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[MasterShake]

Report: Three DREAM.2 Fights Booked; Sakuraba IN After All
Source:Five Ounces of Pain | Your Destination for Insider MMA News and Opinion

Nightmare of Battle is reporting three matchups for the opening round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix:

In one fight Kazushi Sakuraba will face Brazilian born Kyokushin Karate fighter Andrews Nakahara. In the second two legends will collide as Kiyoshi Tamura takes on Masakatsu Funaki. In the last announced fight Pride veterans Denis Kang and Gegard Mousasi will meet.

Sakuraba participating in the tournaments comes as somewhat of a surprise. It was reported earlier that the aging superstar seemed hesitant to compete in the Grand Prix though admitted he wanted to fight in April. The assumption was he’d fight at DREAM.2, but in a standard bout outside of the tournament.

The initial hope was for Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura to meet in the first round, the long-awaited fight finally being booked, but matching Sakuraba against an MMA neophyte is almost a sure pass to next round. Nakahara’s Karate background seems like the big player in the fight selection, setting up a likely second round meeting with the winner of Tamura vs. Funaki.

Kang vs. Mousasi will be an interesting fight. Mousasi has been on a tear, riding a 7-fight winning streak entering the tournament. The 22 year-old Armenian has won his last four fights via KO or TKO but is a well-rounded fighter who’s no stranger on the ground. Kang is coming off a knockout loss to another possible tournament participant, Yoshihiro Akiyama. This is far from a rebound fling for Kang, but when his head is right he has the skills and experience to pull out a win over the young Mousasi.

Matchups for the other tournament participants have not yet been announced on DREAM’s website. The prospective list so far includes Akiyama, Ronaldo Jacare, Ikuhisa Minowa, Dong Sik Yoon, Kin Taiei and Shungo Oyama.

Check out more DREAM content on FiveOuncesofPain.com!

[mcptfc2007]

good news, do u think Kazushi Sakuraba is every going 2 stop fighting, i can picture him in his 60's still wanting 2 fight

[valheruking]

Mousasi vs Kang could be good.

And Nakahara is a Kyokushin fighter, which to me just means Saku takes him down and then it's over basically.

[bobcat]

Dream is shaping up nicely at the moment, perhaps we have PRIDE back in all but name - it will be good for the big names to have an alternative to the UFC again.

[MasterShake]

Originally Posted by mcptfc2007

good news, do u think Kazushi Sakuraba is every going 2 stop fighting, i can picture him in his 60's still wanting 2 fight

I see it already the Ric Flair/Hogan of the MMA world, soon he will start having retirement matches.LOL

Originally Posted by valheruking

Mousasi vs Kang could be good.

And Nakahara is a Kyokushin fighter, which to me just means Saku takes him down and then it's over basically.

Yah thats how I see the Nakahara fight going also, and I just like seeing Kang fight.

Originally Posted by bobcat

Dream is shaping up nicely at the moment, perhaps we have PRIDE back in all but name - it will be good for the big names to have an alternative to the UFC again.

Yah I definetly am glad there is a Pride uprising under the Dream banner, now they just need to get a couple more heavy hitters back in the mix and I bet they will take off fast. I really wouldn't be surprised to see Fedor head that direction, we all know how he is revered over there, and he seems to like the people and his fan base is huge.

Plus the conversations and news in here will pick up.

[Gmunit]

OLYMPIA DREAM.2 Middleweight GP 2008 1st Round
Date: April 29th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

Middleweight GP 1st Round:
Kazushi Sakuraba 23-10-1 vs. Andrews Nakahara 0-0
Kiyoshi Tamura 28-14 vs. Masakatsu Funaki 38-12-1
Denis Kang 29-9-1 vs. Gegard Mousasi 20-2-1

Middleweight GP Participants:
Yoon Dong Sik
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Shungo Oyama
Kin Taiei
Minowaman

Possible GP Participants:
Dae Won Kim
Mamed Khalidov
Daniel Acacio
Ronaldo �Jacare� Souza

Possible Participants:
Marcelo Garcia

really looking forward to this event

[Steve88]

really pumped to see kang back in action it's gonna be a sick fight ! gegard is the man!

[valheruking]

Kang would favourite, but we seen what happened the last time, and Mousasi's stand up is good enough to do the same.

[Quintessential Studmuffin]

Originally Posted by mcptfc2007

good news, do u think Kazushi Sakuraba is every going 2 stop fighting, i can picture him in his 60's still wanting 2 fight

IMO he'll be around for years to come. He's still a pretty damn good fighter and has won 6 of his 7 last fights,only losing controversial dec to Gracie on the juice.

I <3 Sakuraba. Dudes got a ton of heart,and I think he'll take this GP.

[valheruking]

I don't think he'll win the gp, but i think he'll win this fight. Be cool to see him and Jacare going at it.