(Image courtesy of DreamOfficial.com)

Maybe the word "epic" is overused on the Internet. Certainly we’ve been guilty of using it vain when "totally sweet" would have sufficed. But I think "epic" really does apply to DREAM.9 (May 26th, Yokohama) which contains the quarterfinals of DREAM’s "Super Hulk Tournament" and Featherweight Grand Prix, as well as a great lightweight feature between Tatsuya Kawajiri and Gesias Cavalcante, and the middleweight title fight between Jason Miller and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.

The show will be broadcast in North America on HDNet Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT, and while I’m not really down with farmer’s hours, I might have to watch this one live (and maybe even liveblog it) — especially since it’ll also represent an emotional farewell to HDNet. Right, so DREAM.9′s official fight order will be…


Middleweight Title Fight:
10. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller

Featherweight GP Quarterfinal Fights:
9. Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren
8. Masakazu Imanari vs. Bibiano Fernandes
7. Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
6. Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro

Lightweight Fight:
5. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Gesias Cavalcante

Super Hulk Tournament 1st Round:
4. Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Hunt
3. Jan Nortje vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
2. Hong Man Choi vs. Jose Canseco
1. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa vs. Bob Sapp

Look at any of the above matchups and ask yourself: Will you not be entertained? Speaking of Japanese grand prixs…

— DREAM has also announced the two semifinal matchups for its far-less-epic welterweight tournament, which will be part of the DREAM.10 lineup (July 20th; Saitama, Japan). Hayato Sakurai will be facing Marius Zaromskis, while jiu-jitsu dynamo Andre Galvao will be submitting taking on Jason High. The winners of these fights will face each other in the finals later that same night. Joachim Hansen is also slated to defend his DREAM lightweight title against Shinya Aoki at the event. It will be the third time that Hansen and Aoki have fought; their series is currently tied at 1-1.

— Sengoku’s own highly entertaining featherweight grand prix will have its semifinal and final rounds at Sengoku 9 on August 2nd. As usual, the tournament favorites are conveniently placed on opposite sides of the bracket, with Hatsu Hioki scheduled to face Masanori Kanehara in the semis, and Marlon Sandro slated against underdog’s underdog Michihiro Omigawa.