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DREAM 2 (4/29 Saitama Super Arena)

By Zach Arnold | April 29, 2008

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Results here. Multimedia clips from the show here. Show commentary here. MMA Predictions breakdown here.

Topics: DREAM, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 24 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

24 Responses to “DREAM 2 (4/29 Saitama Super Arena)”

  1. Grape Knee High says:

    The next round should be a lot more interesting with the cans out of the way.

    Dunno what Denis Kang’s problem is, but he’s clearly not as good as we all thought he was a year ago.

  2. Whoever says:

    Pretty good fights here…couple of upsets, and hard fought decisions.

    Tamura/Funaki was surprisingly competitive…and a pretty good fight.

  3. Chuck says:

    Taiei Kin fought? Wow, I’m shocked by that. I remember years ago he was the best Japanese fighter in K-1 and suddenly left, then came back and won fights. When did he start doing MMA? Good for him that he won his fight.

    Good for Yong Dik Soon for continueing on his winning streak since beating Manhoef.

  4. joeblow says:

    Kang is still good. People aren’t giving Mousasi enough credit.

  5. Hawk says:

    The submission that Sakuraba got Nakahara with was sickening. I’ve never seen that hold before…He was fighting for a RNC, but Nakahara knew how to avoid it and kept his chin tucked in. Sakuraba then latched onto his chin, hooked the RNC set up (but with the chin hooked and not the neck) and then began to TWIST to the side. It was SICKENING, and Nakahara passed out from either the pain, or lack of oxygen. It seriously looked like Sakuraba was going to kill him.

    That fight was fun…because Nakahara really impressed me. He landed some good shots, and had good takedown defense. Wasn’t much he could do when Sakuraba finally got him down and got side mount, but there’s very little you CAN do in that situation with Sakuraba.

    DONGER~! won. All is awesome.

    Out of everyone left in the MW GP, my pick is either DONGER~! or Sakuraba. I think Sakuraba’s got enough left to beat just about anyone in his natural weight. And Donger has more momentum then just about anyone in MMA now.

  6. sprewell says:

    LOL, you mean a neck crank?

    and LOL Sakuraba winning this tournament. he might get Tamura next round and go to the finals, but no way will he beat Mousasi or Jacare or someone like that.

  7. ilostmydog says:

    I don’t even think he can beat Tamura.

  8. Grape Knee High says:

    Kang is still good. People aren’t giving Mousasi enough credit.

    Mousasi was on his way to getting completely dismantled and dominated until Kang — supposedly a BJJ BB — inexplicably fell into the world’s most obvious triangle.

    Mousasi has potential, but it way too early to think that he could compete with any elite MWs.

    I like the Donger or Jacare to take this tournament.

  9. sprewell says:

    Yeah, Mousasi was losing until he WON THE FIGHT.

  10. doem says:

    it did seem like the worlds most obvious triangle. I think Kang must have lost his head there for a bit to fall into that one

  11. IceMuncher says:

    “Dunno what Denis Kang’s problem is, but he’s clearly not as good as we all thought he was a year ago.”

    Don’t include me in that group. I’ve said for a while that Kang was unproven. He’s never won a fight against any of the top fighters, yet people had him as high as #5 (even higher for some people) due to the fact that he had a huge win streak fighting cans.

  12. doem says:

    ^^
    He has wins against Gono, Suloev, Ninja. Definitely not cans. The man looks pretty darn crisp when he wins but his last two losses were incriminating for sure

  13. Hawk says:

    I fail to see why Sakuraba winning this tournament is a joke. He’s only lost at his natural weight once in his entire career, against Royce Gracie in America. The Akiyama fight got thrown out because Akiyama cheated.

    Every other fight Sakuraba lost, he was significantly out-gunned size wise. If Sakuraba can get someone on the ground, he’ll most likely win. He’s not a joke, old or not.

  14. white ninja says:

    i cant see the product that Dream 2 delivered last night exciting anybody in Japan’s tv land

    Aoki’s win; while technically good, would have put most non rabid MMA fans to sleep

    sakuraba fighting a MMA noob…

    Tamura easily overcoming a legendary washed up name

    jacare and zelg are names for the future, but does anybody care in Japan?

  15. Zack says:

    Good event. I wish Manhoef was on the card, but I can understand needing time off after the Remy fight. That was brutal.

  16. ttt says:

    Royce Gracie was roided when he fought Saku in America. not sure why this isn’t brought up more often.

  17. doem says:

    ^^^
    I think Aoki delivered for more than the “rabid MMA fan”. It was a decent, entertaining event. not PPV worthy though

  18. white ninja says:

    ^^^ aoki delivered a good strategic fight

    but boring as bats piss

  19. Grape Knee High says:

    Yeah, Mousasi was losing until he WON THE FIGHT.

    I think you missed the point entirely. Mousasi barely worked for that triangle. Kang basically fell into that triangle. He gave him the arm, gave him the head and barely seemed to notice.

    If the nature and character of a fighter’s win doesn’t interest you at all, so be it, but I think it is a relevant point of discussion. Especially when everyone seems to be anointing him the next great MW.

  20. cyph says:

    Kang is definitely over rated. Beating Gono, Suloev, and Ninja does not make him a top ten middle weight. Then again, we shouldn’t base anything off of MMAWeekly’s ratings considering they’ve always been biased in their rankings, placing fightings in the top ten without any rhyme or reasons.

    Shogun will remain forever #2 as long as he stays away from fighting, not unlike MMAWeekly ranking Lindland #1 for more than a year despite his fighting cans and losing to Rampage at LHW.

  21. IceMuncher says:

    “He has wins against Gono, Suloev, Ninja. Definitely not cans. The man looks pretty darn crisp when he wins but his last two losses were incriminating for sure”

    They’re not cans, but they’re not top fighters either. They’re in the same class as a guy like Ed Herman: good, but not great.

  22. Grape Knee High says:

    Funny how times change. Now Ninja is barely even considered a gatekeeper these days (although I do think he is better than he’s been getting credit for recently).

    It was only 4 short years ago he was hyped as being the next great LHW. It’s been all downhill ever since Kharitonov knocked him silly.

  23. The Gaijin says:

    I thought Jacare looked like a beast and Zelg looks like he’s developing a ground game. So they’ve got that going for them, which is nice.

    Granted this was against two pluggers so we won’t know exactly what it means until they face upper tier competition, but damned Jacare is SLICK.

  24. Pizzachef says:

    I found youtube videos of the openings and such. BUt the guy didn’t do a proper job of converting. So there is some picture issues.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YFDiU-WhAw&feature=related

    Is it me….or in the opening video did they refer to Dong as “The Penis”?

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