The finals of the bantamweight tournament and two title matches went down early this morning at the Dream Fight for Japan GP Finals from Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.
Only the Japan-based SkyPerfecTV network aired the broadcast live, but the post-fight press conference videos are in. First, the results from Kid Nate’s post earlier today:
145 lb. title: Hiroyuki Takaya def. Kazuyuki Miyata via split decision
135 lb. Tournament Final: Hideo Tokoro def. Masakazu Imanari via unanimous decision
205 lb. title: Gegard Mousasi def. Hiroshi Izumi via TKO at 3:29 round 1
155 lbs.: Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Drew Fickett via TKO at 4:41 round 1
135 lbs.: Kenji Osawa def. Keisuke Fujiwara via unanimous decision
205 lbs.: Tatsuya Mizuno def. Trevor Prangley via TKO at 4:41 round 1
175 lbs.: Marius Zaromskis def. Eiji Ishikawa via unanimous decision
155 lbs.: Eiji Mitsuoka def. Bruno Carvalho via unanimous decision
Reports indicate that Gegard Mousasi tore Hiroshi Izumi apart, blasting loose a few of his teeth and mangling his nose into a bloody pulp for a first round TKO. It sounds like the betting odds as high as -1700 for Mousasi were rather befitting.
MMAFighting.com’s Daniel Herbertson walks us through the beatdown:
Piston-like jabs landed with perfect accuracy, dazing Izumi and giving the champion his range for the right hand. The cross, now following Mousasi’s left, knocked several teeth (possibly false teeth) from Izumi’s mouth, seemingly broke his nose and sent him to the canvas. The iron chinned judo player was good enough to stand after a torrent of ground and pound, but was only able hang his bloody face outside the ropes to avoid punches from Mousasi before his corner finally showed mercy and threw in the towel.
The post-fight video interviews have emerged on Dream’s Youtube channel and are posted below. Gegard Mousasi is up first, who explains that he had something to prove about his wrestling and takedown defense after the Keith Jardine fight. Interviews with every main card fighter except for Takaya and Ishikawa are embedded after the fold, concluding with Dream event producer and matchmaker Keiichi Sasahara. (Remember to use the CC button on the menu bar for the required translations.)
SBN coverage of DREAM Fight For Japan: 2011 Bantamweight Japan Tournament Final
About the author
