DREAM Entertainment has announced two blockbuster heavyweight fights to supplement the conclusion of its middleweight grand prix at DREAM 6 on September 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will air live stateside on HDNet.
Former PRIDE superstar and UFC jetsam Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (23-6-2) will finally attempt to silence current Strikeforce heavyweight champion and perennial trash-talker Alistair Overeem (28-11).
“Demolition Man” — who submitted Mark Hunt last month at DREAM 5 — has accused the Croatian of ducking him on more than one occasion - and of being a ‘douchebag’.
If that weren’t enough, Saitamaniacs will also be treated to the much-anticipated return of Russian gladiator Sergei Kharitonov. The 15-3 ‘Kharit-top’ has been homeless since pounding out Alistair Overeem at K-1 Heroes nearly a year ago but does hold victories over some of the bigger names in MMA, including current UFC title contender Fabricio Werdum.
His opponent will be none other than Siala “Mighty Mo” Siligia (3-0). Like Kharitonov, Siligia was last victorious at K-1 Heroes after a first-round mutilation of Ruben “Warpath” Villereal.
Don’t let the 3-0 record fool you: Mo knows fighting. Aside from MMA, Siligia is an accomplished kickboxer with a devastating overhand right that he calls “The Right Hand of God”.
Concluding the middleweight grand prix is tournament favorite “Marvelous” Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) who will be facing Jurojin pupil Gerard Mousasi (22-2-1). Manhoef is coming off a devastating TKO win over Japanese icon Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM 4 back in June and is the winner of five straight - all by (T)KO.
He won’t have a free pass however as the “Armenian Assassin” Mousasi has been on something of a tear himself. Like Manhoef, Mousasi is also a perfect 2-0 in DREAM competition, including his opening round upset over potential tournament finalist Denis Kang at DREAM 2 earlier this year.
The winner of Manhoef vs. Mousasi will have the unenviable task of facing either Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (9-1) or Zelg “Benkei” Galesic (9-3), who face off in classic striker vs. grappler match. Souza earned his spot in June by outpointing Jason “Mayhem” Miller at DREAM 4 while Galesic bagged and tagged Taiei Kin and the same event.
Former PRIDE tomato Dong Sik Yoon (4-5) and Brazil’s Andrews Nakahara (0-1) round out the grand prix with their reserve bout. Both fighters came up short in their last DREAM appearances but will try to use this opportunity to sneak into the finals.
Also added to the card is a featherweight bout pitting the new and improved Hideo Tokoro (21-13-1) against Shooto and Pancrase veteran Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1). Tokoro was victorious in both of his DREAM appearances, recently defeating Takeshi Yamazaki at DREAM 5. Yamamoto is coming off a decision loss to Masakatsu Ueda at Shooto 8 back in January despite a strong performance.
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44 Comments »
hopefuly the addition of crocop/overeem will help boost dream’s ratings. if cro-cop cant help them, no one can. he is still a huge star in japan. the mw gpx and adding sergei k./mighty mo just made this a must see event
btw, i like the fight poster to this as well.
WHERE CAN I WATCH DREAM EVENTS??? Is hdnet the only place or is there a website that shows them?
try channelsurfing.net to watch it live (just remember the time difference) and mmascraps.com and myvideofight.com usually have the fights the next day. u-tube as well as mania have them the next day as well.
I am honestly considering hopping on a plane and going to Japan to see this event live. I am either going to dream or to see Couture vs. Lesnar live.
I really like Japanese mma, and although its already sept 3, I am sure I could still get tickets to the DREAM event.
The Finals is going to be Jacre submitting Gegard!
dont count out Manhoef!
I am fully aware of what ManHoeff posses and I am a big fan of the guy.
I would love to see Manhoeff vs. Anderson Silva!
I just think that Gagard will expose Melvin’s inferior groundgame!
I am actually a huige fan of all the fighters in teh final four, but I honestly dont see anyone defeating my boy Jacre….. I think I am the biggest American Jacre fan alive…Then again Phil loves the guy as well.
Hey Jesse HOlland: Maybe you can help me out. DREAM 1,2,3 have already been released in Japan on DVD. Do u know if these events will be released shortly in the USA, or should I just order them from Japan because I have a dvd player that allows me to play Japanese dvds?
Currently there are no plans to release DREAM in the USA so if you have a multi-region DVD player I say go for it.
thanks for the heads up and I will
yeah mahoefs ground game is weak, he better work on that sprawl and scramble!
where you at wanderlei fan???15 on it right?
I cant wait to see Sergei fight again…Crocop vs overeem is going to be an exiting fight. i dont think crocop will be able to handle overeem. he just beat mark hunt. i think he is a better kickboxer, and alot more well rounded than crocop.
I think Mark Hunt was too slow for Overeem, that was the difference in that fight, Cro Cop’s lightning fast kicks and punches will tear Overeem apart just like Lidell did to him so long ago
brendan: Liddell did not tear Overeem apart. I think Chuck was taking a beating until he pulled off a very exciting comeback. That was a very good fight
thats true Lidell did get rocked a bit in that fight… either way i think Cro Cop / Overeem is an exciting match up, but im pulling for a long awaited Mirko head kick! its been too long since weve seen one of those!
wont argue with that. It would be nice to see one of those missle like Head kicks SPlatter Alistar (who I also am a fan of, head into the mat.
If cro cop can look impressive again, we may get to see Fedor Bully him for a second time (new years).
One of my favorite moments in mma: Fedor’s 7 hit kick, body punches, combo in the opening seconds of the second round against Cro Cop! I will never forget that combo…it looked like Fedopr was hitting a punching bag.
I also loved the body shots Fedor destroyed Gary Goodridge with at the Pride 2003 middleweight grand prix
I dont see crocop winning this fight, wherever the fight takes place. overeem is an amazing fight and he’s only getting better. cant say the same about crocop, althought i do love crocop he will get destroyed.
I am more excited in this event than any other event in UFC this year. Hopefully Dream will last a long time
lol you can tell who the hardcore mma fans are… the ones who always post in DREAM, affliction, Sengoku, etc. blogs
I love these DREAM events as much as UFC ones. I hope they are around for longer than the experts expect. The key is this next event, and they’ve certainly gone a long way towards making it a quality fight card. But without a Bob Sapp what is it going to take the get more Japs on board?
BROCKZILLA. the ufc has been trying to get back over to japan with little success. BROCKZILLA might be the one to bridge that gap. i fear that the japanese fans just dont care about mma as much as they used to.
He fought once for K-1 Heroes in an event that did worse than the previous as I recall.
CroCop will kill Overeem
Kharitonov will kill Mighty Mo
Cro Cop beating Overeem is by no means a guarantee. Cro Cop hasn’t defeated someone on significance for years. Sure Hunt hasn’t fought for a while, but Overeem just had a win over him recently. Hunt does own a win over Cro Cop (close decision)
It’s decided then - dongbar for Nakahara! Melvin is gonna take the tournament. Jacare doesn’t like getting hit. Compared to the likes of Macaco, Melvin hits like a truck so I am counting jacare’s chin out from a million miles away. The rest is pretty straightforward - Cro Cop, Sergei, Tokoro.
dream is the shit, i hope they get the numbers the need to stick around so far everyshow has been great and they seem to just be getting better i hope they make it.
i love DREAM but what happened to the Diaz v Sakurai fight ???
Their banner is very cool. Love the plastic model theme.
It’s do or die for CC..
yeah he really needs to make a statement here that he belongs in the heavyweight elite still
Sweet. Can’t wait to see Sergey back in action. Hopefully him and CroCop will help to break Dream out of shackles.
going with Jacare over Mousasi final.
Crocop is a douchebag, Overeem is right.
I understand if you don’t like him as a fighter, but on what occasion has Cro-Cop ever been disrespectful un sportsman like or anything that would make him a douchebag?
well look at the guys name who posted that comment psyqo, hes obviouly less intelligent than overeem is, so what can you expect?
All the announced fights look great. I can not wait to see who Minowa and Akiyama are fighting!
Akiyama + Cro Cop = good ratings in Japan and a must see event
Leaning towards OVereem to win even doh id prefer crocop too. Anyways Great great match ups love them for anyone who dont have HDNET get it!!!!!Inside mma+Dream fights+Other fights from other orgs also has artman presents <—show kicks ass!
manhoef for the tornie and gonna go with cro cop
Overeem has overall improved pretty much everything and I think he takes this one. Gonna be good to see a little bit of bad blood going into this one and I dont think Crocop could handle it if he loses to Overeem. He best be ready if he wants to win this one though!
Im really interested to see my boy Sergei again as well. Im so surprised he hasn’t been picked up sooner by another organisation like strikeforce or even UFC.
Dream does it again….I sure hope they ain going away any time soon. I love these events and it would be such a shame to miss out on some more potential fights of the year/decade!
Fukstyk is right, Crocop is yesterday’s news. Overeem will beat him….
kharitonov submission rd 1
Man, I just hope Crocop has the vehicle off cruise control. I want to see him perform as before. Hopefully he is seriously motivated and the trash talk has lit a fire that seems to have burnt out for awhile.