The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review: DREAM 1
Posted by Randy Harrison on 03.25.2008
Mirko CroCop returns to Japan, JZ and Aoki settle nothing and the Lightweight Grand Prix gets underway in fine form. DREAM makes its debut in the world of MMA and its debut in The Sprawl and Brawl. You're one click away from all of the Japanese MMA action you can handle.
Welcome to the Tuesday tradition here in the MMA zone, The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review. I'm Randy Harrison,the guy that loves MMA so much he volunteered to sit and watch hour upon hour upon hour of it, all for you loyal readers. This week, much like my previous reviews of Cage Rage 25 and Yarennoka!, we take a look at a much more recent international event as we turn our attention to the DREAM card from less than two weeks ago. This was a big card for DREAM as it was the first in the promotion's existence and featured the return of Mirko CroCop to Japan, the opening round of the Lightweight Grand Prix, and a centerpiece fight between the two best lightweight fighters in the world, Shinya Aoki and JZ Calvancante. There's a lot riding on this collaboration between former PRIDE employees and FEG, the owners of the promotion that used to be known as K-1 Hero's, and it will be interesting to see if they can deliver and fill the niche that has been missing from the MMA world since the dissolution of PRIDE almost one year ago. It's time to get to Tokyo and the Saitama Super Arena for all of the action as The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review looks at DREAM 1!!!
DREAM 1
We get the same fighter introductions that come from seemingly every Japanese promotion, to the tune of "Let Me Entertain You" by Robbie Williams. Shinya Aoki gets a huge round of applause and they bill JZ Calvancante as King of Hero's, and I'd be hard pressed to dispute that claim.After the intros of some of the main fighters we get a little video package talking about the amalgamation of K-1, PRIDE and Hero's that has led to the formation of DREAM, and a look at some of the stars of the new promotion including Shinya Aoki training, and Mirko kicking the head off of someone from an old PRIDE fight.
Match One: Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round
Joachim Hansen vs. Kotetsu Boku
Hansen is a PRIDE and Shooto veteran, who is a surprisingly mediocre 3-2 in his last five fights. Granted the two losses were a controversial decision loss, which many feel he won, against Eiji Mitsuoka in his return to Shooto, and to Shinya Aoki at Shockwave 2006, but he's still seeming to have lost a little momentum and will be looking to get it back here. Boku is coming off of a loss to Artur Oumakhanov, and a victory over the same Mitsuoka before that. He's also a Shooto veteran, with some experience in K-1 Hero's and he trains regularly with Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, which can't be a bad thing at all.
Round One
Hansen comes out strong with an overhand left that lands and another and Boku tries a one-two that misses. Hansen to the body and a BIG left hand that puts Boku down on the mat. Hansen on top of him, trying to finish, landing some rights and lefts to the head and body from the guard. Hansen tries to pass and can't as Boku rolls to his side, possibly for a kimura attempt. A straight armbar from the bottom by Boku and he pushes Hansen away with his feet, but Hansen is right on him, clinching him and slamming him HARD to the mat. Hansen takes Boku's back and rolls with him, trying to flatten him out and lock in the rear naked choke. Hansen transitions from that to a straight armbar attempt and Boku locks his hands to try to fight it off as Hansen heel strikes him in the face. Another transition as Hansen moves to a triangle choke attempt but Boku is able to fight clear of it and get back to his feet, prompting a full restart on the feet.
Boku doubles up on the jab and lands a HARD body shot before a couple of hooks to the head find their mark. Another hard body shot from Boku and Hansen starts firing back with combinations of his own that seem to stun and back up Boku. A WICKED leg kick lands for Boju and hansen responds with a combination of punches in the corner. Hansen with a short right hook that lands, followed with a straight left and he backs Boku into the corner, taking a full bodylock and slamming Boki down again. Hansen lands in full side control and moves further to solidify the position and avoid being drawn back into guard before he tries to mount Boku. Boku defends the mount attempt well and regains his feet, eating a couple of punches on the way up before Hansen moves back to another bodylock and another slam. Hansen takes Boku's back with both hooks in and tries for the rear naked choke again, but Boku defends it well, keeping Hansen's hands too busy to sink in the choke.
Hansen with short right hands to soften up Boku and he tries the choke again, with both the left and right arms, but Boku keeps himself out of danger, even getting the fight back into his half-guard. Hansen on top and working with rapid-fire punches to the body before firing a couple off to the head of Boku. Boku kicks him away and the fight is back to its feet, with Boku landing a couple of good, crisp punches before Hansen shoots in and gets the takedown again. hanesn with right and left hooks to the face of Boku, who tries some short punches from the bottom and looks winded. Hansen tries to pass the guard at the end of the round, but can't get past the legs and ends up pounding away from the guard of Boku as the bell sounds.
Round Analysis: All Hansen, all round and he pretty much dominated Boku for the opening ten minutes. I'm surprised at the fact that Hansen wasn't able to finish, but that's probably a testament to the toughness of Boku, who defended well despite being outworked and outclassed for virtually the entire round.
Round Two
They touch gloves and Boju throws a couple of hooks that tap on hansen and Hansen responds with a HUGE shot that doesn't just tap. Leg kicks are exhanged and Hansen continues to stalk down Boku, hitting a good body kick and a solid left, before landing a hard, HARD knee to the body in the corner. A left hook over the top lands for Hansen and Boku fires back with a hard body shot as they move back to the center of the ring. They trade combinations with Boku going to the body and Hansen going to the head and Hansen looks to get the better of things, moving to a bodylock and clinching with some knees to the body. They clinch against the ropes and the action slows as Hansen tries for another takedown in the corner before they get restarted in the center. Boku to the body again and Hansen comes back with that overhand left, before Boku gets a good knee in on Hansen's body. Boku lands a straight right hand over the top and Hansen grabs a Thai clinch to land some SOLID knees to the head, even dragging Boku to the mat with the clinch. Hansen on top in the full, closed guard and working to the head and body with right hands.
He peppers Boku with shots and moves him away from the ropes, continuing to posture up and fire away with more punches. Hansen passes into half-guard and keeps throwing punches, posturing up to his feet and trying to pass to side control, but Boku defends it well, getting back to full guard. Hansen continues to work with HARD body shots and the odd shot to the face of Boku and he's doing just enough to keep busy and keep the fight on the mat, but just as I say that, Boku kicks him away and the fight is back on its feet. Boku throws a couple of punches and Hansen yells at him, which has to be disheartening after you've thrown some hard shots. Hansen lands a WICKED straight left off of the yelling that floors Boku and he's down on top of him, trying to finish. Lefts and rights to the head from Hansen as there's a minute left in the fight and he moves over to half-guard, trying for side control. A knee to the head from Hansen and he just rides out some time in half-guard with left hands and a NASTY elbow to the body. They get back to their feet with five seconds left in the fight and Boku lands a nice uppercut just as Hansen gets a left hook to the head at the bell.
Winner: Joachim Hansen, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: Hansen was just way too much for Boku in this one. Boku was more than game, but he just seemed like he had no answer for anything that Hansen wanted to do. The only disappointing thing is that Hansen wasn't able to finish the fight, like I know he probably wanted to, to make a bigger statement to the remaining fighters in the tournament. I do like the little graphic that they have at the decision time that shows who each judge went for or at least how many went for each fighter. It almost looks like the shootout scoreboard on a hockey broadcast and it's a neat little feature that for the life of me I can't remember seeing in PRIDE.
TO THE BACK, and we see one of the Japanese reporters at the dressing room door of Mirko CroCop, taking us to a look at the inside of the room for a moment before Mirko closes off the door to the camera. We see him in the ring earlier in the day and he's rolling with a trainer while he has his iPod in his ears. That's pretty bad-ass.
Now it's time to see Minowa-Man make his entrance to the arena, minus his usually present Japanese flag/cape. He does his usual Minowa pose and then sprints to the ring to the roar of the crowd. Now we get a little video package outlining Minowa's background in pro-wrestling, as well as his various MMA exploits in Hero's and PRIDE. We even get to see him golfing, bunting a baseball and spin kicking a soccer ball, showing his all-around skills as an athlete. Highlights from his fight with Zuluzinho are shown, as well as Minowa doing some public speaking or teaching.
Match Two: DREAM Catchweight Superfight
Ikuhisa Minowa (39-28-7) vs. Lee Kwan Bum (1-1)
As mentioned earlier, Minowa's last fight was against Zuluzinho, who outweighed him by a good couple hundred pounds. He lost that fight after finally getting tracked down by the big man, who had surpisingly strong cardio for the bout. He has worlds more experience than his opponent and has fought through Pancrase, the UFC, DEEP, PRIDE, and even Cage Rage, before his K-1 Hero's experience, where he was 1-2. Bum's experience comes in his native Korea, fighting in Spirit MC on two occasions, after a career in Korean baseball. He's coming off of a TKO loss to Chang Hyeon Kim in at Spirit MC 9, last October. Bum looks to have about a hundred pound weight advantage over Minowa, as well as a little height and reach.
Round One
Minowa with a rolling somersault off of the opening bell and Bum catches him with a hard kick to the body. Another rolling somersault from Minowa, as he keeps his distance early on before throwing a combination to the head and following it up with a shoot. He grabs a double-leg and gets Bum down to the mat with relative ease, to the delight of the masses in Saitama. Minowa works some punches to the body and passes to half-guard, trying to straighten one of the big Korean's arms out. He slides around to work on the legs instead, separating them and getting a deep kneebar on the right leg of Bum. Bum taps out and it's ALL OVER!!!
Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa, submission (kneebar) at 1:20 of Round One
Fight Analysis: PRIDE freakshow matches LIVE ON!! Bum looked like he was really green and I guess it's because he is. Minowa took advantage of his VAST experience edge and really did a number on Bum once he got the fight to the mat. Definitely turned out better for Minowa than the Zuluzinho fight, though he needs to start fighting decent fighters in his weight class soon or avoid becoming relegated to the freakshow circuit forever.
We move on to a video package for Hayato Sakurai, and see his work in Shooto, with devastating knees that put his opponent down and out. We also see him training at his dojo and putting his students through their paces. Next we see Hidetaka Monma, K-1 Hero's veteran, training at his own dojo and they show both his ability to submit people with various chokes and armbars, and his deadly striking, which completely KO's one hapless opponent. Sakurai looks WAY looser training in his dojo than Monma does in his, I'm just saying.
Match Three: DREAM Middleweight Superfight
Hayato Sakurai (31-7-2) vs. Hidetaka Monma (14-7-3)
Sakurai is well-documented as one of the best middleweight fighters in the world and like most fighters here has a wealth of experience in PRIDE, Shooto, the UFC, DEEP and in the Vale Tudo Japan shows. He's won four fights in a row, and eight of his last nine, with his only loss coming at the hands of Takanori Gomi at Shockwave 2005. Monma is known more for his work in Pancrase or in Greatest Common Multiple, a Japanese cagefighting promotion. His record has been spotty as of late, going 2-3 in his last five fights, with consecutive losses to JZ Calvancante and Luigi Fiorvanti in the middle of 2006.
Round One
A bit of a slow start as they circle and feint for the better part of thirty seconds, with only a Monma leg kick registering as an attempt at offense. A HARD leg kick from Sairai lands and he looks to be settling into a rhythm a little bit. A BIG overhand right lands with a smack and he rushes Monma with a combination, but that first punch looked like the only one that hit solidly. A Superman punch and a spinning back kick both miss for Monma, the latter getting his foot caught in the ropes for a moment. Sakurai with a hard body kick and a WICKED Muay Thai knee to the face of Monma that stuns him. Sakurai holds the clinch with a knee to the body and trips Monma down to the mat, ending up in Monma's full guard. Sakurai works to the body and head with some ground and pound and Monma closes the guard off completely before pushing Sakurai away and getting back to his feet. Another pair of HARD leg kicks land for Sakurai, the second actually putting Monma down to the mat.
Sakurai waves him back to his feet and then hits him with another solid leg kick. They exchange with neither fighter landing andy solid punches and then back off a little to circle. A glancing left hook lands for Sakurai and another good inside leg kick, which prompts Monma to fire off a leg kick of his own. Sakurai keeps scoring with the leg kick and Monma is trying to use the jab to keep him at distance, landing a hard body shot but eating a short left hook, a la Jackson/Liddell II, and Monma is down. Sakurai starts pounding away with hammerfists and lefts and rights, forcing Monma to turtle for a good thirty seconds. Monma eats a TON of leather and Sakurai just keeps throwing and throwing, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight, even though he could have done so about fifteen seconds before and there would have been no complaints from me.
Winner: Hayato Sakurai, TKO at 4:12 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Sakurai looked great in this fight, much like he does in almost all of his fights. He definitely overwhelmed Monma from the outset and did exactly what he was expected to do, which was to put Monma on the mat with a takedown or strikes and then finish him on the ground. Monma showed heart in taking the beating that he did, but that ill-timed body shot cost him and ultimately led to the end of the fight. Impressive fight for Sakurai, and I loved getting to see him since he's one of my favorite fighters.
From that brutality, we move on to a highlight video, welcoming Mirko CroCop back to Japan, showcasing his high kick knockouts and calling them "Japan-Shaking High Kicks" It talks of his resurrection and how he's looking for redemption in Japan. That leads to a video package hyping the main event of Shinya Aoki and JZ Calvancante with the question at the end being asked, "Who is the strongest fighter in the world?"
Moving on to the next bout, Tatsuya Kawajiri is training in his gym and looks ripped to pieces. We see some of his highlights from Shooto and they talk about his work in PRIDE and then show him speaking at the DREAM press conference. Kultar Gill gets the video treatment now, with them showing an entrance from Hero's where he's carrying a sword with him to the ring. They show his lightning-quick knees and compare them to the strike of a snake, with visual aids, before we see him strike the Karate Kid pose in victory.
Match Four: Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round
Tatsuya Kawajiri (20-4-2) vs. Kultar Gill (9-6)
Kawajiri, as shown in the video has experience galore in Japan, making a name for himself in Shooto before moving on to PRIDE, with his last PRIDE fight being a decision loss to Gilbert Melendez at Shockwave 2006. He's 4-1 in his last five fights, coming off of a decision win over Luiz Azeredo at the Yarennoka show on New Year's Eve. Gill has fought all over the world with fights in SuperBrawl and Shooto before his latest K-1 Hero's experience, with some Bodog Fight sprinkled in as well. He's a less than stellar 2-3 in his last five fights and is going to be looking to pull the upset on the favored Japanese hero in Kawajiri.
Round One
They circle to start out and Kawajiri hits a good right hand and shoots for a single-leg, finally getting the fight to the mat after Gill grabbed the ropes momentarily. Kawajiri already trying to pass guard as Gill tries some elbow strikes from the bottom, but he can't get any further than half-guard. Crowd clapping and chanting loudly for Kawajiri and Gill pushes him away with the feet, trying for some up-kicks from the floor before regaining his feet. They clinch in the center of the ring and Kawajiri changes levels again, reaching for another single-leg and pushing Gill against the ropes. Gill with some punches to the body as he sprawls and Kawajiri switches to a double-leg, lifting Gill but being unable to slam him. Gill continues to strike while sprawling and Kawajiri continues to try to shoot in for the takedown. Gill looks like he's trying for a standing kimura but he gives it up in favor of more striking and sprawling, but Kawajiri finally gets the fight down to the mat.
Kawajiri working from the half-guard again, trying to pass out of it and controlling one of Gill's arms, but not doing any real striking from it. Kawajiri passes into side control and eats a HARD knee from Gill on the bottom before moving to a north/south position and maybe trying for a choke. Gill with more up-kicks and in the scramble Kawajiri takes Gill's back with both hooks in. Gill stands up as Kawajiri tries to lock in the rear naked choke and turns into the back control, ending up on top of Kawajiri and in his full guard, throwing right hands. The referee stops them and restarts them in the same position in the middle of the ring, away from the ropes, and Kawajiri looks to be trying for rubber guard, landing a couple of strikes from the bottom while negating Gill's ability to do anything. They scramble and end up on their feet again with Kawajiri back to the single-leg and Gill back to sprawling to avoid and landing shots to the body. Kawajiri ends up getting one of his legs picked by Gill, but fights through it to get the takedown.
The referee resets them in the middle of the ring again and the action resumes in Gill's closed guard. Gill throwing strikes from the bottom still and Kawajiri can't get free to throw anything, despite passing to half-guard. Into side control now for Kawajiri and he's got two minutes to work with, switching to north/south and trying to throw some knees. Gill defends it well and Kawajiri drags him back down to the mat, taking his back again with both hooks in. Kawajiri tries for the choke again and is flattening Gill out, getting the foreram under the throat for a moment but not being able to close it out. Kawajiri switches to a head and arm triangle choke but has to let it go and Gill gets back to his feet, into the clinch of Kawajiri. Another takedown for Kawajiri with thirty seconds left in the round and he takes some pattycake shots from Gill on the bottom before passing to side control as the round ends.
Round Analysis: Kawajiri did a lot to make sure that he got the takedowns, but didn't do much else besides passing when he got them. It was weird to see Gill do more of the striking from the bottom than Kawajiri did from the top, but I guess this round was all about positioning and Kawajiri had that in spades. I really hope that he turns it up in the second round to try to end things, becuase he's dominating the fight on the mat.
Round Two
Gill tries the jab but it misses, though he hits a NICE front kick to the body and a low kick, though he eats a BIG left from Kawajiri throwing the leg kick. Another leg kick from Gill stops a possible spinning back fist attempt from Kawajiri and Kawajiri catches the next front kick, turning it into another takedown, ending up in the full, closed guard of Gill. Kawajiri continues to try to pass out of that while taking the little tapping punches from Gill on the bottom. Gill starts with elbow strikes to the shoulder and pushes Kawajiri away, but he can't get far enough away and ends up back on his feet with Kawajiri shooting in again for a takedown. Gill looking for the standing kimura again and Kawajiri drops down, turning it into a double-leg attempt, dragging Gill back down to the mat.
Kawajiri passes to mount but can't hold it and they scramble with Gill getting back to his feet. Another shot from Kawajiri and he fights out of the kimura attempt again to score the takedown with a little under two minutes left in the fight. The ref stops things to reset them in the center, and to clean a little blood from Kawajiri's mouth. Gill continues with the elbows from the bottom and Kawajiri continues to pass somewhat effortlessly, ending up in the half-guard, landing a good right hand and doing some ground and pound to the body. Kawajiri passes to side control again with a minute left and looks to move to north/south again. Kawajiri stops just short of true north/south, trying for a choke but then moving back to the side. He smothers Gill and throws a couple of knees and Gill pushes him away, JUST running out of time as he had Kawajiri locked nearly all the way in a triangle as the bell sounds.
Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: Well, this was a bit of a slower affair than some of the other matches on the card so far, and Kawajiri really needs to do a little bit more with his top positions than just lay on top of his opponents. He's immensely popular in Japan, but it isn't really going to do him much good in the next round of the tournament. He can work the wrestling as much as he wants to, but it's not going to work forever and he's not going to be able to just hold down and decision the people that are left in the tournament.
The next match is up and we see some video on Eddie Alvarez, set to "Walk This Way" which is infinitely cool. They show his highlights from the Elite XC fight with Ross Ebanez in the ShoXC series and he says that he's here to put on exciting fights and that's what he's going to do. The video comes now for Andre Amade and it shows him slugging away in K-1 Hero's before getting in a plug for Adidas. Now we see some pictures of Amade as a younger child and him talking about growing up (I presume), interspersed with his fight footage. They show another adidas shoe with the A and S blacked out leaving only the "Dida" which is Amade's nickname and I'm guessing they're getting into the origins of the nickname.
Match Five: Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round
Eddie Alvarez (12-1) vs. Andre Amade (6-2-1)
As stated before, Alvarez is coming off of his impressive showing on the ShoXC card and has a 4-1 record in his last five fights, mainly in Bodog Fight. Amade is coming off of an impressive showing himself in the K-1 Hero's Middleweight Tournament, making it to the finals before being stopped by JZ Calvancante by submission in the finals. Amade also recently made headlines for leaving Chute Boxe and moving to Canada to start his own training facility.
Round One
YUJI SHIMADA makes his first appearance of the night as the referee for this one, and he's all strapped in to the Ref Cam as well. One of the things I loved the most about PRIDE. Amade JUST misses with a haymaker right off the bat and Alvarez shoots in for a single-leg, getting the takedown and trying to pass immediately. He fires off some rights and lefts and ends up in the full guard of Amade. Amade works good hand control and avoids taking too many strikes as Alvarez stands out of the guard and the referee resets them. Another WILD exchange back and forth, with both fighters barely missing on power punches. Amade misses with a HUGE right hook and catches Alvarez' foot off of a body kick but does nothing with it. Alvarez fakes a shot and they end up standing and circling. Alvarez misses over the top with a left hook but Amade makes good on a couple of right hooks in response, stunning Alvarez for a moment before DROPPING HIM with a HUGE right. Alvarez recovers almost instantly, shooting for the takedown and getting it, ending up on top in half-guard. Alvarez tries to land some strikes and hits a couple of good lefts and rights, continuing to work from the half-guard with the ground and pound before Amade scrambles to his feet. Amade misses with a wild uppercut/right hook combination and Alvarez just stays calm, stalking Amade down.
Amade lands an overhand right and Alvarez moves in close, clinching him up against the corner. Amade moves away from the clinch but eats a couple of uppercuts in the process as Alvarez starts to find his range. HARD leg kick from Alvarez and he shoots in HARD on a single-leg, taking Amade down and moving into his half-guard to pound away. Alvarez with a hammerfist and he is almost passed into side control, standing above Amade and landing some heavy punches. Alvarez into side control and he continues to punish Amade with rights and lefts as his corner instructs him to avoid throwing elbows to the face. A good knee and a couple of hammerfists land for Alvarez and he avoids a sweep attempt from Amade, instead moving to the mount. Lefts and lefts and lefts from Alvaraez and he switches to the right hand, landing a WICKED swing pass right that rocks Amade. A flurry of punches and hammerfists force Amade to turtle onto his stomach and try desperately to grab one of Alvarez' legs, but Alvarez sprawls out of that and just takes the back of Amade, moving back to full mount and then landing some punches from the half-guard. Amade just covering up and eating punches as Alvarez rains down lefts and rights and retakes the full mount, threatening with an armbar. Amade sits up but Alvarez just pushes him back down, into side control and back to full mount, landing lefts and rights until Yuji Shimada has no choice but to call the fight.
Winner: Eddie Alvarez, TKO at 6:47 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Alvarez continues to fulfill his potential and does so in convincing fashion, pulling off the mild upset over the K-1 Hero's tournament finalist in Amade. He showed a great chin, taking Amade's best shot and shaking it off, and managed to do a great job in holding Amade down and keeping him on the defensive for pretty much the rest of the fight. I'd say that Alvarez is a dark horse to win this whole thing as he has the wrestling chops, as well as the power in his hands to make a lot of good things happen against any number of future opponents.
We get to see highlights now from Mitsuhiro Ishida's decidion win over Bu Kyung Jung, as well as the finish of the fight between Luis Firimino and Kazuyuki Miyata, which Firimino won with a first round rear naked choke. Also included in the highlights are clips from the unanimous decision win by Katsuhiko Nagata over Artur Oumakhanov to round out the unaired fights of the night.
It's time for the fight everyone has been waiting for with JZ Calvancante taking on Shinya Aoki. Calvancante gets the video package first, showing him wakeboarding before taking us to highlights from his Hero's run and training in his gym. They show his finals victory over Andre Amade in the K-1 Hero's Welterweight Tournament and more of his work in the gym before moving to Shinya Aoki. Aoki is shown making his entrance in the Yarennoka card before they show his extensive amateur background. Clips of Aoki in Shooto and his fight in Yarennoka get aired, as well as some shots from the DREAM press conference.
Match Six: Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round
JZ Calvancante vs. Shinya Aoki
This one was supposed to happen at Yarennoka in December, but Calvancante had to withdraw due to a knee injury. It's been talked about a million times over and we all know about Calvancante's K-1 Hero's tournament win and the fight that Aoki had at Yarennoka where he was pushed to a decision by Korean MMA newcomer Bu Kyung Jung. Aoki gets his full entrance with the crowd clapping and singing along to his theme music. Aoki, for his part, dances all the way down the entrance ramp, bouncing on his feet while giving props to the crowd. Calvancante danaces his way down to the ring too, jumping over the top rope as he gets into the ring.
Round One
Aoki rocking the rainbow pants tonight and Yuji Shimada is the official for this huge fight. They circle through the first thirty seconds and Aoki throws a front kick before Calvancante can get his punches off. A jab lands from Calvancante and he throws a leg kick as Aoki throws a body kick and ends up knocking him down. Shimada breaks them up and they're back on their feet, with Aoki trying the body kick again and Calvancante blocking it. A body kick from Aoki gets through this time and he throws another which Calvancante catches, throwing Aoki down to the mat. Aoki throws some up-kicks and Calvancante tries to weaken the legs of Aoki with some kicks of his own. Calvancante jumps into the guard, landing a great left hand and then stands right back out of it and Shimada brings Aoki back to his feet. Aoki fakes a kick and they circle with Calvancante landing a shot to the body before Aoki tries to pull guard and misses. Calvancante stands over him and the action slows until Shimada breaks them again. A quick break to fix Aoki's glove and we're back to the fight, with Aoki landing another body kick and Calvancante throwing a couple of punches inside. Calvancante WHIFFS with a big high kick and Aoki shoots in for a takedown off of that while Calvancante is off-balance. Calvancante sprawls and then drops a hammerfist to the side and the two downward elbows that look to be on the side of the back and shoulder of Aoki. Aoki crumples to the mat and Shimada calls a top to the fight for a doctor to come in and check on Aoki. We get a replay of the elbow and it still looks a good couple of inches away from the spine, maybe nearer to the shoulder. They're still checking Aoki and Yuji Shimada has the microphone, telling us that Aoki can't continue and that he can't move his right arm. The crowd isn't very happy with that, not so much outright booing but just kind of reacting in shock.
Winner: No Contest
Fight Analysis: It's a real shame that this fight had to end up in the no contest that it did, but it did, and we'll see what happens with the rulings afterwards. The elbows didn't look anywhere near as illegal as the elbows that we saw Malaipet land on Thomas Denny in ShoXC over the weekend, and it looked like they did more damage to the nerves in the shoulder of Aoki, rather than any type of spinal damage. I think that Calvancante should advance to the second round of the tournament, since Aoki is unable to continue, but I'm pretty sure we'll end up seeing a rematch for these two down the road. This one was way too short to make any kind of accurate prediction on how the fight would have turned out had it continued.
The main event with Mirko CroCop is up now and we see him training in the cage in his native Croatia, as well as doing some cardio work out on a desolate stretch of highway. We get footage of CroCop making his return to the country at the airport as well as his introduction at the DREAM press conference. They show footage of his K-1 fights versus Bob Sapp and Mark Hunt as well as an interview with him talking about possibly giving up fighting after his stint in the UFC and his losses, but he feels hungry to fight again in DREAM. We move over to his opponent Tatsuya Mizuno, and we see some highlights from his fights in Pancrase, including some good submission attempts. There's not much footage for Mizuno, which leads me to believe they're not expecting much from him.
Match Seven: DREAM Heavyweight Superfight
Mirko CroCop (22-6-2) vs. Tatsuya Mizuno (3-2)
Mizuno is a veteran of Pancrase, with all of his fights coming in the hybrid wrestling promotion and a 3-2 record. He comes into this fight off of a first round TKO win although I don't think that's going to help him out any. CroCop's past is well-documented with his ill-fated trip to the States to fight in the UFC apparently over for the time being. Mirko makes his usual entrance to Wild Boys and the crowd claps along, genuinely happy to see him fighting in their country again. A roar comes up as he makes his appearance on the entrance ramp and he looks really focused on his way to the ring.
Round One
Boardshorts on CroCop with the same pattern as his old fight shorts and they circle to start with a BIG leg kicck landing fron CroCop. Mizuno tries to throw a straight right and it gets blocked and they circle a little more, with another leg kick landing from CroCop. they move to a clinch and Mirko gets a nice Thai knee and a leg kick and then hits ANOTHER hard knee and then moves in for the kill. He flurries with punches while Mizuno turtles on the mat and and Yuji Shimada steps in to save Mizuno from what I presume would have been certain death.
Winner: Mirko CroCop, TKO at 0:56 of Round One
Fight Analysis: This was a fight to re-introduce Mirko to Japan and get the bitter taste of his two previous losses out of his mouth. There was no way that he was going to lose this bout and it was seriously only a question of whether or not he was going to score the high kick KO or just do some striking with his hands to win. It proves nothing about whether the "old" Mirko is back, but I'm heartened by Mirko's comments in the post-fight press conference when he said that he hopes to face stiffer competition in his next fight. This one however, was the definition of legalized assault.
The closing credits for the show run across the bottom of Mirko's replays and that's it for DREAM 1 from Tokyo!! Next week, we'll be back with another Sprawl and Brawl, and it'll be a round-by-round, moment-by-moment look at the Strikeforce card this weekend, featuring the main event of Frank Shamrock and Cung Le. In the meantime and in between time, we'll see you right back here next time for an all-new, all-Shamrock, all-Le, Sprawl and Brawl Video Review.
The 411: A really good first offering from the new promotion, but it gets marred by the non-finish in the showcase fight and the rather uncompetitive main event with CroCop. The fights that finished brought plenty of excitement and even some of the ones that didn't ended up being interesting to watch. They'll really need to pick things up though as it sounded like their attendance wasn't quite what they had hoped for, while the ratings were DEFINITELY not what they had hoped for. Out of all the Japanese promotions that have tried since PRIDE, this one felt the most like the original, without seeming completely derivative. Here's hoping they get the chance to run many more cards in the future. See this one for the controversy of Aoki/Calvancante and Mirko killing a bitch, and stay for a solid card of MMA action.
