by Kendall Shields

DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS

Yesterday’s DREAM press conference at Tokyo’s Hotel Metropolitan — which you can watch streaming in three parts, if you are so inclined — seems to be drawing more attention over the announced signing of Mirko Cro Cop than anything else. MMA Junkie is quick to point out that between Cro Cop’s jump to DREAM (which Cro Cop suggests is perhaps only temporary), coupled with the new promotion’s working relationship with M-1 Global, could mean a rematch of Cro Cop’s 2005 loss to Fedor Emelianenko. Putting aside the question of how long the M-1 Global coalition seems likely to hold together — there is word that Monte Cox is trying to buy-out the Russian elements of M-1’s ownership, and who knows what that would mean re: Fedor — is Cro Cop/Fedor II anywhere near the top of anyone’s wish list? Fedor won a dominant decision the first time they met, and, after his impressive run through the Pride OWGP in 2006, Cro Cop has fallen on almost inconceivably bad times, with his dramatic loss to Gabriel Gonzaga and his lifeless showings in the UFC fights that preceded and followed it. Indeed, the reason Cro Cop was free to pursue a deal with DREAM is that the UFC had come to see his contract as a liability: Cro Cop is in no position to perform at the level required to make his contract viable for the UFC. He looks completely spent, and he simply never became the draw the UFC no doubt anticipated he’d become when they threw a big money deal his way.

So forget about Cro Cop. What’s really exciting about yesterday’s DREAM press conference isn’t the return of a fighter who couldn’t get past Cheik Kongo; it’s that major-league Japanese MMA seems set to return in a big way in 2008.

Between the March 5th debut of World Victory Road’s Sengoku, headlined by Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett (not Roger Gracie, as some fools believed) and Takanori Gomi vs. Duane Ludwig (of all people), and the March 15th Opening Round of DREAM’s Lightweight GP (including the much anticipated J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki match) things seem to be happening in a big way in Japanese MMA for the first time since the demise of Pride FC. DREAM, backed by FEG (K-1) and produced by the Yarrenoka/ex-Pride staff, seems to have the kind of TV support in Japan’s TBS that makes this venture seem like a long-term proposition. With the notable exceptions of Yoshida, Takanori Gomi, and Kazuo Misaki, DREAM seems to have concentrated nearly all of the truly significant fighters in Japanese MMA under one banner: Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, Masakatsu Funaki, Kid Yamamoto, Hayato Sakurai, Yoshihiro Akiyama, a Cro Cop who will presumably no longer be drug tested, with the promise (however tenuous) of eventual appearances by Fedor and Royce Gracie — all of whom will be introduced by Lenne Hardt — this is clearly the promotion to watch in 2008.

In the true and lasting spirit of MMA events held at the Saitama Super Arena, all of this is no doubt likely to change many times over between now and March 15th, but here is what DREAM is looking at (courtesy of the oddly yet compellingly titled Nightmare of Battle):

HEIWA DREAM.1 Lightweight GP 2008 Opener
Date: March 15th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

LW GP 1st Round Fights:
J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki

LW GP Participants:
Andre Dida
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri
Caol Uno
Joachim Hansen
Gilbert Melendez
Luiz Azeredo
Artur Oumakhanov
Koutetsu Boku
Jung Bu-Kyung
Kazuyuki Miyata
Luiz Firmino

Obviously there is much to be enthusiastic about there. DREAM looks set to establish itself as the premiere organization for the lightweight division, arguably the sport’s best. While the UFC almost certainly boasts the 155 lbs division’s top fighter in BJ Penn, the kind of depth we see here (should all these names actually materialize, of course) would put DREAM on another level.

Here, again from Nightmare of Battle, are the proposed DREAM dates and weight divisions:

DREAM 2008 Event Schedule

* March 15th - HEIWA DREAM.1 Lightweight GP Opening
* April 29th - OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP Opening
* May 11th - HEIWA DREAM.3 Lightweight GP 2nd Round
* Mid June - OLYMPIA DREAM.4 Middleweight GP 2nd Round
* July 21st - HEIWA DREAM.5 Lightweight GP Finals
* Late September - OLYMPIA DREAM.6 Middleweight GP Finals

DREAM Weight Classes

* 70 kg - Lightweight
* 76 kg - Welterweight
* 84 kg - Middleweight
* 93 kg - Light Heavyweight
* 93.1 Or More - Heavyweight

As Marc points out in the Total MMA Forums, it looks like Aoki will be competing at 70 kg while Hayato Sakurai will be competing at 76, which will no doubt disappoint fans of their outstanding Shooto bout. But that’s probably the only minor disappointment on a day when the Japanese MMA landscape seems to have been remade very much for the better.