Final Preparations! Getting Ready For The Second Dream

The Calvan vs. Aoki poll ended 21-15 for Calvan.

My predictions:

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi (51/49)
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Ronaldo Jacare vs. Ian Murphy
Magomed Sultanakhmadov vs. Zelg Galesic
Yoon Dong Sik vs. Shungo Oyama
Kin Taiei vs. Minowaman (Depends on which Minowaman shows up)
Shinya Aoki vs. J.Z. Calvan

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The press conference has taken place.

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Kicks, a good weapon against Funaki, especially to the legs/knees.

(Photo By: GBRing)

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Great DREAM.2 promo video.

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It doesn’t have much to do about DREAM.2, but here is Remy Bonjkasy vs. Melvin Manhoef from yesterdays K-1 World GP In Amsterdam 2008.

DREAM On HDNet Announced!

In this weeks Inside MMA it was announced that HDNet Fights have made a partnership with DREAM. DREAM.1 will be aired on May 2nd and DREAM.2 on May 3rd (4 days after the event date). Read more here.

The Eighth Fight! Manhoef In The GP After All?

A forum member at Kakutougi.info has translated a few interviews with fighters who will participate in this weekends K-1 World GP Amsterdam event. One of those fighters is Melvin Manhoef, here is what he said:

Dream tournament
I’m also fighting in the Dream tournament. Well, I can qualify for that on May 11. My opponent will be Ralec Gracie.

Read the whole interview and a few other ones here, thanks to Bon-2.

HEIWA DREAM.3 Lightweight GP 2008 2nd Round
Date: May 11th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

Lightweight GP 2nd Round:
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Buscape
Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Aoki/Calvan

Possible Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Melvin Manhoef vs. Ralek Gracie

Mirko Vs. LeBanner At DREAM.4?

MMA-ID.com are reporting that Mirko Cro Cop will face Jerome LeBanner in an MMA rules fight at DREAM.4 on June 15th. DREAM.4 will take place in either Yokohama, Japan or South Korea.

Trigg Is Officially Out! Ian Murphy Replaces

Frank Trigg who was the announced opponent of Ronaldo Jacare is out as expected. His replacement will be Ian Murphy. Ian Murphy is an amateur wrestler, 180 cm tall and weighs 84 kg.

The eighth fight of the Middleweight GP will be fought on May 11th at DREAM.3.

The fight order for DREAM.2 was also announced. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara is the main event and Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi is the semi main event.

OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP 2008 1st Round
Date: April 29th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

Middleweight GP 1st Round:
8. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
7. Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
6. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
5. Ronaldo Jacare vs. Ian Murphy
4. Magomed Sultanakhmadov vs. Zelg Galesic
3. Yoon Dong Sik vs. Shungo Oyama
2. Kin Taiei vs. Minowaman

Lightweight GP 1st Round:
1. Shinya Aoki vs. J.Z. Calvan

Top Heavyweight Showdown At SENGOKU II! Barnett Vs. Monson

Another fight has been announced for SENGOKU II on May 18th. Josh Barnett will take on Jeff Monson in what might be the main event of the card.

SENGOKU II
Date: May 18th, 2008
Place: Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan

Satoru Kitaoka vs. Ian Schaffa
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kwang Hee Lee
Yuki Sasaki vs. Jorge Santiago
Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Big Jim York
Mike Pyle vs. Dan Hornbuckle
Kevin Randleman vs. Ryo Kawamura
Josh Barnett vs. Jeff Monson
Roger Gracie vs. TBA

Randleman’s Opponent Announced! Kawamura Returns

Randleman and Belfort will not fight this time, instead Randleman will face up-and-coming Pancrase star Ryo Kawamura who returns since winning against Antonio Braga Neto at SENGOKU I.

Update: The event will consist of 8 or 9 fights. If there is a 9th fight, it will be in the Lightweight or Featherweight division. Josh Barnett will most likely headline the event.

SENGOKU II
Date: May 18th, 2008
Place: Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan

Fights:
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Ian Schaffa
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kwang Hee Lee
Yuki Sasaki vs. Jorge Santiago
Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Big Jim York
Mike Pyle vs. Dan Hornbuckle
Kevin Randleman vs. Ryo Kawamura
Roger Gracie vs. TBA
Josh Barnett vs. TBA (Naoya Ogawa/Marcio Cruz/Jeff Monson)

(Photo by: GBRing)

Rumor! Randleman Vs. Belfort At SENGOKU II?

Tatame.com reports that Vitor Belfort’s Boxing coach says that Belfort might fight Kevin Randleman at SENGOKU II or Pro Elite in June.

Sherdog.com also reports that Josh Barnett’s SENGOKU II opponent might be Naoya Ogawa or Marcio Cruz.

SENGOKU II
Date: May 18th, 2008
Place: Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan

Fights:
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Ian Schaffa
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kwang Hee Lee
Yuki Sasaki vs. Jorge Santiago
Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Big Jim York
Mike Pyle vs. Dan Hornbuckle

Possible Fights:
Kevin Randleman vs. Vitor Belfort
Josh Barnett vs. Naoya Ogawa/Marcio Cruz

Participants:
Roger Gracie

Possible Participants:
Jeff Monson

Re-Injured Nose! Akiyama Not In Middleweight GP

Yoshihiro Akiyama announced today at a press conference that he will not participate in this years DREAM Middleweight GP due to a re-injured nose that he sustained in training. Akiyama originally injured his nose in his fight against Kazuo Misaki at Yarennoka! on NYE.

OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP 2008 1st Round
Date: April 29th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Denis Kang vs. Gegard Mousasi
Ronaldo Jacare vs. Frank Trigg
Kin Taiei vs. Minowaman
Magomed Sultanakhmadov vs. Zelg Galesic
Yoon Dong Sik vs. Shungo Oyama

Lightweight GP 1st Round:
Shinya Aoki vs. J.Z. Calvan

Possible GP Participants:
Dae Won Kim
Mamed Khalidov
Daniel Acacio

Possible Participants:
Marcelo Garcia
Jon Olav Einemo
Nick Diaz

Barnett Returns! The Last Announced Fights Should Be Big

Josh Barnett has been announced as a participant for SENGOKU II on May 18th. With Kevin Randleman, Roger Gracie and now Josh Barnett without opponents, it looks like the last announced fights for this event will be the big ones.

SENGOKU II
Date: May 18th, 2008
Place: Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, Japan

Fights:
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Ian Schaffa
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kwang Hee Lee
Yuki Sasaki vs. Jorge Santiago
Yoshihiro Nakao vs. Big Jim York
Mike Pyle vs. Dan Hornbuckle

Participants:
Roger Gracie
Kevin Randleman
Josh Barnett

Possible Participants:
Jeff Monson