Dream: Fight for Japan!

Dream: Fight for Japan!, also known as Dream Japan GP – 2011 Bantamweight Japan Tournament, was a mixed martial arts event held by Fighting and Entertainment Group's mixed martial arts promotion Dream. The event took place on May 29, 2011 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.^[1]

Background

The event was held in the hall version of the Saitama Super Arena with a capacity of around 7000.^[2]

Shinya Aoki was originally slated to fight former MFC lightweight champion Antonio McKee. Then McKee unexpectedly pulled out of the fight and was to be replaced by The Ultimate Fighter 8 alumni, Shane Nelson. However, Aoki declined to fight Nelson, and instead fought Rich Clementi.

The first and second rounds of the bantamweight tournament took place on this card.^[2] The finals and third place fight will take place on an event in July.^[2] The winner and loser of the final and the winner of the third place fight will advance to the Dream World Bantamweight Tournament to be held at a later date. The event was not aired live on HDNet but will instead air via tape delay.

Results

• Lightweight bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Rich Clementi

Aoki defeated Clementi via submission (neck crank) at 2:32 of round 2.

• Lightweight bout: Katsunori Kikuno vs. Daisuke Nakamura

Kikuno defeated Nakamura via unanimous decision.

• Featherweight bout: Caol Uno vs. Akiyo Nishiura

Uno defeated Nishiura via unanimous decision.

• Featherweight bout: Takeshi Inoue vs. Koichiro Matsumoto

Inoue defeated Matsumoto via TKO (punches) at 6:51 of round 1.

• Featherweight bout: Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Joachim Hansen

Hansen defeated Ishida via split decision.

Bantamweight Tournament

Quarterfinals

• Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: Kenji Osawa vs. Takafumi Otsuka

Osawa defeated Otsuka via split decision.

• Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: Keisuke Fujiwara vs. Masakazu Imanari

Imanari defeated Fujiwara via unanimous decision.

• Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hideo Tokoro

Tokoro defeated Maeda via submission (injury) at 0:23 of round 2.

• Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: Yusaku Nakamura vs. Atsushi Yamamoto

Yamamoto defeated Nakamura via TKO (punches) at 8:43 of round 1.

Semifinals

• Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Kenji Osawa vs. Masakazu Imanari

Imanari defeated Osawa via Submission (heel hook) at 0:58 of round 2.

• Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: Hideo Tokoro vs. Atsushi Yamamoto

Tokoro defeated Yamamoto via split decision.

References