Sakuraba/Tamura, Hansen/JZ Announced for 'Dynamite!! 2008'
(Image courtesy of Nightmare of Battle)
Two headlining matchups were announced today for DREAM and K-1's combined "FieLDS Dynamite!!: Yuuki no Chikara 2008" event, which will be held on New Year's Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. In the main event spot will be Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba facing Kiyoshi Tamura. Sakuraba and Tamura are former UWFi pro wrestling stablemates who were previously supposed to fight each other in PRIDE, but the match never came together; there is a rumored rivalry between them dating back to Tamura's disrespectful treatment of Sakuraba in the early '90s when Tamura was a UWFi star and Sakuraba was a struggling up-and-comer. Tamura's last ring appearance was a 57-second knockout victory over Masakatsu Funaki at DREAM 2 in April, while Sakuraba is coming off his brutal beating at the hands of Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4 in June.
In the co-main event spot is a non-title fight between DREAM lightweight GP winner Joachim Hansen and highly regarded American Top Team fighter Gesias "JZ" Calvancante. Also on the card is a four-man K-1 tournament featuring Ryuya Kusakabe, Koya Urabe, Shota Shimada, and 16-year old Japanese kickboxing phenom "Hiroya"; check out some of his work here.
Nightmare of Battle lists Mirko Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem and Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli as other possible fights for this event, and Hong Man Choi, Semmy Schilt, and Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro as possible participants. N.o.B. also says that "Yuuki no Chikara" translates to "Power of Courage," and that Kazushi Sakuraba has requested that his fight not have a time-limit. I guess he needs more than 15 minutes to work out 15 years of pent-up Tamura-related hostility...
Related:
— K-1's World GP on 12/6 in Yokohama will feature Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Hong Man Choi, Peter Aerts, and Ray Sefo.
— Sengoku 7 (1/4/09; Saitama, Japan) will feature the organization's first-ever middleweight championship match between Kazuo Misaki and this year's middleweight grand prix winner Jorge Santiago. Takanori Gomi is also slated to face lightweight tournament winner Satoru Kitaoka.
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heen Says:
I'll have to be watching Hiroya in the years to come, looks like he has potential.
Anonymous Says:
really want to see Sakuraba bounce back from his loss. and although JZ is def. good... i see hansen taking this
Seamus Says:
Can't wait to Hansen fight again - love that guy.
NealTaflinger Says:
MMA promotions should be required to use Japanese designers to create promotional material.
Hiroya should fight Chris Horodecki.
NealTaflinger Says:
Didn't Manhoef retire, like, two months ago or was that just from MMA?
Jugger Says:
I know Hansen is pretty outspoken about how much he dislikes the UFC, but I sure would love to see him mix things up in the UFC stacked LW division.
You want to see a fighter who always, always, ALWAYS brings it. Win or lose, Hansen brings it.
NealTaflinger Says:
Fine by me. I like to see people do what they are good at, and Manhoef is damn good in K-1.
Juicehead666 Says:
@ NealTaflinger- Manhoef retired from fighting 2 months ago. Then his credit card statement hit and he re-retired from only MMA. Apparently he only likes to do things he is good at. Punching and kicking is one, grappling is not one.
VEe! Says:
NealTaflinger, there posters kill anything I've seen coming from American boxing and/or MMA!
Me Says:
I really love the japanese promotion/productions. Very dramatic and harrowing, if not a bit over the top. From the posters to the event design and even the introductions of the fighters. If only an american company would pick up on the dramatic style instead of trying to sell skany girls to drunk douches then there may be a decent rival to the UFC.
skidding Says:
That's a bad-ass poster.
raizor Says:
That poster is probably the best I've ever seen. Really shows up the junk the UFC cobble together...
OrMMA Says:
I remember once there being a link to some of the old promotion posters, Where can you order these?
bfowlkes Says:
You can find some good ones here: http://mmaposters.homestead.com/mmaposters.html
I can personally recommend them, having purchased a totally sweet Pride 2004 GP poster, which is now framed and hanging above my desk.
Derly Says:
What's wrong with skanky girls? Have you ever considered maybe they aren't skanks? They just know they look good and are willing to get paid for it? I've met some bikini models that I've known personally for a few years that are some of the most decent and noble women I know, yet they get paid to prance around in bikini's, while some guy follows them with a camera. They could pretty much work anywhere they want and get paid to look good.
But still whats wrong with skanky girls enticing drunk Americans?
Derly Says:
God damn... that kid has potential. Brings back memories of me playing paintball when I was his age with top level teams. I played with XSV all the time, and even worked for the team captain. Just the speed, heart, and raw aggression you have when you're younger. The way he finished that other kid was epic, and the speed both of them carry at such a young age. I've never watched any fights below featherweight, but makes me wanna go check it out, because I love seeing that kind of speed in fighters.
Anonymous Says:
remember when pride quit and the owner came out and everyone was tearry eyed sakuraba came out w some dude and a bunch of japanese talk followed. was it this fight? Go hellboy!!!!
Me Says:
Remeber the first CBS EliteXC card? Those are the skanky girls I was talking about. If you think that what they did was a good idea, then you and the Shaw's may want to hook up some time and discuss business ventures.
I would never say such a thing about the likes of Arianny, Rachelle, or any of the Japanese Ring Queens.
Jeffro Says:
I got all of the old pride poster jpgs from sherdog. If you run a search, i'm sure you can find them.
Mike Says:
I watched the announcement video on youtube, and they were kinda hinting some amazing stuff. If kimbo and seth fight again i would be happy. they promoed Sapp v Mike Tyson(im assuming just a joke.) on the vid. also alot of Fedor, isnt he not goona be there? i would also love to see Gan McGee v Hong Man Choi, imagine, 2 fucking huge monsters going at it, i dont care if thats MMA or K-1, i just want to see something like that, i love the freak fights
Derly Says:
Bob Sapp vs Butterbean = my dream freakshow fight
Or has it been done?
Tpark Says:
Hiroya Vs Kimbo. Would get so many buys!
Jay Smith Says:
@ Derly
I have to agree with "Me". I don't see the need for these bimbos to be participating in our sport anywhere. (although "Me" is ok with the UFC chicks) Look how much more the Japanese women respect themselves with the clothing they wear compared to the whores in the American organizations. The Elite XC sluts were the worst!
Anonymous Says:
hiroya looks super good in that fight especially for only being 15 ,those leg kicks devastating !! that is one 15 year old i wouldnt fuck with.