Aoki Amazes, Manhoef Slays Sakuraba at DREAM.4

Fighters.com’s Lightweight Champion “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (16-2) further expanded the common MMA repertoire Sunday at DREAM.4 when he tapped Katsuhiko Nagata (4-3) in a gogoplata from the full mount at 5:12 of round one.

Adorning his sprayed-on, gaudy long johns, Aoki scored two takedowns, mounting Nagata on the second.  Aoki pounded his victim as Nagata bucked.

Aoki wasn’t going anywhere!

He smothered Nagata and slipped his foot out of nowhere into the pretzel that ended the fight, advancing Aoki to the Lightweight Grand Prix semi-finals.

“If you want to be the legend, you have to kill the legend,” “Marvelous” Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) said after slaying “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1) with a kick in the first round and advancing to the Middleweight Grand Prix semi-finals.

“That’s what I did today.”

Manhoef finished the Japanese legend with a knee to Sakuraba’s head from side control followed by hammerfists to his face before the referee ended the fight.

Hideo Tokoro (20-13-1) and American Olympic grappler Darren Uyenoyama (4-2) battled the most exciting fight on the card in a bantamweight match-up

The fight spanned all ranges and levels as the two fighters rolled and stood, attacked with strikes and tried submissions, defended and reversed, and recovered.

But, it was Tokoro’s consistent knee strikes that won him the two-round UD.

Ninth-ranked middleweight “Mayhem” Jason Miller (21-6) pulled one Houdini escape after another in a two-round UD loss to “Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (9-1).

Souzadictated the mat match and consistently mounted “Mayhem”, but couldn’t submit the slippery Miller.  Nonetheless, Souza advanced into the Middleweight GP semis.

The uneven match-up between Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1) and Dong Sik Yoon (4-5) lasted longer than it should’ve.

Yoon shot for an ever-elusive takedown most of the fight, while Mousasi worked Yoon’s bandaged leg like a soccer ball.

In the first round, Yoon freed one of Mousasi’s arm for a joint lock; but, Mousasi rolled free.

Mousasi put Yoon on his back in round two, hammering fists as the clock counted down to the UD for Mousasi, who advances in the Middleweight GP semis.

“Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (27-11) demolished Tae Hyun Lee (1-2) in 36 seconds with left hook-right hook-left uppercut combo followed by a knee that left Lee on the mat.

Overeem added his name to “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic‘s (26-3-2) dance card after his DREAM debut.  “Demolition Man” has accused Filipovic of ducking him.

Ralek Gracie (2-0) wants “Cro Cop” too.  He challenged DREAM’s premier heavyweight after tapping Alavutdin Gadzhiyev (7-2) in an armbar at 3:02 of the first round.

Gracie was originally scheduledto grapple with the Croatian kickboxer.

An elbow injury at 1:05 of round one gift wrapped a TKO “W” for “Benkei” Zelg Galesic (9-3), sending him into the Middleweight GP semis.

The Croatian launched a high kick at Taiei Kin (3-3) before taking Kin to the mat hard and awkwardly on Kin’s right arm, buckling the Korean’s elbow.