DREAM.16 Adds Ishii-Minowa at the 11th Hour

Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) and World Victory Road officials held a last-minute press conference last Wednesday, to announce an Ikuhisa Minowa vs Satoshi Ishii open weight match for DREAM.16. According to previous reports, Ishii is set to fight for Sengoku Raiden Championship later this year, but no solid plans was revealed by neither the fighter nor the promotion.

But World Victory Road President, Toru Mukai, said that Ishii has only one fight left on his contract — one which allows him to contend in other promotions provided that SRC held first right to negotiations. However, SRC gave the fighter a wider reign to compete in other MMA promotion as they change the clause in the fighter’s contract. Due to that, Satoshi Ishii is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be able to fight in the K-1 world grand prix someday. And as it stands, the Minowa – Ishii bout rounds the DREAM.16 lineup.

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Warren vs Omigawa in DREAM 16, Not Happening

The Joe Warren vs Michihiro Omigawa fight in DREAM 16 will no longer pursue, as both parties did not come up with an agreement. However, Warren hope to have two more fights before 2010 ends. The newly crowned Bellator Fighting Championships featherweight title holder came into the MMA scene in March 2009, getting a TKO victory over Chase Beebe. After that, he outperformed Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. He then made four wins in five months heading towards winning the second season of Bellator title. In an attempt to make the 2012 Olympic wrestling team, a drop to 135-pounds is on the horizon.

“I’d be a lot more comfortable at 135, but there’s more money for me at 145,” Warren said. “In four years, I’ll be too old to [try to make an Olympic team], so the time to push is now. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had no injuries to keep me from training or keep me off the mat. We’re confident with what we have going on. I’m still training at the Olympic Training Center, and I’m focused on that. I’m still focused on winning in fighting, as well.”

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Shaping Up: DREAM.16 Fight Card

Finally! After three weeks out, the DREAM.16 fight card is already shaping up. Last Sunday, Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) revealed some of the matches that will be featured in the event. DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki will face Marcus Aurelio in a non-title match, Kazuyuki Miyata will fight against Takeshi Inoue, and Joachim Hansen will try to make his first win at the featherweight versus Hideo Tokoro. DREAM’s official YouTube Channel, on the other hand, confirmed that Kazushi Sakuraba will compete against Jayson Miller.

Kazuyuki Miyata was supposed to have a match versus Sengoku featherweight champion Marlon Sandro, but was scratched off late during the negotiation. The DREAM vs SRC aspect of DREAM.16 was also abandoned after an unsuccessful agreement between DREAM representatives and Sengoku. The event is scheduled for September 25, at Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan, and is set to air live in North America via HDNet. DREAM.16 will serve as the final for DREAM Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, and is expected to crown the first champion in the division.

DREAM.16 – Sept. 25th at Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan

Light Heavyweight Championship
Gegard Mousasi vs. Tatsuya Mizuno

Shinya Aoki vs. Marcus Aurelio
Joachim Hansen vs. Hideo Tokoro
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue
Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

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