Sakurai vs. Monma

Hansen vs. Boku

This weekend could mark the inaugural event for a promotion that seeks to resurrect PRIDE back into the mixed martial arts scene. DREAM will take place on Saturday from Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it will feature one of the most stacked lightweight Grand Prix cards in recent memory. With nearly five or six top 10 lightweight fighters in the mix, the Grand Prix could climax into some big name superbouts later in the year. Shinya Aoki will be looking to prove his lackluster performance Bu Kyung Jung was only a fluke, but he’ll be taking on the devastating Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Other action features Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kultar Gill, Joachim Hansen vs. Kotetsu Boku, Andre “Dida” Amade vs. Eddie Alvarez, Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Bu Kyung Jung, Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma, and the return of Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic to Japan as he will face Tatsuya Mizuno. It should be a fantastic event for hardcore fans everywhere.

Shinya Aoki vs. Gesias “JZ” Calvancante

This battle is a classic matchup of grappler vs. striker, but with the added danger of Calvancante actually having a great jiu-jitsu base to backup his quick and devastating striking. Aoki’s biggest threat is off his back. His flexibility, jiu-jitsu skills, and overall transitional game are unbelievably effective. He used techniques that are tough to escape, but he is susceptible to the crushing ways of a powerful puncher.

That’s where Calvancante may have the edge. He has an uncanny ability of staying out of the guard and crushing opponents, almost Fedor-esque. When he is in guard, he’s crushing and powerful. To supplement his striking skills, he does possess great jiu-jitsu skills. He also trains out of American Top Team, a camp that features a huge number of talented fighters for Calvancante to use to his advantage.

Gesias Calvancante has been a beast in his last few bouts. Before pulling out of the first scheduled fight with Aoki at Yarennoka, Calvancante went on a tear in the K-1 HERO’s tournament on September 17th of last year. He absolutely blasted Vitor Ribeiro in :35 seconds, arguably a top 5 lightweight, and submitted Chute Box striker Andre “Dida” Amade in the final. His striking is unmatched in this matchup, and he has enough awareness and skill to avoid the submission. I’ll take Calvancante by TKO/KO in round 2.

Leland’s Prediction: Gesias “JZ” Calvancante via TKO/KO, Round 2

Andre “Dida” Amade vs. Eddie Alvarez

The single pick’em fight on the card features the upcoming puncher Andre “Dida” Amade vs. the former BodogFIGHT and new EliteXC fighter Eddie Alvarez. This could vie for the fight of the night at DREAM, and it should give us a solid barometer for where each fighter stands in the world.

Dida is fairly green on the MMA scene. He’s 6-2-1 with his most recent bout being a losing effort to Gesias Calvancante at the HERO’S Middleweight Tournament final. Dida was still able to defeat Caol Uno and Artur Oumakhanov in the preliminary rounds to make the final as well as defeating Hiroyuki Takaya at Hero’s 8. He has some solid power in his hands, good striking, and the Chute Box Muay Thai/Brazilian jiu-jitsu base that could prove dangerous to Alvarez’s wrestling.

Alvarez also has some big power in his hands, but he also has some wrestling skills on the ground that usually work to help him ground and pound opponents. He shouldn’t be a danger in the submission game, so this fight will likely be a technical striking war between both fighters. In that case, I’m almost inclined to pick Dida over Alvarez due to his Muay Thai skills and big punch striking. Alvarez has a very good shot though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won. I’ll take Dida for my pick though.

Leland’s Prediction: Andre Dida via TKO/KO, Round 1

In the wee hours of the morning for most American fans, a resurrection of a beloved  mixed martial arts promotion occurred in Japan. Although it may not bear the name of the old promotion, its intention was clear; Bring the fans back to the days of PRIDE. Yarennoka opened up with fantastic introductions, theatrical production, and even brought back Lenni Hardt to announce the fighters for the event. The elevator platform, the runway to the ring, the white canvas, the lighting, it all screamed of PRIDE. The event itself did not disappoint in the quality of the bouts. Let's recap the exciting night of events.

The surprise battles

The most exciting fight of the night was by far Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama. Both fighters had expressed some animosity toward each other leading up to the event at times, but overall seemed to respect each other. The staredown at the pre-Yarennoka press conference was the most heated one out of all the matchups, and it was looking to be a bareburner. It did not disappoint.

Both fighters felt each other out for most of the early few minutes of the fight. Some exchanges occurred, but Akiyama caught Misaki dead on the chin and put him to the floor. Unfortunately for Akiyama, he didn't pounce on the opportunity. Misaki was able to recover and eventually unleash his own strike that put Akiyama to the floor. As Akiyama regained his footing, Misaki landed a knockout kick between the eyes of Akiyama and put him out for good. A fantastic battle that went back and forth and saw Misaki come back from life support to win.

Fedor vs. Hong Man Choi was seen as being an easy win for Fedor by much of the mixed martial arts community. It was a win for Fedor in the fashion we've grown accustomed to seeing from the Russian. His quick transition game sunk in the armbar in the first round, but only after being bruised up significantly by simple hammerfists from the giant Korean. Fedor managed to avoid the onslaught for long enough to transition into the armbar while in full guard. A very exciting fight for the fact that Choi was able to get top control and pound Fedor for a couple of seconds and visibly hurt “The Last Emperor”. Nonetheless, Fedor was still able to come out on top.

Other matchups

Shin'ya Aoki won an uninspiring unanimous decision over silver medalist judoka Bu-Kyung Jung. Jung sunk in two armbars that nearly broke Aoki's arm and had the crowd on its feet. Aoki managed to escape and pound out a decision win that he was lucky to get before being submitted.

“Mach” Sakurai did as expected, but without the fantastic knockout. He put Hasegawa in a lot of trouble for most of the fight, but was unable to land the big blow that could end the fight. In Sakurai's defense, Hasegawa has proved in the past that he can hang around even while being beaten.

Mitsuhiro Ishida put on a wrestling clinic against Gilbert Melendez. Melendez found Ishida on his back for most of the first round, and he was unable to reverse it for most of the round. Ishida worked a strong wrestling takedown game and simply peppered Gilbert while on top and on the back. Melendez came back in the second round with a solid knee to Ishida's head, and then was able to do some top control pounding of his own, but it wasn't to the degree that Ishida had put on him in the first round. Ishida edged out Melendez by decision.

Makoto Takimoto defeated Murilo Bustamante in a controversial split decision. Although Takimoto was closer to actually ending the fight when he caught Bustamante and dropped him, Bustamante controlled most of the fight. It may be a question of judging criteria.

“The Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri did exactly that... crushed Azeredo. For nearly the entire fight, Azeredo was on the bottom being punched and peppered with small shots from Kawajiri. Kawajiri didn't quite wind up the power to put Azeredo out, but it was a dominating performance from the lightweight.

Chicago native Mike Russow surprised many fans. He looked more powerful than Zentsov at the weigh-ins and proved it in this clash. Russow put Zentsov down immediately, and worked a smart submission grappling game on the ground. He eventually sunk in a quick North South choke on an utterly horrible performing Roman Zentsov. Fedor should start teaching him transition techniques.

Production

If you were a loving fan of PRIDE, this production is exactly what you want to see. A large runway, elevator platform for the fighters, the high steps down to the runway, the large panoramic screens, the music, the drums, and Lenni Hardt screaming fighter introductions were all present. From the opening bell, the white canvas on the mat showed the spilt blood of its combatants.

The pre-fight television promos were very good as well. Some of the promos added backstory to some of the rivalries, especially the Misaki vs. Akiyama bout. Overall, an impressive event as far as masking PRIDE and also providing some unbelievable matchups.

Divisional shifts?

Fedor will maintain his #1 ranking regardless of this bout, but it was more interesting of a fight than we may have first thought once they stepped in the ring. Unless Couture fights Fedor and wins, or Couture beats Nog and remains more active, we won't see a shift. Nogueira will most likely never surpass Fedor as far as standing is concerned due to his two decisive defeats by the hands of Fedor.

Other battles will affect world divisional rankings. Akiyama may drop, and Misaki, Ishida, Kawajiri, and Sakurai will most likely move up or sit in the same place. Specifically, Ishida defeated Melendez, arguably a top 3 lightweight. Aoki is definitely the undecided one. Will he drop due to poor performance?

Overall thoughts

Personally, I was impressed with how the production was put together. Almost exactly like the PRIDE events, and I believe was done by the same firm. It was nice to go back and have an event that brought back those memories. The most glaring success from the event was the matchups. After all, we are all here to see fantastic mixed martial arts. Yarennoka didn't disappoint.

Misaki came back from the dead to defeat Akiyama, and Fedor, although heavily favored, looked to be in trouble for a split second before showing why transitional MMA rules the fight game. Kawajiri showed fans everywhere why he is the “Crusher”, Ishida displayed unbelievable pace and wrestling ability, and Mike Russow put his name on the map.

Look forward to possibly another event being organized by the same groups. Monte Cox did hint at this during the event, and I would not doubt that the event will push people to want to see more of the same. PRIDE could be making a comeback under the support of former DSE employees and M-1 Global. Whether that is good or bad is another story due to the always present “Yakuza” factor in Japan, but we'll most likely see this type of event again.

Quick Results

Shinya Aoki over Bu-Kyung Jung by unanimous decision
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai over Hidehiko Hasegawa by unanimous decision
Fedor Emelianenko over Hong Man Choi by armbar at 1:54 of Rd. 1
Kazuo Misaki over Yoshihiro Akiyama by back from the dead knockout at 2:12 of Rd. 1
Mitsuhiro Ishida over Gilbert Melendez by unanimous decision
Makoto Takimoto over Murilo Bustamante via split decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri over Luiz Azeredo by unanimous decision
Mike Russow over Roman Zentsov via surprise North-South Choke at 2:58 of Rd. 1

Main Event: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong Man Choi

I'll be brief with this matchup. Fedor is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world. People have recently criticized his strength of opponents as a reason to demote him to #2 or #3 in the world, but he still has an unbelievable combination of skills that can easily defeat nearly all MMA fighters within his weight class with ease. His transitional game is the most overlooked aspect of his skillset that I believe will continue to put him above even fighters such as Josh Barnett or Randy Couture. With that said, Fedor should easily defeat Choi with in the first round by submission.

Choi exhibits an immense size and weight, towering over 7 foot tall and at around 350 pounds. He is primarily a K-1 striker, and during this bout, the use of knees will be disallowed due to the height discrepancy. This hurts Choi's chances, but had they been used, Choi's slowness would have still been his ultimate weakness. Choi's last performance against Jerome Le Banner was terrible, and if it was any indication as to how he would perform in this bout, Fedor should have no problems.

Shin'ya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung

Originally, this bout was to feature K-1 HERO's Middleweight tourney champion Gesias “JZ” Calvancanti, but he suffered a torn ligament and had to pull out. A huge disappointment. Now, the rubber guard master that is Aoki will take on Bu-Kyung Jung, a 2000 silver medalist Judoka.

Without going in-depth, Aoki should easily defeat the judoka. Although Jung will have some excellent throwing skills and abilities in the clinch, Aoki's submission game is nearly unmatched in the weight class. He went from potential defeat to a win fairly quickly in this matchup.

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa

The first of the matchups that should be interesting is veteran Hayato Sakurai vs. DEEP champion Hidehiko Hasegawa. A battle of opposite styles, Hasegawa will be looking to get Sakurai to the ground for a submission or do enough damage to squeak out a decision win. Sakurai will undoubtedly be seeking the knockout.

Hasegawa has had problems recently. He dropped a battle at DEEP 31 to Dong Hyun Kim, but then rematched him at DEEP 32, which ended in a controversial draw that many people felt Kim won. Either way, Hasegawa hasn't had impressive streaks of greatness. He's dropped a number of decisions to mid-tier competition, and hasn't defeated any opponents that were overly impressive in their careers.

Sakurai, on the other hand, has fought some of the best competition out there. In his last fight, he dominated recent TUF winner Mac Danzig and knocked him out cold in the second round of their PRIDE battle. He defeated Joachim Hansen, Jens Pulver, and won a hard fought decision over Shin'ya Aoki. With 7 wins in his last 8 fights, look for Sakurai to continue his dominance. Sakurai should be able to TKO Hasegawa sometime after the midpoint of this fight.

Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Akiyama has recently been allowed back into the MMA scene in Japan after the “lotion” incident against Sakuraba that landed him on suspension indefinitely. In his comeback fight against a tough Denis Kang, Akiyama showed something that many fans didn't think he could do. He knocked out Kang with a vicious uppercut that completely incapacitated Kang and stunned the crowd. Regardless of the greasing incident, Akiyama does have some great judo skills in the clinch, and obviously has the ability to knock his opponent out. Does he actually have the technical striking skills or was it just a lucky punch? It's not known yet, but this should be another test to see if Akiyama will approach top 5 status.

Misaki has fought some of the best in the business. He defeated Kang in a close split decision, beat Dan Henderson and Phil Baroni, submitted Ed Herman, and has went through much of his career avoiding being knocked out. He's never been defeated by a punch, and has only lost once by TKO due to his arm being broken. Akiyama has stated in the press that Misaki is a much better fighter than him, and he believes it is a honor to battle him, but the fact is, Misaki isn't a finisher and Akiyama is.

Misaki will have range on Akiyama, but Akiyama's clinch skills should be able to work against Misaki. Misaki hasn't had success in defending against the clinch in some of his losses. It will definitely depend on what level Akiyama's takedown game is at. I think Akiyama has more of a skillset that can do a bit more to edge out Misaki via decision.

Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

A matchup that has provided some anticipation to US fans that have seen Melendez fight in Strikeforce. Melendez has an excellent wrestling and takedown skillset that is accompanied by a solid striking game. Melendez's claim to the top 5 ranking has to do with his win over Tatsuya Kawajiri at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. He also recently defeated a tough veteran in Tetsuji Kato while nursing a broken hand. This may all sound impressive, but Ishida will be a tough test for the Cesar Gracie student.

Ishida Is 15-3-1 with 11 of his wins by decision. He doesn't have tremendous knockout power or a dangerous submission game, but he does have great wrestling technique and a solid takedown defense that has frustrated opponents in the past. Melendez still has an edge in the striking, and he has a rock solid chin in case he gets surprised. Even if this fight doesn't go to the floor, Melendez should be able to defeat Ishida in the standup game. Ishida will most likely look for top control, and Melendez has a great training team that is proficient in jiu-jitsu and wrestling to counter anything Ishida can do on top. Melendez via TKO, third round.

Makoto Takimoto vs. Murilo Bustamante

Takimoto shouldn't be a significant problem for Bustamante. Bustamante hasn't beaten upper-echelon competition, but he has fought some of the best in the business and taken them the distance. He did beat Matt Lindland at UFC 37, Minowa at Bushido 9, and recently beat Dong Sik Yoon at Bushido 13, and Ryuta Sakurai for a second time at DEEP 29. He has some significant power in his hands, and a good submission grappling background in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He should make his Brazilian Top Team camp proud in this battle. Bustamante by decision.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo

This fight could be a big problem for Azeredo as he doesn't exhibit enough striking defense or offense to stop Kawajiri's “crushing” power. Although Azeredo has avoided being knocked out by some great standup fighters, he still has a susceptible chin. Kawajiri should have a power advantage, striking advantage, and can nullify the submission attempts with his excellent wrestling. Kawajiri should take this one by pure power and striking ability, first or second round.

Mike Russow vs. Roman Zentsov

Russow is coming out of Chicago, Illinois with a 6-1 record. His only loss was to Kharitonov in his only fight that has been a significant test of his ability. He's primarily a submission fighter who will be looking to hit the floor against Zentsov, a standup fighter.

Zentsov has weaknesses in his game and is far from perfect. He's had some great wins in his career and some horrible losses as well. He has a much better striking game than Russow, but Russow will have more weight, size, and grappling ability. Many of picking Zentsov, but I'll pick the Chicago native from my home state via submission.

Announced at the second Yarennoka! press conference, Shooto Middleweight Champion Shinya Aoki will face the 2-time K-1 HERO's Middleweight Tournament Champion Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti. An explosive matchup between two very good fighters with some similar and different aspects to their fighting styles. Also announced was a battle between DEEP Welterweight Champion Hidehiko Hasegawa and PRIDE superstar Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Two explosive matchups that will definitely affect rankings, potential matchups for later bouts, and pit champions vs. champions. Let's take a look at these great matchups and some of the other rumor participants.

Shinya Aoki (11-2) vs. Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti (14-1-1)

To the casual mixed martial arts fan who doesn't know who Aoki or Calvancanti is, you should check these two guys out. Aoki is best known for pulling off the first gogoplata ever in a mixed martial arts match against Joachim Hansen at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. Looking down his record, you may not see very many impressive wins, but he had an outright war with "Mach" Sakurai, but came out with a loss by decision. He comes into the fight with 8 straight wins, but has been on hiatus since April of this year. Ring rust? It's possible. Aoki sports black belts in Judo and Jiu-jitsu, insane flexibility, and the ability to go for the low probability submission to catch opponents off guard.

My interest in Calvancanti came with his entry into the arena of K-1 Hero's. He entered competition in K-1 with some huge knockout wins. Takaya and Yahya both were beaten inside :40 seconds, Takaya by flying knee and Yahya by a guillotine choke. He beat Caol Uno in a decision battle, but then came back and blew out Nam Phan in :26 seconds. The K-1 Middleweight tournament on September 17th of this year propelled Calvancanti in my eyes. He completely decimated Vitor Ribeiro, a top 5 lightweight, and continued into the finals to take on Andre "Dida" Amade, an up-and-coming lightweight striker who could be on his way to stardom. Calvancanti banged with Amade, but eventually took him down and used his ju-jitsu skills to submit him. Eight straight wins, most of them in destructive and quick fashion. A force to be reckoned with and one of the reasons why he's ranked in the top 3 on most rankings.

How do I see this going down? Calvancanti is a beast in the ring. He's very good at staying away from the guard, but he's also very slick on the ground as well. I would give Aoki the advantage in the guard due to his flexibility. Calvancanti will want to keep Aoki where he can punish him from the top or stand and throw power shots to end it. Either way, I think Calvancanti's aggressive and powerful style will put down Aoki. It should be a great fight though, and Aoki could pull off a submission win.

Hidehiko Hasegawa (14-8-4) vs. Hayato Sakurai (30-7-2)

Hasegawa is a guy that I haven't watched a lot of video on. I have about 6 of his fights sitting on my hard drive that I will be closely looking over soon, but from what I remember about Hasegawa, he's had a few recent wars with Dong Hyun Kim. He lost at Deep Impact 31 by a TKO with barely any time left in the fight. In the rematch at Deep Impact 32, the fight was so close that it went to the judges who determined it to be a draw.

Hayato Sakurai is a potentially dangerous matchup for Hasegawa and a step up in competition. Sakurai has been fighting in PRIDE for quite some time in his career, since December of 2003. Early on, he had an UFC appearance against Matt Hughes in which he lost a 4 round war by TKO. He has some notable losses to Ryo Chonan, Jake Shields, Crosley and Rodrigo Gracie, and Takanori Gomi. He has had some impressive spans of wins in his career though. Sakurai beat Aoki at a Shooto event in August of 2005, then turned around and participated in Bushido 9, defeating Jens Pulver and Joachim Hansen in one night. He's also been fighting since the late 90's and has a plethora of experience. His most recent victory is over current TUF contestant Mac Danzig at PRIDE 33: Second Coming in which he knocked out Danzig late in the second round. In fact, his last three bouts have ended by a knockout.

Hasegawa does not have a huge fan in me. His recent fights with Dong Hyun Kim were odd to say the least. In the second fight, Kim and Hasegawa went to a draw in a battle that I thought Hyun Kim won. Apparently, this wasn't as obvious to the judges as I thought. Hasegawa showed some flurries of hope in the fight, but for the most part, his aggressive punching flurries did not land and he ended up on his back in the counters by Kim. The main skill that Hasegawa implements on the ground is the rubber guard. He's fairly flexible, but against Kim, he was unable keep it locked in long enough to transition. For the most part, Hasegawa's striking isn't very crisp, and his ground game hasn't been as great as it could be.

Sakurai has a considerable repertoire of skill to tap from. He has some decent standup, can go the distance, and has some great grappling skills. His grappling at one point won him 2nd place in the openweight class at the ADCC in 1999. Although that was some time ago, it still says volumes for the fact that he works with his grappling enough to stop some of the better MMA fighters. He also has some good takedown defense that was evident against Azevedo at Bushido 12. His judo skills are good enough to initiate throws to control opponents and he sets up combinations and wears opponents down with great leg kicks. Overall, he is a fairly well-rounded mixed martial artist. If I had to choose at this point, Sakurai seems to have a better standup game, and I think he can do more on the ground as well.

Other participants rumored

Mitsuhiro Ishida, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Kazuo Misaki, Joachim Hansen, Luiz Azeredo, Ricardo Arona, Gilbert Melendez, and Fedor Emelianenko are all supposedly fighting on this card. Fedor is confirmed, but his opponent has yet to be confirmed. Hong Man Choi is the rumored opponent, but I still want to state that he must survive a beating in the K-1 Grand Prix finals when he takes on Jerome Lebanner.

Ishida, Kawajiri, and Misaki are all arguably top 10 fighters in their respective weight classes, although Misaki is more than likely on the outside looking in. Hansen has lost some stock as of late after losing to Eiji Mitsuoka in a controversial decision that could have been ruled a draw. It puts him at 4 losses in his last 6 fights. Azeredo is curently 11-6, but fought Gomi twice in his last 5 fights and also lost to Hansen. Azeredo's last bout was a big win over up-and-coming banger Paul Daley.

Ricardo Arona is rumored to be denying his involvement right now in the NYE card because he is working personal problems out, but has stated he would love to fight Fedor in February on the rumored M-1 Global event. I haven't heard much on Melendez, but the two fighters who he has stated he has wanted to fight in the past have been matched up together, Aoki and Calvancanti. Melendez is one of the fighters that I'm definitely interested in seeing take on some more of the top Japanese talent.

Final thoughts

Sure, the event looks to have some ex-DSE employees behind it who may have been behind the scandals that sunk PRIDE. Fact is, as an MMA fan, this card is looking to be amazing. Aoki vs. Calvancanti is a matchup that I would love to see. With guys like Ishida, Melendez, Kawajiri, Misaki, and Azeredo along with some other names that are rumored, this card is looking very good. For the hardcore fan, this is something to get excited about. Casual fans won't be too high on this card, and it may not sell too much in Japan since some of the big PRIDE Bushido cards didn't do too well either.

From a pure standpoint of good mixed martial arts fights, this card may deliver. From a point that this could be a card that will begin a revolution of a new PRIDE in Japan, give me a break. This should be the one and only event for this collaboration of people organizing it. I've read a few interviews from Japan suggesting that this is the only event they will do unless it's unbelievably successful. I don't think it will be a grand success, not enough to garner another card. With the scandals and Yakuza links from the old PRIDE, the ex-DSE employees behind this will surely bring scrutiny. But hey, the fights at least look good.