Usual PYRO AND BALLYHOO you expect from a Japanese show. Cro Cop's pop was enormous. Since this is the bastardized version shown on TBS, we cut directly to the first match.

1. Joachim Hansen vs. Koutetsu Boku in a tournament bout. The entire build-up to this one was HEY BOKU KNOWS KID YAMAMOTO, since Boku is of course a member of the Krazy (formerly Killer) Bee camp, headed by KID. They totally neglect the career of Hansen, which is bizarre, since he has beaten JZ and Gomi (and both fights were in Shooto, so video would have been easy to attain). The old PRIDE dude introduces the guys in the ring and we cut to the commentators, which are Genki Sudo, Tsuoyshi Kohsaka, and a mystery Asian. They cut to a female commentator who is WAKA INOUE (Google image search her ASAP), a very popular model. This is some mainstream shit. This is basically Bushido rules, meaning 2 rounds, one 10 minutes and the other 5. Fight starts and they touch gloves and try to find their punching range. Boku is almost immediatley dropped on his ass by a Hansen left, and Hansen goes into his guard. Hansen looks to pass into side control, but they're against the ropes and Boku isn't really having it. Not much going on until Hansen stands up out of the guard and body locks Boku, eventually side slamming him into the mat. Hansen rolls, looking to take Boku's back for the rear naked choke, but Boku defends well and Hansen can't get his arms under the neck. Hansen transitions NICELY into an armbar but Boku fights it with all his might, leaving Hansen unable to extend the arm. Hansen transitions into a triangle that looks fairly tight, but Boku escapes back to his feet and the crowd is like COOL. Hansen is summoned to his feet by Boku (think Cro Cop vs. Herring). Boku lands some nice body shots, and Hansen is doing well with some counterpunching. Some circling and Boku is starting to let his hands go a little. Hansen backs him up with a jab, and it's getting evident that Hansen is just much more physically strong. Couple of straight punches from Hansen and Boku backs up into a corner, but Hansen lets him escape. Boku hits a nice leg kick and they circle a bit. Boku is really starting to put together nice combinations, but they are unfortunately doing very little damage. Another leg kick from Boku, and Hansen grabs a clinch. Camera cuts to KID for about the 4873th time. Hansen hits another nice slam and lands in side control, and throws a light knee. Hansen transitions into half-guard, looking for mount, but doesn't get it. Boku stands up, Hansen connects with another punch, and then clinches and slams him. Hansen again takes Boku's back looking for the choke, but Boku has great defense. Hansen is looking to soften Boku up with a body triangle and shots to the side of the head, but he isn't really closing in on a choke. Boku tries to get up but Hansen keeps him in grounded and in the guard. Minute left in the round. Back on the feet and they're exchanging again, with Hansen stopping a shoot and taking Boku to the mat again. Not much happens except Boku trying to go for a gogoplata as the round ends. Round to Hansen due to the repeated slams and damage done.

2nd round starts and Boku is again looking for his range with some technical boxing. Meanwhile, Hansen is like I LISTEN TO DEATH METAL and throws some big shots, none of them connectiong solidly. Leg kick by Hansen, and Boku throws a sloppy bodyshot and Hansen counters with a punch. It's a good thing Hansen doesn't have a longer reach or else he would have been knocked the fuck out. Some circling, and Hansen cuts off a corner of the ring, landing a nice body kick. Boku grabs a clinch and throws some sloppy knees, and Hansen easily breaks it. More exchanging, and now we have double underhooks. They're getting a little tired. Hansen hits a left and misses a wild right, and Boku responds with a knee. Boku starts to land punches and Hansen grabs a Thai clinch, hitting Boku with some nice knees before taking him to the mat. Hansen looks content to ride the fight out in Boku's guard, as there's about 2 minutes left. Hansen is doing enough GNP to not be stood up, but nothing damaging. Hansen stands up out of the guard, tries a diving punch, but again ends up in the guard of Boku. Not much happening with about a minute left. Boku lands a nice combination, and Hansen pulls his best Ray Sefo vs. Mark Hunt impersonation and screams like HIT ME AGAIN MOTHERFUCKER and drops his hands. Hansen then hits Boku with a left that drops him right on his ass, and Hansen goes to the guard and tries to pass immediatley. He gets half-guard, but time is against him. After some some shots to the body, they stand up, Hansen his another left, and the bout is over. I give the fight to Hansen easily after he dropped Boku twice and totally dominated the fight once on the mat. Judges agree, and your winner is Joachim Hansen by unanimous decision. He moves on to round 2 of the Lightweight Grand Prix.

TO THE BACK~! A gorgeous Japanese woman dressed in newswoman clothes is hanging out by Cro Cop's dressing room. Mirko waves to the camera and then shuts the door, and we cut to Mirko working on grappling earlier in the day inside of the ring while listening to his iPod. Awesome. Mirko's fight will be the main event of this telecast, so it's pretty obvious that he's still quite a draw in Japan.

2. Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Kwan-Bum Lee. OH MAN IT'S TIME FOR MINOWA. You can always count on Minowa to be in spectacular fight, whether it be just plain weird or hilarious. They show some old highlights of Minowa in Pancrase and DEEP, where he landed shoot PILEDRIVERS, and also clips of when he was a guest professor at a college and talked about how he wanted to fight an alien. Well, he's gotten about as close as possible, fighting Butterbean AND Zuluzinho. Kwan-Bum Lee is a fat Korean man who has never fought MMA, but has played pro baseball. That's a fair trade-off. Let's see if Minowa wants to win or do crazy shit. Crazy shit cost him his fight with Zuluzinho. Bell rings and Minowa immediatley throws a Koppou kick. Lee throws a body kick that is just horrible, and Minowa does another Koppou kick. They circle and this is just funny. Takedown by Minowa...this one should be over soon. Minowa throws a few shots from half-guard, looks for a kimura, then immediatley transitions and falls back into a kneebar. Ikuhisa Minowa is your winner in like a minute. Minowa will be moving on to fight in the Middleweight Grand Prix, starting at the next DREAM card.

3. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma. Sakurai is Sakurai (he actually made weight this time since the fight is at 170), and Monma is a pretty marginally talented Japanese fighter (he cut down to 154 and was smashed by JZ Calvan) that is being punished for being boys with Yoshihiro Akiyama. Bell rings and here we go. Sakurai must be licking his chops here. Circling for about the first 30 seconds, and Sakurai lands his first leg kick of death. Another leg kick. Monma tries a leg kick and it is hideous. Sakurai throws a big overhand right, sending Monma into the ropes, and Monma tries to strike with Sakurai vainly. He tries a spinning back kick that misses by a foot among other shit. Sakurai lands a mean body kick and grabs a clinch, hitting some big knees and a really hard punch before taking Monma down and ending up in his guard. Monma closes his guard, but Sakurai explodes back up anyways. Another leg kick and it looked painful. ANOTHER leg kick and Monma drops, before Sakurai begs him back up. Another leg kick and Monma is already moving gingerly. Brief punching exchange with no one landing clean, and Sakurai counters with another inside leg kick. They circle and Sakurai is just toying with this fucker. Sakurai his a big punch, and Monma is hurt. Sakurai pounds the living FUCK out of him, landing probably 50 punches unanswered before the ref decides he doesn't want Monma's brain to actually bleed out of his head. Hayato Sakurai is your winnner by TKO in about 5 minutes.

More Cro Cop hype, including him landing the STROKE kick to the head of Yuji Nagata. It's amazing how Japanese companies can hype dudes sometimes.

4. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kultar Gill in a tournament bout. This fight was pretty boring, and I don't feel like watching it again to recap it. The basic gist of it is that Kawajiri devoured Gill's soul in the wrestling department, and repeatedly took him and down and GNPed him. Kawajiri was able to pass Gill's guard several times and almost get a arm triangle and rear naked choke multiple times, but could not finish the job. Gill has improved fantastically on the ground, though, and avoided being embarrassed. Kawajiri took a decision and is moving on to the second round.

5. André Dida vs. Eddie Alvarez in a tournament bout. Alvarez is being considered by many as the dark horse in this tournament, and for good reason. He gained fame in America fighting at 170 for bodog, and did remarkably for a man fighting out of his weightclass. He has recently moved down to lightweight, and has a similar explosive and athletic style to JZ Calvan (except not nearly as good on the ground). Dida is another member of the great Chute Boxe exodus (the Rua brothers and Wanderlei Silva have all recently left the camp; the Rua's have formed Universidad da Luta where Dida also trains) and fits the general profile of a Chute Boxe fighter. Wild, crazy, and dangerous. Dida does have good ground technique, though, and is quite powerful for a small 154. This should be one of the more exciting bouts on the entire card. Bell rings and it's quickly evident that Alvarez is a HUGE lightweight. Dida comes out throwing in typical Chute Boxe fashion, and Alvarez grabs a double. Alvarez goes into Dida's guard and immediatley starts throwing some big shots until Dida ties up his arms. Alvarez powers out, and delivers some standing leg kicks to Dida, who is still on the mat. Ref stands Dida up, and the two start THROWING. No one connects, but Dida is throwing some really big looping punches. Alvarez goes for another takedown, but Dida sprawls, and they circle and trade jabs. Dida lands a nice overhand right, then another. Dida pounces, and then throws another big right that drops Alvarez, but Alvarez recovers immediatley. Alvarez grabs a clinch and powers Dida to the ground, ending up in half guard and throwing some really nasty GNP. Dida gets back to his feet, and throws some more big looping punches. He appears to be getting a little tired. Dida is really looking for a highlight reel KO here and it may cost him. Alvarez lands some nice shots, then puts together a good combination near the ropes. Alvarez gets another take down, and starts the horrifying GNP again, and attempts to pass into side control. Eventually he decides FUCK IT and starts pounding Dida in the face VERY HARD. I think Alvarez is just too big and strong for Dida to do a damn thing to him. Alvarez continues pounds and it looks like Dida wants out. More shots from Alvarez, and he finally gets the mount. Dida is covering up and Alvarez is KILLING HIS LIFE . This needs to be stopped soon. Alvarez looks to take the back but decides to beat the shit out of him more, and the ref finally has mercy on Dida's soul after Alvarez again gets the mount and punches the shit out of him. Eddie Alvarez is your winner in 6 minutes of the 1st round and is moving on to the second round. This dude is the truth at 154.

6. Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Bu-Kyung Jung in a tournament bout. Only highlights shown. Ishida controlled Jung and GNPed his way to a unanimous decision and will move on to the 2nd round.

7. Luis Buscapé vs. Kazuyuki Miyata. Only highlights shown. Miyata has been thrown to the wolves, and this was no different. Buscape submitted Miyata near the end of the first round and is moving on to the second round.

8. Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Artur Oumakhanov. Only highlights shown. The Dude That Is Yuji Nagata's Brother controlled Oumakhanov and laid in some pretty nice GNP to take a decision and move on in the brackets.

9. Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Shinya Aoki in a tournament bout. This is the most anticipated matchup of the card by far, and with good reason. I have JZ at #1 and Aoki #3 in my lightweight rankings, and it's a classic style matchup. The nasty, big physically overpowering guy in Calvan vs. the small submission wizard in Aoki. This fight was supposed to happen at Yarennoka (WHICH I WAS AT AND MISSED, THX KNEE INJURIES), but was pushed back due to Calvan's aforementioned injury. The video package leading into this great, talking about JZ's rough life before he got into fighting, and how he does it all for his family. This man is just booming with personality, as he dances all BOMBASTICALLY to American rap music and is just generally cool. Aoki is like a cult figure in Japan, and has amassed a massive following (he was the loudest cheered fighter behind Fedor at Yarennoka). This should be some good stuff. Aoki, as his tradition, is wearing ridiculous tights, and the fight starts. They circle, and JZ attempts to find his punching range with his jab. Aoki tries to throw a punch, and JZ counters with a leg kick, sending Aoki to the map. JZ elects to stand up, because he is not stupid. JZ bullies Aoki by the ropes, but they circle around the ring. JZ catches an Aoki leg kick, and comes within inches of ruining his life with a punch. Aoki falls to his back and JZ does some standing leg kicks, before diving in with a big punch to Aoki's face through the guard. They reset on the feet, and JZ throws a body shot. Aoki attempts to pull guard but JZ is just too strong and stands there. YUJI SHIMADA stands Aoki up and they circle more. Aoki again tries a body kick but it was incredibly weak. JZ throws a big high kick that misses, and Aoki tries to take him down near the ropes. JZ throws a couple elbows to Aoki's back, and then Aoki inexplicably drops as if he was shot. Replay reveals that one elbow hit Aoki in the neck, causing numbness in Aoki's arm. After a long conference with the doctor, the doctor tells Aoki he can continue if he can lift his arm, but Aoki cannot and the fight is called. It is ruled a no contest. Aoki and JZ are expected to rematch as part of the second round, which is possible because only 7 tournament bouts were held on this card. Shitty ending to a really anticipated fight.

10. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Tatsuya Mizuno. Finding an opponent for Cro Cop on this show was quite the odyssey. First, it was going to be Bob Sapp, but he got Nortje'd at the Strikeforce show in Washington. Then it was Mighty Mo, but Mo had a kickboxing bout scheduled. Then it was thought to be Dong-Sik Yoon, but Yoon revealed he wasn't a fucking idiot and elected to be in the Middleweight Grand Prix instead. Yoshihiro Nakao (aka The Dude That Kissed Heath Herring On The Lips "Like a Homosexual" Despite Heath Herring Saying "I'm Not Gay") appeared to be confirmed to face Cro Cop, with Cro Cop going as far to mention it on his blog, but for reasons unknown it didn't work out. Finally the venerable TATSUYA MIZUNO signed for the fight. This has been the focus of the hype for this card (or more accurately, Cro Cop has), and interestingly, several men are shown as future opponents for Mirko: Mighty Mo, Jerome LeBanner, and Fedor Emelianenko. All 3 would be great fights. Cro Cop comes out to "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran as usual and is over like ROVER, to quote 2 Cold Scorpio. He is also wearing board shorts for the first time ever. I think he's going to win. Because of the shorts. We get our first look at the job--er, Mizuno, and he looks fit enough (and Kiyoshi Tamura is in his corner). Cro Cop looks just about the same as he always has, so all retarded speculation of Japan = ROIDS FOR CRO COP!!!!! may end now. This one should go less than a minute. Fight starts and the COUNTDOWN IS ON. Mirko lands a leg kick, and easily avoids Mizuno's attempts at strikes. Mirko hits another leg kick, then a kick to the body. Mizuno clinches, and Mirko throws a nasty knee from the clinch (which I can't recall him doing before) and then a leg kick. Cro Cop then unloads on him with punches (the most underrated part of his striking- people forget he initially came into K-1 as a boxer), dropping Mizuno to the ground and surely causing him to defecate in his nice red shorts. Cro Cop then pounds the shit out of his head and the ref stops it in :56. YOUR WINNER, MIRKO CRO COP.

All in all, this show was good, and the crowd seemed packed. Several people I met in Japan have told me DREAM was the hot thing, with it being hard to even get through on the phone to order tickets. The Aoki vs. JZ finish was utterly disappointing, but I must issue an apology to Aoki, since I later saw better angles of the elbow to his neck and he was indeed hurt legitimately. As is the case with lots of first rounds of tournaments, some fighters are overly cautious, leading to some fights being less than exciting, but Hansen vs. Boku and Alvarez vs. Dida were more than entertaining, and seeing Cro Cop and Sakurai beat the shit out of someone is always fun. A lot of people have called DREAM HERO*s with a new name, but this event truly had a different feel than those shows, greatly stripping down some of the overwhelming colors and presentations of those cards, giving it a far more authentic and clean feel. It didn't feel like someone was SCREAMING at you to like it and try to be overly modern and hip. Plus, the Crazy Pride Lady was there. WIN.

Anyway, we'll see where they go from here. Several fighters were announced for the Middleweight Grand Prix at the show, including Denis Kang, Dong-Sik Yoon, Kazushi Sakuraba, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Masakatsu Funaki, Taiei Kin, and Kiyoshi Tamura. Tamura and Sakuraba both being in the same tournament is newsworthy, since a fight between them has been talked about for years and would do some major business, as would a rematch with Sakuraba and Akiyama. It will be interesting to see what bookings they go for. And for those gravely concerned about Mirko Cro Cop fighting nothing but cans in DREAM: a rematch with Mark Hunt is likely next in the cards for Cro Cop, as Hunt has confirmed his participation on the 2nd round Lightweight GP card in May, and Cro Cop is likely to fight there as well.

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