At Dream 13 Josh Barnett made easy work of Mighty Mo. In the first round they traded punches, Mo landing a few decent shots. Barnett put on a few good leg kicks and then hit Mo square in the groin with a front kick. Mo did not look so mighty as he instantly fell to the canvas. After a TEN minute break to recover and being prodded by the Japanese officials to continue he manned up. Barnett felt him out on the feet for a short while, secured a takedown and immediately went for a kimura. The arm lock was tight and Mo tapped.
Afterwards, Barnett offered Mo the chance to get his revenge with a groin shot. Mo accepted and landed a short knee to the groin which Barnett absorbed with a smile. The fighters shook hands and went their separate ways. I'm not sure if that qualifies as sportsmanship, but if so the Barnett can be considered Sportsman of the Year in my book.
In other news, Bibiano Fernandes defended his DREAM Featherweight title against the always dangerous, Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen. It looked like Hansen had trouble with the cut, his first down to 139 lbs. He started slow in the first and Fernandes took advantage with a newly improved striking arsenal. Hansen turned on the power in the second but couldn't muster enough offense to win the decision. Fernandes wins by split decision.
K.J. Noons got a nice workout in chasing down former Chute Boxe member, Andre Dida. Dida showed nice prowess with the leg kicks but after Noons landed a few body shots he had Dida on the defensive. Noons, a former professional boxer, threw punches in bunches and stayed aggressive, earning himself a unanimous decision victory. He will return to the US for a fight under the Strikeforce banner.
PRIDE and UFC veteran, Ryo Chonan, outlasted Andrews Nakahara to win a unanimous decision. Nakahara showed some grit in the second firing away from his feet but wasn't able to earn the judges nod.
Cole Escovedo dispatched Yoshiro Maeda quickly with a thunderous head kick in Round 1. Maeda came forward aggressively trying to negate Escovedo's height but when he ducked, Escovedo threw the kick and it landed square on Maeda's chin. He was out before he hit the mat.
Katsunori Kikuno ran through former UFC employee, Kuniyoshi Hironaka. Kikuno landed the always painful liver kick and followed up with a big right hand. Hironaka fell and the referee rushed to his aid.
The ever-confusing Ikuhisa Minowa earned his fourth straight victory by way of footlock over the substantially larger Jimmy Ambriz. Minowa has a knack for taking on larger competition - something the Japanese MMA scene has always had a soft spot for.
Another good card for DREAM. I'm looking forward to more interaction between the Japanese promotion and US based Strikeforce. DREAM lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki will meet Strikeforce champion, Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce title which should be an exciting bout. Be sure to tune in to CBS on April 17th to check out the action.
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