This update is exclusively on the slighter end of the scale.
The marquee matchups of early October have come strictly at lightweight and below. Dream 11 on Oct. 6 saw
Shinya Aoki finally capture Dream’s lightweight title, as he won the rubber match in his trilogy against his Norwegian nemesis
Joachim Hansen. Meanwhile, former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion
Bibiano Fernandes emerged as a premier featherweight that same evening in Yokohama, Japan, when he became Dream’s first featherweight champion with a pair of sterling wins over
Joe Warren and
Hiroyuki Takaya.
Not all jiu-jitsu standouts were so fortunate, however.
Formerly third-ranked featherweight
Wagnney Fabiano was expected to roll over anonymous late replacement
Mackens Semerzier. Instead, WEC 43 was highlighted by the unsung Semerzier’s snappy triangle choke of Fabiano, a choke he used to tap the Nova Uniao black belt in just over two minutes.
October also saw the most significant flyweight bout to ever take place on this side of the Pacific. An ocean away from Shooto Japan,
Pat Runez and
John Dodson went at it for 25 entertaining minutes. After five rounds, Runez earned himself a victory and the Ultimate Warrior Challenge 125-pound crown in a landmark match for the flyweight division.
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