choke sleeper specialist Chase Beebe battled compatriot Joe Warren, a wrestler making his mixed martial arts debut. Beebe connected with punches as the two stayed on their feet in the early going, but Warren did better with a savage right, and then kept the initiative, throwing the fight's first takedown. Beebe wrapped round a high guard before deftly kicking his opponent back and off. After short time on their feet, Warren again took the action to the mat, but the experienced Beebe dominated from guard. They got to their feet late in the round, where a Warren right knee caught Beebe hard on the face, opening a gruesome gash. The first ended soon afterward, but the ringside doctor would not clear the hemorrhaging Beebe to continue, and Warren had the win.

"I'm a wrestler, so this was all new to me, but now I'm very confident, and I believe in myself." Warren told the media afterward. "My mind is very strong and my techniques will be 100% better next time. I'm here for the belt, and anything that gets in my way now is just an obstacle I'll overcome!"

In the last of the Featherweight GP matchups, Japanese wrestler Takafumi Otsuka took on accomplished Brazilian jujitsu fighter Bibiano Fernandes.

The pair went to the mat early, where Fernandes landed a few fists to the head from half mount before standing to pass with punches. The boys fought on their feet through the remainder of the first, Otsuka evading most of his opponent's roundhouses, hot-dogging, and sinking some decent counters, also scoring by foiling Fernandes' leg takedown attempts. After piggybacking in rear mount for a spell, Fernandes pumped up a knee that was the strike of the second round and stunned Otsuka. Fernandes unfortunately did not exploit, allowing the Japanese fighter to ride out the round. A unanimous decision in favor of Fernandes.

"He was strong, and a good fighter," said Brazilian afterward. "I trained a lot for striking, I trained with Black Mamba and his team. And in the next lightweight Grand Prix event, it doesn't matter at all to me who I fight, I will fight whomever I face."


There were three other bouts on the card.

In a Welterweight Superfight, Japanese MMA ace Shinya Aoki tangoed with American wrestler David Gardner.

From the opening bell, Aoki went for the leg takedown. But Gardner caught an arm, twisted his opponent to his side, and delivered a number of rights. Unfazed, Aoki twisted round to a back mount, whereupon the pair bobsledded uneventfully for a time. Gardner escaped a triangle attempt, and the fighters started again on their feet. In no time Aoki had another takedown and another back mount. When Gardner curiously raised one of his arms as if to signal or wave, Aoki wrapped round the rear naked choke for a submission victory.

"I think David was waving his hand to the audience, saying 'Hello Japan' during the fight," speculated Aoki. "Maybe he thinks he's on vacation? But I'm here to get the job done, so I choked him and finished him. Hello Japan!"

In a Lightweight Superfight, it was a couple of experienced and competitive Japanese -- Mitsuhiro Ishida and Daisuke Nakamura. After a bit of sizing up, Ishida executed the first takedown, but found his right arm locked up. Ishida finally got free to take a back mount, hammering the recently-liberated right into his opponent's head. Nakamura again went for the arm, but now suffered a cut over his eye, which prompted a doctor check. Upon resumption the boys fell to north-south, Ishida continuing to slam the knee into his opponent's head, before both fighters got to their feet to ride out the round. An acrobatic takedown by Nakamura early in the second, the fighter then landing a number of punches from a high guard. Ishida finally assumed a controlling position, tying up his opponent while landing blows from a back mount. A unanimous decision for Ishida.

"It was not a brilliant fight," said Ishida afterward. "In the second round, Nakamura was aggressive but I couldn't find my form. I wasn't happy with that."

Also at Lightweight, Tatsuya Kawajiri of Japan met Ross Ebanez, an American muay thai fighter who had had spent the previous two days working on making weight. All the sweating must have taken something out of Ebanez, who never found his form here. Kawajiri, meanwhile, was more than ready, and in minutes had put on the rear naked choke for a submission win.

"I know that my opponent got this fight only a week ago, but once you take an offer, as a professional you should be able to make the weight. He weighed in over, and it was a very slow, boring fight. I won but it finished before I was able to explode."


All bouts were conducted under DREAM MMA rules.

This is the first-ever DREAM Featherweight GP. The opening ceremony included a moment of silence observed in honor of Brazilian jujitsu founder and mixed martial arts legend Hélio Gracie, who died in January 20 at the age of 95.

The DREAM.7 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 1st ROUND attracted a sellout crowd of 19,528 to the Saitama Super Arena. It was broadcast live in Japan in HD on Pay-Per-View, and on the TBS national network. For delay-broadcast information in other countries, contact local providers. As always, visit the K-1 Official Website (www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp) for comprehensive coverage of this and all FEG productions.