From a press release in my inbox:

Gegard Mousasi, an M-1 Global contracted fighter and the 2008 winner of DREAM's Middleweight World Grand Prix, has officially signed to return to DREAM for FEG's "Fields Dynamite!!" on Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

M-1 Global can reveal that the 23-year old will be taking on four-time K-1 Japan tournament champion, Musashi in a K-1 rules match.

The matching up of Mousasi vs. Musashi is intriguing outside of the fact that their last names are similar, as both are known as world renowned strikers.

Before becoming the first-ever DREAM Middleweight Champion at DREAM 6 this past September, Mousasi was also a former Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion and a former amateur boxing champion. He has also served as a striking coach for current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko.

Musashi, a Japan native, is a former WAKO Heavyweight Muay Thai Champion and is also a two-time K-1 World Grand Prix finalist.

This is far less about a match-up of any sort of significance and more about creating match-ups to generate ratings. For sure Mousasi has the ability to clown Musashi on the floor and Musashi is coming off two consecutive losses. That's not what this is about. This is an important addition to an already very stacked card. Here's hoping 2009 offers the Japanese MMA scene a rebound and let's hope the NYE event is more a springboard than death knell.

For those unfamiliar with Musashi, here's some of his work and his bio.

UPDATE: I should clarify that my point about Mousasi on the floor is an aside. This fight will be a kickboxing match, which is the only way to make it competitive.