Hioki is awesome. I'd love to see him in the WEC or in one of the tournaments. He can hang with anyone on the ground at featherweight.
HW GP sounds intriguing
I wonder if Roger Gracie will be included.
IT says on that site that ROger might fight Monson, I d guess the winner of that fight could get a spot in that tourney
Itd be cool if Sengoku got Werdum, hes not signed with anyone and a GP with him Bigfoot and Barnett would be legit
UPDATE
Sengoku has confirmed 5 Featherweights:
Marlon Sandro
Ronnie Mann
Hatsu Hioki
Chris Manuel
Nick Denis
Several updates, including Kid now likely to get a second round bye into the DREAM tournament, limiting the field to 15.
Jordan Breen published on the tournaments here:
www.sherdog.com/news/articles/dream-sengoku-begin-tourney-selections-aoki-eyes-168-pound-slot-15968
sick of greasing discussion, now's a good time to discuss featherweights.
Micah Miller is going to be in the Dream LW tourney according to AAT website
^ I had assumed that. Awesome addition to the field. He and Chase Beebe are some pretty strong American delegates, in the tradition of Eddie Alvarez and Mayhem Miller.
Huge DREAM Update!
12 of the 15-16 Contenders for the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix were announced today. They were mostly rumored names, with a couple pleasant surprises of Hiroyuki Takaya and Joe Warren (!). Notably absent was Kid Yamamoto, who is still being negotiated with for a 2nd round bye.
If they get Kid, he will not fight at DREAM 7, and the field will be limited to 15 fighters. If they do not get Kid, expect all 8 featherweight Grand Prix bouts to happen in March at Dream 7
HEIWA DREAM.7 Featherweight GP 2009 1st Round
Date: March 8th, 2009
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Featherweight GP Participants:
Masakazu Imanari
Hiroyuki Takaya
Takafumi Otsuka
Hideo Tokoro
Wicky Akiyo
Atsushi Yamamoto
Bibiano Fernandes
Micah Miller
Chase Beebe
Joe Warren
Kim Jong Won
Shoji Maruyama/DJ Taiki Hata (qualifying fight at DEEP)
Possible Participants:
Gegard Mousasi
Melvin Manhoef
The mock up of the tournament field has been included on the first page. I still expect Miyata and Uyenoyama to get slots, Kid now seem questionable. It's going to be a GREAT tournament!!!
Masanori Kanehara, Tetsuya Yamada, and Chang Son Jon formally announced by WVR as participants in the FWGP at a press conference today.
Not to be outdone by DREAM and Sengoku's announcements, Bellator today confirmed Joe Soto and Nick Gonzalez for their featherweight fields.
Not interested at all, the top FW are in the WEC.
Look for Huge things from Micah. No one has really seen him fight since his bout with Cub. He won by quick KO and lost by a quick KO since then and a unseen fight in NC.
Look for him to do big things in the tourney.
Tim
Current tournament fields:
* = Confirmed
Sengoku Featherweight GP:
Marlon Sandro *
Hatsu Hioki *
Nick Denis *
Ronnie Ushikawa *
Chris Manuel *
Masanori Kanehara *
Chan Sung Jung *
Tetsuya Yamada *
Michihiro Omigawa
Shintaro Ishiwatari
Nam Phan
DREAM Featherweight GP:
Micah Miller *
Masakazu Imanari *
Wicky Akiyo *
Hideo Tokoro *
Takafumi Otsuka *
Atsushi Yamamoto *
Chase Beebe *
Joe Warren *
Kim Jong Won *
Bibiano Fernandes *
Hiroyuki Takaya *
Daiki Hata vs. Shoji Maruyama Winner *
Kazuyuki Miyata
Takeshi Yamazaki
Kid Yamamoto (2nd Round)
Bellator FC Featherweight Tournament:
Wilson Reis *
Ben Greer *
Sami Aziz *
Nick Gonzalez *
Joe Soto *
I like Sandro in the Sengoku GP, Bibano in DREAM, and Reis (naturally) in Bellator FC
jose aldo
wagnney fabiano
^Both under WEC contract, so I wouldn't expect to see them.
Smoogy I'll take Reis, Imanari, and an unannounced Yuji Hoshino in the Sengoku GP :)