Wednesday, July 27, DREAM officials confirmed the first bout for DREAM 17, scheduled to take place September 24 at Saitama Super Arena, in Saitama, Japan; UFC veteran Caol Uno (26-14-5) will test his might against two-time Shooto featherweight champ, Takeshi Inoue (20-5-0).
Representing Shooting Gym in Yokohama, Japan, Inoue has secured nearly half his wins by [T]KO stoppage with nine to-date. The 31 year old last appeared at DREAM - Fight for Japan, May 29, where he stopped Koichiro Matsumoto on punches at 6:51 of the first round.
A Freelance MMA fighter, Uno takes a more grappling intensive approach with 13 of 26 career victories coming by way of submission, while he has posted only 2 TKOs in 45 professional appearances. The 36 year old veteran recorded his first win in six attempts this past May 29 against Akiyo Nishiura, picking up a unanimous decision over 15 minutes.
Also in the news, DREAM event producer, Keiichi Sasahara revealing Wednesday that the promotion would be adjusting the format of their fights to three, five-minute rounds to fall in line with international norms.
Traditionally, DREAM bouts are contested over one, ten-minute round, with a second 5-minute frame to conclude non-title bouts. Title fights would follow 10, 5, 5, but will now see 5, 5-minute rounds as is common place in most promotions.
"While I believe that a 10-minute first round gives fighters a greater chance at finishing a fight, since we've lately been focusing on the lighter weight classes, for some reason the chances of them getting a finish like a knockout have been smaller," Sasahara explained. "Therefore, I've decided to take a proactive stance to reset things by changing round times. One of the reasons we adopted the five-minute round was to follow the international flow."
"I don't believe that changing all bouts to be three fives will somehow make all fights wonderful, but the change gives us a great chance to reset the fights themselves," he added.
Sasahara left those attending today's press-conference in suspense by adding that the promotion was actively pursuing a big-name, foreign opponent for promotion lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki, however nothing has been made official as those involved are locked in negotiations. Stay tuned for an announcement on that.
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