Dream (styled DREAM in capitals) was a Japanese

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incor ...

(MMA) organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. Dream replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retained many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC broadcasts, including fight introducer Lenne Hardt. In

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the promotion was aired on

HDNet AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...

. They promoted over 20 shows highlighting some of the best

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese and international MMA talent, establishing or enhancing the careers of top ranked fighters such as

Shinya Aoki is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and grappler currently competing in ONE Championship's and Rizin Fighting Federation's Welterweight division. He also competes in DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time DDT E ...

, Gesias Cavalcante, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Ronaldo Jacaré,

Eddie Alvarez Edward "Eddie" Alvarez (born January 11, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight (170 lb) division of ONE Championship. He also formerly competed in the UFC and Bellator MMA, winning world titles ...

, Jason Miller,

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugi ...

, Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem.

History

Pride FC's buyout and Yarennoka!

After the

Zuffa Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of ...

buyout of Pride FC, the former Dream Stage Entertainment executives put on a collaborative

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

mixed martial arts show with

Shooto Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 198 ...

, M-1 Global, and the Fighting and Entertainment Group, called '' Yarennoka!''. This show was intended to be a farewell show of Pride FC. However, due to its success and further petitioning by Japanese MMA fans, the FEG and the former DSE staff decided to combine their efforts and form a new Japanese promotion.

Hero's dissolution and Dream's emergence

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,

Mitsuhiro Ishida Mitsuhiro Ishida (, born December 29, 1978) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed in Shooto, Strikeforce, PRIDE, DREAM, and DEEP. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2011, Ishida also participated in the Yarennoka even ...

, 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 FC (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.

Partnership with HDNet

On May 2, 2008, Dream aired for the first time in the United States with a repeat of '' Dream 1'' on

. A repeat of '' Dream 2'' was aired the following day, while '' Dream 3'' was aired live on May 11. All future Dream events will be airing on HDNet as a part of the network's HDNet Fights series.

Partnership with EliteXC

On May 10, 2008, Dream announced the working partnership with US promotion

EliteXC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decemb ...

. The two groups intended to share fighters and eventually co-promote shows. However, with EliteXC went bankrupt before the alliance could materialize.

Alliance with Strikeforce

On August 5, 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that the two promotions had signed a formal alliance. This is reportedly a deal that has been talked about for quite some time, but has finally come to fruition. The result of this deal is that the two organizations will exchange fighters and work together to bring MMA fans the best fights possible. Also, because of Strikeforce's recent agreement with Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global, it is presumable that they would be involved in the alliance as well. In October 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated interest in unifying the titles between the two promotions. However Dream never gave a public response. It's likely all unification plans were dropped due to Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, acquiring Strikeforce.

Alliance with ONE Fighting Championship

November 23, 2011 sources close to ONE Fighting Championship announced a new alliance with Dream to copromote shows and participate in fighter exchange.

Partnership with ProElite

On January 17, 2012 ProElite announced a partnership with Dream to copromote shows and exchange fighters.

Cease of business operations

On May 16, 2012, Sadaharu Tanikawa officially declared the bankruptcy of FEG. The promotion began to be managed by its proper parental company Real Entertainment Co. Ltd. and as of June 3, 2012, Dream has effectively gone out of business.

Revival show

A revival show dubbed " Dream.18: Special NYE 2012" was set 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 for at least one more year.

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

* There were three 5-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 grounded opponent was defined as one in a three-point position. If a fighter had, for example, both knees and one hand on the floor facing the mat, then no kicks to the head were allowed. * Strikes to the back of the head were not allowed

Tournament substitutions

* In case of a "no contest" or injury, the fighter able to continue would go through to the next round; if neither fighter was able to continue, the promoter would choose a replacement fighter to go through.

Champions

Tournament finalists

Notable fighters

Bantamweight

* Antonio Banuelos * Yoshiro Maeda * Hideo Tokoro * Kenji Osawa * Masakazu Imanari *

Keisuke Fujiwara Keisuke Fujiwara ( ''Fujiwara Keisuke'',; born September 17, 1982) is a Japanese mixed martial artist with a background in kickboxing. Biography Kickboxing While studying at art school, Fujiware joined Oguni-Gym to learn kickboxing. He got a l ...

Atsushi Yamamoto is a leg amputee athlete from Japan competing mainly in category T42 sprint and long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a tak ...

Bibiano Fernandes Bibiano Fernandes da Silva Neto (born March 30, 1980) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who has competed for K-1, DREAM, ONE Championship and King of the Cage. He was the first DREAM Featherweight Champion and DREAM Bantamweigh ...

(Dream Bantamweight Champion) * Rodolfo Marques

Featherweight

* Joachim Hansen * Tatsuya Kawajiri * Hiroyuki Takaya (Dream Featherweight Champion) * Daiki Hata *

Akiyo Nishiura (born August 8, 1983) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Nishiura currently competes in MMA for the DREAM organization as a Featherweight and has also fought for Shooto, Cage Force, and DEEP. Mixed martial arts c ...

* Takeshi Inoue *

Kazuhisa Watanabe is a Japanese Boxing, boxer, Kickboxing, kickboxer and Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist currently competing in K-1 and Dream (mixed martial arts), Dream in the featherweight division. He is known to be overly flamboyant in fights, ofte ...

* Kazuyuki Miyata * Caol Uno

Lightweight

Rich Clementi Richard Thomas Clementi (born March 31, 1977) is a former American mixed martial artist. Clementi has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Bellator, K-1 Hero's DREAM, King of the Cage, and Titan FC. Background Clementi was born in E ...

* Shane Nelson *

Drew Fickett Andrew Robert Fickett (born December 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, Fickett has also formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM, Cage Rage, th ...

* Rob McCullough * Andre Amade * Willamy Freire * Gesias Calvancante * Vítor Ribeiro *

Marcus Aurélio Marcus Aurélio Martins (; born 18 August 1973) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships and for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He currently does stunt and mo-cap work, after an MMA care ...

(Dream Lightweight Champion) * Daisuke Nakamura * Koutetsu Boku * Tatsuya Kawajiri *

Katsunori Kikuno is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He was the former DEEP Lightweight Champion. Background Kikuno started his martial arts training with judo when he was in high school, and was able to take third place in the Kyushu 66 kg tournament a ...

* Katsuhiko Nagata *

Satoru Kitaoka , is a Japanese shoot wrestler and mixed martial artist who most recently competed for RIZIN. A professional competitor since 2000, he has also competed for DREAM, Pancrase, DEEP, and World Victory Road. Kitaoka is renowned for his catch wrest ...

Welterweight

* Marius Zaromskis (Dream Welterweight Champion) * Jason High * Tarec Saffiedine * Andrews Nakahara * Jung Bu-Kyung * Andy Ologun * Yan Cabral *

Kuniyoshi Hironaka is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. He has formerly competed for the UFC, Shooto, DREAM, and Pancrase. Mixed martial arts career Early career Hironaka made his professional mixed martial arts debut ...

* Ryo Chonan *

Hayato Sakurai also known as , born August 24, 1975, is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1996, he has formerly competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Shooto, Vale Tudo Japan, DEEP, and participated in the Yarennoka!, ...

Yuya Shirai Yuya Shirai (born April 2, 1980) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Shirai has fought for ONE FC, DEEP, BAMMA, Glory World Series, M-1 Globa ...

Middleweight

* Karl Amoussou * Zelg Galesic * Gerald Harris * Dong Sik Yoon *

Shungo Oyama Shungo Oyama ( 峻護 ''Ōyama Shungo'' ; born April 11, 1974) is a Japanese former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 to 2014, he competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Pancrase, RINGS, DREAM, K-1 ...

* Taiei Kin * Kiyoshi Tamura *

Kazuhiro Nakamura Kazuhiro Nakamura ( , born July 16, 1979) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed as a Middleweight in DREAM, and is a former DEEP Middleweight Champion. He fought out of the Yoshida Dojo and also competed in the Pride Fighting ...

Light Heavyweight

* Gegard Mousasi (Dream Light Heavyweight Champion) * Melvin Manhoef * Ralek Gracie *

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua (; born April 18, 1984), mostly billed simply as Sokoudjou, is a Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Sokoudjou is the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion, and ...

* Tatsuya Mizuno * Hiroshi Izumi * Trevor Prangley

Heavyweight

Mark Hunt Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the w ...

Jérôme Le Banner Jérôme Philippe Le Banner (; born December 26, 1972) is a French kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler. Le Banner fought for most of his career in K-1 and became known for his aggressive fighting style and knockout power ...

* Fedor Emelianenko *

Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined ...

* Todd Duffee * Jeff Monson * Siala-Mou "Mighty Mo" Siliga * James Thompson * Hong Man Choi *

Katsuyori Shibata is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and professional wrestling trainer. In professional wrestling, he is known for his hard hitting offense. He is currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a f ...

* Satoshi Ishii * Ikuhisa Minowa * Alistair Overeem *

Mirko Cro Cop Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...

Events

Event locations

*Total event number: 24 These cities have hosted the following numbers of Dream events as of ''

Dream 18 2012 is the first year in the history of the Glory, an international kickboxing event. 2012 starts with Glory 1: Stockholm, and ends with Dream 18 & Glory 4: Tokyo. The events are broadcasts through television agreements with regional channels ar ...

'': *

(24) : Saitama – 15 :

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

– 4 :

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

– 2 :

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

– 2 :

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

- 1

References

External links

* {{Dream Events 2008 establishments in Japan Organizations established in 2008 Mixed martial arts organizations Mixed martial arts events lists 2012 disestablishments in Japan Organizations disestablished in 2012 ja:DREAM (格闘技イベント)