Dream 15 Recap: Aoki and Mousasi Win With Quick Submissions

The flagship Japanese promotion returned to action early Saturday morning and it featured the return of Gegard Mousasi to Japan, the showdown of the two best Japanese born lightweights in MMA currently and one of the worst displays of MMA refereeing I have ever seen.

Tatsuya Mizuno defeats Melvin Manhoef via Kimura 7:38 Round 1

This fight featured the single worst piece of refereeing in an MMA match I've ever seen. The fight progressed as pretty much every Manhoef fight does; Manhoef went after Mizuno like he had stolen something, throwing big, powerful punches and then Manhoef gets taken down and looks like a helpless kitten.

Credit to Manhoef, he survived a keylock attempt combined with some nasty knees to the head and escaped back to standing. Manhoef looked shaky and was dropped by a punch while in the corner of the ring. Manhoef covered up for a brief time but punches got through and Manhoef was knocked out cold.

But the fight didn't stop and Mizuno kept raining down punches on a sleeping Manheof, and Manhoef's face got stuck under the padded cover of the corner and the ref kept prompting Manhoef to move out from under the over. Except Manhoef didn't move because he was...you know...unconscious!!!

Then a punch actually woke Manhoef back up and Mizuno, desperate for a way to stop the fight locked in a Kimura from mount and began twisting. Manhoef, clearly totally confused about where he was, tapped out. But the ref didn't stop the fight, completely missing the tap. Manhoef took another few seconds to collect himself enough to tap out again and finally the fight was stopped.

This was an awful piece of refereeing and whoever that was needs to never, ever be the third man in an MMA match ever again.

Gegard Mousasi defeats Jake O'Brien via Guillotine Choke 0:31 Round 1

Gegard Mousasi returned to action after his loss at the hands of King Mo Lawal and questions surrounded Mousasi and his takedown defense. While opponent Jake O'Brien wasn't expected to answer many, if any questions, about Mousasi's ability levels.

That said, Mousasi did spend all 30 seconds of the fight defending a takedown from the former Indiana State High School Wrestling champion Jake O'Brien. His defense seemed able enough and I think we can give more credit to King Mo for excellent takedowns than Mousasi having no takedown defense.

Mousasi was able to lock in the standing Guillotine with little effort. Mousasi appeared more focused on fighting in the lead up to this event, but we need to see him properly challenge to really determine where his head is at.

Gesias Cavalcante defeats Katsunori Kikuno via Split Decision

Gesias Cavalcante is a Top 20 Lightweight and he was expected to roll over Katunori Kikuno. It didn't quite happen that way. Cavalcante struggled in the first round, he clearly wanted to take Kikuno down, but his wrestling appeared to be very poor and his double leg shot consisted of little more than bending forward at the waist and falling at Kikuno.

Kikuno stalemated Cavalcante's striking, which appeared far crisper and more powerful, by clinching Cavalcante against the ropes. Kikuno was aided by Cavalcante not throwing lead jabs and just leaping at him.

At the start of the second round Cavalcante came out and used a lead jab to land and right hand, and then dropped for a takedown. Cavalcante quickly established mount and then back control, locking in a body triangle. Cavalcante controlled the rest of the round easily and looked every bit the Top 20 Lightweight.

Shinya Aoki defeats Tatsuya Kawajiri via Achilles Lock 1:53 Round 1

This match up of Top 10 Lightweights is the most relevant meeting of Japanese fighters in recent memory. Aoki, the Japanese grappling legend, versus a well rounded challenger.

Aoki quickly dove for Kawajiri's legs in the opening seconds of the round, got in the Achilles Lock position and really the following minute was just end game as Aoki slowly sunk the submission in.

There isn't another meaningful fight for Aoki in Japan right now and while he has proven he can beat a top ranked American fighter with his heel hook of Eddie Alvarez , his loss to Gilbert Melendez has left many questions to be answered. Aoki should return to Strikeforce, actually train inside a cage and take on someone like Josh Thompson to get his name back in the good graces of the American MMA fan. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKJrmG4Jec8