Former rivals Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri and Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen will square off for a second time at DREAM.17 on September 24th in Saitama, Japan. Kawajiri will make his featherweight debut in the fight after Hansen, a former DREAM Lightweight Champion, dropped down in weight last year.

The pair first faced off for Hansen’s Shooto Welterweight Championship at 154 pounds in February 2006, but the bout ended after just eight seconds due to an accidental low blow from Hansen. Now five and a half years later, Hansen will have a chance to gain a measure of revenge in the rematch.

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Just days after Alistair Overeem was abruptly released from his Strikeforce contract, three of the former champion’s Golden Glory teammates have also been cut. Overeem’s brother, Valentijn, along with UFC fighter John Olav Einemo and ex-Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen were all released.

News of Alistair Overeem’s release was first noted by Inside MMA on Friday, and Golden Glory rep Martijn de Jong confirmed the remaining cuts today. While contractual issues are believed to have played a role, a “lack of card space” was named as the reason for Coenen and Valentijn’s dismissals.

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The women took centre stage in a busy month of MMA in July, and Miesha “Takedown” Tate capped off the month by winning the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship from veteran Marloes “Rumina” Coenen. Tate takes over the top spot at 135 and cracks the top five pound-for-pound.

There were more shakeups in the women’s ranks, as Seo Hee Ham’s upset of “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi resulted in many changes in the 115-pound division. Elsewhere, Dan “Hendo” Henderson stopped Fedor Emelianenko and now finds himself simultaneously ranked in two divisions for the second time.

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