Dream 6

For the precursor to rock band Concrete Blonde, see Johnette Napolitano.

Dream 6: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 Final Round
The poster for Dream 6: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 Final Round
Promotion	Dream
Date	September 23, 2008
Venue	Saitama Super Arena
City	Saitama, Japan
Attendance	25,000 [1]
Event chronology
Dream 5: Light Weight Grandprix 2008 Final Round Dream 6: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 Final Round DREAM.7: Feather Weight Grandprix 1st Round

Dream 6: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 Final Round was a mixed martial arts event promoted by Fighting and Entertainment Group's mixed martial arts promotion Dream on September 23, 2008. The event hosted the crowning of Dream's first Middleweight Champion, Gegard Mousasi, after the conclusion of the Middleweight Grand Prix. ^[2]

Background

A bout between Ronaldo Souza and Frank Trigg was announced for the Middleweight Grand Prix. Trigg would subsequently announce that a visa wasn't secured and the bout between the two wasn't finalized. Trigg was replaced by National university freestyle wrestling champion Ian Murphy. ^[3]

Jason Miller made his DREAM debut, facing Katsuyori Shibata in the first round of the Grand Prix. ^[4]

Taiei Kin was pitted against Ikuhisa Minowa, while Gegard Mousasi was expected to fight the PRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix finalist Denis Kang. Yoon Dong-Sik was booked to fight Shungo Oyama. ^[5]

Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba faced Andrews Nakahara. ^[6]

The last fight announced was Kiyoshi Tamura against Masakatsu Funaki. ^[7]

Results

Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Final
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Middleweight	Gegard Mousasi	def.	Ronaldo Souza	KO (upkick)	1	2:15
Main Card
Heavyweight	Alistair Overeem	vs.	Mirko Cro Cop	No Contest (knee to the groin)	1	6:09
Lightweight	Shinya Aoki	def.	Todd Moore	Submission (neck crank)	1	1:10
Middleweight	Yoshihiro Akiyama	def.	Masanori Tonooka	Submission (armbar)	1	6:26
Welterweight	Hayato Sakurai	def.	Kuniyoshi Hironaka	Decision (unanimous)	2	5:00
Middleweight	Masakatsu Funaki	def.	Ikuhisa Minowa	Submission (heel hook)	1	0:52
Featherweight	Atsushi Yamamoto	def.	Hideo Tokoro	Decision (unanimous)	2	5:00
Heavyweight	Sergei Kharitonov	def.	Jimmy Ambriz	Submission (punches)	1	2:15
Lightweight	Keita Nakamura	def.	Adriano Martins	Decision (split)	2	5:00
Middleweight Grand Prix Semi final
Middleweight	Ronaldo Souza	def.	Zelg Galesic	Submission (armbar)	1	1:27
Middleweight	Gegard Mousasi	def.	Melvin Manhoef	Submission (triangle choke)	1	1:28
Middleweight Grand Prix reserve bout
Middleweight	Andrews Nakahara	def.	Dong Sik Yoon	TKO (punches)	2	0:30

2008 Middleweight Grand Prix bracket

First round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Ronaldo Souza

W Sub

Ian Murphy

Ronaldo Souza

W Dec

Jason Miller

Jason Miller

W TKO

Katsuyori Shibata

Ronaldo Souza

W Sub

Zelg Galesic

Zelg Galesic

W Sub

Magomed Sultanakhmedov

Zelg Galesic

W TKO

Taiei Kin

Taiei Kin

W Dec

Ikuhisa Minowa

Ronaldo Souza

Gegard Mousasi

W KO

Gegard Mousasi

W Sub

Denis Kang

Gegard Mousasi

W Dec

Yoon Dong-Sik

Yoon Dong-Sik

W Dec

Shungo Oyama

Gegard Mousasi

W SUB

Melvin Manhoef

Kazushi Sakuraba

W Sub

Andrews Nakahara

Kazushi Sakuraba

Melvin Manhoef**

Win KO

Kiyoshi Tamura

W TKO

Masakatsu Funaki

** = Replacement

Dream Middleweight Grand Prix Reserve Bouts:

Melvin Manhoef def. Dae Won Kim at Dream 3

Andrews Nakahara def. Yoon Dong-sik at Dream 6

Notes

• Badr Hari approached the ring prior to the Middle-Weight Final bout and challenged the Dream Heavyweight fighters to a match against him at the K-1 Dynamite Show in Tokyo. He also insulted the performance of the competitors by stating "All I've seen tonight is a bunch of hugging and kissing" ^[8]
• Fedor Emelianenko announced his desire to participate in Dream's New Year show: Fields Dynamite!! 2008 on December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena. He was expected to face the winner of the Cro Cop vs. Overeem bout, but due to the No Contest, his opponent remained undecided. ^[9]
• Joachim Hansen addressed the crowd and announced his participation at Fields Dynamite!! 2008, with his opponent to be determined.
• A number of World Victory Road fighters were in attendance and Yoshihiro Akiyama hinted at a potential merger on the horizon by declaring he wanted to fight Hidehiko Yoshida next. Notable WVR fighters at Dream.6 included Takanori Gomi, Xande Ribeiro, and Josh Barnett.
• The Average TBS broadcast rating was 9.0 with a peak of 13.4 during the Akiyama vs. Tonooka fight. Announced attendance was 25,000.
• Mirko Cro Cop was taken to a hospital for treatment and was unavailable for post-fight comments.

Tournament bonuses

• Semifinalists Zelg Galesic and Melvin Manhoef both earned a 1,000,000円 bonus for their performance in the tournament.
• Runner-up Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza received a 3,000,000円 bonus for his efforts.
• Winner Gegard Mousasi earned a 10,000,000円 bonus to become Dream's first Middle-Weight Champion.

See also

• Dream (mixed martial arts)
• List of Dream champions
• 2008 in DREAM

References

1. "DREAM.6 recap: Gegard Mousasi wins grand prix with upkick KO of "Jacare"". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
2. "MMA Review #234: DREAM 6: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Finals". The Oratory. Retrieved 22 April 2020.^{[ dead link ]}
3. "Ian Murphy vs Jacare in DREAM Tourny". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
4. ""Mayhem" vs. Shibata at May 11 DREAM". MMA Feed. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
5. "ZELG GALEŠIĆ NA DREAM-u 2". Cro Ring. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
6. "Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Andrews Nakahara". Tapology. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
7. "MMA review #229". The Oratory. Retrieved 22 April 2020.^{[ dead link ]}
8. "Alistair Overeem Demands His Respect: MMA Fighter Ko's K-1 Heavyweight Star". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
9. "DREAM.6 recap: Gegard Mousasi wins grand prix with upkick KO of "Jacare"". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 22 April 2020.

External links

Dream 6 official card