Japanese MMA company proves to be home of homers

First off, happy Cinco de Mayo to everyone! I know it's hard not to and that this will fall on deaf ears, but try not to get too trashed tonight. If you missed my last RMT blog, you can find it here. I talked about the revamped card for UFC 85 and about DREAM.2 and more. In this issue, I'll talk about the results from DREAM, the mass exodus of fighters from the UFC, and more.

DREAM.2

You can find the full results from the event on Sherdog here.

The first round of the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix took place at DREAM.2 last Tuesday, as did the final fight of the first round of the Lightweight Grand Prix. In that final LW fight, Shinya Aoki (15-2) defeated Gesias "JZ" Calvancante (14-2-1). Many fans were not happy with the outcome of this fight; not only did we have to wait four months for the first fight that ended in a no contest after JZ elbowed Aoki in the back of the head, but this fight also ended amid protest, as Aoki continually took JZ to the ground and did not try to further his position after getting the fight there. JZ got out of Aoki's guard at a few points, and Aoki actually had to be told to stand up, as he tried to lay on the ground even after Calvancante had escaped his guard. It was obvious that Aoki did not want to stand with JZ, because he's one of the top strikers in the LW division. With all of these questions, I have one of my own: would this have happened in PRIDE? I know that a lot of the same people are running DREAM, but they have moved away from giving fighters penalties for stalling for some reason. That was always one of the best parts about Japanese MMA, but this new version seems to almost have some rules built in to help Japanese fighters.

Not only did Aoki provide fans with an extremely boring fight, but he was also awarded the unanimous decision. So not only was he not penalized, but he was also awarded with a spot in the next round of the tournament against Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2). It was originally reported that since Aoki was hurt against JZ that JZ might replace him at DREAM.3, but reports now say that the Aoki/Nagata fight will take place at DREAM.4 instead of DREAM.2.

Speaking of DREAM.3, the card is now set for the event that will take place on Sunday, May 11:

LW GP fights:
Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1) vs. Caol Uno (20-10-4) - I don't know why Uno got a free pass into the second round, and I'm not sure if he deserves it, but I don't think he'll lose to Ishida. He has the experience edge and is a lot fresher than Ishida, who has fought a lot in the past few months against top competition.
Tatsuya Kawajiri (21-4-2) vs. Luiz Firmino (12-3) - Kawajiri is one of the best strikers in Japan and also has the edge in wrestling. I don't see him losing this one.
Eddie Alvarez (13-1) vs. Joachim Hansen (16-7-1) - Hansen hits like a ton of bricks and also has solid jiu-jitsu, but I'm taking the wrestler Alvarez, the only American left in the tournament.

MW GP fight:
Jason "Mayhem" Miller (20-5) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-3) - I'm happy to see Mayhem in the tourney, but it would have been great to see him face kickboxer Melvin Manhoef instead of Shibata, a Japanese pro wrestler. Mayhem should win this one.

MW GP Reserve fight:
Dae Won Kim (4-3) vs. Melvin Manhoef (20-4-1) - Like I said, I would have loved to see Manhoef in the actual tourney, but he might get a chance to make it in after he easily defeats Kim.

WW Championship Contender fight (winner will face Hayato Sakurai for WW title):
Nick Diaz (15-7) vs. Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3) - The last I heard, the winner of this fight was supposed to face Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for the DREAM WW title, but Sakurai was recently upset in Shooto by David Baron. I haven't heard anything since.

News

Chris Leben was arrested for a parole violation stemming from a DUI. This is a weird story. Leben, who used to live in Oregon, was arrested for a DUI there a few years ago and was put on probation. He has since moved to Hawaii to live and train, but the probation didn't transfer for some reason. He turned himself in to Oregon police last week. Unfortunately, he was slated to face Michael Bisping in England at UFC 85 next month and that fight might now be in jeopardy. Why would the law attempt to ruin the life of a guy who has turned the corner? Chris looks like he's grown up a lot since moving to Hawaii, and he's improved drastically inside the Octagon and out. And now this? Sometimes things make me sick. I was ready to pick Leben to upset Bisping in England, but now I'll have to wait to pick my winner for that fight.

Sean Sherk has passed the drug tests and will officially face B.J. Penn for the UFC LW title at UFC 84 later this month. There is no way that Sherk was stupid enough to keep doing what ever he was doing. That's all I have to say about this story, because he's going to lose to B.J. anyway. Later reports have also said that he has been tested but not yet cleared. Who cares?

Former UFC heavyweight fighter Jake O'Brien (10-1) has signed with Palace Fight Championships, based out of California. I know that there has been talk that a lot of these smaller orgs will fold if and when MMA loses some of its luster, but if the UFC continues to release guys from their contracts, they'll continue to sign with other orgs, creating more talent across the board instead of it all being focused in the UFC. We'll still have to wait and see if these orgs will survive.

Top women's fighter Gina Carrano will be featured on ESPN's E:60 on May 11. It's great to see that women's fighting is finally getting some attention. I know that they've had Kimbo Slice on that show about 43 times. Give someone else some camera time Kimbo! (If you are reading this, Mr. Slice, please know that that last statement was a joke. Please don't kill me. I never did like Tank Abbott. Thank you for knocking him out).

Tito Ortiz is an idiot (no link).

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell wanted to fight Rashad Evans with a torn hamstring. Unfortunately, UFC President Dana White wouldn't let him. It's nice to know that some fighters will do anything to get inside that Octagon for what ever reason. Chuck is a crazy mofo, as I learned by reading his book.

That's it for this week. I'm hungry.