Final Preparations! Getting Ready For The Eighth Dream
#9: The Fighters Gather
The fighters gather. - GBRing.com
The fighters gathered in Nagoya today where the weigh-ins took place. Around 1000 fans were on hand and the staredown between Minowaman and Shibata was intense, with both wearing speedos.
You can feel the energy. - Sportsnavi.com
Also announced was that DREAM.9 will take place in the large Yokohama Arena with the date being May 26th as previously reported.
#8: Weigh-In Results
WWGP: 10. Shinya Aoki (73.5 kg) vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (75.9 kg)
WWGP: 9. Yuya Shirai (75.7 kg) vs. Jason High (75.9 kg)
WWGP: 8. Marius Zaromskis (75.5 kg) vs. Seichi Ikemoto (75.7 kg)
WWGP: 7. Andre Galvao (76 kg) vs. John Alessio (76 kg)
FWGP: 6. Hideo Tokoro (62.3 kg) vs. DJ.taiki (63 kg)
HW: 5. Sergey Kharitonov (116.5 kg) vs. Jeff Monson (110 kg)
89kg: 4. Murilo Ninja (88 kg) vs. Riki Fukuda (88.8 kg)
LW: 3. Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (69.7 kg) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (70 kg)
86kg: 2. Andrews Nakahara (85 kg) vs. Shungo Oyama (85.7 kg)
88kg: 1. Minowaman (87 kg) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (86.2 kg)
#7: Fukuda Vs. Ninja At 89 kg
Fukuda steps up. - Sportsnavi.com
Since Fukuda couldn’t make the Middleweight limit in such short notice the fight is now at 89 kg.
WWGP: 10. Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
WWGP: 9. Yuya Shirai vs. Jason High
WWGP: 8. Marius Zaromskis vs. Seichi Ikemoto
WWGP: 7. Andre Galvao vs. John Alessio
FWGP: 6. Hideo Tokoro vs. DJ.taiki
HW: 5. Sergey Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson
89kg: 4. Murilo Ninja vs. Riki Fukuda
LW: 3. Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
86kg: 2. Andrews Nakahara vs. Shungo Oyama
88kg: 1. Minowaman vs. Katsuyori Shibata
#6: Fukuda To Replace Yoon!
At the Grabaka blog, Sanae Kikuta has written a couple of posts about setting off on a trip today. He doesn’t write it straight out but with the hints on the blog it’s quite safe to say that 2008 DEEP Middleweight GP runner-up Riki Fukuda will replace Yoon Dong Sik against Murilo Ninja at DREAM.8. Not a bad replacement at all.
Update: At his own blog, Sanae Kikuta has revealed that Fukuda will in fact replace Yoon Dong Sik. They received an offer yesterday and inside a few hours after, they set off to Nagoya.
#5: Cocky Sakurai
When asked which fighters to watch out for in the GP Sakurai said that there aren’t any. About Aoki, “Mach” thinks that his style is old. He said that Aoki resembles an earthworm.
#4: Tough Weight Cut For DJ.taiki
When asked about his current mental state DJ.taiki said that he wants the weigh-in to be over with. He says that his current weight is 68 kg so he has to drop to 63 kg before the weigh-ins.
#3: Yoon Dong Sik Injured
Yoon Dong Sik is injured and will not be able to face Murilo Ninja on Sunday. Search for a new opponent for Murilo is underway.
#2: Weight Change In Nakahara Vs. Oyama
The weight for the fight is 86 kg, not the Middleweight limit.
#1: Fight Order Announced
OLYMPIA DREAM.8 Welterweight GP 2009 1st Round
Date: April 5th, 2009
Place: Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan
WWGP: 10. Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
WWGP: 9. Yuya Shirai vs. Jason High
WWGP: 8. Marius Zaromskis vs. Seichi Ikemoto
WWGP: 7. Andre Galvao vs. John Alessio
FWGP: 6. Hideo Tokoro vs. DJ.taiki
HW: 5. Sergey Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson
MW: 4. Murilo Ninja vs. Yoon Dong Sik
LW: 3. Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
86kg: 2. Andrews Nakahara vs. Shungo Oyama
88kg: 1. Minowaman vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Leave a comment
Nightmare Of Battle 
BEtting odds N.O.B.:
http://sadironman.seesaa.net/article/116625669.html
Hmm, Tokoro an underdog.
The Yoon odds are great. Oyama is also someone who could win.
Galvao could also be a winner. I have hopes for Shirai too.
i don’t like Dreams FW limit, i don’t think it was a good idea. they should of used something more traditional like Sengoku
Interesting who will they find (meaning of course that they will find someone) to replace Dong.
Aw man…that sucks so bad about Dong. Also, bad news for DJ.Taiki. I hope he’ll make a successful cut, and then recover from it in time for a competitive bout with Tokoro.
My pick is Mr.Last-Minute-Replacment – Melvin Manhoef! He was KOed by Maeda last week, but it was a quick KO – nothing like the 3-round battle against Remy Bonjasky, which didn’t stop him from fighting at DREAM.3 TWO WEEKS later! (^_^)
I don’t think they can set this up. Manhoef is in Holland right now, most likely unprepared and overweight. Also, people on dutch forums would write about this if there was a talk of Manhoef jumping in Dongs place.
Ahaa, there’s an interesting entry on DEEPs blog http://www.deep2001.com/blog2/?p=2402
wuzzitsay
You’re right, but I would love to see this fight in the future…
Who is the DEEP fighter thay are talking about in that blog entry?
Any word on Jeff Monson?? I noticed he didn’t have an interview or updated picture on the official DREAM site. Has he arrived in Japan yet??
Yes/no, he arrives on the 4th, so he might already be there.
Riki Fukuda vs. Ninja
Awesome.
Riky Fukuda replaces Yoon Dong Sik, a great replacement.
Murilo Rua vs Riky Fukuda
Better here http://blog.livedoor.jp/kikuta_sanae/
oh, there he writes it directly.
I was expecting Fukuda to step in cause he was preparing for M-1 Challenge and some people speculated about it. Very good replacemnt and shows that Grabaka isn’t only pro-Sengoku.
any rumors with where Gono might fight one day?
From what I’ve read nope though some people wonder if Gono will be in Fukudas corner for his fight with Ninja. But maybe N.O.B. has read something interesting about the future of DJ GOZMA 🙂
And it was made official that DREAM.9 will be on May 26. One of the best birthday gifts I ever had 🙂
Most I have read is sengoku, but that was a while ago now so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in either.
I tried copy pasting the fights here and it
didnt work so just go to http://www.myvideofight.com/
for the DREAM 8 fights.
This was Monson’s 3rd fight in 3 weeks. march 21, march 29 and april 5th… check it out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Monson
The guy hugging Monson at the end is Roy Nelson who lost to Arlovski in Affliction.
Nelson and Monson fought against each other 2 weeks before this fight and Nelson got robbed in the decision.
Maybe Monson brought him over to meet some japanese promoters cuz he knew he didnt win that fight.
Aoki got caught with a couple of good knees so this has nothing to do with his chin
like the panicky princess at AOL Fanhouse seems to think it indicates. I guess by that logic Jacare has a weak chin because
he lost to one good upkick in the face.
He was however much smaller than Mach, almost looked thinner than last fight.
Andre Galvao impressed me again.
Very enjoyable contests overall with a good level of technical skills and submission.
But if the DREAM 9 rumors come true, it will be amazing lineup.