DREAM 10, which featured the promotion’s welterweight grand prix, took place earlier this morning (Monday, July 20) from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
If you missed it you’ll be able to catch the replay on HDNet this Friday, July 24 at 10 p.m. ET.
To kick off the show would be the welterweight grand prix featuring the reserve bout between Tarec Saffiedine and Seichi Ikemoto. The bout ended up going the distance with Saffiedine garnering a unanimous decision win once the bout came to its conclusion.
Ikemoto started well but as the fight progressed Saffiedine took over the pace and proved to be more effective, while Ikemoto attempted to be flashy with numerous failed flying double axe handles and spinning back fists.
We then moved swiftly on to the tournament semifinals, with tournament favourite Hayato "Mach" Sakurai doing battle with Cage Rage veteran Marius Zaromskis. The bout started at a frantic pace with both fighters landing some vicious clean shots to one another though neither seemed too fazed at first.
But Zaromskis' quickness started to get the better of Mach and he started landing the more damaging blows that started to rock Sakurai. Then the bout was suddenly halted by ringside officials to check two cuts to the head of Sakurai, after a little deliberating and cleaning of the wounds they decided the fight could continue.
And just as soon as it had Zaromskis continued with more of the same and then managed to land a nasty high kick that dropped and saw Mach face plant into the canvas, Zaromskis jumped on the downed Sakurai and landed more shots to the dome of his dazed opponent which forced the referee to intervene.
And in the final semifinal bout Jason High managed to scrape a split decision over jiu-jitsu phenom Andre Galvao.
The first round saw High drop Galvao early on with a shot but when High followed him to the ground Galvao was able to hold on and recover and then go straight to work on a knee bar which had held for quite some time, though High remained calm and didn’t panic, choosing to slowly ease his way out of it.
Though once he had escaped, Galvao kept the pressure on and was able to take High’s back and attempt to put in a rear naked choke, though High was able to hang in there. Galvao kept transitioning to mount and then back to the rear naked choke attempts though his foe was able to show his tenacity and survive the onslaught as the bell for the first round rang.
The second round of action saw High smartly keep the fight on the feet and get the better of Galvao for the final duration of the fight.
Once it came to its conclusion it was High who took victory by way of split decision, though it would have been no surprise to see the fight go the other way and could easily be argued in favor of Galvao. A questionable decision, but that’s the nature of the game I suppose.
Next up was non-tournament action between lightweights Katsunori Kikuno and Andre Amade. The fight went at a slow pace with neither combatant too eager to engage with both looking to counter. Kikuno did manage to score a takedown and would quickly trounce Amade by taking his back and dishing out some devastating blows that would flatten him out and make the referee jump in for the save.
Then the much anticipated contest between former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho and Dutch bruiser Melvin Manhoef was to go down and it wouldn’t last long.
Manhoef came out all guns blazing, trying to overwhelm Filho with his power though he was able to weather the storm and later clinch and trip Manhoef to the ground and catch him in an armbar, forcing him to tap just two minutes into the very first round.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 castaway Jesse Taylor proved successful in his DREAM debut and looked impressive for the short while the fight lasted. His opponent Dong Sik-Yoon ended up injuring his ankle after a takedown from Taylor and the bout had to be stopped after Yoon was in intense agony and forfeited.
Not the most satisfying means of victory for Taylor but a win nonetheless that could likely earn him call up to the ranks of DREAM again somewhere down the line.
Also in action were lightweight standouts Shinya Aoki and Vitor Ribeiro. They both chose to ditch their grappling chops and stand and bang, which didn’t exactly make for the most pleasant viewing. Once the bout reached it’s duration it would be Shinya Aoki with his arm raised after gaining a unanimous decision win.
Wrapping up the show would be the welterweight grand prix finals where Marius Zaromskis was crowned the first ever DREAM welterweight champion by obliterating Jason High early into the first with a vicious head kick that had High out cold though Zaromskis brutally continued the punishment on the floor to claim victory and tournament gold.
Here are the official results for DREAM 10:
Welterweight Grand Prix Final:
Marius Zaromskis (11-2) defeated Jason High (8-2) by KO (Head Kick) (2:22-R1)
Non-Tournament bouts:
Shinya Aoki (21-4) defeated Vitor Ribeiro (20-3) via unanimous decision
Jesse Taylor (12-3) defeated Dong Sik-Yoon (4-7) by TKO (Injury) (1:02-R1)
Paulo Filho (17-1) defeated Melvin Manhoef (23-6-1) by armbar (2:36-R1)
Katsunori Kikuno (12-1) defeated Andre Amade (6-4) by TKO (3:47-R1)
Welterweight Grand Prix Semifinals:
Jason High (8-2) defeated Andre Galvao (3-1) via split decision
Marius Zaromskis (11-2) defeated Hayato Sakurai (35-9-2) by TKO (Head Kick and Punches) (4:03-R1)
Welterweight Grand Prix reserve bout:
Tarec Saffiedine (7-0) defeated Seichi Ikemoto (18-16-5) via unanimous decision
For more on DREAM 10 click here .
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