Comments on: DREAM 3/15 Saitama Super Arena

By: ET

ET — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:34:22 +0000

I was there live and had an amazing time, as a live event it far exceeded all the UFC events I have been to (UFC 70, 75 and 80). It wasnt quite as good as FInal COnflict 2006, but what is?

I cant wait to go back to Tokyo for another one.

By: Sheldon

Sheldon — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:36:36 +0000

how the hell did hansen not finish that fight?

By: Rictor

Rictor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:09:22 +0000

Funny how for many it didn’t resemble Pride or even Yarennoka despite that 99% percent of people behind this show were the old Pride staff who were also behind Yarennoka.

By: Dave2

Dave2 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:40:14 +0000

I have to admit. DREAM 1 was a let down. What’s worse is that the TBS 95 min TV version was edited too much. The TBS production and the fight card quality resembles K-1 HERO’s more than PRIDE. Zach may have had a point when he said that DREAM is probably not going to be the new PRIDE that PRIDE fans crave. For the live event, it would probably feel more like PRIDE presentation wise but the fights weren’t up to par regardless. Hopefully DREAM improves because right now DREAM looks like K-1 HERO’s + some PRIDE imports rather than what I had hoped (PRIDE style + K-1 HERO’s fighters added in). Yarennoka! was clearly the superior event.

By: Grape Knee High

Grape Knee High — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:26:45 +0000

Definitely an underwhelming debut for DREAM. Felt more like a rebadged HEROs event, than anything associated with DSE. Perhaps our expectations are just too high, or maybe the lack of a respectable opponent for Cro Cop and the JZ/Aoki outcome discolored what was otherwise a decent, if unspectacular, event.

Alvarez will be a nice dark horse for the entire GP, especially given his size advantage that will make the rest of the field (except for possibly JZ) look like small children. I think it is becoming obvious that fighters who compete in Japan simply don’t cut the same weight as Americans.

Also, I’m hoping it’s Gomi or Shaolin inserted into the 2nd round rather than Uno. DREAM needs a bit more star power, both for hardcore fans (and probably for casual Japanese fans as well).

Anyone know how the show did in ratings?

By: Rictor

Rictor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:48:50 +0000

Yeah sved. Like UFC allows top foghters like Mach to fight in other organisations. And if Sakurai has to choose, he’ll choose DREAM, not the UFC.

By: sved

sved — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:27:11 +0000

straight up the live event and the TV 95 min version are 2 completely diff things

I didn’t much care for the 95 min Tv vers
the order of the matches was changed and 3 or more matches weren’t shown in their entirety.

As for the matchups..the biggest letdown for me was that they didn’t have Melendez..still feel that he should’ve won his last match and remained undefeated but…judges are judges.

As for GP the last match will be w/ Caol Uno and potentially either Shaolin/G.Melendez
Minowa looked decent w/ his lutatdor moves–Bum Kwan reminds of Riggs b4 the weight cut.(don’t joke his skills he’s only 21)
Monma was clearly overmatched but the ref was asking him if he wants to tap to strikes(others have) and he said no i’m ok…so the Refs decision is fine Sakurai is solid and will be in UFC soon
(no that isn’t a rumor) he was shown during last UFc and is capable of signing a short deal just like Misak just did for Strikeforce

The Hansen match was great
Ishida-BJk looked good and had a finish
Buscape looked good against Miyata
I loved the Artur-Katsuhiko Nagata match for its constant swings but this 1 needed an overtime round…Nagata will be the next great Japanese wrestling hope or not…
Mizuno was clearly overmatched by Mirko
What can u say Mirko gets 1 warm up b4 the serious competition shows up…
Alvarez-Dida was a great match for entertainment value but both showed huge holes in their game. Enjoyable=-
a Black mamba is a poisonous snake and Carter Gill showed that quick strike repeatedly despite being controlled by Kawajiri’s wrestling, Gill almost had a ko win multiple times throughout the match…excellent test of Kawajiri’s cardio/durabality against a much longer/taller competitor

Jz looked dominant but Aoki did have a flying sub attempt where he slipped on the mat can’t wait for the rematch…they should just let both compete in a 5 round superfight and give the winner a crack against the winner of the 16 man LWGP winner on NYE.

overall a decent event but definitely needs better balance for the upcoming MWGP…ok Sakuraba is an ok 73kg mw but Funaki, YDS, and Oyama don’t really excite me as much. Tae Kin needs to improve his overall game b4 he even cracks such a lineup. Nonetheless I feel that Dennis Kang and Akiyama need to be rematched in this tournament.

By: Zeppelin

Zeppelin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:40:16 +0000

I have to agree with the earlier sentiment that Yarrenoka was much more impressive than Dream 1. Crocop hardly looked in the same shape as he was for the 2006 OPWG, and his opponent buckled with a few glancing blows. Hell, Eddie Sanchez took more solid strikes than that guy did. How does this help Crocop’s confidence other than build up a false sense of security? And the lineup for the MWGP looks just as unimpressive. Minowa, Funaki, and Sakuraba… urgh…

So it’s a first event, hopefully it’ll get better as time goes on?

By: Sergio

Sergio — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:37:36 +0000

Man, I hope we get a Hansen/Kawajiri rematch.

It was the Aoki/JZ of 2006.

I’ll also be happy with a Hansen/Alvarez pairing.

By: The Gadget Link

The Gadget Link — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:56:52 +0000

The JZ/Aoki fight was a total letdown. A nice prelude to a potential rematch. Overall, the card was OK. A decent re-boot for the wanna-be Pride clone.

Evidently, Tonight’s boxing fight between Pacquiao-Marquez will probably a lot more exciting than the ones I saw on DREAM.