DREAM 13 was held Monday March 22, 2010 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. The event aired live in North America on HDNet in the wee hours of the morning, and will replay on Saturday March 27 at 11:00 pm EST.
The main event featured Bibiano "The Flash" Fernandes defending his DREAM Featherweight Championship against Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen, who was dropping down to 138-pounds for the first time in his career. Hansen appeared quite malnourished in his new weight class and seemed to lack the same intensity he usually brings into a fight. Fernandes, on the other hand, looked better than he ever has. The fight went the distance, and despite a somewhat lackluster performance from Hansen for the first half of the fight, he managed to turn up the heat in the second half and ended up winning on one judges' scorecard. Problem for Hansen was, Fernandes won on the other two judges' scorecards, so he walked away still holding his title with the split decision victory.
In the co-main event, Josh "The Baby Faced Assassin" Barnett tapped out Siala "Mighty Mo" Siligia with a kimura, but only after perhaps the strangest quarter-hour in MMA history, where Mighty Mo's nuts got their 15 minutes of fame. Barnett, who was wearing shoes, unintentionally kicked Mighty Mo square in the balls, sending the mighty Samoan one to the canvas in excruciating pain. From the look on Mo's face, it was almost a certainty that he would not be able to continue. Doctors and ringside officials gathered around Mo, trying to get him to sit up on a stool, but Mo was having none of it. He continued to lay on the ground and indicated that he could not continue. Now, had this fight been in America, that would've been a wrap. But this fight was happening in Japan, where it is common practice that the ringside doctor will actually massage a fighter's testicles after he's been kicked there, while referees hold up towels to shield the audience from the show down below. The towels were brought into the ring, but Mo wasn't all that keen on being massaged, so instead everyone just waited. He did eventually sit up on the stool, but was still saying he couldn't continue. The look on Mo's face was priceless as he began to realize these guys actually wanted him to continue to fight and weren't going to take no for an answer.
In what might've been a Guinness record, there must've been a dozen referees gathered in the center of the ring in a circle having some sort of gonad conference. Meanwhile, DREAM and Strikeforce officials were up on the apron urging Mighty Mo to consider continuing with the fight. It was an incredibly bizarre scene that must be viewed to fully appreciate the comedic nuances of it all, especially when you consider Michael "The Voice" Schiavello and Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg were announcing on HDNet. It was definitely one of the strangest and funniest 15 minutes I've ever witnessed in MMA. Mighty Mo did eventually continue, to which Schiavello praised his testicular fortitude, but Josh Barnett sealed the deal shortly thereafter with a chicken wing armlock. In the ultimate sign of respect and humility, Barnett actually allowed Mo to return the favor and kick him in the balls after the fight was over.
A 15-minute boxing match broke out in the fight between KJ Noons and Andre "Dida" Amade, to which the advantage went to Noons. Dida allowed Noons to walk him around the ring landing jabs and hooks aplenty. There were countless opportunities where Noons, with his boxing instincts, had his head lowered avoiding punches, that Dida could've countered with a knee strike, but instead he seemed content playing Noons' punch-for-punch game. Dida landed some kicks here and there, but not anywhere near the amount he could have, given Noons was showing no threat of wanting to go for a takedown. At one point, Dida actually motioned for Noons to engage, while he was himself continuing to retreat. The reality was Noons was engaging. Dida was trying to fight a counter style, but was often leaving out the counter part, which lead to Noons stalking him around the ring punching him in the body and face. In the end, Noons was awarded a clear unanimous decision victory.
In the Madman Fight of the Night, Ryo "Piranha" Chonan returned to form after some recent struggles that had many speculating whether he might just be done as a relevant fighter. Chonan dominated the first round against Andrews Nakahara, who came back stronger in the second round. Near the end of the second round, both fighters stood toe-to-toe and exchanged a flurry of strikes. It appeared as though Nakahara was about to make an incredible comeback, as he had Chonan reeling, but Chonan managed to hang on and get the well-deserved unanimous decision victory.
Cole Escovedo landed a beautiful high kick to the jaw of Yoshiro Maeda, knocking him out cold two and a half minutes into the first round of their featherweight fight. Maeda had given Escovedo some trouble early, but ended up being the victim of a highlight reel finish.
If not for Cole Escovedo's spectacular knockout of Yoshida Maeda, the KO of the Night award would've went to Katsunori Kikuno, who landed one of his patented crescent kicks straight to the liver of Kuniyoshi Hironaka, which forced Hironaka to stand up straight and opened him up for a left and a right to the jaw. It was an amazing sequence to behold and proved Kikuno is a real force to be reckoned with in the DREAM lightweight division.
In the opening bout of the card, Jimmy "The Titan" Ambriz smothered Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa with his 80 pounds of additional weight for the entire first round of their openweight bout. Ambriz was able to use his size advantage to control Minowa on the ground, landing looping punches to Minowa's head, and suplexing him back to the mat every time he tried to get up. What Ambriz was not able to do, was to take advantage of endless submission opportunities available to him when he had Minowa's back. Similar to his fight with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Minowaman rode out the storm, getting beat and battered in the process of waiting for a spot to go for a leg submission.
In the first round, Ikuhisa Minowa tried several times to roll for a kneebar or leglock, but Jimmy Ambriz defended well. Finally, halfway through the second round, Minowaman was able to reverse positions and get into Ambriz's guard. From there, Minowa fell back into a toehold and the big man tapped out. The Giant Killer once again prevailed, and we were treated with celebratory Minowaman fist pumps. Picking Ambriz to win this fight, I learned the hard way to never underestimate the power of the Minowa mullet. I admit I am not worthy, and I now bow to Minowaman's greatest.
DREAM 13
{Featherweight Championship}
Bibiano Fernandes (8-2) won by SD over Joachim Hansen (19-9). [15:00]
Josh Barnett (25-5) won by SUB over Mighty Mo (3-2) in R1. [4:41]
KJ Noons (8-2) won by UD over Andre Dida (6-4). [15:00]
Ryo Chonan (17-10) won by UD over Andrews Nakahara (2-2). [15:00]
Cole Escovedo (16-4) won by KO over Yoshiro Maeda (26-8) in R1. [2:29]
Katsunori Kikuno (13-2) won by KO over Kuniyoshi Hironaka (16-7) in R1. [1:26]
Ikuhisa Minowa (45-30) won by SUB over Jimmy Ambriz (14-13) in R2. [12:42]
Updated MMA win-loss records with total fight time in brackets.
UD = Unanimous | SD = Split Decision | SUB = Submission | R = Round
MADMAN AWARDS
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
Ryo Chonan vs.
Andrews Nakahara
KO OF THE NIGHT:
Cole Escovedo (over Yoshiro Maeda)
SUB OF THE NIGHT:
Ikuhisa Minowa (toe hold) over Jimmy Ambriz
QUICKEST WIN:
Cole Escovedo over Yoshiro Maeda in 86 seconds
BIGGEST UPSET:
Cole Escovedo (+160) over Yoshiro Maeda
GOAT OF THE NIGHT:(
Andre Dida
