Jah Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 First of all, looks like negotiations with Norifumi Yamamoto was a bust. So much for Dana and the WEC coming to terms with KID, I was looking forward to finally seeing him state-side where the bulk of the top fighters in his division rest their heads. There are still some fights for him in Japan, and with his long lay off, this may just be what he needs. Especially before jumping into the fire that is the WEC in a completely different time zone. Andre Galvao x John Alessio Galvao did an excellent job against Alessio. He fought his fight by keeping his distance, picked his punches, and closed the distance when necessary to bring the fight down. He did a beautiful job of landing knees to the hamstrings of Alessio to make it easier to bring the fight down and was very patient in working for the submission. The rules of Dream continue to favor submission grapplers with the 10 minute first round and the non allowance of elbow strikes to the head. Alessio was able to work within the rules and utilize some knees to the head whenever he had the opportunity which may have bought him some time. Unfortunately, he had nothing for the Brazillian on the ground. He seemed frustrated at his performance after the tap from an elegantly executed armbar from Galvao. Marius Zaromskis x Seichi Ikemoto Greasing looks like it is still a problem in Japan, doesn't even look like they check the fighters' bodies. Ishi's back looked rather shiny after he disrobed, not saying he greased, but he certainly could have and nothing would have been done about it. The fight ended up being one of the best of the night, some great back and forth action and both were willing to stand and trade from ranged fighting to inside the clinch. Zaromskis came closer to landing a backflip in a fight than GSP has post fight. Both fighters were extremely creative even though it got sloppy at times in part to adrenaline, bad technique, or fatigue. I still thoroughly enjoyed the whole fight and would love to see more of the same in MMA consistently. I'll actually go to go as far as saying that Marius Zeromskis decision victory over Seichi Ikemoto is fight of the year thus far. Jason High x Yuya Shirai High straight mollywhopped his opponent to the ground, forced him on his back and finished him with a crushing RNC that put Shirai to sleep with the quickness. I'm sure McKee couldn't be more proud, he was grinning from ear to ear the whole time and may have been more happy than High. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai x Shinya Aoki Aoki countered Sakurai looked hungry for the win, and looked much bigger and obviously was stronger than Aoki as he swept and crushed him with knees. It was my own undoing when I felt that Aoki could sub just about anyone who went to the ground with him, he should follow Penn and stay in his own weight class. I'm simply happy he didn't bawl like he did after the Hansen thrashing. I'm happy Sakurai had a quality opponent to make a resurgence in his career. FUCK, I miss PRIDE and the kind of fights they put on... but this was a great substitute and I was happy to get to watch it live. PS. They need to get rid of those flawed gloves, I don't think I've seen an event where at least one person didn't have problems with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhisperingDeath Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 Sakurai straight killing Aoki with knees was fabulous. MMA isn't really MMA without knees on the ground. Knees on the ground make life so much more amazing. Can we all agree to collectively forget Sergi Kharitonov? At the weigh-ins he looked like a fat old man, a far cry from the determined fighter we saw in 2005. It's very clear he doesn't care anymore, he just fights for a paycheck. In the fight Kharitonov did about as well as a 0-0 Midwestern can. Monson couldn't have asked for a more hapless opponent. Monson landed the first takedown, took top control, passed guard effortlessly, and even got to finish with his trademark Monson choke. Stick a fork in Sergi, he's done. Zaromskis/Ikemoto was EASILY the best fight of the night and one of the best fights so far this year! Man, that was great. If you only see one fight from DREAM - go check out Zaromskis/Ikemoto on the youtubes. Flying backflip guard pass - are you kidding me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrus Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 I only watched Aoki x Sakurai fight yet, and man, those knees on the ground were nasty! The third one hurt me in the other side of the planet =X Hope that Galvão dont face Sakurai in the next round, I hope they fight in the final War Galvão! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 I guess Aoki requested the rematch, but it seems strange to have the two favorites matched up against one another in the first round. It will be interesting to see if this tournament will be Galvao's coming out party, or if Sakurai will run through the rest of the tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrus Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 I want to see Sakurai x Galvão in the finals, not in the Semi :S Probably both will make the finals easily if you ask me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 great fights i want to see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrhighway9 Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 i was real happy to see mach win,he proved he still has it in him still.let's hope it can last Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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