Final Preparations! DYNAMITE!!

#16: Enjoy

Hopefully nothing bad happens before the event tomorrow. Enjoy the event whenever you’re watching. See y’all next year.

#15: Mark Hunt Vs. Melvin Manhoef!!

The perfect replacement. It was just announced that Mark Hunt and Melvin Manhoef will fight tomorrow in a DREAM Open-Weight division fight.

#14: Weigh-In Results

The weigh-in results are available at Japan-MMA.com.

#13: Hari Vs. Overeem II Will Be…?

Alistair said something about the second fight between him and Hari being MMA at the press conference. However, FEG president Tanigawa said that in the contract it doesn’t say that the second fight will be fought under MMA rules.

#12: Press Conference Photos

Interesting/Funny press conference photos by Sportsnavi.com.

And my favorite…

#11: Overeem Talks CroCop

YouTube audio interview where Overeem continues the war of words with Mirko. Listen to it here.
GracieMag.com article with pre-Dynamite!! J.Z. Calvan comments. Click here to read it.

#10: Le Banner Out With The Flu

He will not participate. He caught the flu before departing to Japan. Hunt’s new opponent will be announced tonight.

Shibata is not feeling well after having to drop around 10 kg in one week. That’s why he was absent from the assembly but he will probably still fight tomorrow. This is what happens when fights are signed so close to the event.

#9: Shibata Not Feeling Well Either?

It seems that Katsuyori Shibata didn’t appear at the assembly either. We’ll have to wait and see what’s going on when some reports are written.

#8: Le Banner Out?

They might have announced at the public assembly that Jerome Le Banner will not be able to fight Mark Hunt tomorrow. I’m not 100% sure yet.

#7: Scandal

There has been a (maybe small, maybe big) scandal involving a Dynamite!! fighter today. We’ll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. If you want to know about it, there is a thread about it on the Sherdog forums. I won’t write anything further about it here if it doesn’t have any implications on the NYE event.

#6: Aoki vs. Alvarez For WAMMA Lightweight Title

It seems that one title will be on the line at Dynamite!! as Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez has been announced as a WAMMA Lightweight title fight. Read more here.

#5: Hari: “My mood/feeling is bad but my condition is good”

That’s what he said when talking with the press. He also apologized once again for the K-1 final situation.

#4: Multimedia

Some new clips from Kakutou Ou on YouTube:

Jerome Le Banner vs. Mark Hunt Preview
Badr Hari vs. Alistair Overeem Preview
Pre K-1 Koshien 2008 Finals Training And Interviews

#3: Joachim Hansen In Japan Reports

Japan-MMA.com has a couple of Joachim Hansen in Japan reports. The first one is from when he met his sponsors and the second includes some training pictures.

#2: Mighty Mo Looking For KO Via Punch Or Pound

Mighty Mo was more confident than Choi in his talk with the press as he said that he invited a coach from the American Millennium Team and that he has trained with fighters from KOTC in preparation for this fight. He said that he can deal with the long round times of DREAM. He also said that his ideal way of victory is a KO from a punch or pound. However, if a submission chance presents itself on the ground, he will be aiming for that too.

#1: Choi Hong Man Not Very Confident

Choi Hong Man has arrived in Japan and some of his comments since have not been very positive. “My condition is not very good. Because there hasn’t been much time since the end of the GP my physical condition is not very good…”