Video of the Day - Diaz v. Sakurai

Here is Hayato Sakurai fighting Nick Diaz in Dream 14 which took place on 5/29/10 in Saitama, Japan.

Nick Diaz has supposedly retired following his decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143.

Video of the Day - Gono v. Sakurai

Here is Akhiro Gono fighting Hayato Sakurai at K-1 Dynamite which took place on 12/31/09. Gono recently defeated Diego Gonzalez via unanimous decesion at Sengoku - Raiden Championships this past weekend to get his third straight victory.

Video of the Day - Aoki v. Sakurai

Here is Shinya Aoki v. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai from Dream 8 which took place on 4/5/09. The win pushed Sakurai to the four man finale which takes place this morning at 3 AM.

Dream 10 Preview

Dream 10 is scheduled for July 20th in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Have your DVR's set, as it will be broadcast in the wee hours of the morning on HDNet. The event will feature the finals of the 8 man welterweight grand prix. The odds on favorite in Japanese superstar Hayoto "Mach" Sakarai, who defeated Shinya Aoki in the first round.

The match-up of Shinya Aoki (20-4) v. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro (20-2) is a grappling fans dream. Each has pulled off remarkable submissions in their careers, dislocating some elbows along the way. TUF 7 alum Jesse Taylor (11-3) will look to build on his five fight win streak outside the UFC against judoka Don Sik Yoon.

Here is how it looks right now:

Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribeiro
Andre "Dida" Amade vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Paulo Filho vs. Melvin Manhoef
Jesse Taylor vs. Dong Sik Yoon
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Ikemoto Seich- WW Reserve Bout

Welterweight Grand Prix

Andre Galvao vs. Jason High- Bout 1
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis- Bout 2
Winner of Galvao/High vs. winner of Sakurai/Zaromskis


(Hayato Sakurai pictured)

Dream 8 Preview

Dream will also have an event going on Sunday, April 5th in its Dream 8 event. The event kick off the Dream 8-man 170 pound tournament. Also, the last 139 pound bout will take place in Hata v. Tokoro. The event will be shown on a 5 day delay on HDNet. The headliner bout between Sergei Kharitonov and Jeff Monson should be interesting, as Sergei only fought once in 2008 beating Jimmy Abriz.

Non-Tourney Bouts

Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jeff Monson
Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro
Andrews Nakahara vs. Shungo Oyama
Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa vs. Katsuyori Shibata

170 Pound WW Tournament

Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai
Jason High vs. Yuya Shirai
Seichi Ikemoto vs. Marius Zaromskis
John Alessio vs. Andre Galvao

139 Pound FW Tournament Final Bout

Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata vs. Hideo Tokoro


(Sergei Kharitonov pictured)

Video of the Day - Sakurai v. Gilbert

Here is Hayato "Mach" Sakurai v. Dan Gilbert from Shooto, To the Top Final Act. It took place on 12/16/01.

K-1 Fields Dynamite Results

I've been watching the fights on dailymotion.com. Unfortunately, K-1 and HDNet couldn't work out a deal to get the card broadcast in the states. The Joachim Hansen v. JZ Calvancante was scratched as Hansen did not pass his pre-fight physical.

The Melvin Manhoef KO of Mark Hunt is pretty awesome, check that one out. The biggest upset of the night has to go to Alistair Overeem knocking out K-1 Grand Prix runner-up Badr Hari. The best comeback I've seen so far was the surprising effort by Bob Sapp. Sapp was taken down and absorbing light hammerfists on his back before getting out of it and tagging his anime masked foe. Despite having an arm free for the taking, apparently anime characters don't know arm bars.

MMA Bouts
Ikuhisa Minowa def Errol Zimmerman via Sub (Toe Hold) R1, 1:01
Daisuke Nakamura def Hideo Tokoro via Sub (Armbar) R1, 2:23
Andy Ologun def Yukio Sakaguchi via KO (Punches) R1, 3:52
Bob Sapp def Akihito Tanaka via TKO (Punches) R1, 5:22
Semmy Schilt def Siala Siliga via Sub (Triangle Choke) R1, 5:31
Hayato Sakurai def Katsuyori Shibata via TKO (Punches) R1, 7:01
Mirko Filipovic def Hong Man Choi via TKO (Leg Kicks) R1, 6:32
Melvin Manhoef def Mark Hunt via KO (Punches) R1, 0:18
Shinya Aoki def Eddie Alvarez via Sub (Heel Hook) R1, 1:32
Kiyoshi Tamura def Kazushi Sakuraba via Dec(Unanimous)

K1 Bouts
Tatsuya Kawajiri def Kozo Takeda via KO, R1 2:31
Artur Kyshenko def Yoshihiro Sato via majority dec
Gegard Mousasi def Musashi via TKO, R1 2:32
Alistair Overeem defeated Badr Hari via KO, R1 2:07


(Bob Sapp pictured)

Dream LW Tournament

Since Pride's demise after being purchased by the UFC, 3 new promotions popped up to try to compete with K1 for Japan's top MMA promotion. World Victory Road, Dream and M1. So far M1 has been a one trick pony. WVR hasn't really come out in the US, I have been able to catch the Josh Barnett fight and the Gomi fight.

Dream is interesting because of the lightweight tournament they have staged. There are 14 fighters that have been all but confirmed for the 16 man tournament. There has been no word on how they were paired. It doesn't look like it was seeded because Aoki and JZ are probably the top two. Other favorites are Ishida, Kawajiri and Hansen.

Main Bouts:

Mirko Filipovic (22-6) vs. Tatsuya Mizuno (4-2)- After two straight losses in the UFC Cro-Cop desperately needs a win to get back on track. Mizuno has fought all his matches in Pancrase and is stepping in for Nakao.


*Cro Cop high kick

Hayato Sakurai (31-7) vs. Hidetaka Monma (14-7)- Sakurai is known for fights in Pride/Shooto/Deep and his title loss to Matt Hughes in the UFC. Two fights ago, Sakurai knocked out Mac Danzig prior to his TUF run. Monma will come into the fight heavy than Sakurai and doesn't have wins over the same level of competition.

Tournament Bouts:

Gesias Calvancante (14-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (14-2)- JZ's only loss was to Joachim Hansen, since winning 12 straight. He has fought mainly in K1. Shooto champ Aoki is a BJJ/Judo black belt who has fought mainly in Shooto and Pride. He has 9 victories in a row including a rare gogoplata of Joachim Hansen, and recent decision over tourney member Jung. I'd put both in the top 5 of the LW division.

Tatsuya Kawajiri (20-4) vs. Kultar Gill (9-6)- Kawajiri is a Shooto champion and Pride veteren who has a victory over tourney member Firminio and is regarded as a top five of the LW division. Gill's last fight was a KO win in K1. Prior to that he lost three straight.

Mitsuhiro Ishida (15-3) vs. Bu Kyung Jung (0-1)- Ishida is a Pride/Shooto veteren with a victory over tourney member Boku and is a top ten LW. Jung is a judo expert who lost a decision to Aoki in his only MMA bout.

Kazuyuki Miyata (5-6) vs. Luiz Firmino (11-3)- Miyata has fought his last 10 in K1, including a win over tourney member Gill. Firmino hasn't fought since a win in Pride in November of 2006. His biggest win is probably over Masakazu Imanari (14-5)in Pride.

Eddie Alvarez (12-1) vs. Andre Amade (6-2)- Alvarez has recently fought in Bodog and ShoXC with his only loss to Nick Thompson (35-9) at 170. Amade has fought his last four in K1, including a win against Caol Uno.

Artur Oumakhanov (7-2) vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (3-2) - Artur's two losses were in his last fight in Pancrase to Shoji and a K1 loss to Amade. All of Nagata's bouts are in K1, losses to Uno and Akiyama, wins against above .500 competition.

Kotetsu Boku (13-4) vs. Joachim Hansen (16-6)- Boku has wins in Shooto/K1/GCM. Hansen is a Pride/Shooto/K1 vet who just beat tourney member Miyata in K1, and is the only person to beat JZ Calvancante.


*Hansen v. Aoki in Pride