Fighting & Entertainment Group (FEG) has announced the first wave of match-ups for its New Year’s Eve supershow featuring participants from DREAM, K-1, K-1 MAX and K-1 Koshien.
FieLDS Dynamite!! 'Power of Courage' will take place on December 31, 2008 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and could feature as many as 20 fights.
Japanese MMA pioneer and 'Gracie Hunter' Kazushi Sakuraba will finally get the chance to face fellow aging veteran Kiyoshi Tamura, after publicly calling him out for a fight several years back at PRIDE Shockwave 2005, also scheduled on New Year's Eve.
Joining them will be DREAM 2008 lightweight grand prix champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen as he takes on Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante in a rematch from their 2004 Shooto bout that saw Hansen take the majority decision, one of only two losses for JZ.
Expect fireworks in that one.
And for those of you who enjoy watching young children kick each other in the face, K-1 Koshien will be holding the finals and semifinals of its 'King of Under 18' tournament.
Here is the official card thus far:
MMA RULES:
Middleweight: Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1) vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (32-13-2)
Lightweight: Joachim Hansen (19-7-1) vs. Gesias Cavalcante (14-2-1)
K-1 RULES:
K-1 Koshien U-18 Tournament Semifinals: HIROYA (9-1) vs. Shota Shimada (3-0)
K-1 Koshien U-18 Tournament Semifinals: Ryuya Kusakabe (2-0) vs. Koya Urabe (2-0)
K-1 Koshien U-18 Tournament Finals: Winner of HIROYA/Shimada vs. Winner of Kusakabe/Urabe
Also expected to participate are Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto, Caol Uno, Hideo Tokoro, Masakatsu Funaki, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Gegard Mousasi and Hong Man Choi.
While not yet listed, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has confirmed on his official blog that he will face Alistair Overeem to finish their match from September's DREAM 6 that ended in a No Contest after Overeem played "Kick the Can" with Cro Cop's man-bag.
Cro Cop was being dominated by Overeem prior to the sack mutilation and hasn't looked sharp in almost two years. Overeem on the other hand has been unstoppable in his last five fights, including Sunday's submission win over MMA veteran Gary Goodrich at Netherlands 'Glory of 10' event.
There's even rumors of a Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli rematch, probably scheduled to take place in the opening round of the 2008 'Who Cares?' grand prix.
Stay tuned as this massive event continues to take shape.
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