7/21 DREAM 5 - RESULTS

We now have the first DREAM champion! His name is Joachim Hansen! It was a day of very good fights in Osaka Jo Hall, and I have just gotten home.

Eddie Alvarez was not allowed to fight in the final (by DREAM Doctors), after a very tough semi-final against Kawajiri. Hellboy had to step up and fill the open spot in the final and face Aoki. It is never ideal to have a late replacement like that, but thats why the reserve fights are so important. In the final Hansen did not want to grapple with Aoki, but it is very hard to on your feet against him. The fight went to the ground and Hellboy dropped some bombs that were too much for Aoki.

Hansen has been an excellent performer for DREAM, and his fight with Alvares was awesome. Alvarez extended a challenge to the new champion and Hellboy was happy to except.

I will post some pictures soon, but now for the results:

Main-Event - DREAM Lightweight Tournament Final:
Joachim Hansen Def. Shinya Aoki by TKO Round 1 4:19

Alistair Overeem Def. Mark Hunt by Keylock Round 1 1:11
Yoshihiro Akiyama Def. Katsuyori Shibata by Gi choke Round 1 6:34
Hideo Tokoro Def. Takeshi Yamazaki by Decision 3-0
Kuniyoshi Hironaka Def. Motoki Miyazawa by TKO Round 1 8:57
Joseph Benavitez Def. Junya Kudo by Guillotine Choke Round 1 2:42
Joachim Hansen Def. Kultar Gill by Armbar Round 1 2:33
Eddie Alvarez Def. Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO Round 1 7:35
Shinya Aoki Def. Caol Uno by Decision 3-0
Daisuke Nakamura Def. Andy Ologun by Armbar Round 1 3:41

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7/21 DREAM 5 - Hunt's Opponent annouced

From HDNet's site, it looks like Hunt's oppnent is Alisair Overeem.
http://www.hdnetfights.com/story.php?id=230

I have not seen a Japanese source for this yet, but looks like that's the fight missing on the card. Should be a good fight, Overeem coming off a victory in DREAM 4, and Hunt returning to the MMA ring.

RougueMag.com has an interview with Hunt before his flight out to Japan. He among other things, he says that in the original contract there was a fight with Fedor this year. Let's see if it happens.

Either way, Monday is the big event and I am heading down to Osaka tomorrow.

***UPDATE***
I am seeing this fight confirmed in Japanese media as well now, Hunt vs. Overeem is on!

Also, looks like they are still looking for an opponent to face Joseph Benavidez, lets hope they find someone.


Lightweight Tournament Final (winners of Semi-Finals)

Lightweight semi-finals:
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0 vs. 22-4-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki 16-2-0 vs. 25-10-4 Caol Uno

Tournament Reserve Fight:
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen 17-7-1 vs. 9-7-0 Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill

Non-tournament:
Yoshihiro Akiyama 10-1-0 vs. 2-4-0 Katsuyori Shibata
Motoki Miyazawa 4-0-0 vs. 11-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Hideo Tokoro 23-13-1 vs. 14-7-2 Takeshi Yamazaki
Mark Hunt 5-3-0 vs. 27-11-0 Alistair Overeem

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7/21 DREAM 5 - "Kid" Out!!!

"Kid" Yamamoto injured his knee during training and is out of his DREAM 5 fight!!!

Can News get worse?!?!?!? Guess they REALLY need an opponent for Mark Hunt now....

Let's just hope Tokoro is ok!

Lightweight Tournament Final (winners of Semi-Finals)

Lightweight semi-finals:
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0 vs. 22-4-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki 16-2-0 vs. 25-10-4 Caol Uno

Tournament Reserve Fight:
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen 17-7-1 vs. 9-7-0 Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill

Non-tournament:
Yoshihiro Akiyama 10-1-0 vs. 2-4-0 Katsuyori Shibata
Motoki Miyazawa 4-0-0 vs. 11-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Hideo Tokoro 23-13-1 vs. 14-7-2 Takeshi Yamazaki

Participating:
Mark Hunt 5-3-0

http://nightmareofbattle.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/final-preparations-getting-ready-for-the-fifth-dream/
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20080718-00000030-spnavi-fight.html

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7/21 DREAM 5 - Hideo Tokoro Not able to Fight???

Hideo Tokoro was in a traffic accident on Wednesday afternoon. He was rear-ended but it does not sound too serious. However, he will have a medical check and it will be announced today or tomorrow whether he will be able to fight.

This could turn out to be a big blow to DREAM 5, there are 8 fights confirmed on th the card with Mark Hunt still being without an opponent. Lets hope they dont make Yamazaki fight Hunt...

http://www.kamipro.com/news/?id=1216270381
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/gryphonjapan/20080718/p2

The card:

Lightweight Tournament Final (winners of Semi-Finals)

Lightweight semi-finals:
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0 vs. 22-4-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki 16-2-0 vs. 25-10-4 Caol Uno

Tournament Reserve Fight:
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen 17-7-1 vs. 9-7-0 Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill

Non-tournament:
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-1-0 vs. 7-0-0 Joseph Benavidez
Yoshihiro Akiyama 10-1-0 vs. 2-4-0 Katsuyori Shibata
Motoki Miyazawa 4-0-0 vs. 11-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Hideo Tokoro 23-13-1 vs. 14-7-2 Takeshi Yamazaki

Participating:
Mark Hunt 5-3-0

Read more...

7/21 DREAM 5 - Hideo Tokoro Fighting!

DREAM have announced an additional fight for DREAM 5 today. Returning after an awesome fight in DREAM 4 is Hideo Tokoro! His fight with Darren Uyenoyama was one of the most exciting fights this year. This time he is taking on Takeshi Yamazaki. The Grabaka fighter is no stranger to DREAM, havning fought in DREAM 3 were he took on Pancrase champion Shoji Maruyama. In his last 9 fights, Yamazaki has lost only twice, to Miki Shida and Masakazu Imanari.

This will be a very exciting fight!

Hideo Tokoro 23-13-1 vs. 14-7-2 Takeshi Yamazaki

Priviously announced:
Lightweight Tournament Final (winners of Semi-Finals)

Lightweight semi-finals:
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0 vs. 22-4-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki 16-2-0 vs. 25-10-4 Caol Uno

Tournament Reserve Fight:
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen 17-7-1 vs. 9-7-0 Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill

Non-tournament:
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-1-0 vs. 7-0-0 Joseph Benavidez
Yoshihiro Akiyama 10-1-0 vs. 2-4-0 Katsuyori Shibata
Motoki Miyazawa 4-0-0 vs. 11-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Participating:
Mark Hunt 5-3-0

From DEEP 24, Takeshi Yamazaki vs. Hirotaka Miyakawa




DREAM 3: Hideo Tokoro vs. Darren Uyenoyama

Hideo Tokoro vs. Darren Uyenoyama - Dream.4 MW GP 2008
Uploaded by moltisanti87

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7/21 DREAM 5 - Finally Some Fights Announced!

I have been waiting for this for a very long time! Finally, DREAM have confirmed that Joachim Hansen is fighting in the tournament reserve fight. His opponent will be Kultar Gill, who I thought was impressive despite the loss to Kawajiri in the opening round.

Just an interesting note, Minowa is moved from this card to the DEEP Gladiators card. To me it seems that DEEP and Dream is building the same/similar sort of relationship that Pride and DEEP used to have. It will be very interesting to see how the DEEP cards will look going forward.

That gives us this card:
Lightweight semi-finals:
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0 vs. 22-4-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki 16-2-0 vs. 25-10-4 Caol Uno

Tournament Reserve Fight:
Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen 17-7-1 vs. 9-7-0 Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill

Non-tournament:
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-1-0 vs. 7-0-0 Joseph Benavidez
Yoshihiro Akiyama 10-1-0 vs. 2-4-0 Katsuyori Shibata
Motoki Miyazawa 4-0-0 vs. 11-5-0 Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Participating:
-Mark Hunt 5-3-0

***Update***
I know some of you noticed that I managed to spell Mark Hunt's name wrong, again! Thanks to Five Ounce of Pain I caught this in the office and had to wait all day to make the correction. It is not on purpose and there is no excuse...

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7/21 DREAM 5 - Semi-Finals Deceided

DREAM drew teh semi-final match-ups during the event today. DREAM 4 turned out to be an awesome event, and DREAM 5 promises to further improve on that.

The semi-finals:
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0 vs. 22-4-2 Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki 16-2-0 vs. 25-10-4 Caol Uno

Also on the card:
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-1-0 vs. 7-0-0 Joseph Benavidez

Participating:
Yoshihiro Akiyama 10-1-0 (1NC)
Denis Kang 29-10-1

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7/21 DREAM 5 - "Kid" Fighting

July 21 is the finals for the DREAM Lightweight Tournament. These fights alone should justify the enterance fee, but today Sherdog has an article confirming one of the other fights.

Japanese favorite and definitly one of the biggest stars in the MMA circus will take on Joseph Benavidez who is undefeated.

NoB is also reporting that DREAM 5 will mark the return of DREAM to Prime Time TV in Japan. And we are likely to find even more big stars on this card.

Another thing that came out, that I am not happy about... FEG is saying they want an open draw to determine the match-ups for the Lightweight Semi-finals... Why ask the fans to vote if you are just going to disregard it? Maybe the vote didn't go the way they wanted...

Anyway, announced for DREAM 5:

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto 17-1-0 vs. 7-0-0 Joseph Benavidez

Lightweight Tournament Semi-Finalists:
Caol Uno 25-10-4
Eddie Alvarez 14-1-0
Tatsuya Kawajiri 22-4-2
Shinya Aoki/Katsuhiko Nagata

Read more...