"Lion" Inoue

By FCF Staff

Dream has announced two notable featherweight bouts for the promotion’s upcoming New Year’s Eve card, as champion Hiroyuki Takaya will take on “Lion” Takeshi Inoue and Tatsuya Kawajiri will face fellow vet Kazuyuki Miyata.

The December 31st event will be hosted by the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and is expected to feature MMA and kickboxing action.

Takaya (16-9-1) is coming off a split decision win over Kazuyuki Miyata at Dream’s “Fight for Japan” event in July. Prior to the win, the veteran lost by split decision to Robert Peralta while competing for Strikeforce in April.

Inoue (21-5) is coming off three straight stoppage victories. In September, the noted striker knocked out veteran Caol Uno at Dream 17.

Kawajiri (29-7-2) made the drop to featherweight earlier this year and submitted Joachim Hansen in the third round on September 24th. The accomplished fighter has now won two straight since he was stopped by Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez in April.

Miyata’s (11-8) aforementioned loss to Takaya ended the former Olympic wrestler’s six fight win streak which included victories over Uno and Inoue.

HDNet is expected to broadcast the NYE Dream card throughout North America, however, whether it will air live or via tape delay has not been confirmed.

Photo credit: Dream