It is currently a little after 8AM Eastern time Saturday morning and three MMA cards have happened this weekend already. With DREAM 17 just wrapping up, here's a quick rundown on what went down last night and this morning.

Strikeforce Challengers 19:
Nick Rossborough, a late replacement for the injured Virgil Zwicker, fought Lorenz Larkin in the main event last night. Larkin weathered through a game Rossborough and landed a huge knee in the third round that allowed him to ride out a unanimous decision. He remains undefeated at 12-0.

Ryan Couture got back into the win column in a closely fought majority decision win. The many years he's spent grappling with dad and company showed as he and Maka Watson went back and forth on the ground. As in the main event, it took a 3rd round momentum-shifting change that sealed the win. Not a knee this time, however, but a great sweep into top control.

The only other "name" on the card was wrestler Jason High, and he used and abused Todd Moore in that manner. Moore has pretty much no answer for the wrestling and High was able to dominate in the unanimous decision win.

Titan FC 20:
The only thing most people care about on this card is the return of accused/alleged wife-beater Brett "Grim" Rogers to the sport. Fortunately for those who believe in karma, Eddie Sanchez leg kicked the stuffing out of Rogers. Channeling the spirit of Pedro Rizzo, Sanchez chopped at Rogers all night, beat him up in the clinch and made the one-time high-flier look like a chump. It's been a huge fall after rising to 10-0 and blitzing Andrei Arlovski like Andrei blitzes a vodka buffet. He's since lost 4 of 5 and the one win was against Ruben "Warpath" Villareal that many think Ruben won. Oh, and he "allegedly" beat his wife and kids and got canned by Zuffa.

The actual highlight of the evening as far as MMA goes (compared to schadenfreude) goes to Dakota Cochrane, who surprised pretty much everyone with a lopsided win over former WEC champion Jamie Varner. Part of it seemed like Varner underestimated his opponent - he looked a little heavy and somewhat sluggish, but Cochrane did a fantastic job of displaying his striking skills, takedown defense and scrambling ability once Varner finally did land a double-leg in the 3rd. Keep that name in mind, folks, he should make some waves in the future.

DREAM 17:
The big deal here was to see if Rob McCullough could touch Shinya Aoki's chin before he got octopus'd to the ground and lost some extremity off his torso. It was not to be. Rob actually did a fairly good job, getting out from under Aoki once without much damage taken. The second time was the killer. Aoki ducked under a punch (Razor landed zero standing strikes), went for a double, transitioned to a single and proceeded to head/neck crank out McCullough with seconds left in the first round.

Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen had one of the better fights of the evening in a closely contested bout that saw Crusher win his featherweight debut via arm triangle. Hansen did a good job all night of defending in Kawajiri's guard, but finally succumbed late in the 3rd.

In the bantamweight grand prix, Bibiano Fernandes easily passed the chin check and choked out Takafumi Otsuka early, Antonio Banuelos got a controversial split-decision win over Hideo Tokoro (non-Japanese guy winning a close split decision in Japan? Bizarro!), Masakazu Imanari nearly ripped off Abel Cullum's arm and Rodolfo Marques easily decisioned Yusup Saadulaev.

Other notable matchups saw kind of what we expect out of JMMA these days. The corpse of Kazushi Sakuraba took a beating from mildly-heralded Yan Cabral. Seriously, whatever debt that Saku owes the Yakuza has to be paid off by now. He lost an ear. Please stop having him fight. Minowaman beat some random moobed heavyweight named Baru Harn, Gerald Harris took a close fight from Kazuhiro Makamura (again with foreigners winning in Japan) and Lion Inoue blasted "Carl" Uno with a picture-perfect headkick early.

Full results and gifs under the cut.

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Well, you, dear reader, may not care about Japanese MMA. But I do, and I'm the one with the binary pedestal. So besides Jones vs. Rampage, we're also getting DREAM 17 this weekend. The event finally introduces the three five minute rounds that hasn't been a part of Japanese MMA, and so it'll be interesting to see what, if any, effect this has on the fights themselves. Japanese MMA may be dead, but as the recent Shooto card proved, it still occasionally twitches.

Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough

Aoki's brainfarts are few and far between. For as much as people like to draw him as a one dimensional grappler (which he sort of is), and pretend a strong wrestler with good striking will always beat him (which his victories over Kawajiri, Alvarez, and JZ proved over and over is not the case), he's still one of the most reliable fighters when it comes predicting the early submission.

You could argue that if a cross dressing kickboxer with minimal MMA experience could beat him, so could "Razor" Rob, but I don't see it happening. Rob's not a cross dresser, and at least "Jienotsu" Nagashima is a respected K-1 fighter. McCullough is neither of those, so I'll go with Aoki by round 1 RNC.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen

The two first met in 2006 at Shooto: The Victory of the Truth (huh?), and what promised to be a dynamic matchup ended in one of the loudest scrotum slaps in MMA history. A leg kick from Hansen accidentally reached Tatsuya's balls, and the tadpoles within were never to be heard from again. It was enough to stop the fight. Let's hope the rematch doesn't suffer the same fate.

What's crazy is that both men were at one time, consensus top 10 LW's: hell, Kawajiri was essentially #1 at one point (when the UFC had no LW division of course). Kawajiri looked great in his last fight, but he seems to be the guy who just can't win the big fight. Even worse, against Melendez, he looked like the guy who didn't deserve the big fight. He's still a quality fighter though. Although how the weight cut (he's moving down to FW, which seems unreasonable when you look at Kawa's build) will affect him is anyone's guess. 

Hansen, meanwhile, seems to be deteriorating despite his modest resurgence with wins over Ishida, Aziz, and Tokoro. I expect this fight to go the way it would have the first time: with Kawajiri dominating with top control. Tatsuya seems destined to slug it out in the big fights, where he loses, but displays his smooth wrestling/grappling hybrid game when a title's not on the line. This isn't a big fight, and so expect Kawajiri to win by decision.

Takeshi Inoue vs. Caol Uno

In what seems to be the recurring theme of the night, two fighters not what they used to be battle it out for "pride". That sentence makes me want to vomit, but whatever. Inoue, the man they call "lion" (a nickname right up there with "tiger" and "bear" for its wit), once held the proud distinction of being one of the top FW's in the world. He's still good, and his recent losses are to Hioki and Miyata: two very good fighters on the rise. The question is how he'll be able to handle a crafty veteran like Uno?

I admit, I've got a soft spot for Uno. He has to work extra hard to protect his frail chin, and I love the version of SLTS by Nirvana he comes out to (yea the song is "old hat", but it takes me back to 6th grade, when I didn't have to fake ambition). Inoue's best chance is, of course, his striking. He's a solid boxer with decent pop to his fists, and his grappling is competent enough that he could conceivably outpoint Uno. Still, nostalgia (Uno) wins this one by decision. 

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yan Cabral

The last time we saw Sakuraba, his ear was falling off like he was the grandma in Peter Jackson's Dead-Alive. Thankfully, he doesn't have to worry about a Zaromskis' like fighter as Cabral is pure grappler. The 9-0 Brazilian holds the distinction of having finished all of his fights by submission. So Dream hasn't exactly picked Cabral out of mothballs.

On the other hand I think it's clear Sakuraba simply needs to retire. The guy will go down as one of the greats, with not a single person capable of saying a bad word about him. But it's been a tough career. I don't think he'll have to rely on will against a prospect who should be willing to take it to the ground where Sakuraba thrives, but a win just means a greater potential for a future matchup that will again exploit his age. However, I think he takes the loss here, even if the mat becomes the sandbox. Sakuraba's grappling isn't what it once was either if his loss to Miller is any indication, and Cabral has a respectable pedigree having been on the grappling mat with legends like Xande Ribeiro. Cabral by decision.

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Previewing Japanese MMA is a thankless job. Simply put, nobody cares. Even the hardcore fans are being influenced by this "Japanese MMA is dead" mantra, as if the inability of some fighters to lose to their North American counterparts, many of whom are talented, indicates a nationwide shortage of fighters of any worth whatsoever. I think we should be careful with these broad strokes, but considering this won't even be televised, I can't say I blame the critics.

However, there are some good fights on this card. And it's not like there's anything else to discuss, unless your mind is stimulated by Jon Jones not signing replica belts. 

Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi

My position on Japanese MMA feels so noble in my head, and then I have to preview this travesty, and suddenly I realize the joke's on me. This fight is for the LHW belt; a fact usually of some semblance of significance, but not here. Izumi, while ok as a fighter, is your garden variety Judoka. That means no care is taken whatsoever to groom him, he's fighting for a title despite being 4-1, and in a year, he'll be in the ring opposite Todd Duffee. 

The story here is Mousasi. Once considered more than a prospect, but a revered P4P candidate, and someone to take up Fedor's mantle as one of the non-Zuffa owned greats, he's at a bit of an impasse. A draw with Keith Jardine, no matter how contested, will do that to your career. Although I think discerning fans simply recognize his deficiency: defending the takedown. Mousasi doesn't have to worry about sharpening up that part of his game here, which is unfortunate. Mousasi's obviously talented, but he's talented on the feet, which means whatever ability he might have wrestling needs to be fostered, and gained by training with fighters that can coax that ability out of him, if it exists at all. This is the lesson MMA fans have a hard time learning: sometimes that potential just isn't there. Ala Duane Ludwig.

Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazayuki Miyata

It's nice to see Miyata finally come into his own. He's always been talented, but Japanese matchmakers put him in high profile fights way too soon. His 6 fight win streak is not a mirage: Uno, Inoue, and Otsuka were fights he would have lost early in his career Takaya, meanwhile, is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. I expect this fight to be a stern test for Miyata. Miyata's superhuman wrestling ability vs. Takaya's superhuman takedown defense (it's what allows him to stay so active on the feet against guys who don't want to stand with him). Or as Mike Goldberg might slobber into the microphone: "the immovable object versus the unstoppable force!!!". Or is that Mauoa? I get bland MMA commentators mixed up. Anyway, I expect Miyata by controversial decision. He'll get the takedowns early, but as he fades, Takaya will be better at keeping the fight on the feet, creating more exchanges. 

Masakazu Imanari vs. Hideo Tokoro

Tokoro was talking retirement as early as last year, but a 3 fight winning streak has convinced him otherwise. Will that continue here? Not likely. Tokoro has been submitted before, and to fighters less talented than Imanari on the ground. Although I do think Tokoro fighting a measured pace on the feet can win the fight. Imanari, after all, is terrible standing, but can often mask it with his unorthodox flailing and diving. Imanari by submission, round 1.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Drew Fickett

The Melendez beatdown (a term that puts it mildly) lowered Kawajiri's stock more than the loss itself. So I'm not sure if that is reason enough to think Fickett, who is talented but highly inconsistent, will have a chance, but Kawajiri is a relative constant. Fickett used to have relative name value, and it was his supposed war with Kenny Florian that got both noticed by the UFC, but now he's just a mock up of his former self. Still, the guy's talented, so I expect some early sparks, but with Kawajiri winning comfortably with his trademark style.

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With FEG finally trying to get its house in order, they have announced DREAM 17 for July 16th at the Ariake Coliseum. For those that haven't kept up with FEG/K-1 news, they've decided to trudge on and scale back the promotion, opting to do away with the over the top theatrics and instead, focus on the MMA product. Last week was Dream: Fight For Japan, an event that was given the misnomer DREAM 17 due to it being the 17th show produced by FEG. None of us saw it and will have to wait until July 3rd in order to watch it.

DREAM 17 will feature two championship bouts as well as the finals of the Bantamweight tournament. If you don't want to be spoiled on the finals of the tournament, stop reading RIGHT THIS INSTANT!

Okay, so the rest of you who want to know what happened and don't want to wait for July 3rd, here's the official card.

Current Dream 17 Card:
Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi (for Dream LHW title)
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazuyuki Miyata (for Dream FW title)
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Willamy "Chiquerim" Friere
Hideo Tokoro vs. Mazakazu Imanari (Finals of Japan BWGP)
Atsushi Yamamoto vs. Kenji Osawa (Third Place of Japan BWGP)

The proposed bout between Hiroyuki Takaya and Kazuyuki Miyata is one that I'm legitimately interested in. Miyata has been on a bit of a tear lately and Takaya is in a position where he needs to prove he's actually a talented FW instead of the over rated fighter that man feel he is. 

Mousasi will be defending perhaps the most insignificant LHW title in MMA against a Olympic Silver medalist Hiroshi Izumi. Last we saw Mousasi, he was fighting Keith Jardine to a draw. Izumi hasn't been in the ring since Dynamite!! 2010 where he defeated Ikuhisa Minowa. It'll be a one sided fight and one that Mousasi shouldn't have any trouble finishing in the first round.

It's been awhile since the last Dream show, which wasn't all that compelling, but was highly notable. Tatsuya Kawajiri dominated Josh Thomson, giving some, including myself, the impression he could hang with Gilbert Melendez: an impression that turned out to be impressively incorrect. Hiroyuki Takaya beat the very talented Bibiano Fernandes. Mousasi exposed the sport of K-1 with one fight. Nagashima then exposed all of MMA with one knee (with Frank Trigg wearing the wig to prove it). And Sakuraba took me back to Peter Jackson's early filmmaking years, where the protagonist's mom in the initial stages of becoming a zombie, has her ear fall off into a bowl of custard. Like early Pride at times, the footnotes were more memorable than the fights themselves. So Dream is finally back, and the importance of the event is fully recognized by those in charge.

While it seems positively silly to expect a small MMA event to inspire an entire culture, I can't really argue against an individual's beliefs in the face of tragedy. Keiichi Sasahara truly believes this is a seminal moment not just for Dream (and K-1), but for Japan. For historical context, here's the inimitable Tony Loiseleur:   

While many are only now marveling at how calmly the Japanese have accepted and responded to the Great Tohoku Earthquake, this stalwart resilience and perseverance is nothing particularly new for Japan. The immediate aftereffects of World War II left Japan both demoralized and in economic shambles, but within a few decades, the island nation successfully traded in its military empire for a potent economic and technological one.

One inspirational sporting icon who held a particular position of reverence in the revitalization of postwar Japan was professional wrestler Mitsuhiro Momota, better known as Rikidozan. Though ethnically Korean, Rikidozan served as Japan's avatar of strength and moral discipline in the ring. Thanks to professional wrestling's special form of physical theater, Rikidozan showed local audiences that his inherent Japanese spirit would always see him victorious, even against the likes of larger and stronger Western wrestlers. Rikidozan's victories were thus sources of immense inspiration for Japan in a time when the country needed national heroes.

It is perhaps no surprise that Sasahara and company view Rikidozan's contributions to 1950s and 1960s postwar Japan as the example to follow in the wake of March 11's destruction. It is in that tradition that the "Japan Cup Bantamweight Grand Prix," which was rumored to take place at Tokyo Dome City Hall last April, was repurposed into May 29's "Fight for Japan" charity event at Saitama Super Arena.

"We feel very much that we have a responsibility to that legacy," Sasahara says with a hearty laugh. "I think that legacy is our main motivation. We have to keep that history going."

While his ambitions are perhaps beyond his abilities, or the abilities of Dream as a whole, and Loiseleur himself argued as much on Press Row with Jordan Breen, there's a rare cultural subtext to this event that exists, making it more compelling than it has any right to be. Too bad nobody here will get to see it live. Oh...about the fights.

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Takeya Mizugaki vs Kenji Osawa (via JpZa420)

I won't lie. I'm more interested in Dream 17 than I am in UFC 130. No, I don't worship at the alter of Hayao Miyazaki. I've never romanticized Japanese culture, and I've never been one to grieve the loss of Pride as if it were the worst thing to happen to MMA. I like the sport more than the characters that run it. The world of mixed martial arts grants the possibility of what Anthony Pettis did at WEC 53, or Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, and so the theatre of combat alone is enough to align my allegiance not with promotions, but with the athletes in the cage (and ring). UFC 130 is a good card by Strikeforce standards, but thanks to injuries, we've been left with a bare bones card with no stakes, and matchups that don't lend themselves to dynamic action. I could be wrong about that obviously.

My point isn't to complain about the card. UFC 130 is about necessary matchmaking, and to that end, Joe Silva and Sean Shelby have done what they could. What's missing, however, and one thing Pride was so good at, were matchups where only the 'soul' is at stake. I hate to speak in such a whimsical abstraction, and I'm kind of embarrassed such a sentence even crossed my mind, but I think that's accurate. Here I think it's fitting to compare the cards because where fighters at UFC 130 will be focused on what could be lost, those competing at Dream will be focused on only what can be gained: the competitors exist in a world that has literally shifted, and so an official loss, I think, has less meaning so long as whatever performance they can manage is inspired.

This is all a lot of armchair psychology, and schmaltzy assumptions, but it's the cultural vibe that informed so much of what made Japanese MMA so interesting (not better, but interesting). Looking back at Mizugaki's slugfest with Kenji Osawa, one of the BW competitors in the tournament portion, the aforementioned phenomenon is kind of highlighted. It's an amazing, brutal fight, and contains some of the most frenetic action I've ever seen contained within 5 minutes of stand up action. What's so brilliant about it is the unspoken agreement Mizugaki and Osawa come to terms with. They're not Chris Lytle and Matt Serra going through the motions of earning bonuses giving fans what they think they want: instead they're two fighters who have drawn blood on one another's domain, and so the battle is all in who gets to be the owner. There would be a tough guy stupidity to it all (and indeed there is in most cases), but Mizugaki had already proven he could win in the area of combat he'd end up losing in. Mizugaki wasn't gambling. He was fighting.

There's potential for a lot of this on May 29th. I'll preview the full card later, but you're kidding yourself if you think Yoshiro Maeda and Hideo Tokoro will phone it in, or that Darren Uyenoyama vs. Atsushi Yamamoto isn't dynamic. Caol Uno, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Joachim Hansen, 'Wicky' Akiyo, Kenji Osawa, Katsunori Kikuno...these are all fighters that may not be the best, but they share a philosophy that makes for compelling action.

Once again the mysterious nature of FEG has led to speculation swirling around as well as to the fights for Dynamite!! 2010. Today's press conference seemed like it was going to provide some much-needed answers and instead fell a little short in the announced fights. 

In a pleasant change of pace, there was a K-1 rules fight announced for Dynamite!! as K-1 Heavyweight Champion Kyotaro (Keijiro Maeda) will take on the current DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion, former DREAM Middleweight Champion as well as former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi steps into the ring for K-1 action for the first time since December 2008 where he fought the now-retired Musashi where he made short work of the K-1 mainstay. 

Kazuhisa Watanabe returns to MMA action against a tough test of Hideo Tokoro. Tokoro's career has been spotty to say the least, as has Watanabe's and both men are looking for a win. Watanabe's fast-paced, hard-hitting style is a perfect foil for Tokoro's grappling-heavy style and the fight should provide fireworks. Another fight added is Hayato "Mach" Sakurai against Jason High. The KC Bandit hasn't fought in DREAM since DREAM.10 where he made the finals of the Welterweight Grand Prix before suffering a KO loss to Marius Zaromskis. Sakurai hasn't had a win in over a year and a half and will have his hands full against the younger High.

The last fight announced was a long-rumored fight for Ikuhisa Minowa, known lovingly to his fans as Minowaman. Minowa will face off with Hiroshi Izumi, an Olympic Silver medalist in Judo from Athens 2004. Izumi steps out of the SRC ring for the first time to face Minowa and is coming off a rather "gifted" decision victory back in October, while Minowaman had a tough loss to Satoshi Ishii at DREAM.16 but rebounded at DEEP 50 with a submission victory over Chag Hee Kim.

Still no bout for Overeem, but a persisting rumor that it could very well be Strikforce fighter and former WWE professional wrestler Bobby Lashley.

There has been a rumor as to the next fight for Golden Glory fighter Alistair Overeem. The Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion and 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion has been long-rumored to be fighting on New Year's Eve in Japan on FEG's big Dynamite!! 2010 show. Alistair Overeem is always a hot topic of discussion amongst fans online, be it for his bulging muscles or overseas fights. So his participation in Dynamite!! 2010 has caused a stir after his recent K-1 World Grand Prix victory.

HKL spoke with Golden Glory's Bas Boon today to see if there is any weight to one of the rumored opponents for Overeem at Dynamite!!; Olympic Gold Medalist Satoshi Ishii for the DREAM Heavyweight Championship.

"No," Boon bluntly stated at the rumor of Overeem vs. Ishii. When asked who the opponent was or if there was any strong contender yet, Boon stated; "I am still negotiating, so no, not yet."

Keep in mind that it is entirely possible that FEG has contacted Ishii and his camp about a fight with Overeem, that they might even have a contract for Ishii's camp, but that both sides have to agree to the fight for it to take place. There is a possibility that FEG has contacted multiple fighters about a bout with Alistair Overeem, but that does not mean that the fight will happen.

Last year there were rumors of Alistair Overeem competing at Dynamite!! against Josh Barnett or Andrei Arlovski, with Arlovski's camp claiming that they were already training for the Overeem fight before Bas Boon made the decision to have Overeem face Kazuyuki Fujita. Boon cited that Overeem's recent participation in the K-1 World Grand Prix did not leave Overeem enough time to properly train for such a big fight, which leads me to believe that this year there could be a similar disappointment for fans when it comes to Overeem's opponent for New Year's Eve.

There should be an announcement late Thursday evening in the US/early Friday afternoon in Japan from FEG with five more fights announced.

UPDATE: The latest rumor is that Overeem vs. Bobby Lashley is "very likely." We are "very" not excited.

SBN coverage of DREAM Dynamite!! 2010