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Gegard Mousasi Captures DREAM LHW Title...

4K views 47 replies 15 participants last post by  jonnyg4508 
#1 ·

DREAM.16 recap: Mousasi claims light heavyweight title; Miller taps Sakuraba
by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Sep 25, 2010 at 7:20 am ET
Tagged as an overwhelming favorite entering his bout with Tatsuya Mizuno, potent striker Gegard Mousasi utilized his equally dangerous grappling game to claim victory and the title of DREAM's first-ever light heavyweight champion.

Mousasi needed a little more than six minutes to complete the deed in the main event of DREAM.16.

Featuring an entertaining 10-bout lineup that aired live in North America on HDNet, DREAM.16 took place Saturday at Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

For his part, Mizuno refused to simply hand over the title and did offer Mousasi a few brief moments of concern. An armbar and kimura attempt each showed promise, but Mousasi was able to slip free from both attempts. Mizuno also landed a few solid leg kicks when striking on the feet, but it paled in comparison to the shots landed by "The Dreamcatcher."

Mizuno briefly gained top position in the fight's final sequence, but Mousasi deftly took the back and locked in a deep rear-naked choke that forced the tap.

Mousasi (30-3-1 MMA, 7-0 DREAM), the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champ, also held DREAM's middleweight title in 2008. Mizuno (8-6 MMA, 1-2 DREAM) sees a three-fight win streak snapped.

Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba always will be considered an MMA legend, but at DREAM.16, "The Gracie Hunter" showed once again why now may be time to hang it up. Facing a hungry Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Sakuraba was completely ineffective and looked every bit of his 41 years.

Unable to secure a takedown, Sakuraba was forced to eat punches from Miller, who worked from his feet and the floor. When Sakuraba tried to scramble away, Miller seized the opportunity to latch in a fight-ending arm-triangle choke.

Sakuraba's (26-14-1 MMA, 3-3 DREAM) tap was his first since the pioneer debuted in 1996, when Kimo Leopoldo also used an arm-triangle choke to submit the former wrestler. Miller (24-7 MMA, 2-1 DREAM) now has earned wins in three of his past four official contests.

While Japanese submission ace Shinya Aoki suffered a damaging loss to Gilbert Melendez in the U.S. this past April, his domination of opponents in Japanese-based matchups continued with a one-sided decision win over Marcus Aurelio. And while Aurelio is perhaps best known for his upset of another Japanese superstar, Takanori Gomi, there would be no magic on this night.

While the flow of the bout did now always remain action-packed, Aoki controlled both the pace and positioning throughout. Aurelio's best moments came in the closing of the first round when Aoki slipped out of a pair of submission attempts, but when "Tobikan Judan" settled back into top position, it appeared he had the result secure.

In the second, Aoki added a nice punching flurry to the mix, and Aurelio's face showed the wear. It was ultimately an easy choice for the three judges, who awarded Aoki a well-deserved win.

Aoki (25-5 MMA, 9-2 DREAM) has now won five of his past six fights. Aurelio (20-9 MMA, 1-1 DREAM) falls to 2-2 in his past four.

Heavyweight judoka Satoshi Ishii has yet to display the skills many felt he was destined to possess when he first ventured into MMA, but the Japanese prospect did show enough knowledge to outlast a 40-pound-lighter Ikuhisa Minowa.

While the contest was hardly a barnburner, Ishii showed a capable defense in fending off "Minowaman's" rolling kneebar attempts while controlling the positioning and offering a few heavy strikes when the opportunity allowed. Minowa tried to lock in a come-from-behind submission in the closing seconds, but Ishii made it to the final bell and took home a unanimous-decision win.

Ishii (2-1 MMA, 1-0 DREAM) now has won back-to-back fights since losing his professional debut. Meanwhile, Minowa (46-31-8 MMA, 5-4 DREAM), who swept last year's open-weight DREAM "Super Hulk" tourney in 2009 despite being the lightest competitor, sees an impressive five-fight win streak snapped.

While the career of Japanese brawler Hiroyuki Takaya often has been by marked by a series of high and low moments, Saturday night was unquestionably a momentum-building moment for "Streetfight Bancho." In fact, opponent Chase Beebe appeared outmatched from the start.

After defending an early takedown attempt, Takaya delivered a crushing hook that saw Beebe drop to the canvas. Takaya pounced and delivered a few more heavy shots before Beebe's legs went limp and the bout was mercifully stopped fewer than two minutes into the round.

Takaya (14-8-1 MMA, 4-1 DREAM now has won two-straight fights while Beebe (14-7 MMA, 0-3 DREAM) sees his own two-fight win streak snapped.

After fighting an astounding seven times in 2009, Michihiro Omigawa continued his stunning run through the featherweight division in impressive fashion with his third win of 2010.

Omigawa earned an early takedown of opponent Cole Escovedo and threatened to attack from top position. But when Escovedo refused to fall prey to a choke, Omigawa pinned his opponent's arms tight to the body and forced a grimacing "Apache Kid" to tap just two-and-a-half minutes into the fight.

Escovedo (16-6 MMA, 1-1 DREAM) was left clutching his elbow in obvious pain as Omigawa (12-8-1 MMA, 2-0 DREAM) improved to 9-1 in his past 10 fights.

You'd be hard-pressed to find any fighter in more need of a victory than Joachim Hansen prior to his matchup with 50-fight veteran Hideo Tokoro. Fortunately for the Norwegian "Hellboy," he finally returned to the win column.

Hansen got off to an unpromising start after receiving a yellow card for two early low blows. To his credit, Tokoro fought through the pain, but he would get little to show for his courage.

Hansen reversed a takedown attempt and took mount over Tokoro. Once there, Hansen scrambled into a topside triangle-choke position and then rolled over to finish the maneuver, forcing the tap from Tokoro at the 2:48 mark of the opening frame.

With the win, Hansen (20-10-1 MMA, 4-4 DREAM) snaps a three-fight losing streak and tastes victory for the first time since July 2008. Tokoro (26-23-1 MMA, 3-5 DREAM) falls to just 1-3 in his past four fights.

Wrestling stylist Kazuyuki Miyata relied on his strengths to upset the slightly favored "Lion" Takeshi Inoue via unanimous decision.

After a cautious start, Miyata simply out-grappled Inoue for the 15-minute affair while also flashing a capable striking attack. The domination was punctuated by two massive suplexes that saw Inoue dumped on his head in a pair of crowd-pleasing aerial slams.

Inoue disrupted his opponent's attacks with a pair of illegal shots to the cup, but Miyata survived the blows and cruised to a clear unanimous-decision win.

Japanese fighters Mitsuhiro Ishida and Akiyo "Wicky Akiyo" Nishiura engaged in a tightly contested matchup that was heavy on wrestling throughout.

Ishida worked frequent takedowns almost exclusively in favor of striking for the 15-minute affair, though Nishiura was able to regain his feet quickly each time. In the second frame, Ishida was able to gain mount, but it was Nishiura who drew first blood with a successful sprawl in the final moments that led to a barrage of hammerfists to his opponent's face.

It wasn't enough to sway the judges, who awarded Ishida a split-decision win.

Ishida (20-6-1 MMA, 4-1 DREAM) now has earned two-straight wins while Nishiura (11-6-1 MMA, 1-2 DREAM) falls to 1-2 in his past three contests.

In the card's first contest, massive British heavyweight James Thompson came up just short in his bid to snap a two-fight losing streak. While he secured mount two times in the final frame against the 37-pound lighter Yusuke Kawaguchi, the dominant positioning wasn't enough to erase the deficit "The Colossus" accrued in the opening round.

A last-minute replacement for Minowa, who was moved to the matchup with Ishii, Kawaguchi beat his opponent to the punch early and often in the opening 10 minutes and was awarded a split-decision win for his efforts.

Kawaguchi (12-2 MMA, 1-0 DREAM) rebounds from a decision loss to Mariusz Pudzianowski in May and now has won four of his past five matches. Meanwhile, Thompson (15-14 MMA, 0-2 WEC) has tasted victory just once in his past nine fights and is just 3-12 since 2005.
source.... http://mmajunkie.com/news/20787/dre...ht-heavyweight-title-miller-taps-sakuraba.mma
 
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#2 ·
There was talk before of Ricco Rodriguez replacing Jake O'Brien in the tournament and Ricco was in talks to fight Overeem so I hope that Dream sets him up as Mousasi's first title defense.
 
#3 ·
I like Mousasi a lot, and think he's one of the most underrated fighters here in the USA, however;

1) He needs to start fighting higher ranked opponents, not only to challenge himself more (you improve by fighting the best, particularly when you are one of the best), and to improve his credibility and marketability.

2) Come back the USA, and begin training heavily with a wrestling camp, or hire a bigtime collegiate wrestling coach. His game is one of the more complete games in MMA, but his lack of TDD and general willingness to be on his back (like Donald Cerrone), will continue to be his downfall in any USA MMA organization as takedowns and top control get too highly scored for his style of fighting to win in a decision fight.

Side Note: Does anyone else feel every time they watch DREAM that they're reminded why MMA should be fought in a cage NOT in a ring? All the restarts I see in all the ring based MMA promotions and the tiny little asians pushing guys hastily back into the ring, I cant help but think "why the f*<k havent you guys switched to a cage yet?"

Again I like Mousasi a lot, one of my favorite fighters actually, but he's got some priorities he needs to change if he ever wants to be a top 3 LHW again.
 
#7 ·
I think he should fight Mike Kyle for a #1 contender spot in SF.. Winner faces Feijao.
 
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#10 ·
Well they don't exactly have the most elite lightheavyweights in DREAM at present. He should face some more legit fighters but now he can face them while representing DREAM as their lightheavyweight champion. I can see him potentially taking back the Strikeforce belt if he really works on his ground game!:thumbsup:
 
#14 ·
Mousasi is so damn talented. Is not even fair to other fighters that probably work/train harder than him, but still can't reach his level.
But i would love to see Mousasi get a bit stronger and PLLSSS let him start training wrestling seriously.
He has a good ground game, great BJJ, but those won't help him when a powerful wrestler will take him down and control him (like MO did).
The past few months showed how wrestlers can dominate fights, and it's becoming a pattern.
For the non-wrestlers it's either you learn how to wrestle...or wait for some changes in the rules, that will affect the wrestlers.
I wanna see Mousasi with better wrestling!
And i wanna see him fight Roger Gracie next! :)
At least he won't have to worry about wrestling too much.
 
#18 ·
Mo was unprepared against Feijao? That's a rumor I haven't heard yet.
 
#24 ·
Ricco is in a tough spot where beating him doesn't mean much to name fighters so the only fights he can get are against unknown guys looking to use him as a stepping stone. Ricco can't get a fight against anybody he can use to catapult himself back into the limelight. Ricco was very upset when Overeem backed out of there fight because he has been waiting so long for that opportunity.

To truly understand just how much potential Ricco had you have to realize that Ricco was already in the midst of his downward spiral with drugs when he actually won the belt from Randy Couture. He didn't beat Randy when Ricco was at his best he was still dominating when he was in the midst of crashing down.
 
#23 ·
fighters mousassi wont beat..


anybody with HS wrestling or higher.

step away from playboy fights and up your game, the hype was ridic and ppl still hyping him??

come on, Mo isnt even a great MMA wrestler, imagine what a great one would do to Gayguard??

btw Machida could TD Gayguard at will.
 
#27 ·
this last fight here, the goodridge fight, most of his fights vs non ranked jokers like o'brian etc when ppl are saying he is actually top 5.


if letting Mo take him down was his gameplan, what a crap gameplan. He gassed out after the 1st round, the only reason it didnt look worse was, so did Mo.
 
#33 ·
this last fight here, the goodridge fight, most of his fights vs non ranked jokers like o'brian etc when ppl are saying he is actually top 5.


if letting Mo take him down was his gameplan, what a crap gameplan. He gassed out after the 1st round, the only reason it didnt look worse was, so did Mo.
Frank Shamrock used the same game plan to beat Tito. The problem here was what Shamrock knew was he was smaller and in better shape but he would not be able to match strength with a fresh Tito so he let him take him down and didn`t really try to resist Tito much but rather just tried to avoid damage and allow Tito to wear himself out. I think this is what Mousasi intended but I think he stayed to active on his back and wore himself out in the process.
 
#29 ·
I second the Mike Kyle bout idea... Mousasi hasn't appeared very motivated lately, but given his competition, I guess its somewhat understandable... in addition, he has a sort of stoic demeanor in general.

But he's just looked lackadaisical as of late.

Hope to see him back in SF sooner than later.
 
#30 ·
I think he's come to realize that in Strikeforce he actually has a challenge and he needs to train seriously. His first two fights in Strikeforce may have made him underestimate King Mo. However, when he returns to Strikeforce I'm sure he will be the destroyer he was prior to King Mo!:praise01:
 
#31 ·
moussasi is so overrated it is not even funny...ok it is pretty funny.


He will just be a can crusher for the rest of his career.


his best wins are babalu,lombard and jacare.

maybe dennis kang but he is a very inconsistent fighter but thats it.


he just choked out a overweight and unmotivated jake O'brien and some guy who is 8 and 6.
 
#34 ·
Yeah, it is possible that is what Mousasi had in mind. It might not be the fact that he wore himself out on his back so much as straying from the gameplan. Either that or King Mo might not have followed the gameplan in that he would stand up after taking him down!:thumbsup:
 
#35 ·
Mousasi himself said that was his game plan to let King Mo take him down
"I'm working a lot on my wrestling so I'm going to fight like it's an MMA fight," Mousasi said. "I'm not just going to try to fight standup. Takedown, takedown defense, standup, everything."
Mousasi is the Former SF Light HW Champion,Current DREAM LHW Champion,He Vacated his MW Dream Title after destroying everyone in the MW division,and then won the Dream LHW Grand Prix.He will easily get the SF belt again because Cavalcante is garbage and he's what 25? Does anyone know who Anderson Silva was at 25? anyone who thinks Mousasi is over rated is a retard.
 
#40 ·
If Gayguard faced Chael you would see Gayguard looking like roadkill by the end of the match.

his BJJ vs Mo was unimpressive and Chael is way better MMA wrestler, striker and GnP specialist than Mo.

That is, if Gayguard doesnt gas by mid way thru the 1st....
 
#41 ·
Yeah really? the same Chael that got owned by Renato Sobral who Mousasi destroyed in less then a minute? Why are you basing your opinion about someone like they will come out with the same strategy in every fight.
 
#42 ·
yea, really, the same Chael who has improved immensely since then and has EARNED his spot in the top 5.

whereas Gayguard is just there cuz ppl think his skills put him there, but he doesnt beat any top guys, hell he barely ever faces top guys.

He lost to unranked Mo who is still unranked, and rightfully so.

When Chael lost to Horn or Sobral, even tho it was along time ago, those guys were ranked and top guys then too.

Gayguard fought Sobral at LHW..... and he isnt ranked either....


but plz, tell me, whats his golden strategy vs Chael?? Cuz if its anything other than ending up on his back, it wont work.

Gayguard couldnt stop Chaels TDs, i would bet my account on that. His wrestling is less than medicore.
 
#44 ·
yea, really, the same Chael who has improved immensely since then and has EARNED his spot in the top 5.

When Chael lost to Horn or Sobral, even tho it was along time ago, those guys were ranked and top guys then too.

but plz, tell me, whats his golden strategy vs Chael?? Cuz if its anything other than ending up on his back, it wont work.

Gayguard couldnt stop Chaels TDs, i would bet my account on that. His wrestling is less than medicore.
How exactly did he improve immensely ? not a belt holder of any kind and lost to an injured Silva,One dimensional Chael is not even on the same level as Mousasi.Why don't you bet your account on Mousasi never winning any sort of UFC belt MW or LHW?

Let's explore these top 5. There are three MWs, so nothing there to make him a top LHW. Jake Obrien is 2-2 at LHW with wins over names like Hess and valtonen, he's not exactly a top level guy. Sobral is the only guy there worth talking about, but a win over Babalu shouldn't guarantee you a top 10 spot at LHW.
Mousasi is a MW who moved up to LHW and fights at HW also,He just recently started fighting at LHW between a 3 year span.Akihiro Gono got dominated in Round 1 and cought a lucky Armbar at Pride Bushido 12, so at Pride Bushido 13 Mousasi took it out on Lombard.This was in 2006 when Anderson Silva was getting cought in Flying Scissor Heel Hooks Mousasi was winning in Pride.After beating Santos,Kang at Dream, Manhoef,and Souza all as a MW he decided to move to LHW division and his first fight vs Mark Hunt who had a 65 pounds advantage over him.So in 7 fights as a LHW with wins over 2 Heavyweights he's 6 out 7 with an SF belt and a Dream Belt Mousasi is so over rated.
 
#45 ·
Well remember that Mousasi pretty much gained weight and decided that it would be best for his health to move up. He did and so far has done well at lightheavyweight. However, his game plan against King Mo still proved that he isn't as dominant as he thought he was so if he wants to prove he is truely dominant, he needs to not only take the Strikeforce belt back, but avenge his loss to King Mo!:)
 
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