Having conquered Dream’s all-Japan bantamweight tournament in July, Hideo Tokoro will begin his quest for the promotion’s vacant 134-pound title in September when he meets WEC veteran Antonio Banuelos at Dream 17.
Tokoro (Pictured; file photo) finds himself on the comeback trail following a rough ride through the Dream featherweight division. The 33-year-old “Fighting Freeter” made his bantamweight debut in May, notching victories over Yoshiro Maeda and Atsushi Yamamoto in a single evening before claiming the Japan GP crown last month.
Banuelos, 31, compiled a 9-5 WEC record, but was released by Zuffa in February after dropping a decision to Miguel Torres in his UFC debut.
The man Tokoro topped in July, former Deep bantamweight champ Masakazu Imanari, will square off against ex-King of the Cage titlist Abel Cullum, while deposed Dream featherweight king Bibiano Fernandes will move down the scale to rematch Takafumi Otsuka.
Rounding out the opening round is a clash of Dream newcomers, as Nova Uniao product Rodolfo Marques tangles with unbeaten, Chicago-based Dagestani Yusup Saadulaev.
Go Yamamoto contributed to this report.