My Thoughts on Dream 3

Dream 3 was a great card, I went 5 for 8 which I'm not so happy about, and I have seen the fights online so here's what I thought:

Uno vs. Ishida- As much as I hate Caol Uno, its good that Ishida is out of the tournament. I think Kawajiri was fighting tentatively with the thought that he would have to fight hit teammate Ishida at some point, but now I think Kawajiri will be a little more aggressive in trying to win the grand prix. Uno did look good with good standup and good takedown defense, Ishida basically had no answer for Uno's gameplan. I think Ishida needs to drop to 145 where he could outwrestle anyone, hes a very good fighter but guys like Frankie Edgar and Ishida can only get to a cetain level at 155.

Alvarez vs. Hansen- I have to say I'm very proud I called this fight perfectly. Alvarez did exactly what I thought he would do in out muscling Hansen with strong takedowns and battering him with quick hands, he even had a nice head kick at the end of the fight. Hansen did fight back though, he had great submission attempts and fought back on the feet. I said this fight could be fight of the year, theres a chance it could be, but there are seven more months left this year and many more fights to come.

Kawajiri vs. Buscape- Basically went exactly as I thought, Kawajiri pounded on Buscape, it was good to see him more aggressive than his last fight, but Kawajiri should be able to finish fights like this. Hopefully was Kawajiri fights Caol Uno he will be motivated through bad blood to go for a finish. And Buscape, he's a good fighter, but in marquee matchups he just doesn't come through.

Mayhem vs. Shibata- Mayhem did what I thought he would, he came out goofy and beat the shit out of the can he was fighting. Hopefully next round of the tournament Mayhem will fight a more serious opponent.

Melvin Manhoef vs. Dae Won Kim- Melvin Manhoef should not have been fighting. He got knocked out two weeks ago by Remy Bonjasky, hes still bruised and recovering. The fact that judoka Dae Won Kim almost knocked him out is scary, Manhoef was obviously still shaky from getting KO'd. He did manage to pull out the win, but he should not have been rocked in the fight.

Jung Bu-Kyung vs. Daisuke Nakamura- I'm not that surprised Nakamura won, he does have much more experience that Bu-Kyung, but I am a little disappointed in the Korean judoka's performance. I think Bu-Kyung could have done better in the fight, and I hope he doesn't give up on MMA quite yet. Nakamura showed he has good skills, but beating Kyung on the feet doesn't solidifiy him as top talent.

Diaz vs. Inoue- Nick Diaz won a quick boxing match. It was good to see Nick Diaz looking a little faster, I think hes much better at 167 than 160, I think the weight cut makes him a little too sluggish. He also displayed a much better attitude in the fight, something that was good to see. Inoue was tough, he was scrappy, but he didn't have the skills to hang in there with a good fighter in Diaz. I am very excited to see Diaz fight Hayato "Mach" Sakurai in July, I think that will be a great fight.

Maruyama vs. Yamazaki- I got this fight wrong as I didn't know much about either fighter. I underestimated team Grabaka fighter Yamazaki, he was able to get the fight to the ground and use superior skills to maintain dominant position and go for submissions. Its also great that Dream is planning on showcasing the 145 division, there are some really great fighters in that weight class and it will be nice to see another organization besides the WEC giving elite featherweights a chance to fight in a big show.