DREAM.6 QUICK RESULTS
Middleweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout
Andrews Nakahara def. Dong Sik Yoon via TKO (Punches) at 0:30 of Round 2
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout #1
Gegard Mousasi def. Melvin Manhoef via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:28 of Round 1
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout #2
Ronaldo “Jacare” De Souza def. Zelg Galesic via Submission (Armbar) at 1:27 of Round 1
Keita Nakamura def. Adriano Martins via Decision (Split)
Sergei Kharitonov def. Jimmy Ambriz via TKO (Strikes) at 2:15 of Round 1
Atsushi Yamamoto def. Hideo Tokoro via Decision (Unanimous)
Masakatsu Funaki def. Ikuhisa Minowa via Submission (Inverted Heel Hook) at 0:32 of Round 1
Hayato Sakurai def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via Decision (Unanimous)
Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Masanori Tonooka via Submission (Armbar) at 6:26 of Round 1
Shinya Aoki def. Todd Moore via Submission (Neck Crank) at 1:07 of Round 1
Alistair Overeem vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was ruled a No Contest.
Filipovic was unable to continue following two unintentional illegal knees to the groin in the first round. Both fighters received yellow cards during the bout: Overeem for the second knee, and Filipovic for stalling on the ground from his back.
Middleweight Grand Prix Final Bout
Gegard Mousasi def. Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza via KO (Upkick) at 2:15 of Round 1
Gegard Mousasi wins the 2008 DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix and becomes the first ever DREAM Middleweight Champion
The losing MWGP semifinalists were awarded ¥1,000,000 (about $9,400).
“Jacare” received ¥3,000,000 ($28,500), and Mousasi ¥10,000,000 ($95,000).
These bonuses are in addition to their regular fight purses.
OTHER NOTES
– WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko appeared in the ring and briefly addressed the fans in attendance, stating that he would like to face Japanese judoka and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii but that “unfortunately that hasn’t been decided yet,” though he would like to fight in Japan on New Year’s Eve regardless. HDNet’s Ron Kruck had reported earlier in the evening that Emelianenko would face the winner of the Cro Cop/Overeem bout on New Year’s Eve.
– Following his fight, Aoki took the mic and said he had an important announcement for the fans: that he would like to fight “Michael Jackson” (Akiyama) on New Year’s Eve. Akiyama, meanwhile, also expressed his desire to fight someone on NYE: fellow world-class judoka Hidehiko Yoshida.
Full play-by-play and results in the extended entry.
BloodyElbow.com will have live play-by-play for the full card of tonight’s DREAM.6 event in Saitama, Japan. Coverage begins at 3AM EST / midnight PDT. Full lineup after the jump.
Alright, it’s finally showtime! HDNet’s broadcast just started up; it’ll probably be closer to 3:30 or 4am before the first fight gets underway. Kenny Rice and El Guapo are live in Saitama. All the lights in the arena are switched off and the usual grandiose fighter introductions begin with Bernard Hermann’s eerie “Twisted Nerve” being blasted over the loudspeakers, followed by… King Crimson? Funaki is sponsored by Nike, Sakurai by the new Metallica album. Akiyama is predictably booed, while Cro Cop gets an even bigger reaction than Aoki. Manhoef is holding up an ATT shirt with dozens of signatures scrawled all over it.
Middleweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout
Dong Sik Yoon vs. Andrews Nakahara
Round 1: Low kicks from Nakahara to open the bout, followed by a glancing right high kick which sends Yoon rushing in to clinch. Now Yoon, who is wearing a full gi, pulls guard, but Nakahara escapes as soon as the guard is opened. The ref stands Yoon up and Nakahara is back to throwing stiff leg kicks and evading the lunging strikes of Yoon. Yoon scores a takedown near the ropes and the pair land awkwardly; for a moment it looks as if Nakahara may have an armbar but Yoon rolls out handily. Halfway through the round and Yoon is mounted with great position, controlling Nakahara’s legs and working for an Ezekiel choke, but the karate specialist is defending well. Dong momentarily gives up on the submission, posturing up and attempting to soften Nakahara with right hands. As Yoon begins to work for the Ezekiel again, Nakahara escapes out the backdoor and begins throwing leg kicks to his scooting opponent. Yoon is eating and not-checking a ton of leg kicks; he shoots on Nakahara in the corner with :10 remaining in the round and eats a big knee. Saved by the bell. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Dong Sik Yoon.
Round 2: Nakahara throws another right leg kick to open the second – this one is checked by Yoon. Nakahara catches his opponent with an overhand right, then throws a wild three-punch combo which floors Yoon. The Korean fighter rolls into guard and weakly shields himself as Nakahara follows him to the ground and wails away. The shots aren’t landing clean, but the ref has seen enough and waves it off.
Andrews Nakahara def. Dong Sik Yoon via TKO (Punches) at 0:30 of Round 2
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout #1
Gegard Mousasi vs. Melvin Manhoef
Round 1: Mousasi shoots but Manhoef sprawls well with his back to a turnbuckle. After a prolonged whizzer, Mousasi puts it on the floor and takes the Dutchman’s back. Manhoef spins and Mousasi mounts him momentarily, then spins and slaps on a lightning quick triangle. Manhoef stands with Mousasi still attached and lunges head first, driving Gegard’s lower back into the mat, but it only worsens his predicament. As soon as the fighters land, Mousasi adjusts and tightens the triangle and Manhoef is forced to tap. Very impressive submission and possibly a huge advantage for the Armenian moving into the finals.
Gegard Mousasi def. Melvin Manhoef via Submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:28 of Round 1
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout #2
Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza vs. Zelg Galesic
Round 1: Jacare scores a double leg and moves to side control in the first :30 of the opening frame, now knee-on-belly, now full mount. Galesic sweeps beautifully into guard, but De Souza latches on to the left arm of “Benkei” and applies a gruesome straight armbar. The Croatian taps immediately. Unreal. We’ll be seeing two very fresh fighters in the MWGP finals later on.
Ronaldo “Jacare” De Souza def. Zelg Galesic via Submission (Armbar) at 1:27 of Round 1
Keita “K-Taro” Nakamura vs. Adriano Martins
Round 1: After a minute of feeling out, Martins connects with a grazing uppercut and follow-up right that puts K-Taro on his rear, scooting with the Brazilian standing above. The ref stands it up. With both fighters swinging away, Martins lands a winging two-punch combo flush to Nakamura’s face, but soon finds himself taken down with the Japanese fighter posturing in half-guard. Nakamura smothering the mouth of Martins, “disrupting his breathing” as Goldberg would say. K-Taro attempts to posture and pass, but it only allows Martins to close his guard. More smothering, now some right hands from Nakamura appear to be frustrating Martins. The ref stands the fighters and calls for the doctor to look at Nakamura’s left eye, which is bleeding thanks to an upward elbow from Martin. The cut isn’t bad and the fight resumes with 3:00 remaining. Nakamura is finding his range and throwing sharp jabs, which Martins counters by lolling his head back and tossing wild response uppercuts which come nowhere close. It looks as though K-Taro has found his comfort zone and the Krazy Bee product Martins is rapidly accumulating damage as the round concludes. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Keita Nakamura.
Round 2: We’re seeing a steady diet of jabs and right straihts from Nakamura, but that’s about all. No combos, single shots only. Martins has no response for K-Taro’s reach and is eating a lot of shots to the head, earning respite only when he clinches and presses Nakamura into the corner, completely halting the action. More and more jabs from Nakamura, who, with :40 left, is simply stalking Martins around the ring and moving out of the way when the Yamamoto protgee attempts to mount any sort of offense. The round ends in a clinch. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Keita Nakamura.
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout in favor of Keita Nakamura.
Keita Nakamura def. Adriano Martins via Decision (Split)
Out in the lobby of Saitama Super Arena, Ron Kruck reports that Dong Sik Yoon addressed the media after his loss and stated that he went into the bout with an injury, though he refused to disclose the nature of the injury.
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jimmy Ambriz
Round 1: Sergei immediately floors Ambriz with a left hook, but “The Titan” jumps right back up and attempts a shot. Kharitonov is issued a yellow card for grabbing the ropes. Working his distinct reach advantage, the Russian assails Ambriz with a barrage of jabs and body shots before an overhand right and uppercut put the journeyman on wobbly legs. A right knee and another uppercut send Ambriz to his knees. The ref doesn’t stop the bout as Sergei issues a few more shots to his downed opponent, and the turtling Ambriz frantically taps.
Sergei Kharitonov def. Jimmy Ambriz via TKO (Strikes) at 2:15 of Round 1
Hideo Tokoro vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Round 1: Tokoro counters a low kick from Yamamoto with a stiff left. Atsushi charges forward with a left-right combo that drops Hideo and nearly sends him bouncing through the ropes. Yamamoto follows him down, Tokoro working rubber guard, now a very tight closed guard, opening up to look for an armbar. Yamamoto extracts himself and jogs around the ring a bit as the crowd cheers. The featherweights keep their distance and exchange, Yamamoto connecting with jabs but no combinations. Now a nice flying knee from Atsushi but it doesn’t hit squarely. Tokoro misses with a wild left, Yamamoto clinches and Tokoro jumps guard. On the floor, Hideo keeps it tight but Yamamoto still manages to escape and stand, where he continues to send solo hard jabs and straight lefts down the chute at Tokoro. 1:00 left and Tokoro’s nose is streaming blood. Yamamoto stuns Tokoro with a cracking left, and a dazed Tokoro responds with a wild somersault kick. Tokoro pulls and maintains guard as the round expires. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Atsushi Yamamoto.
Round 2: Tokoro comes out agressively with crisp stand-up to begin the second round, then attempts another spinning flip kick, this time with more success. Tokoro again pulls guard and is controlling Yamamoto’s right arm as the ref stands the featherweights for the doctor to inspect Tokoro. The docs appear somewhat hesitant but allow Tokoro to continue. Yamamoto scoops a single leg, straight into Tokoro’s guard, then thinks better of it and escapes back to his feet. Tokoro ties up and pulls guard (or did he slip?), and rolls Yamamoto over. From the mount, Tokoro secures Atsushi’s left arm and rolls over for the armbar but his legs are entangled in the ropes and Yamamoto is posturing strongly. The bout expires with Tokoro upside down, hanging onto Yamamoto’s arm like a koala, and Yamamoto launching hammerfists downward. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Atsushi Yamamoto.
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout in favor of Atsushi Yamamoto.
Atsushi Yamamoto def. Hideo Tokoro via Decision (Unanimous)
Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Funaki has not won a fight since 1999.
Round 1: Funaki misses with a kick and is taken to the ground, where he quickly latches on to the left leg of Minowaman, who is wearing his standard wrestling shoes. After working unsuccessfuly for a kneebar, Funaki rolls it over for an inverted heelhook. Minowa grimaces, screams out and taps. Funaki immediately relinquishes the hold and stares at his younger opponent momentarily before smiling and pouncing for an embrace. A very emotional win for the 39-year-old.
Masakatsu Funaki def. Ikuhisa Minowa via Submission (Inverted Heel Hook) at 0:32 of Round 1
Ron Kruck reports that Fedor could face the winner of Cro Cop/Overeem on New Year’s Eve. This is interesting on two fronts: (1) Cro Cop had previously reported that the winner of the bout would face the winner of Kharitonov/Mighty Mo and (2) as recently as Monday, DREAM officials made statements hinting at a forthcomng announcement of a Fedor/Satoshi Ishii bout.
Fedor comes to the ring in between fights and briefly addresses the fans. According to HDNet’s translator, Fedor says that he’d like to face Ishii but “unfortunately that hasn’t been decided yet,” and that he hopes to return to Japan to fight on New Year’s Eve.
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Round 1: Hironaka ducks a right from Sakurai and drops levels for a shot but “Mach” stays standing. Kuniyoshi eventually wrestles him down, now working from Sakurai’s half guard as the former Shooto champ digs quick heels into Hironaka’s midsection. Back on the feet, the fighters exchange crisp leg kicks. Hironaka’s jabs are falling just short, while Sakurai is moving in with one-two combos that connect consistently. midway through the round, Sakuai mounts the best offense so far with a pair of right straights and a hard leg kick. Hironaka finds his jab now, but another leg kick leaves him visibly hindered. Sakurai slips as he moves in for a right leg kick and Hironaka rushes to the ground after him. 2:00 remain and Hironaka is throwing decent but not very powerful shots from the guard. Standing over a scooting Sakurai, Hironaka delivers a stomp square to the jaw of “Mach” but is not issued a yellow nor red card, merely a warning. Sakurai back at it, loading up on body-head combinations and lazer kicks. Hironaka tosses another jab and a low kick of his own as the round expires. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Hayato Sakurai.
Round 2: Hironaka shoots and stacks Mach up in a corner, eating a few upkicks for his trouble. Now the UFC veteran is leaning through the ropes to rain punches down on Sakurai but the ref restarts them in the center. Hironaka initiates a clinch and Sakurai scores a trip, but both quickly bounce back up. Though Hironaka’s shots are landing more consistently now, Sakurai’s still carry more power and those constant leg kicks have got to be adding up. Mach still looks fresh, bouncing around on the balls of his feet in between combos. A pair of knees soften Hironaka up before a hard left jab puts him on his back. Sakurai pounces and tries to pound out a finish, but Hironaka defends and the bell sounds. Afterwards, a kneeling Sakurai grabs the arm of a standing Hironaka and playfully uchi-komi’s him and applies a rear naked choke. Funny stuff. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Hayato Sakurai.
BloodyElbow.com scores the bout in favor of Hayato Sakurai.
Hayato Sakurai def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via Decision (Unanimous)
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Masanori Tonooka
Round 1: Akiyama, wearing the full gi again, picks Tonooka up and places him on his back after about 90 seconds of tentative exchange on the feet. The judoka is working side control and appears to be trying to smother his opponent with his gi jacket. With Tonooka’s left arm between his legs and right arm pinned down, Akiyama rains down short shots and hammerfists as the ref yells “Give up?!” Tonooka does not, and Akiyama transitions to full mount, softening the karate expert up with hammerfists, working for an armbar, and finally transitioning to back mount where Tonooka is able to escape! Akiyama takes him straight back down and regains mount, pivots his hips to Tonooka’s left and rolls him over for the submission.
Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Masanori Tonooka via Submission (Armbar) at 6:26 of Round 1
Round 1: Aoki throws a few body and leg kicks, then ducks a left, ties up and climbs up on Moore’s back. Moore backs into a corner and slowly begins to slide down – Aoki’s already got the neck crank on tight enough to force the tap.
Shinya Aoki def. Todd Moore via Submission (Neck Crank) at 1:07 of Round 1
Aoki gets on the mic and says he has a very important announcement – he’d like to fight “Michael Jackson” (Akiyama) on New Year’s Eve.
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Alistair Overeem
Round 1: Slapping leg kicks from Mirko. Overeem misses with a right cross. The fighters tie up and Mirko attempts a throw but Overeem doesn’t budge. Overeem now in Cro Cop’s guard, pounding down hard shots which have already cut the Croatian beside his left eye. Mirko attempts to control the hands but Overeem is too big and strong and continues to hammerfist away. The ref stops for the doctors to examine Mirko’s cut. He’s cleared and they restart on the ground at center ring. More shots from guard by Alistair. Filipovic’s cut is bleeding bad now, but it’s all streaming down the side of his head and not into his eye. They’re stood up. Left high kick from Mirko is caught by Overeem, who trips the other leg out from under the PRIDE star. Working from his back, Mirko is doing nothing but attempting (with little success) to neutralize the strikes, his guard is open half the time. Mirko Filipovic is issued a yellow card for stalling. The fight resumes standing and Overeem lands what appears to be a low left knee. Mirko protests but the ref doesn’t stop the action and Overeem rushes him. A couple hard knees later, Overeem lands another one downstairs and acknowledges that it’s low. Cro Cop is down on all fours for a solid minute before the fight is restarted with 4:17 remaining in the first. The fighters clinch and after landing several clean knees, Overeem hits Mirko with another low blow. Alistair Overeem is issued a yellow card for an illegal strike. This was clearly not intentional – Mirko raised his left leg for a knee of his own and left himself open to the groin strike. Cro Cop is laying on his back, surrounded by several attendants who are covering him with towels. Overeem is laughing and shaking his head over in his corner, seemingly sensing that this is the end of the bout.
Bas Rutten: “We just got informed here, by Mirko Cro Cop’s corner, that right– his right testicle is inside.”
This is painful to watch – Mirko’s obviously in a world of hurt. I don’t understand why they haven’t waved the fight off yet. And now they do.
The bout is ruled a No Contest as Mirko Filipovic is unable to continue after two illegal knees to the groin.
Middleweight Grand Prix Final Bout
Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” de Souza
Round 1: Jacare shoots two very long shots, finally gets hold and lifts Mousasi into the air. Mousasi attempts to grab the ropes but the Brazilian slams him down. Now in half guard, Jacare postures up and lunges in with a wild right. Mousasi fires a right upkick, misses, fires another, connects square to the chin and Jacare is knocked out COLD! Mousasi lands three clean shots to the face of the unconscious De Souza, but relents when he realizes what’s happened. Even Mousasi looks stunned.
Gegard Mousasi def. Ronaldo de Souza via KO (Upkick) at 2:15 of Round 1
Gegard Mousasi wins the 2008 DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix and becomes the first ever DREAM Middleweight Champion.