Final Preparations! Lighting The Fuse Part 2
#31: Presser Videos
#30: Who Got Their Wish Through?
1. No draws (Both)
2. 3 5 minute rounds (SRC)
3. No stomps (DREAM)
4. No soccerkicks (Both)
5. Judges prioritize effort to finish (DREAM)
6. Judges score per round (SRC)
7. 60 second interval between rounds (SRC) (In DREAM it’s 90 seconds)
Source: BoutReview
#29: Satoshi Ishii Interview
DREAM got a hold of Ishii after the weigh-ins to ask some questions.
How’s your condition?
Good.
Weight?
104 kg.
Who will your second be?
Harumi Shimanishi.
Your training since returning to Japan?
Just been moving my body.
Will you wear a gi?
I didn’t plan on wearing one from the outset.
What will you wear in the fight then?
Trunks.
When you enter as well?
Yes.
Entrance music?
Amazing by Kanye West.
The color of your trunks?
Red. I was going back and forth between red and black but chose the color which stood out.
MMA debut and the Olympics, any difference?
I don’t know how I will feel yet.
There are rumors that Yoshida might retire after this fight…
Retire?! I’m not Yoshida so I don’t know.
The fight order for the event.
I don’t know yet. Early is good. I want to go home as soon as possible. Masato’s retirement fight? I’ll go home.
Your impression of Yoshida?
Same as before.
Yoshida was 110 kg.
I thought he was big.
What’s your reason for not sticking to one team and traveling around to train everywhere?
I like being one person/alone. For the sake of continuing for a long time I want to do things at my pace.
Is the designer of your trunks someone famous?
No, not really.
Normal trunks?
Yes.
Any advice from Akiyama?
None.
Your body build has changed.
Because the body changes it doesn’t necessarily mean that one is stronger. I want to astonish with my performance.
#28: Fighter Comments
Kawajiri Leaves Again - GBRing.com
“Coming here I recall Yarennoka?! from two years ago. Since then DREAM started and make no mistake about it, I carried DREAM and I carried Japanese MMA. Tomorrow I want to clearly show that difference.” – Aoki
“Everyone did good coming in this damn cold today. Tomorrow (pointing at Alistair) I’ll fight that monster over there but I’ll show my fighting spirit so please cheer for me.” – Fujita
“Good evening, I’m first generation SENGOKU Featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara. KID didn’t come today but I’m in perfect form and I’ll wipe him out tomorrow. Please support me.” – Kanehara
Kawajiri asked the referee to please stop him if he uses too much power in his strikes tomorrow.
Yokota said that Kawajiri’s popularity is far higher than his own but he wants to prove tomorrow that his own abilities are higher than Kawajiris.
Before that Kawajiri once again left as the two were going to get photographed by the media.
Tokoro thanked Kim Jong Man for taking the fight on short notice. He is proud to be called a DREAM representative and will prove the promotions strength tomorrow.
Kim is honored to be able to fight on an event like Dynamite!! tomorrow and he said that his and Tokoro’s fight will probably be the most entertaining of the event.
“Mach” said that he doesn’t know what to say since Gono has always been his neighbor at press conferences. But with DREAM on his back he wants to give it his all.
Look forward to Gono’s entrance.
Shibata said that Izumi’s father is a tuna fishermen and he called Izumi a tuna (tuna (maguro) is used by MMA fans in Japan like people in the west use (tomato) can).
#27: 8800 Attend Pre-Event Presser
The open to the public press conference was held today and according to reports, 8800 attended. Satoshi Ishii, Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto, Mizuto Hirota, and Michihiro Omigawa were not present. Hirota and Omigawa were not present due to recovering from tough weight cuts.
Tanigawa is not happy at all with Ishii, who hasn’t attended anything in the schedule to promote the event lately. He praised Masato for his professionalism and said that he even came to the rules meeting.
#26: SRC Site Update
SRC have updated their site with new colors and the new SRC logo, which looks quite decent.
#25: Weigh-In Results
Shinya Aoki (69.8 kg) vs. Mizuto Hirota (69 kg)
Alistair Overeem (118 kg) vs. Kazuyuki Fujita (114 kg)
Satoshi Ishii (104 kg) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (103 kg)
Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto (62.4 kg) vs. Masanori Kanehara (63 kg)
Tatsuya Kawajiri (70 kg) vs. Kazunori Yokota (69.9 kg)
Hideo Tokoro (64 kg) vs. Kim Jong Man (64 kg)
Melvin Manhoef (83 kg) vs. Kazuo Misaki (82.5 kg)
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (76 kg) vs. Akihiro Gono (76 kg)
Hiroyuki Takaya (64 kg) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (64 kg)
Katsuyori Shibata (90 kg) vs. Hiroshi Izumi (93 kg)
#24: Fight Order Announced
We’ll see which fights get the best time spots on TBS.
FieLDS Dynamite!! ～The Power Of Courage 2009～
Date: December 31st, 2009
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
K-1 MAX Fight (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.):
17. Masato vs. Andy Souwer
DREAM Heavyweight Fight (3×5 minutes):
16. Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge
DREAM Vs. SRC (3×5 minutes):
15. Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota
14. Alistair Overeem vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
SRC Heavyweight Fight (3×5 minutes):
13. Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
DREAM Vs. SRC (3×5 minutes):
12. Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Masanori Kanehara
11. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota
10. Hideo Tokoro vs. Kim Jong Man
9. Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki
8. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Akihiro Gono
7. Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Michihiro Omigawa
6. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi
K-1 Fight (3×3 minutes):
4. Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
Super Hulk Tournament Final (3×5 minutes):
3. Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou
#23: Hair Of The Tiger
Hirota says that he’s excited for the fight. He’s more excited than nervous. He thinks that Aoki’s grappling is top class even in the whole world. He doesn’t have the impression of Aoki’s fights being interesting/fun though.
Hirota’s image of himself winning is through pounding. He says that Aoki has been on the bottom a lot so when Aoki gets careless he’ll get one shot in, and then, two and three…
Hirota says that he doesn’t feel pressured since everyone seems to think: “At any rate, Aoki will probably win”. He has watched a lot of videos of Aoki’s fights and is going into the fight with a grappling counter-plan.
He chose the hairstyle for the fight because next year is the year of the tiger in Chinese astrology. It took 4 hours.
He thinks that Kitaoka and Aoki are very different. Kitaoka is the type that comes at you with power while his image of Aoki is stubborn, repulsive/unpleasant, and insistent.
When asked to what extent he wants to beat up Aoki, Hirota said: “I want to say: “until his parents house”, but that’s close-by, isn’t it? (laugh) Yeah, I want to beat him up until he can’t fight anymore.”
#22: Kim Jong Man Speaks
Kim Jong Man is currently trying to get his weight down. The offer to fight came very sudden and if it was another event he probably would have declined. Since it was an offer to fight on Dynamite!! he immediately started cutting weight though. It seems like the cut has gone well.
He is honored to be a representative of SENGOKU and will give it is his all to not cause any trouble for the organization.
He’s been interested in DREAM since it started and has always felt that he would like to participate in the promotion one day.
He has seen all of Tokoro’s fights and thinks that his fighting style is charming. Tokoro vs. Royce is the Tokoro fight which has left the biggest impression on him.
#21: The Rules
Yuji Shimada announced the rules for the DREAM vs. SRC fights today. The fights will be 3×5 minutes as announced previously. There will be a 60 second interval between rounds. Soccer kicks and stomps, which are legal in SRC, will not be allowed. There can be no draws.
Judges will prioritise trying to finish the fight and the fights will be scored round by round, adding them together in the end (don’t know if it’s one of the 10-point systems or if they just choose a winner each round).
Mousasi vs. Goodridge will be fought under DREAM rules but it will be 3×5 minutes. Yoshida vs. Ishii under SRC rules (meaning stomps, 10-point non-must, etc.)
#20: Kazunori Yokota Speaks
Kazunori Yokota says that his mental state going into the fight is the same as always. He trained too much yesterday so he’s feeling a little tired though.
His impression of Kawajiri is that he’s a complete takedown fighter. He loses against fighters he can’t take down (Gomi and Alvarez) and wins against fighters he can take down (Calvan).
He thinks that he has a speed and stand-up advantage over Kawajiri but that Kawajiri has the power advantage. He wants to defeat Kawajiri by strikes.
He’s been thinking a lot about his microphone performance after the fight (it’s kind of his gimmick now, doing a mic performance after his wins). However, he thinks that they’ll definiely cut it out and air commercials. Since the visitors say that his performances are long, he wants to put it all together compactly and either bomb or succeed.
#19: Kim Jong Man Vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
#18: Kim Replaces, Goodridge Vs. Mousasi
Kim Jong Man will replace Marlon Sandro who got injured in training and Gegard Mousasi will take on Gary Goodridge in a Heavyweight DREAM rules fight.
FieLDS Dynamite!! ～The Power Of Courage 2009～
Date: December 31st, 2009
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
MMA Fights:
SRC HW: Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida
DREAM HW: Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge
Super Hulk Final: Minowaman vs. Sokoudjou
DREAM Vs. SRC (3×5 minutes):
Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Masanori Kanehara
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Hideo Tokoro vs. Kim Jong Man
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Akihiro Gono
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi
Alistair Overeem vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Shinya Aoki vs. Mizuto Hirota
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazunori Yokota
Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazuo Misaki
K-1 MAX Fight (5×3 minutes, 1×3 ext.):
Masato vs. Andy Souwer
K-1 Fight:
Ray Sefo vs. Yosuke Nishijima
#17: Korean Fighter In Dynamite!!?
Reports coming out of Korea is that a Korean fighter will participate at Dynamite!! after all. The event will be aired on TV there so it would be strange if there were no Korean fighters.
Gegard Mousasi, Gary Goodridge, Yoshihiro “KISS” Nakao, Korean fighter, who is really participating? Seems like Tanigawa and FEG themselves are having trouble with this supposed last fight.
#16: Open To The Public Press Conference
On December 30th the final press conference of the event will be held at Shinjuku Station Square in Tokyo and it will open to the public for free. Tanigawa, Sasahara, the fighters, etc. will be present.
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Nightmare Of Battle 
hmc
Could be more than one fight. The plan was for 19 in the first place and it’s not unusual for them to throw something in the last minute.
They said one fight at the last press conference, but seems a lot changes in just a few days.
Yeah, yeah, I know. But in their world things are changing in minutes or even seconds. Or could just be they are going with a surprise angle of some kind. I guess I’m just trying to say that if we get two more fights in the end I wouldn’t be surprised.
Yeah, it would definitely not be surprising. But you gotta wonder if paying 4 new guys who haven’t been advertised for the event is such a good idea.
Ppl in Korea don’t know that HMC will be on the show. Not as many will know if they suddenly announce him on the 30th.
They always have trouble finalizing cards. And each year it’s “well, it’s DREAM/SRC this once so it’s ok because it wasn’t planned long before”, etc. Next year there will be other excuses.
They probably tried to get Gomi in there until the last second. Try telling him to take it or leave it and announce the fights in good time for once instead, it might even be better.
Yoshida is right. Dream needs to change their business model and plan fights b4hand. it’s unfair to the fighters.
In the obvious world if they would want to have a Korean fighter on this card with so little time left they would book someone way cheaper than HMC, from lighter weight class. But with FEG/TBS it’s a different case.
I don’t think it will be HMC. Too little time to promote, for such a big paycheck. Dong or Min Soo probably.
I think 2 more fights aswell. They don’t mind adding fight(s) last minute. Just look at Miniwa/Zimmerman last year. I assume Minowa gets paid better than 80% of the fighters in Dream, and Zimmerman Im sure is not a pennies fighter either.
If they need a Korean fighter, or a foreign kick boxer, they will pay to get it, even if it’s last minute.
If it will be HMC then very harsh words should be directed at his management. He wasn’t even training in the last months.
Bu-Kyung Jung vs. Andy Ologun, please.
The K-1 english site says start time is at 16:00. Isn’t it at 15:00?
i swear to gawd, if it’s jung chan sung i will kiss Saeki’s fat ass.
You sure you want to do it?
if Korean Zombie ends up on the card that would be sick.
mmajunkie spoke with Gegard’s manager and he said it will be Mousasi X Goodridge under MMA rules.
Korean Zombie vs Otsuka or Imanari….Dream vs Senogku match. make it happen.
The card as it stands now is all action. Something like Dong vs. KISS would be an energy killer. Jung vs. anybody on the other hand would be a boner.
2 card changes today according to Tanigawa.
IDK if it means 2 new bouts or 2 replacement fighters.
Blah
Sandro is out of the Tokoro fight. I think Jong Man Kim is in.
If they chose Kim over Jung I would be fucking pissed.
Looks like Kim was the Korean fighter.
Looks as if the card is set is stone now too.
Jung/Tokoro would have put this over the top on the epic meter.
Oh well 😦
Goodridge vs Mousasi under MMA rules?! That’s even worse for Big Daddy…
Maybe FEG just want Mousasi to set the new fastest KO/TKO record? Can he beat KID’s four seconds?
Maybe. Gary doesn’t even know when he fought last.
I read yesterday already that Sandro is out with injury and totally ignored it
Nevertheless, it ends as I thought it would.
The other case is, after rethinking it, it sure is not the best idea to add high paid fighters to the card in last minute but they have now Donki to pay for them.
Saku and Royce will participate in a “talk-show” of some sort, on the day of Dynamite! Is this a setup for Saku vs Hoysu III?
I would love to see that fight, preferably under some “Seniors” rules…
oh man that would be epic
Is Bob Sapp fighting?
On the Dream channel they have a video of Fujita arriving in Japan, and Bob Sapp also is there.
Maybe he’s just wrestling?
Shinya Aoki and Hidehiko Yoshida latest additions to “EA Sports MMA”
Two more fighters were today confirmed for the forthcoming “EA Sports MMA” video game, and both share honors as the first Japanese competitors in the game.
Company officials today announced that DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and former judo Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida will be featured in EA Sports’ first mixed martial arts title.
The game, available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms, is expected to be released in late summer 2010.
The fighters join an official roster that currently includes Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Matt Lindland, Scott Smith, Josh Thomson, Nick Thompson, Brett Rogers, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Jay Hieron.
Several other fighters have confirmed their involvement but haven’t been announced by EA.
“EA Sports MMA” faces tough competition from the “UFC Undisputed” franchise. The UFC-backed THQ release debuted with a 2009 version of the game, which recently was named the best sports title at the 2009 VGA Awards. The title features nearly 100 past and present UFC fighters and could top four million units sold by year’s end.
Earlier this year, UFC president Dana White said EA Sports had no interest in an MMA title when he first approached the company a few years back. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported in July, White said EA “doesn’t give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts” and decided to do an MMA title only after seeing the UFC and THQ’s success.
However, EA SPORTS President Peter Moore said the company’s been working on an MMA title since 2007.
Regardless, White had banned any UFC fighters from appearing in the game, though Couture signed a deal during his 2008 contract dispute with the promotion.
EA Sports, founded in 1982, has produced additional sports titles geared around NCAA football and basketball, the NBA, NHL, FIFA and NASCAR, among others. The California-based company has delivered massively popular videogame series such as “Madden NFL” and “Tiger Woods PGA TOUR.”
http://mmajunkie.com/news/17357/shinya-aoki-and-hidehiko-yoshida-latest-additions-to-ea-sports-mma.mma
Royce and Saku pictured on Dreams site! They are getting my hopes up Will they really throw down on NYE!? give us the scoop N.O.B!
just some talk show or something
Wonder if EA is known in Japan.
yeah it’s known as a second rate gaming company compared to japanese brand. 😛
lol at Gary and Mousasi having the 2nd to last fight
they’re going strong for the time when KID and Ishii/Yoshida airs.
the event starts at 3 PM and the broadcast at 6 PM. The broadcast should’ve caught up around when those fights happen.
that is, if they air them live even if they catch up.
Im surprised ishii even show up for the weigh in
why does he hate feg so much
I don’t know if it’s because of FEG, I think its his style.
I heard he tried to make it to the Press Conference but after training with Baroni he gassed out before he could make it to the building. 🙂
Man…Kawajiri really needs to psyche himself up before a fight. I hope he does as well against Yokota using this technique as he did against JZ.
Ishii jealous he’s not the main event!
Or like ovenjockey said, he hates FEG
90-93 kg, what weight class is that?
Light Heavyweight
ahh nice, this would mark the first official LHW fight FEG has held in MMA since Dream started. also good to see there isnt a huge weight difference like i expected
wait, how much did Minowa and Soko weigh in at?
I don’t know. I got the ones in here from sengoku’s website and I haven’t seen any weigh-in results from the FEG fights.
cool thanks, wonder if Minowa and Soko also made the LHW limit
Anyone knows why Kazuyuki Miyata is not fighting on NYE? His last fight was exciting and he won it. And I think he’s more popular than a few of the fighters on this card.
if there wasnt a Sengoku merger for Dynamite I am sure Miyata on other Dream fighters would of been on the card. I imagine space was limited
Masato (70kg) vs. Andy Souwer (70kg)
Gegard Mousasi (99kg) vs. Gary Goodridge (109kg)
Ray Sefo (115kg) vs. Yosuke Nishijima (95kg)
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (100kg) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (89,4kg)
Hiroya (62kg) vs. Masaaki Noiri (61,4kg)
Shota Shimada (61,9kg) vs. Katsuki Ishida (61,2kg)
Ryuya Kusakabe (60,5kg) vs. Tsukasa Fuji (61,9kg)
Ishii came out as such a douche in that interview…
Now I’m rooting for Yoshida and hope for an big upset!
BTW, anyone knows how big Ishii’s paycheck will be?
any post fight interviews? i want to know what the deal with Aoki was
This was amazing!