I hope they are planning on more fights than this. I imagine they are.

I also thought that Aoki was refusing to fight on this card.
Source: http://secure.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=12535

On the three fights that I am sure will happen:

Alvarez vs. Hellboy

This was the toughest pick for me by far. Hellboy most certainly has more recognition, and a better fight resume. He even shut down a prolific striker in Gomi. I am not convinced, however, that this is a sure thing for Jaochim.

Alvarez is the lesser known fighter. I think he also prefers to fight at 170. I can imagine that he is HUGE at LW, and the guy has knockout power, I mean real, honest, “good night sweet prince” knockout power. He also pummeled Andre Amade for over 6 minutes. For a pure puncher, 6 and a half minutes with room to spare is very good for a puncher. He also has fought some good journeyman opponents. He has seen alot of wrestlers, freestyle jitzers, and MMAers. I am still leary on him fighting at 155 tho.

Hellboy is incredibly well rounded, sets a furious pace in the ring, and has a pretty good chin. Alvarez is the bigger fighter, with the ability to knock someone’s brain right out of their skull, and has that power for at least most of the first round (10 minute first rounds here, so that is saying something). My gut keeps telling me that Alvarez will win this fight by “puncher’s chance”. But I am not 100% on that, more going on my gut at this point. He is just so much bigger than Hellboy, and I don’t think Hellboy will be able to do the things he does to other LWs. We shall see….

Caol “On again, Off again” Uno vs. Mitsuhiro “Unanimous Decision” Ishida

I picked Ishida to win this fight. He has superior wrestling and ground control over Uno, who has been “out-wrestled” in the past. Ishida’s sub defense and chin are VERY good at LW. Only Gomi has ever overwhelmed him enough to get a stoppage. He even stalled Ribiero out to a decision, which is impressive, since Ribiero’s Jitz is SO NICE in all positions (including the top!). I just don’t think Uno will be able to finish this fight. And I don’t see Uno really outscoring or controlling Ishida. This fight will more than likely be very boring, tho they may roll and transition abit. The point is that Ishida rarely lets anyone scramble for better position, his wrestling is great. I just wish he would learn how to finish a fight.

“Crusher” Kawajiri vs. Luiz Firmino

Kawajiri by either 2nd round TKO, or UD. These two have fought before back in Pride. It was what you expected. Firmino’s good Jitz was countered by Kawajiri’s superior wrestling. Firmino didn’t want to stand with Kawajiri (only Gomi and Melendez can say they truly “stood” with Kawajiri and won) and stalled, and Kawajiri outscored him anyways, controlling him on the ground. I don’t see this fight going any differently.

Any thoughts…better yet, any remote interest in the DREAM promotion in general?

Yeah when I went to bed last night Shinya Aoki was still listed as fighting on their official site, but this morning his name’s been removed.

And yes, I am definitely glad to see interesting fight cards being put on in Japan again.

I still have my usual gripes about Japanese promotions, but I love all MMA, and there are some great champions fighting in Japan. I truly think the interest in lower weight classes solely spawned in Japan. So those of you who are light/feather/bantamweight fans, all should keep an eye out in Japan. Also to note, it is much easier to watch these fights over the internet, than say, UFC fights. FEG does protect its product, but not nearly as tenaciously as Zuffa does. You can usually see most, if not all of a Japanese event if you keep your eyes peeled in the mid morning hours the day of (or after, depending on when they record) the event. I saw almost all of DREAM 1 and 2 for free. Just a tip for those of you who would like to get alittle more MMA in your life.

Ok, I will go ahead and pick the rest of the card while I am at it:

Shibata vs. Mayhem

Ok, this seems like one of those classic Japanese mismatches on the surface. Two things that you should look for in these (so that they don’t fool you): (1) is the guy with the great record a paper champ, and (2) is the guy with the terrible/non-existent record either a Judo champ or Professional wrestler.

In this case we have Mayhem Miller, who is a legitimate MMA fighter with great MMA Jitz, impressive striking, and tons of reach. Miller is not some “eater of freakshow fighters” or a “can-opener”. He is arguably one of the better WW worldwide.

And Shibata is…..a Japanese Pro Wrestler (college roar!). Shibata will be out to please the crowd while he gets beaten indescriminately by Mayhem. More than likely, I would say Shibata is taking alittle extra money home for losing this fight (not an uncommon practice in Japan with fights like these). Mayhem Miller by crazy Ju Jitsu submission number 48 in the 1st RD.

Manhoef vs. Kim

Ok another mismatch on paper. Now if you remember my method from before:
(1) Manhoef is a beast of a dutch kickboxer…
(2) Kim is a Judo practitioner…

So this isn’t as lopsided as it looks. But it is still lopsided. Judo doesn’t have much of an answer for an agressive, topnotch, world class kickboxer with arguably more KO power than any other MW on the scene (TO INCLUDE ANDERSON SILVA). Manhoef by ridiculous KO in the second round.

Nakamura vs. Jung

Japanese matchmaker engine…energize!
(1) Nakamura’s record looks okay, but not great
(2) Jung is a Korean Judo Master…his only two fights being against Ishida and Aoki.

Aoki couldn’t sub Jung. Ishida didn’t really beat him up that bad. This guy Jung is a serious Judoka. Nakamura is a submission guy. I don’t see Nakamura Subbing Jung. I see Jung using his Judo effectively to grind out a decision.
(shocker pick!)

Inoue vs. Diaz

Now this fight surprised me, I didn’t even know it was in the works. Inoue is known for his solid wrestling and good chin. Diaz is known for his ability to frustrate wrestlers, beat them up on the feet, then sub them on the ground. Diaz by Sub in Rd. 1.

Hmmm does anyone notice that on the DREAM 3 fight card, MMAPredictions has Jung Bukyung’s picture and Mitsuhiro Ishida’s picture reversed?

Just noticed. and this is a good card.

dream sure are churning out the shows right now huh.
manhoef is very susceptible to submissions so if it goes down he could easily lose. it’s not gonna happen though lol.
mayhem will take it comfortably i think.
i’m really looking forward to alvarez vs hansen. eddie was very impressive last time. he surprised me and i give him a good shot here.
and yeah, ishidas pic is wrong.

lol I fixed the pictures guys. Thank you for the heads up (here on the forum and by email!) :)

I thought it looked alittle funky, I just didn’t pick up on it. Lol, thanks Caleb

Bummer that Nick Diaz won’t be fighting!

The Diaz v. Inoue bout is back on!

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=12634

Yeah! Exciting! And I am glad I did not remove it from the DREAM 3 fight card!

Good call…less work for you lol