UPDATED 1:37 PM ET – Michael David Smith says Alistair Overeem will face James Thompson at DREAM.12.
Though only two weeks removed from his DREAM.11 win over boxer Rubin Williams, 40-year-old Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba hosted a press conference today at his Laughter7 gym to announce that he will replace an injured Melvin Manhoef against Zelg Galesic at DREAM.12 on October 25th. The fight will, of course, be contested inside DREAM’s “white cage,” marking the “IQ Wrestler’s” first cage bout since 1997. Galesic spent 2006 in England’s now-defunct Cage Rage, holding the promotion’s UK Middleweight Title.
Katsuyori Shibata will look to follow up on his DREAM.8 decisioning of Ikuhisa Minowa as he clashes with fellow pro wrestler Kendo Kashin, aka Tokimitsu Ishizawa.
Also added to the show in Osaka: a non-title match between DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius Zaromskis and Korea’s Myeon Ho Bae, and a nice featherweight scrap featuring ZST champ Keisuke Fujiwara and DEEP standout Tomoya Miyashita.
DREAM.12
October 25, 2009
Osaka Castle Hall
Osaka, Japan
HW: Alistair Overeem (30-11, 1 NC) vs. James Thompson (14-10)
MW: Kazushi Sakuraba (25-12-1, 2 NC) vs. Zelg Galesic (9-4)
LW: Katsunori Kikuno (12-1-1) vs. Eddie Alvarez (18-2)
LW: Kuniyoshi Hironaka (15-6) vs. Won Sik “Parky” Park (7-1-1)
FW: Yoshiro Maeda (25-7-2) vs. Chase Beebe (12-4)
WW: Marius Zaromskis (12-3) vs. Myeon Ho Bae (8-4)
MW: Katsuyori Shibata (3-6-1) vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa (1-4-1)
MW: Paulo Filho (18-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-7)
FW: Keisuke Fujiwara (7-1-3) vs. Tomoya Miyashita (12-5-6)