DREAM 15 Preview & Predictions

DREAM 15 is set to take place on July 10, 2010 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The DREAM 15 card will be televised live on HDNet in North America.

Be sure to look to ProFighting-fans.com for the official DREAM 15 results after the fights are complete!

Melvin Manhoef vs. Tatsuya Mizuno

After falling in his Strikeforce debut six months ago, Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef (24-7-1) returns to the DREAM organization in search for his first win of the year. Opposing Manhoef will be three-year Japanese professional Tatsuya Mizuno (7-5) as part of the organization’s four man light-heavyweight grand prix.

Manhoef, 34, is a longtime K-1 fighter and mixed martial artist fighting in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He made his career debut over fourteen years ago, but, didn’t gain steam until winning ten straight bouts from February 2005 through October 2006. Over the last four years, he has fought the majority of his bouts in Japan for both K-1 and DREAM, where he made it into the 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix Final. He signed with Strikeforce and made his debut in January on the “ Miami” card, but was KO’d by Robbie Lawler.

Mizuno, 29, is a well-rounded mixed martial artist who made his professional debut in 2006. He began his career with Pancrase, losing twice in five bouts against Assuerio Silva and Thiago Silva. He made only one appearance for DREAM prior to DREAM 15, losing badly to Mirko Cro Cop in 2008 at DREAM 1. He transitioned to the M-1 Challenge organization and picked up three wins in five tries. His most recent bout was in November 2009 for the K-1 Scandinavia promotion, winning via TKO over little known Ilir Latifi. Reports have Mizuno currently in Seattle, Washington training with Matt Hume for his upcoming bout.

Prediction – Manhoef TKO

Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante vs. Katsunori Kikuno

Two time K-1 Hero’s Middleweight Grand Prix Champion Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (14-3-1, 1 NC) will meet the powerful Katsunori Kikuno (13-2-1) in a highly anticipated “grappler vs. striker” bout.

Cavalcante, 26, is a Brazilian-born fighter who has trained with the American Top Team in Florida throughout his six year career. He dropped only one of his first eight bouts while fighting for organizations like Shooto, Hook-n-Shoot, and Cage Rage. He followed his first loss up with eight straight victories from December 2005 to September 2007; among the victories include 2006 and 2007 middleweight grand prix titles. Since signing with DREAM in 2008, he has yet to produce a victory. He fought Shinya Aoki at DREAM.1, but it was declared a no contest. The two met again one month later, but Cavalcante came up short by unanimous decision. His most recent fight occurred over a year ago (May ’09) at DREAM 9, dropping another unanimous decision, this time to Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Kikuno, 28, is a Japanese-based fighter who trains out of the Alliance-Square fight camp. He made his official debut in December 2005 and fought twelve of his first thirteen bouts for the DEEP organization; among the highlights include winning the organization’s lightweight tournament to become the DEEP LW Champ. He began his DREAM career in July 2009 at DREAM 10 by TKO’ing Andre Dida in the 1 st round. He fought again three months later at DREAM 12, but was handed his second career loss when getting submitted by Eddie Alvarez. He recovered at DREAM 13 this March by recording a 1 st round KO victory over Kuniyoshi Hironaka.

Prediction – Cavalcante decision

Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

Two of the best lightweights in Japan will go head-to-head for the first time in their careers when Dream Lightweight Champ Shinya Aoki (23-5) tries to defend his belt against Tatsuya Kawajiri (26-5-2) in the main event.

Aoki, 27, is a well-known Japanese grappler who has earned most of his victories via submission. Fighting out of the Paraestra Tokyo camp, the “Tobikan Judan” made his pro debut in late 2003 and has gone on to impress his countrymen with his emotional battles inside of the DEEP, Shooto, PRIDE, Dream, and K-1 organizations. The best period of his fighting career was during his PRIDE years from early 2006 through late 2007 when he won nine straight bouts including victories over rising UFC lightweight George Sotiropoulos and Strikeforce’s Joachim Hansen. Since beginning his Dream career in March 2008, he has lost only twice and become the lightweight champion. He made the temporary move to the United States this year, but was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Gilbert Melendez at Strikeforce “ Nashville”.

Kawajiri, 32, goes by the nickname “Crusher” and has been fighting in his native Japan since 2000. Stints in Shooto, PRIDE, Yarennoka, and now Dream have turned out to be fairly successful. His first major accomplishment came in late 2004 when he was crowned the Shooto Welterweight Champion, which he defended once since. He made a run in the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix, but was ousted in the semifinal round against Eddie Alvarez. He has continued his success fighting in Japan winning seven of his last eight including all of his last four bouts. His most recent action came in December 2009 for Dynamite, winning a unanimous decision over Kazunori Yokota.

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Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Karl Amoussou

A pair of Judo black belts will go at it when Japan’s Kazuhiro Nakamura (14-10), fresh off of a decision victory over his teacher Hidehiko Yoshida, will meet Frenchman Karl Amoussou (11-2-2) in a middleweight bout.

Nakamura, 30, is a Yoshida Dojo-trained fighter who is known as a “grinder” and loves to go the distance in his fights. Debuting in March 2003, Nakamura fought his first seventeen bouts for the PRIDE organization where he won eleven and lost six. After the company was bought and closed by Zuffa, Nakamura joined the UFC light-heavyweight division, but dropped both of his bouts. He lost a decision at UFC 76 in September 2007 against Lyoto Machida and then was TKO’ed by Sokoudjou at UFC 84 in May of 2008. He was released by the UFC and went back to his homeland where he fought for the upstart World Victory Road’s Sengoku promotion. He split four bouts, winning his first two and losing his final two for the organization. As previously mentioned, he defeated Hidehiko Yoshida in late April in his most recent action.

Amoussou, 24, also known as “The Psycho”, is beginning to gain recognition mostly for his aggressive fighting style. He began in May 2006 and fought all over the world in countries like Switzerland, Netherlands, and England over the first year as a pro. He caught on with the M-1 Global organization and fought several times in the HD Net broadcast M-1 Challenge. After winning six of seven, he was signed to a four-fight deal with Strikeforce and Dream. He debuted for Strikeforce in February at Sho MMA 6 against Trevor Prangley, however the bout ended in controversy after an accidental eye poke resulted in a technical draw.

Prediction – Amoussou TKO

Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jung Young Sam

Yoshida Dojo disciple Michihiro Omigawa (10-8-1) joins the Dream organization after a successful tenure with World Victory Road’s Sengoku promotion. Omigawa will debut alongside South Korean Jung Young Sam (0-2).

Omigawa, 34, is a Judo style fighter who lost four of his first five bouts fighting for PRIDE, Cage Rage, Icon Sport, and DEEP. After getting back on track and winning three consecutive, he signed with the UFC to compete in their lightweight division. Unfortunately, Omigawa was outscored in both of his octagon appearances, losing first to Matt Wiman at UFC 76 and then to Thiago Tavares at UFC Fight Night 12. After his UFC release, he immediately dropped to 145-lbs. and signed with Sengoku, where he won three in a row to make it into the promotion’s featherweight grand prix final. He fought well, but again, came up short on the judge’s scorecards against Masanori Kanehara. He is back on track lately, winning his last three bouts including an April unanimous decision victory over American Micah Miller at the ASTRA event.

Jung Young Sam is a South Korean-based fighter who trains out of the Daejeon Infighter. He made his professional debut in October 2007 and was KO’ed in the 1st round of his Spirit MC 13 bout against Seung Hwan Kim. He reappeared eight months later at Spirit MC 17 and was TKO’ed in the 1 st round by Dong Sun Choi. This will be his first bout in over two years.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O’Brien

Gegard Mousasi (28-3-1), fighting for the first time since losing his Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Title in April, will battle against UFC veteran Jake O’Brien (14-3) in the Dream four-man light-heavyweight grand prix.

Mousasi, 24, is an Iran-born mixed martial artist who is based in the Netherlands, but has been training more in the United States as of late. He made his pro debut in 2003 and went on to win twelve of his first fourteen while fighting for reputable organizations such as Deep and Rings. His big move came when he signed with PRIDE and appeared in their Welterweight Grand Prix. Although he didn’t win the tournament for PRIDE, it did help him land a Dream contract where he won four straight bouts to become their Middleweight Champion. He signed with Strikeforce in 2009 and won their Light-Heavyweight Title in his debut by KO’ing Renato Sobral. His winning streak grew to fifteen consecutive before dropping an April 17th Strikeforce “ Nashville” title defense against Muhammed Lawal.

O’Brien, 25, is an Indianapolis-born heavyweight who transitioned into MMA after wrestling at Purdue University. He debuted in May 2005 and won seven straight fighting in the mid-major circuit. He earned a UFC contract and debuted in August 2006 where he went on to win his first three bouts in the octagon including a UFC Fight Night 8 decision over Heath Herring. However, after losing three of his next four, he was dropped from the organization. He has won both of his bouts since his release, first for MMA Big Show in February and then for Finland’s Fight Festival in March.

Prediction – Mousasi submission

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daiki Hata

Two high-level Japanese wrestlers will compete in a featherweight bout when Mitsuhiro Ishida (18-6-1) meets Daiki “DJ Taiki” Hata (11-6-3). Ishida comes losing in back to back bouts; Hata lost his most recent bout following three straight victories.

Ishida, 31, is a solid wrestler who trains in his home country with Team T-Blood. He began his career in 2001, and for the first four and a half years, competed for Shooto where he lost only twice in twelve bouts. He joined PRIDE and fought mostly in the Bushido series with great success. He is an original member of the Dream organization, having fought in the promotion’s first event. He has also fought twice in the United States for Strikeforce, defeating Justin Wilcox in September 2008 and losing to Gilbert Melendez in August 2009 for the interim lightweight title.

Hata, 27, also has a solid wrestling base which he fine tunes by training with his K.I.B.A. fight team. He debuted as a professional in 2004 and fought primarily for GCM and Pancrase for his first three years. He made the trip to North America twice for fights; he fought in Canada for Bodog Fight and in the United States for Freestyle Combat Challenge. After posting a 2-0-1 record for the Deep organization, he joined Dream as a participant in the featherweight grand prix. He won his opening round bout against Hideo Tokoro, but dropped his most recent bout against Kazuyuki Miyata in October 2009 at Dream 11.

Prediction – Ishida decision

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer