welterweight

("I used to be an AFC like Shinya. Now that I've learned the Mystery Method, I pull more tail than Hayato.")

DREAM's 2009 welterweight grand prix kicks off April 5th at DREAM 8, and four of the tournament matchups have just been announced, along with a few features in other weight classes. The event will be headlined by a rematch between Shinya Aoki and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai; Sakurai previously won a decision over Aoki at a Shooto event in August '05. Check out the current lineup below, and keep in mind that the opening round kicks off ten days from now, and only half the field is assembled. Not that this is the first time that DREAM hasn't had all their GP participants locked down before the opening round, but this is really pushing it...

I don't see how the winner of Aoki/Sakurai doesn't just pwn the fuck out of this field, which is easily the weakest of any DREAM GP to date. Shirai and Ikemoto are local jobbers, and UFC/WEC-castoff John Alessio is only slightly better. High just got owned by Jay Hieron at Affliction: Day of Reckoning; too bad the Thoroughbred isn't available for this tournament. And while Andre Galvao is a stud when it comes to jiu-jitsu, he's underexperienced in MMA. There'd better be some big names attached to those last four spots, or the tourney could be a gigantic bust.

And the other bouts on the card aren't much better. The Kharitonov/Monson clash could be entertaining, but of the six men in the other non-GP bouts, only Minowaman and Ninja have winning records. Seriously. DREAM is hoping for a big ratings resurgence when they return to a decent time-slot, but it'll be hard to get fans interested — especially in the U.S., where once again, HDNet is airing the event days later on tape-delay.

(You call that a fighter's fist pose, Sakurai? Show me some goddamned intensity! Photo courtesy of DreamOfficial.com via Suki MMA.)

Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) — the parent company of Japanese MMA promotion DREAM — announced today that their upcoming welterweight grand prix will feature #9 pound-for-pounder Shinya Aoki, moving back up in weight class from last year's lightweight GP, in which he was a finalist. Perennial welterweight threat/amateur porn star Hayato "Mach" Sakurai will also participate in the 168-pound tournament (which kicks off April 5th in Nagoya, Japan), and freak show mainstay Ikuhisa Minowa will be on the card in a non-GP match. No other fighters have been named for the grand prix, though the winner of the DEEP 40 bout between Hidetaka Monma and Seichi Ikemoto is expected to join the field.

No word yet if Aoki and Sakurai will have to face each other in the first round of the grand prix, but the two fighters previously met at a Shooto event in August 2005, where the far-more-experienced (at the time) Sakurai defeated Aoki by unanimous decision. Aoki went on to win Shooto's middleweight (168 pounds) championship the next year — which he still technically holds — before dropping to lightweight in 2007. Both men have won their last two fights, with Sakurai winning a decision against Kuniyoshi Hironaka at DREAM 6 last September and scoring a TKO over Katsuyori Shibata at Dynamite!! 2008 on New Year's Eve, and Aoki earning quick submission victories over Todd Moore and Eddie Alvarez at the same events.

(Sad Amir is sad. Fan art courtesy of myspace.com/ammmir.) 

In a new interview with MMA Junkie, TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah stated that a move down to 170 pounds is "definitely...in my future," as soon as he recovers from his latest injury. After winning the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter last June by submitting CB Dollaway via armbar in the finale — which also happened to be Sadollah's professional MMA debut — he had to pull out of UFC 91 in November due to a leg injury. Sadollah became officially cursed when he had to drop out of last Saturday's UFC Fight Night 17 show because of a shoulder injury. As he explains:

Unfortunately, he doesn't know exactly when that will be:

It's unclear whether Sadollah will take a fight at middleweight before making his planned drop to welterweight. For now, he's just focused on getting healthy. Poor guy...even Jesse "Mongo" Taylor seems to be doing better than this kid.

(Penn and St. Pierre during their first fight at UFC 58 in 2006, which GSP won by split decision. Photo courtesy of Brawl Sports.)

Though Dana White has previously stated that the UFC 94 superfight between BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre would be a non-title bout, Dave Meltzer is reporting that the UFC has changed their mind, and GSP's welterweight title will be on the line. This would give Penn the opportunity to be the first UFC fighter to hold championships in two different weight divisions at the same time. Of course, he'll have to win a five-round fight against St. Pierre to do so, which ain't gonna be easy. UFC 94 is slated to go down in Las Vegas on January 31st, and will also feature the much-anticipated light-heavyweight scrap between Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva. In other UFC news...

— If Anderson Silva makes it out of Saturday's fight against Patrick Cote unscathed, he could possibly fight again at UFC 92 on December 27th, a card that's already stacked with heavyweight and light-heavyweight title fights, as well as the match between Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. Josh Koscheck may have a quick turnaround as well.

— Brock Lesnar will be profiled in a segment on ESPN's E:60 tonight at 7 p.m. ET., in which he discusses, among other things, his disappointment in not making it in the NFL and his minor addiction to booze and pills.

(Jess Liaudin and his sweet trophy.)

Frenchie Jess "The Joker" Liaudin has said he'll next battle Englishman Paul Taylor at UFC 85 in a welterweight match. From Liaudin's myspace blog:

"On the 7th of June i will be doing my 4th fight in the UFC and will be fighting against Paul Taylor at UFC 85. I fought Paul about 6 years ago and lost a controversial decision (the fight is available on youtube) so it s a rematch. Paul is a well rounded fighter with good cardio, strength and a big heart. This fight is very important for me as my actual record in the UFC is 2-1 so another loss may mean that i can get booted out."

Yes, Taylor has actually beaten the Joker once already at Cage Rage 2, but it was five years ago instead of six. This will also be Taylor's fourth UFC fight, although he's 1-2 in those bouts, last going down to Paul Kelly at UFC 80 via decision. Liaudin also lost at the January event - getting KO'd by Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis, who had just beaten Paul Taylor at UFC 75. Just try and keep up 'cause we're not going to explain all this again.

Liaudin's overall record stands at 12-9 and Taylor's is 8-3-1. UFC 85 is scheduled for June 7th in London. Aside from the crappy headlining fight between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans, here's a look at the "unofficial" officially rumored card as it currently stands:

-- Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum
-- Mike Swick vs. Marcus Davis
-- Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera
-- Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites
-- Roan Carneiro vs. Ryo Chonan
-- Thiago Tavares vs. Matt Wiman
-- Jess Liaudin vs. Paul Taylor

(Props to MMAMania)