The white cage will come out for the second time tonight in Saitama, Japan, and BloodyElbow.com has you covered with live results and play-by-play of Dream 14 beginning at 3 a.m. ET / midnight PT.
In the evening's main event, Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz returns to Dream for the first time in two years to take on slumping Pride star Hayato "Mach" Sakurai in a non-title bout. Also on the slate: an old rivalry is renewed (again) as the aging "Gracie Hunter," Kazushi Sakuraba, meets Ralek Gracie in a middleweight affair. The undercard features some exciting names from the lower weight classes, including "Kid" Yamamoto, Joachim Hansen, Hiroyuki Takaya, Hideo Tokoro, Kazuyuki Miyata, "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura, Yoshiro Maeda and Kenji Osawa.
And of course, no Dream card would be complete without Ikuhisa Minowa facing someone who outweighs him by at least 100 pounds - this time out, it's 330-pound Imani Lee.
Play-by-play after the jump.
Quick Results
Nick Diaz def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai via submission (armbar) R1
Ralek Gracie def. Kazushi Sakuraba via unanimous decision
Hiroyuki Takaya def. Joachim Hansen via KO (punches) R1
"Kid" Yamamoto def. "Kiko" Lopez via KO (punches) R1
"Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura def. Hideo Tokoro via TKO (punches) R1
Kazuyuki Miyata def. Takafumi Otsuka via split decision
Kenji Osawa def. Yoshiro Maeda via split decision
Ikuhisa Minowa def. Imani Lee via submission (RNC) R1
Nick Diaz (21-7, 1 NC) vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (35-10-2)
Round 1: Sakurai swings with overhand punches and they tie up awkwardly. Diaz drags Mach down by a single leg. Diaz trying to push through Sakurai's guard, but Mach keeping active off his back with lots of short punches. Nothing looks too damaging, but they're coming in volume. Sakurai backed into the corner of the cage, trying to push Diaz off with the butterfly guard. They pop back up and Sakurai tags Diaz with an overhand right, prompting Diaz to push him against the fence. Shoulder shrugs and knees up the middle from Diaz in the clinch. They disengage and Diaz throws some of his trademark peppering jabs. Mach powers through a double-leg and into Diaz' full guard. Diaz trying to tuna-net-walk and isolate the right arm of Sakurai. He flips Mach over - well, Mach kind of flips himself over - and Diaz is able to finish the armbar and get the tap.
Nick Diaz (22-7, 1 NC) def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (35-11-2) via submission (armbar) R1 3:54
Kazushi Sakuraba (26-12-1, 2 NC) vs. Ralek Gracie (2-0)
Round 1: After 20 seconds, Gracie lunges in at Sakuraba and connects with a right hand, then takes Saku's back. Sakuraba twists free and latches on to the right arm of a kneeling Gracie, but Gracie is preventing Sakuraba from getting both legs across. Gracie tripods and stacks, but Sakuraba, now upside down, holds on tight. With two minutes left, Gracie finally extracts the arm and moves to half guard, then side control on Sakuraba's right. Gracie knees to the head. Saku pushes him back to half guard, but Gracie works back to side control and works for an arm-triangle. Gracie ends the round in north-south position, considering a leglock.
Round 2: Gracie checking leg kicks from Sakuraba and returning some decidedly Gracie-esque front kicks. Sakuraba connects with his best punch of the bout and it creates a cut beside Gracie's left eye. Gracie dumps Sakuraba with a suplex and begins punching away from knee-on-belly position, as he's done effectively throughout so far. Knees to the head, more hammerfists from Gracie, who can't pass Saku's guard but is nonetheless smothering and punishing Ol' 39. Again Gracie goes for a submission at the very last second, an armbar this time. Sakuraba looks cooked.
Round 3: Ralek connects with a pair of solid right head kicks, but Sakuraba doesn't falter. Saku going to the body with punches as Gracie keeps him at bay with a teep. Slugging away with overhand lefts and right uppercuts is Sakuraba. Two minutes to go in the bout and Gracie effortlessly plows Saku to the mat with a double-leg. Sakuraba has full guard, wrenching for a kimura on the right arm of Gracie, but his foot appears to have become stuck in Gracie's trunks and the referee begins awkwardly tugging to separate them and pull the shorts of Gracie (who's underneath) back up. Sakuraba loses the hold in the meantime and nearly gets caught in an armbar as time expires.
BloodyElbow.com sees the bout for Ralek Gracie.
Ralek Gracie (3-0) def. Kazushi Sakuraba (26-13-1, 2 NC) via unanimous decision
Hiroyuki Takaya (12-8-1) vs. Joachim Hansen (19-9-1)
Round 1: Takaya plunks Hansen with an overhand right and a few leg kicks. Hansen immediately starts checking the leg kicks, tags Takaya with a short, sharp right hook of his own. Hansen catches a finger in the eye but the two slap hands and continue without intervention. Takaya goes low for a double, Hansen stuffs and backs into the cage. Hansen reverses and goes for a single-leg of his own, but Takya spins with it and the referee splits them up with 90 seconds to go. Takaya catches Hansen with a right that puts him on rubber legs. Another right sends the Hellboy down, Takaya chases him to the mat and turns out the lights with a few more punches. First time Hansen's ever been KO'd, an impressive tesament to the Streetfight Bancho's power.
Hiroyuki Takaya (13-8-1) def. Joachim Hansen (19-10-1) via KO (punches) R1 4:32
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (17-3, 1 NC) vs. Federico "Kiko" Lopez (4-2)
Round 1: Yamamoto wearing his wrestling shoes. They look funny in the white cage. Kid catches Lopez in the groin with a low kick. Lopez is alright, but takes a few seconds to gather himself. Moments later, Yamamoto blasts a charging Lopez with a right hand and follows with an uppercut and hammerfists which put Lopez out cold. Yamamoto continues to pound away and the ref leaps in to end the bout. Yamamoto is understandably thrilled and plants a big, sloppy kiss on the camera.
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (18-3, 1 NC) def. Federico "Kiko" Lopez (4-3) via KO (punches) R1 1:41
Hideo Tokoro (26-21-1) vs. "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura (10-5-1)
Round 1: Early on, Wicky clubs Tokoro with a lunging right. Tokoro gets on his bike and Wicky presses forward with his usual herky-jerky style, hands down. Wicky lunges in and connects with a right uppercut that fells Tokoro, who survives some hammerfists (and a couple to the back of the head) and regains half guard. Shortly after, they're back up and Wicky drops Tokoro with a right hook. Tokoro ducks under the shot and it clips him in the back of the head. A few more shots on the ground from Wicky seals the deal.
"Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura (11-5-1) def. Hideo Tokoro (26-22-1) via TKO (punches) R1 2:51
Kazuyuki Miyata (8-7) vs. Takafumi Otsuka (10-4-1)
Round 1: Otsuka rushes across the cage but stops short of Miyata. Snazzy purple version of Otsuka's usual green skirt-shorts. They clinch and Otsuka lands some sharp knees to the breadbasket. Leaping knee from Miyata and he drags Otsuka down, but they're soon back up. Otsuka sprawls under a Miyata takedown attempt but jumps back up. Otsuka slips on the mat again as he presses forward on Miyata, who's got the fence to his back. Nice diet of punches, front kicks and knees coming from Otsuka. Miyata lands another jumping knee with 40 seconds left, but Otsuka nearly takes his back in the ensuring scramble.
Round 2: Miyata trying to find his range, landing some glancing jabs and hooks but out working Otsuka in the first two minutes. Otsuka looks to be bloodied around the nose, but is doing a terrific job of defending Miyata's takedowns. Miyata bombing with the left hook, Otsuka returning fire with body kicks as his corner yells for him not to move backwards. A seemingly tiring Otsuka shoots in and presses Miyata to the cage. Miyata looks for a kimura as Otsuka kneels in front of him, but Otsuka escapes.
Round 3: Otsuka comes alive with more knees and roundhouses, catches Miyata with a hard right hook, which prompts Miyata to tie up and drag Otsuka down. They clinch in center-cage and it's Otsuka landing knees up the middle. Miyata gives him one back as they disengage. Otsuka's nose pouring blood now. Overhand right connects for Otsuka. Miyata with a teep kick of his own and Otsuka takes double underhook and leans on the fence. Miyata walks him back to the middle of the cage and tosses Ostuka down. Miyata has Otsuka's back standing, tries for a suplex but Otsuka no-sells. Miyata working hard from half guard for the last two minutes, could very well be stealing this fight. Miyata was trying to cinch up an arm-triangle for the final minute.
BloodyElbow.com sees the bout for Takafumi Otsuka.
Kazuyuki Miyata (9-7) def. Takafumi Otsuka (10-5-1) via split decision
Yoshiro Maeda (26-8-2) vs. Kenji Osawa (15-9-2)
Round 1: Osawa landing leg kicks at will on the southpaw Maeda early. Maeda finally connects with a solid combination but then catches Osawa with a kick to the cup. They restart and Maeda begins to get inside on Osawa, landing knees from the clinch and a few hard left hooks. It's rock'em sock'em robots as both fighters bang away, until Osawa clips Maeda and Maeda shoots in. They clinch against the cage with a minute left. Maeda can't complete the takedown, but does throw some good knees with Osawa pinned to the tuna net. Maeda finally tosses Osawa to the mat as the bell rings.
Round 2: Maeda spends the bulk of the round working for a takedown, but Osawa defends well. Maeda still getting inside and popping Osawa, but Osawa's now retaliating with stiff rights.
Round 3: Osawa goes on the offensive, chasing Maeda down with punches and kicks. Nice kick to the body from Maeda sends Osawa looking for the takedown. After some more clinchwork against the netting, Osawa getting the better of the striking in the final minute of the bout.
Kenji Osawa (16-9-2) def. Yoshiro Maeda (26-9-2) via split decision
Ikuhisa Minowa (45-30-8) vs. Imani Lee (1-2)
Round 1: Minowa wades in and eats a combination that makes the crowd gasp, though it didn't look to do much. Minowa waits a moment and charges in again, spearing Lee into the tuna net of the white cage and depositing him at the base. Shoulder shrugs and short body shots from Minowa as he tries to pass half guard. Lee bucks him off momentarily but Minowa dives back on top. Minowa in half-guard, leaning across Lee's body and working a kimura on the right arm, but can't straighten it out. Minowa finally gets mount with a minute left in the round and pounds away. Lee rolls over and Minowa takes his back, flattens him out and sinks in the rear-naked choke.
Ikuhisa Minowa (46-30-8) def. Imani Lee (1-3) via submission (rear-naked choke) R1 4:15
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