he keeps moving he should be fine. I'm picking Sokoudjou to win by TKO in the first round. Hopefully this is the win that can get Sokoudjou's MMA career back on track.

Hong Man Choi vs. Jose Canseco: This fight is a joke and I refuse to preview it, even though we all know what's going to happen.

Bob Sapp vs. Ikuhisa Minowa: Sapp is 10-3-1, making his DREAM debut, with nine wins by stoppage. He doesn't really have a style other than just being huge. However, he wins most of his fights by TKO. Minowa is 41-30-8, 1-3 in DREAM, with 30 wins by stoppage. He is grappler.

Minowa's career as a competitive fighter are over. However, Sapp is a side show for the most part and even though Minowa is giving up a lot of size I like him to somehow get this fight to the mat and win via submission in the second round.

This should be a very interesting card for a variety of reasons and I definitely feel like some big upsets are possible. I'll be back with my DREAM 9 review later this week. Also, stay tuned as always for my TUF 9 review and look forward to my Strikeforce and WEC previews coming this weekend.

On July 21st just days after Affliction: Banned and UFC's Silva vs. Irvin, Dream 5 will host a show in Osaka Japan. While Dream doesn't have the hype or the big names of the two stateside shows it is not lacking in talent.

It has recently been announced that Japanese standout "Kid" Yamamoto has suffered an injury while training and will not participate in his fight against Joseph Benavidez. It is being reported that Yamamoto injured his knee while training. A replacement opponent is trying to be found ASAP.

Mirko "Crocop" was also supposed to be apart of this card but was scratched due to injury.

But even with these injuries there are several good fights on the card. Personal favorite and top five ranked Shinya Aoki will be fighting in dreams Lightweight Grand Prix. He will be taking on savvy veteran Caol Uno. Uno advanced in the tourney by scoring a mild upset against Mitsuhiro Ishida. This one should prove to be very very interesting.

On the other side of the bracket former Bodog fighter Eddie Alvarez will be taking on highly touted Tatsuya Kawajiri. The winner will face the winner of the bout mentioned above for the Grand Prix title.

In a major upset I see Alvarez beating Kawajiri and advancing to face Aoki for the  final.  In the end I think Aoki submissions and Judo is just to good for  Eddie and Aoki will be crowned king of the Grand Prix.

Another match of interest is former Pride Heavyweight Mark Hunt taking on Alistair Overeem. It's always a crap shoot on which Overeem shows up. Sometimes the guy looks totally dominating and other times he looks awful. If he plans on staying conscious he better bring his "A" game because Hunt can bang! The bout is bound to end in a spectacular Knockout.

I thought someone should at least mention the Dream 5 card as everyone is drooling over the Affliction card and the free UFC fight. It certainly is a great time to be an MMA fan. It is going to be a very busy Weekend.