Bibiano Fernandes, Joe Warren, Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura, Yoshiro Maeda, Hiroyuki Takaya and Masakazu Imanari all advanced Sunday in the DREAM.7 Featherweight Grand Prix at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto was the only fighter to receive a bye and will be in action at DREAM.8. The final spot will be determined by Hideo Tokoro vs. Daika "DJ Taiki" Hata bout at DREAM.8.

In non-tournament bouts, Mitsuhiro Ishida won a unanimous decision over Daisuke Nakamura, Shinya Aoki submitted David Gardner with a rear naked choke and Tatsuya Kawajiri also won by rear naked choke against Ross Ebanez.

Aoki was fighting at lightweight for one more time before he moves up to welterweight to enter the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix.

Kawajiri called out Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante for a number one contender bout to determine current DREAM Lightweight Champion Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen's first title challenger.

DREAM 7 was dedicated to Helio Gracie. Kazushi Sakuraba and Yuki Sasaki stood inside the ring for a moment of silence during the opening ceremony.

Below are the official results for DREAM.7:

Featherweight Grand Prix Opening Round Bouts:

• Masakazu Imanari def. Atsushi Yamamoto by split decision

• Hiroyuki Takaya def. Kim Jong-won Kim by TKO (punches) at 0:40 of Round 2

• Yoshiro Maeda def. Micah Miller by unanimous decision

• Abel Cullum def. Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura by unanimous decision

• Joe Warren def. Chase Beebe by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 10:00 of Round 1

• Bibiano Fernandes def. Takafumi Otsuka by unanimous decision

Non-Tournament Bouts:

• Shinya Aoki def. David Gardner by submission (rear naked choke) at 5:58 of Round 1

• Tatsuya Kawijiri def. Ross Ebanez by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:03 of Round 1

• Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Daisuke Nakamura by unanimous decision

DREAM announced today the fight order for DREAM.7. Masakazu Imanari versus Atsushi Yamamoto bout will serve as the main event.

DREAM.7 ~ Featherweight Grand Prix 2009 1st Round ~
Date: March 8, 2009
Place: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan

Fight Card:

• Takafumi Otsuka vs. Bibiano Fernandes (Featherweight GP)

• Chase Beebe vs. Joe Warren (Featherweight GP)

• Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura vs. Abel Cullum (Featherweight GP)

• Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Daisuke Nakamura (Welterweight one match)

• Shinya Aoki vs. David Gardner (Welterweight one match)

• Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ross Ebanez (Lightweight one match)

• Yoshiro Maeda vs. Micah Miller (Featherweight GP)

• Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kim Jong-won (Featherweight GP)

• Masakazu Imanari vs. Atsushi Yamamoto (Featherweight GP)

Japan's DREAM organization announced on Friday that top ranked lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri (picture) will take on BJ Penn trained fighter Ross Ebanez at DREAM 7 on March 8 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Kawajiri (22-5-2) made an impressive kickboxing debut at Dynamite!! 2008 after his MMA loss to Eddie Alvarez at the semifinals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix.

Ross Ebanez (19-6) last competed in October, defeating Waachiim SpiritWolf at Rumble on the Rock: Beatdown 9.

DREAM 7 also features the opening round of the organization's featherweight tournament with fighters such as Masakazu Imanari, Chase Beebe, Atsushi Yamamoto, Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura, Micah Miller and more competing in the tournament.

The K-1 Dynamite!! bout on New Year's Eve between Shinya Aoki (picture) and Eddie Alvarez will determine the first ever World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Lightweight Champion.

With just a few days to go before the show, it's been made official by press release that WAMMA will recognize the winner of the bout between Aoki and Alvarez as their lightweight champion. The press release also states that the winner will not receive the physical belt at the event, but it will be presented to them in a ceremony at a later date.

"New Year's Eve is rich in both history and tradition for combat sports in Japan," WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Michael Lynch said. "FEG officials have put together an amazing night of fights and WAMMA is looking forward to recognizing the winner of the Aoki versus Alvarez fight as our first ever lightweight champion."

Aoki and Alvarez would have met in the finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix 2008, but Alvarez sustained an eye injury in his win earlier that night against Tatsuya Kawajiri. This brought in Joachim Hansen, who won the reserve bout, to step in for Alvarez. Hansen then defeated Aoki by TKO to become the first DREAM Lightweight Champion.

In the WAMMA rankings, Aoki is ranked number two in the lightweight division while Alvarez is ranked number three. UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn is ranked number one.

"WAMMA's board of directors supports the WAMMA pollsters in their recognition of BJ Penn as the number one rated lightweight fighter in the world," Lynch said. "However, Penn has not fought since May 24 and isn't scheduled to compete again until January 31. His January 31 fight will be contested at welterweight against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC's 170-pound crown. If Penn wins, UFC President Dana White has already stated that Penn's next fight will be a welterweight title defense against Thiago Alves. Needless to say, Penn's future as a regular competitor in the lightweight division is uncertain."

Lynch continued by saying that if Penn's returns to lightweight, WAMMA would approach the UFC to facilitate a fight between Penn and the WAMMA Lightweight Champion. However, that's only wishful thinking as the UFC has strongly opposed cooperating with WAMMA.

WAMMA is an independent sanctioning organization for mixed martial arts, with their own fighter rankings and championships. Earlier this year, Fedor Emelianenko became the first and only current WAMMA titleholder when he submitted Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds at Affliction: Banned. Fedor holds the WAMMA heavyweight title.

Three-time K-1 World Grand Prix and current K-1 Super Heavyweight Champion Semmy Schilt will return to fighting under MMA rules on the big stage at FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 on New Year's Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Schilt (25-14-1 in MMA) has found greater success in K-1 but has had an extensive career as a mixed martial artist. Beginning with Pancrase, Schilt moved onto the UFC and then PRIDE FC. His last major MMA appearance was at a K-1 HERO'S event in August 2006, where he won via triangle choke against Kim Min-soo. He fought in January of this year, knocking out a relatively unknown opponent at an event in Serbia.

In one of the three bouts added on Tuesday to the card, Schilt will face fellow K-1 fighter Mighty Mo. Mighty Mo, a Samoan-American kickboxer, has only three professional MMA bouts to his credit, winning all three by TKO or KO, and this will mark his first MMA action in a year and a half. Schilt and Mighty Mo have fought before under K-1 kickboxing rules. Schilt defeated Mo by decision in a K-1 Super Heavyweight title bout in June 2007.

The other two additions are Yoshihiro Sato vs Artur Kyshenko in a K-1 bout and Hideo Tokoro vs Daisuke Nakamura in a MMA bout.

There are also two previously announced high profile lightweight MMA bouts on the card. Joachim Hansen, who won the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix earlier this year, will fight Gesias Calvancante and Shinya Aoki will square off with Eddie Alvarez.

Here is the current fight card for FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008:

• Semmy Schilt vs Mighty Mo (DREAM rules)

• Hideo Tokoro vs Daisuke Nakamura (DREAM rules)

• Yoshihiro Sato vs Artur Kyshenko (K-1 rules)

• Jerome LeBanner vs Mark Hunt (DREAM rules)

• Shinya Aoki vs Eddie Alvarez (DREAM rules)

• Kozo Takeda vs Tatsuya Kawajiri (K-1 rules)

• Musashi vs Gegard Mousasi (K-1 rules)

• Kazushi Sakuraba vs Kiyoshi Tamura (DREAM rules)

• Joachim Hansen vs Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante (DREAM rules)

• HIROYA vs Shota Shimada (K-1 KOSHIEN Semifinal/K-1 rules)

• Ryuya Kusakabe vs Koya Urabe (K-1 KOSHIEN Semifinal/K-1 rules)

• Winner of HIROYA/Shimada vs Winner of Kusakabe/Urabe (K-1 KOSHIEN Final/K-1 rules)

Nick Diaz and Jason "Mayhem" Miller will join the DREAM.3 card on Sunday, May 11 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Diaz (15-7) will take on Pancrase star Katsuya Inoue (16-5-3) in a bout with a weight limit of 167.6 pounds. Diaz hasn't fought since November 2007, when he lost an EliteXC title bout via doctor stoppage to KJ Noons. He also has another fight lined up with EliteXC on June 14 against Muhsin Corbbrey in Hawaii.

Miller (20-5) will fight pro wrestler Katsuyori Shibata (2-3) in a middleweight bout. Miller has been bouncing around lately from promotion to promotion, as this DREAM appearance will be his fourth straight fight with a different organization.

DREAM.3 Lightweight Grand Prix 2nd Round

- Tatsuya Kawajiri VS Luis "Buscape" Firmino
- Caol Uno VS Mitsuhiro Ishida
- Joachim Hansen VS Eddie Alvarez
- Katsuhiko Nagata VS Shinya Aoki (if he is medically cleared)

Other Bouts

- Jason "Mayhem" Miller VS Katsuyori Shibata
- Melvin Manhoef VS Kim Dae-won
- Nick Diaz VS Katsuya Inoue
- Daisuke Nakamura VS Yung Jung-buk