After two high profile bouts landed in the boneyard, DREAM officials have finally put some of its July 21 matches on paper, according to the DREAM official Web site.
DREAM 5 features the conclusion of its lightweight grand prix between semifinalists Eddie Alarez, Tatsuya Kawajirir, Shinya Aoki and Caol Uno.
Lightweights Joachim Hansen and Kultar Gill will also compete for a reserve spot in the finals should one of the aforementioned competitors be unable to continue.
Things got off to a rough start when Nick Diaz was forced to pull out of the first-ever welterweight title fight against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai after contractual obligations left him stateside.
Recently joining the card is former PRIDE heavyweight and K-1 champion Mark Hunt (5-3), who gives this card a much needed shot in the arm after Jerome LeBanner went MIA and the on again-off again antics from Mirko Cro-Cop left this event without a star heavyweight.
Hunt was recently tooled by fellow K-1 goliath Semmy Schilt at the K-1 World Grand Prix back in April. While Hunt hasn’t competed in mixed martial arts since his submission loss to Fedor Emelianenko at Shockwave 2006, his granite chin and superior striking are still credible threats to any heavyweight conteder … even the dreaded TBA (0-0).
Here is the latest fight card for DREAM 5, scheduled for July 21 at the Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan:
Non-Tournament Bouts
Motoki Miyazawa vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Joseph Benavidez
Mark Hunt vs. TBALightweight Tournament Reserve Bout
Joachim Hansen vs. Kultar GillLightweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol UnoLightweight Tournament Final
Winners of semifinals clash
Stay tuned for the finalized card. In the meantime, let the speculation for Hunt’s opponent officially begin. Kharitonov? Siliga?
Time will tell …
36 Comments »
the dream show have been great, and this one looks just as good, you got alvarez,aoki,kawajiri,uno,hansen,hunt and kid yamamoto. that is going to be the best weekend of mma ever the 19th with affliction and ufc and than the 21st dream.
Yeah Next weekend should be the best WEEKEND in the history of mma. I am just as excited about this event as I am of Affliction and that free show that the UFC managed to scrape together.
its hard ot find a more exciting/explosive fighter in mma than “Kid” yammamotto. I really enjoy every single one of his fights.
I will be rooting for my hometown fighter, Eddie Alvarez. But I have to admit I am a very big fan of “Bone Crusher” Kawajiri. I think Alvarez vs. Kawajir will be one of the best fights of the entire tournament.
I cant wait to find out who Mark Hunt will face. Hunt is one of my favorite Heavyweights. He has a chin like Cabbage but with K-1 level kickboxing…and he packs some serious power. He also has better submission defense than most people think. Hellboy ius always a treat to watch, and I am a fan of the Black Mamba as well, should make for a great match.
Yoshihiro Akiyama is a fighter to watch. He ALWAYS IMPROVES, which makes me very curious to see his next fight.
Of course, I love watching the jits displays that rainbow pants put on in his fights. His Jits/flexibility rivals the great BJ Penn, IMO. Caol Uno is more than a formidable opponent.
I am very interested in the semi finals match ups because as u all should know winning is not enough in the semi’s, u have to win while taking as little dagae as possible to be fresh for the finals. If Alvarez can win this tournament, I will be extremely impressed because him and kawajiri are going to bang each other up pretty good.
should be an amazing event!
Machida is fighting Thiago Silva in October!
which means Rampage will fight wanderlei in Decemeber. Sokoudjou will fight Shogun in December. chuck will fight Forrest in December unless Rashad can lay n pray his way to a win!
Okami vs. Silva will be the next midfdleweight title fight and it can happen as soon as UFC 88
I would like to see gorenj vs. Luis Cane as well!
I have a Question for the Brazilian Ju JItsu experts of this site…PhilQNY, I need your help!
I am trying to breakdown the Florian/Huerta match up and I would like to know how Alberto Crane’s ju jitsu measures up to Kenny Florians? Please Help!
Tim sylvia’s thoughts on Forrest vs. Rampage:
Sylvia On Griffin Vs. Jackson:
I love Forrest, he’s a great guy and they are both good friends of mine, but that’s why I was talking about judges. I really believe Forrest won round two and I believe he won five, and Quinton dominated the first round — maybe a 10-8 round — and won rounds three and four 10-9, but judges just weren’t educated enough in MMA.
just like you john not that educated in mma enough!
i have to go with aoki his jj skills are crazy but he needs to take the fight to the mat if he wants to win with uno and the same when he fights eddie sorry i dont see kawajiri beating him. and i cant wait to see kid yamamoto fight again that kid is a little badass and super explosive
Yeh shinya aoki’s jiu jitsu skills are sick and absolutely scary…if you haven’t yet check out cagepotatoes highlight reel of aoki which includes a sick kamikaze armbar towards the end of the video and the famed “Aokiplata”! http://www.cagepotato.com/2008/07/09/must-see-shinya-aoki-highlight-reel/
Yeh Shinya Aoki has sick and extremely scary jiu jitsu skills and I’m sure Uno is well aware of that…should be an interesting battle. If you haven’t yet, check out Shinya Aoki’s highlight reel on cagepotato which include a sick kamikaze armbar and the famed “Aokiplata”!
Shinya Aoki has great BJJ, but it’s still behind BJ Penn’s. I like Shinya b/c he probably has the most entertaining BJJ to watch. He does a lot of crazy stuff, but BJ is just a tad more effective. Plus, Shinya lost in the first round of an ADCC tourney. BJ used to dominate grappling matches, and probably still would.
SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!CANT WAIT FOR DREAM 6!!!!!!!!!!!MANHOEFS REIGN OF TERROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank god i have HDNET!!
hdnet is a great investment for any mma fan, i can’t imagine not having it.
I agree 100%. Between HDNet, Spike and Versus I get almost enough MMA.
there’s never enough mma!!!!!!
Let’s go Akiyama! Shibata doesn’t know what kind of pain he’s in for.
Akiyama is a scary dude because he has gotten better in everysingle one of his mma fights. This guy makes big improvement from fight to fight and will only get better!
“…the dreaded TBA (0-0)”
LMAO!! Good stuff, Jesse.
Been happy with the Dream events so far, this one looks to be good. Is it at DREAM.6 that the Middleweight tourney will pick up again? Anyone know?
Aoki/Uno will be sick. Looking forward to the Akiyama fight too, while knocking out Denis Kang is something to be happy about, getting illegaly kicked in the face by Misaki isn’t so cool. Pretty sure Shibata is the sacrificial lamb here though
uno > rainbow pants, aoki got some sick jitz but thats about it. besides that, he’s 1 dimensional IMO. the more well rounded guys like uno have been winning lately. uno recently choked out ishida which is major ++++++ points. his ground game might not be elite but its good enough to get the fight back up and standing. plus, he’s not that susceptible to submissions lately. however he’s been known to get KTFO badly! HAHA!! Alvarez has the skills to win it all too but for some shady reason, i think a japanese fighter will take it all.
also, looking forward to the hunt fight. hopefully that is a 1 sided beatdown. it would be nice if he had more wins to match the level of the hype he gets.
KAMA. your right about the more well rounded fighters winning as of late, but i think aoki is a star in the making. he does need to work on his stand-up more, but he beat j.z. and that is one well rounded fighter. only time will tell. def agree about hunt, he needs to starting to fight some name fighters (good ones) or he will go from being underrated to overrated overnight. i hate tba, its baffling to me how they dont have an opponent 2 weeks out. how do these guys train or make a good fightplan for each other. anyhow this is a sick-a$$ card. i hope it strems live on my fav “free” channel.
love this card but g must admit i find the japanese shows a bit boring. the fights are great but the quit fans cause it to be boring. i know its their culture and i dont them to change. plus im not a big fan of the ring.
And i say that last comment with all due respect. not trying to start crap. great fights i just find myself dossing off during some of the fights.
Well pay attention to the fights and not the fans, also i think the japanese are the best fans in the world, ok their quiet but i don’t see anything wrong with that, i like their respect and they love the technicality of mma which is a rareity. I prefer them over drunk yobs who know nothing about mma shouting and going wild like its roman gladiators, most people just want to see people get punched and kicked in and can’t comprehend the ground game and think its boring. Believe me if you go to a mma event in America or UK and you’re surrounded by morons you’d be praying that you was sat watching it in Japan with the “quiet fans” at least i was lol.
yea i would love/hate going to an mma show in america but watching on tv those drunks help make it more exciting it’s like a double edge sword. maybe it’s add or someting i love the fights i love the ground game and i do respect the hell out of the culture they have in japan but i still get bored watching dream and even some pride matches but oh well i still watch them.
i have mad respect for the pride fans and their culture but being an american i guess i’m just conditioned to the constint noice that the fans make even during the boring fights. and your right i would hate/love an mma fight in america i don’t like drunk jock sweet bro kids. but all though i find myself dossing off during dream and pride fights (not all) i still watch the fights.
Aoki is sick, i really wanna see him against Alvarez in the finals, what a great fight it’d be.
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Joseph Benavidez
should be a good fight. supposedly the guy fights out of the same gym as Urijah Faber and is currently 7-0
Mania, Can u get me out of purgatory..pretty please!
Nick Diaz not competing, upsets me. he needs to start doing his talking in the ring. Fight noons and get the title and quit. Then Dana can snatch him up again. Love him or hate him he comes to entertain.
Oh and I forgot, Elite XC is Garbage
diaz tries to but the bosses hold him back alot i too hope he gets out of exc soom i like nick alot.
Nick is not the matchmaker, he fights who is put in front of him. To my knowledge he has never turned down a fight, unless it was due to injury.
Is this PPV? when is it aired LIVE?
i hate tba! i hope its sergei as well. aoki will make an example out of uno imo.