DREAM 17 Preview & Predictions

Japanese promotion Dream’s next event is called Dream 17 “Fight for Japan”, an appropriate title, given the massive earthquakes that decimated much of the Japan’s Tōhoku region earlier this year.
Dream event producer, Keiichi Sasahara put together the card in hopes of reuniting Japan, and giving them a motivating force from which to rebuild. The earthquakes, which have been seen as the worst crisis in Japan since the end of World War II, only added to the problems of the ailing promotion. Dream has recently fallen behind on paying fighters, as well as marketing shows. Dream hasn’t yet held an event in 2011, and their last show, Dream 16 only pulled in a rating of 11.9%. Things are looking grim for the promotion to say the least.
Even with all these troubles, Sasahara is hopeful for Dream 17. A card filled with 4 bantamweight tournament fights, and non-tournament action featuring Caol Uno, Katsunori Kikuno, Shinya Aoki and Rich Clementi, comes filled with a lot of excitement and hope for Dream.
Yoshiro Maeda and Hideo Tokoro kick off the action in the bantamweight tournament with a fight that is sure to showcase the technicality of Dream fighters. Maeda, who is a calm, patient striker, will look to dictate the pace and pick his spots. Tokoro, against a fighter with such standup prowess will look to get the fight on the ground as he has 17 of his 27 wins by way of submission. Maeda is no slouch on the ground though; he has been submitted only 3 times in his eight-year professional career. The more rounded fighter, Maeda will walk away with a TKO victory.
Next up is Yusako Nakamura versus Atsushi Yamamoto. Not much is known about Nakamura. he is 3-0 with all first round knockout victories, other than that, all that is known is that he took the fight on short notice. His opponent, Yamamoto, an accomplished striker will look to stand and trade with the young knockout artist. Expect to see a lot of leather flying, as Nakamura pulls the upset over the savvy vet.
In the most boring fight of the night, Kenji Osawa squares off against Takafumi Otsuka. This fight won’t be boring at all; it’s just the most boring out of a stacked card. It’s the dumbest rocket scientist, if you will. Two of the most well rounded fighters in the tournament go toe-to-toe in this one. That being said, it’s almost a pick ‘em kind of fight, but it will have been a full year to the day since Osawa stepped into the ring last when he faces Otsuka on May 29. Ring rust will prove a factor as Otsuka claws his way to a hard-fought decision.
The final fight of the tournament features the winner of the tournament in either Keisuke Fujiwara or Masakazu Imanari. Fujiwara has never been submitted in his 17 professional fights, and that’s all Imanari has. Imanari is reminiscent of Shinya Aoki in the way that he is as unorthodox a grappler as any, want his fists would do little against a small child. At least Aoki has solid kicking strikes, where Imanari has none. Fujiwara, while he doesn’t have many skills that stand out above others, he is a really strong bantamweight, like Urijah Faber. Fujiwara will use his godlike submission defense and negate the only thing Imanari has going. Don’t blink on this one, Fujiwara will end it with a wild knockout as Imanari gets frustrated and goes for a wild takedown. Look for Fujiwara to move on and take the bantamweight tournament crown.
The first of five non-tournament bouts features fan favorite, Caol Uno against Akiyo Nishiura. Uno, whose best days are behind him, is looking to end his career on a high note. Win or loss, this could be his last fight. If he wins, he realizes it may be his last win to go out on, and if he loses, it will be his fifth in his last six fights, the sole bright spot being a draw versus Fabricio Camoes. Uno needn’t worry about that grim fate, because Nishiura is a perfect style matchup for him. Nishiura, who fought a similar fighter to Uno in Mitsuhiro Ishida, was unable to come away victorious. In a fight that could easily be tipped the other way, Caol Uno will get the win by decision if everything goes his way.
Former Akiyo Nishiura foe, Mitsuhiro Ishida squares off with former featherweight, Joachim Hansen in his return to lightweight. This fight is a clash between two lightweights past their prime, struggling to find their current identity in MMA. The safe pick, Mitsuhiro wins by out wrestling “Hellboy” to a decision.
Katsunori Kikuno versus Daisuke Nakamura should be a one-sided affair in which Kikuno walks away as the victor. Kikuno is one of Dream’s elite fighters, and has put up tough competition against names like Eddie Alvarez and JZ Cavalcante. Kikuno will cruise past Nakamura en route to a TKO finish.
The final fight before the highly anticipated, Aoki-Clementi bout is Takeshi Inoue-Koichiro Matsumoto. The much better striker Inoue should prevail here, but Matsumoto is a talented enough game planner that he could pull the upset. That having been said, he won’t, Inoue wins this one by KO.
The main event, Shinya Aoki versus Rich Clementi is the promotional debut for Clementi, and the thirteenth time Aoki will enter the ring for Dream. It is only fitting that Japan’s best fighter, Aoki, represent the country on what may be its biggest and most meaningful event to date. After a revolving door of potential opponents, first Antonio McKee, next Shane Nelson and then Jamie Varner and Williamy Freire, Dream finally tracked down Clementi. Aoki is on a four-fight tear including a first round submission of Lyle Beerbohm with a neck crank.
Clementi has had an up and down run since his release from the UFC in 2009 after back-to-back losses to Gray Maynard and Gleison Tibau. Clementi is known for having over 50 professional fights to his credit, and having over half of his 40 wins by submission.
In a true main event, this should be a very exciting one. Aoki, who many consider to be the best submission grappler in the game at any weight, might find some trouble breaking Rich Clementi down as he has to so many opponents over his young career. Clementi will try and keep the fight standing for as long as he can until he is forced to shoot in for a takedown. Then he will look to use his ground and pound against the smaller Aoki. He dare not try busting any of Aoki’s rubber-like limbs, lest he find himself on the wrong end of one of Aoki’s tricky subs. Aoki will do all he can short of laying down (and he may even do just that) do force the fight to the ground. Look for Aoki to utilize a few kicks before taking the fight to the mat, and winning by a submission off of his back. At a guess, maybe his signature gogoplata, but with Aoki, (Shin)ya never know.