Former type Private Website Dreamofficial.com Ceased operations June 3, 2012 | Defunct June 3, 2012 Founded 13 February 2008 | |
 | ||
Industry Mixed martial arts promotion Key people Keiichi Sasahara, Head and MatchmakerDaisuke Sato, Productions Director Parent organization | ||
Dream (styled DREAM in capitals) was a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. DREAM replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retained many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC broadcasts, including fight introducer Lenne Hardt. In America, the promotion is aired on HDNet. They promoted over 20 shows highlighting some of the best Japanese and international MMA talent, establishing or enhancing the careers of top ranked fighters such as Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Ronaldo Jacaré, Eddie Alvarez, Jason Miller, Kazushi Sakuraba, Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem.
Contents
- Pride FCs buyout and Yarennoka
- Heros dissolution and Dreams emergence
- Partnership with HDNet
- Partnership with EliteXC
- Alliance with Strikeforce
- Alliance with ONE Fighting Championship
- Partnership with ProElite
- Cease of business operations
- Revival show
- Weight classes
- Round length
- Judging
- Attire
- Fouls and violations
- Tournament substitutions
- Event locations
- References
Pride FC's buyout and Yarennoka!
After the Zuffa buyout of Pride FC, the former Dream Stage Entertainment executives put on a collaborative New Year's Eve mixed martial arts show with Shooto, M-1 Global, and the Fighting and Entertainment Group, called Yarennoka!. This show was intended to be a farewell show of Pride FC. However, due to its success and further petitioning by Japanese MMA fans, the FEG and the former DSE staff decided to combine their efforts and form a new Japanese promotion.
Hero's dissolution and Dream's emergence
Their new promotion was confirmed on February 13, 2008, along with Hero's dissolution. All of Hero's' fighters were confirmed (such as Hero's champions Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Akiyama and JZ Calvan) to be part of the new promotion along with the additions of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Shinya Aoki, Kazushi Sakuraba, Mitsuhiro Ishida, and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Another notable announcement was Dream's partnership with M-1 Global, who confirmed that they would allow the last Heavyweight Champion of Pride FC (and the winner of the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix), Fedor Emelianenko, to fight in their events. Emelianenko was present at the Dream press conference to promote the alliance between the two shows.
Partnership with HDNet
On May 2, 2008, Dream aired for the first time in the United States with a repeat of Dream 1 on HDNet. A repeat of Dream 2 was aired the following day, while Dream 3 was aired live on May 11. All future Dream events will be airing on HDNet as a part of the network's HDNet Fights series.
Partnership with EliteXC
On May 10, 2008, Dream announced the working partnership with US promotion EliteXC. The two groups intended to share fighters and eventually co-promote shows. However, with EliteXC went bankrupt before the alliance could materialize.
Alliance with Strikeforce
On August 5, 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that the two promotions had signed a formal alliance. This is reportedly a deal that has been talked about for quite some time, but has finally come to fruition. The result of this deal is that the two organizations will exchange fighters and work together to bring MMA fans the best fights possible. Also, because of Strikeforce's recent agreement with Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global, it is presumable that they would be involved in the alliance as well. In October 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated interest in unifying the titles between the two promotions. However Dream has yet to give a public response. It's likely all unification plans have been dropped due to Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, acquiring Strikeforce.
Alliance with ONE Fighting Championship
November 23, 2011 sources close to ONE Fighting Championship announced a new alliance with DREAM to copromote shows and participate in fighter exchange.
Partnership with ProElite
On January 17, 2012 ProElite announced a partnership with DREAM to copromote shows and exchange fighters.
Cease of business operations
On May 16, 2012, Sadaharu Tanikawa officially declared the bankruptcy of FEG. The promotion began to be managed by its proper parental company Real Entertainment Co. Ltd. and as of June 3, 2012, Dream has effectively gone out of business.
Revival show
A revival show dubbed "Dream.18: Special NYE 2012" was set for December 31, 2012 under the financial backing of kickboxing promotion Glory Sports International. The event promoted mixed martial arts and kickboxing bouts at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, carrying on the tradition of fight events every New Year's Eve for at least one more year.
Weight classes
Dream has 7 weight classes. Unlike Hero's, each weight class will have a champion with a defendable title.
It was announced that in 2011 Dream will create a new Bantamweight class at 61 kg (134 lb), and the Featherweight class will be raised to 65 kg (143 lb).
Round length
Judging
Attire
Dream allows fighters latitude in their choice of attire but open finger gloves, a mouthguard and a protective cup are mandatory. Fighters are allowed to use tape on parts of their body or to wear a gi top, gi pants, wrestling shoes, kneepads, elbow pads, or ankle supports at their own discretion, though each must be checked by the referee before the fight.
Fouls and violations
Tournament substitutions
Event locations
These cities have hosted the following numbers of Dream events as of Dream 18: