Alistair Overeem defeats Todd Duffee via KO in Round 1 to become the DREAM Interim Heavyweight Champion. Marius Zaromskis defeats Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO in Round 1 to retain the DREAM Welterweight Championship. Tatsuya Kawajiri defeats Josh Thomson via Unanimous Decision. Kazuyuki Miyata defeats Caol Uno via Unanimous Decision. Hiroyuki Takaya defeats Bibiano Fernandes via Unanimous Decision to become the DREAM Featherweight Champion. Jason High defeats Hayato Sakurai via Split Decision. Hiroshi Izumi defeats Ikuhisa Minowa via TKO in Round 3. Sergei Kharitonov defeats Tatsuya Mizuno via KO in Round 1. Satoshi Ishii defeats Jerome Le Banner via Unanimous Decision. Andy Ologun defeats Katsuaki Furuki via Unanimous Decision. Hideo Tokoro defeats Kazuhisa Watanabe via Submission (Armbar) in Round 3. Gegard Mousasi defeats Kyotaro via Unanimous Decision. Akiyo Nishiura and Tetsuya Yamato ends in a Majority Draw. Yuichiro Nagashima defeats Shinya Aoki via KO in Round 2.

Part of me wishes that I was still as dedicated of an insomniac as I was a few months ago, because this sounded like a fantastic night (or if you’re an American MMA fan, a fantastic early morning) of live action. According to reports, it took all of nineteen seconds for “The Reem” to dispatch of Todd Duffee, the man who set the record for the fastest KO in the UFC in his first UFC fight and then got KO’d himself in almost-as-dramatic fashion in his second UFC fight. Overeem promised that 2011 would be even bigger of a year for him than 2010 was, and when you consider that Overeem’s 2010 saw him successfully defend his Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship while adding a DREAM Interim Heavyweight Championship and the K-1 World Grand Prix Championship to his trophy case… that’s just downright scary.

Also according to reports, former top-ranked Lightweight Shinya Aoki put on quite the bizarre show in his “mixed rules” bout, the first round of which was kickboxing-only. Aoki reportedly clinched like his life depended on it and even resorted to outlandish moves like dropkicks in order to run out the clock and get to the second round, which was an MMA round. Of course, Aoki would get blasted full-force when shooting in for a takedown and get knocked out cold. With another KO loss on his record and the memory of his crushing defeat at the hands of Gilbert Melendez still fresh in the minds of many, it’s become apparent that Aoki is going to struggle to secure his spot near the top of the Lightweight rankings for the foreseeable future.

All in all, this looked to be a great event featuring several notable bouts, so I look forward to tracking down a copy or a replay of it and giving it a watch. But what about you, fans and friends? If you stayed up for the broadcast, do you think the show justified missing a night’s rest? And if you didn’t, what did you think of the show in general?

Jerome Le Banner vs. Satoshi Ishii: If you’re a fan of “striker vs. grappler” match-ups, you really can’t ask for more, since this fight pits a famous K-1 fighter against an Olympic gold medalist in judo. Both men are on a three-fight win-streak, but it’s been four long years since Le Banner has competed in an MMA setting. The amount of ring rust he’ll have going into this bout is all I need to know to predict that Ishii will win by submission in Round 1.

Sergei Kharitonov vs. Tatsuya Mizuno: Mizuno’s 8-6 record speaks for itself. While Kharitonov never fully emerged into the world-beater than many fans expected he would one day become, the fact remains that he’s faced a lot of high-level competition and even beaten a few of them. Even with a year-long layoff working against him, I think Kharitonov will win by TKO in Round 2.

Josh Thomson vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri: It’s going to end quickly, it’s going to end violently, and it’s going to be an absolute blast to watch. Kawajiri is going to come out headhunting and won’t stop until he gets the KO, that’s who he is and why he’s so entertaining. But Thomson is an expert on the ground and his striking game is downright under-rated. If Thomson can avoid any Hail Mary flurries as he shoots in or works his game, this should be a one-sided match. Thomson wins by submission in Round 1.

Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiroyuki Takaya: My opinion on this fight closely mirrors my opinion on the Thomson vs. Kawajiri encounter. I think the pivoting point of this match will be whether or not Fernandes can once again avoid Takaya’s punching power while getting him to the ground. Fernandes has an excellent submission game and enough top control to grind out a decision if he’s not able to secure anything. While their first fight ended in a close Split Decision, I think Fernandes is going to take this one with a first-round submission.

Marius Zaromskis vs. Kazushi Sakuraba: It’s going to be an electric fight, that’s for sure. Marius Zaromskis desperately needs to get back in the win column, he basically shot himself in the foot with his US excursion. Considering how he went 0-2-1 with both losses being by TKO, that shot might as well have been from a shotgun. Sakuraba, meanwhile, is staring down retirement and this will probably be the last time he’ll ever fight for a championship. I hate to say it, but I think a deadly animal is always deadliest when cornered, and Zaromskis has a long, long time to land his patented head kick. Marius Zaromskis wins by brutal head kick KO in Round 1.

So that’s what I think, fans and friends. What about you? What kind of outcome do you think we’ll see when it comes to the big matches of “DYNAMITE!! 2010”?

The Event: DREAM/K-1 “DYNAMITE!! 2010”, scheduled for December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The entire event will be broadcast live in its entirety on HDNet starting at 4 AM ET/1 AM PT.

Why You Should Care: It’s MMA, it’s kickboxing, it’s Japan. The year-end “DYNAMITE” events are always when Japanese MMA pulls out the big guns and brings together the biggest stars possible. If you’re an international MMA fan, you’ve got fifteen full fights of action. If you’re not, there’s still plenty of stars to watch that you are probably familiar with.

What to Look Forward to in the Main Event: It’s difficult to say which fight will end up being the main or co-main event, since the card is being marketed as a whole. It may even be one of the K-1 fights. So for this edition of “Crash Course”, I’ll be focusing on the two MMA championships up for grabs at the event, the first being Marius Zaromskis vs. Kazushi Sakuraba for the DREAM Welterweight Championship. This fight should be a treat for any old-school MMA fans, because Kazushi Sakuraba is still entertaining to watch after all these years. Marius Zaromskis, meanwhile, needs a win badly and made his mark in DREAM by viciously KO’ing people, so this fight will most likely end in dramatically. Based on what both men have at stake (Zaromskis his relevancy and Sakuraba his waning career), look for this to be a great emotionally-charged encounter.

What to Look Forward to in the Co-Main Event: The other title fight of the night sees DREAM Featherweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes take on Hiroyuki Takaya. Look for this to be a classic “striker vs. grappler” encounter. Fernandes has a very long win-streak as well as his championship at stake when he enters the DREAM ring, and Takaya is coming off two very impressive back-to-back KO’s to claim his shot at the gold. Better yet, this will be a revenge match, as Fernandes beat Takaya to claim the vacant championship in the inaugural DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix.

Why You Should Watch This Card: Two main reasons immediately spring to mind, and they’re by far the best reasons to watch this show: length and talent. We’re talking fifteen live, unabridged fights here. If you’re an insomniac with some time to kill, “DYNAMITE” will kill that time in style. Not only is this a massive card, it also features top MMA talent like Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Josh Thomson, and Shinya Aoki. If you make an effort to watch this show, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Why You Shouldn’t Watch This Card: There’s only one good reason to miss this card, but let’s be honest, it’s a pretty good reason: this thing takes place way, way early in the morning. If you’re a night-owl or an insomniac you should be set, but folks with normal sleeping patterns will probably find it difficult to muster up the strength to get out of bed so early in the morning just so they can watch Japanese MMA. If you think you’re one of those people, you should probably pass up the live edition and catch an inevitable replay.

Closing Thoughts: I really do like this card, and I really do wish it didn’t have to take place so early in the morning. But nevertheless, I think “DYNAMITE” is going to be a very entertaining show. Several of the fights sound brilliant on paper, and Japanese MMA is always entertaining to watch purely as a spectacle, given their penchant for grandiose pre-fight theatrics. While I can’t guarantee that I’ll be staying up late to watch this one, I’ll definitely catch a replay sooner rather than later.

And what about you, fans and friends? What are your thoughts on DREAM/K-1’s “DYNAMITE” event?

5. Year in and year out, “DYNAMITE” is an amazing spectacle. Fans of DREAM know this, and fans of the legendary PRIDE FC promotion know it all too well: Japanese MMA prides itself on its pageantry, its pomp and circumstance, it’s… awesomeness. This is the home of massive entrance screens, elaborate entrances, blazing pyrotechnics, and much more. And “DYNAMITE” is the biggest and most important card of the year, so I can’t wait to see what kind of visual (and probably literal) fireworks FEG pulls out to delight and astonish fans.

4. It’s a long show, so if you’ve got the time, you’re in for hours of constant MMA/K-1 action. The last DREAM show, “DREAM.16”, was broadcast live on HDNet from start to finish and ran for at least four hours. That show had ten fights… “DYNAMITE” 2010 has fifteen. Fifteen full, complete, unabridged bouts spanning two sports, MMA and K-1 kickboxing. If you’re an MMA fan and have some time to kill, can you really think of a better way to do it than watching this show?

3. Two championships will be on the line. DREAM will have two of its titles up for grabs at “DYNAMITE”: Marius Zaromskis defends his Welterweight Championship against living legend Kazushi Sakuraba, while Bibiano Fernandes defends his Featherweight Championship against Hiroyuki Takaya. Title fights always seem to bring out the best in the competitors going for the gold, as do major events that are heavily promoted. And this show features both.

2. Several major-name MMA stars are expected to compete. Alongside the aforementioned Sakuraba, several high-value MMA stars, both from Japan and around the world, will compete at “DYNAMITE”. The top-ranked Shinya Aoki will compete, former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will compete, Josh Thomson will throw down, and even K-1 World Grand Prix Champion and Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem is set to compete at the event. So not only will “DYNAMITE” be a long night of fights, it’ll be an event that features a large assortment of well-known, highly-ranked fighters.

And my top reason to watch “DYNAMITE” is…

1. Because we may not get another one.

Nothing is for certain at this point, but every rumor has a kernel of truth somewhere, and some fighters have indeed gone on record and stated that DREAM hasn’t paid them for their past performances. When you add in rumors of FEG’s Japanese TV deals falling apart, it doesn’t look too good for the company as its two promotions head into 2011. While FEG may not go bankrupt in 2011, there’s a very real possibility that next year’s “DYNAMITE” won’t be nearly as grandiose or feature as many top-level talents as this year’s. 2010’s “DYNAMITE” may be one of the final bright lights before FEG goes dark, so we as MMA fans need to watch it while we can.

So there you have it, fans and friends. What about you? What do you think of the DREAM/K-1 “DYNAMITE” card?

According to MMA Mania, Fighting and Entertainment Group, the company that controls both K-1 and DREAM, recently announced that former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and current DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi would face Kyotaro in a special K-1 bout. For the MMA portion of the card, it’s also been announced that DREAM’s “Super Hulk” tournament champion, Ikuhisa Minowa, will face Hiroshi Izumi, an Olympic medalist in judo. And to top it all off, it was announced that the one and only Hayato Sakurai is scheduled to take on Jason High.

According to the report, the official “DYNAMITE” card now stands as follows. The MMA Portion of the card will consist of Marius Zaromskis vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Josh Thomson, Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Caol Uno, Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiroyuki Takaya, Hayato Sakurai vs. Jason High, and Hiroshi Izumi vs. Ikuhisa Minowa. The K-1 portion of the card will consist of Gegard Mousasi vs. Kyotaro and Akiyo Nishiura vs. Tetsuya Yamato. And finally, Shinya Aoki will face Yuichiro Nagashima in a bout that is being marketed as a “MMA/K-1 Mixed Rules” fight.

All in all, I’m looking forward to “DYNAMITE”. Despite all the financial troubles they seem to be having, time and time again I’ve been entertained by the DREAM promotion. I won’t give them a free pass on not paying their fights, but I’m not going to call a good event bad because of it. DREAM itself may have lost a bit of my respect lately, but I still immensely respect the men who make DREAM’s cards so memorable. I just hope for their sakes that they get paid for their efforts.

In particular, I’m really looking forward to Marius Zaromskis vs. Kazushi Sakuraba. I think Zaromskis really needs a win, his excursion to the USA badly hurt his marketability and status as a champion. If Sakuraba does manage to beat him, I think we’ll unfortunately have to close the book on Marius Zaromskis. And coming from a guy that considers him a “dark horse favorite”, that’s very sad news indeed. I’ll certainly be pulling for “The Whitemare”.

I’ll also be looking forward to seeing Gegard Mousasi and Josh Thomson compete. Mousasi always brings his best when he goes to Japan, and I think he’ll have a pretty entertaining K-1 bout. And though I’ve taken issue with a few things he’s said in the past, I’ve never seen a Josh Thomson fight I wasn’t entertained by. I’ll even tune in to see “Minowaman” because I respect the man’s drive and heart.

It remains to be seen what 2011 holds for FEG and the two promotions it has under its belt, but if you believe the rumors, the future definitely looks bleak. However, that doesn’t mean that they can’t end the year with a colossal bang. This mega-show has all the makings of a great event, so I’ll probably tune in to see it before the night is through. And what about you, fans and friends? Is “DYNAMITE” shaping up to be a good enough card to pry you away from your New Year’s Eve festivities?

Zaromskis claimed the promotions welterweight title in 2009 after dispatching of Seichi Ikemoto, Hayato Sakurai and Jason High. Wins over UFC veterans High and Sakurai came via headkick knockout, which have become a trademark for the Lithuanian striker.

Marius transitioned to the United States after reeling off four wins in a row under the DREAM banner, only to run on an 0-2-1 slide in Strikeforce.

Vying for the San Jose based promotion’s then vacant 170-pound title opposite of Nick Diaz last January, Marius was knocked out in the waning moments of the bout giving him his first loss in nearly two years. He would later return in the Strikeforce cage against veteran Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, however succumbed to another first round stoppage. In a chance to redeem himself, “The Whitemare” was then pitted against King of the Cage veteran Waachim Spiritwolf, however the bout ended in anti-climatic fashion when an inadvertent eye poke by Zaromskis resulted in a No Contest.

After spending the majority of 2010 in the States, Marius will return to Japan for the famous year end show when he takes on legend Kazushi Sakuraba.

Sakuraba will be reportedly dropping down to the welterweight division for the first time in his career when he meets Zaromskis, in a bout which will be contested for Marius’ DREAM 170-pound title.

Sakuraba was last seen in action when he meet MMA wild man Jason Miller at DREAM 16 this past September. Kazushi was thoroughly dominated en route to a first round submission via arm-triangle choke just a little over two-minutes inside of the first round. The submission loss marked only the second time the Japanese sensation had been submitted. The first was in 1996 against heavyweight Kimo Leopoldo in Sakuraba’s first professional bout.

The 41-year-old is 2-4 in his last 6 outings, and while it has not been eluded to, these next few bouts Sakuraba has left in him could be his last.

MMAJunkie.com first reported the match, which will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan for “DREAM: Dynamite!! 2010″, the promotion’s annual year-end extravaganza.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the match up? Both men are coming off of losses in their last few outings, but both hold a wealth of experience inside the cage, namely Sakuraba. Who do you think takes this bout? Sound off in the comment section below.

According to a report by Sherdog, the primetime network broadcast of “DREAM.16”, which was shown on the Tokyo Broadcasting System, pulled in an average 11.9 rating with a peak of 18.1, which occurred during the hastily-added Satoshi Ishii vs. Ikuhisa Minowa bout. According to the report, this placed DREAM in fourth place for the night, losing out to a variety show, a mystery series, and a TV showing of a 2006 film. The report also states that the rating is in the “good but not great” range, and that all eyes are on the end-of-year super-show “Dynamite” to determine once and for all if Japanese MMA will remain on network TV and in the public consciousness for the foreseeable future.

I think DREAM.16 was a mixed bag, but ultimately one that I enjoyed quite a lot. It is a card I spent several hours watching in the absolute dead of the night, after all. Placing fourth may not have been the resounding trumpet call return-to-arms that many hardcore Japanese MMA fans hoped it would be, but it is a good number and, at the very least, DREAM cracked the top five. The bad thing about that, though, is that TV officials are so fickle these days no matter what continent or country they hail from. Ratings can always be bigger, and if “Dynamite” disappoints, we’ll be looking at the very real possibility of MMA being pulled off of national TV.

I can’t stress enough how harsh of a blow that would be to DREAM as well as Japanese MMA as a whole. Putting it plainly, Japanese MMA can’t afford to become an “underground sport” again. At least, not if it wants to have any relevancy in the global MMA scene. Shinya Aoki once famously said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that Japan is now “a colony” to American Mixed Martial Arts. And I have to agree with him. The prognosis is looking bleaker and bleaker. Almost all of DREAM’s best stars have found work and relevancy in other promotions, and DREAM has lacked a true breakout star, one that gained his fame and relevancy in DREAM and DREAM alone, since its inception.

I honestly hope that “Dynamite” demolishes the competition and that DREAM is given another shot at wowing the general public, because at the end of the day, DREAM is the flag-bearer for Japanese MMA. It may pale in comparison to PRIDE FC, it may not have history behind it like the longer-running but smaller-scale MMA promotions, but right now it is undoubtedly the biggest promotion in Japan and has the most money available to produce the best possible cards. Both due to its importance and the fact that I’ve liked DREAM’s outings more often than not, I wish them all the best and hope that Japanese MMA can make an epic comeback.

And what about you, fans and friends? What do you think the future holds? Did DREAM 16 simply prolong the inevitable, or was it a step in the right direction?

Here’s how it all went down at “DREAM.16” at the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan (results courtesy of MMA 4 Real). Light-Heavyweight Championship: Gegard Mousasi defeats Tatsuya Mizuno via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 6:10 of Round 1. Jason Miller defeats Kazushi Sakuraba via Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 2:09 of Round 1. Shinya Aoki defeats Marcus Aurelio via Unanimous Decision. Satoshi Ishii defeats Ikuhisa Minowa via Unanimous Decision. Hiroyuki Takaya defeats Chase Beebe via KO (Punches) at 1:45 of Round 1. Michihiro Omigawa defeats Cole Escovedo via Submission (Inverted Armbar) at 2:30 of Round 1. Joachim Hansen defeats Hideo Tokoro via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 2:48 of Round 1. Kazuyuki Miyata defeats Takeshi Inoue via Unanimous Decision. Mitsuhiro Ishida defeats Akiyo Nishiura via Split Decision. Yusuke Kawaguchi defeats James Thompson via Split Decision.

I was lucky enough to catch the event as it was just getting underway. Or perhaps “unlucky” is a more fitting term, because the first few opening fights were quite boring. Kawaguchi and Thompson both gassed so badly in their fights that it was downright laughable. Ishida did nothing but hold onto his opponent and proved that the “lay and pray” epidemic is sweeping across the world and not simply confined to America. The first fight I honestly had any interest in was the Hansen fight, and even that fight got downright boring as the majority of it saw Hideo Tokoro recuperate from several below-the-belt shots.

That’s another strange thing about this card- it would appear that several folks really wanted to play dirty at “DREAM.16”. There were a lot of groin shots during the opening matches, to the point where I wondered if the tormented ghost of Cheick Kongo had been randomly possessing the DREAM 16 participants. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but it happened so frequently that it was all I could really do.

I think Omigawa’s dramatic submission over Escovedo kicked the card into high gear, because once it happened, all the fights that followed were actually very enjoyable. Takaya’s dramatic KO of Chase Beebe was one of the best moments of the night. The fight between Minowaman and Ishii was a bit on the long side and came dangerously close to boring at times, but ultimately I enjoyed it. Shinya Aoki may also soon be criticized for competing in a boring fighter after he recently criticized wrestling-based American Mixed Martial Artists for their boring fight style, but I found his victory over Aurelio quite convincing and decently entertaining.

It broke my heart to see Sakuraba lose, but I’m glad that Miller got a big win over his idol. I got a big kick out of both men’s entrances, as usual, they spared no expense to give fight fans a treat. I really wanted Saku to win this fight, but I think I as well as just about everyone else knew that Miller was a step or two above him at this point in Saku’s career. I don’t know where Sakuraba goes from here, but so long as he keeps fighting I’ll keep watching.

Mousasi’s victory surprised absolutely no one and was over very quickly, so I have little to say about it. I am glad he’s back in the win column, though. Overall, I really enjoyed DREAM 16. If this is their last card in a while or their last card entirely, they didn’t go down without a fight.

And what about you, fans and friends? What did you think of DREAM 16?

The first bout sees a clash of WEC veterans, as Hiroyuki Takaya will take on Chase Beebe. Beebe is a former WEC Bantamweight Champion that has fallen on very hard times: he’s just barely recovered from a five-fight losing streak. Meanwhile, Takaya is coming off of the biggest win of his career, a dramatic KO win over former DREAM Lightweight Champion Joachim Hansen that broke a two-fight losing streak. It’s a standard submission vs. striking match-up, but with the history and abilities of both men, it should be a good one.

The next fight will see Mitsuhiro Ishida take on Akiyo Nishiura. Ishida is a four-fight veteran of DREAM as well as a veteran of the PRIDE FC “Bushido” events. He most recently won his featherweight debut, and has nineteen wins in his nine-year professional MMA career. Akiyo is a six-year veteran that has competed mostly in the Japanese-based Shooto promotion, and most recently TKO’d Hideo Tokoro at DREAM’s fourteenth event to even his record in DREAM to 1-1.

The final fight pits Cole Escovedo against Michihiro Omigawa. Although Omigawa’s record stands at 11-8, he’s won his last four fights. Escovedo most recently saw his five-fight winning streak come to an end when newcomer Michael McDonald KO’d him in July of this year. At his zenith, Escovedo was the first WEC Featherweight Champion.

With these three new fights, the DREAM 16 card now stands as such (bear in mind that the Aoki/Aurelio fight is rumored to be in serious jeopardy): Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Chase Beebe, Michihiro Omigawa vs. Cole Escovedo, Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Akiyo Nishiura, Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Jason Miller, Shinya Aoki vs. Marcus Aurelio, Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Takeshi Inoue, Hideo Tokoro vs. Joachim Hansen, and Gegard Mousasi vs. Tatsuya Mizuno.

I think DREAM lost a not-insignificant amount of momentum with this card when some of the announced fights started coming undone and the announced fighters started pulling out, but I applaud their efforts to roll with the punches and I think these three Featherweight match-ups definitely gives the show a boost.

I also like that they’re relying heavily on the smaller weight classes to get them through this tough time. DREAM found a lot of success with their Lightweight and Featherweight Grand Prix tournaments, with both giving fight fans some fantastic fights and several can’t-miss moments. With the talent they’ve assembled in these three matches, I think all the Featherweights will shine and become the standout part of the DREAM 16 event, even moreso than the highly intriguing Miller/Sakuraba fight.

So DREAM is not dead yet, and I’m pretty happy about it. These new fights make sense, and while they admittedly don’t feature the best talent in the world, the talent is being put to good use and correctly paired up against opponents that should make for entertaining fights. If the recent Shine Fights Lightweight Grand Prix proved anything, it’s that sometimes making the best out of a bad situation can result in a really enjoyable show even if it’s not crammed with Triple-A talent. I’ll be rooting for DREAM, and I hope this event is a success.

And what about you, fans and friends? What do you think of the current DREAM card, and what fights are you most looking forward to?

On September 25, Jason Miller will make his return to the Japanese-based DREAM, the spiritual successor to the legendary PRIDE FC promotion, at the “DREAM.16” event. The card was already set to be one of DREAM’s strongest showings since their formation in 2008, with a list of confirmed and rumored fighters like Gegard Mousasi, Shinya Aoki, Caol Uno, Norifumi Yamamoto, and others. Miller had previously competed at DREAM’s third, fourth, and ninth events, gaining notoriety for his heated rivalry with the man who is now the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Ronaldo Souza. Standing across the DREAM ring will be one of the greatest MMA fighters to ever compete in this sport: Kazushi Sakuraba.

If there’s one person that embodies PRIDE FC moreso than all the other greats that came and went through that historic promotion, it’s Kazushi Sakuraba. He was never the most imposing physical specimen, and he was never that good of a striker. But his wrestling was unparalleled for his time, and he possessed and still possesses more heart than almost any other fighter walking the planet. Sakuraba has fallen on hard times since his glory days of being the “Gracie Hunter” and a cultural icon in Japan, but a fourteen-year veteran still consistently trying to fight the best, even if he loses, just to prove that he still can? How can you not respect and admire someone like that?

And the crazy thing of it is, Sakuraba may have it in him to beat Jason Miller. I think “Mayhem” is a lot more likely to win, but you can never count out Sakuraba. He’s pulled out some amazing victories out of seemingly nowhere, and I think that the possibility exists that he could catch Miller unawares and slap on a kimura or armbar. Miller’s ground game has failed him in the past, as his one-sided losses to Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields can attest to. I don’t think Sakuraba will go on some sort of Couture-esque rebirth and find himself back atop the rankings, but I’m pulling for him.

Then again, the heart says “Saku” but the brain thinks “Miller”. Miller has faced some greats in the past, he may have never really beaten any of them, but he won’t be star struck against a living legend like Sakuraba. Miller’s ground game may not be world-class, but it’d be wrong to call it horrible. It’s served him well for the most part. I mean, he has a majority of his wins by submission, after all. It may not be on the level of GSP or Shields, but it does get the job done. And he does have six (T)KO’s on his record.

When it comes right down to it, this will be a fight between a declining legend and a nine-year veteran that still hasn’t realized his full potential. A world with Jason Miller as the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion sounds entirely plausible if he can get string some wins together, and I think the road back to title contention leads through Kazushi Sakuraba.

But what do you think, fans and friends? How do you see this fight going down?

How about Kazushi Sakuraba? Does the “Gracie Hunter” still make you wish you would have paid attention to Japanese manga more and bought a cheap leatard and called yourself a wrestler?

Well, I didn’t think so.

For most hardcore fans, Pedro Rizzo and Kevin Randleman are still names that resonate in the sport of MMA today, though they are clearly past their prime, people still tune in for the sentimental value they represent to us as fans, and we acknowledge them as pioneers of this very young sport, which hasn’t even seen two-full-decades yet.

But as the sport continues to grow, it’s these same fighters, these dimmed stars who won’t recieve their fair share of neither compensation, nor near star studded status that some enjoy today.

If you can liken Pedro Rizzo to anyone in his early days of the UFC, it would be Anderson Silva–based on his striking.

Meaning, that at the time, Rizzo was considered by most pundits, the greatest striker in MMA during his era. Battles with Randy Couture, Josh Barnett, Kevin Randleman, and Tank Abbot bolster his resume.

The Nova Uniao product crushed Barnett in the UFC, with a huge KO victory over the to be UFC heavyweight champion, but most probably remember their most recent meeting in Affliction not too long ago, when Barnett exacted revenge on a now-chinny Rizzo, crushing him with a left hook and a short a nap.

Tito Ortiz, while he still remains a draw do to his iconic presence that he won’t let you forget, as he was the man who initially set the precedent with title defenses with 5, before Anderson Silva trumped him with 6 (7, unofficially, since Travis Lutter couldn’t make weight) and he’s working on his 7th.

Interesting to note though, that both Anderson and Tito are just around the same age…but what make’s Silva the better all around fighter, and thus well recieved (most of the time) with fans and media alike–garnering attention is a pound-for-pound great?

While Ortiz remained in big bear and drudged it out with his same coaches, Saul Soliz for striking and Dean Lister for Jujitsu, Anderson traveled the world, fight in several different promotions, cross-trained with some of the best, and paired up with the Nogueria brothers and helped initiate “Black House”, he has been able to redefine himself again, and again.

Though both men are in the midst of constant criticsm and controversy, there’s no doubt that Silva is the better fight, even though both men began their inception into MMA about the same time.

And because he is the better fighter, he gets the bigger fights, the bigger fights, the more of a draw and house hold name he has become, making the old-timers less, and less relevant in an ever expanding sport.

Pride FC was a Japanese MMA organization that began in October of 1997 and ran until April of 2007 when Zuffa bought them out. There were some differences in rules from the UFC as well as the fights taking place in a ring rather than a cage. The difference in rules from the Unified Rules were significant.

Pride did not allow elbow strikes to the head of an opponent. Many think that this would have an effect on the numbers of fights that were finished in devastating fashion but that could not be further from the truth. They had a rule or two that led to some of the most devastating finishes in the sport. They allowed kicking and kneeing the head of a downed opponent. They also allowed what I call the Shogun Stomp to the head of an opponent. This move seemed to be perfected by Fighters.com third-ranked light heavyweight “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (18-4) who used it as a guard pass that just happened to be quite caustic.

Many Pride fans still debate which rules were better for the sport of MMA. They debate seems to revolve around fights ending due to cuts from elbows which can happen even if a fighter is winning the fight.

Fights in Pride seemed to never be dull and that may be due to the rule of inactivity. If fighters failed to engage they got a yellow card issued by the ref which took away ten percent of their fight purse.

Some of my fondest memories from Pride come from fights such as “Predator” Don Frye (20-8-1) versus Yoshiro Takayama (0-4) which was less of a technical fight and more of a raw and gritty battle that had me glued to the television in awe of what I was watching. These two men met in the middle of the ring at Pride 21: Demolition in what turned out to be more like a hockey fight than a mixed martial arts fight, none the less it was amazing.

There are many great fights that I remember from Pride and the for those that are unfamiliar with the now defunct organization I will list a few here:

“Shogun” Mauricio Rua versus “Minotoro” Antonio Nogueira at Pride: Critical Countdown 2005

Royce Gracie verus “The Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakauraba at Pride: Grand Prix 2000 Final Round

‘The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko versus”Minotauro” Antonio  Nogueria at both Pride 25: Body Blow and Pride: Shockwave 2004

Takanori Gomi versus Luiz Azeredo at Pride: Bushido 7

This is a small list and I could go on forever including men like Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Cro Cop but these are the ones that stand out to me. What fights stand out to you as the best Pride had to offer?

When you look back on an organization that hardcore MMA fans look upon as the holy grail in the sport what comes to mind first? The different rules, the crazy female announcer or the epic wars? No matter what Spike TV is bringing back those fond memories and I am eating it up.

You can join me and my co-host, Gary Friedman, on MMA Gospel Radio each Wednesday from 8-10 PM EST by going to www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel. Join in the live chat and tell us your favorite Pride memories or call in to the show by dialing 347-857-1337 and tell us on air what stand out in your mind.

Filho submitted Tatsuhiko Nishizaka (3-5-1) at Bitetti Combat 5 in São Paulo December 12.

Sakuraba finished “Benkei” Zelg Galesic (8-4) in a kneebar at DREAM.12 in Osaka last October.

Distak said, “Sakuraba is a legend. If they confirm it, this fight will put Paulao at the tops again.”

Sakuraba was originally scheduled to fight “Marvelous” Melvin Manhoef (22-5-1), but Manhoef bailed with an injury.

“Benkei” tapped in an armbar to “Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (8-2) in the DREAM middleweight grand prix at DREAM.6 north of Tokyo in September 2008.

Saku’ tapped boxer Rubin Williams (0-1) in a Kimura at DREAM.11 in Yokohama October 6.

DREAM.12 will be broadcast on HDNet in North America.

Marquee lightweight “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (18-7) weighed 150.4 pounds and opponent “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-4) weighed 153.9 pounds.

MMA legend and Japanese hero “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (21-13-1)  weighed 184.1 pounds and rookie opponent Rubin Williams weighed 181.9 pounds.
 
Lightweight “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (25-5-2) weighed 154.1 pounds and “Barracuda” Melchor Manibusan (1-1) weighed 152.6 pounds.

Featherweight Grand Prix contestant Joe Warren (2-0) weighed 138.2 pounds and his semi-final “Flash” Bibiano Fernandes (5-1) weighed 138.2 pounds.

In the other GP semi-final, Hideo Tokoro (19-15-1) weighed 138.5 pounds and “Evil Fist” Hiroyuki Takaya (11-6-1) weighed 138.9 pounds.

In the GP reserve bout, Daiki Hata (2-0-1) 138.5 pounds and Kazuyuki Miyata (4-6) weighed 138.5 pounds.

In the Super Hulk Tournament semi-finals, “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-4) weighed 220.5 pounds and his replacement opponent “Beast” Bob Sapp (10-5-1) weighed 341.7 pounds.

Finally, in the other Super Hulk semi-final “Minowaman” Ikuhisa Minowa (40-28-8) weighed 192.9 pounds and Techno Goliath” Hong Man Choi (1-1) weighed 319.7 pounds.

DREAM.11 will be broadcast on HDNet in North America.

Williams will don four-ounce gloves for the first time versus a 13-year veteran of epic MMA battles and after skidding in six consecutive boxing losses, three by TKO.  It must be noted, however, that the combined record of Williams’s opponents in those six losses was 95-2 – he’s thrown leather under the Queensberry rules with top boxers.

Saku’ himself rides a two-fight losing wave into the ring, most recently on the head-hanging end of of UD versus Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-2) at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve last year.

DREAM.11 will be broadcast on HDNet in North America.

“Gracie Hunter” takes the short-notice fight coming off two losses, most recently a unanimous decision to Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-2) at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve last year. Fighters.com anticipates DREAM will throw Saku’ some red meat at DREAM.11 to tune him up for another New Year’s Eve cameo.

Added to DREAM.12 in Osaka October 25, former WEC bantamweight title challenger “Rage” Chase Beebe (11-4) will fight fellow former WEC challenger Yoshiro Maeda (24-7-2).

Beebe lost his Japanese debut when the doctor stopped his fight versus Joe Warren (2-0) at DREAM.7 in Tokyo March 8.

Maeda won on disqualification when Kleber Koike (0-1) kicked him in the groin at DEEP in Osaka August 30.

Lightweight Daisuke Nakamura (18-9) has been rescheduled to fight at DREAM.12 after his opponent, “JZ” Gesias Cavalcante (12-2-1), withdrew from their DREAM.11 contest with an injury.

Both DREAM.11 and DREAM.12 will be broadcast on HDNet in North America.

FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa and DREAM president Keiiti Sasahara made the official announcement Saturday.

No matches were announced, but the Dynamite!! card will feature ten to fifteen fights, most of which will be DREAM MMA matches with the remainder being K-1 matches.

At the press conference but not confirmed to fight were Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked lightweight and DREAM Champion “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (19-7-1), ninth-ranked lightweight “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-3), and “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1).

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.

Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked middleweight “Mayhem” Jason Miller (21-5) will fight Brazilian BJJ enigma “Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (8-1).

Fast-rising Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) will face Korean judoka Dong Sik Yoon (4-4).

MMA legend “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) is matched versus “Marvelous” Melvin Manhoef (21-4-1).

Finally, “Benkei” Zelg Galesic (8-3) will fight Taiei Kin (3-2).

The rest of the card were fights in the Middleweight Grand Prix.

Gegard Mousasi (21-2-1) submitted Denis Kang (29-10-1) in a triangle choke at 3:10 of round one.

Taiei Kin (3-2) won a unaninmous decision over “The Punk” Ikuhisa Minowa (39-28-8).

“Benkei” Zelg Galesic (8-3) submitted Magomed Sultanakhmedov (4-2) by armbar at 1:40 of round one.

“The Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (24-10-1) sumbitted Andrews Nakahara (0-1) by neck crank at 8:20 of the first round.

“Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (8-1) submitted Ian Murphy (0-1) by rear naked choke at 3:38 of the first round.

Kiyoshi Tamura (32-14-1) TKO Masakatsu Funaki (38-13-1) in 57 seconds.

Dong Sik Yoon (4-4) won a unanimous decision over Shungo Oyama (7-11).

Korean-Canadian Denis Kang (29-9-1) will take the ring across from Armenian Gegard Mousasi (20-2-1) in a middleweight grand prix bout.

Mousasi steps-up on a string of six first-round stoppages.  Kang bounces back from a first-round knockout loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1).

A pair of Japanese heroes, “The Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (23-10-1) and Masakatsu Funaki (38-12-1), will continue their legends in DREAM.

Saku’ draws Karate champ Andrews Nakahara of Brazil, who makes his MMA debut.  Funaki faces U-File’s Kiyoshi Tamura (28-14), a former PRIDE fighter.