Black Dog Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 [CENTER][IMG]http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6522/dreampz8.gif[/IMG] [B]Weight Classes[/B] * 67kg/145lbs - Featherweight * 70kg/154lbs - Lightweight * 76kg/168lbs - Welterweight * 84kg/185lbs - Middleweight * 93kg/205lbs - Light Heavyweight * +93.1kg/+205lbs - Heavyweight [B]Roster[/B] [B]Featherweights[/B] Norifumi Yamamoto Hideo Tokoro [B]Lightweights[/B] Andre Amade Artur Oumakhanov Caol Uno Gesias Calvancante Eddie Alvarez Joachim Hansen Jung Bu-Kyung Katsuhuko Nagata Kazuyuki Miyata Koutetsu Boku Kultar Gill Luis Firminho Mitsuhiro Ishida Shinya Aoki Tatsuya Kawajiri (The winner of DREAM's 2008 Lightweight Grand Prix will be crowned the first-ever DREAM Lightweight champion.) [B]Welterweights[/B] Hayato Sakurai Hidetaka Monma [B]Middleweights[/B] Denis Kang Ikuhisa Minowa Katsuyori Shibata Kazushi Sakuraba Kiyoshi Tamura Masakatsu Funaki Ryuta Sakurai Yoshihiro Akiyama Zelg Galesic (The winner of DREAM's 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix will be crowned the first-ever DREAM Middleweight champion.) [B]Heavyweights[/B] Mirko Filopovic [/CENTER] [QUOTE][B]M-1 Global Calls It Quits[/B] The M-1 Global organization will be closing it's doors. This coming so soon after it's formation, the company had only held one card, [I]Yarennoka![/I], which did it's part to inspire the creation of the new DREAM organization. Many of the fighters from M-1 Global have already signed with DREAM, and it is expected that more will follow. The biggest of the free agents to come in the wake of these events is of course, Fedor Emelianenko. As of right now, Fedor remains on the market and no company has come out and stated their intent to pursue him. This is, of course, only temporary. You can be certain that the #1 ranked fighter in the world won't have any trouble finding a company willing to take him.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE][B]DREAM Opening Press Conference[/B] The combined efforts of the Fighting and Entertainment Group and Dream Stage Entertainment have led to the creation of a new MMA company in Japan, which hopes to fill the void left by the departure of PRIDE. DREAM replaces FEG's former company, HERO'S. Many of DREAM's fighters attended the press conference, most of whom came from the now-dissolved M-1 Global company, which produced the [I]Yarennoka![/I] card in December that inspired the creation of DREAM. Former PRIDE Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko was also on that card, though his name wasn't mentioned at the press conference. With M-1 Global gone before it even got started, Fedor returns to a state of limbo and becomes the hottest free agent on the market. There's no telling where he will end up at this point, although it is most likely that the UFC will try to reopen negotiations with him. Still, DREAM and even EliteXC remain possibilities that would certainly welcome his talents with open arms. One big-named fighter who was in attendance at the DREAM press conference was Mirko "Cro Cop" Filopovic, who announced that he had joined the organization. To date, he is the biggest star to have signed with the company. Other significant news from the conference concerned DREAM's first two cards, which will feature the opening rounds to a lightweight and middleweight "Grand Prix". The winners of these two tournaments will be crowned the first champions of their respective divisions. Most of the names for the Lightweight Grand Prix have already been announced. Surprisingly, Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto will not be competing in the event, instead opting to fight in DREAM's Featherweight division where he will have a chance to compete at his more natural weight. It is currently expected that his first fight will be against Hideo Tokoro.[/QUOTE] [CENTER][B]DREAM.1: 2008 Lightweight Grand Prix Round 1 Japan (Kanto Region) - Saturday, Week 4, March 2008[/B] [B]2008 Lightweight Grand Prix Matches[/B] Gesias Calvancante vs. Shinya Aoki Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Andre Amade Koutetsu Boku vs. Joachim Hansen Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Eddie Alvarez Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Luis Firminho Jung Bu-Kyung vs. Artur Oumakhanov Kultar Gill vs. Katsuhiko Nagata (Due to injury, Caol Uno's first round match will occur at DREAM.2 His expected opponent is Vitor Ribeiro.) Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma Mirko Filopovic vs. TBA [I]Card subject to change.[/I] [/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Dog Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 [CENTER][B]DREAM News & Updates[/B][/CENTER] [QUOTE][B]Pancrase founder Masakatsu Funaki to retire[/B] Masakatsu Funaki, the founder of Pancrase, announced today his intent to retire from fighting. Funaki had only very recently been announced as one of DREAM's premier middleweights, and was expected to participate in the Middleweight Grand Prix. With only one fight left in him, that can no longer be the case. DREAM is expected to oblige Funaki with a retirement fight, however, most likely to take place at DREAM.3[/QUOTE] [QUOTE][B]DREAM announces DREAM.3 co-promotion with Pancrase[/B] Following the news of Masakatsu Funaki's impending retirement, DREAM has announced that Funaki will receive his final fight at DREAM.3 against a yet to be named opponent. DREAM.3 will now be a co-promotion between DREAM and Pancrase, the company Funaki founded along with Minoru Suzuki. Many Pancrase fighters are expected to appear on the card in a series of "DREAM vs. Pancrase" style bouts. Many legends who have fought Funaki in the past are expected to be in attendance out of respect. DREAM.3 will also feature the second round of the 2008 Lightweight Grand Prix.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE][B]New DREAM fighters announced[/B] DREAM has announced the signings of Melvin Manhoef, Michael Russow, Emerson Azuma, Nobutatsu Suzuki, and Sergei Kharitonov. Manhoef and Suzuki are both expected to compete in the 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix, while Russow and Kharitonov join Cro Cop in the heavyweight division and Azuma joins Yamamoto and Tokoro in the featherweight division. Also, Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice have both stated that they will be doing commentary for the American broadcasts of DREAM shows.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE][B]More new DREAM Fighters[/B] DREAM has now confirmed that talented lightweight Vitor Ribeiro will be fighting Caol Uno in the final first round match for the 2008 Lightweight Grand Prix at DREAM.2 Presently, both fighters are injured making them unable to compete at DREAM.1 with the rest of the lightweights. New names for the Middleweight Grand Prix have also been announced, as Taiei Kin, Shungo Oyama, Gerald Harris, and Masahiro Toryu will all be taking part. In more bolstering to the heavyweight division, the final name announced today was Alistair Overeem. He joins Cro Cop, Sergei Kharitonov, and Michael Russow in the rapidly growing division.[/QUOTE] [B]DREAM.1 Updated Card[/B] [B]2008 Lightweight Grand Prix Matches[/B] Gesias Calvancante vs. Shinya Aoki Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Andre Amade Koutetsu Boku vs. Joachim Hansen Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Eddie Alvarez Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Luis Firminho Jung Bu-Kyung vs. Artur Oumakhanov Kultar Gill vs. Katsuhiko Nagata Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma Mirko Filopovic vs. Sergei Kharitonov [I] Card subject to change. [/I] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFC-KING Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 [B]Gesias Calvancante [/B]vs. Shinya Aoki [B]Tatsuya Kawajiri[/B] vs. Andre Amade Koutetsu Boku vs. [B]Joachim Hansen[/B] Kazuyuki Miyata vs. [B]Eddie Alvarez[/B] [B]Mitsuhiro Ishida[/B] vs. Luis Firminho Jung Bu-Kyung vs. [B]Artur Oumakhanov[/B] Kultar Gill vs. [B]Katsuhiko Nagata[/B] [B] Hayato Sakurai[/B] vs. Hidetaka Monma [B]Mirko Filopovic[/B] vs. Sergei Kharitonov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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