For the first time ever at Olympia Dream.12: “The Cage of the Rising Sun,” the DREAM promotion showcased an event contested entirely inside the confines of a white cage. All fights were scheduled for three five-minute rounds for this event only.

Headlining the card was a brief heavyweight bout between reigning Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem and former PRIDE mainstay James “The Colossus” Thompson. MMARising.com has live play-by-play from the event as the action happened.

Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem vs James “The Colossus” Thompson

Round 1:
Thompson rushed forward, but could not connect with his lunging punches. Overeem tried a flying knee and literally almost flew over the fairly short cage wall. Overeem regained his footing and trapped Thompson in a standing guillotine choke. Thompson tried to spin out of it, but could not and was forced to submit. A predictably quick victory for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.

Winner: Alistair Overeem by Submission (Standing Guillotine Choke) at 0:32 of round one. He improves to 31-11-0, 1 NC.

Eddie Alvarez vs Katsunori Kikuno

Round 1:
Alvarez shot in for an early takedown, but Kikuno stuffed it and trapped Alvarez in a standing crucifix. Alvarez could not move or escape, but he withstood the pain and Kikuno eventually let go of the hold and landed knees. Alvarez’s neck was clearly hurting, but he fought off follow-up strikes and clinched. Alvarez missed with lunging punches and Kikuno landed a knee. Two kicks landed for Kikuno and he stuffed a pair of takedowns.

Both fighters began to swing wildly with looping punches. Alvarez backed Kikuno up with a nice counterpunch and the fighters clinched briefly. Another quick exchange followed and Alvarez looked for a takedown against the cage. The referee separated the fighters and Kikuno landed a pair of liver kicks. Alvarez countered a spinning back kick with a right hook that sent Kikuno off-balance, but Kikuno landed another liver kick before the bell.

Round 2:
Kikuno opened round two with another hard liver kick, but Alvarez dropped him with a right cross. Kikuno got up right away and unleashed a flashy spinning crescent kick that just missed. Kikuno landed a knee and tried to pull guard with a modified shoulder lock. Alvarez swept and locked on a guillotine choke. Kikuno survived and escaped.

Back on the feet, Alvarez backed Kikuno up with punches and both fighters connected in an exchange. The fighters began to tire and both threw slow punches. Alvarez scored a takedown and Kikuno attempted a weak guillotine. Alvarez easily escaped and passed Kikuno’s guard. He secured an arm-triangle choke and Kikuno, after trying to hold on, tapped out seconds later. Amazing back-and-forth battle.

Winner: Eddie Alvarez by Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 3:32 of round two. He improves to 19-2-0.

Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis vs Myeon Ho Bae

Round 1:
Zaromskis rushed forward with a flying knee and punches, but was stunned by a right hook counter. However, less than ten seconds later, the fight was all over as Zaromskis floored Bae with his now-trademark head kick – this time a left head kick – and the fight was immediately stopped. Another explosive head-kick knockout for the reigning DREAM Welterweight Champion.

Winner: Marius Zaromskis by KO (Head Kick) at 0:19 of round one. He improves to 13-3-0.