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)

UFC middleweight Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva recently told UK's Fighters Only magazine that he would like the last fight of his career to be against his long-term rival Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

"I don't have a problem with him, but I want to fight with him again. I want to fight him now and maybe I want to fight with him again in my final year," Silva said. "This history don't stop."

Silva won the first two matches against Jackson when they both fought for Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships. Meanwhile, Jackson dramatically beat Silva in in their third bout at UFC 92.

Silva maintains that he doesn't have a problem with Jackson and the aggression is all apart of the preparation for the fight. "This is a depression for the fight, you know? This is not fake, this is not just for promotion. With the depression you have more emotion, the emotions come and... emotion is emotion no?" he explained.

"But I don’t have a problem with him. I saw him and spoke with him (at UFC 95 in London). I shook his hand."

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Long considered the most prestigious title in mixed martial arts, the UFC Heavyweight Championship currently rests in the hands of two men – Champion Brock Lesnar and interim belt holder Frank Mir. On Saturday, May 23rd, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lesnar and Mir will meet to not only determine an Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion, but to settle some very personal business they began in this same city over a year ago.

"Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir put on one of the most intense one round fights I've ever seen at UFC 81," said UFC President Dana White, referring to Mir's submission victory over Lesnar in February of 2008. "But when it was over, both guys saw things very differently. Lesnar blamed his loss on inexperience and being too aggressive, while Mir saw his win as a triumph of his technique, something he says will happen every time they fight. On May 23rd, each fighter has his chance to prove his point, and while a lot has happened for these two since that first fight, I know the rematch is going to be just as intense as the first one, especially considering that the winner walks away as the UFC Heavyweight Champion."

Tickets for UFC 98: LESNAR VS. MIR 2 priced at $800, $600, $400, $250, $125 and $75, not including applicable service charges, go on sale Saturday, March 7 at 10 a.m. at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith's Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.ufc.com, www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Thursday, March 5 at 10 a.m. PT via the website ufc.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Friday, March 6 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through ufc.com.

UFC 98: LESNAR vs. MIR 2 will be available live on pay-per-view on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer's Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).

A gifted athlete with the size, speed, and power to impose his will on any opponent, 6-3 ½, 265 pound Brock Lesnar (3-1) made an immediate impact in the UFC when he debuted in February of 2008. A four-time All-American, two-time Big Ten Champion, and 2000 NCAA Division I National Champion in wrestling, Lesnar made a name for himself internationally after college as a professional wrestler, but he soon found his calling in mixed martial arts in 2006. After a 69 second win in his pro debut a year later, Lesnar entered the UFC in 2008 and was seconds away from victory against former heavyweight champ before a stoppage in the action for a point deduction allowed Mir to come back and submit the newcomer moments afterwards. But at UFC 87 in August of 2008, Lesnar showed why he was a force to be reckoned with by dominating Heath Herring, and by November 15, the ever improving Minnesotan shocked the world when he TKOd one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, Randy "The Natural" Couture. Now firmly entrenched on the top of the heavyweight division, Lesnar wants to even the score with Mir.

"I'm delighted to have a rematch against Frank Mir," said Lesnar. "I can't wait to get my revenge and finish this fight on the ground the way it should have been finished last time."

Many believe that 29-year old Las Vegan Frank Mir (12-3) was destined for stardom the moment he stepped in the UFC Octagon, and he lived up to all expectations when he submitted Tim Sylvia in 50 seconds in 2004 to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, Mir's career ground to a halt when a serious motorcycle accident later that year forced him to the sidelines for almost two years. His eagerness to return forced him into some spotty performances when he stepped back into the Octagon in 2006, but at UFC 74 in August of 2007, Mir was back in top notch form as he submitted Antoni Hardonk in just 77 seconds. He followed that pivotal win with a come-from-behind victory over Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 in February of 2008, but it wasn't until UFC 92 on December 27, 2008 that Mir came all the way back, as he became the first man to stop the legendary Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira at UFC 92, en route to regaining the interim portion of the championship he never lost in the Octagon. On May 23rd, the 6-3, 240 pound Mir has the opportunity to once again reign as the undisputed title holder.

"Brock Lesnar has been calling for a rematch with me ever since I beat him the first time," said Mir. "All I can say to Brock is be careful what you wish for because I'm a better, smarter, stronger, and faster fighter than I was the last time. He won't be able to push me around like he's done smaller opponents, and I'm looking forward to becoming undisputed champion again."

Source: UFC.com

Indonesia's Chris "The Dragon" John (picture) retained his title and remained undefeated by fighting to a draw with United States' hometown hero Rocky Juarez in the World Boxing Association (WBA) featherwight title bout at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

All three judges scored the fight 114-114 after all three gave the 11th and 12th round to Juarez, calling it a draw to leave Chris John unbeaten with the crown after his American debut and Juarez still winless in his world title bouts.

"I thought I won the fight," Chris John said. "What can I say? I won by points, but, what can I say? He's a tough fighter. He showed his strength in the last rounds."

Chris John went to 42-0 with two draws while Juarez had his first draw after 28 wins and four losses, his only losses and the draw coming in his title bouts.

Juarez staggered Chris John in the last seconds of the 11th round and tagged the champion with a left hook one minute into the last round and the two traded hard punches to the final bell as the crowd screamed in delight.

"I knew in the later rounds I had to pick it up. I went hard in the later rounds," Juarez said. "I thought I won the fight."

Chris John threw almost 400 more punches but the 29-year-old Semarang, Central Java, resident was denied a ninth win in a row.

"I thought I won the fight. I gave up the middle rounds, but it was a great show," Juarez said. "I wanted to bring the title to my hometown. He fought a good smart fight, but it was my fault in the middle rounds that I lost."

Both fighters began with a fast, intense pace. Juarez worked to Chris John's body while the Indonesian answered with a variety of jabs and solid rights, swelling Juarez's left eye in a third round where Chris John picked up the pace.

Chris John opened a cut over Juarez's left eye in the fifth round and used superior footwork to elude the Sydney Olympic silver medalist time and again, coming at Juarez from different angles and asserting control of the fight.

Juarez pressed the attack in the eighth round but John answered in the ninth with great flurries, hammering the challenger with an inside right to the head and a powerful left uppercut in his best combination. Before the closing rounds, Chris John seems to be a clear winner, but in the last two rounds, all three judges awarded Juarez with victories in their scores causing Juarez and "The Dragon" to tie in one of Juarez's best fights of his career.

"I might have given up some of the middle rounds. That's my fault," Juarez said. "The cut had a little to do with it. I just laid back in the middle rounds."

Chris John, who's also a former member of Indonesian national wushu team, would not rule out a rematch but served notice, "I'm ready for all."

In the main event match, Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez defeated reigning International Boxing Organization (IBO) Lightweight Champion and former WBA, International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) Lightweight Champion Juan Diaz by knockout.

Diaz pressed the action early in the bout as the two exchanged punches at a rapid pace. Diaz opened a cut above Marquez's right eye in the fifth round and looked to be wearing down the elder Marquez, but Marquez responded by opening a gash above Diaz's right eye and stunning him with a left hook before the end of the eighth round.

Marquez landed two hard rights to Diaz's face in a three-punch combination that knocked Diaz to the canvas with 35 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Diaz rose, but seconds later, Marquez followed with a right uppercut to the chin that knocked him down for the second time.

Referee Rafael Ramos waved an end to the fight after two minutes and 40 seconds of the ninth round. With the victory, Marquez defended his Ring Magazine lightweight title and claimed the IBO, WBO, and WBA lightweight titles.

Undefeated heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee will make his long-awaited UFC debut against Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany. The Duffee-Al Turk fight will likely end up on the night's un-aired preliminary card.

Duffee (4-0) is currently training with the American Top Team in Florida and the Hardcore Gym in Georgia. His last fought in September 2008 against UFC veteran Assuerio Silva at a Jungle Fight event.

Al Turk (6-4) is a Cage Rage veteran who fought exclusively in the UK until his UFC debut last December. He will return to the octagon for the first time since he was stopped by brutal ground and pound punches by Cheick Kongo in his UFC debut at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008.