by MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 26, 2009 at 5:55 pm ET MMAjunkie.com has again teamed up with our partners at HDNet to offer a series of fight videos from today's DREAM.9 event, a star-studded show that took place in Kanagawa, Japan. The event featured the first round of the open-weight "Super Hulk" tournament, the second round of DREAM's welterweight grand prix, and a middleweight title fight. In our first video, we check out the controversial "Super Hulk" fight between 353-pound Jan Nortje and 225-pound Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Sokoudjou came under heavy criticism for this fight. Check out the embedded clip to find out why. (If you don't want a spoiler, check out the video before reading any further.) Was Sokoudjou, 1-3 in his previous four fights, trying to send a message after the referee had jumped in to stop the fight? Or was the Team Quest light heavyweight, who's never really been accused of being a "dirty" fighter, simply caught up in the heat of the battle? Are his actions excusable? Or should he be penalized for the potentially dangerous behavior? The video cuts off early, but it's worth noting that before leaving the ring, Sokoudjou apologetically bowed to his opponent's corner in an apparent display of regret. Share your comments below. Also, stay tuned to MMAjunkie.com over the next few days for further video releases from the DREAM.9 card, including the Jose Canseco vs. Hong Man Choi "Super Hulk" fight. And be sure to catch HDNet's replay of the entire DREAM.9 card on Friday at 10 p.m. ET. For more information, go to www.hdnetfights.com. www.mmajunkie.com

by Chris Nelson on May 26, 2009 10:35 AM EDT in News Comment 11 comments During intermission at Tuesday's DREAM.9 event, DREAM.10 participants Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, Katsunori Kikuno and Shinya Aoki addressed the Yokohama audience, and a promo video was played which officially announced a handful bouts for the July 20th show at Saitama Super Arena. The video revealed that fan favorite Melvin Manhoef will return to DREAM against former WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho, whose visage on the big screen elicited "oohs" from the crowd. Also, the previously scheduled lightweight title bout between Shinya Aoki and Joachim Hansen has apparently been scrapped; the Japanese submission ace will now take on Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro. www.bloodyelbow.com

May 26, 2009 by Cory Brady One of the best pound for pound fighters on the planet Gegard Mousasi has confirmed to www.M-1Global.com that his next opponent will in fact be none other than “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort. The two are expected to face off at the third Affliction event that has been rumored for August 1. Mousasi revealed his next opponent in an interview with M-1 Global shortly after his decisive submission victory over Mark Hunt at DREAM 9. “Yes, those (rumors) are true and I will be fighting Vitor Belfort,” said Mousasi when asked about the bouts widespread speculation for an August 1 Affliction card. www.fiveouncesofpain.com

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 26, 2009 at 9:30 am ET DREAM's middleweight title will remain vacant just a little bit longer. An early illegal kick from Jason "Mayhem" Miller (22-6) – deemed unintentional – to the top of the head of a downed Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (10-2) forced a disappointing no contest in the main event of an otherwise exciting DREAM.9 event. The HDNet-broadcast DREAM.9, featuring the organization's featherweight grand prix and "Super Hulk" quarterfinals, was held Tuesday at the Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa, Japan. www.mmajunkie.com

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - by MMAWeekly.com Staff Dream 9 Quick Results: www.mmaweekly.com

May 21, 2009 by Cory Brady Brazilian knockout specialist Andre “Dida” Amade is expected to make his return to the ring at DREAM 10 against DEEP champion Katsunori Kikuno according to a recent report on Tatame.com. The event is scheduled for July 20 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. www.fiveouncesofpain.com

Posted May 21, 2009 7:45AM By Mike Chiappetta (RSS feed) Affliction's third event, featuring a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 1, should be officially announced within days, a source with knowledge of the situation told FanHouse. Though neither Emelianenko or Barnett has signed official bout agreements, they have both verbally accepted the matchup, according to the source. Earlier this week, Affliction President Tom Atencio told FanHouse he would not be able to confirm any details until contracts were officially signed. www.mma.fanhouse.com

May 19th, 2009 by promma PRO MMA (promma.info) was notified on Monday that the fifth edition of the 2009 “M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction” is scheduled to take place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas on Friday, June 5. The event will be headlined by a challenge bout featuring Team USA East (1-0), looking to remain in first place in Group C, taking on Team Finland (1-0). While USA East and Finland both are undefeated, USA East leads by the slimmest of margins as it holds a one fight advantage in the first tie-breaker category of individual fight record. In addition to the headline challenge fight between USA East and Finland, two additional matchups between England vs. France and Turkey vs. the World Team, which will be coached by former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi, are also scheduled. This will mark the second time in less than 10 months the M-1 Challenge has held an event in Kansas City, the home venue of M-1 Global live events President Joe Kelly. www.promma.info

May 20, 2009 by Bryan Levick Dream 9, which is scheduled for May 26, may be the best card the young organization has put on yet. With second round featherweight grand prix bouts coupled along with the debut of the open-weight “Super Hulk” tournament Dream is packing a serious punch this time around. Fans will see the debut of the ever popular featherweight Norifuni “Kid” Yamamoto as he was given a first round bye and will battle Joe Warren. Many fans around the world have been clamoring for Yamamoto to join the ranks of the WEC where he could battle top featherweights Urijah Faber, WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia just to name a few. www.fiveouncesofpain.com

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 19, 2009 at 5:55 pm ET Members of the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts since its inception, the organization's Vice President of Fighter Relations, Pat Miletich, and interim Chief Operating Officer, Sam Caplan, have resigned from the aspiring MMA sanctioning body. The resignations were officially announced Tuesday afternoon. In a move that may signal the beginning of the end for WAMMA, Miletich and Caplan's resignations follow the April departure of original COO Michael Lynch. Both Miletich and Caplan stated in a joint press release that the decision was based more on faith in WAMMA's operational structure than the principles of the organization. "Throughout my entire time with WAMMA, I've been sincere in my belief that the sport needs undisputed champions in every major weight class," Miletich stated. "To this day, I still feel that way and still believe in WAMMA's basic principles. "However, I no longer believe that WAMMA's execution is where it needs to be in order for it to meet its full potential. Based on that and a growing difference of opinion with WAMMA's board of directors, I made the decision that it is time to move on." Caplan, who took over as interim COO after Lynch's departure, echoed Miletich's sentiments. www.mmajunkie.com