Nearly six months after his fight with Joachim Hansen at DREAM.13, Bibiano Fernandes tells Tatame he's finally been paid by the Japanese promoter. The featherweight champion also says that DREAM once again contacted him to fight on their September 25 show after payment was received - possibly in a rematch with Hiroyuki Takaya - but Fernandes declined, citing inadequate time to prepare for the bout. Asked for his opinion on DREAM's ongoing problems with paying fighters, Fernandes told Guilherme Cruz the following: "Damn, man... I'm gonna be honest with you: if I ever stop fighting in Japan, I won't fight for another event because I have no interest. My plan is jiu-jitsu, I love jiu-jitsu. Whatever I can do to help jiu-jitsu, I'm gonna do. DREAM is a great event, but they're going through a difficult situation there, I don't know what's happening... I don't know if I would fight in the United States, because at my weight... they don't pay decently." Photo from Bibiano Fernandes, via Tatame.
DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki will meet PRIDE and UFC veteran Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio at DREAM.16 on September 25, the promotion announced today. Also added to the card were fan favorites Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen and Hideo Tokoro.
#1 Dominic Cruz ably defended his WEC belt against #3 Joseph Benavidez at WEC 50.
#1 Jose Aldo will defend his WEC title against #2 Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51 in September.
Dream featherweight champion Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes says that the Japanese promotion still hasn't paid him for a bout which took place five months ago. Fernandes has turned down a proposed September bout until he is fully compensated.
#1 Jose Aldo will defend his WEC title against #2 Manny Gamburyan at WEC 51 in September.
The Bantamweight division hasn't been seeing too much significant action in a few months. This will change when #1 Dominick Cruz defends his WEC belt against #3 Joseph Benavidez on August 18.
Another division with no major movement in June. The biggest deal was probably #7 Marlon Sandro making short work of #10 Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku Raiden Championships.
#1 Dominick Cruz sits atop the bantamweight rankings as he awaits a rematch with #3 Joseph Benavidez at WEC 50.
Over the past week or two, many major MMA media sites and blogs have been running opinion pieces in parallel with Michael Schiavello's piece at Heavy.com talking about the potential for American wrestling stifling the growth of mixed martial arts. Schiavello's opinion ultimately dwindles down to the point that the mixed martial artists must continue to evolve and learn
