Eddie Alvarez has had one hell of a year in 2008. He entered the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix as the dark horse pick for many, and three incredible performances later, including two fight of the year candidates, he finds himself in the top five of most media outlets’ lightweight rankings.
The UFC may not be the only promotion holding a mini heavyweight tournament in the near future.
In a recent interview on Croatia’s NovaTV, Mirko Cro Cop, who is scheduled to face Alistair Overeem at DREAM.6, stated the winner of his bout and the Sergei Kharitonov/’Mighty Mo’ bout, also scheduled for DREAM.6, will fight for the DREAM Heavyweight Championship at an upcoming DREAM event. Cro Cop predicted that he and Kharitonov would the ones would move on to fight for the title.
For the record, I am picking Cro Cop to win his fight against Overeem, but it never seems to work out when a fighter starts talking about fighting for the title when he still has a fight he has to win to get the shot. Chuck Liddell, anyone?
Of course, this all assumes that DREAM.6 isn’t the last DREAM event.
CR: Kakutougi.info via Bloody Elbow
[UPDATE 9/16/08 11:20AM ET] - Shinya Aoki has been added to DREAM.6.
No Comments | Filed under: Alistair Overeem, DREAM.6, Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov, Shinya Aoki
DREAM.5 took place early Monday morning at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The semi-finals and final round of the lightweight grand prix was featured in the Japanese organization’s fifth outing. Shinya Aoki, Caol Uno, Eddie Alvarez and Tatsuya Kawajiri battled it out to determine who would be the 2008 Lightweight Grand Prix Champion.
Mark Hunt also made his return to mixed martial arts action after a two year layoff against the always dangerous Alistair Overeem.
DREAM.5 results and wrap-up after the jump.
No Comments | Filed under: Alistair Overeem, Caol Uno, DREAM.5, Eddie Alvarez, Joachim Hansen, Mark Hunt, Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri
DREAM.4 took place early Sunday morning in Yokohama, Japan. The second round of the middleweight grand prix was featured in the Japanese organization’s fourth outing. Shinya Aoki and Katsuhiko Nagata battled it out to determine who would take the final spot in DREAM’s lightweight grand prix.
With a decisive victor in the Aoki/Nagata match, DREAM has revealed the semi-final match-ups via its website, dreamofficial.com.
DREAM.4 results and lightweight grand prix match-ups after the jump.
No Comments | Filed under: DREAM.4, DREAM.5, Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza, Shinya Aoki
Looks like Shinya Aoki will get his shot at the DREAM Lightweight GP title after all. Aoki recently defeated JZ Calvacante at DREAM.2 in a rematch from DREAM.1, but suffered a concussion of the cervical vertebra that will keep him from fighting on May 11 at DREAM.3. Instead of finding a replacement, it looks like DREAM officials will postpone Aoki’s match with Katsuhiko Nagata until June 15 at DREAM.4.
Aoki apologized to his fans, via Sherdog:
“I’m sorry that I won’t be able to fight on May 11, but I can promise that I will be back with a vengeance June 15. I will be 100 percent motivated when I step into the ring and I will make good for cancelling the May fight.”
Good news, indeed. The grand prix would have taken a huge hit if Aoki had withdrawn completely.
Just one day after DREAM.2 wrapped up, it appears both the Lightweight and Middleweight GP’s are losing its top competitors left and right. Shinya Aoki, coming off a huge victory over ‘JZ’ Calvacante at yesterday’s DREAM.2, apparently suffered a facial injury that will keep him out of round two of the tournament scheduled to take place less than two weeks from now. Calvacante was contacted to come to the rescue, but it appears DREAM officials weren’t offering enough to entice ‘JZ’ back into the tournament. The winner of the Aoki/Calvacante fight was expected to be the favorite to win the tournament.
Last night, while most of us were sleeping, DREAM.2 was going on over in Japan. The biggest and perhaps only really meaningful fight that occurred was Shinya Aoki vs. ‘JZ’ Calvacante. The rest of the fights were round-one bouts for DREAM’s Middleweight Grand Prix. Notable fighters participating included Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba, top ten middleweight Denis Kang, and BJJ phenom Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza.
DREAM.2 results have been updated in our fight cards archive and results section.
Quick results and thoughts after the jump.
No Comments | Filed under: DREAM.2, Denis Kang, Gesias 'JZ' Calvancante, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza, Shinya Aoki
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