Aoki's dominant win highlights DREAM.4

Shinya Aoki had a difficult road out of the first round of DREAM’s lightweight GP tournament with a ‘no contest’ and eventual victory against JZ Calvan followed by a postponement of his 2^nd round match due to injury. Things were much easier for him at DREAM.4 as he dominated Katsuhiko Nagata wire to wire before ending the fight with another in an endless series of mind-blowing submissions—this time he used a gogoplata from the top mount to get the first round tapout. Aoki quickly took Nagata down at the outset of the match and mauled him on the ground as he set up his innovative submission. The victory sets up a compelling matchup in the semifinals between Aoki and Caol Uno. Eddie Alverez will face Tatsuya Kawajiri in the other semifinal event.

The main event was quick and anticlimactic as Dutch kickboxer/Muay Thai specialist Melvin Manhouf made short work of Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba. After the two men stalked each other for nearly a minute Manhouf caught Sakuraba with a powerful right hook and that was the beginning of the end. Manhouf never let up the ground and pound attack, forcing the referee to jump in and save Sakuraba from a further beating. At age 38, this one sided loss will likely raise renewed questions about Sakuraba’s future as an active fighter. Manhouf’s immediate future is much brighter, as he possesses by far the most striking power of the remaining middleweight tournament contenders. Pairings for the semifinal matchup will be decided via drawing and announced at a future date.

Earlier in the evening, Gegard Mousasi won a workmanlike unanimous decision over Korean judoka Yoon Dong Sik. Mousasi escaped some momentary trouble at the end of round one when Yoon worked an armbar attempt, but otherwise had no difficulty whatsoever. The second round was especially one sided, with most of the five minutes comprised of Mousasi pounding Yoon’s head from a body triangle. Yoon did just enough to prevent the stoppage, but with the exception of the aforementioned armbar generated no significant offense of his own. 

In another unanimous decision victory Brazilian Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza took Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller down four times in the first round and dictated the pace and style of the fight. The unorthodox Miller managed to escape at least a half dozen submission attempts, but didn’t make the fight competitive until the second round when he began to have success with his standup game. It was too little and too late, however, and Jacare sealed the win with another takedown and submission attempt as the fight drew to a close.

Zeleg Galesic was the beneficiary of a nasty looking injury sustained by Taiei Kin. Early in the first round Galesic went for a takedown and Kin made the mistake of trying to break his fall by sticking his arm out. As he landed awkwardly, the arm bent the wrong way at the elbow and as the Japanese fighter screamed in pain the referee immediately called for the bell. In a very classy display, Galesic immediately dropped to the ground to check on his injured opponent before any sort of celebratory reaction. Fortunately, early indications are that Kin suffered a dislocation and managed to avoid serious injury. The medical attendants immediately put his arm in a sling, and he was able to address the crowd and leave the ring under his own power which is certainly a positive sign. 

A couple of unexpected fighters—Hideo Tokoro and Darren Uyenoyama—put on a ‘fight of the year’ candidate bout immediately before the intermission. Despite a lackluster 15-13 record, Tokoro displayed some world class takedown and submission skills en route to winning the unanimous decision of the judges. That verdict simply doesn’t convey the excitement the two men generated, nor the toughness and heart of Darren Uyenoyama who twice during the first round ate knees to the head that appeared to be on the verge of ending the fight. Uyenoyama also countered a number of Tokoro submission attempts in an opening frame that ranks right up there with the 2^nd round of the recent WEC matchup between Rob McCollough and Miguel Torres as the best of the year. 

The latest in a seemingly endless line of tough and talented progeny of the legendary Gracie family, Ralek Gracie, won impressively over tough Russian striker Gadzhiev Alavutdin. In only his 2^nd professional MMA fight, Gracie used a powerful low kick to compensate for suspect striking skills before getting the big Russian to the ground. At that point Gracie dominated, quickly gaining side control before transitioning into a slick arm bar submission that forced the tapout.

Rounding out the action, Alistair Overeem needed less than a minute to knock out Tae Hyun Lee. Lee appeared to hurt his knee on a low kick right after the bell, but it didn’t matter as Overeem landing a big overhand right that he followed up with a knee strike that knocked the Korean out cold. Overeem’s postfight speech was short and dramatic: ‘Alistair Overeem has come to DREAM. I will be the next champion. I want Cro Cop!’.

Perhaps the best performance of the evening was turned in by the HDNet production and announcing team, who’ve made a 180 degree turnaround since their substandard DREAM.3 performance. The production was effective and well done despite a number of logistical issues inherent to simulcasting live fights in Japan. The greatest improvement was in the announcing where Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten displayed the expertise, chemistry and enthusiasm that have made them a widely respected broadcast team. A lot of credit for that has to go to Rutten, who greatly enhanced the broadcast with his exhaustive knowledge of the sport and experience fighting in Japan. He never sounded restrained or stifled, and managed to work in a number of jokes and anecdotes in appropriate places that added to the enjoyment of the broadcast. Rutten offered several extremely insightful observations that only someone who’s ‘been there’ would be able to provide—which is the point of having a color commentator in the first place. Rice was solid and professional on play by play and both men seemed to have a better ‘feel’ for the pace of the event as well as a better sense of who should be talking about what at any particular time. 

The next event for the promotion is DREAM.5 to be held in Osaka on Monday, July 21^st (a national holiday in Japan) and highlighted by the DREAM debut of former K-1 Heroes superstar Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto. Yamamoto will compete in the promotion’s newly formed featherweight division at 145 pounds.