DREAM.9 and Sengoku VIII Add Bouts

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 1:29 PM EDT in MMA News

The news and fight announcements just keep flowing out of Japan this week. I'm not sure how anyone can train at the DEEP Gym with all the press conferences they've been holding on the mats there lately. Today, it was DREAM Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara and Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) addressing the media and confirming a May 26th DREAM.9 lightweight dance for "Crusher" with former K-1 Hero's champ Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante (14-2-1). Sasahara also outlined a tentative plan for the lightweight title, which has gone undefended since Joachim Hansen defeated Shinya Aoki in last July's Lightweight Grand Prix finals: the winner of Kawajiri-Cavalcante will challenge the winner of Hansen-Aoki III (currently penciled in for July 20th at DREAM.10) on FEG's annual Dynamite!! New Year's Eve mega-card.

World Victory Road, meanwhile, added the finishing touch to next weekend's Sengoku VIII show: Pancrase's Hirotoshi Saito (2-1-1) and ZST's Yoshitaka Abe (2-2-1) will face off in an evening-opening featherweight scrap. Both men are coming off of losses and will no doubt look to throw down and secure further employment in the big league.

Don't forget to join the Night Crew here at BloodyElbow.com for the Sengoku VIII liveblog. The show airs live on HDNet next Saturday at 3AM ET. Here's the final card and bout order:

Sengoku VIII
May 2, 2009
Yoyogi National Stadium
Tokyo, Japan

FWGP: Hatsu Hioki (18-3-2) vs. Ronnie "Ushiwaka" Mann (17-1-1)
FWGP: Michihiro Omigawa (5-7-1) vs. Nam Phan (15-5)
LW: Kazunori Yokota (8-2-3) vs. Leonardo Santos (6-2) - Title Eliminator
LHW: Alexandre "Xande" Ribeiro (1-0) vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya (34-23-9)
FWGP: Masanori Kanehara (12-5-5) vs. Chan Sung Jung (3-0)
FWGP: Marlon Sandro (13-0) vs. Nick Denis (7-0)
WW: Makoto Takimoto (4-5) vs. Michael Costa (9-4)
LHW: Travis Wiuff (54-12) vs. Stanislav Nedkov (5-0)
LW: Maximo "Makishi" Blanco (2-1-1) vs. Akihiko Mori (6-6-1)
FW: Shigeki Osawa (1-0) vs. Kota Ishibashi (0-3)
FW: Hirotoshi Saito (2-1-1) vs. Yoshitaka Abe (2-2-1)

HEIWA DREAM.9
May 26, 2009
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan

DREAM Middleweight Title Bout
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (10-2) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22-6)

DREAM Lightweight Title Contender Bout
Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (14-2-1) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2)

Featherweight GP Quarterfinals
Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto (17-1) vs. Joe Warren (1-0)
Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1) vs. Bibiano Fernandes (4-2)
Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1)
Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) vs. Abel Cullum (14-2)

Rumored Bouts
Paulo Filho (16-1) vs. TBA
Melvin Manhoef (23-5-1) vs. TBA

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Comments

Crusher/JZ is going to be awesome. Just another sick matchup on a sick card. And Sengoku looks great too.

http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com

by Tim Burke on Apr 24, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions

Just threw the updated DREAM card up – I’m stoked for literally every fight on there so far, and I can’t see how they could put Melvin or Filho in a boring fight. Plus I have a feeling they’re gonna come with a crazy freakshow match or two at the last minute.

No idea who’s going to win Crusher/JZ – maybe JZ by decision? – but it’ll be a great one.

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Is Filho at 205 here or is he going to try and attempt middleweight again?

Oh and what aboot Sokoudjou and Mousasi? Is that fight still on the table?

Questions aside, this is a pretty awesome card so far. Manhoef is going to be one pissed off human ready to bash some poor Japanese dude who can’t strike after that loss in the K-1 tournament.

by Sam Cupitt on Apr 24, 2009 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Word from Filho’s camp (same team as Jacare) was that he wanted to fight at 205 on this card, but I still haven’t seen anything from DREAM about him participating yet.

Sokoudjou’s people denied the Sokoudjou/Mousasi rumor pretty soon after it came out, basically saying it wouldn’t be a smart fight for Soko to take right now. But since Jacare/Mayhem is for the title, Mousasi is definitely still moving up. Since DREAM does so few LHW bouts, one would have to think that they’re at least considering Mousasi-Filho.

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah you can’t blame Sokoudjou really. It would put him to 5-5 with a loss, which looked like a pretty logical result.

Dig up Ricardo Arona and bring him in to face Mousasi.

by Sam Cupitt on Apr 24, 2009 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions

“so few LHW bouts…” IE zero. It’s a division that I think DREAM were right to ignore, seeing as how UFC has swallowed up all the of the LHW competition.

If they’re going to make a go at building it up, though, I think Mousasi is a good fighter to lead the charge. Filho…not so much.

by AnonymousA on Apr 24, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I’ve got JZ by decision as well. Crusher’s one of my favorites, but JZ’s just too well-rounded to get outworked here, and I doubt he gets KO’d. And like you said, every single fight so far has me hyped. I’m excited to see if Filho can get back to form (and if his imaginary friend he was talking to in the Sonnen fight shows up in Japan too).

http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com

by Tim Burke on Apr 24, 2009 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I just got a job, so I got really worried about whether I’d be able to continue with the Night Crew. Lo and behold, I come to find out that the place is closed on Sundays! It has only made me believe that much more in the divine will of King Mo.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 24, 2009 12:23 PM EDT reply actions

Mo wishes it so!

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

I suspect he has blessed me because I started following his 1st Commandment: “Get Dat Papeh.”

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 24, 2009 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s sweet that the two best rumored fights have been confirmed, and confirmed early. Good play DREAM. Now it’s going to be fun speculating about the other 4 matches that will be added to DREAM.9.

Also, I think Hansen/Aoki 3 is appropriate. There really isn’t much sense in Aoki beating lesser competition at lightweight to prove himself for another shot at the title. This just gets the most obvious fight out of the way. I expect Aoki to win handily this time around, too.

by AnonymousA on Apr 24, 2009 12:49 PM EDT reply actions

Sengoku’s Featherweight Grand Prix has some good match-ups. The rest of the card isn’t very good.

DREAM’s is much better. Still don’t see a need for a rematch between Mayhem and Jacare.

by AlwaysRelaxing on Apr 24, 2009 12:50 PM EDT reply actions

Sengoku’s Featherweight Grand Prix has some good match-ups. The rest of the card isn’t very good.

I think this is crazy, btw. If by “isn’t very good” you mean “doesn’t have any big names,” then I agree. But the fights should be great.

You have basically a LW #1 contender match in Yokota-Santos where both guys know they need to finish spectacularly to get a crack at Kitaoka in August, two very promising undefeated LHW’s (Xande and Nedkov) taking steps up against tough veterans, and our first look at Sengoku’s top FW prospect Osawa on the big stage. Plus, Maximo Blanco is freaking crazy.

Sengoku puts on amazing shows (consistently better than DREAM, IMHO) but they don’t get as much shine because they actually work on building up fighters slowly and don’t have all the big names that FEG can pull.

/rant

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions 4 recs

Rec'd.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on Apr 24, 2009 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Make that a double.

http://www.fourouncestofreedom.com

by Tim Burke on Apr 24, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Another Quality Post

Thanks Chris for all the info!

by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 24, 2009 1:14 PM EDT reply actions

I really want to see Calvan in the UFC. He’d be such a star here. Same thing with Manhoef at 185.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Apr 24, 2009 1:35 PM EDT reply actions

the 2 opening fights of sengoku are featherweight fights

by oOkami on Apr 24, 2009 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

Crud, you’re right. Thanks!

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions

More tidbits from Japan today...

- Gomi says he’s open to a K-1 fight with Masato if the fans want it (Sportsnavi)

- WVR says Yokota, Santos or Hirota will face Kitaoka for the LW title in August (Sengoku IX), depending on if/how they win. Also, a MW #1 contender’s bout will be held in August with the winner facing Jorge Santiago in October. And WVR will look to crown a LHW champ sometime toward the end of the year. (NoB)

by Chris Nelson on Apr 24, 2009 1:47 PM EDT reply actions

Jorge Santiago really needs to get back into the UFC. He’s a viable candidate to dethrone Anderson Silva despite what anyone with an opinion opposite of mine thinks.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Apr 24, 2009 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions

So their looking to match Rogerio Nogueira up against someone before the end of the year…

by Sam Cupitt on Apr 25, 2009 3:40 AM EDT up reply actions

they’re…

Back away spelling nazis. Back away.

by Sam Cupitt on Apr 25, 2009 3:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Can grammar nazis still come by?

by ilostmydog on Apr 25, 2009 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Are these being shown live on HDNet, yes or no?

by Applejack McNeil on Apr 24, 2009 2:58 PM EDT reply actions

Yes, they ARE being shown on HDNet (WVR will be LIVE).

http://hdnetfights.com/hdnetmmaschedule.php

by MMASuPreMaCy on Apr 24, 2009 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Also, Osawa is 1-0. The fight against is either another Japanese fighter named Shigeki Osawa or just an error by Sherdog. Min Suk Heo is much bigger than FW.

by oOkami on Apr 25, 2009 8:09 AM EDT reply actions