DREAM 6 Live Blog Results Play-by-Play at 3am EST

I'm staying up all night and I will post the televised results as they happen with full play-by-play, my first time trying it.

Here is the card.

Middleweight tournament final:

Melvin Manhoef or Gegard Mousasi vs. Zelg Galesic or Ronaldo Souza

Middleweight tournament semifinals:

Melvin Manhoef (22-4-1) vs. Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1)
Zelg Galesic (9-3) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (9-1)

Middleweight tournament reserve bout:

Dong Sik Yoon (4-5) vs. Andrews Nakahara (0-1)

Non-tournament bouts:

265 lbs.: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (23-6-2) vs. Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem (28-11)
265 lbs.: Sergei Kharitonov (15-3-0) vs. Jimmy “The Titan” Ambriz (13-9-1)
185 lbs.: Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa (40-28-8) vs. Masakatsu Funaki (38-13-1)
185 lbs.: Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1) vs. Masanori Tonooka (1-1)
170 lbs.: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (32-8-2) vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (12-5)
160 lbs.: Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki (17-3) vs. Todd “Maniac” Moore (9-2)
160 lbs.: Keita “K-taro” Nakamura (14-3-2) vs. Adriano Martins (9-3)
145 lbs.: Hideo Tokoro (21-13-1) vs. Atsushi Yamamoto (11-5-1)

Play-by-Play begins below at 3am EST.

Let the show begin! The show starts with a nice little description of all the middleweight tourney semi-finalists. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are talking about tonight's festivities, and they go to Ron Kruck with a little preview of Crocop vs. Overeem. First fight coming up and its gonna be the tourney reserve match of Andrews Nakahara vs. Dong Sik Yoon. We'll have to wait for the action as they announce the judges and officials ringside, now Saitama Super Arena goes dark and they start the opening, looks awesome, but HDNet is not letting us in on the fun, all they're showing is a wide shot of the arena and screen. Some pyrotechnics and now fighter introductions, this will take awhile I'm sure, I'll be back when the match starts.

Middleweight Tournament Reserve Match- Andrews Nakahara vs. Dong Sik Yoon
Round 1- Yoon is sporting a full Gi and here we go. Nakahara misses with a low kick, then stuffs a Yoon takedown attempt. Some clinching in the corner and the fight ends up on the mat with Nakahara on top in Yoon's guard, but Nakahara quickly stands up and out. Low kicks are finding their mark for Nakahara and he also lands a nice knee to the body before being put on his back by Yoon. Yoon moves to side guard and now he moves to full mount and now is going for a Gi choke. Nakahara defends well, but is still mounted. Yoon is throwing some weak punches from the mount. Nakahara finally escapes the back door, both fighters back to their feet. Nakahara's low kicks are starting to take a bit of a toll, he also throws some Andy Hug like Axe kicks. Yoon goes for a takedown, but is stuffed and the round ends with Nakahara in north/south position and landing a knee.
MMA Post Scores the first round for Nakahara 10-9.

Round 2- Fighters come out swinging and Nakahara knocks down Yoon with a couple of well-placed left hooks, Nakahara pounces on Yoon with a flurry of unanswered punches to Yoon's face, Yoon has pretty much stopped defending himself and the ref saves him at 30 seconds into the round. Very good fight by Nakahara, he defended the dangerous submission game of Yoon well and pretty much dominated the stand-up.
Winner-Andrews Nakahara(TKO Punches)


Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final Match- Melvin Manhoef vs. Gegard Mousasi
This is gonna be a hell of a scrap, unless Mousasai gets a quick sub. Bas Rutten really likes Melvin Manhoef, not suprisingly.
Round 1- Fighters come out and Mousasi throws, but misses a low kick and not suprisingly Mousasi shoots in for a takedown. Manhoef initially sprawls, but is still taken down, he gets back to his feet, but Mousasi clinches and now gets a perfect takedown. Manhoef scrambles, Mousasi gets his back, lands some punches to the side of Mahoef's head and is now going for the rear-naked choke. Manhoef gets the sweep, but falls right into a triangle choke! Manhoef picks Mousasi up Rampage style, but man he is still caught in the choke deep while standing-up, Manhoef goes against Bas Rutten's advice and slams him on the mat, now the choke is even tighter. Mousasi pulls the head down hard now and Manhoef is forced to tap just a minute and a half into the fight.. Mousasi just totally dominated Manhoef on the ground, wow that choke was brutal!
Winner- Gegard Mousasi(Submission: Triangle Choke)


Middleweight Tournament Sem-Final Match- Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Zelg Galesic
Round 1- Jacare quickly slips a front kick from Zelg and moves in with a nice takedown. Jacare works from the guard, but is immediately looking to pass. Zelg trys to get up, but Jacare keeps him down and easily advance to side mount. Jacare lands some nice punches to the head from side control and now he looks for an arm. Jacare gets knee on belly position and from there goes straight to full mount, awesome grappling display! Zelg goes for a sweep, but Jacare gets a quick armbar and Zelg is forced to tap, also a minute and a half into the fight.
Winner- Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza(Submission: Armbar)


The non-tournament bouts begin.

Keita Nakamura vs. Adriano Martins
Round 1- Martins comes out and lands a nice inside low kick. Some sloppy exchanges now. Martins now scores a knockdown with a right hand. Nakamura recovers though. Another right hand stuns Nakamura a little. Nakamura secure a single leg takedown.
Not much going on, on the ground here, but all the pitter-patter punching has led to a cut on the left eye of Nakamura, a replay shows a well-placed elbow from the bottom by Martins led to the cut. The ref stops the fighters and wants to check the cut. It's not a bad cut. The fighters come back and start on the feet. Nakamura is starting to land some good punches now. Martins is taking some shots as the bell sounds.
MMA Post scores Round 1 Nakamura 10-9.

Round 2- Nakamura comes out and lands some nice punches. Martins' chin is way too high. Nakamura now landing numorous unanswered stiff jabs. Alot of clinching going on between the exchanges and thats how the fight ends. Fight started out pretty good, but ended up pretty uneventful.
Should be a unaminous decision victory for Nakamura.
Wow, one judge scored the bout for Martins.
Winner- Keita Nakamura(Split Decision)


Sergei Kharitonov vs. Jimmy Ambriz
Man I can't wait to see Sergei back in action. Bas and Kenny are talking about Ambriz and hey the camera catches Fedor sitting ringside. Sergei is walking out and Kenny talks about Sergei fought Fedor 2 years ago on September tenth? No idea, that has to be a mistake.
Round 1- Sergei lands a nice left and bam! a hard left hook from Sergei knocks down Ambriz, but Ambriz pops back up, gets a body lock and is going for a takedown against the ropes. Sergei is holding the ropes and gets a yellow card for it. The action resumes, the fighters circle each other a little and Sergei is pretty much landing at will, nothing too hard yet, but it looks like this guy is gonna get KO'd pretty soon. Ambriz has zero striking ability and he looks like he's gassing already. Hard right straight to the head lands for Sergei, now a nice straight body shot. Huge overhand right from Sergei staggers Ambriz a little. Sergei is starting to tee off, landing everything he throws. Ambriz is dazed now as Sergei lands a big uppercut. Now some hard knees to the chin of Ambriz, and this is gonna be over soon. Ambriz drops to his knees and Sergei(standing over top) lands two hard body punches and a hard head punch and Ambriz taps. Thats as easy as it gets for Kharitonov.
Winner- Sergei Kharitonov(Submission: Strikes)

Fedor is getting alot of camera time. Kenny(speaking of Kharitonov)-"Bas, ya think Fedor's impressed?", Bas-"NO"!

Now an interview with Zelg, he picks Mousasi to win the tournament.

Featherweights up next.

Hideo Tokoro vs. Atsushi Yamamoto
Round 1- Both fighters come out and some nice boxing from both fighters. Now a beautiful left hook-right straight combo drops Tokoro to the ground. Yamamoto smells blood and jumps on Tokoro, but Tokoro recovers fast and now has Yamamoto in rubber guard. A stall in the action now as both fighters lobby for position. Tokoro goes for an armbar, but Yamamoto escapes and the fighters are back on their feet now. Yamamoto dancing around and getting cocky as he lands a jab. Yamamoto is dropping his hands, taunting Tokoro and he lands another nice jab. Inside low kick finds its mark for Yamamoto. Yamamoto lands a decent flying knee. Tokoro comes back with a nice body kick followed by a one-two. The two fighters clinch and Tokoro goes for a Flying armbar, but ends up pulling guard. Some scrambling and Yamamoto pops back to his feet and the two look to exchange punches again. Tokoro lands some hard punches with a left-right combo to the the chin. Yamamoto is landing his jab at will. Tokoro trys a flip kick, but ends up pulling guard.
MMA Post scores the first round Yamamoto 10-9.

Round 2- Another jab from Yamamoto, this one snaps Tokoro's head back. Tokoro's nose is bloodied up good. Tokoro again trys a flip kick, but again gets guard and goes for an armbar but Yamamoto defends. The ref stops the action to take a look at Tokoro, who now has a mouse under his eye. The action resumes and Yamamoto gets a single-leg to secure his first takedown of the fight. Not much doing on the ground and Yamamoto simply stands up. The fighters are back to the ground with Yamamoto in Tokoro's guard. With 2 minutes left, Tokoro reverses and gets an arm. He has it locked, but can't break the grip of Yamamoto to fully secure the hold. Yamamoto defends all the way to the end of the fight. Really good scrap, but Yamamoto should win it easily and he does.
Winner- Yamamoto(Unanimous Decision)


Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Round 1- Funaki attempts a spinning back kick, but is taken down in the process. Funaki gets a leg and rolls over. Funaki has a heel hook, Minowa is trying for the same move. Funaki gets an inverted heel hook and it is brutal looking as he twists Minowa's foot almost completely around and Minowa is forced to tap just 53 seconds in, Ouch! Bas rutten points out the huge mistake Minowa made wearing shoes against someone like Funaki.
Winner- Funaki(Submission: Inverted Heel Hook)

A break in the action as HDNet shows a nice piece on Eddie Alvarez.

Hey, Fedor is now walking to the ring! Possibly to announce a New Year's match-up? Fedor says he wants to practice the Gold Medalist Judo winner Ishii. Bas and Kenny talk about how they would want to see Fedor fight the winner of Overeem/Crocop, but why would Fedor even mention Ishii? It seems like that fight is probably in the works for New Year's.


Hayato Sakurai vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Round 1- Front kick and spinning back fist attempt misses for Sakurai. Hironaka lands some nice low kicks. The fighters clinch and Hironaka secures a takedown. Hironaka lobbying for position, postures up, but falls back into half guard. The fighters scramble back to their feet. Hard low kick scores for Sakurai. Some uneventful punching exchanges. Sakurai lands a nice left straight and follows up with another nice low kick. A front kick to the chin lands for Sakurai and another good low kick scores. Another really hard low kick for Sakurai. Sakurai is controlling the stand-up and lands another hard low kick. The low kicks are starting to really hurt Hironaka. The fighters clinch now and after a stall the ref re-starts the action. Sakurai loses balance and falls to the canvas. He gets the guard now, Hironaka throwing punches, but nothing significant. Hironaka stands-up and stomps his opponent on the chin(ahh back to the good old Pride days), but Hironaka just gets a warning for it. Sakurai lands a good liver punch and another one, Bas is loving it. Some good front kicks to the gut for Sakurai land and the round ends.
MMA Post scores round 1 for Sakurai 10-9.

Round 2- Hironaka shoots in and secures a double-leg takedown. The fighters are in the corner and the ref moves them to the centers. Sakurai scrambles up as Hironaka goes for a Gulliontine, but Sakurai easily escapes. The fighters on their feet again and Sakurai lands another low kick. Some good straight punches land for Sakurai and some good counters by Hironaka now. Sakurai landing some good combos now to the head of Hironaka and lands 2 good knees. Huge left hook from Sakurai lands flush and drops Hironaka to the ground! Sakurai pounces and is looking for the finish, but there's not enough time left and the bell sounds as he lands some nice ground punches. Sakurai all the way.
Winner- Sakurai(Unanimous Decision)


Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Masanori Tonooka
Round 1- Akiyama in the full Gi, nothing doing as the fighters feel each other out for the first minute. Akiyama lands a short left hook, Tonooka swings wildly. Akiyama gets a body lock and takes the fight to the floor, passes right away into side mount. Nothing happening in side mount, Akiyama goes for an armbar, but switches posiitions and now has his opponent in full mount. Goes for another armbar, but to the suprise of the Bas and Kenny and myself he escapes back to his feet. Akiyama quickly takes it back down with a nice trip. Now he has the armbar and the overmatched Tonooka is forced to tap with 3:33 left in the first round.
Winner- Akiyama(Submission: Armbar)


Shinya Aoki vs. Todd Moore
Round 1- Some strikes from both fighters don't land. They clinch and Aoki jumps on Moore's back and goes for a rear-naked-choke, they fall to the canvas and Aoki has his hips locked up and pulls off a neck crank that forces the tap from Moore. I have never seen something like that before, I've seen positions like that, the fighter always twists out of it. Aoki prevented the hips from twisting.
Winner- Aoki(Submission: Neck Crank)


Crocop vs. Overeem coming up. Kenny Rice says its possible the winner fights Fedor on New Year's Eve. Fedor gets in the ring and gives flowers to both fighters.

Mirko Crocop vs Alistair Overeem
Round 1- Good staredown and here we go. Overeem looks huge. Both fighters circle, crocop lands a inside low kick. They clinch and Overeem throws Crocop to the canvas, wow. Working in Crocop's guard, and Crocop is cut above his left eye. Overeem landing some good strikes from the top. Ref stops to check the cut, its small and restarts it on the ground. The fighters come back to the feet and Crocop lands a hard liver kick and follows up with a high kick that misses and Overeem makes him pay for it and puts him on his back with a trip takedown. Overeem is doing damage to Crocop from top position with body and head punches. Huge hammer fist lands for Overeem. A little stall and the ref stands them up, Overeem lands a hard knee to the body, Crocop complaining it was low, but ref says fight on. They clinch and Overeem is connecting with knees to the body. Knee to the groin does land this time and there is a momentary stoppage. The action resumes and they clinch again and another knee to the groin from Overeem. Crocop doesn't look like he wants to continue, he's laying flat on the ground. He was certainly getting beat up badly before the groin shots, but yep they just called it a no contest. Well this sucks, especially with Kenny Rice now spurting out every minute that Fedor will fight the winner.

I'll say this, Crocop didn't look very good even before the groin shots, but who knows, one high kick later in the fight and just like that he's Crocop again.

Alistair gets the mic and apologizes for the groin shots and says he's number 1 in DREAM and he'll fight anybody.

The final fight of the night coming up.


Middleweight Grand Prix Final- Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Round 1- Both fighters tentative early, Mousasi looks like he really doesn't want this fight to go to the ground(with good reason). A jab scores for Mousasi. Jacare goes for a takedown, but misses the legs momentarily, recovers and picks Mousasi up and slams him down to the canvas. Mousasi trying to work his way back to his feet, but ends up securing half-guard. Jacare stands over Mousasi and rains down some punches, but Mousasi lands a devastating upkick that knocks Jacare out cold! Wow!! The replay shows he was out cold before he ever hit the floor.
Winner- Mousasi(KO Upkick)

Gegard Mousasi is the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Champion, Congratulations to Mousasi.

Good event, I wish the Crocop/Alistair fight wouldv'e had a real ending, but I can't complain because the event as a whole was exciting.

Thanks to those who stayed up late with me!!