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 AokiFor you lucky ones with HDNet, there’s a lot of great MMA being aired on the network this weekend, including DREAM.4 and Adrenaline MMA’s debut event.
DREAM.4 featuring the second round of the middleweight grand prix is this weekend.
The latest DREAM.4 fight card and event info can be found in our fight cards section.
No Comments | Filed under: DREAM.4
The special rules grappling match that was set to take place between Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic and Ralek Gracie at DREAM.4 has been cancelled according to this Croation website. It appears Mirko has suffered a minor injury and wants to be ready for his fight at DREAM.5, presumably against K-1 star Jerome LeBanner, although that has yet to be made official.
NoB brings the news in English:
According to this article the special grappling match between Mirko CroCop and Ralek Gracie on DREAM.4 next week is off. It seems that Mirko has a minor injury and after consulting with a doctor he has cancelled the fight. He wants to be ready for his MMA fight in July.
While 2007 was the year of the upset, 2008 is shaping up to be the year of the injury.
CR: Japan MMA
Yes, you read that right. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filopovic is set to face Ralek Gracie, a BJJ blackbelt, in a submission grappling match at DREAM 4. The match will take place under modified Abu Dhabi rules. There will be two five minute rounds, no points and the win must come by submission. If a submission does not take place the match will end in a draw.
Ever wish you could be the match-maker for a major MMA promotion? Are there certain matchups you hope to see at the next rounds of the lightweight and middleweight tournaments? Now you can have your say. Japan MMA passed along news that DREAM is allowing the fans to vote for the matchups at DREAM.4 & DREAM.5.
You can help make Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller’s DREAM come true to fight his hero Kazushi Sakuraba!
The deadline for voting is May 20.
Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic and Jerome LeBanner were supposed to square off at DREAM.4 on June 15, but Nokaut.com claims the fight is being moved to DREAM.5 on July 20 due to an unconfirmed K-1 bout involving LeBanner and Semmy Schilt on June 29. This may work out in Cro Cop’s favor. He recently suffered a minor leg injury in training.
Nokaut discussed the situation with Cro Cop:
“Yes, I’m going to fight on July 20. I was looking forward to appearing on the DREAM 4 card on June 15 and I based my preparations on that. I suffered a minor leg injury last week, but it doesn’t affect my trainings. During a wrestling session, I slipped and felt pain in my left knee, but the medical exams have confirmed that no damage was done. I’m wearing a special bandage just as a precaution.”
The postponement only leaves LeBanner with an extra week in between fights, however LeBanner is a K-1 fighter first and foremost so it makes sense that he would want to make sure he was 100% for his kickboxing match.
It’s important to note that neither fighter has confirmed this match as of yet.
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.
After Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ easily dismantled Tatsuya Mizuno at Dream 1, he asked for a tougher opponent in his next fight. It appears he got his wish, sort of. According to MMA-ID.com, his opponent will be Jerome LeBanner, a world-class K-1 kickboxer, at Dream 4. LeBanner, however, lacks experience in MMA with his 3-1 record. But, that probably won’t matter in this bout though with Cro Cop standing at the other corner of the ring. Cro Cop, a former K-1 kickboxer himself, is not fond of the ground fighting aspect of mixed martial arts and prefers to stand, strike and kick people’s heads off with his left leg.
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