Dream 1 Explained

Dream 1: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 1st Round
Promotion:	Dream
Date:	March 15, 2008
Venue:	Saitama Super Arena
City:	Saitama, Japan
Attendance:	19,120
Followingevent:	Dream 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 1st Round

Dream 1: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 1st Round was the inaugural event of the mixed martial arts promotion, Dream. It took place on Saturday, on March 15, 2008 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, Japan.

The event featured the first seven tournament bouts of the 2008 Dream Lightweight Grand Prix, fought at 70kg (150lb), along with a trio of open-weight fights. The evening's main event was a match featuring last year's Hero's Middleweight Champion, J.Z. Calvancanti of Brazil and Japanese judoka Shinya Aoki. All bouts were fought under Dream mixed martial arts rules, with a 10 min first and 5 min second round. It attracted a sellout crowd of 19,120 and was broadcast live across Japan on the TBS television network.^[1]

Notes

• The 8th matchup of the tournament was initially to be postponed until Dream 2 due to the injuries of Vítor Ribeiro and Caol Uno along with Gilbert Melendez's prior commitment to Strikeforce. Dream officials have decided to directly seed Caol Uno into the 2nd round against Mitsuhiro Ishida as the 8th fighter.
• André Amado was hospitalized after losing to Eddie Alvarez and was unavailable for the Post-fight interviews
• Dream 1 announced attendance was 19,120 and its reported TV ratings on TBS were 8.9% ^[2]
• 7 of the Fighters for Dream 2's 2008 Middleweight Grand Prix were announced:
  • Kazushi Sakuraba
  • Yoon Dong-Sik
  • Yoshihiro Akiyama
  • Shungo Oyama
  • Taiei Kin
  • Masakatsu Funaki
  • Ikuhisa Minowa

See also

• Dream (mixed martial arts)
• List of Dream champions
• 2008 in DREAM

References

1. Web site: "CroCop's Saitama Dream Comes True" . DiPietro . Monty . May 23, 2008 . K-1 Grand Prix Website . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070815220159/http://www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp/btop.htm . August 15, 2007 .
2. Web site: 『Dream 1』さいたまSA大会 出場ファイターの試合後のコメントPART.7 . Dreamofficial.com . 2008-03-15 . February 25, 2009.