Note: fights subject to change

Dreams is kicking off their second show in mixed martial arts with their middleweight Grand Prix 16 fighter tournament  that will be held at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama Japan. The first ever event was the 16 man lightweight tournament that was a great success with 19,120 people packed into the Saitama Super Arena. The middleweight tournament will be held on April 29, 2008 as some of the best MMA middleweights will enter to win the title as Dreams Middleweight champion.

Betting odds are out and mixed martial arts bettors have Denis Kang and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza as online betting favorites by most online sports betting sites and sports wagering websites. So who will win the up coming fights? Well fighting-mma.com has handicapped the first round fights for the Grand Prix. Read our matchup reports for all first round fights. 

Kazushi Sakuraba vs Andrews Nakahara

Kazushi Sakuraba is a legend and at his age he is still very competitive. Right now he is back to full health and will put on a show the only way Kazushi Sakuraba knows how. He will be fighting Andrews Nakahara a Kyokushin Karate fighter from Brazil with a Japanese background.  This will be his first pro fight and he will be fighting a living legend in the world of mixed martial arts and fighting on the big stage will rattle this young Karate expert. Nakahara is of Japanese decent but he was born in Brazil. He does have decent stanup skills but he will not overwhelm Sakuraba who has fought just able every top fighter in the world. Nakahara will look to shock the world but he won’t. Sakuraba will take this fight to the ground and once on the ground I don’t see Nakahara getting out of The Gracie Hunter's submissions.

Nakahara will go for a karate kick and I see Sakuraba catching it and taking him to the ground. Betting wise I would lay a lot on this fight as Nakahara is a fighter used as a steeping stone for Sakuraba to get to the second round of the Grand Prix.

Look for an early first round submission by Sakuraba.

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Kiyoshi Tamura vs Masakatsu Funaki

Everyone wants to see Kiyoshi Tamura fight Kazushi Sakuraba but Tamura will have to get by Masakatsu Funaki first. At one time Funaki was the best fighters in the world as he was one of the top four mixed martial artists in the world from 1993 to 1998 and rated the top-rated mixed martial artist fighter in 1996. But that was a long time ago.

These two veterans of mixed martial arts are Japanese legends as Tumura 31-14–1 has wins over Hideo Tokoro, Ikuhisa Minowa, Ray Sefo, and Renzo Gracie while Funaki 38-12-1-1 is a Japanese old school Pancrase fighter that has beaten Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Yuki Kondo and Bas Rutten through the course of his 50 fight career. However, he is older now and his last fight was loss to Sakuraba on December of last year but before that his last fight was against Rickson Gracie in 2000. I think Funaki is just too rusty to fight against Tamura who may not be as skilled but has been more active in recent years.

Lay your money on Tamura who has seen more fighting action as putting Funaki in the Grand Prix was more of a marketing and fight promo attempt. I see Tamura out slugging Funaki as he tries for a takedown.

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Denis Kang vs  Gegard Mousasi

The best opening round match will be Denis Kang versus Gegard Mousasi. Kang is coming off a devastating loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama and he will be fighting a tough French striker in Gegard Mousasi who has been on a tear, riding a 7-fight winning streak entering the tournament. The 22 year-old Armenian has won his last four fights via KO or TKO but is a well-rounded fighter. Mousasi has the better striking ability but has not fought a top level fighter like Kang who is rated among the top middleweights in the world.

Though Mousasi has the striking advantage Kang has more power and strength. Grappling wise Kang is a Marcus Soares Brazilian jujitsu black belt who was Carlson Gracie’s number one student so his grappling and submission is far and above Mousasi’s. All of Mousasi’s loses have been by submission and I see Kang shooting in for take down and once it hits the ground it will be over quick. Also Kang has been training with Georges St Pierre, Nathan Marquardt, Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine in Montreal and he will be at the top of his fight game in addition to training with American Top team. I don’t see Mousasi training with any top level fighters.

The mixed martial arts betting odds at most online sports betting sites have this fight closer than the MMA betting line should be due to Kang’s loss so I would lay a lot of money on Kang.

Look for Kang to win by submission by rear naked choke

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Taiei Kin vs Ikuhisa Minowa

Taiei Kin has only 4 MMA fights but he has fought and beaten Kiyoshi Tamura and has losses to Zelg Galesic and Yoshihiro Akiyama who are top level fighters. Ikuhisa “ The Punk” Minowa  is 39 - 27 – 8 and can be a great fighter at times but he just has too many loses when he faces top level competition.

Look for this to be a submission match on the ground. I like Kin’s grappling compared to Minowa who is more flamboyant and less technical when fighting on the ground. His grappling looks good but he does not have solid fundamentals and likes to apply high risk submissions.

Minowa is a better striker but Kin will prove too much for him on the ground.

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Magomed Sultanakhmadov vs Zelg Galesic

This first round match is one I am looking forward to. Magomed Sultanakhmadov is a tough Russian fighting out of the Russian Red Devil camp. He trains with Fedor and is a great submission fighter. He has decent stand up skills and is a very tough well conditioned fighter. However, he will be fighting one of the best strikers in the middle division in Zelg Galesic who is a pre tournament favorite. Galesic (7-2) is a Muay Thai fighter from Croatia that looks like a smaller version of Cro Cop. Galesic’s weakness is his ground game, as his only two loses have come by submission. Does Sultanakhmadov have the grappling to submit Galesic? This will be classic striker versus grappler fight but I don’t see Sultanakhmadov being able to take Galesic down. Galesic’s stand up is just too good.


Look for a quick high leg kick to knock out the Russian fighter.

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Yoon Dong-Sik vs  Shungo Oyama

Dong Sik Yoon is a big judo fighter that has fought some very tough fighters. He has wins over Fabio Silva, Zelg Galesic, and Melvin Manhoef and loses to Murilo Bustamante, Quinton Jackson and Kazushi Sakuraba. His fights with Bustamante and Jackson went the distance so he can fight with top level fighters. Shungo Oyama is also a great fighter but when he fights top level competition he seems to lose. He has loses to Melvin Manhoef, Mirko Filipovic, Dan Henderson, Ryan Gracie, Wallid Ismail, and Wanderlei Silva. In this fight I think Yoon Dong-Sik has developed into a legitimate top middleweight and he has the judo and grappling advantage over Oyama who is more of a wrestler. I also like Yoon Dong-Sik’s stand up which has vastly improved.

Look for a hard fought decision win with Yoon Dong-Sik as the victor.

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Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs Frank Trigg

The most intriguing fight has Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (7-1) versus Frank Trigg. Jacare is probably the best juijitsu fighter in the world today. Jacare placed second in the absolute division of the 2005 ADCC world championships, losing to Roger Gracie by submission who is much bigger than him. On the ground Jacare is heads and tails above Trigg but this is a mixed martial arts match and Jacare has not fought any top level fighters. If this fight goes to the ground it will be over quick as Trigg has a history of losing by submission. Trigg has decent standup skills and is more of a ground and pound fighter. I don’t think he has trained hard enough for this fight as it was just announced so he might not be in fight shape by April 29th.

Once this fight starts Jacare will take him to the ground and submit him. If Trigg gains top position Jacare will be able to reverse position and find a way to submit Trigg. Unlike most BJJ fighters Jacare has very good take down skills and will be able to control the fight on the ground.

Jacare beats Trigg with a submission as Trigg gasses out.

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