was plenty of action and excitement in DREAM's helter-skelter Super Hulk tournament, as none of the four Openweight bouts made it out of the first round.

Bruiser Bob Sapp of the United States brought a whopping 56kg/123lbs weight advantage to the ring for his bout with Japanese pro-wrestler Minowaman. Everybody loves the underdog, and Minowaman gave the partisan crowd plenty to love in this short-but-sweet performance.

Sapp charged to wrap round a headlock, and soon had muscled his opponent to the ground for a side then rear mount. However Sapp could not sustain pressure, and after absorbing a few punches to the side of the head the crafty Minowaman made his move, reversing to top position and working an achilles lock to force the tapout at just 75 seconds.

"I've fought the big guys before," said Minowaman afterward. "And I learned that I shouldn't stay in the ring with them too long -- one good strikes from them could be very dangerous. So I really wanted to finish the fight early, to avoid that."

Also wildly heterogeneous were Korean titan Hong-Man Choi and six-time Major League Baseball All Star Jose Canseco, 45. These two faced off in a match that had garnered plenty of media interest stateside.

Alas, Canseco just didn't have it in him. The Cuban landed a promising right cross during his early hit-and-run strategy, then threw a couple of kicks before pointing to his right knee and wincing. Now Choi caught up with his limping opponent, tossing him to the ground then leaping atop to rain down the punches. The referee had no chance but to step in and call it for Choi. This one went 77 seconds.

Another pair of strikingly dissimilar athletes were K-1 veteran Jan "The Giant" Nortje and Cameroon judoka Sokoudjou, who fought in the third Super Hulk contest.

Nortje missed with a low kick before the aggressive Sokoudjou closed with a bear hug, looking for the takedown. Nortje however stayed on his feet. Sokoudjou made good with low kicks before taking another bear hug and twisting a takedown to side mount. Nortje's defense was wanting, as Sokoudjou pounded in enough fists to get the referee to stop it. Sokoudjou however did immediately heed the call to cease, and this did not go over well with K-1 veteran Ray Sefo and the rest of Nortje's corner. A bit of shoving and shouting between the two teams the end of this one, and a yellow card to Sokoudjou.

"Nortje was too big, so it was too difficult for me to reach him," said Sokoudjou in his post-bout interview. "My tactics were to clinch, take down, and strike. I was a little emotional at the end, I never intended to keep punching after the referee signaled a stop, so I want to apologize to my opponent."

With a mere 31kg/68lbs weight differential and 8cm/3" of height going the other way, boxers Mark Hunt of New Zealand and Gegard Mousasi of Holland represented -- on the Super Hulk card anyway -- relatively similar physical specimens.

Mousasi came in quickly with a single leg takedown and took side mount, but Hunt defended well against the punches. Mousasi however soon seized the opportunity to extract Hunt's left arm and hyperextend for the submission and victory.

Tonight's four Super Hulk winners -- Minowaman, Choi, Sokoudjou and Mousasi -- advance to the tournament semifinals in September, with the two men victorious there going head-to-head at "Dynamite!" on New Year's Eve.

Topping off tonight's card, the Main Event was a title fight. When Mousasi moved up a weight class he had to leave his DREAM Middleweight belt behind. Here, Brazilian Ronaldo Jacare and American barbarian Jason "Mayhem" Miller fought for the right to claim it. This was a rematch between the pair, Jacare won by decision last June.

The two traded hard strikes from the opening bell, Jacare finding his distance and making good with a straight punch combination before a throw left Jacare down in the corner. In a flash, Miller fired in a kick, opening a nasty gash over the Brazilian's forehead. The foul prompted a time stoppage, doctor check and a Yellow card for Miller. Jacare was cleared to continue, and after resumption got a quick takedown. With Jacare pressing hard for a mount, it quickly became clear he was also flooding Miller's chest with blood. Another stop in this time the ringside doctor decided the cut was too serious and Jacare could not continue. It was announced that under DREAM rules the fight would be ruled a "no contest."

Afterward, Jacare told the media he thought he'd been on the road to victory in the fight, because his punches were landing. Informed of the quip, Miller just laughed. "I'm very disappointed," he said, "I wanted to give the DREAM fans a great show and I think I did, but the wrong way -- baka dakara! (I must be stupid!)"

And finally, a highly-anticipated Superfight in the Lightweight class saw wrestler Tatsuya Kawajiri of Japan take on popular Brazilian grappler JZ. Calvan.

Kawajiri did a fine job of controlling here. The bout started with Calvan in a boxing stance, fists far forward, tagging Kawajiri with the one-two before grabbing a kick and firing in a hard left. The boys then went to the ground, Calvan locking the head and wrapping the legs, but doing little else to threaten. Some sparring after a re-stand before Calvan failed with a leg takedown and Kawajiri hooked up the Brazilian and pumped the knee. Kawajiri landed a nice left before the boys tumbled down and locked up on the mat. No apparent damage to either fighter at the bell to run the first.

The fight went to the mat early in the second, Kawajiri again on top and Calvan locking him up to stay out of trouble. Back on their feet it was Kawajiri with the better strikes, pounding a right onto his opponent's chin. Midway through the second the Japanese fighter landed more tight punches from a side mount. Now Calvan looked tired, and Kawajiri's superior stamina allowed his to ride out the round to a well-deserved unanimous decision.

All fights were fought under Official DREAM Rules, with a 10 min 1st R and a 5 min 2nd R.

The Olympia DREAM.9 Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 2nd Round attracted 15,009 to the Yokohama Arena. It was broadcast live in Japan on TBS and SkyPerfect; and in the United States on HDNet. For delay-broadcast information in other areas, contact local providers. Visit the K-1 Official Website (www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp) for comprehensive coverage of this and all FEG productions.