Fight Entertainment Group has announced four more bouts for the March 15 debut of Dream at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
In the 154-pound lightweight grand prix,
Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures) will take on
Bu Kyung Jung (Pictures);
Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures)will meet
Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures); and Andre "Dida" Amade will square off with
Eddie Alvarez (Pictures).
Ishida fought only once in 2007. He made it count, though, by taking a unanimous decision over
Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) on Dec. 31 in the biggest win of his career. Jung, an Olympic silver medalist in judo at the 2000 Sydney Games, made his MMA debut last New Year's Eve. He gave an impressive and spirited effort against
Shinya Aoki (Pictures), nearly submitting the celebrated grappler twice in a unanimous decision
loss.
Another Sydney Games silver medalist,
Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures)hasn't competed since last year's Hero's tournament, in which
Caol Uno (Pictures) defeated him in July. His opponent,
Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures), was knocked out in January by upstart Shoji in a bid to win the vacant lightweight King of Pancrase title.
The runner-up in last year's Hero's tournament,
Andre Amade (Pictures) hasn't fought since the tournament final last September, when he defeated
Caol Uno (Pictures) only to lose to
Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). Alvarez, who began his career as a welterweight, defeated
Ross Ebanez (Pictures) at a catch-weight of 165 pounds in his most recent fight.
Event producer Keiichi Sasahara said the tournament would proceed with seven tournament bouts for the time being. An eighth tournament bout wasn't possible due to injuries to
Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures) and
Caol Uno (Pictures), as well as
Gilbert Melendez (Pictures)'s commitments to Strikeforce.
However, Sasahara hopes to organize a bout between two of the fighters for the April 29 Dream card, with the winner then advancing to the quarterfinals on May 11. If that isn't possible, one fighter may be seeded directly into the May 11 quarterfinals.
Also announced,
Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) will take on
Hidetaka Monma (Pictures) in a non-tournament bout at 168 pounds.
Sakurai is coming off a commanding unanimous decision victory on New Year's Eve over Deep welterweight king
Hidehiko Hasegawa (Pictures). Monma saw easy action in February, when he took a quick submission win over South Korean
Yong Fun Lee (Pictures) in a tune-up bout.
Also, despite a statement on his personal blog that said he would fight
Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures) on the card, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's opponent has not yet been confirmed. Sasahara said he had around five potential candidates in mind to face "Cro Cop," but he had not yet decided on one and if any fighters want to face the Croatian, that they should come forward.
Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) was also added to the card against a to-be-determined opponent. Minowa, now campaigning as "Minowaman," was defeated in his Dec. 31 David-and-Goliath battle with "Zuluzinho"
Wagner da Conceicao Martins (Pictures).
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