"I had signed to fight with the Korean, but I got there on Thursday and they told [me] he had been hurt. That is no excuse, [Riki Fukuda] was stronger than me, congratulations to him, I’ll have to get over it, but I think they didn’t treat me right. They’ve announced my fight with him, but the man had been injured two weeks ago."

-- Murilo "Ninja" Rua criticizes DREAM for allegedly not disclosing his original DREAM.9 opponent Dong Sik Yoon's injury until 48 hours before the event.

If Rua's information is correct and Yoon was in fact injured two weeks out from the show, it was a dirty move on DREAM's part to wait until Rua was already Japan, away from his camp, to switch opponents on him - especially swapping the relatively one-dimensional Yoon out for the younger, stronger, more experienced Fukuda. When they announced the change last Friday, in my mind, Rua went from favorite to underdog.

On the other side of the coin, we don't know the story behind Yoon's injury - mainly because DREAM wouldn't disclose it - and it could easily have been a wait-and-see scenario where something was reaggravated in training close to fight night. From the way the news broke (on the blogs of Sanae Kikuta and GRABAKA) it didn't appear that Fukuda was waiting in the wings.

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No word yet on whether Sunday's DREAM.8 fared any better in the ratings with its late night, tape delayed TBS slot than its immediate predecessor, but Nikkan Sports says that Fighting and Entertainment Group had a near sellout crowd on hand for the opening round of its Welterweight Grand Prix, with a reported 9,129 fans cramming the cozy Nippon Gaishi Hall (née Nagoya Rainbow Hall).

It was the smallest venue for a DREAM show to date, but an appropriate one: not only did three participants - Katsuyori Shibata, Ikuhisa Minowa and Yuya Shirai - hail from the area, but presumably many of the prefecture's Japanese-Brazilian residents were on hand to cheer on crossover karate phenom Andrews Nakahara.

Here's a look at DREAM's officially announced (i.e. totally unverified) attendance numbers over its first year:

DREAM.8 - Nippon Gaishi Hall, Nagoya, Japan - 9,129 (capacity: 10,000)
DREAM.7 - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - 19,528 (capacity: n/a)
FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - 25,634 (capacity: n/a)
DREAM.6 - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - 20,929 (capacity: n/a)
DREAM.5 - Osaka-jō Hall, Osaka, Japan - 11,986 (capacity: 16,000)
DREAM.4 - Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan - 14,037 (capacity: 17,000)
DREAM.3 - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - 21,789 (capacity: n/a)
DREAM.2 - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - 21,397 (capacity: n/a)
DREAM.1 - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan - 19,120 (capacity: n/a)

Saitama Super Arena's main hall can hold between 19,000 and 22,500 when configured for MMA events. Most of DREAM's shows there have been officially announced as sellouts.

For DREAM.9 - which will be the first DREAM show of the year broadcast live and in primetime on TBS - FEG heads back to its old PRIDE stomping grounds and the 17,000-seat Yokohama Arena.

My goal in DREAM is to fight the best. Ultimately, I want to fight Fedor. If DREAM could set that up it would be great.

I am happy that the fight (with Sergei Kharitonov) ended quickly as I know Sergeiy is a tough fighter with good conditioning. I wanted to end it quickly and am glad I managed to do so.

I was a little surprised that I caught him like that so early. Normally that sort of hold is something that would take awhile to get. I have been training with Roy Nelson at American Top Team and there are many great ground fighters there.

(I'd been) training that move just last night so it was very fresh in my mind. Of course when the opening was there, I took it.

Jeff Monson talking to Fighters Only about his debut fight against Sergei Kharitonov at DREAM.8.

photo: dreamofficial.com

More of the best fights from DREAM.8 after the jump. Full play-by-play and results here.

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DREAM's 8-man Welterweight Grand Prix kicks off on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan, and though HDNet won't broadcast the show until next Friday, it will be airing live on SkyPerfect PPV for those with the bomb satellite hookups. As always, BloodyElbow.com will have live results, commentary and discussion - join us at 3 AM ET / 12 AM PT for the festivities.

Katsuyori Shibata (3-6-1) def. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa (41-30-8) via Unanimous Decision
Andrews Nakahara (2-1) def. Shungo Oyama (7-12) via TKO (Punches) at 2:09 of Round 1
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (20-2) def. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-5-1) via TKO (Cut) at 7:58 of Round 1
Riki Fukuda (14-4) def. Murilo "Ninja" Rua (16-10-1) via Unanimous Decision
Jeff Monson (29-8) def. Sergei Kharitonov (16-4) via Submission (North-South Choke) at 1:42 of Round 1
Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata (11-5-3) def. Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) via Unanimous Decision
Andre Galvao (3-0) def. John Alessio (24-13) via Submission (Armbar) at 7:34 of Round 1
Marius Zaromskis (9-2) def. Seichi Ikemoto (18-15-5) via Unanimous Decision
Jason High (7-1) def. Yuya Shirai (15-8) via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 0:59 of Round 1
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (35-8-2) def. Shinya Aoki (20-4) via KO (Knees) at 0:27 of Round 1

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DREAM.8 weigh-ins took place Friday at the Oasis "Water Spaceship" in Nagoya, and all fighters made weight without incident, including Jeff Monson who didn't arrive in Japan until Friday. The only change to the card was in the newly-set Rua-Fukuda bout, which shifted from middleweight (84kg) to a catchweight of 89kg due to Fukuda stepping in on less than two days' notice.

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (75.9kg/167 lbs.) vs. Shinya Aoki (73.5kg/161.7 lbs.)
Yuya Shirai (75.7kg/166.5 lbs.) vs. Jason High (75.9kg/167 lbs.)
Marius Zaromskis (75.5kg/166.1 lbs.) vs. Seichi Ikemoto (75.7kg/166.5 lbs.)
John Alessio (76.0kg/167.2 lbs.) vs. Andre Galvao (76.0kg/167.2 lbs.)
Hideo Tokoro (62.3kg/137 lbs.) vs. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata (63.0kg/138.6 lbs.)
Sergei Kharitonov (116.5kg/256.3 lbs.) vs. Jeff Monson (110.0kg/242 lbs.
Riki Fukuda (88.8kg/195.4 lbs.) vs. Murlio "Ninja" Rua (88.0kg/193.6 lbs.)
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (69.7kg/153.3 lbs.) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (70.0kg/154 lbs.)
Andrews Nakahara (85.0kg/187 lbs.) vs. Shungo Oyama (85.7kg/188.5 lbs.)
Katsuyori Shibata (86.2 kg/189.6 lbs.) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (87.0 kg/191.4 lbs.)

[UPDATE] from Nightmare of Battle:

Also announced was that DREAM.9 will take place in the large Yokohama Arena with the date being May 26th as previously reported.

With a primetime slot on TBS, the second round of the Featherweight Grand Prix and the return of "KID" Yamamoto (as well as "Jacare," possibly Mousasi, and probably Aoki), DREAM.9 is shaping up to be a major event.

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According to a blog post from GRABAKA teammate Sanae Kikuta, Riki Fukuda (13-4) has agreed to step in against the returning Murilo "Ninja" Rua (16-9-1) at Sunday's DREAM.8 on less than 48 hours' notice.

From Suki at MMA Fighting:

Sanae Kikuta updated his blog on Saturday and said that his teammate Riki Fukuda took a chance to fight Murilo Ninja at Dream.8 on April 5.

[Dong Sik Yoon], who was scheduled to fight Murilo "Ninja" Rua on Sunday, canceled his fight due to injury.

Fans in the States might remember the pro wrestler Fukuda from his pair of EliteXC bouts in 2007, including a tough split decision loss to Joey Villasenor. Since then, Fukuda has posted a 5-1 record in DEEP's welterweight division, including a pair of wins over former champion Ryuta Sakurai and one over DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix participant Yuya Shirai.

The former EliteXC Middleweight Champion Rua has not fought since a demoralizing TKO loss at the hands of Benji Radach on last October's infamous "EliteXC: Heat" card. DREAM.8 will mark "Ninja's" first bout in Japan since 2006, when he was knocked out in shocking fashion by Denis Kang in the opening round of PRIDE's Welterweight Grand Prix.

[UPDATE] The bout will now take place at a catchweight of 89kg.

Here's how the final card looks. If you're staying up to watch, don't forget to join us at 3AM ET on Sunday morning for the liveblog!

DREAM.8
April 5, 2009
Nippon Gaishi Hall
Nagoya, Japan

Welterweight Grand Prix Bouts
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (34-8-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (20-3)
Yuya Shirai (15-7) vs. Jason High (6-1)
Marius Zaromskis (8-2) vs. Seichi Ikemoto (18-14-5)
John Alessio (24-12) vs. Andre Galvao (2-0)

Featherweight Grand Prix Bout
Hideo Tokoro (21-15-1) vs. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata (10-5-3)

Heavyweight (93kg+) Bout
Sergei Kharitonov (16-3) vs. Jeff Monson (28-8)

Catchweight (89kg) Bout
Riki Fukuda (13-4) vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua (16-9-1)

Lightweight (70kg) Bout
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (19-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (4-4-1)

Catchweight (86kg) Bout
Andrews Nakahara (1-1) vs. Shungo Oyama (7-11)

Catchweight (88kg) Bout
Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa (41-29-8) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-6-1)

DREAM and K-1 parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group today released the full fight cards for both this Sunday's DREAM.8 and the April 21st K-1 MAX Final 16 events. The DREAM bout order was also released and Nightmare Of Battle points out that the Oyama-Nakahara bout has shifted from middleweight (84kg limit) to a catchweight of 86kg.

DREAM.8
April 5, 2009
Nippon Gaishi Hall
Nagoya, Japan

Welterweight Grand Prix Bouts
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Shinya Aoki
Yuya Shirai vs. Jason High
Marius Zaromskis vs. Seichi Ikemoto
John Alessio vs. Andre Galvao

Featherweight Grand Prix Bout
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata

Heavyweight (93kg+) Bout
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson

Middleweight (84kg) Bout
Yoon Dong Sik vs. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

Lightweight (70kg) Bout
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro vs. Katsuhiko Nagata

Catchweight (86kg) Bout
Andrews Nakahara vs. Shungo Oyama

Catchweight (88kg) Bout
Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa vs. Katsuyori Shibata

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photo via Sportsnavi

DREAM Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara held a press conference on Thursday and confirmed the first bout for the promotion's upcoming Welterweight Grand Prix: a rematch between the tournaments two biggest stars, Shinya Aoki and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Sakurai narrowly outpointed a game-but-unknown Aoki in an August 2005 Shooto bout. (Video in the extended entry.) Sasahara said that the identities of the remaining four WWGP participants will be revealed next week, and that three of the four will be foreigners. This lends some credence to the rumored participation of Andre Galvao, Marcello Garcia and John Alessio.

OLYMPIA DREAM.8 Welterweight GP 2009 1st Round
April 5, 2009 // Nippon Gaishi Hall // Nagoya, Japan

Zelg Galešić (9-4) vs. Andrews Nakahara (1-1)
Ikuhisa Minowa (41-29-8) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-6-1)
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (10-2) vs. TBA

Welterweight GP Bout
Shinya Aoki (20-3) vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (34-8-2)

Featherweight GP Bout
Hideo Tokoro (21-15-1) vs. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata (10-5-3)

Welterweight GP Participants
Seichi Ikemoto (18-14-5)
Yuya Shirai (15-7)

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