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http://www.graciefighter.com/?page=news


Dream Fight in Jeopardy for Diaz

Nick Diaz's Dream bout is very much in jeopardy. Diaz was given the go ahead by EliteXC for a April 29th fight against Marcelo Garcia in Dream, however when that fight was scrapped, Dream decided to instead have Diaz fight on their May 11th show. Unfortunately no one at Dream shared this information with EliteXC and EliteXC President, Gary Shaw, only learned of the change via the internet 2 days ago.
With Diaz having been scheduled to fight in Hawaii on June 14th, Shaw finds the new May 11th date perilously close to the Showtime card and has therefore nixed Diaz's participation on the Dream card. Unless Shaw has a change of heart this fight will be a no go.

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May 7, 2008
by Tomas Rios ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )

that will get any MMA fan on board with the latest new kid on the block -- insert "Hangin' Tough" reference here.

Impossibly saccharine musical confections aside, Dream is giving its lightweight grand prix some proper accompaniment with a solid undercard highlighted by the leader of the "Mayhem Monkeys" and muay Thai's answer to Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry.

So read on and get up to date on my latest round of horribly inaccurate predictions. At this point, I might as well start looking for prognostication advice in my bowl of Cheerios.

Alvarez vs. Hansen

Nordic metalhead meets hyperactive All-American wrestler. Unfortunately, it's not the latest midseason sitcom, but it does make for the most intriguing second-round matchup in Dream's lightweight grand prix.

Coming off equally impressive first-round performances, Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen and Eddie Alvarez (Pictures) have quickly become the gaijin sleepers in a tournament dominated by local heroes. Not surprisingly they've been slotted against each other thanks to Dream's "doodles on Post-It notes" system of bracketing.

Not that either man will be bothered by Dream's business-by-way-of-George-Costanza approach, especially not Hansen, who has excelled as a foreign competitor in the land of fuel-efficient cars and pixelized pornography.

First coming to prominence by treating Rumina Sato (Pictures)'s head the same way "Pacman" Jones treats second chances, Hansen (17-6-1) enjoyed a brief run as Shooto welterweight champion at Takanori Gomi (Pictures)'s expense before moving on to Pride, where illusions of another title run were quickly put to rest.

Hansen's slide down the lightweight rankings turned into a plummet when Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures) scored an upset win over "Hellboy" in his return to Shooto. Thankfully the loss seems to have had a Lazarus pit effect on Hansen, who enters this fight having put together a pair of spectacular wins over Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures) and MMA's answer to Mike McCallum, Kotetsu Boku (Pictures).

This would normally be the part where I get into Alvarez's (13-1) lightweight resume. But the Philadelphia-born phenom actually started out as a diminutive welterweight, getting by on his natural ability and a style that owes more to Clubber Lang than Rocky Balboa.

Simply running through your opposition only works when your opposition is overmatched, though. Nick Thompson (Pictures) exposed the holes in Alvarez's straightforward style by dragging him into a trench war that the undersized Alvarez was ill prepared for.

Those days of little man syndrome and mass overcompensation are long gone for Alvarez. He burst onto the lightweight radar with an impressive ground and pound drubbing of Andre "Dida" Amade, who had been considered the foreign sleeper after having reached the finals of the K-1 lightweight grand prix as a Harry Truman-level underdog.

The same ground and pound strategy may not be in Alvarez's best interests this time around, however. Hansen has the sort of slick jiu-jitsu game designed to nullify wildly aggressive wrestlers. Further complicating matters is Hansen's unorthodox southpaw striking style, which relies almost entirely on power shots thrown at unusual angles with shocking accuracy.

Victory will mean treading lightly for Alvarez. He is undoubtedly the better wrestler and would do well constantly changing the tempo on Hansen by switching from striking to grappling. That sort of up and down approach would keep Hansen from settling into a groove and would also create the openings Alvarez needs to score offense of his own.

Hoping for, never mind expecting, such discipline from Alvarez is beyond unrealistic, though. The more likely outcome is Hansen scoring on the feet against Alvarez's suspect defense until the bout eventually hits the ground.

For all his prodigious talent, Alvarez is still rough around the edges and has never had to contend with a grappler of Hansen's caliber. The Nordic moshpit master puts away Alvarez with a textbook armbar transition late in the first round.

Ishida vs. Uno

Old-school cred meets new-school style when stalwart Japanese fashion icon Caol Uno (Pictures) takes on T-Blood's Arn Anderson, Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures).

While no one will ever take away Uno's title as MMA's Tim Gunn, the question on the lips of many an MMA fan has been whether the one-time Shooto ace can still hold his own against the next generation of lightweight talent.

Recent history suggests otherwise. Uno (24-10-4) has padded his record against fringe contenders like Kultar Gill (Pictures) and Ali Ibrahim while consistently coming up short against quality competition. Putting on quality scraps in defeat will endear you to fight fans the world over, but Uno is starting to look like an out of season pair of Manolo Blahniks.

Sure, they're still good, but they've lost a bit of their value. Like Urkel. This grand prix may be Uno's last chance to once again be en vogue on the MMA scene and perhaps reclaim the success he enjoyed in his vintage Shooto days.

Although Ishida (16-3-1) never quite reached Uno's first ballot status in Shooto, he used his time in Japan's most enduring fistic enterprise to develop the constricting top-control style that would go on to serve him so well.

First entrenching himself as one of the best on the Pride Bushido circuit, Ishida scored a career-making win over Marcus Aurelio, who was fresh off his strangulation of Takanori Gomi (Pictures). Although Ishida failed to match Aurelio's feat against Gomi, he would prove his worth as the enforcer of the T-Blood camp.

Matched against Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) on the much-hyped Yarennoka card, Ishida excelled where stablemate Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) failed by taking a clear-cut decision win over the previously undefeated Gilbert Melendez (Pictures). Ishida will need to match that form and avoid the sort of lackadaisical showing he put on against Bu Kyung Jung (Pictures) in the grand prix's opening round to move on against Uno.

The flip side of the coin for Uno is figuring out how to stifle an opponent who thrives on shutting down offense like the ‘86 Bears. Uno's grappling is well regarded and rightfully so, but Ishida has proven to be all but impossible to submit and his wrestling is typically enough to frustrate even the most savvy opposition.

Slick as Uno may be, he simply doesn't have the skill set to pose much of a threat to Ishida, who should be able to roughhouse his way to a unanimous decision after two rounds of top control that would make Dan Gable blush.

Although Uno's grand prix dreams will come to an end, he can always take solace in being the best-dressed man alive who gets paid to hurt people.

Kawajiri vs. Firmino

On the way to crowning a grand prix champion, it looks like Dream will also get to settle some bad blood still brewing from its predecessor by giving Luiz "Buscape" Firmino a do-over against Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri.

These two first crossed paths on the Pride Bushido circuit. It was Kawajiri who took home the win, although popular opinion was split on who deserved the winner's purse.

Firmino (12-3) will certainly relish the opportunity to make good on this three-year-old debt considering his once-promising career has floundered since losing to Ibaraki Prefecture's favorite son. The collapse of Pride certainly played a role in Firmino's inactivity, as his win over Nobuhiro Obiya (Pictures) on the last Bushido card marked the beginning of an extended vacation from the world of fistic glory.

Thankfully the emergence of Dream brought "Buscape" out of the shadows, and a win over fellow tournament competitor Kazuyuki Miyata (Pictures) soon followed. Showing no signs of ring rust, Firmino choked out the talented Miyata with ease to set up his second go-round with the "Crusher."

The story of Kawajiri (21-4-2) post-Firmino is one of missed opportunities, as the T-Blood poster boy lost his hotly anticipated showdown with Takanori Gomi (Pictures) in one-sided fashion. That loss was immediately followed by a hollow disqualification win over Joachim Hansen (Pictures).

With the impending collapse of Pride further complicating matters, Kawajiri made another stab at solidifying his resume by taking on SoCal's hula-hoop virtuoso, Gilbert Melendez (Pictures). While Kawajiri more than held his own against the puffy-haired one, the judges' pendulum swung against him and he dropped a hotly disputed decision.

Stringing together a pair of wins over Kultar Gill (Pictures) and Luiz Azeredo (Pictures) has done little to reestablish Kawajiri's place among the elite. However, a strong showing in this tournament could be exactly what vaults him back into the division's upper echelon.

Firmino would simply like to score a high-profile win so he can spend the foreseeable future doing something other than hanging around the BTT gym twiddling his thumbs and trying to come up with a more marketable noms de guerre. It's a tall order for "Buscape" considering Kawajiri holds the edge in the wrestling department and his submission defense is all but impenetrable -- factors that played a considerable role in the first dustup. Unless we've fallen into a MMA logic vortex, not much has changed since then.

Firmino is still a semi-versatile fighter while Kawajiri is still good enough to beat just about any semi-versatile fighter. Especially ones who don't pose a real offensive threat to him.

Given that Kawajiri's effort level of late hasn't been inspiring any Prefontaine comparisons, bank on Captain T-Blood getting his brainpan in order and delivering a performance worthy of his name. Namely, a ground and pound drubbing that comes to an overdue end in the second round.

With that in mind, I'm collecting ideas for Firmino's new nickname, so feel free to send some suggestions. I'm already partial to Luiz "Blast Hardcheese" Firmino. Nice ring to that one, all you MST3K fans out there will agree.

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The usual mixed bag of undercard-y goodness awaits all you dedicated Japanophiles as Dream has put together an assortment of expected hometown flavors and some not so expected foreign funk that may mark the return of the bumpasaurus. Now please board the mothership in an orderly and most funky manner….

First on the agenda is everyone's favorite Surinamese buzz saw, "Marvelous" Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), taking on Dae Won Kim (Pictures), who is fresh off derailing BJJ golden child Marcelo Garcia (Pictures).

Just as he did against "Marcelinho," Kim (4-3) will have to find a way to neutralize the offense of a one-dimensional but dangerous opponent.

Widely regarded as one of the sport's very best strikers, the problem for Manhoef (20-4-1) has always been keeping his bouts on the feet long enough to make use of his muay-Thai-on-crank style. Luckily for the marvelous one, Kim isn't a reference-quality takedown machine and will be ill equipped to handle Manhoef's opening-bell barrage. Bank on Manhoef adding another blink and you'll miss it KO to his resume.

That or Kim hits a miracle enzuiguri and dedicates his win to the memory of Owen Hart. Trust me, it could happen.

Expect a more sedate affair when Daisuke Nakamura (Pictures) tangles with Bu Kyung Jung (Pictures), who is finally getting a logical opponent after surviving his baptism by inferno.

Starting your career against the likes of Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) and Shinya Aoki (Pictures) is about as fair as the price of oil. To Jung's (0-2) credit, though, he more than held his own against opponents who were supposed to embarrass him.

A far more manageable task awaits Jung against Nakamura (13-9), who holds the obvious edge in experience but may be stepping into the fire himself by taking on an exceptionally talented grappler like Jung.

All those near-miss submission attempts Jung had in his first two bouts will come to fruition this time around. He'll score a slick armbar win midway through the first round. Having finally been given an opportunity to showcase his skills, expect Dream to announce that Jung's next opponent will be a starving polar bear. Seriously.

Far less serious is MMA's answer to the Cheshire Cat, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, who will make his Dream debut against New Japan Pro Wrestling convert Katsuyori Shibata (Pictures).

Now far be it from me to disregard anyone giving MMA an honest try, but Shibata's (2-3) time in NJPW clearly wasn't the ideal preparation for his run at legitimate fistic glory. Most MMA fans probably recognize Shibata as "that guy who tripped down the ramp against Sakuraba," and he hasn't given the cognoscenti a reason to forget that Bill Buckner moment.

Miller (20-5) has had a far more legitimate -- and successful -- go of it in the sport of kings who happen to hate horse racing. One of the sport's perpetual vagabonds, he has fought for just about every promotion on the block, all in the name of adding to his growing cadre of "Mayhem Monkeys."

He'll get to add a few more against the criminally overmatched Shibata, whose "strong style" approach will only get him choked out that much faster against the ground savvy Miller. Personally, I can't wait to see what ridiculous piece of jewelry Miller buys with his paycheck.

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After days of confusion and frustration, it appears that Nick Diaz (Pictures) will be fighting Sunday in Japan after all.

"It was off, then on, then off again … now it's back on," said Diaz's trainer, Cesar Gracie (Pictures). "I won't really believe it until he is on the plane tomorrow morning heading to Japan."

Diaz will spend his last few hours in the United States cutting weight before heading to Japan to face former King of Pancrase Katsuya Inoue (Pictures) in Dream.

"Tonight we will be pulling an all-nighter cutting weight," Gracie said late Wednesday. "Nick was under the impression he wasn't fighting. So now we have to get the weight back down before he leaves."

At one time Diaz was set to compete on Dream's April 29 card, a date Gracie said was approved by EliteXC. However, Diaz's participation became uncertain after promoter Fight Entertainment Group moved the date of his bout to Sunday.

EliteXC President Gary Shaw originally pulled Diaz from this weekend's card because the contest was said to be too close to the June 14 EliteXC match between Diaz and Muhsin Corbbrey (Pictures) in Hawaii.

Gracie stated that ProElite CEO Doug DeLuca was to thank for making the Diaz-Inoue bout happen.

"He thought Nick sort of got screwed with the whole California Athletic Commission thing," Gracie said, referencing the California commission's removal of Diaz from a March matchup against Jae Suk Lim (Pictures).

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The full results from DREAM.3 included:

Takeshi Yamazaki def. Shoji Maruyama via unanimous decision
Jason Miller def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO (punches) -- Round 1, 6:57+
Melvin Manhoef def. Dae Won Kim via TKO (strikes) -- Round 1, 4:08#
Daisuke Nakamura def. Bu Kyung Jung via KO (punch) -- Round 2, 1:05
Nick Diaz def. Katsuya Inoue TKO (Towel, Punches) Round 1, 6:45
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luiz Firmino via unanimous decision*
Eddie Alvarez def. Joachim Hansen via unanimous decision*
Caol Uno def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via submission (rear-naked choke) -- Round 2, 2:39*