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IN JAPAN, THESE GUYS HAVE A “DREAM”
By MMAMemories.com

It was a big moment in Tokyo; perhaps an historic one when all is said and done. Fight Entertainment Group and Dream Stage Entertainment have joined forces to form “DREAM,” which looks like it may be equipped to battle on even terms with the rest of the MMA organizations. Some of the principals of Yarennoka! are also involved; these people, together with M-1 Global, put together the recent New Year’s Eve card that featured Fedor Emilianenko.

With the sale of PRIDE to the UFC interests, and the discontinuation of K-1’s “Heros” brand, that left a vacuum for fans, who were thirsting for a replacement for PRIDE, according to Sadeharu Tanikawa, the president of Fight Entertainment Group. Tanikawa says that he received a petition to that effect with 300 signatures attached to it. It’ll take more fans than that to make a dent, and no doubt many more will come. Nevertheless, this is a pretty good start.

Not only does this loom as a PRIDE replacement for the fans, it also steps in for PRIDE as a viable alternative outlet for fighters looking to put their talents on display.

The kickoff event is scheduled for March 15 at the Saitama Super Arena, highlighted by a lightweight Grand Prix.

The organization will also soon be putting Mirko Cro Cop, who has left the UFC, into action, though Cro Cop may have lost a great deal of lustre by losing two of three bouts in the UFC, including a knockout defeat at the hands of Gabriel Gonzaga.

Cro Cop says he’ll feel more comfortable under the conditions DREAM has to offer than he did in the UFC. “I never liked fighting in the cage, always in a ring,” he says.

DREAM will have the added cachet of more big names, from all corners of the world. Royce Gracie, the original king of MMA, has committed to future events, as has the aforementioned Emilainenko, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Also on board will be Japanese stars like Kazushi Sakuraba, Kiyoshi Tamura, Hayato Sakurai and Kazuyuki Miyata, among others.

It will be a matter of time to see if DREAM is a new contender to replace PRIDE on the world scene, or whether it is if you pardon the expression, a pipe-dream. But there is the involvement of some big-name talent and the backing of the Tokyo Broadcasting system. It is not known to what extent the contentious litigation between the UFC and DSE would affect development of the new outfit, since the UFC is claiming violation of a “non-compete” clause as part of their agreement to purchase PRIDE last year.