Ok.. Anyways, DREAM. 3 is only hours away and the updated finalized card looks like this:

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

Lightweight GP 2nd Round Fights:
8. Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Caol Uno
7. Joachim Hansen vs. Eddie Alvarez
6. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luis Buscape

Welterweight Championship Eliminator Fight:
5. Nick Diaz vs. Katsuya Inoue

Lightweight Fight:
4. Jung Bukyung vs. Daisuke Nakamura

Middleweight GP 1st Round Reserve Fight:
3. Melvin Manhoef vs. Kim Dae Won

Middleweight GP 1st Round Fight:
2. Jason Miller vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Featherweight Fight:
1. Takeshi Yamazaki vs. SHOJI

(Thanks to Nightmare of Battle for the Updated card.)

Since I am a bit pressed on time, I’ll give my quick thoughts and predictions for this card. I’ll work my way up from the bottom starting with the Inaugural Featherweight bout of DREAM. Most of us did see this happening sooner or later. I remember about 8 months ago Tanigawa and Co. had made note that they definitely had plans to try and expand the HERO’s roster to try and incorporate the featherweight fighters. There are probably 2 reasons why they wanted to do this. 1.) They want to expand their brand and bring in different fighters or the other more obvious reason 2.) They need a Division where Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto can rule with an iron fist as he did in the early days of HERO’s. Actually, it should be noted that they even thought of creating a 140 pound division for Kid instead of the standard 143 or 145 we see in SHOOTO or the WEC.

Back to this specific fight, Pancrase’s 1st Lightweight champ SHOJI (SHOJI SHOJI or Shoji Maruyama) is taking on DEEP Veteran and Grabaka Dojo member Takeshi Yamazaki. While I haven’t seen too much of Yamazaki, Shoji definitely caught alot of people off guard when he knocked out the than recent Cage Force Tournament Champion Artur Oumakhanov, who now also fights in DREAM on and off. While Shoji doesn’t nearly have as many fight as Yamazaki, I think Shoji has fought better opposition in shorter periods. The 2 opponents who stand out are the aforementioned Oumakhanov and Brazilian powerhouse Jose Aldo, who Shoji fought to a decision. I think Shoji’s stand up should help him get the win to help him climb to the top of the Lightweights. Shoji by Knockout in the 1st That climb to the top may prove a bit harder with both Hideo Tokoro and Masakazu Imanari both wanting a piece of Kid also.

Similar to the Last DREAM, this one will also feature a late GP bout but for the 185 GP. To help clarify things up, Melvin Manhoef was originally scheduled to fight for a spot to be seeded into the GP but due to him being knocked about by Remy Bonjasky at the K-1 Amsterdam GP show last month, FEG staff have decided that it was best for him to only fight for a reserve spot. The actual final spot will be taken by the winner of Katsuyori Shibata and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. The other thing that should be noted is that both Akitoshi Tamura and Sakuraba may not participate in the next round of the GP for various reasons so the Manhoef fight will most likely be a qualifier also. I’m still praying that they decide to bring Akiyama back.

This fight, in my opinion, will definitely be the most entertaining bout of the evening for personality reasons. I think a great way to describe Katsuyori Shibata is Psychotic but Limited. One thing the man does possess is lots of Heart and drive but he’s very limited in his skill set. On the other hand you have the colorful Jason “Mayhem” Miller, who is definitely a very entertaining personality. Mayhem definitely didn’t have it that easy in his last fight against the tough Tim Kennedy, eventually decisioning him. Shibata’s last fight on the other hand was just a war. The Funaki-trained Shibata, did get finished but definitely showed a fighting spirit the whole fight. I think Mayhem’s experience really makes him the easy favorite to win this bout. I think he’ll overpower Shibata and manage to pound on him for the full length of the fight. I think Shibata won’t be stopped but I do feel he won’t be able to handle Mayhem. Mayhem Miller by Unanimous Decision If all goes how I believe it will the Intro’s and staredown to this fight will steal the show.

The 3rd bout scheduled was originally Melvin Manhoef vs. Ralek Gracie but that fight was scrapped a bit after it was announced. For the Manhoef vs. Gracie fight, my prediction was going to be very simple. Manhoef by Knockout within 30 Seconds. That 1st bout had Manhoef-Oyama II written all over it. Anyways, the bout is now Manhoef vs. Dae Won Kim. Kim is no stranger to the larger Japanese shows. He’s participated both in PRIDE and in HERO’s going 1 and 1, with that win coming to the highly touted and debuting Marcel Garcia, while that lost came to none other than DJ Gozma himself, Akihiro Gono. I think it should be noted that Kim has faced really good competition for only having 7 fights. Garcie, Gono and Doerksen are all former opponents of his. The problem is that he’s facing Melvin Manhoef. Every opponent knows what he brings but he always manages to get them. Manhoef’s explosiveness is ridiculous and enviable at the very least and I see him having no problem with Kim. Manhoef by Knockout in the 1st.

“Finally…” I think that’s what Jung Bu Kyung is thinking after he got matched up with Daisuke Namakura. While not necessarily the Worst that 155 has to offer, Nakamura definitely provides a great fight for people to gauge where Jung’s potential is really at. No disrespect to Nakamura but the one who has more to gain or lose is Jung. If he wins decisively than he’s on his way maybe to a Dong Sik Yoon type renaissance, while if he looks sluggish and unable to finish Nakamura than maybe he was just more hype than anything else. Anyways, I am confident in the skills that Jung displayed in his 1st 2 bouts against Aoki and Ishida respectively, and I do see him taking the Dong Sik Yoon route. The 1 thing I’m troubled about is Nakamura’s plethora of experience compared to Jung and I could see Jung getting upset. I don’t really know if beating a 0-2 fighter is an upset but anyways, I’m gonna have to go with Jung on this one. Jung by Dongbar—I mean Armbar in the 2nd. I think it must be said but Dong Sik Yoon is awesome and also provided one of the most awkward and confusing moments in the history of Fighter Intro’s when he came out to Purple Rain by Prince at the last DREAM show.

One thing I believe DREAM is aiming for is having established Champions in most their divisions by or during 2009. This is very evident in the fact that the winner of both GP’s will win both GP and DREAM titles for their respective weights. JZ also recently stated that he plans on challenging for the DREAM title as soon as he is able to compete after his recent injury. All this added to the fact that they’re now having elimination bouts to set up title fights kind of really helps DREAM and gives it credibility where HERO’s lacked it. The winner of this elimination bout between Nick Diaz and Katsuya Inoue has the displeasure of fighting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai for the title. Sakurai was recently upset by David Baron at the SHOOTO Tradition show. That show did have another upset with “Lion” Takeshi Inoue also dropping a bout to Savant Young, Thankfully both Yusuke Endo and Takeshi Nakakura were victorious so the night wasn’t completely lost.

After being on, than off again, than on again, Nick Diaz finally gets the thumbs up from Pro Elite and gets to make his Japanese debut in a big show. (Side Note: Pro Elite and DREAM have announced a partnership that includes fighters exchanges amongst other things.) Diaz, did make his SHOOTO debut at the 2002 Year End show, which in retrospect is an Ultra Stacked card. Anyways, Diaz is facing Inoue, who’s riding a huge upset win against Satoru Kitaoka last year. While I do think that Kitaoka win was big, 8 times out of 10 I think Kitaoka wins the fight but anyways, the past is the past and Nick Diaz is his new foe. I think Inoue is stronger than Diaz on the feet and could possibly pose a threat if the fight manages to stay on the feet for long periods of time. Inoue has been stopped before though Akira Kikuchi and Yoshiyuki Yoshida but I don’t think Diaz’s punching power will facilitate the KO. Nick Diaz would be heavily benefited by taking this to the floor. I think on the floor, he’ll aim to soften him up with blows and eventually manage to submit, even though Inoue is yet to be submitted in MMA. Both men carry a great deal of experience and this bout should definitely prove really competitive and even. Diaz by Rear Naked Choke in the 1st.

Finally, what feels like Years of waiting the 2nd round of the Lightweight GP is under way. There are only 3 scheduled bouts because of the Aoki-Nagata fight being moved to DREAM. 4. These fights are definitely the one’s most of us have been waiting for and while there are clear cut favorites to possibly win these bouts, I think its very hard to categorize any of these 3 bouts as susceptible to upsets in the sense that if either men wins their respective bout you can’t really make the case and cry upset due to the very close and talented fighters partaking in them.

The only rematch of the GP, Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri vs. Luis “Buscape” Firmino. If your memory serves you well, you’ll remember when the highly touted Kawajiri made his PRIDE debut at BUSHIDO 7 against In Seok Kim and just ran through the poor guy. Buscape was also coming off a very very hardly contested bouts against Luiz Azeredo at BUSHIDO 6 in one of the best fights in BUSHIDO history. Anyways, I think many people thought Kawajiri might repeat the dosage but everyone was just shocked at what transpired. Buscape clearly had 1 thing in mind and that was taking Kawajiri down, which he managed to do very briefly. Of the 15 minutes the bout lasted, Buscape had Kawajiri’s back on the feet as Kawajiri desperately found himself losing the fight going into the 2nd round. Kawajiri looked flat and very perplexed with Buscape’s style of attack. The fight was a bit lack luster to the common eye but the battle for positioning on the feet was incredible to say the least. While many, myself included, believe Kawajiri did not do enough to win the bout, he was still awarded the decision. The key part of the argument lies in the fact that with 5 seconds left in the bout, Kawajiri managed to connect 4 or more solid stomps to Buscape’s face, which begs the question of, what if there was 5 more seconds?

While I did pick Kawajiri to win the whole thing, I think the 1st bout was almost borderline as dominant as anyone has ever been against Kawajiri. Not even Gomi or Melendez managed to control Kawajiri’s upper body for as long or even really completely take him out of his element like Buscape did. Their 1st round bouts where very different. Kawajiri had to face the Behemoth, Kultar Gill and was unable to finish him though he dominated, while Buscape, after a 1 year lay-off, got back into his groove by finishing Kazuyuki Miyata. I think the fight will not be like the 1st. I think Kawajiri is wiser and knows what to expect from Buscape. I think Kawajiri will employ GSP’s recent tactic and just secure the quick takedown and works from a position that benefits him and where he feels more comfortable. Now actually getting the takedown should prove a bit harder and I think he’ll have to set the takedown up with some heavy strikes. Buscape on the other hand should try the same tactic as in the 1st. Try and secure the upper body and eventually the takedown also. I think Kawajiri’s strength might play into it but Buscape is definitely not a slouch in that zone. I don’t see either men finishing each other but I’m gonna have to go with my gut even though there are no stomps. Kawajiri by Split Decision.

The 2nd bout has fight of the night written all over it with Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen taking on Eddie Alvarez. I remember when they originally announced that Eddie Alvarez would be participating I was thrilled to hear his name because he had relative success at 170 pounds but his true calling was at Lightweight. He didn’t disappoint. He scored a huge stoppage win over my Original Dark Horse pick Andre “Dida” Amade. He did everything to perfection in that bout. Worked the crisp stand-up, nice knees and used his superior wrestling. Hellboy on the other hand, had a tough time with Koutetsu Boku, who definitely put up a great fight. Hellboy looked well rounded and started to regain his stride. The 1 thing I find amazing is that both men are soo talented in almost all fields of the game. This fight will definitely prove to possibly be the best fight in DREAM’s short history due to the excitement and of course, skill that both men bring to the table.

Hellboy in a mount or dominant position could very easily end the fight at any given second, so I think it would be wise for Eddie to avoid going to his back because of Hellboy’s solid ground and pound and good submission game. Eddie could also opt to try and get the takedown but I really don’t know how Hellboy would react to that because of his ability to regain his bearings and reverse to a favorable position. This fight is very hard to call but I Think this will be a stand-up battle for about 3 minutes with both shooting on each other and both being Unsuccessful. I think the fight will be decided on the feet for the most part. I’m going out on a limb and I’m gonna say Thunder will strike again and Hellboy will connect with a huge knee to Alvarez’s face and we know what happens after that. Reference the Uno, Azeredo or Imanari fight if you’re confused. Hansen by Knee in the 1st Round. This fight is too close to call so why not dream of this ending? It’s like watching a Glaube Feitosa fight and waiting for the Brazilian Kick KO. It may or not happen.

Finally, the Main event and final bout of the GP, Caol Uno vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida. While I don’t think this’ll be a repeat of Uno vs. Sato I do think this is a great fight but probably the least intriguing bout for me personally. I think the gift Uno got from FEG was just ridiculous and incorrect when compared to the treatment Yoshihiro Akiyama got. Anyways, this fight probably won’t be the most likely to deliver the big knockout but it will be one of the highest paced bouts on the card. Both men’s wrestling, especially Ishida, is some of the noteworthy in the division and I do think this fight will be long and tedious and very hard fought. Another thing that should be noted is that Uno’s last fight was against Andre Amade at last year’s HERO’s GP in which Amade ended up breaking Uno’s jaw with a massive knee. Uno looked very uncomfortable and his wrestling was unable to bail him out of anything. Ishida’s last fight was against Jung Bu Kyung and was very announced and had an almost predictable outcome. I don’t see either men finishing each other, and if I was to choose someone who was most likely to finish the bout, I’d probably pick Uno. Anyways, just like many other times Ishida is just too much for his opponent. Ishida by Unanimous Decision.

I’m not brave enough to pick any upsets but I don’t realistically see any. Anyways, enjoy DREAM. 3 and I’m a liar because my “breakdown” wasn’t as quickly as advertised. Sorry.

My Picks:

• Shoji by Knockout in the 1st
• Jason Miller by Unanimous Decision
• Melvin Manhoef by Knockout in the 1st.
• Jung Bu Kyung by Armbar in the 2nd
• Nick Diaz by Rear Naked Choke in the 1st.
• Tatsuya Kawajiri by Split Decision
• Joachim Hansen by Knee in the 1st Round
• Mitsuhiro Ishida by Unanimous Decision.

5.) Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada

I think it’s safe to say that some of the greatest intro’s around belong to Japanese fighters. 3 of the most memorable one’s in recent memory to me are Akihiro Gono’s BUSHIDO 13 semifinal bout against Denis Kang, in which DJ Gozma was joined by DJ Ozma in the PRIDE style rendition of the once popular J-Pop tune “Age Age Every Night” in what has to epitomize the whole entertainment/fighting style some fighters aim for. (Side Note: There’s a Japanese Pop Star named DJ Ozma, who Gono imitates in his famous Red Afro Dancing Intro’s. Gozma is a play on Gono and Ozma.) Genki Sudo’s tribal retirement intro at Dynamite!! 2006 was just jaw dropping and intricate to say the least.

Finally, Kazuo Msaki’s latest showing at Yarennoka!! against Yoshihiro “Satan” Akiyama was not as flashy or necessarily that too different than everyone else’s but the obvious way that he managed to have the whole building in his hands was just incredibly. It seemed almost like electricity was running through his veins and was almost a spectacle itself. It was incredibly hard to argue who the Japanese fans where cheering for and enthralled by. Misaki had an almost destructive demeanor and looked incredibly focused and bloodthirsty throughout the whole ordeal. Definitely a 180 degree difference from his flat and lackluster show at PRIDE 33 against Frank Trigg. To clarify that “Satan” nickname, at the Press Conference announcing DREAM all of the bigger name fighters had promo packages and had weird nicknames through out and it turns out they dubbed Akiyama “Satan” sadly.

It’s not really everyday you hear about a breakout star from the Middle-East but Afghanistan’s Siyar Bahadurzada has defied odds and last year was crowned 83 kg. SHOOTO World Champion. He spent the 1st years of his life surviving the harsh conflicts in the region until his family was able to relocate to Holland. He has managed to align himself with one of the best camps in Europe, Golden Glory and Tatsujin Dojo and blossomed into the machine we know now. Sporting a nearly flawless 13-1-1, Bahadurzada definitely has a platefull as he moves way up in competition to face BUSHIDO Tournament Champion and Grabaka Hitman, Misaki.

When I heard Siyar was fighting Misaki I thought that he would’ve been alot better served to climb the rankings a bit slower. You have to keep in mind that this is only his 2nd fight out of Holland. A perfect event for Bahadurzada to compete in would’ve been the DEEP 83 kg. tournament, which recently started and would’ve helped to get his feet wet while still fighting good competition like Ryuta Sakurai and Riki Fukuda, the 2 biggest names in the tournament. DEEP is obviously currently without a champion due to the fact that their former champ, Ryo Chonan, abdicated his title to fight in the UFC. Chonan himself has had a bit of a tough time securing bouts in the states according a blog post he recently posted. I’m not saying Bahadurzada isn’t good enough to fight Misaki, but making the jump from SHOOTO to an Arena with 10,000+ people against a fan favorite and not to mention one hell of a fighter seems almost insane but my hats off to Bahadurzada, who has incredible odds stacked against him.

This one isn’t necessarily hard to pick. Based off experience, I think Misaki shouldn’t really have too much of a hard time with Bahadurzada. Misaki is incredibly gifted and seems to give lots of strikers hard times. He is also no stranger to standing up and banging as he’s done before especially in one of his best striking displays against Daniel Acacio at BUSHIDO 7, a match he eventually lost by decision. He is also incredibly hard to finish and if Siyar aims to stop it early his best chance remains on the feet. We saw in Misaki’s last fight that he can be dropped, Akiyama violently knocked him down and thankfully didn’t throw a Soccer kick. Bahadurzada’s hands are his biggest assets and would obviously aim to keep this on the feet. Also, one has to factor in that Misaki might take Siyar too lightly which could too spell the end for him, a scenario I don’t really see happening but even the best are susceptible to this. Fight experience and Big Show experience definitely plays a huge factor in my choice. Prediction: Misaki by Unanimous Decision.

6.) Takanori Gomi vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig

Question: What is 373? Answer: The number of days that PRIDE 33 has occupied space on my DVR and also the last time Takanori Gomi last saw action. Yes, It’s been 1 whole year since that epic night on February 24 when Gomi and Nick Diaz duked it out in what I believe was the fight of the year in 2007. I believe Youtube’s MMA Analyst expressed everyone’s feelings correctly in his PRIDE 33 Recap by saying,”What did I just see?” and many other “French” words that perfectly described that night and event. It just seems mindbending to think that the last time we heard the blaring “Scary” by The Mad Capsule Markets announce the presence of one “Fireball Kid” was one year ago. This inactivity is obviously due to the hope and wish that PRIDE would return but alas time has passed and people move on. Many fighters were hurt by this inability to fight and seem to be getting back on their feet and Gomi is no exception. He has received heavy criticism from some stating that he’s ducking the UFC, which is completely absurd. The lifespan of a fighter isn’t always 15 years like Ken Shamrock. He has the chance to make money in the prime of his career and why not do so?

Even with 1 whole year being inactive many people, myself included, that Gomi is the number 1 Lightweight fighter in the world. Gomi, of course began his trajectory towards dominance at 23 when he captured the SHOOTO World Welterweight Title from Rumina Sato. Years would go by and eventually he would crown himself the PRIDE Lightweight GP Champion and PRIDE Lightweight Champion. His rise to the top has also been filled with controversy after dropping bouts to Marcus Aurelio and Nick Diaz, which was later overturned. I wrote about Gomi’s return when it was originally announced that he would be fighting at Sengoku here. I could go on for days waxing poet about Gomi but all I can really say is that I’m really happy to see him fight again. He’ s one of those fighters who sucks you in and keeps your attention. He’s rarely ever in a boring fight and you know what to expect.

“Bang” is an appropriate name for Duane Ludwig and it also sounds a heck of alot better than Lil’ Bas. He’s the 1st ever K-1 MAX US Champion and participated in the inaugural K-1 Middleweight Artistic eXtreme Tournament in 2002, where he lost to Masato by Decision in the 1st round of the GP. He also holds the distinction of being the very 1st individual to knockout Jens Pulver in his prime with Takanori Gomi repeating the dosage a couple years later. Bang’s incredibly historic career has fallen into some tough times lately. Not necessarily due to the fact that he’s been losing fight after fight, because he hasn’t, its due to the fact that he’s looked rather unimpressive in his fights against lackluster opponents.

His last loss came at the hands of Paul “Semtex” Daley, who just recently shocked hardcore MMA fans by announcing his strange surprise retirement. Semtex, a naturally heavier opponent, went out and just put on a clinic on Bang on the swing bout of the Strikeforce-EliteXC: Shamrock vs. Baroni. He looked very outclassed and obviously outweighed. Sadly, his last bout against Mario Stapel looked just wrong. It kind of reminded me of a wrestling match as Stapel just flopped around and would eventually go down. Bang was actually scheduled to fight a couple weeks ago at the Strikeforce- Strikeforce at the Dome show, which was headlined by Bob Sapp and Jan Nortje in a disastrous, almost sad display of MMA. There were actually rumors swirling around that if Bob Sapp would’ve won than he would’ve faced Mirko Cro Cop at DREAM.1. Thankfully for us, Jan Nortje kind of silenced those rumors and not so thankfully for Dong Sik-Yoon, who’s name is now likely to appear.

No real mystery picking this fight. Gomi’s hands are incredible and will of course dictate the fight. His striking is just awesome to say the least, while Bang’s skills seem to dwindle. His take down defense is wonderful. Don’t forget Gomi has one of the best jaws in MMA and can definitely take a punch. I don’t realistically see this turning into a wrestling or grappling match and I see this actually mirroring the Gomi-Pulver fight from PRIDE Shockwave 2004. Another piece of added incentive is that there is a small chance that this bout will serve as the 1st bout of the DREAM Lightweight GP this year. Even though nothing has been confirmed there seems a chance that this can become a reality. Gomi, now the $200,000 man will not disappoint. Prediction: Gomi by 1st Round KO

7.) Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett

I’d really like to be able to see what’s going on in Hidehiko Yoshida’s head right now. Maybe weird feeling of anticipation, mixed with nervousness and a bit of worry. Anticipation, because his last fight was not a very pleasant experience and wants to erase memories of it, as hard as it sounds. It was really sad watching Yoshida’s semi-living body being dragged back to the center for repositioning after DVD Watcher extraordinaire, James Thompson wailed on poor Yoshida. It was almost criminal at times. Obvious feelings of nervousness thinking that you are obviously the reason most people might actually be watching this. Yoshida is obviously one of the bigger draws in Japan. His Gold Medal vs. Gold Medal fight against Rulon Gardner at Shockwave 2004 sparked the interest of 25 Million people, not to mention that his Gold Medal vs. Silver Medal bout against Naoya Ogawa at Shockwave 2005 repeated the 25 million mark.

The obvious feelings of worry are definitely about the man he’ll be facing. Yoshida is no stranger to fighting larger and most of the time more talented fighters. He’s amassed a list of who’s who in PRIDE including a debut against Don Frye, a debuting Mark Hunt, OWGP winner Mirko Cro Cop and his 2 epic battles with Wanderlei Silva. His record, like Takimoto, doesn’t really say much about him and again doesn’t do him justice considering he’s always fought great competition on a consistent basis. I think that one of the reasons why PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 is so beloved was because of the great caliber of fights and I think the Yoshida vs. Silva was definitely the best fight of the night. He seems to be afraid of no one, which can be a virtue or curse.

There are some fighters who like to remain more active than others and than there are some fighters who seem to be taking the Travis Fulton route. In 2006, Josh Barnett managed to fight an almost unheard of 6 times. All against top competition including his incredible OWGP run. After a well deserved break in 2007, Barnett is back and definitely aiming to solidify himself in the upper echelon of Heavyweights in the World. It’s also kind of really hard to see where Barnett’s head is at too. He really loves Catch Wrestling, which is fine, but it kind of sucks for the fans to see him doing that instead of testing himself in a fight.

I remember a couple months back when Yoshida was officially confirmed for this event, I just thought to myself which heavyweight submit him through torture. I actually made note of it in a page I wrote here on MMAOpinion appropriately titled, Yoshida vs. (Insert Big Heavyweight Here). It was kind of a joke title but deep down inside it was the truth. We all knew something like this would happen and it did. I’m not really the biggest fan of this match-up even happening but I guess this does help put the company on the map considering they have no TV deal in Japan. To be honest is kind of random matchmaking and I wish they would’ve allowed both men to ease back into the game especially Yoshida considering he’s moving up in competition and in years.

I think this fight will not necessarily be the most entertaining. I do think Yoshida does always come out to fight and I do commend him for that. I think both men matched together does provide a dull fight. Barnett, like I said is in a category of competition higher than Yoshida and this fight will definitely serve him well as a warm-up fight for a hopefully future match-up with Fedor. I don’t see Yoshida knocking out Barnett or even submitting unless Barnett just has a lapse of judgement and Yoshida is able to quickly capitilize. Realistically there is 2 ways I see this fight going down and both have Barnett coming out on top. Yoshida will obviously be served to try and keep Barnett on his back, which I don’t see happening. Barnett is one of the better grapplers in the Heavyweight and is stronger and naturally larger than Yoshida. Let’s hope Yuji Shimada is no where in sight because Lord knows he’d never let Yoshida off the hook without first almost dying. Prediction: Barnett by 1st Round Ref Stoppage

Keep the Peace and Enjoy World Victory Road’s Sengoku on March 5th. I should also have a review for the show the day after it airs so stay tuned for that too.

World Victory Road presents Sengoku

March 5, 2008

1. Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro vs. Nick “The Goat” Thompson
2. Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto
3. Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos
4. Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham
5. Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
6. Takanori Gomi vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig
7. Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett

Check out the Sengoku Official Website for other media.

I remember a couple of months back when word out of Japan was that a newly formed organization was about to be formed and would be associated with J-Rock. Obviously, the 1^st thing that popped into my head was Yoshida. I’m not the biggest Yoshida fan, but being one of the biggest draws in Japan it kind of got me thinking that maybe, just maybe this would be the “new” PRIDE. This is way before DREAM and around the time Shigeru Saeki’s name popped up saying that there was a revival movement, which became Yarennoka!, so anything sounded great coming from Japan. Fast forward about 5 months and we’re now in March and DREAM is unveiled and WVR kind of got pushed to the side. I think the fact that they lack about 4 more intriguing bouts actually hurt their cause as DREAM quickly sprinted ahead to try and fill that void. Wednesday will answer lots of questions that I think need to be answer before we can crown anyone the new, almost default premiere Japanese MMA organizations.

Will Sengoku mirror something epic and wonderful? Or was it’s inability to secure a TV deal a sort of foreshadowing of things to come? 2 very different paths all together. Wednesday’s card is very diverse and stands as so:

World Victory Road presents Sengoku

March 5, 2008

1. Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro vs. Nick “The Goat” Thompson
2. Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto
3. Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos
4. Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham
5. Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
6. Takanori Gomi vs. Duane “Bang” Ludwig
7. Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett

I’ll go over the card as it appears on the official Sengoku website. Give my thoughts on the fight and fighters and eventually a prediction on the fight.

1.) Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro vs. Nick “The Goat” Thompson

The card starts off a bit weak in the sense that when you see both the 1st 2 fights you may automatically think that its a stacked Pancrase or DEEP show. I think this maybe due to the fact that 3 of the 4 fighters featured in the 1st 2 bouts have no experience fighting in bigger promotions, with the exceptions being obviously Thompson. Anyways, the first bout features The Goat against The Pitbull and is the only bout of the night to not feature a Japanese fighter.

Fabricio Monteiro is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has experience in international competition, recently tying for 3rd in the Pan American Jiu Jitsu Champsionships in 2007. He’s alternated his fighting home between his native Brazil and Japan. His career started off with a bang going a perfect 10-0, until he eventually stepped up in competition to fight the legendary Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons and suffered a knockout loss. (SIDE NOTE: Landi-Jons recently suffered a horrific leg break at TKO 32 last week and I hope to wish him a great and steady recovery.) Pitbull would go on to earn wins over veterans like Kiuma Kunioku, Hiroyuki Abe, and Jutaro Nakao but has definitely looked less than spectacular in his last couple bouts losing his last 2 bad fashion. One of those actually being against Satoru Kitaoka for a spot in the PRIDE 2007 Lightweight Grand Prix, which eventually never happened.

Nick Thompson on the other hand has had a rebirth in his career. Thompson is a UFC and BodogFight veteran, who has managed to put together a nice 10 fight win streak with his last loss being to Karo Parisyan at UFC 59. His most impressive of those 10 being for the Bodog Welterweight Title against the very undersized Eddie Alvarez at the BodogFight: Clash of the Nations event last April. Another notable statistic about those last 10 fights is that all have come by stoppage. Thompson’s size should also be noted as he measures a solid 6 feet 1 inch.

I think this fight will not be the most hard fought battle. Monteiro’s stand-up is incredibly sketchy, at best, and he tends to really fall in love with his hands during the most inopportune moments. Another one of his bad habits is that he often tends to pull guard, which would definitely be useful as a BJJ black belt but his inability to solidly defend punches from his closed guard could spell disaster for him. Monteiro is the complete opposite when in a dominant position especially mount where he is constantly raining down shots or looking to secure a submission. I think The Goat’s reach will be a huge factor in the bout as Monteiro doesn’t have the strongest of jaws and is very open to punches entering his defense. I think superior striking will be the factor and his inability to be able to keep the Goat down will doom the Pitbull. Prediction: Thompson by KO in the 1st.

2.) Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto

Classic battle between grappler and striker. Kawamura is a hard hitting Pancrase veteran, who I thought was by now was going to be in either the UFC or any other bigger organization. His inability to remain undefeated may have hurt his cause. Kawamura was one of those guys who was flying way under the radar and I felt was going to blow up at any second until his loss to Fabio Silva kind of knocked things a bit off track but than another huge upset loss to Pancrase Ultra-Veteran Keiichiro Yamamiya saw his aspirations of becoming King of Pancrase slip and more importantly a move to a bigger organization like HERO’s at the time. Strangely, with 2 losses in his last 3 fights he is still ranked 2nd in the Official Pancrase Rankings last month.

Kawamura does have experience and also big wins over Daniel Acacio, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Yuta Watanabe, who I predict sooner or later will be one of the bigger stars at 185 in MMA. Experience is something that Antonio Braga Neto does not have too much of, but does make up with his incredible ability to impose his BJJ skills on opponents. Sporting only a perfect 4-0 record going into wednesday, Neto hopes to make a bigger name for himself and continue his winning ways.

Neto’s BJJ has definitely transfered nice to MMA and could definitely pose a threat to Kawamura. I believe that this is one of the harder fights to pick on this card. The fact that Kawamura did drop his last fight against somebody who I thought he’d have no problem with kind of makes me hesitant. Neto doesn’t really represent too much of a threat for Kawamura on the feet, which is where Kawamura aims to keep this bout. Also, Kawamura does posses very heavy hands and almost always seems to eventually connect. I think experience will play a huge part in my decision and is kind of the turning point because Neto’s BJJ is awesome but his lack of real opponents gives reason to pick against. Prediction: Kawamura by KO in the 2nd.

3.) Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos

When you look at Takimoto’s record I don’t really think it does him much justice. A decent 4-3 record doesn’t really capture all that Takimoto is. A 2000 Olympics Judo Gold Medalist, he made his MMA debut at Shockwave 2004 in an untelevised bout against Sumo Wrestler Henry “Sentoryu” Miller. He’d then go on to fight other Asian fighters like Dong Sik-Yoon, Sinae Kikuta and Kiyoshi Tamura in very lack luster bouts. Finally in 2006, Takimoto entered the BUSHIDO Welterweight Tournament and in a hard fought loss was forced out of the fight due to an eye injury he sustained at the hands of Gegard Mousasi. 2007 was much kinder to him scoring huge wins in spoiling the highly touted PRIDE debut of Zelg Galesic and than earned a hard fought split decision over Murilo Bustamente.

There are alot of intimidating people in MMA but one who stands out alot is “Cyborg”. Some thing about his crazy killer/cocky staredown that sends shivers down your spine. His weapons and his mode of attack are no secret, as every blow he throws is laced with knockout power venom. Chute Boxe has definitely had it’s ups and downs this year with a weird shift in talent to the US (Wanderlei Silva) and some to the Universidade de Luta (Rua Brothers and Andre Amade) but Cyborg has remained loyal to the Fedrigo way of doing things. Also, he has a very special team mate in his wife the very talented and equally intimidating, Cristiane Cyborg or Cris Cyborguinha, who is off to a 4-0 start.

His crazy, no prisoners style of fighting has also maybe been the reason his record stands at a sombre 15-10 in MMA matches. His last 2 fights have been anything but stellar. He dropped a decision to Former Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion James Zikic and suffered a very controversial knockout loss at the last HCF show against the highly touted Gegard Mousasi. I think that the streak of bad luck for Cyborg will sadly continue. It’s very apparent that Cyborg is obviously incredibly confident and most likely aiming to try and keep this standing as long as possible, while Takimoto’s striking isn’t as polished but he frequently stands and receives alot of punishment and seems to thrive when he gets hit or is behind, which is very apparent in his last 2 fights. I think this fight will mirror what we saw at PRIDE 34 from Takimoto. He’ll end up on his back and be able to work as long as he stays away from too much damage but I do see him reversing Cyborg and managing to put him on his back. Prediction: Takimoto by 2nd Round Kimura

4.) Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham

When I read that Kazuyuki “Iron Head” Fujita would be fighting on this card I was incredibly intrigued to see who he would be facing and after 2 weeks the name Peter Graham had appeared, which immediately led me to believe that this was definitely going to be one of the more entertaining bouts of the night. Fujita hasn’t had the best of luck recently losing 2 of 3 bouts in rather unimpressive fashion. The Japanese juggernaut was one of 16 (15 Really) who set out to capture the PRIDE OWGP title. He was initially successful in stopping the Colossus, James Thompson. His 2nd round opponent, Wanderlei Silva would not be an easy draw for anyone even obviously being smaller. Silva was brought in to replace Fedor Emelianenko, and would take advantage of this opportunity shockingly stopping the Japanese superstar in violent fashion.

Fujita would return at Shockwave 2006 to face the debuting Eldari Kurtanidze. It seems like DSE brought the Georgian in so that Fujita could take out all his anger out, something that he successfully did. His only fight of 2007 was a very strange and lacklust fight at a very strange and lackluster event PRIDE 34. He fought Jeff Monson in what I believe was an almost blasphemous and offensive main event at the very last PRIDE show ever. Nothing special came out of the fight as Fujita was eventually choked into submission. Almost 1 year later Fujita reappears and should hopefully be back to his destructive old self.

Peter Graham joins a growing list of fighters transitioning from K-1 to MMA. (Side Note: Mark Hunt was announced to be participating at the 4/16 K-1 Show and will face Semmy Schilt for the K-1 Super Heavyweight World Title) Graham in my opinion is the owner of one of the best head-kick knockouts in K-1 (The Other 2 being Koaklai Kaennorsing over Might Mo & Badr Hari over Stefan Leko II). Graham’s “Rolling Thunder” victory over K-1’s 1st and current Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari is a spectacle and will definitely live on as one of the most bizzare and incredible knockouts in K-1 History. He recently rematched Hari at the K-1 Hong Kong Grand Prix in a very lackluster affair. Graham has joined Team Quest in training for this bout, which definitely helps to smoothen the transition to MMA.

This being Graham’s 1st MMA fight it’s really hard to gauge how the fight will end. I think it would have to completely depend on what Fujita will do. Fujita has also just visited the States as he spent time training here. If Fujita is willing to stand with Graham, it will definitely spell his end. He has been dropped by Wanderlei and Fedor, who aren’t K-1 Level Strikers like Graham, which obviously gives the edge to Graham on the feet. If Fujita wants to be successful he should try and secure a takedown and utilize his ground and pound. Who knows what Graham’s wrestling or takedown defense is like at this moment. Training at Quest definitely should give him a good feel for the ground game while not necessarily hurting his striking as Cyrill Diabate and Xavier Foupa-Pokam from Snake Team moved to Quest to help Dan Henderson prepare for his bout at UFC 82. I’m going to be bold and pick the upset. I think Fujita will be too stubborn to take it down and will pay heavily for it. Graham’s striking is definitely better and should translate very well to MMA. Prediction: Graham by KO in the 1st

World Victory Road’s Sengoku Preview (Part 2) will be posted soon.

Let’s get it on, then.

1. Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara v/s Chris “The Crippler” Leben

This is Alessio Sakara’s first fight at middleweight and judging by his last performance at Light Heavyweight, this one is going to be a barnburner! Sakara comes in with amazing boxing ability and a newly found confidence on the ground as well, thanks to his new camp - The American Top Team. Sakara, ever a dangerous knockout artist, seems to finally have worked at his achilles heel, the Takedown defence. What one wonders is whether Sakara will be able to translate his power and skill down in the middleweight division.

His acid test - The Crippler, Chris Leben. Although Leben is more known for his antics on the camera on the Ultimate fighter season 1, do not take this team quest and now hawaii based fighter lightly. Many people on the internet make the mistake of judging him by his TV appearance and have been proven wrong a few times. Ever an exciting fighter, Leben brings excellent ground skills and really good striking into this fight. What might be a bad idea for him would be to wait till he gets hit before he exhibits any fire in this match since one punch from Sakara will be all it takes to knock Leben out. Leben does have an advantage on the ground and I think that should be his strategy in this fight - take Sakara down and end the fight with punches from side mount.

An exciting standup battle is what I predict.

Prediction: Chris Leben by TKO round 2.

2. Jon Fitch v/s Chris Wilson

This is one of three match-ups that I am very excited to watch. Jon Fitch goes up against a very dangerous newcomer to the octagon in Chris Wilson.

Fitch, an exciting ground fighter, is well known in the division and is thought of by many as one of the rising stars in the division. Fitch has a phenomenal ground game and is pretty good at strikes also. I forsee Fitch trying to take the match to the mat and use his considerable wrestling skills to dominate Wilson on the ground to take the victory.

Wilson, on the otherhand, is a seasoned muay-thai veteran and has had an excellent record in stand-up matches. Wilson’s knees and strikes and especially his setups for the same are phenomenal and have ever gained the praise of many of the game’s best. His ground game is pretty good as well, training at Team Quest with the likes of Dan Henderson and Matt Lindland have really helped Wilson step up his skills on the ground and his submissions are really good as well. I personally am really excited to finally see Wilson in the UFC and can’t wait to see how he performs.

I think the match will end up on the ground for the latter half of the first round with Fitch dominating after taking a few blows while on the feet. The second round will have Fitch trying to get Wilson to the ground but Wilson will use his considerable reach to keep him at bay and the match ends by either submission or TKO on the ground for Chris Wilson. I know a lot of people are going to disagree with this one - glad to hear your thoughts.

Prediction: Chris Wilson - round 2 - Submission/ TKO

3. Yushin “Thunder” Okami v/s Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner returns!! This is basically what has been hyped a lot during the past few weeks and I have even read articles with Tanner claiming to know how to beat Anderson Silva. Two things here that don’t pertain to the match-up. It may be to generate interest, but I have never seen Tanner given so much media attention and secondly, never has Tanner ever made such statements before a fight either. Now that I have that off my chest…

Yushin “Thunder” Liger ..errr…I mean Okami is back after his decision loss to Rich Franklin and has been given the task of judging whether the 35 year old Tanner is still a force to reckon in the middleweight division or not. Okami is mainly a ground fighter with excellent takedowns and dominant wrestling capabilities. Deceptively strong, Okami possesses strength that will be a challenge for Tanner to fight against. The one big weakness that I see in Okami’s game that might cause him problems is that Okami is not very comfortable with strikes and someone with as dangerous a striking game as Tanner can be a daunting task for Okami. The one thing that Okami always goes to and I believe will this time as well is going to be the takedown and ground and pound strategy (if it works, don’t change it right?) and his strength and skill will definitely be difficult for Tanner to combat.

Tanner on the other hand has every eye on him and has a lot to prove. No one knows how good Tanner’s conditioning is - although I have never seen Tanner gas and he looked better than ever in promo material. Secondly, is the Evan Tanner who steps in to the octagon the same Tanner who stepped out a few years back? Third - Does Evan Tanner have the will and determination to take his game back to and beyond what it was when he lost to Rich Franklin?

This is the first time that Tanner has had a proper training and conditioning camp for a fight. Tanner’s strengths have always been his elite level striking and excellent submission game. Although his will is sometimes questioned, his heart has never been. He has excellent control during most of his defensive manouvers and can easily turn a defensive manouvre into an offensive tipping point. Look for a lot of crazy elbows from the back while maintaining guard and also look for some really crisp striking from Tanner.

Prediction: Evan Tanner by Submission/ Tapout - Round 3 (provided this is a fully prepared, ready Tanner who shows up).

P.S.: I really enjoyed the thoughtful counter-arguments and intelligent discussion that my first article generated and hope that all my future work including this one are the source of similar discussion. Thanks to all for participating in these discussions and all future ones.

Over the next week, I will attempt to breakdown the matches from the upcoming UFC event - UFC82. So, let me know what you think of the breakdowns and if your thoughts differ from mine, let me know why.

UFC 82: The Undercard

The undercard of this event looks so good that it might as well have been a Fight Night event! The theme of the card though seems to be “returning warriors” with almost every one of the fighters returning to the octagon either after a loss or a long layoff. Let’s get on to the card now.

Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski v/s Jake O’Brien

Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion returns to the octagon after an almost year long sabbatical following what was one of the most boring fights in the UFC ever (against Fabricio Werdum). That Arlowski is a very dangerous striker is no news to anyone. The question for Arlowski is whether the fighter will come in with a defensive strategy like he did against Werdum or will he come in confident and aggressive like he used to.

His opponent, Jake O’Brien is coming off a surprise dominating win over Heath Herring after which he got injured and has been on the sidelines. O’Brien, a top class wrestler who is constantly getting better at the overall MMA game is a very dangerous fighter and has shown that he can hold his own against top class opponents. His strategy is surely going to be to try and keep Andrei down and use his wrestling skills to control the game.

Prediction: Andrei Arlowski by KO - Round 3

Luke Cummo v/s Luigi Fiorovanti

Famous for his stint on the Ultimate Fighter season 2, Matt Serra’s star pupil Luke Cummo is a very dangerous fighter with a good all-round MMA game. His Jiu-Jitsu along with some very aggressive striking has made him a very dangerous challenge for almost all his opponents. Coming off an injury and finally at 100% Cummo seems to be really determined to start his campaign once again towards the UFC championship belt.

Luigi Fiorovanti, a very strong striker with knock out power in his hands, comes in with a heavy burden on his shoulders, the weight of living up to the promise that he showed because of which he is in the UFC in the first place. Fiorovanti’s game plan has to be to keep the fight standing and try and knock Cummo out, while trying to stay inside Cummo’s range and avoid getting hit or taken down. A tough task, but it is something Fiorovanti needs to do to get the win.

Prediction: Luke Cummo by TKO - Round 1

Josh Koscheck v/s Dustin Hazelett

In what seems to be one of the least talked about fight on this card, Josh Koscheck takes on Dustin Hazelett. Koscheck, a TUF season1 standout and a top class wrestler is coming off a tough loss against interim champion Georges St.Pierre. Koscheck as always has excellent wrestling skills which he has been supplementing with an always improving striking game. His training camp, the American Kickboxing Academy, also allows Koscheck to come in to every match a better fighter.

Dustin Hazelett is coming in with a three fight win streak and a strong “finisher” record. In this fight, however, Hazelett’s main issue will be when he puts his submission skills up against the wrestling prowess of Koscheck. Overall, this is not as simple a fight as it seems and promises to be a really heated contest.

Prediction: Hazelett by submission - round 2

Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez v/s David Bielkheden

This is the match that Diego has to win. Sanchez has been drifting into mediocrity ever since he left his proving ground in Greg Jackson’s camp and now that he seems to have a steadier camp, the UFC has thrown him up against David Bielkheden.

Although I don’t know much about David Bielkheden and have never seen him fight, his record suggests a middle level fighter and it seems to me that Diego has been thrown a lifesaver in this fight. Look for Diego to dominate the fight and score a KO/ TKO to win the fight in the first round.

Prediction: Diego Sanchez by TKO - Round 1

John “Hurricane” Halverson v/s Jorge Gurgel

John Halverson, a Miletich product, has been in the UFC before (he lost to Roger Huerta at UFC 67) and is at the moment coming off a three fight win streak in smaller shows. John Halverson is a brawler/ wrestler like a few other Miletich fighters and is pretty strong at those particular skills. However, he has either lost by TKO or submission in his more high-profile fights, which leads me to believe that Halverson has a serious case of “Dreamsmasheritis“, a particularly unique malady that was first seen in veteran KOTC champion and UFC, PRIDE and EliteXC veteran Joey Villasenor.

On the other hand we have Jorge Gurgel. A very accomplished jiu-jitsu fighter, Jorge has a similar malady in that he goes the distance and loses in hard fought matches with good fighters. Till he joined The UFC, Jorge had a really impressive 9-1 record. However, after he joined the UFC, Jorge’s record has been pretty even at 2-2, with his losses coming against Mark Hominick and Alvin Robinson. The fights haven’t been really pretty either.

Prediction: Jorge Gurgel by Unanimous Decision

Let me know what you think of the breakdowns. I will be breaking down the main card two fights at a time over the course of the week. ‘Til then, keep training!