More "DREAM vs Sengoku" Fights Announced For K-1 Dynamite!!Potentially the greatest event to ever take place in mixed martial arts, the blockbuster New Year’s Eve K-1 Dynamite!! “Power of Courage 2009” card will feature at least half a dozen “DREAM vs Sengoku” superfights. Six additional fights were officially announced today.

Among those competing on the massive 19-fight K-1/MMA card are featherweight stars Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Masanori “Kin-chan” Kanehara, Hideo Tokoro and Marlon Sandro, as well as Japanese legends Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and “The Japanese Sensation” Akihiro Gono.

Expected to be the biggest event in Japanese MMA history, this year’s edition of Dynamite!! may prove to be the best event to ever take place in the sport. K-1 parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), in partnership with Sengoku parent company World Victory Road (WVR), is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the event is a massive success.

With Sengoku – now known as Sengoku Raiden Championships (SRC) – facing financial difficulties, the promotion opted against holding their own event on New Year’s Eve and instead chose to co-promote with FEG. That decision appears to be paying dividends as the stacked Dynamite!! card continues to grow with many new fights announced.

 

Officially announced DREAM vs Sengoku Raiden Championships bouts include:

– Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (17-2-0, 1 NC) vs Masanori “Kin-chan” Kanehara (15-7-5)
– Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (35-9-2) vs “The Japanese Sensation” Akihiro Gono (30-15-7)
– Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem (31-11-0, 1 NC) vs Kazuyuki “Ironhead” Fujita (15-8-0)
– Hideo Tokoro (25-21-1) vs Marlon Sandro (15-1-0)
– Hiroyuki “Streetfight Bancho” Takaya (12-7-1) vs Michihiro Omigawa (8-8-1)
– Katsuyori “The Mad Dog Wrestler” Shibata (4-6-1) vs Hiroshi Izumi (0-1-0)

 

In open-weight mixed martial arts competition, the DREAM Super Hulk Tournament concludes with a showdown between submission specialist and pro wrestling superstar Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa and explosive judo ace “The African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

The most anticipated fight on the card is arguably the MMA debut of Judo Olympic gold medallist Satoshi Ishii, who meets fellow Judo Olympic gold medallist and former PRIDE star Hidehiko Yoshida in what is easily one of the biggest fights to ever take place in Japan. It is expected to draw huge ratings on Japanese television.

In K-1 kickboxing action, Japanese megastar Masato will compete in his final K-1 bout when he faces Andy Souwer for the third time. “Sugar” Ray Sefo will battle Yosuke Nishijima in heavyweight action and the card will also feature the semi-final and final of the 2009 K-1 Koshien Grand Prix.

Rumoured MMA fights that have yet to be officially confirmed by FEG include a DREAM Lightweight Championship bout between champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri and a super heavyweight tilt between four-time K-1 Grand Prix Champion Semmy “High Tower” Schilt and 7’2″ Korean giant “The Techno Goliath” Hong Man Choi.

This year’s Dynamite!! card is expected to feature a total of up to 19 kickboxing and MMA fights. With the confirmed bouts today, the event seems poised to be a spectacle that has never been seen before. For the first time ever, Dynamite!! airs live in North America on HDNet.