Dream 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Final: Gegard Mousasi vs Ronaldo Jacare de Souza

Dream 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Final Bout: Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo Jacare de Souza
Round 1: Jacare shoots two very long shots, finally gets hold and lifts Mousasi into the air. Mousasi attempts to grab the ropes but the Brazilian slams him down. Now in half guard, Jacare postures up and lunges in with a wild right. Mousasi fires a right upkick, misses, fires another, connects square to the chin and Jacare is knocked out COLD! Mousasi lands three clean shots to the face of the unconscious De Souza, but relents when he realizes what’s happened. Even Mousasi looks stunned.

Gegard Mousasi def. Ronaldo de Souza via KO (Upkick) at 2:15 of Round 1
Gegard Mousasi wins the 2008 DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix and becomes the first ever DREAM Middleweight Champion.

DREAM 6: Mirko Crocop vs Alistair Overeem

DREAM 6: Mirko Crocop vs Alistair Overeem
No Contest - Filipovic was unable to continue following two unintentional illegal knees to the groin in the first round. Both fighters received yellow cards during the bout: Overeem for the second knee, and Filipovic for stalling on the ground from his back.

Round 1: Slapping leg kicks from Mirko. Overeem misses with a right cross. The fighters tie up and Mirko attempts a throw but Overeem doesn’t budge. Overeem now in Cro Cop’s guard, pounding down hard shots which have already cut the Croatian beside his left eye. Mirko attempts to control the hands but Overeem is too big and strong and continues to hammerfist away. The ref stops for the doctors to examine Mirko’s cut. He’s cleared and they restart on the ground at center ring. More shots from guard by Alistair. Filipovic’s cut is bleeding bad now, but it’s all streaming down the side of his head and not into his eye. They’re stood up. Left high kick from Mirko is caught by Overeem, who trips the other leg out from under the PRIDE star. Working from his back, Mirko is doing nothing but attempting (with little success) to neutralize the strikes, his guard is open half the time. Mirko Filipovic is issued a yellow card for stalling. The fight resumes standing and Overeem lands what appears to be a low left knee. Mirko protests but the ref doesn’t stop the action and Overeem rushes him. A couple hard knees later, Overeem lands another one downstairs and acknowledges that it’s low. Cro Cop is down on all fours for a solid minute before the fight is restarted with 4:17 remaining in the first. The fighters clinch and after landing several clean knees, Overeem hits Mirko with another low blow. Alistair Overeem is issued a yellow card for an illegal strike. This was clearly not intentional – Mirko raised his left leg for a knee of his own and left himself open to the groin strike. Cro Cop is laying on his back, surrounded by several attendants who are covering him with towels. Overeem is laughing and shaking his head over in his corner, seemingly sensing that this is the end of the bout.

Bas Rutten: “We just got informed here, by Mirko Cro Cop’s corner, that right– his right testicle is inside.”

Dream 6: Shinya Aoki vs Todd Moore

Dream 6: Shinya Aoki vs Todd Moore
Round 1: Aoki throws a few body and leg kicks, then ducks a left, ties up and climbs up on Moore’s back. Moore backs into a corner and slowly begins to slide down – Aoki’s already got the neck crank on tight enough to force the tap.

Shinya Aoki def. Todd Moore via Submission (Neck Crank) at 1:07 of Round 1

Aoki gets on the mic and says he has a very important announcement – he’d like to fight “Michael Jackson” (Akiyama) on New Year’s Eve.

Dream 6: Masanori Tonooka vs Yoshihiro Akiyama

Dream 6: Masanori Tonooka vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
Round 1: Akiyama, wearing the full gi again, picks Tonooka up and places him on his back after about 90 seconds of tentative exchange on the feet. The judoka is working side control and appears to be trying to smother his opponent with his gi jacket. With Tonooka’s left arm between his legs and right arm pinned down, Akiyama rains down short shots and hammerfists as the ref yells “Give up?!” Tonooka does not, and Akiyama transitions to full mount, softening the karate expert up with hammerfists, working for an armbar, and finally transitioning to back mount where Tonooka is able to escape! Akiyama takes him straight back down and regains mount, pivots his hips to Tonooka’s left and rolls him over for the submission.

Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Masanori Tonooka via Submission (Armbar) at 6:26 of Round 1

Dream 6: Hayato Sakurai vs Kuniyoshi Hironaka

Dream 6: Hayato Sakurai vs Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Round 1: Hironaka ducks a right from Sakurai and drops levels for a shot but “Mach” stays standing. Kuniyoshi eventually wrestles him down, now working from Sakurai’s half guard as the former Shooto champ digs quick heels into Hironaka’s midsection. Back on the feet, the fighters exchange crisp leg kicks. Hironaka’s jabs are falling just short, while Sakurai is moving in with one-two combos that connect consistently. midway through the round, Sakuai mounts the best offense so far with a pair of right straights and a hard leg kick. Hironaka finds his jab now, but another leg kick leaves him visibly hindered. Sakurai slips as he moves in for a right leg kick and Hironaka rushes to the ground after him. 2:00 remain and Hironaka is throwing decent but not very powerful shots from the guard. Standing over a scooting Sakurai, Hironaka delivers a stomp square to the jaw of “Mach” but is not issued a yellow nor red card, merely a warning. Sakurai back at it, loading up on body-head combinations and lazer kicks. Hironaka tosses another jab and a low kick of his own as the round expires.

Round 2: Hironaka shoots and stacks Mach up in a corner, eating a few upkicks for his trouble. Now the UFC veteran is leaning through the ropes to rain punches down on Sakurai but the ref restarts them in the center. Hironaka initiates a clinch and Sakurai scores a trip, but both quickly bounce back up. Though Hironaka’s shots are landing more consistently now, Sakurai’s still carry more power and those constant leg kicks have got to be adding up. Mach still looks fresh, bouncing around on the balls of his feet in between combos. A pair of knees soften Hironaka up before a hard left jab puts him on his back. Sakurai pounces and tries to pound out a finish, but Hironaka defends and the bell sounds. Afterwards, a kneeling Sakurai grabs the arm of a standing Hironaka and playfully uchi-komi’s him and applies a rear naked choke. Funny stuff.

Hayato Sakurai def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via Decision (Unanimous)

Dream 6: Ikuhisa Minowaman Minowa vs Masakatsu Funaki

Dream 6: Ikuhisa Minowaman Minowa vs Masakatsu Funaki
Round 1: Funaki misses with a kick and is taken to the ground, where he quickly latches on to the left leg of Minowaman, who is wearing his standard wrestling shoes. After working unsuccessfuly for a kneebar, Funaki rolls it over for an inverted heelhook. Minowa grimaces, screams out and taps. Funaki immediately relinquishes the hold and stares at his younger opponent momentarily before smiling and pouncing for an embrace. A very emotional win for the 39-year-old. Funaki has not won a fight since 1999.

Dream 6: Atsushi Yamamoto vs Hideo Tokoro

Dream 6: Atsushi Yamamoto vs Hideo Tokoro
Round 1: Tokoro counters a low kick from Yamamoto with a stiff left. Atsushi charges forward with a left-right combo that drops Hideo and nearly sends him bouncing through the ropes. Yamamoto follows him down, Tokoro working rubber guard, now a very tight closed guard, opening up to look for an armbar. Yamamoto extracts himself and jogs around the ring a bit as the crowd cheers. The featherweights keep their distance and exchange, Yamamoto connecting with jabs but no combinations. Now a nice flying knee from Atsushi but it doesn’t hit squarely. Tokoro misses with a wild left, Yamamoto clinches and Tokoro jumps guard. On the floor, Hideo keeps it tight but Yamamoto still manages to escape and stand, where he continues to send solo hard jabs and straight lefts down the chute at Tokoro. 1:00 left and Tokoro’s nose is streaming blood. Yamamoto stuns Tokoro with a cracking left, and a dazed Tokoro responds with a wild somersault kick. Tokoro pulls and maintains guard as the round expires.

Round 2: Tokoro comes out agressively with crisp stand-up to begin the second round, then attempts another spinning flip kick, this time with more success. Tokoro again pulls guard and is controlling Yamamoto’s right arm as the ref stands the featherweights for the doctor to inspect Tokoro. The docs appear somewhat hesitant but allow Tokoro to continue. Yamamoto scoops a single leg, straight into Tokoro’s guard, then thinks better of it and escapes back to his feet. Tokoro ties up and pulls guard (or did he slip?), and rolls Yamamoto over. From the mount, Tokoro secures Atsushi’s left arm and rolls over for the armbar but his legs are entangled in the ropes and Yamamoto is posturing strongly. The bout expires with Tokoro upside down, hanging onto Yamamoto’s arm like a koala, and Yamamoto launching hammerfists downward.

Atsushi Yamamoto def. Hideo Tokoro via Decision (Unanimous)

Dream 6: Sergei Kharitonov vs Jimmy Ambroz

Dream 6: Sergei Kharitonov vs Jimmy Ambroz
Round 1: Sergei immediately floors Ambriz with a left hook, but “The Titan” jumps right back up and attempts a shot. Kharitonov is issued a yellow card for grabbing the ropes. Working his distinct reach advantage, the Russian assails Ambriz with a barrage of jabs and body shots before an overhand right and uppercut put the journeyman on wobbly legs. A right knee and another uppercut send Ambriz to his knees. The ref doesn’t stop the bout as Sergei issues a few more shots to his downed opponent, and the turtling Ambriz frantically taps.

Sergei Kharitonov def. Jimmy Ambriz via TKO (Strikes) at 2:15 of Round 1

Dream 6: Keita Nakamura vs Adriano Martins

Dream 6: Keita Nakamura vs Adriano Martins
Round 1: After a minute of feeling out, Martins connects with a grazing uppercut and follow-up right that puts K-Taro on his rear, scooting with the Brazilian standing above. The ref stands it up. With both fighters swinging away, Martins lands a winging two-punch combo flush to Nakamura’s face, but soon finds himself taken down with the Japanese fighter posturing in half-guard. Nakamura smothering the mouth of Martins, “disrupting his breathing” as Goldberg would say. K-Taro attempts to posture and pass, but it only allows Martins to close his guard. More smothering, now some right hands from Nakamura appear to be frustrating Martins. The ref stands the fighters and calls for the doctor to look at Nakamura’s left eye, which is bleeding thanks to an upward elbow from Martin. The cut isn’t bad and the fight resumes with 3:00 remaining. Nakamura is finding his range and throwing sharp jabs, which Martins counters by lolling his head back and tossing wild response uppercuts which come nowhere close. It looks as though K-Taro has found his comfort zone and the Krazy Bee product Martins is rapidly accumulating damage as the round concludes.

Round 2: We’re seeing a steady diet of jabs and right straihts from Nakamura, but that’s about all. No combos, single shots only. Martins has no response for K-Taro’s reach and is eating a lot of shots to the head, earning respite only when he clinches and presses Nakamura into the corner, completely halting the action. More and more jabs from Nakamura, who, with :40 left, is simply stalking Martins around the ring and moving out of the way when the Yamamoto protgee attempts to mount any sort of offense. The round ends in a clinch. BloodyElbow.com scores the round for Keita Nakamura.

Keita Nakamura def. Adriano Martins via Decision (Split)

Dream 6: Zelg Galesic vs Ronaldo Jacare Souza

Dream 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Semi-Final Bout 2: Zelg Galesic vs Ronaldo Jacare Souza
Round 1: Jacare scores a double leg and moves to side control in the first :30 of the opening frame, now knee-on-belly, now full mount. Galesic sweeps beautifully into guard, but De Souza latches on to the left arm of “Benkei” and applies a gruesome straight armbar. The Croatian taps immediately. Unreal. We’ll be seeing two very fresh fighters in the MWGP finals later on.

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