FEG Finalizes Rules for Dream

It was already known that the upstart promotion would employ weight divisions at 154, 168, 185, 205 and 205-plus pounds. It was also previously revealed that Dream would use two-round fights, with an opening 10-minute and second five-minute round, just as was done for Pride's Bushido series. There will be a 90-second rest interval between rounds.

Furthermore, FEG officials have revealed that none-too-surprisingly, bouts will be judged in their entirety. As was protocol in the Pride ring, judges may not score draws, and a winner must be chosen after 15 minutes.

For in-ring action, elbows to the head are not allowed. Knees to the head of a grounded opponent will be allowed, unless there is a difference of 33 pounds or more between opponents, in which case knees to the head on the ground will be prohibited.

Stomps and soccer kicks to the head of a grounded opponent are prohibited, but they are allowed to the body. However, in the event both fighters are downed, kicks to the face are allowed, making attacks such as up-kicks from the guard permissible.

For clarity purposes, Dream's rules committee has determined that a "downed opponent" will be any opponent who is touching the canvas with a part of his body other than the soles of his feet. This clarification comes on the heels of the controversial overturning of Kazuo Misaki (Pictures)'s Dec. 31 win over Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures), after clarification of the term "downed opponent" led to Misaki's knockout win being changed to a no contest.

Also, with tournaments playing a large part of Dream's 2008 lineup, FEG clarified tournament advancement protocol.

In the opening round and the quarterfinals, in the event of a no contest, the fighter who is able to physically continue will advance to the next round. If neither can advance, FEG will select a fighter to advance. If a fighter victorious in the opening or quarterfinal round cannot advance due to injury, the fighter he defeated will advance in his place. If neither can advance to the next round due to injury, FEG will again select a fighter to advance at its discretion.

A reserve fight will be held in the semifinal round. If there is a no-contest in the semifinals, the advancing fighter will be, in order of priority, the one who is able to continue, the winner of the reserve fight, the loser from the other semifinal bout or the loser of the reserve fight.

If a semifinal winner is unable to advance to the final due to injury, the advancing fighter will be, in order of priority, the loser of that semifinal, the winner of the reserve bout, the loser of the other semifinal or the loser of the reserve bout.

If there is a no contest in a tournament final, the tournament prize money will be split, and the two contestants will rematch within six months.

These stipulations are at the discretion of the promoter. If a fighter who lost by knockout or disqualification is in line to advance in the tournament, the promoter may opt to choose the next fighter in priority.

Greatest Common Multiple has finally gotten its April 5 Differ Ariake card squared away. Almost.

GCM announced that since its 155-pound champion Artur Oumakhanov (Pictures) has opted to compete in the Dream lightweight grand prix this year, he has vacated the Cage Force title he won in December after beating Kotetsu Boku (Pictures) in the Cage Force 155-pound tournament final. GCM will crown a new champion in a bout between 2006 Shooto rookie champion Mizuto Hirota (Pictures) and Tomonari Kanomata (Pictures).

The once highly touted Hirota began his career 6-0 and looked poised to be another one of Shooto's star lightweight products, but his stock plummeted in 2007 after back-to-back losses to Takashi Nakakura (Pictures) and Ganjo Tentsuku (Pictures). Hirota has since revitalized himself in GCM's cage, knocking out South Korean Do Gi Sin (Pictures) in December and Frenchman Johnny Frachey (Pictures) in February.

Kanomata, who began his career relatively anonymously in Class B Shooto, was riding a highly impressive eight-fight win streak into his November bout with the aforementioned Oumakhanov in the Cage Force 155-pound semifinal. The bout ended in controversial fashion after an accidental head butt broke Kanomata's nose. Oumakhanov was awarded the TKO victory and went on to capture the tournament crown.

Also, after painstaking efforts to round out its bantamweight Cage Force tournament over the past few weeks, GCM announced the first three quarterfinal bouts in the tournament. The pairings will see GCM mainstay Taiyo Nakahara (Pictures) take on Kingdom Ehrgeiz cult star Ryota Uozomi, former Shooto world champion Masahiro Oishi (Pictures) face the United Kingdom's top bantamweight in Paul McVeigh (Pictures) and longtime featherweight Katsuya Toida (Pictures) drop to 135 pounds to face Pancrase rep Daichi Fujiwara (Pictures).

This is not to say that the tournament was complete. Previously announced participant Takeya Mizugaki (Pictures) was slated to face BJJ ace Robson Moura (Pictures) in the fourth quarterfinal bout. However, Mizugaki was injured, which forced GCM to postpone the fourth quarterfinal until June. Sherdog.com has confirmed with a source close to GCM that when Moura was told of the postponement, he demanded GCM increase his purse. GCM declined, thus removing Moura from the tournament. Mizugaki will still compete in a quarterfinal bout on the June 22 Cage Force card against an opponent to be determined.

In an interesting aside, Sherdog.com has also learned that before Toida was added to the tournament and Moura pulled out of the bracket, GCM was pursuing Shooto world 123-pound champion Shinichi "BJ" Kojima as the tournament's eighth man. The idea was nixed, though, after Kojima was dominated in his January bout against So Tazawa (Pictures).

The large April 5 lineup will also feature the previously announced remaining two 145-pound quarterfinals between Antonio Carvalho (Pictures) and Yuji Hoshino (Pictures), and Adrian Pang (Pictures) and Armando Sanchez, as well as a 135-pound bout between Naoya Uematsu (Pictures) and U.K. import James Doolan, and a 155-pound contest between Yoshihiro Koyama (Pictures) and Wataru Miki (Pictures).