The Weekly Wrap: July 18 - July 24

Zaromskis Steals Show at Dream 10

Marius Zaromskis and Jason High paid no attention to the oddsmakers, as they upset their first-round opponents and clashed to dramatic effect in the welterweight grand prix final at Dream 10, which took place July 20 in front of 11,970 fans in Saitama, Japan.

The little-known Zaromskis secured the title, landing a highlight-reel head kick just past the two-minute mark and knocked out High. A one-two punch combination from the Lithuanian opened the right head kick that smacked High. In the opening moments against High, Zaromskis was taken down after trying a flying knee but scrambled to his feet from his back and took down the American. High shot for an armbar that missed and ended up back on his feet, where the winning blow landed.

The dark horse of the tournament, Zaromskis -- who trains out of the London Shootfighters gym that has produced James Thompson, John Hathaway and Mustapha al Turk -- executed a Georges St. Pierre-esque standing back flip during an in-ring coronation ceremony. The 26-year-old, who cut his teeth on the Cage Rage circuit in England, is the first Lithuanian to hold a major mixed martial arts title. It marked the second head kick finish of the night for Zaromskis, who earlier zapped tournament favorite Hayato “Mach” Sakurai out of contention with his left leg. Sakurai had trouble making weight for the fight, as he made three trips to the scales the day before the show, finally hitting 167.6 pounds. Sakurai complained publicly about the summer heat affecting his training.

The show aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System in Japan. A rating was not available. Typically, Japanese promoters try to position tournament brackets so a native fighter makes it to the finals. The welterweight grand prix marked the third straight Dream tournament in which a Japanese fighter did not win.

High, a product of Antonio McKee’s Body Shop, made it to the finals by defeating Andre Galvao via decision. High dropped the grappling expert with a left straight in the first round but ended up entangled in a kneebar and several rear-naked choke attempts for the remainder of the frame. High put together the strikes again in the second and was awarded a split decision. The verdict caused some consternation, as High was on the defensive for much of the 10-minute first round.

Elsewhere at Dream 10, Shinya Aoki got back on the winning track, using mostly kicks to outpoint Vitor Ribeiro and notch a decision victory in a fight that did not feature any of the evenly matched grappling fans anticipated. Aoki, coming off a vicious loss to Sakurai, received some boos for his temperate approach. He was rewarded for the win, however, as Dream announced Aoki will face Joachim Hansen for the promotion’s lightweight title on Oct. 6 in Yokohama, Japan. In addition, Tatsuya Kawajiri challenged Aoki to a fight on New Year’s Eve.

In his first fight since a disastrous run in World Extreme Cagefighting and subsequent stint in rehab, Paulo Filho overcame the heavy artillery of Melvin Manhoef. After absorbing a blitz of the kickboxer’s punches, Filho latched onto the Dutchman and brought him to the mat, exploiting his historic submission weakness by hooking an armbar from mount for the tapout. Filho will fight next on Sept. 12 against Alex Schoenauer at a Bitetti Combat show in Brazil.

Finally, a pair of champions from the Deep organization saw mixed success at Dream 10. Lightweight Katsunori Kikuno, undefeated since 2006, took an awkward karate stance and stayed static for much of his fight with Andre Amade until he secured a takedown and went crazy with punches from back mount. The referee stepped in to declare the technical knockout soon after. Deep welterweight champion Seichi Ikemoto faltered, however, as he dropped a decision to Team Quest’s Tarec Saffiedine. Another Team Quest product, Jesse Taylor, of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 fame, defeated Dong Sik Yoon when the Korean suffered an apparent ankle injury.