Japan’s Fighting & Entertainment Group (FEG) recently announced the final line up and bout order for its next event, DREAM 10, which will take place from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on July 20.
For North American fans it will air live on HDNet at 3 a.m. ET and an encore presentation is set for next Friday, July 24, at 10 p.m. ET.
The focal point of the event will of course be the conclusion of the welterweight tournament, which was created in a bid to crown a new 168-pound champion.
The event will get kick started with the welterweight grand prix reserve bout between Seichi Ikemoto and Tarec Saffiedine, then after that the welterweight semifinals should quickly get underway.
First up in tournament action will be Japanese mainstay and veteran of the sport Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, who is set to take on crafty Cage Rage veteran Marius Zaromskis in what should promise to be an entertaining showdown.
"Mach" is coming off a quick 27-second destruction of lightweight standout Shinya Aoki, who made the jump up to welterweight at DREAM 8 this April, but was quickly sent packing back down to 154 pounds after Sakurai landed some deadly knees and vicious ground and pound to claim victory.
His opponent Zaromskis competed at the same event, managing to garner a unanimous decision over Seichi Ikemoto in a fast paced exciting bout, which saw Zaromskis attempt an unorthodox back flip into his opponent's guard.
Rounding out the rest of the grand prix will be jiu-jitsu ace Andre Galvao, who is set to clash with the explosive Jason High.
Galvao progressed to the next stage of the tournament by dominating his quarterfinal fight on the ground back at DREAM 8 and eventually went on to submit opponent John Alessio by armbar late into the opening stanza.
High dominated his preliminary bout against Yuya Shirai from the get-go, coming out strong and landing a flurry of punches that would knock down Shirai and allow High to take his back and choke him unconscious.
The winners of the semifinal bouts will then be given time to rest and will meet later in the same evening in the main event of the show.
Also in non-tournament action will be WAMMA Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki, colliding with fellow jiu-jitsu phenom Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro in what should turn out to be quite a grappling demonstration.
Another standout bout should be the one between Dutch berzerker Melvin Manhoef and former WEC Middleweight champion Paulo Filho which should present an interesting styles clash when the two do battle.
Here is the official bout order for DREAM 10:
Welterweight Grand Prix Final:
Andre Galvao (3-0) or Jason High (7-1) vs. Hayato Sakurai (35-8-2) or Marius Zaromskis (9-2)Non-Tournament bouts:
Shinya Aoki (20-4) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (20-2)
Jesse Taylor (11-3) vs. Dong Sik-Yoon (4-6)
Paulo Filho (16-1) vs. Melvin Manhoef (23-5-1)
Andre Amade (6-3) vs. Katsunori Kikuno (11-1)Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals:
Andre Galvao (3-0) vs. Jason High (7-1)
Hayato Sakurai (35-8-2) vs. Marius Zaromskis (9-2)Welterweight Grand Prix reserve bout:
Seichi Ikemoto (18-15-5) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (6-0)
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