Mousasi Withdraws from Super Hulk Tournament; Two More Fights Official for Dream 11
Jordan Breen Sep 9, 2009
Fighting and Entertainment Group has two more official fights for
Dream 11 on Oct. 6 at the Yokohama Arena, but no Gegard
Mousasi.
The promotion partially formalized the semifinals of its Super Hulk tournament on Wednesday: 7-foot-2 South Korean Hong Man Choi will take on middleweight giant-slayer Ikuhisa Minowa, and UFC and Pride veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will await a replacement opponent due to Strikeforce 205-pound champion and tournament favorite Gegard Mousasi pulling out of the tournament due to injury.
Also announced for the card is a 154-pound contest between
Brazilian standout Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante and high-flying
submission stalwart Daisuke
Nakamura.
The bout will be just the second fight for Cavalcante in 16 months. After sitting out most of 2008 following surgery to repair an ACL tear and having a Dec. 31 bout with Joachim Hansen fall apart at the last minute due to Hansen not passing a pre-fight physical, Cavalcante returned to action in May, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Tatsuya Kawajiri.
For the ever-active Nakamura, it will be his 10th bout in the same 16-month time span. With just one loss in his last 10 bouts -- a unanimous decision to Mitsuhiro Ishida in Dream this past March -- Nakamura is fresh off of a tidy unanimous decision win over former Olympic judoka Ferrid Kheder at M-1's "Breakthrough" on Aug. 28.
Minowa, Choi and Sokoudjou all advanced in their respective Super Hulk tournament quarterfinal bouts in May. Minowa and Sokoudjou defeated a pair of K-1 veterans, as Minowa leglocked super heavyweight Bob Sapp and Sokoudjou recklessly punched out South African giant Jan Nortje. Choi earned his semifinal berth by quickly polishing off former baseball slugger Jose Canseco in just 77 seconds.
MMAWeekly reported Tuesday that Mousasi would be forced out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury, which was sustained during his Aug. 28 exhibition sparring match with heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko. Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara confirmed this story, stating that Mousasi's management informed him that his shoulder injury wouldn't allow him to adequately train for the Oct. 6 tournament finale.
"In choosing a replacement, we will give some priority to participants from the first round," said Sasahara.
The Oct. 6 card will also feature the rubber match between Dream lightweight champion Joachim Hansen and challenger Shinya Aoki, as well as the semifinals and finals of the promotion's featherweight grand prix in which former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion Joe Warren will take on former BJJ world champion Bibiano Fernandes and heavy-handed Hiroyuki Takaya will face popular underdog Hideo Tokoro.
The promotion partially formalized the semifinals of its Super Hulk tournament on Wednesday: 7-foot-2 South Korean Hong Man Choi will take on middleweight giant-slayer Ikuhisa Minowa, and UFC and Pride veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou will await a replacement opponent due to Strikeforce 205-pound champion and tournament favorite Gegard Mousasi pulling out of the tournament due to injury.
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The bout will be just the second fight for Cavalcante in 16 months. After sitting out most of 2008 following surgery to repair an ACL tear and having a Dec. 31 bout with Joachim Hansen fall apart at the last minute due to Hansen not passing a pre-fight physical, Cavalcante returned to action in May, where he dropped a unanimous verdict to Tatsuya Kawajiri.
For the ever-active Nakamura, it will be his 10th bout in the same 16-month time span. With just one loss in his last 10 bouts -- a unanimous decision to Mitsuhiro Ishida in Dream this past March -- Nakamura is fresh off of a tidy unanimous decision win over former Olympic judoka Ferrid Kheder at M-1's "Breakthrough" on Aug. 28.
Minowa, Choi and Sokoudjou all advanced in their respective Super Hulk tournament quarterfinal bouts in May. Minowa and Sokoudjou defeated a pair of K-1 veterans, as Minowa leglocked super heavyweight Bob Sapp and Sokoudjou recklessly punched out South African giant Jan Nortje. Choi earned his semifinal berth by quickly polishing off former baseball slugger Jose Canseco in just 77 seconds.
MMAWeekly reported Tuesday that Mousasi would be forced out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury, which was sustained during his Aug. 28 exhibition sparring match with heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko. Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara confirmed this story, stating that Mousasi's management informed him that his shoulder injury wouldn't allow him to adequately train for the Oct. 6 tournament finale.
"In choosing a replacement, we will give some priority to participants from the first round," said Sasahara.
The Oct. 6 card will also feature the rubber match between Dream lightweight champion Joachim Hansen and challenger Shinya Aoki, as well as the semifinals and finals of the promotion's featherweight grand prix in which former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion Joe Warren will take on former BJJ world champion Bibiano Fernandes and heavy-handed Hiroyuki Takaya will face popular underdog Hideo Tokoro.
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