There's only one spot left for the final eight entrants in the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix. The remaining spot will be determined between Hideo Tokoro vs. Daika "DJ Taiki" Hata at DREAM.8.
Featherweight GP
- Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto
- Fernandes Bibiano
- Joe Warren
- Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura
- Yoshiro Maeda
- Hiroyuki Takaya
- Masakazu Imanari
- Winner of Hideo Tokoro vs. Daika "DJ Taiki" Hata
DREAM.7 POST-FIGHT
David Gardner said he was irritated that he couldn't do anything once Shinya Aoki locked in the rear-naked choke. Gardner, with Aoki on his back, waved and said hello to Japan and was promptly submitted. Gardner said afterwards that he wanted to entertain the audience.
"When he said 'Hello Japan' raising his hand, I though 'Shut up' and attacked him immediately," Aoki said.
Yoshiro Maeda, who fought all three fights in 2008 for the WEC, admitted he fought too defensively due to nervousness in his return to Japan. Micah Miller felt he controleld the fight but respects the judges' decision.
Tatsuya Kawajiri called Ross Ebanez unprofessional for not making weight. Ebanez explained that he accepted the offer to fight a week ago and had to drop 20 pounds. Ebanez said he didn't recover from the weight loss but also didn't want to give up in the fight.
JOACHIM HANSEN
DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen is still not in condition to fight and his first challenger will be decided once Hansen has a comeback date. Tatsuya Kawajiri has requested to fight "JZ Calvan" to decide the number one contender. WAMMA lightweight champion Shinya Aoki is the official number one contender but could be busy as an entrant in this year's Welterweight GP.
DREAM SPECIAL EVENT
DREAM will announce details in April for a special event. The rumor is that DREAM will hold a tournament pitting its fighters against either UFC veterans or Strikeforce fighters.