DREAM 3: LW Grand Prix Quartefinals

Early Sunday morning here in the US, HDNet Fights will be broadcasting DREAM 3 live from the Saitama Supper Arena in Japan.

3 of the 4 Quarterfinal bouts of the LW Grand Prix will be taking place:

Alvarez vs. Hansen

Kawajiri vs. Firmino

Ishida vs Uno

(the fourth QF bout will be at DREAM 4 - Aoki vs. Nagata)

Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Melvin Manhoeff are also schedule to be on the card.

Many of these names may not be familiar to alot of US MMA fans but trust me all eight of the remaining fighters are considered to be top 25 in the world in the LW class, and Aoki, Kawajiri, Hansen, and Ishida are definite top 10 fighters.

Of all these bout I believe potentially the most exciting may be Eddie Alverez vs. Joachim Hansen both are aggressive strikers.  I believe if Alvarez could find away to win this Grand Prix he may very well become the top free agent in the sport not in the HW class.

It should be a great card to watch, the Japanese Grand Prix are truely an incredible spectacle.

Results from DREAM 3

• Jason Miller def Katsuyori Shibata via TKO in Rd. 1
• Melvin Manhoef def. Dae Won Kim via TKO in Rd. 1
• Daisuke Nakamura def. Bu Kyung Jung via KO in Rd. 2
• Nick Diaz dev. Katsuya Inoue via TKO in Rd. 1
• Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luis Fermino via Decision
• Eddie Alvarez def. Joachim Hansen via Decision
• Caol Uno def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via Submission in Rd. 2

Jason "Mayhem" Miller was extremely impressive in dismantling the out classed Shibata.  Mayhem's entrance was as always entertaining.  Apparently he got some hip hop street dancers from Tokyo to lead him to the ring as he danced and wore a big gold chain.  Mayhem may not be the best fighter in the world but as always he is one of the most entertaining inside and outside of the ring.  With his victory he advances into the quarterfinals of the middle weight Grand Prix.

Manhoef and Kim was more competitve than expected but Manhoef as expected won by TKO in the first.  The win places Manhoeff as a possible alternate in the middle weight Grand Prix.

Nick Diaz came to the ring wearing an EliteXC shirt and picked apart INoue with very accurate and effective punches stopping him in round one.

After intermission they had the three light weight Grand Prix quarterfinals:

In the first one Eddie Alverez and Joachim Hansen had a fight for the ages as they slugged it out for 15 minutes with Alverez winning a unanimous decision but more importantly the admiration and respect of the fans and Hansen.  After the fight Hansen had the microphone and told the crowd Alverez was the toughest opponent he had ever faced.  In turned Alvarez that nobody lost this fight because the two of them won over the crowd, to which he received a resounding ovation.  SImply put this was one of the most action packed fight I have ever seen.

Kawajiri was able to physically out power Firmino for the majority of their bout and won by decision.

In the main event of the night Japanese legend Caol Uno scored an unexspected dominant victory over top 10 in the world Ishida.  Ishida had been on a role of recent including his victory at Yarenoka in december against Gilbert Melendez.

There remains one more fight in the quarterfinals of the light weight tournament which will feature Aoki at Dream 4 in June.  The Final 4 will fight at Dream 5 to determine the Grand Prix champion.