Yamamoto Announced For Dream 5
by Brandon Jones on Jun 3, 2008 1:45 PM EDT
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PrintNorifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (17-1-1) has been confirmed to fight on the Dream 5 card on July 21st at the Osaka Hall in Japan:
Yamamoto will face Joseph Benadviez, an undefeated fighter who has finished all seven of his fights. Benadviez, out of Sacramento, California, competes for the Palace Fighting Championships promotion in Lemoore.
Yamamoto is one of the most dynamic 145 pound fighters in the world and has not lost since a May 5th 2002 TKO to Stephen Palling. I personally would love to see Yamamoto vs Faber in the future. Both of these guys are amazing physical specimens and possess to the power to finish fights early.
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Why the Japanese are fascinated with matching up their best fighter’s against cans or nobody’s is beyond me.
Not always true
I think Dream and K1 are in the same place with Kid that the WEC is at with Faber. Who else would you have Kid fight? There is not exactly a dirth of talent at the weight class. The two best guys in the world are signed to two different promotions. I have a feeling a few cans are in Faber’s near future as well.
by strictlymma.com on Jun 3, 2008 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Because the Japanese aren’t afraid to have fun with their MMA. They aren’t afraid to give people chances are getting a positive result. They like to see prominent people from other sectors of sports and entertainment do their best at something else that they want to do.
It isn’t like the Japanese are forcing people to take fights. They are giving them the opportunity.
I am for this, and will not rip apart an organization just because it is different from what some MMA sectors are used to.
Looks like DREAM.5 is officially going to be the best card of the year.
Lightweight GP finals (3 amazing fights no matter how you seed them)
Diaz vs. Sakurai
Crocop vs. whomever in MMA
and now Kid.
That’s pretty sexy.
Crocop...
...i need to see who they’re going to have him face before I care about that fight. If it is a guy who has no business in there then it becomes pointless. I understand what you said above about “having fun with MMA” but Mirko is at a point where he needs to start getting back on track. And I don’t think another quick KO against a low-level opponent is going to do anything to show where he is right now.
You’re right though…it is a hell of a card.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison
by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 3, 2008 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Is it just me..
..or does Kid mashing up Sacramento product Benadviez seem like the perfect segway into promoting a Kid Yamamoto/California Kid, Kid-Kid showdown?
I might be dreaming. But I’m still salivating.. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Faber show up.
Real Competition
DREAM’s shaping up to be the true competitor to the UFC/WEC in the international MMA market – much more so than that sham EliteXC.
They may have (had) to make mismatches in some of their weight classes this year, but what can you expect from an upstart promotion? Their LW and MW divisions meanwhile are shaping up nicely through their Grand Prix’s and I hope they conduct GP’s for the other weight classes next year.
by Flying Gogoplata on Jun 3, 2008 6:05 PM EDT reply actions
But
Without drug testing, it’s never going to have legitimacy in my eyes, or the eyes of other people concerned about steroid abuse. That probably doesn’t matter to the longtime PRIDE fans, but I think that stuff taints their legacy, and the fact that nobody is tested just makes it worse for the guys who are fighting clean.
(It’s a small thing, but it means a lot to me.)
And do we know if the Yakuza have as much control over DREAM as they did over PRIDE?
Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones
By the way, here’s another source:
Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, the winner of the K-1 Hero’s Lightweight Grand Prix in 2005, has finally received an opponent for his DREAM debut on July 21 in Osaka, Japan.Yamamoto will face Joseph Benavidez, an undefeated fighter who has finished all seven of his fights. Benavidez trains at Sacramento’s “Ultimate Fitness” with WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber, who is always answering questions about a potential fight between himself and Yamamoto.
“If that fight doesn’t happen I’d be really surprised,” Faber told WEC.tv a week before his fight against Jens Pulver. “But before then I’ve got a couple of guys that would love to take a stab at him. I’ve got Joseph Benavidez, who is 7-0. I’d love to see how Joseph matches up with him.”
The July 21 DREAM event, the promotion’s fifth, will go primetime in Japan and features the final round of the Lightweight Grand Prix. The four finalists will be Tatsuya Kawajiri, Caol Uno, Eddie Alvarez, and the winner of Shinya Aoki-Katsuhiko Nagata, to be determined at DREAM 4 on June 15. DREAM said today that it is considering a lottery system to decide the matchups.
by Flying Gogoplata on Jun 3, 2008 7:12 PM EDT reply actions
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