Tag: DREAM 16

Dream 16: Omigawa, Takaya, Hansen Impress in Featherweight Bouts

Filed under: DREAMThe best featherweights fighting in Japanese MMA these days are Dream champion Bibiano Fernandes and Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro. But many of the best of the rest were in the ring Saturday at Dream 16, a fight card that featured fi…

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The best featherweights fighting in Japanese MMA these days are Dream champion Bibiano Fernandes and Sengoku champion Marlon Sandro. But many of the best of the rest were in the ring Saturday at Dream 16, a fight card that featured five featherweight bouts.

Of the 10 featherweight fighters in action, the best of the bunch was Michihiro Omigawa, who beat the American Cole Escovedo with a straight arm bar two and a half minutes into the first round. The submission appeared to break Escovedo’s arm and showed once again that Omigawa is one of the truly elite fighters in the 145-pound and under class. Omigawa has been one of the sport’s most active fighters over the last couple of years, fighting seven times in 2009 and three so far this year. He’s also been one of the best, climbing up the featherweight rankings by going 8-1-1 since the start of 2009.

DREAM.16 Preview and Predictions

Filed under: DREAM, JapanDREAM needed to pull out all out the stops for DREAM.16. Their last event for the year is also the first for the year that will be broadcast during primetime domestically and given their financial woes, they need to impress. DR…

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DREAM needed to pull out all out the stops for DREAM.16. Their last event for the year is also the first for the year that will be broadcast during primetime domestically and given their financial woes, they need to impress. DREAM were still booking fights until less than 24 hours before DREAM.16 but it was worth it, they managed to put on the card that they needed.

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller is one of the most crowd pleasing matchups of all time. Tatsuya Mizuno will be the Japanese underdog against the foreign belt collector Gegard Mousasi. Shinya Aoki will try to take another step towards reclaiming his spot among the top lightweights in the world against a man who once upset another Japanese champion – Marcus Aurelio. Four great featherweights fights that will define the future of the division.

After the break, predictions and a preview of what may be a pivotal card in DREAM’s history.

Reminder: DREAM 16 is on HDNet Early Tomorrow Morning

(Video courtesy YouTube/DREAM)
If you’re a diehard MMA fan or you get home from the bars tonight and are looking for something to watch, remember that DREAM 16 is on HDNet at 2:00 am ET tomorrow morning. 
Besides the Sakuraba-Miller fight that…

(Video courtesy YouTube/DREAM)

If you’re a diehard MMA fan or you get home from the bars tonight and are looking for something to watch, remember that DREAM 16 is on HDNet at 2:00 am ET tomorrow morning. 

Besides the Sakuraba-Miller fight that is advertised above as if it were a Japanese game show, only with worse music, there are some solid match-ups that haven’t gotten a lot of media attention, including Mousasi-Mizuno, Hansen-Tokoro, Miyata-Inoue and Takaya-Beebe.

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Mayhem Miller Welcomes the Challenge of Submitting Sakuraba

Filed under: DREAM, MMA Videos, Japan

In Kazushi Sakuraba’s first MMA fight, in 1996, he submitted to an arm triangle choke from Kimo Leopoldo. In more than 40 fights since then, Sakuraba has never tapped.

Royce Gracie couldn’t make him tap in a tota…

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In Kazushi Sakuraba‘s first MMA fight, in 1996, he submitted to an arm triangle choke from Kimo Leopoldo. In more than 40 fights since then, Sakuraba has never tapped.

Royce Gracie couldn’t make him tap in a total of 105 minutes over two fights. Gracie’s relatives Ralek, Ryan, Renzo and Royler couldn’t make Sakuraba tap either. Neither could great submission specialists ranging from Antonio Rogerio Nogueira to Ken Shamrock.

On Saturday in Japan, Jason Mayhem Miller wants to make Sakuraba tap again.

Gegard Mousasi Sets Sights on Holding Both Dream, Strikeforce Belts

Filed under: DREAM, NewsGegard Mousasi says winning the Dream light heavyweight belt this Saturday would push him closer towards a shot at reclaiming the Strikeforce 205-pound belt.

“I feel like if I win this belt,” Mousasi told reporters Thursday. “I…

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Gegard Mousasi says winning the Dream light heavyweight belt this Saturday would push him closer towards a shot at reclaiming the Strikeforce 205-pound belt.

“I feel like if I win this belt,” Mousasi told reporters Thursday. “It will give me the right to also fight for the Strikeforce belt and winning both belts; I think in Japan and U.S. is an accomplishment that I’ve always wanted.”

Besides the rare feat of holding titles in separate major promotions, the 25-year-old Dutch-Armenian would fully establish himself as an important figure in the historical sense down the line for the Dream organization.

Already staking a claim to being the first DREAM middleweight titleholder, he’d be the first-ever DREAM light heavyweight champion as well if he’s successful at Dream.16 against Tatsuya Mizuno.

The MMA Hour With Dan Hardy, Gilbert Melendez, Mark Hunt, Marcus Aurelio

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosThe MMA Hour returns Monday with another live, loaded episode. Below is a look at who will be appearing on the show.

* “The Outlaw” Dan Hardy will stop by to talk about his UFC 120 fight …

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The MMA Hour returns Monday with another live, loaded episode. Below is a look at who will be appearing on the show.

* “The Outlaw” Dan Hardy will stop by to talk about his UFC 120 fight against Carlos Condit and the recent news he made when discussing the state of wrestling in MMA.

* Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez will discuss when he expects to defend his title again.

* MMA veteran Mark Hunt will weigh-in on his Octagon debut at UFC 119 this weekend and how he ended up with the organization.

* And Marcus Aurelio will preview his DREAM.16 fight against Shinya Aoki and explain why he had to pull out of last week’s Shine Fights event.

And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

Download this show and previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.

The MMA Hour begins below beginning at 1 PM ET.