By MATT MOLGAARD
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

Just a few short years ago, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai looked to be reinventing himself in the world of mixed martial arts. A threat to any man competing at welterweight (or lighter), “Mach” was considered a fading fighter in 2004 after a series of frequent losses diminished the Japanese stars drawing power.

But a return to peak form just two years later had pundits singing a new tune, and victories over Mac Danzig, Kuniyoshi Hironaka and Shinya Aoki looked like solid proof that Sakurai was once again climbing the ranks and establishing himself as a danger to upper echelon opposition.

All that changed when a July, 2009 knockout loss to Marius Zaromskis triggered a four fight skid for the popular Japanese product.

Now, two years later, Sakurai will be afforded the opportunity to avenge that loss, and put himself right back into the mix of the Japanese welterweight landscape, as the two will meet in a highly anticipated rematch on July 16th at Dream’s “Fight for Japan: 2011 Bantamweight Tournament Final”.

Check out the current fight lineup below.

DREAM Light Heavyweight Championship
-Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi

DREAM Featherweight Championship
-Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazuyuki Miyata

DREAM Bantamweight Tournament Final
-Masakazu Imanari vs. Hideo Tokoro

-Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Willamy Freire
-Marius Zaromskis vs. Hayato Sakurai
-Bruno Carvalho vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
-Keisuke Fujiwara vs. Kenji Osawa
-Todd Duffee vs. Nick Gaston

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