A matchup between two WEC veterans and the participation of Josh Barnett were made official Friday for DREAM.13 on March 22 in Yokohama, Japan.Although a rumor leaked hours before that Barnett would likely face kickboxer Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga, DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara said the promotion is still determining an opponent.
The lone bout announced during the press conference was Yoshiro Maeda taking on Cole Escovedo.
Escovedo was the first-ever WEC featherweight champion back in 2002 and dropped his title four years later to Urijah Faber. Escovedo has mostly bounced around from cards in California and this will be his first trip to Japan. After beating a serious staph infection from 2007 and missing two years of action, Escovedo returned last May and compiled four straight wins.
Maeda fought for the WEC in 2008 and was thrown in the title mix right away. After knocking out Charlie Valencia, Maeda challenged Miguel Torres for the bantamweight belt. He lost to Torres and Rani Yahya, and then returned to Japan for DREAM in 2009. Maeda is coming off a submission victory over former WEC champ Chase Beebe last October at DREAM.12.
The fight card currently stands at seven fights.
Yoshiro Maeda vs. Cole Escovedo
Josh Barnett vs. TBA
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Joachim Hansen
Katsunori Kikuno vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
KJ Noons vs. Andre Dida
Ryo Chonan vs. Andrews Nakahara
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Jimmy Ambriz
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