The Dream Continues
DREAM.4, the second round of DREAM’s 2008 middleweight grand prix took place from Yokohama, Japan on Sunday. For fans, the dream continued, as FEG’s new fight league added another impressive show to its young history.
Production inside the Yokohama Arena looked stellar, and the crowd was treated to a beautiful intro video by Daisuke Sato, set to Love the One You’re With, by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Sato’s work is truly special, and having his videos only adds to the familiar vibes PRIDE fans miss so much. It is a shame that American fans are robbed of the chance to properly see his work – HDNET is unable to include Sato’s videos as part of their English language broadcast due to copyright issues. One would hope that FEG and HDNET could get together to ensure that rights were obtained to show Sato’s work in the future, however, there appears to be a divide between the two organizations. The fact that Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice call the shows from a studio in the United States, rather than live in Japan at the event is telling.
The fights kicked off in spectacular fashion, with Shinya Aoki and Katsuhiko Nagata vying for the final remaining spot in DREAM’s lightweight grand prix. Aoki furthered his mystique with another highlight reel submission win over the silver medalist in Judo. Known for flamboyant armbars, flying triangle chokes, and gogoplata victories, Aoki showed his versatility, submitting Nagata with a gogoplata from mount. For his part, Nagata was simply outmatched, unable to defend once Aoki obtained a dominant position on the ground.
The action continued with an absolute mismatch of epic proportions. In only his third mma fight, ssirum giant Lee Tae Hyun fought Golden Glory “Demolition Man”, Alistair Overeem. The far-outmatched Korean was unable to mount any offense, as Overeem quickly landed a left-right combination followed up with a devastating knee to seal the deal. After his KO-win, Overeem charmed the crowd and furthered his campaign towards a match with Croatian striker Mirko Filipovic, exclaiming, “I want Crocop!”
Up next was a DREAM superfight, featuring Alavutdin Gadzhiyev taking on mma-neophyte Ralek Gracie. I’m not 100%, but I think Gadzhiyev was accompanied to the ring and cornered by the infamous Aliev Makhmud. For those of you who don’t know who that is, he had a fight against Kiyoshi Tamura at Pride 29 – Fists of Fire. It was, to be kind, not a good performance from Makhmud.
Gracie opened the fight with a front push kick – shocking, I know. Despite Gadzhiyev ably defending his opponent’s attempts to get the fight to the ground at first, Gracie was eventually able to impose his game. After gaining dominant position on the ground, Gracie worked for, and executed an armbar. After clearly tapping multiple times, Gadzhiyev complained after the stoppage, and seemed poised to attack Gracie. Cooler heads prevailed, and after announced as victor, Gracie communicated his desire to continue in DREAM.
The second superfight proved a very entertaining back-and-forth contest between Darren Uyenoyama and ZST’s best, Hideo Tokoro. Tokoro largely controlled the fight, imposing his will and inflicting damage on his American opponent. For his part, however, Uyenoyama was always in the fight, showing great defense on the ground, and tremendous heart in the face of peril. Tokoro was impressive, showing his excellent grappling skills, as well as improved skills on the feet. The ZST and HERO’s veteran dropped Uyenoyama with a big knee in the opening frame of the fight, and rocked his opponent later in the round with rapid-fire combinations. Towards the end of the round, Tokoro dropped Uyenoyama again with a knee, this time to the body. The Japanese fighter spent the rest of the round punishing Uyenoyama on the ground, utilizing ground n’ pound and knees to the body to inflict damage.
In the second stanza, Uyenoyama was able to execute a single leg takedown and land sporadic strikes to the downed Tokoro. Despite activity, the fight was stood up. After a brief exchange, Tokoro was able to take down his opponent and work for an armbar. Uyenoyama was having none of it and was able to reverse. For the remainder of the fight, an exhausted Uyenoyama dropped superficial strikes on Tokoro. Hideo Tokoro took the unanimous decision win over Uyenoyama, and both fighters looked impressive in the spirited battle.
After the intermission, DREAM execs held a draw to determine the match-ups for the final round of the lightweight grand prix. It appears as though Kawajiri will have to wait to fight Caol Uno at least for now, as the draw determined Uno-Aoki, and Kawajiri-Alvarez as final round match-ups.
After the break, Gegard Mousasi and Dong Sik Yoon went to war. That is, only after Yoon entered to the smooth, familiar strains of When Doves Cry, by Prince. Did you even need another reason to like Dong Sik Yoon?
Despite his outstanding musical taste, Yoon was unable to mount significant offense in the initial stages of the fight. After an early takedown by Yoon, Mousasi was able to reverse, and bring the fight back to the feet. From there, he dominated the majority of the opening round, using his superior striking skills as well as defensive grappling to nullify most of Yoon’s offense. When the fight went to the ground, Mousasi continued his onslaught. Eventually however, the tide turned against the Dutch-Armenian after a kimura attempt – Yoon was able to reverse position and work for the infamous dongbar™. For a moment it appeared Yoon had pulled off another lazarus-like performance, but Mousasi was able to fend off the submission, reversing Yoon and ending the round on top.
The second round was all Mousasi. After some exchanges on the feet, Yoon tried to take the fight to the ground, but Mousasi reversed and quickly gained control. After locking up a body triangle, Mousasi punished Yoon relentlessly with strikes to the ears and head. Every time Yoon moved, Mousasi sank the body triangle tighter, and continued his assault. Yoon was able to survive the remaining time, but had no answer for any aspect of Mousasi’s offense.
A Unanimous decision victory for Gegard Mousasi, and another impressive performance. The young fighter has been dominant against top level competition. Mousasi adds Yoon’s name to a list of recent victims that includes Denis Kang and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.
Proving that Jesus would simply them rather just be friends, the rematch between Zelg Galesic and Kin Taiei had a familiar outcome.
In the opening seconds of their first fight, Galesic stopped Taiei with a cut on the eyelid. This fight lasted slightly longer before Taiei dislocated his elbow landing from a throw. Both fighters reacted with class and good humor to the incident, and assured fans and each other that a third fight was inevitable. Should they really tempt fate?
In what was probably the most anticipated match of the night, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza met Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Despite flashes of offense from Miller on the feet in the first round, every time the two clinched or hit the ground, Jacare simply imposed his much stronger grappling game. In the second half of the first, the Brazilian worked to Miller’s back, looking for the rear naked choke. After the familiar “no holding” refrain from Yuji Shimada, Jacare looked to have the choke, but Miller was able to get out of immediate danger. In the closing moments of the round, “Mayhem” was able to escape and attempted to rain down strikes on Jacare, but the Brazilian was able to tie up and avoid any damage.
The second round saw familiar action, with “Mayhem” unable to do anything while tied up with Jacare. There were times when Miller was able to land some strikes and impose his game. These were fleeting however, as every time the competitors got close, Jacare would swallow his opponent up. A workman-like performance from Souza, and a disappointing loss for Miller, who was obviously frustrated at the conclusion of the fight.
In the main event of the evening, hopes of nostalgia were dashed – and quickly at that, as Melvin Manhoef and legend Kazushi Sakuraba squared off. Fans of the Japanese showman hoped that somehow, Sakuraba would be able to withstand the inevitable initial onslaught, and persevere – as he’s done so many times before – to impose his submission game.
It was not to be.
After a tentative few opening moments, Manhoef landed a high kick and unleashed a flurry of strikes, sending Sakuraba to the canvas. From there, Manhoef continued his attack, relentlessly hammering the elder statesman’s face until the referee was forced to intervene. In hindsight the outcome seems obvious, however many fans often forget that fighters do not exist in vacuums – the Sakuraba of 2008 is not the Sakuraba of 1999. Or 2002. Or 2005. Or 2007, for that matter.
Despite the sad ending to the event for Sakuraba fans, DREAM.4 was the promotion’s most solid effort to date, and it appears the shows are getting better with each installment. The upcoming DREAM.5 looks to continue this trend, with the much anticipated return of fan-favorite Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. DREAM.5 will also showcase the lightweight grand prix semi-finals and finals, as Tatsuya Kawajiri takes on Eddie Alvarez, and Caol Uno fights Shinya Aoki. The winners of these two fights will go on to fight in the finals, the final match and main event of DREAM.5.
