The brand new Japanese promotionDREAM will hold their first even this Saturday evening at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Many consider DREAM to be the “rebirth” of the now Zuffa-owned Pride Fighting Championship. Whatever the case, MMA fans are hoping that DREAM can come close to the status held by PrideFC and provide yet another great MMA promotion.

Shinya Aoki vs Gesias Calvancante – The main event of the evening features a fight that was originally scheduled to take place on the New Year’s Eve “Yarennoka” event, but was postponed due to an injury to Calvancante. Now the fight is back on, and it should be an excellent battle. Both fighters are coming off victories over other competitors in the DREAM LWGP: “JZ” over Jung Bu-Kyung and Aoki over Andre Amade.

Without question Shinya Aoki has the advantage on the ground in the submission game. If you’ve never seen Aoki’s ground game, do yourself a favor and find some clips of him online – you won’t be sorry. On the other hand, Calvancante has the definitive advantage in the striking game. JZ is also a decent ground fighter and I think his size and strength will just be too much for Aoki. In my mind, Shinya needs to hope to catch JZ in an early submission by surprise, otherwise JZ will batter him on the feet and in the ground-and-pound if it does hit the mat. Winner: Gesias “JZ” Calvancante

Kultar Gill vs Tatsuya Kawajiri – Widely regarded as one of the top lightweights in the world, adding the LWGP title to his credits will only solidify that reputation for Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill has spent the last few years fighting in K-1: Hero’s with mixed results. I expect Kawajiri to easily take down Gill early in the first round and work his ground-and-pound game to a victory. Winner: Tatsuya Kawajiri

Andre Amade vs Eddie Alvarez – In what could be one of the most exciting fights of the night, Andre “Dida” Amade and former BodogFIGHT champion Eddie Alvarez will most likely stand and trade heavy punches with each other. Both fighters have solid striking and ground games, but I expect this fight will remain mostly on the feed. Alvarez most likely will hold the edge in power since he is a natural welterweight, but Amade should hold the edge in technique and kicks. I look for this fight to go into the second round with Amade winning via KO. Winner: Andre “Dida” Amade

Mirko Filipovic vs Tatsuya Mizuno – After a disgraceful showing in three fights in the UFC, Mirko Cro Cop returns to Japan with a hero’s welcome. The Japanese are happy to have their star home and have rewarded with a fight against a “can.” Cro Cop should be refocused now that he is back in Japan where he is most comfortable and more importantly, back fighting in a ring. The ring is one of the most important aspects of Cro Cop’s game as it allows him to setup angles and corner fighters where the cage didn’t allow him that option. Look for the old attacking, striking, high-kicking Cro Cop to return. Winner: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Jung Bu-Kyung – Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida
Katsuhiko Nagata vs Artur Oumakhanov – Winner: Artur Oumakhanov
Luiz Firmino vs Kazuyuki Miyata – Winner: Luiz Firmino
Koutetsu Boku vs Joachim Hansen – Winner: Joachim Hansen
Hidetaka Monma vs Hayato Sakurai – Winner: Hayato Sakurai
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Lee – Winner: Ikuhisa Minowa