UPSETS, FIGHT OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE, JOSE CANSECO HIGHLIGHT DREAM 9 MMA

Joe Warren has never lacked for confidence, occasionally proclaiming himself as ‘the baddest man on the planet’.  While we still consider Russian heavyweight to be the Fedor Emelianenko to be the rightful ‘BMOP’, Warren may soon be able to make a compelling case for that lofty sobriquet.  In the co-main event at DREAM 9 Warren defeated “Kid” Yamamoto by split decision in an upset that left the live crowd at Yokohama Arena in stunned silence and has to rank among the biggest ever in the sport.  Making Warren’s victory even more improbable is the fact that he’d had only one previous professional fight.

Yamamoto hadn’t fought since December 2007 due to knee surgery and subsequent rehab, and he definitely looked rusty.  His striking was sharp at times as he punished Warren’s legs with kicks, but even his most powerful punches did little to faze the iron jawed American.  Warren repeatedly took Yamamoto down and despite some obvious inexperience in his new sport basically outworked his opponent throughout.  The loss is only Yamamoto’s second as a professional and his first since a May 2002 stoppage due to a cut on a Shooto card in Tokyo.

Though he still has a lot of work to do toward becoming a well rounded MMA fighter, Warren’s potential is limitless.  He’s already showing considerable progress at building on his Greco-Roman wrestling base, including a surprising comfort level in the clinch where he frequently got the better in the exchanges with Yamamoto using knees and uppercuts.  Warren’s greatest asset as a professional prizefighter could very well be a downright ridiculous level of pain tolerance.  He kept coming forward despite Yamamoto’s repeated whip-like kicks to his legs, and walked right through several power punches that would have ended the fight against many opponents.

Warren’s victory was the second upset of the night and managed to eclipse an impressive unanimous decision victory by Tatsuya ‘Crusher’ Kawajiri over Gesias ‘JZ Calvan’ Calvancante.  Calvan had also come into his DREAM 9 matchup off a lengthy layoff, last fighting over a year ago against Shinya Aoki.  Kawajiri dominated the fight throughout, repeatedly scoring with takedowns and ground and pound while showing surprisingly well in the standup exchanges.  JZC looked overly cautious and his conservative approach to the fight made him easy prey for ‘Crusher’.

The event also featured what could be an early candidate for ‘fight of the year’ as Hideo Tokoro managed to defeat Abel Cullum by second round submission to a rear naked choke.  Cullum appeared downright exhausted after an opening ten minutes that rivaled anything ever seen in MMA for back and forth action.  When the two men weren’t on the ground exchanging submission attempts they were standing toe to toe throwing punches—ultimately, the furious pace of the action defies any attempt to describe it.  It simply must be seen to be believed. 

In a strange prelude to an excellent evening of MMA competition, DREAM also presented the sort of train-wreck spectacle that you’ll only find in Japanese fight sports.  The “Super Hulk” tournament brought together a strange assortment of fighters, none more bizarre than former Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco who faced 7’2” Korean kickboxer Hong Man Choi.  The 44 year old Canseco entered the event with virtually no fighting experience—his “career highlight” being a boxing draw with former “Partridge Family” sibling Danny Bonaduce.  Canseco eventually lost by TKO after the massive Korean floored him with a punch and followed up with a ‘ground and pound’ attack, but he gave a surprisingly good account of himself.  In any case, it wasn’t as ugly of a mismatch as it could have been.