Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Alistair Overeem, Katsunori Kikuno, Gegard Mousasi and Melvin Manhoef are all confirmed participants for DREAM.15 on July 10 at the Saitama Super Arena, DREAM Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara and FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa announced Thursday.While no match ups were announced, a lightweight title match between Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri seems likely given the event title of "A Fated Rivalry Bout, Realized."
Kawajiri went 4-0 in 2009 with notable wins of Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante and Kazunori Yokota and has been asking for a title shot since his win over JZ.
Tanikawa and Sasahara indicated that Strikeforce heavyweight champion Overeem has two likely opponents. One is an experienced fighter who has fought a lot in Japan and the other is also experienced but has yet to make his Japanese debut. While Josh Barnett may seem the obvious opponent, he was recently signed to fight Geronimo Dos Santos on the same day in Impact FC in Australia.
DREAM.15 will also host the opening round of the troubled light heavyweight tournament. Originally planned as an eight man ordeal for Korea at DREAM.14, it will now be a four-man tournament with the final, a title bout, to be held in September.
Then on New Year's Eve we can expect to see a match between the DREAM and Strikeforce light heavyweight champions. This bout on New Year's Eve would indicate that Strikeforce Champion Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal is not to compete in the DREAM tournament despite Sasahara's earlier comments that he would like him in the tournament.
In DREAM.14 news, Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa is set to return to the cage at DREAM.14 against a mystery opponent currently referred to as "X." When quizzed as to whether "X" was Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, Tanikawa commented that while Kimbo is the perfect opponent for the "Super Hulk" champion, it is impossible for DREAM.14.
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