Fight 1: Welter Weight Grand Prix Reserve Match - Seichi Ikemoto vs. Tarec Saffiedline

Both of these fighters have made it clear they want to start the night with a bang, and neither has said they plan to fight anywhere but on their feet. If　this opening bout resembles Ikemoto’s last DREAM bout, in which he lost an thrilling stand-up war against Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis, it is the perfect way to set up what should be an exhilarating night. The fact that Tarec has won 83% of his fights via submission makes me wonder if he will make full use of his karate background though. Either way, the two of them desperately want to make it into the Grand Prix, and stopping the other early is the best way to ensure if they do get in, they have the best opportunity to go all the way.

Round 1: After tapping gloves Ikemoto immediately throws a flying double-fisted punch that misses by a good deal, and they clinch.
Break is eventually called and Ikemoto throws several low-kicks and left jabs that miss. Tarec answers with one or two of his own that connect with an almighty thud.
They clinch again and Tarec uses the time to knee the thigh of Ikemoto, and the Japanese fighter answers with several of his own to Tarec’s body.
Break is once again called and they both miss with high-kicks before exchanging some combinations with their hands. Tarec seems to have really found his distancing well now and is landing more than missing.
Ikemoto shoots out of nowhere causing Tarec to quickly sprawl. They end up clinching and Tarec starts with the knees once again.
The Japanese DEEP fighter once again tries a flying punch that misses, and Tarec rewards him with a solid low-kick for his troubles.
Tarec then throws a Brazilian high-kick and loses balance. Ikemoto jumps into Tarec’s guard and lands a little ground-and-pound. He manages to get to half-guard, but hasn’t had the same success passing guard completely. Tarec soon manages to use momentum to get the fight back on the feet.
Tarec seems to be starting to gas out. Ikemoto throws another odd punch and a normal straight. He eats an uppercut and a knee to the jaw as Tarec tries to end the round hard.
The Team Quest fight slips a left and lands a perfect one, two combination as the bell rings.

Final 2: Tarec starts the round with a thrust kick as the tension builds before either commits to a major combination.
Both fighters are circling and throwing single techniques, but aren’t following through. Tarec does manage to land a nice inside low-kick and Brazilian high-kick combination followed shortly after by a nice over-hand right.
Ikemoto stalks him, perhaps looking to throw his “White cat” technique, but he ends up on the ground with Tarec quickly passing his guard.
Tarec lands some punches and a solid knee, using Ikemoto’s defensive against him to gain full-mount.
He doesn’t have it for long though as Ikemoto goes for his leg, and in the subsequent scramble Ikemoto manages to get into Tarec’s guard. The round ends before he has a chance to do anything with his position.

Tarec is awarded the decision 3-0.

Fight 2: Welter Weight Grand Prix Semi Final – Hayato “MACH” Sakurai vs. Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis

Leading up to this event many a pundit has been heard saying “Everything Marius can do, Sakurai can do better.” While technically speaking this may well be true, even at his best I have never seen “MACH” demonstrate the strike-rate or stamina of “The Whitemare”. In what may separate them even more dramatically for this fight is the point that while Zaromskis was already starting the rehydrate before the official weigh-in at noon yesterday, Sakurai was still in a sweat suit working out until almost 8:00 p.m. Is this enough to even things up? Or will it even tip things in Marius’ favor?

Round 1: Marius immediately throws a jumping kick that misses by a mile. Sakurai lands a solid punch or two and some very hard low-kicks.
They exchange a few more punches with Sakurai landing the better shots, before Marius lands a clean one, two combination that forces “MACH” to clinch on the ropes until the referee steps in.
They restart and Marius attacks with several strikes while Sakurai sits back to counter each cleanly. He then shoots and takes Marius down in the corner.
After they are restarted on the ground in the middle of the ring Marius escapes and “MACH” just misses his head with a big high-kick, before they both start throwing down.
Sakurai lands a very solid right hand, but he gets countered too and the referee stops for a doctor check as “MACH” is cut open just above the left eye, as well as a small mouse just under the same eye. They say the cut above his eye is about 3 cm is length.
The fight is restarted.
Both fighters circle and Marius lands a high-kick with his shin that causes “MACH” to fall face forward to the mat. He desperately tries to get up but the Lithuanian fighter jumps on him and pounds him until the referee steps in and stops the fight.

Marius Zaromskis wins via knock out at 4:03 of round 1.

Fight 3: Welter Weight Grand Prix Semi Final – Andre Galvao vs. Jason High

While many people praise Jason for choking out his previous DREAM opponent, a man that had never been submitted, in less than a minute, they also tend to cheapen Brazilian jujitsu whizz, Galvao’s submission victory over John Alessio because they “used to be team-mates.” John himself has said they didn’t train together and barely saw each other at the gym so I don’t think it played much, if any role in the win. And frankly, John has the ability to do everything Jason can, and at a far more experienced level. Having said that, Jason is clearly hungry for this and it is still is only Andre’s fourth MMA fight.

Round 1: The two fighters move to the center and touch gloves. They both quickly exchange some blows and Andre just misses landing a knee as Jason shoots hard and takes him down. Both fighters move at lightening speed on the ground and Jason ends up on top with Andre holding his leg.
Jason cannot really punch as he is keeping balanced, however as Andre moves a gap opens, he lands a couple of shots before they scramble and end up with Jason standing, facing the corner post with Andre holding him from behind.
The referee calls break, and as they restart Jason quickly knocks Andre to the ground with a punch. He jumps on to pound as Andre recovers and manages to get him into a knee-bar.
Andre is putting everything into the submission, but Jason doesn’t tap. The American starts looking for his own foot submission and manages to escape, but only so far as winding up on his back with Andre on top of him.
Andre manages to get Jason’s back, with a body triangle keeping High in place. He throws some shots while looking for Jason’s neck, though so far Jason has successful defending it.
Jason is taking a number of annoying punches, and Andre briefly gets full mount before again moving to the back, and yet again back to mount. From here he softens up Jason’s ribs with punches, before again taking High’s back and looking for the choke.
He can’t get it and instead throws some nasty punches that land. He swings his body around for an arm-bar just as the bell rings signaling the end of the round.

Final Round: Jason comes out and lands a solid mid-kick/knee and a few punches that rattle the Brazilian and knock him to the ground. Jason pounds a little, but is far more careful than in round 1, and quickly stands again. The referee orders Andre to stand, and he soon eats a one, two combination.
Jason begins to land some solid combination on Andre in the corner, and Andre runs out of danger. He tries to shoot, but Jason punches him to the ground and then just stands and waits for Andre to stand.
Both fighters seem to be tiring.
Andre falls to the ground after missing a kick, so Jason kicks his legs a few times before allowing him back to the feet.
High again lands a nice left hook, but Andre quickly moves out of range. He lands another nice combination and some nice mid-kicks, but the bell rings.

The judges award the decision to Jason High 2-1

Fight 4: Light Weight One Match – Andre Dida vs. Kasunori Kikuno

Kikuno is a happy man. He has had a smile on his face for the past 48 hours. He looks like a 8-year old child that cannot sleep on Christmas eve. He simply cannot wait to step in the ring and fight. And a fight is something “Dida” will happily oblige him with. At yesterdays’ press conference they announced this as “Kikuno’s kicks vs. Dida’s non-stop aggressive punching,” but I feel that if Kikuno can weather the initial storm, he should be able to pick apart the fearsome Brazilian in the latter half of the first round as his stamina ebbs.

Round 1: Dida misses with a huge swing to open the round, and eats a jab before landing a knee that causes Kikuno to step back. They circle each other and Dida lands a counter straight off the kyokushin fighters’ low-kick that drops Kikuno, but he scrambles to his feet with a big smile on his face.
They circle, with Kikuno grinning the entire time. They finally engage, but neither lands anything solid before they clinch. They break on their own and the circling commences once again. The referee has had enough of this by now though and warns them both.
Kikuno misses with a mid-kick, and Andre does the same with a low. Kikuno lands that mid-kick this time, before clinching and taking Dida to the ground. He quickly gets on top and passes to full-mount. He begins to pound, and Dida rolls and gives up his back. The Japanese fighter digs his hooks in and doesn’t let up with the pounding. Eventually the referee has to step in to save Dida.

Kasunori Kikuno wins via TKO (referee stoppage) at 3:47 of round 1.

Fight 5: Middle Weight One Match – Melvin Manhoef vs. Paulo Filho

In the period of Filho’s last 3 fights, Melvin has had 14. His last MMA bout saw him become the only man to be able to say they have knocked out the granite-chinned Samoan, Mark Hunt. And he did that in just 18 seconds. If Filho is motivated and can get this fight to the ground without getting hurt, Melvin is going to have a tough time escaping. If Filho even resembles the fighter he was in his last 3 fights, he may be having an extremely early, and rather painful night.

Round 1: Melvin starts with several faints, and Filho immediately clinches for the takedown. Melvin pulls out and puts everything he has into his punches, causing Filho to quickly cover up.
Paulo manages to keep one arm clinched though, and tries to take Melvin down again. Melvin hits him with every ounce he has to the head and body, and Filho crumbles to the mat in the corner.
Melvin pounds him for a few seconds before deciding it would be safer on his feet and backing out.　The referee then calls Paulo to his feet.
Manhoef again lands a few nice combinations before Filho clinches and finally gets the takedown he had been looking for.
He moves up Melvin’s body slowly, gets a hold of his arm, and straightens it out. Melvin rolls to avoid the arm-bar, but actually rolls directly into a worse position and he has to tap out.

Paulo Filho wins via submission (arm-bar) at 2:36 of round 1

Fight 6: Middle Weight One Match – Dong Sik Yoon vs. Jesse Taylor

Many a fan has a soft spot for the hard-working South Korean, Dong Sik Yoon. His long awaited return has finally come and he will be facing a newcomer to DREAM, albeit one with more MMA fights under his belt than Dong, in American Jesse Taylor. Jesse is an active fighter, and in fact fought and won in America just last Saturday. He is a big, strong, energetic fighter, but he tends to rely a lot on takedowns and ground work. Perhaps unfortunately for him, this fits in perfectly with where Dong likes to fight, as he would prefer to be on the ground looking for his trademark “Dong-bar” to end the fight anyway.

Round 1: They tap gloves and Jesse then immediately faints a right hand and shoots, taking Dong to the mat and finding nice position.
He quickly gets the Korean’s back and attempts to choke him out, though Dong defends the submission.
Jesse moves to improve position, and Dong tries his best to get the fight back on their feet. As he is getting up he falls to the mat waving off Jesse.
There is some confusion, but Dong is in serious pain. He is signaling to the doctors that he twisted his ankle.
The slow-motion replay of Jesse’s takedown is shown on the screens, and it does appear as though Dong’s ankle is caught at a painful angle under their bodies as they land.
Dong is taken out of the ring in a wheelchair.

Jesse Taylor wins via verbal submission at 1:02 of round 1.

Fight 7: Light Weight One Match – Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor “Shaolin” Rebeiro

This match is made up of two of the highest level ground specialists in all of the light-weight division. As “Shaolin” himself said 2 days ago, “A fight of this level will be decided by which one of us makes a minor mistake.” Aoki is coming off a 27 second beat-down loss to “MACH” Sakurai, knocking him out of today’s tournament final. Ignoring Vitor’s last rather uninspiring match, he is coming off an 18 month break after being brutally stopped by JZ Cavalncanti in 35 seconds. As neither poses much of a threat to the other on their feet, this really should be one of those ground fights that is a thing of beauty to watch unfold.

Round 1: Aoki starts off the round with several mid-kicks and a knee, while staying out of Vitor’s striking range.
Aoki is wearing his usual long spats, but on top of them he has more tradition kickboxing trunks. He is making good use of them too.
The Japanese fighters’ mid-kicks are really starting to land nicely, though Vitor has now started closing the distance to land with his leading hand.
“Shaolin” comes in with a combination, and Aoki manages to clinch and knee him once, before they clash heads and get a “be careful” message from the referee.
Vitor’s right arm and ribs are starting to look like minced beef. He closes the distance again with a left hook and clinches up, but Aoki manages to get away and land yet another mid-kick.
Vitor is really trying to get inside of Aoki’s kicking range and draw him into exchanging hands, however Aoki is having none of it.
Reberio decides to shoot, and he has Aoki in the corner. He cannot get the lanky Japanese fighter to the ground though, and Aoki makes some distance and lands another couple of mid-kicks.
A frustrated “Shaolin” throws a huge haymaker that misses, and he ends up on the receiving end of a couple more mid-kicks and a knee to the head.
The bell rings.

Final Round: Aoki tries to start where he left off, but “Shaolin” is closing the distance well this time. Aoki pushes him away and tries a flying knee, before clinching the Brazilian from behind and throwing him to the ground.
“Shaolin” gets up, and after another accidental head-clash Aoki lands yet more mid-kicks and knees from the clinch.
Shaolin tries another shoot and manages to get a double-leg after almost wearing Aoki’s knee on his temple this time. He succeeds in getting Aoki to the mat, and instantly goes to work on his body from within the guard.
Shaolin is keeping busy on top with left punches while Aoki looks for submissions from the bottom.
In the final 15 seconds Vitor throws what he has left, but the round ends with none of them landing significantly.

The judges award the fight to Aoki 3-0

Fight 8: Welter Weight Grand Prix Final – Jason High vs. Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis

This is the fight that will decide who is going to be DREAM’s first ever Welter Weight Grand Prix Champion. Both men have demonstrated that they more than deserve to be standing here, and they have both won one decision and one stoppage on the way to this encounter. Neither appear to have picked up any injuries in this evenings previous bout, and neither had any trouble making weight yesterday. If Jason manages to get Marius to the ground, will Zaromskis be able to defend the inevitable onslaught? Or will the Lithuanians’ stand up be too much for the American to handle after going the distance in his first fight?

Round 1: Marius throws a flying knee which Jason catches mid-air all with 3 seconds of the starting bell. He tries to throw Marius to the mat, but Marius has very good balance and defends it well.
On his second attempt Jason does manage to get him down and lands in Marius’ guard. Zaromskis gets up though, and High jumps on his hips trying to pull him back to the mat.
They briefly hit the canvas, and when Jason tries spinning for an arm Marius gets out. He misses with a few punches and then lands a nice combination.
After Jason moves back Marius comes in with another series of strikes; a left high-kick lands and knocks Jason out cold. He was also hit on the button by a left straight that was already on its way before he hit the ground.

Marius Zaromskis wins via knock out at 2:22 of round 1, and is crowned the DREAM Welter Weight Grand Prix Champion.