Dream (styled DREAM in capitals) was a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG).
Dream replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. It retained many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC broadcasts, including fight introducer Lenne Hardt.
The promotion held more than 20 shows highlighting Japanese and international talent, establishing or enhancing the careers of fighters such as Shinya Aoki, Gesias Cavalcante, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Ronaldo Jacaré, Eddie Alvarez, Jason Miller, Kazushi Sakuraba, Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem.
Dream became defunct as FEG went bankrupt in 2012, ending with a final New Year's Eve event later that year. In 2015, former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara and several former Pride employees founded Rizin Fighting Federation as a successor.
History
Formation
After Zuffa acquired Pride, former Dream Stage Entertainment executives put on a collaborative New Year's Eve mixed martial arts event with Shooto, M-1 Global, and the Fighting and Entertainment Group, called Yarennoka!. While the event was intended to be a farewell show for Pride, its success and further petitioning by Japanese MMA fans (including a petition with more than 3,000 signatures) prompted the FEG and the DSE staff to combine their efforts and form a new promotion.
Their new promotion was confirmed on February 13, 2008, along with Hero's dissolution. All of Hero's' fighters were confirmed (such as Hero's champions Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Akiyama and JZ Calvan) to be part of the new promotion along with the additions of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Shinya Aoki, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mitsuhiro Ishida, and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Another notable announcement was Dream's partnership with M-1 Global, who confirmed that they would allow the last Heavyweight Champion of Pride (and the winner of the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix), Fedor Emelianenko, to fight in their events. Emelianenko was present at the Dream press conference to promote the alliance between the two shows.
Partnerships On May 2, 2008, Dream aired for the first time in the United States with a repeat of Dream 1 on HDNet. A repeat of Dream 2 was aired the following day, while Dream 3 was aired live on May 11. The promotion's later events would air as a part of the network's HDNet Fights series.
On May 10, 2008, Dream announced the working partnership with US promotion EliteXC. The two groups intended to share fighters and eventually co-promote shows. However, EliteXC went bankrupt before the alliance could materialize.
On August 5, 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that the promotions had signed an alliance under which they would exchange fighters.
On November 28, 2011, Dream and ONE Fighting Championship announced an agreement to co-promote events and exchange fighters.
On January 17, 2012, ProElite announced a partnership with Dream for fighter exchanges and possible co-promoted shows.
Cessation of business operations On May 16, 2012, Sadaharu Tanikawa officially declared the bankruptcy of FEG.FEG's bankruptcy , May 17, 2012, Muay Thai TV The promotion was then managed by its parent company, Real Entertainment Co. Ltd., and by June 3, 2012, Dream had effectively gone out of business.
The promotion's final show, "Dream.18: Special NYE 2012", was announced for December 31, 2012, under the financial backing of kickboxing promotion Glory Sports International. The event promoted mixed martial arts and kickboxing bouts at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, carrying on the tradition of fight events every New Year's Eve.
Rules
Weight classes Dream had 7 weight classes. Unlike Hero's, each weight class had a champion with a defendable title. Bantamweight – Featherweight – Lightweight – Welterweight – Middleweight – Light Heavyweight – Heavyweight – no upper limit
Round length Standard bouts initially consisted of a 10-minute first round and a five-minute second round. Beginning with Dream 17 in September 2011, non-title bouts used three five-minute rounds and title bouts used five five-minute rounds.
Judging Fights were to be judged in their entirety by three judges, not on a round-by-round ten-point-must basis (more common to North American promotions). A winner was always to be declared, as draws were not possible.
Attire Dream allowed fighters latitude in their choice of attire, but open finger gloves, a mouthguard and a protective cup were mandatory. Fighters were allowed to use tape on parts of their body or to wear a gi top, gi pants, wrestling shoes, kneepads, elbow pads, or ankle supports at their own discretion, though each had to be checked by the referee before the fight.
Fouls and violations Stomps and soccer kicks to the head of a grounded opponent were not allowed (unless both fighters were on the ground), but they were allowed to the rest of the body. Elbows to the head were prohibited. If there was a or more weight difference between the fighters, knees to the head of a grounded opponent were not allowed. A fighter was considered grounded when any part of the body other than the soles of the feet touched the canvas. Strikes to the back of the head were not allowed.
Tournament substitutions In an opening or quarterfinal round that ended in a no contest, a fighter who could continue advanced. If a winner could not continue because of injury, the defeated fighter could replace them; if neither could continue, FEG selected a replacement. Later tournament rounds used reserve-bout and other priority rules, subject to promoter discretion.
Final champions
Division Upper weight limit Champion Since Title Defenses Heavyweight Unlimited Alistair Overeem December 31, 2010 (Dynamite!! 2010) Light Heavyweight Gegard Mousasi September 25, 2010 (Dream 16) 1 Middleweight Gegard Mousasi September 23, 2008 (Dream 6) Welterweight Marius Zaromskis July 20, 2009 (Dream 10) 1 Lightweight Shinya Aoki October 6, 2009 (Dream 11) 2 Featherweight Hiroyuki Takaya December 31, 2010 (Dynamite!! 2010) 2 Bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes December 31, 2011 (Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoko 2011) 0
Tournament finalists Year Weight Division Champion Finalist 2008Lightweight Joachim Hansen Shinya Aoki 2008Middleweight Gegard Mousasi Ronaldo Souza 2009Welterweight Marius Zaromskis Jason High 2009Featherweight Bibiano Fernandes Hiroyuki Takaya 2009Superhulk (openweight) Ikuhisa Minowa Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou2010Light Heavyweight Gegard Mousasi Tatsuya Mizuno 2011Japan Bantamweight Hideo Tokoro Masakazu Imanari 2011Bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes Antonio Banuelos
Notable fighters
Bantamweight Antonio Banuelos Yoshiro Maeda Hideo Tokoro Kenji Osawa Masakazu Imanari Keisuke Fujiwara Atsushi Yamamoto Bibiano Fernandes (Dream Bantamweight Champion) Rodolfo Marques
Featherweight Joachim Hansen Tatsuya Kawajiri Hiroyuki Takaya (Dream Featherweight Champion) Daiki Hata Mitsuhiro Ishida Akiyo Nishiura Takeshi Inoue Kazuhisa Watanabe Kazuyuki Miyata Caol Uno
Lightweight Rich Clementi Shane Nelson Drew Fickett Rob McCullough Andre Amade Willamy Freire Gesias Calvancante Vítor Ribeiro Marcus Aurélio Shinya Aoki (Dream Lightweight Champion) Daisuke Nakamura Koutetsu Boku Tatsuya Kawajiri Katsunori Kikuno Katsuhiko Nagata Satoru Kitaoka
Welterweight Marius Zaromskis (Dream Welterweight Champion) Jason High Tarec Saffiedine Jung Bu-Kyung Andy Ologun Yan Cabral Kazushi Sakuraba Kuniyoshi Hironaka Ryo Chonan Hayato Sakurai Yuya Shirai
Middleweight Karl Amoussou Zelg Galesic Gerald Harris Dong Sik Yoon Shungo Oyama Taiei Kin Kiyoshi Tamura Kazuhiro Nakamura
Light Heavyweight Gegard Mousasi (Dream Light Heavyweight Champion) Melvin Manhoef Ralek Gracie Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Tatsuya Mizuno Hiroshi Izumi Trevor Prangley
Heavyweight Mark Hunt Jérôme Le Banner Fedor Emelianenko Bob Sapp Todd Duffee Jeff Monson Siala-Mou "Mighty Mo" Siliga James Thompson Hong Man Choi Katsuyori Shibata Satoshi Ishii Ikuhisa Minowa Alistair Overeem Mirko Cro Cop
Events In America, the promotion was aired on HDNet.
# Event title Date Arena Location Attendees Broadcast 24 Dream 18 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 10,651 SkyPerfect 23 Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 24,606 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 22 Dream 17 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 9,270 HDNet 21 Dream: Japan GP Final Ariake Coliseum Tokyo, Japan 8,142 HDNet 20 Dream: Fight for Japan! Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 6,522 HDNet 19 Dynamite!! 2010 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 26,729 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 18 Dream 16 Nippon Gaishi Hall Nagoya, Aichi, Japan 9,304 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 17 Dream 15 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 13,028 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 16 Dream 14 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 12,712 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 15 Dream 13 Yokohama Arena Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 13,712 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 14 Fields Dynamite!! The Power of Courage 2009 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 45,606 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 13 Dream 12: Cage of Dreams Osaka-jo Hall Osaka, Osaka, Japan 10,112 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 12 Dream 11: Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round Yokohama Arena Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 14,039 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 11 Dream 10: Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final Round Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan 11,970 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 10 Dream 9: Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 Second Round Yokohama Arena Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 15,009 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 9 Dream 8: Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 First Round Nippon Gaishi Hall Nagoya, Aichi, Japan 9,129 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 8 Dream 7: Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 First Round Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 19,528 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 7 Fields Dynamite!! 2008 Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 25,634 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet 6 Dream 6: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 20,929 SkyPerfect; HDNet 5 Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round Osaka-jo Hall Osaka, Osaka, Japan 11,986 SkyPerfect; HDNet 4 Dream 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Second Round Yokohama Arena Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 14,037 SkyPerfect; HDNet 3 Dream 3: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Second Round Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 21,789 SkyPerfect; HDNet 2 Dream 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 21,397 SkyPerfect; HDNet 1 Dream 1: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round Saitama Super Arena Saitama, Saitama, Japan 19,120 Tokyo Broadcasting System; HDNet
Event locations Total event number: 24
These cities have hosted the following numbers of Dream events as of Dream 18:
Japan (24)
Saitama – 15 Yokohama – 4 Nagoya – 2 Osaka – 2 Tokyo - 1
References
External links Archived official website