Japan’s Fighting & Entertainment Group (FEG) today announced during a press conference the lineup for the promotion’s upcoming Welterweight Grand Prix commencing at DREAM 8 on April 5 at the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan, as reported by our good friends over at Nightmare of Battle.
Featuring only eight fighters across two events, the 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix will conclude on July 20 at DREAM 10.
The event will air stateside on April 10 at 10 p.m. EST on HDNet.
Headlining the event will be Japanese mainstay Hayato Sakurai (34-8-2) as he battles the first-ever World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) lightweight champion and submissions guru Shinya Aoki (20-3).
The two were on a collision course at last year’s Lightweight Grand Prix, until original opponent Eddie Alvarez got hurt and Aoki ran into finals alternate Joachim Hansen.
"Hellboy" would go on to upset the heavily-favored Aoki and bring home the belt.
The "Tobikan Judan" would rebound from that loss — just the third of his career — and submit Todd Moore via neck crank at DREAM 6 in September before finally getting a crack at Alvarez by year’s end, winning via heel hook early in round one.
After following that up with a submission victory over David Gardner in the first round of their contest at DREAM 7 on March 8, Aoki will pack on a few pounds and join Sakurai in a quest for welterweight supremacy.
"Mach" — who holds a unanimous decision win over Aoki from their days in Shooto — has gone up against some of the most talented fights in the sport, from lightweight all the way up to middleweight.
In addition to Aoki, he’s competed against UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, Jake Shields, Joachim Hansen, Takanori Gomi, Frank Trigg, Jens Pulver and Caol Uno among countless others.
If that weren’t enough, DREAM fans will also be treated to the much-anticipated return of Russian gladiator Sergei Kharitonov. The 16-3 ‘Kharit-top’ was the last man to beat the surging Alistair Overeem when he knocked him out at K-1 Heroes back in 2007.
The Russian made his DREAM debut a memorable one when he smashed Jimmy Ambriz at DREAM 6 last September.
Facing him is UFC veteran Jeff Monson, who recently phoned it in against Roy "Big Country" Nelson at "March Badness," stealing a controversial unanimous decision victory over his corpulent foe.
"The Snowman" (28-8) is a dangerous submissions specialist despite going the distance in his last two fights.
In his first trip to Japan since the demise of PRIDE, Murilo Rua will make his debut for DREAM against Korea's Dong Sik Yoon (4-6) after Strikeforce reportedly opted to pass on his acquired EliteXC contract.
"Ninja" (16-9-1) hasn’t competed since a TKO loss to Benji Radach at "Heat" last October for the now-defunct organization.
Also in action are featherweights Hideo Tokoro and Daiki Hata, who will conclude the opening round of the 2009 Featherweight Grand Prix that was held at DREAM 7.
"DJ.taiki" needed the extra month to recover from a recent eye injury, thus pushing his bout with Tokoro to April 5.
Here is the current DREAM 8 event card:
Main card:
Sergei Kharitonov (16-3) vs. Jeff Monson (28-8)
Ikuhisa Minowa (41-29-8) vs. Katsuyori Shibata (2-6-1)
Andrews Nakahara (1-1) vs. Shungo Oyama (7-11)
Murilo Rua (16-9-1) vs. Dong Sik Yoon (4-6)Welterweight Grand Prix:
Shinya Aoki (20-3) vs. Hayato Sakurai (34-8-2)
Andre Galvao (2-0) vs. John Alessio (24-12)
Yuya Shirai (15-7) vs. Jason High (6-1)
Marius Zaromskis (8-2) vs. Seichi Ikemoto (18-14-5)Featherweight Grand Prix:
Hideo Tokoro (21-15-1) vs. Daiki Hata (9-5-3)
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available. In the meantime, get up to speed on all things DREAM by clicking here.