5/29 DREAM 14 - RESULTS

Dream has another one in the books. A strong card, but without any heavyweights or light-heavyweights (now that the GP was scratched).

Lots of strong featherweights on the card though. Add to that the legends of "Mach" Sakurai, Sakuraba and Minowa, what more can you ask for?

Spoilers if you read on.

Gracie broke the curse when he won the judges decision, he was simply the better man on the ground. Sakuraba had his chances though, and what the ref was thinking when he in the last round tried to pull up Ralek's pants I have no idea. Still a deserved victory.

Nick Diaz proved too strong on the ground for the legend "Mach" Sakurai, meaning that 2 of the really big Japanese stars lost on this card.

Other Japanese fighters made sure that the home crowd had plenty to cheer for though. "Kid" looks to be back on track with a quick KO win, and Minowa is staying on track with a submission win in the 1st round.

Hiroyuki Takaya has secured his spot at the #1 featherweight contender as he got a strong KO win over Joachim Hansen.

Osawa and Miyata edge out split decision wins

8. Welter: Nick Diaz Def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai by armbar Round 1 3:54
7. 88kg: Ralek Gracie Def. Kazushi Sakuraba by Decision 3-0
6. Feather: Hiroyuki Takaya Def. Joachim Hansen by KO Round 1 4:27
5. Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto Def. Federico "Kiko" Lopez by KO Round 1 1:41
4. Feather: "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura Def. Hideo Tokoro by KO Round 1 2:10
3. Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata Def. Takafumi Otsuka by Decision 2-1
2. Feather: Kenji Osawa Def. Yoshiro Maeda by Decision 2-1
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa Def. Imani Lee by rear-naked choke Round 1 4:16

Discuss in the FORUM

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5/29 DREAM 14 - Weigh-in

FEG held the weigh-in for the 14th DREAM earlier today, broadcast live on their website.

Lots of good fights on the card, and Minowaman is giving up 70kg in this fight! Can he do it again?

If you, like me, are wondering about the difference in weight for the featherweights. Nightmare of Battle has the answer:

"As you can see from the weigh-in results everything isn’t as it should. All Featherweight fights on the card are contracted at different weights.

KID/Lopez is at 60kg
Takaya/Hansen is at 65kg
Tokoro/Wicky is at 63kg
Miyata/Otsuka is at 64.5kg
Maeda/Osawa is at 61kg
Mach/Diaz is at 76.6kg

As you can see, it appears that Kiko Lopez missed weight, I am not sure if he weighed in again though. Also, I am sure the fight would still be on.

Main-event:
8. Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (76.5kg) 35-10-2 vs. 21-7-0 (76.0kg) Nick Diaz

7. 88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba (86.5kg) 26-12-1 vs. 2-0-0 (87.4kg) Ralek Gracie
6. Feather: Joachim Hansen (65.0kg) 19-9-1 vs. 12-8-1 (65.0kg) Hiroyuki Takaya
5. Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (59.8kg) 17-3-0 vs. 4-2-0 (62.0kg?) Federico "Kiko" Lopez
4. Feather: Hideo Tokoro (63.0kg) 26-21-1 vs. 10-5-1 (62.8kg) "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
3. Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata (64.2kg)8-7-0 vs. 10-4-1 (64.4kg) Takafumi Otsuka
2. Feather: Yoshiro Maeda (60.7kg) 26-8-2 vs. 15-9-2 (61.0kg) Kenji Osawa
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa (88.0kg) 45-30-8 vs. 1-2-0 (150.0kg) Imani Lee

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Fight Order for 5/29 DREAM 14 and 5/30 The way of Shooto 03

This weekend there will be 2 HUGE events in Japan! Shooto have put together an awesome card for Sunday, and of course the DREAM event on Saturday will be huge.

Lots of great fights on both cards, and here are the fight orders:

DREAM is putting on some awesome featherweight matchups, and add to that some true legends in Japan and this should be an interesting event. "Kid" will be desperate for a KO win here, and former lightweight champion Joachim Hansen will be looking to put his mark on the Dream featherweight division. Of course the crowd will be looking for a show and FOTN performance from Tokoro again.

Former olympic wrestler Kazuyuki Miyata will take on another wrestler when he faces DEEP champion Takafumi Otsuka.

Main-event:
8. Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai 35-10-2 vs. 21-7-0 Nick Diaz

7. 88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba 26-12-1 vs. 2-0-0 Ralek Gracie
6. Feather: Joachim Hansen 19-9-1 vs. 12-8-1 Hiroyuki Takaya
5. Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-3-0 vs. 4-2-0 Federico "Kiko" Lopez
4. Feather: Hideo Tokoro 26-21-1 vs. 10-5-1 "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
3. Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata 8-7-0 vs. 10-4-1 Takafumi Otsuka
2. Feather: Yoshiro Maeda 26-8-2 vs. 15-9-2 Kenji Osawa
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa 45-30-8 vs. 1-2-0 Imani Lee

Shooto is putting on no less than 3 title fights! Not only that, but the return of Ryota Matsune. There are good fights from the opening bell on this one too!

Lightweight World Title Fight:
8. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue 18-3-0 vs. 20-4-2 Hatsu Hioki

Welterweight World Title Fight:
7. Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire 15-2-0 vs. 13-3-2 Yusuke Endo

Bantamweight World Title Fight:
6. Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Ryuichi Miki

5. 62kg: Rumina Sato 25-14-2 vs. 15-1-1 Ryota Matsune
4. Feather: Akitoshi Tamura 14-8-2 vs. 10-1-2 Masakatsu Ueda
3. Feather: Eduardo "Dudu" Dantas 8-2-0 vs. 6-1-2 Hiromasa Ogikubo
2. Welter: Kotetsu Boku 16-6-2 vs. 14-3-1 Yoshihiro Koyama
1. Light: Shintaro Ishiwatari 6-3-3 vs. 16-9-3 Wataru Miki

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5/29 DREAM 14 - "Kid" Yamamoto Added

FEG have announced the addition of Japanese star "Kid" Yamamoto to Dream 14. His opponent will be Team Quest's Federico "Kiko" Lopez. This fight was supposed to be on the Strikeforce undercard, but has been moved to the Dream 14 event. Both fighters are coming of 2 straight losses, "Kid" losing to "Kiko"'s team-mate, Joe Warren. No doubt that "Kid" will be the crowd favorite here, but both fighters will be eager to start another winning streak. It will be interesting to see what Warren has been able to teach his team-mate.

Picture from GBRing.com


Added:
Feather: Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-3-0 vs. 4-2-0 Federico "Kiko" Lopez

Previously Announed:
Feather: Joachim Hansen vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
Feather: Hideo Tokoro vs. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura
Feather: Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Takafumi Otsuka
Feather: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Kenji Osawa
88kg: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ralek Gracie
Welter: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Nick Diaz

Discuss in the FORUM

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3/22 DREAM 13 - LIVE RESULTS

I will be putting up the live results here, discussion is in the forum.

Main Event - Featherweigth Title Fight:
7. Bibiano Fernandes (c) Def. Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen by Decision 2-1

6. Heavy: Josh Barnett Def. Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga by straight armbar Round 1

5. Light: K.J. Noons Def. Andre Dida by Decision 3-0

4. Welter: Ryo Chonan Def. Andrews Nakahara by Decision 3-0

3. Feather: Cole Escovedo Def. Yoshiro Maeda by KO Round 1
Inside legkick sets up the highkick and a BIG KO!

2. Light: Katsunori Kikuno Def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka by KO Round 1
Set up, as expected, by the cresent kick.

1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa Def. Jimmy Ambriz by heel-hook Round 2

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3/22 DREAM 13 - Fight Order and Weigh-in

DREAM held the weighin for their 13th event today. It should be a good one, but I wish there were a few more fights on the card.

The main event should be an awesome fight, and with "Hellboy" dropping to featherweight, it will be interesting to see how he handles the challenge of meeting the DREAM champion.

The fighters have made weight, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

Main Event - Featherweigth Title Fight:
7. Bibiano Fernandes (c) (62.9kg) 7-2-0 vs. 19-8-1 (63kg) Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

6. Heavy: Josh Barnett (115kg )24-5-0 vs. 3-1-0 (115kg) Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga
5. Light: K.J. Noons (71.8kg) 7-2-0 vs. 6-3-1 (71.5kg) Andre Dida
4. Welter: Ryo Chonan (75.8kg) 16-10-0 vs. 2-1-0 (75.4kg) Andrews Nakahara
3. Feather: Yoshiro Maeda (62.5kg) 26-7-2 vs. 15-4-0 (62.8kg) Cole Escovedo
2. Light: Katsunori Kikuno (70kg) 12-2-2 vs. 16-6-0 (70kg) Kuniyoshi Hironaka
1. Open: Ikuhisa Minowa (89kg) 44-30-8 vs. 14-12-1 (125kg) Jimmy Ambriz

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3/22 DREAM 13 - Official FEG Looking for Opponent for Barnett

The rumors have been more or less confirmed, but FEG have today announced that Josh Barnett will be fighting in DREAM 13, but they have yet to find an opponent.

Also announced for the card is a featherweight fight between two WEC veterans. The Japanese will be behind Yoshiro Maeda as he takes on Cole Escovedo.

Added:
Feather: Yoshiro Maeda 26-7-2 vs. 15-4-0 Cole Escovedo
Heavy: Josh Barnett 24-5-0 vs. TBA

Previously Announced:
Featherweigth Title Fight:
Bibiano Fernandes (champion) 7-2-0 vs. 19-8-1 Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

Light: Katsunori Kikuno 12-2-2 vs. 16-6-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Light: K.J. Noons 7-2-0 vs. 6-3-1 Andre Dida
Open: Ikuhisa Minowa 44-30-8 vs. 14-12-1 Jimmy Ambriz
Welter: Ryo Chonan 16-10-0 vs. 2-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

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3/22 DREAM 13 - Fights Announced

FEG have announced some very interesting fights for the upcoming event in Yokohama Arena.

Former EliteXC champion, K.J. Noons, will make his Dream debut against Andre Dida. DEEP lightweight and Cage Force lightweight champions, Katsunori Kikuno and Kuniyoshi Hironaka will face each other.

Added:
Light: Katsunori Kikuno 12-2-2 vs. 16-6-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Light: K.J. Noons 7-2-0 vs. 6-3-1 Andre Dida
Open: Ikuhisa Minowa 44-30-8 vs. 14-12-1 Jimmy Ambriz
Welter: Ryo Chonan 16-10-0 vs. 2-1-0 Andrews Nakahara

Previously Announced:
Featherweigth Title Fight:
Bibiano Fernandes (champion) 7-2-0 vs. 19-8-1 Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

Discuss in the FORUM

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3/22 DREAM 13 - Minowaman Participates!

DREAM have announced that Minowaman will participate in DREAM 13. He also FINALLY get his official DREAM Super Hulk belt, and a proper size check.

Now we have a wait for the rest of the card, but already official is the featherweight title fight between champion Bibiano Fernandes and former lightweight champion Joachim Hansen.

Featherweigth Title Fight:
Bibiano Fernandes (champion) 7-2-0 vs. 19-8-1 Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen

Participants:
Minowaman 44-30-8
Ryo Chonan 16-10-0

Discuss in the FORUM

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3/22 DREAM 13 - Featherweight Title Fight Official

FEG have announced the fight we all had been expecting today. Bibiano Fernandes is putting his DREAM title on the line against the former lightweight champion, Joachim Hansen. This should be a very good fight.

Also announced as a participant is UFC veteran Ryo Chonan.

Discuss in the FORUM

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DREAM 13 Rumor: Bibiano puts his title on the line

Tatame is reporting that Bibiano Fernandes will put his Dream featherweight title on the line against former lightweight champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen.

Article translated

Discuss in the FORUM

HT: meyer1244

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10/6 DREAM 11 - Results

A very strong card from DREAM, and with 2 title fights it might be the best they have put on so far.

On the weigh-in yesterday Miyata turned some heads as the muscular former lightweight turned up with close to no bodyfat.



One of the highlights of this card is the return of DREAM champion Joachim Hansen. He is returning to defend his title, and it will be his first title defence and his first fight since winning the title in July last year.



The DREAM featherweight title holder will also be deceided today in a tournament that is looking very interesting.

Results will be updated as they become available.

Main-Event - Featherweight GP Final:
9. Bibiano Fernandes Def. Hiroyuki Takaya by decision 2-1
Very good fight to end the night!!

Lightweight Title Fight:
8. Shinya Aoki (challenger) Def. Joachim Hansen (champion) by armbar Round 2 about 4:40
Aoki gets grounded by an upkick, the ref stops the fight and gives Aoki time to recover. The judge is staying it was a groin kick first...

7. Middle: Kazushi Sakuaba Def. Rubin Williams by Kimura Round 1
*Sakuraba still wearing a bandage on his left underarm, looks like he is still suffering from the broken arm he suffered against Manhoef.

There is a break and some Dream 12 participants are announced and asked to say a few words (quick translation):
Yoshiro Maeda - "I will take Chase Beebe's head off"
Kuniyoshi Hironaka - "I am the Cage Force champion and I have a lot of experinence in a cage. " "If I win in impressing fashion I would like a shot at the title"
Koichi Kikuno - "I am the DEEP champion and it will be an exciting fight".

6. Light: Tatsuya Kawajiri Def. Melchor "Barracuda" Manibusan TKO Round 1

Super-Hulk Semi-Finals:
5. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Def. Bob Sapp by TKO Round 1
4. Ikuhisa Minowa Def. Hong Choi Man by heel-hook Round 2

The winners will meet on NYE at the FEG Dynamite! event

DREAM Featherweight GP Semi-Finals:
3. SF2: Bibiano Fernandes Def. Joe Warren by arm-bar round 1 (very early)
Warren is saying he didnt tap, Bibiano showes him the middle finger and leaves the ring.

2. SF1: Hiroyuki Takaya Def. Hideo Tokoro by TKO Round 2
1. Reserve: Kazuyuki Miyata Def. Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata by Decision 3-0

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10/6 DREAM 11 - Sakuraba Added/Fight Order

This video started the speclations around wether Sakuraba will be fighting in DREAM 11. Sakuraba has not fought since Dynamite! on NYE, and even then he didnt look 100% after breaking his arm against Melvin Manhoef in June 2008.



It has now been confirmed that Sakuraba will take on American pro-boxer Rubin Williams.

This video have also been released. To me the most interesting thing here, except from the fact that "Hellboy" is fired up, is that he seems to be working with Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for this fight (and we all remeber what he did to Aoki...).



Fight Order:
Main-Event - Featherweight GP Final:
9. Winner Tokoro/Takaya v. Winner Fernandes/Warren

Lightweight Title Fight:
8. Joachim Hansen (champion) 19-7-1 vs. 21-4-0 Shinya Aoki (challenger)

7. Middle: Kazushi Sakuaba 24-12-1 vs. Rubin Williams
6. Light: Tatsuya Kawajiri 24-5-2 vs. 2-2-0 Melchor "Barracuda" Manibusan

Super-Hulk Semi-Finals:
5. Ikuhisa Minowa 42-30-8 vs. 2-2-0 Hong Choi Man
4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou 6-4-0 vs. 10-5-1 Bob Sapp

DREAM Featherweight GP Semi-Finals:
3. SF2: Joe Warren 2-0-0 vs. 5-2-0 Bibiano Fernandes
2 SF1: Hideo Tokoro 22-16-1 vs. 11-6-1 Hiroyuki Takaya

1. Reserve: Kazuyuki Miyata 7-7-0 vs. 11-5-3 Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata

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10/6 DREAM 11 - Fights Added

FEG have made a couple of changes to the DREAM 11 card. It is now official that JZ Calvan is out of the fight with Daisuke Nakamura, and they are looking for a replacement.

Kawajiri is returning to MMA after being unsuccessful in his last K-1 fight against Masato. He will take on Melchor "Barracuda", "Barracuda" will be the underdog here but they have a strong MMA community in Guam and I would not underestimate him.

Not unexpectedly, Bob Sapp have replaced Gegard Mousasi.

The event also has the Featherweight tournament and the reserve fight between D.J. Taiki and Kazuyuki Miyata. D.J. Taiki was unable to continue in he tournament due to injury, Miyata is cutting down to featherweight and should be a beast at this weight. This is my pick for fight of the night.




Announced:
Light: Tatsuya Kawajiri 24-5-2 vs. 2-2-0 Melchor "Barracuda" Manibusan

Super-Hulk Tournament Semi-Final:
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou 6-4-0 vs. 10-5-1 Bob Sapp

Previously Announced:
Super-Hulk Semi-Finals:
Ikuhisa Minowa 42-30-8 vs. 2-2-0 Hong Choi Man

Lightweight Title Fight:
Joachim Hansen (champion) 19-7-1 vs. 21-4-0 Shinya Aoki (challenger)

DREAM Featherweight GP Semi-Finals:
Hideo Tokoro 22-16-1 vs. 11-6-1 Hiroyuki Takaya
Joe Warren 2-0-0 vs. 5-2-0 Bibiano Fernandes
Reserve: Kazuyuki Miyata 7-7-0 vs. 11-5-3 Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata

Light: Daisuke Nakamura 20-10-0 vs. TBA

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10/6 DREAM 11 - "Hellboy" Hansen T-Shirts Available

The t-shirt for Joachim Hansen's DREAM 11 fight is now available from his blog. This is the same design as last time, which means he has designed it himself. This is a limited edition, and the previous one sold out (bought the last one outside the stadium myself), except for the ladies style shirt.

This time the shirts are grey/silver, and you can order them here. This is a good chance to secure a shirt that is normally only sold outside the arena, and of course it is a cool shirt too!

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10/6 DREAM 11 - Lightweight Title Fight Official

This is hardly a surprise announcement, but now it is official. Joachim Hansen will defend his lightweight title against Shinya Aoki. I guess you could question wether Aoki should be the first to get the title shot, but Aoki has defeated Eddie Alvarez and Vitor Ribeiro since losing the final last year.

Joachim Hansen suffered an injury before his fight on New Years Eve last year, and this will be his first fight in over a year.

There are rumors that a middleweight titlefight featuring Paulo Filho is in the works too. A surprise considering it was expecting to be another re-match of "Jacare" and "Mayhem".

Announced:
Lightweight Title Fight:
Joachim Hansen (champion) 19-7-1 vs. 21-4-0 Shinya Aoki (challenger)

DREAM Featherweight GP Semi-Finals:
Hideo Tokoro 22-16-1 vs. 11-6-1 Hiroyuki Takaya
Joe Warren 2-0-0 vs. 5-2-0 Bibiano Fernandes
Reserve: Kazuyuki Miyata 7-7-0 vs. 11-5-3 Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata

SuperHulk Semi-Finalists:
Ikuhisa Minowa 42-30-8
Hong Choi Man 2-2-0
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou 6-4-0
Gegard Mousasi 25-2-1

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Awesome Fights!!! (Shooto Edition) Part 1

Thought I would put together some of my favorite fights, its just been too long since I have done stuff like that...

When I started looking around I found too many fights, especially Shooto fights there are too many. So I deceided to split it up a bit. This first post will be Shooto fight up to 2005.

Unfortuanately, I was not able to find all the fights I was looking for, but this is a good start and I hope there are some fights there that you havent seen!

The number of fighters that have come through Shooto is amazing, and you will see some of todays stars early in their career.

Fights below are:
-Joachim Hansen vs. Rumina Sato (Shooto 3/18-2003)
-Takanori Gomi vs. Dokonjonoske Mishima (Shooto "End of Year Show 2002" 12/14-2002)
-Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hatsu Hioki (Shooto 7/13-2003)
-Frank Trigg vs. Hayato Sakurai (Shooto "R.E.A.D. Final" 12/17-2000)
-Akira Kikuchi vs Jake Shields (Shooto "End of Year Show 2004" 12/14-2004)


Joachim Hansen vs. Rumina Sato (Shooto 3/18-2003)

joachim hansen vs rumino sato
Uploaded by havenhurt -

Takanori Gomi vs. Dokonjonoske Mishima (Shooto "End of Year Show 2002" 12/14-2002)

Takanori Gomi vs Dokonjonosuke Mishima
Uploaded by 55Archangel -

Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hatsu Hioki (Shooto 7/13-2003)

Hatsu Hioki vs. Hiroyuki takaya
Uploaded by platypus101 - Check out more sports and extreme sports videos.

Frank Trigg vs. Hayato Sakurai (Shooto "R.E.A.D. Final" 12/17-2000)

Shooto - Frank Trigg vs Hayato Sakurai
Uploaded by Norifumi94 -

Akira Kikuchi vs Jake Shields (Shooto "End of Year Show 2004" 12/14-2004)

Akira Kikuchi vs. Jake Shields
Uploaded by mma-tv - Check out more sports and extreme sports videos.

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DREAM - Overeem, Schilt and Hansen questions

Event Producer Sasahara also answered questions relating to the transfer of Alistair Overeem and Semmy Schilt to the UFC. He said that that would not happen.

Regarding the injury to Crocop and Hansen, Sasahara said that for Crocop they are planning a return in May or July depending on his condition.

Relating to lightweight champion Hansen's condition, Sasahara said that he was in Norway resting now. Once his doctors declare him fit, he will be back. If it takes more than 1 year, DREAM will have a fight to determine an interim champion.

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Update on Joachim Hansen's Condition

Maeda-san from Team Hellboy MMA has updated on Joachim Hansen's blog about Joachim's current condition and the reason for him not competing on NYE.

On the blog it says:

当日は、やはり頭痛と嘔吐がひどく、試合を出来るような状況ではなかったので、私もかなり心配になりましたが、今は普段のヨアキムに戻っているので、ホッと一安心です。

Which means that on the day, Joachim had a headacke and was throwing up. There is no more update on the reason.

As for his current condition, it says that he is ok. This is very good news and I hope we get to see a re-match, I know Joachim was very well prepared for this fight and JZ looked in awesome shape as well.

Source: Joachim Hansen's Blog

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12/31 DYNAMITE! - Pictures and Thoughts

It was a very good night of fights, and I think the Japanese crowd left very satisfied. It was strange watching DREAM fighter after DREAM fighter KO K-1 fighters... It was just that sort of night. I knew Overeem was a good kickboxer, but I would not have predicted a KO win for him against Hari.

Kawajiri said in he after-fight speach that is was scary going in to the ring with K-1 rules, and maybe thats why the DREAM fighters did well... Maybe the K-1 fighters felt too comfortable going in...

Personally, the card was missing one fight. I had been looking forward to Hansen vs. JZ for a very long time. Injuries do happen though, it was just unfortunate timing. From what I understand, the injury occured in training just before the event. The doctors would not let Joachim Hansen fight on the day, but I hope he will make a speedy recovery and return!

Minowaman kicked off DREAM 1 and this year he got to kick off Dynamite! as well. His fight was predictable, he took his much bigger opponent down and finished him with a toe-hold. Leg-locks is really proving to be very popular in Japan lately.



He used the only tactic he could, get Zimmerman to the ground and go for a submission. It worked and Minowaman quickly had ahold of a leg. Zimmerman had no choice but to tap.



Next it was time for the K-1 Youth tournament, and I have to say, I am not a fan... From memory, I think the fights last year were better.. It is clear what the FEG is trying to do with this tournament though, it has a feel of the Japanese Highschool Baseball tournament (which is very popular)



After the youth tournament semi's were done, they put on a fight between 2 established K-1 stars. Artur Kyshenko took on Yoshihiro Sato in what was a highly anticipated fight. Kyshenko took a deserved but close decision.



Daisuke Nakamura and Hideo Tokoro put on an awesome display of grappling! I wish this fight continued a bit more... Nakamura needed 2 attempts to finish Tokoro by an arm-bar. Between these, Tokoro himself had his chances. A very high paced and exciting fight!



Andy Ologun was the only K-1 fighter of the night to have success against a MMA fighter. He did that with MMA rules too! BIG KO win against Pancrase fighter Yukio Sakaguchi.



After the Youth final and a break, it was time to introduce DJ Oozuma. He came on with a show that resembled his friend Akihiro Gono.



He introduced a matchup that I thought before the event might have been fixed. After what unfolded, it was clearly not. Inviting Bob Sapp to brawl is just a BAD idea!



Semmy Schilt was able to show that he can still finish people on the ground, and with the plans of crowning a DREAM heavyweight champion in 2009, I have a feeling he will be in with a chance.



Shibata charged out, and it looked like he took Sakurai by surprise. But once Sakurai regained his composure, there was no doubt who were the better fighter.



In a fight that was promoted as a battle between the neighboring prefectures of Saitama (Takeda) and Ibaraki (Kawajiri). K-1 fighter Kozo Takeda took on DREAM fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri. I guess this fight set the mood for the rest of the night. Kawajiri had much better hands than Takeda, who was unable to get the fight into his pace. Kawajiri's uppercuts opened Takeda up, and Takeda went down 3 times in less than 3 minutes.





Even more impressive was the KO win for Overeem over Hari. I really think Overeem has gained a lot of comfidence in 2008 and he will be a force in 2009!



Then it was time for the ring girls to take to the ring. They had very little work to do this event, so it was easy to forget they were there...



After the break Crocop entered the ring to take on Hong Man Choi. It will be the last time we see him for a while, as he will have to take time off for a knee reconstruction. I really hope it goes well and we get to see Crocop back to his usual self at the end of 2009. He did show that he could throw the left high-kick, even against a guy as big as Hong Man Choi. However it was a leg-kick that won the fight for him.



Gegard Mousasi have announced that he will compete in the ADCC championships in 2009, for Dynamite he took on Japanese K-1 star Musashi, with K-1 Rules. Gegard showed why you should never underestimate him! He is very mentally strong and really handed it to his opponent.





Next in the ring was Mark Hunt against the very late replacement Manfred Manhoef. It was a very quick win for Manhoef and I think Hunt didnt know what hit him... It was really a fight he needed to win... Manhoef didnt care though, a very strong KO win to the Dutchman.



Alvarez made the ultimate mistake against Aoki... A body kick. Aoki got ahold of his leg and was able to work Alvarez to the ground. Shinya Aoki got a big win and Alvarez his first loss in Japan.





And since I am out of town, with limited computer capabilities... I am unable to upload the remining pictures. It also means that updates will be somewhat slow the next few days, but I hope to be back in time for Sengoku!

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