Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Marius Zaromskis Rematch Added to July 16th DREAM
By FCF Staff
Hayato “Mach” Sakurai has been given an opportunity to avenge to his memorable, first round, TKO loss to DREAM’s welterweight champ Marius Zaromskis, as the promotion has confirmed that the two will fight again, July 16th. The rematch will be a non-title affair. (Pictured: Zaromskis hitting Evangelista Santos)
DREAM’s upcoming event will be hosted by the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, and will feature the finals of the organization’s bantamweight grand-prix, which will see Masakazu Imanari fight Hideo Tokoro.
Zaromskis (14-6) stopped Sakurai with a furry of highlight reel strikes in July, 2009, as the Lithuanian fighter worked his way through DREAM’s welterweight grand-prix and on to the championship belt. The noted striker has struggled in his last five fights, incurring defeats at the hands of Nick Diaz, Evangelista Santos and most recently Jordan Mein. Zaromskis’ only win during that stretch came on New Year’s Eve when he stopped Kazushi Sakuraba.
Sakurai (35-12-2) has dropped three more bouts to Akihiro Gono, Nick Diaz and most recently Jason High, after losing to Zaromskis. The Japanese star’s last win came in April, 2009, when he stopped current DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki.
In addition to the bantamweight grand-prix final, the July 16th DREAM card will also feature light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi and featherweight champ Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazayuki Miyata.
Here is the line-up to date for DREAM “Fight For Japan: 2011 Bantamweight Japan Tournament Final”
Bantamweight BW Japan Tournament Final
Masakazu Imanari vs. Hideo Tokoro
Bantamweight BW Japan Tournament Third Place
Keisuke Fujiwara vs. Kenji Osawa
Light-Heavyweight Championship
Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi
Featherweight Championship
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
Marius Zaromskis vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Willamy Freire
Todd Duffee vs. Nick Gaston
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Bruno Carvalho