Fight #1
Minowaman vs Errol Zimmerman
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Minowaman by submission first 10 minutes
The same thing always happens when Minowaman fights K-1 fighters with no MMA experience, he wins by leg lock. Zimmerman will kill him if the fight stays standing too long but it won’t. This fight shouldn’t go five minutes.
Fights #2 and #3 are part of a tournament between guys I don’t know a thing about.
Fight #4
Artur Kyshenko vs Yoshihiro Sato
(K-1 Rules)
Prediction- Kyshenko by 3rd round KO
This could be fight of the night, but the edge has to go to this years K-1 MAX Finallist. Sato will be in the fight early but will be broken down and likely stopped.
Fight #5
Daisuke Nakamura vs Hideo Tokoro
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Nakamura by submission first 10 minutes
There’s a big size difference in this fight and while Tokoro is a good fighter, he won’t be any match for Nakamura especially considering he’s giving up roughly 20lbs. Nakamura by armbar some time in the 2nd half of the first round.
Fight #6
Andy Ologun vs Yukio Sakaguchi
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Sakaguchi by submission 10-15 minutes
Fight #7 is the Tournament Final
Intermission #1
Fight #8
Kinniku Mantaro vs Bob Sapp
(DREAM Rules)
Predition- Bob Sapp by Death
This has to be the strangest mismatch in MMA history. Bob Sapp isn’t just fighting some overmatched bum like usual, this time the bum is dressed up as an Anime character. A mate of mine who is a full blown geek told me if this was a cartoon Sapp could be in a whole world of trouble because apparently those guys know some serious shit, but in the real world Sapp crushes this guy with his 200lb weight advantage whenever he feels like it which knowing Sapp will be as soon as he feels like some pizza or gummycandy.
Fight #9
Mighty Mo vs Semmy Schilt
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Schilt by knockout first 10 minutes
Something that some of you newbies don’t know is that Schilt was an excellent fighter in PRIDE before he started kicking arse in K-1 and even won a few fights by submission. Mighty Mo is extremely outgunned in all areas of the fight here and will likely be dispatched quickly in the first round.
Fight #10
Hayato Sakurai vs Katsuyori Shibata
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Sakurai by knockout first 10 minutes
Fight #11
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Kozo Takeda
(K-1 Rules)
Prediction- Takeda on points
Even though he has good stand-up for MMA fighters, Kawajiri won’t hang with a K-1 MAX veteran in his sport no matter how out of form he is. This one might not go the distance but I think it will.
Fight #12
Badr Hari vs Alistair Overeem
(K-1 Rules)
Prediction- Hari by 2nd round knockout
This is the same as the last fight. Overeem has good stand-up skills for MMA, but against a top K-1 striker he’s outgunned. These two will likely meet in MMA next year and the same thing applies but in favour of Overeem this time.
Intermission #2
Fight #13
Hong Man Choi vs Mirko Cro Cop
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Hong Man by knockout first 10 minutes
I’m sick of going to bat for Mirko and picking him only for him to fight like shit. Hong Man will likely cause him all sorts of problems when they trade standing up and I don’t see Cro Cop getting the takedown when Fedor had to resort to pulling guard. Hong Man will catch Mirko at some stage and with those small gloves he’ll do a lot of damage.
Fight #14
Gegard Mousasi vs MUSASHI
(K-1 Rules)
Prediction- Musashi on points
Same theme again as some previous fights. Despite MUSASHI being as out of form as he is, I don’t think the smaller MMA fighter will trouble him too much in a K-1 rules match. MUSASHI should dominate the fight with his leg kicks en route to a wide points win.
Fight #15
Mark Hunt vs Melvin Manhoef
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Hunt by TKO first 10 minutes
Le Banner must have pulled out with an injury because he was set to fight Mark Huny. Both Hunt and Manhoef are excellent kickboxers who have fought in MMA before, but the big difference between the two is the monsterous size advantage Hunt will have. I think at some stage this fight will hit the floor with Hunt on top and he’ll ground and pound Manhoef out.
Fight #16
Eddie Alvarez vs Shinya Aoki
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Alvarez by TKO first 10 minutes
Great matchup between the two guys who should have fought for the DREAM title at the Lightweight Grand Prix, but Alvarez was forced out with an injury leading the way for alternate (a man Alvarez had already beaten) Joachim Hansen to come in and knock Aoki out. Alvarez’s big weakness is on the ground defending submissions which is where Aoki specialises but Aoki’s big weakness is where Alvarez specialises with his huge knockout power. I think Aoki will pull guard but at some stage get caught with some heavy punches and will need the referee to rescue him.
Fight #17
JZ Calvancante vs Joachin Hansen
(DREAM Lightweight title)
Prediction- Hansen on points
This fight could likely go either way but I think Hansen will come out victorious due to his better ground skills. Both guys are well rounded and I think JZ will have an advantage standing up and may even knock Hansen out, but I think he’ll have a lot of trouble defending the takedown especially as the fight gets older and Hansen will score enough of them to take the decision.
Fight #18
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Kiyoshi Tamura
(DREAM Rules)
Prediction- Sakuraba on points
An excellent main event for a Japanese card like this matching two Japanese legends against one another. This prediction is probably more out of me wanting Sakuraba to win then anything, but he does have a great chance. It’s a real 50-50 fight with Sakuraba having the better ground skills and Tamura having his damaging leg kicks. I think Sakuraba will get Tamura on his back and control the fight from there, winning comfortably on the cards in a competetive matchup.
Happy New Year to all my readers!
