DREAM Heiwa.1: Inaugural Event And Lightweight Grand Prix

Ikuhisa Minowa got off his 2-fight losing streak by doing two somersaults and then submitting "Baby Fat" Bum Chan Kang with a kneebar. Well good for "The Punk" but this was not a worthy opponent.

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai continues to be overlooked in the MMA community as he had little trouble getting the TKO on Hidetaka "Your" Monma. Hide looked alright at 1st landing a couple of good shots, while Mach's power was just too much and he has now won 9 of his last 10 bouts (dating back to 2005) without anybody giving a sneeze to the fella. He's got to be a fav in the tourney.

Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen came out swinging and landing the knees but Kotetsu Boku though knocked down, would not be stopped but Hellboy got Unanimous Decision and made it easy for the judges. Hanson is my personal pick to win it all if "JZ" & Aoki are out.

Luiz "Buscape" Firmino got the RNC on the lacking Kazuyuki Miyata in the 1st and moves along to the 2nd round where he will be defeated.

Katsuhiko Nagata kinda pulled an upset taking all 15 minutes to defeat Artur Oumakhanov of Russia. Glad I didn't get my picks done in time.

Mitsuhiro "Take Em To Decision" Ishida comes off his career changing upset of Gilbert Melendez to coast through Bu Kyung Jung but not dominating him as he should've. The now 0-2 Jung should have been put away but Ishida gets his 12th decision win, only stopping 4 fighters in his 20 fight career. He has got to learn to finish people and depending on who he matches up with, this tournament favorite could fall in the next round.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic made his Dream debut against the sacrificial lamb Tatsuya Mizuno via TKO in 56 seconds. Not sure how much beating a "tomato can" does for ones failing confidence but how about Mirko joining the modern day era now wearing board shorts instead of the nut-hugging biker briefs he used to sport. Now if only we can get Arlovski, GSP, and some of the other package presenters to trade in the spandex tighties we'll be doing OK.

Eddie Alvarez gets an impressive TKO win over Andre Amade who can't stop drawing the toughest strikers in his bouts (his last was a failing effort against "JZ"). Eddie is a strong pick to go deep in the Grand Prix with his brutal striking (12 career TKO's) and impressive 13-1 record.

Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri actually struggled quite a bit with Kultar "Black Mamba" Gill who is the fighter dressed like a genie in the above picture. Crusher has got to get back on top of his game and has not looked great since his loss to Gilbert Melendez a couple of fights ago. The Japanese favorite is tough as they come but a little off his norm these days and unfortunately sporting some corn rows. Not good.

Now to the main event and the controversy of the evening. The much anticipated bout between Gesias "JZ" Calvancante and Shinya Aoki which was supposed to happen at New Year's Eve before Gesias got injured, ended in a unsatisfactory "No Contest" by some odd ruling. The rules state you cannot elbow to the head or spine but elbows to the body are legal. So why tell me, was the bout ruled a "NC" when Aoki could not continue after taking 2 stiff elbows to the back of his shoulder? Shinya complained the 2nd elbow was to the neck but it didn't look that way to me. The shots weren't near the spine and seemingly legal. Shinya crumbled to the mat and claimed "numbness" in his body so he could not continue. Keep in mind, JZ was handling him on the feet and Aoki couldn't get the Brazilian to the floor to work his magic. It just seemed eerily familiar like when Frank Shamrock illegally knee'd Renzo Gracie who faked his way out of the fight for a DQ win. JZ's shots weren't illegal, so why wasn't he awarded the victory?

Ah how I missed the Japanese judges. A little controversy is fun and exciting for MMA. So what happens now? The decision (though it should be a TKO win for JZ as Aoki could not continue from legal strikes) is made so do neither advance in the tournament or what? We wait and see but this is also why you don't put the top 2 fighters against each other in a tournament. Welcome back Pride, er welcome DREAM.