Japanese promotions have a long and storied history of announcing fights at the last minute, and the upcoming Dream.5 card on July 21st is no exception.
We’re less than two weeks out, and other than the three lightweight grand prix bouts(two semi-finals and the finals), there’s only one other confirmed match-up: KID Yamamoto vs. Joseph Benavidez. While the lack of announced bouts is hardly a surprise to anyone who has followed the Japanese fight scene for any amount of time, it begs the question of who is going to fill this card out? Let’s take a look at some possible match-ups to be added in the coming days.
Judo bad boy Yoshihiro Akiyama has been penciled in for this card for quite a while now, and all signs point to his opponent being U-Style practitioner Kiyoshi Tamura. Tamura was originally a MW GP participant, but after utterly destroyingPancrase legend Masakatsu Funaki in the first round of the tournament, he had to bow out due to a “hand injury”. While Tamura isn’t exactly a top middleweight, he is still a very serviceable fighter and will provide name recognition that FEG desires for this card, which will be their first foray on Japanese Network TV since Dream.1. If Akiyama prevails don’t be surprised to see him either rematch Kazuo Misaki or face the MW GP winner later in the year.
Confirmed for this event is arguably the most exciting fighter on the planet, Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen. It is expected that Hansen will fight Kultar Gillin what will be a reserve match for the LW GP. Although a guy like Ishida or Buscape is probably more deserving of this spot than Surrey, B.C. native Gill, the fight should provide fireworks. I never would wish injury upon a fighter, but the possibility of Hansen re-matching one of the semi-finalists has me, a biiiiiiig Hansen fan, salivating at the possibilities.
There are two heavyweights featured on the event poster: Mirko CroCop and Mark Hunt. It has been recently confirmed that CroCop won’t fight due to lingering injuries, but the Samoan monster Hunt should be ready to go. This will be Hunt’s first MMA bout for nearly a year and a half, and his first time back in the ring since being devastated by a Semmy Schilt spinning heel kick in April of this year. The opponent that has been rumoured for a while now is Sergey Kharitonov. The Russian, like Hunt, has had major issues securing fights since Pride’s demise(his last fight was under the K-1 HERO*S banner in September of last year). If this match is booked, hopefully it will lead to more meaningful heavyweight bouts down the line in Dream, something that has been sorely lacking since the promotion debuted early this year.
Two heavyweight grappling whiz’s have been mentioned as participants, and possible opponents on this show; I’m referring to Jon Olav Einemo and Marcio Corletta. These two, ADCC and BJJ world champions respectively have a combined 9 MMA contests between them, so if they do go at it don’t be expecting a polished striking masterpiece.
Other names likely to take part on this card include Katsuyori Shibata, Ikuhisa Minowa, Igor Pokrajac and Denis Kang.
Stay tuned to Total-MMA in the upcoming days for in-depth Dream.5 coverage and previews!
If Kiyoshi Tamura is there, I am there. Who am I kidding? They had me at “Japanese MMA promotion DREAM.”
I guess if the TV rating is the major goal of the promotion, it doesn’t really matter when you book the fights. As long as it is in time to let the audience know who is on the show a few days before? Hardcores seem to come to the building regardless and walkup is always such a big part of the gate, it doesn’t seem necessary to advertise fights before hand.
Kazuo Misaki doesn’t fight for FEG, he’s Sengoku/Strikeforce. So scratch that.
Akiyama is probably fighting Shibata, which is extremely disappointing. I want him to fight Jacare later in the year. Preferably for the middleweight title that Jacare will be wearing.
Hansen finally rematching Jiri would be nice, and he needs an opportunity to redeem himself against Aoki, but I’m hoping to see the reserves stay out of the finals.
“Kazuo Misaki doesn’t fight for FEG, he’s Sengoku/Strikeforce. So scratch that.”
I’m pretty sure both contracts ARE NOT exclusive, so erase that scratch mark.
DREAM.5 will be the best MMA event of July, easily. UFC86 had a single good fight, Affliction could be a major miss, and UFC Fight Night…eh.
As Fujita would say, God Bless DREAM.
Sure, Affliction could be a major miss but by just throwing random statements out there like that I could say the same about DREAM.
Affliction is the best card of the month on paper, by a bit of a distance.
I’m pretty sure both contracts ARE NOT exclusive, so erase that scratch mark.
Stratch mark stays. With Misaki soon to be campaigning in Strikeforce this fall, and with other matches for Akiyama readily available, I would be VERY surprised to see them fight this year.
I haven’t heard anything about Tamura even being on DREAM.5. All signs point to Akiyama fighting Shibata. With both being confirmed for the card and the back and forth calling each other out.