During a press conference in Japan on Friday, the DREAM promotion announced it’s first major event of 2011. The promotion is targeting May 29 as the date for a bantamweight tournament which will be held at the Saitama Super Arena. Production of the event will be kept to a minimum, so as to not waste electricity to reflect the ongoing crisis in Japan.
The event, named “DREAM Japan GP 2011 Bantamweight Japan Tournament” or “Fight for Japan DREAM Grand Prix” depending on who is translating it seems, will feature a 61 KG tournament with fighters Hideo Tokoro, Masakazu Imanari, Kenji Osawa, Darren Uyenoyama, Keisuke Fujiwara, Atsushi Yamamoto, Takafumi Otsuka, and Yoshiro Maeda.
Other non-tournament participants at the event may include Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, Caol Uno, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura, and Katsunori Kikuno.
The May 28 date will host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the Bantamweight Tournament, while a second event in July will host the finals and third place bouts. The finalists, and the fighter who takes third place will move on to compete in an upcoming DREAM World Bantamweight Tournament. That tournament is scheduled to take place in September.
Officials also announced the “Fight For Japan” charity project to raise funds for those areas suffering from the after effects of the 9.0 earthquake, and subsequent tsunami.
The official Press Release can be found at DreamOfficial.com (in Japanese) or a brief explanation can be found at NightmareOfBattle.com
In response to the crisis in Japan following the March 11 Sendai earthquake, FEG President