DREAM
DREAM is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group and co-produced with the former Pride Fighting Championships executives from Dream Stage Entertainment. It is the sister production of K-1 kick boxing. Dream replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retains many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC broadcasts, including fight introducer Lenne Hardt. In America, the promotion is aired on Mark Cuban's HDNet.
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Pride FC's buyout and Yarennoka!
After the Zuffa buyout of Pride FC, the former Dream Stage Entertainment executives put on a collaborative New Year's Eve mixed martial arts show with Shooto, M-1 Global, and the Fighting and Entertainment Group, called Yarennoka!. This show was intended to be a farewell show of Pride FC. However, due to its success and further petitioning by Japanese MMA fans, the FEG and the former DSE staff decided to combine their efforts and form a new Japanese promotion. Hero's dissolution and Dream's emergence
Their new promotion was confirmed on February 13, 2008 along with Hero's dissolution. All of Hero's' fighters were confirmed (such as Hero's champions Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Akiyama and JZ Calvan) to be part of the new promotion along with the additions of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Shinya Aoki, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mitsuhiro Ishida, and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. Another notable announcement was Dream's partnership with M-1 Global, who confirmed that they would allow the last Heavyweight Champion of Pride FC (and the winner of the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix), Fedor Emelianenko, to fight in their events. Emelianenko was present at the Dream press conference to promote the alliance between the two shows.
Partnership with HDNet
On May 2, 2008 Dream aired for the first time in the United States with a repeat of Dream 1 on HDNet. A repeat of Dream 2 was aired the following day, while Dream 3 was aired live on May 11. All future Dream events will be airing on HDNet as a part of the network's HDNet Fights series.[3]
Partnership with EliteXC
On May 10, 2008 Dream announced the working partnership with US promotion EliteXC. The two groups intended to share fighters and eventually co-promote shows. However with EliteXC now bankrupt the alliance no longer exists.
Alliance with Strikeforce
On August 5, 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that the two promotions had signed a formal alliance. This is reportedly a deal that has been talked about for quite some time, but has finally come to fruition. The result of this deal is that the two organizations will exchange fighters and work together to bring MMA fans the best fights possible. Also, because of Strikeforce's recent agreement with Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global, it is presumable that they would be involved in the alliance as well. In October 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated interest in unifying the titles between the two promotions. However DREAM has yet to give a response.
Rules
Weight classes
Dream has 6 weight classes. Unlike Hero's, each weight class will have a champion with a defendable title.
- 63 kilograms (139 lb) - Featherweight
- 70 kilograms (154 lb) - Lightweight
- 76 kilograms (168 lb) - Welterweight
- 84 kilograms (185 lb) - Middleweight
- 93 kilograms (205 lb) - Light Heavyweight
- over 93 kilograms (205 lb) - Heavyweight
Round length
2 Rounds
- 1st Round = 10 minutes
- 2nd Round = 5 minutes
In events where a cage is used, the rounds are three 5 minute rounds Judging
- Fights will be judged in their entirety by three judges, not on a round-by-round ten-point-must basis (more common to North American promotions).
- A winner will always be declared, as draws are not possible.
Fouls and violations
- Stomps and soccer kicks to the head of a grounded opponent are not allowed (unless both fighters are on the ground), but they are allowed to the rest of the body.
- Elbows to the head are prohibited.
- If there is a 15 kilograms (33 lb) or more weight difference between the fighters, knees to the head of a grounded opponent are not allowed.
- A grounded opponent is defined as one in a three-point position. If a fighter has, for example, both knees and one hand on the floor facing the mat, then no kicks to the head are allowed.
Tournament substitutions
- In case of a "No Contest" or injury, the fighter who can continue will go through to the next round, if neither fighter is able to continue the promoter will choose a replacement fighter to go through.
Current Champions
List of Dream champions
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bantamweight | 135 lbs. | 61 kg | Bibiano Fernandes | December 31, 2011 (Dream: Fight For Japan! New Year! 2011) | 0 |
| Featherweight | 143 lbs. | 65 kg | Hiroyuki Takaya | December 31, 2010 (FieLDS Dynamite!! 2010) | 2 |
| Lightweight | 154 lbs. | 70kg | Shinya Aoki | October 6, 2009 (DREAM 11: Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round) | 2 |
| Welterweight | 168 lbs. | 76 kg | Marius Zaromskis | July 20, 2009 (DREAM 10: Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round) | 1 |
| Middleweight | 84|kg | Vacant | ||
| Light Heavyweight | 205 lbs. | 93 kg | Gegard Mousasi | September 24, 2010 (DREAM.16) | 1 |
| Interim Heavyweight | over 205 lbs. | over 93 kg | Alistair Overeem | December 31, 2010 (FieLDS Dynamite!! 2010) | 0 |
| Heavyweight | over 205 lbs. | over 93 kg | Vacant |
Tournament Finalists
| Year | Weight Division | Champion | Finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Lightweight | Joachim Hansen | Shinya Aoki |
| 2008 | Middleweight | Gegard Mousasi | Ronaldo Souza |
| 2009 | Welterweight | Marius Zaromskis | Jason High |
| 2009 | Featherweight | Bibiano Fernandes | Hiroyuki Takaya |
| 2009 | Superhulk | Ikuhisa Minowa | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou |
| 2010 | Light Heavyweight | Gegard Mousasi | Tatsuya Mizuno |
WAMMA Champion
Shinya Aoki Current WAMMA Lightweight Champion
Notable Participants
Featherweight
- Chase Beebe
- Joe Warren
- Abel Cullum
- Norifumi Yamamoto
- Hideo Tokoro
- Masakazu Imanari
- Yoshiro Maeda
- Bibiano Fernandes
Lightweight
- Eddie Alvarez
- Joachim Hansen
- Shinya Aoki
- Mitsuhiro Ishida
- Katsuhiko Nagata
- Katsunori Kikuno
- Koutetsu Boku
- Tatsuya Kawajiri
- Gesias Calvancante
- Vitor Ribeiro
- Andre Amade
- Luiz Firmino
- Keita Nakamura
- Kultar Gill
- Adrianao Martins
Welterweight
- Jason High
- Marius Zaromskis
- Hayato Sakurai
- André Galvão
- Kuniyoshi Hironaka
- Jesse Taylor
- Katsuya Inoue
- Jung Bu-Kyung
- Tarec Saffiendine
- Yuya Shirai
- Seiichi Ikemoto
- John Alessio
- Ryo Chonan
Middleweight
- Melvin Manhoef
- Paulo Filho
- Kiyoshi Tamura
- Kazushi Sakuraba
- Zelg Galesic
- Jason Miller
- Andrews Nakahara
- Dong Sik Yoon
- Taiei Kin
- Shungo Oyama
- Ian Murphy
- Minowaman
- Karl Amoussou
