While most stateside fans are focused on Saturday’s “UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage” extravaganza, there will be some MMA action going down in the Orient this weekend, as well. “Dream.17” takes place inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
You better set your DVRs, because HDNet will broadcast the event live at 3AM ET/12AM PT (September 24th).
The card will showcase the opening round of Dream’s World Bantamweight Tournament. Submission specialist Shinya Aoki will also meet Rob McCullough in the event, however Aoki’s Dream lightweight title will not be up for grabs.
For the first time in company history, the scraps will feature three, five-minute rounds, as opposed to one 10-minute round followed by a five-minute round.
Here is the card’s complete roster:
Gerald Harris vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Willamy Freire
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Yan Cabral
Caol Uno vs. Takeshi Inoue
Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa and Baru Harn
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