Two fights have been added to the upcoming Dream.15 card on July 10th, joining a previously announced DREAM Lightweight Championship bout between Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri. In a newly-announced contender’s bout, recent Strikeforce signee Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante will face Katsunori Kikuno.
Also added to the card today was a DREAM Light Heavyweight Grand Prix opening round matchup between devastating knockout artist Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef and Japan’s Tatsuya Mizuno.
Cavalcante (14-3-1, 1 NC), who recently signed with Strikeforce, has battled knee injuries in recent years and is winless in his last three fights, but the American Top Team standout was once one of the premier lightweights in the world. He is coming off of losses to Aoki and Kawajiri, who will battle on the same Dream.15 card for the DREAM Lightweight Championship. An impressive victory over Kikuno could get Cavalcante back in the title picture.
Kikuno (13-2-2), known primarily for his debilitating crescent kicks to the liver, has tasted defeat just one time in his last 13 bouts. The loss came last October at Dream.12 against Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez, who defeated Kikuno in the second round after Kikuno nearly submitted him in the opening stanza with a unique standing full nelson. The reigning DEEP Lightweight Champion’s crescent kicks have become infamous and he has used them to great success in his four most recent victories, all of which ended with first-round knockouts.
Manhoef (24-7-1), a vicious striker, holds an incredible 23 knockout victories and advanced to the semi-finals of the 2008 DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix. However, the knockout king has since met with mixed success in both mixed martial arts and kickboxing, and has won just two of his last five fights. He made his Strikeforce debut in January and systematically picked apart final EliteXC champ “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler before Lawler rallied and knocked Manhoef out in the later stages of round one. Manhoef will now move back up in weight for the DREAM Light Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Mizuno (7-5-0) has only gone the distance one time in his career and is perhaps most famous as the 56-second victim of current UFC star Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović during the Croatian’s brief return to Japan at Dream.1 on March 15, 2008. Mizuno has made five appearances for M-1 Challenge and was victorious in three of those bouts. He is coming off of a November stoppage of Ilir Latifi in Sweden and brings a two-fight winning streak into the DREAM tournament. He will face a very tough test in his first-round bout with the always dangerous Manhoef.
Dream.15 takes place on July 10th at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)