Yoshiro Maeda vs Chase “The Rage” Beebe

Round 1:
Maeda immediately opened up with big punches and kicks against the cage. Beebe tried to fight back with punches and a knee, but Maeda kept him against the cage and landed more strikes. A hard body kick landed for Maeda and he followed with a lead right hand. Beebe caught a kick and scored a takedown against the cage. Maeda stood up and landed two body kicks, then sidestepped a spinning back kick from Beebe.

Both fighters landed kicks and Maeda scored a takedown. Beebe tried briefly for a guillotine choke but let it go. Beebe punched from the bottom and Maeda postured up, then rained down six hard punches. Maeda used a lightning-fast transition to take Beebe’s back and instantly secured a rear naked choke. Beebe tried to hold on, but had no escape and tapped out seconds later. Big win for Maeda.

Winner: Yoshiro Maeda by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:35 of round one. He improves to 26-7-2.

Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs Won Sik “Parky” Park

Round 1:
Hironaka landed a three-punch flurry that backed Park up and followed with a stiff leg kick. The fighters traded leg kicks as they looked to find their range. Hironaka scored with a nice punch-kick combination and Park answered with an inside leg kick. More quick strikes were exchanged and Hironaka landed a hard kick to the leg.

A left hook landed for Hironaka and Park answered with a one-two that prompted Hironaka to clinch. Park broke free and Hironaka returned to leg kicks. Park answered with one of his own and rocked Hironaka with a right hook. He rushed in with more punches and a big knee. Hironaka survived and circled away and he seemed to recover quickly. The fighters traded punches and leg kicks in a game of one-upmanship.

However, in between rounds, Park’s corner threw in the towel due to what appeared to be an injury to his left eye. He was blinking heavily and covered his eye with his hand, and it was later confirmed that he could not see out of the eye at all. A punch from Hironaka had caused the injury. Hironaka was not happy with the way that the fight ended, but he takes the win nonetheless.

Winner: Kuniyoshi Hironaka by TKO (Corner Stoppage – Eye Injury) at 5:00 of round one. He improves to 16-6-0.

Tomoya Miyashita vs Keisuke Fujiwara

Round 1:
Miyashita shot in for a takedown right away and tried for a guillotine choke in a scramble. He wound up on top in half-guard and fended off upkicks from Fujiwara. Miyashita passed to side-control briefly, but Fujiwara regained half-guard. Fujiwara tried to sweep, but Miyashita pinned him down and maintained a front headlock.

Fujiwara partially secured a triangle choke, but Miyashita battled free. Miyashita landed knees to the head, but Fujiwara rolled over and upkicked from the bottom. The pace remained high as Miyashita tried to pass to side-control and ate a series of upkicks to the chest. Miyashita kneed Fujiwara in the head again and tried for a Brabo Choke as the round ended. The fights are not scored by round, but round one was all Miyashita.

Round 2:
Miyashita dragged Fujiwara to the canvas and wound up in Fujiwara’s guard. Fujiwara trapped him in an omoplata and looked to transition into a gogoplata, but Miyashita scrambled and landed short punches from Fujiwara’s half-guard. Miyashita moved to North-South position briefly, then stood up and was drilled by a series of upkicks.

Miyashita shook off the kicks and moved from mount to side-control. Fujiwara regained guard and kicked Miyashita off, but Miyashita quickly moved right back to side-control. Both fighters landed knees to the head on the ground and Miyashita spun into a North-South Choke, then gave it up in favour of knees to the head. Another scramble followed and Miyashita continued to score with knees. Fujiwara tried unsuccessfully for submissions at the bell.

Round 3:
Fujiwara stuffed a takedown in the final round and scored with a punch-kick combination, but Miyashita took him down. Fujiwara kicked from the bottom and briefly secured a triangle choke, but Miyashita slammed his way out. Miyashita passed to side-control, but Fujiwara managed to land two knees from the bottom. Miyashita answered with a series of knees himself.

Miyashita stayed in side-control and landed knees and hammerfists. He postured up and punched, then fought off an armbar from Fujiwara. Seconds later, Fujiwara trapped Miyashita in a triangle choke and frantically punched from the bottom. He tried to tighten the choke, but Miyashita created enough space with his shoulder to survive and he eventually broke free. From side-control, Miyashita landed hammerfists and short knee strikes. Fujiwara kneed from the bottom and tried for an armbar. Excellent fight.

Winner: Tomoya Miyashita by Unanimous Decision after three rounds. He improves to 13-5-6.

With Kazushi Sakuraba’s amazing come-from-behind submission victory and Eddie Alvarez’s perseverance for a comeback victory of his own, DREAM’s caged debut was a successful one and was a welcome sight after the unfortunate conclusion to UFC 104.