411's DREAM 10 Report 7.20.09

Posted by Jeremy Lambert on 07.20.2009

Marius Zaromskis was crowned the first ever DREAM Welterweight champion scoring a highlight reel headkick over Jason High. Elsewhere, Shinya Aoki used his stand up to defeat Vitor Ribeiro by decision and Paulo Filho made a successful return to competition submitting Melvin Manhoef with an armbar. Click for the full report.

DREAM 10
From The Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Live on HDNet

-Our hosts are Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger. They run down the card. "Mach" Sakurai missed weight yesterday but eight hours after the initial weigh in, he made the weight. Mezger chalks it up something being wrong with the scale.

-Opening video followed by fighter introductions.

Welterweight Grand Prix Reserve Fight: Seichi Ikemoto vs. Tarec Saffiedine

Round One: Ikemoto tries a double hammerfists and misses. It looked cool at least. They clinch, trade knees to the body, and the ref breaks them. Tarec using a good hook-leg kick combo. Another clinch. Tarec has double unders and lands knees to the thigh. He tries a throw takedown but Ikemoto stays on his feet. More knees in the tight clinch by Tarec. The ref breaks them. Tarec scoring with the left hook. Ikemoto tries a takedown but Tarec easily stuffs it and they clinch. Knees to the thighs by Tarec. Double lunging punch by Ikemoto. Ikemoto tries a spinning backfist but misses. Tarec goes for a head kick and partially connects but he slips and ends up on his back. Ikemoto stands in the guard of Tarec and rains down with two punches. Ikemoto in the guard of Tarec. Ikemoto postures and lands good body punches. Ikemoto passes to half guard. Tarec tries for the electric chair sweep but Ikemoto stuffs it. Tarec explodes to his feet and they wind up in a clinch. Tarec has a bodylock. He goes for a takedown but Ikemoto blocks it. The ref breaks them. Big right hand followed by a jumping knee by Tarec. Another clinch and break. Uppercut by Tarec. Leg kick by Tarec stumbles Ikemoto. Big combo by Tarec as the round ends.

Round Two: They trade leg kicks to start. Straight right lands for Tarec. Big right by Tarec as Ikemoto presses forward. Tarec counters a leg kick with a left straight. Inside leg kick followed by the overhand right by Tarec. Ikemoto slips an uppercut, gets a clinch and then pulls guard. Tarec passes to side control. Hammerfists by Tarec and then he slips to mount. Ikemoto brings his legs up to get Tarec off. He goes for a heel hook but Tarec pulls out. Ikemoto ends up in the guard of Tarec. The round ends.

-Tarec won the stand up and had the better positions on the ground so I expect him to win the decision.

Official Decision: Tarec Saffiedine by Unanimous Decision

Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Marius Zaromskis

Round One: Leg kick followed by a right hand by Sakurai. Big exchanges by both men. Big right followed by a left and another right by Zaromskis. They clinch and the ref quickly breaks them. More big exchanges. Both fighters eating big punches. Two big rights by Sakurai followed by a takedown. Sakurai in half guard. Zaramoskis rolls out and to his feet. More big exchanges. Big right by Sakurai. Sakurai is cut below his eye. Another big right by Sakurai. The ref stops the action so the doctor can check on the cut of Sakurai. He's cut above and below the left eye. The action continues. Head kick by Zaromskis drops Sakurai. Zaromskis pounces on him and pounds him from the turtle position until the ref stops it.

Official Decision: Marius Zaromskis by TKO in Round One

Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Fight: Andre Galvao vs. Jason High

Round One: Takedown by High, Galvao rolls to mount, and then High sweeps to half guard all in one motion. High has a very high half guard with Galvao turned into him. Galvao tries to spin the other way and ends up getting the back of High as High goes to stand. Knees to the thigh by Galvao. The ref breaks it. Straight left by High drops Galvao. High moves in for the kill but Galvao regains his composure. Hammerfists by High who is in half guard. Galvao rolls for a knee bar. Galvao has a lock on the knee but High looks composed. High pulls his knee out and tries to stand but Galvao keeps him on the ground and ends up in half guard. Galvao slips to mount but High gives up his back. Body triangle by Galvao. Punches by Galvao to try and set up the choke. High defending the choke well. Galvao moves to mount. High gives up his back again. Galvao working really hard for the choke but High squirming and defending. The round ends.

Round Two: Head kick by High. High unloading and Galvao covering up. Galvao tries to pull guard but High backs out and stands. Big combo by High. Galvao tries to pull guard again but High won't have it. Right hand by Galvao. Galvao slips on a head kick but High allows him to stand. Left hand followed by a body kick by High. Another body kick by High followed by another after a left hand. The round ends.

-High won the stand up battle but Galvao had a very dominant position for almost half the fight. I think Galvao won.

Official Decision: Jason High by Split Decision

-DREAM Featherweight participants Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro speak along with Ikuhisa Minowa. Tokoro will battle Takaya at DREAM 11 while Minowa will fight Hong Man Choi.

Lightweight Fight: Andre "Dida" Amade vs. Katsunori Kikuno

Round One: Big swing and miss by Dida. Knee by Dida. Right straight drops Kikuno. He's quickly back to his feet though. A long period of nothing. A quick clinch and break. The ref warns them for the lack of action. No yellow card given. Mezger states that the ref doesn't have a yellow card but he did indeed issue the card. Kikuno presses forward and gets the takedown. He moves right to mount. Ground and pound. Dida gives up his back and Kikuno flattens him out and pounds on him until the ref stops it.

Official Decision: Katsunori Kikuno by TKO in Round One

-Kikuno grabs the mic, thanks the fans and says he's going to keep fighting for DREAM.

Middleweight Fight: Melvin Manhoef vs. Paulo Filho

Round One: Filho shoots but Manhoef sprawls. They clinch. Big punches by Manhoef on the break. Filho clinches again. More big punches by Manhoef on the break. Manhoef swinging away and Filho covering up. Filho drops to the ground and Manhoef follows him down. Manhoef in half guard. Manhoef stands and backs away allowing Filho to stand. Uppercut and a hook by Manhoef. Filho clinches and gets the trip takedown. Filho moves right to mount and goes for an armbar. Filho locks it up and Manhoef taps out.

Official Decision: Paulo Filho by Submission (Armbar) in Round One

-Filho grabs the mic to speak. Filho says he's a pitbull and thanks his friends and family.

-Intermission.

-Kazushi Sakuraba comes out to address the crowd. Sakuraba says he's going to fight again in the fall.

Middleweight Fight: Jesse Taylor vs. Dong Sik Yoon

Round One: Takedown right away by Taylor. Taylor slips behind Dong and has his back on the feet before wrestling him to the ground. Dong scrambles but Taylor has side control. Dong tries to scramble but gives up his back. Dong scrambles again and the fight just stops. It appears that Dong has an injury so the ref stops the fight.

-It looks like the ankle of Dong is the reason for the stoppage.

Official Decision: Jesse Taylor by TKO (Injury) in Round One

Lightweight Fight: Shinya Aoki vs. Vitor Ribeiro

Round One: Aoki using kicks to keep the distance. Ribeiro scoring with the straight right. Body kicks by Aoki. Ribeiro is blocking the kicks but he's taking them hard on the arm. They clinch and Aoki lands a knee in the thai clinch. Ribeiro has a huge bruise on his right arm from blocking the body kicks. They clinch and Aoki lands a right hand on the break. More kicks by Aoki. The ref calls for more action. Ribeiro grabs a single but Aoki stays on his feet. Ribeiro gives up on the takedown and backs away. Another single by Ribeiro but Aoki refuses to go down. Aoki catches Ribeiro with another right on the break. Overhand right by Ribeiro. Aoki lands a good knee in the thai clinch. The round ends.

Round Two: Ribeiro pressing the action to start the round. Flying knee by Aoki and then he gets the back of Ribeiro on the feet. Ribeiro drops to the ground and Aoki backs away. Ribeiro shoots and Aoki stuffs it. Body kick by Aoki. Ribeiro pressing but Aoki grabs the thai clinch and lands some good knees to the body. Double leg takedown by Ribeiro. He's in the guard of Aoki. Aoki controlling the posture of Ribeiro. Ribeiro staying active but not doing much damage. More short punches by Ribeiro. Aoki using the rubber guard to control Ribeiro. Ribeiro staying very busy on the ground. The round ends.

-Aoki easily won the stand up but Ribeiro had a good position and tried harder to finish in the second round. I think Aoki will win.

Official Decision: Shinya Aoki by Unanimous Decision

-Aoki says he's going to fight Joachim Hansen for the DREAM Lightweight title in October.

-Tatsuya Kawajiri apologizes for his K-1 performance a week ago. He says he wants to fight Aoki on New Years Eve.

Welterweight Grand Prix Final for the DREAM Welterweight Title: Jason High vs. Marius Zaromskis

Round One: Flying knee by Zaromskis to start but High moves and grabs the knee on the way down. Takedown by High and he's in guard. Zaromskis pushes High off and gets to his feet. High grabs Zaromskis and goes for a guillotine. High drops down but loses the choke. Back on the feet. Zaromskis presses forward and catches High with a HUGE head kick. High is out cold.

-High is still out and being attended to. High is finally up and moving.

Official Decision: NEW DREAM Welterweight Champion, Marius Zaromskis by KO in Round One

-Sakurai and Galveo are presented their third place checks and trophies, High is presented his second place check and trophy, and Zaromskis is presented his check, trophy, and DREAM Welterweight title.

-All the fighters say some words. Zaromskis says the Japan crowd gives him energy.

-Schiavello and Mezger wrap things up.

-End Show.