Dream 5 on July 21

[CPT]

I feel like this card is getting lost in the whole July 19 showdown between UFC and Affliction. I think it may very well turn out to be the most exciting event in the next week, and it's probably the one I'm looking forward to most. It features the finals of their LW GP, and some other great fighters like Kid Yamamoto and Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Here's the final (I think....it IS Japan) card:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno (LW GP Semi-Final)
Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (LW GP Semi-Final)
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Joseph Benavidez
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Joachim Hansen vs. Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill (LW GP Reserve Match)
Motoki Miyazawa vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Hideo Tokoro vs. Takeshi Yamazaki
Aoki/Uno Winner vs. Alvarez/Kawajiri Winner (LW GP Final/Dream LW Championship)

Here is a full preview show (27 min) from HDNet
http://www.dreamfighters.com/site/index ... 1216050356

I'm looking forward to this card most because I like the LW division a lot more than the HW division, and this tournament is just about as big for the LW division as Fedor vs. Sylvia, Arlovski vs. Rothwell, and Barnett vs. Rizzo is for the HW division. And I bet the Semi-finals, Finals, and Reserve Match will be more exciting fights.

My pick: Alvarez over Aoki.

[Susan]

God I don't know if I wanna stay up or not for this.

[SpReEfOrAlL]

Kid isnt fighting any more. He is out with an injury. So I dont think ill be staying up.

[CPT]

Well that sucks.

Is it just me, or do these last minute injuries and fight changes seem to happen much more often with Japanese organizations?

On a positive note, Allistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt has been added to the card, which could be a pretty good HW fight. I like Mark Hunt, and Overeem has looked pretty good at HW.

I don't know if I'll stay up to watch it live, but I'll find a way to see it. Losing a Kid vs. can fight sucks, but not enough to make me skip out on that LW GP awesomeness.

[Susan]

Already know the results but I'm watching it now.

[CPT]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking this morning and I went to Sherdog and saw the results on the front page.

Tracked down the fight vids via Youtube, and watched it today.

The LW tournament matches were awesome. Kawajiri vs. Alvarez was the best fight this weekend, IMO. I really enjoyed Aoki vs. Uno as well.

In case people haven't seen it yet (what are you doing in this thread?), I'll put a spoiler warning before i continue.





****SPOILERS****







Congrats to Hansen, becoming the first Dream LW GP winner and the Dream LW Champion as an alternate. A deserving alternate, as he probably had the toughest 2nd round opponent in Alvarez, and looked very good in that fight. Nice to see him get a chance to avenge his loss to Aoki as well.

Sucks for Alvarez, to be unable to continue, but he'll likely get the first shot at the LW Championship, especially if Hellboy has anything to say about it.

Aoki looked great on the ground as usual, but he really needs to expand his game and work on his standup and defense.

Some other decent performances on the card, like Overeem (looks really good at HW so far) and Akiyama (he'll likely get the winner of the Dream MW GP). Benavidez looked very good as well; that fight with Kid may have been a lot more competitive than I first thought.












*******END SPOILERS********

[cowboyronnie]

Gill is a joke as the first of two in a single night, Hansen had already lost in the tourney, and WTF @ that stand-up by the ref in the fight with Aoki??? Aoki was all over him up until then. Undeserving champ, IMO.

next:
Alvarez vs Aoki
Hansen vs JZ

please.

I don't care to see Hansen-Alvarez II.

[CPT]

I suppose you're right. Hansen should have been given a tougher opponent than Gill, seeing as the winner had a chance to fight a guy who would have had a much tougher first fight. It should have been Hansen vs. JZ, in which case we might have seen JZ vs. Aoki again. I don't have a problem with a guy losing earlier in the tournament getting a second shot, as long as he has to win a fight to get back in. It bothers me more when a guy loses, but advances anyway because his opponent got injured and they had no reserve (can't remember an example in MMA, but I've seen it in K-1). Would have been cool to bring in someone like Shaolin (where is that guy?) or Gomi though.

As for the next fight, I have no problem with Hansen vs. Alvarez II. Alvarez deserved to be in the final, so he should get the first shot, and their first fight was excellent.

Just about any matchup between Hansen, Alvarez, Aoki, JZ, Uno, Kawajiri, and Ishida is fine with me.