On Friday morning, the eight contestants that will be participating in the Bantamweight Grand Prix at “Dream.17” were announced. The September 24th show takes place inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The 135-pound tournament pairings are as follows: Antonio Banuelos vs. Hideo Tokoro, Bibiano Fernandes vs. Takafumi Otuska, Masakazu Imanari vs. Abel Cullum and Rodolfo Marques vs. Yusup Saadulaev.
Submission specialist Shinya Aoki will also meet Rob McCullough in the event, however Aoki’s Dream lightweight title will not be up for grabs.
No word if HDNet will make the card available for viewing in North America.
Here are the athletes scheduled to perform in the Land of the Rising Sun:
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Willamy Freire
Caol Uno vs. Takeshi Inoue
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen
Rob McCullough vs. Shinya Aoki (Dream Lightweight Champion)*
World Bantamweight Grand Prix (1stRound):
Rodolfo Marques vs. Yusup Saadulaev
Masakazu Imanari vs. Abel Cullum
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Takafumi Otuska
Antonio Banuelos vs. Hideo Tokoro
* Non-title fight